UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018
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 001-31938
ACORDA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware |
13-3831168 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
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420 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley, New York |
10502 |
(Address of principal executive offices) |
(Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (914) 347-4300
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Title of each class |
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Name of each exchange on which registered |
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Common Stock $0.001 par value |
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Nasdaq Global Market |
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer |
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Accelerated filer |
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Non-accelerated filer |
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Smaller reporting company |
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Emerging growth company |
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
As of June 29, 2018, the aggregate market value (based on the closing price on that date) of the registrant's voting stock held by non-affiliates was $1,122,560,492. For purposes of this calculation, we have excluded shares of common stock held by directors, officers and stockholders reporting ownership on Schedule 13D (or amendments thereto) that exceeds five percent of the common stock outstanding at June 29, 2018. Exclusion of shares held by any person should not be construed to indicate that the person possesses the power, direct or indirect, to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of the registrant, or that the person is controlled by or under common control with the registrant.
As of February 20, 2019, the registrant had 47,633,407 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding. The registrant does not have any non-voting stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
The registrant intends to file a proxy statement for its 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Portions of the proxy statement are incorporated herein by reference into the following parts of the Form 10-K:
Part III, Item 10, Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Part III, Item 11, Executive Compensation.
Part III, Item 12, Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
Part III, Item 13, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
Part III, Item 14, Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
2018 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I |
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Item 1. |
1 |
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Item 1A. |
35 |
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Item 1B. |
60 |
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Item 2. |
60 |
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Item 3. |
61 |
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Item 4. |
62 |
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PART II |
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Item 5. |
63 |
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Item 6. |
65 |
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Item 7. |
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
66 |
Item 7A. |
92 |
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Item 8. |
92 |
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Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
92 |
Item 9A. |
92 |
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Item 9B. |
95 |
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PART III |
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Item 10. |
96 |
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Item 11. |
96 |
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Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related |
96 |
Item 13. |
Certain Relationship and Related Transactions, and Director Independence |
96 |
Item 14. |
96 |
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PART IV |
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Item 15. |
97 |
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Item 16. |
105 |
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106 |
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements relating to future events and our future performance within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Stockholders are cautioned that such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including: we may not be able to successfully market Inbrija or any other products under development; risks associated with complex, regulated manufacturing processes for pharmaceuticals, which could affect whether we have sufficient commercial supply of Inbrija to meet market demand; third party payers (including governmental agencies) may not reimburse for the use of Inbrija or our other products at acceptable rates or at all and may impose restrictive prior authorization requirements that limit or block prescriptions; competition for Inbrija, Ampyra and other products we may develop and market in the future, including increasing competition and accompanying loss of revenues in the U.S. from generic versions of Ampyra (dalfampridine) following our loss of patent exclusivity; the ability to realize the benefits anticipated from acquisitions, among other reasons because acquired development programs are generally subject to all the risks inherent in the drug development process and our knowledge of the risks specifically relevant to acquired programs generally improves over time; we may need to raise additional funds to finance our operations and may not be able to do so on acceptable terms; the risk of unfavorable results from future studies of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) or from our other research and development programs, or any other acquired or in-licensed programs; the occurrence of adverse safety events with our products; the outcome (by judgment or settlement) and costs of legal, administrative or regulatory proceedings, investigations or inspections, including, without limitation, collective, representative or class action litigation; failure to protect our intellectual property, to defend against the intellectual property claims of others or to obtain third party intellectual property licenses needed for the commercialization of our products; and failure to comply with regulatory requirements could result in adverse action by regulatory agencies. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry and markets in which we operate and management's beliefs and assumptions. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this report regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "projects," "will," "would," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make, and investors should not place undue reliance on these statements. In addition to the risks and uncertainties described above, we have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this Annual Report, particularly in the "Risk Factors" section, that we believe could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments that we may make. Forward-looking statements in this report are made only as of the date hereof, and we do not assume any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this report.
We and our subsidiaries own several registered trademarks in the U.S. and in other countries. These registered trademarks include, in the U.S., the marks “Acorda Therapeutics,” our stylized Acorda Therapeutics logo, “Biotie Therapies,” “Ampyra,” and “ARCUS.” Also, our mark “Fampyra” is a registered mark in the European Community Trademark Office and we have registrations or pending applications for this mark in other jurisdictions. Our trademark portfolio also includes several registered trademarks and pending trademark applications (e.g., “Inbrija”) in the U.S. and worldwide for potential product names or for disease awareness activities. Third party trademarks, trade names, and service marks used in this report are the property of their respective owners.
Company Overview
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies that restore function and improve the lives of people with neurological disorders. We are preparing for our launch of commercial sales of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), which is approved for intermittent treatment of OFF episodes, also known as OFF periods, in people with Parkinson’s disease treated with carbidopa/levodopa. Inbrija is an on-demand treatment that utilizes our innovative ARCUS pulmonary delivery system, a technology platform designed to deliver medication through inhalation that we believe has potential to be used in the development of a variety of inhaled medicines. Also, we market branded Ampyra (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg.
Our New Drug Application, or NDA, for Inbrija was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, on December 21, 2018. The approval is for a single dose of 84 mg, with no titration required. We expect Inbrija to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2019 and to be distributed through a network of specialty pharmacies. Our preparations for the commercial sale of Inbrija continue, including sales force training and education, managed care discussions, market research and social media initiatives. We project that annual peak net revenue of Inbrija in the U.S. alone could exceed $800 million.
We are seeking approval to market Inbrija in the European Union, and accordingly we filed a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, with the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, in March 2018. In May 2018, we announced that the EMA completed formal validation of the MAA for Inbrija, and that the review of the MAA will be according to standard timelines. After the adoption of a Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, opinion, we expect a final decision regarding the MAA from the European Commission before the end of 2019. We are in discussions with potential partners regarding the distribution of Inbrija outside of the U.S.
We currently derive substantially all of our revenue from the sale of Ampyra. We have been engaged in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers relating to our five initial Orange Book-listed Ampyra patents. In 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) issued a ruling that upheld our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidated our four other Orange Book-listed patents pertaining to Ampyra that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. Under this decision, our patent exclusivity with respect to Ampyra terminated on July 30, 2018. We appealed the District Court decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”), which issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the Appellate Decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales.
Our strategic priorities for 2019 are as follows:
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Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder): Launching the commercial sale of Inbrija in the U.S.; obtaining approval of our European MAA for Inbrija; and continuing with potential partnering discussions for commercialization outside of the U.S. |
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ARCUS Platform: Advancing our efforts to develop additional therapeutics based on our proprietary ARCUS pulmonary drug delivery technology, looking at central nervous system, or CNS, as well as non-CNS opportunities, including our program to develop an ARCUS-based treatment for acute migraine. |
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Financial Management: Focusing on financial discipline to maintain a strong balance sheet, control expenses and deploy resources to maximize shareholder value. |
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As of December 31, 2018, we had cash, cash equivalents short-term investments of approximately $445 million. We have $345 million of convertible senior notes due in 2021 with a conversion price of $42.56.
Company Highlights
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder)/Parkinson’s Disease
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) is the first and only inhaled levodopa, or L-dopa, for intermittent treatment of OFF episodes, also known as OFF periods, in people with Parkinson’s disease treated with carbidopa/levodopa regimen. Our New Drug Application, or NDA, for Inbrija was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, on December 21, 2018. The approval is for a single dose of 84 mg, with no titration required. We expect Inbrija to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2019 and to be distributed through a network of specialty pharmacies.
We are seeking approval to market Inbrija in the European Union, and accordingly we filed a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, with the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, in March 2018. In May 2018, we announced that the EMA completed formal validation of the MAA for Inbrija, and that the review of the MAA will be according to standard timelines. After the adoption of a Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, opinion, we expect a final decision regarding the MAA from the European Commission before the end of 2019. We are in discussions with potential partners regarding the distribution of Inbrija outside of the U.S.
We intend to market Inbrija in the U.S. through our own specialty sales force and commercial infrastructure. We believe we have built a leading neuro-specialty sales and marketing team through our commercialization of Ampyra, and that our commercial sale of Inbrija in the U.S. will benefit from the experiences and capabilities of this team. Importantly, we kept our commercial team substantially intact following a 2017 company restructuring. We currently have approximately 90 sales representatives as well as established teams of Medical Science Liaisons, Regional Reimbursement Directors, and Market Access Account Directors who provide information to payers and physicians on our marketed products; a National Trade Account Director who works with our network of specialty pharmacies for Inbrija; and Market Development Managers who work collaboratively with field teams and corporate personnel to assist in the execution of the Company’s strategic initiatives.
Our preparations for the commercial sale of Inbrija continue, including sales force training and education, managed care discussions, market research and social media initiatives. In advance of the launch of commercial sale, we are visiting movement disorder and key neurology centers to provide education and training on Inbrija’s clinical profile, the appropriate use of the Inbrija inhaler, and our Prescription Support Services hub, described below. We project that annual peak net revenue of Inbrija in the U.S. alone could exceed $800 million.
In January 2019, we established Prescription Support Services, which we sometimes refer to as the Inbrija hub, a service provided by Acorda which is designed to help patients navigate their insurance coverage and offer reimbursement support services, when appropriate. Services fall into one of these four categories: insurance verification, to research patient insurance benefits and confirm insurance coverage; prior authorization support, to identify prior authorization requirements; appeals support; and assistance identifying which specialty pharmacy a patient will utilize based on their insurance coverage. For patients that may need assistance paying for their medication, Prescription Support Services will offer several support options, including: a patient assistance program, that provides no cost medication to patients who meet specific program eligibility requirements; co-pay support, which may help commercially insured (non-government funded) patients lower their out-of-pocket costs; and a bridge program, for federally-insured patients who experience a delay in coverage determination. We intend to implement a no-cost sample program to enable patients and their physicians to assess the value of Inbrija before the patient has to incur out-of-pocket co-pay or co-insurance costs.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting from the gradual loss of certain neurons in the brain. These neurons are responsible for producing dopamine and that loss causes a range of symptoms including impaired movement, muscle stiffness and tremors. The standard baseline treatment of Parkinson’s disease is oral carbidopa/levodopa, but oral medication can be associated with wide variability in the timing and amount of absorption and there are significant challenges in creating a regimen that consistently maintains therapeutic effects. As Parkinson’s progresses, people are likely to experience OFF periods, which are characterized by the return of Parkinson’s symptoms that result from low levels of dopamine between doses oral carbidopa/levodopa. OFF periods are often highly disruptive to people with Parkinson’s. Approximately one million people in the U.S. and 1.2 million Europeans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s; it is estimated that approximately 40% of people with Parkinson’s in the U.S. experience OFF periods.
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Inbrija is an on-demand treatment that utilizes our innovative ARCUS platform for inhaled therapeutics. ARCUS is a dry-powder pulmonary drug delivery technology that we believe has potential to be used in the development of a variety of inhaled medicines. The ARCUS platform allows systemic delivery of medication through inhalation, by transforming molecules into a light, porous dry powder. This allows delivery of substantially higher doses of medication than can be delivered via conventional dry powder technologies. We acquired the ARCUS technology platform as part of our 2014 acquisition of Civitas Therapeutics. We have worldwide rights to our ARCUS drug delivery technology, which is protected by extensive know-how and trade secrets and various U.S. and foreign patents, including patents that protect the Inbrija dry powder capsules beyond 2030. We have several patents listed in the Orange Book for Inbrija, including patents expiring between 2022 and 2032, and Inbrija is entitled to three years of regulatory exclusivity, through December 21, 2021, as posted in the Orange Book.
FDA approval of Inbrija was based on a clinical program that included approximately 900 people with Parkinson’s on a carbidopa/levodopa regimen experiencing OFF periods. The Phase 3 pivotal trial for Inbrija – SPAN-PD – was a 12-week, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind study evaluating the effectiveness of Inbrija in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s experiencing OFF periods. In January 2019, we announced that The Lancet Neurology published results from the SPAN-PD clinical trial.
The SPAN-PD trial met its primary endpoint, with patients showing a statistically significant improvement in motor function at the week 12 visit, as measured by a reduction in Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) Part III score for Inbrija 84 mg (n=114) compared to placebo (n=112) at 30 minutes post-dose (-9.83 points and -5.91 points respectively; p=0.009). Onset of action was seen as early as 10 minutes. Maintenance of effect continued to 60 minutes post-dose, which is the longest time point assessed in the trial. UPDRS III is a validated scale, which measures Parkinson’s disease motor impairment.
The most common adverse reactions with Inbrija (at least 5% and greater than placebo) in the pivotal trial were cough (15% vs. 2%), upper respiratory tract infection (6% vs. 3%), nausea (5% vs. 3%) and discolored sputum (5% vs. 0%).
Inbrija was also studied in a Phase 3 long-term, active-controlled, randomized, open-label study (N=398) assessing safety and tolerability over one year. This study showed the average reduction in FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second) from baseline was the same (-0.1 L) for the Inbrija and observational cohorts. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or other chronic respiratory disease within the last five years were excluded from this study.
Inbrija is not to be used by patients who take or have taken a nonselective monoamine oxidase inhibitor such as phenelzine or tranylcypromine within the last two weeks.
It is not known if Inbrija is safe or effective in children.
Ampyra
Ampyra, an extended release tablet formulation of dalfampridine (4-aminopyridine, 4-AP), was approved by the FDA in January 2010 to improve walking in adults with MS. To our knowledge, Ampyra is the first drug approved for this indication. Ampyra demonstrated efficacy in people with all four major types of MS (relapsing remitting, secondary progressive, progressive relapsing and primary progressive). Ampyra was made commercially available in the U.S. in March 2010, and had net revenue of $455.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.
We have been engaged in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers relating to our five initial Orange Book-listed Ampyra patents. In 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) issued a ruling that upheld our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidated our four other Orange Book-listed patents pertaining to Ampyra that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. Under this decision, our patent exclusivity with respect to Ampyra terminated on July 30, 2018. We appealed the District Court decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”), which issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. This litigation is discussed in further detail in Part I, Item 3 of this report. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the Appellate Decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales.
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Our strategic priorities include exploring opportunities for other proprietary products in which inhaled delivery of medicine using our ARCUS drug delivery technology can provide a significant therapeutic benefit to patients. We are looking at disorders of the central nervous system, or CNS, as well as non-CNS opportunities for ARCUS.
Our ARCUS program for acute treatment of migraine is our most advanced ARCUS development program, and one of our strategic priorities. We initiated this program studying an ARCUS-based formulation of an inhaled triptan (zolmitriptan), although as further described below, we are now looking at three different candidates for this program. Triptans are the class of drug most commonly prescribed for acute treatment of migraine. Oral triptans, which account for the majority of all triptan doses, can be associated with slow onset of action and gastrointestinal challenges. The slow onset of action, usually 30 minutes or longer, can result in poor response rates. Patients cite the need for rapid relief from migraine symptoms as their most desired medication attribute. Additionally, individuals with migraine may suffer from nausea and delayed gastric emptying which further impact the consistency and efficacy of the oral route of administration. Triptans delivered subcutaneously (injection) provide the most rapid onset of action, but are not convenient for patients.
In December 2015, we initiated and completed a Phase 1 safety/tolerability and pharmacokinetic clinical trial of our ARCUS-based zolmitriptan formulation for acute treatment of migraine. In June 2016, at the 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society, we presented pharmacokinetic data from the Phase 1 trial which showed increased bioavailability and faster absorption compared to oral and nasal administration of the same active ingredient in healthy adults. In particular, the data showed that our ARCUS-based zolmitriptan formulation had a median Tmax of about 12 minutes for all dose levels compared to 1.5 hours for the oral tablet and 3.0 hours for the nasal spray. There were no serious adverse events, dose-limiting toxicities, evidence of bronchoconstriction or discontinuations due to adverse events reported in this study. The most commonly reported treatment-emergent adverse events were cough, chest discomfort, headache, and feeling hot. Apart from cough, single dose tolerability was generally consistent with the known safety profile of zolmitriptan. In December 2016, we completed a special population study to evaluate safe inhalation of our zolmitriptan formulation in people with asthma and in smokers. Some subjects showed evidence of acute, reversible bronchoconstriction, post-inhalation. We have proceeded with additional formulation work on three different migraine candidates for this program, including reformulation of our ARCUS-based zolmitriptan, and we will be potentially moving one of these forward for further development.
In July 2015, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded us a $1.4 million grant to support the development of a formulation and delivery system for a dry powder version of lung surfactant, a treatment for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, or nRDS. In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we developed a formulation and delivery device based on our proprietary ARCUS drug delivery technology. nRDS is a condition affecting prematurely born infants in which their lungs are underdeveloped and thus lack a sufficient amount of lung surfactant. It can be fatal, or lead to severe, chronic health issues caused by a lack of oxygen getting to the baby’s brain and other organs. Delivering liquid surfactant to the lungs via intubation is the standard of care. We believe that our formulation and delivery system may present a more practical alternative for use in developing areas of the world, where intubation poses numerous problems. Based on recent achievement of pre-clinical proof of concept, the foundation has expanded the funding to include pre-IND development. This program is not aimed at developing a commercial product, but our work on this program could potentially generate information that is useful for adapting the ARCUS drug delivery technology to commercial pediatric uses.
Other Research and Development Programs
Following is a description of our other research and development programs.
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SYN120: SYN120 is a potential treatment for Parkinson’s-related dementia, which we acquired with Biotie Therapies. Data from a Phase 2 exploratory study that we completed in 2017 showed that several of the outcome measures trended in favor of drug versus placebo, particularly with respect to neuropsychiatric symptoms. However, neither the primary nor key secondary endpoints achieved statistical significance. We are continuing to review the data. |
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BTT1023: Through Biotie Therapies, we are also developing BTT1023 (timolumab), a product candidate for the orphan disease Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, or PSC, a chronic and progressive liver disease. There are no approved drug therapies for PSC and liver transplant is the only treatment. The University of Birmingham had been conducting a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial of BTT1023 for PSC, and data from the trial were expected in the fourth quarter of 2018, but the university recently informed us that they terminated the trial. |
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Cimaglermin alfa: Cimaglermin alfa is a member of the neuregulin growth factor family, and has been shown to promote recovery after neurological injury, as well as enhance heart function in animal models of heart failure. In 2013, we commenced a Phase 1b single-infusion trial in people with heart failure, which assessed the tolerability of three dose levels of cimaglermin, and also included an assessment of drug-drug interactions and several exploratory measures of efficacy. In 2015 we announced that we had stopped enrollment in this trial based on the occurrence of a case of hepatotoxicity (liver injury) manifested by clinical symptoms and an elevation in liver chemistry tests meeting the FDA Drug-Induced Liver Injury Guidance (FDA 2009) stopping rules. We also received a notification of clinical hold from the FDA following submission of this information. The abnormal blood tests resolved within two to three weeks. We subsequently conducted additional analyses and non-clinical studies to further define the nature of the hepatoxicity, and met with the FDA to present these data as part of our request that the program be removed from the clinical hold. The FDA lifted the clinical hold in April 2017. We are seeking to partner or out-license this program. |
Qutenza/NP-1998 Sale
On October 30, 2018, we sold our Qutenza assets and NP-1998 development program. Qutenza is a dermal patch containing 8% prescription strength capsaicin the effects of which can last up to three months and is approved by the FDA for the management of neuropathic pain associated with post-herpetic neuralgia, also known as post-shingles pain. NP-1998 is a Phase 3 ready, 20% prescription strength capsaicin topical solution that we were previously assessing for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Under the asset purchase agreement, the buyer made aggregate cash payments to us of approximately $7.9 million for the assets and we are entitled to receive up to an additional $35.0 million in cash based on achievement of specified U.S. sales milestones for Qutenza and, if it receives FDA approval, NP-1998.
Our Strategy
Our strategy is to continue to grow as a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company and to become a leading neurology company dedicated to the identification, development and commercialization of therapies that restore function and improve the lives of people with neurological disorders. We are seeking to leverage our scientific, clinical and commercial expertise in neurology. Following are our 2019 strategic priorities:
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Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder): Launching the commercial sale of Inbrija in the U.S.; obtaining approval of our European Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, for Inbrija; and continuing with potential partnering discussions for commercialization outside of the U.S. |
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ARCUS Platform: Advancing our efforts to develop additional therapeutics based on our proprietary ARCUS pulmonary drug delivery technology, looking at central nervous system, or CNS, as well as non-CNS opportunities, including our program to develop an ARCUS-based treatment for acute migraine. |
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Financial Management: Focusing on financial discipline to maintain a strong balance sheet, control expenses and deploy resources to maximize shareholder value. |
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Our Products and Product Pipeline
Commercial Products |
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Indication |
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Status |
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Marketing Rights |
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) |
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Parkinson’s disease OFF periods/episodes |
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FDA-approved |
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Acorda/Worldwide; seeking to out-license/partner outside of the U.S. |
Ampyra |
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MS |
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FDA-approved and marketed in the U.S. |
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Acorda (U.S.) |
Fampyra* |
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MS |
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Approved in a number of countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas |
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Biogen (outside U.S.) |
Selincro** |
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Alcohol Dependence |
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EMA-approved |
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Lundbeck |
Research and Development Programs |
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Proposed Therapeutic Area(s) |
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Stage of Development |
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Marketing Rights |
ARCUS for acute migraine |
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Acute migraine |
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Preclinical evaluation of three potential candidate molecules |
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Acorda/Worldwide |
SYN120 |
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Parkinson’s disease-related dementia |
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Phase 2 clinical trial completed; endpoints not met, data under review |
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Acorda (Biotie)/Worldwide |
BTT1023 (timolumab) |
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Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis |
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Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial terminated |
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Acorda (Biotie)/Worldwide; |
rHIgM22 |
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MS |
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Phase 1 trial completed; considering next steps |
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Acorda/Worldwide |
Cimaglermin alfa |
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Heart failure |
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Phase 1b clinical trial hold lifted in April 2017 |
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Acorda/Worldwide; seeking to out-license/partner |
* In November 2017, we announced a $40 million Fampyra royalty monetization transaction with HealthCare Royalty Partners, or HCRP. In return for the payment to us, HCRP obtained the right to receive royalties on Fampyra payable to us by Biogen, up to an agreed-upon threshold of royalties. Until this threshold is met, if ever, we will not receive Fampyra royalty revenue although we have retained the right to receive any potential future milestone payments from Biogen.
** In November 2017, we announced a royalty monetization with Lundbeck pursuant to which we received a $13 million payment from Lundbeck in exchange for an amendment to its Selincro license eliminating Lundbeck’s future royalty and milestone obligations on sales of Selincro outside of the U.S. Selincro is not approved for use in the U.S. and is not under development for use in the U.S.
Background on Neurological Conditions
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies that restore function and improve the lives of people with neurological disorders. Where our neurology programs may also show promise for disorders outside of the nervous system, we may elect to pursue these opportunistically as well. Currently, we are focused on developing and marketing therapeutics targeted to the conditions described below. We believe there is significant unmet medical need for these conditions, which can severely impact the lives of those who suffer from them.
Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting from the gradual loss of certain neurons in the brain. These neurons are responsible for producing dopamine and that loss causes a range of symptoms including impaired movement, muscle stiffness and tremors. Approximately one million Americans and 1.2 million Europeans suffer from Parkinson’s. There is no cure or disease-modifying treatment currently available for Parkinson’s. Current treatment strategies are focused on the management and reduction of the major symptoms of the disease and related disabilities. These therapies either aim to supplement dopamine levels in the brain, mimic the effect of dopamine in the brain by stimulating dopamine receptors or prevent the enzymatic breakdown of dopamine. The standard of care for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease symptoms is oral carbidopa/levodopa. Approximately 70% of people with Parkinson’s disease in the U.S. are treated with oral carbidopa/levodopa. Effective control of Parkinson’s disease symptoms is referred to as an ON state.
As Parkinson’s disease progresses, people are likely to experience OFF periods, also known as OFF episodes, which are characterized by the return of Parkinson’s symptoms, which can occur despite underlying baseline therapy. Even optimized regimens of oral carbidopa/levodopa are associated with increasingly wide variability in the timing and amount of absorption into the bloodstream. This results in the unreliable control of symptoms, leading to motor complications including
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OFF periods. OFF periods can increase in frequency and severity during the course of the disease, and remain one of the most challenging aspects of the disease despite optimized regimens with current therapeutic options and strategies. About half of people with Parkinson’s disease treated with levodopa therapy experience OFF periods within five years of initiating treatment. For the approximately 350,000 people in the U.S. and 420,000 in Europe who experience them, OFF periods are inadequately addressed by available therapies and are considered one of the greatest unmet medical needs facing people with Parkinson’s disease. OFF periods can be very disruptive to the lives of people with Parkinson’s disease, their families and caregivers. In a survey of 3,000 people with Parkinson’s conducted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, 64% of respondents reporting having at least two hours of OFF time per day.
According to recent studies following people with Parkinson’s disease over the entire course of their illness, approximately 50-80% may experience dementia. Some studies have reported that the average time from onset of Parkinson’s disease to developing dementia is about 10 years. Dementia is a physical change in the brain that causes a decline in the brain’s ability to process and understand information, and can affect thinking, perception, and mood. As Parkinson’s disease progresses over time, Parkinson’s disease-related dementia can cause problems with: memory loss and forgetfulness; speaking and communicating with others; problem solving and understanding of complex ideas; paying attention; emotional control, mood, and motivation; confusion, anxiety, and hallucinations.
Migraine
Migraine is a neurological syndrome characterized by pain, nausea, abnormal sensitivity to sound and abnormal sensitivity to light. It is believed to affect over 10% of the global population. In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health estimates 12% of the population, or approximately 37 million people, suffer from migraine, with women being nearly three times more affected than men. Triptans are the class of drug most commonly prescribed for acute treatment of migraine. Oral triptans, which account for the majority of all triptan doses, can be associated with slow onset of action and gastrointestinal challenges. The slow onset of action, usually 30 minutes or longer, can result in poor response rates. Patients cite the need for rapid relief from migraine symptoms as their most desired medication attribute. Additionally, individuals with migraine may suffer from nausea and delayed gastric emptying which further impact the consistency and efficacy of the oral route of administration. Triptans delivered subcutaneously (injection) provide the most rapid onset of action, but are not convenient for patients.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, is a chronic, usually progressive disease in which the immune system attacks and degrades the function of nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. These nerve fibers consist of long, thin fibers, or axons, surrounded by a myelin sheath, which facilitates the transmission of electrical impulses, much as insulation facilitates conduction in an electrical wire. In MS, the myelin sheath is damaged by the body's own immune system, causing areas of myelin sheath loss, also known as demyelination. This damage, which can occur at multiple sites in the central nervous system, blocks or diminishes conduction of electrical impulses. Patients with MS may suffer impairments in a wide range of neurological functions. These impairments vary from individual to individual and over the course of time, depending on which parts of the brain and spinal cord are affected, and often include difficulty walking. Individuals vary in the severity of the impairments they suffer on a day-to-day basis, with impairments becoming better or worse depending on the activity of the disease on a given day.
Approximately 400,000 people in the U.S. suffer from MS, and each year approximately 10,000 people in the U.S. are newly diagnosed. In a poll of more than 2,000 people with MS, 87% said they experienced some limitation to their walking ability and limited activities that involved walking. Among MS patients diagnosed within the last 5 years, 58% report experiencing mobility issues at least twice a week. In the European Union, over 700,000 people suffer from MS, and an additional 100,000 people in Canada are also diagnosed with this disease.
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder)
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) is the first and only inhaled levodopa, or L-dopa, for intermittent treatment of OFF episodes, also known as OFF periods, in people with Parkinson’s disease treated with carbidopa/levodopa regimen. Our New Drug Application, or NDA, for Inbrija was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, on December 21, 2018. The approval is for a single dose of 84 mg, with no titration required. We expect Inbrija to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2019 and to be distributed through a network of specialty pharmacies.
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We are seeking approval to market Inbrija in the European Union, and accordingly we filed a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, with the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, in March 2018. In May 2018, we announced that the EMA completed formal validation of the MAA for Inbrija, and that the review of the MAA will be according to standard timelines. After the adoption of a Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, opinion, we expect a final decision regarding the MAA from the European Commission before the end of 2019. We are in discussions with potential partners regarding the distribution of Inbrija outside of the U.S.
We intend to market Inbrija in the U.S. through our own specialty sales force and commercial infrastructure. We believe we have built a leading neuro-specialty sales and marketing team through our commercialization of Ampyra, and that our commercial sale of Inbrija in the U.S. will benefit from the experiences and capabilities of this team. Importantly, we kept our commercial team substantially intact following a 2017 company restructuring. We currently have approximately 90 sales representatives as well as established teams of Medical Science Liaisons, Regional Reimbursement Directors, and Market Access Account Directors who provide information to payers and physicians on our marketed products; a National Trade Account Director who works with our network of specialty pharmacies for Inbrija; and Market Development Managers who work collaboratively with field teams and corporate personnel to assist in the execution of the Company’s strategic initiatives.
Our preparations for the commercial sale of Inbrija continue, including sales force training and education, managed care discussions, market research and social media initiatives. In advance of the launch of commercial sale, we are visiting movement disorder and key neurology centers to provide education and training on Inbrija’s clinical profile, the appropriate use of the Inbrija inhaler, and our Prescription Support Services hub, described below. We project that annual peak net revenue of Inbrija in the U.S. alone could exceed $800 million.
In January 2019, we established Prescription Support Services, which we sometimes refer to as the Inbrija hub, a service provided by Acorda which is designed to help patients navigate their insurance coverage and offer reimbursement support services, when appropriate. Services fall into one of these four categories: insurance verification, to research patient insurance benefits and confirm insurance coverage; prior authorization support, to identify prior authorization requirements; appeals support; and assistance identifying which specialty pharmacy a patient will utilize based on their insurance coverage. For patients that may need assistance paying for their medication, Prescription Support Services will offer several support options, including: a patient assistance program, that provides no cost medication to patients who meet specific program eligibility requirements; co-pay support, which may help commercially insured (non-government funded) patients lower their out-of-pocket costs; and a bridge program, for federally-insured patients who experience a delay in coverage determination. We intend to implement a no-cost sample program to enable patients and their physicians to assess the value of Inbrija before the patient has to incur out-of-pocket co-pay or co-insurance costs.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting from the gradual loss of certain neurons in the brain. These neurons are responsible for producing dopamine and that loss causes a range of symptoms including impaired movement, muscle stiffness and tremors. The standard baseline treatment of Parkinson’s disease is oral carbidopa/levodopa, but oral medication can be associated with wide variability in the timing and amount of absorption and there are significant challenges in creating a regimen that consistently maintains therapeutic effects. As Parkinson’s progresses, people are likely to experience OFF periods, which are characterized by the return of Parkinson’s symptoms that result from low levels of dopamine between doses oral carbidopa/levodopa. OFF periods are often highly disruptive to people with Parkinson’s. Approximately one million people in the U.S. and 1.2 million Europeans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s; it is estimated that approximately 40% of people with Parkinson’s in the U.S. experience OFF periods.
Inbrija is an on-demand treatment that utilizes our innovative ARCUS platform for inhaled therapeutics. ARCUS is a dry-powder pulmonary drug delivery technology that we believe has potential to be used in the development of a variety of inhaled medicines. The ARCUS platform allows systemic delivery of medication through inhalation, by transforming molecules into a light, porous dry powder. This allows delivery of substantially higher doses of medication than can be delivered via conventional dry powder technologies. We acquired the ARCUS technology platform as part of our 2014 acquisition of Civitas Therapeutics. We have worldwide rights to our ARCUS drug delivery technology, which is protected by extensive know-how and trade secrets and various U.S. and foreign patents, including patents that protect the Inbrija dry powder capsules beyond 2030. We have several patents listed in the Orange Book for Inbrija, including patents expiring between 2022 and 2032, and Inbrija is entitled to three years of regulatory exclusivity, through December 21, 2021, as posted in the Orange Book.
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Clinical Studies and Safety Profile
FDA approval of Inbrija was based on a clinical program that included approximately 900 people with Parkinson’s on a carbidopa/levodopa regimen experiencing OFF periods. The Phase 3 pivotal trial for Inbrija – SPAN-PD – was a 12-week, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind study evaluating the effectiveness of Inbrija in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s experiencing OFF periods. In January 2019, we announced that The Lancet Neurology published results from the SPAN-PD clinical trial.
The SPAN-PD trial met its primary endpoint, with patients showing a statistically significant improvement in motor function at the week 12 visit, as measured by a reduction in Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) Part III score for Inbrija 84 mg (n=114) compared to placebo (n=112) at 30 minutes post-dose (-9.83 points and -5.91 points respectively; p=0.009). Onset of action was seen as early as 10 minutes. Maintenance of effect continued to 60 minutes post-dose, which is the longest time point assessed in the trial. UPDRS III is a validated scale, which measures Parkinson’s disease motor impairment.
The most common adverse reactions with Inbrija (at least 5% and greater than placebo) in the pivotal trial were cough (15% vs. 2%), upper respiratory tract infection (6% vs. 3%), nausea (5% vs. 3%) and discolored sputum (5% vs. 0%).
Inbrija was also studied in a Phase 3 long-term, active-controlled, randomized, open-label study (N=398) assessing safety and tolerability over one year. This study showed the average reduction in FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second) from baseline was the same (-0.1 L) for the Inbrija and observational cohorts. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or other chronic respiratory disease within the last five years were excluded from this study.
Inbrija is not to be used by patients who take or have taken a nonselective monoamine oxidase inhibitor such as phenelzine or tranylcypromine within the last two weeks.
Additional Important Safety Information
Before using Inbrija, patients should tell their healthcare provider about all their medical conditions, including:
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asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or any chronic lung disease |
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daytime sleepiness from a sleep disorder or if they get drowsy/sleepy without warning or take a medicine that increases sleepiness such as sleep medicines, antidepressants, or antipsychotics |
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feel dizzy, nausea, sweaty, or faint when standing from sitting/lying down |
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history of abnormal movement (dyskinesia) |
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mental health problem such as hallucinations or psychosis |
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uncontrollable urges (for example, gambling, increased sexual urges, intense urges to spend money, or binge eating) |
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glaucoma |
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pregnancy or plans to become pregnant. It is not known if Inbrija will harm an unborn baby. |
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breastfeeding or plans to breastfeed. Levodopa (the medicine in Inbrija) can pass into breastmilk and it is unknown if it can harm the baby. |
Patients should tell their healthcare provider if they take:
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MAO-B inhibitors |
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dopamine D2 receptor antagonists (including phenothiazines, butyrophenones, risperidone, metoclopramide), or isoniazid |
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iron salts or multivitamins that contain iron salts |
No more than 1 dose (2 capsules) should be taken for any OFF period. No more than 5 doses (10 capsules) of Inbrija should be taken in a day.
Inbrija is for oral inhalation only. Inbrija capsules are not to be swallowed or opened.
Patients are not to drive, operate machinery, or do other activities until they know how Inbrija affects them. Sleepiness and falling asleep suddenly can happen as late as a year after treatment is started.
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) can cause serious side effects including the following. Patients should tell their healthcare provider if they experience them:
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falling asleep during normal daily activities (such as driving, doing physical tasks, using hazardous machinery, talking, or eating) and can be without warning. If patients become drowsy while using Inbrija, they should not drive or do activities where they need to be alert. Chances of falling asleep during normal activities increases if patients take medicines that cause sleepiness. |
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withdrawal-emergent hyperpyrexia and confusion (symptoms including fever, confusion, stiff muscles, and changes in breathing and heartbeat) in patients who suddenly lower or change their dose or stop using Inbrija or carbidopa/levodopa medicines. |
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low blood pressure with or without dizziness, fainting, nausea, and sweating. Patients should get up slowly after sitting or lying down. |
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hallucinations and other psychosis – Inbrija may cause or worsen psychotic symptoms including hallucinations (seeing/hearing things that are not real); confusion, disorientation, or disorganized thinking; trouble sleeping; dreaming a lot; being overly suspicious or feeling people want to harm them; believing things that are not real, acting aggressive, and feeling agitated/restless. |
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unusual uncontrollable urges such as gambling, binge eating, shopping, and sexual urges has occurred in some people using medicines like Inbrija. |
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uncontrolled, sudden body movements (dyskinesia) may be caused or worsened by Inbrija. Inbrija may need to be stopped or other Parkinson’s medicines may need to be changed. |
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bronchospasm – people with asthma, COPD, or other lung diseases may wheeze or have difficulty breathing after inhaling Inbrija. If patients have these symptoms, they should stop taking Inbrija and call their healthcare provider or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away. |
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increased eye pressure in patients with glaucoma. Healthcare providers should monitor this. |
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changes in certain lab values including liver tests. |
The most common side effects of Inbrija include cough, upper respiratory tract infection, nausea, and change in the color of saliva or spit.
It is not known if Inbrija is safe or effective in children.
Ampyra
Ampyra (dalfampridine) is an oral drug approved by the FDA on January 22, 2010 as a treatment to improve walking in patients with MS. This was demonstrated by an increase in walking speed. Ampyra demonstrated efficacy in people with all four major types of MS (relapsing remitting, secondary progressive, progressive relapsing and primary progressive).
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Ampyra can be used alone or with concurrent medications, including immunomodulatory drugs. The majority of patients in our two Phase 3 clinical trials for Ampyra (63%) were taking immunomodulatory drugs (interferons, glatiramer acetate, or natalizumab). Ampyra is an extended release tablet formulation of dalfampridine (4-aminopyridine, 4-AP), which was previously referred to as fampridine. Dalfampridine is a potassium channel blocker. In animal studies, dalfampridine has been shown to increase conduction of nerve signals in demyelinated axons through blocking of potassium channels. The mechanism by which dalfampridine exerts its therapeutic effect has not been fully elucidated.
We have been engaged in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers relating to our five initial Orange Book-listed Ampyra patents. In 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) issued a ruling that upheld our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidated our four other Orange Book-listed patents pertaining to Ampyra that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. Under this decision, our patent exclusivity with respect to Ampyra terminated on July 30, 2018. We appealed the District Court decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”), which issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. This litigation is discussed in further detail in Part I, Item 3 of this report. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the Appellate Decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales.
License and Collaboration Agreement with Biogen
Ampyra is marketed as Fampyra outside the U.S. by Biogen International GmbH, or Biogen, under a license and collaboration agreement that we entered into in June 2009. Fampyra has been approved in a number of countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Under our agreement with Biogen, we are entitled to receive double-digit tiered royalties on sales of Fampyra and we are also entitled to receive additional payments based on achievement of certain regulatory and sales milestones. We received a $25 million milestone payment from Biogen in 2011, which was triggered by Biogen’s receipt of conditional approval from the European Commission for Fampyra. The next expected milestone payment would be $15 million, due when ex-U.S. net sales exceed $100 million over four consecutive quarters. In November 2017, we announced a $40 million Fampyra royalty monetization transaction with HealthCare Royalty Partners, or HCRP. In return for the payment to us, HCRP obtained the right to receive these Fampyra royalties up to an agreed-upon threshold. Until this threshold is met, if ever, we will not receive Fampyra royalties although we have retained the right to receive any potential future milestone payments, described above. The HCRP transaction is accounted for as a liability, as described in Note 11 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report.
Ampyra Patent Update
Six issued Ampyra patents have been listed in the Orange Book. The five initial Orange Book-listed patents have been the subject of litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers, as described above. In connection with the litigation, our Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, was upheld, but four other Ampyra patents set to expire between 2025 and 2027 were invalidated. The litigation is discussed in further detail in Part I, Item 3 of this report.
The sixth Orange Book-listed patent, not involved in the litigation, was issued more recently and was listed in the Orange Book in April 2018. The sixth Orange Book-listed patent is U.S. Patent No. 9,918,973, the claims of which relate to methods of increasing walking speed in patients with MS by administering 10 mg of sustained release 4-aminopyridine (dalfampridine) twice daily. This patent will expire in 2024. We note that this patent does not entitle us to any additional statutory stay of approval under the Hatch-Waxman Act against the generic drug manufacturers that are involved in the patent litigation described in this report.
In 2011, the European Patent Office, or EPO, granted EP 1732548, with claims relating to, among other things, use of a sustained release aminopyridine composition, such as dalfampridine (known under the trade name Fampyra in the European Union), to increase walking speed. In March 2012, Synthon B.V. and neuraxpharm Arzneimittel GmBH filed oppositions with the EPO challenging the EP 1732548 patent. We defended the patent, and in December 2013, we announced that the EPO Opposition Division upheld amended claims in this patent covering a sustained release formulation of dalfampridine for increasing walking in patients with MS through twice daily dosing at 10 mg. Both Synthon B.V. and neuraxpharm Arzneimittel GmBH have appealed the decision. In December 2013, Synthon B.V., neuraxpharm Arzneimittel GmBH and Actavis Group PTC EHF filed oppositions with the EPO challenging our EP 2377536 patent, which is a divisional of the EP 1732548 patent. In February 2016, the EPO Opposition Division rendered a decision that revoked the EP 2377536 patent. We
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believe the claims of this patent are valid and we have appealed the decision. Both European patents, if upheld as valid, are set to expire in 2025, absent any additional exclusivity granted based on regulatory review timelines. The appeal hearings for both patents are scheduled for September 2019. Fampyra also has 10 years of market exclusivity in the European Union that is set to expire in 2021.
We will vigorously defend our intellectual property rights.
Clinical Studies and Safety Profile
Our New Drug Application, or NDA, for Ampyra was based on data from a comprehensive development program assessing the safety and efficacy of Ampyra, including two Phase 3 trials that involved 540 people with MS. The primary measure of efficacy in our two Phase 3 MS trials was walking speed (in feet per second) as measured by the Timed 25-foot Walk (T25FW), using a responder analysis. A responder was defined as a patient who showed faster walking speed for at least three visits out of a possible four during the double-blind period than the maximum speed achieved in the five non-double-blind, no treatment visits (four before the double-blind period and one after). A significantly greater proportion of patients taking Ampyra 10 mg twice daily were responders compared to patients taking placebo, as measured by the T25FW (Trial 1: 34.8% vs. 8.3%; Trial 2: 42.9% vs. 9.3%). The increased response rate in the Ampyra group was observed across all four major types of MS. During the double-blind treatment period, a significantly greater proportion of patients taking Ampyra 10 mg twice daily had increases in walking speed of at least 10%, 20%, or 30% from baseline, compared to placebo. In both trials, the consistent improvements in walking speed were shown to be associated with improvements on a patient self-assessment of ambulatory disability, the 12 item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12), for both drug and placebo treated patients. However, a drug vs. placebo difference was not established for that outcome measure.
In October 2015, we presented 5-year post-marketing safety data for dalfampridine extended release tablets in MS at the 31st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) annual meeting. The data presented continue to be consistent with those reported in double-blind clinical trials, with incidence of reported seizure remaining stable over time.
The FDA’s approval letter included certain post-marketing study requirements and confirmed certain commitments made by us with respect to Ampyra, all of which we have now completed. The post-marketing requirements included additional animal toxicology studies to evaluate certain impurities, in-vitro receptor binding and abuse potential studies in animals, and an evaluation of clinical adverse events related to abuse potential. We completed these studies and timely submitted the results to the FDA. Also, we committed to the FDA that we would conduct a placebo-controlled trial to evaluate a 5 mg twice-daily dosing regimen of Ampyra, as well as a pharmacokinetic evaluation of a 7.5 mg dosage strength in patients with mild or moderate renal impairment. We also committed to report all post-marketing seizure events on an expedited basis to the FDA. We completed the renal impairment study and timely submitted the results to the FDA, but the FDA may require additional studies. In August 2012, we announced results of the 5mg efficacy study. The study failed to confirm efficacy of the 5mg dose. We believe that this study, together with Ampyra registration studies, continue to show that 10mg twice daily is the appropriate, safe, and effective dose. The study results were provided to the FDA, which subsequently confirmed that we have satisfied this post-marketing requirement.
In our two Phase 3 clinical studies of Ampyra in spinal cord injury, which were completed in 2004, the results did not reach statistical significance on their primary endpoints.
ARCUS Product Development
Our strategic priorities include exploring opportunities for other proprietary products in which inhaled delivery of medicine using our ARCUS drug delivery technology can provide a significant therapeutic benefit to patients. We are looking at disorders of the central nervous system, or CNS, as well as non-CNS opportunities for ARCUS.
Our ARCUS program for acute treatment of migraine is our most advanced ARCUS development program, and one of our strategic priorities. We initiated this program studying an ARCUS-based formulation of an inhaled triptan (zolmitriptan), although as further described below, we are now looking at three different candidates for this program. Triptans are the class of drug most commonly prescribed for acute treatment of migraine. Oral triptans, which account for the majority of all triptan doses, can be associated with slow onset of action and gastrointestinal challenges. The slow onset of action, usually 30 minutes or longer, can result in poor response rates. Patients cite the need for rapid relief from migraine symptoms as their most desired medication attribute. Additionally, individuals with migraine may suffer from nausea and delayed gastric
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emptying which further impact the consistency and efficacy of the oral route of administration. Triptans delivered subcutaneously (injection) provide the most rapid onset of action, but are not convenient for patients.
In December 2015, we initiated and completed a Phase 1 safety/tolerability and pharmacokinetic clinical trial of our ARCUS-based zolmitriptan formulation for acute treatment of migraine. In June 2016, at the 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society, we presented pharmacokinetic data from the Phase 1 trial which showed increased bioavailability and faster absorption compared to oral and nasal administration of the same active ingredient in healthy adults. In particular, the data showed that our ARCUS-based zolmitriptan formulation had a median Tmax of about 12 minutes for all dose levels compared to 1.5 hours for the oral tablet and 3.0 hours for the nasal spray. There were no serious adverse events, dose-limiting toxicities, evidence of bronchoconstriction or discontinuations due to adverse events reported in this study. The most commonly reported treatment-emergent adverse events were cough, chest discomfort, headache, and feeling hot. Apart from cough, single dose tolerability was generally consistent with the known safety profile of zolmitriptan. In December 2016, we completed a special population study to evaluate safe inhalation of our zolmitriptan formulation in people with asthma and in smokers. Some subjects showed evidence of acute, reversible bronchoconstriction, post-inhalation. We have proceeded with additional formulation work on three different migraine candidates for this program, including reformulation of our ARCUS-based zolmitriptan, and we will be potentially moving one of these forward for further development.
In July 2015, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded us a $1.4 million grant to support the development of a formulation and delivery system for a dry powder version of lung surfactant, a treatment for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, or nRDS. In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we developed a formulation and delivery device based on our proprietary ARCUS drug delivery technology. nRDS is a condition affecting prematurely born infants in which their lungs are underdeveloped and thus lack a sufficient amount of lung surfactant. It can be fatal, or lead to severe, chronic health issues caused by a lack of oxygen getting to the baby’s brain and other organs. Delivering liquid surfactant to the lungs via intubation is the standard of care. We believe that our formulation and delivery system may present a more practical alternative for use in developing areas of the world, where intubation poses numerous problems. Based on recent achievement of pre-clinical proof of concept, the foundation has expanded the funding to include pre-IND development. This program is not aimed at developing a commercial product, but our work on this program could potentially generate information that is useful for adapting the ARCUS drug delivery technology to commercial pediatric uses.
Other Research and Development Programs
Following is a description of our other research and development programs.
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SYN120: SYN120 is a potential treatment for Parkinson’s-related dementia, which we acquired with Biotie Therapies. Data from a Phase 2 exploratory study that we completed in 2017 showed that several of the outcome measures trended in favor of drug versus placebo, particularly with respect to neuropsychiatric symptoms. However, neither the primary nor key secondary endpoints achieved statistical significance. We are continuing to review the data. |
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BTT1023: Through Biotie Therapies, we are also developing BTT1023 (timolumab), a product candidate for the orphan disease Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, or PSC, a chronic and progressive liver disease. There are no approved drug therapies for PSC and liver transplant is the only treatment. The University of Birmingham had been conducting a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial of BTT1023 for PSC, and data from the trial were expected in the fourth quarter of 2018, but the university recently informed us that they terminated the trial. |
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rHIgM22: We are developing rHIgM22, a remyelinating antibody, as a potential therapeutic for MS. We believe a therapy that could repair myelin sheaths has the potential to restore neurological function to those affected by demyelinating conditions. We have completed and analyzed data from a Phase 1 trial using one of two doses of rHIgM22 or placebo in 27 people with MS who experienced an acute relapse. In addition to assessing safety and tolerability during an acute relapse, the study included exploratory efficacy measures such as a timed walk, magnetization transfer ratio imaging of lesion myelination in the brain and various biomarkers. Data from the trial showed that a single dose of rHIgM22 was not associated with any safety signals. The trial’s primary objectives were safety and tolerability of a single dose following a relapse. The study was not powered to show efficacy and exploratory measures showed no difference between the treatment groups. We are considering next steps for the program. |
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2013, we commenced a Phase 1b single-infusion trial in people with heart failure, which assessed the tolerability of three dose levels of cimaglermin, and also included an assessment of drug-drug interactions and several exploratory measures of efficacy. In 2015 we announced that we had stopped enrollment in this trial based on the occurrence of a case of hepatotoxicity (liver injury) manifested by clinical symptoms and an elevation in liver chemistry tests meeting the FDA Drug-Induced Liver Injury Guidance (FDA 2009) stopping rules. We also received a notification of clinical hold from the FDA following submission of this information. The abnormal blood tests resolved within two to three weeks. We subsequently conducted additional analyses and non-clinical studies to further define the nature of the hepatoxicity, and met with the FDA to present these data as part of our request that the program be removed from the clinical hold. The FDA lifted the clinical hold in April 2017. We are seeking to partner or out-license this program. |
Sales, Marketing and Market Access
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder)
We expect Inbrija to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2019 and to be distributed through a network of specialty pharmacies.
We intend to market Inbrija in the U.S. through our own specialty sales force and commercial infrastructure. We believe we have built a leading neuro-specialty sales and marketing team through our commercialization of Ampyra, and that our commercial sale of Inbrija in the U.S. will benefit from the experiences and capabilities of this team. Importantly, we kept our commercial team substantially intact following a 2017 company restructuring. We currently have approximately 90 sales representatives as well as established teams of Medical Science Liaisons, Regional Reimbursement Directors, and Market Access Account Directors who provide information to payers and physicians on our marketed products; a National Trade Account Director who works with our network of specialty pharmacies for Inbrija; and Market Development Managers who work collaboratively with field teams and corporate personnel to assist in the execution of the Company’s strategic initiatives.
Our preparations for the commercial sale of Inbrija continue, including sales force training and education, managed care discussions, market research and social media initiatives. In advance of the launch of commercial sale, we are visiting movement disorder and key neurology centers to provide education and training on Inbrija’s clinical profile, the appropriate use of the Inbrija inhaler, and our Prescription Support Services hub, described below.
In January 2019, we established Prescription Support Services, which we sometimes refer to as the Inbrija hub, a service provided by Acorda which is designed to help patients navigate their insurance coverage and offer reimbursement support services, when appropriate. Services fall into one of these four categories: insurance verification, to research patient insurance benefits and confirm insurance coverage; prior authorization support, to identify prior authorization requirements; appeals support; and assistance identifying which specialty pharmacy a patient will utilize based on their insurance coverage. For patients that may need assistance paying for their medication, Prescription Support Services will offer several support options, including: a patient assistance program, that provides no cost medication to patients who meet specific program eligibility requirements; co-pay support, which may help commercially insured (non-government funded) patients lower their out-of-pocket costs; and a bridge program, for federally-insured patients who experience a delay in coverage determination. We intend to implement a no-cost sample program to enable patients and their physicians to assess the value of Inbrija before the patient has to incur out-of-pocket co-pay or co-insurance costs.
Ampyra
Ampyra is marketed in the U.S. through our own specialty sales force and commercial infrastructure. We currently have approximately 90 sales representatives in the field calling on a priority target list of physicians. We also have established teams of Medical Science Liaisons, Regional Reimbursement Directors, and Market Access Account Directors who provide information to payers and physicians on Ampyra; a National Trade Account Director who works with our network of specialty pharmacies for Ampyra; and Market Development Managers who work collaboratively with field teams and corporate personnel to assist in the execution of the Company’s strategic initiatives. We have a 60-day free trial program that provides eligible patients with two months of Ampyra at no cost.
Ampyra is distributed in the U.S. primarily through a network of specialty pharmacy providers, which deliver the medication to patients by mail, and ASD Specialty Healthcare, Inc. (an AmerisourceBergen affiliate), which distributes
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Ampyra to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, and other federal agencies. We have contracted with a third party organization with extensive experience in coordinating patient benefits to run Ampyra Patient Support Services, or APSS, a dedicated resource that coordinates the prescription process among healthcare providers, people with MS, and insurance carriers. We have relationships with six additional pharmacies through which Ampyra is available, each of which is either affiliated with an integrated health delivery network or an academic medical center. These pharmacies are not part of our specialty pharmacy network, but rather receive prescriptions for Ampyra directly from prescribers without first being routed through APSS.
We are evaluating the level of our continuing investment in certain Ampyra sales and marketing programs, including our free trial program and APSS, due to the introduction of generic competition and corresponding decline in Ampyra sales.
Material and Other Collaborations and License Agreements
Alkermes (ARCUS products)
On December 27, 2010, Civitas, our wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into an Asset Purchase and License Agreement with Alkermes, Inc. pursuant to which Alkermes assigned, sold and transferred to Civitas certain of its rights in certain pulmonary delivery patents and patents applications, certain equipment and instruments relating to pulmonary drug delivery, copies of certain documents and reports relating to pulmonary delivery, certain pulmonary drug delivery inhalers and certain pulmonary drug delivery INDs filed with the FDA. Alkermes also granted to Civitas a non-exclusive sublicense to know-how for the purpose of development and commercialization of ARCUS products. Civitas is permitted to license and sublicense the pulmonary patents, patent applications and know-how, subject to certain restrictions, as necessary for our business. Without the prior written consent of Alkermes, Civitas is prohibited from assigning the intellectual property acquired from Alkermes, except to an affiliate or to a person that acquires all or substantially all of its business to which the agreement relates, whether by acquisition, sale, merger or otherwise.
Civitas is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop ARCUS products. Civitas is obligated to pay to Alkermes royalties for each licensed product. For licensed products sold by Civitas or an affiliate, Civitas will pay Alkermes a royalty in the mid-single digit percentages in the aggregate. For licensed products sold by a collaboration partner, Civitas will pay Alkermes the lower of either (1) a royalty in the mid-single digit percentage of net sales of licensed products in any given year, or (2) a percentage in the low-to-mid-double digits of all collaboration partner revenue received. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall the royalty paid be less than a low-single digit percentage of net sales of a licensed product in any given calendar year. Civitas must pay these royalties on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis until the later of: (1) the expiration of all patents acquired pursuant to the Alkermes agreement containing valid claims covering such licensed products in such country, or (2) a certain number of years after the launch of such licensed product in each specific country.
The Alkermes agreement remains in effect until expiration of Civitas’ royalty obligations to Alkermes. Royalties are payable to Alkermes on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis until the later of (i) the expiration of the patents acquired from Alkermes containing a valid claim covering a product in a particular country and (ii) 12 years and six months after the launch of a product in a country. Either party may terminate the agreement for default of the other party. Civitas may terminate the Alkermes agreement for convenience upon 90 days’ prior written notice to Alkermes.
Biogen (Fampyra)
In 2009, we entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Biogen, pursuant to which we and Biogen have agreed to collaborate on the development and commercialization of products containing aminopyridines, including Ampyra, initially directed to the treatment of multiple sclerosis, or MS, (licensed products). The Collaboration Agreement includes a sublicense of our rights under an existing license agreement with Alkermes (formerly Elan). We have also entered into a related Supply Agreement pursuant to which we supply Biogen with its requirements for the licensed products through our existing supply agreement with Alkermes. Biogen Inc., the parent of Biogen, has guaranteed the performance of Biogen's obligations under the Collaboration Agreement and the Supply Agreement.
Under the Collaboration Agreement, Biogen, itself or through its affiliates, has the exclusive right to commercialize licensed products in all countries outside of the U.S., while we retain the exclusive right to commercialize licensed products in the U.S. Each party has the exclusive right to develop licensed products for its commercialization territory, although the parties may also decide to jointly carry out mutually agreed future development activities under a cost-sharing arrangement.
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Under the Collaboration Agreement, we participate in overseeing the development and commercialization of Ampyra and other licensed products in markets outside the U.S. in part through our participation in joint committees with Biogen. If Biogen does not participate in the development of licensed products for certain indications or forms of administration, it may lose the right to develop and commercialize the licensed products for such indication or form of administration. Biogen may sublicense its rights to certain unaffiliated distributors. During the term of the Collaboration Agreement and for two years after the Collaboration Agreement terminates, neither party nor its affiliates may, other than pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement, research, develop, manufacture or commercialize any competing product, defined as one that contains aminopyridine or any other compound that acts at least in part through direct interaction with potassium channels to improve neurological function in MS, SCI or other demyelinating conditions, except that we may exploit the licensed products anywhere in the world following termination of the Collaboration Agreement.
Ampyra is marketed as Fampyra outside the U.S. by Biogen. Fampyra has been approved in a number of countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
In consideration for the rights granted to Biogen under the Collaboration Agreement, we were entitled to a non-refundable upfront payment of $110.0 million as of June 30, 2009, which was received in July 2009. Also, in August 2011, we received a $25 million milestone payment from Biogen for approval of Fampyra in the EU. Under our separate license and supply agreements with Alkermes, in 2009 we paid Alkermes $7.7 million of the $110 million upfront Biogen payment and in 2011 we paid Alkermes $1.8 million of the $25 million Biogen milestone payment. We are entitled to receive additional payments from Biogen of up to $10 million based on the successful achievement of future regulatory milestones and up to $365 million based on the successful achievement of future sales milestones. The next expected milestone payment from Biogen would be $15 million, due when ex-U.S. net sales exceed $100 million over four consecutive quarters.
Under the Collaboration Agreement, we are also entitled to receive double-digit tiered royalties on sales of licensed products by Biogen, its affiliates or certain distributors outside of the U.S. Such royalties for products combining a licensed compound with at least one other clinically active therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic ingredient are determined based on the contribution of the licensed compound to the overall sales or value of the combination product. Biogen may offset against the royalties payable to us a portion of certain royalties that it may need to pay to third parties. In November 2017, we announced a $40 million Fampyra royalty monetization transaction with HealthCare Royalty Partners, or HCRP. In return for the payment to us, HCRP obtained the right to receive these Fampyra royalties up to an agreed-upon threshold. Until this threshold is met, if ever, we will not receive Fampyra royalty revenue although we have retained the right to receive any potential future milestone payments, described above.
Biogen exclusively purchases all of Biogen's, its affiliates' and its sublicensees' requirements of the licensed products from us. The purchase price paid by Biogen for licensed products under the Collaboration Agreement and Supply Agreement reflects the prices owed to our suppliers under our supply arrangements with Alkermes or other suppliers. In addition, Biogen pays us, in consideration for its purchase and sale of the licensed products, any amounts due to Alkermes for ex-U.S. sales, including royalties owed under the terms of our existing agreements with Alkermes.
The Collaboration Agreement will terminate upon the expiration of Biogen's royalty payment obligations, which occurs, on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis, upon the latest of expiration of the last-to-expire patent covering a licensed product, fifteen years following first commercial sale of such licensed product, the expiration of regulatory exclusivity and the existence of certain levels of sales by competing products. The Collaboration Agreement and the Supply Agreement will automatically terminate upon the termination of our license agreement with Alkermes in its entirety or with respect to all countries outside of the U.S. We cannot terminate our license agreement with Alkermes without Biogen's prior written consent under certain circumstances. Biogen may terminate the Collaboration Agreement in its entirety or on a country-by-country basis at any time upon 180 days' prior written notice, subject to our right to accelerate such termination. The Collaboration Agreement may also be terminated by either party if the other party fails to cure a material breach under the agreement, which termination will be limited to a particular country or region under certain circumstances. However, if Biogen has the right to terminate the Collaboration Agreement due to our material uncured breach, Biogen may instead elect to keep the agreement in effect, but decrease the royalty rates they pay us by a specified percentage. We may also terminate the Collaboration Agreement if Biogen does not commercially launch a licensed product within a specified time period after receiving regulatory approval for such licensed product or otherwise fails to meet certain commercialization obligations. In addition, we may terminate the Collaboration Agreement under certain circumstances if (i) Biogen, its affiliates or its sublicensees challenge certain of our patents or (ii) there is a change in control of Biogen or its parent company or certain dispositions of assets by Biogen, its parent or its affiliated companies, followed by a change in the sales and marketing personnel responsible for the licensed products in Biogen's territory of more than a specified percentage within a certain period of time after such change in control or disposition. The Supply Agreement may be terminated by
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either party if the other party fails to cure a material breach under the Supply Agreement. In addition, the Supply Agreement will terminate automatically upon termination of the Collaboration Agreement, and the Collaboration Agreement will terminate automatically if the Supply Agreement is terminated for any reason other than for a material breach that we are responsible for. To the extent permitted by law, each party may terminate the Collaboration Agreement and the Supply Agreement if the other party is subject to bankruptcy proceedings.
If the Supply Agreement is terminated by Biogen for an uncured material breach, we will waive our right for Alkermes to exclusively supply the licensed products to us solely to permit Biogen to negotiate terms with Alkermes for the supply of licensed products to Biogen. If the Supply Agreement is otherwise terminated, Biogen will not have any future obligations to purchase licensed products from us and we will not have any future obligations to supply Biogen with licensed products. If the Collaboration Agreement is terminated, Biogen will assign to us all regulatory documentation and other information necessary or useful to exploit the licensed products in the terminated countries and will grant us a license under Biogen's and its affiliates' relevant patent rights, know-how and trademarks to exploit the licensed products in the terminated countries. Such assignment and license will be at no cost to us unless the Collaboration Agreement is terminated by Biogen for a material uncured breach that we are responsible for, in which case the parties will negotiate a payment to Biogen to reflect the net value of such assigned and licensed rights.
Neither party may assign the agreements without the prior written consent of the other, except to an affiliate or, in certain cases, to a third party acquirer of the party.
In connection with the entry into the Collaboration Agreement, Biogen and Alkermes entered into a Consent Agreement with us. Under the Consent Agreement, Alkermes consented to our sublicense of rights to Biogen, and the three parties agreed to set up a committee to coordinate activities under our agreements with Alkermes with respect to the development, supply and commercialization of the licensed products for Biogen's territory. The Consent Agreement also amended our agreements with Alkermes by, among other things, permitting us to allow Biogen to grant sublicenses to certain unaffiliated distributors; permitting us to allow Biogen to package the licensed products and to work directly with Alkermes with respect to certain supply-related activities; and, requiring Alkermes to facilitate the qualification of an alternate supplier of the licensed products under certain circumstances.
Alkermes (Ampyra)
We have entered into agreements with Elan Corporation plc, including those described immediately below and elsewhere in this report. In September 2011, Alkermes plc acquired Elan’s Drug Technologies business and Elan transferred our agreements to Alkermes as part of that transaction. Throughout this report, references to “Alkermes” include Alkermes plc and also, as the context may require, Elan Corporation plc as the predecessor to Alkermes plc under our agreements.
In September 2003, we entered into an amended and restated license agreement with Elan that replaced two prior license agreements for Ampyra in oral sustained release dosage form. Under this agreement, Elan granted us exclusive worldwide rights to Ampyra for all indications, including spinal cord injury, or SCI, multiple sclerosis, or MS, and all other indications. We agreed to pay Elan milestone payments of up to $15.0 million, of which we have reached and paid $5.0 million, and royalties based on net sales of products with dalfampridine as the active ingredient. We also agreed to pay Elan 7% of any upfront and milestone payments that we receive from the sublicensing of rights to Ampyra or other aminopyridine products. As a result of our Collaboration Agreement with Biogen, described above, in 2009 we paid Elan $7.7 million of a $110 million upfront payment we received from Biogen, and in 2011 we paid Elan $1.8 million of a $25 million milestone payment we received from Biogen.
Alkermes (now the licensor under this agreement due to its 2011 acquisition of Elan’s Drug Technologies business) is also obligated under this agreement to supply us with our commercial requirements for Ampyra in the U.S., as well as to supply Biogen under the Supply Agreement and Consent Agreement with Fampyra for Biogen’s clinical trials and for Biogen’s commercial requirements.
Alkermes may terminate our license in countries in which we have a license, if we fail to file for regulatory approvals within a commercially reasonable time after completion and receipt of positive data from all preclinical and clinical studies required for the related NDA equivalent. We could also lose our rights under the license agreement if we fail to launch a product in such countries within 180 days of NDA or equivalent approval and receipt of other needed regulatory approvals, or if we fail to fulfill our payment obligations under the license agreement. If Alkermes terminates our license in any applicable country, Alkermes is entitled to license from us our patent rights and know-how relating to the product and to market the product in the applicable country, subject to royalty payments to us.
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We have the right to terminate the Alkermes license at any time by written notice. In addition, the Alkermes license may be immediately terminated by either party following an incurable breach of any term or provision by the other party. The Alkermes license may also be terminated by either party following notice and the expiration of a cure period with respect to an uncured breach by either party.
Subject to the early termination provisions, the Alkermes license terminates on a country-by-country basis on the last to occur of fifteen years from the date of the agreement (2018), the expiration of the last to expire Alkermes patent or the existence of competition in that country.
Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center (dalfampridine)
In 1990, Elan licensed from Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center, or Rush, know-how relating to dalfampridine for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, or MS. We subsequently licensed this know-how from Elan. In September 2003, we entered into an agreement with Rush and Elan terminating the Rush license to Elan and providing for mutual releases. We also entered into a license agreement with Rush in 2003 in which Rush granted us an exclusive worldwide license to its know-how relating to dalfampridine for the treatment of MS.
We agreed to pay Rush a license fee, milestone payments of up to $1.1 million and royalties based on net sales of the product for neurological indications. We have made or accrued an aggregate of $1.1 in milestone payments (with the last milestone having been paid in 2010) and $48.1 million in royalties under this agreement through December 31, 2018. In 2014, with our consent Rush sold its right to receive these royalties along with certain related rights to a third party, though this transfer did not materially change any of our obligations under the license. We believe the Rush license and our royalty obligations expired in 2018.
Other License Agreements
In addition to the material license and collaboration agreements described above, we have entered into numerous other license agreements to support our research and development programs. These other license agreements include the following:
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We have an exclusive, worldwide license from the Mayo Foundation for Education and Research, or Mayo Clinic, to specified patents, patent applications, and other intellectual property on certain antibodies relating to our research on the therapeutic use of these antibodies, specifically myelination and remyelination in multiple sclerosis, or MS and spinal cord injury. |
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We have an exclusive, worldwide sublicense from Paion AG (formerly CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc) to certain patents, patent applications and know-how relating to cimaglermin alfa or fragments thereof and non-protein products developed through the use of material covered by a valid claim in the patents. The license to these patents and the right to sublicense these patents were granted to Paion by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. We also have an exclusive, worldwide sublicense from Paion to certain Paion patents, patent applications, and know-how relating to the neuregulin growth factor gene NRG-2. |
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We have a license from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc., or Brigham, acting on its own behalf and on behalf of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, or Beth Israel, to patent rights relating to the use of cimaglermin in the treatment of congestive heart failure. Our rights in the U.S. are co-exclusive, with Brigham and Beth Israel having retained rights for internal research, clinical, and education purposes, and our rights outside the U.S. are exclusive. |
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Our Biotie subsidiary has an exclusive, worldwide license from Roche Palo Alto LLC, Hoffman-La Roche Inc. and F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd. to certain patents and know-how relating to tozadenant and certain patents and know-how relating to SYN120. Tozadenant is an investigational drug we had been developing for the reduction of OFF time in Parkinson’s disease patients, but we terminated this program in November 2017. |
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Our Biotie subsidiary has an exclusive, worldwide license from Medarex, Inc. to certain patents and know-how relating to BTT1023. |
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Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) and ARCUS Development Programs
Chelsea Manufacturing Facility
We currently manufacture all commercial supply of Inbrija at our approximately 90,000 square foot Chelsea, Massachusetts manufacturing facility that we occupy under a lease that expires in December 2025, which we may extend for up to ten years. The FDA’s pre-approval inspection of this facility was successfully closed in 2018 prior to the FDA’s December 21, 2018 approval of Inbrija.
We acquired the Chelsea facility with our 2014 acquisition of Civitas Therapeutics. The facility was built specifically for the commercial-scale manufacture of ARCUS products. Prior to Civitas’ acquisition of this facility from Alkermes, the facility produced more than 36 million human doses of ARCUS-based products for use in clinical trials by Alkermes’ collaborator in indications other than Parkinson’s disease. Civitas subsequently took steps to recommission the facility, and prior to our Civitas acquisition it was certified by the EU regulatory authority (known as the Qualified Person, or QP, audit). The Chelsea facility produced current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP-quality human doses of Inbrija for Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials, including our pivotal Phase 3 trial, and it is now being used for commercial manufacture.
Our manufacturing team is led by individuals who are highly experienced with manufacturing of ARCUS products and other commercial products. Many of the individuals who lead our manufacturing previously manufactured ARCUS products at this facility for Alkermes.
We intend to manufacture all commercial supplies of Inbrija, as well as supplies of all additional ARCUS inhaled therapeutic candidates that we may develop, in the Chelsea manufacturing facility unless and until we engage a third party for expanded manufacturing capacity. After the launch of Inbrija commercial sales, we anticipate the need for expanded manufacturing capacity at the Chelsea facility to meet demand depending on the timing and extent of sales growth. In 2018, we initiated a renovation and expansion of the Chelsea facility that will increase the size of the facility to approximately 95,000 square feet. The project will add a new manufacturing production line for Inbrija and other ARCUS products that has greater capacity than the existing manufacturing line, and it will create additional warehousing space for manufactured product. Construction of the project is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2019, though we cannot be assured that the project will be meet this schedule, and it will take additional time after completion of construction to obtain the FDA approval needed for use of the new production line for commercial manufacture. Our inability to expand the facility in a timely manner or unexpected demand for commercial quantities of Inbrija could cause a supply shortage that would harm our commercialization of Inbrija.
The ARCUS dry powder aerosol particles are generated by applying our proprietary and multi-step spray drying process to active pharmaceutical ingredient. The application of spray drying in the pharmaceutical industry is highly specialized, and the process of manufacturing ARCUS particles requires significant expertise in dry powder manufacture and handling and capsule filling. The expansion of our manufacturing capacity is requiring substantial additional expenditures and will require various regulatory approvals and permits. Further, we will need to hire and train additional employees and managerial personnel to staff our expanding manufacturing operations. Manufacturing scale-up entails significant risks related to process development and manufacturing yields. In addition, we may face difficulties or delays in developing or acquiring the necessary production equipment and technology. Our expanded Chelsea facility will have to continue to comply with cGMP requirements, as well as other applicable environmental, safety, and other governmental permitting requirements. These challenges could delay or prevent us from successfully expanding our Chelsea manufacturing capacity. If we are delayed in or prevented from expanding our Chelsea facility, we may need to seek a third party to manufacturer additional Inbrija supply for us. As further discussed below, there can be no assurance that we could identify a third party that would be capable and willing to manufacture for us on reasonable terms, if at all, or that they could supply us with product in sufficient quantities on a timely basis to meet our needs. If we cannot increase our supply of Inbrija by expanding our capacity in Chelsea or engaging a third party manufacturer, we may not be able to meet demand for Inbrija and our ability to commercialize Inbrija could be harmed.
Furthermore, if we were to lose the use of our facility or equipment, our manufacturing facility and manufacturing equipment would be difficult to replace and could require substantial replacement lead time and substantial additional funds. Our facility may be affected by natural disasters, such as floods or fire, or we may lose the use of our facility due to manufacturing issues that arise at our facility, such as contamination or regulatory concerns following a regulatory inspection
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of our facility. We may also unexpectedly experience these types of manufacturing issues as the unintended result of the construction and other activities occurring at the facility needed for expansion. In the event of a loss of the use of all or a portion of our facility or equipment for the reasons stated above or any other reason, we would be unable to manufacture Inbrija or any other ARCUS inhaled therapeutic products or product candidates until such time as our facility could be repaired, rebuilt or we are able to address other manufacturing issues at our facility. Any such interruptions in our ability to manufacture these products or product candidates would harm our business. Even if we do not suffer a loss of the facility or equipment within the facility, manufacturing operations can experience intermittent interruptions due to the need for routine or unexpected maintenance, inspection and repairs of the facility or the equipment, and, depending on their frequency and duration, these intermittent interruptions could also harm our business.
We do not currently have back-up manufacturing capability at another facility and there are only limited third-party manufacturers that we believe would be capable of manufacturing Inbrija or other ARCUS inhaled therapeutic products or product candidates. If the need arises to obtain supply from a third party manufacturer, there can be no assurance that we could identify a third party that would be capable and willing to manufacture for us on reasonable terms, if at all, or that they could supply us in sufficient quantities on a timely basis to meet our needs. Engaging a third party manufacturer to supply ARCUS products or product candidates would likely be a lengthy process involving the transfer of a proprietary, specialized and regulated manufacturing processes and which would be subject to the FDA regulatory approval requirements described above. Also, this would require that we share proprietary trade secrets and know-how with the third party manufacturer relating to Inbrija and our ARCUS platform. When our business requires that we share that type of information, we seek to protect it, in part, with confidentiality agreements, but those agreements may not provide adequate protection or prevent the unauthorized use or disclosure of the information. The unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary information could harm its value by enabling others to copy or use our information for their own products, methods or technologies, and we may not have an adequate remedy for the harm caused. If we are successful in engaging a third party manufacturer, they may not perform their obligations to us and/or they may be unable or unwilling to establish or increase production capacity commensurate with our needs. Also, third party manufacturers and suppliers are subject to their own operational and financial risks that are outside of our control, including macro-economic conditions that may cause them to suffer liquidity or operational problems and that could interfere with their business operations.
Supply
We have relied, and we expect to continue relying, on third-party manufacturers to make the inhaler and to supply levodopa, or L-dopa, the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, in Inbrija, and any failure by a third-party manufacturer or supplier may delay or impair our ability to meet demand for Inbrija and could delay, prevent or impair our commercialization of Inbrija.
We source our proprietary Inbrija inhalers from a single third-party plastic molding manufacturer for the Inbrija inhalers. Our proprietary inhalers are manufactured using standard manufacturing processes and are shipped fully assembled to us. We own the molds and design history files for the inhalers. Our reliance on a single third party for the manufacture of inhalers increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our inhalers or will not be able to obtain such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our commercialization of Inbrija. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements with a different supplier, this could delay our manufacturing, as we would have to revalidate the molding and assembly processes pursuant to FDA requirements.
We do not purchase the API for Inbrija under a supply contract and there is a risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of the API at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.
All raw materials used for Inbrija manufacture are standard in pharmaceutical production.
Ampyra
We are party to a September 2003 agreement with Elan (now Alkermes, following Alkermes’ 2011 acquisition of Elan’s Drug Technologies business) for our clinical and commercial supply of Ampyra. Under that agreement, we are required to purchase at least 75% of our annual commercial requirements of Ampyra from Alkermes unless Alkermes is unable or unwilling to meet our requirements. In addition, the agreement also obligates us to make compensatory payments if we do not purchase 100% of our requirements from Alkermes.
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As permitted by our agreement with Alkermes, we have designated Patheon, Inc. as a second manufacturing source of Ampyra. In connection with that designation, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with Patheon, and Alkermes assisted us in transferring manufacturing technology to Patheon. We and Alkermes have agreed that we may purchase up to 25% of our annual requirements from Patheon if we make compensatory payments to Alkermes. In addition, Patheon may supply us with Ampyra if Alkermes is unable or unwilling to meet our requirements.
Under a Consent Agreement among Elan (now Alkermes, following Alkermes’ acquisition of Elan’s Drug Technologies business), Biogen and us, Alkermes consented to our sublicense of our rights under our agreements with Alkermes to Biogen. The three parties agreed to set up a committee to coordinate activities under these agreements with respect to the development, supply and commercialization of the licensed products for Biogen's territory. The Consent Agreement also amended our agreements with Alkermes by, among other things, permitting us to allow Biogen to grant sublicenses to certain unaffiliated distributors, permitting us to allow Biogen to package the licensed products and to work directly with Alkermes with respect to certain supply-related activities, and requiring Alkermes to facilitate the qualification of an alternate supplier of the licensed products under certain circumstances.
We rely on two third-party manufacturers, Regis Technologies, Inc. and CU Chemie Uetikon (GmbH), to supply 4-aminopyridine, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Ampyra. If these companies experience any disruption in their operations, a delay or interruption in the supply of our Ampyra product could result until the problem is solved or we locate an alternate source of supply. We may not be able to enter into alternative supply arrangements on terms that are commercially favorable, if at all. Any new supplier would also be required to qualify under applicable regulatory requirements. We could experience substantial delays before we are able to qualify any new supplier.
rHIgM22
We contracted with BioVest International, now Cell Culture Company, and CMC Biologics in 2009 for production and purification, respectively, of rHIgM22. All manufacturing was performed under cGMPs. Acorda and CMC Biologics developed analytical methods and characterization assays to support manufacturing and stability testing of the drug substance. A pilot lot of drug substance was tested in GLP studies for safety and toxicology.
The final drug product for rHIgM22 for clinical studies was produced at Althea Technologies, now Ajinomoto Althea, Inc., using material produced by CMC Biologics as described above. The manufacturing process for drug substance and drug product, along with initial stability data for both, was submitted to FDA as part of an IND application originally filed in August 2012.
Intellectual Property
We have patent portfolios relating to: Ampyra/aminopyridines; Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), ARCUS-based migraine formulations; the ARCUS drug delivery technology; SYN120, BTT1023; cimaglermin alfa/neuregulins; and remyelinating antibodies/antibodies relating to nervous system disorders. These portfolios are comprised of both our own and in-licensed patents and patent applications. Our intellectual property also includes copyrights, confidential and trade secret information as well as a portfolio of trademarks.
The intellectual property relating to our programs is owned or licensed either directly by Acorda or indirectly through subsidiaries, including for example subsidiaries we acquired in connection with our 2014 acquisition of Civitas Therapeutics, Inc. and our 2016 acquisition of Biotie Therapies Ltd., formerly Biotie Therapies Corp. Throughout this report, we may refer to any and all such intellectual property, and the corresponding research and development programs as, “our” or “Acorda’s” programs.
Ampyra/aminopyridines
We have five issued patents listed in the Orange Book for Ampyra, four of which were held invalid in litigation in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware with certain generic drug manufacturers, as further described in this report. The first is U.S. Patent No. 5,540,938, the claims of which relate to methods for treating a neurological disease, such as MS, and cover the use of a sustained release dalfampridine formulation, such as Ampyra (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg for improving walking in people with MS. In April 2013, this patent received a five year patent term extension under the patent restoration provisions of the Hatch-Waxman Act. With a five year patent term extension, this patent expired on July 30, 2018. We have an exclusive license to this patent from Alkermes (originally with Elan, but transferred to Alkermes
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as part of its acquisition of Elan’s Drug Technologies business). This patent was held valid by the District Court in the litigation, although in June 2017 the defendant generic drug manufacturers with whom we have not reached settlements appealed the District Court’s decision upholding this patent.
The other four Orange Book-listed patents were held invalid by the District Court in the litigation with generic drug manufacturers. These patents, which had been set to expire in 2025 through 2027, consist of U.S. Patent No. 8,007,826, with claims relating to methods to improve walking in patients with MS by administering 10 mg of sustained release 4-aminopyridine (dalfampridine) twice daily; U.S. Patent No. 8,354,437, which includes claims relating to methods to improve walking, increase walking speed, and treat walking disability in patients with MS by administering 10 mg of sustained release 4-aminopyridine (dalfampridine) twice daily; U.S. Patent No. 8,440,703, which includes claims directed to methods of improving lower extremity function and walking and increasing walking speed in patients with MS by administering less than 15 mg of sustained release 4-aminopyridine (dalfampridine) twice daily; and U.S. Patent No. 8,663,685 with claims relating to methods to improve walking in patients with MS by administering 10 mg of sustained release 4-aminopyridine (dalfampridine) twice daily.
The patent litigation referenced above relates to Paragraph IV Certification Notices received from ten generic drug manufacturers in 2014 and 2015, who submitted Abbreviated New Drug Applications with the FDA seeking marketing approval for generic versions of Ampyra (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10mg. The ANDA filers challenged the validity of our Orange Book-listed patents for Ampyra, and they also asserted that generic versions of their products do not infringe certain claims of these patents. In 2015 and 2016, we reached settlement agreements with six of the generic companies. A bench trial against the remaining four generic companies was completed in September 2016. In February 2017, we announced that we had reached a settlement agreement with one of those four generic companies. In March 2017, the District Court rendered a decision upholding our Orange-Book listed patent for Ampyra set to expire in July 2018, but invalidating our four other Orange Book-listed patents. In May 2017, we appealed the ruling on these four patents, and as described above, in June 2017 the other non-settling parties appealed the decision on the patent set to expire in July 2018. We expect the appeals process to take approximately 12 to 18 months from the filing of the appeal in May 2017. Both the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) filed amicus briefs in support of our appeal, raising important issues in conjunction with biopharmaceutical innovation.
In 2011, the European Patent Office, or EPO, granted EP 1732548, with claims relating to, among other things, use of a sustained release aminopyridine composition, such as dalfampridine (known under the trade name Fampyra in the European Union), to increase walking speed. In March 2012, Synthon B.V. and neuraxpharm Arzneimittel GmBH filed oppositions with the EPO challenging the EP 1732548 patent. We defended the patent, and in December 2013, we announced that the EPO Opposition Division upheld amended claims in this patent covering a sustained release formulation of dalfampridine for increasing walking in patients with MS through twice daily dosing at 10 mg. Both Synthon B.V. and neuraxpharm Arzneimittel GmBH have appealed the decision. In December 2013, Synthon B.V., neuraxpharm Arzneimittel GmBH and Actavis Group PTC EHF filed oppositions with the EPO challenging our EP 2377536 patent, which is a divisional of the EP 1732548 patent. On February 24, 2016, the EPO Opposition Division rendered a decision that revoked the EP 2377536 patent. We believe the claims of this patent are valid and we have appealed the decision. Both European patents, if upheld as valid, are set to expire in 2025, absent any additional exclusivity granted based on regulatory review timelines. The appeal hearings for both patents are scheduled for September 2019. Fampyra also has 10 years of market exclusivity in the European Union that is set to expire in 2021.
We will vigorously defend our intellectual property rights.
Legal proceedings relating to our Ampyra patents are described in further detail in Part I, Item 3 of this report.
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) and ARCUS Development Programs
The intellectual property portfolio that we acquired with Civitas has over 100 issued U.S. and foreign patents relating to Inbrija and the ARCUS drug delivery technology. This includes over 15 issued U.S. patents relating to Inbrija directed to compositions of the drug product, the inhaler, the capsule for the drug product, methods of delivery of L-dopa, and manufacturing processes. We have several patents listed in the Orange Book for Inbrija, including patents expiring between 2022 and 2032, and Inbrija is entitled to three years of regulatory exclusivity, through December 21, 2021, as posted in the Orange Book.
The ARCUS program for acute migraine, which also utilizes the ARCUS drug delivery technology, has pending applications directed to formulations, which, if granted would expire in 2036 absent any patent term adjustment. These applications are for the original zolmitriptan formulation.
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We have an exclusive license from Roche for patents and patent applications relating to SYN120. This includes four granted U.S. patents set to expire in 2025 and 2026. The license also includes foreign counterparts, including two granted European patents, set to expire in 2025. The claims are directed to compositions of matter and methods of use.
BTT1023
The BTT1023 portfolio includes two patent families. The first family is owned by Biotie and includes two granted U.S. patents set to expire in 2028 and foreign counterparts including a granted European patent set to expire in 2028. The claims are directed to composition of matter and methods of use. The second family is co-owned by Biotie with the University of Birmingham and includes a granted U.S. and European patent set to expire in 2030. This family also includes pending and granted counterparts in other countries. The claims of this family are directed to use of VAP-1 inhibitors for treatment of fibrotic conditions. The University of Birmingham has licensed their rights in this patent family back to Biotie.
Remyelinating Antibodies/Antibodies Related to Nervous System Disorders
Acorda is the exclusive licensee of a portfolio of patents and patent applications related to a series of remyelinating antibodies and their use discovered by scientists at the Mayo Clinic. This portfolio also includes granted and pending U.S. and foreign patent applications directed to additional antibodies and their use. With regard to remyelinating antibodies, the portfolio includes granted European patents as well as other granted foreign counterparts.
Cimaglermin alfa/Neuregulins
We are the exclusive licensee under a license agreement with Paion AG (formerly CeNeS Pharmaceuticals, plc), of its worldwide portfolio of patents, patent applications and IP rights related to products of neuregulin genes, including cimaglermin alfa. Collectively, these patents claim the use of particular neuregulins to treat various pathophysiological conditions, particularly uses to stimulate myelinating cells in order to treat conditions of the central and peripheral nervous system that involve demyelination. These patents also claim a number of additional potential uses of neuregulins, including stimulation of growth in cardiac and mammalian muscle cells, as well as treating cardiac failure, peripheral neuropathy and nerve injury.
Trademarks
In addition to patents, our intellectual property portfolio includes registered trademarks, along with pending trademark applications. We own several registered trademarks in the U.S. and in other countries. These registered trademarks include, in the U.S., the marks “Acorda Therapeutics,” our stylized Acorda Therapeutics logo, “Biotie Therapies,” “Ampyra,” and “ARCUS.” We also have trademark registrations for “Fampyra” and “Kampyra” and pending trademark applications therefore, in numerous foreign jurisdictions. We have pending trademark applications for Inbrija in the U.S. and other countries. In addition, our trademark portfolio includes several trademark registrations and pending trademark applications for potential product names and for disease awareness activities.
Competition
The market for developing and marketing pharmaceutical products is highly competitive. We are aware of many biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that are engaged in development and/or marketing of therapeutics for a broad range of central nervous system conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, or MS. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, research and development, human and other resources than we do. Furthermore, many of these companies have significantly more experience than we do in preclinical testing, human clinical trials, regulatory approval procedures and sales and marketing.
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder)/Parkinson’s Disease
We expect that Inbrija will compete against other therapies approved for intermittent, or on demand use, that aim to specifically address Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Apokyn, an injectable formulation of apomorphine, is approved for the
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treatment of OFF periods, also known as OFF episodes. Apokyn was approved for this use in the U.S. in 2004 and in Europe in 1993. Also, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing a sublingual, or under the tongue, formulation of apomorphine that we expect would be competitive with Inbrija if commercially launched. In January 2018, Sunovion announced positive topline results from their pivotal Phase 3 study of their product, in March 2018, they submitted a New Drug Application, or NDA, to the FDA, and in January 2019, they announced that they received a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, from the FDA. Sunovion’s CRL announcement stated that that the FDA determined it was unable to approve Sunovion’s product in its current form, and that the FDA requested additional information and analyses but no new clinical studies. Sunovion’s receipt of the CRL has delayed, but does not necessarily prevent, FDA approval of Sunovion’s product and we expect it will be competitive with Inbrija if and when Sunovion receives FDA approval for and commercially launches the product.
The standard of care for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease is oral carbidopa/levodopa, but oral medication can be associated with wide variability in the timing and the amount of absorption and there are significant challenges in creating a regimen that consistently maintains therapeutic effects as Parkinson’s disease progresses. Inbrija may face competition from therapies that can limit the occurrence of OFF periods. Approaches to achieve consistent levodopa plasma concentrations include new formulations of carbidopa/levodopa, such as extended-release and intestinal infusions, and therapies that prolong the effect of levodopa. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Impax Laboratories) markets RYTARY, an extended-release formulation of oral carbidopa/levodopa, and extended release formulations of oral and patch carbidopa/levodopa are being developed by others including Intec Pharma and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. Also, Abbvie Inc. has developed a continuous administration of a gel-containing levodopa through a tube that is surgically implanted into the intestine. This therapy, known as Duopa, has been approved by the FDA and is approved in the EU.
One or more of our competitors may utilize their expertise in pulmonary delivery of drugs to develop and obtain approval for pulmonary delivery products that may compete with Inbrija and any other of our other ARCUS drug delivery technology product candidates. These competitors may include smaller companies such as Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc., MannKind Corporation, Pulmatrix, Inc. and Vectura Group plc and larger companies such as Allergan, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc and Novartis AG, among others. If approved, our product candidates may face competition in the target commercial areas for these pulmonary delivery products.
Ampyra/MS
Ampyra has become subject to competition from generic drug manufacturers. In 2017, in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) issued a ruling upholding our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidating four other Orange Book-listed patents that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. Under this ruling, our patent exclusivity with respect to Ampyra terminated on July 30, 2018. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the Appellate Decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales. Our litigation with the generic drug manufacturers is described in further detail in Part I, Item 3 of this report.
Current disease management approaches to MS are classified either as relapse management, disease course management, or symptom management approaches. For relapse management, the majority of neurologists treat sudden and severe relapses with a four-day course of intravenous high-dose corticosteroids. Many of these corticosteroids are available generically. For disease course management, there are a number of FDA-approved MS therapies that seek to modify the immune system. These treatments attempt to reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations or slow the accumulation of physical disability for people with certain types of MS, though their precise mechanisms of action are not known. These products include Avonex, Tysabri, Plegridy and Tecfidera from Biogen, Betaseron from Bayer AG, Copaxone from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., Rebif from Merck Serono, Gilenya and Extavia from Novartis AG, Aubagio and Lemtrada from Genzyme Corporation (a Sanofi company), Glatopa from Sandoz International GmbH (a Novartis AG company), Zinbryta from Biogen and AbbieVie, and Rituxan from F. Hoffman-La Roche AG.
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We believe that Ampyra is complementary to both the relapse management and disease course management therapies that are commercially available. Nonetheless, Ampyra may compete for market acceptance with these current treatments because they have been accepted and regularly prescribed to adults with MS by physicians, or because physicians may think that these products also improve walking or other neurological functions.
Several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as academic laboratories, are involved in research and/or product development for various neurological diseases, including MS. Other companies also have products in clinical development, including products approved for other indications in MS, to address improvement of walking ability in people with MS. Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is developing ADS-5102 (amantadine hydrochloride) for patients with MS who have walking impairment. This potential product may compete with Ampyra in the future. Furthermore, several companies are engaged in developing products that include novel immune system approaches and cell therapy approaches to remyelination for the treatment of people with MS. These programs are in early stages of development and may compete in the future with Ampyra or some of our product candidates. In addition, in certain circumstances, pharmacists are not prohibited from formulating certain drug compounds to fill prescriptions on an individual patient basis, which is referred to as compounding. We are aware that at present compounded dalfampridine is used by some people with MS and it is possible that some people will want to continue to use compounded formulations even though Ampyra and generic versions of Ampyra are commercially available.
Government Regulation
FDA Regulation of Drugs and Drug Product Approval
The FDA and comparable regulatory agencies in state and local jurisdictions and in foreign countries impose substantial requirements upon the preclinical testing, clinical development, manufacture, distribution and marketing of pharmaceutical products. These agencies and other federal, state and local entities regulate research and development activities and the testing, manufacture, quality control, safety, effectiveness, labeling, storage, distribution, record keeping, approval, advertising, sale, promotion, import and export of our products and product candidates.
In the U.S., Ampyra and our product candidates are regulated by the FDA as drugs but, as further discussed below, Inbrija is regulated as a combination product because it has both a drug and a device component. Drugs, biologics, and medical devices are regulated primarily under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended, the Public Health Service Act, as amended, and the regulations of the FDA. These products are also subject to other federal, state, and local statutes and regulations. Violations of regulatory requirements at any stage of development may result in various adverse consequences, including the FDA's and other health authorities' delay in approving or refusal to approve a product. Violations of regulatory requirements also may result in enforcement actions, including withdrawal of approval, labeling restrictions, seizure of products, fines, injunctions and/or civil or criminal penalties. Similar civil or criminal penalties could be imposed by other government agencies or agencies of the states and localities in which our products are tested, manufactured, sold or distributed.
The process required by the FDA under these laws before our drug and biological product candidates may be marketed in the U.S. generally involves the following:
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preclinical laboratory and animal tests; |
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submission to the FDA of an Investigational New Drug, or IND, application, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin; |
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completion of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug, or the safety, purity, and potency of the proposed biologic, for each intended use; |
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FDA review of whether each facility in which the product is manufactured, processed, packed or held meets standards designed to assure the product's identity, strength, quality, and purity; and |
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information to demonstrate that the product will be manufactured to appropriate standards, and other required information. |
The research, development and approval process requires substantial time, effort, and financial resources, and we cannot be certain that any approval will be granted on a timely or commercially viable basis, if at all.
Preclinical studies include laboratory evaluation of the product candidate, its chemistry, formulation and stability, as well as animal studies to assess its safety and potential efficacy. The results of the preclinical studies, together with manufacturing information, analytical data and any available clinical data or literature must be submitted to the FDA as part of an IND application. The IND sponsor may initiate clinical trials 30 days after filing the IND application, unless the FDA, within the 30-day time period, raises concerns or questions about the conduct of the proposed clinical trial. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. Further, an independent Institutional Review Board, or IRB, charged with protecting the welfare of human subjects involved in research at each medical center proposing to conduct the clinical trials must review and approve any clinical trial before it commences at that center. The IRB(s) must continue to monitor the trial until its completion. Many studies also employ a data safety monitoring board, or DSMB, with experts who are otherwise independent of the conduct of the study and are given access to the unblinded study data periodically during the study to determine whether the study should be halted. For example, a DSMB might halt a study if an unacceptable safety issue emerges, or if the data showing the effectiveness of the study drug would make it unethical to continue giving patients placebo. Study subjects must provide informed consent before their participation in the research study.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases, which may overlap:
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Phase 1. The drug is initially administered into healthy human subjects or subjects with the target condition and tested for safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution and excretion. |
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Phase 2. The drug is administered to a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, to determine the efficacy of the product for specific targeted diseases and to determine dosage tolerance and optimal dosage. |
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Phase 3. When Phase 2 evaluations demonstrate that a dosage range of the drug is effective and has an acceptable safety profile, Phase 3 clinical trials are undertaken to confirm the clinical efficacy from Phase 2 and to further test for safety in an expanded population at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. |
In the case of product candidates for severe or life-threatening diseases, the initial human testing is often conducted in affected patients rather than in healthy volunteers. Since these patients already have the target condition, these clinical trials may provide initial evidence of efficacy traditionally obtained in Phase 2 clinical trials and thus these clinical trials are frequently referred to as Phase 1b clinical trials.
Before proceeding with a Phase 3 trial, sponsors may seek a written agreement from the FDA regarding the design and size of clinical trials intended to form the primary basis of an effectiveness claim. This is known as a Special Protocol Assessment, or SPA. SPAs help establish up front agreement with the FDA about the adequacy of the design of a clinical trial, but the agreement does not guarantee FDA approval even if the SPA is followed. For example, a substantial scientific issue essential to determining the safety or effectiveness of the drug could be identified after the testing has begun. In addition, even if an SPA remains in place and the trial meets its endpoints with statistical significance, the FDA could determine that the overall balance of risks and benefits for the product candidate is not adequate to support approval, or only justifies approval for a narrow set of clinical uses, or approval with restricted distribution or other burdensome post-approval requirements or limitations.
Federal and state law requires the submission of registry and results information for most clinical trials to a publicly available database at www.clinicaltrials.gov. These requirements generally do not apply to Phase 1 clinical trials.
U.S. law requires that trials conducted to support approval for product marketing be "adequate and well controlled." This entails a number of requirements, including that there is a clear statement of objectives and methods in the protocol, the study design permits a valid comparison with a control (e.g., a placebo, another drug already approved for the studied condition, or a non-concurrent control such as historical data), and that the statistical methods used to analyze the data are
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adequate to assess the effects of the drug. Studies must also be conducted in compliance with Good Clinical Practice, or GCP, requirements.
We cannot be certain that we will successfully complete Phase 1, Phase 2 or Phase 3 testing of our product candidates within any specific time period, if at all. Furthermore, the FDA, the IRBs or the DSMB may prevent clinical trials from beginning or may place clinical trials on hold or terminate them at any point in this process if, among other reasons, they conclude that study subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk.
In the U.S., for most drugs and biologics, the results of product development, preclinical studies and clinical trials must be submitted to the FDA for review and approval prior to marketing and commercial distribution of the product candidate. If the product candidate is regulated as a drug, an NDA must be submitted and approved before commercial marketing may begin. If the product candidate, such as an antibody, is regulated as a biologic, a BLA must be submitted and approved before commercial marketing may begin. The NDA or BLA must include a substantial amount of data and other information concerning safety and effectiveness (for a drug) and safety, purity and potency (for a biologic) of the compound from laboratory, animal and clinical testing, as well as data and information on manufacturing, product stability, and proposed product labeling.
Each domestic and foreign manufacturing establishment, including any contract manufacturers we may decide to use, must be listed in the NDA or BLA and must be registered with the FDA. The application will not be approved until the FDA conducts a manufacturing inspection, approves the applicable manufacturing process for the drug or biological product, and determines that the facility is in compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, requirements. If the manufacturing facilities and processes fail to pass the FDA inspection, we will not receive approval to market these products, or approval will likely be delayed until the manufacturing issues are resolved. The FDA may also inspect clinical trial sites and/or the clinical sponsor for compliance with Good Clinical Practice, or GCP. If the FDA determines that one or more of our clinical trials were not conducted in accordance with GCP, the agency may determine not to consider effectiveness data generated from such clinical trials in support of our applications for marketing approval.
Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, as amended, the FDA receives fees for reviewing an NDA or BLA and supplements thereto, as well as annual fees for commercial manufacturing establishments and for approved products. These fees could be significant.
Once an NDA or BLA is submitted for FDA approval, the FDA will accept the NDA or BLA for filing if deemed complete, thereby triggering substantive review of the application. The FDA can refuse to file any NDA or BLA that it deems incomplete or not properly reviewable. The FDA has established performance goals for the review of NDAs and BLAs: six months for priority applications and 10 months for regular applications, with two additional months added to each period for new molecular entities. However, the FDA is not legally required to complete its review within these periods and these performance goals may change over time. Moreover, the outcome of the review, even if favorable, often is not an actual approval but an “action letter” or “complete response letter” that describes additional work that must be done before the application can be approved. This additional work could include substantial additional clinical trials. The FDA's review of an application may involve review and recommendations by an independent FDA advisory committee.
The FDA may deny an NDA or BLA if the applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied or may require additional preclinical or clinical data. Even if such data are submitted, the FDA may ultimately decide that the NDA or BLA does not satisfy the criteria for approval. If the FDA approves a product, it will limit the approved therapeutic uses for the product as described in the product labeling, may require that contraindications or warning statements be included in the product labeling, may require that additional post-approval studies or clinical trials be conducted as a condition of the approval, may impose restrictions and conditions on product distribution, prescribing or dispensing in the form of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, or may otherwise limit the scope of any approval. Under a REMS, the FDA may impose significant restrictions on distribution and use of a marketed product, may require the distribution of medication guides to patients and/or healthcare professionals or patient communication plans, and may impose a timetable for submission of assessments of the effectiveness of a REMS. Once issued, the FDA may withdraw product approval if compliance with regulatory standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market.
Satisfaction of the above FDA requirements or similar requirements of state, local and foreign regulatory agencies typically takes several years or more and the actual time required may vary substantially, based upon the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidate. Government regulation may delay or prevent marketing of potential products for a considerable period of time or permanently and impose costly procedures upon our activities. Even if a product candidate receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific indications. Further, even after regulatory
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approval is obtained, later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product may result in restrictions on the product, labeling changes or even complete withdrawal of the product from the market. Delays in obtaining, or failures to obtain and maintain, regulatory approvals for our products and product candidates would harm our business. Marketing our product candidates abroad will require similar regulatory approvals and is subject to similar risks. In addition, we cannot predict what adverse governmental regulations may arise from future U.S. or foreign governmental action.
Post-Approval Regulation
Any products manufactured or distributed in the U.S. by us pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including requirements relating to record-keeping, labeling, packaging, reporting of adverse experiences and other reporting, advertising and promotion, distribution, cGMPs, and import/export, as well as any other requirements imposed by the applicant’s NDA or BLA. The FDA's rules for advertising and promotion require, among other things, that our promotion be truthful, fairly balanced and adequately substantiated, and that our labeling bears adequate directions for all intended uses of the product. We must also submit appropriate new and supplemental applications and obtain FDA approval for certain changes to the approved product, product labeling or manufacturing process. On its own initiative, the FDA may require changes to the labeling of an approved drug, require post-approval studies or clinical trials, or impose a REMS post-approval if it becomes aware of new safety information that the agency believes impacts the drug’s safety profile. Drug manufacturers and their subcontractors are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMPs, which impose certain procedural and documentation requirements upon us and our third-party manufacturers. Foreign drug manufacturers must comply with similar local requirements and may be subject to inspections by the FDA or local regulatory agencies. We cannot be certain that we or our present or future suppliers will be able to comply with cGMPs and other regulatory requirements. The FDA also enforces the requirements of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, or PDMA, which, among other things, imposes various requirements in connection with the distribution of product samples to physicians.
In addition to inspections related to manufacturing, we are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and other regulatory bodies related to the other regulatory requirements that apply to marketed drugs manufactured or distributed by us. The FDA also may conduct periodic inspections regarding our review and reporting of adverse events, or related to compliance with the requirements of the PDMA concerning the handling of drug samples. When the FDA conducts an inspection, the inspectors will identify any deficiencies they believe exist in the form of a notice of inspectional observations on FDA Form 483. The observations may be more or less significant. If we receive a notice of inspectional observations, we likely will be required to respond in writing, and may be required to undertake corrective and preventive actions in order to address the FDA's concerns. Failure to address the FDA’s concerns may result in the issuance of a warning letter or other enforcement or administrative actions.
We and our product candidates are also subject to a variety of state laws and regulations in those states or localities where they are or will be marketed, or where we may have operations. For example, we must comply with state laws that require the registration of manufacturers and wholesale distributors of pharmaceutical products in that state, including, in certain states, manufacturers and distributors who ship products into the state even if such manufacturers or distributors have no place of business within the state. Federal law and some states also impose requirements on manufacturers, distributors, and other trading partners that govern the introduction and movement of product through the supply chain, including requirements for the exchange of transaction documentation, development of systems capable of tracking and tracing product as it moves through the distribution chain, and responding to requests from trading partners and government agencies. Any applicable federal, state or local regulations may hinder our ability to market, or increase the cost of marketing, our products in those states or localities.
The FDA's policies may change and additional U.S. or foreign government laws and/or regulations may be enacted which could impose additional burdens or limitations on our ability to obtain approval of our product candidates or market our products after approval. Moreover, increased attention to the containment of healthcare costs in the U.S. and in foreign markets could result in government scrutiny or new regulations that could harm our business. For example, significant price increases in recent years by certain drug manufacturers have received considerable scrutiny from U.S. Congress, in some cases forcing those companies to dramatically reduce those prices. There continues to be political pressure at both the U.S. federal and state levels related to drug pricing and drug transparency that could result in legislative or administrative actions, such as the State of California’s passage of SB 17 in 2017, or at a minimum continued scrutiny. California SB 17, for example, put in place new state reporting and notification requirements for manufacturers related to drug pricing, which became effective January 1, 2018. In May 2018, the Trump presidential administration issued "American Patients First," a multi-faceted blueprint to lower drug prices. The Trump administration has taken administrative steps to implement the
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blueprint, including through proposing sweeping demonstration projects aimed at putting downward pressure on drug prices. In addition, members of Congress have indicated an interest in legislative measures designed to lower drug costs. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of adverse governmental regulation that might arise from future legislative or administrative action, either in the U.S. or abroad.
Orphan Drugs
Under the Orphan Drug Act, special incentives exist for sponsors to develop products for rare diseases or conditions, which are defined to include those diseases or conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Requests for orphan drug designation must be submitted before the submission of an NDA, BLA, or supplemental NDA or BLA for the orphan use.
Products designated as orphan drugs are eligible for special grant funding for research and development, FDA assistance with the review of clinical trial protocols, potential tax credits for research, and reduced filing fees for marketing applications. If a product that has an orphan drug designation is the first such product to receive FDA approval for the disease for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan product exclusivity for that use. This means that, subsequent to approval, the FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same drug for the same disease, except in limited circumstances, for seven years. The FDA may approve a subsequent application from another sponsor if the FDA determines that the application is for a different drug or different use, or if the FDA determines that the subsequent product is clinically superior or demonstrates a major contribution to patient care, or that the holder of the initial orphan drug approval cannot assure the availability of sufficient quantities of the drug to meet the public's need. If the FDA approves another sponsor’s application for a drug that is the same as a drug with orphan exclusivity, but for a different use, the competing drug could be prescribed by physicians outside its approved use, including for the orphan use, notwithstanding the existence of orphan exclusivity. A grant of an orphan designation is not a guarantee that a product will be approved. If a sponsor receives orphan drug exclusivity upon approval, there can be no assurance that the exclusivity will prevent another person from receiving approval for the same or a similar drug for the same or other uses.
Some other jurisdictions have orphan drug rules and offer similar incentives. In the EU, for example, a designated orphan drug benefits from free scientific advice and reduced application fees. Moreover, an approved orphan drug benefits from a 10-year exclusivity period, during which regulators can neither accept nor approve applications for similar medicinal products for the same indication, unless there are insufficient supplies of the approved orphan drug or the similar product is safer, more effective or otherwise clinically superior than the approved orphan drug. Under the EU system, however, the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products, or COMP, will reassess orphan status in parallel with the European Medicines Agency’s assessment of the marketing authorization application and the COMP can recommend that orphan status is removed if the product no longer meets the relevant criteria.
Generic Drugs, AB Ratings and Pharmacy Substitution
Generic drugs are approved through an abbreviated regulatory process, which differs in important ways from the process followed for innovative products. For generic versions of drugs subject to an NDA, an abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, is filed with the FDA. The ANDA must seek approval of a product candidate that has the same active ingredient(s), dosage form, strength, route of administration, and conditions of use (labeling) as a so-called "reference listed drug" that has already been approved pursuant to a full NDA. Only limited exceptions exist to this ANDA sameness requirement, including certain limited variations approved by the FDA through a special suitability petition process. ANDA applicants are not required to submit clinical data to demonstrate safety and efficacy. Instead, the FDA relies on its findings of safety and effectiveness of the reference listed drug to approve the ANDA. As a result, the law requires the ANDA applicant submit only limited clinical data to demonstrate that the product covered by the ANDA is absorbed in the body at a rate and extent consistent with that of the reference listed drug. This is known as bioequivalence. In addition, the ANDA must contain information regarding the manufacturing processes and facilities that will be used to ensure product quality. It also must contain certifications with respect to all patents that are listed for the reference listed drug in the FDA’s publication, “Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations,” commonly known as the “Orange Book.”
Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, drugs that are new chemicals entities, or NCEs, are eligible for a five-year data exclusivity period. During this period, the FDA may not accept for review an ANDA submitted by another company that relies on any of the data submitted by the innovator company. This exclusivity period also applies to “505(b)(2)” applications, which are hybrid applications that rely in-part on pioneer data and in-part on new clinical data submitted to account for differences between the 505(b)(2) product and the reference listed drug. ANDA applicants and
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505(b)(2) applicants must certify to all patents listed in the Orange Book for the reference listed drug (i.e., the innovator NDA). An ANDA (or 505(b)(2) application) may be submitted to FDA after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement to one of those listed patents. The statute also provides three years of data exclusivity for an NDA (or NDA supplement) that is not an NCE if new clinical investigations, other than bioavailability studies, that were conducted or sponsored by the applicant are deemed essential to approval. During this period, the FDA will not approve an application filed by a third party for the protected conditions of use that relies on any of the data that was submitted by the innovator company. Neither exclusivity period blocks the approval of full applications (i.e., full NDAs) submitted to the FDA because full NDAs do not rely on a pioneer’s data.
Special procedures apply when an ANDA contains one or more certifications stating that a listed patent is invalid or not infringed. This is known as a “Paragraph IV” certification. If the owner of the patent or the NDA for the reference listed drug brings a patent infringement suit within a specified time after receiving notice of the Paragraph IV certification, an automatic stay bars FDA approval of the ANDA for 30 months, which period may be extended under certain circumstances. The length of the automatic stay depends on whether the FDA classifies the reference listed drug as an NCE, as follows:
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If the FDA does not classify the reference listed drug as an NCE, then the automatic stay is for 30 months from the date that the manufacturer of the reference listed drug receives the patent certification described above. |
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If the reference listed drug is classified by the FDA as an NCE, then the length of the automatic stay depends on when the ANDA is filed. No company can file an ANDA on a reference listed drug that the FDA has designated as an NCE until five years after the reference listed drug’s FDA approval, except that an ANDA may be submitted four years after the reference listed drug’s FDA approval if the ANDA contains a Paragraph IV patent certification. If an ANDA containing a Paragraph IV certification is filed five or more years after FDA approval of the NCE, then the stay duration is 30 months. However, if an ANDA containing a Paragraph IV certification is filed in between the fourth and fifth years after FDA approval of the NCE, the automatic 30 month stay is extended by a number of months equal to the number of months remaining in the fifth year after approval of the reference listed drug, providing a total of up to a 42 month stay. |
If the stay is either lifted or expires and the FDA approves the ANDA, the generic manufacturer may decide to begin selling its product even if patent litigation is pending. However, if the generic manufacturer launches before patent litigation is resolved, the launch is at the risk of the generic manufacturer being later held liable for patent infringement damages.
Many states require or permit pharmacists to substitute generic equivalents for brand-name prescriptions unless the physician has prohibited substitution. Managed care organizations often urge physicians to prescribe drugs with generic equivalents, and to authorize substitution, as a means of controlling costs of prescriptions. They also may require lower copayments as an incentive to patients to ask for and accept generics.
While the question of substitutability is one of state law, most states look to the FDA to determine whether a generic is substitutable. The FDA lists therapeutic equivalence ratings in the “Orange Book.” In general, a generic drug that is listed in the Orange Book as therapeutically equivalent to the branded product will be substitutable under state law and, conversely, a generic drug that is not so listed will not be substitutable. Drug products that the FDA considers to be therapeutically equivalent to other drug products receive one of various types of “A” ratings. For example, solid oral dosage form drug products that are considered therapeutically equivalent are generally rated “AB” in the Orange Book, while therapeutically equivalent solutions and powders for aerosolization generally receive an “AB” or an “AN” rating depending on how bioequivalence was demonstrated.
To be considered therapeutically equivalent, a generic drug must first be a pharmaceutical equivalent of the branded drug. This means that the generic has the same active ingredient, dosage form, strength or concentration and route of administration as the branded drug. Tablets and capsules are currently considered different dosage forms that are pharmaceutical alternatives and therefore are not substitutable pharmaceutical equivalents. In addition to being pharmaceutical equivalents, therapeutic equivalents must be bioequivalent to their branded counterparts. Bioequivalence for this purpose is defined in the same manner as for ANDA approvals, and usually requires a showing of comparable rate and extent of absorption in a small human study.
The process described above is not applicable to drugs where the pioneer product was approved pursuant to a BLA, rather than an NDA. A separate process exists for follow-on versions of such products and is discussed in the section entitled “Biosimilars,” below.
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Requirements Applicable to Medical Devices in the United States
The FDA regulates, among other things, the development, testing, manufacturing, labeling, safety, effectiveness, storage, record keeping, marketing, import, export, and distribution of medical devices. The level of regulation applied by the FDA generally depends on the class into which the medical device falls: Class I, II, or III. Class I medical devices present the lowest risk, and Class III medical devices present the highest risk. In general, the higher class of device, the greater the degree of regulatory control. All devices, for example, are subject to “General Controls,” which include:
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Establishment registration by manufacturers, distributors, re-packagers, and re-labelers; |
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Device listing with FDA; |
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Good manufacturing practices; |
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Labeling regulations; and |
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Reporting of adverse events. |
Class II medical devices are subject to General Controls, but also Special Controls, including special labeling requirements, mandatory performance standards, additional post market surveillance, and specific FDA guidance. Most Class III medical devices are assessed individually through an extensive Premarket Review application, or PMA. As a result, although they are subject to General Controls, they generally are not subject to Special Controls. Instead, most Class III devices have additional requirements and conditions of use imposed on them through the individualized PMA review and approval process.
Although we do not manufacture or market stand-alone medical devices, Inbrija relies on a device component (the inhaler) to deliver drug product to patients. In general, the FDA regulates that type of product as a “combination product.” The FDA assigns combination products for review by the drug or device center based on a determination of the product’s “primary mode of action.” If the FDA determines that the product achieves its therapeutic effect through drug component, as was the case with Inbrija, it will be assigned to the Center for Drugs (CDER) or the Center for Biologics (CBER) for review and approval. By contrast, if the FDA determines that the device component is the primary mode of action, then the product will be reviewed and approved by the center for devices (CDRH). CDER is the lead review division for Inbrija. We anticipate that to the extent that any of our other pipeline products are regulated as combination products, the FDA likely will find that the primary mode of action is through the drug component, and therefore the product will be reviewed by CDER. In that case, however, CDER/CBER will consult with CDRH on the drug component and we will still have to comply with certain requirements applicable to medical devices.
Most Class I devices are exempt from the FDA premarket review or approval. With some exceptions, Class II devices may be marketed only if the FDA “clears” the medical device through the 510(k) process, which requires a company to show that the device is “substantially equivalent” to certain devices already on the market. Again with some exceptions, Class III devices are approved through a PMA, which generally requires an applicant to submit data from clinical trials that establish the safety and effectiveness of the device. Clinical data are sometimes required for a 510(k) application as well. Manufacturers conducting clinical trials with medical devices are subject to similar requirements as those conducting clinical trials with drugs or biologics. For example, a manufacturer must obtain an investigational device exemption, or IDE, to test a significant risk device in humans, must comply with GCPs, and must obtain IRB approval. Although Inbrija includes a medical device component (the inhaler), Inbrija is a combination product that was approved by CDER via an NDA and these medical device clearance/approval requirements are not applicable to Inbrija.
The FDA has broad post-market regulatory and enforcement powers with respect to medical devices, similar to those for drugs and biologics. For example, medical devices are subject to detailed manufacturing standards under the FDA’s quality systems regulations, or QSRs, and specific rules regarding labeling and promotion. Medical device manufacturers must also register their establishments and list their products with the FDA.
States also impose regulatory requirements on medical device manufacturers and distributors, including registration and record-keeping requirements. Failure to comply with the applicable federal and state medical device requirements could result in, among other things, refusal to approve or clear pending applications, withdrawal of an approval or clearance,
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warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement, or other civil or criminal penalties.
Biosimilars
The Affordable Care Act amended the Public Health Service Act to authorize the FDA to approve “biosimilars” (follow-on versions of pioneer products approved pursuant to a BLA) via a separate, abbreviated pathway. Under this abbreviated pathway, the biosimilar applicant must demonstrate that its product is “highly similar” to the “reference product,” and that there are no “clinically meaningful differences” between the biosimilar and the reference product. Unlike ANDAs, biosimilars are not, in general, automatically substitutable for the reference product at the pharmacy. Instead, the FDA must make a separate finding of “interchangeability.” To date, the trend in state law has been to permit or require substitution only of those biosimilars that have also been deemed by the FDA to be interchangeable.
The Affordable Care Act also established a period of 12 years of data exclusivity against biosimilars for reference products in order to preserve incentives for future innovation. Under this framework, data exclusivity protects the data in the BLA-holders’ regulatory application by prohibiting others, for a period of 12 years, from gaining FDA approval based in part on reliance on or reference to the reference product’s data in its approved BLA. In contrast to the provisions for NDAs, the biologics data exclusivity provisions do not change the duration of patents granted on biologic products, or otherwise create an “automatic stay” of FDA approval of a biosimilar. If our product candidates are approved as biologics, they may face significant competition from biosimilars in the future.
Foreign Regulation and Product Approval
Outside the U.S., our ability or the ability of one of our collaborators to market a product candidate is contingent upon receiving a marketing authorization from the appropriate regulatory authorities. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, marketing authorization, pricing and reimbursement vary widely from country to country. Foreign marketing authorizations can be applied for at a national level, although within the European Union, or EU, registration procedures are available to companies wishing to market a product in the entire European Economic Area, or EEA (through the “centralized procedure,” which is mandatory for certain products, including biotechnology and advanced therapy medicinal products, orphan medicines and new active substances for the treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), cancer, neurodegenerative disorder, diabetes, auto-immune diseases and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases), or in more than one individual EU member state (through the “mutual recognition procedure” or “decentralized procedure”). The foreign regulatory approval process involves all of the risks associated with FDA approval discussed above.
Other Regulations
In the U.S., the research, manufacturing, distribution, sale, and promotion of drug and biological products, as well as medical devices, are potentially subject to regulation and oversight by various federal, state and local authorities in addition to the FDA, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), other divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (e.g., the Office of Inspector General), the U.S. Department of Justice and individual U.S. Attorney offices within the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and state and local governments. Controlled substances that are scheduled by the DEA are subject to additional regulatory requirements including, among other things, special security and handling requirements, and potential restrictions on distribution, sales, marketing. Sales, marketing, scientific/educational grant programs and other Acorda interactions with healthcare professionals, must comply with the anti-kickback and fraud and abuse provisions of the Social Security Act and the False Claims Act, and may be affected by the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, and similar state laws. Pricing and rebate programs must comply with the Medicaid rebate requirements of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, and/or the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992. For products to be covered by Medicaid, drug manufacturers must enter into a rebate agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services on behalf of the states and must regularly submit certain pricing information to CMS. Under the VHCA, we are required to offer certain drugs at a reduced price to a number of federal agencies including the Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense, or DOD, the Public Health Service and certain private Public Health Service designated entities in order to participate in other federal health care programs including Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, discounted prices must also be offered for certain DOD purchases for its TRICARE retail pharmacy program via a rebate system. Participation under the VHCA requires submission of pricing data and calculation of discounts and rebates pursuant to complex statutory formulas, as well as the entry into government procurement contracts governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations.
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Several states have enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to establish marketing compliance programs, file periodic reports with the state, make periodic disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, and other activities, and/or register their sales representatives, and to prohibit certain other sales and marketing practices. In addition, our activities are potentially subject to federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws.
Under the Sunshine Act provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), pharmaceutical manufacturers are subject to federal reporting requirements with regard to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals. Reports submitted under these requirements are placed on a public database. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to submit reports to CMS annually. Beginning in 2022, the Sunshine Act will also apply to payments to physician assistants and advance practice nurses. Similarly, pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to annually report to FDA samples of prescription drugs requested by and distributed to healthcare providers. The law does not state whether these sample disclosures will be made publicly available, and the FDA has not provided any additional guidance as to how the data will be used.
Our research and development and manufacturing activities are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including, among other matters, those governing laboratory procedures and the use, generation, manufacture, distribution, storage, handling, treatment, remediation and disposal of hazardous substances; the exposure of persons to hazardous substances; the release of pollutants into the air and bodies of water; and the general health, safety and welfare of employees and members of the public. Our research and development and manufacturing activities and the activities of our third-party manufacturers involve the use of hazardous substances, and the risk of injury, contamination or noncompliance with the applicable environmental, health and safety requirements cannot be eliminated. We may incur significant costs to comply with such laws and regulations now or in the future. Although compliance with such laws and regulations has not had a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations have tended to become increasingly stringent and, to the extent legal or regulatory changes occur in the future, they could result in, among other things, increased costs to us.
Reimbursement and Pricing Controls
In many of markets where we or a collaborator markets or may potentially market one of our approved products, the prices of pharmaceutical products are subject to direct price controls, by law, and to drug reimbursement programs with varying price control mechanisms.
In the U.S., there has been an increased focus on drug pricing in recent years. Although there are currently no direct government price controls over private sector purchases in the U.S., federal legislation requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to pay prescribed rebates on certain drugs to certain public healthcare programs, such as Medicaid, in order for the drugs to be eligible for reimbursement under those programs. Various states have adopted further mechanisms under Medicaid and other programs that seek to control drug prices, including by disfavoring certain higher priced drugs and by seeking supplemental rebates from manufacturers. Managed care has also become a potent force in the market place that increases downward pressure on the prices of pharmaceutical products. Recent heightened scrutiny of the prices of several drug products have led to numerous other proposals, at both the federal and state level, to address perceived issues related to drug pricing and drug transparency. Several other states have adopted or are considering adopting laws that require pharmaceutical companies to provide notice prior to raising pricing and other information related to price increases. In May 2018, the Trump presidential administration issued "American Patients First," a multi-faceted blueprint to lower drug prices. The administration has taken administrative steps to implement the blueprint, including through proposing sweeping demonstration projects aimed at putting downward pressure on drug prices. In addition, members of the U.S. Congress have indicated an interest in legislative measures designed to lower drug costs.
Under the reimbursement methodology set forth in the Medicare Modernization Act, or MMA, physicians are reimbursed for drugs they administer to Medicare beneficiaries based on a product's "average sales price," or ASP. This ASP-based reimbursement methodology has generally led to lower reimbursement levels. The MMA also established the Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug benefit, which is provided primarily through private entities that attempt to negotiate price concessions from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The ACA, as amended, requires drug manufacturers to provide a 70% discount on prescriptions for branded products filled while the beneficiary is in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, also known as the “donut hole.”
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 resulted in changes to the way average manufacturer price, or AMP, and best price are reported to the government and the formula for calculating required Medicaid rebates. The ACA increased the minimum basic Medicaid rebate for branded prescription drugs to 23.1% and requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to pay states
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rebates on prescription drugs dispensed to Medicaid managed care enrollees. In addition, the ACA increased the additional Medicaid rebate on “line extensions” (such as extended release formulations) of solid oral dosage forms of branded products, revised the definition of AMP by changing the classes of purchasers included in the calculation, and expanded the entities eligible for discounted 340B pricing.
The ACA imposes a significant annual fee on companies that manufacture or import branded prescription drug products. The fee (which is not deductible for federal income tax purposes) is based on the manufacturer’s market share of sales of branded drugs and biologics (excluding orphan drugs) to, or pursuant to coverage under, specified U.S. government programs. The ACA also contains a number of provisions, including provisions governing the way that healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, enrollment in federal healthcare programs, reimbursement changes, increased funding for comparative effectiveness research for use in the healthcare industry, and enhancements to fraud and abuse requirements and enforcement, that will affect existing government healthcare programs and will result in the development of new programs.
In December 2017, portions of the ACA dealing with the individual mandate insurance requirement were effectively repealed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the U.S. Congress and/or President Trump may seek to repeal other aspects of the ACA. In December 2018, a U.S. federal district court judge in Texas found the ACA to be unconstitutional, although the ruling was stayed while the case is appealed.
Public and private healthcare payers control costs and influence drug pricing through a variety of mechanisms, including through negotiating discounts with the manufacturers and through the use of tiered formularies and other mechanisms that provide preferential access to certain drugs over others within a therapeutic class. Payers also set other criteria to govern the uses of a drug that will be deemed medically appropriate and therefore reimbursed or otherwise covered. In particular, many public and private healthcare payers limit reimbursement and coverage to the uses of a drug that are either approved by the FDA and/or appear in a recognized drug compendium. Drug compendia are publications that summarize the available medical evidence for particular drug products and identify which uses of a drug are supported or not supported by the available evidence, whether or not such uses have been approved by the FDA.
Different pricing and reimbursement schemes exist in other countries. In the EU, for example, there is extensive regulation of pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement through health systems that fund a large part of the cost of such products to consumers. The approach taken varies from member state to member state. Some jurisdictions operate positive and/or negative list systems under which products may only be marketed once a reimbursement price has been agreed. Other member states allow companies to fix their own prices for medicines, but monitor and control company profits and may limit or restrict reimbursement based on the results of health economic assessments. Others control the price of pharmaceutical products through reference pricing approaches where the reimbursement price is determined by the price in other jurisdictions. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products, as exemplified by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or NICE, in the United Kingdom which evaluates the data supporting new medicines and passes reimbursement recommendations to the government. In addition, in some countries cross-border imports from low-priced markets (parallel imports) exert commercial pressure on pricing within a country.
EMPLOYEES
As of February 21, 2019, we had 474 employees.
CORPORATE INFORMATION
We were incorporated in 1995 as a Delaware corporation. Our principal executive offices are located at 420 Saw Mill River Road, Ardsley, New York 10502. Our telephone number is (914) 347-4300. Our website is www.acorda.com. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report and should not be considered to be a part of this report. References to our website address in this report have been included as, and are intended to be, inactive textual references only that do not hyperlink to our website.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of
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charge on our website (http://www.acorda.com under the “Investors” and then "SEC Filings" captions) as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish them to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Also, the SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” some information from our proxy statement for our 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, rather than repeating that information in this report. We intend to file our 2019 Proxy Statement within 120 days after the end of our 2018 fiscal year, in accordance with SEC rules and regulations, and we recommend that you refer to the information that we indicate will be contained in our 2019 Proxy Statement.
You should carefully consider the risks described below, in addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report, before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be harmed by any of these risks. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or other factors not perceived by us to present significant risks to our business at this time also may impair our business operations.
Risks related to our business
We have a history of operating losses and may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability in the future; we are substantially dependent on our ability to successfully market and sell Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), which received FDA approval on December 21, 2018 and which we expect to be commercially available in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2019.
As of December 31, 2018, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $393.8 million. We had a net income of $33.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and a net loss of $223.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. Since 2010, we have been highly dependent on, and have derived substantially all of our revenue from, sales of Ampyra in the U.S. However, in 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware issued a ruling in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers that invalidated our Orange Book-listed Ampyra patents, and in September 2018 the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the District Court ruling. We have experienced a rapid and significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the appellate decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales.
Our prospects for achieving and sustaining profitability in the future will depend primarily on how successful we are in:
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successfully launching the commercial sale of Inbrija in the U.S.; |
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obtaining MAA approval in the E.U. for Inbrija and commercializing Inbrija in the E.U., for which we may require a collaborator; |
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continuing to advance and/or out-license or sell our earlier-stage clinical development programs; and |
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expanding our product development pipeline through the potential in-licensing and/or acquisition of additional products and technologies. |
If we are not successful in executing our business plan, we may not achieve or sustain profitability and even if we do so, we may not meet sales expectations. Also, even if we are successful in executing our business plan, our profitability may fluctuate from period to period due to our level of investments in sales and marketing, research and development, and product and product candidate acquisitions. For example, in 2019 we expect to invest a significant amount on commercialization of Inbrija.
The commercial success of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) and any other future products are highly dependent on market acceptance among physicians, patients and the medical community, adequate reimbursement by government and other third-party payers, and other factors.
In general, the success of our products, including Inbrija, is subject to numerous factors, some of which are not within our control, including the following:
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the loss of intellectual property protection for our products, which would enable generic competition; |
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the effectiveness of our sales, managed markets and marketing efforts; |
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the acceptance of our products in the medical community, particularly with respect to whether physicians and patients view our products as safe and effective for their labeled indications, and whether they have an acceptable benefit-to-risk profile, and the rate of adoption by healthcare providers and the target population of patients; |
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the availability of adequate reimbursement by third-party payers; |
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the occurrence of any side effects, adverse reactions, customer complaints or misuse (or any unfavorable publicity relating thereto) stemming from the use of Inbrija or our other products or identified in ongoing or future studies of those products; |
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the development of products that compete with or are an alternative to Inbrija or any future products that we may develop, the timing of market entry for competing or alternative products, the perceived advantages of competing or alternative therapies over our products, and the pricing of our products as compared to the pricing of competing or alternative products. |
Market acceptance of our products and product candidates depends on the benefits of our products in terms of safety, efficacy, convenience, ease of administration and cost effectiveness and our ability to demonstrate these benefits to physicians, patients and payers. Market acceptance also depends on the pricing of our products and the reimbursement policies of government and third-party payers, as well as on the effectiveness of our sales and marketing activities. Physicians may not prescribe our products, and patients may determine, for any reason, that our products are not useful to them. For example, physicians may not believe that the benefits of Inbrija or our future products that we may develop are meaningful for patients. As described below in these risk factors, FDA-approved product labeling for Inbrija includes limitations, warnings and precautions, which may harm its market acceptance. Also, if Inbrija or future products are not listed on the preferred drug lists of third-party payers, or Inbrija or other products are on the preferred drug list but subject to unfavorable limitations or preconditions or in disadvantageous positions on tiered formularies, our sales may suffer.
Also, in the U.S., the federal government has provided significantly increased funding for comparative effectiveness research, which may compare our products with other treatments and may result in published findings that would, in turn, discourage use of our products by physicians and payments for our products by payers. Similar research is funded in other countries, including in some countries in Europe.
The failure of any of our products or product candidates, once approved, to achieve market acceptance would limit our ability to generate revenue and would harm our results of operations. If market acceptance of our products in the U.S., EU, or other countries does not meet expectations, our revenues or royalties from product sales would suffer and this could cause our stock price to decline or could otherwise adversely affect our stock price.
Our ability to use net operating loss carry forwards to reduce future tax payments may be limited if taxable income does not reach sufficient levels or there is a change in ownership of Acorda.
In general, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), a corporation is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize net operating losses, or NOLs, to offset future taxable income. As of December 31, 2018, we had approximately $131.6 million of NOLs, all of which were incurred by our Biotie subsidiary during 2018 and earlier. Existing NOLs that were incurred prior to 2018 have a 20 year carryforward available (based on when they were incurred) to reduce taxable income in future years. Federal income tax losses generated in tax years ending after January 1, 2018 can generally be carried forward indefinitely, due to 2017 tax reform legislation. However, the ability to use existing NOL carryforwards, or to use NOLs we generate in 2019 and beyond, will be dependent on our ability to generate taxable income and will be subject to an annual limitation of 80% of taxable income. Furthermore, because the NOLs existing at December 31, 2018 were incurred by our Biotie subsidiary, our ability to use those NOL carryforwards will depend on the ability of that specific subsidiary to generate taxable income and we currently do not assign any value to those NOLs.
Our ability to utilize the NOL's may be further limited if we undergo an ownership change, as defined in section 382 of the Code. This ownership change could be triggered by substantial changes in the ownership of our outstanding stock, which are generally outside of our control. An ownership change would exist if the stockholders, or group of stockholders, who own or have owned, directly or indirectly, 5% or more of the value of our stock, or are otherwise treated as 5% stockholders under section 382 and the regulations promulgated thereunder, increase their aggregate percentage ownership of our stock by more than 50 percentage points over the lowest percentage of our stock owned by these stockholders at any time during the testing
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period, which is generally the three-year period preceding the potential ownership change. In the event of an ownership change, section 382 imposes an annual limitation on the amount of post-ownership change taxable income a corporation may offset with pre-ownership change NOL's. If an ownership change were to occur, the annual limitation under Section 382 could result in a material amount of our NOLs expiring unused. This could significantly impair any value we assign to our NOL asset and, as a result, could have a negative impact on our financial position and results of operations.
We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities, which could have a material impact on our results of operations and financial position.
We are subject to income taxes, as well as non-income based taxes, in both the U.S. and Puerto Rico, as well as certain European countries where we have subsidiaries and/or subsidiary operations. Significant judgment is required in determining our tax liabilities. Although we believe our estimates are reasonable, the ultimate outcome with respect to the taxes we owe may differ from the amounts recorded in our financial statements. If the Internal Revenue Service, or other taxing authority, disagrees with the positions taken by us, we could have additional tax liability, and this could have a material impact on our results of operations and financial position. In addition, governments may adopt tax reform measures that significantly increase our worldwide tax liabilities, which could materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We operate in the highly-regulated pharmaceutical industry.
Our research, development, preclinical and clinical trial activities, as well as the manufacture and marketing of any products that we have developed or in the future may successfully develop, are subject to an extensive regulatory approval process by the FDA and other regulatory agencies abroad.
In order to conduct clinical trials to obtain FDA approval to commercialize any drug or biological product candidate, an investigational new drug, or IND, application must first be submitted to the FDA and must become effective before clinical trials may begin. Subsequently, if the product candidate is regulated as a drug, a new drug application, or NDA, must be submitted to the FDA and approved before commercial marketing may begin. The NDA must include the results of adequate and well-controlled clinical trials demonstrating, among other things, that the product candidate is safe and effective for use in humans for each target indication. If the product candidate, such as an antibody, is regulated as a biologic, a biologic license application, or BLA, must be submitted and approved before commercial marketing may begin. Extensive submissions of preclinical and clinical trial data are required to demonstrate the safety, potency and purity for each intended use. The FDA may refuse to accept our regulatory submissions for filing if they are incomplete. Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage result in the submission of an NDA or BLA to the FDA, and even fewer are approved for commercialization.
The process of obtaining required regulatory approvals for drugs is lengthy, expensive and uncertain. Any regulatory approvals may be for fewer or narrower indications than we request, may include distribution restrictions, or may be conditioned on burdensome post-approval study or other requirements, including the requirement that we institute and follow a special risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, to monitor and manage potential safety issues, all of which may eliminate or reduce the drug's market potential. Additional adverse events that could impact commercial success, or even continued regulatory approval, might emerge with more extensive post-approval patient use. Investigational products that rely on device components to deliver drug to patients, such as Inbrija, are regulated as combination products and require that we satisfy FDA that both the drug and device component of the products satisfy FDA requirements. Failure to satisfy the FDA’s requirements for either the drug or device component of such combination products could delay approval of these products or result in these products not receiving FDA approval.
Any product for which we currently have or may in the future obtain marketing approval is subject to continual post-approval requirements including, among other things, record-keeping and reporting requirements, packaging and labeling requirements, requirements for reporting adverse drug experiences, import/export controls, restrictions on advertising and promotion, current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) requirements as well as any other requirements imposed by the applicants NDA or BLA. All of our products and operations are subject to periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory bodies. Regulatory approval of a product may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to other restrictive conditions of approval that limit our ability to promote, sell or distribute a product. Furthermore, any approval may contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. Post-market evaluation of a product could result in marketing restrictions or withdrawal from the market.
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We may fail to comply with existing legal or regulatory requirements or be slow to adapt, or be unable to adapt, to new legal or regulatory requirements. We may encounter problems with manufacturing processes for our products, and we may discover previously unknown problems with our products. These circumstances could result in:
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voluntary or mandatory recalls; |
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voluntary or mandatory patient or physician notification; |
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withdrawal of product approvals; |
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shut-down of manufacturing facilities; |
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receipt of warning letters or untitled letters; |
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product seizures; |
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restrictions on, or prohibitions against, marketing our products; |
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restrictions on importation of our product candidates; |
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fines and injunctions; |
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civil and criminal penalties; |
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exclusion from participation in government programs; and |
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suspension of review or refusal to approve pending applications. |
In addition, we are subject to regulation under other state and federal laws, including requirements regarding occupational safety, laboratory practices, environmental protection and hazardous substance control, controlled substances and we may be subject to other local, state, federal and foreign regulations. We cannot predict the impact of those regulations on us, although they could impose significant restrictions on our business and we may have to incur additional expenses to comply with them. We may rely on collaborators within or outside the U.S. for the manufacture, sale and/or marketing of our pharmaceutical products. The failure of these other companies to comply with laws and regulations applicable to them or the activities they perform for us could similarly harm our business.
We rely on our Chelsea manufacturing facility for the manufacture of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) and other ARCUS inhaled therapeutic product candidates, and our business could be harmed if we do not maintain required regulatory approval to manufacture commercial product at that facility, if there is an interruption in operations at the facility, or if the facility does not have manufacturing capacity needed to meet product demand.
We currently manufacture all commercial supply of Inbrija at our Chelsea, Massachusetts manufacturing facility that we occupy under a lease that expires in December 2025, which we may extend for up to ten years. We intend to manufacture all commercial supplies of Inbrija, as well as supplies of all additional ARCUS inhaled therapeutic candidates that we may develop, in this manufacturing facility, unless and until we engage a third party for expanded manufacturing capacity. After launch of Inbrija commercial sales, we anticipate the need for expanded manufacturing capacity at the Chelsea facility to meet demand depending on the timing and extent of sales growth. Our inability to expand the facility in a timely manner or unexpected demand for commercial quantities of Inbrija could cause a supply shortage that would harm our commercialization of Inbrija.
Furthermore, if we were to lose the use of our facility or equipment, our manufacturing facility and manufacturing equipment would be difficult to replace and could require substantial replacement lead time and substantial additional funds. Our facility may be affected by natural disasters, such as floods or fire, or we may lose the use of our facility due to manufacturing issues that arise at our facility, such as contamination or regulatory concerns following a regulatory inspection of our facility. We may also unexpectedly experience these types of manufacturing issues as the unintended result of the construction and other activities occurring at the facility needed for expansion. In the event of a loss of the use of all or a portion of our facility or equipment for the reasons stated above or any other reason, we would be unable to manufacture Inbrija or any other ARCUS inhaled therapeutic products or product candidates until such time as our facility could be repaired, rebuilt or we are able to address other manufacturing issues at our facility. Any such interruptions in our ability to manufacture these products or product candidates would harm our business. Even if we do not suffer a loss of the facility or equipment within the facility, manufacturing operations can experience intermittent interruptions due to the need for routine
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or unexpected maintenance, inspection and repairs of the facility or the equipment, and, depending on their frequency and duration, these intermittent interruptions could also harm our business.
We do not currently have back-up manufacturing capability at another facility and there are only limited third-party manufacturers that we believe would be capable of manufacturing Inbrija or other ARCUS inhaled therapeutic products or product candidates. If the need arises to obtain supply from a third party manufacturer, there can be no assurance that we could identify a third party that would be capable and willing to manufacture for us on reasonable terms, if at all, or that they could supply us in sufficient quantities on a timely basis to meet our needs. Engaging a third party manufacturer to supply ARCUS products or product candidates would likely be a lengthy process involving the transfer of a proprietary, specialized and regulated manufacturing processes and which would be subject to the FDA regulatory approval requirements described above. Also, this would require that we share proprietary trade secrets and know-how with the third party manufacturer relating to Inbrija and our ARCUS platform. When our business requires that we share that type of information, we seek to protect it, in part, with confidentiality agreements, but those agreements may not provide adequate protection or prevent the unauthorized use or disclosure of the information. The unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary information could harm its value by enabling others to copy or use our information for their own products, methods or technologies, and we may not have an adequate remedy for the harm caused. If we are successful in engaging a third party manufacturer, they may not perform their obligations to us and/or they may be unable or unwilling to establish or increase production capacity commensurate with our needs. Also, third party manufacturers and suppliers are subject to their own operational and financial risks that are outside of our control, including macro-economic conditions that may cause them to suffer liquidity or operational problems and that could interfere with their business operations.
Expanding our Chelsea manufacturing capacity will be costly and involves numerous risks, and our efforts to commercialize the product could be harmed if we cannot complete expansion of the facility in a timely manner.
After the launch of Inbrija commercial sales, we anticipate the need for expanded manufacturing capacity at the Chelsea facility to meet demand depending on the timing and extent of sales growth. In 2018, we initiated a renovation and expansion of the Chelsea facility that will increase the size of the facility to approximately 95,000 square feet. The project will add a new manufacturing production line for Inbrija and other ARCUS products that has greater capacity than the existing manufacturing line, and it will create additional warehousing space for manufactured product. Construction of the project is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2019, though we cannot be assured that the project will be meet this schedule, and it will take additional time after completion of construction to obtain the FDA approval needed for use of the new production line for commercial manufacture.
The ARCUS dry powder aerosol particles are generated by applying our proprietary and multi-step spray drying process to active pharmaceutical ingredient. The application of spray drying in the pharmaceutical industry is highly specialized, and the process of manufacturing ARCUS particles requires significant expertise in dry powder manufacture and handling and capsule filling. Expanding our manufacturing capacity is requiring substantial additional expenditures and will require various regulatory approvals and permits. Further, we will need to hire and train additional employees and managerial personnel to staff our expanding manufacturing operations. Manufacturing scale-up entails significant risks related to process development and manufacturing yields. In addition, we may face difficulties or delays in developing or acquiring the necessary production equipment and technology. Our expanded Chelsea facility will have to continue to comply with cGMP requirements, as described above in these risk factors, as well as other applicable environmental, safety, and other governmental permitting requirements.
These challenges could delay or prevent us from successfully expanding our Chelsea manufacturing capacity. If we are delayed in or prevented from expanding our Chelsea facility, we may need to seek a third party to manufacturer additional Inbrija supply for us. As described above in these risk factors, there can be no assurance that we could identify a third party that would be capable and willing to manufacture for us on reasonable terms, if at all, or that they could supply us with product in sufficient quantities on a timely basis to meet our needs. If we cannot increase our supply of Inbrija by expanding our capacity in Chelsea or engaging a third party manufacturer, we may not be able to meet demand for Inbrija and our ability to commercialize Inbrija could be harmed.
We have no manufacturing capabilities for our products or product candidates other than our Chelsea, Massachusetts facility used to manufacture Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) and other ARCUS inhaled therapy product candidates, and we are dependent upon third-parties to supply the materials for, and to manufacture, our products and product candidates.
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We do not own or operate, and currently do not plan to own or operate, facilities for production and packaging of our products or product candidates other than our Chelsea, Massachusetts facility used to manufacture Inbrija and other ARCUS product candidates. We rely and expect to continue to rely on third parties for the production and packaging, active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, inactive ingredients, and finished dosage forms of our products and product candidates, and where relevant any medical devices that are part of our products or product candidates. We similarly rely and expect to continue to rely on third parties for the supply of materials for our research and development activities, particularly clinical trials. In addition, due to the unique manner in which our products are manufactured, in many cases we rely on single source providers for our commercial and investigational products, or components of those products. This dependence on others may harm our ability to develop and commercialize our products on a timely and competitive basis. Any such failure may result in decreased product sales and lower product revenue, which would harm our business.
We have relied, and we expect to continue relying, on third-party manufacturers to make the inhaler and to supply the API in Inbrija, and any failure by a third-party manufacturer or supplier may delay or impair our ability to commercialize Inbrija or to complete any future clinical studies that we may need to conduct. Our reliance on third parties for the manufacture of inhalers increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our inhalers or will not be able to obtain such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our commercialization efforts. We rely on a single third party molding manufacturer for supply of the Inbrija inhalers, and if this manufacturer fails to supply the inhalers and we need to enter into alternative arrangements with a different supplier, it could delay our product development activities, as we would have to revalidate the molding and assembly processes pursuant to FDA requirements. If there is an interruption in supply, this might render us unable to meet the demand for this product and our business could be adversely affected. Similarly, we do not purchase the API for Inbrija under a supply contract and there is a risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of the API at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.
We cannot be certain that we can reach agreement with (or renew existing agreements with) needed third party manufacturers or suppliers on reasonable terms, if at all. Manufacturers or suppliers may choose not to conduct business with us at all, for example if they determine that our particular business requirements would be unprofitable or otherwise not appropriate for their business. Even if we have agreements with third parties, they may not perform their obligations to us and/or they may be unable or unwilling to establish or increase production capacity commensurate with our needs. Also, third party manufacturers and suppliers are subject to their own operational and financial risks that are outside of our control, including macro-economic conditions that may cause them to suffer liquidity or operational problems and that could interfere with their business operations.
In addition, the manufacture and distribution of our products and product candidates, including product components such as API, and the manufacture of medical devices, are highly regulated, and any failure to comply with regulatory requirements could adversely affect our supply of products or our access to materials needed for product development. The third parties we rely on are subject to regulatory review, and any regulatory compliance problems could significantly delay or disrupt commercialization of our products. U.S. and foreign governments and regulatory authorities continue to propose legislative and other measures relating to the manufacture or distribution of pharmaceutical products, including revisions to current good manufacturing practices, or cGMPs. Third party manufacturers may be unable or unwilling to comply with new legislative or regulatory measures, and/or compliance with new requirements could increase the price we must pay for our products.
The manufacturing facilities used to produce our products, including those of our third-party manufacturers and suppliers, must comply with cGMPs and will likely have to pass a pre-approval FDA inspection. Third-party manufacturers and suppliers are also subject to periodic FDA inspection for cGMP compliance. Failure by our third-party manufacturers to pass such inspections and otherwise satisfactorily complete the FDA approval regimen with respect to our products or product candidates may result in regulatory actions such as the issuance of FDA Form 483 notices of observations, warning letters, injunctions, facility shut-downs, product seizures, loss of operating licenses, and other civil and criminal penalties. Based on the severity of the regulatory action, our clinical or commercial supplies could be interrupted or limited, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. In some cases, these third-party manufacturers may also be subject to GMP inspections by foreign regulatory authorities. Failure to pass such inspections by foreign regulatory authorities could impede our ability to manufacture product needed for clinical trials or impede our ability to secure product approvals.
If any of our third party manufacturers or suppliers fails to perform their obligations to us or otherwise have an interruption in or discontinues supply to us, we may be forced to seek supply from a different third party manufacturer or supplier. In such event, we may experience significant delays associated with finding an alternative manufacturer or supplier that is properly qualified to produce our products and product candidates or the API or other components of those products
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and product candidates in accordance with FDA requirements and our specifications. This could interfere with product sales or cause interruptions of, or delays in, our research and development programs. We may not be able to establish arrangements with an alternative manufacturer or supplier on reasonable terms, if at all. In some cases, the technical skills required to manufacture our products or product candidates or the API or other components of such products or product candidates may be unique or proprietary to the original manufacturer or supplier and we may have difficulty, or there may be contractual restrictions prohibiting us from, transferring such skills to a backup or alternative supplier, or we may be unable to transfer such skills at all.
We rely on Alkermes to supply us with our requirements for Ampyra. We and Alkermes also rely on two third-party manufacturers, Regis Technologies, Inc. and CU Chemie Uetikon (GmbH), to supply dalfampridine, the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, in Ampyra. If these companies experience any disruption in their operations, a delay or interruption in the supply of our Ampyra product could result until the problem is solved or we locate another source of supply. Under our supply agreement with Alkermes, we provide Alkermes with monthly written 18-month forecasts and with annual written five-year forecasts for our supply requirements of Ampyra. In each of the three months for Ampyra following the submission of our written 18-month forecast, we are obligated to purchase the quantity specified in the forecast, even if our actual requirements are greater or less. Given the introduction of generic competition to Ampyra in the market, it may be difficult to forecast the level of supply needed to satisfy our requirements in the future.
We may incur significant liability if we fail to comply with stringent FDA marketing and promotion regulations.
Our advertising and promotion activities are subject to stringent FDA rules and oversight. Among other requirements, our advertising and promotional materials must not be false or misleading in any particular respect, and must be appropriately substantiated and fairly balanced with information on the safety risks and limitations of our products. We must submit all promotional materials to the FDA by the time of their first use. If the FDA raises concerns regarding our promotional materials or messages, we may be required to modify or discontinue using them and may be required to provide corrective information. Should we fail to comply with these requirements, we may be subject to significant liability including civil and administrative remedies as well as criminal sanctions.
Each of our products is approved with specific indications and other conditions of use that inform our ability to promote our products. For example, Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) is indicated “for the intermittent treatment of OFF episodes in people with Parkinson’s disease treated with carbidopa/levodopa.” The approved labeling also contains other limitations on use and warnings and precautions, the most common adverse reactions, and contraindications for risks. If potential purchasers or those influencing purchasing or prescribing decisions, such as physicians and pharmacists or third party payers, react negatively to Inbrija or other products because of their perception of the limitations or safety risks in the approved product labeling, it may result in lower product acceptance and lower product revenues.
We face significant risks if we promote our drugs “off-label,” i.e., for uses other than those that the FDA has approved for our products. Physicians may prescribe drug products for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those approved by the FDA. Similar rules apply in many countries outside the U.S. Off-label uses are common across medical specialties. Although the FDA does not regulate a physician’s choice of treatments, it traditionally has prohibited companies from promoting their drugs for off-label uses. Several federal court cases, based on First Amendment principles, have called into question the FDA’s ability to enforce against companies solely on the basis of truthful and non-misleading off-label promotion of their drugs. It is unclear, however, how the courts ultimately will resolve this issue or how the FDA’s policies may (or may not) change in light of developing case law. Furthermore, off-label promotion of our products could violate advertising and promotion requirements such as the prohibition against false or misleading advertising and/or labeling, or the requirement that approved labeling bear “adequate directions” for all of the product’s “intended uses.” Accordingly, we potentially face significant risk of enforcement should we promote Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), Ampyra or any other products in the U.S. for any uses that are not consistent with the products’ approved labeling. The FDA and other regulatory and enforcement authorities actively enforce laws and regulations regulating promotion of approved drugs as well as the promotion of products for which marketing approval has not been obtained. A company that is found to have violated these requirements may be subject to significant liability, including civil and administrative remedies as well as criminal sanctions.
Notwithstanding the above-described regulatory restrictions, the FDA and other applicable regulatory authorities allow companies to engage in truthful, non-misleading, and non-promotional scientific exchange concerning their products. We engage in medical education activities and communicate with investigators and potential investigators regarding our clinical trials. Although we believe that all of our communications regarding our marketed and investigational products are in
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compliance with advertising and promotional regulations, the FDA or another regulatory or enforcement authority may disagree.
Any free samples we distribute to physicians must be carefully monitored and controlled, and must otherwise comply with the requirements of the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, as amended, and FDA regulations.
The identification of new side effects from Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) or any other marketed drug products, or side effects from those products that are more frequent or severe than in the past, would harm our business and could lead to a significant decrease in sales or to the FDA’s withdrawal of marketing approval.
Based on our clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions with Inbrija (at least 5% and greater than placebo) include cough, upper respiratory tract infection, nausea and discolored sputum. Once Inbrija is commercially available for sale, we will constantly monitor adverse event reports for signals regarding potential additional adverse events. If we or others identify previously unknown side effects, if known side effects are more frequent or severe than in the past, or if we or others detect unexpected safety signals for Inbrija or any products perceived to be similar to Inbrija, then in any of these circumstances:
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we may decide to, or be required to, send product warning letters or field alerts to physicians, pharmacists and hospitals; and we may be required to make product label changes; |
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healthcare practitioners, regulatory authorities, third party payers or patients may perceive or conclude that the risks associated with use of Inbrija outweigh the benefits, which could cause FDA to seek to withdraw Inbrija’s regulatory approvals or impact the availability of adequate reimbursement by third-party payers; |
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we may be required to reformulate the product, conduct additional preclinical or clinical studies, or make changes in labeling or changes to or reapprovals of manufacturing facilities; |
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the FDA may impose a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, on Inbrija or otherwise restrict its distribution and use; |
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our reputation in the marketplace may suffer; and |
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government investigations and lawsuits, including class action suits, may be brought against us. |
The above occurrences could impair our business by harming or possibly preventing sales of Inbrija, causing sales to fall below projections, and increasing our expenses.
Regulatory approval of our products could be withdrawn and our business could be harmed if we fail to comply with safety and adverse event monitoring, documentation, investigation and reporting requirements.
Under FDA regulations, we are required to monitor the safety of Inbrija and Ampyra, and in the case of Ampyra inform healthcare professionals about the risks of drug-associated seizures with Ampyra. We are required to document and investigate reports of adverse events, and to report them to the FDA in accordance with regulatory timelines based on their severity and expectedness. These requirements are applicable to all marketed drug products and will be applicable to Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) when we commence commercial sales. Failure to make timely safety reports and to establish and maintain related records could result in FDA withdrawal of marketing authorization or other regulatory action, civil actions against us, or criminal penalties, any of which could harm our business. If specialty pharmacies, marketing partners, or collaborators fail timely to report adverse events and product complaints to us, or if we do not meet the requirements for safety reporting, our business may be harmed.
We are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and other regulatory bodies related to other regulatory requirements that apply to drugs manufactured or distributed by us.
If we receive a notice of inspectional observations or deficiencies on FDA Form 483, or inspectional observations from foreign regulatory authorities, we may be required to undertake corrective and preventive actions in order to address the FDA's concerns, which could be expensive and time-consuming to complete and could impose additional burdens and expenses. Failure to adequately address the FDA’s, or foreign regulatory agency’s, concerns could expose us to enforcement and administrative actions.
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For example, between 2010 and 2014, FDA conducted a number of inspections focusing on our pharmacovigilance program. These inspections resulted in a series of FDA Form 483s with observations relating to timeliness of adverse event reporting and other aspects of our quality program. We also received a written warning letter, based on the inspections, and citing Acorda for violations of its pharmacovigilance obligations. We provided FDA with formal written responses to each 483 as well as the warning letter. These responses advised FDA of corrective actions we were taking to address all of the issues raised by the inspectional observations and the warning letter. These corrective actions have all been completed. In February 2016, the FDA conducted what it classified as a biennial routine inspection. The inspection focused on pharmacovigilance reporting and product complaint handling, and resulted in one FDA Form 483 observation related to Ampyra “lack of effect” complaint trends analysis. We responded to the Form 483, and have taken corrective actions. We continue to monitor and enhance our adverse event and product complaint reporting systems to ensure continued adherence to regulatory requirements.
In addition, our third-party suppliers’ drug product manufacturing sites are subject to inspection by the FDA. Some of these sites have been inspected by the FDA and could be inspected by the FDA in the future. If the FDA inspects the process validation efforts and manufacturing process at these sites, the FDA might find what it considers to be deficiencies in the manufacturing process or process validation efforts, which could negatively impact the availability of product supply or, in the case of a potential new product, delay or prevent commercial launch of that product. In some cases, our third-party suppliers’ drug manufacturing sites may also be subject to inspection by foreign regulatory authorities. We face similar risks to our business if those third-party manufacturers are unable to comply with foreign regulatory requirements. We and our third-party suppliers are generally required to maintain compliance with cGMPs and are subject to inspections by the FDA or comparable agencies in other jurisdictions to confirm such compliance. In addition, the FDA must approve certain changes to our suppliers or manufacturing methods. If we or our third-party suppliers cannot demonstrate ongoing cGMP compliance, we may be required to withdraw or recall product and interrupt commercial supply of our products. Any delay, interruption or other issues that arise in the manufacture, fill-finish, packaging, or storage of our products as a result of a failure of our facilities or the facilities or operations of our third-party suppliers, to pass regulatory agency inspection could significantly impair our ability to develop and commercialize our products. Significant noncompliance could also result in the imposition of monetary penalties, shut-down of manufacturing facilities, or other civil or criminal sanctions. Non-compliance could increase our costs, cause us to lose revenue, and damage our reputation.
Even if our suppliers or manufacturing methods are in compliance with applicable requirements, we may encounter problems with the manufacture of our products. To investigate and/or resolve these problems, we may be required to withdraw or recall product and interrupt commercial supply of our products. These events could increase our costs, cause us to lose revenue, and damage our reputation. We are required to submit field alert reports to the FDA if we learn of certain reported problems with our products, and we are required to investigate the causes of the reported problems. Issues identified in field alerts could lead to product recalls and interruption of supplies, which in turn could harm our business.
Also, the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act requires that trading partners such as our manufacturers, repackagers, wholesale distributors, and dispensers, take certain actions upon determining that a product in their possession or control is suspected to be: counterfeit; diverted; stolen; intentionally adulterated such that the product would result in serious adverse health consequences or death to humans; is the subject of a fraudulent transaction; or appears otherwise unfit for distribution such that the product would be reasonably likely to result in serious adverse health consequences to humans. The suspect product is required to be quarantined while an investigation is promptly conducted to determine whether the product meets any of the above criteria. Once a product is determined to meet any of the above-listed criteria, it will be deemed an illegitimate product. Upon such a determination, the FDA and all trading partners in the supply chain must be notified within 24 hours. The notification and quarantine of product during an investigation could impact product availability for commercial distribution and harm our business.
Our success in selling Inbrija will depend on the customer support efforts of our network of specialty pharmacies.
A specialty pharmacy is a pharmacy that specializes in the dispensing of injectable, infused or certain other medications typically for complex or chronic conditions, which often require a high level of patient education and ongoing management. Specialty pharmacies are commonly used to dispense MS drugs, many of which are injectable. The use of specialty pharmacies involves risks, including, but not limited to, risks that these specialty pharmacies will:
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not provide us with accurate or timely information regarding their inventories, the number of patients who are using Inbrija, Inbrija adverse events, or Inbrija product complaints; |
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not effectively dispense or support Inbrija; |
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not devote the resources necessary to dispense Inbrija in the volumes and within the time frames that we expect; |
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be unable to satisfy financial obligations to us or others; |
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not have the required licenses to distribute drugs; or cease operations. |
We are dependent on our existing collaborations, and may need additional collaborations, to commercialize products outside of the U.S.
We have not yet developed the capabilities to commercialize products outside of the U.S. Pursuant to our Collaboration Agreement with Biogen, entered into in June 2009, we granted Biogen an exclusive license to develop and commercialize Ampyra and other products containing aminopyridines in all territories outside the U.S. We may enter into additional collaborations with third parties to develop and commercialize some of our product candidates in the future. For example, we may need to enter into collaborations to commercialize Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) outside of the U.S., if it receives marketing approval in any jurisdictions outside of the U.S., and similarly we would need to rely on collaborations for commercializing any other potential products outside of the U.S. We cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to identify suitable collaboration partners for Inbrija or other potential products, or that we will be able to enter into collaboration agreements with proposed partners on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our inability to identify collaboration partners or enter into collaborations could harm or delay our efforts to commercialize Inbrija or other potential products outside of the U.S.
Our dependence on collaborators for development and commercialization of products and product candidates outside the U.S., is and will subject us to a number of risks, including:
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we may not be able to control the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators devote to the development or commercialization of product candidates or to their marketing and distribution; |
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collaborators may fail to comply with laws and regulations applicable to the development, or commercialization of products or product candidates; |
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collaborators may not be successful in their efforts to obtain or maintain regulatory approvals or adequate product reimbursement in a timely manner, or at all, as discussed further in these risk factors; |
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disputes may arise between us and our collaborators that result in the delay or termination of the research, development or commercialization of our product candidates or that result in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management's attention and resources; |
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collaborators may not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation; |
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collaborators may delay clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a clinical trial program, stop a clinical trial or abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical trials or require a new formulation of a product candidate for clinical testing; |
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business combinations or significant changes in a collaborator's business strategy may also adversely affect a collaborator's willingness or ability to complete its obligations under any arrangement; |
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a collaborator could independently move forward with a competing product candidate developed either independently or in collaboration with others, including our competitors; |
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the collaborations may be terminated or allowed to expire, which would delay the development and may increase the cost of developing our product candidates; and |
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collaborators may experience financial difficulties. |
While we seek contractual terms and conditions intended to protect our rights and mitigate our risk relating to circumstances listed above, there can be no assurance that these terms will provide us with adequate rights and remedies, and actions required to enforce such rights could be costly and time consuming.
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We do not currently receive any royalties from Biogen for sales of Fampyra, and we cannot predict whether and when we will receive additional Fampyra royalties.
Under the terms of our 2017 Fampyra royalty monetization transaction with HealthCare Royalty Partners, we will not receive royalties from the sale of Fampyra until they receive an agreed upon threshold of royalties. After this threshold is met, if ever, we will continue to receive Fampyra royalty revenue under the terms of our collaboration agreement with Biogen. We cannot predict whether and when that threshold will be met, as this will depend on Biogen’s ability to commercialize Fampyra, although we expect it will take at least several years. Biogen’s commercialization of Fampyra will depend on factors such as Biogen’s ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals and to obtain adequate third-party reimbursement as described further in these risk factors. Also, we do not expect that Biogen will seek approval to market Fampyra in any new jurisdictions in the near future, if ever, which limits the potential for growth in Fampyra sales and accordingly whether and when we may receive additional Fampyra royalties.
Our collaborators will need to obtain and maintain regulatory approval in foreign jurisdictions where they seek to market or are currently marketing our products.
In order to market our products in the EU and other foreign jurisdictions, separate regulatory approvals must be obtained and maintained and numerous and varying regulatory requirements must be complied with. Approval procedures vary among countries and can involve additional clinical and non-clinical testing as well as additional regulatory agency inspections. The time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval. We and our collaborator may fail to obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis, if at all. In addition, individual countries, within the EU or elsewhere, may require additional steps after regulatory approval to gain access to national markets, such as agreements with pricing authorities and other agencies, that may harm the ability of us or our collaborator to market and sell products outside the U.S. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries, and approval by one foreign regulatory authority does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other foreign countries or by the FDA. Inability to obtain or maintain necessary regulatory approvals to commercialize Inbrija, Fampyra or other products or product candidates in foreign markets could materially harm our business prospects. In addition, we may face adverse legal and business consequences if Biogen, our collaboration partner for Fampyra, does not comply with regulatory requirements, and if we enter into any collaborations for the marketing of Inbrija, we similarly could face adverse legal and business consequences if any Inbrija collaborator does not comply with regulatory requirements.
Drug development programs, particularly those in early stages of development, may never be commercialized.
Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to select successful product candidates, complete preclinical development of these product candidates and advance them to and through clinical trials. We have research and development programs that are early-stage and either have not advanced to clinical trials or are only in Phase 1 trials. These early-stage product candidates in particular will require significant development, preclinical studies and clinical trials, regulatory clearances and substantial additional investment before they can be commercialized, if at all.
Our research and development programs may not lead to commercially viable products for several reasons, and are subject to the risks and uncertainties associated with drug development described elsewhere in these risk factors. For example, we may fail to identify promising product candidates, our product candidates may fail to be safe and effective in preclinical tests or clinical trials, or we may have inadequate financial or other resources to pursue discovery and development efforts for new product candidates. For example, we terminated a substantial portion of our research and development workforce in connection with our 2017 reduction in force, and accordingly we may lack personnel necessary to advance some programs unless and until we can hire qualified replacements.
In addition, because we have limited resources, we are focusing on product candidates that we believe are the most promising. As a result, we may delay or discontinue particular development programs, and we may instead pursue other product candidates. For example, in November 2017 we discontinued our clinical development program for tozadenant, an investigational drug we had been developing for the reduction of OFF time in Parkinson’s disease patients. We made this decision based on new information obtained from our Phase 3 clinical trials related to agranulocytosis and associated serious adverse events. We have no current plans to restart the tozadenant clinical development program. From time to time, we may establish and announce certain development goals for our product candidates and programs, including, for example, development goals for our product candidates and programs set forth in this report. However, given the complex nature of the drug discovery and development process, it is difficult to predict accurately if and when we will achieve these goals. If we are
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unsuccessful in advancing our research and development programs into clinical testing or in obtaining regulatory approval, our long-term business prospects will be harmed.
Our drug products in development must undergo rigorous clinical testing, the results of which are uncertain and could substantially delay or prevent us from bringing them to market.
Before we can obtain regulatory approval for any product candidate, we must undertake extensive clinical testing in humans to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA and other regulatory agencies. Clinical trials of new product candidates sufficient to obtain regulatory marketing approval are expensive and take years to complete, and the outcome of such trials is uncertain. Clinical development of any product candidate that we determine to take into clinical trials, including our clinical trials described in this report, may be curtailed, redirected, delayed or eliminated at any time for some or all of the following reasons:
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negative or ambiguous results regarding the efficacy of the product candidate; |
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undesirable side effects that delay or extend the trials, or other unforeseen or undesirable safety issues that make the product candidate not medically or commercially viable; |
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inability to locate, recruit and qualify a sufficient number of patients for our trials; |
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difficulty in determining meaningful end points or other measurements of success in our clinical trials; |
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regulatory delays or other regulatory actions, including changes in regulatory requirements both by the FDA and similar foreign regulatory authorities; |
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difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of our product candidates, or where applicable comparator product or other ancillary materials needed, manufactured under cGMP; |
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delays, suspension or termination of the trials imposed by us, an independent institutional review board (or ethics committee), or a data safety monitoring board, or clinical holds placed upon the trials by the FDA or similar foreign regulatory authorities; |
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approval by FDA and/or foreign regulatory authorities of new drugs that are more effective than our product candidates; |
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change in the focus of our development efforts or a re-evaluation of our clinical development strategy; and |
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change in our financial position. |
A delay in or termination of any of our clinical development programs could harm our business.
Clinical trials are subject to oversight by institutional review boards (or similar ethics committees), data safety monitoring boards, the FDA, and similar foreign regulatory authorities to ensure compliance with good clinical practice requirements, as well as other requirements for the protection of clinical trial participants. We depend, in part, on third-party laboratories and medical institutions to conduct preclinical studies and clinical trials for our products and other third-party organizations to perform data collection and analysis, all of which must maintain both good laboratory and good clinical practices required by regulators. If any of those standards are not complied with in a clinical trial, the resulting data from the clinical trial may not be usable or we, an institutional review board, the FDA, or a similar foreign regulatory authority may suspend or terminate a trial, which would severely delay our development and possibly end the development of the product candidate.
We rely on third-party contract research organizations, medical centers and others to perform our preclinical and non-clinical testing and clinical trials, our research and development programs could be harmed if they do not perform in an acceptable and legally compliant manner.
We do not have the ability to conduct all aspects of our preclinical or non-clinical testing or clinical trials ourselves. We rely and will continue to rely on clinical investigators, third-party contract research organizations and consultants to perform some or all of the functions associated with preclinical and non-clinical testing and clinical trials. Additionally, we have historically conducted clinical trials in the U.S. and Canada, and more recently we have conducted clinical trial activities into other jurisdictions, particularly Europe. Because we have limited experience conducting clinical trials outside the U.S. and Canada, we place even greater reliance on third-party contract research organizations to manage, monitor and
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carry out clinical trials in these other jurisdictions. The failure of any of these parties to perform in an acceptable and timely manner in the future, including in accordance with any applicable U.S. or foreign regulatory requirements, such as good clinical and laboratory practices, or preclinical testing or clinical trial protocols, could cause a delay or other adverse effect on our preclinical or non-clinical testing or clinical trials and ultimately on the timely advancement of our research and development programs. Similarly, we rely on medical centers to conduct our clinical trials, and if they fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements or clinical trial protocols, our research and development programs could be harmed.
If we market products in a manner that violates healthcare fraud and abuse laws, or if we violate false claims laws or fail to comply with our reporting and payment obligations under the Medicaid drug rebate program or other governmental pricing programs, or other applicable legal requirements, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties or additional reimbursement requirements and sanctions, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
The distribution, sale and promotion of drug and biological products are subject to regulation by various federal, state and local authorities in addition to the FDA, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Federal Trade Commission, other divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Justice and individual U.S. Attorney offices within the Department of Justice, and state and local governments. For example, sales, marketing and scientific/educational grant programs must comply with the anti-kickback and fraud and abuse provisions of the Social Security Act, as amended, the False Claims Act, as amended, and are affected by the privacy regulations promulgated pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended, and similar state laws. Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of safe harbors under these laws, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of these laws. All of these activities are also subject to federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws.
The federal healthcare program anti-kickback statute prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration to induce, or in return for, purchasing, leasing, ordering or arranging for the purchase, lease or order of any healthcare item or service reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federally financed healthcare programs. This statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on the one hand and prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers on the other. Industry relationships with specialty pharmacies have also recently been scrutinized under these provisions. There are several statutory exemptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting certain common activities from prosecution, but the exemptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly, and our practices may not in all cases meet all of the criteria for exemptions or safe harbors. Practices that involve remuneration for performing activities that we believe are legitimate in support of the distribution of our products, may be subject to scrutiny, particularly if they do not qualify for an exemption or safe harbor, and they may be found to be improperly intended to induce or facilitate the prescribing, purchasing or recommending of our products even though we believe these practices to be in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Federal false claims laws prohibit any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false claim for payment to the federal government or knowingly making, or causing to be made, a false statement to get a false claim paid. By statute, a violation of the federal anti-kickback statute may serve as the basis for a false claim under the false claims act. Numerous pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies have been prosecuted under these laws for a variety of alleged promotional and marketing activities, such as: allegedly providing kickbacks, such as free trips, free goods, sham consulting fees and grants and other monetary benefits to prescribers; reporting to pricing services inflated average wholesale prices that were then used by federal programs to set reimbursement rates; and engaging in off-label promotion that caused claims to be submitted to Medicaid for non-covered, off-label uses. Most states also have statutes or regulations similar to the federal anti-kickback law and false claims laws, which apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs, or, in several states, apply regardless of the payer.
Sanctions under these federal and state laws may include requirements to make payments to government-funded health plans to correct for insufficient rebates paid by us or overpayments made to us, civil monetary penalties, exclusion of our products from reimbursement under government programs, criminal fines and imprisonment. We may also be subject to a corporate integrity agreement, deferred prosecution agreement, or similar arrangement.
Under the federal Sunshine Act, pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to collect information on payments or other transfers of value made to “covered recipients,” which are defined as physicians and teaching hospitals. The collected information has to be disclosed in annual reports that are placed on a public database. Beginning in 2022, the Sunshine Act will also apply to payments to physician assistants and advance practice nurses. Similarly, pharmaceutical manufacturers are also required to annually report samples of prescription drugs requested by and distributed to healthcare providers. The law
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does not state whether these disclosures regarding samples will be made publicly available, and the FDA has not provided any guidance. If we fail to submit these reports, or if the reports we submit are not accurate, we could be subject to significant penalties.
We participate in the federal Medicaid drug rebate program established by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, as well as several state supplemental rebate programs. Under the Medicaid drug rebate program, we pay a rebate to each state Medicaid program for utilization of our products that is reimbursed by those programs. Federal law requires that any company that participates in the Medicaid drug rebate program extend comparable discounts to qualified purchasers under the Public Health Service Act pharmaceutical pricing program, which requires us to sell our products to certain customers at prices lower than we otherwise might be able to charge. The minimum basic Medicaid rebate for branded prescription drugs is 23.1% of average manufacturer price, and pharmaceutical manufacturers must pay states rebates on prescription drugs dispensed to Medicaid managed care enrollees. In addition, manufacturers must pay an additional Medicaid rebate on “line extensions” (such as extended release formulations) of solid oral dosage forms of branded products or products where the average manufacturer price has increased faster than the inflation rate.
For products to be made available to authorized users of the Federal Supply Schedule, additional pricing laws and requirements apply, as do certain obligations imposed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Under the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, as amended (VHCA), we are required to offer certain drugs at a reduced price to a number of federal agencies, including the Veterans Administration, the Department of Defense (DOD), the Public Health Service and certain private Public Health Service designated entities, in order to participate in other federal funding programs including Medicare and Medicaid. Participation under the VHCA requires submission of pricing data and calculation of discounts and rebates pursuant to complex statutory formulas, as well as the entry into government procurement contracts governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations.
Pharmaceutical companies have been prosecuted under federal and state false claims laws for manipulating information submitted to the Medicaid drug rebate program or for knowingly submitting or using allegedly inaccurate pricing information in connection with federal pricing and discount programs.
Pricing and rebate calculations vary among products and programs. The laws and regulations governing the calculations are complex and are often subject to interpretation by us or our contractors, governmental or regulatory agencies and the courts. Our methodologies for calculating these prices could be challenged under false claims laws or other laws. We or our contractors could make a mistake in calculating reported prices and required discounts, revisions to those prices and discounts, or determining whether a revision is necessary, which could result in retroactive rebates (and interest and penalties, if any). Governmental agencies may also make changes in program interpretations, requirements or conditions of participation, some of which may have implications for amounts previously estimated or paid. If we make these mistakes or if governmental agencies make these changes, we could face, in addition to prosecution under federal and state false claims laws, substantial liability and civil monetary penalties, exclusion of our products from reimbursement under government programs, criminal fines or imprisonment or prosecutors may impose a Corporate Integrity Agreement, Deferred Prosecution Agreement, or similar arrangement.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), drug manufacturers are required to provide a 70% discount on prescriptions for branded products filled while the beneficiary is in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, also known as the “donut hole.” In addition, the ACA imposes a significant annual fee on companies that manufacture or import branded prescription drug products. The fee (which is not deductible for federal income tax purposes) is based on the manufacturer’s market share of sales of branded drugs and biologics (excluding orphan drugs) to, or pursuant to coverage under, specified U.S. government programs.
Legislative or regulatory reform of the healthcare system may affect our ability to sell our products profitably.
In December 2017, portions of the ACA dealing with the individual mandate insurance requirement were effectively repealed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the U.S. Congress and/or President Trump may seek to repeal other aspects of the ACA. In December 2018, a federal district court judge in Texas found the ACA to be unconstitutional, although the ruling was stayed while the case is appealed. In May 2018, the Trump presidential administration issued "American Patients First," a multi-faceted blueprint to lower drug prices. The Trump administration has taken administrative steps to implement the blueprint, including through proposing sweeping demonstration projects aimed at putting downward pressure on drug prices. In addition, members of the U.S. Congress have indicated an interest in legislative measures designed to lower drug costs. The outlook for the healthcare sector is unclear, and we are unable to predict the future course
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of federal or state healthcare legislation and regulations. Changes in the law or regulatory framework that reduce our revenues or increase our costs could also harm our business, financial condition and results of operations and cash flows.
Our existing or potential products may not be commercially viable if we fail to obtain or maintain an adequate level of reimbursement for these products by Medicaid, Medicare or other third-party payers.
Our ability to sell our products and be profitable is substantially dependent on third-party payers, such as government or government-sponsored health administrative authorities, including Medicaid and Medicare Parts B and D, private health insurers and other such organizations, agreeing to reimburse patients for the cost of our products. Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved drug products, including Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder). Third-party payers are increasingly challenging the pricing of medical products and services and their reimbursement practices may affect the price levels for Inbrija or other potential products we may develop in the future. Our business could be materially harmed if the Medicaid program, Medicare program or other third-party payers were to deny reimbursement for our products or provide reimbursement only on unfavorable terms. Our business could also be harmed if the Medicaid program, Medicare program or other reimbursing bodies or payers limit the indications for which our products will be reimbursed to a smaller set of indications than we believe is appropriate or limit the circumstances under which our products will be reimbursed to a smaller set of circumstances than we believe is appropriate.
Third-party payers frequently require that drug companies negotiate agreements with them that provide discounts or rebates from list or wholesale prices. We have agreed to provide such discounts and rebates to some third-party payers in relation to Ampyra, and expect some third party payers will similarly seek such discounts and rebates for Inbrija. We expect increasing pressure to offer larger discounts and discounts to a greater number of third-party payers to maintain acceptable reimbursement levels and access for patients at copay levels that are reasonable. There is no guarantee that we would be able to negotiate agreements with third-party payers at price levels that are profitable to us, or at all. A number of third-party payers have implemented utilization management techniques, such as prior authorization or quantity limits for Ampyra, and third party payers could do this for Inbrija or they could refuse to provide reimbursement. Patients who cannot meet the conditions of prior authorizations are often prevented from obtaining the prescribed medication, because they cannot afford to pay for the medication without reimbursement. If we are unsuccessful in maintaining reimbursement for our products at acceptable levels, or if reimbursement for our products by third-party payers is subject to overly restrictive utilization management, our business will be harmed. In addition, if our competitors reduce the prices of their products, or otherwise demonstrate that they are better or more cost effective than our products, this may result in a greater level of reimbursement for their products relative to our products, which would reduce our sales and harm our results of operations. Both federal healthcare programs and commercial insurers are increasingly conditioning coverage, formulary placement, and/or reimbursement rates on the ability of a manufacturer to present favorable health economics and outcomes data.
The Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug benefit is provided primarily through private entities, which attempt to negotiate price concessions from pharmaceutical manufacturers. These negotiations increase pressure to lower prescription drug prices or increase rebate payments to offset price. While the law specifically prohibits the U.S. government from interfering in price negotiations between manufacturers and Medicare drug plan sponsors, some members of Congress support legislation that would permit the U.S. government to use its enormous purchasing power to demand discounts from pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the Affordable Care Act contains triggers for Congressional consideration of cost containment measures for Medicare in the event Medicare cost increases exceed a certain level. These cost containment measures could include limitations on prescription drug prices. The Affordable Care Act requires drug manufacturers to provide a 70% discount on prescriptions for branded products filled while the beneficiary is in the Medicare Part D coverage gap, also known as the “donut hole.” Legislative or regulatory revisions to the Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug benefit, as well as additional healthcare legislation that may be enacted at a future date, could reduce our sales and harm our results of operations.
The success of our existing and potential products in the EU substantially depends on achieving adequate government reimbursement.
The commercial success in the EU of products approved there, including Fampyra, primarily depends on obtaining and maintaining government reimbursement because, in many European countries, patients may not have access to prescription drugs that are not reimbursed by their governments. In addition, participation in pricing and reimbursement procedures and negotiating prices with government authorities can delay commercialization. Even if reimbursement is available, reimbursement policies may negatively impact revenue from sales of our products and therefore our ability or that of our collaborators, such as Biogen, to sell our products on a profitable basis. Furthermore, cross-border imports from lower-priced
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markets (parallel imports) into higher-priced markets could harm sales of products by us or our collaborators, such as Biogen, and exert commercial pressure on pricing within a country.
In response to the downturn in global economic conditions in recent years, governments in a number of international markets have announced or implemented measures aimed at reducing healthcare costs to constrain the overall level of government expenditures. This includes Germany and other countries in the EU, where Biogen has obtained regulatory approval for Fampyra. The measures vary by country and include, among other things, mandatory rebates and discounts, reimbursement limitations and reference pricing, price reductions and suspensions on pricing increases on pharmaceuticals. These measures may negatively impact net revenue from Biogen’s sales of Fampyra and therefore both the timing of when, if ever, we receive any further royalty revenue from Biogen under the terms of our Fampyra royalty monetization transaction with HealthCare Royalty Partners, and the amount of the royalty we would then receive from Biogen. Furthermore, the adverse financial impact of these measures in any particular country, in addition to related reimbursement or regulatory constraints, could prevent the commercial launch or continued commercialization of Fampyra in that country.
If Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder) receives EU marketing approval, the factors described above could prevent or harm the commercial launch of that product in the EU.
If our competitors develop and market products that are more effective, safer or more convenient than our approved products, or obtain marketing approval before we obtain approval of future products, our commercial opportunity will be reduced or eliminated.
Competition in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries is intense and is expected to increase. Many biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as academic laboratories, are involved in research and/or product development for various neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, or PD, and multiple sclerosis, or MS.
Our competitors may succeed in developing products that are more effective, safer or more convenient than our products or the ones we have under development or that render our approved or proposed products or technologies noncompetitive or obsolete. In addition, our competitors may achieve product commercialization before we do. If any of our competitors develops a product that is more effective, safer or more convenient for patients, or is able to obtain FDA approval for commercialization before we do, we may not be able to achieve market acceptance for our products, which would harm our ability to generate revenues and recover the substantial development costs we have incurred and will continue to incur.
Our products may be subject to competition from lower-priced versions of such products and competing products imported into the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and other countries where there are government price controls or other market dynamics that cause the products to be priced lower.
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder)/Parkinson’s Disease. We expect that Inbrija will compete against other therapies approved for intermittent, or on demand, use that aim to specifically address Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Apokyn, an injectable formulation of apomorphine, is approved for the treatment of OFF periods, also known as OFF episodes. Apokyn was approved for this use in the U.S. in 2004 and in Europe in 1993. Also, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing a sublingual, or under the tongue, formulation of apomorphine that we expect would be competitive with Inbrija if commercially launched. In January 2018, Sunovion announced positive topline results from their pivotal Phase 3 study of their product, in March 2018, they submitted a New Drug Application, or NDA, to the FDA, and in January 2019, they announced that they received a Complete Response Letter, or CRL, from the FDA. Sunovion’s CRL announcement stated that that the FDA determined it was unable to approve Sunovion’s product in its current form, and that the FDA requested additional information and analyses but no new clinical studies. Sunovion’s receipt of the CRL has delayed, but does not necessarily prevent, FDA approval of Sunovion’s product and we expect it will be competitive with Inbrija if and when Sunovion receives FDA approval for and commercially launches the product.
The standard of care for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease is oral carbidopa/levodopa, but oral medication can be associated with wide variability in the timing and the amount of absorption and there are significant challenges in creating a regimen that consistently maintains therapeutic effects as Parkinson’s disease progresses. Inbrija may face competition from therapies that can limit the occurrence of OFF periods. Approaches to achieve consistent levodopa plasma concentrations include new formulations of carbidopa/levodopa, such as extended-release and intestinal infusions, and therapies that prolong the effect of levodopa. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Impax Laboratories) markets RYTARY, an extended-release formulation of oral carbidopa/levodopa, and extended release formulations of oral and patch carbidopa/levodopa are being developed by others including Intec Pharma and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. Also, Abbvie Inc. has developed a
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continuous administration of a gel-containing levodopa through a tube that is surgically implanted into the intestine. This therapy, known as Duopa, has been approved by the FDA and is approved in the EU.
One or more of our competitors may utilize their expertise in pulmonary delivery of drugs to develop and obtain approval for pulmonary delivery products that may compete with Inbrija and any other of our other ARCUS drug delivery technology product candidates. These competitors may include smaller companies such as Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc., MannKind Corporation, Pulmatrix, Inc. and Vectura Group plc and larger companies such as Allergan, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc and Novartis AG, among others. If approved, our product candidates may face competition in the target commercial areas for these pulmonary delivery products.
Ampyra/MS. Ampyra has become subject to competition from generic drug manufacturers. In 2017, in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) issued a ruling upholding our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidating four other Orange Book-listed patents that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. Under this ruling, our patent exclusivity with respect to Ampyra terminated on July 30, 2018. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the Appellate Decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales. Our litigation with the generic drug manufacturers is described in further detail in Part I, Item 3 of this report.
Current disease management approaches to MS are classified either as relapse management, disease course management, or symptom management approaches. For relapse management, the majority of neurologists treat sudden and severe relapses with a four-day course of intravenous high-dose corticosteroids. Many of these corticosteroids are available generically. For disease course management, there are a number of FDA-approved MS therapies that seek to modify the immune system. These treatments attempt to reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations or slow the accumulation of physical disability for people with certain types of MS, though their precise mechanisms of action are not known. These products include Avonex, Tysabri, Plegridy and Tecfidera from Biogen, Betaseron from Bayer AG, Copaxone from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., Rebif from Merck Serono, Gilenya and Extavia from Novartis AG, Aubagio and Lemtrada from Genzyme Corporation (a Sanofi company), Glatopa from Sandoz International GmbH (a Novartis AG company), Zinbryta from Biogen and AbbieVie, and Rituxan from F. Hoffman-La Roche AG.
Several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as academic laboratories, are involved in research and/or product development for various neurological diseases, including MS. Other companies also have products in clinical development, including products approved for other indications in MS, to address improvement of walking ability in people with MS. Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is developing ADS-5102 (amantadine hydrochloride) for patients with MS who have walking impairment. This potential product may compete with Ampyra in the future. Furthermore, several companies are engaged in developing products that include novel immune system approaches and cell therapy approaches to remyelination for the treatment of people with MS. These programs are in early stages of development and may compete in the future with Ampyra or some of our product candidates. In addition, in certain circumstances, pharmacists are not prohibited from formulating certain drug compounds to fill prescriptions on an individual patient basis, which is referred to as compounding. We are aware that at present compounded dalfampridine is used by some people with MS and it is possible that some people will want to continue to use compounded formulations even though Ampyra and generic versions of Ampyra are commercially available.
We may expand our business through the acquisition of companies or businesses or in-licensing product candidates that could disrupt our business and harm our financial condition.
We may in the future seek to expand our products and capabilities by acquiring one or more companies or businesses or in-licensing one or more product candidates. Acquisitions and in-licenses involve numerous risks, including:
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substantial cash expenditures; |
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potentially dilutive issuance of equity securities; |
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incurrence or assumption of debt and contingent liabilities, some of which may not be disclosed to us and may be difficult or impossible for us to identify at the time of acquisition; |
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difficulties in assimilating the personnel and/or operations of the acquired companies; |
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diversion of our management’s attention away from other business concerns; |
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commencement of business in markets where we have limited or no direct experience; and |
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potential loss of our key employees or key employees of the acquired companies or businesses. |
We cannot assure you that any acquisition or in-license will result in short-term or long-term benefits to us. We may incorrectly judge the value or worth of an acquired company or business or in-licensed products or product candidates, for example by underestimating the investment required to advance research and development programs, or overestimating approvability by the FDA or the market potential of acquired or in-licensed products or product candidates. Acquired development programs are generally subject to all of the risks inherent in the drug development process, and our knowledge of the risks specifically relevant to acquired programs generally improves over time.
In addition, our future success would depend in part on our ability to manage the rapid growth associated with some of these acquisitions and in-licenses. Any acquisition might distract resources from and otherwise harm sales of Inbrija or other products we currently, or may in the future, market. We cannot assure you that we would be able to make the combination of our business with that of acquired businesses or companies or in-licensed products or product candidates work or be successful. Furthermore, the development or expansion of our business or any acquired business or company or in-licensed product or product candidate may require a substantial capital investment by us. We may not have these necessary funds or they might not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. We may also seek to raise funds by selling shares of our stock, which could dilute our current shareholders’ ownership interest, or securities convertible into our stock, which could dilute current shareholders’ ownership interest upon conversion. Also, although we may from time to time announce that we have entered into agreements to acquire other companies or assets, we cannot assure you that these acquisitions will be completed in a timely manner or at all. These transactions are subject to an inherent risk that they may not be completed, for example because required closing conditions cannot be met at all or within specified time periods, termination rights may be exercised such as due to a breach by one of the parties, or other contingencies may arise that affect the transaction.
We face an inherent risk of liability in the event that the use or misuse of our products results in personal injury or death.
If the use or misuse of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), Ampyra or any other approved products we may sell in the future harms people, we may be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims brought against us by consumers, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, third-party payers or others. The use of our product candidates in clinical trials could also expose us to product liability claims. We currently maintain a product liability insurance policy that includes coverage for our marketed products as well as for our clinical trials. The total insurance limit is $50 million per claim, and the aggregate amount of claims under the policy is also capped at $50 million. We cannot predict all of the possible harms or side effects that may result from the use of our products or the testing of product candidates and, therefore, the amount of insurance coverage we currently have may not be adequate to cover all liabilities or defense costs we might incur. A product liability claim or series of claims brought against us could give rise to a substantial liability that could exceed our resources. Even if claims are not successful, the costs of defending such claims and potential adverse publicity could be harmful to our business.
Additionally, we have entered into various agreements where we indemnify third parties such as manufacturers and investigators for certain product liability claims related to our products. These indemnification obligations may require us to pay significant sums of money for claims that are covered by these indemnification obligations.
State pharmaceutical compliance and reporting requirements may expose us to regulatory and legal action by state governments or other government authorities.
Many states have enacted laws governing the licensure of companies that manufacture and/or distribute prescription drugs, although the scope of these laws varies, particularly where out-of-state distributors are concerned. We have obtained licenses in all of the jurisdictions in which we believe we are required to be licensed. However, there can be no assurance that one or more of these states will not take action under these licensure laws.
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Several states have also enacted legislation regarding promotional and other activities conducted by pharmaceutical companies. The specifics of these laws vary, but in general they require companies to establish marketing compliance programs; disclose various sales and marketing expenses and pricing information; refrain from providing certain gifts or other payments to healthcare providers; and/or ensure that their sales representatives in that state are licensed. Some states, including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Vermont, and the District of Columbia have passed laws of varying scope that ban or limit the provision of gifts, meals and certain other payments to healthcare providers and/or impose reporting and disclosure requirements upon pharmaceutical companies pertaining to drug pricing, payments and/or costs associated with pharmaceutical marketing, advertising and other promotional activities. Other states also have laws that regulate, directly or indirectly, various pharmaceutical sales and marketing activities, and new legislation is being considered in many states.
Many of the state requirements continue to evolve, and the manner in which they will be enforced going forward is uncertain. In some cases, the penalties for failure to comply with these requirements are unclear. We are continually updating our compliance infrastructure and standard operating procedures to comply with such laws, but we cannot eliminate the risk created by these uncertainties. Unless we are in full compliance with these laws, we could face enforcement action, fines and other penalties, including government orders to stop selling drugs into a state until properly licensed, and could receive adverse publicity.
Operating our business and servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash, and we may need to obtain additional funding in the future if we do not have sufficient cash flow from our business to continue to sufficiently fund our operations and pay our substantial debt.
We have products and product candidates in various stages of development and commercialization, and will need to expend substantial resources for research and development and commercialization of our marketed products, including costs associated with the launch and commercialization of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder). In addition, our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on, or to refinance our indebtedness, including our convertible senior notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to support our operations and service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. For example, we have experienced a rapid and significant decline in Ampyra revenue due to the marketing of generic versions of Ampyra following the September 2018 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to uphold the United States District Court for the District of Delaware’s decision to invalidate certain Ampyra patents. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales. Although we recently received FDA approval for Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), we have not yet commenced commercial sales, we are not yet generating any revenue from this product, and even after we commence commercial sales it may not generate sufficient cash flow. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from the sale of our products, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to fund our operations and refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as result in a default on our debt obligations.
We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to settle conversions of our convertible senior notes or to repurchase the notes upon a fundamental change.
Holders of our convertible senior notes will have the right to require us to repurchase their notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any. In addition, upon conversion of the notes, unless we elect to deliver solely shares of our common stock to settle such conversion (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we will be required to make cash payments in respect of the notes being converted. However, we may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to make repurchases of notes surrendered therefor or notes being converted. In addition, our ability to repurchase the notes or to pay cash upon conversion of the notes may be limited by law, by regulatory authority or by agreements governing our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase notes at a time when the repurchase is required by the indenture pursuant to which the notes were issued, or to pay any cash payable on future conversions of the notes as required by the indenture, would constitute a default under the indenture.
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The conditional conversion feature of our convertible senior notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. In addition, if our notes are converted into common stock, you may experience significant dilution.
Our convertible senior notes are only convertible, prior to December 15, 2020, in certain limited circumstances. This conditional conversion feature may not be effective in delaying conversion of our notes. In the event that the conditional conversion feature of our convertible senior notes is triggered, holders of notes will be entitled to convert the notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their notes, we may elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our common stock, solely cash, or a combination of cash and common stock. If we elect to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, our liquidity and financial position could be adversely affected. If we elect to settle all or a portion of our conversion obligation in common stock, our stockholders could experience significant dilution. In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.
Our inability to attract and retain key management and other personnel, or maintain access to expert advisors, may hinder our ability to execute our business plan.
We are highly dependent on the services of Dr. on Cohen, our President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as the other principal members of our management and scientific, regulatory, manufacturing and commercial personnel. Our success depends in large part upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel with the knowledge and experience needed for these and other areas of our business. We face intense competition in our hiring efforts with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as universities and nonprofit research organizations, and we may have to pay higher salaries to attract and retain qualified personnel. In addition, the 2017 discontinuation of our tozadenant program, the 2017 United States District Court for the District of Delaware’s decision to invalidate certain Ampyra patents (which was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2018), and our 2017 reduction in force may impede our ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. We do not maintain "key man" life insurance policies on the lives of our officers, directors or employees. The loss of one or more of our key employees, or our inability to attract additional qualified personnel, could substantially impair our ability to implement our business plan, particularly our efforts to manufacture and successfully launch Inbrija. Also, we terminated a substantial portion of our research and development workforce in connection with our 2017 reduction in force, and our inability to attract qualified replacements needed for any of our research and development programs could substantially impair our ability to advance those programs.
We also have scientific, medical, clinical, marketing and other advisors who assist us in our research and development, clinical, and commercial 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. Similarly, they may have arrangements with other companies to assist in the development and commercialization of products that may compete with ours.
We and our third-party contract manufacturers must comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations could expose us to significant costs or liabilities.
Our research and development activities are subject to numerous and increasingly stringent environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those which govern laboratory procedures and the use, generation, manufacture, distribution, storage, handling, treatment, remediation and disposal of hazardous substances. Also, we operate a manufacturing facility, which is subject to further environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those laws and regulations which govern the exposure of persons to hazardous substances, the emission of pollutants into the air, the discharge of pollutants into bodies of water, and the general health, safety and welfare of employees and members of the public. We may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future such laws and regulations, which may also impair our research, development and/or manufacturing efforts.
In connection with our research and development and manufacturing activities, we cannot completely avoid the risk of contamination or injury, and in such cases of contamination or injury, or in cases of failure to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could be held liable, and in some cases strictly liable, for any resulting damages. Moreover, the existence, investigation and/or remediation of contamination at properties currently or formerly owned, leased or operated by us may result in costs, fines or other penalties. Furthermore, our third-party manufacturers are subject to the same or similar environmental, health and safety laws and regulations as those to which we are subject. It is possible that if our third-party manufacturers fail to operate in compliance with the applicable environmental, health and safety laws and
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regulations or properly dispose of wastes associated with our products, we could be held liable for any resulting damages and/or experience a disruption in the manufacture and supply of our product candidates or products. Any such liability may result in substantial civil or criminal fines, penalties or other sanctions, which could exceed our assets and resources, as well as reputational harm.
We may be the subject of litigation, which, if adversely determined, could harm our business and operating results.
From time to time, we may be subject to a variety of claims and lawsuits. The costs of defending any litigation, whether in cash expenses or in management time, could harm our business and materially and adversely affect our operating results and cash flows, even if we ultimately win the litigation. An unfavorable outcome on any litigation matter could require that we pay substantial damages, or, in connection with any intellectual property infringement claims, could require that we pay ongoing royalty payments or prohibit us from selling certain of our products. In addition, we may decide to settle any litigation, which could cause us to incur significant settlement costs. A settlement or an unfavorable outcome on any litigation matter could have a material and adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and cash flows.
We depend on sophisticated information technology systems to operate our business and a cyber attack or other breach of these systems, or a system error, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems and infrastructure to operate our business. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, store, process and transmit sensitive data on our networks and systems, including our intellectual property and proprietary or confidential business information (such as research data ) and confidential information (and personal information) with respect to our employees, customers, clinical trial patients and our business partners. In the ordinary course of our business, this type of data is also collected, stored, processed and transmitted on the networks and systems of our business partners and vendors from whom we purchase software and/or technology-based services.
The size and complexity of our and any third party information technology systems and infrastructure, and their connection to the Internet, make such systems potentially vulnerable to service interruptions, system errors leading to data loss, data theft and/or cyber attacks. These incidents could result from inadvertent or intentional actions or omissions by our employees and consultants, or those of our business partners and vendors, or from the actions of third parties with malicious or criminal intent. To date, we have not experienced any material impact to our business or operations resulting from any of these occurrences affecting our or third party information technology systems; however, there is a growing risk of harm from these types of incidents because of the rapid evolution of information technology systems, and because cyber attacks are increasing in frequency and in sophistication over time.
Data breaches or unauthorized data access or disclosure of our confidential information could compromise our intellectual property and expose sensitive business information. A data security breach could also lead to public exposure of personal information of our clinical trial patients, employees and others. Any such event that leads to unauthorized access, use or disclosure of personal information, including personal information regarding our patients or employees, could harm our reputation and business, compel us to comply with federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents, subject us to mandatory corrective action, require us to verify the correctness of database contents and otherwise subject us to liability under laws and regulations that protect the privacy and security of personal information, which could disrupt our business, result in increased costs or loss of revenue, and/or result in significant legal and financial exposure. Data breaches or unauthorized data access could cause us to incur significant remediation costs, result in product development delays, disrupt key business operations and divert attention of management and key information technology resources. Data breaches or unauthorized data access could also result in liability to others, if these incidents involve the data of others that we have agreed, or are otherwise legally responsible, to keep confidential and protect.
Data breaches and unauthorized data access can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying any such incidents may lead to increased harm of the type described above. While we have implemented security measures to protect our information technology systems and infrastructure, and monitor such systems and infrastructure on an ongoing basis for any current or potential threats, there can be no assurance that these measures will prevent the type of incidents that could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Also, we rely on the security measures and monitoring activities of our business partners and vendors who may collect, store, process and transmit data on their networks and systems. In the event they experience a service issue or security incident: we may not receive timely notice from them of the issue or incident; they may not take adequate steps to remediate the issue or incident and protect against future occurrences;
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we may not have any remedy against them for losses and liabilities that we suffer, or if we have a remedy it may be inadequate, even though they are or may be at fault; and we may become subject to legal claims from others whose information has been compromised regardless of whether we are at fault.
Risks related to our intellectual property
If we cannot protect, maintain and, if necessary, enforce our intellectual property, our ability to develop and commercialize our products will be severely limited.
Our success will depend in part on our and our licensors' ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and trademark protection for the technologies, compounds and products, if any, resulting from our licenses and research and development programs. Without protection for the intellectual property we use or intend to use, other companies could offer substantially identical products for sale without incurring the sizable discovery, research, development and licensing costs that we have incurred. Our ability to recover these expenditures and realize profits upon the sale of products could be diminished.
We have patent portfolios relating to Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), our ARCUS program for acute migraine, our ARCUS drug delivery technology, SYN120, BTT1023, cimaglermin alfa/neuregulins, and remyelinating antibodies/antibodies relating to nervous system disorders, comprised of both our own and in-licensed patents and patent applications. For some of our proprietary technologies, for example our ARCUS drug delivery technology, we rely on a combination of patents, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property rights. Our intellectual property also includes copyrights and a portfolio of trademarks.
The process of obtaining patents and trademarks can be time consuming and expensive with no certainty of success. Even if we spend the necessary time and money, a patent or trademark may not issue, it may not issue in a timely manner, or it may not have sufficient scope or strength to protect the technology it was intended to protect or to provide us with any commercial advantage. We may never be certain that we were the first to develop the technology or that we were the first to file a patent application for the particular technology because patent applications are confidential until they are published, and publications in the scientific or patent literature lag behind actual discoveries. The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights will remain uncertain if our pending patent applications are not allowed or issued for any reason or if we are unable to develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable. Furthermore, third parties may independently develop similar or alternative technologies, duplicate some or all of our technologies, design around our patented technologies or challenge our issued patents or trademarks or the patents or trademarks of our licensors.
For example, we have been engaged in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers relating to our five initial Orange Book-listed Ampyra patents. In 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) issued a ruling that upheld our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidated our four other Orange Book-listed patents pertaining to Ampyra that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. Under this decision, our patent exclusivity with respect to Ampyra terminated on July 30, 2018. We appealed the District Court decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”), which issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. This litigation is discussed in further detail in Part I, Item 3 of this report. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the Appellate Decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales.
Also, the validity of our patents can be challenged by third parties pursuant to procedures introduced by American Invents Act, specifically inter partes review and/or post grant review before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. For example, in February 2015, a hedge fund (acting with affiliated entities and individuals and proceeding under the name of the Coalition for Affordable Drugs) filed two separate inter partes review (IPR) petitions with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, challenging two of our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patents. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trials and Appeals Board, or PTAB, chose not to institute inter partes review of these patents. The hedge fund filed motions for reconsideration requesting that the denial to institute these two IPRs be reversed, but the motions were denied in April 2016. In addition, in September 2015 the same hedge fund filed four additional IPR petitions challenging four of our Orange Book-listed patents, including two of the same patents that were the subject of the February 2015 IPR petitions. We opposed the requests to institute these IPRs, but in March 2016 the PTAB decided to institute the IPR proceedings on all four patents. In March 2017 the PTAB issued a ruling and upheld all four of the challenged patents. The ruling has become final, as the
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hedge fund did not appeal the ruling before the May 2017 appeal deadline. However, the PTAB decision does not prevent parties from filing additional IPR petitions challenging our patents. Also, the PTAB’s decision does not affect the District Court’s decision invalidating the four patents in the District Court litigation described above.
Patent litigation, IPR proceedings, and other legal proceedings involve complex legal and factual questions. We need to devote significant resources to the existing ANDA and IPR legal proceedings, and we may need to devote significant resources to other legal proceedings that arise in the future. If we are not successful, we could lose some or all of our Orange Book listed patents and our business could be materially harmed. We can provide no assurance concerning the duration or the outcome of any such lawsuits and legal proceedings.
We may initiate actions to protect our intellectual property (including, for example, in connection with the filing of an ANDA as described above) and in any litigation in which our intellectual property or our licensors' intellectual property is asserted, a court may determine that the intellectual property is invalid or unenforceable. Even if the validity or enforceability of that intellectual property is upheld by a court, a court may not prevent alleged infringement on the grounds that such activity is not covered by, for example, the patent claims. In addition, effective intellectual property enforcement may be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries for a variety of legal and public policy reasons. From time to time we may receive notices from third parties alleging infringement of their intellectual property rights. Any litigation, whether to enforce our rights to use our or our licensors' patents or to defend against allegations that we infringe third party rights, would be costly, time consuming, and may distract management from other important tasks.
As is commonplace in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, we employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. To the extent our employees are involved in areas that are similar to those areas in which they were involved at their former employers, we may be subject to claims that such employees and/or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed the alleged trade secrets or other proprietary information of the former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against such claims, which could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and which could have an adverse effect on us, even if we are successful in defending such claims.
We also rely in our business on trade secrets, know-how and other proprietary information. We seek to protect this information, in part, through the use of confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants, collaborators, advisors and others. Nonetheless, those agreements may not provide adequate protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information and prevent their unauthorized use or disclosure. To the extent that consultants, collaborators, key employees or other third parties apply technological information independently developed by them or by others to our proposed products, joint ownership may result, which could undermine the value of the intellectual property to us or disputes may arise as to the proprietary rights to such information which may not be resolved in our favor. The risk that other parties may breach confidentiality agreements or that our trade secrets become known or independently discovered by competitors, could harm us by enabling our competitors, who may have greater experience and financial resources, to copy or use our trade secrets and other proprietary information in the advancement of their products, methods or technologies. Policing unauthorized use of our or our licensors' intellectual property is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and we may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use. Adequate remedies may not exist in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure.
Our business could be harmed by requirements to publicly disclose our clinical trial data.
There is an increasing trend across multiple jurisdictions, including the United States and the EU, towards requiring greater transparency, particularly in the area of clinical trial results. In many jurisdictions, including the U.S. and the EU, we are required to register most of our clinical trials as well as disclose summaries of the results of those clinical trials. Further requirements for transparency could result in the disclosure of data down to the individual patient level. In the EU, for example, the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, has since 2015 implemented a policy on transparency of clinical trial data submitted to the agency in applications for marketing authorization. These data traditionally were regarded as confidential commercial information not subject to disclosure. According to this policy, the EMA proactively publishes anonymized clinical data submitted by pharmaceutical companies to support their regulatory applications submitted after January 1, 2015 (subject to certain company redactions agreed with the EMA during the application review process). Possible redactions include commercially confidential information, identifiable information about study participants and study staff and patient level data (i.e., line listings including patient data against individual patient codes). The EMA plans to release patient level data in the future, but needs to address some data privacy concerns before doing so. The EMA may release clinical data submitted before this date on request, subject to the company having the opportunity to make similar redactions. The precise implementation of the EMA’s policy remains in flux and subject to legal challenge. This could harm our business
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in a variety of ways, including for example through disclosure of our trade secret methodologies for clinical development of our products, and/or by potentially enabling competitors to use our clinical data to gain approvals for their own products in the same or other jurisdictions. Regardless of the precise details of the EMA’s policy, the trend across governments is for increased transparency, which could diminish our ability to protect our confidential commercial information.
If third parties successfully claim that we infringe their patents or proprietary rights, our ability to continue to develop and successfully commercialize our product candidates could be delayed or prevented.
Third parties may claim that we or our licensors or suppliers are infringing their patents or are misappropriating their proprietary information. In the event of a successful claim against us or our licensors or suppliers for infringement of the patents or proprietary rights of others relating to any of our marketed products or product candidates, we may be required to:
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pay substantial damages; |
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stop using our technologies; |
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withdraw a product from the market; |
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stop certain research and development efforts; |
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significantly delay product commercialization activities; |
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develop non-infringing products or methods, which may not be feasible; and |
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obtain one or more licenses from third parties. |
In addition, from time to time, we may become aware of third parties who have, or claim to have, intellectual property rights covering matters such as methods for doing business, conducting research, diagnosing diseases or prescribing medications that are alleged to be broadly applicable across sectors of the industry, and we may receive assertions that these rights apply to us. The existence of such intellectual property rights could present a risk to our business.
A license required under any patents or proprietary rights held by a third party may not be available to us, or may not be available on acceptable terms. If we or our licensors or suppliers are sued for infringement we could encounter substantial delays in, or be prohibited from developing, manufacturing and commercializing our product candidates and advancing our preclinical or clinical programs. In addition, any such litigation would be costly, time consuming, and might distract management from other important tasks.
We are dependent on our license agreements and if we fail to meet our obligations under these license agreements, or our agreements are terminated for any reason, we may lose our rights to our in-licensed patents and technologies.
We are dependent on licenses for intellectual property related to Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), Ampyra and all of our research and development programs such as our ARCUS program for acute migraine and BTT1023 and SYN120 development programs. Our failure to meet any of our obligations under these license agreements could result in the loss of our rights to this intellectual property. If we lose our rights under any of these license agreements, we may be unable to commercialize, or continue commercializing, a product that uses licensed intellectual property.
Risks relating to our common stock
Our stock price may be volatile and you may lose all or a part of your investment.
Our stock price could fluctuate significantly due to a number of factors, including:
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achievement or rejection of regulatory approvals by us or our collaborators or by our competitors; |
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publicity regarding actual or potential clinical trial results or updates relating to products under development by us, our collaborators, or our competitors; |
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developments concerning proprietary rights, including patents; including litigation and other legal proceedings; |
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changes in securities analysts' estimates of our performance or our failure to meet analysts' expectations; |
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sales of substantial amounts of our stock or short selling activity by certain investors; |
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variations in our anticipated or actual operating results; |
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conditions or trends in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries; |
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government regulation of drug pricing; |
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changes in healthcare reimbursement policies; and |
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economic or other crises or other external factors. |
Many of these factors are beyond our control, and we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our financial results will not necessarily be indicative of our future performance. If our revenues in any particular period do not meet expectations, we may not be able to adjust our expenditures in that period, which could cause our operating results to suffer. If our operating results in any future period fall below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, our stock price may fall by a significant amount.
In addition, the stock markets in general, and the Nasdaq Global Market and the market for biopharmaceutical companies in particular, have recently and can in the future experience extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. These broad market and industry factors may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.
Future sales of our common stock could cause our stock price to decline.
If our existing stockholders sell a large number of shares of our common stock, or the public market perceives that existing stockholders might sell shares of common stock, the market price of our common stock could decline significantly. Sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market by our executive officers, directors, 5% or greater stockholders or other stockholders, or the prospect of such sales, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. As of February 20, 2019: 47,633,407 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding; options to acquire 8,200,829 shares of our common stock were outstanding, exercisable at an average exercise price of $29.76 per share, issued under our 2006 Employee Incentive Plan, our 2015 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan, or our 2016 Inducement Plan; and restricted stock units issued under our 2015 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan entitling the holders to an aggregate of 49,167 shares of our common stock were outstanding. Additional shares of common stock are authorized for issuance pursuant to options and other stock-based awards under our 2015 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan, and additional stock-based awards could be issued under our 2016 Inducement Plan. To the extent that option holders exercise outstanding options, there may be further dilution and the sales of shares issued upon such exercises could cause our stock price to drop further.
If our officers, directors and largest stockholders choose to act together, they may be able to control the outcome of stockholder vote.
As of December 31, 2018, our officers, directors and holders of 5% or more of our outstanding common stock beneficially owned approximately 79% of our common stock. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, will be able to significantly influence all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval or mergers or other business combination transactions. The interests of this group of stockholders may not always coincide with the interests of other stockholders, and they may act in a manner that advances their best interests and not necessarily those of other stockholders.
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Certain provisions of Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation, and our bylaws may delay or prevent an acquisition of us that stockholders may consider favorable or may prevent efforts by our stockholders to change our directors or our management, which could decrease the value of your shares.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, and may have the effect of preventing or hindering any attempt by our stockholders to replace our current directors or officers. These provisions include:
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Our board of directors has the right to elect directors to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the board of directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on our board of directors. |
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Our board of directors may issue, without stockholder approval, shares of preferred stock with rights, preferences and privileges determined by the board of directors. The ability to authorize and issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences makes it possible for our board of directors to issue preferred stock with super voting, special approval, dividend or other rights or preferences on a discriminatory basis that could impede the success of any attempt to acquire us. |
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Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each with staggered three-year terms. As a result, only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of stockholders, and each of the two other classes of directors will continue to serve for the remainder of their respective three-year terms, limiting the ability of stockholders to reconstitute the board of directors. |
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The vote of the holders of 75% of the outstanding shares of our common stock is required in order to take certain actions, including amendment of our bylaws, removal of directors for cause and certain amendments to our certificate of incorporation. |
As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to certain anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law. Under Delaware law, a corporation may not engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holders has held the stock for three years or, among other things, the board of directors has approved the transaction. Our board of directors could rely on Delaware law to prevent or delay an acquisition of us, which could have the effect of reducing your ability to receive a premium on your common stock.
Because we do not intend to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you will benefit from an investment in our common stock only if it appreciates in value.
We have not paid cash dividends on any of our classes of capital stock to date, and we currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The success of your investment in our common stock will depend entirely upon any future appreciation. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which you purchased your shares.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.
Ardsley, New York
In June 2011, we entered into a 15-year lease for an aggregate of approximately 138,000 square feet of state-of-the art office and laboratory space in Ardsley, New York. We relocated our headquarters to this facility in July 2012. In 2014, we exercised our option to expand into an additional 25,405 square feet of office space, which we occupied in January 2015. We have options to extend the term of the lease for three additional five-year periods, and we have an option to terminate the lease after 10 years subject to payment of an early termination fee. Also, we have right of first refusal until mid-2020 to lease up to approximately 95,000 additional square feet of space in additional buildings at the same location. Our extension, early
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termination, and expansion rights are subject to specified terms and conditions, including specified time periods when they must be exercised, and are also subject to limitations including that we not be in default under the lease.
The Ardsley lease provides for monthly payments of rent during the term. These payments consist of base rent, which takes into account the costs of the facility improvements being funded by the facility owner prior to our occupancy, and additional rent covering customary items such as charges for utilities, taxes, operating expenses, and other facility fees and charges. Our base rent is currently $4.6 million per year, which reflects an annual 2.5% escalation factor as well as our expansion, described above.
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Through our Civitas subsidiary, we lease a manufacturing facility in Chelsea, Massachusetts which we use to manufacture Inbrija and ARCUS product candidates. The approximately 90,000 square foot facility also includes office and laboratory space. Civitas leases this facility from North River Everett Ave, LLC pursuant to a lease with a term that expires on December 31, 2025, and Civitas has two additional extension options of five years each. The base annual rent under the lease is currently $1.5 million per year, which reflects an annual 2.5% escalation factor as well as our 2017 lease of additional property next to the Chelsea, Massachusetts facility for parking and warehouse space.
In 2018, we initiated a renovation and expansion of the Chelsea facility that will increase the size of the facility to approximately 95,000 square feet. The project will add a new manufacturing production line for Inbrija and other ARCUS products that has greater capacity than the existing manufacturing line, and it will create additional warehousing space for manufactured product. Pursuant to a 2018 lease amendment that enabled the renovation and expansion, upon completion of the project, annual rent under the lease will increase to $1.7 million. Construction of the project is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2019, though we cannot be assured that the project will be meet this schedule, and it will take additional time after completion of construction to obtain the FDA approval needed for use of the new production line for commercial manufacture.
Additional Facilities
In October 2016, we entered into a 10-year lease agreement commencing in January 2017 for approximately 26,000 square feet of lab and office space in Waltham, MA. We entered into this lease primarily to relocate certain personnel from our Chelsea, Massachusetts facility to enable the expansion of manufacturing operations in Chelsea. The base rent under the lease is currently $1.0 million per year.
Through Biotie and its U.S. subsidiary, we previously leased office space in Turku, Finland and South San Francisco, California. We terminated the Turku, Finland lease in mid-2018, and the South San Francisco, California lease expired at the end of 2018.
Ampyra ANDA Litigation
Overview. As further described below, we have been engaged in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers relating to our five initial Orange Book-listed Ampyra patents. We filed lawsuits against these generic drug manufacturers in response to their submitting Abbreviated New Drug Applications, or ANDAs, to the FDA seeking marketing approval for generic versions of Ampyra (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10mg. As previously reported, we settled with some, but not all, of these companies. In March 2017, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) rendered a decision from a bench trial held in September 2016. The District Court upheld our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired in July 2018, but invalidated the four other Orange Book-listed patents pertaining to Ampyra that are the subject of the litigation that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. We appealed the decision on the four invalidated patents to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”), which issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
61
A sixth Ampyra patent was recently issued and listed in the Orange Book. We note that this patent does not entitle us to any additional statutory stay of approval under the Hatch-Waxman Act against the generic drug manufacturers that are involved in the patent litigation.
First ANDA Filers. In June and July of 2014, we received separate Paragraph IV Certification Notices from Accord Healthcare, Inc. (“Accord”), Actavis Laboratories FL, Inc. ("Actavis"), Alkem Laboratories Ltd. and its affiliate Ascend Laboratories, LLC ("Alkem"), Apotex Inc. (“Apotex”), Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. ("Aurobindo"), Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Mylan”), Roxane Laboratories, Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., advising that each of these companies had submitted an ANDA to the FDA seeking marketing approval for generic versions of Ampyra (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg. The ANDA filers challenged the validity of the five initial Orange Book-listed patents for Ampyra, and they also asserted that generic versions of their products do not infringe certain claims of these patents. In response to the filing of these ANDAs, in July 2014, we filed lawsuits against these generic drug manufacturers and certain affiliates in the District Court asserting infringement of our U.S. Patent Nos. 5,540,938, 8,007,826, 8,354,437, 8,440,703, and 8,663,685. Requested judicial remedies included recovery of litigation costs and injunctive relief, including a request that the effective date of any FDA approval for these generic companies to make, use, offer for sale, sell, market, distribute, or import the proposed generic products be no earlier than the dates on which the Ampyra Orange Book-listed patents expire, or any later expiration of exclusivity to which we are or become entitled. These lawsuits with the ANDA filers were consolidated into a single case.
A bench trial was completed in September 2016, and the District Court issued a decision in March 2017. The District Court upheld U.S. Patent No. 5,540,938 (the ‘938 patent), which expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidated U.S. Patent Nos. 8,663,685, 8,007,826, 8,440,703, and 8,354,437. In May 2017, we appealed the ruling on these patents to the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit issued a decision on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the decision of the Federal Circuit. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales. In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As previously reported, prior to the 2017 District Court decision, we entered into settlement agreements with Accord, Actavis, Alkem, Apotex and Aurobindo (and certain affiliates). More recently, in August 2018, we reported a conditioned settlement agreement with Mylan.
Second ANDA Filers. In 2015 and 2017, we received Paragraph IV Certification Notices from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Inc., Par Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Micro Labs Ltd. advising that each of these companies had submitted ANDAs to the FDA seeking marketing approval for generic versions of Ampyra (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg. These ANDA filers challenged the validity of four of the five initial Orange Book-listed patents for Ampyra, and did not file against our U.S. Patent No. 5,540,938, and also asserted that generic versions of their products may not infringe certain claims of these patents. In response to the filing of the ANDAs, as previously reported, we filed lawsuits against these companies that were subsequently settled.
We will vigorously defend our intellectual property rights.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
62
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Our common stock has been quoted on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ACOR since our initial public offering on February 9, 2006. Prior to that date, there was no public market for our common stock.
Computershare is the transfer agent and registrar for our common stock. As of February 20, 2019, we had 18 registered holders of record of our common stock.
Stock Price Performance Graph
The graph below matches Acorda Therapeutics, Inc.’s cumulative 5-Year total shareholder return on common stock with the cumulative total returns of the Nasdaq Composite index and the Nasdaq Biotechnology index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each index (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from 12/31/2013 to 12/31/2018.
|
|
12/13 |
|
|
12/14 |
|
|
12/15 |
|
|
12/16 |
|
|
12/17 |
|
|
12/18 |
|
||||||
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. |
|
|
100.00 |
|
|
|
139.97 |
|
|
|
146.51 |
|
|
|
64.38 |
|
|
|
73.46 |
|
|
|
53.36 |
|
Nasdaq Composite |
|
|
100.00 |
|
|
|
114.62 |
|
|
|
122.81 |
|
|
|
133.19 |
|
|
|
172.11 |
|
|
|
165.84 |
|
Nasdaq Biotechnology |
|
|
100.00 |
|
|
|
131.71 |
|
|
|
140.56 |
|
|
|
112.25 |
|
|
|
133.67 |
|
|
|
121.24 |
|
The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
63
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We 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.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Acorda has not announced any plans or programs for the repurchase of its Common Stock. The following table provides information about our purchases of shares of Acorda stock during the three-month period ended December 31, 2018.
Period |
Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) |
Average Price Paid per Share |
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs |
Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs |
October 1-31, 2018 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
November 1-30, 2018 |
6,424 |
$20.28 |
- |
- |
December 1-31, 2018 |
2,038 |
$15.68 |
- |
- |
Total |
8,462 |
$19.17 |
- |
- |
64
Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
The following selected consolidated financial data for each of the five years in the period ended December 31, 2018 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. This data should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes that are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, with the exception of 2014, 2015 and 2016 (balance sheet) data which are included in previously filed annual reports and with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in Item 7 below.
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
2018 |
|
|
2017 |
|
|
2016 |
|
|
2015 |
|
|
2014 |
|
|||||
|
|
(in thousands, except per share data) |
|
|||||||||||||||||
Statement of Operations Data: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total net revenues |
|
$ |
471,433 |
|
|
$ |
588,287 |
|
|
$ |
519,601 |
|
|
$ |
492,660 |
|
|
$ |
401,480 |
|
Costs and expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cost of sales |
|
|
99,310 |
|
|
|
135,080 |
|
|
|
107,475 |
|
|
|
92,297 |
|
|
|
79,981 |
|
Cost of milestone and license revenue |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
634 |
|
|
|
634 |
|
|
|
634 |
|
|
|
634 |
|
Research and development |
|
|
106,383 |
|
|
|
166,105 |
|
|
|
203,437 |
|
|
|
149,209 |
|
|
|
73,470 |
|
Selling, general and administrative |
|
|
172,254 |
|
|
|
181,619 |
|
|
|
235,437 |
|
|
|
205,630 |
|
|
|
201,813 |
|
Asset impairment |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
296,763 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
6,991 |
|
Changes in fair value of acquired contingent consideration |
|
|
55,000 |
|
|
|
40,900 |
|
|
|
8,600 |
|
|
|
10,900 |
|
|
|
2,200 |
|
Total operating expenses |
|
|
432,947 |
|
|
|
821,101 |
|
|
|
555,583 |
|
|
|
458,670 |
|
|
|
365,089 |
|
Operating income (loss) |
|
|
38,486 |
|
|
|
(232,814 |
) |
|
|
(35,982 |
) |
|
|
33,990 |
|
|
|
36,391 |
|
Other expense: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest and amortization of debt discount expense |
|
|
(21,597 |
) |
|
|
(18,664 |
) |
|
|
(16,527 |
) |
|
|
(15,472 |
) |
|
|
(9,288 |
) |
Interest income |
|
|
3,518 |
|
|
|
136 |
|
|
|
339 |
|
|
|
440 |
|
|
|
674 |
|
Other income (expense) |
|
|
16 |
|
|
|
(543 |
) |
|
|
9,902 |
|
|
|
411 |
|
|
|
232 |
|
Total other expense |
|
|
(18,063 |
) |
|
|
(19,071 |
) |
|
|
(6,286 |
) |
|
|
(14,621 |
) |
|
|
(8,382 |
) |
Income (loss) before income taxes |
|
|
20,423 |
|
|
|
(251,885 |
) |
|
|
(42,268 |
) |
|
|
19,369 |
|
|
|
28,009 |
|
Benefit from (provision) for income taxes |
|
|
13,259 |
|
|
|
28,526 |
|
|
|
6,665 |
|
|
|
(8,311 |
) |
|
|
(10,337 |
) |
Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
985 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Net income (loss) attributable to Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. |
|
$ |
33,682 |
|
|
$ |
(223,359 |
) |
|
$ |
(34,618 |
) |
|
$ |
11,058 |
|
|
$ |
17,672 |
|
Net income (loss) per share —basic |
|
$ |
0.72 |
|
|
$ |
(4.86 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.76 |
) |
|
$ |
0.26 |
|
|
$ |
0.43 |
|
Net income (loss) per share —diluted |
|
$ |
0.71 |
|
|
$ |
(4.86 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.76 |
) |
|
$ |
0.25 |
|
|
$ |
0.42 |
|
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding used in computing net income (loss) per share —basic |
|
|
47,010 |
|
|
|
45,999 |
|
|
|
45,259 |
|
|
|
42,230 |
|
|
|
41,150 |
|
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding used in computing net income (loss) per share —diluted |
|
|
47,341 |
|
|
|
45,999 |
|
|
|
45,259 |
|
|
|
43,621 |
|
|
|
42,544 |
|
|
As of December 31, |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
2018 |
|
|
2017 |
|
|
2016 |
|
|
2015 |
|
|
2014 |
|
|||||
|
(in thousands) |
|
|||||||||||||||||
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash and cash equivalents and investments |
$ |
445,553 |
|
|
$ |
307,068 |
|
|
$ |
158,537 |
|
|
$ |
353,305 |
|
|
$ |
307,618 |
|
Working capital |
|
387,852 |
|
|
|
297,738 |
|
|
|
124,756 |
|
|
|
360,725 |
|
|
|
276,335 |
|
Total assets |
|
1,299,666 |
|
|
|
1,197,969 |
|
|
|
1,342,335 |
|
|
|
1,111,294 |
|
|
|
1,059,224 |
|
Long-term liabilities |
|
547,427 |
|
|
|
534,023 |
|
|
|
530,223 |
|
|
|
417,675 |
|
|
|
404,586 |
|
Accumulated deficit |
|
(393,843 |
) |
|
|
(455,108 |
) |
|
|
(243,970 |
) |
|
|
(209,352 |
) |
|
|
(220,410 |
) |
Long term debt |
|
343,140 |
|
|
|
334,475 |
|
|
|
324,030 |
|
|
|
291,527 |
|
|
|
284,042 |
|
Total stockholders’ equity |
|
611,983 |
|
|
|
519,987 |
|
|
|
664,211 |
|
|
|
603,025 |
|
|
|
540,255 |
|
65
On January 1, 2016, the Company adopted the provisions of Accounting Standards Updated 2015-03, “Interest – Imputation of Interest” (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs (ASU 2015-03), which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the debt liability rather than as an asset. The Company adopted this guidance retrospectively and updated the classification of the total assets, long-term liabilities and long-term debt in the balance sheet for 2016 and all prior periods presented.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of our consolidated financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Background
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies that restore function and improve the lives of people with neurological disorders. We are preparing for our launch of commercial sales of Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), which is approved for intermittent treatment of OFF episodes, also known as OFF periods, in people with Parkinson’s disease treated with carbidopa/levodopa. Inbrija is an on-demand treatment that utilizes our innovative ARCUS pulmonary delivery system, a technology platform designed to deliver medication through inhalation that we believe has potential to be used in the development of a variety of inhaled medicines. Also, we market branded Ampyra (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg.
Our New Drug Application, or NDA, for Inbrija was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, on December 21, 2018. The approval is for a single dose of 84 mg, with no titration required. We expect Inbrija to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2019 and to be distributed through a network of specialty pharmacies. Our preparations for the commercial sale of Inbrija continue, including sales force training and education, managed care discussions, market research and social media initiatives. We project that annual peak net revenue of Inbrija in the U.S. alone could exceed $800 million.
We are seeking approval to market Inbrija in the European Union, and accordingly we filed a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, with the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, in March 2018. In May 2018, we announced that the EMA completed formal validation of the MAA for Inbrija, and that the review of the MAA will be according to standard timelines. After the adoption of a Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, opinion, we expect a final decision regarding the MAA from the European Commission before the end of 2019. We are in discussions with potential partners regarding the distribution of Inbrija outside of the U.S.
We currently derive substantially all of our revenue from the sale of Ampyra. We have been engaged in litigation with certain generic drug manufacturers relating to our five initial Orange Book-listed Ampyra patents. In 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “District Court”) issued a ruling that upheld our Ampyra Orange Book-listed patent that expired on July 30, 2018, but invalidated our four other Orange Book-listed patents pertaining to Ampyra that were set to expire between 2025 and 2027. Under this decision, our patent exclusivity with respect to Ampyra terminated on July 30, 2018. We appealed the District Court decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”), which issued a ruling on September 10, 2018 upholding the District Court’s decision (the “Appellate Decision”). In January 2019, the Federal Circuit denied our petition for rehearing en banc. We intend to file a petition for certiorari appealing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. We have experienced a significant decline in Ampyra sales due to competition from generic versions of Ampyra that are being marketed following the Appellate Decision. We expect that additional manufacturers will market generic versions of Ampyra, which may accelerate the decline in our Ampyra sales.
Our strategic priorities for 2019 are as follows:
|
• |
Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder): Launching the commercial |