As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 13, 2018.

Registration No. 333-223877

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

AMENDMENT NO. 3

TO

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

SURFACE ONCOLOGY, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware		2836		46-5543980
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

50 Hampshire Street, 8th Floor

Cambridge, MA 02139

(617) 714-4096

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

J. Jeffrey Goater

Chief Executive Officer

50 Hampshire Street, 8th Floor

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

(617) 714-4096

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies to:

 

Kingsley L. Taft, Esq. Robert E. Puopolo, Esq. Seo Salimi, Esq. Goodwin Procter LLP 100 Northern Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02210 (617) 570-1000		Divakar Gupta, Esq. Charles S. Kim, Esq. Nicole C. Brookshire, Esq. Richard C. Segal, Esq. Cooley LLP 500 Boylston Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 937-2300

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, check the following box.  ☐

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

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  ☐		Accelerated filer  ☐		Non-accelerated filer  ☒ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)		Smaller reporting company   ☐ Emerging Growth Company  ☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act.  ☒

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of each class of securities to be registered		Proposed maximum aggregate offering price(1)(2)		Amount of registration fee(3)(4)
Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share		$103,500,000		$12,885.75

(1)	Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

(2)	Includes the offering price of shares that the underwriters may purchase pursuant to an option to purchase additional shares.

(3)	Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, based on an estimate of the proposed maximum aggregate offering price.

(4)	Previously paid.

The Registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until this registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and we are not soliciting offers to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Subject To Completion. Dated April 13, 2018.

6,000,000 Shares

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

This is an initial offering of shares of common stock of Surface Oncology, Inc.

We are offering 6,000,000 shares of our common stock.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the common stock. It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price per share will be between $13.00 and $15.00. We have applied to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “SURF.”

We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements.

 

See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities nor passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

		Per share				Total
Initial public offering price		$				$
Underwriting discounts(1)		$				$
Proceeds, before expenses, to Surface Oncology		$				$

 

(1)	See the section titled “Underwriting” for a description of the compensation payable to the underwriters.

To the extent that the underwriters sell more than 6,000,000 shares of common stock, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 shares from us at the initial price to the public less the underwriting discount.

Certain of our existing principal stockholders, directors and their affiliated entities have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to approximately $25.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price per share and on the same terms as the other purchasers in this offering. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the underwriters could determine to sell more, fewer or no shares to any of these potential purchasers, and any of these potential purchasers could determine to purchase more, fewer or no shares in this offering. The underwriters will receive the same underwriting discount and commissions on these shares as they will on any other shares sold to the public in this offering.

Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc. has agreed to purchase from us, concurrently with this offering in a private placement, $11.5 million of shares of our common stock at the initial public offering price per share. The sale of shares in the concurrent private placement will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and these shares will be subject to a 180-day lock-up agreement with the underwriters for this offering. The closing of this offering is not conditioned upon the closing of the concurrent private placement. The shares of common stock purchased in the concurrent private placement will not be subject to any underwriting discounts or commissions. See “Concurrent Private Placement.”

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on                     , 2018.

 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC		Cowen		Evercore ISI

 

 

Prospectus dated                     , 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Prospectus Summary			1
Risk Factors			12
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements			59
Use of Proceeds			61
Dividend Policy			63
Capitalization			64
Dilution			66
Selected Consolidated Financial Data			69
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations			70
Business			90
Management			130
Executive Compensation			139
Director Compensation			151
Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions			153
Principal Stockholders			157
Description of Capital Stock			161
Shares Eligible for Future Sale			167
Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Considerations to Non-U.S. Holders			169
Underwriting			173
Concurrent Private Placement			180
Legal Matters			181
Experts			181
Where You Can Find More Information			181
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements			F-1

Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with information other than that contained in this prospectus or any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. We and the underwriters are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover page of this prospectus, or other earlier date stated in this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of our common stock.

For investors outside of the United States: Neither we nor the underwriters have done anything that would permit a public offering of our common stock or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. You are required to inform yourselves about, and to observe any restrictions relating to, this offering and the distribution of this prospectus.

We own various U.S. federal trademark applications and unregistered trademarks, including our company name and logo. All other trademarks or trade names referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks and trade names in this prospectus are referred to without the symbols ^® and ™, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights thereto.

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all references in this prospectus to “Surface Oncology,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “ours,” “us” or similar terms refer to Surface Oncology, Inc.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition,” before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related To Our Financial Position And Need For Additional Capital

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. We have incurred significant losses since inception. We expect to incur losses for at least the next several years and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

Since inception, we have incurred significant net losses. Our net losses were $17.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 and $45.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $73.9 million. We have funded our operations to date primarily with proceeds from the sale of preferred stock and upfront fees received in connection with our collaboration with Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc., or Novartis. To date, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, acquiring and discovering development programs, securing related intellectual property rights and conducting discovery, research and development activities for our programs. We have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete any clinical trials, including pivotal clinical trials, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial-scale product, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. We expect that it will be several years, if ever, before we have a commercialized product. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future. The net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if, and as, we:

 

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pursue the clinical development of product candidates;

 

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leverage our programs to advance product candidates into preclinical and clinical development;

 

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seek regulatory approvals for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;

 

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hire additional clinical, quality control and scientific personnel;

 

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expand our operational, financial and management systems and increase personnel, including personnel to support our clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization efforts and our operations as a public company;

 

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maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

 

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establish a sales, marketing, medical affairs and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for which we may obtain marketing approval and intend to commercialize on our own or jointly; and

 

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acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies.

To become and remain profitable, we, Novartis or any potential future collaborator must develop and eventually commercialize products with significant market potential. This will require us to be

 

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successful in a range of challenging activities, including completing preclinical studies and clinical trials, obtaining marketing approval for product candidates, manufacturing, marketing and selling products for which we may obtain marketing approval and satisfying any post-marketing requirements. We may never succeed in any or all of these activities and, even if we do, we may never generate revenue that is significant or large enough to achieve profitability. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company also could cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

We have never generated revenue from product sales and may never be profitable.

Our ability to generate revenue from product sales and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with our collaborative partners, to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the regulatory approvals necessary to commercialize, our development programs. We do not anticipate generating revenue from product sales for the next several years, if ever. Our ability to generate future revenue from product sales depends heavily on our, Novartis’, or any potential future collaborators’ success in:

 

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completing clinical and preclinical development of product candidates and programs and identifying and developing new product candidates;

 

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seeking and obtaining marketing approvals for any product candidates that we develop;

 

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launching and commercializing product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval by establishing a sales force, marketing, medical affairs and distribution infrastructure or, alternatively, collaborating with a commercialization partner;

 

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achieving adequate coverage and reimbursement by hospitals, government and third-party payors for product candidates that we develop;

 

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establishing and maintaining supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties that can provide adequate, in both amount and quality, products and services to support clinical development and the market demand for product candidates that we develop, if approved;

 

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obtaining market acceptance of product candidates that we develop as viable treatment options;

 

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addressing any competing technological and market developments;

 

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negotiating favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements into which we may enter and performing our obligations in such collaborations;

 

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maintaining, protecting and expanding our portfolio of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets and know-how;

 

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defending against third-party interference or infringement claims, if any; and

 

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attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel.

Even if one or more of the product candidates that we develop is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, the European Medicines Agency, or the EMA, or other regulatory agencies to perform clinical trials or studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. Even if we are able to generate revenue from the sale of any approved products, we may not become profitable and may need to obtain additional funding to continue operations.

 

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Even if we consummate this offering and the concurrent private placement, we will require substantial additional financing, which may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. A failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or commercialization efforts.

Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception. We expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to continue the preclinical and clinical development of our current and future programs. If we are able to gain marketing approval for product candidates that we develop, including SRF231, we will require significant additional amounts of cash in order to launch and commercialize such product candidates to the extent that such launch and commercialization are not the responsibility of Novartis or another collaborator that we may contract with in the future. In addition, other unanticipated costs may arise. Because the design and outcome of our planned and anticipated clinical trials is highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of any product candidate we develop.

Our future capital requirements depend on many factors, including:

 

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the scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing SRF231 and our other product candidates and programs, and of conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials;

 

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the timing of, and the costs involved in, obtaining marketing approvals for SRF231 and future product candidates we develop if clinical trials are successful;

 

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the success of our collaboration with Novartis;

 

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whether Novartis exercises its licensing and co-development options under its collaboration agreement with us, each of which would trigger additional payments to us;

 

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the cost of commercialization activities for SRF231 and future product candidates we develop, whether alone or with a collaborator, if SRF231 or any product candidate we develop are approved for sale, including marketing, sales and distribution costs;

 

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the cost of manufacturing SRF231 and future product candidates for clinical trials in preparation for marketing approval and in preparation for commercialization;

 

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our ability to establish and maintain strategic licensing or other arrangements and the financial terms of such agreements;

 

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the costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, expanding, defending and enforcing patent claims, including litigation costs and the outcome of such litigation;

 

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the timing, receipt and amount of sales of, or royalties on, our future products, if any;

 

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the emergence of competing cancer therapies and other adverse market developments; and

 

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the requirement for, and cost of, developing complementary diagnostics and/or companion diagnostics.

We do not have any committed external source of funds or other support for our development efforts. Until we can generate sufficient product and royalty revenue to finance our cash requirements, which we may never do, we expect to finance our future cash needs through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements and other marketing or distribution arrangements. Based on our research and development plans, we expect that the net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 24 months.

 

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If we raise additional capital through marketing and distribution arrangements or other collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish certain valuable rights to our product candidates, technologies, future revenue streams or research programs or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we raise additional capital through public or private equity offerings, the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect our stockholders’ rights. Further, to the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of common stock or securities convertible or exchangeable into common stock, your ownership interest will be diluted. If we raise additional capital through debt financing, we would be subject to fixed payment obligations and may be subject to covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we are unable to obtain additional funding on favorable terms when needed, we may have to delay, reduce the scope of or suspend one or more of our research and development programs or clinical trials.

Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes has been limited by “ownership changes” and may be further limited.

We have incurred substantial losses during our history. As of December 31, 2017, we had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of $20.8 million and $19.9 million, respectively. We do not anticipate generating revenue from sales of products for the foreseeable future, if ever, and we may never achieve profitability. To the extent that we continue to generate taxable losses, unused losses will carry forward to offset future taxable income, if any, until such unused losses expire. Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, and corresponding provisions of state law, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change” (generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage points change (by value) in its equity ownership over a rolling three-year period), the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes to offset its post-change income may be limited. We have in the past experienced, and we may in the future experience as a result of this offering or otherwise, ownership changes, some of which are outside our control. Use of our federal and state net operating loss carryforwards have been limited and could be further limited if we experience additional ownership changes, which could have an adverse effect on our future results of operations.

Risks Related To Product Development And Regulatory Process

If we are unable to advance our current or future product candidates through clinical trials, obtain marketing approval and ultimately commercialize any product candidates we develop, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

We are early in our development efforts, and we have only recently initiated our first Phase 1 clinical trial for our lead product candidate. We have invested substantially all of our efforts and financial resources in the identification of targets and preclinical development of antibodies.

Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for several years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of the product candidates we develop, which may never occur. Our current product candidates, and any future product candidates we develop, will require additional preclinical and clinical development, management of clinical, preclinical and manufacturing activities, marketing approval in the United States and other markets, demonstrating effectiveness to pricing and reimbursement authorities, obtaining sufficient manufacturing supply for both clinical development and commercial production, building of a commercial organization, and substantial investment and significant marketing efforts

 

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before we generate any revenues from product sales. The success of our current and future product candidates will depend on several factors, including the following:

 

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successful completion of clinical trials and preclinical studies;

 

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sufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials;

 

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acceptance of INDs for our planned clinical trials or future clinical trials;

 

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successful enrollment and completion of clinical trials;

 

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successful data from our clinical program that supports an acceptable risk-benefit profile of our product candidates in the intended populations;

 

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receipt of regulatory and marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;

 

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receipt and maintenance of marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;

 

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establishing agreements with third-party manufacturers for clinical supply for our clinical trials and commercial manufacturing, if our product candidate is approved;

 

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entry into collaborations to further the development of our product candidates;

 

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obtaining and maintaining patent and trade secret protection or regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates;

 

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successfully launching commercial sales of our product candidates, if and when approved;

 

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acceptance of the product candidate’s benefits and uses, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;

 

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maintaining a continued acceptable safety profile of the product candidates following approval;

 

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effectively competing with other therapies;

 

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obtaining and maintaining healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors; and

 

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enforcing and defending intellectual property rights and claims.

If we are not successful with respect to one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize the product candidates we develop, which would materially harm our business. If we do not receive marketing approvals for SRF231, or any other product candidate we develop, we may not be able to continue our operations.

Preclinical development is uncertain. Our preclinical programs may experience delays or may never advance to clinical trials, which would adversely affect our ability to obtain regulatory approvals or commercialize these programs on a timely basis or at all, which would have an adverse effect on our business.

In order to obtain FDA approval to market a new biological product we must demonstrate proof of safety, purity and potency or efficacy in humans. To meet these requirements we will have to conduct adequate and well-controlled clinical trials. Before we can commence clinical trials for a product candidate, we must complete extensive preclinical testing and studies that support our planned INDs in the United States. We only have one product candidate in clinical development and one product candidate ready to enter clinical development, and the rest of our programs are in preclinical development. We cannot be certain of the timely completion or outcome of our preclinical testing and studies and cannot predict if the FDA will accept our proposed clinical programs or if the outcome of our preclinical testing and studies will ultimately support the further development of our programs. As a result, we cannot be sure that we will be able to submit INDs or similar applications for our preclinical programs on the timelines we expect, if at all, and we cannot be sure that submission of INDs or similar applications will result in the FDA or other regulatory authorities allowing clinical trials to begin.

 

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Conducting preclinical testing is a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive process. The length of time may vary substantially according to the type, complexity and novelty of the program, and often can be several years or more per program. Delays associated with programs for which we are directly conducting preclinical testing and studies may cause us to incur additional operating expenses. Moreover, we may be affected by delays associated with the preclinical testing and studies of certain programs that are the responsibility of Novartis or our potential future partners over which we have no control. The commencement and rate of completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials for a product candidate may be delayed by many factors, including, for example:

 

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inability to generate sufficient preclinical or other in vivo or in vitro data to support the initiation of clinical studies;

 

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delays in reaching a consensus with regulatory agencies on study design; and

 

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the FDA not allowing us to rely on previous findings of safety and efficacy for other similar but approved products and published scientific literature.

Moreover, even if clinical trials do begin for our preclinical programs, our development efforts may not be successful, and clinical trials that we conduct or that third parties conduct on our behalf may not demonstrate sufficient safety, purity and potency or efficacy to obtain the requisite regulatory approvals for any of product candidates we develop. Even if we obtain positive results from preclinical studies or initial clinical trials, we may not achieve the same success in future trials.

The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, the EMA and comparable foreign authorities are lengthy, time-consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, our business will be substantially harmed.

The time required to obtain approval by the FDA, the EMA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. In addition, approval policies, regulations, or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions. We have not obtained regulatory approval for any product candidate and it is possible that none of our current or future product candidates will ever obtain regulatory approval.

Our current and future product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:

 

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the FDA, the EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

 

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we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA, the EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe, pure and potent or effective for its proposed indication;

 

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the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA, the EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;

 

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we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;

 

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the FDA, the EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from clinical trials or preclinical studies;

 

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the data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may not be sufficient to support the submission of a Biologics License Application, or BLA, to the FDA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States, the European Union or elsewhere;

 

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•

the FDA, the EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may find deficiencies with or fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and

 

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the approval policies or regulations of the FDA, the EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

This lengthy approval process as well as the unpredictability of clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market any product candidate we develop, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects. The FDA, the EMA and other comparable foreign authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process, and determining when or whether regulatory approval will be obtained for any product candidate that we develop. Even if we believe the data collected from future clinical trials of our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA, the EMA or any other regulatory authority.

In addition, even if we were to obtain approval, regulatory authorities may approve any of our product candidates for fewer or more limited indications than we request, may not approve the price we intend to charge for our products, may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials, or may approve a product candidate with a label that does not include the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of that product candidate. Any of the foregoing scenarios could materially harm the commercial prospects for our product candidates.

Further, we have not previously submitted a BLA to the FDA, or a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, to the EMA. We cannot be certain that any of our programs will be successful in clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. Further, product candidates we develop may not receive regulatory approval even if they are successful in clinical trials. If we do not receive regulatory approvals for our product candidates, we may not be able to continue our operations.

Clinical product development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with uncertain outcomes. We may experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our current and future product candidates.

To obtain the requisite regulatory approvals to commercialize any of our product candidates, we must demonstrate through extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials that our products are safe, pure and potent or effective in humans. Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process and our future clinical trial results may not be successful.

We may experience delays in completing our clinical trials or preclinical studies and initiating or completing additional clinical trials. We may also experience numerous unforeseen events during our clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize the product candidates we develop, including:

 

•

regulators or Institutional Review Boards, or IRBs, or ethics committees may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site;

 

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we may experience delays in reaching, or fail to reach, agreement on acceptable terms with prospective trial sites and prospective contract research organizations, or CROs;

 

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the number of patients required for clinical trials may be larger than we anticipate;

 

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•

it may be difficult to enroll a sufficient number of patients with a predictive biomarker or enrollment in these clinical trials may be slower than we anticipate or participants may drop out of these clinical trials or fail to return for post-treatment follow-up at a higher rate than we anticipate;

 

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our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all, or may deviate from the clinical trial protocol or drop out of the trial, which may require that we add new clinical trial sites or investigators; and

 

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the supply or quality of materials for product candidates we develop or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials may be insufficient or inadequate.

We could encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted or ethics committees, by the Data Safety Monitoring Board, or DSMB, for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. Many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of our product candidates.

If we experience delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Significant clinical trial delays could also allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do or shorten any periods during which we have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates and impair our ability to commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.

Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates or result in the development of our product candidates being stopped early.

The results of early-stage clinical trials and preclinical studies may not be predictive of future results. Initial success in our ongoing clinical trials may not be indicative of results obtained when these trials are completed or in later stage trials.

The results of preclinical studies may not be predictive of the results of clinical trials, and the results of any early-stage clinical trials we commence may not be predictive of the results of the later-stage clinical trials. In addition, initial success in clinical trials may not be indicative of results obtained when such trials are completed. There can be no assurance that any of our current or future clinical trials will ultimately be successful or support further clinical development of any of our product candidates. There is a high failure rate for drugs and biologics proceeding through clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in clinical development even after achieving promising results in earlier studies, and any such setbacks in our clinical development could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

 

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We expect that we will need to develop, or enter into a collaboration or partnerships to develop, complementary diagnostics and/or companion diagnostics for our current or future product candidates. If we, or our future collaborators, are unable to successfully develop such companion diagnostics or complementary diagnostics, or experience significant delays in doing so, we may not realize the full commercial potential of our future product candidates.

As one of the key elements of our product development strategy, we seek to identify cancer patient populations who may derive meaningful benefit from our current or future product candidates. Because predictive biomarkers may be used to identify the right patients for our programs and our current or future product candidates, we believe that our success may depend, in part, on our ability to develop complementary diagnostics and/or companion diagnostics in collaboration with partners.

We have little experience in the development of diagnostics and, as such, we expect to rely on future collaborators in developing appropriate diagnostics to pair with our current or future product candidates. We have not yet begun discussions with any potential partners with respect to the development of complementary diagnostics and/or companion diagnostics and may be unsuccessful in entering into collaborations for the development of companion diagnostics for our programs and our current or future product candidates.

Complementary diagnostics and/or companion diagnostics are subject to regulation by the FDA and similar regulatory authorities outside the United States as medical devices and require separate regulatory approval or clearance prior to commercialization. If we, our collaborators, or any third parties that we engage to assist us, are unable to successfully develop complementary diagnostics and/or companion diagnostics for our product candidates and any future product candidates, or experience delays in doing so:

 

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the development of our product candidates and any other future product candidates may be adversely affected if we are unable to appropriately select patients for enrollment in our clinical trials; and

 

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we may not realize the full commercial potential of our product candidates and any other future product candidates that receive marketing approval if, among other reasons, we are unable to appropriately identify, or it takes us longer to identify, patients who are likely to benefit from therapy with our products, if approved.

If any of these events were to occur, our business would be harmed, possibly materially.

If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise be adversely affected.

The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the trial until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. The enrollment of patients depends on many factors, including:

 

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the patient eligibility criteria defined in the protocol;

 

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our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients with a predictive biomarker, if any;

 

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the size of the patient population required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;

 

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the proximity of patients to study sites;

 

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the design of the trial;

 

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our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;

 

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clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new products that may be approved for the indications we are investigating;

 

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our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents for participation in our clinical trials and, where appropriate, biopsies for future patient enrichment efforts; and

 

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the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion or, because they are late-stage cancer patients, will not survive the full terms of the clinical trials.

In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our current and potential future product candidates. This competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial conducted by one of our competitors. Since the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we expect to conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which will reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials at such sites. Moreover, because our current and potential future product candidates may represent a departure from more commonly used methods for cancer treatment, potential patients and their doctors may be inclined to use conventional therapies, such as chemotherapy, rather than enroll patients in our ongoing or any future clinical trial.

Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of the product candidates we develop.

Our current or future product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties when used alone or in combination with other approved products or investigational new drugs that could halt their clinical development, prevent their marketing approval, limit their commercial potential or result in significant negative consequences.

Undesirable or clinically unmanageable side effects could occur and cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of marketing approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Results of our trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics.

If unacceptable toxicities or other undesirable side effects arise in the development of any of our current or future product candidates, we or our collaborators could suspend or terminate our trials, or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease clinical trials or deny approval of the product candidate for any or all targeted indications. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete the trial, or result in potential product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product candidate and may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.

Although our current and future product candidates have undergone and will undergo safety testing to the extent possible and, where applicable, under such conditions discussed with regulatory authorities, not all adverse effects of drugs can be predicted or anticipated. Immunotherapy, and its method of action of harnessing the body’s immune system, is powerful and could lead to serious side effects that we only discover in clinical trials. Unforeseen side effects could arise either during clinical development or, if such side effects are more rare, after our products have been approved by regulatory authorities and the approved product has been marketed, resulting in the exposure of additional patients. So far, we have not previously demonstrated that SRF231 or any other product candidate is safe in humans, and we cannot predict if ongoing or future clinical trials will do so. If any of

 

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our current or future product candidates fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy in clinical trials or do not gain marketing approval, we will not be able to generate revenue and our business will be harmed.

Even if we complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials, the marketing approval process is expensive, time-consuming and uncertain and may prevent us or any of our existing or future collaboration partners from obtaining approvals for the commercialization of SRF231 and any other product candidate we develop.

Any current or future product candidate we may develop and the activities associated with their development and commercialization, including their design, testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, and distribution, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States and by comparable authorities in other countries. Failure to obtain marketing approval for a product candidate will prevent us from commercializing the product candidate in a given jurisdiction. We have not received approval to market any product candidates from regulatory authorities in any jurisdiction and it is possible that none of the product candidates we may seek to develop in the future will ever obtain regulatory approval. We have no experience in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals and expect to rely on third-party CROs or regulatory consultants to assist us in this process. Securing regulatory approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to the various regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish the biologic product candidate’s safety, purity, efficacy and potency. Securing regulatory approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the relevant regulatory authority. Any product candidates we develop may not be effective, may be only moderately effective, or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use.

The process of obtaining marketing approvals, both in the United States and abroad, is expensive, may take many years if additional clinical trials are required, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity, and novelty of the product candidates involved. Changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review for each submitted product application, may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application. The FDA and comparable authorities in other countries have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data are insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit, or prevent marketing approval of a product candidate. Any marketing approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable.

If we experience delays in obtaining approval or if we fail to obtain approval of any current or future product candidates we may develop, the commercial prospects for those product candidates may be harmed, and our ability to generate revenues will be materially impaired.

Obtaining and maintaining marketing approval of our current and future product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining marketing approval of our current and future product candidates in other jurisdictions.

Obtaining and maintaining marketing approval of our current and future product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain marketing approval in any other jurisdiction, while a failure or delay in obtaining marketing approval in one jurisdiction may have a

 

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negative effect on the marketing approval process in others. For example, even if the FDA grants marketing approval of a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing and promotion of the product candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and greater than, those in the United States, including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials as clinical studies conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the United States, a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our products is also subject to approval.

We may also submit marketing applications in other countries. Regulatory authorities in jurisdictions outside of the United States have requirements for approval of product candidates with which we must comply prior to marketing in those jurisdictions. Obtaining foreign marketing approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in certain countries. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets and/or receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates will be harmed.

Adverse events in the field of immuno-oncology could damage public perception of our current or future product candidates and negatively affect our business.

The commercial success of our products will depend in part on public acceptance of the use of cancer immunotherapies. While a number of cancer immunotherapies have received regulatory approval and are being commercialized, our approach to targeting different components of the tumor microenvironment is novel and unproven. Adverse events in clinical trials our product candidates or in clinical trials of others developing similar products and the resulting publicity, as well as any other adverse events in the field of immuno-oncology that may occur in the future, could result in a decrease in demand for any product that we may develop. If public perception is influenced by claims that the use of cancer immunotherapies is unsafe, whether related to our therapies or those of our competitors, our products may not be accepted by the general public or the medical community.

Future adverse events in immuno-oncology or the biopharmaceutical industry could also result in greater governmental regulation, stricter labeling requirements and potential regulatory delays in the testing or approvals of our products. Any increased scrutiny could delay or increase the costs of obtaining marketing approval for the product candidates we develop.

Even if we receive marketing approval of a product candidate, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our products, if approved.

Any marketing approvals that we receive for any current or future product candidate may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-market testing and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. The FDA may also require a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, as a condition of approval of any product candidate, which could include requirements for a medication guide, physician communication plans or additional elements to ensure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. In addition, if the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority approves a product candidate, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event

 

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reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, import and export and record keeping for the product candidate will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, and Good Clinical Practice, or GCP, for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with any approved candidate, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:

 

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restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, withdrawal of the product from the market, or product recalls;

 

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fines, untitled and warning letters, or holds on clinical trials;

 

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refusal by the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications we filed or suspension or revocation of license approvals;

 

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product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of the product; and

 

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injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

The FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay marketing approval of a product. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.

Even if a current or future product candidate receives marketing approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

If any current or future product candidate we develop receives marketing approval, whether as a single agent or in combination with other therapies, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors, and others in the medical community. For example, current approved immunotherapies, and other cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy, are well established in the medical community, and doctors may continue to rely on these therapies. If the product candidates we develop do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenues and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of any product candidate, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

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efficacy and potential advantages compared to alternative treatments;

 

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the ability to offer our products, if approved, for sale at competitive prices;

 

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convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;

 

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the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies;

 

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the strength of marketing and distribution support;

 

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the ability to obtain sufficient third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement, including with respect to the use of the approved product as a combination therapy;

 

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adoption of a companion diagnostic and/or complementary diagnostic; and

 

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the prevalence and severity of any side effects.

 

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The market opportunities for any current or future product candidate we develop, if and when approved, may be limited to those patients who are ineligible for established therapies or for whom prior therapies have failed, and may be small.

Cancer therapies are sometimes characterized as first-line, second-line, or third-line, and the FDA often approves new therapies initially only for third-line use. When cancer is detected early enough, first-line therapy, usually chemotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery, radiation therapy or a combination of these, is sometimes adequate to cure the cancer or prolong life without a cure. Second- and third-line therapies are administered to patients when prior therapy is not effective. We expect to initially seek approval of SRF231 and any other product candidates we develop as a therapy for patients who have received one or more prior treatments. Subsequently, for those products that prove to be sufficiently beneficial, if any, we would expect to seek approval potentially as a first-line therapy, but there is no guarantee that product candidates we develop, even if approved, would be approved for first-line therapy, and, prior to any such approvals, we may have to conduct additional clinical trials.

The number of patients who have the cancers we are targeting may turn out to be lower than expected. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for our current programs or future product candidates may be limited, if and when approved. Even if we obtain significant market share for any product candidate, if and when approved, if the potential target populations are small, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining marketing approval for additional indications, including to be used as first- or second-line therapy.

We expect to develop SRF231 and, potentially future product candidates, in combination with other therapies, which exposes us to additional risks.

We intend to develop SRF231, and may develop future product candidates, in combination with one or more currently approved cancer therapies. Even if any product candidate we develop were to receive marketing approval or be commercialized for use in combination with other existing therapies, we would continue to be subject to the risks that the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside of the United States could revoke approval of the therapy used in combination with our product candidate or that safety, efficacy, manufacturing or supply issues could arise with these existing therapies. Combination therapies are commonly used for the treatment of cancer, and we would be subject to similar risks if we develop any of our product candidates for use in combination with other drugs or for indications other than cancer. This could result in our own products being removed from the market or being less successful commercially.

We may also evaluate SRF231 or any other future product candidates in combination with one or more other cancer therapies that have not yet been approved for marketing by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside of the United States. We will not be able to market and sell SRF231 or any product candidate we develop in combination with any such unapproved cancer therapies that do not ultimately obtain marketing approval.

If the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside of the United States do not approve these other drugs or revoke their approval of, or if safety, efficacy, manufacturing, or supply issues arise with, the drugs we choose to evaluate in combination with SRF231 or any product candidate we develop, we may be unable to obtain approval of or market SRF231 or any product candidate we develop.

We face significant competition and if our competitors develop and market products that are more effective, safer or less expensive than the product candidates we develop, our commercial opportunities will be negatively impacted.

The life sciences industry is highly competitive. We are currently developing therapeutics that will compete, if approved, with other products and therapies that currently exist or are being developed.

 

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Products we may develop in the future are also likely to face competition from other products and therapies, some of which we may not currently be aware. We have competitors both in the United States and internationally, including major multinational pharmaceutical companies, established biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, universities and other research institutions. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, manufacturing, marketing, product development, technical and human resources than we do. Large pharmaceutical companies, in particular, have extensive experience in clinical testing, obtaining marketing approvals, recruiting patients and manufacturing pharmaceutical products. These companies also have significantly greater research and marketing capabilities than we do and may also have products that have been approved or are in late stages of development, and collaborative arrangements in our target markets with leading companies and research institutions. Established pharmaceutical companies may also invest heavily to accelerate discovery and development of novel compounds or to in-license novel compounds that could make the product candidates that we develop obsolete. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. As a result of all of these factors, our competitors may succeed in obtaining patent protection and/or marketing approval or discovering, developing and commercializing products in our field before we do.

There are a large number of companies developing or marketing treatments for cancer, including many major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. These treatments consist both of small molecule drug products, such as tradition chemotherapy. There are also several programs in development targeting cluster of differentiation, or CD, 47, SIRPa, including those by Alexo Therapeutics, Inc., Arch Oncology, Aurigene, Inc., Blink Biomedical, Inc., Celgene, Inc., Forty Seven, Inc., Novimmune, S.A., OSE Immunotherapeutics S.A., Sorrento, Inc., Synthon Holding B.V. and Trillium Therapeutics, Inc.

Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe effects, are more convenient, have a broader label, are marketed more effectively, are reimbursed or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA, EMA or other marketing approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. Even if the product candidate we develop achieve marketing approval, they may be priced at a significant premium over competitive products if any have been approved by then, resulting in reduced competitiveness.

Smaller and other early stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. In addition, the biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by rapid technological change. If we fail to stay at the forefront of technological change, we may be unable to compete effectively. Technological advances or products developed by our competitors may render our product candidates obsolete, less competitive or not economical.

Even if we are able to commercialize any product candidates, such products may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations or third-party coverage and reimbursement policies, which would harm our business.

The regulations that govern marketing approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new products vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a product

 

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before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for a product candidate in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product candidate, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the product candidate in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if our product candidates obtain marketing approval.

Our ability to commercialize any product candidates, whether as a single agent or combination therapy, successfully also will depend in part on the extent to which coverage and reimbursement for these product candidates and related treatments will be available from government authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. It is difficult to predict at this time what government authorities and third-party payors will decide with respect to coverage and reimbursement for our programs.

A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular products and requiring substitutions of generic products and/or biosimilars. Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for drugs. We cannot be sure that coverage will be available for any product candidate that we commercialize and, if coverage is available, the level of reimbursement. These third-party payors are also examining the cost-effectiveness of drugs in addition to their safety and efficacy.

Reimbursement may impact the demand for, or the price of, any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. If reimbursement is not available or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval.

There may be significant delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement for newly approved drugs, as the process is time-consuming and costly, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the drug is approved by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Additionally, no uniform policy requirement for coverage and reimbursement for drug products exists among third-party payors in the United States, which may result in coverage and reimbursement for drug products that can differ significantly from payor to payor. Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Interim reimbursement levels for new drugs, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost drugs and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for drugs may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement policies. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and profitable payment rates from both government-funded and private payors for any approved drugs that we develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize drugs and our overall financial condition.

 

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We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover other product candidates and may fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may present a greater commercial opportunity or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

The success of our business depends upon our ability to identify, develop and commercialize product candidates. If we do not successfully develop and eventually commercialize products, we will face difficulty in obtaining product revenue in future periods, resulting in significant harm to our financial position and adversely affecting our share price. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources, and we may fail to identify potential product candidates for numerous reasons.

Additionally, because we have limited resources, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with certain programs or product candidates or for indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. For example, we currently intend to focus our capital resources primarily on the development of SRF231. However, the advancement of this product candidate may ultimately prove to be unsuccessful or less successful than another program in our pipeline that we might have chosen to pursue on a less aggressive basis with our capital resources. Our estimates regarding the potential market for our product candidates could be inaccurate, and our spending on current and future research and development programs may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic collaboration, licensing or other arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate. For example, we licensed worldwide development and commercialization rights with respect to SRF373 to Novartis and will receive only milestone payments and royalties on sales of SRF373, if approved. Alternatively, we may allocate internal resources to a product candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more advantageous to enter into a partnering arrangement.

If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon or delay our development efforts with respect to a particular product candidate or fail to develop a potentially successful product candidate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may seek Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA for a product candidate that we develop, and we may be unsuccessful. If we are successful, the designation may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, and it does not increase the likelihood that our product candidates will receive marketing approval.

We may seek Breakthrough Therapy Designation for any product candidate that we develop. A breakthrough therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over currently approved therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For drugs that have been designated as breakthrough therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development while minimizing the number of patients placed in ineffective control regimens. Drugs designated as breakthrough therapies by the FDA are also eligible for accelerated approval and priority review.

Designation as a breakthrough therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe a product candidate we develop meets the criteria for designation as a breakthrough therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. In any event, the receipt

 

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of Breakthrough Therapy Designation for a product candidate may not result in a faster development process, review or approval compared to drugs considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if the product candidates we develop qualify as breakthrough therapies, the FDA may later decide that the drugs no longer meet the conditions for qualification and rescind the designation.

We may seek Fast Track Designation by the FDA for a product candidate that we develop, and we may be unsuccessful. If we are successful, the designation may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.

We may seek Fast Track Designation for the product candidates we develop. If a product is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition and preclinical or clinical data demonstrate the potential to address an unmet medical need for this condition, the product sponsor may apply for Fast Track Designation. The FDA has broad discretion whether or not to grant this designation, so even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for this designation, we cannot assure you that the FDA would decide to grant it. Even if we do receive Fast Track Designation, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. The FDA may rescind the Fast Track Designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program.

We may seek Orphan Drug Designation for product candidates we develop, and we may be unsuccessful or may be unable to maintain the benefits associated with Orphan Drug Designation, including the potential for market exclusivity.

As part of our business strategy, we may seek Orphan Drug Designation for any product candidates we develop, and we may be unsuccessful. Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States and Europe, may designate drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a drug as an orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals annually in the United States, or a patient population greater than 200,000 in the United States where there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing the drug will be recovered from sales in the United States. In the United States, Orphan Drug Designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee waivers.

Similarly, in Europe, the European Commission grants Orphan Drug Designation after receiving the opinion of the EMA Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products on an Orphan Drug Designation application. Orphan Drug Designation is intended to promote the development of drugs that are intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or chronically debilitating conditions affecting not more than 5 in 10,000 persons in Europe and for which no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention, or treatment has been authorized (or the product would be a significant benefit to those affected). Additionally, designation is granted for drugs intended for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a life-threatening, seriously debilitating or serious and chronic condition and when, without incentives, it is unlikely that sales of the drug in Europe would be sufficient to justify the necessary investment in developing the drug. In Europe, Orphan Drug Designation entitles a party to a number of incentives, such as protocol assistance and scientific advice specifically for designated orphan medicines, and potential fee reductions depending on the status of the sponsor.

Generally, if a drug with an Orphan Drug Designation subsequently receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the drug is entitled to a period of marketing exclusivity, which precludes the EMA or the FDA from approving another marketing application for the same drug and indication for that time period, except in limited circumstances. The

 

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applicable period is seven years in the United States and ten years in Europe. The European exclusivity period can be reduced to six years if a drug no longer meets the criteria for Orphan Drug Designation or if the drug is sufficiently profitable such that market exclusivity is no longer justified.

Even if we obtain orphan drug exclusivity for a product candidate, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product candidate from competition because different therapies can be approved for the same condition and the same therapies can be approved for different conditions but used off-label. Even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve the same drug for the same condition if the FDA concludes that the later drug is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care. In addition, a designated orphan drug may not receive orphan drug exclusivity if it is approved for a use that is broader than the indication for which it received orphan designation. Moreover, orphan drug exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantity of the drug to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. Orphan Drug Designation neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug nor gives the drug any advantage in the regulatory review or approval process. While we may seek Orphan Drug Designation for applicable indications for our current and any future product candidates, we may never receive such designations. Even if we do receive such designations, there is no guarantee that we will enjoy the benefits of those designations.

If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of any approved products.

We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of product candidates and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize any products. For example, we may be sued if any product candidate we develop causes or is perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of any approved products. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

 

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decreased demand for any approved product;

 

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injury to our reputation;

 

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withdrawal of clinical trial participants;

 

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initiation of investigations by regulators;

 

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costs to defend the related litigation;

 

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a diversion of management’s time and our resources;

 

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substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;

 

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product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;

 

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loss of revenue;

 

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exhaustion of any available insurance and our capital resources;

 

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the inability to commercialize any product candidate; and

 

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a decline in our share price.

 

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Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of products we develop, alone or with corporate collaborators.

Insurance coverage is increasingly expensive. We may not be able to maintain insurance at a reasonable cost or in an amount adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise, if at all. Our insurance policy contains various exclusions, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We may have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. Even if our agreements with Novartis or any future corporate collaborators entitle us to indemnification against losses, such indemnification may not be available or adequate should any claim arise.

Healthcare legislative reform measures may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In the United States, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. For example, in March 2010, the Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, was passed, which substantially changes the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impacts the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The ACA, among other things, subjects biological products to potential competition by lower-cost biosimilars, addresses a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted or injected, increases the minimum Medicaid rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and extends the rebate program to individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations, establishes annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of certain branded prescription drugs, and creates a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer 50% (70% commencing January 1, 2019) point-of-sale discounts off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D.

Some of the provisions of the ACA have yet to be fully implemented, while certain provisions have been subject to judicial and Congressional challenges, as well as efforts by the Trump administration to repeal or replace certain aspects of the ACA. Since January 2017, President Trump has signed two Executive Orders designed to delay the implementation of certain provisions of the ACA or otherwise circumvent some of the requirements for health insurance mandated by the ACA. Concurrently, Congress has considered legislation that would repeal or repeal and replace all or part of the ACA. While Congress has not passed comprehensive repeal legislation, two bills affecting the implementation of certain taxes under the ACA have been signed into law. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or TCJA, includes a provision repealing, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed by the ACA on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year that is commonly referred to as the “individual mandate.” Additionally, on January 22, 2018, President Trump signed a continuing resolution on appropriations for fiscal year 2018 that delayed the implementation of certain ACA-mandated fees, including the so-called “Cadillac” tax on certain high cost employer-sponsored insurance plans, the annual fee imposed on certain high cost employer-sponsored insurance plans, the annual fee imposed on certain health insurance providers based on market share, and the medical device excise tax on non-exempt medical devices. Further, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, or the BBA, among other things, amends the ACA, effective January 1, 2019, to reduce the coverage gap in most Medicare drug plans, commonly referred to as the “donut hole.” The effect that the ACA and its possible repeal and replacement may have on our business remains unclear.

 

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Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. On August 2, 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, created measures for spending reductions by Congress. A Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with recommending a targeted deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021, was unable to reach required goals, thereby triggering the legislation’s automatic reduction to several government programs. This includes aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year. These reductions went into effect on April 1, 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2027 unless additional congressional action is taken. On January 2, 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers.

Moreover, payment methodologies may be subject to changes in healthcare legislation and regulatory initiatives. For example, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 required that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, the agency responsible for administering the Medicare program, reduce the Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule by 2% in 2013, which served as a base for 2014 and subsequent years. In addition, effective January 1, 2014, CMS also began bundling the Medicare payments for certain laboratory tests ordered while a patient received services in a hospital outpatient setting. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for any product candidate we develop or complementary diagnostics or companion diagnostics or additional pricing pressures.

Additionally, there has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to specialty drug pricing practices. Specifically, there have been several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs.

We are subject to certain U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws and regulations. We can face serious consequences for violations.

Among other matters, U.S. and foreign anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws and regulations, which are collectively referred to as Trade Laws, prohibit companies and their employees, agents, clinical research organizations, legal counsel, accountants, consultants, contractors, and other partners from authorizing, promising, offering, providing, soliciting, or receiving directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to or from recipients in the public or private sector. Violations of Trade Laws can result in substantial criminal fines and civil penalties, imprisonment, the loss of trade privileges, debarment, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm, and other consequences. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or government-affiliated hospitals, universities, and other organizations. We also expect our non-U.S. activities to increase in time. We plan to engage third parties for clinical trials and/or to obtain necessary permits, licenses, patent registrations, and other regulatory approvals and we can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our personnel, agents, or partners, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have prior knowledge of such activities.

 

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Risks Related To Reliance On Third Parties

We are fully dependent on our collaboration with Novartis for the development of SRF373 and may depend on Novartis or additional third parties for the development and commercialization of our other programs and future product candidates. Our current and future collaborators may control aspects of our clinical trials, which could result in delays or other obstacles in the commercialization of the product candidates we develop. If our collaborations are not successful, we may not be able to capitalize on the market potential of these product candidates.

In January 2016, we entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Novartis, or the Collaboration Agreement, focused on researching, developing and commercializing cancer immunotherapies. Pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement, we granted Novartis a worldwide exclusive license to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize antibodies that target CD73, along with the right to purchase exclusive option rights to up to four specified targets, each an Option, to obtain certain development, manufacturing and commercialization rights. In March 2018, Novartis notified us of its decision to not exercise its previously purchased Option for SRF231. Novartis currently has two Options remaining eligible for purchase, both of which can be exercised. The collaboration involves a complex allocation of rights, provides for milestone payments to us based on the achievement of specified clinical development, regulatory and commercial milestones, provides for additional payments upon Novartis’ election to exercise rights to commercialize additional product candidates, and provides us with royalty-based revenue if certain product candidates are successfully commercialized. Novartis will have substantial ability to control the development and commercialization of the target it chooses to license on a global basis. Our lack of control over the clinical development of certain programs under the Collaboration Agreement could result in delays or other difficulties in the development and commercialization of product candidates, which may prevent completion of intended IND filings in a timely fashion, if at all. In particular, Novartis is solely responsible for the development and commercialization of SRF373 and as such, we are wholly dependent on Novartis for the success of this program. In the event Novartis terminates the Collaboration Agreement, we would be prevented from receiving any milestone payments, royalty payments and other benefits under that agreement, which would have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations. Furthermore, in the event Novartis does not purchase and exercise its remaining Options, we will not be eligible to receive any future milestone payments under the Collaboration Agreement, other than from SRF373, if any, which could require us to seek additional funding in order to avoid delaying, reducing the scope of, or suspending, one or more of our research and development programs or clinical trials. In addition, any decision by Novartis not to purchase or exercise an Option may negatively impact public perception of the applicable program, or all of the programs, covered by the Collaboration Agreement, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. We cannot provide any assurance with respect to the success of the Collaboration Agreement.

In the future, we may form or seek other strategic alliances, joint ventures, or collaborations, or enter into additional licensing arrangements with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our development and commercialization efforts with respect to product candidates we develop.

Our current Collaboration Agreement poses, and potential future collaborations involving our product candidates may pose, the following risks to us:

 

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collaborators have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations;

 

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collaborators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our products or product candidates;

 

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collaborators may not properly enforce, maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our proprietary information in a way that gives rise to actual or threatened litigation

 

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that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation, or other intellectual property proceedings;

 

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disputes may arise between a collaborator and us that cause the delay or termination of the research, development or commercialization of the product candidate, or that result in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management attention and resources;

 

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if a present or future collaborator of ours were to be involved in a business combination, the continued pursuit and emphasis on our product development or commercialization program under such collaboration could be delayed, diminished or terminated; and

 

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collaboration agreements may restrict our right to independently pursue new product candidates. For example, under the Collaboration Agreement, for a certain period of time we may not directly or indirectly research or develop, outside of the collaboration, any antibody with specified activity against that program’s collaboration target.

As a result, if we enter into additional collaboration agreements and strategic partnerships or license our intellectual property, products or businesses, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we are unable to successfully integrate them with our existing operations, which could delay our timelines or otherwise adversely affect our business. We also cannot be certain that, following a strategic transaction or license, we will achieve the revenue or specific net income that justifies such transaction. Any delays in entering into new collaborations or strategic partnership agreements related to any product candidate we develop could delay the development and commercialization of our product candidates, which would harm our business prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may seek to establish additional collaborations, and, if we are not able to establish them on commercially reasonable terms, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans.

The advancement of our product candidates and development programs and the potential commercialization of our current and future product candidates will require substantial additional cash to fund expenses. For some of our programs, we may decide to collaborate with additional pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with respect to development and potential commercialization. Any of these relationships may require us to incur non-recurring and other charges, increase our near and long term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing stockholders, or disrupt our management and business.

We face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic partners and the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for other collaborations will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those factors may include the design or results of clinical trials, the progress of our clinical trials, the likelihood of approval by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the subject product candidate, the costs and complexities of manufacturing and delivering such product candidate to patients, the potential of competing products, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge and industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also consider alternative product candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such a collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us for our product candidate. Further, we may not be successful in our efforts to establish a strategic partnership or other alternative arrangements for future product candidates because they may be deemed to be at too early of a stage

 

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of development for collaborative effort and third parties may not view them as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy.

We may also be restricted under existing collaboration agreements from entering into future agreements on certain terms with potential collaborators. For example, under the Collaboration Agreement, we have granted worldwide exclusive rights to Novartis for antibodies targeting CD73, and during the term of the agreement we will be restricted from granting similar rights to other parties. This exclusivity could limit our ability to enter into strategic collaborations with future collaborators.

In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators.

We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail the development of the product candidate for which we are seeking to collaborate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop our product candidates or bring them to market and generate product revenue.

If conflicts arise between us and our collaborators or strategic partners, these parties may act in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies.

If conflicts arise between our corporate or academic collaborators or strategic partners and us, the other party may act in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies. Novartis or future collaborators or strategic partners, may develop, either alone or with others, products in related fields that are competitive with the products or potential products that are the subject of these collaborations. Competing products, either developed by the collaborators or strategic partners or to which the collaborators or strategic partners have rights, may result in the withdrawal of partner support for our product candidates. Our current or future collaborators or strategic partners may preclude us from entering into collaborations with their competitors, fail to obtain timely regulatory approvals, terminate their agreements with us prematurely, or fail to devote sufficient resources to the development and commercialization of products. Any of these developments could harm our product development efforts.

We will rely on third parties to conduct our planned clinical trials for SRF231 and any product candidates we develop. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, comply with regulatory requirements or meet expected deadlines, we may not be able to obtain marketing approval for or commercialize SRF231 and any product candidates we develop and our business could be substantially harmed.

We do not have the ability to independently conduct clinical trials. We will rely on medical institutions, clinical investigators, contract laboratories, and other third parties, such as CROs, to conduct or otherwise support clinical trials for SRF231 and other product candidates. We will rely heavily on these parties for execution of clinical trials for SRF231 and other product candidates and control only certain aspects of their activities. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal and regulatory requirements and scientific standards, and our reliance on CROs will not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. For any violations of laws and regulations during the conduct of our clinical trials, we could be subject to untitled and warning letters or enforcement action that may include civil penalties up to and including criminal prosecution.

 

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We and our CROs are required to comply with regulations and requirements, including GCP, for conducting, monitoring, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to ensure that the data and results are scientifically credible and accurate, and that the trial patients are adequately informed of the potential risks of participating in clinical trials and their rights are protected. These regulations are enforced by the FDA, the Competent Authorities of the Member States of the EEA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for any drugs in clinical development. The FDA enforces GCP requirements through periodic inspections of clinical trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply with applicable GCP, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that, upon inspection, the FDA will determine that any of our future clinical trials will comply with GCP. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product candidates produced under cGMP regulations. Our failure or the failure of our CROs to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the marketing approval process and could also subject us to enforcement action. We also are required to register certain ongoing clinical trials and provide certain information, including information relating to the trial’s protocol, on a government-sponsored database, ClinicalTrials.gov, within specific timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions.

Although we intend to design the clinical trials for our product candidates, CROs will conduct all of the clinical trials. As a result, many important aspects of our clinical development, including their conduct and timing, will be outside of our direct control. Our reliance on third parties to conduct future clinical trials will also result in less direct control over the management of data developed through clinical trials than would be the case if we were relying entirely upon our own staff. Communicating with outside parties can also be challenging, potentially leading to mistakes as well as difficulties in coordinating activities. Outside parties may:

 

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have staffing difficulties;

 

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fail to comply with contractual obligations;

 

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experience regulatory compliance issues;

 

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undergo changes in priorities or become financially distressed; or

 

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form relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors.

These factors may materially adversely affect the willingness or ability of third parties to conduct our clinical trials and may subject us to unexpected cost increases that are beyond our control. If the CROs do not perform clinical trials in a satisfactory manner, breach their obligations to us or fail to comply with regulatory requirements, the development, marketing approval and commercialization of our product candidates may be delayed, we may not be able to obtain marketing approval and commercialize our product candidates, or our development program may be materially and irreversibly harmed. If we are unable to rely on clinical data collected by our CROs, we could be required to repeat, extend the duration of, or increase the size of any clinical trials we conduct and this could significantly delay commercialization and require significantly greater expenditures.

If any of our relationships with these third-party CROs terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain are compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols, regulatory requirements or for other reasons, any clinical trials such CROs are associated with may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain marketing approval for or successfully commercialize our product candidates. As a

 

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result, we believe that our financial results and the commercial prospects for our product candidates in the subject indication would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenue could be delayed.

We intend to rely on third parties to manufacture product candidates, which increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of such product candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of clinical or commercial supplies of the product candidates that we are developing or evaluating in our development programs. We have limited personnel with experience in drug manufacturing and lack the resources and the capabilities to manufacture any of our product candidates on a clinical or commercial scale. We rely on third parties for supply of our product candidates, and our strategy is to outsource all manufacturing of our product candidates and products to third parties.

In order to conduct clinical trials of product candidates, we will need to have them manufactured in potentially large quantities. Our third-party manufacturers may be unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for any of our product candidates in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. In addition, quality issues may arise during scale-up activities and at any other time. For example, ongoing data on the stability of our product candidates may shorten the expiry of our product candidates and lead to clinical trial material supply shortages, and potentially clinical trial delays. If these third-party manufacturers are unable to successfully scale up the manufacture of our product candidates in sufficient quality and quantity, the development, testing and clinical trials of that product candidate may be delayed or infeasible, and regulatory approval or commercial launch of that product candidate may be delayed or not obtained, which could significantly harm our business.

Our use of new third-party manufacturers increases the risk of delays in production or insufficient supplies of our product candidates as we transfer our manufacturing technology to these manufacturers and as they gain experience manufacturing our product candidates.

Even after a third-party manufacturer has gained significant experience in manufacturing our product candidates or even if we believe we have succeeded in optimizing the manufacturing process, there can be no assurance that such manufacturer will produce sufficient quantities of our product candidates in a timely manner or continuously over time, or at all.

We may be delayed if we need to change the manufacturing process used by a third party. Further, if we change an approved manufacturing process, then we may be delayed if the FDA or a comparable foreign authority needs to review the new manufacturing process before it may be used.

We do not currently have any agreements with third-party manufacturers for the long-term commercial supply. In the future, we may be unable to enter into agreements with third-party manufacturers for commercial supplies of any product candidate that we develop, or may be unable to do so on acceptable terms. Even if we are able to establish and maintain arrangements with third-party manufacturers, reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks, including:

 

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reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance;

 

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the possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party;

 

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the possible misappropriation of our proprietary information, including our trade secrets and know-how; and

 

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the possible termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us.

 

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Third-party manufacturers may not be able to comply with cGMP requirements or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable requirements could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or products, operating restrictions and/or criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our product candidates.

Our future product candidates and any products that we may develop may compete with other product candidates and products for access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP requirements particularly for the development of monoclonal antibodies, and that might be capable of manufacturing for us.

If the third parties that we engage to supply any materials or manufacture product for our preclinical tests and clinical trials should cease to continue to do so for any reason, we likely would experience delays in advancing these tests and trials while we identify and qualify replacement suppliers or manufacturers and we may be unable to obtain replacement supplies on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, if we are not able to obtain adequate supplies of our product candidates or the substances used to manufacture them, it will be more difficult for us to develop our product candidates and compete effectively.

Our current and anticipated future dependence upon others for the manufacture of our product candidates may adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to develop product candidates and commercialize any products that receive marketing approval on a timely and competitive basis.

Our future relationships with customers and third-party payors in the United States and elsewhere may be subject, directly or indirectly, to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, false claims, transparency, health information privacy and security and other healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm, administrative burdens and diminished profits and future earnings.

Healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors in the United States and elsewhere will play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our future arrangements with third-party payors and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the federal False Claims Act, or FCA, which may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we sell, market and distribute any products for which we obtain marketing approval. In addition, we may be subject to transparency laws and patient privacy regulation by the U.S. federal and state governments and by governments in foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct our business. The applicable federal, state and foreign healthcare laws and regulations that may affect our ability to operate include:

 

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the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce, or in return for, either the referral of an individual, or the purchase, lease, order or recommendation of any good, facility, item or service for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under the Medicare and Medicaid programs or other federal healthcare programs. A person or entity can be found guilty of violating the statute without actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the FCA. The Anti-Kickback Statute has been interpreted to apply to

 

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arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on the one hand and prescribers, purchasers, and formulary managers on the other. There are a number of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting some common activities from prosecution;

 

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the federal civil and criminal false claims laws and civil monetary penalty laws, including the FCA, which prohibit any person or entity from, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim for payment to, or approval by, the federal government or knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to the federal government;

 

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the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which created federal criminal statutes that prohibit knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, regardless of the payor (e.g., public or private) and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up by any trick or device a material fact or making any materially false statements in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services relating to healthcare matters. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity can be found guilty of violating HIPAA without actual knowledge of the statutes or specific intent to violate them;

 

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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, and their respective implementing regulations, which impose, among other things, specified requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information held by covered entities and their business associates. HITECH also created new tiers of civil monetary penalties, amended HIPAA to make civil and criminal penalties directly applicable to business associates, and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions;

 

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the federal legislation commonly referred to as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, created under the ACA, and its implementing regulations, which requires manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) to report annually to CMS information related to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members;

 

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federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers; and

 

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analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers; state and foreign laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers; state and foreign laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures; and state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.

 

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Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available under such laws, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. The scope and enforcement of each of these laws is uncertain and subject to rapid change in the current environment of healthcare reform, especially in light of the lack of applicable precedent and regulations. Federal and state enforcement bodies have recently increased their scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers, which has led to a number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the healthcare industry. Ensuring that our business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws, as well as responding to investigations by government authorities, can be time- and resource-consuming and can divert management’s attention from the business.

If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other government regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, possible exclusion from participation in federal and state funded healthcare programs, contractual damages and the curtailment or restricting of our operations, as well as additional reporting obligations and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, any of which could harm our ability to operate our business and our financial results. Further, if the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found not to be in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs. In addition, the approval and commercialization of any product candidate we develop outside the United States will also likely subject us to foreign equivalents of the healthcare laws mentioned above, among other foreign laws.

Risks Related To Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is critical to our business and our success in part depends on our ability to maintain, protect, and expand our portfolio of intellectual property rights.

Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally, and we in particular, compete in a crowded competitive space characterized by rapidly evolving technologies and aggressive defense of intellectual property.

Our patents and patent applications are directed to our antibodies and accompanying technologies. We seek patent protection for our development programs, product candidates and related alternatives by filing and prosecuting patent applications in the U.S. and other countries as appropriate. For example, we co-own patents and pending applications relating to our therapeutic CD47 antibody candidate, SRF231, which are expected to expire in 2036, absent any adjustment or extension. With respect to SRF231, as of April 3, 2018, we co-own two pending U.S. non-provisional applications, Brazilian, Canadian, Israeli, and Japanese national applications, and one PCT patent application, for which any resulting patent from these applications would be expected to expire in 2036, absent any adjustment or extension. Further, as of April 3, 2018, we own two pending U.S. provisional patent applications, for which any resulting patent from these applications would be expected to expire in 2038 or 2039, absent any adjustment or extension. Based on our PCT application, we intend to file national/regional patent applications in Australia, China, New Zealand, and Europe. Any patents that may eventually issue to these applications are expected to expire in 2036, absent any adjustment or extension.

With respect to our anti-IL-27 therapeutic antibody program, as of April 3, 2018, we are a co-applicant and co-own one U.S. provisional patent application that covers composition of matter and

 

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methods of use for various antibodies, and we do not own any non-provisional applications or issued patents for this program. Any patents that may eventually issue to these applications are expected to expire in 2039, absent any adjustment or extension. Pursuant to our agreement with Adimab LLC, or Adimab, we will own this application upon exercise of our option to a commercial license to certain antibodies from this project. In 2017 we entered into a license agreement involving U.S. patent rights, including one U.S. patent and a pending U.S. non-provisional patent application, controlled by the University of Pennsylvania. Our license is exclusive and is limited to the use of antagonists of IL-27 for the treatment of cancer. Any patent issuing from this application is expected to expire in 2024, excluding any applicable patent term adjustment or extension.

As of April 3, 2018, we are co-applicants on one U.S. provisional patent application that covers composition of matter and methods of use to our anti-CD39 therapeutic antibody candidates. Pursuant to our agreement with Adimab, we will own this application upon exercise of our option to a commercial license to certain antibodies from this project. We do not own any non-provisional applications or issued patents for this program. Any patents that may eventually issue to this application are expected to expire in 2039, absent any adjustment or extension.

We co-own and have exclusively licensed to Novartis our rights in two U.S. provisional patent applications that covers compositions of matter and methods of use for our CD73 therapeutic antibody candidate, SRF373, and we do not yet own any non-provisional applications or issued patents for this candidate. Any patent issuing from these applications would be expected to expire in 2038, not including any applicable patent term adjustment or extension.

If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for any products we develop and for our technology, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize products and technology similar or identical to ours, and our ability to commercialize any product candidates we may develop, and our technology may be adversely affected.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our antibodies and the accompanying technologies we develop that are important to our business. If we are unable to secure or maintain patent protection with respect to our antibody technology and any proprietary products and technology we develop, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be materially harmed.

Patent positions of life sciences companies can be uncertain and involve complex factual and legal questions. No consistent policy governing the scope of claims allowable in the field of antibodies has emerged in the United States. The scope of patent protection in jurisdictions outside of the United States is also uncertain. Changes in either the patent laws or their interpretation in any jurisdiction that we seek patent protection may diminish our ability to protect our inventions, maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights; and, more generally, may affect the value of our intellectual property, including the narrowing of the scope of our patents and any that we may license.

The patent prosecution process is complex, expensive, time-consuming, and inconsistent across jurisdictions. We may not be able to file, prosecute, maintain, enforce, or license all necessary or desirable patent rights at a commercially reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is possible that we will fail to identify important patentable aspects of our research and development efforts in time to obtain appropriate or any patent protection. While we enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to confidential or patentable aspects of our research and development efforts, including for example, our employees, corporate collaborators, external academic scientific collaborators, CROs, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose such output before a patent application

 

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is filed, thereby endangering our ability to seek patent protection. In addition, publications of discoveries in the scientific and scholarly literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Consequently, we cannot be certain that we were the first to file for patent protection on the inventions claimed in our patents or pending patent applications.

The issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Further, the scope of the invention claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before the patent is issued, and this scope can be reinterpreted after issuance. Even where patent applications we currently own or that we may license in the future issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with adequate protection to prevent competitors or other third parties from competing with us, or otherwise provide us with a competitive advantage. Any patents that eventually issue may be challenged, narrowed or invalidated by third parties. Consequently, we do not know whether any of our product candidates will be protectable or remain protected by valid and enforceable patent rights. Our competitors or other third parties may be able to evade our patent rights by developing new antibodies, biosimilar antibodies, or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner.

The issuance or grant of a patent is not irrefutable as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. There may be prior art of which we are not aware that may affect the validity or enforceability of a patent claim. There also may be prior art of which we are aware, but which we do not believe affects the validity or enforceability of a claim, which may, nonetheless, ultimately be found to affect the validity or enforceability of a claim. We may in the future, become subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art or opposition, derivation, revocation, re-examination, post-grant and inter partes review, or interference proceeding and other similar proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, or other foreign patent office. An unfavorable determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or extinguish our ability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights.

In addition, given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our intellectual property may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours. Moreover, some of our owned and in-licensed patents and patent applications are, and may in the future be, co-owned with third parties. If we are unable to obtain an exclusive license to any such third-party co-owners’ interest in such patents or patent applications, such co-owners may be able to license their rights to other third parties, including our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. In addition, we or our licensors may need the cooperation of any such co-owners of our owned and in-licensed patents in order to enforce such patents against third parties, and such cooperation may not be provided to us or our licensors. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.

 

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The intellectual property landscape around therapeutic antibodies in oncology, including CD47 antibodies, is crowded, and third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing, misappropriating, or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business. We are aware of certain third-party patents and third-party patent applications in this landscape that may, if issued as patents, be asserted to encompass our CD47 antibody technology.

The field of therapeutic antibodies, including CD47 antibodies for use in oncology, is crowded, and no such products have reached the market. Due to the intense research and development undertaken by academic institutions and multiple companies, including us and our competitors, in this field, the intellectual property landscape is in flux, and it may remain uncertain for the coming years. There may be significant intellectual property-related litigation and proceedings relating to our own and other third-party intellectual property and proprietary rights in the future.

We are subject to and may in the future become party to, or threatened with, adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our technology and any product candidates we may develop, including interference proceedings, post-grant review, inter partes review, and derivation proceedings before the USPTO and similar proceedings in foreign jurisdictions such as oppositions before the European Patent Office, or EPO. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future, regardless of their merit.

We are aware of certain third-party patents and third-party patent applications in this landscape that may, if issued as patents, be asserted to encompass our CD47 antibody technology. For example, we are aware of several separate families of U.S. patents, patent applications, and foreign counterparts that relate to CD47 antibodies and methods of treatment, where the earliest priority dates of each family pre-date the priority dates of our patents and patent applications, including PCT Publication No. WO 2009/091601 (and related U.S. Patent Nos. 8,562,997, 9,493,575, 9,399,682, 9,611,329 and other related U.S. patent applications and foreign counterparts) filed by Stanford University, which is reported to have exclusively licensed its rights to Forty Seven, Inc.

Stanford University also has rights to European Patent No. EP 2242512. In January 2017, we opposed this patent in the Opposition Division of the EPO, or the Opposition Division. Six third parties have also filed oppositions against European Patent No. EP 2242512. Stanford has filed a response to the seven oppositions and oral proceedings are scheduled to commence on August 28, 2018. We cannot predict the outcome of the opposition proceeding and any party may appeal the opposition decision to the Technical Boards of Appeal at the EPO.

Pending final resolution of this matter, Stanford, or other parties that may have rights to EP 2242512 may allege that the manufacture, use or sale of SRF231 infringes the patent in Europe. If, as part of any opposition proceeding before the Opposition Division, we are unsuccessful in invalidating or narrowing Stanford’s claims, or if claims successfully invalidated by the Opposition Division are restored on appeal, our ability to commercialize SRF231 in Europe could be materially impaired. Moreover, we are aware of two pending divisional applications relating to EP 2242512 that are being pursued by Stanford. If either of these applications matures into a granted European patent or if any other related patent application matures into a granted European patent, our ability to commercialize SRF231 could be materially impaired. Similarly, related patents in the U.S. or other countries could materially impair our ability to commercialize SRF231 in those countries.

We are also aware of another family of third-party patents and patent applications that may be asserted to encompass certain combination therapies using our CD47 antibodies. This family of U.S.

 

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and foreign patents and patent applications relate to combination therapy using CD47 antibodies, and includes U.S. Patent No. 9,352,037 and related European Patent No. EP 2282772. This family was filed by Stichting Sanquin Bloedvoorziening of the Netherlands, or Sanquin, which is reported to have licensed its rights to Synthon Biopharmaceuticals B.V., also of the Netherlands. Sanquin or other parties that may have rights in the patents may allege that we are not entitled to market combination therapies involving SRF231 without a license, which could materially impair our ability to commercialize SRF231 combination therapies.

In order to avoid infringing third-party patents, or patents that issue from these third-party patent applications, we may find it necessary or prudent to obtain licenses from such third-party intellectual property holders. We may be forced to obtain or maintain a license on commercially unreasonable terms to any third-party patents that cover our product candidates or activities, and such third parties could potentially assert infringement claims against us, which could have a material adverse effect on the conduct of our business.

If we are found to infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, and we are unsuccessful in demonstrating that such patents are invalid or unenforceable, we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to continue developing, manufacturing, and marketing any product candidates we may develop and our technology. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors and other third parties access to the same technologies licensed to us, and it could require us to make substantial licensing and royalty payments. We also could be forced, including by court order, to cease developing, manufacturing, and commercializing the infringing technology or product candidates. In addition, we could be found liable for significant monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent or other intellectual property right. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Our development and commercialization rights to our therapeutic antibodies, current and future product candidates and technology are subject, in part, to the terms and conditions of licenses granted to us by others.

We are reliant upon licenses to certain patent rights and proprietary technology from third parties that are important or necessary to the engineering and development of our therapeutic antibodies, and our current and future product candidates. These and other licenses may not provide exclusive rights to use such intellectual property and technology in all relevant fields of use and in all territories in which we choose to develop or commercialize our technology and products in the future. As a result, we may not be able to prevent competitors from developing and commercializing competitive products in territories included in all of our licenses.

We engage in collaborations with scientists at academic and non-profit institutions to access technologies and materials that are not otherwise available to us. The agreements that govern these collaborations may include an option to negotiate an exclusive license to the institution’s rights in any inventions that are created in the course of these collaborations, but we may not be able to come to a final agreement with an institution holding rights in an invention that is relevant to the development and commercialization of our technology.

In addition, we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing, prosecution, maintenance, enforcement, and defense of patents and patent applications covering the technology that we license from third parties. Therefore, we cannot be certain that these patents and patent applications will be prepared, filed, prosecuted, maintained, enforced, and defended in a manner consistent with the best

 

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interests of our business. If our licensors fail to prosecute, maintain, enforce, and defend such patents, or lose rights to those patents or patent applications, the rights we have licensed may be reduced or eliminated, and our right to develop and commercialize any of our products that are the subject of such licensed rights could be adversely affected. Additionally, we may be required to reimburse our licensors for all of their expenses related to the prosecution, maintenance, enforcement and defense of patents and patent applications that we in-license from them.

Our licensors may have relied on third-party consultants or collaborators or on funds from third parties such that our licensors are not the sole and exclusive owners of the patents we in-licensed. If other third parties have ownership rights to our in-licensed patents, they may be able to license such patents to our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

Our licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the license agreements, thereby removing our ability to develop and commercialize products and technology covered by these license agreements. If these in-licenses are terminated, or if the underlying patents fail to provide the intended exclusivity, competitors would have the freedom to seek regulatory approval of, and to market, products identical to ours. In addition, we may seek to obtain additional licenses from our licensors and, in connection with obtaining such licenses, we may agree to amend our existing licenses in a manner that may be more favorable to the licensors, including by agreeing to terms that could enable third parties (potentially including our competitors) to receive licenses to a portion of the intellectual property that is subject to our existing licenses. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe our patents or the patents of our licensing partners, or we may be required to defend against claims of infringement. In addition, our patents or the patents of our licensing partners also are, and may become, involved in inventorship, priority, or validity disputes. To counter or defend against such claims can be expensive and time-consuming, and our licensors’ adversaries may have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to prosecuting these legal actions than we or our licensors can. In an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent owned or in-licensed by us is invalid or unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our owned and in-licensed patents do not cover the technology in question. Accordingly, despite our or our licensors’ efforts, we or our licensors may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating intellectual property rights we own or control. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put one or more of our owned or in-licensed patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly. Further, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing, or distribution activities.

 

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We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources and more mature and developed intellectual property portfolios. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats.

The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. For example, others may develop biosimiliar or competing antibodies to any product candidates that we have or may develop, but that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we own or may own or license in the future.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants, or advisors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their current or former employers or claims asserting ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.

Many of our employees, consultants, and advisors are currently or were previously employed at universities or other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants, and advisors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these individuals have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such individual’s current or former employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the conception or development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who, in fact, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. The assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing, or the assignment agreements may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. Such claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

If we do not obtain patent term extension and data exclusivity for any of our current or future product candidates, our business may be materially harmed.

Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of any FDA marketing approval of any of our current or future product candidates, one or more of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, or the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent extension term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. A patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval, only one patent may be extended and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. However, we may not be granted an extension because of, for example, failing to exercise due diligence during the testing

 

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phase or regulatory review process, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents, or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or term of any such extension is less than we request, our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be materially harmed.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights throughout the world.

Filing, prosecuting, and defending patents on product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. In addition, our intellectual property license agreements may not always include worldwide rights. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection or licenses but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products, and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our intellectual property and proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly, could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

Many countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we or any of our licensors is forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may be adversely affected.

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment, and other requirements imposed by government patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.

Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees, and various other government fees on patents and applications will be due to be paid to the USPTO and various government patent agencies outside of the United States over the lifetime of our owned or licensed patents and applications. In

 

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certain circumstances, we rely on our licensing partners to pay these fees due to U.S. and non-U.S. patent agencies. The USPTO and various non-U.S. government agencies require compliance with several procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other similar provisions during the patent application process. We are also dependent on our licensors to take the necessary action to comply with these requirements with respect to our licensed intellectual property. In some cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. There are situations, however, in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in a partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, potential competitors might be able to enter the market with similar or identical products or technology, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

We may not be successful in obtaining necessary rights to our current and future product candidates through acquisitions and in-licenses.

We currently have rights to intellectual property, through licenses from third parties, to identify and develop product candidates. Many pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, and academic institutions are competing with us in the field of therapeutic antibodies and filing patent applications potentially relevant to our business. For example, we are aware of third-party patents and patent applications that may be construed to cover our CD47 antibody product candidates or their uses.

In order to avoid infringing these third-party patents, or patents that issue from these third-party patent applications, we may find it necessary or prudent to obtain licenses from such third-party intellectual property holders. In addition, with respect to any patents we co-own with third parties, we may require licenses to such co-owners’ interest to such patents. However, we may be unable to secure such licenses or otherwise acquire or in-license any compositions, methods of use, processes, or other intellectual property rights from third parties that we identify as necessary for product candidates we may develop. The licensing or acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and other companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment or at all.

Changes in U.S. patent law could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of patent applications and the enforcement or defense of issued patents. Assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, prior to March 2013, in the United States, the first to invent the claimed invention was entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, the first to file a patent application was entitled to the patent. After March 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the America Invents Act, enacted in September 2011, the United States transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third party was the first to invent the claimed invention. The America Invents Act also includes a number of significant changes that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted and also may affect patent litigation. These include allowing third- party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and additional procedures to

 

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attack the validity of a patent by USPTO administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review, and derivation proceedings. The America Invents Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

In addition, the patent positions of companies in the development and commercialization of biologics and pharmaceuticals are particularly uncertain. Recent rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. This combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the validity and enforceability of patents, once obtained. Depending on future actions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that could have a material adverse effect on our existing patent portfolio and our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property in the future.

The U.S. government may exercise its march-in rights with regards to certain in-licensed patents.

Pursuant to the Bayh-Dole Act, the U.S. government has march-in rights with regards to government-funded technology. The U.S. government can exercise its march-in rights if it determines that action is necessary because we fail to achieve practical application of the government-funded technology, because action is necessary to alleviate health or safety needs, to meet requirements of federal regulations, or to give preference to U.S. industry. In addition, our rights in such inventions may be subject to certain requirements to manufacture products embodying such inventions in the United States. Any exercise by the government of any of the foregoing rights could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Our inability to protect our confidential information and trade secrets would harm our business and competitive position.

In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and products, we also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. We seek to protect these trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts both within and outside the United States may be less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. If a competitor lawfully obtained or independently developed any of our trade secrets, we would have no right to prevent such competitor from using that technology or information to compete with us, which could harm our competitive position.

 

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Risks Related To Employee Matters, Managing Our Growth And Other Risks

Related To Our Business

We are highly dependent on our key personnel, and if we are not successful in attracting, motivating and retaining highly qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.

We are highly dependent on members of our executive team. The loss of the services of any of them may adversely impact the achievement of our objectives. Any of our executive officers could leave our employment at any time, as all of our employees are “at-will” employees. We currently do not have “key person” insurance on any of our employees. The loss of the services of one or more of our current employees might impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives.

Recruiting and retaining qualified employees, consultants and advisors for our business, including scientific and technical personnel, also will be critical to our success. Competition for skilled personnel is intense and the turnover rate can be high. We may not be able to attract and retain personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and academic institutions for skilled individuals. In addition, failure to succeed in preclinical studies, clinical trials or applications for marketing approval may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified personnel. The inability to recruit, or the loss of services of certain executives, key employees, consultants or advisors, may impede the progress of our research, development and commercialization objectives and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We will need to grow the size of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth.

As of March 31, 2018, we had 56 full-time employees, including 42 employees engaged in research and development. As our development and commercialization plans and strategies develop, and as we transition into operating as a public company, we expect to need additional managerial, operational, sales, marketing, financial and other personnel. Future growth would impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including:

 

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identifying, recruiting, integrating, maintaining and motivating additional employees;

 

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managing our internal development efforts effectively, including the clinical and FDA review process for SRF231 and any product candidate we develop, while complying with our contractual obligations to contractors and other third parties; and

 

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improving our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.

Our future financial performance and our ability to advance development of and, if approved, commercialize SRF231 and any product candidate we develop will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth, and our management may also have to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from day-to-day activities in order to devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities.

We currently rely, and for the foreseeable future will continue to rely, in substantial part on certain independent organizations, advisors and consultants to provide certain services, including substantially all aspects of marketing approval, clinical management, and manufacturing. We cannot assure you that the services of independent organizations, advisors and consultants will continue to be available to us on a timely basis when needed, or that we can find qualified replacements. In addition, if we are unable

 

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to effectively manage our outsourced activities or if the quality or accuracy of the services provided by consultants is compromised for any reason, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain marketing approval of any current or future product candidates or otherwise advance our business. We cannot assure you that we will be able to manage our existing consultants or find other competent outside contractors and consultants on economically reasonable terms, or at all.

If we are not able to effectively expand our organization by hiring new employees and expanding our groups of consultants and contractors, we may not be able to successfully implement the tasks necessary to further develop and commercialize SRF231 and any future product candidates we develop and, accordingly, may not achieve our research, development and commercialization goals.

If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological and radioactive materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological, hazardous or radioactive materials.

Our internal computer systems, or those used by our CROs or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches.

Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our future CROs and other contractors and consultants are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses and unauthorized access. While we have not to our knowledge experienced any such material system failure or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our development programs and our business operations. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or future clinical trials could result in delays in our marketing approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Likewise, we rely on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates and to conduct clinical trials, and similar events relating to their computer systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the further development and commercialization of our future product candidates could be delayed.

 

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Our employees, independent contractors, vendors, principal investigators, CROs and consultants may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements and insider trading.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, vendors, principal investigators, CROs and consultants may engage in fraudulent conduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or disclosure of unauthorized activities to us that violate the regulations of the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, including those laws requiring the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to such authorities; healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations in the United States and abroad; or laws that require the reporting of financial information or data accurately. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials or creating fraudulent data in our preclinical studies or clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. We intend to adopt, prior to the completion of this offering, a code of conduct applicable to all of our employees, but it is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

Risks Related To Our Common Stock And This Offering

If you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of your shares.

The initial public offering price of our common stock will be substantially higher than the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock. Therefore, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will pay a price per share that substantially exceeds the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after the completion of this offering and the concurrent private placement. Based on an assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, you will experience immediate dilution of $11.43 per share, representing the difference between our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering and the concurrent private placement at the assumed initial public offering price. In addition, investors purchasing common stock in this offering and the concurrent private placement will contribute 66.2% of the total amount invested by stockholders since inception, but will own only 25.9% of our common stock outstanding after this offering and the concurrent private placement. In the past, we issued options and other securities to acquire common stock at prices significantly below the initial public offering price. To the extent these outstanding securities are ultimately exercised, investors purchasing common stock in this offering will incur further dilution. See “Dilution” for a more detailed description of the dilution to new investors in the offering.

 

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The price of our common stock may be volatile and fluctuate substantially, which could result in substantial losses for purchasers of our common stock in this offering.

Our stock price is likely to be volatile. The stock market in general and the market for biopharmaceutical companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, you may not be able to sell your common stock at or above the initial public offering price. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:

 

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the success of competitive products or technologies;

 

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results of clinical trials and preclinical studies or those of our competitors;

 

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regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries;

 

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developments or disputes concerning patent applications, issued patents or other proprietary rights;

 

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the recruitment or departure of key personnel;

 

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the level of expenses related to our product candidates or clinical development programs;

 

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the results of our efforts to discover, develop, acquire or in-license product candidates or companion diagnostics;

 

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actual or anticipated changes in estimates as to financial results, development timelines or recommendations by securities analysts;

 

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variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;

 

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changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;

 

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market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors; and

 

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general economic, industry and market conditions.

An active trading market for our common stock may not develop, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for shares of our common stock and an active trading market for our shares may never develop or be sustained following this offering. The initial public offering price of our common stock was determined through negotiations between us and the underwriters. This initial public offering price may not be indicative of the market price of our common stock after this offering. In the absence of an active trading market for our common stock, investors may not be able to sell their common stock at or above the initial public offering price or at the time that they would like to sell.

We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our stock.

We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any return to stockholders will therefore be limited to the appreciation of their stock.

We are an emerging growth company, and we cannot be certain if the reduced reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take

 

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advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements, that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this prospectus and our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding nonbinding advisory votes on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years following the year in which we complete this offering, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which requires the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates to exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. As a result, changes in rules of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or their interpretation, the adoption of new guidance or the application of existing guidance to changes in our business could significantly affect our financial position and results of operations.

Our executive officers, directors and their affiliates will continue to exercise significant influence over our company after this offering and the concurrent private placement, which will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.

Immediately following the completion of this offering and the concurrent private placement, our executive officers, directors and their affiliates will beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 33% of our outstanding common stock, assuming the sale by us of 6,000,000 shares of common stock in this offering and 821,428 shares of common stock in the concurrent private placement, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. As a result, these stockholders, if they act together, will be able to influence our management and affairs and the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any sale, merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. These stockholders acquired their shares of common stock for substantially less than the price of the shares of common stock being acquired in this offering and the concurrent private placement, and these stockholders may have interests, with respect to their common stock, that are different from those of investors in this offering, and the concentration of voting power among these stockholders may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. In addition, this concentration of ownership might adversely affect the market price of our common stock by:

 

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delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us;

 

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impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or

 

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discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.

Certain of our existing principal stockholders, directors and their affiliated entities have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to approximately $25.0 million in shares of our common

 

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stock in this offering at the initial public offering price per share and on the same terms as the other purchasers in this offering. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the underwriters could determine to sell more, fewer or no shares to any of these potential purchasers, and any of these potential purchasers could determine to purchase more, fewer or no shares in this offering. The foregoing discussion does not reflect any potential purchases by these potential purchasers.

See “Principal Stockholders” in this prospectus for more information regarding the ownership of our outstanding common stock by our executive officers, directors and their affiliates.

We have broad discretion in how we use the proceeds of this offering and the concurrent private placement and may not use these proceeds effectively, which could affect our results of operations and cause our stock price to decline.

We will have considerable discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement. As a result, investors will be relying upon management’s judgment with only limited information about our specific intentions for the use of the net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement. We may use the net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement for purposes that do not yield a significant return or any return at all for our stockholders. In addition, pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.

We will incur significantly increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.

As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. We will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which will require, among other things, that we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules subsequently adopted by the SEC and Nasdaq to implement provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, impose significant requirements on public companies, including requiring establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and changes in corporate governance practices. Further, in July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the Dodd-Frank Act, was enacted. There are significant corporate governance and executive compensation-related provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act that require the SEC to adopt additional rules and regulations in these areas such as “say on pay” and proxy access. Recent legislation permits emerging growth companies to implement many of these requirements over a longer period and up to five years from the pricing of this offering. We intend to take advantage of this new legislation, but cannot guarantee that we will not be required to implement these requirements sooner than budgeted or planned and thereby incur unexpected expenses. Stockholder activism, the current political environment and the current high level of government intervention and regulatory reform may lead to substantial new regulations and disclosure obligations, which may lead to additional compliance costs and impact the manner in which we operate our business in ways we cannot currently anticipate.

We expect the rules and regulations applicable to public companies to substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. If these requirements divert the attention of our management and personnel from other business concerns, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The increased costs will decrease our net income or increase our net loss, and may require us to reduce costs in other areas of our business or increase the prices of our products or services. For example, we expect these rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to

 

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obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to incur substantial costs to maintain the same or similar coverage. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur to respond to these requirements. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as executive officers.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could cause our stock price to fall.

If our existing stockholders sell, or indicate an intention to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market after the lock-up and other legal restrictions on resale discussed in this prospectus lapse, the market price of our common stock could decline. Based upon the number of shares of common stock, on an as-converted basis, outstanding as of March 31, 2018, upon the completion of this offering and the concurrent private placement, we will have outstanding a total of 26,452,077 shares of common stock, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase an additional 900,000 shares. Of these shares, as of the date of this prospectus, 6,000,000 shares of our common stock, or approximately 23% of shares of our common stock, plus any shares sold upon exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, will be freely tradable, without restriction, in the public market immediately following this offering, assuming that current stockholders do not purchase shares in this offering.

Certain of our existing stockholders, directors and their affiliated entities have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to approximately $25.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price per share. Any such shares purchased by stockholders who are considered to be our affiliates cannot be resold in the public market immediately following this offering as a result of restrictions under securities laws, but will be able to be sold following the expiration of these restrictions as described in the “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” section of this prospectus.

The lock-up agreements pertaining to this offering will expire 180 days from the date of this prospectus, subject to earlier release of all or a portion of the shares subject to such agreements by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Cowen and Company, LLC in their sole discretion. After the lock-up agreements expire, based upon the number of shares of common stock, on an as-converted basis, outstanding as of March 31, 2018, substantially all of the shares of common stock outstanding prior to this offering will be eligible for sale in the public market. Approximately 33% of these shares are held by our executive officers, directors and their affiliates and will be subject to certain limitations of Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act.

Upon completion of this offering and the concurrent private placement, 6,018,604 shares of common stock that are either subject to outstanding options or reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting schedules, the lock-up agreements and Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities Act. If these additional shares of common stock are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold, in the public market, the market price of our common stock could decline.

After this offering and the concurrent private placement, the holders of approximately 17,685,052 shares of our common stock, including those issuable upon the conversion of our preferred stock, will be entitled to rights with respect to the registration of their shares under the Securities Act, subject to the lock-up agreements described above. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in the shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, except for shares purchased by affiliates. Any sales of securities by these stockholders could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

 

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If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they publish negative evaluations of our stock, the price of our stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will rely, in part, on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We may never obtain research coverage by industry or financial analysts. If no or few analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price of our stock would likely decrease. Even if we do obtain analyst coverage, if one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their evaluations of our stock, the price of our stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover our stock, we could lose visibility in the market for our stock, which, in turn, could cause our stock price to decline.

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce accurate and timely financial statements could be impaired, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and the trading price of our common stock may decline.

Pursuant to Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, our management will be required to report upon the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting beginning with the annual report for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2019. When we lose our status as an “emerging growth company,” our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. The rules governing the standards that must be met for management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation. To comply with the requirements of being a reporting company under the Exchange Act, we will need to implement additional financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures and hire additional accounting and finance staff.

We cannot assure you that there will not be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. Any failure to maintain internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines we have a material weakness or significant deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our common stock could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may delay or prevent an acquisition of us or a change in our management. These provisions include a classified board of directors, a prohibition on actions by written consent of our stockholders and the ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which limits the ability of stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock to merge or combine with us. Although we believe these provisions collectively provide for an opportunity to obtain greater value for stockholders by requiring potential acquirors to negotiate with our board of directors, they would apply even if an offer rejected by our board were considered beneficial by some stockholders. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management.

 

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Our bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or the U.S. federal district courts as the exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our bylaws, to be in effect upon the completion of this offering, provide that, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers and employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each case subject to the Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. Our bylaws will further provide that the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. In addition, any person purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to this provision of our bylaws. These choice of forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees even though an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders. Stockholders who do bring a claim in the Court of Chancery or the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts could face additional litigation costs in pursuing any such claim, particularly if they do not reside in or near the jurisdiction. The Court of Chancery or the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments or results may be more favorable to us than to our stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Comprehensive tax reform legislation could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. government enacted the TCJA, which significantly reforms the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The TCJA, among other things, contains significant changes to corporate taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, effective January 1, 2018; limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense; limitation of the deduction for net operating losses and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, in each case, for losses arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 (though any such tax losses may be carried forward indefinitely); and modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits, including reducing the business tax credit for certain clinical testing expenses incurred in the testing of certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions generally referred to as “orphan drugs”. The tax rate change resulted in (i) a reduction in the gross amount of our deferred tax assets recorded as of December 31, 2017, without an impact on the net amount of our deferred tax assets, which are recorded with a full valuation allowance, and (ii) no income tax expense or benefit being recognized as of the enactment date of the TCJA. We continue to examine the impact this tax reform legislation may have on our business. However, the effect of the TCJA on us and our affiliates, whether adverse or favorable, is uncertain and may not become evident for some period of time. We urge investors to consult with their legal and tax advisers regarding the implications of the TCJA on an investment in our common stock.

 

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus, including the sections entitled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business,” contains express or implied forward-looking statements that are based on our management’s belief and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements relate to future events or our future operational or financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus include, but are not limited to, statements about:

 

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the timing, progress and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials for SRF231 and other product candidates we may develop, including statements regarding the timing of initiation and completion of studies or trials and related preparatory work, the period during which the results of the trials will become available, and our research and development programs;

 

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the timing, scope or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, including timing of Investigational New Drug application and Biological Licensing Application filings for, and final U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of SRF231 and any other future product candidates;

 

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the timing, scope or likelihood of foreign regulatory filings and approvals;

 

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our ability to use our understanding of the tumor microenvironment to identify product candidates and to match immunotherapies to select patient subsets;

 

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our ability to develop and advance our current product candidates and programs into, and successfully complete, clinical studies;

 

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our ability to develop combination therapies, whether on our own or in collaboration with Novartis and other third parties;

 

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our manufacturing, commercialization and marketing capabilities and strategy;

 

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the pricing and reimbursement of SRF231 and other product candidates we may develop, if approved;

 

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the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of SRF231 and other product candidates we may develop;

 

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the potential benefits of and our ability to maintain our collaboration with Novartis, and establish or maintain future collaborations or strategic relationships or obtain additional funding;

 

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our ability to retain the continued service of our key professionals and to identify, hire and retain additional qualified professionals;

 

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our intellectual property position, including the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering SRF231 and other product candidates we may develop, the validity of intellectual property rights held by third parties, and our ability not to infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any third-party intellectual property rights;

 

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our competitive position, and developments and projections relating to our competitors and our industry;

 

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our expectations related to the use of our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and the proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement;

 

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•

our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; and

 

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the impact of laws and regulations.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could materially affect results. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual events or results may vary significantly from those implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance. You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this prospectus, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

The forward-looking statements in this prospectus represent our views as of the date of this prospectus. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this prospectus.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that our net proceeds from the sale of shares of our common stock in this offering will be approximately $75.0 million, or $86.7 million if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares, assuming an initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. The net proceeds from the concurrent private placement will be $11.5 million. See “Concurrent Private Placement.”

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) our net proceeds from this offering by $5.6 million, assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each 1,000,000 share increase (decrease) in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) our net proceeds from this offering by $13.0 million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price per share and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We do not expect that a change in the offering price or the number of shares by these amounts would have a material effect on our intended uses of the net proceeds from this offering, although it may impact the amount of time prior to which we may need to seek additional capital.

Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc. has agreed to purchase from us, concurrently with this offering in a private placement, $11.5 million of shares of our common stock at a price per share equal to the initial public offering price. See “Concurrent Private Placement.”

We are undertaking this offering in order to access the public capital markets and to increase our liquidity. We anticipate that we will use the net proceeds received by us in this offering and the concurrent private placement, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, as follows:

 

•

approximately $50.0 million to advance SRF231 through initial Phase 1 clinical trial results, which are expected in the first half of 2019;

 

•

approximately $35.0 million for ongoing research and development activities related to our other product candidates and additional programs, including advancing SRF617 and SRF388 through IND-enabling studies; and

 

•

the remainder for working capital and other general corporate purposes, which will include hiring of additional personnel, capital expenditures and the costs of operating as a public company.

Based on our current plans, we believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 24 months.

This expected use of the net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement represents our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions. As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot predict with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to be received upon the completion of this offering and the concurrent private placement or the amounts that we will actually spend on the uses set forth above. The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures and the extent of clinical development may vary significantly depending on numerous factors, including the progress of our development efforts, the status of and results from preclinical studies or clinical

 

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trials we may commence in the future, as well as our existing collaboration with Novartis and any other collaborations that we may enter into with third parties for our current or future product candidates or business development opportunities we may engage in for our programs and any unforeseen cash needs. As a result, our management will retain broad discretion over the allocation of the net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement.

Pending these uses, we intend to invest the net proceeds in high-quality, investment-grade, short-term fixed income instruments, which include corporate, financial institution, federal agency or U.S. government obligations.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings, if any, to fund the development and expansion of our business and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on various factors, including applicable laws, our results of operations, financial condition, future prospects, then applicable contractual restrictions and any other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Investors should not purchase our common stock with the expectation of receiving cash dividends.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and our capitalization as of December 31, 2017:

 

•

on an actual basis;

 

•

on a pro forma basis to give effect to:

 

•

the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into an aggregate of 16,863,624 shares of common stock upon the completion of this offering; and

 

•

the filing and effectiveness of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation; and

 

•

on a pro forma as adjusted basis to give further effect to (i) our issuance and sale of 6,000,000 shares of our common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us and (ii) the issuance and sale by us in the concurrent private placement of 821,428 shares of common stock to Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc., based on the assumed initial public offering price.

The pro forma as adjusted information below is illustrative only, and our capitalization following the completion of this offering will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. You should read the following table together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus and the “Selected Consolidated Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Description of Capital Stock” sections of this prospectus.

 

		As of December 31, 2017
		Actual				Pro Forma				Pro Forma As Adjusted
		(in thousands, except share and per share data)
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities		$	63,309			$	63,309			$	151,029	(1)
Redeemable convertible preferred stock (Series A and, A-1), $0.0001 par value per share; 37,100,000 shares authorized, issued and outstanding, actual; no shares authorized, issued or outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted		$	48,517			$	—			$	—
Stockholders’ equity (deficit):
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share; no shares authorized, issued or outstanding, actual; 5,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted			—				—				—
Common stock, $0.0001 par value per share; 53,000,000 shares authorized, 2,686,350 shares issued and outstanding, actual; 150,000,000 shares authorized, 19,549,974 shares issued and outstanding, pro forma; 150,000,000 shares authorized, 26,371,402 shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted			—				2				3
Additional paid-in capital			6,877				55,392				141,911
Accumulated other comprehensive loss			(246	)			(246	)			(246	)
Accumulated deficit			(73,945	)			(73,945	)			(73,945	)
Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)			(67,314	)			(18,797	)			67,723
Total capitalization		$	(18,797	)		$	(18,797	)		$	67,723

 

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(1)	As of December 31, 2017, $1.2 million of our estimated aggregate offering expenses of $3.1 million had been paid.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ equity and total capitalization by $5.6 million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each increase (decrease) of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ equity and total capitalization by $13.0 million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price per share and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The information presented in the table above does not include:

 

•

3,106,891 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options outstanding as of December 31, 2017, at a weighted average exercise price of $3.68 per share (which excludes options to purchase an aggregate of 1,407,914 shares of common stock, at a weighted average exercise price of $11.03 per share, that were granted subsequent to December 31, 2017);

 

•

733,060 shares of our common stock available for future issuance under our 2014 Stock Incentive Plan, or the 2014 Plan, as of December 31, 2017 (of which 83,281 shares remained available for future issuance as of March 31, 2018), with any shares remaining reserved for issuance under the 2014 Plan ceasing to be available for issuance thereunder at the time our 2018 Stock Option and Incentive Plan, or the 2018 Plan, becomes effective;

 

•

1,545,454 shares of our common stock plus (i) the number of shares reserved, and remaining available for issuance, under the 2014 Plan at the time the 2018 Plan becomes effective and (ii) the number of shares subject to stock options or other stock awards granted under the 2014 Plan that would have otherwise returned to the 2014 Plan (such as upon the expiration or termination of an award prior to vesting) that will become available for future issuance under the 2018 Plan, which will become effective in connection with the completion of this offering; and

 

•

256,818 shares of our common stock that will become available for future issuance under our 2018 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which will become effective in connection with the completion of this offering.

 

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DILUTION

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be diluted immediately to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering and the concurrent private placement.

Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) as of December 31, 2017 was $(69.1) million, or $(25.72) per share of our common stock. Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) is the amount of our total tangible assets less our total liabilities and the carrying value of our preferred stock, which is not included within stockholders’ equity (deficit). Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share represents historical net tangible book value (deficit) divided by the 2,686,350 shares of our common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2017.

Our pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) as of December 31, 2017 was $(20.6) million, or $(1.05) per share of our common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) represents the amount of our total tangible assets less our total liabilities, after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into an aggregate of 16,863,624 shares of common stock upon the completion of this offering. Pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) per share represents pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) divided by the total number of shares outstanding as of December 31, 2017, after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into common stock upon the completion of this offering.

After giving further effect to (i) our issuance and sale of 6,000,000 shares of our common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, and (ii) the issuance and sale by us in the concurrent private placement of 821,428 shares common stock to Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc., based on the assumed initial public offering price, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of December 31, 2017 would have been $67.7 million, or $2.57 per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of $3.62 to our existing stockholders and immediate dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of $11.43 to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering. Dilution per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering is determined by subtracting pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering and the concurrent private placement from the assumed initial public offering price per share paid by new investors. The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis:

 

Assumed initial public offering price per share						$	14.00
Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share as of December 31, 2017		$	(25.72	)
Increase per share attributable to the automatic conversion of preferred stock upon the completion of this offering			24.67
Pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) per share as of December 31, 2017			(1.05)
Increase in pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) per share attributable to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering and the concurrent private placement			3.62
Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering and the concurrent private placement							2.57
Dilution per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering						$	11.43

 

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Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering and the concurrent private placement by $0.22 and dilution per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering by $0.78, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. An increase of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering and the concurrent private placement by $0.38 and decrease dilution per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering by $0.38, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price per share and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. A decrease of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would decrease our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering and the concurrent private placement by $0.41 and increase dilution per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering by $0.41, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares of common stock in this offering in full, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering and the concurrent private placement would be $2.91 and dilution per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering would be $11.09, assuming an initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The following table summarizes, as of December 31, 2017, on a pro forma as adjusted basis, the total number of shares of common stock purchased from us on an as converted to common stock basis, the total consideration paid or to be paid, and the average price per share paid or to be paid by existing stockholders and by new investors in this offering and the concurrent private placement, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $14.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. As the table shows, new investors purchasing common stock in this offering and the concurrent private placement will pay an average price per share substantially higher than our existing stockholders paid.

 

		Shares Purchased								Total Consideration								Average Price Per Share
		Number				Percent				Amount				Percent
Existing stockholders			19,549,974				74.1	%		$	48,829,210				33.8	%		$	2.50
New investors in this offering and the concurrent private placement			6,821,428				25.9				95,499,992				66.2			$	14.00
Total			26,371,402				100.0	%		$	144,329,202				100.0	%

Certain of our existing principal stockholders, directors and their affiliated entities have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to approximately $25.0 million in shares of our common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price per share and on the same terms as the other purchasers in this offering. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the underwriters could determine to sell more, fewer or no shares to any of these potential purchasers, and any of these potential purchasers could determine to purchase more, fewer or no shares in this offering. The table above does not reflect any potential purchases by these potential purchasers.

The table above assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares in this offering. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares is exercised in full, the number of

 

67

shares of our common stock held by existing stockholders would be reduced to 71.7% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering and the concurrent private placement, and the number of shares of common stock held by new investors purchasing common stock in this offering and the concurrent private placement would be increased to 28.3% of the total number of shares outstanding after this offering and the concurrent private placement.

The information presented in the tables above do not include:

 

•

3,106,891 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options outstanding as of December 31, 2017, at a weighted average exercise price of $3.68 per share (which excludes options to purchase an aggregate of 1,407,914 shares of common stock, at a weighted average exercise price of $11.03 per share, that were granted subsequent to December 31, 2017);

 

•

733,060 shares of our common stock available for future issuance under our 2014 Stock Incentive Plan, or the 2014 Plan, as of December 31, 2017 (of which 83,281 shares remained available for future issuance as of March 31, 2018), with any shares remaining reserved for issuance under the 2014 Plan ceasing to be available for issuance thereunder at the time our 2018 Stock Option and Incentive Plan, or the 2018 Plan, becomes effective;

 

•

1,545,454 shares of our common stock plus (i) the number of shares reserved, and remaining available for issuance, under the 2014 Plan at the time the 2018 Plan becomes effective and (ii) the number of shares subject to stock options or other stock awards granted under the 2014 Plan that would have otherwise returned to the 2014 Plan (such as upon the expiration or termination of an award prior to vesting) that will become available for future issuance under the 2018 Plan, which will become effective in connection with the completion of this offering; and

 

•

256,818 shares of our common stock that will become available for future issuance under our 2018 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which will become effective in connection with the completion of this offering.

To the extent that stock options are exercised or new stock options are issued under our equity incentive plans, there will be further dilution to investors purchasing common stock in this offering. In addition, we may choose to raise additional capital due to market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. To the extent that additional capital is raised through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the issuance of these securities may result in further dilution to our stockholders.

 

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

You should read the following selected consolidated financial data together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus and the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section of this prospectus. We have derived the consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016 and 2017 from our audited consolidated financial statements appearing at the end of this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected in the future.

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017
		(in thousands, except per share data)
Consolidated Statement of Operations Data:
Collaboration revenue		$	6,632			$	12,826
Operating expenses:
Research and development			20,492				47,783
General and administrative			4,144				11,033
Total operating expenses			24,636				58,816
Loss from operations			(18,004	)			(45,990	)
Interest and other income (expense), net			551				613
Net loss			(17,453	)			(45,377	)
Accretion of redeemable convertible preferred stock to redemption value			(41	)			(40	)
Net loss attributable to common stockholders		$	(17,494	)		$	(45,417	)
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders—basic and diluted		$	(7.31	)		$	(18.35	)
Weighted average common shares outstanding—basic and diluted			2,394				2,475
Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders—basic and diluted (unaudited)(1)						$	(2.35	)
Pro forma weighted average common shares outstanding—basic and diluted (unaudited)(1)							19,338

 

(1)

See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements appearing at the end of this prospectus for further details on the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders and on the calculation of pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders.

 

		As of December 31,
		2016				2017
		(in thousands)
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities		$	79,151			$	63,309
Working capital(1)			76,968				47,946
Total assets			98,139				81,454
Redeemable convertible preferred stock			48,477				48,517
Total stockholders’ deficit			(26,912	)			(67,314	)

 

(1)	We define working capital as current assets less current liabilities.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of financial condition and operating results together with the section captioned “Selected Consolidated Financial Data” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth in the section of the prospectus captioned “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on using our specialized knowledge of the biological pathways critical to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, or the TME, for the development of next-generation cancer therapies. While first-generation immuno-oncology therapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, are a remarkable therapeutic advancement, we believe most patients do not achieve durable clinical benefit primarily because these therapies focus on only one element of the complex and interconnected immunosuppressive TME. We believe there is a significant opportunity to more broadly engage the body’s immune system in a multi-faceted, coordinated and personalized approach, to meaningfully improve cure rates for patients with a variety of cancers. Our approach is to identify key components within the TME to gain a deep understanding of its biology, leverage this understanding to define optimal therapeutic targets and the patients most likely to benefit and develop novel antibody therapeutics with differentiated biologic activity. By utilizing our specialized knowledge and expertise in immunology, oncology, antibody selection and characterization, and translational research, we have developed a broad pipeline of TME-focused programs that we believe are the next generation of immuno-oncology therapies. In January 2016, we entered into a strategic collaboration with Novartis to leverage our combined expertise and resources to develop novel immunotherapies targeting the TME.

Our lead product candidate, SRF231, targets a protein called cluster of differentiation, or CD, 47. We initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of SRF231 in February 2018 and expect to report initial clinical results from this trial in the first half of 2019. An Investigational New Drug application, or IND, for our next program, SRF373, which targets CD73, was sponsored and filed by Novartis with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February 2018, and we anticipate SRF373 entering clinical trials in 2018. SRF373 has been exclusively licensed on a worldwide basis to Novartis. The lead product candidates for our CD39 and interleukin 27, or IL-27, programs, SRF617 and SRF388, respectively, are anticipated to begin IND-enabling studies in 2018.

We were incorporated and commenced principal operations in 2014. We have devoted substantially all of our resources to developing our programs, including SRF231 and SRF373, building our intellectual property portfolio, business planning, raising capital and providing general and administrative support for these operations. To date, we have financed our operations with proceeds from the sales of preferred stock and payments received under a collaboration agreement, or the Collaboration Agreement, with Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc., or Novartis. Through December 31, 2017, we had received gross proceeds of $48.6 million from our sales of preferred stock and $105.0 million from the Collaboration Agreement. In February 2018, we received an additional milestone payment of $45.0 million under the Collaboration Agreement upon the achievement of a specified milestone. As of December 31, 2017, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $63.3 million.

Since our inception, we have incurred significant losses. Our ability to generate product revenue sufficient to achieve profitability will depend on the successful development and eventual

 

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commercialization of one or more of the product candidates we develop. Our net losses were $17.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 and $45.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $73.9 million. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for at least the next several years. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially, particularly as we:

 

•

pursue the clinical development of product candidates;

 

•

leverage our programs to advance product candidates into preclinical and clinical development;

 

•

seek regulatory approvals for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;

 

•

hire additional clinical, quality control and scientific personnel;

 

•

expand our operational, financial and management systems and increase personnel, including personnel to support our clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization efforts and our operations as a public company;

 

•

maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

 

•

establish a sales, marketing, medical affairs and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for which we may obtain marketing approval and intend to commercialize on our own or jointly;

 

•

acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies; and

 

•

incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company.

As a result, we will need additional financing to support our continuing operations. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through a combination of public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, which may include collaborations with third parties. We may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into other agreements or arrangements when needed on favorable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as and when needed, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of one or more of our product candidates.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when or if we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Even if we are able to generate revenue from product sales, we may not become profitable. If we fail to become profitable or are unable to sustain profitability on a continuing basis, then we may be unable to continue our operations at planned levels and be forced to reduce or terminate our operations.

We believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 24 months. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our available capital resources sooner than we expect. See “—Liquidity and Capital Resources” and “Concurrent Private Placement.”

Components of Our Results of Operations

Revenue

To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales and do not expect to do so in the near future. All of our revenue to date has been derived from the Collaboration Agreement. If our development efforts for our programs are successful and result in regulatory approval or additional

 

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license or collaboration agreements with third parties, we may generate revenue in the future from a combination of product sales or payments from additional collaboration or license agreements that we may enter into with third parties. We expect that our revenue for the next several years will be derived primarily from the Collaboration Agreement as well as any additional collaborations that we may enter into in the future.

Collaboration Agreement with Novartis

In January 2016, we entered into the Collaboration Agreement to develop next-generation cancer therapies. Under the Collaboration Agreement, as amended, we are responsible for performing research on antibodies that bind to CD73 and four other specified targets. We are responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by or on behalf of us in connection with the research. Novartis also has the right, but not the obligation, to conduct research at its own cost on antibodies that bind to CD73 in accordance with the agreement.

Pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement, we granted Novartis a worldwide exclusive license to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize antibodies that target CD73, along with the right to purchase exclusive option rights, each an Option, for up to four specified targets, each an Option Target, to obtain certain development, manufacturing and commercialization rights. If Novartis purchases an Option, following receipt of the IND acceptance for a candidate with respect to the applicable Option Target, Novartis will be entitled to exercise the Option for such Option Target. Pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement, Novartis initially had the right to exercise up to three purchased Options. In March 2018, Novartis notified us of its decision to not exercise its previously purchased Option for SRF231, our CD47 product candidate. In March 2018, we and Novartis also mutually agreed to cease development of one of the undisclosed programs subject to the Collaboration Agreement. As a result, Novartis has two Options remaining eligible for purchase, both of which can be exercised.

At the time we entered into the Collaboration Agreement in January 2016, Novartis made an upfront payment to us of $70.0 million. Under the Collaboration Agreement, Novartis will also pay us a fee to purchase each Option for each Option Target and another fee to exercise an Option. As of December 31, 2017, we had received $5.0 million in option purchase payments and we are currently entitled to an aggregate of up to $67.5 million of potential option purchase and option exercise payments. We are also eligible to receive payments on a target-by-target basis upon the achievement of specified development and sales milestones and tiered royalties on annual net sales by Novartis of licensed products ranging from high single-digit to mid-teens percentages upon successful commercialization of any products. Under the Collaboration Agreement, we are currently entitled to potential option purchase, option exercise and milestone payments aggregating up to $1.17 billion, of which $35.0 million had been received as of December 31, 2017. Such amount of potential option purchase, option exercise and milestone payments assumes that Novartis purchases, and exercises both of the remaining Options available to it pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement as well as the successful clinical development of and achievement of all sales milestones for all targets covered by the Collaboration Agreement. In February 2018, we received an additional milestone payment of $45.0 million from Novartis. In addition, we are required to pay Novartis tiered royalties on annual net sales by us of regional licensed products in the United States ranging from high single-digit to mid-teens percentages. The royalty payments are subject to reduction under specified conditions set forth in the Collaboration Agreement. In January 2016, Novartis also purchased $13.5 million of our Series A-1 preferred stock. The equity investment was made at fair value, and we determined it to be distinct from the Collaboration Agreement.

We determined that the deliverables under the Collaboration Agreement included (i) the worldwide exclusive license to CD73 antibody candidates, which was delivered to Novartis in January 2016 upon entering into the agreement, and (ii) our research and development and joint steering

 

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committee participation obligations under the agreement. We also determined that none of these deliverables have standalone value due to the specialized nature of the services to be provided by us in connection with the Collaboration Agreement. Therefore, at the inception of the arrangement, we concluded that the deliverables were not separable and, accordingly, we treat the license and undelivered services as a single unit of accounting and recognize revenue on a straight-line basis over the period that we expect to complete our performance obligations under the agreement, which we estimated to be ten years. Accordingly, we are recognizing the upfront payment of $70.0 million we received from Novartis, net of our estimate of aggregate payments of $3.4 million to be made to Novartis for the reimbursement of manufacturing costs incurred during the CD73 research period as required by the Collaboration Agreement, over the estimated ten-year period of performance.

In December 2016, Novartis purchased an exclusive option right to antibodies that bind to CD47, for $5.0 million. At that time, we concluded that license and other obligations underlying the exclusive option right held by Novartis represented separate and additional deliverables that Novartis may receive from us in future periods. Accordingly, in December 2016, we recorded $5.0 million of deferred revenue for the option purchase payment and will not commence recognizing any revenue related to the payment until either (i) Novartis elects not to exercise its option or (ii) Novartis exercises its option and we commence our performance obligations with respect CD47 under the arrangement. In March 2018, Novartis notified us of its decision to not exercise this option.

In May 2017, we received a milestone payment of $30.0 million from Novartis upon initiation of the first Good Laboratory Practice, or GLP, toxicology study for SRF373, our program that targets CD73. Upon achieving the milestone, we recognized as revenue $4.0 million, which represented the percentage of the performance period completed when the milestone was achieved, multiplied by the amount of the payment. The remaining $26.0 million is being recognized as revenue on a straight-line basis over the remaining period that we expect to complete our performance obligations under the Collaboration Agreement, as described above.

Through December 31, 2017, we had received an aggregate of $105.0 million from Novartis in upfront payments, milestone payments and option purchase payments.

During the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, we recognized revenue of $6.6 million and $12.8 million, respectively, related to the Collaboration Agreement.

Effective January 1, 2018, we will be required to adopt a new revenue recognition standard, which will change the manner in which we recognize revenue from the Collaboration Agreement. Under the new standard, we will recognize revenue from the Collaboration Agreement earlier during the performance period as a result of applying the cost-to-cost method, in contrast to recognizing revenue on a straight-line basis over the estimated ten-year performance period under the existing standard. For additional information, see “—Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates—Revenue Recognition.”

In February 2018, we received an additional milestone payment of $45.0 million from Novartis upon Novartis’ receipt of the first final audited GLP toxicology study report for SRF373. We expect that we will recognize as revenue a significant portion of the $45.0 million payment in the first quarter of 2018, based on the ratio of our actual costs incurred as of the milestone achievement date to our total estimated costs with respect to performing research on antibodies that bind to CD73 and other specified targets under the Collaboration Agreement. The remaining unrecognized amount will initially be recorded as deferred revenue and will subsequently be recognized as revenue over the performance period in proportion to the costs incurred by us under the Collaboration Agreement.

 

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Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses are expensed as incurred and consist of costs incurred for our research activities, including our discovery efforts, and the development of our programs. These expenses include:

 

•

salaries, benefits and other related costs, including stock-based compensation, for personnel engaged in research and development functions;

 

•

expenses incurred in connection with the preclinical development of our programs and clinical trials of our product candidates, including under agreements with third parties, such as consultants and contractors and contract research organizations, or CROs;

 

•

the cost of manufacturing drug products for use in our preclinical studies and future clinical trials, including under agreements with third parties, such as consultants and contractors and contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs;

 

•

laboratory supplies;

 

•

facilities, depreciation and other expenses, which include direct and allocated expenses for depreciation and amortization, rent and maintenance of facilities, insurance and supplies; and

 

•

third-party license fees.

We do not track our internal research and development expenses on a program-by-program basis as they primarily relate to personnel, early research and consumable costs, which are deployed across multiple projects under development. These costs are included in unallocated research and development expenses in the table below. A portion of our research and development costs are external costs, which we do track on a program-by-program basis.

The following table summarizes our research and development expenses by program:

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017				Change
		(in thousands)
SRF231		$	7,724			$	22,072			$	14,348
SRF373			1,281				2,295				1,014
SRF388			1,067				2,767				1,700
Other early-stage programs			1,845				4,737				2,892
Unallocated research and discovery expenses			8,575				15,912				7,337
Total research and development expenses		$	20,492			$	47,783			$	27,291

Product candidates in later stages of clinical development generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials. As a result, we expect our research and development expenses to increase over the next several years as we initiate clinical trials and pursue later stages of development of SRF231 and SRF388, initiate clinical trials for the product candidates we develop and continue to discover and develop additional product candidates.

At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate or know the nature, timing and estimated costs of the efforts that will be necessary to complete the development of our any product candidates that we develop from our programs. We are also unable to predict when, if ever, material net cash inflows will

 

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commence from sales of product candidates we develop. This is due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing product candidates, including the uncertainty of:

 

•

successful completion of clinical trials and preclinical studies;

 

•

sufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary clinical trials and preclinical studies;

 

•

acceptance of INDs for our planned clinical trials or future clinical trials;

 

•

successful enrollment and completion of clinical trials;

 

•

successful data from our clinical program that supports an acceptable risk-benefit profile of our product candidates in the intended populations;

 

•

receipt of regulatory and marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;

 

•

receipt and maintenance of marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;

 

•

establishing agreements with third-party manufacturers for clinical supply for our clinical trials and commercial manufacturing, if our product candidate is approved;

 

•

entry into collaborations to further the development of our product candidates;

 

•

obtaining and maintaining patent and trade secret protection or regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates;

 

•

successfully launching commercial sales of our product candidates, if and when approved;

 

•

acceptance of the product candidate’s benefits and uses, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;

 

•

maintaining a continued acceptable safety profile of the product candidates following approval;

 

•

effectively competing with other therapies; and

 

•

obtaining and maintaining healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors.

A change in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of any of our programs or any product candidate we develop would significantly change the costs, timing and viability associated with the development of such program or product candidate.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and personnel-related costs, including stock-based compensation, for our personnel in executive, legal, finance and accounting, human resources and other administrative functions. General and administrative expenses also include legal fees relating to patent and corporate matters; professional fees paid for accounting, auditing, consulting and tax services; insurance costs; travel expenses; and facility costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses.

We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future as we increase our headcount to support our continued research activities and development of our programs. We also anticipate that we will incur increased accounting, audit, legal, regulatory, compliance, director and officer insurance costs as well as investor and public relations expenses associated with operating as a public company.

 

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Interest and Other Income (Expense), Net

Interest and other income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. We expect our interest income to increase slightly in the future due to investing the anticipated net cash proceeds from this offering.

Income Taxes

We have not recorded any income tax benefits for the net losses we incurred or for the research and development tax credits we generated during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 as we believed, based upon the weight of available evidence, that it was more likely than not that all of the net operating loss carryforwards and tax credits will not be realized. As of December 31, 2017, we had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of $20.8 million and $19.9 million, respectively, which may be available to offset future income tax liabilities and begin to expire in 2034. As of December 31, 2017, we also had federal and state research and development tax credit carryforwards of $0.7 million and $0.2 million, respectively, which begin to expire in 2034 and 2030, respectively. Through December 31, 2017, we had recorded a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets at each balance sheet date.

Results of Operations

Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2016 and 2017

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, along with the changes in those items:

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017				Change
		(in thousands)
Collaboration revenue		$	6,632			$	12,826			$	6,194
Operating expenses:
Research and development			20,492				47,783				27,291
General and administrative			4,144				11,033				6,889
Total operating expenses			24,636				58,816				34,180
Loss from operations			(18,004	)			(45,990	)			(27,986	)
Interest and other income (expense), net			551				613				62
Net loss		$	(17,453	)		$	(45,377	)		$	(27,924	)

Collaboration Revenue

Collaboration revenue was $6.6 million and $12.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively, all of which was derived from the Collaboration Agreement. The increase in collaboration revenue during the year ended December 31, 2017 was primarily due to the partial recognition of revenue related to a milestone payment of $30.0 million that we received in May 2017 from Novartis upon initiation of the first GLP toxicology study for SRF373.

 

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Research and Development Expenses

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017				Change
		(in thousands)
Direct research and development expenses by program:
SRF231		$	7,724			$	22,072			$	14,348
SRF373			1,281				2,295				1,014
SRF388			1,067				2,767				1,700
Other early-stage programs			1,845				4,737				2,892
Research and discovery and unallocated expenses:
Personnel related (including stock-based compensation)			5,342				10,212				4,870
Facility related and other			3,233				5,700				2,467
Total research and development expenses		$	20,492			$	47,783			$	27,291

Research and development expenses were $20.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $47.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase of $27.3 million was primarily due to increases of $14.3 million in external costs for our SRF231 program, $1.0 million in external costs for our SRF373 program, $1.7 million in external costs for our SRF388 program, $2.9 million in external costs for our other early-stage programs and $7.3 million for research and discovery and unallocated costs.

The increase in research and development expenses for our SRF231 program was primarily related to advancing the program through IND-enabling activities and clinical material production costs.

The increases in research and development expenses for our SRF373 and SRF388 programs were primarily due to commencement of IND-enabling activities for each program.

The increase in research and development expenses for our other early-stage programs was primarily due to advancement and initiation of new early discovery programs.

The increase in research and discovery and unallocated expenses was primarily due to increases of $4.9 million in personnel-related costs (including an increase in stock-based compensation expense of $1.1 million) due to increased headcount and $2.5 million in increased facility and laboratory costs related to our new corporate headquarters.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses were $4.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2016, compared to $11.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase of $6.9 million was primarily due to an increase of $5.5 million in personnel-related costs as a result of both an increase in headcount as well as a one-time charge of $2.3 million related to separation costs for our former chief executive officer; an increase of $0.9 million for professional fees related to legal and audit services; and an increase of $0.5 million in facility costs related to our new corporate headquarters.

Interest and Other Income (Expense), Net

Interest and other income was $0.6 million during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 due primarily to interest income on invested balances of our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

 

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since our inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. We have generated limited revenue to date from the Collaboration Agreement. We have not yet commercialized any product and we do not expect to generate revenue from sales of any products for several years, if at all. To date, we have financed our operations with proceeds from the sales of preferred stock and payments received under the Collaboration Agreement. Through December 31, 2017, we had received gross proceeds of $48.6 million from our sales of preferred stock and $105.0 million from the Collaboration Agreement. In February 2018, we received an additional milestone payment of $45.0 million under the Collaboration Agreement. As of December 31, 2017, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $63.3 million.

Future Funding Requirements

We expect our expenses to increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, in particular as we continue to advance our product candidates and our discovery programs and conduct research under the Collaboration Agreement. In addition, upon the completion of this offering, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company.

We believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering and the concurrent private placement, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 24 months. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our capital resources sooner than we expect.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our working capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on and could increase significantly as a result of many factors, including:

 

•

completing clinical and preclinical development of product candidates and programs, identifying product candidates, completing clinical development of such product candidates and identifying and developing new product candidates;

 

•

seeking and obtaining marketing approvals for any of product candidates that we develop;

 

•

launching and commercializing product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval by establishing a sales force, marketing, medical affairs and distribution infrastructure or, alternatively, collaborating with a commercialization partner;

 

•

achieving adequate coverage and reimbursement by hospitals, government and third-party payors for product candidates that we develop;

 

•

establishing and maintaining supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties that can provide adequate, in both amount and quality, products and services to support clinical development and the market demand for product candidates that we develop, if approved;

 

•

obtaining market acceptance of product candidates that we develop as viable treatment options;

 

•

addressing any competing technological and market developments;

 

•

negotiating favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements into which we may enter and performing our obligations in such collaborations;

 

•

maintaining, protecting and expanding our portfolio of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets and know-how;

 

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•

defending against third-party interference or infringement claims, if any; and

 

•

attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel.

A change in the outcome of any of these or other variables with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate. Further, our operating plans may change in the future, and we may need additional funds to meet operational needs and capital requirements associated with such operating plans.

In addition to the variables described above, if and when any product candidate we develop successfully completes development, we will incur substantial additional costs associated with regulatory filings, marketing approval, post-marketing requirements, maintaining our intellectual property rights, and regulatory protection, in addition to other costs. We cannot reasonably estimate these costs at this time.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity or debt financings and collaboration arrangements, including the Collaboration Agreement. We currently have no credit facility or committed sources of capital. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the future sale of equity or debt, the ownership interests of our stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our existing common stockholders. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of debt securities, these securities could contain covenants that would restrict our operations. We may require additional capital beyond our currently anticipated amounts. Additional capital may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all. If we raise additional funds through collaboration arrangements in the future, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams or product candidates, or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate development or future commercialization efforts.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes information regarding our cash flows for each of the periods presented:

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017
		(in thousands)
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities		$	41,413			$	(12,422	)
Investing activities			(69,968	)			25,918
Financing activities			25,942				(1,036	)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		$	(2,613	)		$	12,460

Operating Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash used by operating activities was $12.4 million, primarily due to our net loss of $45.4 million partially offset by net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $26.7 million and non-cash charges of $6.2 million. Net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2017 consisted primarily of a $17.2 million increase in deferred revenue, a $5.0 million decrease in

 

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amounts due from Novartis, a related party, a $2.9 million increase in accrued expenses and other current liabilities and a $1.1 million decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets. The increase in deferred revenue was due to the $35.0 million of aggregate milestone and option purchase payments received from Novartis during the year ended December 31, 2017, which were not fully recognized as revenue at that time. The increase in accrued expenses and other current liabilities was primarily due to increased manufacturing costs incurred to support ongoing clinical trial activities and payroll related accruals. The decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets was primarily due to a reduction in prepaid taxes.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, net cash provided by operating activities was $41.4 million, primarily resulting from net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $58.6 million and net non-cash charges of $0.3 million, partially offset by our net loss of $17.5 million. Net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2016 consisted primarily of a $64.9 million increase in deferred revenue, a $5.4 million increase in accrued expenses and other current liabilities and a $1.8 million increase in accounts payable, partially offset by an $8.5 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets and a $5.0 million increase in amounts due from Novartis, a related party. The increase in deferred revenue was due to the $70.0 million upfront payment received from Novartis during the year ended December 31, 2016, which was not fully recognized as revenue at that time. The increase in accrued expenses and other current liabilities was due to accruals related to manufacturing costs. The increase in accounts payable was due to timing of invoices for clinical manufacturing costs. The increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets was due to prepayments for estimated taxes. The increase in amounts due from Novartis were the result of our achievement in December 2016 of a specified milestone under the Collaboration Agreement.

Investing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash provided by investing activities was $25.9 million, consisting primarily of $27.9 million of proceeds from sales or maturities of marketable securities, partially offset by $2.0 million of purchases of property and equipment, primarily related to leasehold improvements in our corporate headquarters facility.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, net cash used in investing activities was $70.0 million, consisting primarily of $97.0 million for purchases of marketable securities, an increase in restricted cash of $1.0 million and $0.8 million of purchases of property and equipment, all partially offset by $28.9 million of proceeds from sales or maturities of marketable securities.

Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash used by financing activities was $1.0 million, consisting primarily of payments of initial public offering costs of $1.2 million, partially offset by $0.1 million of proceeds received from the exercise of stock options.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, net cash provided by financing activities was $25.9 million, consisting primarily of net proceeds from the sales of our Series A and Series A-1 preferred stock.

 

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Contractual Obligations and Commitments

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2017 and the effects that such obligations are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flow in future periods:

 

		Payments Due by Period
		Total				Less Than 1 Year				1 to 3 Years				4 to 5 Years				More Than 5 Years
		(in thousands)
Operating lease commitments(1)		$	24,800			$	2,497			$	5,018			$	5,323			$	11,962
Research and manufacturing commitments(2)			14,511				13,320				1,191				—				—
Total		$	39,311			$	15,817			$	6,209			$	5,323			$	11,962

 

 

(1)	Reflects payments due for leases of office and laboratory space that expire between March 2018 and February 2027.

(2)	Reflects commitments for costs associated with external CMOs and CROs engaged to manufacture clinical trial materials as well as to conduct discovery research and preclinical development activities.

Under various license and collaboration agreements to which we are a party, we may be required to make milestone payments and pay royalties and other amounts to third parties. We have not included any such contingent payment obligations in the table above as the amount, timing and likelihood of such payments are not known.

Under our Collaboration Agreement, if Novartis obtains a regional license from us for a product under the agreement, we will be required to pay to Novartis tiered royalties of a high single-digit to mid-teens percentage on annual net sales in the United States by us or our sublicensees of regional licensed products under the agreement.

Under our license agreement with Harbour Antibodies H2L2 BV, or H2L2, we are obligated to pay to H2L2 a low five-digit upfront license fee for each antibody program that we initiate using the H2L2 mice. In addition, we may be obligated to pay up to an aggregate of $1.04 million in milestone payments to H2L2 for each antibody product we develop through Phase 3 clinical trials and regulatory approval. We are required to pay H2L2 a one-time sales performance payment of a low seven-digit dollar amount for each antibody product that is commercialized and achieves worldwide gross sales in excess of a low eight-digit dollar amount. If we enter into an agreement with a third party to further research or commercialize an antibody product developed under the H2L2 agreement, then we are obligated to pay H2L2 a one-time payment of the lesser of (i) a low double-digit percentage of the upfront fee paid to us by the third party or (ii) a low six-digit dollar amount.

Under our license agreement with Harbour Antibodies B.V., or Harbour, we are required to pay a nominal annual maintenance fee during the term of the agreement. In addition, we are obligated to pay up to an aggregate of $4.75 million upon the achievement of specified development and commercial milestones for each product licensed under the agreement. We are also obligated to pay Harbour royalties of a low single-digit percentage on the worldwide net sales of any licensed product on a country-by-country basis.

Under our development and option agreement with Adimab LLC, or Adimab, we are obligated to make milestone payments and to pay specified fees upon the exercise of the research or commercialization options under the agreement. During the discovery term, we may be obligated to pay Adimab up to $250,000 for technical milestones achieved against each biological target. Upon exercise of a research option, we are obligated to pay a nominal research maintenance fee on each of

 

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the next four anniversaries of the exercise. Upon the exercise of each commercialization option, we will be required to pay an option exercise fee of a low seven-digit dollar amount, and we may be responsible for milestone payments of up to an aggregate of $13.0 million for each licensed product that receives marketing approval. For any licensed product that is commercialized, we are obligated to pay Adimab tiered royalties of a low to mid single-digit percentage on worldwide net sales of such product. We may also partially exercise a commercialization option with respect to ten antibodies against a biological target by paying 65% of the option fee and later either (i) paying the balance and choosing up to 20 antibodies for commercialization or (ii) foregoing the commercialization option entirely.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses in our consolidated financial statements. We base our estimates on our historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements appearing at the end of this prospectus, we believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue from license and collaboration agreements in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, or ASC 605. Accordingly, revenue is recognized when all of the following criteria are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the seller’s price to the buyer is fixed or determinable, and collectibility is reasonably assured.

When evaluating multiple-element arrangements, we consider whether the deliverables under the arrangement represent separate units of accounting. This evaluation requires subjective determinations and requires us to make judgments about the individual deliverables and whether such deliverables are separable from the other aspects of the contractual relationship. In determining the units of accounting, we evaluate certain criteria, including whether the deliverables have standalone value, based on the consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances for each arrangement. The consideration to be received under each arrangement is allocated to the separate units of accounting using the relative selling price method, and the applicable revenue recognition criteria are applied to each of the separate units. Deliverables are considered separate units of accounting provided that (i) the delivered item has value to the customer on a standalone basis and (ii) if the arrangement includes a general right of return with respect to the delivered item, delivery or performance of the undelivered items is considered probable and substantially within our control. In assessing whether an item has standalone value, we consider factors such as the research, manufacturing and commercialization capabilities of the collaboration partner and the availability of the associated expertise in the general marketplace. In addition, we consider whether our collaboration partner can

 

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use the deliverable for its intended purpose without the receipt of the remaining deliverables, whether the value of the deliverable is dependent on the undelivered items and whether there are other vendors that can provide the undelivered items.

Arrangement consideration that is fixed or determinable is allocated among the separate units of accounting using the relative selling price method. Then, the applicable revenue recognition criteria in ASC 605-25 are applied to each of the separate units of accounting in determining the appropriate period and pattern of recognition. We determine the selling price of a unit of accounting following the hierarchy of evidence prescribed by ASC 605-25. Accordingly, we determine the estimated selling price for units of accounting within each arrangement using vendor specific objective evidence, or VSOE, of selling price, if available; third party evidence, or TPE of selling price, if VSOE is not available; or best estimate of selling price, or BESP, if neither VSOE nor TPE is available. We typically use BESP to estimate the selling price since it generally does not have VSOE or TPE of selling price for its units of accounting. Determining the BESP for a unit of accounting requires significant judgment. In developing the BESP for a unit of accounting, we consider applicable market conditions and relevant entity specific factors, including factors that were contemplated in negotiating the agreement with the customer and estimated costs. We validate the BESP for units of accounting by evaluating whether changes in the key assumptions used to determine the BESP will have a significant effect on the allocation of arrangement consideration between multiple units of accounting.

We recognize arrangement consideration allocated to each unit of accounting when all of the revenue recognition criteria in ASC 605 are satisfied for that particular unit of accounting. In the event that a deliverable does not represent a separate unit of accounting, we recognize revenue from the combined unit of accounting over the contractual or estimated performance period for the undelivered items. If there is no discernable pattern of performance or objectively measurable performance measures do not exist, then we recognize revenue under the arrangement on a straight-line basis over the period that we expect to complete its performance obligations. Conversely, if the pattern of performance over which the service is provided to the customer can be determined and if objectively measurable performance measures exist, then we recognize revenue under the arrangement using the proportional performance method. Revenue recognized is limited to the lesser of the cumulative amount of payments received or the cumulative amount of revenue earned, as determined using the straight-line method or proportional performance method, as applicable, as of the end of each reporting period.

Significant management judgment is required in determining the level of effort required under an arrangement and the period over which we expect to complete our performance obligations under an arrangement. Steering committee services that are not inconsequential or perfunctory and that are determined to be performance obligations are combined with other research services or performance obligations required under an arrangement, if any, in determining the level of effort required in an arrangement and the period over which we expect to complete our aggregate performance obligations.

At the inception of an arrangement that includes options for a customer to purchase additional services or products at agreed upon prices in the future, we evaluate whether each option is substantive. Factors that we consider in evaluating whether an option is substantive include the overall objective of the arrangement, if the exercise of that option represents a separate buying decision, and if the services or products subject to the option are essential to the functionality of the current deliverables. When a license option is considered substantive, we do not consider the option or item underlying the option to be a deliverable at the inception of the arrangement, and the associated option fees are not included in the allocable arrangement consideration, assuming the option is not priced at a significant and incremental discount. When an option is not considered substantive, we would consider the option, including other deliverables contingent upon the exercise of the option, to be a deliverable at the inception of the arrangement and a corresponding amount would be included in the allocable

 

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arrangement consideration. In addition, if the price of the license option includes a significant incremental discount, the discount inherent in the option price would be included as a deliverable at the inception of the arrangement.

Payments received or due for our achievement of milestones are deferred and recognized as revenue over the estimated period of performance applicable to the collaborative arrangement. As any milestones are achieved, we will recognize as revenue a portion of the milestone payment that is equal to the percentage of the performance period completed when the milestone is achieved, multiplied by the amount of the milestone payment, upon achievement of such milestone. We will recognize the remaining portion of the milestone payment over the remaining performance period under either the proportional performance method, if a pattern of performance is discernable, or on a straight-line basis.

Royalty revenue, if any, is recognized based on contractual terms when reported sales are reliably measurable and collectibility is reasonably assured, provided that there are no performance obligations then remaining. To date, none of our product candidates have been approved and, therefore, we have not earned any royalty revenue from product sales.

In the event that a collaboration agreement were to be terminated and we had no further performance obligations at that time, we would recognize as revenue any portion of the upfront payment and other payments that had not previously been recorded as revenue and were classified as deferred revenue at the date of such termination.

Amounts received prior to satisfying the revenue recognition criteria listed above are recorded as deferred revenue in our consolidated balance sheet. Amounts expected to be recognized as revenue within the 12 months following the balance sheet date are classified as current deferred revenue. Amounts not expected to be recognized as revenue within 12 months of the balance sheet date are classified as non-current deferred revenue.

Effective January 1, 2018, we will be required to adopt Accounting Standard Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, or ASC 606. The core principle of ASC 606 is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. We have substantially completed our assessment of the impact that this new standard will have on our consolidated financial statements. While our assessment is preliminary, we expect the adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements, in particular, related to the pattern and timing of our revenue recognition of amounts from the Collaboration Agreement. Under ASC 606, we will recognize revenue using the cost-to-cost method, which we believe best depicts the transfer of control to the customer. In contrast, under the existing revenue recognition standard, we are recognizing revenue on a straight-line basis over the estimated period of performance. Under the cost-to-cost method, the extent of progress towards completion is measured based on the ratio of actual costs incurred to the total estimated costs expected upon satisfying the identified performance obligation. Under this method, revenue will be recorded as a percentage of the estimated transaction price based on the extent of progress towards completion. In addition, under ASC 606, the estimated transaction price will include variable consideration for payments expected to be earned, including for milestone or royalty payments, which, under the existing standard, we were precluded from including in the estimated transaction price until such payments were determinable and due. The estimate of our measure of progress and estimate of variable consideration to be included in the transaction price will be updated at each reporting date as a change in estimate. The amount of transaction price allocated to the satisfied portion of the performance obligation, based on our measure of progress, will be recognized immediately on a cumulative catch-up basis, resulting in an adjustment to revenue in the period of change. The amount related to the unsatisfied portion will be recognized as that portion is satisfied over time.

 

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We plan to adopt ASC 606 using the modified retrospective transition method, which will result in an adjustment to accumulated deficit in our consolidated balance sheet as of the January 1, 2018 effective date for the cumulative effect of applying the standard and will not result in a recast of our prior year consolidated financial statements. We currently expect that the adoption of ASC 606 will result in a reduction in deferred revenue of approximately $14.0 million and a corresponding decrease in accumulated deficit, each recorded as of January 1, 2018. This cumulative-effect adjustment primarily reflects the fact that we will recognize revenue earlier during the performance period as a result of applying the cost-to-cost method under the new standard, in contrast to recognizing revenue on a straight-line basis over the estimated ten-year performance period under the existing standard.

We are in the process of finalizing our assessment of the impact of the new revenue recognition standard on our consolidated financial statements, and our preliminary assessment is subject to change. See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements appearing at the end of this prospectus for additional information.

Accrued Research and Development Expenses

As part of the process of preparing our financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued expenses. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for the service when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual cost. The majority of our service providers invoice us monthly in arrears for services performed or when contractual milestones are met; however, some require advanced payments. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. We periodically confirm the accuracy of our estimates with the service providers and make adjustments if necessary. The significant estimates in our accrued research and development expenses include the costs incurred for services performed by our vendors in connection with research and development activities for which we have not yet been invoiced.

There may be instances in which payments made to our vendors will exceed the level of services provided and result in a prepayment of the expense. In accruing service fees, we estimate the time period over which services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from the estimate, we adjust the accrual or the amount of prepaid expenses accordingly. Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, if our estimates of the status and timing of services performed differ from the actual status and timing of services performed, it could result in us reporting amounts that are too high or too low in any particular period. To date, there have been no material differences between our estimates of such expenses and the amounts actually incurred.

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in the financial statements or in our tax returns. Deferred taxes are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect in the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. Changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded in the provision for income taxes. We assess the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent we believe, based upon the weight of available evidence, that it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized, a valuation allowance is established through a charge to income tax

 

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expense. Potential for recovery of deferred tax assets is evaluated by estimating the future taxable profits expected and considering prudent and feasible tax planning strategies.

We account for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in the financial statements by applying a two-step process to determine the amount of tax benefit to be recognized. First, the tax position must be evaluated to determine the likelihood that it will be sustained upon external examination by the taxing authorities. If the tax position is deemed more-likely-than-not to be sustained, the tax position is then assessed to determine the amount of benefit to recognize in the financial statements. The amount of the benefit that may be recognized is the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any resulting tax reserves, or unrecognized tax benefits, that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties.

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, that significantly reforms the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The TCJA, among other things, contains significant changes to corporate taxation, including reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, effective as of January 1, 2018; limitation of the tax deduction for interest expense; limitation of the deduction for net operating losses to 80% of annual taxable income and elimination of net operating loss carrybacks, in each case, for losses arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 (though any such tax losses may be carried forward indefinitely); and modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits, including reducing the business tax credit for certain clinical testing expenses incurred in the testing of certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions generally referred to as “orphan drugs”.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 to address the application of U.S. GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the TCJA. We have recognized the provisional tax impacts as a result of the TCJA, including the revaluation of the deferred tax assets and liabilities in our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, based on the tax rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future, which is generally 21% for federal tax purposes. The ultimate impact to our consolidated financial statements of the TCJA may differ from these provisional amounts due to, among other things, additional analysis, changes in interpretations and assumptions we have made, additional regulatory guidance that may be issued, and actions we may take as a result of the TCJA. The accounting is expected to be complete when our 2017 U.S. corporate income tax return is filed in 2018.

Stock-Based Compensation

We measure stock options and other stock-based awards granted to employees and directors based on the fair value on the date of the grant and recognize the corresponding compensation expense of those awards over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. Generally, we issue stock options and restricted stock awards with only service-based vesting conditions and record the expense for these awards using the straight-line method.

For stock-based awards granted to non-employee consultants, we recognize compensation expense over the period during which services are rendered by such non-employees until completed. At the end of each financial reporting period prior to completion of the service, the fair value of these awards is remeasured using the then-current fair value of our common stock and updated assumption inputs in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model referenced below.

We estimate the fair value of each stock option grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which uses as inputs the fair value of our common stock and assumptions we make for the

 

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volatility of our common stock, the expected term of our stock options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of our stock options and our expected dividend yield.

Determination of the Fair Value of Common Stock

As there has been no public market for our common stock to date, the estimated fair value of our common stock has been determined by our board of directors as of the date of each option grant, with input from management, considering third-party valuations of our common stock as well as our board of directors’ assessment of additional objective and subjective factors that it believed were relevant and which may have changed from the date of the most recent third-party valuation through the date of the grant, including:

 

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the prices at which we sold preferred stock and the superior rights and preferences of the preferred stock relative to our common stock at the time of each grant;

 

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the progress of our research and development programs, including the status of preclinical studies and planned clinical trials for our product candidates;

 

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our stage of development and our business strategy;

 

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external market conditions affecting the biotechnology industry, and trends within the biotechnology industry;

 

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our financial position, including cash on hand, and our historical and forecasted performance and operating results;

 

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the lack of an active public market for our common stock and our preferred stock;

 

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the likelihood of achieving a liquidity event, such as an initial public offering, or IPO, or a sale of our company in light of prevailing market conditions; and

 

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the analysis of IPOs and the market performance of similar companies in the biopharmaceutical industry.

The third-party valuations of our common stock were performed at various dates, which resulted in valuations of our common stock of $4.14 per share as of October 31, 2016, $4.62 per share as of April 30, 2017, $5.42 per share as of June 15, 2017, $7.77 per share as of September 30, 2017, $8.30 per share as of November 30, 2017, $8.94 per share as of January 18, 2018, $9.62 per share as of February 2, 2018 and $12.90 as of February 26, 2018. These third-party valuations were performed in accordance with the guidance outlined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Accounting and Valuation Guide, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation. Our board of directors determined that the amounts reflected in these valuations were equal to the fair market value of our common stock on each applicable date.

Our third-party valuations of common stock performed since September 30, 2017 were prepared using the hybrid method, which used market approaches to estimate our equity value. The hybrid method is a probability-weighed expected return method, or PWERM, where the equity value in one or more of the scenarios is calculated using an option-pricing method, or OPM. The OPM treats common stock and preferred stock as call options on the total equity value of a company, with exercise prices based on the value thresholds at which the allocation among the various holders of a company’s securities changes. Under this method, the common stock has value only if the funds available for distribution to stockholders exceeded the value of the preferred stock liquidation preferences at the time of the liquidity event, such as a strategic sale or a merger. The PWERM is a scenario-based methodology that estimates the fair value of common stock based upon an analysis of future values for the company, assuming various outcomes. The common stock value is based on the probability-weighted present value of expected future investment returns considering each of the possible

 

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outcomes available as well as the rights of each class of stock. The future value of the common stock under each outcome is discounted back to the valuation date at an appropriate risk-adjusted discount rate and probability weighted to arrive at an indication of value for the common stock. Our third-party valuations of common stock performed prior to September 30, 2017 were prepared using the OPM, which used a market approaches and a cost approach to estimate our equity value.

The assumptions underlying these valuations represented management’s best estimate, which involved inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment. As a result, if we had used significantly different assumptions or estimates, the fair value of our common stock and our stock-based compensation expense could have been materially different.

Once a public trading market for our common stock has been established in connection with the completion of this offering, it will no longer be necessary for our board of directors to estimate the fair value of our common stock in connection with our accounting for granted stock options and other such awards we may grant, as the fair value of our common stock will be determined based on the quoted market price of our common stock.

Options Granted

The following table sets forth by grant date the number of shares subject to options granted between January 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018, the per share exercise price of the options, the fair value of common stock per share on each grant date, and the per share estimated fair value of the options on each grant date:

 

Grant Date		Number of Shares Subject to Options Granted				Per Share Exercise Price of Options				Fair Value per Common Share on Grant Date				Per Share Estimated Fair Value of Option on Grant Date
March 2, 2017			377,337			$	4.14			$	4.14			$	2.80
March 30, 2017			13,636			$	4.14			$	4.14			$	2.80
April 5, 2017			22,727			$	4.14			$	4.14			$	2.86
May 30, 2017			61,361			$	4.62			$	4.62			$	3.19
June 27, 2017			243,616			$	5.42			$	5.42			$	3.74
July 17, 2017			69,999			$	5.42			$	5.42			$	3.94
August 28, 2017			1,363			$	5.42			$	5.42			$	3.94
August 31, 2017			127,270			$	5.42			$	5.42			$	3.94
September 6, 2017			39,090			$	5.42			$	5.42			$	3.92
October 10, 2017			24,997			$	7.77			$	7.77			$	5.33
December 8, 2017			118,379			$	8.30			$	8.30			$	5.68
December 11, 2017			20,454			$	8.30			$	8.30			$	5.68
January 24, 2018			99,088			$	8.94			$	8.94			$	5.66
February 5, 2018			626,590			$	9.62			$	9.62			$	6.45
February 12, 2018			58,409			$	9.62			$	9.62			$	5.88
March 2, 2018			580,191			$	12.90			$	12.90			$	8.47
March 11, 2018			43,636			$	12.90			$	12.90			$	7.88

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have, during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined under applicable Securities and Exchange Commission rules.

 

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Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

A description of recently issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position and results of operations is disclosed in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements appearing at the end of this prospectus.

Emerging Growth Company Status

As an “emerging growth company,” the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 allows us to delay adoption of new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until such standards are made applicable to private companies. However, we have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2017 consisted of cash, a money market fund invested primarily in short-term U.S. Treasury obligations, U.S. government agency bonds and corporate bonds. Interest income is sensitive to changes in the general level of interest rates; however, due to the nature of these investments, we do not believe that we have any material exposure to changes in the fair value of our investment portfolio as a result of changes in interest rates.

 

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BUSINESS

Overview

We are a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on using our specialized knowledge of the biological pathways critical to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, or the TME, for the development of next-generation cancer therapies. While first-generation immuno-oncology therapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, are a remarkable therapeutic advancement, we believe most patients do not achieve durable clinical benefit primarily because these therapies focus on only one element of the complex and interconnected immunosuppressive TME. We believe there is a significant opportunity to more broadly engage the body’s immune system in a multi-faceted, coordinated and personalized approach, to meaningfully improve cure rates for patients with a variety of cancers. Our approach is to identify key components within the TME to gain a deep understanding of its biology, leverage this understanding to define the optimal therapeutic targets and the patients most likely to benefit and develop novel antibody therapeutics with differentiated biologic activity. By utilizing our specialized knowledge and expertise in immunology, oncology, antibody selection and characterization, and translational research, we have developed a broad pipeline of TME-focused programs that we believe are the next generation of immuno-oncology therapies. We initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial for our lead product candidate, SRF231, in February 2018.

Our programs demonstrate our multi-faceted approach by targeting several critical components of the immunosuppressive TME, including macrophages, metabolites and cytokines. Our lead product candidate, SRF231, is an antibody targeting cluster of differentiation, or CD, 47, which is a protein expressed on many cells, but often overexpressed on tumor cells. By targeting CD47, we believe we can promote macrophage activation to attack tumors expressing this target. We believe SRF231 possesses a safety profile that distinguishes it from other CD47-targeted therapies in development. Specifically, in preclinical studies, we have not observed hemagglutination, which is an aggregation of red blood cells, that has been observed after treatment with other CD47 antibodies in development. We plan to evaluate SRF231 as both a monotherapy and in combination with other currently available cancer therapeutics. We initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of SRF231 in February 2018 and expect to report initial clinical results from this trial in the first half of 2019.

Our next two programs, SRF373 and SRF617, are antibodies inhibiting CD73 and CD39, respectively, and illustrate how our specialized knowledge of TME biology can be leveraged across programs. CD73 and CD39 are both critical enzymes involved in the production of extracellular adenosine, a key metabolite with strong immunosuppressive properties within the TME. Overexpression of CD73 and CD39 are each associated with a poor prognosis in patients with certain types of cancer. SRF373 and SRF617 each aim to reduce the production of immunosuppressive adenosine, but target different points of the adenosine pathway. In addition to reducing the production of adenosine, we believe SRF617 will also stimulate anti-tumor immunity because of its ability to maintain levels of extracellular adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, a proinflammatory molecule and key driver of the maturation and activation of immune cells, including T cells. We expect SRF373 to enter clinical development in 2018 and to commence IND-enabling studies for SRF617 in 2018.

SRF388 is an antibody targeting interleukin 27, or IL-27, an immunosuppressive cytokine in the TME that is overexpressed in certain cancers. We expect to begin IND-enabling studies for SRF388 in 2018. We also have several earlier stage programs that target macrophages and other critical components of the TME, including regulatory T cells and natural killer, or NK, cells. We expect that the unique insights generated in any one of our product programs will accelerate the development of the other programs in a synergistic fashion due to the interconnections between these TME pathways.

 

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In 2016, we entered into a strategic collaboration agreement, or the Collaboration Agreement, with Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc., or Novartis, to develop next-generation cancer therapies. Importantly, this collaboration enables us to leverage the expertise and resources of Novartis to accelerate the development of our collaboration programs. We received an upfront payment of $70.0 million from Novartis upon entering into the agreement. Under the Collaboration Agreement, we are currently entitled to potential option purchase, option exercise and milestone payments upon the achievement of specified development and sales milestones, which could amount to $1.17 billion, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales by Novartis ranging from high single-digit to mid-teens percentages upon successful commercialization of any products. Through December 31, 2017, we had received an aggregate of $35.0 million in option purchase and milestone payments from Novartis. In February 2018, we received an additional milestone payment of $45.0 million from Novartis. In January 2016, we also received a $13.5 million equity investment from Novartis.

We have assembled an outstanding team, including our world-class scientific advisory board, to execute on our mission to create next-generation immuno-oncology therapies to help patients suffering with cancer. Our scientific founders and members of our management team have extensive experience in drug discovery and development and are leaders in the immuno-oncology field. Members of our leadership team have helped develop over ten commercialized therapies, including cancer and immune disorder treatments, such as Avastin, Istodax, Rebif, Thyrogen and Velcade. Our scientific advisory board is co-chaired by leading immuno-oncology researchers Alexander Y. Rudensky, Ph.D., a world leader in regulatory T cell biology, and Arlene H. Sharpe, M.D., Ph.D., who led pioneering work related to the ligands for PD-1, including the co-discovery of PD-L2, and has defined functions of the PD-1 pathway as well as other costimulatory and immune checkpoint molecules. Collectively, we believe our team, industry-leading capabilities and collaboration with Novartis, position us to build the leading TME company focused on developing next-generation immunotherapies for the tens of millions of cancer patients worldwide.

Our Strategy

Our goal is to build the leading TME company to develop next-generation immunotherapies for patients suffering with cancer. The specific elements of our strategy to achieve this goal are:

 

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Pioneer the translation of TME biology into cancer therapeutics.    We have established a world-class team who, together with our scientific advisory board, have unique expertise and capabilities within TME biology. Our approach is to (i) use our unique insights to identify key immunosuppressive components and pathways in the TME, (ii) employ a robust antibody discovery methodology to interrogate multiple critical targets in these pathways, (iii) identify the patients most likely to benefit from our approach and (iv) select and advance potential therapeutic candidates with differentiated biological activity in the TME.

 

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Advance our lead product candidate, SRF231, through clinical development.    In preclinical studies, we observed that SRF231 (i) exhibited potent inhibition of CD47 binding to its primary target, (ii) resulted in robust macrophage infiltration into the tumor, (iii) increased killing of tumor cells and (iv) was well tolerated and did not result in hemagglutination. We believe that our promising preclinical data supports the clinical potential of SRF231 as a monotherapy and in combination with other approved cancer therapies. We initiated our Phase 1 clinical trial of SRF231 in February 2018 and expect to report initial clinical results from this trial in the first half of 2019.

 

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Efficiently progress our other programs into clinical development.    We expect our collaborator, Novartis, to advance SRF373 into clinical development in 2018. Additionally, we expect to initiate IND-enabling studies for SRF388 and SRF617 in 2018. Our development strategy entails utilizing biomarkers to identify different patient subsets we believe will uniquely benefit from our product candidates. From time to time, we may seek to leverage the

 

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capabilities of strategic partners to accelerate the development of our programs, as evidenced by our collaboration with Novartis.

 

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Maintain significant product rights while appropriately leveraging the commercial capabilities of strategic partners.    Retaining substantial commercial rights to our programs is core to our strategy. Beyond our collaboration with Novartis, we intend to opportunistically evaluate partnerships that enable us to supplement our capabilities and maximize the potential commercial value of our programs.

The Tumor Microenvironment

The TME contains a complex interplay of immunosuppressive biological pathways, cells and other components surrounding the tumor. It comprises several key components that often act together to profoundly suppress the body’s anticancer immune response through a variety of different biological mechanisms, allowing the tumor to evade the immune system. Given the complexity of the TME, we believe it is imperative to target more than one component of this environment in order to provide durable clinical benefit to patients suffering with cancer.

Checkpoint inhibitors are a drug class designed to counteract certain defenses a tumor has against the immune system. Currently approved checkpoint inhibitors were developed for the treatment of cancer because of the initial belief that inactivation of the immune system by checkpoint proteins, one component of the TME, could be reversed to reactivate the immune system to recognize and attack the tumor. These therapies against checkpoint proteins, such as cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4, or CTLA-4, programmed cell death protein 1, or PD-1, and programmed death-ligand 1, or PD-L1, have produced impressive results in the clinic across an array of cancers and have been approved for a number of malignancies. However, the breadth and durability of clinical benefit achieved has been limited to a subset of patients and tumor types. For example, PD-1 inhibition has doubled three-year survival rates in previously treated non-small cell lung cancer patients, but more than 80% of patients do not achieve a durable clinical benefit. We believe the primary reason only a relatively modest number of patients achieve durable response with checkpoint inhibitors is because only one component of the TME, the effector T lymphocyte, is reactivated while the remaining elements of the TME, including macrophages, suppressive metabolites and cytokines, regulatory T cells, and NK cells remain unaffected.

Macrophages are a type of immune cell that can recognize and engulf, or phagocytose, other cells that need to be destroyed, including cancer cells. These immune cells are a key component of the immune system that provides a rapid, non-specific response to pathogens. Cells expressing CD47 on their surface are not phagocytosed by macrophages, causing CD47 to be termed a “don’t eat me signal.” Therefore, many tumor cells overexpress CD47, which suppresses macrophage activation and allows tumor cells to evade phagocytosis. Targeting CD47 is an attractive therapeutic strategy for treating cancer because by blocking its interaction with key binding partners, macrophage activity is restored and they can effectively recognize and phagocytose the tumor. We believe targeting CD47 as both a monotherapy and in combination with other cancer therapeutics could provide meaningful clinical benefit to patients.

Adenosine is a key metabolite within the TME that accumulates and inhibits the function of important immune cells, including T cells and NK cells, leading to an environment conducive to tumor growth. CD39 and CD73, two of the enzymes involved in the production of adenosine, are both attractive therapeutic targets because inhibiting either of them will reduce the amount of adenosine in the TME. We believe inhibiting CD39 may have further immunostimulatory effects because this inhibition will maintain the amount of ATP in the TME.

IL-27 is a cytokine, or protein secreted by cells, that plays an important physiologic role in suppressing the immune system. In preclinical studies, the IL-27 pathway has been observed to

 

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suppress T cell activation within the TME, which may prevent the immune system from recognizing, attacking and killing cancer cells. Due to its immunosuppressive nature, there is an emerging rationale for inhibiting IL-27 to treat cancer as this approach influences the activity of multiple types of immune cells, including the reactivation of T cells, that are necessary to recognize and attack the tumor.

Our Pipeline

We believe next-generation immuno-oncology therapies need to encompass a multi-faceted, coordinated and personalized approach to treating cancer in order to achieve meaningful increases in patient cure rates. We have developed a pipeline of multiple therapeutic programs to address the complexity of the TME, as shown in the table below.

 

 

(1)	Novartis has worldwide development and commercial rights to this program. See “—Collaboration Agreement with Novartis” for additional information.

(2)	Novartis has the right to purchase an option to SRF388. See “—Collaboration Agreement with Novartis” for additional information.

Our Programs

Driving Macrophage Activation and Tumor Infiltration with SRF231, a CD47 Inhibitor

Overview of SRF231

SRF231 inhibits CD47, a protein expressed on many cells, but often overexpressed on tumor cells. In our preclinical studies we observed that inhibiting CD47 with SRF231 had potent anti-tumor activity through increased macrophage infiltration of the tumor and phagocytosis of the tumor cells. This anti-tumor activity was observed when administrating SRF231 as both a monotherapy and in combination with other currently available cancer therapies. Notably, SRF231 was not observed to be associated with hemagglutination. We initiated our first clinical trial of SRF231 in February 2018 in order to evaluate SRF231 in multiple tumor types and expect to report initial clinical results from this trial in the first half of 2019. We have exclusive, worldwide rights to SRF231.

CD47 Background

CD47 is a protein found on the surface of cells and is involved in physiological functions such as cell migration, cell adhesion, T cell function and macrophage activation. CD47 is a well-validated target in macrophage biology as overexpression of CD47 has been observed in various types of tumors, and there is a growing body of third-party clinical evidence that suggests blocking CD47 results in anti-tumor effects. Tumor cell expression of CD47 has been shown to prevent macrophages from recognizing and phagocytosing, or attacking and engulfing, tumor cells. SIRPa, an inhibitory protein

 

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expressed on macrophages, is a primary binding partner of CD47, and our antibodies are designed to disrupt this binding. As shown in the figure below, by blocking the CD47:SIRPa interaction, the “don’t eat me signal” is inhibited, which then enables the macrophage to kill the tumor cells.

Overview of CD47:SIRPa Binding and Inhibition

 

 

Landscape of CD47 Inhibitors and Opportunity

CD47 is overexpressed in a wide variety of tumors, making it an attractive target for cancer therapies. Many companies are currently developing candidates in preclinical studies and clinical trials that target CD47, although there are no currently approved CD47 therapies. We believe that important differentiators among these CD47-targeted therapies will include dosing frequency and safety. In particular, hemagglutination and thrombocytopenia have been identified as adverse side effects in clinical trials of CD47-targeted therapies, which have been dose limiting in some instances.

Our Solution

SRF231 is a fully human immunoglobulin isotype G4, or IgG4, monoclonal antibody that is a potent inhibitor of CD47. We selected SRF231 for clinical development based on the following key attributes observed in preclinical development:

 

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Potent inhibition of CD47:SIRPa binding to drive macrophage activation, infiltration and phagocytosis;

 

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Potent activity against multiple hematologic and solid tumors, both as a monotherapy and in combination with other approved cancer therapies; and

 

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Being well tolerated without resulting in hemagglutination.

In February 2018, we initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate SRF231 in patients with advanced malignancies, as a monotherapy and potentially in combination with other currently available cancer therapies in 2018. We believe that SRF231 is the first fully human anti-CD47 antibody to enter clinical trials.

 

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Our Preclinical Studies

Preclinical Activity Studies

We have conducted numerous preclinical studies to assess the activity of SRF231 across a variety of models. In February 2017, we assessed the ability of SRF231 to block the binding of CD47 to SIRPa. The binding of CD47 to SIRPa gives rise to a “don’t eat me signal” and, as a result, blocking this signal is critical in enabling the phagocytosis of tumor cells by macrophages. As shown in the figure below, SRF231 was observed to be a potent blocker of the CD47:SIRPa interaction relative to a control antibody. These results are consistent with a similar previous study we conducted.

SRF231 Effect on CD47:SIRPa Binding

 

 

We have also observed in preclinical models that SRF231 has the ability to overcome the TME’s immunosuppressive characteristics that prevent macrophage infiltration into the tumor. Without the ability to infiltrate, the macrophages are unable to reach, and subsequently phagocytose and kill, the tumor cells. As shown in the figures below, in a study conducted by us in May 2017, the administration of SRF231 in an ovarian cancer tumor model meaningfully increased the ability of macrophages, which are stained brown, to infiltrate the tumor. These results were consistent with other studies conducted by us.

SRF231 Effect on Tumor Infiltration by Macrophages

 

 

SRF231 was also observed to substantially increase phagocytosis of tumor cells by macrophages in numerous preclinical studies conducted by us since 2015. As shown in the figure below, the activity of SRF231, as measured by the percentage of macrophages that have engulfed tumor cells, was compared

 

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to a negative control and a positive control antibody. A research reagent antibody known to bind to CD47 and increase phagocytosis was used as our positive control. A research reagent antibody that does not bind to CD47 and, as such, does not have any effect on the level of phagocytosis, was used as our negative control. In this preclinical study, SRF231 was observed to meaningfully increase macrophage activity in a concentration-dependent fashion and its activity compared favorably to the positive control.

SRF231 Effects on Phagocytosis

 

 

In preclinical studies, SRF231 exhibited anti-tumor activity in both hematologic and solid tumors.

As shown in the figure below, in separate studies conducted in 2016, SRF231 was observed to inhibit growth of established tumors in preclinical hematologic malignancy models of acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, and multiple myeloma. By comparison, treatment with a control antibody did not have a meaningful impact on tumor growth over the same timeframe in the same study. We have observed similar effects on tumor growth in other models of hematologic malignancies, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

SRF231 Monotherapy Anti-Tumor Activity in Hematologic Tumors

 

 

 

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In a study conducted by us in April 2016, SRF231 was also observed to have anti-tumor activity in a solid tumor model, and similar results have been observed in additional studies conducted by us. As demonstrated in the murine model of ovarian cancer depicted below, SRF231 was observed to substantially increase overall survival when compared to a control antibody over the same time frame. All the animals treated with SRF231 (n=10) survived over the study period, while less than 25% of all animals treated with the control (n=10) survived over the same time frame.

SRF231 Monotherapy Impact on Overall Survival in Ovarian Cancer

 

 

In addition, data from our preclinical studies supports the use of SRF231 in combination with other cancer therapies. For example, when combined with rituximab, a CD20 antibody and current standard of care for the treatment of many hematologic malignancies, SRF231 was observed to meaningfully reduce tumor growth in murine models of Burkitt lymphoma and diffuse large B cell lymphoma, or DLBCL, when compared to treatment with either SRF231 or rituximab alone. The initial Burkitt lymphoma study was conducted by us in October 2016 and was repeated twice with similar results, and the diffuse large B cell lymphoma study was conducted by us in April 2016.

SRF231 Combination Anti-Tumor Activity in Hematologic Tumors

 

 

 

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Further, SRF231 administered in combination with rituximab was observed to increase tumor cell phagocytosis in a concentration-dependent fashion when compared to treatment with SRF231 alone.

Preclinical Safety Studies

We have tested SRF231 in multiple preclinical studies, including incubation of SRF231 at concentrations of up to 1 mg/mL with human whole blood, and we have not observed hemagglutination. As shown in the figure below, in a study conducted by us in September 2016, blood samples treated with SRF231 did not agglutinate at any concentration tested. To examine the safety profile of SRF231 against potential competitor antibodies, we engineered an antibody that we believe to have the same properties as another CD47 antibody in clinical development. We based our construction of this antibody on information from a scientific publication. As depicted in the figure below, this analog of a competitor antibody, labeled as Antibody A, was observed to cause hemagglutination over a broad range of concentrations. Similar results were observed in additional studies conducted by us.

SRF231 Effect on Hemagglutination

 

 

We have completed Good Laboratory Practice, or GLP, preclinical toxicology studies with SRF231 and believe that they support advancement into clinical development.

Our Phase 1 Clinical Trial

We initiated our first Phase 1 clinical trial of SRF231 in February 2018 and anticipate conducting this trial at multiple sites in the United States and Canada pursuant to an IND that was filed and sponsored by us. Initial results from this open-label Phase 1 clinical trial are anticipated in the first half of 2019. Our Phase 1 clinical trial of SRF231 consists of a monotherapy dose-escalation phase as well as expansion cohorts that evaluate SRF231 as a monotherapy. In addition, we anticipate adding expansion cohorts to this trial, which will combine SRF231 with currently approved cancer therapies. We expect to enroll approximately 170 patients across this trial. The dose-escalation phase is enrolling patients with solid tumors or lymphoma. We are also enrolling patients in expansion cohorts with various cancer types, including AML/myelodysplastic syndrome, T cell lymphoma, multiple myeloma and ovarian cancer. Our Phase 1 clinical trial design also includes a translational biomarker plan from which we hope to identify biomarkers useful in stratifying patients in order to identify those patients most likely to benefit from SRF231.

 

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Modulating the Adenosine Pathway to Treat Cancer with SRF373 and SRF617

Overview of SRF373 and SRF617

Based on our understanding of the adenosine pathway and its role in the TME, we are advancing two programs targeting different metabolic points on the adenosine pathway in order to reduce the immunosuppressive effects of adenosine in the TME.

SRF373 has been observed to inhibit CD73, an enzyme critical to the production of extracellular adenosine. By reducing the amount of adenosine in the TME, we believe the immune system will be able to better recognize and attack tumors. In our preclinical studies, SRF373 has exhibited potent CD73 enzymatic inhibition, resulting in a reduction of adenosine and increased activity of immune cells, particularly T cells. Further, in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor, our antibodies against CD73 have demonstrated potent anti-tumor effects in preclinical animal studies. CD73 is overexpressed in many tumors and can be shed from the cell surface. We therefore believe CD73 overexpression could be a useful biomarker to identify those patients most likely to benefit from SRF373. We have granted Novartis a worldwide exclusive license to develop and commercialize SRF373. We expect SRF373 to enter clinical development in 2018.

SRF617 inhibits CD39, an enzyme critical both to the production of adenosine and the breakdown of ATP. Therefore, we believe targeting CD39 will not only reduce extracellular adenosine, but will also maintain extracellular levels of immunostimulatory ATP, both of which have been observed to promote anti-tumor immunity. CD39 overexpression also counteracts the effects of chemotherapy, which we believe further supports its importance as a therapeutic target. In preclinical studies, SRF617 exhibited potent CD39 enzymatic inhibition. We wholly own SRF617 and it is not part of the Novartis collaboration. We anticipate initiating IND-enabling studies for SRF617 in 2018.

CD73 and CD39 Background

Within the TME, the adenosine pathway refers to the extracellular conversion of ATP to adenosine and the signaling of adenosine through the A_2A/A_2B adenosine receptors on immune cells. Under normal conditions, CD39 and CD73 maintain the balance of extracellular levels of immunosuppressive adenosine and immunostimulatory ATP. In healthy tissue, ATP is barely detectable in the extracellular environment because ATP is rapidly broken down by CD39 to generate adenosine monophosphate, or AMP, which is then converted to adenosine by CD73. Under conditions of cellular stress, including cancer, extracellular ATP levels rise significantly, but ATP is rapidly broken down, subsequently hindering the ability of the immune system to recognize and attack the tumor due to lower levels of ATP and higher levels of adenosine.

We believe inhibiting CD73 will reduce levels of immunosuppressive adenosine in the TME and allow key immune cells, including T cells, to attack the tumor. In addition, we believe inhibiting CD39 will maintain extracellular levels of immunostimulatory ATP in addition to reducing the amount of extracellular adenosine in the TME. Because of its role in regulating the immune system, we believe a multi-faceted approach targeting components of the adenosine pathway is attractive for the treatment of cancer.

 

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Role of Adenosine in the TME

 

 

Landscape of Competitive Agents and the Opportunity

There are multiple third-party programs evaluating targets in the adenosine pathway, including inhibitors of CD73, CD39 and the key adenosine receptors. Due to the relatively high amounts of adenosine in the TME, we believe achieving inhibition of adenosine receptors sufficient to result in a meaningful clinical response as a monotherapy could prove challenging. CD73 and CD39 are overexpressed in a variety of tumors, making them attractive targets for cancer therapies. We believe that the potency of CD73 and CD39 enzymatic inhibition will be an important differentiator and may lead to improved clinical efficacy by reducing adenosine levels in the TME to a greater extent.

Our Adenosine Pathway Programs

SRF373

SRF373 is a fully human IgG4 monoclonal antibody that is a potent inhibitor of CD73. We selected SRF373 for clinical development based on the following key attributes observed in preclinical development:

 

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Potent enzymatic inhibition of CD73, resulting in reduced adenosine levels;

 

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Increased T cell proliferation; and

 

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Inhibition of tumor growth as a monotherapy and more potently in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor.

Our Preclinical Studies

We have conducted numerous preclinical studies to assess the activity of SRF373 across a variety of preclinical models. We examined the ability of SRF373 to inhibit CD73 enzymatic activity in an ovarian cancer cell line expressing CD73 and observed that SRF373’s inhibitory activity increased in a concentration-dependent manner. To compare the enzymatic inhibitory activity of SRF373 against potential competitor antibodies, we engineered an antibody, Antibody X, that we believe to have the same properties as another CD73 antibody in clinical development. We based our construction of this antibody on publicly available patent filings. Notably, the peak CD73 enzymatic inhibition achieved using SRF373 was observed to be substantially greater than Antibody X.

 

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Further, SRF373 was observed to meaningfully reduce adenosine production from cells, and SRF373 treatment in a mouse tumor model was observed to reduce levels of plasma adenosine.

CD4⁺ T cell proliferation is inhibited by adenosine, and high levels of adenosine in the TME result in the tumor evading these important immune cells. By reducing the production of adenosine, SRF373 has the potential to increase the proliferation of CD4⁺ T cells. As depicted in the figure below, in a study conducted in September 2016, we observed that SRF373 treatment mitigated the immunosuppressive effects of adenosine produced by CD73 and subsequently increased the proliferation of T cell receptor-stimulated CD4⁺ T cells in a concentration-dependent fashion. Further, the level of T cell proliferation achieved using SRF373 was greater than the levels achieved using Antibody X. We have observed similar results in additional studies conducted by us. We believe the increased T cell proliferation seen with SRF373 is a result of greater enzymatic inhibition of CD73.

SRF373 Effect on CD4⁺ T Cell Proliferation

 

 

Additionally, we have seen compelling preclinical anti-tumor activity when combining a CD73 inhibitor with a PD-1 inhibitor. We developed a CD73 antibody closely related to SRF373 that cross reacts with murine CD73. This antibody, as shown below, was observed in a December 2015 study conducted by us to have anti-tumor activity as a monotherapy and in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor when compared to a control antibody. Notably, combining the CD73 antibody and the PD-1 inhibitor was observed to result in synergistic anti-tumor effects. Further, when the same tumor cells were reintroduced into mice treated in the combination group, the anti-tumor effects were maintained in the absence of additional antibody treatment, demonstrating the potential to establish durable anti-tumor immunity. We have observed similar results in an additional study conducted by us.

Effect of Targeting CD73 and PD-1 in Combination

 

 

 

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Planned Clinical Trial

We have granted Novartis worldwide development and commercialization rights to SRF373. An IND for SRF373, was sponsored and filed by Novartis with the FDA in February 2018, and we anticipate SRF373 entering clinical trials in 2018.

SRF617

SRF617 is a fully human IgG4 monoclonal antibody that is a potent inhibitor of CD39 enzymatic activity. In preclinical studies, we observed that SRF617 maintained immunostimulatory levels of ATP. SRF617 has the potential to be the first CD39 inhibitor to enter clinical development.

Our Preclinical Studies

In a study conducted in October 2017, we observed increased expression of CD39 following treatment with nivolumab, a PD-1 inhibitor. Specifically, samples from five donors were either treated, or not, with nivolumab. As shown in the figure below, increased CD39 expression was observed in three cell types, specifically, CD4⁺ T regulatory cells, or Treg; CD19⁺ B cells, or B cell; and CD14⁺ monocytes, or Mono. In clinical trials, others have shown increased CD39 expression in tumor biopsies from patients with renal cell carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer that were resistant to treatment with atezolizumab, a PD-L1 inhibitor. These studies suggest that CD39 expression may contribute to PD-1/PD-L1 resistance and an immunosupressive TME.

Effect of Nivolumab on CD39 Expression

 

 

 

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As shown in the figure below, in a July 2017 study conducted by us, SRF617 inhibited CD39 enzymatic activity in a concentration-dependent fashion in a multiple myeloma cell line expressing CD39 when compared to a control antibody. We have observed similar results in additional studies conducted by us.

SRF617 Effect on CD39 Enzymatic Activity

 

 

Further, in a study conducted in November 2017, we observed the immunostimulatory effects of SRF617 in a preclinical model. Specifically, in three donor samples as shown below, SRF617 was observed to enhance the immunostimulatory effects of ATP resulting in increased maturation of dendritic cells when compared to a control antibody. Dendritic cell maturation was determined by measuring levels of CD86, a known marker of dendritic cell maturation, following treatment with SRF617, or a control antibody, and ATP. In the figure below, CD86 expression levels shown for the control and SRF617 treated groups were normalized to pre-treatment levels of CD86. We have observed similar results in additional studies conducted by us.

SRF617 Effect on Dendritic Cell Maturation

 

 

Additionally, we have seen preclinical anti-tumor activity with SRF617. The study shown below was conducted by us in August and September 2017, and we observed that SRF617 was associated with inhibited tumor growth, as compared to a control antibody, with all tumors staying below 300mm³ in size in all mice treated with SRF617.

 

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Effect of SRF617 on Tumor Growth

 

 

We expect SRF373 to enter clinical development in 2018 and to commence IND-enabling studies for SRF617 in 2018.

Inhibiting the Immunosuppressive Cytokine IL-27 to Activate the Immune System

Overview of SRF388

SRF388 inhibits the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-27. In preclinical studies, treatment with SRF388 was observed to block IL-27 signaling and its downstream immunosuppressive effects. Further, combining SRF388 with a PD-1 inhibitor in preclinical studies increased the production of key inflammatory cytokines. We have developed specialized reagents and assays to understand the complex biology associated with IL-27 and its role in cancer. SRF388 is anticipated to begin IND-enabling studies in 2018. We believe SRF388 has the potential to be the first IL-27 inhibitor to enter clinical development. Under our Collaboration Agreement, Novartis has the right to purchase an option to our SRF388 program.

IL-27 Background

IL-27 is a cytokine secreted by cells that plays an important physiologic role in suppressing the immune system as evidenced by its role in resolving tissue inflammation and its association with maternal-fetal tolerance. Due to its immunosuppressive nature, there is an emerging rationale for inhibiting IL-27 to treat cancer as this approach influences the activity of multiple types of immune cells that are necessary to recognize and attack the tumor. As shown in the diagram below, IL-27 suppresses T cell activation, which we believe will prevent the immune system from recognizing, attacking and killing cancerous cells.

 

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IL-27 Role in Immunosuppression

 

 

Our Solution

SRF388 is a fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to IL-27 and inhibits its activity. We identified SRF388 using our proprietary suite of research tools, which have allowed us to enhance our deep biological understanding of IL-27 and its receptor. We selected SRF388 for clinical development based on the following key observations in our preclinical studies:

 

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Potent reduction of IL-27 driven immune cell suppression;

 

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Potential for combination therapy with checkpoint inhibitors; and

 

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Strong translational rationale for targeting IL-27 in certain types of cancer.

Our Preclinical Studies

In several preclinical studies conducted by us starting in December 2016, we observed that the treatment of human T cells and monocytes with IL-27 resulted in the induction of an immunosuppressive phenotype, including increased expression of the checkpoint proteins PD-L1 and TIM3. We observed that treatment with SRF388 blocked IL-27 signaling and prevented the induction of this phenotype, as shown in the figure below.

SRF388 Effect on IL-27 Induced Immunosuppressive Phenotype

 

 

 

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In several preclinical studies conducted by us starting in May 2017, we observed that blocking IL-27 with SRF388 in cancer patient-derived human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, after T cell receptor activation, increased key inflammatory cytokines, TNFa and IL-6, which are indicative of an activated immune state, as shown in the figure below. Additionally, in December 2016, we conducted several preclinical studies and observed that by combining SRF388 with a PD-1 inhibitor, expression of these inflammatory cytokines was further increased, also shown in the figure below. Based upon our preclinical studies, we believe that blocking both PD-1 and IL-27 in certain clinical settings could help to promote tumor specific immunity.

SRF388 Plus PD-1 Inhibitor Effect on Inflammatory Cytokine Production

 

 

We expect to begin IND-enabling studies for SRF388 in 2018.

Other Research Programs

We also have several earlier stage programs that target macrophages and other critical components of the TME, including regulatory T cells and NK cells. We expect that the unique insights generated in any one of our product programs will accelerate the development of the other programs in a synergistic fashion due to the interconnection between the pathways of the TME.

Collaboration Agreement with Novartis

Overview

In January 2016, we entered into a strategic collaboration with Novartis to develop next-generation cancer therapies. The Collaboration Agreement was subsequently amended in May 2016, July 2017 and September 2017. Pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement, we granted Novartis a worldwide exclusive license to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize antibodies that target CD73, along with the right to purchase exclusive option rights, each an Option, for up to four specified targets, each an Option Target, to obtain certain development, manufacturing and commercialization rights. Prior to filing an IND for such Option Target, we are obligated to provide Novartis with a data package with respect to such Option Target, and Novartis may purchase the Option by paying the option purchase fee. If Novartis purchases an Option, following receipt of IND acceptance of a candidate with respect to the applicable Option Target, Novartis will be entitled to exercise the Option for such Option Target. The Collaboration Agreement initially granted Novartis the right to exercise up to three purchased Options. Each Option is designated as either a regional option or a global option in accordance with a selection mechanism in the Collaboration Agreement and as

 

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further described below. The Collaboration Agreement granted Novartis the right to exclusively license the development, commercialization and manufacturing rights for up to two targets (inclusive of CD73) worldwide (we refer to these as global targets). In addition, Novartis was granted the right to exclusively license the development and manufacturing rights and ex-U.S. commercial rights for up to two additional targets, while we retained the right to retain the U.S. commercial rights for such two targets (we refer to these as regional targets). We received an upfront payment of $70.0 million from Novartis upon entering into the agreement. Under the Collaboration Agreement, Novartis currently has two Options remaining eligible for purchase, both of which can be exercised. As a result, we are entitled to potential option purchase, option exercise and milestone payments upon the achievement of specified development and sales milestones, which could amount to $1.17 billion, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales by Novartis ranging from high single-digit to mid-teens percentages. Such amount of potential option purchase, option exercise and milestone payments assumes that Novartis purchases, and exercises, both of the remaining Options available to it pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement as well as the successful clinical development of and achievement of all sales milestones for all targets covered by the Collaboration Agreement. For each regional target for which we retain U.S. commercial rights, we will pay Novartis tiered royalties ranging from a high single-digit to a mid-teens percentage on our annual net sales of regional licensed products in the United States. Through December 31, 2017, we had received an aggregate of $35.0 million in option purchase and milestone payments from Novartis. In February 2018, we received an additional milestone payment of $45.0 million from Novartis. In January 2016, we also received a $13.5 million equity investment from Novartis.

Research on Targets

Under the Collaboration Agreement, we are responsible for performing preclinical research through the first IND acceptance on antibodies that bind to CD73 and each Option Target, pursuant to a research plan directed toward each target. We are responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by or on behalf of us in connection with such research.

Development and Commercialization of CD73 Products

Novartis has the sole right to develop and commercialize CD73 antibody candidates and corresponding licensed products worldwide pursuant to a development plan and a commercialization plan, respectively. Novartis is obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop the CD73 antibody candidates and corresponding licensed products, obtain regulatory approval of such products, including within certain defined markets, and to commercialize such products following regulatory approval. Novartis is responsible for all costs and expenses of such development and commercialization and is obligated to provide us with updates on its development and commercialization activities through the joint steering committee, joint development committee and joint commercialization committee.

Option Targets

Prior to filing an IND for an Option Target, Novartis may purchase the Option to obtain certain development, manufacturing and commercialization rights for antibodies that bind to up to four Option Targets. To the extent Novartis does not elect to purchase an Option to an Option Target, the Option for such Option Target will expire and all of Novartis’ rights to such Option Target under the Collaboration Agreement will terminate. The Collaboration Agreement initially granted Novartis the right to exercise up to three purchased Options. Each exercised Option will be designated as either a regional option or global option, with each such designation determining the development and commercialization rights between the parties with respect to such Option Target, corresponding antibody candidates and licensed products, as summarized below. The Collaboration Agreement

 

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granted us the ability to designate the first Option as either regional or global and one of the remaining two Options, with Novartis designating the other remaining Option. Following Novartis’ exercise of an Option with respect to an Option Target, we will grant to Novartis licenses that are necessary to effectuate the development, manufacturing or commercialization rights associated with a regional or global option, as described below.

In December 2016, Novartis purchased an Option right for antibodies that bind to CD47 for $5.0 million. This was the first Option under the Collaboration Agreement, which gave us the ability to designate it as a regional or global option. In January 2018, we notified Novartis of our decision to designate the Option related to SRF231, our CD47 product candidate, as a regional option in order to retain U.S. rights. In March 2018, Novartis notified us of its decision to not exercise its previously purchased Option for SRF231. In March 2018, we and Novartis also mutually agreed to cease development of one of the undisclosed programs subject to the Collaboration Agreement. As a result, Novartis has two Options remaining eligible for purchase, both of which can be exercised.

Development and Commercialization of Regional Licensed Products

To the extent an exercised Option is designated as a regional target, we are primarily responsible for the early clinical development of each corresponding regional antibody candidate and regional licensed product at our own cost. Unless we choose to opt out of our development rights, we will collaborate with Novartis on the further clinical development of regional antibody candidates and regional licensed products. Pursuant to a regional development plan for each regional licensed product, we will be responsible for development activities related to obtaining regulatory approval in the United States, with Novartis responsible for development activities related to obtaining regulatory approval elsewhere in the world. The development costs of such later clinical development activities will be shared evenly between the parties. Thereafter, we are responsible for the commercialization of regional licensed products in the United States, and Novartis is responsible for the commercialization of regional licensed products outside of the United States, each pursuant to a commercialization plan. Each party must use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize such products within their respective territories. We will work with Novartis to agree to a global commercialization strategy with respect to the regional licensed products prior to commercialization.

Development and Commercialization of Global Licensed Products

To the extent an exercised Option is designated as a global target, we are primarily responsible for the early clinical development of each global antibody candidate and global licensed product at our own cost, and Novartis is responsible for later worldwide clinical development of global antibody candidates and global licensed products, pursuant to a development plan for such global licensed product, at its own cost. Novartis is solely responsible for the worldwide commercialization of global licensed products and must use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize such products, pursuant to a commercialization plan, at its own cost. Novartis agrees to provide us with development and commercialization updates regarding global licensed products through the joint steering committee, joint development committee and joint commercialization committee.

Exclusivity

Neither party may, alone or with any affiliate or third party, (i) research or develop any antibody that specifically binds to an Option Target for a specified period of time outside of the Collaboration Agreement or (ii) develop or commercialize any antibody that specifically binds to CD73 or any Option Target that subsequently becomes a licensed target for a specified period of time outside the Collaboration Agreement.

 

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Financial Terms

In addition to the upfront fee, under the Collaboration Agreement, Novartis is obligated to pay us a fee to the extent it desires to purchase each Option for each Option Target and another fee to exercise such purchased Option. As of December 31, 2017, we had received $5.0 million in option purchase payments and we are currently entitled to an aggregate of up to $67.5 million of potential option purchase and option exercise payments. We are also eligible to receive payments on a target-by-target basis upon the achievement of specified development and sales milestones and tiered royalties on annual net sales by Novartis of licensed products ranging from high single-digit to mid-teens percentages. We are required to pay Novartis tiered royalties of a high single-digit to mid-teens percentage on our annual net sales of regional licensed products in the United States. The royalty payments are subject to reduction under specified conditions set forth in the Collaboration Agreement. In January 2016, we also received a $13.5 million equity investment from Novartis.

Termination

Unless terminated earlier, the Collaboration Agreement will continue in effect until neither we nor Novartis is researching, developing, manufacturing or commercializing any antibody candidates or licensed products under the Collaboration Agreement. Novartis may terminate the Collaboration Agreement on a target-by-target basis for any reason upon prior notice to us within a specified time period. However, Novartis cannot terminate the Collaboration Agreement with respect to CD73 for a certain period of time following the effective date. Either party may terminate the Collaboration Agreement on a target-by-target basis if an undisputed material breach is not cured within a certain period of time or upon notice of insolvency of the other party. To the extent Novartis terminates for convenience, for our material breach or insolvency, Novartis will grant us, on mutually agreeable financial terms, an exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual and royalty-bearing license with respect to intellectual property controlled by Novartis that is reasonably necessary to research, develop, manufacture or commercialize certain products.

Other Collaborations and License Agreements

H2L2 License Agreement

In April 2014, we entered into a license agreement, or the H2L2 License Agreement, with Harbour Antibodies H2L2 BV, or H2L2. Pursuant to the H2L2 License Agreement, H2L2 granted us a worldwide, non-exclusive license under H2L2’s technology to (i) make, use, manufacture, import and export (but not sell) H2L2 mice, which are capable of generating fully human antibodies, for research, development, clinical and manufacturing purposes and (ii) make, use, sell, offer for sale, import and export antibodies discovered or generated using H2L2 technology, and products incorporating such antibodies. Such licenses are sublicensable only to our affiliates or third-party contractors, other than in the case of the license to sell antibody products, which we may license to any third party. Under the H2L2 License Agreement, we are obligated to pay H2L2 a low five-digit dollar amount as an upfront license fee for each antibody program that we initiate using the H2L2 mice. We may be obligated to pay up to an aggregate of $1.04 million in milestone payments to H2L2 for each antibody cell line we develop through Phase 3 clinical trials and regulatory approval. We are required to pay H2L2 a one-time sales performance payment of a low seven-digit dollar amount for each antibody product that is commercialized and achieves worldwide gross sales in excess of a low eight-digit dollar amount. If we enter an agreement with a third party to further research or commercialize an antibody product developed under the H2L2 License Agreement, then we are obligated to pay H2L2 a one-time payment of the lesser of (i) a low double-digit percentage of the upfront fee paid to us by the third party or (ii) a low six-digit dollar amount.

 

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We own all results and inventions that we generate while exercising our rights under the licenses.

Unless earlier terminated, the H2L2 License Agreement will expire in 2019. Either party may terminate the H2L2 License Agreement upon an uncured material breach by the other party. We may also terminate the H2L2 License Agreement at will upon providing prior written notice to H2L2.

Harbour License Agreement

In September 2015, we entered into an exclusive license agreement, or the Harbour License Agreement, with Harbour Antibodies B.V., or Harbour, to receive an exclusive license to Harbour’s materials and patent rights directed to CD47. Pursuant to the Harbour License Agreement, Harbour granted us a worldwide, royalty-bearing exclusive license, with the right to sublicense, to exploit products that incorporate Harbour’s materials or that would infringe Harbour’s patent rights. We are obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize such licensed products.

In consideration, we paid Harbour a one-time license upfront payment of $125,000 and are required to pay a nominal annual maintenance fee during the term. We are obligated to pay up to an aggregate of $4.75 million in developmental and commercial milestones on each licensed product. We are also obligated pay Harbour royalties of a low single-digit percentage on the worldwide net sales of any licensed product on a country-by-country basis until the expiration of the royalty term, which is the later of (i) expiration or termination of the last to expire of a valid claim within the patent rights that cover such licensed product in a country or (ii) ten years from the date of first commercial sale of the licensed product within a country.

The Harbour License Agreement will expire on the last to expire royalty term on a licensed product-by-licensed product basis, unless terminated earlier by the parties. We may terminate the agreement for any reason with proper prior notice to Harbour. Harbour may terminate if we fail to pay an amount due after Harbour provides us written notice or upon our uncured material breach, subject to completion of a dispute resolution process and subsequent cure.

Adimab Development and Option Agreement

In July 2014, we entered a development and option agreement, or the Adimab Agreement, with Adimab, LLC, or Adimab, for the discovery and optimization of proprietary antibodies as potential therapeutic product candidates. Under the Adimab Agreement, we will select biological targets against which Adimab will use its proprietary platform technology to research and develop antibody proteins using a mutually agreed upon research plan.

Upon our selection of a target, we and Adimab will initiate a research plan and the discovery term begins. During the discovery term, Adimab will grant us a non-exclusive, non-sublicenseable license under its technology with respect to the target, to research, design and preclinically develop and use antibodies that were modified or derived using Adimab technology, solely to evaluate such antibodies and perform our responsibilities under the research plan. We also will grant to Adimab a non-exclusive, nontransferable license with respect to the target under our technology that covers or relates to such target, solely to perform its responsibilities under the research plan during the discovery period. We are required to pay Adimab at an agreed upon rate for its full-time employees during the discovery period while Adimab performs research on each target under the applicable research plan.

Adimab granted us an exclusive option to obtain a non-exclusive, worldwide, fully paid-up, sublicensable license under Adimab’s platform patents and other Adimab technology solely to research up to ten antibodies, chosen by us against a specific biological target for a specified period of time, or

 

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