As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1, 2018

Registration No. 333-            

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

Iterum Therapeutics plc

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

Ireland		2834		98-1283148
(State or other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)		(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

Block 2 Floor 3, Harcourt Centre,

Harcourt Street,

Dublin 2,

Ireland

+353 1 903 8920

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 

 

Corey Fishman

President and Chief Executive Officer

200 South Wacker Dr., Suite 650

Chicago, IL 60606

(312) 778-6070

(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

 

 

Copies to:

 

Charles S. Kim Alan D. Hambelton Cooley LLP 4401 Eastgate Mall San Diego, CA 92121 (858) 550-6049		Sophia Hudson Richard D. Truesdell, Jr. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 450 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10017 (212) 450-4000

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 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, 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 to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☒

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered		Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1)		Amount of Registration Fee
Ordinary shares, $0.01 par value per share		$92,000,000		$11,454

(1)	Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the amount of the registration fee in accordance with Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act. Includes the offering price of shares that the underwriters have the over-allotment option to purchase.

 

 

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 that specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED MAY 1, 2018

PROSPECTUS

 

                          Ordinary Shares

 

 

This is our initial public offering. We are offering                  of our ordinary shares.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our ordinary shares. We expect the initial public offering price to be between $             and $             per share. We have applied to list our ordinary shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ITRM.”

We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. See “Prospectus Summary—Emerging Growth Company Status.”

You should consider the risks we have described in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 10.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

		Per Share				Total
Initial public offering price		$				$
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)		$				$
Proceeds, before expenses, to us		$				$

 

(1)	We refer you to “Underwriting” beginning on page 168 of this prospectus for additional information regarding underwriting compensation.

Certain of our directors and existing shareholders, or their affiliates, have indicated an interest in purchasing up to an aggregate of approximately $         million of our ordinary shares in this offering. These shares will be offered and sold on the same terms as the other shares that are being offered and sold in this offering to the public. Although we anticipate that these parties will purchase all of the ordinary shares that these parties have indicated an interest in purchasing, indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase and any of these parties may determine to purchase more, less or no shares in this offering.

We have granted the underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional              ordinary shares on the same terms and conditions.

The underwriters expect to deliver the ordinary shares on or about                     , 2018.

 

Leerink Partners		RBC Capital Markets

Guggenheim Securities

Needham & Company

The date of this prospectus is                     , 2018.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

		Page
Prospectus Summary			1
Risk Factors			10
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data			64
Use of Proceeds			66
Dividend Policy			67
Capitalization			68
Dilution			70
Selected Consolidated Financial Data			72
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations			73
Business			86
Management			121
Executive Compensation			129
Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions			136
Principal Shareholders			138
Description of Share Capital			140
Shares Eligible for Future Sale			157
Taxation			160
Underwriting			168
Legal Matters			176
Experts			176
Where You Can Find Additional Information			176
Index to Financial Statements			F-1

 

 

We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus and in any free writing prospectus we prepare and authorize. Neither we nor any of the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give you. Neither we nor the underwriters are making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where such offer and sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the cover of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future growth prospects may have changed since that date.

 

 

Persons who come into possession of this prospectus and any applicable free writing prospectus in jurisdictions outside the United States are required to inform themselves about and to observe any restrictions as to this offering and the distribution of this prospectus and any such free writing prospectus applicable to that jurisdiction.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our ordinary shares involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus, before making your decision to invest in our ordinary shares. We cannot assure you that any of the events discussed in the risk factors below will not occur. These risks could have a material and adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, and if so our future prospects would likely be materially and adversely affected. If any of such events were to happen, the trading price of our ordinary shares could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Capital Requirements

We have incurred net losses in each year since our inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses unless we successfully commercialize our sulopenem program.

We are a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. We have not generated any product revenue and have incurred net losses in each year since our inception in 2015. As of December 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $54.7 million. Our product candidates, oral sulopenem and sulopenem (together, the sulopenem program), are in clinical development, have not been approved for sale and we may never have our product candidates approved for commercialization. We have financed our operations through private placements of our preferred shares. We have devoted substantially all of our financial resources and efforts to research and development, including preclinical and clinical development, for our sulopenem program.

We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses as we conduct planned clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, seek marketing approval for such product candidates if clinical trials are successful, and pursue the development of our sulopenem program in additional indications through preclinical and clinical development. Our expenses will also increase substantially if and as we:

 

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conduct additional clinical trials for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, which include our planned Phase 1 clinical trials, which we expect will occur in 2018 and 2019, and our three planned pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials which we plan to initiate in the second half of 2018;

 

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initiate other studies as part of our sulopenem program, some of which may be required for regulatory approval of our product candidates;

 

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establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem in the United States if we obtain marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA);

 

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establish manufacturing and supply chain capacity sufficient to provide commercial quantities of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if we obtain marketing approval;

 

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pursue the development of our sulopenem program in additional indications;

 

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maintain, expand, defend and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

 

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hire additional clinical, scientific and commercial personnel;

 

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add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product development and planned future commercialization efforts, as well as to support our transition to a public reporting company; and

 

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acquire or in-license other product candidates or technologies.

 

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We are substantially dependent on the success of our two product candidates, oral sulopenem and sulopenem, and if we are unable to achieve and sustain profitability, the market value of our ordinary shares will likely decline.

Our ability to become and remain profitable depends on our ability to generate revenue. To date, we have invested substantially all of our efforts and financial resources in the development of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, which are currently our two product candidates in development. Our prospects, including our ability to finance our operations and generate revenue from product sales, will currently depend entirely on the development and commercialization of our sulopenem program.

We do not expect to generate significant revenue unless and until we obtain marketing approval for, and commercialize, oral sulopenem and sulopenem. Our ability to generate future revenue from product sales will require us to be successful in a range of challenging clinical and commercial activities, including:

 

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commencing, enrolling and successfully completing Phase 3 clinical trials of our sulopenem program in our three initial indications;

 

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applying for and obtaining marketing approval for oral sulopenem and sulopenem;

 

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protecting and maintaining our rights to our intellectual property portfolio related to our sulopenem program;

 

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establishing and maintaining supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties that can support clinical development and can provide adequate commercial quantities of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if approved;

 

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establishing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities to effectively market and sell oral sulopenem and sulopenem; and

 

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obtaining market acceptance of oral sulopenem and sulopenem as viable treatment options.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing pharmaceutical products, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses or when, or if, we will become profitable. 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. Our expenses could increase if we are required by the FDA, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or any comparable foreign regulatory authority, to perform different studies or studies in addition to those currently expected, or if there are any delays in completing our clinical trials, including delays or expense associated with increasing the sample size of any study, or the development of our sulopenem program or any future product candidates. Even if oral sulopenem or sulopenem are approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with the commercial launch of oral sulopenem and sulopenem.

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 could cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

We will require additional capital to fund our operations, and if we fail to obtain necessary financing, we may not be able to complete the development and commercialization of our sulopenem program.

Developing pharmaceutical products is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete. We expect that our expenses will increase substantially as we commence and advance our planned clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, seek marketing approval for such product candidates if clinical trials are successful, and pursue the development of our sulopenem program in additional indications through preclinical and clinical development. If we obtain marketing approval for oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any future product candidate, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales,

 

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marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Some of these expenses may be incurred in advance of marketing approval, and could be substantial. Accordingly, we will be required to obtain further funding through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations and licensing arrangements or other sources. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed would have a negative effect on our financial condition and our ability to develop and commercialize our sulopenem program and otherwise pursue our business strategy.

We believe that the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and available borrowings under our credit facility, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through                     .. Our cash forecasts are based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Changing circumstances could cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control. Our future funding requirements, both short-term and long-term, will depend on many factors, including:

 

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the timing and costs of our planned clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem;

 

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the initiation, progress, timing, costs and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials of other potential product candidates and of our current product candidates in additional indications;

 

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the amount of funding that we receive under government awards that we have applied for or may apply for in the future;

 

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the number and characteristics of product candidates that we pursue;

 

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the outcome, timing and costs of seeking regulatory approvals;

 

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the costs of commercialization activities for oral sulopenem and sulopenem and other product candidates if we receive marketing approval, including the costs and timing of establishing product sales, marketing, distribution and manufacturing capabilities;

 

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the receipt of marketing approval and revenue received from any potential commercial sales of oral sulopenem and sulopenem;

 

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the terms and timing of any future collaborations, licensing or other arrangements that we may establish;

 

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the amount and timing of any payments we may be required to make, or that we may receive, in connection with the licensing, filing, prosecution, defense and enforcement of any patents or other intellectual property rights, including milestone and royalty payments and patent prosecution fees that we are obligated to pay pursuant to an exclusive license agreement with Pfizer (the Pfizer License) or other future license agreements;

 

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the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights and defending against any intellectual property related claims;

 

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the costs of operating as a public company; and

 

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the extent to which we in-license or acquire other products and technologies.

Upon completion of this offering, our non-dilutive source of funding is expected to be a sub-award from the Trustees of Boston University under the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) program (the CARB-X Award). The CARB-X Award supports preclinical and clinical trials in support of our potential regulatory filings for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, along with chemistry, manufacturing and controls optimization and development of our commercial bilayer tablet. The CARB-X Award is structured as a cost reimbursement arrangement. In June 2017, CARB-X awarded funds of up to $1.5 million to advance the development of our sulopenem program and during the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized $0.5 million of revenue under this award. The CARB-X Award is subject to termination by the Trustees of Boston University with 30 days, written notice, and to the availability of federal government and non-government funding.

 

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Our indebtedness imposes certain operating and other restrictions on us and could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital.

On April 27, 2018, our subsidiaries, Iterum Therapeutics International Limited, Iterum Therapeutics US Holdings Limited and Iterum Therapeutics US Limited (Borrowers), entered into a loan and security agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) pursuant to which SVB agreed to lend the Borrowers up to $30 million in two term loans. $15 million of the secured credit facility was available on closing and the other $15 million is available at our option upon the satisfaction of certain draw requirements. In connection with the initial drawdown, we issued warrants to SVB and Life Sciences Fund II LLC (LSF) to purchase an aggregate of 312,500 Series B-2 preferred shares. If we draw down the second term loan, each of SVB and LSF will be entitled, pursuant to additional share warrants issued to each of them at closing, to purchase such number of additional ordinary shares in an aggregate amount equal to 2.5% of the funded amount, divided by the applicable exercise price. Obligations under the secured credit facility are secured by substantially all of our existing and future assets and the existing and future assets of our subsidiaries, including intellectual property. Our secured credit facility imposes operating and other restrictions on us. Such restrictions affect, and in many respects limit or prohibit, our ability to, among other things, dispose of certain assets, pay dividends and incur additional indebtedness. Failure to make payments or comply with these and other terms and covenants under our secured credit facility could result in an event of default, which could lead to an acceleration of amounts due and foreclosure upon and/or sale or other liquidation of all of our and our subsidiaries’ assets, including intellectual property. Any of the foregoing would have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition. In addition, this indebtedness and the security interests granted to secure it could make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital to fund our operations.

We have a limited operating history and no history of commercializing pharmaceutical products, which may make it difficult to evaluate the prospects for our future viability.

We began operations in November 2015. Since our inception, we have devoted substantially all of our financial resources and efforts to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, planning for potential commercialization, and research and development, including preclinical and clinical development, for our sulopenem program. While the members of the development team have successfully developed and registered other antibiotics, as Iterum we have limited experience and have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully complete a large-scale, pivotal clinical trial, obtain marketing approval, 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. Consequently, predictions about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products.

Assuming we obtain marketing approval for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, we will need to transition from a company with a research and development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays, and may not be successful in such a transition.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our shareholders, including purchasers of ordinary shares in this offering, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

Unless and until we can generate a substantial amount of revenue from our sulopenem program or future product candidates, we expect to finance our future cash needs through equity offerings, debt financings, collaboration agreements, other third-party funding, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements, marketing and distribution arrangements or government funding. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe that we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

Our issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our ordinary shares to decline, and our shareholders may not agree with our financing plans

 

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or the terms of such financings. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of ordinary shares, convertible securities or other equity securities, your ownership interest may be materially diluted, and the terms of these securities could include liquidation or other preferences and anti-dilution protections that could adversely affect your rights as an ordinary shareholder. In addition, if we make an additional draw under our secured credit facility, we will be required to issue additional warrants. Further debt financing, if available, would result in increased fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that limit our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends, which could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business. In addition, securing additional financing would require a substantial amount of time and attention from our management and may divert a disproportionate amount of their attention away from day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our management’s ability to oversee the development of our product candidates.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, 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.

We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial resources, we intend to focus on developing our sulopenem program for the specific indications of uUTI, cUTI and cIAI, all of which are focused on the most pressing near-term medical needs, in terms of both their potential for marketing approval and commercialization. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other potential product candidates or developing our sulopenem program in other indications that may prove to have greater commercial potential.

Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable product candidates. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to the product candidate.

Risks Related to Clinical Development and Commercialization

We are heavily dependent on the success of our sulopenem program, and our ability to develop, obtain marketing approval for and successfully commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem.

We currently have no products approved for sale and have invested substantially all of our efforts and financial resources in the development of our sulopenem program as the first and only oral and intravenous (IV) branded penem available globally. Our near-term prospects are substantially dependent on our ability to develop, obtain marketing approval for and successfully commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem. The success of our sulopenem program will depend on several factors, including the following:

 

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successful enrollment in, and completion of, clinical trials, including our three planned pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, which we plan to initiate in the second half of 2018;

 

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clinical trial results with safety, tolerability and efficacy profiles that are satisfactory to the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority;

 

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timely completion of any additional clinical trials and non-clinical studies conducted to support the filing for regulatory approvals of our sulopenem program, if required by the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority;

 

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receipt of marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;

 

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establishment and maintenance of arrangements with third-party manufacturers to obtain commercial supply at a scale sufficient to meet anticipated demand and at a cost appropriate for our commercialization;

 

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acquisition and maintenance of patent, trade secret and other intellectual property protection and regulatory exclusivity, both in the United States and internationally, including our ability to maintain our license agreement with Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer);

 

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protection of our rights in our intellectual property portfolio;

 

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launch of commercial sales of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;

 

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the effectiveness of our own or any future collaborators’ marketing, sales and distribution strategy and operations;

 

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acceptance of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if approved, by patients, physicians and the medical community at large;

 

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our ability to obtain and sustain an adequate level of reimbursement by third-party payors;

 

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the prevalence, frequency and severity of adverse side effects of oral sulopenem and sulopenem;

 

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the availability, perceived advantages, relative cost and relative efficacy of alternative and competing therapies; and

 

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a continued acceptable safety profile of oral sulopenem and sulopenem following approval.

Many of these factors are beyond our control, including clinical development, the regulatory submission process, potential threats to our intellectual property rights, manufacturing and the impact of competition. If we are unable to develop, receive marketing approval for, or successfully commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem, or if we experience delays as a result of any of these factors or otherwise, our business could be materially harmed.

As Iterum, we have no experience in obtaining regulatory approval for a drug.

As Iterum, we have never obtained regulatory approval for, or commercialized, a drug. We must complete extensive preclinical and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans before we will be able to obtain these approvals. To gain approval to market a product candidate, we must provide the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities with non-clinical, clinical and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) data that adequately demonstrates the safety and efficacy of the product for the intended indication applied for in the new drug application (NDA) or other respective regulatory filing. It is possible that the FDA may refuse to accept any or all of our planned NDAs for substantive review or may conclude after review of our data that our application is insufficient to obtain regulatory approval for any current or future product candidates. If the FDA does not approve any of our planned NDAs, it may require that we conduct additional costly clinical, nonclinical or manufacturing validation studies before it will reconsider our applications. Depending on the extent of these or any other FDA-required studies, approval of any NDA or other application that we submit may be significantly delayed, possibly for several years, or may require us to expend more resources than we have available. Any failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approvals would prevent us from commercializing oral sulopenem and sulopenem, generating revenues and achieving and sustaining profitability. It is also possible that additional studies, if performed and completed, may not be considered sufficient by the FDA to approve any NDA or other application that we submit. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to abandon the development of our product candidates, which would materially adversely affect our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations. We face similar risks for our applications in other countries.

 

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If clinical trials of oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate that we may advance to clinical trials fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, or do not otherwise produce favorable results, we may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate.

We may not commercialize, market, promote, or sell any product candidate in the United States without obtaining marketing approval from the FDA or in other countries without obtaining approvals from comparable foreign regulatory authorities, such as the EMA, and we may never receive such approvals. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is inherently uncertain as to outcome. We have not previously submitted an NDA to the FDA or similar applications to comparable foreign regulatory authorities for any of our product candidates.

Our business currently depends entirely on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our sulopenem program. The clinical development of our sulopenem program is susceptible to the risk of failure inherent at any stage of drug development, including failure to demonstrate efficacy in a clinical trial or across a broad population of patients, the occurrence of severe adverse events, failure to comply with protocols or applicable regulatory requirements, and determination by the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority that a drug product is not approvable. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry, including biotechnology companies, have suffered significant setbacks in clinical trials, even after promising results in earlier nonclinical studies or clinical trials. The results of preclinical and other nonclinical studies and/or early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. Notwithstanding any promising results in early nonclinical studies or clinical trials, we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks.

For example, we present data from clinical trials conducted by Pfizer Japan in the 1990s. The data from those clinical trials is not directly comparable to data from clinical trials that would be conducted today or the data that we anticipate from our Phase 3 program for a variety of reasons, including that protocols were designed for different purposes and as a consequence had different enrollment and efficacy evaluation criteria. For example, while a subjective investigator assessment of outcome is typically included in all cUTI protocols and was performed in the Japanese program, more structured endpoints are required as part of current FDA guidelines for registrational trials. Current FDA guidelines define the primary efficacy outcome based on both clinical and microbiological success, while EMA guidelines recommend microbiologic outcome. The structured endpoint in the Japanese program assessed outcome based on resolution of pyuria and microbiologic outcome. In addition, the pathogens isolated in the course of a clinical trial will vary depending on the types of patients enrolled, the geographic location of the sites that contribute to the study and the year in which the study is performed. While the organisms seen in the Japanese study are similar to those we anticipate in the Phase 3 program, we expect the frequency distribution of these pathogens may be different. Furthermore, adverse event reports can vary by geographic region and we may see a different adverse event rate and different types of events, in patients that we study in the Phase 3 program relative to the experience in Japan.

The clinical development of oral sulopenem, sulopenem and other product candidates is susceptible to the risk of failure inherent at any stage of drug development, including failure to achieve efficacy in a clinical trial or across a broad population of patients, the occurrence of severe adverse events, failure to comply with protocols or applicable regulatory requirements, and determination by the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority that a drug product is not approvable. The outcome of preclinical studies and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results.

In addition, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. Although data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem provides support for the overall safety profile of the product candidates, many companies that believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval for the product candidates. Even if we believe that the results of our clinical trials warrant marketing

 

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approval, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree and may not grant marketing approval of our product candidates.

In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety and/or efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial procedures set forth in protocols, differences in the size and type of the patient populations, adherence to the dosing regimen and other trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants, among others. It is possible that even if one or more of our product candidates has a beneficial effect, that effect will not be detected during clinical evaluation as a result of one of the factors listed or otherwise. Conversely, as a result of the same factors, our clinical trials may indicate an apparent positive effect of a product candidate that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any. Similarly, in our clinical trials, we may fail to detect toxicity of or intolerability of our product candidates or may determine that our product candidates are toxic or not well tolerated when that is not in fact the case. In the case of our clinical trials, results may differ on the basis of the type of bacteria with which patients are infected. We cannot assure you that any Phase 3 or other clinical trials that we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety to obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates.

We may encounter unforeseen events prior to, during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent us from obtaining regulatory approval for oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any of our other product candidates, including:

 

•

although we expect to conduct our Phase 3 clinical trials pursuant to Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreements, the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may ultimately disagree as to the design or implementation of our Phase 3 clinical trials or other clinical trials;

 

•

we may not reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations (CROs), and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;

 

•

clinical trials of our product candidates may produce unfavorable or inconclusive results;

 

•

we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon product development programs;

 

•

our third-party contractors, including those manufacturing our product candidates or conducting clinical trials on our behalf, may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;

 

•

the FDA, the local National Health Authorities or institutional review boards may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site;

 

•

we may have to suspend or terminate clinical trials of a product candidate for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements or a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks, undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics of the product candidate;

 

•

the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we enter into agreement for clinical and commercial supplies; or

 

•

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

If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate beyond the clinical trials and testing that we contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates, if the results of these clinical trials

 

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or tests are unfavorable or are only modestly favorable or if there are safety concerns associated with oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate, we may:

 

•

incur additional unplanned costs;

 

•

be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates;

 

•

not obtain marketing approval at all;

 

•

obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;

 

•

obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or significant safety warnings, including boxed warnings;

 

•

be subject to additional post-marketing testing or other requirements; or

 

•

be required to remove the product from the market after obtaining marketing approval.

Our failure to successfully initiate and complete clinical trials of our product candidates and to demonstrate the efficacy and safety necessary to obtain regulatory approval to market any of our product candidates would significantly harm our business. We cannot assure you that our clinical trials will begin as planned or be completed on schedule, if at all, or that we will not need to restructure our clinical trials. Significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates, which may harm our business and results of operations. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, delays of clinical trials may ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate.

If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise 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 study until its conclusion. We may not be able to initiate, continue or complete clinical trials of oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate that we develop if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in clinical trials as required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, such as the EMA. Patient enrollment is a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, and is affected by many factors, including:

 

•

the size and nature of the patient population;

 

•

the severity of the disease under investigation;

 

•

the proximity of patients to clinical sites;

 

•

the eligibility criteria for participation in the clinical trial;

 

•

the number of sites at which we conduct the trial and the speed at which we are able to open such sites;

 

•

the prevalence of antibiotic resistance to pathogens where we conduct the clinical trial;

 

•

the accuracy of certain estimates and assumptions upon which the design of the protocols are predicated;

 

•

our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with appropriate experience;

 

•

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

 

•

our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and

 

•

the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the clinical trials before completion.

The inclusion and exclusion criteria for our contemplated Phase 3 clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem may adversely affect our enrollment rates for patients in these clinical trials. In addition, we may face

 

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competition in enrolling suitable patients as a result of other companies conducting clinical trials for antibiotic product candidates that are intended to treat similar infections, resulting in slower than anticipated enrollment in our clinical trials. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, or slow down or halt our product development for oral sulopenem and sulopenem.

Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials would result in significant delays or might require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates, slow down or halt our product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to seek and obtain the marketing approval required to commence product sales and generate revenue, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing if needed. Furthermore, we rely on and expect to continue to rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials, and we will have limited influence over their performance.

Success in non-clinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and we cannot assure you that any of our current clinical trials, planned Phase 3 clinical trials or any other clinical trials that we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety to obtain regulatory approval to market our sulopenem program in any indication.

Our planned pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem are subject to a number of specific risks arising from our clinical program and the design of such clinical trials.

We have not previously conducted Phase 3 clinical trials of oral sulopenem or sulopenem in the indications uUTI, cUTI and cIAI, and we have not documented to the satisfaction of regulators that these treatments are effective in treating uUTIs, cUTIs or cIAIs in humans. Although we believe that oral sulopenem and sulopenem have the potential to treat uUTIs, cUTIs, and cIAIs in humans based on the results of prior preclinical studies and clinical trials, the results of these preclinical studies and clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of the results of our planned clinical trials, and we cannot guarantee that oral sulopenem will demonstrate the expected efficacy in our planned pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial patients. We also cannot guarantee that the projections made from the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic models that we developed from nonclinical and clinical oral sulopenem and sulopenem studies will be validated in our planned pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials.

Other companies in the pharmaceutical industry have frequently suffered significant setbacks in later clinical trials, even after achieving promising results in earlier nonclinical studies or clinical trials.

Serious adverse events or undesirable side effects or other unexpected properties of oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate may be identified during development or after approval that could delay, prevent or cause the withdrawal of regulatory approval, limit the commercial potential, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval.

Serious adverse events or undesirable side effects caused by, or other unexpected properties of, our product candidates could cause us, an institutional review board (IRB), or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt our clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label, the imposition of distribution or use restrictions or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. If oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any of our other product candidates is associated with serious or unexpected adverse events or undesirable side effects, the FDA or the IRBs at the institutions in which our studies are conducted, could suspend or terminate our clinical trials or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease clinical trials or deny approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the clinical trial or result in potential product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.

While the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the bilayer tablet is sulopenem etzadroxil, the combination product with probenecid has not yet been tested extensively in patients. There may be unforeseen serious adverse

 

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events or side effects that differ from those seen in Phase 1 normal healthy volunteers with oral sulopenem or the prior post-marketing experience with probenecid. There may also be unexpected adverse events associated with probenecid that have not been seen to date. We may see higher rates of adverse events than were reported in the clinical trials Pfizer conducted in Japan.

To date, sulopenem and sulopenem etzadroxil have generally been well tolerated in clinical trials conducted in healthy subjects and patients. During the development of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, patients have experienced drug-related side effects including diarrhea, temporary increases in hepatic enzymes, allergic reactions, and rash. In the Japanese program, one patient reported a serious adverse event related to sulopenem of a transient elevation in liver function tests. The patient died due to metastatic lung cancer. Other serious adverse events recorded in patients receiving sulopenem in the Japanese program, which were not considered by the investigator to be related to sulopenem, included myocardial infarction with respiratory failure and progression of underlying ovarian carcinoma, in both cases resulting in death. For each of these patients, sulopenem was not determined to be the cause of death. If unexpected adverse events occur in any of our planned clinical trials, we may need to abandon development of our product candidates, or limit development to lower doses or to certain uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other unfavorable characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. Many compounds that initially showed promise in clinical or earlier stage testing are later found to cause undesirable or unexpected side effects that prevented further development of the compound.

Undesirable side effects or other unexpected adverse events or properties of oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any of our other product candidates could arise or become known either during clinical development or, if approved, after the approved product has been marketed. If such an event occurs during development, our clinical trials could be suspended or terminated and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of, or could deny approval of, oral sulopenem, sulopenem or our other product candidates. If such an event occurs after such product candidates are approved, a number of potentially significant negative consequences may result, including:

 

•

regulatory authorities may withdraw the approval of such product;

 

•

we may be required to recall a product or change the way such product is administered to patients;

 

•

regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the label or impose distribution or use restrictions;

 

•

regulatory authorities may require one or more post-marketing studies;

 

•

regulatory authorities may require the addition of a “black box” warning;

 

•

we may be required to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), including the creation of a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;

 

•

we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;

 

•

our product may become less competitive; and

 

•

our reputation may suffer.

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product candidate, if approved, or could substantially increase commercialization costs and expenses, which could delay or prevent us from generating revenue from the sale of our products and harm our business and results of operations.

Even if a product candidate does obtain regulatory approval, it may never achieve the market acceptance by physicians, patients, hospitals, third-party payors and others in the medical community that is necessary for commercial success, and the market opportunity may be smaller than we estimate.

Even if we obtain FDA or other regulatory approvals and are able to launch oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate commercially, the product candidate may not achieve market acceptance among

 

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physicians, patients, hospitals (including pharmacy directors) and third-party payors and, ultimately, may not be commercially successful. For example, physicians are often reluctant to switch their patients from existing therapies even when new and potentially more effective or convenient treatments enter the market. Moreover, many antibiotics currently exist for the pathogens underlying uUTI, cUTI and cIAI. While many of those pathogens are resistant to certain drugs in the market, the selection is broad, and individual physicians’ prescribing patterns vary widely and are affected by resistance rates in their geographies, whether their patients are at elevated risk, the ability of patients to afford branded drugs and concerns regarding generating resistance with specific classes of antibiotics.

Efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of our product candidates may require significant resources and may not be successful. If oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate that we develop does not achieve an adequate level of market acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenues and, therefore, we may not become profitable. Market acceptance of any product candidate for which we receive approval depends on a number of factors, including:

 

•

the efficacy and safety of the product candidate as demonstrated in clinical trials as compared to alternative treatments;

 

•

the potential and perceived advantages and disadvantages of the product candidates, including cost and clinical benefit relative to alternative treatments;

 

•

relative convenience and ease of administration;

 

•

the clinical indications for which the product candidate is approved;

 

•

the willingness of physicians to prescribe the product;

 

•

the willingness of hospital pharmacy directors to purchase the product for their formularies;

 

•

acceptance by physicians, patients, operators of hospitals and treatment facilities and parties responsible for coverage and reimbursement of the product;

 

•

the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors and government authorities;

 

•

the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts;

 

•

the strength of marketing and distribution support;

 

•

limitations or warnings, including distribution or use restrictions, contained in the product’s approved labeling or an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy;

 

•

whether the product is designated under physician treatment guidelines as a first-line therapy or as a second- or third-line therapy for particular infections;

 

•

the approval of other new products for the same indications;

 

•

the timing of market introduction of the approved product as well as competitive products;

 

•

adverse publicity about the product or favorable publicity about competitive products;

 

•

the emergence of bacterial resistance to the product; and

 

•

the rate at which resistance to other drugs in the target infections grows.

In addition, the potential market opportunity for oral sulopenem and sulopenem is difficult to estimate. Our estimates of the potential market opportunity are predicated on several key assumptions such as industry knowledge and publications, third-party research reports and other surveys. While we believe that our internal assumptions are reasonable, these assumptions involve the exercise of significant judgment on the part of our management, are inherently uncertain and the reasonableness of these assumptions has not been assessed by an independent source. If any of the assumptions proves to be inaccurate, then the actual market for oral sulopenem and sulopenem could be smaller than our estimates of the potential market opportunity. If the actual market for oral sulopenem and sulopenem is smaller than we expect, or if the product fails to achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, health care payors and patients, our product revenue may be limited and it may be more difficult for us to achieve or maintain profitability.

 

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We currently have no commercial organization. If we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into sales, marketing and distribution agreements with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate if such product candidate is approved.

If we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into sales, marketing and distribution agreements with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate if such product candidate is approved.

We currently do not have a sales, marketing or distribution infrastructure and we have no experience in the sales, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. To achieve commercial success for any approved product, we must either build our marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities, or make arrangements to outsource those functions to third parties. If oral sulopenem and sulopenem receive regulatory approval, we intend to build a commercial organization in the United States and recruit a targeted sales force with technical expertise, an internal marketing and health resource group, as well as a managed markets group focused on reimbursement activities with third-party payors and a specialty distribution team to ensure pharmacy-level stocking. The development of sales, marketing and distribution capabilities will require substantial resources, will be time-consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing and distribution capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization costs. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel. In addition, we may not be able to hire a sales force in the United States that is sufficient in size or has adequate expertise in the medical markets that we intend to target. If we are unable to establish a sales force and marketing and distribution capabilities, our operating results may be adversely affected. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities would adversely impact the commercialization of our product candidates.

Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our products on our own include:

 

•

our inability to recruit and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and marketing personnel;

 

•

our inability to identify the best territories to target based on resistance statistics and prescribers within those territories;

 

•

the inability of a health resources group to obtain access to educate physicians regarding the attributes of our future products;

 

•

the lack of complementary products to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines; and

 

•

unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization.

We are focusing our initial commercial efforts on the United States market, which we believe represents the largest market opportunity for our sulopenem program. We are currently evaluating our commercialization strategy outside the United States. For those countries in which we choose not to commercialize directly ourselves, we intend to use collaborators that have direct sales forces and established distribution systems to assist with the commercialization of oral sulopenem, sulopenem and any other product candidate. As a result of entering into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, our product revenues or the profitability of these product revenues to us would likely be lower than if we were to directly market and sell products in those markets.

Furthermore, we may be unsuccessful in entering into the necessary arrangements with third parties or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, we likely would have little control over such third parties, and any of them might fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our products effectively.

 

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If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.

We face substantial competition from other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and our business may suffer if we fail to compete effectively.

The development and commercialization of new drug products is highly competitive. We face competition from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide with respect to oral sulopenem, sulopenem and our other product candidates that we may seek to develop and commercialize in the future. There are a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell products or are pursuing the development of product candidates for the treatment of multi-drug resistant infections. Potential competitors also include academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing technologies and drug products that are more effective or less costly than oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidates that we may develop, which could render our product candidates obsolete and noncompetitive.

There are a variety of available oral therapies marketed for the treatment of multi-drug resistant infections that we would expect would compete with oral sulopenem and sulopenem, such as levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, nitrofurantoin, fosfomycin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, cephalexin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Many of the available therapies are well established and widely accepted by physicians, patients and third-party payors. Insurers and other third-party payors may also encourage the use of generic products, for example in the fluoroquinolone class. If oral sulopenem or sulopenem is approved, the pricing may be at a significant premium over other competitive products that are generic. This may make it difficult for oral sulopenem or sulopenem to compete with these products.

There are also a number of oral product candidates in clinical development by third parties that are intended to treat UTIs. Some mid- to late-stage product candidates include ceftibuten clavulanate from Achaogen, Inc., tebipenem pivoxil from Spero Therapeutics, Inc., delafloxacin from Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. and omadacycline from Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. If our competitors obtain marketing approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for their product candidates more rapidly than us, it could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

There are several IV-administered products marketed for the treatment of infections resistant to first-line therapy for gram-negative infections, including Avycaz from Allergan plc and Pfizer Inc., Vabomere from Melinta Therapeutics, Inc., and Zerbaxa from Merck & Co. There are also a number of IV-administered product candidates in late-stage clinical development that are intended to treat resistant gram-negative infections, including plazomicin from Achaogen, Inc., cefiderocol from Shionogi & Co. Ltd. and imipenem-relabactam from Merck & Co.

Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller and other early stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. 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 July 2012, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act was passed, which included the Generating Antibiotics Incentives Now Act (the GAIN Act). The GAIN Act is intended to provide incentives for

 

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the development of new, qualified infectious disease products (QIDP). One such incentive is that, once a product receives QIDP designation and completes the necessary clinical trials and is approved by the FDA, it will be given an additional five years of regulatory exclusivity regardless of whether it is protected by a patent, provided that it is already eligible for another type of regulatory exclusivity. The FDA has designated sulopenem and oral sulopenem as QIDPs for the indications of uUTI, cUTI and cIAI. In December 2016, the Cures Act was passed, providing additional support for the development of new infectious disease products. These incentives may result in more competition in the market for new antibiotics, and may cause pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with more resources than we have to shift their efforts towards the development of product candidates that could be competitive with oral sulopenem, sulopenem and our other product candidates.

Even if we are able to commercialize oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate, the product may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, or third-party payor coverage and reimbursement policies that could harm our business.

Marketing approvals, pricing, coverage and reimbursement for new drug products vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing 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 in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, which may negatively affect the revenues that we are able to generate from the sale of the product 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.

We currently expect that oral sulopenem will be used in the community setting. The commercial success of oral sulopenem will depend substantially, both in the United States and outside the United States, on the extent to which adequate coverage and reimbursement for this product and related treatments are available from government health programs, private health insurers and other third-party payors. If coverage is not available, or reimbursement is limited, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish or maintain pricing sufficient to realize a sufficient return on our investments. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as health insurers and managed care organizations, publish formularies that identify the medications they will cover and the related payment levels. The healthcare industry is focused on cost containment, both in the United States and elsewhere. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications, which could affect our ability to sell our product candidates profitably.

In the United States, sales of our product candidates will depend, in part, on the availability and extent of coverage and reimbursement by third-party payors, such as government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, commercial insurance and managed healthcare organizations. There is no uniform coverage and reimbursement policy among third-party payors; however, private third-party payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. Obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval for a product candidate from third-party payors is a time-consuming and costly process that may require the provision of supporting scientific, clinical and cost effectiveness data for the use of product candidate to the third-party payor. There may be significant delays in obtaining such coverage and reimbursement for newly approved products, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the product candidate is approved by the FDA. Moreover, eligibility for coverage and reimbursement does not imply that a product candidate will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers operating costs, including research, development, intellectual property, manufacture, sales and distribution expenses. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the product candidate and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost products and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. It is difficult to predict what third-party payors will decide with respect to coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates.

 

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We currently expect that sulopenem IV, if approved, will be administered in a hospital setting, and oral sulopenem, if approved, will be used in a community setting and possibly be administered in a hospital inpatient setting as well. In the United States, third-party payors generally reimburse hospitals a single bundled payment established on a prospective basis intended to cover all items and services provided to the patient during a single hospitalization. Hospitals bill third-party payors for all or a portion of the fees associated with the patient’s hospitalization and bill patients for any deductibles or co-payments. Because there is typically no separate reimbursement for drugs administered in a hospital inpatient setting, some of our target customers may be unwilling to adopt our product candidates in light of the additional associated cost. If we are forced to lower the price we charge for our product candidates, if approved, our gross margins may decrease, which would adversely affect our ability to invest in and grow our business.

An inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate payment rates from third-party payors for any approved product candidates that we develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our overall financial condition.

We cannot predict whether bacteria may develop resistance to oral sulopenem or sulopenem, which could affect their revenue potential.

We are developing oral sulopenem and sulopenem to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections. The bacteria responsible for these infections evolve quickly and readily transfer their resistance mechanisms within and between species. We cannot predict whether or when bacterial resistance to oral sulopenem and sulopenem may develop.

As with some commercially available carbapenems, oral sulopenem and sulopenem are not active against organisms expressing a resistance mechanism mediated by enzymes known as carbapenemases. Although occurrence of this resistance mechanism is currently uncommon, we cannot predict whether carbapenemase-mediated resistance will become widespread in regions where we intend to market sulopenem if it is approved. The use of carbapenems or penems in areas with drug resistant infections or in countries with poor public health infrastructures, or the potentially extensive use of oral sulopenem or sulopenem outside of controlled hospital settings or in the community, could contribute to the rise of resistance. In addition, prescribers may be less likely to prescribe oral sulopenem and sulopenem if they are concerned about contributing to the rise of antibiotic resistance. If resistance to oral sulopenem or sulopenem becomes prevalent, or concerns about such resistance are strong, our ability to generate revenue from oral sulopenem and sulopenem could suffer.

We may be subject to costly product liability claims related to our clinical trials and product candidates and, if we are unable to obtain adequate insurance or are required to pay for liabilities resulting from a claim excluded from, or beyond the limits of our insurance coverage, a material liability claim could adversely affect our financial condition.

Because we conduct clinical trials with human patients, we face the risk that the use of our product candidates may result in adverse side effects to patients in our clinical trials. We face even greater risks upon any commercialization of our product candidates. Although we have product liability insurance, which covers our clinical trials for up to $10 million, our insurance may be insufficient to reimburse us for any expenses or losses we may suffer, and we will be required to increase our product liability insurance coverage for our advanced clinical trials that we plan to initiate. We will need to increase our insurance coverage if and when we receive marketing approval for and begin selling oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate. We do not know whether we will be able to continue to obtain product liability coverage and obtain expanded coverage if we require it, on acceptable terms, if at all.

We may not have sufficient resources to pay for any liabilities resulting from a claim excluded from, or beyond the limits of, our insurance coverage. Where we have provided indemnities in favor of third parties under our agreements with them, there is also a risk that these third parties could incur liability and bring a claim under

 

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such indemnities. An individual may bring a product liability claim against us alleging that one of our product candidates or products causes, or is claimed to have caused, an injury or is found to be unsuitable for consumer use. Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could result in:

 

•

withdrawal of clinical trial volunteers, investigators, patients or trial sites;

 

•

the inability to commercialize our product candidates;

 

•

decreased demand for our product candidates;

 

•

regulatory investigations that could require costly recalls or product modifications;

 

•

loss of revenue;

 

•

substantial costs of litigation;

 

•

liabilities that substantially exceed our product liability insurance, which we would then be required to pay ourselves;

 

•

an increase in our product liability insurance rates or the inability to maintain insurance coverage in the future on acceptable terms, if at all;

 

•

the diversion of management’s attention from our business; and

 

•

damage to our reputation and the reputation of our products.

Our operations, including our use of hazardous materials, chemicals, bacteria and viruses, require us to comply with regulatory requirements and expose us to significant potential liabilities.

Our operations involve the use of hazardous materials, including chemicals, and may produce dangerous waste products. Accordingly, we, along with the third parties that conduct clinical trials and manufacture our products and product candidates on our behalf, are subject to federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations that govern the use, manufacture, distribution, storage, handling, exposure, disposal and recordkeeping with respect to these materials. We are also subject to a variety of environmental and occupational health and safety laws. Compliance with current or future laws and regulations can require significant costs and we could be subject to substantial fines and penalties in the event of noncompliance. In addition, the risk of contamination or injury from these materials cannot be completely eliminated. In such event, we could be held liable for substantial civil damages or costs associated with the cleanup of hazardous materials.

If we experience a significant disruption in our information technology systems or breaches of data security, our business could be adversely affected.

We rely on information technology systems to keep financial records, capture laboratory data, maintain clinical trial data and corporate records, communicate with staff and external parties and operate other critical functions. Our information technology systems are potentially vulnerable to disruption due to breakdown, malicious intrusion and computer viruses or other disruptive events including but not limited to natural disaster. If we were to experience a prolonged system disruption in our information technology systems or those of certain of our vendors, it could delay or negatively impact the development and commercialization of our sulopenem program and any future product candidates or technology, which could adversely impact our business. Although we maintain offsite back-ups of our data, if operations at our facilities were disrupted, it may cause a material disruption in our business if we are not capable of restoring function on an acceptable timeframe. In addition, our information technology systems are potentially vulnerable to data security breaches—whether by employees or others—which may expose sensitive data to unauthorized persons. Such data security breaches could lead to the loss of trade secrets or other intellectual property, or could lead to the public exposure of personal information (including sensitive personal information) of our employees, customers and others, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, a security breach or privacy violation that leads to disclosure or modification of, personally identifiable information, could harm

 

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our reputation, compel us to comply with applicable Irish, and United States federal and/or state, breach notification laws, subject us to mandatory corrective action, require us to verify the correctness of database contents and otherwise subject us to litigation and liability under laws and regulations that protect personal data, resulting in increased costs or loss of revenue. In addition, a data security breach could result in loss of clinical trial data or damage to the integrity of that data. If we are unable to prevent such security breaches or privacy violations or implement satisfactory remedial measures, our operations could be disrupted, and we may suffer loss of reputation, financial loss and other negative consequences because of lost or misappropriated information. In addition, these breaches and other inappropriate access can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying them may lead to increased harm of the type described above.

Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties

If we fail to comply with our obligations in our agreement with Pfizer, we could lose such rights that are important to our business.

We rely heavily on the Pfizer License pursuant to which we exclusively in-license certain patents and know-how related to sulopenem etzadroxil and certain know-how related to the IV formulation of sulopenem. The Pfizer License imposes, and we may enter into additional agreements, including license agreements, with other parties in the future that impose diligence, development and commercialization timelines, milestone payments, royalties, insurance and other obligations on us.

The Pfizer License gives us exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize sulopenem etzadroxil and sulopenem, or any other prodrug of sulopenum previously identified by Pfizer as well as the right to use relevant information and regulatory documentation developed by Pfizer to support any regulatory filing worldwide. In exchange for those rights, we are obligated to satisfy diligence requirements, including using commercially reasonable efforts to develop, obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize sulopenem etzadroxil and sulopenem by implementing a specified development plan and providing an update on progress on an annual basis. Under the Pfizer License, we paid Pfizer a one-time nonrefundable upfront fee of $5.0 million and are obligated to pay Pfizer milestone payments upon the achievement of specified clinical, regulatory and sales milestones as well as royalties ranging from a single-digit to mid-teens percentage based on the amount of marginal net sales of each licensed product. Pfizer also received six million of our Series A preferred shares as additional payment for the licensed rights. For a more detailed summary of the Pfizer License, please see the section titled “Business—Pfizer License Agreement.”

If we fail to comply with our obligations to Pfizer under the Pfizer License, Pfizer may have the right to terminate the Pfizer License, in which event we would not be able to develop, obtain regulatory approval for, manufacture or market any product candidate that is covered by the Pfizer License, including sulopenem etzadroxil and sulopenem, which would materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Any termination of the Pfizer License or reduction or elimination of our rights thereunder may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated agreements with less favorable terms. Any termination of the Pfizer License would cause us to lose our rights to important intellectual property or technology.

We expect to depend on collaborations with third parties for the development and commercialization of oral sulopenem and sulopenem in certain territories. Our prospects with respect to those product candidates will depend in part on the success of those collaborations.

Although we are focusing our initial commercial efforts on the United States market, which we believe represents the largest market opportunity for our sulopenem program, we are also evaluating our commercialization strategy outside the United States. For those countries in which we choose not to commercialize directly ourselves, we intend to seek to commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem through collaboration arrangements. In addition, we may seek third-party collaborators for development and commercialization of other product candidates. Our likely collaborators for any marketing, distribution,

 

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development, licensing or broader collaboration arrangements include large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, regional and national pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies. We are not currently party to any such arrangements.

We may derive revenue from research and development fees, license fees, milestone payments and royalties under any collaborative arrangement into which we enter. Our ability to generate revenue from these arrangements will depend on our collaborators’ abilities to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in these arrangements. In addition, our collaborators may have the right to abandon research or development projects and terminate applicable agreements, including funding obligations, prior to or upon the expiration of the agreed upon terms. As a result, we can expect to relinquish some or all of the control over the future success of a product candidate that we license to a third party.

We face significant competition in seeking and obtaining appropriate collaborators. Collaborations involving our product candidates may pose a number of risks, including the following:

 

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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 may not perform their obligations as expected;

 

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collaborators may not pursue development and commercialization of our product candidates or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on clinical trial results, changes in the collaborators’ strategic focus or available funding, or external factors, such as an acquisition, that divert resources or create competing priorities;

 

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collaborators may delay clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a clinical trial program, stop a clinical trial or abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical trials or require a new formulation of a product candidate for clinical testing;

 

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product candidates discovered in collaboration with us may be viewed by our collaborators as competitive with their own product candidates or products, which may cause collaborators to cease to devote resources to the commercialization of our product candidates;

 

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a collaborator with marketing and distribution rights to one or more products may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product or products;

 

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disagreements with collaborators, including disagreements over proprietary rights, contract interpretation or the preferred course of development, might cause delays or termination of the research, development or commercialization of product candidates, might lead to additional responsibilities for us with respect to product candidates, or might result in litigation or arbitration, any of which would be time-consuming and expensive;

 

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collaborators may not properly maintain, defend or enforce our intellectual property rights or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation;

 

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collaborators may infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of third parties, which may expose us to litigation and potential liability; and

 

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collaborations may be terminated and, if terminated, may result in a need for additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates.

Collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner or at all. If a collaborator of ours is involved in a business combination, it could decide to delay, diminish or terminate the development or commercialization of any product candidate licensed to it by us.

 

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We rely on third parties to conduct our preclinical studies and our clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize any of our product candidates. If they do not perform satisfactorily, our business may be materially harmed.

We do not independently conduct nonclinical studies that comply with good laboratory practice (GLP) requirements. We also do not have the ability to independently conduct clinical trials of any of our product candidates. We rely on third parties, such as contract research organizations (CROs), clinical data management organizations, medical institutions, and clinical investigators, to conduct our clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem and expect to rely on these third parties to conduct clinical trials of any potential product candidates. Any of these third parties may terminate their engagements with us at any time. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, it would delay our product development activities.

Our reliance on these third parties for clinical development activities limits our control over these activities but we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards. For example, notwithstanding the obligations of a CRO for a clinical trial of one of our product candidates, we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the clinical trial. While we will have agreements governing their activities, we control only certain aspects of their activities and have limited influence over their actual performance. The third parties with whom we contract for execution of our GLP studies and our clinical trials play a significant role in the conduct of these studies and clinical trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data. Although we rely on these third parties to conduct our GLP-compliant nonclinical studies and clinical trials, we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our nonclinical studies and clinical trials are conducted in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. The FDA and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions also require us to comply with standards, commonly referred to as good clinical practices (GCPs), for conducting, monitoring, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are accurate and that the trial subjects are adequately informed of the potential risks of participating in clinical trials. The FDA enforces these GCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators, clinical trial sites and institutional review boards. If we or our third-party contractors fail to comply with applicable GCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our product candidates, which would delay the regulatory approval process. We cannot assure you that, upon inspection, the FDA will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with GCPs. We are also required to register clinical trials and post the results of completed clinical trials on a government-sponsored database, ClinicalTrials.gov, within certain timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions.

Furthermore, the third parties conducting clinical trials on our behalf are not our employees, and except for remedies available to us under our agreements with such contractors, we cannot control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our ongoing development programs. These contractors may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials or other drug development activities, which could impede their ability to devote appropriate time to our clinical programs. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, we may not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates. If that occurs, we may not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates. In such an event, our financial results and the commercial prospects for oral sulopenem, sulopenem or other product candidates could be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenue could be delayed, impaired or foreclosed.

We also rely on other third parties to store and distribute drug supplies for our clinical trials. Any performance failure on the part of our distributors could delay clinical development or marketing approval of our product candidates or commercialization of any resulting products, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.

 

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We contract with third parties for the manufacture of preclinical and clinical supplies of oral sulopenem and sulopenem and expect to continue to do so in connection with any future commercialization and for any future clinical trials and commercialization of our other product candidates and potential product candidates. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

We do not have the internal infrastructure or capability to manufacture oral sulopenem and sulopenem for use in the conduct of our preclinical research or clinical trials. We rely on third-party contract manufacturers to manufacture supplies of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, and we expect to rely on third-party contract manufacturers to manufacture commercial quantities of any product candidate that we commercialize following approval for marketing by applicable regulatory authorities, if any. Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks, including:

 

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manufacturing delays if our third-party manufacturers give greater priority to the supply of other products over our product candidates or otherwise do not satisfactorily perform according to the terms of the agreement between us;

 

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

 

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the failure of the third-party manufacturer to comply with applicable regulatory requirements; and

 

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

We currently rely on a small number of third-party contract manufacturers for all of our required raw materials, drug substance and finished product for our preclinical research and clinical trials. We do not have long-term agreements with any of these third parties. We also do not have any current contractual relationships for the manufacture of commercial supplies of any of our product candidates. If any of our existing manufacturers should become unavailable to us for any reason, we may incur delays in identifying or qualifying replacements.

We will enter into agreements with third-party contract manufacturers for the commercial production of oral sulopenem and sulopenem. This process is difficult and time consuming and we may face competition for access to manufacturing facilities as there are a limited number of contract manufacturers operating under cGMPs that are capable of manufacturing our product candidates. Consequently, we may not be able to reach agreement with third-party manufacturers on satisfactory terms, which could delay our commercialization.

Third-party manufacturers are required to comply with cGMPs and similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. Facilities used by our third-party manufacturers must be approved by the FDA after we submit an NDA and before potential approval of the product candidate. Similar regulations apply to manufacturers of our product candidates for use or sale in countries outside of the United States. We have no direct control over the ability of our third-party manufacturers to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance and qualified personnel, and are completely dependent on our third-party manufacturers for compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements for the manufacture of our product candidates. If our manufacturers cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA and any applicable regulatory authority, they will not be able to secure the applicable approval for their manufacturing facilities. If these facilities are not approved for commercial manufacture, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which could result in delays in obtaining approval for the applicable product candidate. In addition, our manufacturers are subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and corresponding state and foreign agencies for compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practing, or cGMPs, and similar regulatory

 

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requirements. Failure by any of our manufacturers to comply with applicable cGMPs or other regulatory requirements could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspensions or withdrawals of approvals, operating restrictions, interruptions in supply and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our product candidates and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We and our third-party suppliers also continue to refine and improve the manufacturing process, certain aspects of which are complex and unique, and we may encounter difficulties with new or existing processes, particularly as we seek to significantly increase our capacity to commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem. Our reliance on contract manufacturers also exposes us to the possibility that they, or third parties with access to their facilities, will have access to and may appropriate our trade secrets or other proprietary information.

As drug candidates are developed through nonclinical studies to late-stage clinical trials towards approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods, methods of making drug formulations, and drug formulations, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize processes and results. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives. Any of these changes could cause our drug candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials conducted with the altered materials. Such changes may also require additional testing, FDA notification or FDA approval. This could delay completion of clinical trials, require the conduct of bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of our drug candidates and jeopardize our ability to commence sales and generate revenue.

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

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

We rely heavily on the Pfizer License for the patent rights and know-how required to develop and commercialize oral sulopenem and the know-how required to develop the IV formulation of sulopenem.

We currently do not own any patents or patent applications and rely heavily on the Pfizer License for intellectual property rights that are important or necessary for the development of oral sulopenem and sulopenem. We do not own or license any patent rights that cover the IV formulation of sulopenem. In addition, all patents directed to the compound sulopenem expired prior to us entering into the Pfizer License. Licenses to additional third-party intellectual property, technology and materials that may be required for the development and commercialization of our sulopenem program or any other product candidates or technology may not be available at all or on commercially reasonable terms. In that event, we may be required to expend significant time and resources to redesign our sulopenem program and any other product candidates or technology we may obtain in the future or to develop or license replacement technology, all of which may not be feasible on a technical or commercial basis. If we are unable to do so, we may be unable to develop or commercialize oral sulopenem or sulopenem or other future product candidates or technologies, which could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

Under the Pfizer License, and we expect under certain of our future license agreements, we are responsible for prosecution and maintenance of the licensed patents and for bringing any actions against any third party for infringing on such patents. In addition, the Pfizer License requires, and we expect certain of our future license agreements would also require, us to meet certain development thresholds to maintain the license, including establishing a set timeline for developing and commercializing products. In addition, such license agreements are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other

 

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obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to the Pfizer License or any of our future license agreements, including:

 

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the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other interpretation-related issues;

 

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the extent to which our technology and processes infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the licensing agreement;

 

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the sublicensing of patent and other rights under the license agreement;

 

•

our diligence obligations under the license agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;

 

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the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us and our partners; and

 

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the priority of invention of patented technology.

In spite of our best efforts, Pfizer and any potential future licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the relevant license agreements, thereby removing our ability develop and commercialize products and technology covered by such license agreements. If any of our inbound license agreements 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. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and growth prospects.

If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection or other intellectual property rights for oral sulopenem or our other technology and product candidates, or if the scope of the patent protection or intellectual property rights we obtain is not sufficiently broad, we may not be able to successfully develop or commercialize oral sulopenem or any other product candidates or technology or otherwise compete effectively in our markets.

We rely upon a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secret protection, confidentiality agreements and other proprietary rights to protect the intellectual property related to our development programs and product candidates. Our success depends, in part, on obtaining and maintaining patent protection and successfully enforcing these patents and defending them against third-party challenges in the United States and other countries. If we or our licensors are unable to obtain or maintain patent protection with respect to oral sulopenem or any other product candidates or technology we develop, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially harmed.

We have sought to protect our proprietary position by in-licensing patents in the United States and abroad related to oral sulopenem. The patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we and our licensors may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner or in all jurisdictions. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, although we control prosecution of the patents we have licensed from Pfizer related to our sulopenem program, we may not always have the right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain, enforce or defend the patents, covering technology that we may license from third parties. Therefore, these patents and patent applications may not be prosecuted, maintained, enforced or defended in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. The patent applications that we may own in the future or in-license may fail to result in issued patents with claims that cover our current and future product candidates in the United States or in other countries. Patent applications cannot be enforced against third parties practicing the technology claimed in such applications unless, and until, a patent issues from such applications, and then only to the extent the issued claims cover the technology.

 

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If any patent applications we may in-license in the future with respect to our development programs or product candidates fail to issue, if their breadth or strength of protection is threatened or if they fail to provide meaningful exclusivity for our current and future product candidates, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to develop product candidates and threaten our ability to commercialize products. Any such outcome could materially harm our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and growth prospects.

The patent position of pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. In addition, the laws of countries outside the United States may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. For example, EU patent law restricts the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body more than U.S. law does. In addition, publications of discoveries in scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions remain confidential for a period after filing, and some remain so until issued. Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we were the first to make the inventions claimed in the patents or pending patent applications we currently license or may own or license in the future, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. There is no assurance that all potentially relevant prior art relating to our patent rights has been found, and such prior art could potentially invalidate one or more of the patents we currently license or may own or license in the future or prevent a patent from issuing from one or more pending patent applications we may own or license in the future. There is also no assurance that prior art of which we are aware, but which we do not believe affects the validity or enforceability of a claim in our patent rights, may, nonetheless, ultimately be found to affect the validity or enforceability of a claim. Even if patents do successfully issue and even if such patents cover our current and future product candidates, third parties may challenge their ownership, validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights. Any successful opposition to these patents or any other patents owned by us in the future or licensed to us could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any product candidates that we may develop. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patents rights may not adequately protect our product candidates and technology, provide exclusivity for our product candidates, prevent others from designing around our claims or provide us with a competitive advantage. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States or other countries may diminish the value of our patent rights or narrow the scope of our patent protection.

We cannot offer any assurances about whether any issued patents will be found invalid and unenforceable or will be challenged by third parties. Any successful challenge or opposition to patents owned by or licensed to us could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any product candidates that we may develop. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market a product candidate under patent protection could be reduced.

Furthermore, our patent rights may be subject to a reservation of rights by one or more third parties. For example, certain research we conducted was funded in part by the U.S. government. As a result, the U.S. government may have certain march-in rights to patents and technology arising out of such research, if any. When new technologies are developed with government funding, the government generally obtains certain rights in any resulting patents, including a non-exclusive license authorizing the government to use the invention. These rights may permit the government to disclose our confidential information to third parties and to exercise march-in rights to use or allow third parties to use our licensed technology. The 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, 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

 

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government of such rights could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. For example, under the CARB-X grant funding program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded us a grant in connection with research to reduce the threat to human health from antimicrobial resistance and we granted the U.S. government a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice or have practiced for or on behalf of the U.S. government any inventions arising out of our research globally. In addition, under such agreement, if we or our licensees do not use commercially reasonable efforts to exploit or further the development of any intellectual property rights we have generated out of such research within five years of the end date of our research project, Wellcome Trust Limited has the option to take responsibility for the commercialization and exploitation of such intellectual property rights, including by way of sale, assignment and license of such intellectual property rights.

We may not identify relevant third party patents or may incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third party patent which might adversely affect our ability to develop and market our product candidates.

We cannot guarantee that any of our or our licensors’ patent searches or analyses, including but not limited to the identification of relevant patents, the scope of patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each and every third party patent and pending application in the United States and abroad that is relevant to or necessary for the commercialization of our product candidates in any jurisdiction. For example, U.S. applications filed before November 29, 2000 and certain U.S. applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States remain confidential until patents issue. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our product candidates could have been filed by others without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our product candidates or the use of our product candidates. The scope of a patent claim is determined by an interpretation of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to market our product candidates. We may incorrectly determine that our product candidates are not covered by a third party patent or may incorrectly predict whether a third party’s pending application will issue with claims of relevant scope. Our determination of the expiration date of any patent in the United States or abroad that we consider relevant may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to develop and market our product candidates. Our failure to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents may negatively impact our ability to develop and market our product candidates.

The patent protection for our product candidates may expire before we are able to maximize their commercial value which may subject us to increased competition and reduce or eliminate our opportunity to generate product revenue.

Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are paid timely, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. The patents for our product candidates have varying expiration dates and, if these patents expire, we may be subject to increased competition and we may not be able to recover our development costs. For example, our licensed U.S. patent claim for a composition of matter patent for oral sulopenem is due to expire in 2029, subject to potential extension to 2034 under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (the Hatch-Waxman Act). Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such product candidates might expire before or shortly after such product candidates are commercialized. As a result, our patent rights may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing product candidates similar or identical to ours.

 

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The FDA designated sulopenem and oral sulopenem as QIDPs for the indications of uUTI, cUTI and cIAI, however that does not guarantee that we will receive any regulatory exclusivity extensions or that any such extensions will be for a period sufficient to provide us with any commercial advantage. Moreover, we do not own or license any patent directed to the compound sulopenem.

Depending upon the timing, duration and conditions of FDA marketing approval of our product candidates, one or more of the U.S. patents we currently license may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments, and similar legislation in the European Union. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent term extension of up to five years for a patent covering an approved product as compensation for effective patent term lost during product development and 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. We may not receive an extension if we fail to apply within applicable deadlines, fail to apply prior to expiration of the relevant patents or otherwise fail to satisfy applicable requirements and the length of the extension could be less than we request. To the extent we wish to pursue patent term extension based on a patent that we in-license from Pfizer or another third party, we would need the cooperation of Pfizer or the third party. Moreover, similar extensions may be available in some of the larger economic territories, such as Europe, but may not be available in all of our markets of interest.

If we are unable to obtain patent term extension/restoration or some other exclusivity, or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we can enforce our exclusive rights for that product will be shortened and our competitors may obtain approval to market competing products sooner. As a result, we could be subject to increased competition and our opportunity to establish or maintain product revenue could be substantially reduced or eliminated. Furthermore, we may not have sufficient time to recover our development costs prior to the expiration of our U.S. and non-U.S. patent rights. If this occurs, our competitors may take advantage of our investment in development and trials by referencing our clinical and preclinical data and launch their product earlier than might otherwise be the case. Any of the foregoing would materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our business.

Once granted, patents may remain open to opposition, interference, re-examination, post-grant review, inter partes review, nullification or derivation action in court or before patent offices or similar proceedings for a given period after allowance or grant, during which time third parties can raise objections against such grant. In the course of such proceedings, which may continue for a protracted period of time, the patent owner may be compelled to limit the scope of the allowed or granted claims thus attacked, or may lose the allowed or granted claims altogether. In addition, the degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because even granted intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business. The following examples are illustrative:

 

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others may be able to make compounds or formulations that are similar to oral sulopenem and sulopenem compounds or formulations but that are not covered by the claims of our patent rights;

 

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the patents of third parties may have an adverse effect on our business;

 

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we or our licensors or any future strategic partners might not have been the first to conceive or reduce to practice the inventions covered by the issued patents that we own or have exclusively licensed;

 

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we or our licensors or any future strategic partners might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our inventions;

 

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others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights;

 

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it is possible any future pending patent applications will not lead to issued patents;

 

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issued patents that we may own in the future or have exclusively licensed may not provide us with any competitive advantage, or may be held invalid or unenforceable, as a result of legal challenges by our competitors;

 

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our competitors might conduct research and development activities in countries where we do not have patent rights and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets;

 

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third parties performing manufacturing or testing for us using our product candidates or technologies could use the intellectual property of others without obtaining a proper license;

 

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we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable; and

 

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the patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business.

Should any of these events occur, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Changes in patent laws or patent jurisprudence could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our product candidates.

As is the case with other pharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the pharmaceutical industry involve both technological complexity and legal complexity. Therefore, obtaining and enforcing pharmaceutical patents is costly, time-consuming and inherently uncertain. In addition, the America Invents Act (the AIA) was signed into law on September 16, 2011, and many of its substantive changes became effective on March 16, 2013.

An important change introduced by the AIA is that, as of March 16, 2013, the United States transitioned to a “first-to-file” system for deciding which party should be granted a patent when two or more patent applications are filed by different parties claiming the same invention. A third party that files a patent application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, after that date but before us could therefore be awarded a patent covering an invention of ours even if we had made the invention before it was made by the third party. This will require us to be cognizant going forward of the time from invention to filing of a patent application, but circumstances could prevent us from promptly filing patent applications on our inventions.

Among some of the other changes introduced by the AIA are changes that limit where a patentee may file a patent infringement suit and providing opportunities for third parties to challenge any issued patent in the USPTO, including through post-issuance patent review procedures such as inter partes review, post-grant review and covered business methods. This applies to all U.S. patents, including those issued before March 16, 2013. Because of a lower evidentiary standard in USPTO proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in United States federal courts necessary to invalidate a patent claim, a third party could potentially provide evidence in a USPTO proceeding sufficient for the USPTO to hold a claim invalid even though the same evidence would be insufficient to invalidate the claim if first presented in a district court action. Accordingly, a third party may attempt to use the USPTO procedures to invalidate our patent claims that would not have been invalidated if first challenged by the third party as a defendant in a district court action. The AIA 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.

The USPTO has developed in the last few years regulations and procedures to govern administration of the AIA, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the AIA, and, in particular, the first to file provisions, only became effective on March 16, 2013. Accordingly, it is not clear what, if any, impact the AIA will have on the operation of our business. However, the AIA and its implementation could increase the

 

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uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our or our licensors’ or collaboration partners’ patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our or our licensors’ or collaboration partners’ issued patents, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Moreover, the standards that the USPTO and foreign patent offices use to grant patents are not always applied predictably or uniformly and can change. Consequently, any patents we currently license or may own or license in the future may have a shorter patent term than expected or may not contain claims that will permit us to stop competitors from using our technology or similar technology or from copying our products. Similarly, the standards that courts use to interpret patents are not always applied predictably or uniformly and may evolve, particularly as new technologies develop. In addition, changes to patent laws in the United States or other countries may be applied retroactively to affect the ownership, validity, enforceability or term of patents we currently license or may own or license in the future.

For example, the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings on several patent cases in recent years, such as Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., and Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, either narrow the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances or weaken the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that could weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future. Similarly, the complexity and uncertainty of European patent laws has also increased in recent years. In addition, the European patent system is relatively stringent in the type of amendments that are allowed during prosecution. These changes could limit our ability to obtain new patents in the future that may be important for our business.

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

Competitors may infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate our patents, trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property or those of our licensors. To counter infringement, misappropriation, unauthorized use or other violations, we may be required to file legal claims, which can be expensive and time consuming and divert the time and attention of our management and scientific personnel. We may not be able to prevent, alone or with our licensors, infringement, misappropriation or other violations of our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their patents. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, there is a risk that a court will decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the invention at issue. There is also a risk that, even if the validity of such patents is upheld, the court will construe the patent’s claims narrowly or decide that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the invention at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the invention. An adverse outcome in a litigation or proceeding involving our patents could limit our ability to assert our patents against those parties or other competitors, and may curtail or preclude our ability to exclude third parties from making and selling similar or competitive products. Any of these occurrences could adversely affect our competitive business position, business prospects and financial condition. Similarly, if we assert trademark infringement claims, a court may determine that the marks we have asserted are invalid or unenforceable, or that the party against whom we have asserted trademark infringement has superior rights to the marks in question. In this case, we could ultimately be forced to cease use of such trademarks.

In any infringement, misappropriation or other intellectual property litigation, any award of monetary damages we receive may not be commercially valuable. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential

 

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information could be compromised by disclosure during litigation. Moreover, there can be no assurance that we will have sufficient financial or other resources to file and pursue such infringement claims, which typically last for years before they are concluded. Even if we ultimately prevail in such claims, the monetary cost of such litigation and the diversion of the attention of our management and scientific personnel could outweigh any benefit we receive as a result of the proceedings.

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 negative impact on the success of our business.

Our commercial success depends, in part, upon our ability, and the ability of our future collaborators, to develop, manufacture, market and sell oral sulopenem, sulopenem and any future product candidates, if approved, and use our proprietary technologies without alleged or actual infringement, misappropriation or other violation of the patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties. There have been many lawsuits and other proceedings involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions and reexamination proceedings before the USPTO and corresponding foreign patent offices. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing product candidates. Some claimants may have substantially greater resources than we do and may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property litigation to a greater degree and for longer periods of time than we could. In addition, patent holding companies that focus solely on extracting royalties and settlements by enforcing patent rights may target us. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our product candidates may be subject to claims of infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties.

We may in the future become party to, or be threatened with, adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any future product candidates and technology, including interference or derivation proceedings, post grant review and inter partes review before the USPTO or similar adversarial proceedings or litigation in other jurisdictions. Similarly, we or our licensors or collaborators may initiate such proceedings or litigation against third parties, e.g., to challenge the validity or scope of intellectual property rights controlled by third parties. In order to successfully challenge the validity of any U.S. patent in federal court, we would need to overcome a presumption of validity. As this burden is a high one requiring us to present clear and convincing evidence as to the invalidity of any such U.S. patent claim, there is no assurance that a court would invalidate the claims of any such U.S. patent. Moreover, 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. There is a risk that third parties may choose to engage in litigation with us to enforce or to otherwise assert their patent rights against us. Even if we believe such claims are without merit, a court of competent jurisdiction could hold that these third-party patents are valid, enforceable and infringed, and the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize such product candidate unless we obtained a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire or are finally determined to be invalid or unenforceable. Similarly, if any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our compositions, formulations, or methods of treatment, prevention or use, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtained a license or until such patent expires or is finally determined to be invalid or unenforceable. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be nonexclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In such an event, we would be unable to further practice our technologies or develop and commercialize any of our product candidates at issue, which could harm our business significantly.

 

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Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates, if approved. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of management and employee time and resources from our business. Third parties making such claims may have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to these legal actions than we or our licensors or collaborators can. In the event of a successful claim of infringement, misappropriation or other violation against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.

There has been substantial litigation and other proceedings regarding patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. In addition to infringement claims against us, we may become a party to other patent litigation and other adversarial proceedings such as proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and opposition proceedings in the European Patent Office regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our products and technology.

Patent litigation and other proceedings may also absorb significant management time. The cost to us of any patent litigation or other proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. During the course of any patent or other intellectual property litigation or other proceeding, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, rulings on motions, and other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors regard these announcements as negative, the perceived value of our product candidates or intellectual property could be diminished. Accordingly, the market price of our ordinary shares may decline. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, ability to compete in the marketplace, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights globally, which could negatively impact our business.

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents covering oral sulopenem, sulopenem and any future product candidates globally would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Further, licensing partners may not prosecute patents in certain jurisdictions in which we may obtain commercial rights, thereby precluding the possibility of later obtaining patent protection in these countries. 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 may also export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our product candidates, 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 proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions, whether or not successful, 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 and any future 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

 

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awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license. Furthermore, while we intend to protect our intellectual property rights in our expected significant markets, we cannot ensure that we will be able to initiate or maintain similar efforts in all jurisdictions in which we may wish to market our product candidates. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate, which may have an adverse effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates in all of our expected significant foreign markets.

Additionally, the requirements for patentability may differ in certain countries, particularly developing countries. For example, unlike other countries, China has a heightened requirement for patentability, and specifically requires a detailed description of medical uses of a claimed drug. In India, unlike the United States, there is no link between regulatory approval of a drug and its patent status. Furthermore, generic or biosimilar drug manufacturers or other competitors may challenge the scope, validity or enforceability of our or our licensors’ patents, requiring us or our licensors to engage in complex, lengthy and costly litigation or other proceedings. Generic or biosimilar drug manufacturers may develop, seek approval for, and launch biosimilar versions of our products. In addition, certain countries in Europe and developing countries, including China and India, have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In those countries, we and our licensors may have limited remedies if patents are infringed or if we or our licensors are compelled to grant a license to a third party, which could materially diminish the value of those patents. This could limit our potential revenue opportunities. Accordingly, our and our licensors’ efforts to enforce intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we own or license.

We may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants, contractors or advisors have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated the intellectual property of a third party, or claiming ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.

Many of our employees 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 do not use the intellectual property and other proprietary information, know-how or trade secrets of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these employees have used or disclosed such intellectual property or other proprietary information. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims.

In addition, we may in the future be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. While we typically require our employees, consultants and contractors who may be involved in the 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 develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. To the extent that we fail to obtain such assignments, such assignments do not contain a self-executing assignment of intellectual property rights or such assignments are breached, we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Such intellectual property rights could be awarded to a third party, and we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to commercialize our technology or products. Such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management and scientific personnel.

 

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

Periodic maintenance and annuity fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Non-compliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. If we or our licensors fail to maintain the patents covering our products, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, the value of our technology could be materially adversely affected and our business would be harmed.

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, in seeking to develop and maintain a 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, consultants, independent contractors, advisors, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract manufacturers, suppliers and other third parties. We, as well as our licensors, also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with employees and certain consultants. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data, trade secrets and know-how by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. Monitoring unauthorized uses and disclosures is difficult, and we do not know whether the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary technologies will be effective. We cannot guarantee that our trade secrets and other proprietary and confidential information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets. Any party with whom we have executed such an agreement may breach that agreement 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. Further, if any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent such third party, or those to whom they communicate such technology or information, from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our business and competitive position could be harmed.

Trade secrets and know-how can be difficult to protect as trade secrets and know-how will over time be disseminated within the industry through independent development, the publication of journal articles, and the movement of personnel skilled in the art from company to company or academic to industry scientific positions. If we fail to prevent material disclosure of the know-how, trade secrets and other intellectual property related to our technologies to third parties, we will not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if we are able to adequately protect our trade secrets and proprietary information, our trade secrets could otherwise become known or could be independently discovered by our competitors. For example, competitors could purchase our products and attempt to replicate some or all of the competitive advantages we derive from our development efforts, design around our protected technology or develop their own competitive technologies

 

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that fall outside of our intellectual property rights. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, in the absence of patent protection, we would have no right to prevent them, or those to whom they communicate, from using that technology or information to compete with us.

We may not be able to prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property, trade secrets or confidential information, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation.

We have not yet registered our trademarks in certain jurisdictions. Failure to secure those registrations could adversely affect our business.

We have a pending application for the trademark “Iterum” in Canada, and we have registered trademarks for “Iterum” in the United States, European Union, Japan and Switzerland. If we are unable to secure registrations for our trademarks in other countries, we may encounter more difficulty in enforcing them against third parties than we otherwise would, which could adversely affect our business. We have also not yet registered trademarks for any of our product candidates in any jurisdiction. Any trademark applications we may file for our product candidates are not guaranteed to be allowed for registration, and even if they are, we may fail to maintain or enforce such registered trademarks. During trademark registration proceedings in the United States and other jurisdictions, we may receive rejections. We are given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, but we may not be able to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the USPTO and in comparable agencies in many other jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings.

In addition, any proprietary name we propose to use with oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any other product candidate in the United States must be approved by the FDA, regardless of whether we have registered it, or applied to register it, as a trademark. The FDA typically conducts a review of proposed product names, including an evaluation of potential for confusion with other product names. If the FDA objects to any of our proposed proprietary product names, we may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable proprietary product name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to the FDA.

Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely impact our business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.

Risks Related to Regulatory Approval and Other Legal Compliance Matters

If we are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals, we will not be able to commercialize oral sulopenem, sulopenem or other future product candidates, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

Our product candidates, oral sulopenem and sulopenem, 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 agencies in the United States and by comparable foreign regulatory authorities, with regulations differing from country to country. Failure to obtain marketing approval for a product candidate will

 

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prevent us from commercializing the product candidate. We currently do not have any products approved for sale in any jurisdiction. We have only limited experience in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals and expect to rely on third-party contract research organizations to assist us in this process.

Although we have QIDP status for sulopenem and oral sulopenem for the indications of uUTI, cUTI and cIAI which may provide for a more rapid new drug application review cycle, the time required to obtain approval, if any, by the FDA and comparable foreign authorities is unpredictable and 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 existing product candidates or any product candidates we may seek to develop in the future will ever obtain regulatory approval. Neither we nor any future collaborator is permitted to market any of our product candidates in the United States until we or they receive regulatory approval of an NDA from the FDA.

In order to obtain approval to commercialize a product candidate in the United States or abroad, we or our collaborators must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or foreign regulatory agencies, that such product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. Results from nonclinical studies and clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways. Even if we believe that the nonclinical or clinical data for our product candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. Although we expect to conduct our Phase 3 clinical trials pursuant to SPA agreements, the FDA may still require us to conduct additional nonclinical studies or clinical trials for our product candidates either prior to or post-approval, and it may otherwise object to elements of our clinical development program.

We have not submitted an NDA for any of our product candidates. An NDA must include extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to establish the product candidate’s safety and efficacy for each desired indication. The NDA must also include significant information regarding the chemistry, manufacturing and controls for the product candidate. Obtaining approval of an NDA is a lengthy, expensive and uncertain process. The FDA has substantial discretion in the review and approval process and may refuse to accept for filing any application or may decide that our data are insufficient for approval and require additional nonclinical, clinical or other studies. Foreign regulatory authorities have differing requirements for approval of drugs with which we must comply prior to marketing. Obtaining marketing approval for marketing of a product candidate in one country does not ensure that we will be able to obtain marketing approval in other countries, but the failure to obtain marketing approval in one jurisdiction could negatively affect our ability to obtain marketing approval in other jurisdictions. The FDA or any foreign regulatory bodies can delay, limit or deny approval of our product candidates or require us to conduct additional nonclinical or clinical testing or abandon a program for many reasons, including:

 

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although we expect to conduct our Phase 3 clinical trials pursuant to SPA agreements, the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency’s disagreement with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

 

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negative or ambiguous results from our clinical trials or results that may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory agencies for approval;

 

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serious and unexpected drug-related side effects experienced by participants in our clinical trials or by individuals using drugs similar to our product candidates;

 

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our inability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory body that our product candidates are safe and effective for the proposed indication;

 

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the FDA’s or the applicable foreign regulatory agency’s disagreement with the interpretation of data from nonclinical studies or clinical trials;

 

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•

our inability to demonstrate the clinical and other benefits of our product candidates outweigh any safety or other perceived risks;

 

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the FDA’s or the applicable foreign regulatory agency’s requirement for additional nonclinical studies or clinical trials;

 

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the FDA’s or the applicable foreign regulatory agency’s disagreement regarding the formulation, labeling and/or the specifications for our product candidates; or

 

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the potential for approval policies or regulations of the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agencies to significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage complete the FDA or foreign regulatory approval processes and are successfully commercialized. The lengthy review process as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Even if we eventually receive approval of an NDA or foreign marketing application for our product candidates, the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory agency may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials, often referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials, and the FDA may require the implementation of a REMS, which may be required to ensure safe use of the drug after approval. The FDA or the applicable regulatory agency also may approve a product candidate for a more limited indication or patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory agency may not approve the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of a product candidate. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval would delay or prevent commercialization of that product candidate and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.

Future legislation and/or regulations and policies adopted by the FDA, the EMA or similar regulatory authorities may increase the time and cost required for us to conduct and complete clinical trials of oral sulopenem, sulopenem and other potential product candidates.

The FDA has established regulations to govern the drug development and approval process, as have foreign regulatory authorities. The policies of the FDA and other regulatory authorities may change and additional laws may be enacted or government regulations may be promulgated that could prevent, limit, delay, or alternatively accelerate regulatory review of our product candidates.

If we are unable to obtain marketing approval in jurisdictions outside the United States, we will not be able to market our product candidates outside of the United States.

In order to market and sell oral sulopenem, sulopenem or our other future product candidates in the European Union and many other jurisdictions, we must obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. In addition, clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, it is required that the product be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. We may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the United States on a timely basis or at all.

We are currently evaluating our commercialization strategy outside the United States, but believe that Europe represents a significant market opportunity because of rising rates of extended spectrum. ß-lactamases

 

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(ESBL) resistance. On June 23, 2016, the electorate in the United Kingdom voted in favor of leaving the European Union, commonly referred to as Brexit. On March 29, 2017, the country formally notified the European Union of its intention to withdraw pursuant to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Since a significant proportion of the regulatory framework in the United Kingdom is derived from European Union directives and regulations, the referendum could materially impact the regulatory regime with respect to the approval of our product candidates in the United Kingdom or the European Union. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, any regulatory approvals, as a result of Brexit or otherwise, would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates in the United Kingdom and/or the European Union and restrict our ability to generate revenue and achieve and sustain profitability. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to restrict or delay efforts to seek regulatory approval in the United Kingdom and/or European Union for our product candidates, which could significantly and materially harm our business.

Non-U.S. regulatory authorities may require us to conduct additional clinical trials or nonclinical studies to accommodate submission for the cUTI indication.

We obtained scientific advice from the EMA for each of the Phase 3 clinical trials in the uUTI, cUTI and cIAI indications, as well as to gain alignment on nonclinical supportive information required for EMA submission. We are not in alignment with regard to the comparator agent selected for the cUTI clinical trial and are considering other options to accommodate a European filing for this indication. The EMA may request that we conduct one or more additional clinical trials or nonclinical studies to support potential approval for oral sulopenem and sulopenem for the cUTI indication. We cannot predict how the EMA will interpret the data and results from our Phase 3 clinical trial and other elements of our development program, or whether oral sulopenem or sulopenem will receive any regulatory approvals in the EU.

If we receive regulatory approval for any product candidate we will be subject to ongoing obligations and continuing regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. Our product candidates, including oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if approved, could be subject to restrictions or withdrawal from the market, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with our product candidates, when and if approved.

Any product candidate, including oral sulopenem and sulopenem, for which we obtain marketing approval will also be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for labeling, packaging, storage, distribution, advertising, promotion, record-keeping and submission of safety and other post-marketing information. For example, approved products, manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to comply with extensive FDA requirements, including ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to cGMPs. As such, we and our contract manufacturers will be subject to continual review and periodic inspections to assess compliance with cGMPs. Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control. We will also be required to report certain adverse reactions and production problems, if any, to the FDA and to comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotion for our products.

In addition, even if marketing approval of a product candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed, may be subject to significant conditions of approval or may impose requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. The FDA may also require a REMS as a condition of approval of our product candidates, 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. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure that drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling and regulatory requirements. The FDA also imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use and if we do not restrict the marketing of our products only to their approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing.

 

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If a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with a product, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, or disagrees with the promotion, marketing or labeling of a product, it may impose restrictions on that product or us. In addition, if any product fails to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, a regulatory agency may:

 

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issue fines, warning letters, untitled letters or impose holds on clinical trials if any are still on-going;

 

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mandate modifications to promotional materials or require provision of corrective information to healthcare practitioners;

 

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impose restrictions on the product or its manufacturers or manufacturing processes;

 

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impose restrictions on the labeling or marketing of the product;

 

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impose restrictions on product distribution or use;

 

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require post-marketing clinical trials;

 

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require withdrawal of the product from the market;

 

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refuse to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;

 

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require recall of the product;

 

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require entry into a consent decree, which can include imposition of various fines (including restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenue), reimbursements for inspection costs, required due dates for specific actions and penalties for noncompliance;

 

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suspend or withdraw marketing approvals;

 

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refuse to permit the import or export of the product;

 

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seize or detain supplies of the product; or

 

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issue injunctions or impose civil or criminal penalties.

If we fail to comply with federal and state healthcare laws, including fraud and abuse and health information privacy and security laws, we could face substantial penalties and our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects could be adversely affected.

As a pharmaceutical company, even though we do not provide healthcare services or receive payments directly from or bill directly to Medicare, Medicaid or other third-party payors for our products, certain federal and state healthcare laws and regulations pertaining to fraud and abuse, patients’ rights and other healthcare laws and regulations, are applicable to our business. We are subject to healthcare laws and regulations by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. The laws that may affect our ability to operate include:

 

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the federal Anti-Kickback Statute which prohibits, among other things, any person or entity, from 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, furnishing, prescribing, ordering or recommendation of an item, good, facility or service reimbursable by a federally funded healthcare program, such as the Medicare or Medicaid program. This statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on the one hand, and prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers on the other hand. The term “remuneration” has been interpreted broadly and may constrain our marketing practices, educational programs, pricing policies and relationships with healthcare providers or other entities, among other activities;

 

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the federal civil and criminal false claims laws, including the federal False Claims Act, and false statement laws and civil monetary penalty laws, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or

 

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entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment or approval from Medicare, Medicaid or other government payors that are false or fraudulent or making any materially false statement in connection with the delivery or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. Pharmaceutical manufacturers can be held liable under the federal False Claims Act even when they do not submit claims directly to government payors if they are deemed to “cause” the submission of false or fraudulent claims;

 

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the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which, among other things, imposes criminal liability for executing or attempting to execute a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors, knowingly and willfully embezzling or stealing from a healthcare benefit program, willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense, and creates federal criminal laws that prohibit knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or making or using any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, benefits, items or services;

 

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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH) and their respective implementing regulations, including the final omnibus rule published on January 25, 2013, mandates, among other things, the adoption of uniform standards for the electronic exchange of information in common healthcare transactions, as well as standards relating to the privacy, security, transmission and breach reporting of individually identifiable health information, upon certain health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and healthcare providers and their respective business associates that perform services for them involve individually identifiable health information, which require the adoption of administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect such information. Among other things, 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 U.S. 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 physician payment transparency requirements, sometimes referred to as the “Physician Payments Sunshine Act,” and its implementing regulations, which imposes annual disclosure requirements to HHS on certain manufacturers of drugs, biologics, devices and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions), of certain payments or other transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership or investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members;

 

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state and foreign law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers, which may impose similar or more prohibitive restrictions;

 

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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 may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts;

 

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state, local 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, obtain pharmaceutical agent licensure, and/or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers; state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives; and

 

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state, local and foreign laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to other healthcare providers or entities or marketing expenditures.

 

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Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and safe harbors available, 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. Additionally, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act), enacted in 2010 (ACA), among other things, amended the intent requirement of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and criminal health care fraud statutes, so that a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it. In addition, the ACA provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitute a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act.

Recently, several pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies have been prosecuted under the federal false claims laws for allegedly inflating drug prices they report to pricing services, which in turn are used by the government to set Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates, and for allegedly providing free product to customers with the expectation that the customers would bill federal programs for the product. In addition, certain marketing practices, including off-label promotion, may also violate false claims laws. To the extent that any product we make is sold in a country outside of the United States, we may be subject to similar laws and regulations.

The risks of complying with these laws cannot be entirely eliminated. Any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. Moreover, achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable federal and state privacy, security, fraud and transparency laws is time consuming and costly. If our past or present operations, or those of our distributors are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to sanctions, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, fines, damages, disgorgement, exclusion from participation in U.S. federal or state health care programs, individual imprisonment, additional reporting obligations and oversight if subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could materially adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results. Similarly, if healthcare providers, distributors or other entities with whom we do business are found to be out of compliance with applicable laws and regulations, they may be subject to sanctions, which could also have a negative impact on us.

We are subject to various laws protecting the confidentiality of certain patient health information, and our failure to comply could result in penalties and reputational damage.

Certain countries in which we operate have, or are developing, laws protecting the confidentiality of certain patient health information. EU member states and other jurisdictions have adopted data protection laws and regulations, which impose significant compliance obligations.

For example, the EU Data Protection Directive, as implemented into national laws by the EU member states, imposes strict obligations and restrictions on the ability to collect, analyze and transfer personal data, including health data from clinical trials and adverse event reporting. Data protection authorities from different EU member states may interpret the EU Data Protection Directive and national laws differently, which adds to the complexity of processing personal data in the EU, and guidance on implementation and compliance practices are often updated or otherwise revised. The EU Data Protection Directive prohibits the transfer of personal data to countries outside of the EU member states that are not considered by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of data protection, and transfers of personal data to such countries can only be made in certain circumstances—for example, where the transfer is required by law or the data subject (i.e. the individual to

 

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whom the personal data relates) has given his or her consent to the transfer. We have policies and practices that we believe make us compliant with applicable privacy regulations. Nevertheless, any failure to comply with the rules arising from the EU Data Protection Directive and related national laws of EU member states, as well as privacy laws in other countries in which we operate, could lead to government enforcement actions and significant sanctions or penalties against us, adversely impact our results of operations and subject us to negative publicity.

The EU Data Protection Regulation, which will replace the current EU Data Protection Directive, was adopted in 2016 and will become enforceable on May 25, 2018. The EU Data Protection Regulation will introduce new data protection requirements in the EU and substantial fines for breaches of the data protection rules, may increase our responsibility and liability in relation to personal data that we process and may require us to put in place additional mechanisms to ensure compliance with the new EU data protection rules.

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 and regulatory changes, and proposed changes, that could affect the future results of our business and operations. In particular, there have been and continue to be a number of initiatives at the federal and states levels that seek to reduce healthcare costs. For example, in March 2010 the ACA was enacted, which has substantially changed the way health care is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impacted the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. Among the provisions of the ACA, of greatest importance to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry are the following:

 

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an annual, nondeductible fee on any entity that manufactures or imports certain specified branded prescription drugs and biologic agents apportioned among these entities according to their market share in some government healthcare programs;

 

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an increase in the statutory minimum rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program to 23.1% and 13% of the average manufacturer price for most branded and generic drugs, respectively, and capped the total rebate amount for innovator drugs at 100% of the Average Manufacturer Price (AMP);

 

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a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for certain drugs and biologics that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted or injected;

 

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extension of manufacturers’ Medicaid rebate liability to covered drugs dispensed to individuals who are enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations;

 

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expansion of eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs by, among other things, allowing states to offer Medicaid coverage to additional individuals and by adding new mandatory eligibility categories for individuals with income at or below 133% of the federal poverty level, thereby potentially increasing manufacturers’ Medicaid rebate liability;

 

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a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer 50% (and 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;

 

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expansion of the entities eligible for discounts under the Public Health program;

 

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a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research;

 

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establishment of a Center for Medicare Innovation at CMS to test innovative payment and service delivery models to lower Medicare and Medicaid spending; and

 

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•

implementation of the federal physician payment transparency requirements, sometimes referred to as the “Physician Payments Sunshine Act.”

Some of the provisions of the ACA have yet to be fully implemented, and there have been legal and political challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. Since January 2017, President Trump has signed two executive orders and other directives designed to delay, circumvent, or loosen certain requirements 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 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 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 (BBA), among other things, amends the ACA, effective January 1, 2019, to close the coverage gap in most Medicare drug plans, commonly referred to as the “donut hole”. We continue to evaluate how the ACA and recent efforts to repeal and replace or limit the implementation of the ACA will impact our business.

In addition, 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 percent per fiscal year. These reductions went into effect on April 1, 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, including the BBA, will remain in effect through 2027 unless additional Congressional action is taken. Moreover, in January 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals, imaging centers and cancer treatment centers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years.

Further, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny in the United States of the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products in light of the rising cost of prescription drugs and biologics. Such scrutiny has resulted in several recent Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products. At the federal level, the Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 contains further drug price control measures that could be enacted during the 2019 budget process or in other future legislation, including, for example, measures to permit Medicare Part D plans to negotiate the price of certain drugs under Medicare Part B, to allow some states to negotiate drug prices under Medicaid, and to eliminate cost sharing for generic drugs for low-income patients. While any proposed measures will require authorization through additional legislation to become effective, Congress and the Trump Administration have each indicated that it will continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to control drug costs. At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. These new laws and initiatives may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, as well as limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our future customers and accordingly, our financial operations.

 

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

We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, CROs, consultants or vendors may engage in fraudulent or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or disclosure of unauthorized activities to us that violates: FDA regulations, including those laws requiring the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to the FDA; manufacturing standards; federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations; or laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data. Specifically, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, 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 or misrepresentation 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 serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by our 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 be in compliance with such 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, disgorgement, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, individual imprisonment, additional reporting obligations and oversight if subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, curtailment of our operations, contractual damages, reputational harm, and diminished potential profits and future earnings, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

Risks Related to Employee Matters and Managing Growth

Our future success depends on our ability to retain our Chief Executive Officer and other key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

Our industry has experienced a high rate of turnover of management personnel in recent years. We are highly dependent on the development, regulatory, commercialization and business development expertise of Corey N. Fishman, our Chief Executive Officer, and Michael W. Dunne, M.D., our Chief Scientific Officer, as well as the other principal members of our management, scientific and clinical team. Although we have formal employment agreements with our executive officers, these agreements do not prevent them from terminating their employment with us at any time. We do not maintain “key man” insurance with respect to any of our executive officers or key employees.

If we lose one or more of our executive officers or key employees, our ability to implement our business strategy successfully could be seriously harmed. Furthermore, replacing executive officers and key employees may be difficult and may take an extended period of time because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize product candidates successfully. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these additional key personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors may be engaged by entities other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to develop and commercialize product candidates will be limited.

 

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We expect to grow our organization, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of product clinical manufacturing development, regulatory affairs, sales, marketing and health resources. Our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from our day-to-day activities to devote time to managing these growth activities. To manage these growth activities, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Our inability to effectively manage the expansion of our operations may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, give rise to operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional product candidates. If our management is unable to effectively manage our expected growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our potential ability to generate revenue could be reduced and we may not be able to implement our business strategy.

If approvals are obtained outside of the United States, we will be subject to additional risks in conducting business in those markets.

Even if we are able to obtain approval for commercialization of a product candidate in a country outside of the United States, we will be subject to additional risks related to international business operations, including:

 

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potentially reduced protection for intellectual property rights;

 

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the potential for so-called parallel importing, which is what happens when a local seller, faced with high or higher local prices, opts to import goods from a market outside of the United States (with low or lower prices) rather than buying them locally;

 

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unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers and regulatory requirements;

 

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economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular economies and markets;

 

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workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States;

 

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production shortages resulting from any events affecting a product candidate and/or finished drug product supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad;

 

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business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war and terrorism, or natural disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, floods and fires; and

 

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failure to comply with Office of Foreign Asset Control rules and regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

These and other risks may materially adversely affect our ability to attain or sustain revenue from markets outside of the United States.

We may engage in acquisitions that could disrupt our business, cause dilution to our shareholders or reduce our financial resources.

In the future, we may enter into transactions to acquire other businesses, products or technologies. If we do identify suitable candidates, we may not be able to make such acquisitions on favorable terms, or at all. Any acquisitions we make may not strengthen our competitive position, and these transactions may be viewed negatively by customers or investors. We may decide to incur debt in connection with an acquisition or issue our

 

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ordinary shares or other equity securities to the shareholders of the acquired company, which would reduce the percentage ownership of our existing shareholders. We could incur losses resulting from undiscovered liabilities of the acquired business that are not covered by the indemnification we may obtain from the seller. In addition, we may not be able to successfully integrate the acquired personnel, technologies and operations into our existing business in an effective, timely and nondisruptive manner. Acquisitions may also divert management attention from day-to-day responsibilities, increase our expenses and reduce our cash available for operations and other uses. We cannot predict the number, timing or size of future acquisitions or the effect that any such transactions might have on our operating results.

Risks Related to Taxation

We have been a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes in the past and we could be a passive foreign investment company in the future, which could subject U.S. Holders to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

We were a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ended December 31, 2017. We do not expect to be a PFIC for our current taxable year or in the future; however, our status as a PFIC is determined annually and subject to change. We will be a PFIC in any taxable year if at least (i) 75% of our gross income is “passive income” or (ii) 50% of the average gross value of our assets, determined on a quarterly basis, is attributable to assets that produce, or are held for the production of, passive income. We refer to the passive income test as the “PFIC Income Test” and the asset test as the “PFIC Asset Test.” The proceeds from this offering will be a passive asset under these rules and could cause us to meet the PFIC Asset Test for our taxable year that includes this offering. If we are a PFIC in any taxable year in which you hold shares and you are a “U.S. Holder” (as described in the section of this prospectus titled “Taxation—Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations for U.S. Holders”), we always will be a PFIC with respect to your shares. If we are a PFIC and you are a U.S. Holder and do not make a mark-to-market election (discussed below) with respect to our ordinary shares, you may be subject to adverse tax consequences, including deferred tax and interest charges, with respect to certain distributions on our ordinary shares, any gain realized on a disposition of our ordinary shares and certain other events. The effect of these adverse tax consequences could be materially adverse to you.

If you are a U.S. Holder and make a valid, timely mark-to-market election with respect to our ordinary shares, you will recognize as ordinary income or loss in each year that we meet the PFIC Income Test or PFIC Asset Test an amount equal to the difference between your basis in our ordinary shares and the fair market value of the ordinary shares, thus also possibly giving rise to phantom income and a potential out-of-pocket tax liability. Ordinary loss generally is recognized only to the extent of net mark-to-market gains previously included in income. U.S. Holders should also be aware that the mark-to-market election generally will not be available with respect to any of our subsidiaries that is a PFIC and that gain recognized on the sale of our ordinary shares that is attributable to a subsidiary that is a PFIC may result in such gain being subject to deferred tax and interest charges. See the section of this prospectus titled “Taxation—Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations for U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company Consequences” for a discussion of the PFIC and mark-to-market rules.

We do not expect to provide U.S. Holders with the information necessary for a U.S. Holder to make a qualified electing fund, or “QEF election,” under the U.S. federal income tax laws, and prospective investors should assume that a QEF election will not be available.

If the IRS determines that we are not a PFIC, and you previously paid taxes pursuant to a mark-to-market election, you may have paid more taxes than you legally owed.

If the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) makes a determination that we were not a PFIC in a prior taxable year and you previously paid taxes pursuant to a mark-to-market election, then you may have paid more taxes than you legally owed due to such election. If you do not, or are not able to, file a refund claim before the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations, you will not be able to claim a refund for those taxes.

 

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Changes to U.S. federal income tax laws could have material consequences for us and U.S. Holders of our ordinary shares.

On December 22, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that enacts comprehensive changes to the U.S. federal income tax system. This law and related future legislation, regulations and rulings could affect the U.S. federal income tax treatment of us and U.S. Holders of our ordinary shares. You should consult your tax advisors regarding such changes and their potential impact related to an investment in our ordinary shares.

A future transfer of your ordinary shares, other than one effected by means of the transfer of book entry interests in DTC, may be subject to Irish stamp duty.

Transfers of our ordinary shares effected by means of the transfer of book entry interests in the Depository Trust Company (DTC) should not be subject to Irish stamp duty. However, if you hold your ordinary shares directly rather than beneficially through DTC, any transfer of your ordinary shares could be subject to Irish stamp duty (currently at the rate of 1% of the higher of the price paid or the market value of the shares acquired). Payment of Irish stamp duty is generally a legal obligation of the transferee. The potential for stamp duty to arise could adversely affect the price of our ordinary shares. See “Irish Tax Considerations—Stamp Duty” for more information.

Dividends paid by us may be subject to Irish dividend withholding tax.

As noted elsewhere in this prospectus, we do not expect to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. To the extent that we do make dividend payments (or other returns to shareholders that are treated as “distributions” for Irish tax purposes), it should be noted that, in certain limited circumstances, dividend withholding tax (currently at a rate of 20%) may arise in respect of dividends paid on our ordinary shares. A number of exemptions from dividend withholding tax exist, such that shareholders resident in EU member states (other than Ireland) or other countries with which Ireland has signed a double tax treaty, which would include the United States, should generally be entitled to exemptions from dividend withholding tax provided that the appropriate documentation is in place. See the section titled “Irish Tax Considerations—Withholding Tax on Dividends Paid on Our Ordinary Shares” for more information and, in particular, please note the requirement to complete certain dividend withholding tax forms in order to qualify for many of the exemptions.

Dividends received by Irish residents and certain other shareholders may be subject to Irish income tax.

As noted elsewhere in this prospectus, we do not expect to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. To the extent that we do make dividend payments (or other returns to shareholders that are treated as “distributions” for Irish tax purposes), it should be noted that shareholders who are entitled to an exemption from Irish dividend withholding tax on dividends received from us will not be subject to Irish income tax in respect of those dividends, unless they have some connection with Ireland other than their shareholding in Iterum (for example, they are resident in Ireland). Shareholders who are not resident nor ordinarily resident in Ireland, but who are not entitled to an exemption from Irish dividend withholding tax, will generally have no further liability to Irish income tax on those dividends which suffer dividend withholding tax. See the section titled “Irish Tax Considerations—Income Tax on Dividends Paid on Our Ordinary Shares.”

Our ordinary shares received by means of a gift or inheritance could be subject to Irish capital acquisitions tax.

Irish capital acquisitions tax (CAT) could apply to a gift or inheritance of our ordinary shares irrespective of the place of residence, ordinary residence or domicile of the parties. This is because our ordinary shares will be regarded as property situated in Ireland. The person who receives the gift or inheritance has primary liability for CAT. Gifts and inheritances passing between spouses are exempt from CAT. Children have a tax-free threshold of €310,000 in respect of taxable gifts or inheritances received from their parents. See the section titled “Irish Tax Considerations—Capital Acquisitions Tax” for more information.

 

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Risks Related to this Offering and Our Ordinary Shares

No active market for our ordinary shares exists or may develop, and you may not be able to resell your ordinary shares at or above the initial public offering price.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our ordinary shares, and an active public market for our ordinary shares may not develop or be sustained after this offering. We and the representatives of the underwriters have determined the initial public offering price of our ordinary shares by arm’s-length negotiations, and the initial public offering price does not necessarily reflect the price at which investors in the market will be willing to buy and sell our ordinary shares following this offering. In addition, an active trading market may not develop following completion of this offering or, if it is developed, may not be sustained. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your ordinary shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also adversely affect our ability to raise capital by selling securities in the future, or impair our ability to in-license or acquire other product candidates, businesses or technologies using our ordinary shares as consideration.

The price of our ordinary shares could be subject to volatility related or unrelated to our operations and your investment in us could suffer a decline in value.

If a market for our ordinary shares develops following this offering, the trading price of our ordinary shares could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include those discussed elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus and others, such as:

 

•

results from, and any delays in, our current and future clinical trials, in particular our Phase 3 clinical trials related to oral sulopenem and sulopenem;

 

•

announcements of regulatory approval or disapproval of oral sulopenem and sulopenem or future product candidates;

 

•

delays in the commercialization of oral sulopenem and sulopenem or any future product candidates;

 

•

manufacturing and supply issues related to our development programs and commercialization of oral sulopenem and sulopenem or any of our future product candidates;

 

•

quarterly variations in our results of operations or those of our competitors;

 

•

changes in our earnings estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;

 

•

announcements by us or our competitors of new product candidates, significant contracts, commercial relationships, acquisitions or capital commitments;

 

•

announcements relating to future development or license agreements including termination of such agreements;

 

•

adverse developments with respect to our intellectual property rights or those of our principal collaborators;

 

•

commencement of litigation involving us or our competitors;

 

•

changes in our board of directors or management;

 

•

new legislation in the United States relating to the prescription, sale, distribution or pricing of drugs;

 

•

product liability claims, other litigation or public concern about the safety of oral sulopenem or sulopenem or future products;

 

•

market conditions in the healthcare market in general, or in the antibiotics segment in particular, including performance of our competitors; and

 

•

general economic conditions in the United States and abroad.

 

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In addition, the stock market in general, or the market for equity securities in our industry or industries related to our industry, may experience extreme volatility unrelated to our operating performance. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price or liquidity of our ordinary shares. Any sudden decline in the market price of our ordinary shares could trigger securities class-action lawsuits against us. If any of our shareholders were to bring such a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit and the time and attention of our management would be diverted from our business and operations. We also could be subject to damages claims if we are found to be at fault in connection with a decline in our share price.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our company, or if they issue adverse or misleading opinions regarding us or our ordinary shares, our share price and trading volume could decline.

We do not currently have research coverage by securities and industry analysts, and if no significant coverage is initiated or maintained following this offering, the market price for our ordinary shares may be adversely affected. Our share price also may decline if any analyst who covers us issues an adverse or misleading opinion regarding us, our business model, our intellectual property or our share performance, or if our pivotal safety and efficacy studies and operating results fail to meet analysts’ expectations. If one or more analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline and possibly adversely affect our ability to engage in future financings.

Our principal shareholders and management own a significant percentage of our ordinary shares and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to shareholder approval.

Upon the completion of this offering, based on shares outstanding as of December 31, 2017, our executive officers, directors, holders of 5% or more of our ordinary shares and their respective affiliates will beneficially own in the aggregate approximately     % of our outstanding ordinary shares. The ownership percentage disclosed above does not reflect the purchase of any ordinary shares in this offering by these holders. As a result of their share ownership, these holders may have the ability to influence our management and policies and will be able to significantly affect the outcome of matters requiring shareholder approval such as elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents or approvals of any merger, sale of assets or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our ordinary shares that our shareholders may feel are in their best interest.

We will have broad discretion regarding use of the net proceeds from this offering, and we may use them in ways that do not enhance our operating results or the market price of our ordinary shares.

Our management will have broad discretion regarding the use of the net proceeds from this offering, and we could spend the net proceeds in ways our shareholders may not agree with or that do not yield a favorable return, if any. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to initiate, complete enrollment, and produce top-line results relating to our three Phase 3 clinical trials and to make payments under the Pfizer License. We intend to use the remainder of the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes including scheduled payments on our existing indebtedness. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to further pursue the establishment of additional sources for the manufacture of sulopenem tablets and IV vials or to acquire or in-license additional product candidates or complementary assets or businesses; however, we currently have no agreements, commitments or understandings to complete any such transaction. Our actual use of these proceeds may differ substantially from our current intentions. If we do not invest or apply the proceeds from this offering in ways that improve our operating results or our prospects, our share price could decline.

 

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Purchasers in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of their investment.

The initial public offering price of our ordinary shares is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per ordinary share before giving effect to this offering. Accordingly, if you purchase our ordinary shares in this offering, based on the midpoint range set forth on the cover of this prospectus and the issuance of            ordinary shares in this offering, we estimate that you will incur immediate dilution of approximately $         per ordinary share, representing the difference between the price per share you pay for our ordinary shares and our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per ordinary share as of December 31, 2017. Furthermore, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares, if outstanding stock options are exercised, if we issue awards to our employees under our equity incentive plans, or if we otherwise issue additional ordinary shares, you could experience further dilution. See the section titled “Dilution” for additional information.

If we raise additional capital in the future, your level of ownership in us could be diluted or require us to relinquish rights.

Any issuance of securities we may undertake in the future to raise additional capital could cause the price of our ordinary shares to decline, or require us to issue shares at a price that is lower than that paid by holders of our ordinary shares in the past, which would result in those newly issued shares being dilutive.

Further, if we obtain funds through a debt financing or through the issuance of debt or preference securities, these securities would likely have rights senior to your rights as an ordinary shareholder, which could impair the value of our ordinary shares. Any debt financing we enter into may include covenants that limit our flexibility in conducting our business. We also could be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborators or others, which might require us to relinquish valuable rights to our intellectual property or product candidates that we would have otherwise retained.

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

If our existing shareholders sell, or indicate an intention to sell, substantial amounts of our ordinary shares in the public market after the lock-up and other legal restrictions on resale discussed in this prospectus lapse, the trading price of our ordinary shares could decline. Based upon the number of ordinary shares outstanding as of December 31, 2017, upon the completion of this offering, we will have            ordinary shares outstanding, assuming (i) the conversion of all outstanding preference shares, which includes the conversion of 26,858,743 Series B-2 preferred shares we issued and sold in February 2018, into            ordinary shares, which we expect to automatically occur upon the completion of this offering, (ii) no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase              additional ordinary shares and (iii) no exercise of options outstanding as of December 31, 2017. Of these outstanding ordinary shares, the            ordinary shares sold in this offering will be freely tradable, except that any ordinary shares acquired by our “affiliates” as that term is defined in Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, including any ordinary shares acquired by existing holders of our ordinary shares that have indicated an interest in purchasing ordinary shares in this offering, may only be sold if registered under the Securities Act or if such registration is not required, such as in compliance with Rule 144.

The remaining            ordinary shares are subject to lock-up agreements. The lock-up agreements pertaining to this offering will expire 180 days from the date of this prospectus. The representatives of the underwriters, however, may permit our shareholders who are subject to these lock-up agreements to sell their ordinary shares prior to the expiration of the lock-up agreements. After the lock-up agreements expire, these            ordinary shares will be eligible for sale in the public market,             of which shares are held by directors, executive officers and other affiliates (not taking into account any shares that may be purchased in this offering by existing holders of our ordinary shares) and will be subject to volume limitations under Rule 144 under the Securities Act.

 

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In addition, ordinary shares that are issuable upon exercise of outstanding options, or reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans or issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants 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 ordinary shares are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold, in the public market, the trading price of our ordinary shares could decline.

After this offering, the holders of            ordinary shares, or approximately     % of our total outstanding ordinary shares as of December 31, 2017, 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 shareholders could have an adverse effect on the trading price of our ordinary shares.

Participation in this offering by certain of our existing shareholders would reduce the available public float for our ordinary shares.

Entities affiliated with                     , which hold more than 5% of our ordinary shares and are affiliates of director nominees, and other existing holders of our ordinary shares that had submitted indications of interest have agreed to purchase                  of our ordinary shares in this offering at the initial public offering price. Assuming these holders of our ordinary shares were to purchase all of these ordinary shares, they, together with our executive officers, directors and other owners of 5% or more of our outstanding ordinary shares and their respective affiliates, would beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately         % of our outstanding ordinary shares after this offering, based on the number of shares outstanding as of December 31, 2017 and an initial public offering price at the midpoint range set forth on the cover of this prospectus.

If these holders of our ordinary shares were to purchase all or a portion of these ordinary shares, such purchases would reduce the available public float for our ordinary shares because such shareholders would be restricted from selling the shares by a lock-up agreement they have entered into with the underwriters and by restrictions under applicable securities laws. As a result, any purchase of ordinary shares by such shareholders in this offering may reduce the liquidity of our ordinary shares relative to what it would have been had these shares been purchased by investors that were not affiliated with us.

Irish law differs from the laws in effect in the United States and may afford less protection to holders of our securities.

You may have difficulties enforcing, in actions brought in courts in jurisdictions located outside the United States, judgments obtained in the U.S. courts under the U.S. securities laws. In particular, if you sought to bring proceedings in Ireland based on U.S. securities laws, the Irish court might consider:

 

•

that it did not have jurisdiction;

 

•

that it was not the appropriate forum for such proceedings;

 

•

that, applying Irish conflict of law rules, U.S. law (including U.S. securities laws) did not apply to the relationship between you and us or our directors and officers; or

 

•

that the U.S. securities laws were of a penal nature and violated Irish public policy and should not be enforced by the Irish court.

It may not be possible to enforce court judgments obtained in the United States against us in Ireland based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws. In addition, there is some uncertainty as to whether the courts of Ireland would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers based on the civil liabilities provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws. We

 

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have been advised that the United States currently does not have a treaty with Ireland providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. Therefore, a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any U.S. federal or state court based on civil liability, whether or not based solely on U.S. federal or state securities laws, would not automatically be enforceable in Ireland.

A judgment obtained against us will be enforced by the courts of Ireland only if the following general requirements are met:

 

•

U.S. courts must have had jurisdiction in relation to the particular defendant according to Irish conflict of law rules (the submission to jurisdiction by the defendant would satisfy this rule); and

 

•

the judgment must be final and conclusive and the decree must be final and unalterable in the court which pronounces it.

A judgment can be final and conclusive even if it is subject to appeal or even if an appeal is pending. But where the effect of lodging an appeal under the applicable law is to stay execution of the judgment, it is possible that in the meantime the judgment may not be actionable in Ireland. It remains to be determined whether final judgment given in default of appearance is final and conclusive. Irish courts may also refuse to enforce a judgment of the U.S. courts which meets the above requirements for one of the following reasons:

 

•

the judgment is not for a definite sum of money;

 

•

the judgment was obtained by fraud;

 

•

the enforcement of the judgment in Ireland would be contrary to natural or constitutional justice;

 

•

the judgment is contrary to Irish public policy or involves certain U.S. laws which will not be enforced in Ireland; or

 

•

jurisdiction cannot be obtained by the Irish courts over the judgment debtors in the enforcement proceedings by personal service in Ireland or outside Ireland under Order 11 of the Irish Superior Courts Rules.

As an Irish company, we are governed by the Irish Companies Act 2014 (the Irish Companies Act), which differs in some material respects from laws generally applicable to U.S. corporations and shareholders, including, among others, differences relating to interested director and officer transactions and shareholder lawsuits. Likewise, the duties of directors and officers of an Irish company generally are owed to the company only. Shareholders of Irish companies generally do not have a personal right of action against directors or officers of the company and may exercise such rights of action on behalf of the company only in limited circumstances. Accordingly, holders of our securities may have more difficulty protecting their interests than would holders of securities of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction of the United States.

You should also be aware that Irish law does not allow for any form of legal proceedings directly equivalent to the class action available in the United States. For further information with respect to your rights as a holder of our ordinary shares, see “Description of Share Capital.”

As a newly public company, we will incur significant additional costs, and our management will be required to devote substantial time and attention to our public reporting obligations.

As a publicly-traded company, we will incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses compared to historical levels. In addition, new and changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, as well as under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), the JOBS Act and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), and the Nasdaq Global Select Market, have created uncertainty for public

 

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companies and increased our costs and time that our board of directors and management must devote to complying with these rules and regulations. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs substantially and lead to diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities.

We are an “emerging growth company,” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” may make our ordinary shares less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, and, therefore, we may take advantage of reduced disclosure and regulatory requirements that are otherwise generally applicable to public companies, including presenting only two years of audited financial statements and related financial disclosure, not being required to have our internal control over financial reporting audited by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and any golden parachute payments. We may take advantage of these reduced disclosure and regulatory requirements until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” We may remain an “emerging growth company” until as late as December 31, 2023 (the fiscal year-end following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this initial public offering), although we may cease to be an “emerging growth company” earlier under certain circumstances, including if the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any December 31, in which case we would cease to be an “emerging growth company” as of the following December 31, or if our gross revenue exceeds $1.07 billion in any fiscal year. In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this delayed adoption of new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we are subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

The exact implications of the JOBS Act are still subject to interpretations and guidance by the SEC and other regulatory agencies, and we may not be able to take advantage of all of the benefits of the JOBS Act. In addition, investors may find our ordinary shares less attractive if we rely on the exemptions and relief granted by the JOBS Act. If some investors find our ordinary shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our ordinary shares and our share price may decline or become more volatile.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.

As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the rules and regulations of the applicable listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We are also continuing to improve our internal control over financial reporting. In order to develop, maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended, and anticipate that we will continue to expend, significant resources, including accounting-related costs and significant management oversight.

 

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Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our consolidated financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our ordinary shares. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. We are not currently required to comply with the SEC rules that implement Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. As a public company, we will be required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our second annual report on Form 10-K.

Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and could cause a decline in the trading price of our ordinary shares.

We have never paid cash dividends, do not anticipate paying any cash dividends and our ability to pay dividends, or repurchase or redeem our ordinary shares, is limited by law.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our ordinary shares and do not anticipate paying any dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors after considering our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, general business conditions and other factors our board of directors deems relevant, and subject to compliance with applicable laws, including the Irish Companies Act which requires Irish companies to have distributable reserves available for distribution equal to or greater than the amount of the proposed dividend. Distributable reserves are the accumulated realized profits of the company that have not previously been utilized in a distribution or capitalization less accumulated realized losses that have not previously been written off in a reduction or reorganization of capital. Unless the company creates sufficient distributable reserves from its business activities, the creation of such distributable reserves would involve a reduction of the company’s share premium account, which would require the approval of (i) 75% of our shareholders present and voting at a shareholder meeting, and (ii) the Irish High Court. In the event that we do not undertake a reduction of capital to create distributable reserves, no distributions by way of dividends, share repurchases or otherwise will be permitted under Irish law until such time as the company has created sufficient distributable reserves from its business activities. In addition, our ability to pay cash dividends is currently prohibited by the terms of our credit facility with SVB.

Accordingly, the only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment in our company is expected to be if the market price of our ordinary shares appreciates and you sell your ordinary shares at a profit. The price of our ordinary shares prevailing in the market after this offering may not exceed the price that you pay.

 

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Anti-takeover provisions in our Articles and under Irish law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove our current directors and management team, and limit the market price of our ordinary shares.

Our Articles will contain provisions that may delay or prevent a change of control, discourage bids at a premium over the market price of our ordinary shares, and adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares and the voting and other rights of the holders of our ordinary shares. These provisions will include:

 

•

dividing our board of directors into three classes, with each class serving a staggered three-year term;

 

•

permitting our board of directors to adopt a shareholder rights plan upon such terms and conditions as it deems expedient and in our best interests;

 

•

permitting our board of directors to issue additional preference shares, with such rights, preferences and privileges as they may designate;

 

•

establishing an advance notice procedure for shareholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors; and

 

•

imposing particular approval and other requirements in relation to certain business combinations.

These provisions would apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some shareholders. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove our current management team by making it more difficult for shareholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management.

Irish law differs from the laws in effect in the United States with respect to defending unwanted takeover proposals and may give our board of directors less ability to control negotiations with hostile offerors.

Following the authorization for trading of our ordinary shares on Nasdaq, we will become subject to the Irish Takeover Panel Act, 1997, Irish Takeover Rules 2013 (Irish Takeover Rules). Under the Irish Takeover Rules, our board of directors is not permitted to take any action that might frustrate an offer for our ordinary shares once our board of directors has received an approach that may lead to an offer or has reason to believe that such an offer is or may be imminent, subject to certain exceptions. Potentially frustrating actions such as (i) the issue of shares, options, restricted share units or convertible securities, (ii) material acquisitions or disposals, (iii) entering into contracts other than in the ordinary course of business or (iv) any action, other than seeking alternative offers, which may result in frustration of an offer, are prohibited during the course of an offer or at any earlier time during which our board of directors has reason to believe an offer is or may be imminent. These provisions may give our board of directors less ability to control negotiations with hostile offerors than would be the case for a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction of the United States.

The operation of the Irish Takeover Rules may affect the ability of certain parties to acquire our ordinary shares.

Under the Irish Takeover Rules, if an acquisition of ordinary shares were to increase the aggregate holding of the acquirer and its concert parties to ordinary shares that represent 30% or more of the voting rights of the company, the acquirer and, in certain circumstances, its concert parties would be required (except with the consent of the Irish Takeover Panel) to make an offer for the outstanding ordinary shares at a price not less than the highest price paid for the ordinary shares by the acquirer or its concert parties during the previous 12 months. This requirement would also be triggered by an acquisition of ordinary shares by a person holding (together with its concert parties) ordinary shares that represent between 30% and 50% of the voting rights in the company if the effect of such acquisition were to increase that person’s percentage of the voting rights by 0.05% within a 12 month period. Following the authorization for trading of our ordinary shares on Nasdaq, under the Irish Takeover Rules, certain separate concert parties will be presumed to be acting in concert. Our board of directors and their relevant family members, related trusts and “controlled companies” are presumed to be acting in concert with

 

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any corporate shareholder who holds 20% or more of our shares. The application of these presumptions may result in restrictions upon the ability of any of the concert parties and/or members of our board of directors to acquire more of our securities, including under the terms of any executive incentive arrangements. Following the listing of our ordinary shares on Nasdaq, we may consult with the Irish Takeover Panel with respect to the application of this presumption and the restrictions on the ability to acquire further securities, although we are unable to provide any assurance as to whether the Irish Takeover Panel will overrule this presumption. For a description of certain takeover provisions applicable to us, see the section titled “Description of Share Capital—Irish Takeover Rules and Substantial Acquisition Rules.” Accordingly, the application of the Irish Takeover Rules may restrict the ability of certain of our shareholders and directors to acquire our ordinary shares.

As an Irish public limited company, certain capital structure decisions require shareholder approval, which may limit our flexibility to manage our capital structure.

Under Irish law, our authorized share capital can be increased by an ordinary resolution of our shareholders and the directors may issue new ordinary or preferred shares up to a maximum amount equal to the authorized but unissued share capital, without shareholder approval, once authorized to do so by our Articles of Association or by an ordinary resolution of our shareholders. Additionally, subject to specified exceptions, Irish law grants statutory preemption rights to existing shareholders where shares are being issued for cash consideration but allows shareholders to disapply such statutory preemption rights either in our Articles of Association or by way of special resolution. Such disapplication can either be generally applicable or be in respect of a particular allotment of shares. Accordingly, our Articles of Association adopted on closing of this offering will contain, as permitted by Irish company law, provisions authorizing the board to issue new shares, and to disapply statutory preemption rights. The authorization of the directors to issue shares and the disapplication of statutory preemption rights must both be renewed by the shareholders at least every five years, and we cannot provide any assurance that these authorizations will always be approved, which could limit our ability to issue equity and thereby adversely affect the holders of our securities.

 

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INDUSTRY DATA

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this prospectus are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

 

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our use of the net proceeds from this offering;

 

•

the initiation, timing, progress and results of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and our research and development programs;

 

•

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

 

•

our ability to advance product candidates into, and successfully complete, clinical trials;

 

•

the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals;

 

•

the commercialization of our product candidates, if approved;

 

•

our manufacturing plans;

 

•

market acceptance of any product we successfully commercialize;

 

•

the pricing, coverage and reimbursement of our product candidates, if approved;

 

•

the implementation of our business model, strategic plans for our business and product candidates;

 

•

the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our product candidates;

 

•

our ability to enter into strategic arrangements and/or collaborations and the potential benefits of such arrangements;

 

•

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

 

•

our financial performance; and

 

•

developments relating to our competitors and our industry.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this prospectus may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this prospectus to conform these statements to new information, actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law.

 

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You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance, and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

This prospectus also contains industry, market and competitive position data from our own internal estimates and research as well as industry and general publications and research surveys and studies conducted by third parties. Industry publications, studies, and surveys generally state that they have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. Our internal data and estimates are based upon information obtained from trade and business organizations and other contacts in the markets in which we operate and our management’s understanding of industry conditions. While we believe that each of these studies and publications is reliable, we have not independently verified market and industry data from third-party sources. While we believe our internal company research is reliable and the market definitions are appropriate, neither such research nor these definitions have been verified by any independent source. The industry in which we operate is subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risks due to various factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors.”

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.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds from the sale of                  ordinary shares in this offering will be approximately $         million, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option to purchase additional ordinary shares from us, we estimate that our net proceeds will be approximately $         million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share would increase (decrease) our net proceeds by $         million, assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each increase (decrease) by 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase (decrease) the net proceeds from this offering by $         million, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions. The information discussed above is illustrative only and will adjust based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. Any increase or decrease in the net proceeds would not change our intended use of proceeds.

We estimate that we will use the net proceeds from this offering, together with our cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and available borrowing under our credit facility, as follows:

 

•

approximately $         million to fund our Phase 3 clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem in three indications;

 

•

approximately $         million for milestone payments to Pfizer Inc. payable upon commencement of Phase 3 clinical development for oral sulopenem and sulopenem pursuant to the exclusive license agreement we have entered into with Pfizer; and

 

•

the balance for working capital and other general corporate purposes including scheduled payments on existing indebtedness, and which may also include regulatory, manufacturing, clinical supply and related costs.

We believe the anticipated net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and available borrowings under our credit facility, will enable us to complete our three planned Phase 3 clinical trials. However, we expect that we will require additional capital to submit our applications to regulatory agencies and to commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if we receive regulatory approval.

The expected use of proceeds from this offering represent our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions. The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures may vary significantly depending on numerous factors and any unforeseen cash needs. As a result, management will retain broad discretion over the allocation of the net proceeds from this offering.

Pending the use of the proceeds from this offering, we intend to invest the net proceeds in interest-bearing, investment-grade securities, certificates of deposit or government securities.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid dividends on our ordinary shares. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to support operations and to finance the growth and development of our business. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is currently restricted by the terms of our credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank. We do not intend to declare or pay cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors subject to applicable laws (including the Irish Companies Act, which requires, inter alia, Irish companies to have profits available for distribution equal to or greater than the amount of the proposed dividend), and will depend upon, among other factors, our results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions and capital requirements. Our future ability to pay cash dividends on our shares may be limited by the terms of any future debt or preferred securities.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and capitalization as of December 31, 2017:

 

•

on an actual basis;

 

•

on a pro forma basis, to reflect: (1) the issuance and sale of 26,858,743 Series B-2 preferred shares and the receipt of $32.2 million of gross proceeds, (2) the conversion of all outstanding preferred shares into                  of our ordinary shares immediately prior to the closing of this offering, (3) the drawdown of $15.0 million under our credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank in April 2018, and (4) the filing and effectiveness of our amended and restated constitution in connection with the closing of this offering; and

 

•

on a pro forma as adjusted basis, to further reflect the sale by us of                  ordinary shares in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

You should read the information in this table together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus and the sections titled “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

 

As of December 31, 2017

Actual

Pro Forma

Pro Forma As Adjusted(1)

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

$

$

$

Credit facility

Convertible preferred shares, $0.01 par value(2);                  shares authorized,                  shares issued and outstanding, actual; no shares authorized, issued or outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted

Shareholders’ equity:

Preferred shares, $0.01 par value(2); no shares authorized, issued or outstanding, actual;                  shares authorized and no shares issued or outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted

Ordinary shares, $0.01 par value(2);                  shares authorized,                  shares issued and outstanding, actual;                  shares authorized,                  shares issued and outstanding, pro forma;                  shares authorized,                  shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted

Additional paid-in capital

Accumulated deficit

Total shareholders’ equity

Total capitalization

 

(1)

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) each of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, additional paid-in capital, total shareholders’ equity, and total capitalization by $         million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We may also increase or decrease the number of shares we are offering. Each increase (decrease) of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase (decrease) cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, additional paid-in capital, total shareholders’ equity, and total capitalization by $         million, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions. The pro forma as adjusted information discussed above is illustrative only and will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.

(2)	The par value of $0.01 per share takes into account our renominalisation of our shares that went into effect on                     , 2018.

 

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The number of ordinary shares to be outstanding after this offering is based on 95,827,720 ordinary shares outstanding as of December 31, 2017 plus the ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion of 26,858,743 Series B-2 preferred shares we issued and sold in February 2018, and excludes:

 

•

3,898,334 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2017, with a weighted-average exercise price of $0.21 per share;

 

•

3,061,666 ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan as of December 31, 2017; all shares reserved for future issuance and not subject to an outstanding stock option will cease to be available for issuance at the time our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan becomes effective in connection with this offering;

 

•

16,000,000 ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as well as any increases in the number of ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under this plan, which will become effective upon the execution of the underwriting agreement for this offering. Of the 16,000,000 ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, upon the execution of the underwriting agreement for this offering, options to purchase 6,565,000 ordinary shares will be granted to our employees; and

 

•

312,500 ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants issued subsequent to December 31, 2017 at a price of $1.20 per share.

 

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DILUTION

If you invest in our ordinary shares in this offering, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per ordinary share and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per ordinary share after the closing of the offering.

Our pro forma net tangible book value as of December 31, 2017 was $         million, or $         per share. Pro forma net tangible book value per share is determined by subtracting our total liabilities from the total book value of our tangible assets and dividing the difference by the number of ordinary shares deemed to be outstanding at that date, after giving effect to (i) the issuance and sale of 26,858,743 Series B-2 preferred shares and the receipt of $32.2 million of gross proceeds; (ii) the conversion of all outstanding preferred shares into an aggregate of                  ordinary shares immediately prior to the closing of this offering; and (iii) the drawdown of $15.0 million under our credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank in April 2018.

After giving effect to the sale of                  ordinary shares in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of December 31, 2017, would have been $         million, or $         per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value of $         per share to our existing shareholders and immediate dilution of $         per share to new investors purchasing ordinary shares in this offering.

The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis to new investors:

 

Assumed initial public offering price per share						$
Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of December 31, 2017		$
Increase in pro forma net tangible book value per share attributable to new investors in this offering
Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering
Dilution in net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering						$

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share would increase (decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $         per share and the dilution to new investors by $         per share, assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each increase of 1,000,000 shares in the number of ordinary shares offered by us would increase the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $         per share and decrease the dilution to new investors by $         per share, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions. Similarly, each decrease of 1,000,000 shares in the number of ordinary shares offered by us would decrease the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $         per share and increase the dilution to new investors by $         per share, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions.

The following table summarizes, as of December 31, 2017, on the pro forma as adjusted basis described above:

 

•

the total number of ordinary shares purchased from us by our existing shareholders and by new investors purchasing shares in this offering;

 

•

the total consideration paid to us by our existing shareholders and by new investors purchasing shares in this offering, assuming an initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us; and

 

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•

the average price per share paid by existing shareholders and by new investors purchasing shares in this offering.

 

		Shares Purchased								Total Consideration								Average Price Per Share
		Number				Percent				Amount				Percent
Existing shareholders								%		$						%		$
New investors																		$
Total							100.0	%			$				100.0	%

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share would increase (decrease) the total consideration paid to us by new investors by $         million assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and before deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses payable by us.

The tables and calculations above are based on 95,827,720 ordinary shares outstanding as of December 31, 2017 plus the ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion of 26,858,743 Series B-2 preferred shares we issued and sold in February 2018, and exclude:

 

•

3,898,334 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2017, with a weighted-average exercise price of $0.21 per share;

 

•

3,061,666 ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan as of December 31, 2017; all shares reserved for future issuance and not subject to an outstanding stock option will cease to be available for issuance at the time our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan becomes effective in connection with this offering;

 

•

16,000,000 ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as well as any increases in the number of ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under this plan, which will become effective upon the execution of the underwriting agreement for this offering. Of the 16,000,000 ordinary shares reserved for future issuance under our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, upon the execution of the underwriting agreement for this offering, options to purchase 6,565,000 ordinary shares will be granted to our employees; and

 

•

312,500 ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants issued subsequent to December 31, 2017 at a price of $1.20 per share.

To the extent any outstanding options are exercised, new options are issued under our equity incentive plans, or we issue additional ordinary shares in the future, there will be further dilution to investors participating in this offering. If all outstanding options as of December 31, 2017 and warrants issued subsequent to December 31, 2017 were exercised, then our existing shareholders, including the holders of these options and warrants would own     % and new investors would own     % of the total number of ordinary shares outstanding upon the closing of this offering.

 

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

You should read the selected consolidated financial data below in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements, related notes, and other financial information included elsewhere in this prospectus. The selected consolidated financial and other data in this section are not intended to replace the consolidated financial statements and are qualified in their entirety by the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 and selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in any future period.

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017
		(in thousands, except per share data)
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:
Revenue			—				508
Operating expenses:
Research and development		$	(10,101	)		$	(25,499	)
General and administrative			(3,258	)			(4,464	)
Total operating expenses			(13,359	)			(29,963	)
Operating loss			(13,359	)			(29,455	)
Interest income, net			—				277
Other income, net			8				216
Total other income			8				493
Loss before income taxes			(13,351	)			(28,962	)
Income tax expense			(113	)			(444	)
Net loss and comprehensive loss		$	(13,464	)			(29,406	)
Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders		$	(13,464	)		$	(29,406	)
Net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders, basic and diluted(1)		$	(36.21	)		$	(10.87	)
Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding, basic and diluted			371,823				2,704,167

 

(1)	Net loss per share, basic and diluted is the same due to our net loss.

 

		As of December 31, 2017
		(in thousands)
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments		$	39,216
Working capital(1)			37,047
Total assets			46,757
Total liabilities			7,206
Convertible preferred shares			9
Total shareholders’ equity			39,542

 

(1)	Working capital is equal to current assets minus current liabilities.

Recent Developments

In February 2018, we issued and sold 26,858,743 Series B-2 preferred shares for gross cash proceeds of $32.2 million. In April 2018, we entered into a secured credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank and made an initial drawdown of $15 million.

 

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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 our financial condition and results of operations together with the section titled “Selected Consolidated Financial Data” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business and related financing, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, including those factors set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus, our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing sulopenem to be potentially the first and only oral and intravenous (IV) branded penem available globally. Penems, including thiopenems and carbapenems, belong to a class of antibiotics more broadly defined as ß-lactam antibiotics, the original example of which was penicillin, but which now also includes cephalosporins. Sulopenem is a potent, thiopenem antibiotic delivered intravenously which is active against bacteria that belong to the group of organisms known as gram-negatives and cause urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections. We have successfully developed sulopenem in an oral tablet formulation, sulopenem etzadroxil-probenecid, which we refer to herein as oral sulopenem. Both sulopenem products have the potential to be important new treatment alternatives to address growing concerns related to antibacterial resistance without the known toxicities of some of the most widely used antibiotics, specifically fluoroquinolones. We see two distinct opportunities for our sulopenem program: patients at elevated risk for treatment failure in the community setting suffering from uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) and hospitalized patients suffering from complicated, resistant infections. Therefore, we plan to initiate a Phase 3 clinical program in the second half of 2018 for the treatment of adults in three indications: uUTI, complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) and complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI). We designed one Phase 3 clinical trial in each indication based on our end of Phase 2 meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and feedback from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). We intend to conduct the Phase 3 clinical trials under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreements from the FDA. We expect to complete enrollment and produce topline data for all three clinical trials in the second half of 2019, and submit our new drug applications (NDAs) to the FDA by the end of 2019.

Since our inception in June 2015, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, establishing a supply chain, planning for commercialization, and conducting research and development activities for our sulopenem program. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales. In June 2017, we were granted a sub-award of up to $1.5 million from the Trustees of Boston University under the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) program (the CARB-X Award). The CARB-X Award supports preclinical and clinical trials in support of our potential regulatory filings for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, along with chemistry, manufacturing and controls optimization and development of our commercial bilayer tablet. We have funded our operations to date primarily with proceeds from the sale of preferred shares and ordinary shares and payments received under the funding arrangement with CARB-X. Through December 31, 2017, we had received gross cash proceeds of $87.5 million from sales of our preferred shares and ordinary shares. In February 2018, we received gross cash proceeds of $32.2 million from the sale of our Series B-2 preferred shares. In April 2018, we entered into a secured credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and made an initial drawdown of $15 million.

In November 2015, we acquired an exclusive, worldwide license under certain patents and know-how to develop and commercialize sulopenem and its oral prodrug, sulopenem etzadroxil, from Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer). We have developed an oral formulation, sulopenem etzadroxil-probenecid combined in a single bilayer tablet. We

 

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refer to sulopenem delivered intravenously as sulopenem and, together with oral sulopenem, as our sulopenem program. Under an exclusive license agreement with Pfizer (the Pfizer License), we paid Pfizer a one-time nonrefundable upfront fee of $5.0 million and are obligated to pay Pfizer potential future clinical and regulatory milestone payments, as well as sales milestones upon achievement of net sales ranging from $250.0 million to $1.0 billion for each product type (sulopenem etzadroxil and other prodrugs, and sulopenem and other non-prodrugs). We are obligated to pay Pfizer royalties ranging from a single-digit to mid-teens percentage based on marginal net sales of each licensed product. Pfizer also received six million Series A preferred shares as additional payment for the licensed rights. In addition, if we sublicense or assign our rights to licensed products to a third party, and we receive in connection with such transaction a threshold amount of at least a low nine figure dollar amount over a specified period of time, we will be obligated to pay Pfizer an additional one-time payment of a low eight figure dollar amount.

Since our inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. Our ability to generate product revenue sufficient to achieve profitability will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of oral sulopenem and sulopenem. Our net losses for 2016 and 2017 were $13.5 million and $29.4 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $54.7 million. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses for at least the next two years as we advance our sulopenem program through Phase 3 clinical trials, seek regulatory approval and engage in market preparation activities. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution Furthermore, we may incur expenses in connection with the establishment of additional sources for the manufacture of sulopenem tablets and IV vials or the in-license or acquisition of additional product candidates. Additionally, upon the closing of this offering, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company, including significant legal, accounting, investor relations and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company.

As a result, we will require additional capital to fund our operations, continue to develop our sulopenem program and to execute our strategy. Until such time as we can obtain marketing approval for oral sulopenem, sulopenem or any future product candidate and generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaboration agreements, other third-party funding, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements, marketing and distribution arrangements or government funding. We may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such 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, discontinue the development and commercialization of our sulopenem program, or otherwise change our strategy.

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 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.

As of December 31, 2017, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $39.2 million. In February 2018, we received gross cash proceeds of $32.2 million from the sale of Series B-2 preferred shares in connection with the second and final closing of our Series B preferred share financing. In April 2018, we entered into a secured credit facility with SVB and made an initial drawdown of $15 million. We believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and available borrowings under our credit facility, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least             . We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our available capital resources sooner than we expect. See the section titled “—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

 

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Components of Our Results of Operations

Revenue

To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales and do not expect to generate any revenue from the sale of oral sulopenem or sulopenem in the near future. If our development efforts for our sulopenem program are successful and result in regulatory approval and/or license agreements with third parties, we may generate revenue in the future from product sales. To date, all of our revenue has been derived from our CARB-X Award. We expect that our revenue for the next few years will be derived primarily from payments under the CARB-X Award or government awards that we may enter into in the future. In June 2017, CARB-X awarded us funds of up to $1.5 million to advance the development of our sulopenem program. We receive funding from CARB-X as we incur qualifying expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized $0.5 million of revenue under this award.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred in connection with the development of our sulopenem program, which include:

 

•

expenses incurred under agreements with contract research organizations (CROs), contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs), as well as investigative sites and consultants that conduct our clinical trials, preclinical studies and other scientific development services;

 

•

manufacturing scale-up expenses and the cost of acquiring and manufacturing preclinical and clinical trial materials and commercial materials, including manufacturing validation batches;

 

•

employee-related expenses, including salaries, related benefits, travel and share-based compensation expense for employees engaged in research and development functions;

 

•

costs related to compliance with regulatory requirements;

 

•

facilities costs, depreciation and other expenses, which include rent and utilities; and

 

•

payments made in cash, equity securities or other forms of consideration under third-party licensing agreements.

We expense research and development costs as incurred. Advance payments we make for goods or services to be received in the future for use in research and development activities are recorded as prepaid expenses. We recognize external development costs based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks using information provided to us by our service providers.

Research and development activities are central to our business model. Product candidates in advanced 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 that our research and development expenses will increase substantially over the next two years as we increase personnel costs, including share-based compensation, commence Phase 3 clinical trials for our sulopenem program, conduct other clinical trials and prepare regulatory filings for oral sulopenem and sulopenem. We also expect to incur additional expenses related to milestone and royalty payments payable to Pfizer with whom we have entered into the Pfizer License to acquire the rights to oral sulopenem and sulopenem.

The successful development and commercialization of oral sulopenem and sulopenem is highly uncertain. At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate or know the nature, timing and costs of the efforts that will be necessary to complete the clinical development of our sulopenem program or when, if ever, material net cash

 

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inflows may commence from any of our product candidates. This uncertainty is due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development and commercialization, including the uncertainty of:

 

•

the scope, progress, outcome and costs of our clinical trials and other research and development activities;

 

•

successful patient enrollment in, and the initiation and completion of, clinical trials;

 

•

the timing, receipt and terms of any marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;

 

•

establishing commercial manufacturing capabilities or making arrangements with third-party manufacturers;

 

•

development and timely delivery of commercial drug formulations that can be used in our clinical trials and for commercial launch;

 

•

obtaining, maintaining, defending and enforcing patent claims and other intellectual property rights;

 

•

significant and changing government regulation;

 

•

launching commercial sales of our product candidates, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others; and

 

•

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

We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for any of our product candidates. We may obtain unexpected results from our clinical trials. We may elect to discontinue, delay or modify clinical trials of some product candidates or focus on others. Any changes in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of our product candidates in clinical development could mean a significant change in the costs and timing associated with the development of these product candidates. For example, if we experience significant delays in enrollment in any of our planned clinical trials, or are required to add additional patients to a study to remain consistent with our original trial design assumptions, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development of that product candidate.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries, related benefits, travel and share-based compensation expense for personnel in executive, finance and administrative functions. General and administrative expenses also include director compensation and travel expenses and professional fees for legal, patent, consulting, accounting and audit services.

We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future as we increase our headcount to support our continued development of our sulopenem program. We also anticipate that we will incur increased accounting, audit, legal, regulatory, compliance, director compensation, director and officer insurance costs as well as investor and public relations expenses associated with being a public company. We anticipate the additional costs for these services will increase our general and administrative expenses by approximately $1.5 million to $2.0 million on an annual basis. Additionally, if and when we believe regulatory approval of oral sulopenem and sulopenem appears likely, we anticipate an increase in payroll and expenses as a result of our preparation for commercial operations.

Other Income (Expense)

Interest Income, Net

Interest income consists of interest earned and any unrealized gains or losses on our cash equivalents and short-term investments, which are invested in money market accounts. Our interest income has not been significant due to low interest earned on those balances.

 

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Foreign Exchange Gain (Loss)

We realize foreign currency gains (losses) in the normal course of business based on movement in the applicable exchange rates. These gains (losses) have been insignificant to date and are included as a component of other income (expense).

Provision for Income Taxes

We recognize income taxes under the asset and liability method. Deferred income taxes are recognized for differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities at enacted statutory tax rates in effect for the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect on deferred taxes of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. In evaluating our ability to recover our deferred tax assets, we consider all available positive and negative evidence including past operating results, the existence of cumulative income in the most recent fiscal years, changes in the business in which we operate and our forecast of future taxable income. In determining future taxable income, we are responsible for assumptions utilized including the amount of Irish, U.S. and other foreign pre-tax operating income, the reversal of temporary differences and the implementation of feasible and prudent tax planning strategies. These assumptions require significant judgment about the forecasts of future taxable income and are consistent with the plans and estimates that we are using to manage the underlying business.

We account for uncertain tax positions using a more-likely-than-not threshold for recognizing and resolving uncertain tax positions. The evaluation of uncertain tax positions is based on factors including, but not limited to, changes in tax law, the measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in tax returns, the effective settlement of matters subject to audit, new audit activity and changes in facts or circumstances related to a tax position. We evaluate our tax position on a quarterly basis. We also accrue for potential interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense.

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 our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. We base our estimates on 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 values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our 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 following accounting policies are those most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Accrued Research and Development Expenses

As part of the process of preparing our consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued research and development 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 actual costs. The majority of our service providers invoice us in arrears for services performed, on a pre-determined schedule or when contractual milestones are met; however, some require advanced payments. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in the

 

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consolidated financial statements based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. We periodically confirm the accuracy of these estimates with the service providers and make adjustments if necessary. Examples of estimated accrued research and development expenses include fees paid to:

 

•

vendors, including central laboratories, in connection with preclinical development activities;

 

•

CROs and investigative sites in connection with preclinical and clinical studies; and

 

•

CMOs in connection with drug substance and drug product formulation of preclinical and clinical trial materials.

We base our expenses related to preclinical studies and clinical trials on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to quotes and contracts with multiple research institutions and CROs that conduct and manage preclinical studies and clinical trials on our behalf. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payment flows. 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. Payments under some of these contracts depend on factors such as the successful enrollment of patients and the completion of clinical trial milestones. 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, our understanding of the status and timing of services performed relative to the actual status and timing of services performed may vary and may result in reporting amounts that are too high or too low in any particular period. To date, there have not been any material adjustments to our prior estimates of accrued research and development expenses.

Share-Based Compensation

We measure share options and other share-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. We have only issued share awards with service-based vesting conditions and record the expense for these awards using the straight-line method.

For share-based awards granted to consultants and non-employees, we recognize compensation expense over the period during which services are rendered by such consultants and 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 ordinary shares and updated assumption inputs in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.

We estimate the fair value of each share option grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which uses as inputs the fair value of our ordinary shares and assumptions we make for the volatility of our ordinary shares, the expected term of our share options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of our share options and our expected dividend yield.

Determination of the Fair Value of Ordinary Shares

As there has been no public market for our ordinary shares to date, the estimated fair value of our ordinary shares has been determined by our board of directors as of the date of each option grant, with input from management, considering our most recently available third-party valuation of our ordinary shares 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. Our

 

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board of directors considered various objective and subjective factors to determine the fair value of our ordinary shares as of each grant date, including:

 

•

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

 

•

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

 

•

our stage of development and commercialization and our business strategy;

 

•

external market conditions affecting the pharmaceutical industry and trends within the pharmaceutical industry;

 

•

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

 

•

the lack of an active public market for our ordinary shares and our preferred shares;

 

•

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

 

•

the analysis of IPOs and the market performance of similar companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Our third-party valuations of ordinary shares were prepared using the option-pricing method (OPM), which used an income and market approach to estimate our enterprise value. The OPM treats ordinary shares and preferred shares 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 ordinary shares have value only if the funds available for distribution to shareholders exceeded the value of the preferred share liquidation preferences at the time of the liquidity event, such as a strategic sale or a merger. Discounts for lack of control and marketability of the ordinary shares were applied directly or were inherent in the methodologies employed to arrive at an indication of the value for the ordinary shares.

The assumptions underlying these valuations represent management’s best estimates, which involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors or expected outcomes change and we use significantly different assumptions or estimates, our share-based compensation expense could be materially different.

Following the closing of this offering, the fair value of our ordinary shares will be determined based on the quoted market price of our ordinary shares.

Grants of Share-based awards

The following table sets forth by grant date the number of ordinary shares subject to awards granted between November 18, 2015 and December 31, 2017, the per share exercise price of the options and the per share estimated fair value of the options utilized to calculate share-based compensation expense:

 

Date of Grant		Type of Award		Number of shares underlying awards granted		Exercise price per share		Fair value per share on grant date
3/8/2016		Option		300,000		$0.20		$0.11
5/25/2016		Option		100,000		0.20		0.11
8/15/2016		Option		150,000		0.20		0.11
12/7/2016		Option		225,000		0.20		0.11
3/24/2017		Option		225,000		0.21		0.12
6/6/2017		Option		50,000		0.21		0.12
9/12/2017		Option		2,683,334		0.21		0.12
12/5/2017		Option		165,000		0.28		0.16

 

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Results of Operations

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2016 and 2017

The following table summarizes our operating losses for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017:

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017				Change
		(in thousands)
Revenue		$	—			$	508			$	508
Operating expenses:
Research and development		$	10,101			$	25,499			$	15,398
General and administrative			3,258				4,464				1,206
Total operating expenses		$	13,359			$	29,963			$	16,604
Operating loss			(13,359	)			(29,455	)			(16,096	)

Revenue

In June 2017, CARB-X awarded us funds of up to $1.5 million to advance the development of our sulopenem program. We receive funding from CARB-X as we incur qualifying expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized $0.5 million of revenue under this award.

Research and Development Expenses

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017				Change
		(in thousands)
Chemistry, manufacturing and control (CMC) related expenses		$	4,030			$	15,237			$	11,207
CRO and other preclinical and clinical trial related expenses			2,894				4,665				1,771
Personnel related (including share-based compensation)			1,717				3,527				1,810
Consulting fees			1,460				2,070				610
Total research and development expenses		$	10,101			$	25,499			$	15,398

The increase in CMC related expenses of $11.2 million was primarily due to formulation development, manufacturing process, and manufacturing of clinical trial material in anticipation of our Phase 3 clinical trials in the second half of 2018. CRO and other preclinical and clinical trial related expenses increased by $1.8 million due to increased Phase 1 and Phase 4 clinical trial activity. Personnel related costs increased by $1.8 million as a result of an increase in headcount in our CMC, clinical development and regulatory functions. Personnel related costs for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 included share-based compensation expense of $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively. The increase in consulting fees of $0.6 million was primarily due to the increase in consultants used for preclinical and clinical trial activity.

General and Administrative Expenses

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017				Change
		(in thousands)
Personnel related (including share-based compensation)		$	2,003			$	2,463			$	460
Professional and consultant fees			903				929				26
Facility related and other			352				1,072				720
Total general and administrative expenses		$	3,258			$	4,464			$	1,206

 

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The increase in facility related and other costs of $0.7 million was primarily due to the lease of office space in Dublin that we entered into at the end of 2016, software costs, director compensation and travel expenses, and general support costs for the increase in headcount. Personnel-related costs increased by $0.5 million as a result of an increase in headcount in our general and administrative function. Personnel related costs for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017 included share-based compensation expense of $0.2 million and $0.3 million, respectively.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since our inception, we have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from our operations. We have generated limited revenue to date from a funding arrangement with CARB-X. We have funded our operations to date primarily with proceeds from the sale of preferred shares and ordinary shares and payments received under the funding arrangement with CARB-X. Through December 31, 2017, we had received gross cash proceeds of $87.5 million from sales of our Series A and Series B-1 preferred shares and ordinary shares. As of December 31, 2017, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $39.2 million. In February 2018, we received gross cash proceeds of $32.2 million from the sale of Series B-2 preferred shares.

Secured credit facility

On April 27, 2018, our subsidiaries, Iterum Therapeutics International Limited, Iterum Therapeutics US Holdings Limited and Iterum Therapeutics US Limited (Borrowers) entered into a loan and security agreement with SVB pursuant to which SVB agreed to lend the Borrowers up to $30 million in two term loans. $15 million of the secured credit facility was available on closing and the other $15 million is available at our option upon the satisfaction of certain draw requirements: (i) the achievement of both primary endpoints from our Phase 3 uUTI trial and reporting satisfactory safety data; or (ii) the achievement of non-inferiority primary endpoints from both our Phase 3 uUTI and cUTI trials as well as reporting satisfactory safety data. A non-utilization fee of 1.5% of the aggregate undrawn principal amount shall apply if we satisfy the second draw requirements but choose not to draw down the second term loan. The principal borrowed under the secured credit facility bears interest at a floating per annum rate equal to the greater of (i) 8.31%; or (ii) 3.89% above The Wall Street Journal prime rate, which interest is payable monthly in arrears.

The initial draw will require monthly amortization payments commencing November 1, 2019, which will be extended to April 1, 2020 if the second draw is made. All outstanding principal, plus a 4.2% final interest payment, will be due and payable on March 1, 2022 (Maturity Date).

The secured credit facility draws are subject to prepayment fees in the event of prepayment at any time prior to the Maturity Date.

In connection with the initial $15.0 million draw, we issued to SVB and Life Sciences Fund II LLC (LSF) warrants to purchase 312,500 Series B-2 preferred shares at an exercise price of $1.20 per share. If we draw down the second term loan, each of SVB and LSF will be entitled, pursuant to additional share warrants issued to each of them at closing, to purchase such number of additional ordinary shares in an aggregate amount equal to 2.5% of the funded amount, divided by the applicable exercise price. Obligations under the secured credit facility are secured by substantially all of our existing and future assets and the existing and future assets of our subsidiaries, including intellectual property.

 

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Cash Flows

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

 

		Year Ended December 31,
		2016				2017
		(in thousands)
Net cash used in operating activities		$	(11,298	)		$	(30,604	)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities			—				(31,587	)
Net cash provided by financing activities			20,851				45,867
Net increase (decrease) in cash		$	9,553			$	(16,324	)

Operating Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2016, operating activities used $11.3 million of cash, resulting from our net loss of $13.5 million, partially offset by non-cash charges of $0.4 million and net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $1.8 million. Net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2016 consisted primarily of increases in accrued expenses and accounts payable primarily due to increases in clinical trial supply and costs, partially offset by increases in prepaid expenses and other assets primarily related to advance payments to contract manufacturing organizations.

During the year ended December 31, 2017, operating activities used $30.6 million of cash, resulting from our net loss of $29.4 million and net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $1.6 million, partially offset by non-cash charges of $0.4 million. Net cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2017 consisted of increases in prepaid expenses and other assets primarily related to advance payments to contract manufacturing organizations, partially offset by increases in accrued expenses and accounts payable primarily due to increases in clinical trial supply and costs.

Investing Activities

We did not use any cash for investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2016. During the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash used in investing activities of $31.6 million was primarily related to purchases of short-term investments of $53.3 million and fixed asset purchases of $0.8 million, partially offset by sales of short-term investments of $22.5 million.

Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2016, net cash provided by financing activities was $20.9 million, and consisted of gross cash proceeds from the issuance of Series A preferred shares in December 2016.

During the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash provided by financing activities was $45.9 million, and consisted of gross cash proceeds from the issuance of Series B-1 preferred shares in May 2017.

Funding Requirements

We expect our expenses to increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance the clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem. In addition, upon the closing of this offering, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Our expenses will also increase if and as we:

 

•

conduct additional clinical trials for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, which include our planned Phase 1 clinical trials, which we expect will occur in 2018 and 2019, and our three planned pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials, which we plan to initiate in the second half of 2018;

 

•

initiate other studies as part of our sulopenem program, some of which may be required for regulatory approval of our product candidates;

 

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•

establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem in the United States if we obtain marketing approval from the FDA;

 

•

establish manufacturing and supply chain capacity sufficient to provide commercial quantities of oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if we obtain marketing approval;

 

•

pursue the development of our sulopenem program in additional indications;

 

•

maintain, expand, defend and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

 

•

hire additional clinical, scientific and commercial personnel;

 

•

add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product development and planned future commercialization efforts, as well as to support our transition to a public reporting company; and

 

•

acquire or in-license other product candidates or technologies.

We believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and available borrowings under our credit facility, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next             . We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could utilize our available capital resources sooner than we expect. We expect that we will require additional capital to file with regulatory agencies and commercialize oral sulopenem and sulopenem, if we receive regulatory approval, and to pursue in-licenses or acquisitions of other product candidates. If we receive regulatory approval for oral sulopenem or sulopenem, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution, depending on where we choose to commercialize.

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, both short-term and long-term will depend on many factors, including:

 

•

the timing and costs of our planned clinical trials of oral sulopenem and sulopenem;

 

•

the initiation, progress, timing, costs and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials of other potential product candidates and of our current product candidates in additional indications;

 

•

the amount of funding that we receive under government awards that we have applied for or may apply for in the future;

 

•

the number and characteristics of product candidates that we pursue;

 

•

the outcome, timing and costs of seeking regulatory approvals;

 

•

the costs of commercialization activities for oral sulopenem and sulopenem and other product candidates if we receive marketing approval, including the costs and timing of establishing product sales, marketing, distribution and manufacturing capabilities;

 

•

the receipt of marketing approval and revenue received from any potential commercial sales of oral sulopenem and sulopenem;

 

•

the terms and timing of any future collaborations, licensing or other arrangements that we may establish;

 

•

the amount and timing of any payments we may be required to make, or that we may receive, in connection with the licensing, filing, prosecution, defense and enforcement of any patents or other intellectual property rights, including milestone and royalty payments and patent prosecution fees that we are obligated to pay pursuant to the Pfizer License or other future license agreements;

 

•

the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights and defending against any intellectual property related claims;

 

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•

the costs of operating as a public company; and

 

•

the extent to which we in-license or acquire other products and technologies.

Until such time, if ever, that we can generate product revenue sufficient to achieve profitability, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaboration agreements, other third-party funding, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements, marketing and distribution arrangements or government funding. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as an ordinary shareholder. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. Our secured credit facility with SVB imposes operating and other restrictions on us. Such restrictions affect, and in many cases limit or prohibit, our ability to dispose of certain assets, pay dividends and incur additional indebtedness, among other things. If we raise additional funds through other third-party funding, collaboration agreements, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements or marketing and distribution arrangements, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market products or product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

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 flows 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)		$	3,692			$	487			$	954			$	894			$	1,357
Total		$	3,692			$	487			$	954			$	894			$	1,357

 

(1)	Reflects payments due for our leases of office space under operating lease agreements that expire in 2018, 2022 and 2026.

Under our license agreement with Pfizer, we have agreed to make certain clinical, regulatory and sales milestone payments, pay royalties and make a potential one-time payment related to sublicensing income that exceeds a certain threshold. We have not included any contingent payment obligations, such as milestones, royalties, or one-time payments, in the table above as the amount, timing and likelihood of such payments are not known. We expect to use $15.0 million of the proceeds from this offering for milestone payments to Pfizer. We are obligated to pay Pfizer royalties ranging from a single-digit to mid-teens percentage based on marginal net sales of each licensed product.

In June 2016, we entered into an agreement with a supplier whereby we agreed to pay $3.0 million to the supplier to acquire equipment, which will be used solely to manufacture product for us. This payment will be offset against the price of the product to be supplied under a future supply agreement. As of December 31, 2017, $0.6 million remained outstanding to the supplier.

Emerging Growth Company Status

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 permits an “emerging growth company” such as us to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected to “opt out” of this provision and, as a result, we will comply with new or revised accounting standards when they are required to be adopted by public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

 

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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 in the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risks

We had cash and cash equivalents of $8.5 million as of December 31, 2017, consisting of cash in non-interest bearing accounts in highly rated financial institutions in the United States and Ireland and money market accounts.

We contract with CROs and CMOs globally. We may be subject to fluctuations in foreign currency rates in connection with certain of these agreements. Transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency are recorded based on exchange rates at the time such transactions arise. As of December 31, 2016 and 2017, substantially all of our liabilities were denominated in U.S. dollars. Net foreign currency gains and losses did not have a material effect on our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017.

The interest rate on our secured credit facility is sensitive to changes in interest rates. Interest accrues at a per annum rate equal to the greater of (i) 8.31%; or (ii) 3.89% above The Wall Street Journal prime rate.

 

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BUSINESS

Overview

We are a pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing sulopenem to be potentially the first and only oral and intravenous (IV) branded penem available globally. Penems, including thiopenems and carbapenems, belong to a class of antibiotics more broadly defined as ß-lactam antibiotics, the original example of which was penicillin, but which now also includes cephalosporins. Sulopenem is a potent, thiopenem antibiotic delivered intravenously which is active against bacteria that belong to the group of organisms known as gram-negatives and cause urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections. We have successfully developed sulopenem in an oral tablet formulation, sulopenem etzadroxil-probenecid. Both sulopenem product candidates have the potential to be important new treatment alternatives to address growing concerns related to antibacterial resistance without the known toxicities of some of the most widely used antibiotics, specifically fluoroquinolones. We see two distinct opportunities for our sulopenem program: patients at elevated risk for treatment failure in the community setting suffering from uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTI) and hospitalized patients suffering from complicated, antibiotic-resistant infections. Therefore, we plan to initiate a Phase 3 clinical program in the second half of 2018 for the treatment of adults in three indications: uUTI, complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) and complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI). We designed one Phase 3 clinical trial in each indication based on our end of Phase 2 meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and feedback from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). We intend to conduct the Phase 3 clinical trials under Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreements from the FDA. We expect to complete enrollment and produce top-line data for all three clinical trials in the second half of 2019, and to submit our new drug applications (NDAs) to the FDA by the end of 2019.

In November 2015, we acquired an exclusive, worldwide license under certain patents and know-how to develop and commercialize sulopenem and its oral prodrug, sulopenem etzadroxil, from Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer). Pfizer conducted Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of sulopenem delivered intravenously in Japan in over 1,450 patients with a variety of hospital and community acquired infections. These clinical trials documented a treatment effect in the indications studied and provided preliminary insights into the safety profile for sulopenem, which will continue to be assessed with additional clinical trials. Pfizer subsequently developed sulopenem into a prodrug formulation, sulopenem etzadroxil, to enable oral delivery. Once this prodrug is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, the etzadroxil ester is immediately cleaved off and the active moiety, sulopenem, is released into the bloodstream. We have further enhanced this prodrug formulation with the addition of probenecid to extend sulopenem’s half-life and enhance its antibacterial potential. Probenecid is a pharmacokinetic enhancer that has been safely and extensively used globally for decades. The oral dose of sulopenem etzadroxil-probenecid will be combined in a single bilayer tablet, which we refer to as oral sulopenem. We refer to sulopenem delivered intravenously as sulopenem and, together with oral sulopenem, as our sulopenem program.

The treatment of urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections has become more challenging because of the development of resistance by pathogens responsible for these diseases. There are approximately 13.5 million emergency room and office visits for symptoms of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and approximately 21 million uUTIs in the United States annually. Based on market research, physicians estimated that approximately 35% of these patients are at elevated risk for treatment failure. Proper antibiotic treatment of resistant infections in this group is particularly important due to the risks associated with treatment failure. Elevated risk patients were defined in the research as patients with recurrent UTIs, elderly patients, those who have a suspected or confirmed drug-resistant infection, patients with comorbidities (e.g., Diabetes mellitus) or that are immunocompromised, patients that have had a recent hospitalization, patients with a history of prior antibiotic failure and patients in a long-term care setting. Treatment failures pose significant clinical and economic challenges to the healthcare system. There are also approximately 3.6 million patients with cUTI and approximately 350,000 patients with cIAI that require antibiotic therapy every year in the United States.

Growing antibiotic resistance to E. coli, the primary cause of UTIs, has complicated the choice of treatment alternatives in both the community and hospital settings, reducing effective treatment choices for physicians. In

 

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addition, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and European Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases recommend against empiric use, or prescribing without results from a bacterial culture, of fluoroquinolones for uUTIs in their 2010 Update to the International Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Acute Uncomplicated Cystitis and Pyelonephritis in Women. Similarly, the FDA in its November 2015 Advisory Committee meeting stated that the risk of serious side effects caused by fluoroquinolones generally outweighs the benefits for patients with uUTIs and other uncomplicated infections. Subsequently, the FDA mandated labeling modifications for fluoroquinolone antibiotics directing healthcare professionals to reserve fluoroquinolones for patients with no other treatment alternatives.

None of the most commonly used oral antibiotics for treatment of uUTIs were initially approved by the FDA within the last two decades. We believe oral sulopenem will be an important empiric treatment option for elevated risk uUTI patients because of its potency against resistant pathogens, as well as its spectrum of antibacterial activity. In addition, oral sulopenem will allow patients who develop an infection with a resistant pathogen, but are stable enough to be treated in the community, to avoid the need for an IV catheter and even hospitalization. The primary endpoint of our uUTI Phase 3 clinical trial is designed to demonstrate non-inferiority in patients with ciprofloxacin-susceptible pathogens but also provides an opportunity to demonstrate superiority to ciprofloxacin for oral sulopenem in patients with ciprofloxacin-resistant pathogens.

In the hospital setting, the lack of effective oral stepdown options results in the potential for lengthy hospital stays or insertion of a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) to facilitate administration of IV antibiotics, even for some patients with relatively straightforward infections. Our sulopenem program may enable faster discharges, providing cost-saving advantages for the hospital and mitigating the risk of catheter-related infection for patients. Based on potency, safety and formulation advantages, we believe our sulopenem program is uniquely positioned to address unmet medical needs for patients suffering from uncomplicated and complicated infections in both the community and hospital settings.

If the FDA approves oral sulopenem and sulopenem, we plan to build a commercial infrastructure to launch both product candidates in the United States. Data from a study we commissioned in 2017 to quantify quinolone resistance by zip code, in addition to data from our clinical trials and available prescriber data, will inform our initial targeted sales force as to where the medical need for a new, effective therapy for UTIs is highest in the community and hospital settings. Outside of the United States, we are evaluating our options to maximize the value of our sulopenem program.

We plan to employ a dual sourcing strategy for critical elements of our sulopenem supply chain. We expect to register two suppliers and validate at least one supplier for the manufacture of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) at the time of our planned regulatory filings in the United States by the end of 2019. We will initially rely on a single third-party facility to manufacture all of our sulopenem tablets. In the future, given the importance of oral sulopenem to our potential commercial results, we will consider establishing additional sources.

Sulopenem etzadroxil has an issued composition of matter patent in the United States (which we have exclusively licensed from Pfizer) that is scheduled to expire in 2029, subject to potential extension to 2034 under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (the Hatch-Waxman Act). In addition, the FDA has designated sulopenem and oral sulopenem as Qualified Infectious Disease Products (QIDP) for the indications of uUTI, cUTI and cIAI pursuant to the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now Act (the GAIN Act), which provides the potential for a more rapid NDA review cycle and could add five years to any regulatory exclusivity period that we may be granted. QIDP status for other indications, such as respiratory tract infections, gonorrhea and diabetic foot infection is also possible given the coverage of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria by sulopenem, pending submission of additional documentation and acceptance by the FDA. None of our licensed patents cover the IV formulation of sulopenem.

We were founded in June 2015 by former executives of Durata Therapeutics, Inc. (Durata), a biopharmaceutical company, which developed dalbavancin, another antibiotic from the Pfizer portfolio, and

 

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successfully obtained FDA approval, launched the product in the United States, and submitted a marketing authorization application (MAA) to the EMA (approval was received in 2015). Durata was acquired by Allergan plc (formerly Actavis, Inc.) in late 2014. To date, we have raised approximately $120 million to develop our sulopenem program from a leading investor group including Advent Life Sciences LLP, Arix Bioscience plc, Bay City Capital LLC, Canaan Partners, Domain Associates L.L.C., Frazier Healthcare Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, and Sofinnova Ventures, Inc., as well as our founders. Pfizer is also one of our shareholders.

Sulopenem Program, Clinical and Regulatory Status

We plan to pursue three initial indications for oral sulopenem and sulopenem, as summarized in the chart below. We designed these Phase 3 clinical trials based on extensive in vitro microbiologic surveillance data, Phase 1 pharmacokinetic data from healthy volunteers as well as population pharmacokinetic data from patients, animal models in relevant disease settings, Phase 2 data from a program performed with sulopenem by Pfizer in Japan in the early 1990s, and regulatory feedback from FDA at an end of Phase 2 meeting, all supported by an advanced commercial manufacturing program which will provide clinical supplies.

We intend to conduct the Phase 3 clinical trials under SPA agreements from the FDA. We expect to complete enrollment and produce top-line data for all three clinical trials in the second half of 2019, and submit our NDAs to the FDA by the end of 2019.

 

Our Strategy

Our strategy is to develop and commercialize our sulopenem program for multiple indications, and in the long term to build a market-leading anti-infective business. The key elements of this strategy include the following:

 

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Complete sulopenem clinical development in three initial indications. Conduct single Phase 3 clinical trials in each of our three initial indications: uUTI, cUTI and cIAI. We have received SPA agreements from the FDA for each of these trials. We plan to begin enrollment in all three clinical trials in the second half of 2018 and expect to conclude enrollment in the second half of 2019, with top-line data available in the same period.

 

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Obtain regulatory approval for oral sulopenem and sulopenem in the United States and subsequently in the European Union. We designed our Phase 3 clinical program based on extensive discussions with the FDA, including our end of Phase 2 meeting in July 2017, and considered scientific advice received from the EMA to meet the regulatory filing requirements in the European Union. If our Phase 3 clinical trials are successful, we plan to submit NDAs for both oral sulopenem and sulopenem to the FDA by the end of 2019 and subsequently submit an MAA to the EMA.

 

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Maximize commercial potential of our sulopenem program. If approved, we intend to directly commercialize our sulopenem program in the United States with a targeted sales force across the community and hospital settings. Outside of the United States, we are evaluating our options to maximize the value of our sulopenem program.

 

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Pursue the development of oral sulopenem and sulopenem in additional indications. In the future, we may pursue development of our sulopenem program in additional indications in adults and children, including respiratory tract infections, gonorrhea and diabetic foot infection, as well as new formulations to support these indications.

 

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Build a portfolio of differentiated anti-infective products. We intend to enhance our product pipeline through strategically in-licensing or acquiring clinical stage product candidates or approved products for the community and/or hospital and acute care markets. We believe that our focus on acute care in both the community and hospital markets will make us an attractive partner for companies seeking to out-license products or product candidates in our areas of focus.

The Medical Need

Urinary Tract and Intra-Abdominal Infections

UTIs are among the most common bacterial infections encountered in the ambulatory setting. A UTI occurs when one or more parts of the urinary system (kidneys, ureters, bladder or urethra) become infected with a pathogen (most frequently, bacteria). While many UTIs are not considered life-threatening, if the infection reaches the kidneys, serious illness, and even death, can occur. UTI diagnoses are stratified between either complicated or uncomplicated infections. uUTI refers to the invasion of a structurally and functionally normal urinary tract by a nonresident infectious organism (e.g., acute cystitis), and is diagnosed and commonly treated in an outpatient setting with an oral agent. Conversely, cUTIs, including acute pyelonephritis, are defined as a UTI ascending from the bladder accompanied by local and systemic signs and symptoms, including fever, chills, malaise, flank pain, back pain, and/or costo-vertebral angle pain or tenderness, that occur in the presence of a functional or anatomical abnormality of the urinary tract or in the presence of catheterization, with treatment typically initiated by IV therapy in a hospital setting.

cIAIs have similar challenges to those of cUTIs. These complicated infections extend from a gastrointestinal source, such as the appendix or the colon, into the peritoneal space and can be associated with abscess formation.

Antimicrobial Resistance is Increasing

E. coli is growing increasingly resistant to many classes of antibiotics, which is especially problematic for patients suffering from UTIs because E. coli is the primary cause of those infections. The market-leading antibiotics, fluoroquinolones (e.g., Cipro, Levaquin) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (e.g., Bactrim, Septra), currently have E. coli resistance rates over 20% nationally. In 2015, approximately 75% of oral prescriptions for UTIs given in the United States were for fluoroquinolones or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. In hospitals, fluoroquinolones have greater than 30% resistance to E. coli in approximately half the states in the United States, and have greater than 25% resistance rates in nearly 80% of the states. Between 2000 and 2009 the prevalence of extended spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBL)-producing E. coli and ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae more than doubled from 3.3% to 8.0% and from 9.1% to 18.6%, respectively. During the same timeframe, hospitalizations caused by ESBL-producing organisms increased by about 300%. The national resistance rate of E. coli to cephalosporins was estimated to be approximately 13% for the combined years of 2011 to 2015.

We have further delineated the prevalence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics used to treat UTIs in the United States. Based on urine culture results obtained at the zip code level from outpatient UTIs, we concluded that the prevalence of resistance of Enterobacteriaceae to quinolone antibiotics is over 20% in a significant portion of the country. In addition, in 2015, 25 states identified as high prevalence for E. coli resistance produced approximately 75% of all UTI prescriptions in the United States.

 

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Geographic prevalence of quinolone non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae by zip code in outpatient urine cultures.

 

Numbers represent hospital centers from which data were derived.

As antibiotic resistance leads to increased costs of treatment and increased morbidity as well as increased mortality, there is an urgent unmet medical need for antimicrobial agents that can be utilized in community and hospital infections. The antimicrobial class of penems has the potential to address many of the relevant resistance issues associated with ß-lactam antibiotics because of a targeted spectrum of antibacterial activity and intrinsic stability against hydrolytic attack by many ß-lactamases, including ESBL and AmpC enzymes.

There is a Significant Population at Risk

There are approximately 13.5 million emergency room and office visits for symptoms of UTIs and approximately 21 million uUTIs in the United States annually. Based on market research, physicians estimated that approximately 35% of these patients are at elevated risk for treatment failure. Proper antibiotic treatment of resistant infections in this group is particularly important due to the consequences associated with treatment failure. Elevated risk patients were defined in the research as patients with recurrent UTIs, elderly patients, those patients who have a suspected or confirmed drug-resistant infection, patients with comorbidities (e.g., Diabetes mellitus) or that are immunocompromised, patients that have had a recent hospitalization, patients with a history of prior antibiotic failure and patients in a long-term care setting.

There are also approximately 3.6 million patients with cUTI and approximately 350,000 patients with cIAI that require antibiotic therapy every year in the United States.

Limited Treatment Options

In addition to worsening antibiotic resistance, many of the antibiotics currently used for first-line empiric oral treatment of uUTIs, such as nitrofurantoin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, suffer from significant safety and tolerability concerns. Pulmonary fibrosis and diffuse interstitial pneumonitis has been observed in patients treated with nitrofurantoin, which is contraindicated in pregnant women after 38 weeks of gestation and newborn children due to hemolytic anemia and in patients with poor renal function. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is associated with fatal hypersensitivity reactions, embryofetal toxicity, hyperkalemia, gastrointestinal disturbances and rashes, including rare cases of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. In addition, some antibiotics, such as nitrofurantoin and fosfomycin, have poor tissue penetration. The limited oral antibiotic treatment options for patients with uUTIs can sometimes result in hospitalization to facilitate administration of IV antibiotics for patients whose infection progresses; in addition, some patients whose uUTI remains uncomplicated may require

 

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hospital admission for IV therapy. For patients with cUTIs, the lack of effective oral stepdown options, which is demonstrated by the fact that none of the most commonly used oral agents were initially approved by the FDA in the last two decades, results in the potential for lengthy hospital stays or insertion of a PICC to facilitate administration of IV antibiotics, even for some patients with relatively straightforward infections. Therefore, based both on the epidemiology described above and confirmed after recent discussions with practicing clinicians and pharmacists, we believe there is a pressing need for a novel oral antibacterial therapy for UTI, both complicated and uncomplicated, that has potent activity against ESBL producing and quinolone resistant gram-negative organisms.

The Challenge of Developing Antibiotics

Antibiotics work by targeting a critical function of the bacteria and rendering it non-functional. These critical functions include the ability to make proteins, to replicate further, and to build protective envelopes against the harsh external environment. These functions are coded in the bacteria’s DNA, which is copied over to each generation. Occasionally errors are made in the copying; typically, these errors kill off the progeny but can sometimes actually help them survive under specific circumstances, namely when threatened by an antibiotic.

Bacterial mutations, these changes in DNA coding, allow the organism to adapt their protein structures so as to prevent target-specific antibiotics from working. Over time, subsequent generations of bacteria retain these mutations and even develop additional ones making them resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics, and generating what is known as multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. Furthermore, bacteria have also developed mechanisms that allow them to pass these genetic mutations directly to other nearby bacteria, even those from a different species. As there are a limited number of antibiotic classes available today, there is a concern that eventually we will not have any antibiotics to treat patients who develop an infection caused by these MDR bacteria. We continue to need new antibiotics that stay one step ahead of these mutating bacteria in order to protect against the infections that they cause.

Market Leader for Treatment of UTIs is Failing Patients

Fluoroquinolones are now the most widely used antibiotic class in treating community and hospital gram-negative infections. However, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the European Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases now recommend against empiric use of fluoroquinolones for uUTIs in their 2010 Update to the International Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Acute Uncomplicated Cystitis and Pyelonephritis in Women as they “have a propensity for collateral damage and should be reserved for important uses other than acute cystitis and thus should be considered alternative antimicrobials for acute cystitis.” Similarly, the FDA in its November 2015 Advisory Committee meeting stated that the risk of serious side effects caused by fluoroquinolones generally outweighs the benefits for patients with uUTIs and other uncomplicated infections. Serious side effects associated with fluoroquinolones include tendon rupture, tendinitis, and worsening symptoms of myasthenia gravis and peripheral neuropathy. Subsequently, the FDA mandated labeling modifications for fluoroquinolones antibiotics directing healthcare professionals to reserve fluoroquinolones for patients with no other treatment alternatives.

The Solution to Rising Resistance

The solution to the problem of resistance is based on strategies to use those antibiotics only when patients really need them, limiting the number of opportunities for the bacteria to develop these mutations, and to continue efforts aimed at the discovery and development of new and effective antibacterial agents.

These new agents will need to:

 

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kill the organisms responsible for the actual infection;

 

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target a specific bacterial function and overcome the existing resistance mechanisms around that function;

 

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be powerful enough to require a minimal amount of drug to kill the organism at the site of infection; and

 

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be delivered to a patient in a manner which is safe, tolerable and convenient.

For the last thirty years, the penem class of antibiotics, including carbapenems such as imipenem, meropenem, doripenem and ertapenem, have been potent and reliable therapeutic options for patients with serious infections. Their spectrum of activity includes those pathogens responsible for infections such as those in the intra-abdominal space, urinary tract, and respiratory tract with a potency as good or better than any other antibiotic class, targeting the cell wall of bacteria, a critical element of bacterial defense. Resistance to the class, generally caused by organisms which have acquired a carbapenemase, is rarely, if ever, seen in the community setting and is primarily localized to patients with substantial healthcare exposures, particularly recent hospitalizations. These drugs are generally very well tolerated. Their limitation is the requirement to be delivered intravenously, restricting their utility to hospitalized patients.

Our Sulopenem Program

Our sulopenem program has the potential to offer a solution to the problem of antibiotic resistance and the limitations of existing agents. Sulopenem has in vitro activity against gram-negative organisms with resistance to one or more established antibiotics and can be delivered in an oral formulation. If a UTI occurs in the community setting, oral sulopenem can be provided as a tablet, offering an option for care of those with a culture proven or suspected MDR pathogen, potentially avoiding the need for hospitalization. If a patient requires hospitalization for an infection due to a resistant organism, treatment can be initiated intravenously with sulopenem and once the infection begins to improve, stepped down to oral sulopenem, potentially enabling the patient to leave the hospital.

Potential Advantages of Oral Sulopenem and Sulopenem

We are developing our sulopenem program to offer patients and clinical care providers a new option to treat resistant gram-negative infections with confidence in its antimicrobial activity, and the flexibility to treat patients in the community while getting those hospitalized back home.

Sulopenem’s differentiating characteristics include:

 

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Activity as an oral agent and favorable pharmacokinetic profile. Sulopenem is the active moiety with antibacterial activity. Oral sulopenem is a prodrug specifically selected among many other prodrug candidates because it enables the absorption of sulopenem from the gastrointestinal tract. It is this oral agent, sulopenem etzadroxil, that we believe meets an urgent medical need to allow patients with resistant pathogens to be treated safely in the community, as well as allowing hospitalized patients to continue their treatment at home. Oral sulopenem is sufficiently absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract to allow the parent compound, sulopenem, to achieve adequate exposure in the tissues and, as demonstrated in animal models, to significantly reduce the burden of offending pathogens. Based on pharmacokinetic modeling and supported by prior clinical data from Japan, we believe dosing of the oral agent twice daily will provide tissue exposure sufficient to resolve clinical infection.

 

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Targeted spectrum of activity against relevant pathogens without pressure on other incidental gram-negative organisms. Sulopenem is active against the pathogens that are most likely to cause infection of the urinary and gastrointestinal tract, including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis and B. fragilis. Like ertapenem, sulopenem is not active against certain gram-negative organisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. These organisms are not typically seen in community UTIs and are infrequently identified in UTIs in the hospital, except when patients have had an indwelling urinary catheter for an extended duration. As a result, we believe the targeted spectrum of sulopenem is less likely to put pressure on those pathogens which could otherwise have led to carbapenem resistance.

 

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•

Activity against multidrug resistant pathogens. Bacteria are accumulating resistance mechanisms to multiple classes of antibiotics within the same organism, and as a consequence physicians are losing confidence in existing antibiotics as empiric therapy before culture results become available. Sulopenem is active against organisms that have multiple resistance mechanisms and can help avoid some of the consequences of ineffective antibiotic therapy.

 

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Documented safety and tolerability profile. Adverse event data collected as part of the Japanese Phase 2 development program with the IV formulation provided preliminary insights into the safety profile for sulopenem, which will continue to be assessed with additional clinical trials. Data is also available for the oral formulation collected in healthy volunteers in the Phase 1 program conducted by us that is consistent with a well-tolerated regimen and similar to the adverse event profile observed with the IV formulation. One additional adverse event identified with the oral prodrug is loose stools, which were considered of mild severity and were self-limited, as seen with other broad spectrum oral antibiotics with activity against the anaerobic flora of the gastrointestinal tract. In the Japanese program, one patient reported a serious adverse event related to sulopenem of a transient elevation in liver function tests. The patient died due to metastatic lung cancer. Other serious adverse events recorded in patients receiving sulopenem in the Japanese program, which were not related by the investigator to sulopenem, included myocardial infarction with respiratory failure and progression of underlying ovarian carcinoma, in both cases resulting in death. For each of these patients, sulopenem was not determined to be the cause of death.

 

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Availability of an IV formulation. Sulopenem is expected to be available intravenously. Patients sick enough to require hospitalization may not be good candidates for initial oral therapy, given potential uncertainties around the ability to absorb drugs due to diminished gastrointestinal and target tissue perfusion in patients with compromised cardiovascular status associated with sepsis or reduced gastrointestinal motility. An IV and oral formulation will enable the conduct of clinical registration trials in a manner consistent with typical clinical practice, allow for confidence in the initiation of therapy in seriously ill patients and, if approved, offer both important formulations as therapeutic options.

 

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Advanced manufacturing program. The synthetic pathway for sulopenem, initially defined in the 1980s, has now evolved through its third iteration, incorporating improvements in yield and scalability. We expect to register two different contract manufacturing organizations to manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for oral sulopenem and sulopenem. Both of the contract manufacturers have the capability to produce vials for IV delivery. We will initially rely on a single third-party facility to manufacture all of our sulopenem tablets. In the future, given the importance of sulopenem to our potential commercial results, we will consider establishing additional sources.

Market Opportunity for Oral Sulopenem and Sulopenem

Based upon the clinical evidence to date in eradicating key pathogens, coupled with unmet medical needs, if approved, we expect the commercial opportunity for oral sulopenem and sulopenem to be substantial with initial focus on the following areas:

 

•

treating uUTI with an oral formulation in community treatment settings;

 

•

treating cUTI with initiation of IV therapy in the hospital, and transitioning to oral formulation upon discharge to complete therapy in the community setting; and

 

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treating cIAI with initiation of IV therapy in the hospital, and transitioning to oral formulation upon discharge to complete therapy in the community setting.

Acute cystitis remains one of the most common indications for prescribing antimicrobials to otherwise healthy women, resulting in as many as 13.5 million office or emergency room visits in the United States annually, according to a review published in 2015. Up to 50% of all women experience one episode by 32 years of age. In addition, there are approximately 3.6 million patients a year in the United States for the more serious cases of cUTI.

 

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In addition, cIAIs are the second most common cause of infectious mortality in intensive care units. Among approximately 350,000 cIAI patients in the United States each year, broad spectrum antibiotics are generally administered as first line treatment; treatment failure is more common due to the serious nature of these infections.

In the United States, E. coli resistance presently exceeds 20% for fluoroquinolones, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and ampicillin. Our market research indicated that physicians identified the lack of effective oral agents for these more difficult drug-resistant infections as a key unmet need in their practice. Physicians are particularly concerned by drug-resistant infections in the 35% of patients considered to be at elevated risk for treatment failure, as they pose significant potential clinical and economic challenges to the healthcare system when initial therapy is unsuccessful.

Given the growing prevalence of bacterial resistance that has rendered existing oral therapies ineffective, coupled with the FDA mandating new safety labeling changes to enhance warnings limiting fluoroquinolone use in uncomplicated infections due to the association with disabling and potentially permanent side effects, physicians are seeking new alternatives to safely and effectively treat their patients.

We believe oral sulopenem’s value proposition will aid physicians in the community setting to address the unmet need for a safe and effective oral uUTI therapy to treat the growing number of patients with suspected or confirmed resistant pathogen(s). In addition, we believe our sulopenem program will offer a compelling value proposition to hospitals by enabling the transition of patients from IV therapy in the inpatient setting to an oral therapy in the community.

Oral Sulopenem and Sulopenem Clinical Development Program

The following graphic provides an overview of the past development of sulopenem etzadroxil and sulopenem by Pfizer and Iterum.

Discovery, Development, and Regulatory History of Sulopenem and Sulopenem Etzadroxil

 

The objective of our sulopenem program is to deliver to patients an oral and IV formulation of sulopenem approved in the United States and Europe for the treatment of infections due to resistant gram-negative pathogens. Sulopenem’s spectrum of activity, the availability of an oral agent delivered in a convenient dosing schedule and the promising evolving safety profile support its further development for the target indications of uUTI, cUTI and cIAI. Oral sulopenem is the oral prodrug metabolized to sulopenem, its therapeutically active form, combined with probenecid.

 

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Both sulopenem and oral sulopenem have received QIDP designation status for the indications of uUTI, cUTI and cIAI. QIDP designation status for other indications, such as respiratory tract infections, gonorrhea and diabetic foot infection, is also possible given the coverage of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria by sulopenem, pending submission of additional documentation and acceptance by the FDA. We have received feedback on the development program in an end of Phase 2 meeting with the FDA, which provided guidance on the size of the safety database, the nonclinical study requirements, the design of the Phase 1 and Phase 3 clinical trials, the pediatric development plan, as well as support for the proposed CMC development activities through production of commercial supplies. The Phase 3 clinical trials for treatment of cIAI, cUTI and uUTI have received SPA agreements with the FDA. We expect top-line delivery of data and submission of the program for regulatory review to the FDA in the second half of 2019.

Microbiology Surveillance Data

Sulopenem has demonstrated potent in vitro activity, as defined by its minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), against nearly all genera of Enterobacteriaceae, in anaerobes such as Bacteroides, Prevotella, Porphyromonas, Fusobacterium and Peptostreptococcus, gram-positive organisms including methicillin-susceptible staphylococci, Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae, as well as other community respiratory pathogens such as Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis. The MIC is a measure used to describe the results of an in vitro assay in which a fixed number of a strain of bacteria are added to a 96-well plate and increasing concentrations of antibiotic are sequentially added to the wells. The concentration of antibiotic which inhibits growth of the bacteria in a well is considered the MIC. When looking across a collection of many strains of a species of bacteria, the MIC₉₀ is the lowest concentration of antibiotic at which 90% of the strains are inhibited. Sulopenem lacks in vitro activity (MIC₉₀ ³ 16 µg/mL) against the oxidative non-fermenting pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii, Burkholderia cepacia, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Given its lack of potency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, its use in treatment of infections caused by pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae should not select for pseudomonas resistant to carbapenems, as can occur with imipenem and meropenem. For various species of enterococci, the MIC₉₀ values were 4 to ³ 64 µg/mL. Methicillin-resistant staphylococci also have high MIC values.

The table below highlights the MIC₅₀ and MIC₉₀ of key target pathogens collected by International Health Management Associates (IHMA) between 2013 and 2015 responsible for the infections that will be studied in our planned Phase 3 program.

 

Organism Class		N				MIC50 (µg/mL)		MIC90 (µg/mL)
E. coli			189			0.015		0.03
ESBL negative			1	69		0.015		0.03
ESBL positive				20		0.03		0.06
Klebsiella spp.			124			0.03		0.06
ESBL negative			1	08		0.03		0.06
EBSL positive				16		0.03		0.25
P. mirabilis			14			0.12		0.25
E. aerogenes			57			0.06		0.25
C. koseri			60			0.03		0.03
S. marcescens			55			0.12		0.50
Gram-negative anaerobes			125			0.12		0.25
Staphylococcus saprophyticus			31			0.25		0.25

 

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A comparison of the in vitro activity of sulopenem relative to other carbapenems, as well as to currently prescribed oral agents for UTI, is provided below. The activity of sulopenem at slightly higher doses was very similar to that of ertapenem and meropenem, which are currently commercially available. In addition, sulopenem is noted to have potent in vitro activity against relevant organisms that are resistant to fluoroquinolones and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and are ESBL positive. The prevalence of resistance for the existing generic antibiotics, now exceeding 20% for many pathogens, underscores the challenge of treating patients with uUTI in an outpatient setting or releasing patients from the hospital with a cUTI or cIAI on a reliable stepdown oral therapy.

 

		E. coli N=189						K. pneumoniae N=65						P. mirabilis N=19
Penem Class:		MIC90 (µg/mL)				% S		MIC90 (µg/mL)				% S		MIC90 (µg/mL)				% S
Sulopenem			0.06			*			0.12			*			0.25			*
Ertapenem			0.015			100			0.12			97			0.03			100
Meropenem			0.03			100			0.06			97			0.12			100
Oral Agents Currently on Market:
Nitrofurantoin			16			97			³64			23			³64			0
Fosfomycin			8			98			128			86			64			95
Ciprofloxacin			³2			77			1			91			³2			74
Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole			³32			74			³32			86			³32			58
Amoxicillin-Clavulanate			16			76			³16			80			³16			74

 

N =	bacterial samples; each product candidate was tested using the same sample size

% S =

percentage susceptible, meaning the proportion of the number of isolates tested that had a MIC below the FDA defined susceptibility breakpoint; boxed values signify a percentage susceptible below 80%, which is the threshold for concern for use of an antibiotic before a culture is available

*	Susceptibility breakpoints are established by the FDA and documented in product labeling based on the antibacterial agent treatment efficacy in Phase 3 clinical trials associated with a specific MIC. As such, susceptibility breakpoints have not yet been determined for sulopenem.

Animal Models

Sulopenem reduced the bacterial burden in the bladder and tissues of infected animals in a uUTI model in both diabetic and normal C3H/HeN mice using a MDR ST131 E. coli, a strain which is ESBL positive and resistant to fluoroquinolones and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Sulopenem was highly efficacious and remarkably robust in its reduction in bacterial burden, leading to complete resolution of bacteriuria in all or most of the animals in both study arms with the high dose treatment regimen also reducing bacterial burden in bladder tissue and the kidney.

Nonclinical Pharmacology

Metabolic clearance is primarily characterized by hydrolysis of the ß-lactam ring. Sulopenem does not inhibit the major cytochrome P450 isoforms suggesting a low potential for drug interactions at therapeutic concentrations. It is predominantly excreted in the urine. Plasma protein binding for sulopenem is low at approximately 11%.

 

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