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Item 1. Business

2023-03-16 compared with 2022-03-11 · 722 added, 538 removed, 389 unchanged (76% of the section changed)

We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence approaches to develop transformative medicines in neuroscience and immuno-oncology.

Our drug re-innovation approach leverages existing approved drugs and/or clinically validated product candidates together with big data and proprietary machine learning algorithms to identify new therapeutic indices.

We believe that this differentiated approach has the potential to reduce the cost and time of drug development in diseases with a substantial unmet medical need.

Our two most advanced clinical development programs are BXCL501, an investigational, proprietary, orally dissolving, sublingual thin film formulation of the adrenergic receptor agonist dexmedetomidine, or Dex, for the treatment of agitation resulting from neuropsychiatric disorders, and BXCL701, an investigational orally administered systemic innate immune activator for the treatment of castration resistant prostate cancer and advanced solid tumors that are refractory or treatment naïve to checkpoint inhibitors.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

During the first quarter ended March 31, 2020, and continuing through December 31, 2021, the novel coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, was declared a pandemic and spread to multiple regions across the globe, including the United States and Europe.

The outbreak and government measures taken in response have had a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on businesses and commerce, as worker shortages have occurred;

supply chains have been disrupted;

facilities and production have been suspended;

and demand for certain goods and services, such as medical services and supplies, has spiked, while demand for other goods and services, such as travel, has fallen.

To date, we have taken steps in line with guidance from the U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and the State of Connecticut to protect the health and safety of our employees and the community.

In particular, we implemented a work-from-home policy for all employees and have restricted on-site activities to certain chemical, manufacturing and control (“CMC”) and clinical trial activities.

We continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to best mitigate risk and continue the operations of our business.

Beginning late in the second quarter of 2020, we began to slowly bring our staff, in very limited numbers, back to our office.

This modified return-to-work approach is continuing into 2022.

We have taken steps to protect our workforce and have instituted strict work rules to protect our employees.

We continue to work closely with our clinical sites to monitor the potential impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

We remain committed to our clinical programs and development plans.

Other than our Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating BXCL501 in patients with delirium, through December 31, 2021, we have not experienced any significant delays to our ongoing or planned clinical trials, except for challenges in accessing elderly care facilities and ICU settings;

however, this could rapidly change.

Our Clinical Programs

The following is a summary of the status of our clinical development programs as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our goal is to become the leading AI-enabled neuroscience company while further developing our immuno- oncology assets.

We continue to evaluate all strategic options available to us for these assets which could include licensing, partnering, co-commercialization or a spin-out.

The key elements to achieving these goals are as follows:

● Advance BXCL501, a proprietary, orally dissolving thin film formulation of dexmedetomidine, or Dex, a selective α 2a adrenergic receptor agonist, targeting symptoms from stress-related behaviors such as agitation and opioid withdrawal symptoms.

BXCL501 is our most advanced neuroscience clinical program, currently being developed for the acute treatment of agitation related to schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and delirium, the symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal, and as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder (“MDD”) in conjunction with the use of Selective Serotonin / Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (“SS/NRIs”).

We have submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) utilizing the Section 505(b)(2) pathway for BXCL501 for the acute treatment of agitation associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders I and II.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) filed the application for review and assigned an April 5, 2022, Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PUDFA”) goal date.

● Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders.

We believe that BXCL501 , if approved, has the potential to become the standard of care for the acute treatment of agitation arising from diseases such as:

◾ Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (SERENITY I and II trials);

◾ Alzheimer’s disease (TRANQUILITY II and TRANQUILITY III trials within our pivotal Phase 3 program)

● In addition, given the differentiated design of BXCL501 and its potential mechanism of action, we believe BXCL501 has the potential to address several diseases or conditions where agitation is a symptom of the condition or underlying disease, including:

◾ As an adjunctive treatment for MDD;

◾ Opioid withdrawal (RELEASE trial);

◾ Delirium (PLACIDITY trial);

◾ Post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”).

Pipeline Opportunities for Franchise Expansion

In December 2020, the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and Yale University Medical School were awarded a grant by the U.S.

Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to evaluate BXCL501 in patients suffering from PTSD as well as alcohol use disorder.

We plan to investigate BXCL501 as a potential chronic treatment for PTSD.

We continue to explore the potential for a wearable device to measure early signs of agitation in patients who are consistent with the patient groups we are evaluating in BXCL501 clinical trials.

Feasibility studies demonstrated that patients were able to wear these devices and that these devices were able to transmit data to our service vendor.

Along with our service vendor, we are developing methods to use these data in an effort to construct algorithms designed to predict when a patient is becoming agitated.

The goal of this program is to establish a predictive algorithm that would allow providers to treat patients before they become highly agitated.

A study in healthy volunteers that are mildly agitated is scheduled to begin in Q1, 2022.

We are advancing our preparations for commercial and launch readiness in preparation for the potential approval of our NDA for BXCL501 by the FDA.

We are optimizing the design and recruitment of our sales force and market access and pricing strategy for the potential commercial launch of BXCL501 for the acute treatment of agitation associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders I & II.

This work will be a crucial foundation to launching additional potential follow-on indications, paving the way for our expanding neuroscience business.

During the second half of 2021, we fully launched our unbranded disease education campaign to promote awareness around the treatment of agitation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

In addition, we fully deployed our Medical Science Liaison and Medical Managed Care teams who actively engaged with healthcare professionals and payors to provide key insights to support our commercial strategy.

If BXCL501 is approved outside the United States we would consider launching the product through collaborations with third parties.

We recently identified and initiated the development of a second neuropsychiatric product candidate, BXCL502.

We plan to evaluate BXCL502 initially as a monotherapy and possibly as a combination with BXCL501 for the chronic treatment of agitation in patients with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) underlying BXCL502 is designed to be a potent and selective antagonist of a G-protein coupled receptor (“GPCR”) that affects serotonergic signaling in the brain.

Our preclinical data and machine learning results suggest BXCL502 has the potential to treat agitation and stress related neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia.

In previously published third party clinical trial data, daily administration of the API of BXCL502 demonstrated improvement in agitation using a well-established, clinically validated

symptom scale.

Formulation and clinical development planning are currently underway with BXCL502.

Immuno-Oncology

BXCL701 is a potential first-in-class, oral, small-molecule immunomodulator designed to stimulate both the innate and acquired immune systems by inhibiting DPP 8/9.

DPP 8/9 behave as "checkpoints"

of pyroptosis and inflammasome activation.

We believe that BXCL701, if successfully developed and approved, may establish a differentiated immuno-oncology platform by modulating multiple steps in the cancer immunity cycle and, when combined with checkpoint inhibitors and/or immune activating agents, may be able to convert immuno-resistant (“cold”) tumors to immuno-sensitive (“hot”) tumors.

● Complete BXCL701 Phase 2 trials to evaluate its potential for the treatment of castrate resistant cancer (“CRPC”), including the neuroendocrine (“NEPC”) variety.

● NEPC (Orphan Segment of Prostate Cancer and Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer).

BXCL701 was previously studied in multiple clinical trials and demonstrated single agent anti-tumor activity in melanoma, an immune-sensitive tumor.

In April 2020, we announced the initiation of the Phase 2 efficacy portion of the Phase 1b/2 trial evaluating BXCL701 in combination with KEYTRUDA ® (pembrolizumab, a PD-1 inhibitor) for NEPC.

In addition to the efficacy cohort in NEPC patients, in August 2020, we opened a separate cohort for CRPC patients who have failed taxane-based chemotherapy and up to two lines of second-generation androgen pathway blockers.

Topline results from the Phase 1b portion of this trial were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Symposium in February 2021.

Interim data from the Phase 2 portion of the study were also presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference in September 2021.

We reported updated interim data from the Phase 2 portion of this trial in NEPC and adenocarcinoma cohorts at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (“ASCO”) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (“ASCO-GU”) in February 2022.

● Basket Trial.

BXCL701 is being evaluated in an open-label Phase 2 basket trial led by MD Anderson.

The investigator led study is designed to evaluate the response rate of orally administered BXCL701, combined with Pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA ® ) in patients with advanced solid cancers.

The study will evaluate patients who are naïve to checkpoint therapy and those who are refractory to checkpoint therapy.

Interim data were presented at the June 2021 ASCO annual meeting.

In the first half of 2022, we expect to present additional interim efficacy data from the trial.

● Potential for Expedited Review Programs.

Given that these indications represent high unmet medical needs with few treatment options, we intend to pursue breakthrough therapy designation and accelerated approval for NEPC.

● Additional Indications.

We believe BXCL701 may be active at multiple stages of the cancer immunity cycle and therefore, we believe BXCL701 offers a “pipeline in a product” platform given its potential for evaluation across other cancers.

BXCL701 was granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia in September 2019, its fourth orphan drug designation in addition to pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and soft tissue sarcoma.

We believe existing preclinical (and clinical) evidence supports the combination of BXCL701 with checkpoint inhibitors and/or agents that act on “co-stimulatory” pathways within immune effector cells.

Moreover, we believe agents that stimulate antibody-dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (“ADCC ”), or cell-based therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor T cell , therapy, oncolytic viruses or therapeutic vaccines all represent potential combination with BXCL701.

● Identify biomarkers to select patients who we believe have the highest likelihood to respond to our product candidates.

Predicting optimal drug responses in patients requires the identification and validation of predictive biomarkers.

We believe that our ability to identify patient subsets most likely to

respond to our product candidates will increase the clinical benefit to patients and improve the probability of success of our clinical trials.

The indications for our lead product candidate BXCL701 were chosen in part because they are known to overexpress dipeptidyl peptidase, or DPP 8/9, and fibroblast activation protein, or FAP.

Our planned proof-of-concept clinical trial of BXCL701 will retrospectively examine biomarkers related to its molecular and cellular targets to identify those that may correlate with clinical efficacy and increase our likelihood of success.

● Maximize the commercial potential of our product candidates.

We have worldwide development and commercialization rights to BXCL501, BXCL502, and BXCL701.

If BXCL501 and BXCL701 are approved in the United States, we are developing plans to build a specialty sales force in the United States for BXCL501 and considering other opportunities to collaborate with third parties to maximize the potential of our product candidates.

● Enhance our R&D pipeline by leveraging our therapeutic area expertise with our growing internal capabilities to identify, develop and commercialize new product candidates in neuroscience and immune oncology.

In addition to our leading clinical programs and our emerging and future pipeline, we have identified several potential product candidates and intend to select our next clinical program from among such candidates.

We have established translational and development expertise, which we believe will help us advance the present and future product candidates in these fields.

We may also opportunistically in-license additional product candidates identified through our AI platform approach within our core areas of expertise.

BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.

(“BTI” or the “Company”) is a biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence (“AI”) approaches to develop transformative medicines in neuroscience and immuno-oncology.

We are focused on utilizing cutting-edge technology and innovative research to develop high-value therapeutics aimed at transforming patients’ lives.

We employ a proprietary AI platform to reduce therapeutic development costs and potentially accelerate development timelines.

Our approach leverages existing approved drugs and/or clinically evaluated product candidates together with big data and proprietary machine learning algorithms to identify new therapeutic indications.

We believe this differentiated approach has the potential to reduce the expense and time associated with drug development in diseases with substantial unmet medical needs.

On April 6, 2022, we announced that the U.S.

FDA approved IGALMI (dexmedetomidine or “Dex”) sublingual film for the acute treatment of agitation associated with schizophrenia or bipolar I or II disorder in adults.

IGALMI is approved to be self-administrated by patients under the supervision of a health care provider.

We deployed the first phase of our sales team for high priority targets in May 2022.

Furthermore, on July 6, 2022, we announced that IGALMI was commercially available in doses of 120 and 180 microgram (“mcg”) through the Company’s third-party logistics provider and was available for order through wholesalers.

Our most advanced clinical development program is BXCL501, an investigational proprietary, orally dissolving, film formulation of Dex for the treatment of agitation associated with psychiatric and neurological disorders.

We are conducting clinical trials for the at-home use of BXCL501 for agitation associated with bipolar disorders and schizophrenia.

We also continue to conduct clinical trials evaluating BXCL501 for the acute treatment of agitation in Alzheimer’s disease patients in residential care facilities and nursing homes and for adjunctive treatment of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (“MDD”).

Our advanced immuno-oncology asset, BXCL701, is an investigational, oral innate immune activator currently being developed as a potential therapy for the treatment of aggressive forms of prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other solid and liquid tumors.

We continue to work closely with our clinical sites to monitor the potential impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of its variants.

To date, we have not experienced any significant delays in any of our ongoing or planned clinical trials, except for occasional COVID-19 related disruptions to our TRANQUILITY II and PLACIDITY trials.

However, this could change rapidly.

Our Neuroscience Strategy

Our goal is to become the leading AI-enabled neuroscience therapeutics company.

We continue to evaluate all strategic options available to us for our neuroscience assets, which could include licensing, partnering, and co-commercialization.

Our Novel Drug Re-Innovation Approach

We aim to develop and implement holistically throughout the drug development process an artificial intelligence (“AI”) eco system designed to rapidly identify drugs that engage novel targets related to our key focus areas in neuroscience and immuno-oncolgy.

Our in-house, uniquely integrated AI -to -drug -development capability is complemented by BioXcel LLC’s services and technology.

We aim to develop and implement, holistically throughout the drug development process, an AI ecosystem designed to rapidly identify medications related to our key focus areas of neuroscience and immuno-oncology.

Our in-house, uniquely integrated AI-to-drug-development capability is complemented by the services and technology of BioXcel LLC, our former parent company.

For example, we have constructed a labeled properties graph (also referred to as a “knowledge graph”) that visually relates neuropsychiatric symptoms, brain circuits, drug targets, and existing drugs.

By making these connections, new potential uses for existing drugs emerge.

The knowledge graph may be queried to uncover not only single drugs but potentially new combinations of drugs that we believe may be more effective in treating disorders than single agents.

New combinations of drugs provide the opportunity to evaluate lower, potentially tolerable doses of drugs and also provide the basis for stronger intellectual property positions.

The AI team works closely with business development to prioritize the most valuable external opportunities in a data-driven manner.

These opportunities may be found in new potential uses for launched drugs, in drugs that are part of pharmaceutical company pipelines that are no longer being pursued, or within academic efforts to develop new drug candidates.

In addition to our AI approach to neuropsychiatric symptoms and neurological rare diseases, in oncology we are actively examining signaling pathways in tumors that we believe are potential targets for synergistic drug combinations .

The knowledge graph may be queried to uncover not only single drugs but potentially new combinations of drugs that we believe may be more effective in

treating disorders than single agents.

New combinations of drugs provide the opportunity to evaluate lower, potentially tolerable doses of drugs, and provide the basis for stronger intellectual property positions.

Our AI team works closely with our Business Development team to prioritize the most valuable external opportunities in a data-driven manner.

These opportunities may be found in new potential uses for launched drugs, in drugs that are part of pharmaceutical company pipelines no longer being pursued, or within academic efforts to develop new drug candidates.

In addition to our AI approach to neuropsychiatric symptoms and neurological rare diseases, in immuno-oncology we are actively examining signaling pathways in tumors that we believe are potential targets for synergistic drug combinations.

We believe synergistic drug combinations may allow more effective treatments by reducing the probability of drug adaptation by cancer cells.

AI is useful in matching existing oncology drugs and their mechanism of action to specific types of cancer as well as identifying combinations that we believe may have a higher probability of success.

Traditional drug development is plagued with low success rates (13.8%, according to an MIT study of 186,000 trials from January 2000 to October 2015), long drug development cycles (10-15 years, according to PhRMA Key Facts 2016), and exorbitant development costs ($2.6 billion per drug, according to PhRMA Key Facts).

AI is useful in matching existing oncology drugs and their mechanism of action to specific types of cancer, as well as in identifying combinations that we believe may have a higher probability of success.

Traditional drug development is plagued with low success rates, long drug development cycles, and exorbitant development costs.

Furthermore, many serious diseases continue to go unaddressed due to limitations of the current drug discovery paradigm.

The pharmacological space spans more than 27,000 active pharmaceutical agents, and only approximately 4,000 are approved and marketed drugs benefiting patients.

These marketed drugs may be applied to other indications, including rare diseases, and represent an untapped potential for meeting significant unmet medical need and recoupment of research and development investments.

The pharmacological universe spans more than 27,000 active pharmaceutical agents, but only approximately 4,000 are approved and marketed drugs benefiting patients.

These marketed drugs may be applied to other indications, including rare diseases, and represent an untapped potential for meeting significant unmet medical needs and recouping research and development investments.

Many of the remaining agents are clinical candidates that are active, shelved, or have failed for reasons other than toxicity and that can potentially be re-engineered for different indications or patient segments.

They potentially represent an unrealized investment of billions of research and development dollars by the private and public sectors, resulting in an immeasurable amount of patient suffering and sacrificing during clinical development.

Also, these compounds usually have known pharmacokinetic properties allowing for a more data-driven

selection of appropriate doses for development programs.

The remaining agents potentially represent an unrealized investment of billions of research and development dollars by the private and public sectors, resulting in an immeasurable amount of patient suffering and sacrifice during clinical development.

Also, these compounds usually have known pharmacokinetic properties allowing for a more data-driven selection of appropriate doses for development programs.

Finally, with respect to neuropsychiatric indications, we prioritize those compounds with structural design features that may contribute to high blood-brain barrier permeability, which may increase the likelihood of compound penetration into the brain.

Lack of brain penetration is a common cause for failure of many drugs developed for neuropsychiatric indications.

In addition, BioXcel is prioritizing compounds with available human safety data, acceptable pharmacokinetic results, and data that supports a high probability of achieving reasonable brain concentrations after dosing.

In addition, BioXcel LLC is prioritizing compounds with available human safety data, acceptable pharmacokinetic results, and data that supports a high probability of achieving reasonable brain concentrations after dosing.

The compounds in our pipeline have been identified using this proprietary platform.

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are based on the re-innovation and combination of existing clinical candidates or marketed drugs to provide novel solutions for patients.

Unfortunately, such discoveries have been severely limited in scope due to the lack of a genuinely integrated approach of mining big data and advanced analytics.

Unfortunately, such discoveries have been severely limited in scope due to the lack of a genuinely integrated approach to mining big data and advanced analytics.

Our AI-based discovery and development process is the foundation of our drug re-innovation model for identifying the next wave of potential medicines.

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We continue to integrate and evolve our neuroscience and immuno-oncology AI machine learning and drug discovery and development platform.

Our platform has led to the identification and rapid development of BXCL501, leading to the submission of our first NDA as well as the advancement of other potential indications.

Our platform led to the identification and rapid development of IGALMI, as well as the advancement of other potential indications.

We are continuing to leverage our platform to identify and develop new neuroscience and immuno-oncology programs.

BXCL501 Neuroscience Program

BXCL501 is an investigational, proprietary, orally dissolving, thin film formulation of dexmedetomidine (Dex), a selective alpha-2 receptor agonist, targeting symptoms from stress-related behaviors such as agitation and opioid withdrawal symptoms.

BXCL501 is our most advanced neuroscience clinical program, currently being developed for the acute treatment of agitation related to schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, dementia (Alzheimer’s disease) and delirium, the symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal as well as for the adjunctive treatment of MDD in conjunction with the use of SSRIs or SNRIs.

Our Neuroscience Programs

The following is a summary of the status of our neuroscience clinical development programs as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

As a selective adrenergic agent with a sublingual or buccal route of administration, BXCL501 is designed to be easy to administer and has shown a rapid onset of action in multiple clinical trials, including clinical trials studying patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and dementia.

We believe the results from these studies suggest that BXCL501 has the potential to generate a calming effect without producing excessive sedation.

We believe that BXCL501 is highly differentiated from antipsychotics currently used as a standard of care for the treatment of agitation, which often produce unwanted side effects such as excessive sedation and extra-pyramidal motor effects.

We believe that BXCL501 is highly differentiated from antipsychotics currently used as a standard of care for the treatment of agitation that often produce unwanted side effects such as excessive sedation and extra-pyramidal motor effects.

Managing patient agitation in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders represents a significant challenge for physicians and caregivers.

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Agitation Overview and Market Opportunity

Agitation in patients with neuropsychiatric diseases (psychomotor agitation) is a serious medical condition.

Agitation in patients with neuropsychiatric diseases is a serious medical condition.

Agitation is characterized by feelings of unease, excessive talking, and/or unintentional and purposeless motions, such as wringing of the hands or pacing.

People experiencing agitation may also express excitement, hostility, poor impulse control, tension, uncooperativeness, and sometimes disruptive behavior, which may lead to aggression and violence.

People experiencing agitation may also express excitement, hostility, poor impulse control, tension, uncooperativeness, and occasional disruptive behavior, which may lead to aggression and violence.

In many cases, people develop agitation when treatment for their underlying disorder is not working well.

Stressful situations or traumatic events can also trigger agitation.

Agitation can occur suddenly or slowly and vary in length, lasting for a few minutes or for an extended period of time.

With the agitation issues associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disease coupled with a fast growing elderly population who are potentially likely to experience agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the difficulties and expenses of acute treatment of agitation are expected to grow significantly.

Based on our market research, estimates indicate that by 2031 drugs for mental disorders could be up to $59 billion.

Below are estimated statistics associated with these indications.

Agitation can occur suddenly or slowly and vary in length, lasting for a few minutes or for an extended period.

With the agitation issues associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disease coupled with a fast-growing elderly population that is potentially likely to experience agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the difficulties, and expenses of acute treatment of agitation are expected to grow significantly.

Below are estimated statistics associated with annual agitation episodes associated with bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S.

Treatments for Agitation

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Intramuscular (“IM”)-delivered antipsychotics, such as haloperidol and olanzapine, are used extensively in this setting but are invasive and often require patient restraint.

This type of treatment dehumanizes patients and can cause trauma that could have long-term impact on the patient.

This type of treatment can dehumanize patients and cause trauma that could have long-term impact on them.

Furthermore, these treatments include a black box warning for use in elderly patients.

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Side effects of these agents include sedation, amnesia, confusion, and paradoxical responses.

They can intensify cognitive slowing and worsen memory and motor impairment can contribute to an increased risk of falls and fractures.

They can intensify cognitive slowing and worsen memory and motor impairment, contributing to an increased risk of falls and fractures.

In addition, long-term use of benzodiazepines has been found to be habit-forming and can cause addiction or relapse to abuse substances.

Non-adherence with oral agents can also be problematic as patients may attempt to spit out these medications.

We believe that based on the current method of administration of oral medicine for agitation, the orally-dissolving, mucoadhesive thin film offers compliance advantages as it will prevent patients from avoiding treatment.

There is precedent for FDA approval of a non-invasive therapy for the acute treatment of agitation.

In 2012, Adasuve ® , an inhaled version of the antipsychotic loxapine, became the first approved non-invasive acute treatment for agitation in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar 1 disorder.

The use of Adasuve has been limited due to a risk management program and the risk of bronchospasm.

Adasuve also has a high incidence of side effects.

Upon launch, Adasuve was priced at $145 per dose.

The sublingual or buccal route of administration is an accepted alternative to oral administration of drug delivery to the central nervous system, or CNS, when rapid onset or more controlled delivery is required.

Currently, there are six products that are approved for thin-film administration.

For example, BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc., a

commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to patients living with chronic conditions, has developed a buccal film formulation of buprenorphine for chronic pain management and buprenorphine and naloxone for opioid dependence.

We have developed BXCL501 as a differentiated sublingual thin film dosage form of Dex, which we believe, if approved, may offer benefits such as ease of use and quick absorption for rapid therapeutic effects.

Nonadherence with oral agents can also be problematic as patients may attempt to spit out these medications.

We believe that, based on the current method of administration of oral medicine for agitation, the orally dissolving, mucoadhesive film offers compliance advantages as it will more likely prevent patients from avoiding treatment.

The sublingual or buccal route of administration is an accepted alternative to oral administration of drug delivery to the central nervous system when rapid onset or more controlled delivery is required.

Currently, there are six products approved for film administration, including our product, IGALMI.

For example, BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc., a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to patients living with chronic conditions, has developed a buccal film formulation of buprenorphine for chronic pain management and buprenorphine and naloxone for opioid dependence.

We developed BXCL501 as a differentiated sublingual film dosage form of Dex, which we believe may offer benefits such as ease of use and quick absorption for rapid therapeutic effects.

Mechanism of Action:

α2a Adrenergic Receptor and NE Role in Acute Agitation

BXCL501 is designed to be easily administered and to have a rapid onset of action.

We believe that BXCL501, with its differentiated pharmacology and ease of administration, if approved, could potentially be a first in class, non-invasive acute treatment for agitation that can be rapidly administered by physicians and caregivers.

Dex is approved in the United States for the sedation of initially intubated and mechanically ventilated patients during treatment in the intensive care unit (“ICU”).

BXCL501 is designed to be easily administered and have a rapid onset of action.

We believe that BXCL501, with its differentiated pharmacology and ease of administration, could potentially be a first-in-class, non-invasive acute treatment for agitation that can be rapidly administered by physicians and caregivers.

Dex is approved in the U.S.

for the sedation of initially intubated and mechanically ventilated patients during treatment in the intensive care unit (“ICU”).

It is also used in the intensive care setting for sedation of non-intubated patients prior to and/or during surgical and other invasive procedures.

Dex, launched in the United States as Precedex™ in 1999, is a selective α2a adrenergic receptor agonist that has a strong safety record and has been studied in over 130 clinical trials to date.

It has also been sold in the European Union and other countries under the trade name Dexdor® as a sedative for intensive care patients.

Dex was approved by the European Commission for sedation of adult ICU patients requiring a sedation level no deeper than arousal in response to verbal stimulation (corresponding to Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (“RASS”) 0 to -3).

Dex, launched in the U.S.

as Precedex ™ in 1999, is a selective α2a adrenergic receptor agonist that has a strong safety record and has been studied in over 130 clinical trials to date.

It has also been sold in the European Union (“EU”) and other countries under the trade name Dexdor ® as a sedative for intensive care patients.

It has been used to prevent or treat hyperactive delirium resulting from anesthesia in the ICU.

Given these uses of the IV formulation of Dex, we believe Dex formulated in a sublingual thin film and at much lower doses will allow for ease of administration in settings where rapid acute treatment of agitation is needed.

Given these uses of the IV formulation of Dex, we believe Dex formulated in a sublingual film and at much lower doses will allow for ease of administration in settings where rapid acute treatment of agitation is needed.

IGALMI Commercial Progress

Since the commercial launch of IGALMI in July 2022, our commercial progress has yielded more than 65 formulary wins.

Additionally, more than 600 hospital pharmacy and therapeutics (“P&T”) committees are scheduled to review and vote on IGALMI inclusion in their formularies over the next several months.

In addition, nearly 50% of target beds are now under group purchasing organization (“GPO”) contracts as of February 28, 2023.

We are in active discussions with other leading GPOs.

This has been primarily accomplished with our initial 26-person institutional sales force since our trade launch in July 2022.

We expanded our institutional sales force to 70 representatives in December 2022 to cover over 1,700 target hospitals as of February 28, 2023.

During the fourth quarter of 2022, our Corporate Account Director team was focused on 59 high-volume, high-control integrated delivery network (“IDN”) accounts.

Formulary voting is currently scheduled for approximately 70,000 (25%) of our target IDN beds, with approximately 7,000 (2%) now approved.

We believe the value proposition for IGALMI will continue to evolve as we learn from market response.

Staff shortages in the emergency departments (“EDs”) of hospitals, complicated by the potential for staff injuries due to agitated patients, are becoming increasingly concerning to hospital administration.

Due to limited agitation treatment options in the ED, IM injection is often used.

This approach can be both confrontational and coercive to agitated patients, often making their symptoms worse.

Moreover, these patients may occupy ED beds for extended periods due to unresponsive sedation, reducing throughput and increasing costs.

These conditions continue to reinforce the need for a drug with IGALMI’s profile.

We are seeing our marketing efforts continue to drive awareness through an extensive convention presence, peer influence programs, and digital marketing campaigns.

As of December 31, 2022, our peer-led IGALMI speaker programs have educated over 1,000 health care providers, while we have had over 350,000 web sessions on our branded health care provider website and additional touchpoints through other digital marketing efforts.

With our sales team expansion and as we begin to garner additional P&T formulary adoption, we plan extensive digital and peer-to-peer marketing efforts in the first half of 2023 to continue to raise awareness, reinforce key messages, and drive additional demand.

In addition, we have planned promotional presence at leading national and regional conferences in 2023.

If IGALMI is approved outside the U.S., we would consider launching the product through collaborations with third parties.

Our continued commercialization efforts for IGALMI are designed to build the foundation to launch additional potential follow-on indications, if any, paving the way for our expanding neuroscience business.

BXCL501 Development

In indications other than approved by the FDA as IGALMI, BXCL501 remains an investigational, proprietary, orally dissolving film formulation of Dex, a selective alpha-2 receptor agonist, targeting symptoms from stress-related

behaviors such as agitation.

BXCL501 is our most advanced neuroscience clinical program, being evaluated for at-home acute treatment of agitation related to schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, the acute treatment of agitation related to Alzheimer’s disease, and as an adjunctive treatment for MDD in conjunction with the use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (“SSRIs”) or Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (“SNRIs”) alone.

As a selective adrenergic agent with a sublingual or buccal route of administration, BXCL501 is designed to be easily administered and has shown a rapid onset of action in multiple clinical trials, including clinical trials studying patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.

We believe results from these studies suggest that BXCL501 has the potential to reduce agitation without producing excessive sedation.

We also believe BXCL501 is highly differentiated from antipsychotics, which often produce unwanted side effects such as excessive sedation or extrapyramidal motor effects, currently used as a standard of care to treat agitation.

Managing patient agitation in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders represents a significant challenge for physicians and caregivers.

We believe BXCL501 has the potential to address these challenges while providing an efficient treatment regimen for patients.

We also believe that BXCL501, if approved for the respective indications, has the potential to become the standard of care for the acute treatment of agitation arising from diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (SERENITY I and II trials);

and Alzheimer’s disease (TRANQUILITY II and TRANQUILITY III trials within our pivotal Phase 3 program).

In addition, given the differentiated design of BXCL501 and its potential mechanism of action, we believe BXCL501 has the potential to address several diseases or conditions for which agitation is a symptom of the condition or underlying disease, including as an adjunctive treatment for MDD, opioid withdrawal (RELEASE trial), and post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”).

BXCL501 Clinical Trials

SERENITY I and SERENITY II

In July 2020, we announced topline results from the SERENITY I and II pivotal trials, which showed that treatment with BXCL501 was well-tolerated and resulted in clinically meaningful reductions in agitation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder I and II patients.

In October 2020, we held a pre NDA meeting with the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to discuss the content and format of our anticipated NDA submission.

The FDA also agreed to a rolling review of our NDA, allowing us to submit completed sections of the application early.

On March 5, 2021, we completed the rolling submission of our NDA to the FDA.

In May 2021, we announced the FDA had notified us that our NDA submission was accepted for filing.

The FDA assigned a PDUFA goal date of January 5, 2022.

In December 2021, we announced the extension of the FDA review period of our NDA to April 5, 2022.

We also have plans underway to submit a Marketing Authorization Application (“MAA”) to the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) for BXCL501 for the acute treatment of agitation associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders I & II in the first half of 2022.

TRANQUILITY and TRANQUILITY II and III

In January 2021, we announced topline results from the TRANQUILITY trial, a Phase 1b/2 randomized, placebo-controlled, adaptive ascending dose-finding study that enrolled 54 patients with agitation related in dementia., including Alzheimer's disease.

Patients received BXCL501 at either 30mcg (n=16), 60mcg (n=20), 90 mcg (n=4) or placebo (n=14).

Overall, BXCL501 was well tolerated and demonstrated statistically significant, clinically meaningful, rapid, and durable reductions in agitation with the 60 mcg dose as measured by multiple rating scales.

The trial’s primary endpoint was to evaluate safety and tolerability in elderly demented patients experiencing an acute episode of agitation.

During the study, BXCL501 was well-tolerated and no severe or serious adverse events were reported.

The most common adverse event was somnolence characterized as either mild (55% for 60 mcg, 50% for 30 mcg and 7.1% for placebo) or moderate (5% for 60 mcg and 0% for both 30 mcg and placebo), followed by hypotension (10%, 0%, 0%), orthostatic hypotension (5%, 6.3%, 0%) and dizziness (5%, 6.3% and 0%).

There were no reported cases of syncope or falls in any of the patients studied.

For the same dose, higher exposure levels of BXCL501 were observed in this elderly patient population compared to earlier trials in younger patient populations.

The trial met its secondary efficacy endpoints with the 60 mcg dose compared to placebo in all three agitation scales:

the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale-Excitatory Component Score (“PEC” or “PANSS-EC”) the Pittsburgh

Agitation Scale (“PAS”), and the Modified Cohen -Mansfield Inventory (“Mod-CMAI”).

Treatment with BXCL501 demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in total scores at two hours post-dosing (PEC p=0.0011;

PAS p<0.0001;

Mod-CMAI p<0.001;

PEC response rate = 70%), numerical separation from placebo in PEC total score as early as 30 minutes with statistically significant reductions on both PEC and PAS at 60 minutes lasting 8 hours after treatment.

Additional statistically significant reductions with the 60 mcg dose compared to placebo at the 2 hours post-dosing were observed with the Agitation and Calmness Scale (“ACES”) (ACES p=0.0006) and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale (CGI p<0.0001, 90% responder rate).

The 30 mcg dose cohort showed numerical improvements across all scales.

On March 3, 2021, we announced that following a routine quality control review of the Company’s TRANQUILITY study data, the Company discovered that two patients dose assignments were mis-categorized within the 30 mcg cohort at the clinical site.

After moving the two patients data into their appropriate placebo and 30 mcg treatment groups, the data from the 30 mcg cohort were re-analyzed, resulting in the 30 mcg dose crossing over to statistical significance at the two hour time point, as measured by PEC:

and Mod-CMAI:

The Company also announced that it extended the TRANQUILITY I trial to initiate a 46 patient (1:1 randomization) multicenter, double-blind placebo-controlled expansion study investigating a 40 mcg dose cohort of BXCL501.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics modeling of BXCL501 data from the TRANQUILITY trial was supportive of evaluating the efficacy of a 40 mcg dose.

Results of this expansion are expected to provide additional insights to support the Company’s clinical development strategy directed at all segments of the dementia market.

On March 15, 2021 we announced that BXCL501 was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for the acute treatment of agitation associated with dementia.

This designation is intended to expedite the development and review of certain product candidates designed to treat serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions, and the designation enables increased interaction and guidance from the FDA.

On December 15, 2021, after our initial Breakthrough Therapy designation meetings with FDA, we announced the initiation of our program to evaluate BXCL501 for the treatment of acute agitation associated with dementia in Alzheimer’s patients.

The program’s two studies, TRANQUILITY II and TRANQUILITY III, are designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BXCL501 in adults 65 years and older across the range of illness including mild, moderate and severe illness in assisted living or residential facilities and nursing homes.

The program will consist of two randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled, adaptive, parallel group pivotal trials, TRANQUILITY II and TRANQUILITY III.

Each study will enroll 150 dementia patients 65 years and older.

Patients will self-administer 40 mcg or 60 mcg of BXCL501 or placebo whenever agitation episodes may occur over a three-month period.

TRANQUILITY II will enroll patients with mild to moderately severe dementia in assisted living or residential facilities who generally require minimal assistance with activities of daily living.

TRANQUILITY III will enroll patients in nursing homes with moderate to severe dementia who require moderate or greater assistance with their activities of daily living.

The studies are designed to assess agitation as measured by the changes from baseline in the PEC and PAS total scores.

The primary efficacy endpoint for both studies will be the change in PEC total score from baseline measured at two hours after the initial dose and subsequent doses.

Patients who complete TRANQUILITY II or TRANQUILITY III will be eligible to enroll in an open label, 52-week safety study designed to describe the safety and efficacy of BXCL501 in continued use.

The RELEASE trial was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending dose Phase 1b/2 trial designed to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, tolerability, and efficacy of BXCL501 administered twice daily for 7 days in patients experiencing symptoms of opioid withdrawal.

In March 2021, we announced RELEASE top line results.

The trial’s primary objective was to evaluate safety and tolerability of twice daily dosing of BXCL501 for 1 week.

BXCL501 was well tolerated, with no severe or serious adverse events reported across all doses evaluated.

With respect to retention, a secondary endpoint, the study showed that patients in multiple dose cohorts treated with BXCL501 had numerical improvements in retention rates, a key goal of opioid withdrawal treatment, compared to placebo.

The 120 mcg and 180 mcg dose groups showed 42% and 52% rates of retention at day 6 of BXCL501 treatment, respectively, versus 24% for placebo, though these differences were not statistically significant.

However, the results also showed that, of the 87% of patients who had fentanyl in their systems upon entry, with greater than 50% remaining fentanyl positive following the morphine stabilization phase of 5 days.

Consequently, withdrawal symptoms were not equivalent across various dose cohorts, suggesting that morphine did not stabilize or ‘normalize’ withdrawal symptoms in these patients.

Efficacy measures, including assessment of patients’ symptoms of acute opioid withdrawal following the morphine maintenance phase with the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (“COWS”) and the Short Opiate Withdrawal Scale of Gossop (“SOWS-Gossop”) were secondary objectives of the trial.

Improvements were not observed in SOWS-Gossop”) or COWS total scores in the BXCL501 treatment arms compared to placebo.

The Company believes that the high prevalence of fentanyl, and its extended washout may have contributed to the lack of normalization of withdrawal during morphine maintenance could have confounded results and made them difficult to interpret.

We believe the favorable tolerability results observed in multiple dose regimens within the RELEASE trial provides valuable insights that support investigation across additional indications and treatment settings.

In October 2020, we announced that we had received authorization to proceed under our Investigational New Drug (“IND”) application from the FDA for treatment of patients with agitation associated with delirium in intensive care units, including patients with COVID-19 and on February 25, 2021, we announced the initiation of the Phase 2 PLACIDITY trial of BXCL501.

This program is intended to provide a potential synergy with the medical and commercial infrastructure being developed to support our first two indications.

The PLACIDITY trial is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending dose-finding, adaptive Phase 2 study designed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of BXCL501 in intensive care unit adult patients experiencing delirium related agitation, including COVID-19 patients.

Approximately 20 patients will be randomized into each sequential ascending dose cohort of BXCL501 (starting doses of 120 ug, 180 ug, 240 ug, or 300 ug), or matching placebos to determine an optimal starting dose that could effectively and safely reduce agitation.

Elderly delirium patients (65 years or older) in these cohorts will receive half the dose.

The primary endpoint is the reduction in agitation measured by at least a 2-point drop in the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (“RASS”) at two hours post BXCL501 administration.

The secondary endpoint is the earliest time at which a 2-point drop is seen in RASS after BXCL501 administration.

An exploratory endpoint of this trial will be to determine the overall clinical improvement after drug administration using the Clinical Global Impression – Improvement Scale (“CGI-I”).

Agitation associated with delirium is a serious condition that affects patients in many hospital settings:

ICUs, surgical & medical wards, and emergency departments.

Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications for delirium or agitation associated with delirium.

PLACIDITY enrollment was voluntarily paused, and continues to be paused, to assess challenges posed in opening relevant clinical sites and enrolling delirium patients in the ICU settings, including as a result of the burden COVID-19 has placed on the ICU.

The Company and its collaborators, the VA Connecticut Healthcare System and the Yale University Medical School, are evaluating BXCL501 in patients suffering from PTSD related to alcohol and substance abuse disorder (“ASUD”).

Yale University Medical School was awarded a grant by the U.S.

Department of Defense’s (“DOD”) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (“CDMRP”).

The Company is investigating BXCL501 as a potential chronic treatment for patients with these conditions.

Given the significant market opportunities available to us developing BXCL501 for the treatment of agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and MDD, we have determined it is the best interest of all stakeholders to focus our efforts in those disease areas and have decided to de-emphasize our opioid withdrawal and delirium indications.

PEDIATRIC STUDY

In June 2021, we initiated a global clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BXCL501 in agitation associated with pediatric schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The multisite, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group trial will enroll patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar I and bipolar II disorder.

Similar to the SERENITY I and II trials, the primary endpoint is the change from baseline PEC total score at 2 hours.

The trial has been initiated in the U.S.

and enrollment is ongoing.

TRANQUILITY Program

The TRANQUILITY I study of agitation in dementia concluded with a total of 46 subjects in Part B testing the 40mcg dose versus placebo.

The purpose of enrolling this additional cohort was to gather additional evidence supporting dose selection and to provide data for statistical powering of large multiple-site Phase 3 pivotal trials.

All patients were able to take the film themselves and properly place it.

There were no serious adverse events (“SAEs”) related to the drug, and no falls, loss of consciousness, or syncopal events reported.

There were also no local tolerability issues.

The adverse events (“AEs”) observed for 40mcg were consistent with those previously observed for 30mcg, 60mcg, and placebo doses.

The incidence of individual and categorical AEs for the 40mcg dose were lower than the 60mcg group, and similar to the 30mcg dose group.

Efficacy was measured by the change from pre-dose baseline Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Excitatory Component (“PEC”) total score at two hours, the same primary endpoint utilized in prior pivotal trials of BXCL501.

The 40mcg dose showed statistically significant reductions in PEC total score at two hours and demonstrated statistically significant separation from placebo as early as one hour.

The magnitude of change in PEC total score was statistically greater for the 40mcg dose than that of 30mcg and somewhat less than the 60mcg dose in previous cohorts.

Overall, we believe the 40mcg data support continued evaluation of both 40mcg and 60mcg doses in Phase 3 pivotal trials.

On December 15, 2021, after our initial Breakthrough Therapy designation meetings with the FDA, we announced the initiation of our program to evaluate BXCL501 for the treatment of acute agitation associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The program’s two studies, TRANQUILITY II and TRANQUILITY III, are designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BXCL501 in adults 65 years and older across the range of illness including mild, moderate, and severe dementia in assisted living or residential facilities and nursing homes.

Patient enrollment is complete for TRANQUILITY II.

● The program consists of two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive, parallel group pivotal trials:

TRANQUILITY II and TRANQUILITY III.

● Each study will enroll approximately 150 dementia patients 65 years and older.

Patients will self-administer 40mcg or 60mcg of BXCL501 or placebo whenever agitation episodes may occur.

● TRANQUILITY II enrolled patients with mild to moderately severe dementia in assisted living or residential care facilities who generally require minimal assistance with activities of daily living.

Enrollment is complete and nearing completion of a three-month observation period.

We expect to announce top-line data in the second quarter of 2023.

● TRANQUILITY III enrolled patients with moderate to severe dementia who require moderate or greater assistance with activities of daily living.

This study initiated with the first patient dosed in December 2022.

● The studies are designed to assess agitation as measured by the changes from baseline in the PEC total score and total Pittsburgh Agitation Scale scores.

For both studies, the primary efficacy endpoint will be the change in PEC total score from baseline measured at two hours after the initial dose.

● Patients who complete TRANQUILITY II or TRANQUILITY III will be eligible to enroll in an open label, 52-week safety study designed to describe the safety of BXCL501 in continued use.

This study is expected to initiate in the second half of 2023 .

Bipolar or Schizophrenia-related Agitation (At-Home Use)

We met with the FDA in July 2022 to discuss the design of a registrational study to support potential expansion of BXCL501’s approved indication to enable at-home use for the acute treatment of agitation related to schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

We believe we reached alignment with the FDA on key design features with respect to our SERENITY III study, which consists of two parts.

The first part is comparable to the pivotal SERENITY I and II studies.

Using similar inclusion and exclusion criterion in an inpatient setting, acutely agitated patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders will be randomized to self-administer either 60mcg of BXCL501 or placebo in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

The primary endpoint of Part 1 of the study is the PEC total score change from baseline at two hours post-dose.

The secondary objective is to assess safety and tolerability.

The first part of SERENITY III initiated with the first patients dosed in December 2022.

Part 1 enrollment was completed in March 2023, with top-line efficacy results also expected in the second quarter of 2023.

Part 2 of the study is expected to initiate in the second quarter of 2023.

The primary objective is to assess the safety of a 60mcg dose when self-administered in an at-home setting.

Patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders and a history of agitation will be randomized to self-administer 60mcg of BXCL501, or placebo, when they may experience an episode of acute agitation at-home over a period of three months.

Patients will return for regularly scheduled outpatient visits where investigators will review information collected from patients and reliable informants to determine and characterize any adverse effects.

Major Depressive Disorder

We have recently expanded our programs to evaluate BXCL501 as an adjunctive treatment for MDD.

We expect that the initial clinical study in this program will be a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple ascending dose trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of twice daily doses of BXCL501 in healthy volunteers.

A Phase 2 proof of concept study is planned to evaluate whether daily adjunctive use of BXCL501 provides a more rapid initial clinical antidepressant response than placebo when initiating SSRI or SNRI alone.

We are preparing to submit an IND to the FDA and if allowed to proceed by the FDA, expect to initiate the first clinical trial in the first half of 2022.

BXCL701, DPP 8/9 Inhibitor for the treatment of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

BXCL701 is a potential first-in-class, oral, small-molecule immunomodulator designed to stimulate both the innate and acquired immune systems by inhibiting DPP 8/9.

DPP 8/9 behave as "checkpoints"

of pyroptosis and inflammasome activation.

Clinically, BXCL701 has been evaluated in more than 700 healthy subjects and cancer patients across multiple clinical trials, which provided evidence regarding tolerability, proof of mechanism, and single agent anti-tumor activity.

In the latter case, single agent activity was seen in melanoma patients, an immune sensitive tumor.

While providing evidence regarding the safety profile of the drug, these clinical studies also identified a maximum tolerated and recommended Phase 2 dose to use in future clinical trials.

BXCL701 is in development for the treatment of CRPC including the highly aggressive neuro endocrine variant of NEPC, a segment of prostate cancer patients that have progressed on second generation androgen inhibitors (Zytiga ® and Xtandi ® ) .

Approximately one in four patients treated with Zytiga and Xtandi are expected to develop NEPC based on current clinical literature.

The combined global sales of Zytiga and Xtandi, which are only approved for prostate cancer treatment, were approximately $7 billion in 2020, and we believe such sales number gives a perspective of the potential market for BXCL701 in this indication.

Additionally, generic alternatives for Zytiga became available in the U.S.

market in 2019, and we, therefore, expect the number of patients with access to androgen inhibitor therapy to increase.

Prostate Cancer Overview and Market Opportunity

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy and is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States.

In 2022, more than 3.1 million men in the United States are living with, or in remission from, prostate cancer.

The American Cancer Society’s estimates for prostate cancer in the United States for 2022 are about 268,490 new cases of prostate cancer and about 34,500 deaths from prostate cancer.

While the five year survival rate of local and regional prostate cancer is almost 100%, more aggressive forms of the disease such as metastatic prostate cancer have a five-year survival rate of approximately 30%.

These aggressive forms of prostate cancer can initially be treated with androgen deprivation therapy.

However, almost all patients experience a recurrence in tumor growth, which results in the patient having CRPC.

An estimated 180,000 men in the United States are eligible for treatment with the second generation anti-androgen drugs Zytiga and Xtandi.

These drugs have widely become the standard of care.

Unfortunately, virtually all the patients who respond to Zytiga and Xtandi are expected to progress to even more aggressive forms of prostate cancer requiring further treatment.

About one in five of the progressing patients will develop NEPC, for which there is no effective treatment based on information in an article published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network in 2014 by Agarwal et.

and an article published by Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2014 by Wang et.

NEPC specifically displays neuroendocrine differentiation, either pathologically with the presence of the typical neuroendocrine small cells, or molecularly by expressing neuroendocrine markers.

The market opportunity for BXCL701 in the initial target markets is detailed below:

Limitations of Current Treatments for CRPC

Despite demonstrated benefit of immunotherapies targeting PD-1—such as pembrolizumab—on clinical outcomes in many solid tumors, mCRPC remains largely resistant to such therapies with single-agent response rates of under 6%.

Further exploration has been focused on combination therapies.

There is no approved therapy for NEPC.

NEPC patients are treated off-label with cytotoxic chemotherapies, such as platinum-based regimens.

These treatments have poor efficacy due to their short duration of response and substantial toxicity.

While the immuno-oncology field has made several advances in the treatment of solid tumors, several trials of immuno-oncology agents in patients with prostate cancer, and specifically NEPC, have shown limited or no anti-tumor activity.

BXCL701’s potential immunomodulatory mechanism of action may manipulate the tumor micro-environment in such a way to convert a “cold” tumor environment into an inflamed “hot” environment so that prostate cancer can overcome resistance to immunotherapy.

BXCL701 Immuno-Oncology Program

BXCL701 Clinical Trials

BXCL701 is currently being evaluated in two combination therapy clinical trials:

In April 2020, we announced the initiation of the Phase 2 efficacy portion of the Phase 1b/2 trial evaluating BXCL701 in combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab, a PD-1 inhibitor) for NEPC.

The Phase 1b safety assessment of BXCL701 identified a split dose totaling 0.6 mg per day as the recommended dose when used in combination with KEYTRUDA®.

Data from the Phase 1b portion of this trial were presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s, or SITC’s, 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting in 2020, and an interim efficacy update was presented at ASCO GU Symposium in February 2021.

We reported updated interim data from the Phase 2 portion of this trial in NEPC and adenocarcinoma cohort at the ASCO GU Symposium in February 2022.

Data from the Phase 2 portion of the trial were previously presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology conference in September 2021 and at ASCO GU in February 2021.

The MD Anderson-led Phase 2 open-label basket trial is designed to evaluate the response rate of orally administered BXCL701, combined with KEYTRUDA, in two arms:

Arm A is enrolling checkpoint naïve patients (where checkpoint therapy is indicated:

“hot tumors”);

and Arm B is enrolling patients who have progressed following checkpoint therapy alone.

Interim data were presented at the June 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

In the first half of 2022, we expect to present additional interim efficacy data from the trial.

Other Immuno-oncology Indications

In addition to CRPC and CPI-refractory tumors, we plan to leverage our existing preclinical and clinical data to identify other cancer types with high unmet medical need that we believe would benefit from BXCL701’s novel potential mechanism of action.

We are prioritizing indications where the immuno suppressive microenvironment is driven by the potential molecular and cellular targets of BXCL701 and where the single agent activity of approved immune checkpoint inhibitors is limited.

We believe that BXCL701, if successfully developed and approved, may provide a platform for combination with immunotherapy modalities that go beyond the currently approved immune checkpoint agents that target the PD 1/PD L1 axis.

Following our proof-of-concept trials, we plan to conduct clinical trials covering a broad range of additional combinations with other immunotherapy agents, including:

● immune checkpoint inhibitors (other than PD-1/PD-L1);

● cellular therapies (CAR-T and chimeric antigen receptor natural killer cells);

● therapeutic vaccines;

● ADCC driven monoclonal antibodies.

Other Product Candidates

Neuroscience Program

We are targeting neuroscience disorders where there is a high unmet medical need, and therefore, a requirement for symptom management is a priority (such as agitation and symptoms resulting from stress-related behaviors) as well for transformative care for monogenic rare CNS disorders.

For symptomatic approaches, our neuroscience program is developing product candidates with a focus on treating symptoms for various neurological and psychiatric disorders.

This entails re innovating existing agents through formulation changes and deuteration.

The utilization of our expanding internal AI capabilities along with BioXcel LLC’s AI capability has identified several monogenic diseases with available animal models across rare neuroscience diseases.

We utilize proprietary algorithms to identify associated mechanisms with existing pharmacology to test whether these agents can improve the disease profile in the animal model either through disease modification or symptomatic manner.

The agents identified must be those that we believe are Phase 2 ready with a potential for a short, cost-effective development plan (four to five years to potential NDA submission).

Immuno-oncology Program

Our immuno-oncology program is based on utilizing a comprehensive map of all known relationships that link immuno-evasion and immuno-activation pathways and targets with thousands of pharmacological agents and tumor indications.

This comprehensive map has permitted us to select a potential pipeline of candidates based on our ability to alter the tumor micro-environment and the potential to address relevant unmet medical needs for various tumor types.

We expanded our development pipeline to evaluate BXCL501 as a potential adjunctive treatment for MDD.

The initial clinical study in this program is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple ascending dose trial designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of daily doses of BXCL501 in healthy volunteers.

We expect to report top-line results in the second quarter of 2023.

As of February 28, 2023, seven dosing cohorts of healthy adult volunteers have been completed, including cohorts receiving 30mcg, 60mcg, 80mcg, or 120mcg BXCL501 (or placebo) once daily for seven days, and with cohorts receiving twice-a-day dosing of 30mcg in the morning and 60mcg in the evening (or placebo).

A cohort of subjects received 40mcg in the morning and 80mcg in the evening (or placebo).

The final cohort tested 60mcg in the morning and 80mcg in the evening (or placebo) plus twice daily 30 milligrams (“mg”) duloxetine in the morning and evening.

BXCL501 has been generally well tolerated across completed cohorts.

We anticipate that the safety and tolerability results of this study will enable dose selection for a Phase 2 proof-of-confidence trial in MDD.

Pediatric Study

In June 2021, we initiated a global clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of BXCL501 in the acute treatment of agitation associated with pediatric schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, in part to fulfill pediatric study requirements agreed to with the FDA in connection with IGALMI’s approval.

The trial protocol has been reviewed by

the FDA, as well as by the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), to fulfill potential commitments to study the effects of BXCL501 in pediatric patients ages 13-17 with schizophrenia and ages 10-17 with bipolar disorders.

Enrollment of patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar I, and bipolar II disorder is ongoing in this multisite, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel group trial.

Approximately 40% of the 150 total subjects have been enrolled in the U.S.

and several European sites are planned to initiate enrollment in the second quarter of 2023.

Similar to our registration trials in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (SERENITY I and II), the primary endpoint is the change from baseline PEC total score at two hours.

Additional Neuroscience Opportunities

BXCL501 Pipeline Opportunities for Franchise Expansion

Given the differentiated design of BXCL501 and its selective mechanism of action, we believe BXCL501 has the potential for broad applicability across several indications where agitation is a symptom of a condition or underlying disease.

The Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders Alliance (“PASA”) is funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs as part of its Alcohol and Substance Use Disorder Research Program.

The goal of PASA is to fund research for developing new medications that can improve treatment outcomes for alcohol and substance use disorders;

especially as related to post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) and other psychological disorders.

In December 2020, the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System and Yale University Medical School were awarded a grant by PASA to evaluate BXCL501 in patients with PTSD who suffer from alcohol use disorder (“AUD”).

This study is currently underway and the Company is providing BXCL501 for the study to evaluate whether BXCL501 has the potential to treat AUD in this patient population.

As announced on August 1, 2022, the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded a grant to Columbia University, as part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term (“HEAL”) initiative, to fund clinical testing of BXCL501 as a potential treatment for opioid withdrawal.

The goal of the NIH HEAL Initiative program is to support preclinical and clinical research studies that will have high impact and quickly yield the necessary results to advance medications closer to FDA approval to prevent and treat opioid use disorder and overdose.

The Company will supply the drug product for the conduct of this multi-site study;

the first patient was recently dosed in this study, which is expected to be completed in 2024.

We are currently conducting studies designed to develop algorithms for wearable technologies that are designed to detect early signs of agitation.

We completed a study in October 2022 using wearable technologies (i.e., smart watches and phones) in an effort to detect signals related to agitation in healthy subjects that were administered Yohimbine, a compound that can elicit a mild hyper-arousal in humans;

hyper-arousal is related to agitation.

Data from this study were analyzed and identified a robust signal that differentiated Yohimbine-treated subjects from those that received a placebo.

We plan to utilize the data from this study to train an algorithm to predict emergence of agitation in patients, which we believe, if successful, may allow for early treatment and prevention of agitation.

BXCL502 Development

We identified a second neuropsychiatric drug candidate, BXCL502, through our AI-based platform.

We plan to evaluate BXCL502 initially as a monotherapy and possibly as a combination with BXCL501 for the chronic treatment of agitation in patients with dementia or other stress-related illnesses.

The active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) underlying BXCL502 is designed to affect serotonergic signaling in the brain.

Our preclinical data suggests BXCL502 has the potential to treat stress-related neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia or other illness.

In previously published third-party clinical trial data, daily administration of the API of BXCL502 demonstrated improvement in such behaviors using a well-established, clinically validated symptom scale.

Formulation and clinical development planning are currently under way with BXCL502.

Neuroscience Competition

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition, and a strong emphasis on proprietary products.

The immuno-oncology, neuroscience, and rare disease segments of the industry in particular are highly competitive.

While we believe that our technology, development experience and scientific knowledge provide competitive advantages, we face potential competition from many different sources, including major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies, academic institutions and governmental agencies, and public and private research institutions.

The neuroscience and rare disease segments of the industry

are highly competitive.

While we believe that our technology, development experience, and scientific knowledge provide competitive advantages, we face potential competition from many different sources, including major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies, and public and private research institutions.

Many of our competitors may have significantly greater financial resources, and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical studies, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals, and marketing approved medicines than we do.

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Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies.

The key competitive factors affecting the success of all of our product candidates, if approved, are likely to be their efficacy, safety, convenience, price, the effectiveness of companion diagnostics in guiding the use of related therapeutics, if any, the level of generic competition and the availability of reimbursement from government and other third-party payors.

Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize medicines that are safer, are more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than any medicines we may develop.

Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their medicines more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

The key competitive factors affecting the success of our product candidates, if approved, are likely to be their efficacy, safety, convenience, price, the effectiveness of companion diagnostics in guiding the use of related therapeutics, if any, the level of generic competition, and the availability of reimbursement from government and other third-party payors.

Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize medicines that are safer, more effective, more convenient, less expensive, or have fewer or less severe side effects than any medicines we may develop.

Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their medicines more rapidly than us, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

In addition, our ability to compete may be affected in many cases by insurers or other third-party payors seeking to encourage the use of generic medicines.

There are many generic medicines currently on the market for certain indications that we are pursuing, and additional generics are expected to become available over the coming years.

If our therapeutic product candidates are approved, we expect that they will be priced at a significant premium over competitive generic medicines.

We expect that any of our therapeutic product candidates that are approved will be priced at a significant premium over competitive generic medicines.

Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future.

If the product candidates of our priority programs are approved for the indications for which we are currently planning clinical trials, they will compete with the drugs discussed below and will likely compete with other drugs currently in development.

Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Drugs used for the acute treatment of agitation related to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are antipsychotics frequently administered via IM injection which typically requires patient restraint.

IGALMI and any of our other product candidates that are approved, if any, will compete with the drugs discussed below, in addition to any other drugs currently in development.

Drugs used for the acute treatment of agitation related to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are antipsychotics frequently administered via IM injection that typically requires patient restraint.

These include IM aripiprazole, olanzapine, ziprasidone, and haloperidol.

Oral products include the sublingually administered atypical antipsychotic asenapine as well as the benzodiazepines, lorazepam and midazolam.

Oral products include the sublingually administered atypical antipsychotic asenapine, as well as benzodiazepines, lorazepam, and midazolam.

The typical antipsychotic Adasuve (loxapine) from Alexza is delivered via inhalation.

Immuno-oncology

The immuno-oncology field is characterized by the rapid evolution of technologies and products and by fierce competition based on the development of compounds, often with similar mechanisms of action.

Clinical development plans are further compounded by the possibility of overlapping intellectual property.

A wide variety of commercial players, large pharmaceutical companies, established and emerging biotechnology companies, and several not-for-profit entities are actively developing potentially competitive products in immuno-oncology and in our lead indications.

While we believe our product candidates, technology, knowledge, and experience provide us with competitive advantages, we face competition from established and emerging pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Such companies include:

● Major pharmaceutical companies developing multiple immuno- oncology agents:

AstraZeneca PLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Celgene Corporation, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., Roche Holding Ltd., and Sanofi SA.

● Companies developing agents aimed at stimulating the immune response:

AdaptImmune LLC, Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Immune Design Corp., NewLink Genetic Corporation, Advaxis, Inc., Argos Therapeutics, Inc., Biovest International, Inc., ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd., Immune Design, Inc., Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Intrexon Corporation and Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc.

● Companies developing cell- based immunotherapy approaches:

Intrexon Corporation, Juno Therapeutics, Inc., Kite Pharma, Inc.

(acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc.), Novartis AG and Pfizer Inc.

Manufacturing

Neuroscience Manufacturing

We do not have manufacturing facilities.

We currently rely on strategic manufacturing partners and expect to continue to rely on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for clinical research as well as for eventual, possible commercial manufacturing.

For the supply of drug substance and drug product for our BXCL501 clinical program, we have secured manufacturing partners.

We have completed the manufacture of phase III clinical supply and registration batches of our proprietary, sublingual thin film product.

We produce clinical drug product for BXCL701 under exclusivity with the original manufacturers of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, and drug product tablets, respectively.

Manufacturing partners used for both programs currently manufacture commercial products, and we consider them to be suitable for commercial supply for our programs, if approved.

Commercialization

We plan to retain our worldwide commercialization rights for some of our key product candidates, while for other product candidates we could potentially consider collaboration opportunities to maximize returns.

As a Company we have no experience in commercializing products, however, we intend to build our own commercialization organization and capabilities over time.

We are considering partnerships, joint ventures, and a variety of business partnerships for the Japanese and European Markets.

We currently plan to retain U.S.

rights and are working towards a potential BXCL501 approval on April 5, 2022.

For example, in the second half of 2021 we fully launched our unbranded disease education campaign to promote awareness around the treatment of agitation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

If BXCL501 is approved outside the United States we would consider launching BXCL501 through collaborations with third parties.

As product candidates advance through our pipeline, our commercial plans may change.

Clinical data, the size of the development programs, the size of the target market, the size of a commercial infrastructure, and manufacturing needs may all influence our United States, European Union, and rest-of-world strategies.

Intellectual Property

Our policy is to protect and enhance the proprietary technologies, inventions, and improvements that are commercially important to our business by filing patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions related to our proprietary technology, inventions, improvements, and product candidates.

We currently rely on strategic manufacturing partners, in particular ARx, LLC (“ARx”), and expect to continue to rely on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for clinical research and our products for commercialization efforts.

ARx has agreed to exclusively manufacture and supply all of our worldwide supply of film formulation of dexmedetomidine to be used for the commercial supply of IGALMI and for ongoing clinical trials of BXCL501, subject to certain alternative supply provisions.

BXCL501 drug product is manufactured using commercially available components and packaging materials.

The equipment employed for manufacture and analysis are consistent with standard pharmaceutical production.

Neuroscience Commercialization

We plan to retain worldwide commercialization rights for IGALMI and other approved product candidates, if any, but could consider collaboration opportunities to maximize returns or facilitate commercialization efforts in foreign jurisdictions.

For additional information regarding our commercialization efforts for IGALMI, see above under “IGALMI Commercial Progress.”

We have limited experience commercializing products, however, in connection with the FDA approval of IGALMI, we have built out our in-house commercial organization and capabilities.

We intend to leverage our in-house commercial organization, and will add to it where necessary, to support any additional approved product candidates.

We may consider partnerships, joint ventures, and other business transactions and structures for markets outside the U.S.

As product candidates advance through our pipeline, our commercialization plans may change.

Clinical data, the size of the development programs, the size of the target market, the required commercial infrastructure, and manufacturing needs may all influence global commercialization strategies.

Credit Facilities

In April 2022, we entered into financing agreements with affiliates of Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.

and Qatar Investment Authority that provides for up to $260 million in gross funding to support the Company’s commercial activities of IGALMI sublingual film and the expansion of clinical development efforts of BXCL501, which includes a Phase 3 program for the acute treatment of agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and for general corporate purposes.

Neuroscience Intellectual Property

Our policy is to protect and enhance the proprietary technologies, inventions, and improvements that are commercially important to our business by filing patent applications in the U.S.

and other jurisdictions related to our proprietary technology, inventions, improvements, and product candidates.

We also rely on trademarks, trade secrets, and know-how relating to our proprietary technologies and product candidates, continuing innovation, and in-licensing technology and products.

This reliance is expected to develop, strengthen, and maintain our proprietary position for novel therapeutics and novel formulations of existing therapeutics across multiple therapeutic areas.

This reliance is expected to develop, maintain, and strengthen our proprietary position for novel therapeutics and novel formulations of existing therapeutics across multiple therapeutic areas.

We also plan to rely on data exclusivity, market exclusivity, and patent term extensions when available.

Patent Portfolio

As of February 1, 2022, our patent portfolio included 6 Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT, applications, 16 U.S.

utility applications, 1 issued U.S.

utility patent, 9 U.S.

We have multiple patent families filed to protect our neuroscience portfolio including the BXCL501 program.

As of January 31, 2023, our neuroscience patent portfolio included four Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) applications not yet in the national phase, 13 U.S.

utility applications, five issued U.S.

utility patents, four U.S.

provisional patent applications, 87 pending non-U.S.

applications, 9 allowed or granted non-U.S.

patents, 1 design patent application, which is a U.S.

design application, and 34 allowed or registered design patents.

10,792,246, directed to our proprietary sublingual thin-film formulation of Dex, was issued on October 6, 2020 and has a term that is set to expire no earlier than 2039.

We plan to list the U.S.

patent in the FDA's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, or Orange Book.

We have filed applications in the core patent family protecting BXCL501 in the United States, Taiwan, and other major markets.

We expect that patents issuing from these applications, if any, will expire no earlier than 2039.

applications, nine allowed or granted non-U.S.

patents (including three in Japan), one design patent application, which is a U.S.

design application, and 34 allowed or registered design patents (including two in Japan).

patents (U.S.

and 11,517,524), directed to our proprietary sublingual film formulation of Dex and issued between 2020 and 2022 with an expiration date no earlier than 2039 are now listed in the FDA's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (the “Orange Book”).

In the same family, we also have allowed/granted patents in mainland China, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, Europe, and other countries in Asia, and pending applications in the U.S., China, and other major markets.

We expect that patents issued in this family will expire no earlier than 2039.

We have also filed applications in additional patent families that are relevant to BXCL501.

We have applications pending in the United States, Europe and Japan directed to methods of treating insomnia using sublingual Dex.

We have applications pending in the U.S., Europe and Japan directed to methods of treating insomnia using sublingual Dex.

We expect that patents issuing from these applications, if any, will expire no earlier than 2035.

We also have applications filed in 15 countries, including the United States, Europe, Japan, and China, directed to methods of treating agitation.

We also have applications filed in 16 regions, including the U.S., Europe, Japan, and China, directed to methods of treating agitation.

We expect that patents issuing from these applications, if any, will expire no earlier than 2042.

We have one U.S.

application and one European

application directed to intravenous administration of Dex.

application and one European application directed to intravenous administration of Dex.

We expect that patents issuing from these applications, if any, will expire no earlier than 2039.

We continue to file new applications on an ongoing basis, including provisional applications directed to treating mania and dementia.

We also have one PCT application directed to treating mania and another to treating depression.

If patents issue from those cases, we expect them to expire no earlier than 2041 and 2042, respectively.

We have multiple patent families filed to protect our BXCL701 program, including our core patent family directed to methods of using BXCL701 with immune checkpoint inhibitors, which is filed in the United States and 14 other countries.

Any patents issuing from that family should expire no earlier than 2036.

We have a PCT application directed to combination therapies using BXCL701 with immune checkpoint inhibitors and approaches for modifying T-cell activity.

We expect any patents issuing from this family to expire no earlier than 2038.

Additional PCT and ex-US applications are directed to administering BXCL701 in combinations with various other molecules and dosing regimens.

We expect that patents issuing from these applications, if any, will expire no earlier than 2039.

Finally, we have multiple provisional applications directed to various dosing regimens and combination therapies.

Any patents issuing from those applications are expected to expire between 2039 and 2041 at the earliest.

The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term for patents in the countries in which they are obtained.

In most countries, including the United States, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest filing date of a non-provisional patent application.

Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of FDA approval of our product candidates, a United States patent we own or 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 Act.

The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the drug approval regulatory review process.

In most countries, including the U.S., the patent term is 20 years from the earliest filing date of a non-provisional patent application.

Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of FDA approval of our product candidates, a U.S.

patent that we own, or license, may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (a.k.a., the “Hatch-Waxman Act”).

The act permits a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the drug approval regulatory review process.

However, patent term restoration cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date.

The patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of an IND, and the submission date of a NDA, plus the time between the submission date of an NDA and the approval of that application.

Only one patent applicable to an approved drug is eligible for the extension, and the application for extension must be made prior to the expiration of the patent.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration.

The patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date

of an investigational new drug, and the submission date of a new drug application (“NDA”), plus the time between the submission date of an NDA and the approval of that application.

Only one patent applicable to an approved drug is eligible for the extension, and the application for extension must be made prior to patent expiration.

Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration.

In the future, we intend to apply for restorations of patent term for some of our currently owned or licensed patents to add patent life beyond their current expiration date, depending on the expected length of clinical trials and other factors involved in the submission of the relevant NDA.

The term of a patent can also be extended by Patent Term Adjustment (“PTA”) established in 35 USC 154(b).

The intention of the PTA is to accommodate for delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a U.S.

utility or plant patent application.

Under PTA, the USPTO delay is divided into three types:

type A (delays after 14 months from the filing date of the application until the USPTO issues a first Office Action and delays after four months from the filing of certain actions by the applicant until the USPTO responds to such actions);

type B (delays after three years from the earliest effective filing date until a patent is granted);

and type C (delays due to interferences, secrecy orders, and successful appeals).

The total amount of PTA is calculated by adding the types A, B, and C delays, and then subtracting any delay that is overlapped among three types or that is attributable to the applicant.

The term of a patent can also be shortened by a terminal disclaimer.

A terminal disclaimer is a statement filed by a patent owner in which the owner disclaims or dedicates to the public the terminal part of the term of a patent.

Often, the terminal disclaimer is filed in cases where at least one claim of a pending application would have been obvious in light of at least one claim in an earlier-filed patent, AKA non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection.

The patent positions of companies such as ours are generally uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions.

No consistent policy regarding the scope of claims allowable in patents in the field of method of use patents or reformulation patents has emerged in the United States.

The relevant patent laws and their interpretation outside of the United States are also uncertain.

Changes in either the patent laws or their interpretation in the United States and other countries may diminish our ability to protect our technology or product candidates and enforce the patent rights that we license, and also could affect the value of such intellectual property.

No consistent policy regarding the scope of claims allowable in patents in the field of method of use patents or reformulation patents has emerged in the U.S.

Patent laws and their interpretation outside of the U.S.

are also uncertain.

Changes in either the patent laws or their interpretation in the U.S.

and other countries may diminish our ability to protect our technology or product candidates and enforce the patent rights that we license and could affect the value of such intellectual property.

In particular, our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing products that infringe our intellectual property will depend in part on our success in obtaining and enforcing patent claims that cover our technology, inventions, and improvements.

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In addition, the scope of the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar technology.

Furthermore, our competitors may independently develop similar technologies that are outside the scope of the rights granted under any issued patents that we own or exclusively in license.

Furthermore, our competitors may independently develop similar technologies outside the scope of the rights granted under any issued patents that we own or exclusively in license.

For these reasons, we may face competition with respect to our product candidates.

Moreover, because of the extensive time required for development, testing, and regulatory review of a potential product, it is possible that, before any particular product candidate can be commercialized, any patent protection for such product may expire or remain in

force for only a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing the commercial advantage the patent provides.

Moreover, because of the extensive time required for development, testing, and regulatory review of a potential product, it is possible that, before any product candidate can be commercialized, any patent protection for such product may expire or remain in force for only a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing the commercial advantage the patent provides.

Immuno-Oncology

On April 19, 2022, we announced the formation of a wholly owned subsidiary, OnkosXcel Therapeutics, LLC (“OnkosXcel”) to develop potentially transformative medicines in oncology.

OnkosXcel is our clinical-stage biopharmaceutical subsidiary using proprietary AI capabilities to drive the capital-efficient development of innovative anti-cancer therapeutics.

Our approach to drug discovery leverages the application and methodology of EvolverAI, a proprietary AI-based research and development platform utilized in the successful development of IGALMI with the aim of efficiently identifying and developing immuno-oncology product candidates.

We believe that BXCL701 reflects the

potential of this discovery approach in immuno-oncology.

BXCL701 is an investigational, oral innate immune activator which demonstrated a 25% composite response rate in a Phase 2a clinical trial to treat patients with small cell neuroendocrine (“SCNC”)-phenotype metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (“mCRPC”).

We intend to initiate a Phase 2b trial in mCRPC patients with SCNC phenotype in the second half of 2023 following planned meetings with the FDA.

mCRPC is often characterized as a “cold” tumor, that is, a tumor with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (“TME”) and poor immune cell infiltration.

Currently approved checkpoint inhibitors (“CPIs”) that target programmed cell death 1 (“PD-1”), or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 have failed to demonstrate meaningful single-agent activity against such difficult-to-treat tumor types, including mCRPC.

BXCL701 is designed to promote an immune induced inflammatory response in the TME primarily via inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidases (“DPP”) 8 and 9, which we believe can provide for enhanced CPI therapeutic utility.

We believe that BXCL701 can potentially provide significant benefits for the approximately 20% of the estimated 288,300 men who will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S.

in 2023 and are expected to progress to the more aggressive mCRPC form of the disease, including approximately 20% (or approximately 11,532) of those patients who will develop the SCNC phenotype, for which there are currently limited treatment options.

Immune checkpoints represent a myriad of inhibitory pathways that act to regulate the duration and intensity of an antigen-induced immune response and factor prominently in mediating immune tolerance.

They function as critical gatekeepers that prevent the indiscriminate attack of normal host cells by components of the immune system.

Certain cancers co-opt these pathways and overexpress immune checkpoint molecules to camouflage themselves to avoid detection and destruction.

CPIs, designed to harness the intrinsic power resident in the immune system, work by disabling the suppressive function of immune checkpoints, allowing the immune system to bypass such cancers’ shield of immune tolerance.

CPIs are expected to generate sales of more than $50 billion worldwide by 2025, up from sales of approximately $29 billion in 2020.

While CPIs have proven to be a significant advancement in cancer therapy, those currently approved by the FDA do not produce meaningful results in a majority of patients, as the clinical benefit is generally viewed to be limited to between 13% and 30% of cancer patients, and the duration of response is relatively short.

We believe the limited efficacy of approved CPIs results primarily from their intervention at later stages of the immune response.

As a result, other targets and pathways can be exploited by the tumor to create a TME that can evade the enhanced immunological response enabled by approved CPIs.

While numerous agents designed to target the earlier stages of an immune response are in development for use in combination with CPIs, their activity is restricted to a single component of the immune response.

In contrast, we have developed BXCL701 to simultaneously address multiple components of the immune response, including:

● Cancer antigen presentation by dendritic cells :

stimulation of dendritic cell trafficking to tumor draining lymph nodes.

● Priming and activation of T cells :

acceleration of tumor-induced priming of T cells and the formation of potent cytotoxic T lymphocytes (“CTLs”).

● Infiltration of immune cells into the tumor :

stimulation of release of chemokines that attract effector T cells but block regulatory T cells, and also induce NK cell and neutrophil migration.

● Killing of tumor cells :

induction of formation of CTLs and NK cells expressing tumor-killing perforins and granzymes, as well as the formation of memory T cells that can selectively kill returning tumor cells.

Accordingly, we believe BXCL701 may have utility in stimulating increased activation, proliferation, and infiltration of tumor cells by immune effector cells, enabling its potential application in combination with currently approved CPIs, across a range of hematological malignancies and solid tumors, to potentially:

• Convert immunological cold tumors into ones sensitive to CPIs;

• Enhance hot tumors’ response rate and depth of response to CPIs;

• Restore CPI sensitivity to tumors that were previously responsive.

Central to our drug discovery initiatives are proprietary, AI-driven platform technologies we employ to identify novel therapeutic uses for approved therapeutics and candidates in clinical evaluation.

The first and more advanced of our AI-driven discovery programs is our innate immune modulation program, which supported the pursuit of BXCL701 as a development candidate.

We believe the application of this program provides us actionable insights into the inflammasome, a component of the innate immune system responsible for activation of the inflammatory response.

We also believe that novel therapeutic approaches to indications of unmet medical need may also emerge from the intersection of innate immunity modulation and synthetic lethality, an approach focused on the identification of cancer-promoting gene pairs with driver mutations whose concomitant disruption activates PD-1.

We are working to develop our second AI-driven product candidate, BXCL702, by leveraging our innate immunity modulation program and/or our synthetic lethality program, via re-innovation or in-licensing and we intend to nominate a candidate by 2025.

Our Immuno-Oncology Programs

Below is a summary of the status of our immuno-oncology clinical development programs as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We believe our product candidates, if successfully developed and approved, have the potential to become compelling treatment options for their respective indications.

An Overview of the Immune System

The immune system is a host defense system comprised of multiple structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease.

As with other mammalian species, the human immune system is comprised of the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system.

The innate immune system involves an immediate, non-specific response to infected or diseased cells.

Triggering its activation are pathogen-associated and damage-associated molecular patterns recognized by pattern recognition receptors (“PRRs”), which reside on the surface of various types of leukocytes, or white blood cells, which make up the innate immune system including phagocytes, eosinophils, and natural killer cells.

The innate immune response also participates in promoting activity of the adaptive immune system.

The adaptive immune system is made up of special types of leukocytes known as T and B lymphocytes, or T cells and B cells, respectively.

T cells participate primarily in the cell-mediated immune response while B cells are involved in the humoral immune response.

T lymphocytes can be further segregated into distinct cell types, with the primary types

being CD8, or cytotoxic, T cells and CD4 T cells.

CTLs directly eliminate cells that are infected with viruses or other pathogens or are otherwise damaged or dysfunctional.

Anti-cancer activity is primarily CD8 T cell mediated.

CD4 T cells, which have limited cytotoxic activity, mediate the activity of other cells to eliminate pathogens.

Activation of a resting CD4 T cell causes it to release cytokines that influence the activity of an array of cell types.

Cytokines released by activated Type 1 CD4 T cells enhance the microbicidal activity of macrophages and the activity of CD8 T cells.

A critical capability of the immune system is its ability to distinguish between healthy, functioning host cells and either non-self-infectious agents or damaged or dysfunctional host cells.

The ability to differentiate between these entities is the central feature of immune tolerance.

A significant limitation of currently approved therapeutics against endogenous diseases such as cancer is the inability to overcome host immune tolerance and elicit a strong, target-specific immune response while avoiding off-target complications.

Immune Tolerance and the Role of Immune Checkpoints

The immune system’s ability to distinguish between a normal, healthy cell and an infected, damaged, dysfunctional, or cancer cell is accomplished through an immunological selection process that occurs in the thymus during early development.

Antigen specific immune cells, such as T cells, B cells and NK cells, which recognize molecular markers originating from normal, healthy tissues are eliminated in the thymic medulla to avoid possible autoimmune consequences through a negative selection process.

This results in the suppression of immune effector cell activation and proliferation.

Immune checkpoints represent a myriad of inhibitory pathways that act to regulate the duration and intensity of antigen-induced immune responses and factor prominently in mediating immune tolerance.

A number of checkpoint molecules have been identified and studied in cancer therapy in the past decades.

Two of the more well-characterized immune checkpoint molecules are CTLA-4 and PD-1, and its related ligand, PD-L1.

As key regulators of the immune system, immune checkpoints are critical gatekeepers that prevent the indiscriminate attack of normal host cells by components of the immune system.

Their suppressive function usually depends on ligand-induced signaling, with protein structures on the surface of immune effector cells binding to complementary molecular structures on partnered cells.

This signaling not only dampens the generation of co-stimulatory cytokines instrumental in triggering and sustaining a robust immune response, such as interleukin 2 and interferon gamma, but also results in an upregulation of regulatory T cells, which acts to further suppress immune effector cell activity.

These factors bias the immune response towards anergy and senescence rather than activation and proliferation.

Certain tumors coopt these pathways and overexpress immune checkpoint molecules on their cell surface to camouflage themselves to evade detection and destruction by the immune system.

Immunotherapy and the Emergence of Checkpoint Inhibitors

Cancer immunotherapy, designed to harness the intrinsic power resident in the immune system by modulating immune cell function, has proven to be a major advancement in cancer treatment.

Immune CPIs have emerged as one of the most promising classes of cancer immunotherapy.

CPIs work by disabling the inhibitory function of immune checkpoint proteins.

Disabling immune checkpoints allows the immune system to bypass the shield of immune tolerance the checkpoints provide, allowing the tumor-directed immune effector cells to engage the tumor.

Seven CPIs targeting PD1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 have been approved by the FDA to treat more than a dozen different types of cancer.

CPIs directed towards other validated checkpoints, including lymphocyte activation gene 3 and T cell immunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and ITIM domain have recently been approved or are advancing through clinical development.

These CPIs are largely involved in modulating the activity of the adaptive immune system.

Immune checkpoint molecules, such as CD47, which regulate responses mediated by the innate immune system, are also under evaluation as potential therapeutic targets for checkpoint inhibition.

CPIs across a spectrum of cancer types are expected to generate sales of more than $50 billion worldwide by 2025, up from sales of $29 billion in 2020.

Limitations of current approaches

While CPIs have proven to be a significant advancement in cancer therapy, those currently approved by the FDA do not produce meaningful results in a majority of patients:

clinical benefit is generally viewed to be limited to between 13% and 30% of cancer patients and the duration of response to treatment is often short.

CPIs require the infiltration of anti-tumor CD8 T cells for therapeutic activity, and patients whose tumors are characterized by a TME that lacks

activated TILs, typically fail to respond to therapy.

Moreover, the expression of positive costimulatory signals is critical to the amplification and diversification of a TIL-based response following initial activation, without which treatment durability is limited.

We are focused on advancing therapeutic candidates designed to overcome these challenges and enhance the sensitivity of immunologically inaccessible, or cold, tumors to an efficacious immune response.

The chart below shows the single agent objective response rate (“ORR”) of CPIs by different cancer types and clinical trial.

Immuno-Oncology Clinical Trials

Leveraging the insights enabled by the application and methodology of EvolverAI, a proprietary AI-based platform used to identify novel therapeutic uses for approved therapeutics and product candidates in clinical evaluation, and our internal industry expertise, we are pursuing two proprietary discovery programs to advance our goal of developing anti-cancer therapeutics.

The first program, which encompasses BXCL701 across a range of indications, is based on the application of innate immune modulation technology.

This program has been constructed to embrace key distinguishing characteristics of the innate immune system and we believe it is supported by our development efforts.

This approach has driven the development of BXCL701, which we are currently evaluating in a Phase 2 clinical trial as a potential treatment for mCRPC with SCNC phenotype.

Fundamental to the innate immune modulation program is BXCL701’s potential to:

● Convert cold tumors into ones sensitive to CPIs;

● Enhance hot tumors’ response rate and depth of response to CPIs;

● Restore CPI sensitivity to tumors which had previously been responsive.

Encouraged by the positive results of BXCL701 in our Phase 2a trial, we are working towards nomination of a next-generation DPP8/9 inhibitor for the same indications and to target additional difficult-to-treat solid and liquid tumors.

We believe that novel therapeutic approaches to indications of unmet medical need may also emerge from the intersection of innate immunity modulation and synthetic lethality, an approach focused on the identification of cancer-promoting gene pairs with driver mutations whose concomitant disruption activates PD-1.

We are working to develop our second AI-driven product candidate, BXCL702, leveraging our innate immunity modulation program and/or our

synthetic lethality program, via re-innovation or in-licensing.

We anticipate nominating a clinical candidate in this program by 2025, at which time we intend to submit an investigational new drug application (“IND”) to the FDA.

BXCL701 Innate Immune Activator

BXCL701 (talabostat) is an oral small molecule inhibitor of a class of enzymes called DPPs, specifically DPP8/9 and DPP4.

Inhibition of DPP8/9 initiates activation of the inflammasome and ultimately activation of the innate immune system.

Key characteristics of BXCL701 include:

● Orally bioavailable, potentially sole inhibitor of both DPP8/9 and DPP4, key regulators of the inflammasome directed innate immune response, currently in clinical development for cancer.

● Novel proposed mechanism of action may complement CPI activity, enabling therapeutic access to immunologically cold tumors as well as other difficult-to-treat cancers, including relapsed or refractory tumor types.

● Phase 2 clinical proof-of-concept achieved in treating mCRPC patients with either adenocarcinoma or SCNC phenotype.

Initial focus on mCRPC with SCNC phenotype designed to provide for a more efficient clinical development pathway than current industry standards.

BXCL701 as a potential treatment for mCRPC

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy and the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men in the U.S.

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 288,300 men will be diagnosed with, and more than 34,700 men will die of, prostate cancer in 2023.

The majority of these cases will be classified as adenocarcinomas and involve low risk, localized or regional disease for which the five-year survival rate ranges from 60% to 99%.

However, an estimated 20% of these newly diagnosed cases will progress to the more aggressive metastatic disease.

The five-year survival rate for men with metastatic prostate cancer drops significantly, to approximately 30%.

Approximately 20% of patients with mCRPC will develop SCNC phenotype, which is characterized by poor prognosis and low survival rate with a five-year life expectancy of 14%.

Prostate function requires the presence of various androgens, such as testosterone.

Early cancerous prostate cells typically also require androgens to proliferate.

Accordingly, aggressive forms of prostate cancer can initially be treated using androgen deprivation therapy (“ADT”).

While ADT offers temporary therapeutic benefit, in almost all patients the treatment eventually loses efficacy, referred to as “castration resistance.” Cases of castration-resistant prostate cancer (“CRPC”) are generally treated with a second-generation androgen receptor (“AR”) inhibitor, such as XTANDI (enzalutamide), or an androgen synthesis inhibitor, such as ZYTIGA (abiraterone), which targets the enzyme CYP17 to block the production of testosterone.

These therapeutics have widely become the standard of care, though only ZYTIGA has been approved to treat mCRPC, as well as metastatic high-risk castration-sensitive prostate cancer.

XTANDI has been approved to treat CRPC and metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer.

Virtually all patients who respond to ZYTIGA and XTANDI are expected to progress to even more aggressive forms of prostate cancer requiring further treatment.

Patients whose disease has progressed after treatment with these second-generation targeted endocrine therapies are administered a docetaxel containing drug regimen that provides a survival benefit of only 10 months.

The poly-ADP ribose polymerase (“PARP”) inhibitors LYNPARZA (olaparib) and RUBRACA (rucaparib) are approved for the treatment of mCRPC in patients whose disease has progressed after receiving XTANDI or ZYTIGA, but their approval is limited to instances of mCRPC linked to a BRCA gene mutation.

As such, an unmet medical need remains for patients with mCRPC who are not eligible for PARP inhibitor treatment after treatment with the targeted endocrine therapy and docetaxel.

In addition, a number of men, both newly diagnosed patients and men whose disease has progressed after second-generation targeted endocrine therapy, will develop an aggressive tumor that expresses very little AR and accordingly does not respond to therapeutics targeting the AR signaling pathway.

Prostate cancer with this phenotype is referred to as SCNC, for which there is currently no effective treatment.

The incidence of SCNC is increasing with the widespread use

of AR inhibitor therapy.

Treatment protocols for patients with SCNC typically involve cytotoxic chemotherapies despite their short duration of response and considerable toxicities.

These patients represent an additional unmet medical need among men with prostate cancer.

We believe BXCL701 may prove efficacious in addressing the unmet needs of both adenocarcinoma and SCNC prostate cancer phenotypes.

mCRPC is often characterized as a cold tumor, or a tumor with an immunosuppressive TME and poor immune cell infiltration.

Currently approved CPIs, which target PD-1 and CTLA-4, have not demonstrated significant single-agent therapeutic utility.

For instance, a Phase 2 investigator sponsored trial (“IST”) to assess the efficacy of the PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab, marketed by EMD Serono and Pfizer as BAVENCIO, to treat mCRPC with SCNC phenotype, as well as aggressive variant prostate cancer with adenocarcinoma histology, generated an ORR of 6.7% (representing 1 of 15 patients who was known to be microsatellite instability-high, an established marker of response to CPIs).

We believe the limited efficacy of CPIs results primarily from their intervention at later stages of the immune response.

As a result, other targets and pathways can be exploited by the tumor to create a TME that can evade the enhanced immunological response enabled by approved CPIs.

BXCL701 is designed to act on multiple components of immune system functioning, including:

● Cancer antigen presentation by dendritic cells :

stimulation of dendritic cell trafficking to tumor draining lymph nodes.

● Priming and activation of T cells :

acceleration of tumor-induced priming of T cells and the formation of potent CTLs.

● Infiltration of immune cells into the tumor :

stimulation of release of chemokines that attract effector T cells but block regulatory T cells and also induce NK cell and neutrophil migration.

● Killing of tumor cells :

induction of formation of CTLs and NK cells expressing tumor-killing perforins and granzymes as well as the formation of memory T cells that can selectively kill returning tumor cells.

We believe BXCL701 may have utility in stimulating increased activation, proliferation and infiltration of tumor cells by immune effector cells enabling its potential use in combination with currently approved CPIs to treat cold tumors, such as mCRPC.

We elected to pursue mCRPC as an indication for BXCL701 due to its enrichment for DPP mutations, which are especially prevalent in tumors with SCNC phenotype.

BXCL701 is being evaluated in the Phase1b/2 clinical proof-of-concept trial that we are sponsoring, to investigate its efficacy when used in combination with pembrolizumab.

We intend to initiate the Phase 2b portion of the trial in the second half of 2023.

We are also planning to meet with the FDA in the second half of 2023 to discuss the ability of our Phase 2b trial to serve as a potential registrational trial.

The Phase 1b portion of our Phase 1b/2 clinical trial was a dose escalation safety lead-in which employed a standard 3 x 3 trial design to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose.

During each 21-day treatment cycle, 200mg of pembrolizumab were administered intravenously on day one, with BXCL701 taken twice daily on days one through 14, for a minimum of two cycles.

The results of this Phase 1b trial, which were presented at The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting, allowed us to establish 0.3mg, taken twice daily, as the recommended Phase 2 dose.

The Phase 2a portion of the trial was segregated into two 28-patient trial cohorts, one cohort consisting of mCRPC patients with SCNC phenotype and a second cohort consisting of mCRPC patients with adenocarcinoma phenotype.

Initially, we focused on mCRPC with SCNC phenotype as the primary indication for BXCL701, since DPP9 is amplified in approximately 17% of treatment-emergent mCRPC with SCNC phenotype, compared to 5% or less in the broader prostate cancer population.

However, we also observed responses in mCRPC patients with adenocarcinoma phenotype who were microsatellite stable in our Phase 1b trial.

On this basis, we widened our Phase 2a trial to include relapsed mCRPC patients with either SCNC or adenocarcinoma phenotype.

Both cohorts employed a Simon two-stage trial design of 15 trial participants followed by 13 additional patients.

The primary endpoint of the Phase 2a portion of this trial was a composite response rate, determined as either a RECIST 1.1 response (defined as a reduction in RECIST score of 30% or more), a reduction in prostate specific antigen (“PSA”) level of 50% or more, or conversion in circulating tumor cells (“CTCs”) from 5 or more CTCs/7.5 milliliter (“ml”) to less than 5 CTCs/7.5ml.

Secondary endpoints included duration of response, progression free survival, changes in circulating cytokines and certain disease-specific biomarkers.

Based on these results, we intend to pursue expansion of the Phase 2a trial involving mCRPC patients with SCNC phenotype into a Phase 2b trial, which we expect would enroll 60 patients subject to further changes as we seek regulatory guidance.

We intend to meet with the FDA in the second half of 2023 to discuss our plan to design the Phase 2b trial to serve as a potential registrational trial.

We believe the final results observed in the Phase 2a trial of BXCL701 administered in combination with pembrolizumab support further development.

Our Phase 2a study is not a controlled study comparing the safety and efficacy of pembrolizumab alone against BXCL701 and pembrolizumab for the treatment of SCNC.

We were particularly encouraged by the results observed in the cohort consisting of mCRPC patients with SCNC phenotype.

Final Phase 2a results for the SCNC cohort were presented at the 2023 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (“ASCO GU 2023”).

BXCL701 in combination with pembrolizumab demonstrated a 25% (seven out of 28 evaluable patients) composite response rate in mCRPC patients with SCNC phenotype, for whom there is no standard of care.

As of December 19, 2022, the median duration of response for the seven composite responders was 6+ months (range 1.3 – 17.4 months).

Five of these responders were RECIST 1.1 responders (four confirmed responses and one unconfirmed) with decreases in tumor size ranging from 42% to 67% and a median duration of response of 6+ months (range 1.3 – 17.4 months).

The sixth responder was a CTC and PSA50 responder, with a PSA decrease of 73%.

The seventh responder was a PSA50 responder, with a PSA decrease of 50%.

The Phase 2a results for the SCNC cohort presented at ASCO GU 2023 demonstrated that, as of December 19, 2022, among the 28 evaluable patients, 25 of whom had RECIST measurable disease, the composite response rate was 25% (with RECIST response rate of 20%, disease control rate of 48% and CTC conversion rate of 25%).

Of note, based on published data from mCRPC patients with SCNC phenotype, a response to pembrolizumab monotherapy has generally been limited to those patients whose tumors are remarkable for their high levels of genetic mutations associated with microsatellite instability, yet only one responder in the adenocarcinoma cohort, had this molecular predictor of pembrolizumab response, and all seven responders in the SCNC cohort were microsatellite stable and/or tumor mutational burden low.

We believe the response rates in the absence of a high tumor mutational burden observed in our Phase 2a trial results reinforce the synergistic interaction between BXCL701 and pembrolizumab.

Presented below are the results (as of February 8, 2023) for the 25 evaluable mCRPC patients with SCNC phenotype with RECIST measurable disease.

These results were presented at ASCO GU 2023.

AEs consistent with cytokine activation, including fever, nausea, chills, fatigue, headache, and dizziness were observed during the trial and were generally mild to moderate.

SAEs experienced by six trial participants - one patient hospitalized with Grade 1 orthostatic hypotension, one patient hospitalized with Grade 3 hypotension and acute kidney injury (“AKI”), which resolved, one patient with Grade 3 hypothyroidism which resolved, one patient with Grade 3 colitis, one patient with Grade 3 generalized oedema, and one patient hospitalized with Grade 4/5 tumor lysis syndrome/AKI, which resulted in fatality after the patient voluntarily discontinued dialysis - were reported as related or possibly related to BXCL701 or pembrolizumab, though there was no evidence that BXCL701 potentiated immune-related AEs associated with CPIs.

The table below summarizes treatment-related AEs observed in the SCNC cohort as of December 19, 2022.

The Phase 2a trial has also been completed for the adenocarcinoma cohort.

Preliminary results for this trial cohort were presented at the 2022 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

In contrast to the typical low single digit response rate with the use of pembrolizumab as a standalone therapy in mCRPC patients seen in publications to date, we noted that among the 29 patients in the adenocarcinoma treatment arm who were evaluable for a composite response, all of whom received BXCL701 plus pembrolizumab, the composite response rate achieved was 21%.

This included 22% who achieved a RECIST-defined partial response and a disease control rate, which reflects those patients with either a complete response, a partial response or stable disease, of 83%.

Patients who stayed on therapy for at least two cycles of treatment and underwent at least the initial disease assessment at nine weeks were considered response evaluable for this trial, as specified in the trial protocol.

Presented below are the preliminary results of this combination therapy in patients with measurable disease.

Those patients with bone disease only, common among patients with metastatic prostate cancer, were excluded from this analysis, as bone lesions are considered non-target lesions in RECIST 1.1.

The majority of AEs experienced by patients in the adenocarcinoma cohort were low grade.

AEs consistent with cytokine activation were observed, including fever, myalgia, nausea, chills, fatigue, dyspnea, headache and dizziness.

SAEs experienced by five patients (12%) were reported as possibly related to BXCL701 or pembrolizumab:

two reports of hypotension;

one report of dizziness;

one report of peripheral edema;

one report of pyrexia;

one report of Myasthenia Gravis;

and one report of Cytokine Release Syndrome.

Two patients (5%) discontinued therapy due to AEs.

There was no evidence that BXCL701 potentiated immune-related AEs related to CPIs.

The table below summarizes treatment-related AEs observed in the adenocarcinoma cohort.

BXCL701 as a potential treatment for small cell lung cancer (“SCLC”)

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2023, about 35,751 cases of SCLC will be diagnosed in the U.S.

Approximately 60-70% of these patients present with extensive disease, and first-line therapy for a majority of these patients involves the combination of a CPI with platinum-based chemotherapy or etoposide.

We are encouraged by the therapeutic potential of BXCL701 for SCLC given the activity it has demonstrated in the ongoing SCNC clinical trial, and we plan to initiate clinical trials targeting this indication.

We are planning to conduct a Phase 1b/2 trial designed to be a dose escalation safety lead-in to establish a recommended Phase 2 dose (“RP2D”).

The Phase 2 portion of the trial is anticipated to involve 45 patients administered the RP2D of BXCL701 plus atezolizumab for nine treatment cycles over a six-month period.

Should the combination of BXCL701 and atezolizumab achieve a rate of progression-free survival superior to that achieved using the standard of care in the Phase 2 proof-of-concept portion of the trial, we intend to advance BXCL701 into a Phase 3 clinical trial in SCLC.

We currently expect to initiate the Phase 1b portion of the trial in the second half of 2023 and the Phase 2 proof-of-concept portion of the trial in 2024.

BXCL701 as a potential treatment for other cancers

In addition to its potential use in combination with CPIs to treat mCRPC, an immunologically cold tumor, we are developing BXCL701 as a therapeutic for pancreatic cancer, and other solid tumors with greater, or “non-cold,” immunological activity that are nonetheless regarded as difficult-to-treat, and hematological malignancies.

We believe the synergistic potential of BXCL701 and CPIs, when administered in combination, could increase cancer cell susceptibility to an enhanced immune response, potentially increasing the clinical benefit of CPIs, whose single-agent efficacy in treating these tumor types is generally viewed to be limited to between 13% and 30% of cancer patients and the duration of response to treatment is often short.

As such, we envision the potential therapeutic benefit of BXCL701 increasing the sensitivity of cold tumors to CPI therapy, enabling the potential treatment of a range of cancers including pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and ovarian cancer, as well as enhancing the depth of response to CPIs in other cancers.

In addition, based on the preclinical observation that BXCL701 showed direct cytotoxic activity against certain leukemic cells, we have initiated clinical development targeting relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (“AML”).

Pancreatic Cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2023, about 64,050 cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S.

We are supporting a Phase 2 IST sponsored by the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (“Georgetown Lombardi”), designed to evaluate the use of BXCL701 along with pembrolizumab to treat pancreatic cancer.

Few therapeutic options are available for patients with this indication, which has a five-year survival rate of less than 10%, among the lowest of all cancers.

Pancreatic cancer has among the highest levels of overexpression and amplification of DPPs.

Preclinical models demonstrated synergy between DPP inhibition with BXCL701 and anti-PD-1 antibody in the pancreatic cancer tumor microenvironment.

Based on these preclinical observations, Georgetown Lombardi intends to assess the safety of BXCL701 when administered in combination with pembrolizumab, as well as estimate the 18-week progression-free survival rate.

This trial is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2023.

Relapsed or refractory AML

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2023, about 20,380 new cases of AML will be diagnosed in the U.S.

We are supporting a Phase 1b IST sponsored by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (“Dana-Farber”) designed to evaluate the use of BXCL701, along with the current standard of care to treat relapsed or refractory AML.

We believe that pyroptosis triggered by BXCL701 may provide potent single agent cytotoxicity directed towards AML.

We also believe that DPP9 copy number may provide an actionable biomarker, as high copy number has been observed to correlate with BXCL701 toxicity in human AML cell lines.

DPP8/9 inhibition has been shown to be cytotoxic to THP-1 cells, monocytic cancer cells cultured from a patient with AML, but not other cell lines, suggesting a specific vulnerability of AML to these inhibitors which we believe can be exploited for therapeutic benefit.

Based on these preclinical observations, Dana-Farber has initiated a Phase 1b trial to determine the maximum tolerated dose or the recommended Phase 2 dose of BXCL701 as a single agent, and to assess the safety of BXCL701.

This trial began in the first quarter of 2023.

Subject to successful completion of this Phase 1b trial, it is anticipated that Dana-Farber will conduct further studies to determine BXCL701's objective response rate in AML in combination with the standard of care.

Other potential anti-cancer programs

We collaborated with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in a Phase 2a IST to evaluate the potential efficacy of BXCL701 administered in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced solid cancer.

The design of this open label trial includes two cohorts and incorporates a two-stage configuration, which allows for an expansion of patient enrollment to a total of 17 patients in each cohort if a RECIST 1.1 complete response or partial response is observed in at least one of the initial nine patients.

The first cohort enrolled patients who previously had not received CPI therapy, with a second cohort consisting of patients that were either refractory to CPI therapy or had relapsed while on CPI therapy, meaning that no further response to CPI treatment is anticipated among patients in the second cohort.

Trial participants received 200mg of pembrolizumab on day 1 of a 21-day cycle, with 0.2mg BXCL701 administered twice-daily (“BID”) on days 1 through 7, the dose increasing to 0.3mg BID on Days 8 through 14.

Evaluable trial participants were required to receive a minimum of two treatment cycles.

A preliminary assessment of BXCL701 dosed in combination with a CPI, as of completion of the first stage, noted responses in one patient in each of the CPI naïve and CPI refractory/relapsed cohorts, including a partial response in CPI-naïve, microsatellite stable endometrial carcinoma, PD-L1 negative (CPS <1) and a partial response in CPI-refractory uveal melanoma.

These preliminary results were presented at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Patient enrollment in this trial was completed in the third quarter of 2022.

We believe BXCL701 may have potential application in breast cancer, as its use in combination with monoclonal antibody therapy generated encouraging in vivo data in a preclinical disease model where enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity was observed.

The FDA has granted BXCL701 orphan drug designation for the treatment of AML, stage IIb to IV melanoma, pancreatic cancer and soft tissue sarcoma.

As we consider BXCL701’s therapeutic potential for additional indications that represent unmet medical needs, we intend to apply for additional orphan drug designations for BXCL701.

Biomarker development initiatives intended to complement BXCL701 administration

We are also actively engaged in the identification and development of predictive biomarkers that we believe could be used in conjunction with BXCL701 to predict the likelihood of patient response to therapy across the range of targeted indications.

As summarized in the preliminary data from AML patients presented below, we believe DPP9 copy number could correlate to BXCL701 response rate, with a greater likelihood of BXCL701 cytotoxicity in patients with increased DPP9 copy number.

We are pursuing its use in our biomarker discovery activities as a potential companion

Once our current efficacy trials are completed, we plan to retrospectively analyze correlation between DPP9 copy number and response.

BXCL701 lifecycle management considerations

We envision employing computational and medicinal chemistry approaches to advance development of a next-generation BXCL701 molecule to introduce enhanced life cycle management capabilities.

We anticipate that a next-generation molecule may embrace characteristics such as the simultaneous inhibition of DPP8/9 and DPP4, while providing an improved orally bioavailable pharmacokinetic profile, including a linear pharmacokinetic, a half-life of between 12 and 48 hours, with multiple mechanisms of elimination that are clearly understood and are not burdened with potential drug-drug interaction liabilities.

This next generation molecule would be intended to demonstrate anti-cancer activity as either a monotherapy or in combination with an approved CPI.

Immuno-Oncology Manufacturing

We rely on third party contract manufacturing organizations to support development and manufacture of product candidates for our clinical trials, and, if any of our current or future product candidates receives marketing approval, we expect to rely on such manufacturers to meet commercial demand.

We expect this strategy will enable us to maintain a more efficient infrastructure, avoiding dependence on our own manufacturing facility and equipment, while simultaneously enabling us to focus our expertise on the clinical development and future commercialization of our products.

Currently, the Patheon pharma services division of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

and another third-party contract manufacturer supply the drug substance and clinical trial supplies for BXCL701, and we expect to enter into commercial supply agreements with such manufacturers prior to any potential approval of BXCL701.

BXCL701 drug product is manufactured via conventional pharmaceutical processing procedures, employing commercially available excipients and packaging materials.

The procedure and equipment employed for manufacture and analysis are consistent with standard organic synthesis or pharmaceutical production, and are transferable to a range of manufacturing facilities, if needed.

We have selected a larger third-party drug product manufacturer and will be executing technology transfer of drug product manufacture to a larger manufacturer.

We also plan to maintain the current drug substance and product manufacturer as part of our supply chain strategy.

Immuno-Oncology Competition

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries have made substantial investments in recent years into the rapid development of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of a range of pathologies, including infectious diseases and cancers, making this a highly competitive market.

We believe BXCL701 is the only innate immune system activator in clinical development specifically addressing the cold tumor problem in immuno-oncology.

We face substantial competition from multiple sources, including large and specialty pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research institutions and governmental agencies and public and private research institutions.

Our competitors compete with us on the level of the technologies employed, or on the level of development of product candidates.

In addition, many small biotechnology companies have formed collaborations with large, established companies to (i) obtain support for their research, development, and commercialization of products or (ii) combine several treatment approaches to develop longer lasting or more efficacious treatments that may potentially directly compete with our current or future product candidates.

We anticipate that we will continue to face increasing competition as new therapies and combinations thereof, technologies, and data emerge within the field of immunotherapy and, furthermore, within the treatment of infectious diseases and cancers.

In addition to the current standard of care treatments for patients with infectious diseases or cancers, numerous commercial and academic preclinical studies and clinical trials are being undertaken by a large number of parties to assess novel technologies and product candidates in the field of immunotherapy.

Results from these studies and trials have fueled increasing levels of interest in the field of immunotherapy.

Large pharmaceutical companies that have commercialized or are developing immunotherapies to treat cancer include AstraZeneca AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc.

Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

We face significant competition from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that target specific tumor-associated antigens using immune cells or other cytotoxic modalities.

These generally include immune cell redirecting therapeutics such as T cell engagers, adoptive cellular therapies such as CAR-Ts, antibody drug conjugates, targeted radiopharmaceuticals, targeted immunotoxin, and targeted cancer vaccines.

Clinical stage companies that compete with us directly on the level of the development of product candidates targeting the innate immune system include Amgen Inc., Mirati Therapeutics, Inc., Bristol- Myers Squibb Company, Ryvu Therapeutics, Merck & Co., Inc., Replimune Group Inc., Nektar Therapeutics, Novartis AG, Xbiotech Inc., Stingthera, Inc., AstraZeneca AB, F.

Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Aravive, Inc.

Clinical stage companies that compete with us directly on the level of the development of product candidates targeting the mCRPC include Astellas Pharma Inc., Pfizer Inc., Bayer AG, Janssen, Sanofi S.A., Clovis Oncology, Inc., AstraZeneca AB, Merck & Co., Inc., GSK plc, Tempest Therapeutics, Inc., Zenith Epigenetics Ltd.

and Gossamer Bio, Inc.

Clinical stage companies that compete with us directly on the level of the development of product candidates utilizing the therapeutic potential of synthetic lethality include Repare Therapeutics Inc., IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc.

and Tango Therapeutics, Inc.

Many of our competitors, either alone or in combination with their respective strategic partners, have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, the regulatory approval process, and marketing than we do.

Mergers and acquisition activity in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology sector is likely to result in greater resource concentration among a smaller number of our competitors.

Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through sizeable collaborative arrangements with established companies.

These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if one or more of our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, better tolerated, or of greater convenience or economic benefit than our proposed product offerings.

Our competitors also may be in a position to obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly, resulting in a stronger or dominant market position before we are able to enter

The key competitive factors affecting the success of all of our programs are likely to be product safety, efficacy, convenience and treatment cost.

Immuno-Oncology Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is of vital importance in our field and in biotechnology generally.

We seek to protect and enhance proprietary technology, inventions, and improvements that are commercially important to the development of our business by seeking, maintaining, and defending patent rights, whether developed internally or licensed from third parties.

We will also seek to rely on regulatory protection afforded through inclusion in expedited development and review, data exclusivity, market exclusivity, and patent term extensions where available.

As of January 31, 2023, we have multiple patent families filed to protect our Immuno-Oncology portfolio, including our core patent family directed to methods of using BXCL701 with immune checkpoint inhibitors, which has granted/allowed patents in the U.S., Japan, Australia, Canada, Russia, China, Mexico, and South Africa, with pending applications in the U.S., Mexico, the Republic of Korea, the UAE, New Zealand, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Europe.

Patents issuing from this family are expected to expire no earlier than 2036.

Our current immuno-oncology portfolio includes one issued utility patent in the U.S., one in Japan, eight in other countries, as well as seven pending utility patent applications in the U.S.

including one received Notice of Allowance, 35 pending non-U.S.

utility patent applications, and five pending U.S.

provisional applications directed to novel formulations of BXCL701, various dosing regimens, methods of use, biomarker, and combination therapies.

We expect that those issued/granted patents and patents issuing from these applications, if any, will expire from 2039 to 2043.

We expect to file additional patent applications in support of current and new immuno-oncology clinical candidates as well as new platform and core technologies.

For additional information regarding intellectual property regulations and risks, see above under “—Neuroscience—Neuroscience Intellectual Property” and Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors - Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”

Our Relationship with BioXcel LLC

BioXcel LLC currently holds a 31% interest in the Company and our pipeline compounds have been identified by applying our growing internal AI capabilities along with utilizing BioXcel LLC’s expertise in EvolverAI, for drug re-innovation.

We entered into the Amended and Restated Asset Contribution Agreement, pursuant to which BioXcel LLC, agreed to contribute BioXcel LLC’s rights, title and interest in BXCL501, BXCL701, BXCL502 and BXCL702, and all of the assets and liabilities associated in consideration for (i) 9,480,000 shares of our common stock, (ii) $1 million upon completion of an initial public offering, (iii) $500,000 upon the later of the 12 month anniversary of an initial public offering and the first dosing of a patient in the bridging bioavailability/ bioequivalence study for the BXCL501 program, (iv) $500,000 upon the later of the 12 month anniversary of an initial public offering and the first dosing of a patient in the Phase 2 proof of concept open-label monotherapy or combination trial with Keytruda for the BXCL701 program and (v) a one-time payment of $5 million within 60 days after the achievement of $50 million in cumulative net sales of any product or combination of products resulting from the development and commercialization of any one of the Candidates or a product derived therefrom.

We entered into a Separation and Shared Services Agreement with BioXcel LLC that took effect on June 30, 2017, as amended and restated thereafter, or the Services Agreement, pursuant to which services provided by BioXcel LLC through its subsidiaries in India and the United States will continue indefinitely, as agreed upon by the parties.

These services are primarily for drug discovery, chemical, manufacturing and controls cost and general and administrative support.

Service charges recorded under this agreement were $1.4 million and $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Under the Services Agreement, the Company has an option, exercisable until March 12, 2023, to enter into a collaborative services agreement with BioXcel LLC pursuant to which BioXcel LLC shall perform product identification and related services for us utilizing EvolverAI.

The parties are obligated to negotiate the collaborative services agreement in good faith and to incorporate reasonable market-based terms, including consideration for BioXcel LLC reflecting a low, single-digit royalty on net sales and reasonable development and commercialization milestone payments, provided that (i) development milestones shall not exceed $10 million in the aggregate and not be payable prior to proof of concept in humans and (ii) commercialization milestones shall be based on reaching annual net sales levels, be limited to 3% of the applicable net sales level, and not exceed $30 million in the aggregate.

BioXcel LLC shall continue to make such product identification and related services available to us until at least September 30, 2024.

We paid $9 million in February 2020 for the purchase and subsequent cancellation of 300,000 shares owned by BioXcel LLC, which is more fully discussed in Note 5 to the financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

BioXcel LLC currently holds an ownership interest of approximately 30% in the Company and our pipeline compounds were identified by applying our growing internal AI capabilities, along with BioXcel LLC’s EvolverAI, a proprietary pharmaceutical discovery and development engine, for drug re-innovation.

We entered into the Amended and Restated Asset Contribution Agreement (the “Contribution Agreement”), pursuant to which BioXcel LLC, agreed to contribute BioXcel LLC’s rights, title and interest in BXCL501, BXCL701, BXCL502 and BXCL702, and all of the assets and liabilities associated in consideration for (i) 9,480,000 shares of our common stock, (ii) $1 million upon completion of an initial public offering, (iii) $500,000 upon the later of the 12 month anniversary of an initial public offering and the first dosing of a patient in the bridging bioavailability/bioequivalence study for the BXCL501 program, (iv) $500,000 upon the later of the 12 month anniversary of an initial public offering and the first dosing of a patient in the Phase 2 proof of concept open-label monotherapy or combination trial with Keytruda for the BXCL701 program and (v) a one-time payment of $5 million within 60 days after the achievement of $50 million in cumulative net sales of any product or combination of products resulting from the development and commercialization of any one of the contributed product candidates or a product derived therefrom.

As of December 31, 2022, all of the foregoing have been paid except for (v).

We entered into a Separation and Shared Services Agreement with BioXcel LLC that took effect on June 30, 2017, as amended and restated thereafter (the “Services Agreement”), pursuant to which services provided by BioXcel LLC through its subsidiaries in India and the U.S.

will continue indefinitely, as agreed upon by the parties.

These services are primarily for drug discovery, chemical, manufacturing and controls (“CMC”) cost and general and administrative support.

The Company has an option, exercisable until December 31, 2024, to enter into a collaborative services agreement with BioXcel LLC pursuant to which BioXcel LLC shall perform product identification and related services for us utilizing EvolverAI, its proprietary pharmaceutical discovery and development engine.

To maintain the ability to exercise the foregoing option, pursuant to an amendment to the Services Agreement effective as of April 19, 2022, the Company has agreed to pay BioXcel LLC $18,000 per month from March 13, 2023 to December 31, 2024.

are obligated to negotiate the collaborative services agreement in good faith and to incorporate reasonable market-based terms, including consideration for BioXcel LLC reflecting a low, single-digit royalty on net sales and reasonable development and commercialization milestone payments, provided that (i) development milestone payments shall not exceed $10 million in the aggregate and not be payable prior to proof of concept in humans and (ii) commercialization milestone payments shall be based on reaching annual net sales levels, be limited to 3% of the applicable net sales level, and not exceed $30 million in the aggregate.

Service charges recorded under the Services Agreement were $1.4 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Government Regulation

Government Regulation and Product Approval

Government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state and local level, and other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, marketing and export and import of drug products.

A new drug must be approved by the FDA through the NDA process before it may be legally marketed in the United States.

Government authorities in the U.S., at the federal, state and local level, and other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, marketing and export and import of drug products.

A new drug must be approved by the FDA through the NDA process before it may be legally marketed in the U.S.

We, along with any third-party contractors, will be required to navigate the various preclinical, clinical and commercial approval requirements of the governing regulatory agencies of the countries in which we wish to conduct studies or seek approval of our products and product candidates.

The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with applicable federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.

The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with applicable U.S.

federal, state, and local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.

Drug Development Process

In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), and its implementing regulations.

The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.

The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:

In the U.S., the FDA regulates drugs under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), and its implementing regulations.

The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the U.S.

generally involves the following:

● completion of preclinical laboratory tests , animal studies and formulation studies in accordance with FDA’s Good Laboratory Practice requirements and other applicable regulations;

● submission to the FDA of an IND which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;

● approval by an independent Institutional Review Board (“IRB”), or ethics committee at each clinical site before each trial may be initiated;

● approval by an independent Institutional Review Board (“IRB”), or ethics committee at each clinical site before each clinical trial may be initiated;

● performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials in accordance with good clinical practices (“GCPs”), to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug for its intended use ;

● preparation of and submission to the FDA of an NDA after completion of all pivotal trials;

● preparation of and submission to the FDA of an NDA after completion of all pivotal clinical trials;

● a determination by the FDA within 60 days of its receipt of an NDA to file the application for review

● satisfactory completion of an FDA advisory committee review, if applicable;

● satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the drug is produced to assess compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) requirements to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the drug’s identity, strength, quality and purity, and of selected clinical investigation sites to assess compliance with GCPs;

● FDA review and approval of the NDA to permit commercial marketing of the product for particular indications for use in the United States.

Prior to beginning the first clinical trial with a product candidate in the United States, a sponsor must submit an IND to the FDA.

● satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the drug is produced to assess compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) requirements to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the drug’s identity, strength, quality and purity , and potential inspection of selected clinical investigation sites to assess compliance with GCPs ;

● FDA review and approval of the NDA to permit commercial marketing of the product for specified indications for use in the U.S .

Prior to beginning the first clinical trial with a product candidate in the U.S., a sponsor must submit an IND to the FDA.

An IND is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational new drug product to humans.

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The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA, within the 30-day time period, raises safety concerns or questions about the proposed clinical trial.

In such a case, the IND may be placed on clinical hold and the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns or questions before the clinical trial can begin.

Submission of an IND therefore may or may not result in FDA authorization to begin a clinical trial.

In such a case, the IND may be placed on clinical hold and the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns or questions before any clinical trials can begin.

Submission of an IND may or may not result in FDA authorization to begin a clinical trial.

Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with GCPs, which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent for their participation in any clinical study.

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A separate submission to the existing IND must be made for each successive clinical trial conducted during product development and for any subsequent protocol amendments.

While the IND is active, progress reports summarizing the results of the clinical trials and nonclinical studies performed since the last progress report, among other information, must be submitted at least annually to the FDA, and written IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and its investigators for actual or suspected serious and adverse events, along with any findings from other studies suggesting a significant risk to humans exposed to the same or similar drugs and findings from animal or in vitro testing suggesting a significant risk to humans, as well as any clinically important increased incidence of a suspected serious adverse reaction compared to that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure.

Furthermore, an independent IRB for each site proposing to conduct the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial and its informed consent form before the clinical trial begins at that site and must monitor the study until completed.

Some studies also include oversight by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical study sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board, which provides authorization for whether or not a study may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the study and may halt the clinical trial if it determines that there is an unacceptable safety risk for subjects or other grounds, such as no demonstration of efficacy.

Depending on its charter, this group may determine whether a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the trial.

Some studies also include oversight by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical study sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board, which provides authorization for whether a study can move forward at designated check points, based on access to data from the study, and may halt the clinical trial if it determines that there is an unacceptable safety risk for subjects or other for other grounds, such as no demonstration of efficacy.

The FDA or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk.

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In addition, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.

While the IND is active, progress reports summarizing the results of the clinical trials and nonclinical studies performed since the last progress report, among other information, must be submitted at least annually to the FDA, and written IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and investigators for serious and unexpected suspected adverse events, findings from other studies suggesting a significant risk to humans exposed to the same or similar drugs, findings from animal or in vitro testing suggesting a significant risk to humans, and any clinically important increased incidence of a serious suspected adverse reaction compared to that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure.

In addition, during the development of a drug, sponsors are given opportunities to meet with the FDA at certain points.

These points may be prior to submission of an IND, at the end of Phase 2, and before an NDA is submitted.

Meetings at other times may be requested.

These meetings can provide an opportunity for the sponsor to share

information about the data gathered to date, for the FDA to provide advice, and for the sponsor and the FDA to reach agreement on the next phase of development.

In addition, during the development of a drug, sponsors are given opportunities to periodically meet with or seek feedback from the FDA.

These interactions may be requested, for example, prior to submission of an IND, at the end of Phase 2, and before an NDA is submitted.

These interactions can provide an opportunity for the sponsor to share information about the data gathered to date, for the FDA to provide advice, and for the sponsor and the FDA to reach alignment on the next phase of development.

Sponsors typically use the meetings at the end of the Phase 2 trial to discuss Phase 2 clinical results and present plans for the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials that they believe will support approval of the drug.

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Once filed, the FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether a product is safe and effective for its intended use and whether its manufacturing is cGMP-compliant to assure and preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality and purity.

Under the PDUFA, guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the filing date to complete a standard review of an NDA for a drug that is a new molecular entity, and of ten months from the date of NDA receipt to complete a standard review of an NDA for a drug that is not a new molecular entity.

Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the filing date to complete a standard review of an NDA for a drug that is a new molecular entity, and of ten months from the date of NDA receipt to complete a standard review of an NDA for a drug that is not a new molecular entity.

The FDA may refer an application for a novel drug to an advisory committee.

An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, that reviews, evaluates and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions.

An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, that review, evaluate and provide a recommendation as to whether the NDA should be approved and under what conditions.

The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.

Before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured.

The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications.

Additionally, before approving a NDA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCPs.

The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities comply with cGMP and are adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications.

Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCPs.

After the FDA evaluates an NDA and conducts inspections of manufacturing facilities where the investigational product and/or its drug substance will be produced, the FDA may issue an approval letter or a Complete Response Letter (“CRL”).

An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the product with specific prescribing information for specific indications.

A CRL will describe all of the deficiencies that the FDA has identified in the NDA, except that where the FDA determines that the data supporting the application are inadequate to support approval, the FDA may issue the CRL without first conducting required inspections and/or reviewing proposed labeling.

An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing and sale of the product with specific prescribing information for specific indications.

A CRL will describe the deficiencies that the FDA identified in the NDA, except that in those instances where the FDA determines that the data supporting the application are inadequate to support approval, the FDA may issue the CRL without first conducting any required inspections and/or reviewing proposed labeling.

In issuing the CRL, the FDA may recommend actions that the applicant might take to place the NDA in condition for approval, including requests for additional information or clarification.

The FDA may delay or refuse approval of an NDA if applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied, require additional testing or information and/or require post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor safety or efficacy of a product.

If regulatory approval of a product is granted, such approval will be granted for particular indications and may entail limitations on the indicated uses for which such product may be marketed.

If regulatory approval of a product is granted, such approval will be granted for specific indications and may entail limitations on the indicated uses for which such product may be marketed.

For example, the FDA may approve the NDA with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) to ensure the benefits of the product outweigh its risks.

A REMS is a safety strategy to manage a known or potential serious risk associated with a medicine and to enable patients

to have continued access to such medicines by managing their safe use, and could include medication guides, physician communication plans, or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries, and other risk minimization tools.

A REMS is a safety strategy to manage a known or potential serious risk associated with a medicine and to enable patients to have continued access to such medicines by managing their safe use, and could include medication guides, physician communication plans, or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries, and other risk minimization tools.

The FDA also may condition approval on, among other things, changes to proposed labeling or the development of adequate controls and specifications.

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The FDA must send a non-compliance letter to any sponsor that fails to submit the required assessment, keep a deferral current or fails to submit a request for approval of a pediatric formulation.

Regulation of Combination Products in the United States

Certain products are comprised of components, such as drug components and device components, that would normally be subject to different regulatory frameworks by the FDA and frequently regulated by different centers at the FDA.

Regulation of Combination Products in the U.S.

Certain products are comprised of components, such as drug components and device components, which would normally be subject to different regulatory frameworks by the FDA and frequently regulated by different centers at the FDA.

These products are known as combination products.

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In reviewing the NDA for such a product, however, FDA reviewers would consult with their counterparts in the device center to ensure that the device component of the combination product met applicable requirements regarding safety, effectiveness, durability and performance.

In addition, under FDA regulations, combination products subject to cGMP requirements applicable to both drugs and devices, including the Quality System Regulations (“QSR”) applicable to medical devices.

In addition, under FDA regulations, combination products are subject to cGMP requirements applicable to both drugs and devices, including the Quality System Regulations (“QSR”) applicable to medical devices.

Expedited Development and Review Programs

The FDA offers a number of expedited development and review programs for qualifying product candidates.

The FDA offers expedited development and review programs for qualifying product candidates.

For example, the Fast Track program is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for reviewing product candidates that are intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the disease or condition.

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A product candidate can receive Breakthrough Therapy designation if preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product candidate, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs or biologics, may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development.

The designation includes all of the Fast Track program features, as well as more intensive FDA interaction and guidance beginning as early as Phase 1 and an organizational commitment to expedite the development and review of the product candidate, including involvement of senior managers.

Any marketing application for a drug submitted to the FDA for approval, including a product candidate with a Fast Track designation and/or Breakthrough Therapy designation, may be eligible for other types of FDA programs intended to expedite the FDA review and approval process, such as priority review and accelerated approval.

The Breakthrough Therapy designation includes the Fast Track program features, as well as more intensive FDA interaction and guidance beginning as early as Phase 1 and an organizational commitment to expedite the development and review of the product candidate, including involvement of senior managers.

Any application for a drug submitted to the FDA for approval, including a product candidate with a Fast Track designation and/or Breakthrough Therapy designation, may be eligible for other FDA review programs intended to expedite the FDA review and approval process, such as priority review and accelerated approval.

An NDA is eligible for priority review if the product candidate is designed to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, and if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness compared to available alternatives for such disease or condition.

For new-molecular-entity NDAs, priority review designation means the FDA’s goal is to take action on the marketing application within six months of the 60-day filing date, or with respect to non-new-molecular-entity NDAs, within six months of the NDA receipt date.

For new-molecular-entity NDAs, priority review designation means the FDA’s goal is to take action on the application within six months of the 60-day filing date, or with respect to non-new-molecular-entity NDAs, within six months of the NDA receipt date.

Additionally, product candidates studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions may receive accelerated approval upon a determination that the product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments.

As a condition of accelerated approval, the FDA will generally require the sponsor to perform adequate and well-controlled post-marketing clinical studies to verify and describe the anticipated effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit.

Products receiving accelerated approval may be subject to expedited withdrawal procedures if the sponsor fails to conduct the required post-marketing studies or if such studies fail to verify the predicted clinical benefit.

In addition, the FDA currently requires as a condition for accelerated approval pre-approval of promotional materials, which could adversely impact the timing of the commercial launch of the product.

Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, priority review, and accelerated approval do not change the standards for approval, but may expedite the development or approval process.

Even if a product candidate qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.

Products receiving accelerated approval may be subject to expedited withdrawal procedures if the sponsor fails to conduct the required confirmatory studies or if such studies fail to verify the predicted clinical benefit.

In addition, the FDA currently requires pre-approval of promotional materials as a condition for accelerated approval, which could adversely impact the timing of the commercial launch of the relevant product.

Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, priority review, and accelerated approval do not change the standards for approval, but such designations may expedite the development or approval process.

Even if a product candidate qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions to qualify for such program or may decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.

Orphan drug designation and exclusivity

Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, defined as a disease or condition with a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or a patient population greater than 200,000 individuals in the United States and when there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the drug in the United States will be recovered from sales in the United States for that drug.

patient population greater than 200,000 individuals in the U.S.

and when there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the drug in the U.S.

will be recovered from sales in the U.S.

for that drug.

Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting an NDA.

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If a product that has orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for a particular active ingredient for the disease for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan product exclusivity, which means that the FDA may not approve any other applications, including a full NDA, to market the same drug for the same disease or condition for seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan drug exclusivity or if the FDA finds that the holder of the orphan drug exclusivity has not shown that it can assure the availability of sufficient quantities of the orphan drug to meet the needs of patients with the disease or condition for which the drug was designated.

Orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the FDA from approving a

different drug for the same disease or condition, or the same drug for a different disease or condition.

Among the other benefits of orphan drug designation are tax credits for certain research and a waiver of the NDA application user fee.

Orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the FDA from approving a different drug for the same disease or condition, or the same drug for a different disease or condition.

Among the other benefits of orphan drug designation are tax credits for certain research costs and a waiver of the NDA user fee.

A designated orphan drug may not receive orphan drug exclusivity if it is approved for a use that is broader than the indication for which it received orphan designation.

In addition, orphan drug exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or, as noted above, if a second applicant demonstrates that its product is clinically superior to the approved product with orphan exclusivity or the manufacturer of the approved product is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition.

In addition, orphan drug exclusive marketing rights in the U.S.

may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or, as noted above, if a second applicant demonstrates that its product is clinically superior to the approved product with orphan exclusivity or the manufacturer of the approved product is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition.

Post-approval Requirements

Drug products manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to record-keeping, reporting of adverse experiences, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, and advertising and promotion of the product.

Drug products manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to record-keeping, reporting of adverse events, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, and advertising and promotion of the product.

After approval, most changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications or other labeling claims, are subject to prior FDA review and approval.

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The FDA may withdraw approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market.

Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information;

Discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information;

imposition of post-market studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks;

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

• consent decrees, corporate integrity agreements, debarment or exclusion from federal healthcare programs;

● consent decrees, corporate integrity agreements, debarment or exclusion from federal health care programs;

● mandated modification of promotional materials and labeling and the issuance of corrective information;

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In seeking approval for a drug through an NDA, applicants are required to list with the FDA each patent with claims that cover the applicant's drug or a method of using the drug.

Upon approval of a drug, each of the patents listed in the application for the drug is then published in the FDA's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, commonly known as the Orange Book.

Upon approval of a drug, each of the patents listed in the application for the drug is then published in the FDA's Orange Book.

Drugs listed in the Orange Book can, in turn, be cited by potential competitors in support of approval of an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA.

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or (4) such patent is invalid or will not be infringed upon by the manufacture, use or sale of the drug product for which the application is submitted.

Generally, the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA cannot be approved until all listed patents have expired, except where the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant challenges a listed patent through the last type of certification, also known as a paragraph IV certification.

If the applicant does not challenge the listed patents or indicates that it is not seeking approval of a patented method of use, the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA application will not be approved until all of the listed patents claiming the referenced product have expired.

If the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant has provided a Paragraph IV certification to the FDA, the applicant must send notice of the Paragraph IV certification to the NDA and patent holders once the application has been accepted for filing by the FDA.

If the ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant has provided a paragraph IV certification to the FDA, the applicant

must send notice of the paragraph IV certification to the NDA and patent holders once the application has been accepted for filing by the FDA.

The NDA and patent holders may then initiate a patent infringement lawsuit in response to the notice of the paragraph IV certification.

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This prohibition is generally referred to as the 30-month stay.

instances where an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant files a paragraph IV certification, the NDA holder or patent owner(s) regularly take action to trigger the 30-month stay, recognizing that the related patent litigation may take many months or years to resolve.

In instances where an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA applicant files a paragraph IV certification, the NDA holder or patent owner(s) regularly take action to trigger the 30-month stay, recognizing that the related patent litigation may take many months or years to resolve.

Thus, approval of an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA could be delayed for a significant period of time depending on the patent certification the applicant makes and the reference drug sponsor's decision to initiate patent litigation.

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However, an ANDA or 505(b)(2) NDA may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement.

The Hatch-Waxman Act also provides three years of marketing exclusivity to the holder of an NDA (including a 505(b)(2) NDA) for a particular condition of approval, or change to a marketed product, such as a new formulation for a previously approved product, if one or more new clinical studies (other than bioavailability or bioequivalence studies) was essential to the approval of the application and was conducted/sponsored by the applicant.

This three-year exclusivity period protects against FDA approval of ANDAs and 505(b)(2) NDAs for the condition of the new drug's approval.

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If safe and effective use of a therapeutic depends on an in vitro diagnostic, then the FDA generally will require approval or clearance of that diagnostic, known as a companion diagnostic, at the same time that the FDA approves the therapeutic product.

In August 2014, the FDA issued final guidance clarifying the requirements that will apply to approval of therapeutic products and in vitro companion diagnostics.

According to the guidance, if FDA determines that a companion diagnostic device is essential to the safe and effective use of a novel therapeutic product or indication, FDA generally will not approve the therapeutic product or new therapeutic product indication if the companion diagnostic device is not approved or cleared for that indication.

In August 2014, the FDA issued final guidance clarifying the requirements that apply to approval of therapeutic products and in vitro companion diagnostics.

According to the guidance, if the FDA determines that a companion diagnostic device is essential to the safe and effective use of a novel therapeutic product or indication, the FDA generally will not approve the therapeutic product or new therapeutic product indication if the companion diagnostic device is not approved or cleared for that indication.

Approval or clearance of the companion diagnostic device will ensure that the device has been adequately evaluated and has adequate performance characteristics in the intended population.

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Under the FDCA, in vitro diagnostics, including companion diagnostics, are regulated as medical devices.

In the United States, the FDCA and its implementing regulations, and other federal and state statutes and regulations govern, among other things, medical device design and development, preclinical and clinical testing, premarket clearance or approval, registration and listing, manufacturing, labeling, storage, advertising and promotion, sales and distribution, export and import, and post-market surveillance.

In the U.S., the FDCA and its implementing regulations, and other federal and state statutes and regulations govern, among other things, medical device design and development, preclinical and clinical testing, premarket clearance or approval, registration and listing, manufacturing, labeling, storage, advertising and promotion, sales and distribution, export and import, and post-market surveillance.

Unless an exemption applies, medical devices, including companion diagnostic tests, require marketing clearance or approval from the FDA prior to commercial distribution.

The two primary types of FDA marketing authorization applicable to a medical device are premarket notification, also called 510(k) clearance, and premarket approval (“PMA”).

The two primary types of FDA marketing authorization applicable to a medical device are premarket notification (“510(k) clearance”) and premarket approval (“PMA”).

To obtain 510(k) clearance, a manufacturer must submit to the FDA a premarket notification submission demonstrating that the proposed device is “substantially equivalent” to a legally marketed predicate device.

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If the FDA agrees that the device is substantially equivalent to a predicate device currently on the market, it will grant 510(k) clearance to commercially market the device.

If the FDA determines that the

device is “not substantially equivalent” to a previously cleared device, the device is automatically designated as a Class III (i.e., high-risk) device.

If the FDA determines that the device is “not substantially equivalent” to a previously cleared device, the device is automatically designated as a Class III (i.e., high-risk) device.

The device sponsor must then fulfill more rigorous PMA requirements or can request a risk-based classification determination for the device in accordance with the “de novo” process, which is a route to market for novel medical devices that are low to moderate risk and are not substantially equivalent to a predicate device.

After a device receives 510(k) clearance, any modification that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change or modification in its intended use, will require a new 510(k) clearance or, depending on the modification, PMA approval or de novo classification.

After a device receives 510(k) clearance, any modification that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change or modification in its intended use, will require a new 510(k) clearance or depending on the modification, approval of a PMA application or de novo classification.

The FDA requires each manufacturer to determine whether the proposed change requires submission of a 510(k), de novo classification or a PMA in the first instance, but the FDA can review any such decision and disagree with a manufacturer’s determination.

If the FDA disagrees with a manufacturer’s determination, the FDA can require the manufacturer to cease marketing and/or request the recall of the modified device until 510(k) marketing clearance, approval of a PMA, or issuance of a de novo classification.

If the FDA disagrees with a manufacturer’s determination, the FDA can require the manufacturer to cease marketing and/or request the recall of the modified device until it receives 510(k) clearance, approval of a PMA application, or issuance of a de novo classification.

Also, in these circumstances, the manufacturer may be subject to significant regulatory fines or penalties.

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As part of the PMA review, the FDA will typically inspect the manufacturer’s facilities for compliance with the QSR which imposes elaborate testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance requirements.

PMA approval is not guaranteed, and the FDA may ultimately respond to a PMA submission with a not approvable determination based on deficiencies in the application and require additional clinical trial or other data that may be expensive and time-consuming to generate and that can substantially delay approval.

Approval of a PMA is not guaranteed, and the FDA may ultimately respond to a PMA submission with a not approvable determination based on deficiencies in the application and require additional clinical trial or other data that may be expensive and time-consuming to generate and that can substantially delay approval.

If the FDA’s evaluation of the PMA application is favorable, the FDA typically issues an approvable letter requiring the applicant’s agreement to specific conditions, such as changes in labeling, or specific additional information, such as submission of final labeling, in order to secure final approval of the PMA.

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A not approvable letter will outline the deficiencies in the application and, where practical, will identify what is necessary to make the PMA approvable.

The FDA may also determine that additional clinical trials are necessary, in which case the PMA approval may be delayed for several months or years while the trials are conducted and then the data submitted in an amendment to the PMA.

The FDA may also determine that additional clinical trials are necessary, in which case the PMA may be delayed for several months or years while the trials are conducted and then the data submitted in an amendment to the PMA.

If the FDA concludes that the applicable criteria have been met, the FDA will issue a PMA for the approved indications, which can be more limited than those originally sought by the applicant.

The PMA can include post-approval conditions that the FDA believes necessary to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the device, including, among other things, restrictions on labeling, promotion, sale and distribution.

Once granted, PMA approval may be withdrawn by the FDA if compliance with post approval requirements, conditions of approval or other regulatory standards are not maintained or problems are identified following initial marketing.

Once granted, approval may be withdrawn by the FDA if compliance with post approval requirements, conditions of approval or other regulatory standards are not maintained, or problems are identified following initial marketing.

After a device is placed on the market, it remains subject to significant regulatory requirements.

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Device manufacturers must also establish registration and device listings with the FDA.

A medical device manufacturer’s manufacturing processes and those of its suppliers are required to comply with the applicable portions of the QSR, which cover the methods and documentation of the design, testing, production, processes, controls, quality assurance, labeling, packaging and shipping of medical devices.

shipping of medical devices.

Domestic facility records and manufacturing processes are subject to periodic unscheduled inspections by the FDA.

The FDA also may inspect foreign facilities that export products to the United States.

The FDA also may inspect foreign facilities that export products to the U.S.

International Regulations

In addition to regulations in the United States, we are and will be subject to a variety of regulations in other jurisdictions governing, among other things, clinical trials, marketing authorization, post-marketing requirements and

any commercial sales and distribution of our products.

Whether or not we obtain FDA approval of a product, we must obtain the requisite approvals from regulatory authorities in foreign countries prior to the commencement of clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries.

In addition to regulations in the U.S., we are and will be subject to a variety of regulations in other jurisdictions governing, among other things, clinical trials, marketing authorization, post-marketing requirements and any commercial sales and distribution of our products.

We must obtain the requisite approvals from regulatory authorities in foreign countries prior to the commencement of clinical trials or marketing of any products in those countries.

The requirements and process governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country.

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Non-Clinical Studies and Clinical Trials

Similarly to the U.S., the various phases of non-clinical and clinical research in the European Union (“EU”) are subject to significant regulatory controls.

Similar to the U.S., the various phases of non-clinical and clinical research in the EU are subject to significant regulatory controls.

Non-clinical studies are performed to demonstrate the health or environmental safety of new chemical or biological substances.

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For clinical trials whose CTA was made under the Clinical Trials Directive before January 31, 2022, the Clinical Trials Directive will continue to apply on a transitional basis for three years.

Additionally, sponsors may still choose to submit a CTA under either the Clinical Trials Directive or the CTR until January 31, 2023 and, if authorized, those will be governed by the Clinical Trials Directive until January 31, 2025.

Additionally,

sponsors could choose to submit a CTA under either the Clinical Trials Directive or the CTR until January 31, 2023 and, if authorized, those are governed by the Clinical Trials Directive until January 31, 2025.

By that date, all ongoing trials will become subject to the provisions of the CTR.

During the development of a medicinal product, the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) and national regulators provide the opportunity for dialogue and guidance on the development program.

At the EMA level, this is usually done

in the form of scientific advice, which is given by the Scientific Advice Working Party of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”).

During the development of a medicinal product, the EMA and national regulators provide the opportunity for dialogue and guidance on the development program.

At the EMA level, this is usually done in the form of scientific advice, which is given by the Scientific Advice Working Party of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”).

A fee is incurred with each scientific advice procedure.

Advice from the EMA is typically provided based on questions concerning, for example, quality (chemistry, manufacturing and controls testing), nonclinical testing and clinical trials, and pharmacovigilance plans and risk-management programs.

Advice is not legally binding with regard to any future marketing authorization application of the product concerned.

Advice is not legally binding to any future marketing authorization (“MA”) application (“MAA”) of the product concerned.

Marketing Authorization

In order to market our product candidates in the EU and many other foreign jurisdictions, we must obtain separate regulatory approvals.

More concretely, in the EU, medicinal products candidates can only be placed on the market after obtaining a marketing authorization (“MA”).

To obtain regulatory approval of a product candidate in the EU, we must submit a MA application (“MAA”).

More concretely, in the EU, medicinal products candidates can only be placed on the market after obtaining a MA.

To obtain regulatory approval of a product candidate in the EU, we must submit a MAA.

The process for doing this depends, among other things, on the nature of the medicinal product.

There are two types of MAs:

● “Centralized MAs” are issued by the European Commission through the centralized procedure based on the opinion of the EMA’s CHMP, and are valid throughout the EU.

The centralized procedure is compulsory for certain types of medicinal products such as:

(i) medicinal products derived from biotechnology processes, such as genetic engineering, (ii) medicinal products containing a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases, (iii) designated orphan medicinal products and (iv) advanced therapy medicinal products (“ATMPs”) such as gene therapy, somatic cell therapy or tissue-engineered medicines.

● “Centralized MA”:

are issued by the European Commission through the centralized procedure based on the opinion of the EMA’s CHMP and are valid throughout the EU.

The centralized procedure is compulsory for certain types of medicinal products such as (i) medicinal products derived from biotechnology processes, such as genetic engineering, (ii) medicinal products containing a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases, such as HIV or AIDS, cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, autoimmune and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases, (iii) designated orphan medicinal products, and (iv) advanced therapy medicinal products (“ATMPs”) such as gene therapy, somatic cell therapy or tissue-engineered medicines.

The centralized procedure is optional for product candidates containing a new active substance not yet authorized in the EU, or for product candidates that constitute a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation or which are in the interest of public health in the EU.

● “National MAs” are issued by the competent authorities of the EU member states, only cover their respective territory, and are available for product candidates not falling within the mandatory scope of the centralized procedure.

● “National MA”:

are issued by the competent authorities of the EU member states, only cover their respective territory, and are available for product candidates not falling within the mandatory scope of the Centralized MAs.

Where a product has already been authorized for marketing in an EU member state, this National MA can be recognized in another member state through the mutual recognition procedure.

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Under the decentralized procedure, an identical dossier is submitted to the competent authorities of each of the member states in which the MA is sought, one of which is selected by the applicant as the reference member state.

Under the centralized procedure, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of a MAA by the EMA is 210 days.

Under the Centralized MA, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of a MAA by the EMA is 210 days.

This excludes so-called clock stops, during which additional written or oral information is to be provided by the applicant in response to questions asked by the CHMP.

At the end of the review period, the CHMP provides an opinion to the European Commission.

If this opinion is favorable, the Commission may then adopt a decision to grant an MA.

If this opinion is favorable, the European Commission may then adopt a decision to grant an MA.

In exceptional cases, the CHMP might perform an accelerated review of a MAA in no more than 150 days (not including clock stops).

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Importantly, a dedicated contact and rapporteur from the CHMP is appointed early in the PRIME scheme, facilitating increased understanding of the product at EMA’s committee level.

An initial meeting initiates these relationships and includes a team of multidisciplinary experts at the EMA to provide guidance on the overall development and regulatory strategies.

initial meeting initiates these relationships and includes a team of multidisciplinary experts at the EMA to provide guidance on the overall development and regulatory strategies.

MAs have an initial duration of five years.

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The EU also provides opportunities for market exclusivity.

Upon receiving MA, reference product generally receive eight years of data exclusivity and an additional two years of market exclusivity.

Upon receiving a MA, reference product generally receives eight years of data exclusivity and an additional two years of market exclusivity.

If granted, the data exclusivity period prevents generic or biosimilar applicants from relying on the pre-clinical and clinical trial data contained in the dossier of the reference product when applying for a generic or biosimilar MA in the EU during a period of eight years from the date on which the reference product was first authorized in the EU.

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Orphan Medicinal Products

The criteria for designating an “orphan medicinal product” in the EU are similar in principle to those in the United States.

The criteria for designating an “orphan medicinal product” in the EU are similar in principle to those in the U.S.

A medicinal product may be designated as orphan if (1) it is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition;

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The application for orphan drug designation must be submitted before the MAA.

Orphan designation entitles a party to incentives such fee reductions or fee waivers, protocol assistance, and access to the centralized procedure.

Upon grant of a MA, orphan medicinal products are entitled to ten years of market exclusivity for the approved therapeutic indication.

During the ten-year market exclusivity period, the competent authorities cannot accept a MAA, or grant a MA, or accept an application to extend a MA, for the same indication, in respect of a similar medicinal product.

Orphan designation entitles a party to incentives such fee reductions or fee waivers, protocol assistance, and access to the Centralized MA process.

Upon grant of a MA, orphan medicinal products are entitled to 10 years of market exclusivity for the approved therapeutic indication.

During the 10-year market exclusivity period, the competent authorities cannot accept a MAA, or grant a MA, or accept an application to extend a MA, for the same indication, in respect of a similar medicinal product.

The period of market exclusivity is extended by two years for orphan medicinal products that have also complied with an agreed pediatric investigation plan (“PIP”).

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seizures, suspension, withdrawal or variation of the MA, total or partial suspension of production, distribution, manufacturing or clinical trials, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, fines and criminal penalties.

The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey, as well as cooperating countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

The United Kingdom (“UK”) left the EU on January 31, 2020, following which existing EU medicinal product legislation continued to apply in the UK during the transition period under the terms of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.

The transition period, which ended on December 31, 2020, maintained access to the EU single market and to the global trade deals negotiated by the EU on behalf of its members.

The transition period provided time for the UK and EU to negotiate a framework for partnership for the future, which was then crystallized in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“TCA”) and became effective on the January 1, 2021.

The TCA includes specific provisions concerning pharmaceuticals, which include the mutual recognition of Good Manufacturing Practice (“GMP”) inspections of manufacturing facilities for medicinal products and GMP documents issued, but does not foresee wholesale mutual recognition of UK and EU pharmaceutical regulations.

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For other countries outside of Europe, such as countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia, the requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country.

In all cases, again, the clinical trials are conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.

In all cases, the clinical trials are conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.

If we fail to comply with applicable foreign regulatory requirements, we may be subject to, among other things, fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution.

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In vitro diagnostic medical devices must comply with the requirements provided for in the Directive, and with further requirements implemented at national level (as the case may be).

The regulation of companion diagnostics will be subject to further requirements once the in-vitro medical diagnostic devices Regulation (No 2017/746) (“IVDR”) will become applicable on 26 May 2022.

However, on October 14, 2021, the European Commission proposed a “progressive” roll-out of the IVDR to prevent disruption in the supply of in vitro diagnostic medical devices.

The European Parliament and Council voted to adopt the proposed regulation on December 15, 2021 and the regulation entered into force on January 2022.

The IVDR will fully apply on May 26, 2022 but there will be a tiered system extending the grace period for many devices (depending on their risk classification) before they have to be fully compliant with the regulation.

The regulation of companion diagnostics is subject to requirements of the in-vitro medical diagnostic devices Regulation (No 2017/746) (“IVDR”).

The IVDR was fully effective May 26, 2022, but there is a tiered system extending the grace period for many devices (depending on their risk classification) before they have to be fully compliant with the regulation.

The IVDR introduces a new classification system for companion diagnostics which are now specifically defined as diagnostic tests that support the safe and effective use of a specific medicinal product, by identifying patients that are suitable or unsuitable for treatment.

Companion diagnostics will have to undergo a conformity assessment by a notified body.

Before it can issue a CE certificate, the notified body must seek a scientific opinion from the EMA on the suitability of the companion diagnostic to the medicinal product concerned if the medicinal product falls exclusively within the scope of the centralized procedure for the authorization of medicines, or the medicinal product is already authorized through the centralized procedure, or a MAA for the medicinal product has been submitted through the centralized procedure.

Before it can issue a CE certificate, the notified body must seek a scientific opinion from the EMA on the suitability of the companion diagnostic to the medicinal product concerned if the medicinal product falls exclusively within the scope of the Centralized MA process for the authorization of medicines, or the medicinal product is already authorized through the Centralized MA process, or a MAA for the medicinal product has been submitted through the Centralized MA process.

For other substances, the notified body can seek the opinion from a national competent authorities or the EMA.

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Pharmaceutical Coverage, Pricing and Reimbursement

Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any drug products for which we obtain regulatory approval.

In the United States and markets in other countries, sales of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will depend in part on the availability of reimbursement from third-party payors.

Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of drug products for which we obtain regulatory approval.

and other countries, sales of products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will depend in part on the availability of reimbursement from third-party payors.

Third-party payors include government health administrative authorities, managed care providers, private health insurers and other organizations.

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Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development.

In 2003, the U.S.

government enacted legislation providing a partial prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries, which became effective at the beginning of 2006.

Government payment for some of the costs of prescription drugs may increase demand for any products for which we receive marketing approval.

However, to obtain payments under this program, we would be required to sell products to Medicare recipients through prescription drug plans operating pursuant to this legislation.

These plans will likely negotiate discounted prices for our products.

Further, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or ACA, was enacted and the Healthcare Reform Law substantially changes the way healthcare is financed in the United States by both government and private insurers.

Among other cost containment measures, the ACA established:

• an annual, nondeductible fee on any entity that manufactures or imports certain branded prescription drugs and biologic agents;

• a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which pharmaceutical manufacturers who wish to have their drugs covered under Part D must offer discounts to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, or the “donut hole”;

• a new formula that increases the rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.

Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA.

On June 17, 2021, the United States Supreme Court dismissed the judicial challenge to the ACA without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA.

Prior to the United States Supreme Court’s decision, President Biden issued an executive order to initiate a special enrollment period from February 15, 2021 through August 15, 2021 for purposes of obtaining health insurance coverage through the ACA marketplace.

The executive order also instructed certain governmental agencies to review and reconsider their existing policies and rules that limit access to healthcare, including among others, reexamining Medicaid demonstration projects and waiver programs that include work requirements, and policies that create unnecessary barriers to obtaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the ACA.

In addition, we expect that federal, state and local governments in the United States will continue to consider legislation to limit the growth of healthcare costs, including the cost of prescription drugs.

Future legislation could limit payments for pharmaceuticals such as the product candidates that we are developing.

Different pricing and reimbursement schemes exist in other countries.

In the EU, governments influence the price of pharmaceutical products through their pricing and reimbursement rules and control of national health care systems that fund a large part of the cost of those products to consumers.

Member states are free to restrict the range of pharmaceutical products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement, and to control the

prices and reimbursement levels of pharmaceutical products for human use.

Member states are free to restrict the range of pharmaceutical products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement, and to control the prices and reimbursement levels of pharmaceutical products for human use.

Some jurisdictions operate positive and negative list systems under which products may only be marketed once a reimbursement price has been agreed.

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In addition, in some countries, cross-border imports from low-priced markets exert a commercial pressure on pricing within a country.

The marketability of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale may suffer if the government and third-party payors fail to provide adequate coverage and reimbursement.

In addition, an increasing emphasis on managed care in the United States has increased and we expect will continue to increase the pressure on pharmaceutical pricing.

The marketability of products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale may suffer if the government and third-party payors fail to provide adequate coverage and reimbursement.

In addition, an increasing emphasis on managed care in the U.S.

has increased and we expect will continue to increase the pressure on pharmaceutical pricing.

Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time.

Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is secured for one or more products for which we receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.

In order to raise sufficient financial resources to continue to advance our product candidates, we will need to address pricing pressures and potential third-party reimbursement coverage for our product candidates.

In the United States and elsewhere, sales of pharmaceutical products depend in significant part on the availability of reimbursement to the consumer from third party payors, such as government and private insurance plans.

To raise sufficient financial resources to commercialize our approved products and continue to advance our product candidates, we will need to address pricing pressures and potential third-party reimbursement coverage for our approved products and product candidates.

and elsewhere, sales of pharmaceutical products depend in significant part on the availability of reimbursement to the consumer from third-party payors, such as government and private insurance plans.

Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for medical products and services.

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Our products may not be considered cost effective, and coverage and reimbursement may not be available or sufficient to allow us to sell our products on a competitive and profitable basis.

Other Healthcare Laws and Compliance Requirements

If we obtain regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, we may be subject to various federal, state and foreign laws targeting fraud and abuse in the healthcare industry.

Healthcare Reform

We participate in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and other federal and state government pricing programs in the U.S., and we may participate in additional government pricing programs in the future.

government and other governments have shown significant interest in pursuing health care reform, which has resulted in changes to these programs and impacts IGALMI and our product candidates that may be approved.

For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act,

was enacted and this health care reform law substantially changed the way health care is financed in the U.S.

by both government and private insurers.

Among other cost containment measures, the ACA established:

● an annual, nondeductible fee on any entity that manufactures or imports certain branded prescription drugs and biologic agents;

● a Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which pharmaceutical manufacturers who wish to have their drugs covered under Part D must offer discounts to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, or the “donut hole”;

● a new formula that increases the rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.

Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive and congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA.

On June 17, 2021, the U.S.

Supreme Court dismissed the judicial challenge to the ACA without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA.

Prior to the U.S.

Supreme Court’s decision, President Biden issued an executive order to initiate a special enrollment period from February 15, 2021 through August 15, 2021 for purposes of obtaining health insurance coverage through the ACA marketplace.

The executive order also instructed certain governmental agencies to review and reconsider their existing policies and rules that limit access to health care, including among others, reexamining Medicaid demonstration projects and waiver programs that include work requirements, and policies that create unnecessary barriers to obtaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the ACA.

In addition, we expect that federal, state and local governments in the U.S.

will continue to consider legislation to limit the growth of health care costs, including the cost of prescription drugs.

Future legislation could limit payments for pharmaceuticals such as IGALMI and the product candidates that we are developing.

Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted, including aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers, which will remain in effect through 2032 with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020 through March 31, 2022, absent additional congressional action.

In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years.

In addition, in March 2021, Congress enacted the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which, among other things, eliminated the statutory cap on drug manufacturers’ Medicaid Drug Rebate Program rebate liability, effective January 1, 2024.

Moreover, there has recently been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted legislation designed, among other things, to bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for pharmaceutical products.

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, was into law.

Among other things, the IRA requires manufacturers of certain drugs to engage in price negotiations with Medicare (beginning in 2026), imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation (first due in 2023), and replaces the Part D coverage gap discount program with a new discounting program (beginning in 2025).

The IRA permits the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years.

For that and other reasons, it is currently unclear how the IRA will be effectuated.

In addition, individual states in the United States have also become increasingly active in implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical 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, mechanisms to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing.

Furthermore, there has been increased interest by third party payors and governmental authorities in reference pricing systems and publication of discounts and list prices.

Future legislation could limit payments for pharmaceuticals such as IGALMI and the product candidates that we are developing.

We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our products or additional pricing pressures.

The implementation of cost containment

measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our products.

Other Health Care Laws and Compliance Requirements

For approved products, we may be subject to various federal, state and foreign laws targeting fraud and abuse in the health care industry.

Such laws include, without limitation, U.S.

federal and state anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, false claims, consumer fraud, data privacy and security, and transparency laws and regulations with respect to drug pricing and payments and other transfers of value made to physicians and other healthcare professionals, as well as similar foreign laws in the jurisdictions outside the U.S.

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing, recommending, or arranging for a good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

federal and state anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, false claims, consumer fraud, and transparency laws and regulations with respect to drug pricing and payments and other transfers of value made to physicians and other health care professionals, as well as similar foreign laws in jurisdictions outside the U.S.

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual, or the furnishing, recommending, or arranging for a good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal health care program, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation.

Many states have adopted laws similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, some of which apply to the referral of patients for healthcare items or services reimbursed by any source, not only the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The federal False Claims Act imposes liability on any person who, among other things, knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment by a federal healthcare program.

Many states have adopted laws similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, some of which apply to the referral of patients for health care items or services reimbursed by any source, not only the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act.

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In addition, various states have enacted false claims laws analogous to the False Claims Act.

Many of these state laws apply where a claim is submitted to any third-party payer and not merely a federal healthcare program.

Many of these state laws apply where a claim is submitted to any third-party payer and not merely a federal health care program.

When an entity is determined to have violated the False Claims Act, it may be required to pay up to three times the actual damages sustained by the government, plus significant civil penalties for each separate false claim.

Also, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), created several federal crimes, including healthcare fraud, and false statements relating to healthcare matters.

The health care fraud statute prohibits knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, including private third-party

Also, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), created several federal crimes, including health care fraud, and false statements relating to health care matters.

The health care fraud statute prohibits knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, including private third-party payers.

The false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits, items or services.

Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation.

The Physician Payment Sunshine Act, or the Sunshine Act, which was enacted as part of the ACA, requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies covered under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, to report annually to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services payments or other transfers of value made by that entity, or by a third party as directed by that entity, to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), certain non-physician providers including physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and teaching hospitals, or to third parties on behalf of such providers, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members during the course of the preceding calendar year.

The Physician Payment Sunshine Act (the “Sunshine Act”), which was enacted as part of the ACA, requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical supplies covered under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, to report annually to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services payments or other transfers of value made by that entity, or by a third-party as directed by that entity, to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), certain non-physician providers including physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and teaching hospitals, or to third parties on behalf of such providers, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members during the course of the preceding calendar year.

Failure to comply with the reporting requirements can result in significant civil monetary penalties for any payment or other transfer of value that is not reported.

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Some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and relevant federal government compliance guidance;

require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers, many of which differ from each other in significant ways, thus further complicating compliance efforts;

require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other health care providers, many of which differ from each other in significant ways, thus further complicating compliance efforts;

and restrict marketing practices or require disclosure of marketing expenditures and pricing information.

Violations of any of these laws or any other governmental laws and regulations that may apply include, without limitation, significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion of products from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, disgorgement, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

Violations of any of these laws or any other governmental laws and regulations that may apply include, without limitation, significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion of products from government funded health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, disgorgement, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

Data Privacy & Security

Numerous state, federal and foreign laws, including consumer protection laws and regulations, govern the collection, dissemination, use, access to, confidentiality and security of personal information, including health-related information.

In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including data breach notification laws, health information privacy and security laws, including HIPAA, and federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., Section 5 of the FTC Act), that govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our partners.

In the U.S., numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including data breach notification laws, health information privacy and security laws, including HIPAA, and federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), that govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our partners.

In addition, certain state and non-U.S.

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Privacy and security laws, regulations, and other obligations are constantly evolving, may conflict with each other to complicate compliance efforts, and can result in investigations, proceedings, or actions that lead to significant civil and/or criminal penalties and restrictions on data processing.

Additionally, our use of artificial intelligence and machine learning may be subject to laws and evolving regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence/machine learning, controlling for data bias, and antidiscrimination.

Additionally, our use of AI and machine learning may be subject to laws and evolving regulations regarding the use of AI or machine learning, controlling for data bias, and anti-discrimination.

Human Capital

Our Employees

We have grown to a team of 89 employees as of December 31, 2021, all of whom were employed in the U.S.

Our highly qualified and experienced team includes scientists, physicians and professionals across sales,

marketing, manufacturing, regulatory, finance and other important functions that are critical to our success.

We also leverage certain experts in drug development employed by BioXcel LLC to provide flexibility for our business needs.

We expect to continue to hire additional employees in 2022 with a focus on expanding our expertise and bandwidth in clinical and preclinical research and development, marketing and sales and finance.

We continually evaluate our business needs and opportunities.

Our Culture .

The success of our human capital management investments is evidenced by our low employee turnover, a number which is regularly reviewed by our Board of Directors as part of their oversight of our human capital strategy.

We grew our overall headcount over 100% compared to last year to a team of 183 full-time employees as of December 31, 2022.

The headcount increases in 2022 were primarily related to building out our commercial team, as well as adding employees in general and administrative functions to support the growth of our business and commercialization of IGALMI.

We also leverage certain experts in drug development and AI that are employed by BioXcel LLC to provide flexibility for our business needs.

We expect to continue to hire additional employees in 2023 as we expand our commercialization and increase our clinical and preclinical efforts.

We believe that the success of our human capital management investments is evidenced by our low employee turnover, a number which is regularly reviewed by our Board of Directors as part of their oversight of our human capital strategy.

Employee Engagement, Talent Development & Benefits

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We may use our website as a distribution channel of material information about the Company.

Financial and other important information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible through the Investors sections of its website at www.bioxceltherapeutics.com .

In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about the Company when you enroll your email address by visiting the “Email Alerts” option under the News / Events menu of the Investors section of our website at www.bioxceltherapeutics.com .

Financial and other important information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible through the Investors & Media sections of our website at www.bioxceltherapeutics.com.

In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about the Company when you enroll your email address by visiting the “Email Alerts” option under the News / Events menu of the Investors & Media section of our website at www.bioxceltherapeutics.com.

The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on or available through our website, and you should not consider such information to be a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business