Edgewise Therapeutics, Inc._December 31, 2025
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025
or
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from _____ to _____
Commission File Number: 001-40236
Edgewise Therapeutics, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
82-1725586
(State or other jurisdiction of
(I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)
Identification No.)
1715 38 th St.
Boulder , CO 80301
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
( 720 ) 262-7002
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class
Trading Symbol(s)
Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share
EWTX
Nasdaq Global Select Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer
☒
Accelerated filer
☐
Non-accelerated filer
☐
Smaller reporting company
☐
Emerging growth company
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of registrant’s common equity held by non-affiliates of registrant on June 30, 2025, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $ 1.2 billion, based upon the closing sale price of the common stock as reported on The Nasdaq Global Select Market.
As of February 19, 2026, there were 107,270,521 of the registrant’s ordinary shares outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Information required by Part III of this Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the registrant’s proxy statement for the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders, which proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PART I
Item 1. Business
5
Item 1A. Risk Factors
48
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
120
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
120
Item 2. Properties
122
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
122
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
122
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
122
Item 6. [Reserved]
119
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
125
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
135
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
136
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
156
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
156
Item 9B. Other Information
157
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
158
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
158
Item 11. Executive Compensation
158
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
158
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
158
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
158
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules
158
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
161
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (Annual Report) contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business, strategy, development plans, planned preclinical studies and clinical trials, future results of clinical trials, expected research and development costs, regulatory strategy, timing and likelihood of success, as well as plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “likely,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “projects,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:
● the safety and efficacy, and the ability of our preclinical studies and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy, of our product candidates, and other positive results;
● our ability to utilize our proprietary drug discovery platform to develop a pipeline of product candidates to address muscle diseases;
● the timing, progress and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials for sevasemten, EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and other product candidates we may develop, including statements regarding the timing of initiation and completion of studies or trials and related preparatory work, the period during which the results of the studies or trials will become available, potential registrational studies or cohorts and our research and development programs;
● the timing, scope and likelihood of domestic and foreign regulatory filings and approvals, including timing of final U.S. Food & Drug Administration ( FDA) approval of or Investigational New Drugs of sevasemten, EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and any other future product candidates;
● our ability to develop and advance our current product candidates and programs into, and successfully complete, clinical studies;
● our manufacturing, commercialization, operations and marketing capabilities, relationships with other businesses and other business strategies, systems and relationships;
● our commercialization plans, including the launch, uptake, and market acceptance of any approved products;
● the size of the markets and the potential market opportunity for our product candidates, if approved;
● the pricing, reimbursement, and coverage of our product candidates, if approved;
● the need to hire additional personnel and our ability to attract and retain such personnel;
● the size of the market opportunity for our product candidates, including our estimates of the number of patients who suffer from the diseases we are targeting and our expectations regarding the implementation of newborn screening for muscular dystrophy;
● our expectations regarding the approval and use of our product candidates in combination with other drugs;
● our competitive position and the success of competing product candidates and therapies that are or may become available;
● the ability of our programs to offer opportunities for us to expand into other severe muscle diseases;
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● our estimates of the number of patients that we will enroll in our clinical trials;
● our estimates relating to the timing of completing enrollment for our clinical trials and natural history study;
● the beneficial characteristics, and the potential safety, efficacy and therapeutic effects, of our product candidates;
● our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, and the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, including our expectations to maintain the Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation (RPDD) for sevasemten and our expectation to seek special designations for our other product candidates;
● our plans relating to the further development of our product candidates, including additional indications we may pursue;
● existing regulations and regulatory developments in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions;
● our expectations regarding the impact of public health pandemics on our business;
● our expectations regarding the impact of changes in the U.S. government administration and policy positions;
● our expectations regarding the impact of instability in the U.S. banking and financial services sector and other macroeconomic trends;
● our intellectual property position, including the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and other product candidates we may develop, including the extensions of existing patent terms where available, the validity of intellectual property rights held by third parties, and our ability not to infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate any third-party intellectual property rights;
● our continued reliance on third parties to conduct additional preclinical studies and planned clinical trials of our product candidates, and for the manufacture of our product candidates for preclinical studies and clinical trials;
● our relationships with patient advocacy groups, key opinion leaders, regulators, the research community and payors;
● our ability to obtain, and negotiate favorable terms of, any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements that may be necessary or desirable to develop, manufacture or commercialize our product candidates;
● the pricing and reimbursement of sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and other product candidates we may develop, if approved;
● the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and other product candidates we may develop;
● our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing which may be impacted by many factors including inflation;
● our financial performance;
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● the period over which we estimate our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements; and
● the impact of laws and regulations.
We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about our business, the industry in which we operate and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or development. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and you are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
PART I
Item 1. Business
Overview
Our mission is to discover new medicines that improve the lives of people facing serious muscle disease.
At Edgewise, we appreciate the life-limiting impact of serious muscle diseases. Our science-driven culture places patients first as we start with their unmet needs and then work towards developing therapies to help address the significant challenges of serious muscle diseases. Guided by our holistic drug discovery approach to targeting the muscle as an organ, we have combined our foundational expertise in muscle biology and small molecule engineering to build our proprietary, muscle focused drug discovery platform. Our platform utilizes custom-built high throughput and translatable systems that measure integrated muscle function in whole organ extracts to identify small molecule precision medicines regulating key proteins in muscle tissue, initially focused on addressing rare neuromuscular and cardiac diseases. We have developed and characterized a library of novel sarcomere modulators exhibiting a broad range of pharmacological and pharmacokinetic (PK) properties regulating disease-related muscle biology. Based on the results of our drug discovery platform, we are advancing multiple clinical-stage programs in muscular dystrophies and severe cardiac diseases, as well as a number of preclinical programs.
Muscular Dystrophy
Our muscular dystrophy program includes sevasemten, our most advanced product candidate, an orally administered allosteric, selective, fast myofiber (type II) myosin small molecule inhibitor designed to address contraction-induced muscle injury, the root cause of dystrophinopathies including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne) and Becker muscular dystrophy (Becker). Both of these disorders are rare and often debilitating diseases, and we estimate that in the US, EU-5, and Japan there are approximately 35,000 individuals living with Duchenne and 12,000 individuals living with Becker. There are currently no approved therapies for individuals with Becker.
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As a selective fast myosin inhibitor, sevasemten presents a novel mechanism of action designed to selectively limit injurious stress caused by lack of dystrophin by moderating fast skeletal muscle myosin force development and thereby compensating for the absence of functional dystrophin. We believe sevasemten has potential therapeutic utility as either a standalone or combination therapy for patients suffering from rare muscular dystrophies, if approved. Sevasemten is currently being studied in multiple late-stage clinical trials in Becker and Duchenne, including an ongoing pivotal cohort in patients with Becker.
The FDA granted sevasemten Fast Track designation for the treatment of Duchenne in February 2024, and Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) for the treatment of Duchenne and Becker and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation (RPDD) for the treatment of Duchenne in November 2023. The FDA previously granted Fast Track designation for the investigation and development of sevasemten for the treatment of Becker.
Cardiovascular
Early in the founding of Edgewise, we identified a unique set of cardiovascular molecules as part of a skeletal muscle counter-screen. We initiated our cardiovascular program with EDG-7500 identified as our lead candidate, a molecule with unique characteristics. EDG-7500 is a novel oral, selective, cardiac sarcomere modulator (CSM), specifically designed to slow early contraction velocity and address impaired cardiac relaxation associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) without impacting systolic function. EDG-7500 is currently being studied in a multipart Phase 2 trial in both obstructive HCM (oHCM) and nonobstructive HCM (nHCM). In 2023, we identified a second cardiac sarcomere modulator, EDG-15400, which is currently in a Phase 1 trial of healthy adults with the future disease target of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Preclinical
In addition, our EDG-003 discovery program is exploring candidates with unique properties to address cardiometabolic diseases. We believe our muscle-focused discovery program offer substantial opportunities for us to expand into other severe muscle diseases for which there are limited or no approved treatments.
Our Pipeline
Using our proprietary drug discovery platform, we are developing a pipeline of precision medicine product candidates that target key muscle proteins and modulators to address a broad array of muscle diseases. We have retained global development and commercialization rights to all of our programs. Our current pipeline is summarized below.
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Our Strategy
Our vision is to improve the lives of patients and families suffering from severe muscle diseases by building the world’s leading muscle-focused biopharmaceutical company. Key components of our strategy to achieve this vision include:
● Engaging comprehensively with patients, their families and their physicians to develop trusted relationships, transparent communications, and become a leader in the rare muscle disease communities we serve. By positioning ourselves as a trusted partner that moves with thoughtful urgency, we will continue to work to understand the needs of patients in order to inform our development of sevasemten, EDG-7500, EDG-15400, and other programs for severe muscle diseases. We continue to seek to better appreciate the burden of disease from the patient perspective, understand the current standard of care and unmet needs in managing the disease and learn what is most meaningful to patients.
● Leveraging clinical and regulatory precedents and our extensive experience in severe muscle diseases to rapidly advance sevasemten through clinical development in muscular dystrophies. Sevasemten is an orally administered small molecule designed to prevent contraction-induced muscle damage in dystrophinopathies including Duchenne and Becker. Sevasemten presents a novel mechanism of action designed to selectively limit the exaggerated muscle damage caused by the absence or loss of functional dystrophin. By minimizing the progressive muscle damage that leads to functional impairment, sevasemten has the potential to benefit a broad range of patients suffering from debilitating neuromuscular disorders. Its unique mechanism of action provides the potential to establish sevasemten as a foundational therapy in dystrophinopathies, either as a single agent therapy or in combination with available therapies and those in development.
● Leveraging our deep expertise in muscle-disease therapeutics to expand our pipeline, advancing EDG-7500 into the clinic for the treatment of HCM and other diseases of diastolic dysfunction. EDG-7500 is a first-in-class oral, selective, cardiac sarcomere modulator intended for the treatment of both oHCM and nHCM. The compound is designed to slow early contraction velocity and improve impaired cardiac relaxation. This novel mechanism is anticipated to have a broad therapeutic index that may facilitate reach to an expanded HCM market, beyond what is covered by current standard of care.
● Investing in our precision medicine drug discovery platform to fuel the development of novel targeted therapies to expand our pipeline into additional skeletal and cardiac muscle diseases. Building upon our success in designing small molecule inhibitors of fast skeletal myosin, we are leveraging our proprietary drug discovery platform and capabilities to create precision medicines for muscle diseases with high levels of unmet need. In addition to sevasemten, EDG-7500, and EDG-15400, we are also advancing our preclinical program, EDG-003, directed to cardiometabolic targets.
● Integrating our scientific expertise, development capabilities and growing network of patient advocacy groups and collaborators to develop novel therapies addressing muscle diseases with the highest unmet need. Our company was founded based on an in-depth understanding of muscle disease and integrative physiology, coupled with our strong drug discovery capabilities and a desire to improve the lives of patients with severe muscle diseases. In addition to this expertise, we have established a growing network of key stakeholders, including patient advocacy groups, healthcare professionals, key opinion leaders, research institutions, regulators and payors, to ensure our efforts remain guided by the needs of patients suffering from severe muscle diseases. We will continue to work closely with these collaborators to inform our development programs and strategies to potentially bring transformational therapies to these communities as we build a patient-centric organization.
● Opportunistically evaluating strategic collaborations and asset acquisition opportunities to accelerate development and commercialization timelines as well as potentially expand our pipeline within our core therapeutic areas. We have retained global development and commercialization rights to all of our programs
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and intend to maximize their commercial opportunity across global markets. We plan to collaborate on product candidates that we believe have promising utility in disease areas or patient populations that are better served by the resources or specific expertise of other biopharmaceutical companies. We currently intend to build a focused commercial organization in the United States to market any of our drug candidates that are approved. Outside the United States, we will evaluate strategic opportunities to maximize the commercial potential of our product candidates with collaborators whose development and commercial capabilities complement our own. We will also evaluate select external opportunities to strategically expand our pipeline.
Our Proprietary Drug Discovery Platform
Our precision medicine muscle platform enables the discovery and development of therapies with disease modifying potential
Muscle is the most abundant tissue in the body. Skeletal muscle alone accounts for 40% to 50% of body mass. In addition to being critical for the regulation of contraction driving the production of force, skeletal muscle also serves as an endocrine organ regulating metabolism and neuronal activities as well as the production of systemic mediators of growth, inflammation and regeneration. Skeletal muscle’s physiological role impacts multiple organ systems and is a complex mix of redundancies and feedback loops that require an intricate knowledge of muscle at a whole-body level in order to successfully develop drugs for muscle diseases.
We believe that our approach can overcome many of the obstacles facing skeletal and cardiac muscle drug discovery and development that have resulted in a lack of disease modifying therapies for inherited muscle disorders. Our proprietary drug discovery platform leverages our expertise in the following areas to facilitate the efficient discovery of novel therapies for neglected muscle disorders:
1. intimate familiarity with skeletal and cardiac muscle biophysics and integrated physiology providing a unique understanding of the complex integrative relationship between skeletal and cardiac muscle contraction, transcriptional regulation and vascular/nervous/metabolic system feedback in disease;
2. bespoke high-throughput whole muscle extract assays and functional modulator identification combined with biophysical and selectivity screening systems that are tailored to measure integrated muscle function enabling rapid first-in-class drug candidate identification;
3. proven in-house medicinal chemists and discovery scientists who can identify and design precision medicines that bind to unique allosteric sites on specific muscle targets; and
4. deep expertise in advanced animal models of human genetic muscle diseases to identify novel biomarkers using cutting-edge proteomics and single cell transcriptomics.
We have coupled our deep understanding of the complexities of muscle physiology with cutting-edge drug discovery expertise to create a new generation of small molecule precision medicines for the treatment of severe and debilitating muscle conditions arising from defects in the skeletal and cardiac muscle systems.
Our Programs
Sevasemten for Treatment of Patients with Duchenne and Becker
Overview
We are developing a muscle fiber stabilizing therapy that represents a novel mechanistic approach designed to address the root cause of dystrophin deficient muscular dystrophies. Sevasemten, our most advanced product candidate, is an orally administered, allosteric, selective, fast myofiber (type II) myosin inhibitor that is designed to be inactive against slow myofiber (type I) myosin present in both skeletal muscle and the heart. Type II myosin inhibition prevents
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muscle damage via a blockade of the biophysical stress response during normal muscle contractile activity thus stabilizing the muscle and protecting the muscle from damage. As such, it is a potentially complementary approach to dystrophin replacement strategies which stabilize muscle through the re-expression of a truncated but not fully functional dystrophin.
Absence of dystrophin in Duchenne and truncated availability of dystrophin in Becker causes muscle fiber membrane stress when muscles contract, leading to myofiber damage, which is referred to as contraction-induced muscle injury.
By enhancing muscle stability and decreasing muscle damage, we believe sevasemten has the potential to improve outcomes across Becker and Duchenne patients when used as a single agent or in combination with other available therapies.
Sevasemten: A fast myofiber (type II) myosin inhibitor designed to protect against contraction-induced muscle injury
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Disease Background
Duchenne and Becker are marked by an absence (Duchenne) or truncation (Becker) of the dystrophin protein resulting from mutations in the dystrophin gene. Approximately 65% of mutations of the Duchenne gene are deletions of one or several exons, the coding sections of an RNA transcript, or the DNA encoding it, that are ultimately translated into dystrophin protein. Approximately 10% of mutations are duplications of exons and approximately 15% are single point mutations. Dystrophin provides a structural link between the contractile elements (actin and myosin filaments) of the sarcomere and the basement membrane of the myofibers (muscle cell). Absence of dystrophin leads to myofiber membrane stress during normal sarcomere contraction resulting in an influx of calcium through the myofiber membrane resulting in hypercontraction, irreversible sarcomeric collapse and myofiber degeneration. Myofiber regeneration is possible but appears to fail over time as Duchenne/Becker patients get older and the muscle stem cell (satellite cell) machinery is exhausted. Fatty and fibrotic tissue then accumulate and replace normal muscle contractile tissue thus compromising function such that patients have progressive and permanent muscle weakness. Circumventing the loss of dystrophin’s structural function may prevent myofiber damage and preserve skeletal muscle function in Duchenne/Becker.
Duchenne and Becker are classified as orphan diseases in the United States and Europe. We estimate that Duchenne occurs in approximately one in every 3,500 to 5,000 live male births and that the patient population is approximately 12,000 to 15,000 in the United States and approximately 25,000 in Europe. For Becker we estimate there are about 6,000 patients with Becker in the United States and 12,000 in the United States, EU-5, and Japan.
Becker Muscular Dystrophy
Becker is a rare, genetic, life-shortening, debilitating and degenerative neuromuscular disorder. Genetic mutations in the dystrophin gene result in contraction-induced muscle damage, which is the primary driver of irreversible muscle loss and impaired motor function. The disease predominantly affects males, with functional decline beginning at any age. Once that muscle loss occurs, the decline in function is irreversible and continues throughout the individual's life. Currently, there are no approved therapies on the market to treat Becker.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Duchenne, a severe degenerative muscle disorder, is the most common type of muscular dystrophy with a median life expectancy of around 30 years. Genetic mutations in the dystrophin gene result in contraction-induced muscle injury, which is the primary driver of irreversible muscle loss and impaired motor function. While there are approved therapies on the market aimed to treat the disease, there remains a high unmet need for additional therapies.
Current Treatments for Duchenne and Becker and their Limitations
There is no cure for Becker and no approved therapies on the market to treat the disease.
For Duchenne, there is also no cure and for most patients, there are no satisfactory symptomatic or disease-modifying treatments. Standard of care in Duchenne includes physical therapy to maintain mobility and prevent contractures, bracing and surgery for scoliosis, medical treatment for cardiomyopathy and heart failure, respiratory therapies for ventilatory impairment, psychosocial management to support behavior and learning, glucocorticoid regimens and exon skipping therapies.
Glucocorticoids
The chronic and ongoing damage state seen in Duchenne is one of the targets of glucocorticoids. Glucocorticoid treatment with either prednisone or EMFLAZA (deflazacort), the current standard-of-care for Duchenne, has been shown to temporarily improve muscle strength, prolong the period of ambulation, and slow functional decline, including upper limb and respiratory function, characteristic of the disease. In October 2023, the FDA granted AGAMREE (vamorolone), a novel steroid therapy, approval in Duchenne patients aged 2 years and older, and Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has commercialized this product in the United States following its North America exclusive
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license deal with Santhera. The modest chronic benefit of steroids is weighed against the risks, and treatment is often discontinued after loss of ambulation. Sustained glucocorticoid dosing in young Duchenne patients is associated with side effects including weight gain which could lead to obesity, Cushingoid features, excessive growth of hair on the body, adverse behavior changes, growth impairment, delayed puberty, immune suppression, adrenal suppression, fractures and cataracts. In Becker, glucocorticoids are not often used because of these side effects.
Exon Skipping Therapies
There are four exon skipping drugs which are marketed under an accelerated approval pathway from the FDA: EXONDYS 51 (eteplirsen), AMONDYS 45 (casimersen) and VYONDYS 53 (golodirsen), which are naked phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) approved for the treatment of Duchenne patients amenable to Exon 51, Exon 45 and Exon 53 skipping, respectively, and are marketed by Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., and VILTEPSO (vitolarsen), a naked PMO approved for the treatment of Duchenne patients amenable to Exon 53 skipping, which is marketed by Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. A significant limitation of exon skipping approaches for Duchenne is the fact that each PMO has been developed for skipping of a specific exon and their use is limited to a sub-set of mutations and hence only used in a subpopulation of Duchenne patients (e.g., Exon 51 skipping is feasible in only up to 13% of all Duchenne patients). An aggregate of approximately 29% of Duchenne patients are amenable to treatment with these therapies. The FDA labels for all four drugs state that a clinical benefit has not yet been established and that continued approval may be contingent upon the verification of such clinical benefit in confirmatory clinical trials. In May 2024, Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. announced that no statistical significance in function was observed between the treatment group and the placebo group in VILTEPSO’s confirmatory study, which may affect VILTEPSO’s accelerated FDA approval. In November 2025, Sarepta announced that AMONDYS 45 and VYONDYS 53 missed their primary endpoint in the confirmatory study. This result may affect its drugs’ accelerated FDA approval. As all exon-skipping therapies result in the re-expression of a truncated dystrophin protein, the best treatment outcome that Duchenne patients can expect is a Becker-like disease phenotype.
In addition, Translarna® (ataluren), a small molecule intended to promote ribosomal read-through to overcome the nonsense (stop) pathogenic mutations in Duchenne, was conditionally approved in the European Union and Brazil for ambulatory patients aged 2 years and older with Duchenne resulting from a nonsense mutation in the dystrophin gene. However, in March 2025, the European Commission adopted the negative opinions issued by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the renewal of conditional marketing authorization of Translarna. While this action effectively removes Translarna’s marketing authorization in the European Economic Area, individual countries within the EU can leverage existing legislation to allow continued use of Translarna. Phase 3 trials have not confirmed clinical efficacy and Translarna® is not approved for treating Duchenne in the United States.
Gene Therapy for Duchenne
The lack of dystrophin in patients with Duchenne has long been a target for adeno-associated virus (AAV) based gene therapy but the limited packaging capacity of AAV vectors (4.7 kilo-bases) and the large size of the dystrophin gene (2.2 mega-bases, >400 times bigger than the AAV vector itself) remain a challenge to delivering a fully functional dystrophin protein to patients. As such, the field has shifted to the use of miniaturized dystrophin or microdystrophin expression cassettes that yield a smaller, less complete version of the dystrophin protein as the therapeutic payload; current constructs express truncated dystrophin proteins that are 20% to 30% of the normal size of the full-length dystrophin protein. Recently, several gene therapies designed to produce a minidystrophin or microdystrophin have progressed into clinical development. However, it is estimated that between 20% to 60% of patients have antibodies against AAV due to naturally acquired infections. These antibodies prevent them from receiving AAV gene therapy due to pre-existing AAV immunity to the capsid, the protein shell of the virus used for delivery, which can lead to severe and potentially deadly immune response. The duration of activity and utility/safety of these approaches in older patients is also an open question. The question around whether gene expression can persist lifelong after a single vector administration is an area of debate across many disorders including dystrophinopathies. The long-term persistence of transgene expression is exacerbated by growth/turnover of skeletal muscle and preexisting or recall immune responses to the AAV vector capsid and/or to the transgene product itself, which can interfere with therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, this limited durability is problematic because re-administration after the first dose is currently not possible.
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In June 2023, the FDA approved Sarepta’s Biologics License Application seeking accelerated approval of their microdystrophin gene therapy, Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), for the treatment of ambulant individuals with Duchenne between the ages of four to five years. In June 2024, the FDA granted Elevidys full approval for the treatment of ambulatory individuals aged 4 years and older, and accelerated approval for the treatment of non-ambulatory individuals aged 4 years and older. However, in November 2025, the FDA revised the Elevidys indication to limit to ambulatory individuals 4 years or older and added black box warnings about risks of acute and fatal liver injuries.
Other companies focused on developing genetic based therapies for Duchenne that target dystrophin mechanisms include Solid Biosciences Inc., Genethon, Dyne Therapeutics, Avidity Biosciences, REGENXBIO, Wave Life Sciences, and Entrada Therapeutics. Gene editing treatments that are in preclinical development are also being pursued by Vertex and Sarepta Therapeutics.
Delivery of minidystrophin or microdystrophin to muscles in Duchenne has been shown to be sufficient to reform the larger complex of proteins that make up the dystroglycan complex. However, the truncated nature of the shortened dystrophin protein does not appear to be capable of providing complete protection against contraction injury. As a result, we believe that the best potential therapeutic outcome is inducing a severe Becker-like phenotype (the shortest documented dystrophin protein in Becker is 50% of normal) where patients would still have significant residual skeletal muscle impairment and will thus continue to have a high degree of unmet need. What is clear is that gene therapies currently in development for Duchenne do not represent a cure for the disease.
Non-Dystrophin Therapies
Italfarmaco Group has developed a nonsteroidal histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor to reduce inflammation and slow muscle loss in patients with Duchenne. Satellos Bioscience, Inc. is developing an orally administered small molecule drug designed to address deficits in muscle repair and regeneration and announced functional data from a Phase 1b trial in adult patients with Duchenne in May 2025.
We believe that each of the therapeutic approaches outlined above currently have significant limitations, and that there continues to be a high unmet medical need for new disease-modifying therapies for the treatment of patients with Duchenne. Moreover, with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry’s almost exclusive focus on Duchenne, little attention has been paid to drug development in Becker where there are no approved therapies for patients.
Our Approach
Sevasemten is an orally administered, investigational small molecule designed to selectively modulate fast muscle fiber contraction by modestly inhibiting fast skeletal muscle myosin adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). Sevasemten is highly selective for fast skeletal myosin as compared to cardiac or smooth muscle myosin. We believe sevasemten has the potential to overcome many of the obstacles facing other therapeutics in development for the treatment of dystrophinopathies based on the following key characteristics and data:
● Offers a novel approach for the treatment of severe muscle diseases by blocking the structural destabilization of skeletal myofibers. By protecting dystrophin deficient myofibers from degeneration, sevasemten’s mechanism of action is directed towards the underlying cause of muscle degeneration in Duchenne and Becker to reduce muscle damage, prevent downstream fibrosis, allow healthy muscle contraction, and enhance physical function. Moreover, since muscle damage induced by excessive exercise in normal volunteers can reduce muscle strength through the generation of edema and fiber disruption by up to 30%, we believe that elimination of muscle damage could increase muscle strength and ultimately function in a muscular dystrophy populations where continuous muscle damage is the driver of disease progression.
● Highly selective for all fast type II myofibers, thus limiting the potential for serious off-target side effects. Our non-clinical toxicology package has not revealed any off-target or unexpected side effects, following systemic administration.
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● Targeted distribution into muscle tissue limits exposure to other organs. Sevasemten exhibits a high volume of distribution due to target-mediated partition into skeletal muscle. This reduces exposure of the compound to other organs such as the liver and kidney, limiting the chances of unexpected adverse effects.
● Offers a mutation agnostic approach with the potential to be used for disorders resulting from genetic lesions in dystrophin or the dystroglycan complex . Sevasemten can potentially be used to treat all populations of Duchenne and Becker, as well as many forms of Limb Girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I/R9 (LGMD), a progressive, lethal myopathy that results from mutations of key proteins in the dystroglycan complex.
● Provides a mechanistic approach to treat Duchenne that may provide additional functional benefits over genetic based therapeutics. DNA based gene therapies or RNA based exon skipping therapeutics are designed to produce a mini- or micro-dystrophin but not a full-length dystrophin protein; therefore, the best potential therapeutic outcome for these therapies might be a Becker-like phenotype where patients would still have significant skeletal muscle impairments and high degree of unmet need.
● Offers a potential treatment option to patients, regardless of therapy background, immune background, age or weight. We are developing sevasemten to be used as a single agent therapy but it may also provide a synergistic or additive effect in combination with available therapies and therapies currently in development. Moreover, sevasemten may offer a disease modifying option for patients currently excluded from Phase 3 minidystrophin or microdystrophin gene therapy trials due to age (four to seven year old children) and those who have antibodies against AAV due to naturally acquired infections.
We believe these characteristics uniquely position sevasemten as a potentially new standard of care for patients with Duchenne and Becker, either as a standalone or in combination with other therapies.
An illustration of sevasemten’s novel mechanism of action
Human skeletal muscle consists of three fiber types, “slow” type I and “fast” types IIa or IIx/d, defined by the specific myosin isoform that they express. Studies have shown that fast muscle fibers are more susceptible to injury in both healthy individuals and in Duchenne. Histological studies of young Duchenne patients document distinct fiber-type imbalances in the co-localization of fast and embryonic myosin, a marker of regenerating muscle fibers. Similar observations have also been made in all known mammalian models of Duchenne. The control and coordination of these fiber populations is a complex process, designed to maintain physical performance even under conditions of extreme
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environmental and metabolic stress. Under normal conditions, skeletal muscle contractile demand is much lower than at the maximal output. Maximal activation of muscle is painful, damaging and unproductive to sustained function. We have taken advantage of this flexibility to explore an alternative therapeutic strategy to protect susceptible type II skeletal muscle fibers.
When muscle fibers undergo damage, they release internal proteins such as CK and troponin into the blood. One of the troponin subunits, TnI has a different isoform for each type of striated muscle (fast, slow and cardiac) and can be used to explore the fiber-specific source of these proteins. We evaluated Duchenne and Becker patient plasma samples using high specificity assays for fast and slow myofiber TnI and observed that fast myofiber TnI (TnI2) plasma levels are higher than slow myofiber TnI (TnI1) levels, suggesting that fast myofibers are more susceptible to loss of dystrophin function during muscle contraction. Conversely, we observed that HVs had virtually no leak from fast muscles .
Biomarkers of fast fiber turnover are elevated in Becker and Duchenne
Using high-throughput screens of type II fast skeletal muscle myofibrils, we identified a novel structural class of myosin ATPase inhibitors that we optimized for potency, selectivity, physiochemical properties and PK, leading to the synthesis of sevasemten. Sevasemten acts to protect dystrophic muscle from breakdown by modulating contraction in susceptible fast muscle fibers. Our goal is to reduce contraction of susceptible muscle fibers by five to twenty percent. We believe that the reduced muscle breakdown will result in potential preservation or enhancement of physical function in Duchenne patients.
Regulating myofiber contraction in Duchenne patients is not a novel concept. Dantrolene, an inhibitor of the ryanodine receptor that modulates both fast and slow skeletal myofiber contraction was used in a small clinical trial in 1991 in Duchenne patients. Treatment was associated with a 3-fold reduction in CK and a trend favoring attenuation of decreases in function. While it is approved for treatment of malignant hyperthermia and chronic spasticity, it is not approved or used in Duchenne. Chronic treatment with dantrolene has been associated with drowsiness and the potentially serious side effect of idiosyncratic fatal hepatotoxicity, limiting its broad use. We anticipate that the high potency, fast fiber targeting and low projected dose of sevasemten will limit unwanted side effects. Moreover, stabilization of the sarcomere with sevasemten via direct decreases in contractile stress potentially provides greater muscle protection than secondary inhibition of calcium release via the ryanodine receptor.
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Preclinical Data
With sevasemten, preclinically, we demonstrated that treatment protects muscle in short- and long-term assays in both mouse and dog models with muscular dystrophy.
Sevasemten Clinical Plan
To date, we have completed a Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers and a small cohort of individuals with Becker, ARCH, a Phase 1, open-label, dose escalation, single-site trial of 12 ambulatory adults with Becker, and CANYON, a Phase 2, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in adults and adolescents with Becker. Through MESA, an open label extension trial in individuals with Becker, 36-month data is available for individuals previously enrolled in ARCH and 18-month data is available for individuals previously enrolled in CANYON. GRAND CANYON, a pivotal adult cohort within CANYON, is currently ongoing. For Duchenne, LYNX, a Phase 2 trial in children with Duchenne, and FOX, a Phase 2 trial in children and adolescents with Duchenne previously treated with gene therapy, remain ongoing.
An updated overview of our near-term clinical development plan for sevasemten in Becker and Duchenne is shown below:
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Phase 1 Clinical Trial
In October 2020, we initiated a Phase 1 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, single and multiple ascending-dose clinical trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability and PK of sevasemten in adult HVs (Phase 1a) and adults with Becker (Phase 1b), to address potential differences in safety, tolerability and PK in the background of dystrophic muscle.
In the first-in-human single ascending dose (SAD) trial, oral doses of sevasemten (0.5, 1.5, 5, 15, 45, 90 and 135 mg) or matching placebo were administered to 57 HVs. The most common adverse events (AEs) were dizziness and somnolence, which were seen at Grade 1 (on the Division of AIDS AE Grading Scale) except in the single dose cohort of 135 mg, where Grade 2 somnolence and dizziness were observed. The multiple ascending dose (MAD) trial enrolled 40 participants of whom 30 were randomized to sevasemten and 10 were randomized to placebo. Cohorts B1 and B2 received a suspension with a 4-day loading dose of sevasemten once-daily followed by 10 days at half of this dose (B1: 10 mg/5 mg, B2: 20 mg/10 mg). Cohorts B3 to B5 did not receive a loading dose and were administered a 20 mg suspension (B3) or a solid dosage form at doses of 20 mg (B4) and 40 mg (B5) daily for 14 days.
Phase 1b enrolled seven adult males with Becker who were randomized to active (n=5) or placebo (n=2). Sevasemten was administered at a dose of 20 mg once daily, in solid dosage form taken with food for 14 days. The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability, and secondary endpoints were PK, including tissue concentrations, and, importantly, multiple biomarkers of muscle damage in the setting of dystrophic muscle. Sevasemten was well tolerated in Becker subjects. Seven of the seven subjects enrolled in the Phase 1b cohort experienced Treatment Emergent AEs and all were Grade 1. There were no AEs of special interest, no SAEs, and no discontinuations due to AEs. There were no AEs due to clinically significant abnormal vital signs, ECG or laboratory assessments. All participants that received either sevasemten or placebo experienced Grade 1 dizziness with 2 of 5 participants that received sevasemten reporting somnolence.
Overall, the findings for the Phase 1 clinical trial with sevasemten provide compelling evidence for sevasemten as a potentially disease modifying treatment for muscular dystrophies. Both in HVs and Becker patients, sevasemten was well tolerated and achieved muscle concentrations well above those predicted to demonstrate efficacy based on preclinical disease models of Duchenne. Moreover, sevasemten led to a robust, significant reduction in key biomarkers of muscle damage, driving CK, TNNI2, myoglobin and AST to either normal or near normal levels observed in healthy volunteers after only two weeks of sevasemten dosing.
ARCH Open Label Data
In December 2021, we initiated our ARCH open label, single-center trial of sevasemten in 12 adults with Becker, including all seven participants from our Phase 1b first-in-human trial (following a 3-month washout). ARCH was designed to evaluate the safety, PK, changes in biomarkers of muscle damage such CK and fast skeletal muscle troponin I, measures of function with North Star Ambulatory Assessment (NSAA)/North Star Assessment for Limb-Girdle Type Muscular Dystrophies(NSAD), time function tests and patient-reported outcomes. The schematic below outlines the overall trial design. ARCH was designed to monitor patients for two years and was completed in March 2024.
ARCH Trial Design – 24 Months
The patients in ARCH had significant functional impairment and evidence of decreased muscle mass at baseline. All individuals had a decreased ability to perform functional measures such as the 10-meter walk-run or rise from floor,
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decreased creatinine that is derived directly from muscle, decreased lean body mass on DXA, and elevated CK consistent with ongoing muscle damage, all consistent with decreased muscle mass and function. NSAA scores for these individuals ranged from 4 to 31.
At 24 months, sevasemten continued to be well tolerated following escalation to the 20 mg dose, after initially receiving a 10 mg and 15 mg doses. An overview of the AEs observed up to the 12 and 24-month timepoints can be seen in the table below.
Summary Table of AEs Observed in ARCH (at the 24 Month Timepoint)
*not associated with dizziness
Significant decreases in key biomarkers of muscle damage including CK and TNNI2 were observed in participants treated with sevasemten.
Sevasemten Leads to Sustained Decrease in Key Biomarkers of Muscle Damage After 24 Months of Treatment
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As seen in the figure below, during two years of sevasemten treatment, participants’ NSAA scores stabilized and continued to diverge relative to functional declines reported across multiple Becker natural history studies, in which two-year mean decreases of 2.4 NSAA points were reported.
In ARCH, Sevasemten Demonstrated Stabilization of Function with Trends Toward Improvement at two years
The positive results from the two-year ARCH trial support the hypothesis that a reduction in contraction-induced muscle damage in muscular dystrophies, associated with sevasemten administration, has the potential to preserve and improve muscle function while preventing disease progression in dystrophinopathies.
Observations from ARCH identified key factors, including the optimal dosing strategy of sevasemten, for the design of a potentially registrational trial in Becker. Through MESA, our open label extension trial, following 36 months of treatment for patients previously enrolled in ARCH, we observed sustained disease stabilization. Notably, NSAA scores for participants who rolled over from ARCH remained stable, relative to expected functional declines seen in multiple Becker natural history studies, reinforcing prior ARCH findings.
In ARCH, Open Label Data In Becker Demonstrated Sustained Disease Stabilization At Three Years
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Phase 2 Clinical Trial in Becker (CANYON trial and GRAND CANYON cohort)
In July 2022, we initiated our CANYON Phase 2 clinical trial of sevasemten, a multi-center, double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, assessing the effect of sevasemten over a 12-month period on safety, PK, biomarkers of muscle damage (e.g., CK, troponins, myoglobin), and functional measures in individuals with Becker aged 12 years and above. This placebo-controlled trial successfully recruited 69 individuals at 16 sites in the United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
In September 2023, based on the positive observations from the ARCH trial, we amended the CANYON trial and initiated GRAND CANYON, a potentially registrational cohort in individuals with Becker. GRAND CANYON is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cohort to evaluate the safety and efficacy of sevasemten in adults with Becker. Data from GRAND CANYON, if positive, could support a marketing application. The primary endpoint of GRAND CANYON is the NSAA.
In December 2024, we reported topline data from CANYON Phase 2 trial, the largest Becker interventional trial to date. The trial met its primary endpoint demonstrating a significant change from baseline in circulating levels of CK, a biomarker associated with skeletal muscle damage, in the sevasemten-treated group (difference vs. placebo, 28% average decrease over months 6 through 12; p=0.02).
CK showed rapid and sustained decreases with sevasemten treatment
On the key secondary endpoint, sevasemten-treated patients showed stabilization of NSAA with a trend towards improvement at 12 months compared to placebo. The between-group difference was 1.1 points, favoring sevasemten; p=0.16 across all adult participants.
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Positive trends in NSAA favoring sevasemten with placebo declining in line with natural history
Plasma fast skeletal muscle troponin I (TNNI2), a target-specific biomarker of fast skeletal muscle damage, showed a significant decrease of 77% from baseline in the sevasemten-treated group compared to placebo, averaged over months 6 through 12 in adults; p<0.001. Additional functional measures, including the 10-meter walk/run, 4-stair climb and 100-meter timed test, showed trends towards improvement compared to placebo. Sevasemten was well-tolerated and no new safety concerns were observed.
TNNI2, an on-target biomarker of fast muscle fiber damage, demonstrated rapid and sustained decreases with sevasemten treatment
In February 2025, we completed enrollment, including over-enrolling beyond the target 120 Becker adults, in the GRAND CANYON pivotal cohort. Based on the positive Phase 2 CANYON results, we continue to engage the FDA and European Medicines Agency about marketing authorization filing strategies for sevasemten in Becker. Through MESA, our open label extension trial, following 18 months of treatment for patients previously enrolled in CANYON, we observed sustained disease stabilization. Notably, NSAA scores of participants who rolled over from CANYON trend toward improvement, diverging from expected functional declines seen in multiple Becker natural history studies, reinforcing prior CANYON findings.
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In CANYON, Open Label Data In Becker Demonstrated Sustained Disease Stabilization At 18 Months
Exercise Challenge Study (DUNE Study)
In November 2022, we initiated a Phase 2 Exercise Challenge Study (DUNE), to investigate the effect of sevasemten on muscle injury biomarkers following exercise, studied at a single site in Denmark. The trial is a 16-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial assessing safety, PK and biomarker response to exercise in adults with Becker, LGMD or McArdle disease. At the 2024 World Muscle Society meeting, we presented topline results from the DUNE study. showing sevasemten was well tolerated across 21 participants: Becker (n=9), LGMD (n=9) and McArdle (n=3). In the Becker cohort, sevasemten showed significant reductions in biomarker of muscle damage including a 45% decrease in CK after 16 weeks of treatment. At 24 hours post exercise, TNNI2 reduced 75% and CK by 49% in the sevasemten-treated group. The data further support the safety and efficacy profile of sevasemten in Becker.
Open-Label Extension in Becker (MESA)
In November 2023, we initiated our MESA open-label extension that will assess the long-term effect of sevasemten on safety, biomarkers and functional measures in adults and adolescents with Becker. MESA will provide continued access to sevasemten treatment to participants who were previously enrolled in ARCH, CANYON (including GRAND CANYON), and DUNE. To date, 99% of eligible participants completing these trials have enrolled in MESA. In June 2025, we announced positive data from MESA in participants previously enrolled in ARCH and CANYON, which demonstrated sustained disease stabilization, reinforcing prior ARCH and CANYON findings.
Phase 2 Clinical Trials in Duchenne (LYNX and FOX Studies)
In October 2023, we announced the expansion of our sevasemten program in Duchenne. The LYNX trial in children with Duchenne rapidly enrolled at 14 sites across the United States, across five cohorts. Based on the safety profile observed to date, we added additional cohorts to continue dose escalation of sevasemten. LYNX is designed to identify a dose of sevasemten that will reduce biomarkers of muscle damage and has the potential to provide functional benefit to patients in a Phase 3 trial. Additionally, a cohort includes children aged four to seven years with Duchenne who are not currently treated with corticosteroids. Patients within the LYNX trial are initially dosed in placebo-controlled cohorts over 12 weeks, then continue on to the open label portion of the trial for up to 48 months. In June 2025, we announced encouraging observations from the LYNX Phase 2 placebo-controlled trial in participants with Duchenne across several functional measures, including Stride Velocity 95th Centile (SV95C), NSAA and 4 stair-climb, while identifying a dose of 10 mg for further evaluation.
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We initiated the FOX trial, a Phase 2 placebo-controlled trial in children and adolescents with Duchenne who have been previously treated with gene therapy. The FOX trial is assessing the effect of sevasemten over 12 weeks on safety, PK and biomarkers of muscle damage. The trial will also explore changes in functional measures, such as the NSAA and self-reported/caregiver-reported outcomes. Participants, aged six to 17 years, are enrolled in the trial at seven sites across the United States. Participants will then continue in an open-label extension portion of the trial for up to 36 months to gain further insights into safety, PK, function and biomarker measures. In June 2025, we reported initial results from the FOX Phase 2 placebo-controlled trial in participants with Duchenne previously treated with gene therapy that also supported that sevasemten 10 mg has the potential to reduce the rate of functional decline.
Natural History Study
In 2022, we commenced an observational natural history study being conducted in collaboration with the GRASP-LGMD Consortium. Enrollment was completed in 2025.
EDG-7500: A Novel Molecule for the Treatment of Patients with HCM and Other Diseases of Diastolic Dysfunction with Significant Unmet Needs
Overview
In the course of our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program, a unique series of cardiac modulators with novel mechanisms of action have been identified. One of these agents, the small molecule EDG-7500, has unique properties that may lead to a novel therapeutic approach for patients with HCM. The effects of EDG-7500 on cardiac function overlap with some of the desirable attributes of the cardiac myosin inhibitors (CMIs) such as BMS’s CAMZYOS® (mavacamten) and Cytokinetics’ MYQORZO (aficamten). However, there are differences in EDG-7500’s effects on cardiac function from those of CMIs that we believe have the potential to yield a superior target product profile for the treatment of multiple phenotypes of HCM and may also have therapeutic benefit in sub-populations of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).
Disease Background and Current Treatment Limitations
HCM is the most common form of genetic heart disease, affecting approximately one in 200-500 individuals. HCM is caused by abnormal proteins in the heart, including cardiac myosin, that lead to excessive cardiac contraction. Over time, abnormal proteins in the heart, many of which are inherited, lead to excessive cardiac contraction, referred to as hypercontractility. This disruption in cardiac muscle contractility leads to increased stress and thickening of the walls of the major pumping chamber of the heart, the left ventricle (LV). The LV becomes less compliant and therefore less able to fill with and pump blood. This results in a decrease in the LV chamber volume. HCM patients can become extremely limited in their functional capacity and ability to perform the activities of daily living. They may also have episodic lightheadedness and loss of consciousness (syncope). In addition, these patients are at increased risk of heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation (AF), and sudden cardiac arrest.
HCM can be divided into patients with obstructive disease, known as obstructive HCM (oHCM) and those with non-obstructive disease (nHCM). The pathophysiologic feature of obstruction is present in two thirds of patients with HCM, as the mitral valve comes into contact with the thickened muscle of the interventricular septum during the ejection of oxygenated blood from the heart to the systemic circulation. This creates an obstruction to blood flow exiting the heart through the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) which results in a pressure gradient between the LV cavity and the systemic circulation. As a result, higher pressures are generated in the left ventricle than normal, and a pressure gradient develops between the LV cavity and the systemic circulation. This pressure gradient can be quantitatively measured by a routine clinical examination using Doppler echocardiography, the most common way oHCM is diagnosed and severity assessed. Patients with nHCM do not develop LVOT obstruction and have normal left ventricular pressures during contraction. They are characterized by the absence of a pressure gradient both at rest and following a variety of physiologic challenges, such as exertion, and non-physiologic maneuvers. Heart failure in nHCM results from diminished filling of the heart due to impaired myocardial relaxation that results from abnormal function of the same proteins that cause hypercontractility. This abnormal cardiac physiology, termed diastolic dysfunction leads to a decrease in cardiac output that is particularly severe when an HCM patient exerts themselves. oHCM patients also have
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LV diastolic dysfunction in addition to obstruction of blood flow in the LVOT. The clinical manifestations of oHCM and nHCM are generally similar though oHCM patients may experience more symptoms of lightheadedness and syncope.
Abnormalities in Heart Muscle Structure and Function Lead to Severe Abnormalities in HCM
Current Management of HCM
Physicians classify both oHCM and nHCM patients using the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification system (class I-IV), which reflects the degree of physical limitation and guides treatment decisions. The majority of diagnosed HCM patients are symptomatic (NYHA class II-IV) and require active treatment. NYHA class I HCM patients generally do not receive pharmacologic treatment unless they meet guideline-based criteria indicating elevated sudden cardiac death risk, in which case implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy may be recommended. Otherwise, class I HCM patients will remain under routine surveillance.
From a therapeutic standpoint, current pharmacologic management is anchored in addressing two distinct clinical challenges: relief of symptomatic LVOT obstruction in oHCM and symptom management in nHCM.
In oHCM, in addition to diastolic dysfunction (impaired relaxation and compliance), obstruction arises when a typically hyperdynamic, hypertrophied left ventricle, often with systolic anterior motion in the mitral valve, creates a dynamic outflow gradient that produces symptoms by limiting forward flow. Accordingly, the therapies of oHCM aim to reduce LVOT gradient in symptomatic patients. Historically, negative inotropes (beta blockers, non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, and disopyramide) have demonstrated symptomatic benefit, largely in smaller and older clinical studies, and act by blunting calcium-dependent pathways and reducing cardiac contractility. CMIs reduce obstruction through a distinct mechanism, decreasing the number of force-generating myosin heads available to interact with actin, which decreases contractile force and LVOT gradients.
In contrast, nHCM is driven by diastolic dysfunction, elevated filling pressures, microvascular dysfunction, and myocardial ischemia. No randomized, evidence-based pharmacologic therapies have been shown to improve outcomes in nHCM, leaving a significant unmet need. Symptom control is largely empiric; beta blockers or non-vasodilating calcium channel blockers may reduce angina-like symptoms attributable to supply-demand mismatch by lowering heart rate and myocardial work, but fail to normalize core diastolic abnormalities (early relaxation, end-diastolic compliance).
The CMI class has validated a targeted approach in oHCM. CAMZYOS®, approved by the FDA in April 2022, and MYQORZO, approved by the FDA in December 2025, demonstrated improvements in functional capacity and symptoms in symptomatic oHCM (NYHA class II-III), confirming both clinical efficacy and commercial viability of mechanism-based therapies. However, CMIs present adoption constraints despite efficacy:
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● black box warning for heart failure risk;
● echo-guided titration requirements, adding clincal and operational complexity; and
● risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) requirements, which can limit prescribing flexibility and increase administrative burden.
As oHCM or nHCM progresses, options narrow, often requiring septal reduction procedures or, in advanced cases, heart transplantation. The dynamic highlights a clear opportunity for differentiated, targeted therapies, especially in the underserved nHCM segment with no approved, randomized, outcome directed pharmacologic options.
Unmet Need in HCM
CMIs have complex pharmacology which results in potentially excessive reduction in cardiac function. CMIs largely only address excessive contractility, which can limit their efficacy in a disease where both contractility and diastolic function are abnormal. These factors lead CMIs to be difficult to dose to an efficacious maintenance dose. These factors lead to patients requiring frequent and indefinite follow-up at expert centers accompanied by specialized cardiac imaging. In addition, a significant percentage of oHCM patients do not respond to CMI and other therapies. The efficacy of CMIs in patients with nHCM, who have impaired relaxation and diastolic dysfunction, also remains unproven.
Limited Efficacy of Current Therapeutic Approaches to Treat oHCM
Our Approach and Preclinical Data
EDG-7500 is a novel small molecule discovered by our company’s scientific research efforts. Unlike CMIs, EDG-7500 does not bind to the myosin motor head but instead exerts its effects independently of myosin through direct interaction with a distinct sarcomeric protein. EDG-7500 was purposefully designed to modulate the complex protein-protein interactions that control both contraction and relaxation processes within the sarcomere. Specifically, EDG-7500 is designed to speed the rate of crossbridge detachment and slows the rate of crossbridge attachment leading to the reduction of excessive residual cross-bridges during diastole, potentially enhancing relaxation and facilitating ventricular filling.
In preclinical models, EDG-7500 has demonstrated improvement in a variety of the clinical manifestations in oHCM and nHCM. A summary table of key preclinical studies is shown below.
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Summary of Key Preclinical Studies with EDG-7500
EDG-7500: MYBPC3 A31P Feline Model of oHCM
To evaluate the role of EDG-7500 in oHCM, we used an established feline model with a MYBPC3 A31P mutation. Felines with this mutation exhibit a HCM phenotype with LVOT obstruction. Treating MYBPC3 A31P felines with dobutamine induces a significant LVOT pressure gradient. Subsequent treatment with a single 1 mg/kg dose of EDG-7500 resulted in LVOT gradient relief and improved contractility. All treated animals saw their LVOT gradient reduced below the level of veterinary clinical significance with an average reduction of >60% following a single, 1 mg/kg dose.
EDG-7500 Improves Contractility and Alleviates LVOT Gradient
We next evaluated gradient reduction relative to EDG-7500 free fraction concentration in the feline model of oHCM by increasing exposures using doses ranging from 0.3 – 4.0 mg/kg. Treatment with EDG-7500 is associated with a modest effect on contractility with free drug levels of ~ 55 to 140 ng/mL, a range in which reduction of LVOT gradient below clinical significance was observed. To the best of our knowledge, the ability to remove a substantial portion of the gradient at levels that preserve normal systolic function is a feature that has not been observed before for an HCM drug. This data suggests the mechanism of gradient removal is decoupled from changes in LVEF. We have also observed that there is only a modest reduction in systolic contractility even at doses that are multiple folds higher than the predicted target dose.
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Relationship of EDG-7500 Free Fraction Concentration and LVOT Gradient Relief
EDG-7500: Myosin Heavy Chain R403Q Porcine Model of nHCM
To evaluate the role of EDG-7500 in nHCM, we used an established, genetically engineered porcine model with an MYH7 R403Q HCM mutation. The MYH7 R403Q pigs exhibit cardiac structural and functional abnormalities, including left ventricular hypertrophy, small cavity, and increased filling pressure leading to increased left atrial size, which are consistent with the nHCM phenotype observed in humans.
In the MYH7 R403Q porcine model of nHCM, EDG-7500 was observed to reduce hypercontractility to near wild type levels. Next, we evaluated EDG-7500’s effect on parameters of diastolic dysfunction. EDG-7500 led to an improvement in left ventricular filling and a reduction in left atrial size, both consistent with reduced filling pressures in the heart. Single doses of EDG-7500 also led to a dramatic, statistically significant improvement in diastolic relaxation, a decrease in left ventricular wall thickness at end-diastole, a measure of diastolic crossbridge engagement, and a reduction in left atrial size, a surrogate of chronic LV filling pressure.
EDG-7500 Leads to Rapid Improvement of nHCM Cardiac Structure and Function After a Single Dose
In summary, we have observed that EDG-7500 is a first-in-class cardiac sarcomeric modulator that targets the underlying pathophysiology of HCM. Preclinical data in models of both obstructed and non-obstructed HCM suggest the ability to drive a broadly effective clinical response at a low risk of decreasing left ventricular ejection fraction below normal at all doses tested. Due to EDG-7500’s self-limiting mechanism on systolic contraction, we plan to investigate
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fixed-dose regimens of EDG-7500 thus potentially eliminating the echo-mediated dose titration and intense follow-up requirements of current therapies.
EDG-7500 Clinical Plan
EDG-7500 Phase 1 Clinical Trial
In September 2023, we announced initial dosing in a Phase 1 trial of EDG-7500 which assessed the tolerability, PK, and pharmacodynamics of EDG-7500 in healthy adults. In September 2024, the Company announced topline data of EDG-7500 from the Phase 1 trial in healthy subjects. In the placebo-controlled Phase 1 SAD trial (n=48), healthy subjects received single doses of EDG-7500, ranging from 5 to 300 mg. In the MAD portion of the trial (n=24), healthy subjects received 25 to 100 mg once daily for 14 days. EDG-7500 was well tolerated in both the SAD and MAD; there were no clinically meaningful changes or trends in vital signs, clinical chemistry, hematology, or electrocardiograms. There were no meaningful changes in LVEF for all SAD and MAD subjects across a broad range of EDG-7500 exposures. In the MAD portion of the trial, a half-life of approximately 30 hours was observed, and steady state was achieved in approximately 4 days after the start of once-daily dosing. Generally, dose proportional increases in exposure were observed in both SAD and MAD.
EDG-7500 Phase 2 Clinical Trial (CIRRUS-HCM)
In April 2024, we initiated CIRRUS-HCM, a four-part, multi-center, open-label trial, in 107 patients with HCM at up to 22 clinical sites in the U.S. The primary objective of Part A of the trial was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a single oral dose of EDG-7500. Other key outcome measures included PK, LVEF, and resting and provocable LVOT gradient. In the fourth quarter of 2024, we opened and began enrolling the 28-day arms (Part B and Part C) and the 12-week open label extension (Part D) of the CIRRUS-HCM trial in patients with oHCM and nHCM. CIRRUS-HCM Part D is designed to explore exposure-response correlations and assess biomarker-guided dose optimization to inform the design of Phase 3 trials expected in the second half of 2026. We plan to report initial CIRRUS-HCM data from Part D in the first half of 2026.
In CIRRUS-HCM Part A, patients with oHCM received a single dose of 50, 100 or 200 mg of EDG-7500. A 67% mean reduction in resting LVOT pressure gradient (LVOT-G) and a 55% mean reduction in provokable (Valsalva) LVOT-G were observed in patients receiving the 100 and 200 mg single doses. LVOT gradients less than 30 mmHg at rest and less than 50 mmHg with Valsalva were each observed in 60% of patients receiving a single dose of 100 or 200 mg of EDG-7500.
EDG-7500 Led to Significant Reductions of Resting and Valsalva LVOT-G in the Combined 100/200 mg Cohorts
Importantly, gradient reduction was achieved without a meaningful change in LVEF.
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Gradient Relief in oHCM Patients was Achieved Without a Meaningful Reduction in LVEF
Treatment with a single dose of EDG-7500 also led to a 64% mean reduction in NT-proBNP, a key biomarker of heart failure, in the 200 mg cohort.
EDG-7500 Administration Resulted in Robust Reductions in NT-proBNP, a Key Marker of Heart Failure in HCM
This reduction highlights the potential of our mechanism in the treatment of diseases of diastolic dysfunction, including nHCM.
In CIRRUS-HCM Part B, patients with oHCM received a once-daily dose of 50 or 100 mg of EDG-7500 for four weeks. A 71% mean reduction in resting LVOT pressure gradient (LVOT-G) and a 58% mean reduction in provokable (Valsalva) LVOT-G were observed in patients receiving the 100 mg dose.
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EDG-7500 Led to Significant Reductions of Resting and Valsalva LVOT-G in the 100 mg Cohort
Treatment with 100 mg of EDG-7500 also demonstrated a 62% mean reduction from baseline in NT-proBNP, a key biomarker of heart failure.
EDG-7500 Administration Resulted in Rapid and Robust Reductions in NT-proBNP, a Key Marker of Heart Failure in HCM
In addition, positive trends in echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function were observed following treatment with EDG-7500. Clinically meaningful improvements were also observed on the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Overall Summary Score (KCCQ-OSS), with a substantial mean increase of 23 points observed at the 100 mg dose. In addition, treatment with 100 mg of EDG-7500 over four weeks demonstrated improvements on the NYHA functional class score. 78% of participants improved by ≥ 1 NYHA class, and 67% improved to NYHA class I (i.e. asymptomatic).
In CIRRUS-HCM Part C, patients with nHCM received a once-daily dose of 50 or 100 mg of EDG-7500 for four weeks. Treatment with 100 mg of EDG-7500 demonstrated a 42% mean reduction from baseline in NT-proBNP, a key biomarker of heart failure.
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Like oHCM Patients, EDG-7500 Resulted in Rapid and Robust Reductions in NT-proBNP in Patients with nHCM
The results observed in Part B and Part C in patients with oHCM and nHCM were achieved without meaningful reductions in LVEF. Importantly, there were no LVEF values <50% at any timepoint. The most frequently reported adverse events were dizziness, upper respiratory tract infection, and AF, nearly all of which were considered mild to moderate in severity.
Gradient Relief in oHCM and nHCM Patients was Achieved Without a Meaningful Reduction in LVEF
Enrollment in Part D of the CIRRUS-HCM trial was completed in the first quarter of 2026. For patients who completed 12 weeks of dosing in Part D (8 with oHCM and 12 with nHCM), EDG-7500 generally had a favorable safety profile and was well tolerated. Consistent with previous observations, no clinically significant changes in LVEF or reductions in LVEF to below 50% were observed, with EDG-7500 continuing to demonstrate a differentiated LVEF profile relative to CMIs.
EDG-15400: A Novel Molecule for the Treatment of Patients with HFpEF
Overview and Disease Background
Edgewise is developing a novel small molecule, EDG-15400, with a distinct mechanism of action for the treatment of HFpEF. Heart failure (HF) is a growing global clinical syndrome that affects approximately 6.7 million individuals in
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the United States and more than 60 million people worldwide. Approximately half of all patients with HF are diagnosed with HFpEF, defined by a left ventricular ejection fraction of 50% or greater. HFpEF is a heterogeneous and complex syndrome with multiple contributing factors, including advanced age, inflammation, cardiometabolic stress, lifestyle factors, and coexisting medical conditions. This heterogeneity has historically complicated disease characterization and clinical development.
Patients with HFpEF commonly experience symptoms such as dyspnea, fatigue, and peripheral edema, which can range in severity and substantially impair quality of life. HFpEF is associated with a high burden of hospitalization, with reported 30-day readmission rates of approximately 20–30%, as well as significant morbidity and mortality, with published estimates suggesting 5-year mortality rates of approximately 50–60%
Current Management and Unmet Need of HFpEF
HFpEF management includes non-pharmacological strategies such as sodium restriction, exercise, and cardiac rehabilitation, as well as pharmacologic therapy aimed at reducing mortality and hospitalizations, improving symptoms, and managing comorbidities. SGLT2 inhibitors, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB), and angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ARNI) are the four components of guideline directed medical therapy. Diuretics are used as needed to manage congestion. Nonetheless, HFpEF remains a disorder associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and economic and healthcare burden.
Diastolic dysfunction is widely recognized as a central feature of HFpEF and a major contributor to impaired cardiac reserve in affected patients. Despite its importance in disease pathophysiology, current therapies for HFpEF do not directly target diastolic dysfunction. Diastolic dysfunction is a key feature of HFpEF and EDG-15400 is being evaluated for its potential to modulate pathways relevant to diastolic function, which may address an unmet medical need in HFpEF.
Phase 1 Clinical Trial
EDG-15400 is currently being studied in a Phase 1 trial of healthy adults. The trial is being conducted in healthy adult volunteers to assess the safety, tolerability, PK, and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple ascending doses of EDG-15400. It also includes assessments of the effect of food on drug absorption and comparisons of different formulations. This first-in-human study aims to support future clinical development in HFpEF and is expected to report topline results in the first half of 2026.
We also plan to initiate a Phase 2 trial in participants with HFpEF in the second half of 2026.
Manufacturing
We currently do not own or operate any manufacturing facilities. We rely and expect to continue to rely for the foreseeable future, on third-party contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) to produce our product candidates for preclinical and clinical testing, as well as for commercial manufacture if our product candidates receive marketing approval. Our CDMOs are obligated to produce bulk drug substances and finished drug products in accordance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) and all other applicable laws and regulations. We maintain agreements with our manufacturers that include confidentiality and intellectual property provisions to protect our proprietary rights related to our product candidates.
We have engaged CDMOs to manufacture sevasemten, EDG-7500, and EDG-15400 for preclinical and clinical use. All of our product candidates are small molecules and are manufactured in synthetic processes from readily available starting materials. We obtain our supplies from these CDMOs on a purchase order basis and do not have a long-term supply arrangement in place. We do not currently have arrangements in place for redundant supply. For all of our product candidates, we intend to identify and qualify additional manufacturers to provide the active pharmaceutical ingredient and fill-and-finish services prior to seeking regulatory approval.
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Sales and Marketing
If any of our product candidates are approved, we currently intend to market and commercialize them in the United States and select international markets, either alone or in collaboration with others.
Competition
Sevasemten
There is no cure for Becker and no approved therapies on the market to treat the disease.
Approximately 70% of patients with Duchenne are treated with corticosteroids to manage the inflammatory component of the disease. Deflazacort and prednisone are FDA-approved corticosteroids and are marketed by multiple companies. In October 2023, the FDA granted AGAMREE (vamorolone) approval in Duchenne patients aged 2 years and older, and Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has commercialized this product in the United States following its North America exclusive license deal with Santhera.
In addition, there are four exon skipping drugs which are marketed under an accelerated approval pathway from the FDA: EXONDYS 51 (eteplirsen), AMONDYS 45 (casimersen) and VYONDYS 53 (golodirsen), which are naked phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) approved for the treatment of Duchenne patients amenable to Exon 51, Exon 45 and Exon 53 skipping, respectively, and are marketed by Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., and VILTEPSO (vitolarsen), a naked PMO approved for the treatment of Duchenne patients amenable to Exon 53 skipping, which is marketed by Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. In May 2024, Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. announced that no statistical significance was observed between the treatment group and the placebo group in VILTEPSO’s confirmatory study. In November 2025, Sarepta announced that AMONDYS 45 and VYONDYS 53 missed their primary endpoint in the confirmatory study. These results may affect these three drugs’ accelerated FDA approval. In June 2022, PTC Therapeutics presented new topline results with Translarna (ataluren), for patients with nonsense mutation Duchenne, a subset of the disease that impacts between 10% and 15% of patients. It remains unclear if the data will lead to FDA approval of Translarna, for which the company resubmitted the NDA in October 2024. Translarna has been conditionally approved in the European Union and Brazil for ambulatory patients aged 2 years and older with Duchenne resulting from a nonsense mutation in the dystrophin gene. However, in March 2025, the European Commission adopted the negative opinions issued by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the EMA for the renewal of conditional marketing authorization of Translarna. While this action effectively removes Translarna’s marketing authorization in the European Economic Area, individual countries within the EU can leverage existing legislation to allow continued use of Translarna. In February 2026, PTC Therapeutics withdrew its application to the FDA for Translarna in nonsense mutation Duchenne after receiving feedback on its filing.
In June 2023, the FDA approved Sarepta’s Biologics License Application seeking accelerated approval of their microdystrophin gene therapy, Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), for the treatment of ambulant individuals with Duchenne between the ages of four to five years. In June 2024, the FDA granted Elevidys full approval for the treatment of ambulatory individuals aged 4 years and older, and accelerated approval for the treatment of non-ambulatory individuals aged 4 years and older. However, in November 2025, the FDA revised the Elevidys indication to limit to ambulatory individuals 4 years or older and added black box warnings about risks of acute and fatal liver injuries. Other companies focused on developing genetic based therapies for Duchenne that target dystrophin mechanisms include Solid Biosciences Inc., Genethon, Dyne Therapeutics, Avidity Biosciences, REGENXBIO, Wave Life Sciences, and Entrada Therapeutics. In September 2025, Avidity Biosciences announced positive topline and functional Phase 1/2 data for del-zota, demonstrating a statistically significant increase in dystrophin in individuals with Duchenne amenable to exon 44 skipping. In December 2025, Dyne announced top line Phase 1/2 data for zeleciment rostudirsen (z-rostudirsen) demonstrating a statistically significant increase in dystrophin in individuals with Duchenne amenable to exon 51 skipping. Gene editing treatments that are in preclinical development are also being pursued by Vertex and Sarepta Therapeutics.
We are also aware of several companies targeting non-dystrophin mechanisms for the treatment of Duchenne. In March 2024, the FDA approved Duvyzat (givinostat) for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in patients aged
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six years and older. The European Commission granted Duvyzat a conditional approval in June 2025. Moreover, in June 2021, Italfarmaco released top line Phase 2 data for givinostat in Becker. Givinostat did not show a significant difference in the primary endpoint compared to placebo. The future of this program in Becker is uncertain. In June 2025, Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the FDA has granted ODD to Deramiocel, the company’s lead cell therapy candidate, for the potential treatment of Becker, and this candidate is currently under regulatory review. Satellos Bioscience, Inc. is developing an orally administered small molecule drug designed to address deficits in muscle repair and regeneration and announced functional data from a Phase 1b trial in adult patients with Duchenne in May 2025.
EDG-7500
Current first-line pharmaceutical treatment for patients with oHCM and nHCM consists of non-vasodilating beta blockers and non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers. Commonly prescribed beta-blockers are atenolol, propranolol, and metoprolol. Verapamil and diltiazem are calcium channel blockers used in the treatment of symptomatic oHCM and nHCM. For oHCM patients who remain symptomatic, a sodium channel blocker with negative ionotropic drug properties may also be added, typically disopyramide (either Pfizer’s Norpace, marketed by Pfizer, or a generic form marketed by several companies) and/or Camzyos (mavacamten), a cardiac myosin inhibitor (CMI), may also be added.
In the field of emerging treatments for HCM, competitors include Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Cytokinetics, Imbria Pharmaceuticals, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, and Celltrion, and Braveheart Bio. BMS markets Camzyos (mavacamten), a CMI intended for the treatment of adults with symptomatic NYHA class II-III oHCM. To date, Camzyos (mavacamten) has secured marketing approvals in the US, Europe, and other countries across five continents. In December 2025, Cytokinetics received FDA approval and a positive opinion recommending marketing authorization from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA for the treatment of oHCM in NYHA II-III for its CMI aficamten, marketed as Myqorzo, beginning in the first quarter of 2026. In the second quarter of 2024, BMS and Cytokinetics initiated a study of mavacamten and aficamten, respectively, in pediatric population with symptomatic oHCM. In April 2025, BMS reported that its Phase 3 study of mavacamten in nHCM failed to meet its dual primary endpoints. Cytokinetics is exploring Myqorzo in an ongoing Phase 3 nHCM clinical trial. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals is currently conducting a Phase 3 study of Sotagliflozin, an SGLT 1/2 inhibitor, for the treatment of oHCM and nHCM. Braveheart Bio is planning to initiate a global Phase 3 clinical trial in oHCM in 2026.
Other drugs in development that do not target cardiac myosin include Imbria Pharmaceuticals’ ninerafaxstat (IMB-101), a partial fatty acid oxidation (pFOX) inhibitor, Celltrion’s CT-G20, an anti-arrhythmic cibenzoline succinate, and Univar Solutions’ trientine dihydrochloride, a selective copper II chelator. In November 2023, Imbria announced Phase 2 nHCM topline results of ninerafaxstat with full results published in March 2024, and in the second quarter of 2025, initiated a Phase 2b nHCM trial of ninerafaxstat. In the third quarter of 2024, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals initiated a Phase 3 trial of sotagliflozin, an SGLT1 and SGLT2 inhibitor, in patients with symptomatic oHCM and nHCM. We have limited knowledge of CT-G20’s Phase 1 oHCM trial status, while the trientine Phase 2 oHCM clinical trial is ongoing. A myosin binding protein C3-targeting gene therapy candidate, TN-201, is being developed by Tenaya Therapeutics for genetic HCM. TN-201 is currently in a Phase 1b/2 study for which interim results were announced in December 2024 with additional results presented at the 2025 American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions. We are aware of several preclinical HCM programs including: JN-210, a microRNA activating gene therapy approach being developed by Jaan Biotherapeutics; HTX-001, an antisense oligonucleotide approach being developed by Haya Therapeutics; CDR348T and CDR641L, both are non-coding RNA-based therapies being developed by Cardior Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novo Nordisk in May 2024). We are also aware of several early-stage preclinical HCM gene therapy assets being developed by DiNAQOR, DINA-003 and DINA-001, the latter in collaboration with BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (BMN-293/DINA-001). In August 2024, BioMarin announced the discontinuation of the development of BMN-293. We have limited knowledge of DINAQOR’s future development plans for DINA-001/BMN-293. Another HCM gene therapy approach targeting cardiac troponin I3 (TNNI3), LX2022, is being developed by Lexeo Therapeutics. To the best of our knowledge, the program is currently in a preclinical stage.
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Intellectual Property
Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain proprietary or intellectual property protection for our drug candidates, technology and know-how, to operate without infringing the proprietary or intellectual property rights of others and to prevent others from infringing our proprietary or intellectual property rights. We plan to protect our proprietary and intellectual property position by, among other methods, pursuing and obtaining patent protection in the United States and in jurisdictions outside of the United States related to our proprietary technology, inventions, improvements and drug candidates that are important to the development and implementation of our business. We also rely on trade secrets, know-how, trademarks, continuing technological innovation and licensing opportunities to develop and maintain our proprietary and intellectual property position.
We currently, and expect that we will continue to, own or in-license patents and patent applications related to our key drug candidates. We own patents and patent applications that cover compositions of matter, methods of treating diseases such as Duchenne, Becker, LGMD, muscle spasticity disorders, cardiac diseases such as HCM and HFpEF, and combination therapies. As of February 19, 2026, we own a patent portfolio consisting of 23 patent families. We own 9 issued U.S. patents, 5 issued European patents, 3 issued Chinese patents, 8 issued Japanese patents, 3 issued Australian patents, 2 issued Eurasian patents, 1 issued Korean patent, 2 issued Indian patents, 2 issued South African patents, 2 issued Singaporean patents, 2 issued Hong Kong patents, 2 issued Mexican patents, 1 issued Macao patent, 14 pending non-provisional U.S. patent applications, 7 pending PCT applications and 62 pending foreign applications filed in 15 different countries and regions including Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Eurasia, Israel, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and Hong Kong. We own two issued U.S., one European, one South African, one Hong Kong, one Singaporean, one Mexican, one Eurasian, one Chinese, one Australian, and one Japanese patent that covers compositions of matter of sevasemten and methods of treatment using sevasemten that are expected to expire in 2039, excluding any patent term extensions. We own one issued U.S. patent that covers composition of matter of EDG-7500 and methods of treatment using EDG-7500, which is expected to expire in 2043, excluding any patent term extensions. We own one issued U.S. patent that covers composition of matter of EDG-15400 and methods of treatment using EDG-15400, which is expected to expire in 2044, excluding any patent term extensions. For our drug candidates, we generally pursue multilayered patent protection covering compositions of matter, methods of use and methods of manufacture. We also intend to pursue patent protection, if available, with respect to biomarkers that may be useful in selecting a patient population for use of our drug candidates. We intend to strengthen the patent protection of our drug candidates and technologies through additional patent application filings.
The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term for patents in the countries in which they are granted. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is generally 20 years from the earliest date of filing a non-provisional patent application. In the United States, the patent term may, in certain cases, be lengthened by patent term adjustment, which compensates a patentee for administrative delays by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in examining and granting a patent or may be shortened if a patent is terminally disclaimed over a commonly owned patent or a patent naming a common inventor and having an earlier expiration date. Additionally, the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (the Hatch-Waxman Act) permits patent term extension of up to five years beyond the expiration date of a U.S. patent as partial compensation for the length of time a drug is under regulatory review while a patent that covers the drug is in force. The length of the patent term extension is related to the length of time the drug is under regulatory review. Patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval, only one patent applicable to each regulatory review period may be extended and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it or a method for manufacturing it may be extended.
Similar provisions are available in the European Union and certain other foreign jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. In the future, if and when our drug candidates receive approval by the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities, we expect to apply for patent term extensions on issued patents covering those products, if available. However, there is no guarantee that the applicable authorities, including the FDA in the United States, will agree with our assessment of whether such extensions should be granted, and, if granted, the length of such extensions. For more information regarding the risks related to our intellectual property, see the section titled “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.” Expiration dates referred to above are without regard to potential patent term extension or other market exclusivity that may be available to us.
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In addition to patent protection, we also rely on trade secrets, know-how, trademarks, other proprietary information and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. We seek to protect and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary information to protect aspects of our business that are not amenable to, or that we do not consider appropriate for, patent protection. Although we take steps to protect our proprietary information and trade secrets, including through contractual means with our employees and consultants, third parties may independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or disclose our technology. Thus, we may not be able to meaningfully protect our trade secrets. It is our policy to require our employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers and other advisors to execute confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of employment or consulting relationships with us. These agreements provide that all confidential information concerning our business or financial affairs developed or made known to the individual during the course of the individual’s relationship with us is to be kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties except in specific circumstances. Our agreements with employees also provide that all inventions conceived by the employee in the course of employment with us or from the employee’s use of our confidential information are our exclusive property. However, such confidentiality agreements and invention assignment agreements can be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. For more information regarding the risks related to our intellectual property, see the section titled “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”
The patent positions of biotechnology companies like ours are generally uncertain and involve complex legal, scientific and factual questions. Our commercial success will also depend in part on not infringing upon the proprietary rights of third parties. It is uncertain whether the issuance of any third-party patent would require us to alter our development or commercial strategies, alter our drugs or processes, obtain licenses or cease certain activities. Our breach of any license agreements or our failure to obtain a license to proprietary rights required to develop or commercialize our future products may have a material adverse impact on us. If third parties prepare and file patent applications in the United States that also claim technology to which we have rights, we may have to participate in interference or derivation proceedings in the USPTO to determine priority of invention. For more information, see the section titled “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”
Government Regulations
Government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state, and local level, and other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, nonclinical and clinical testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, marketing, and export and import of products such as those we are developing. Generally, before a new drug can be marketed, considerable data must be generated, which demonstrate the drug’s quality, safety, and efficacy. Such data must then be organized into a format specific for each regulatory authority, submitted for review and approved by the regulatory authority.
U.S. 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. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, the approval process or after approval may subject an applicant to administrative or judicial sanctions. These sanctions could include the FDA’s refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, a clinical hold, warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement, or civil or criminal penalties. Any agency or judicial enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on us.
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The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:
● completion of nonclinical 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 application, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;
● approval by an independent institutional review board (IRB) ethics committee, either centralized or with respect to each clinical site, before each clinical trial may be initiated;
● performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials in accordance with good clinical practice (GCP) requirements to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug for its intended use;
● submission to the FDA of a New Drug Application (NDA) after completion of all pivotal trials;
● determination by the FDA within 60 days of its receipt of an NDA to accept the filing for substantive review;
● satisfactory completion of an FDA advisory committee review, if applicable;
● Our royalty obligations of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the drug is produced to assess compliance with cGMP requirements to ensure 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; and
● 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, we 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. The central focus of an IND submission is on the general investigational plan and the protocol(s) for clinical studies. The IND also includes results of animal and in vitro studies assessing the toxicology, PK, pharmacology, and pharmacodynamic characteristics of the product; chemistry, manufacturing, and controls information; and any available human data or literature to support the use of the investigational product. An IND must become effective before human clinical trials may begin. 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.
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 trial. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the study, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. 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. 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. Regulatory authorities, the IRB or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the subjects are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk or that the clinical trial is unlikely to meet its stated objectives. Some trials also include oversight by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial
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sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board, which may review data and endpoints at designated check points, make recommendations and/or 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. There are also requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical studies and clinical trial results to public registries.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:
● Phase 1: The product candidate is initially introduced into healthy human subjects or patients with the target disease or condition. These studies are designed to test the safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, and distribution of the investigational product in humans, the side effects associated with increasing doses, and, if possible, to gain early evidence on effectiveness. In the case of some products for severe or life-threatening diseases, especially when the product may be too inherently toxic to ethically administer to HVs, the initial human testing is often conducted in patients.
● Phase 2: The product candidate is administered to a limited patient population with a specified disease or condition to evaluate the preliminary efficacy, optimal dosages, and dosing schedule and to identify possible adverse side effects and safety risks. Multiple Phase 2 clinical trials may be conducted to obtain information prior to beginning larger and more expensive Phase 3 clinical trials.
● Phase 3: The product candidate is administered to an expanded patient population to further evaluate dosage, to provide statistically significant evidence of clinical efficacy and to further test for safety, generally at multiple geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. These clinical trials are intended to establish the overall risk/benefit ratio of the investigational product and to provide an adequate basis for product approval.
Post-approval clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4 studies, may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These clinical trials are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of an NDA.
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. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the drug has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. In addition, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. Depending on its charter, this group may determine whether a clinical trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the clinical trial.
During the development of a new 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. Sponsors typically use the meetings at the end of the Phase 2 clinical 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 new drug.
Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III clinical testing may not be completed successfully within a specified period, if any all, and there can be no assurance that the data collected will support FDA approval of a product candidate. Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the drug and finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the manufacturer must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, and purity of the final drug. In addition, appropriate packaging must be
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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 and before approval, progress reports summarizing the results of the clinical trials and nonclinical studies performed since the last progress report 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.
NDA Review and Approval Process
Assuming successful completion of all required testing in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements, the results of product development nonclinical studies and clinical trials, along with descriptions of the manufacturing process, analytical tests conducted on the chemistry of the drug, proposed labeling and other relevant information are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA requesting approval to market the product. The submission of an NDA is subject to the payment of substantial user fees; a waiver of such fees may be obtained under certain limited circumstances. Additionally, no user fees are assessed on NDAs for products designated as orphan drugs, unless the product also includes a non-orphan indication.
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 Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the date of “filing” of a standard NDA for a new molecular entity to review and act on the submission. This review typically takes 12 months from the date the NDA is submitted to FDA because the FDA has approximately two months to make a “filing” decision after the application is submitted. The FDA conducts a preliminary review of all NDAs within the first 60 days after submission, before accepting them for filing, to determine whether they are sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. The FDA may request additional information rather than accept an NDA for filing. In this event, the NDA must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application is also subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing.
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. 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 an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCPs. If the FDA determines that the application, manufacturing process, or manufacturing facilities are not acceptable, it will outline the deficiencies in the submission and often will request additional testing or information. Notwithstanding the submission of any requested additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval.
After the FDA evaluates an NDA, it will issue an approval letter or a Complete Response Letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with prescribing information for specific indications. A Complete Response Letter indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete, and the application will not be approved in its present form. A Complete Response Letter usually describes the specific deficiencies in the NDA identified by the FDA and may require additional clinical data, such as an additional pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial or other significant and time-consuming requirements related to clinical trials, nonclinical studies, or manufacturing. If a Complete Response Letter is issued, the sponsor must resubmit the NDA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, or
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withdraw the application. Even if such data and information are submitted, the FDA may decide that the NDA does not satisfy the criteria for approval.
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. 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. It 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 offer accelerated approval with postmarketing confirmatory trial requirements or approvals subject to other postmarketing requirements, including among other things, changes to proposed labeling or the development of adequate controls and specifications. Once approved, the FDA may withdraw the product approval if compliance with pre- and post-marketing requirements is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the marketplace. The FDA may also require one or more Phase 4 post-market studies and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization and may limit further marketing of the product based on the results of these post-marketing studies. In addition, new government requirements, including those resulting from new legislation, may be established, or the FDA’s policies may change, which could impact the timeline for regulatory approval or otherwise impact ongoing development programs.
Expedited Development and Review Programs
The FDA has a fast-track designation program that is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for reviewing new drug products that meet certain criteria. Specifically, new drugs are eligible for fast-track designation if they 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. With regard to a fast-track product, the FDA may consider for review sections of the NDA on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted, if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the NDA, the FDA agrees to accept sections of the NDA and determines that the schedule is acceptable, and the sponsor pays any required user fees upon submission of the first section of the NDA.
Any product submitted to the FDA for approval, including a product with a fast-track designation, may also be eligible for other types of FDA programs intended to expedite development and review, such as priority review and accelerated approval. A product is eligible for priority review if it has the potential to provide safe and effective therapy where no satisfactory alternative therapy exists or a significant improvement in the treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of a disease compared to marketed products. The FDA will attempt to direct additional resources to the evaluation of an application for a new drug designated for priority review in an effort to facilitate the review. The FDA endeavors to review applications with priority review designations within six months of the filing date as compared to ten months for review of new molecular entity NDAs under its current PDUFA review goals.
In addition, a product may be eligible for accelerated approval. Drug products intended to treat serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions may be eligible for 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 approval, the FDA may require that a sponsor of a drug receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well-controlled post-marketing clinical trials. 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 product.
The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act established a category of drugs referred to as “breakthrough therapies” that may be eligible to receive breakthrough therapy designation. A sponsor may seek FDA designation of a product candidate as a “breakthrough therapy” if the product is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other products, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product 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
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includes all of the fast-track program features, as well as more intensive FDA interaction and guidance. The breakthrough therapy designation is a distinct status from both accelerated approval and priority review, which can also be granted to the same drug if relevant criteria are met. If a product is designated as breakthrough therapy, the FDA will work to expedite the development and review of such drug. The Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act (FDORA) made several changes to the FDA’s authorities and its regulatory framework, including, among other changes, reforms to the accelerated approval pathway, such as requiring the FDA to specify conditions for post-approval study requirements and setting forth procedures for the FDA to withdraw a product on an expedited basis for non-compliance with post-approval requirements.
Fast track designation, priority review, accelerated approval, and breakthrough therapy designation do not change the standards for approval, but may expedite the development or approval process. Even if a product 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. We may explore some of these opportunities for our product candidates as appropriate.
Orphan Drugs
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant ODD, to a drug or biologic intended to treat a rare disease or condition, defined as a disease or condition with either a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or a patient population greater of than 200,000 individuals in the United States when there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the drug or biologic in the United States will be recovered from sales in the United States of that drug or biologic. ODD must be requested before submitting a NDA. After the FDA grants ODD, the generic identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA.
If a product that has received ODD and 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 biologic for the same indication for seven years from the approval of the NDA, 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 or biologic for the same disease or condition, or the same drug or biologic for a different disease or condition. Among the other benefits of ODD are tax credits for certain research and a waiver of the NDA application 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 ODD. 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 if the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. In view of the court decision in Catalyst Pharms., Inc. v. Becerra, 14 F.4th 1299 (11th Cir. 2021), in January 2023, the FDA published a notice in the Federal Register to clarify that while the agency complies with the court’s order in Catalyst, FDA intends to continue to apply its longstanding interpretation of the regulations to matters outside of the scope of the Catalyst order – that is, the agency will continue tying the scope of orphan-drug exclusivity to the uses or indications for which a drug is approved, which permits other sponsors to obtain approval of a drug for new uses or indications within the same orphan designated disease or condition that have not yet been approved. It is unclear how future litigation, legislation, agency decisions, and administrative actions will impact the scope of the orphan drug exclusivity.
In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Chevron doctrine, which gives deference to regulatory agencies’ statutory interpretations in litigation against federal government agencies, such as the FDA, where the law is ambiguous. This landmark Supreme Court decision may invite various stakeholders to bring lawsuits against the FDA to challenge longstanding decisions and policies, including FDA’s statutory interpretations of market exclusivities and the “substantial evidence” requirements for drug approvals, which could lead to uncertainties in the industry. Further,
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changes in the leadership of the FDA and other federal agencies under the current administration have led to new policies and changes in the regulations that may impact our clinical development and timelines.
Post-Approval Requirements
Any products manufactured or distributed by us 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. 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. There are continuing, annual program fees for any marketed products. Drug manufacturers and their subcontractors are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP, which impose certain procedural and documentation requirements upon us and our third-party manufacturers. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated, and, depending on the significance of the change, may require prior FDA approval before being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and impose reporting requirements upon us and any third-party manufacturers that we may decide to use. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain compliance with cGMP and other aspects of regulatory compliance.
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; imposition of post-market studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:
● restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product recalls;
● fines, warning letters, or untitled letters;
● clinical holds on post-approval or Phase IV clinical studies, if applicable;
● refusal of the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications, or suspension or revocation of product license approvals;
● 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;
● mandated modification of promotional materials and labeling and the issuance of corrective information;
● the issuance of safety alerts, Dear Healthcare Provider letters, press releases, and other communications containing warnings or other safety information about the product; or
● injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
The FDA closely regulates the marketing, labeling, advertising, and promotion of drug products. A company can make only those claims relating to safety and efficacy that are approved by the FDA and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in, among other things, adverse publicity, warning letters, corrective advertising, and potential civil and criminal penalties. Physicians may prescribe, in their independent professional medical judgment, legally available products for uses that are not described in the
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product’s labeling and that differ from those tested by us and approved by the FDA. Physicians may believe that such off-label uses are the best treatment for many patients in varied circumstances. The FDA does not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. The FDA does, however, restrict manufacturer’s communications on the subject of off-label use of their products. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion of off-label use and has enjoined companies from engaging in off-label promotion. The FDA and other regulatory agencies have also required that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. However, companies may share truthful and not misleading information that is otherwise consistent with a product’s FDA-approved labelling.
U.S. Patent-Term Restoration and Marketing Exclusivity
Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA approval of any future product candidates, some of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits restoration of the patent term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and FDA regulatory review process. Patent-term restoration, however, 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 or the issue date of the patent, whichever is later, and the submission date of an NDA plus the time between the submission date of an NDA or the issue date of the patent, whichever is later, and the approval of that application, except that the review period is reduced by any time during which the applicant failed to exercise due diligence. Only one patent applicable to an approved drug is eligible for the extension and the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent. The USPTO, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. In the future, we may apply for restoration of patent term for our currently owned or licensed patents to add patent life beyond its current expiration date, depending on the expected length of the clinical trials and other factors involved in the filing of the relevant NDA.
Market exclusivity provisions under the FDCA also can delay the submission or the approval of certain applications. The FDCA provides a five-year period of non-patent marketing exclusivity within the United States to the first applicant to gain approval of a NDA for a new chemical entity. A drug is a new chemical entity if the FDA has not previously approved any other new drug containing the same active moiety, which is the molecule or ion responsible for the action of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not accept for review an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA), or a 505(b)(2) NDA submitted by another company for a generic version of such drug where the applicant does not own or have a legal right of reference to all the data required for approval. However, an application may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement. The FDCA also provides three years of marketing exclusivity for a NDA, 505(b)(2) NDA or supplement to an existing NDA if new clinical investigations, other than bioavailability studies, that were conducted or sponsored by the applicant are deemed by the FDA to be essential to the approval of the application, for example, new indications, dosages or strengths of an existing drug. This three-year exclusivity covers only the conditions of use associated with the new clinical investigations and does not prohibit the FDA from approving ANDAs for drugs containing the original active agent. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a full NDA. However, an applicant submitting a full NDA would be required to conduct or obtain a right of reference to all of the preclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness or generate such data themselves.
Pediatric exclusivity is another type of marketing exclusivity available in the United States and provides for an additional six months of marketing exclusivity attached to another period of exclusivity if a sponsor conducts clinical trials in children in response to a written request from the FDA. The issuance of a written request does not require the sponsor to undertake the described clinical trials.
Other U.S. Regulatory Matters
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are subject to additional healthcare laws, regulation, and enforcement by the federal government and by authorities in the states and foreign jurisdictions in which they conduct their business. Such laws include, without limitation, U.S. federal anti-kickback, anti-self-referral, false claims, transparency, including the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, consumer fraud, pricing reporting, data privacy, data protection, and security laws
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and regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), as well as similar foreign laws in the jurisdictions outside the U.S. Similar state and local laws and regulations may also restrict business practices in the pharmaceutical industry, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to business practices, including but not limited to, research, distribution, sales, and marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by nongovernmental third-party payors, including private insurers, or by patients themselves; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state laws and regulations that require drug manufacturers to file reports relating to pricing and marketing information; state and local laws which require the tracking of gifts and other remuneration and any transfer of value provided to physicians, other healthcare providers and entities; and state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives; and state and local laws governing the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
These laws and regulations are subject to change, which can increase the resources needed for compliance and delay drug approval or commercialization. Any action brought against us for violations of these laws or regulations, even successfully defended, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. Also, we may be subject to private “qui tam” actions brought by individual whistleblowers on behalf of the federal or state governments. Actual or alleged violation of any such laws or regulations may lead to investigations and other claims and proceedings by regulatory authorities and in certain cases, private actors, and violation of any of such laws or any other governmental regulations that apply may result in penalties, including, without limitation, significant administrative, civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, additional reporting obligations, and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, the curtailment or restructuring of operations, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs and imprisonment.
Coverage and Reimbursement
Sales of any pharmaceutical product depend, in part, on the extent to which such product will be covered by third-party payors, such as federal, state, and foreign government healthcare programs, commercial insurance, and managed healthcare organizations, and the level of reimbursement for such product by third-party payors. Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any newly approved product. Decisions regarding the extent of coverage and amount of reimbursement to be provided are made on a plan-by-plan basis. One third-party payor’s decision to cover a particular product does not ensure that other payors will also provide coverage for the product. As a result, the coverage determination process can require manufacturers to provide scientific details, information on cost-effectiveness, and clinical support for the use of a product to each payor separately. This can be a time-consuming process, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. In addition, third-party payors are increasingly reducing reimbursements for pharmaceutical products and related services. The U.S. government and state legislatures have continued implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on coverage and reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products. Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged, examining the medical necessity and reviewing the cost effectiveness of pharmaceutical products, in addition to questioning their safety and efficacy. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit sales of any product. Decreases in third-party reimbursement for any product or a decision by a third-party payor not to cover a product could reduce physician usage and patient demand for the product.
In international markets, reimbursement and healthcare payment systems vary significantly by country, and many countries have instituted price ceilings on specific products and therapies. For example, the European Union provides options for its member states to restrict the range of medicinal products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement and to control the prices of medicinal products for human use. A member state may approve a specific price for the medicinal product, or it may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the medicinal product on the market. Pharmaceutical products may face competition from lower-
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priced products in foreign countries that have placed price controls on pharmaceutical products and may also compete with imported foreign products. Furthermore, there is no assurance that a product will be considered medically reasonable and necessary for a specific indication, that it will be considered cost-effective by third-party payors, that an adequate level of reimbursement will be established even if coverage is available, or that the third-party payors’ reimbursement policies will not adversely affect the ability for manufacturers to sell products profitably.
Healthcare Reform
In the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare system. In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the ACA), was signed into law, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers in the United States. By way of example, the ACA increased the minimum level of Medicaid rebates payable by manufacturers of brand name drugs from 15.1% to 23.1%; it required collection of rebates for drugs paid by Medicaid managed care organizations; imposed a non-deductible annual fee on pharmaceutical manufacturers or importers who sell certain “branded prescription drugs” to specified federal government programs; it implemented a new methodology under which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted, or injected; it expanded the eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs; it created a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research; and it established a Center for Medicare Innovation at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), to test innovative payment and service delivery models to lower Medicare and Medicaid spending, potentially including prescription drug spending. Since its enactment, there have been executive, judicial and congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, and we expect there will be additional challenges and amendments to the ACA in the future.
The ACA continues to significantly impact the United States’ pharmaceutical industry. Since its enactment, there have been judicial and congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. In June 2021, the United States Supreme Court held that Texas and other challengers had no legal standing to challenge the ACA, dismissing the case without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA. Accordingly, the ACA remains in effect in its current form. It is unclear how future litigation or healthcare measures promulgated by the current administration will impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Complying with any new legislation or changes in healthcare regulation could be time-intensive and expensive, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business.
Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. These changes include aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year, effective April 1, 2013, which will stay in effect through 2032, unless additional congressional action is taken. 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, to review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and to reform government program reimbursement methodologies for pharmaceutical products. For example, under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Medicaid statutory rebates are no longer capped at 100% of the average manufacturer price. Elimination of this cap may require pharmaceutical manufacturers to pay more in rebates than it receives on the sale of products, which could have a material impact on our business. In August 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes prescription drug provisions that have significant implications for the pharmaceutical industry and Medicare beneficiaries, including allowing the federal government to negotiate a maximum fair price for certain high-priced single source Medicare drugs, imposing penalties and excise tax for manufacturers that fail to comply with the drug price negotiation requirements, requiring inflation rebates for all Medicare Part B and Part D drugs, with limited exceptions, if their drug prices increase faster than inflation, and redesigning Medicare Part D to reduce out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for beneficiaries, among other changes. Only high-expenditure single-source drugs that have been approved for at least 7 years (11 years for single-source biologics) can qualify for negotiation, with the negotiated price taking effect two years after the selection year. For 2026, the first year in which negotiated prices become effective, CMS selected 10 high-cost Medicare Part D drugs in 2023, negotiations began in 2024, and the negotiated maximum fair price for each drug has been announced. CMS has selected 15 additional Medicare Part D drugs for negotiated maximum fair pricing in 2027. For 2028, up to an additional 15
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drugs, which may be covered under either Medicare Part B or Part D, will be selected, and for 2029 and subsequent years, up to 20 additional Part B or Part D drugs will be selected. Various industry stakeholders have initiated lawsuits against the federal government asserting that the price negotiation provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act are unconstitutional. Further, the current administration has issued executive orders focused on decreasing prescription drug prices, including directing the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a mechanism through which American patients can buy drugs directly from manufacturers who sell at a most-favored-nation price and directing the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in practices that purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices and drive price hikes in the U.S. In November 2025, CMS announced a voluntary initiative called the GENEROUS Model (GENErating cost Reductions fOr U.S. Medicaid Model) to introduce the option of most-favored-nation pricing to the Medicaid program, whereby a drug manufacturer may voluntarily offer supplemental rebates to participating state Medicaid programs for a manufacturer’s covered outpatient drugs. Government agreements with pharmaceutical companies and other measures that use most-favored-nation pricing targets for prescription drugs or that increase generic and biosimilar drug entry sooner than expected can have a material adverse effect on our industry, ability to set adequate pricing for new drugs to recover R&D costs, ability to attract potential investors and potential buyers in the future, or the pricing of our approved product in the U.S. and in foreign countries. The impact of judicial challenges and future regulations, healthcare measures and agency rules by the current administration on us and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole is currently unknown. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our product candidates if approved. Complying with any new legislation and regulatory changes could be time-intensive and expensive, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business. At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. For example, a number of states are considering or have recently enacted state drug price transparency and reporting laws that could substantially increase our compliance burdens and expose us to greater liability under such state laws once we begin commercialization after obtaining regulatory approval for any of our products. FDA recently authorized the state of Florida to import certain prescription drugs from Canada for a period of two years to help reduce drug costs, provided that Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration meets the requirements set forth by the FDA. Other states may follow Florida. 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 affect the prices we may obtain for any of our product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval or the frequency with which any such product candidate, if approved, is prescribed or used.
Furthermore, there has been increased interest by third party payors and governmental authorities in reference to pricing systems and publication of discounts and list prices.
Foreign Regulation
In addition to regulations in the United States, we will be subject to a variety of foreign regulations governing clinical trials and commercial sales and distribution of our product candidates to the extent we choose to develop or sell any product candidates outside of the United States. The approval process varies from country to country and the time may be longer or shorter than that required to obtain FDA approval. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, regulatory approval for our products, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country.
European Union Drug Development
Similar to the United States, the various phases of preclinical and clinical research in the European Union (EU) are subject to significant regulatory controls. Although the European Union Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC has sought to harmonize the EU clinical trials regulatory framework, setting out common rules for the control and authorization of clinical trials in the EU, the EU Member States have transposed and applied the provisions of the directive differently. This has led to significant variations in the member state regimes. Under the current regime, before a clinical trial can be initiated, it must be approved in each of the EU countries where the trial is to be conducted by two distinct bodies: The National Competent Authority (NCA), and one or more Ethics Committees (ECs). Under the current regime all
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suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions to the investigated drug that occur during the clinical trial have to be reported to the NCA and ECs of the Member State where they occurred. The EU clinical trials legislation currently is undergoing a transition process mainly aimed at harmonizing and streamlining clinical-trial authorization, simplifying adverse-event reporting procedures, improving the supervision of clinical trials and increasing their transparency. The Clinical Trials Regulation EU No 536/2014 which replaced the Clinical Trials Directive entered into application on January 31, 2022, is intended to simplify the current rules for clinical trial authorization and standards of performance. For instance, there will be a streamlined application procedure via a single-entry point, a European Union portal and database. From January 31, 2025, all ongoing trials, including those approved under the Clinical Trials Directive, will need to comply with the Clinical Trials Regulation and their sponsors must enter information on the trials in the Clinical Trials Information System.
European Union Drug Review and Approval
In the European Economic Area (EEA), which is comprised of the 27 Member States of the European Union and three European Free Trade Association States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), medicinal products can only be commercialized after obtaining a Marketing Authorization (MA). There are two types of marketing authorizations.
● The Community MA is issued by the European Commission through the Centralized Procedure, based on the opinion of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA, and is valid throughout the entire territory of the EEA. The Centralized Procedure is mandatory for certain types of products, such as biotechnology medicinal products, orphan medicinal products, advanced-therapy medicines such as gene therapy, somatic cell-therapy or tissue-engineered medicines and medicinal products containing a new active substance indicated for the treatment of HIV, AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, autoimmune and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases. The Centralized Procedure is optional for products containing a new active substance not yet authorized in the EEA, or for products that constitute a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation or which are in the interest of public health in the EU.
● National MAs, which are issued by the competent authorities of the Member States of the EEA and only cover their respective territory, are available for products not falling within the mandatory scope of the Centralized Procedure. Where a product has already been authorized for marketing in a Member State of the EEA, this National MA can be recognized in another Member States through the Mutual Recognition Procedure. If the product has not received a National MA in any Member State at the time of application, it can be approved simultaneously in various Member States through the Decentralized Procedure. 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 (RMS). The competent authority of the RMS prepares a draft assessment report, a draft summary of the product characteristics (SOPC) and a draft of the labeling and package leaflet, which are sent to the other Member States (referred to as the Member States Concerned) for their approval. If the Member States Concerned raise no objections, based on a potential serious risk to public health, to the assessment, SOPC, labeling or packaging proposed by the RMS, the product is subsequently granted a national MA in all the Member States (i.e., in the RMS and the Member States Concerned).
Under the above-described procedures, before granting the MA, EMA or the competent authorities of the Member States of the EEA make an assessment of the risk-benefit balance of the product on the basis of scientific criteria concerning its quality, safety and efficacy. Similar to the U.S. patent term-restoration, Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) serve as an extension to a patent right in Europe for up to five years, subject to certain extension. SPCs apply to specific pharmaceutical products to offset the loss of patent protection due to the lengthy testing and clinical trials these products require prior to obtaining regulatory marketing approval. However, SPCs are not the only EU mechanism offering protection for a drug product beyond the patent expiry date. For example, under the EU exclusivity regime, an innovator company can qualify for eight years of data exclusivity, two years of market exclusivity during which generic companies can prepare and apply for marketing approval but cannot market their generic products, and an additional one year of market exclusivity for a new indication with significant clinical benefit over existing therapies.
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In the EEA, marketing authorization applications for new medicinal products not authorized have to include the results of studies conducted in the pediatric population, in compliance with a pediatric investigation plan (PIP) agreed with the EMA’s Pediatric Committee (PDCO). The PIP sets out the timing and measures proposed to generate data to support a pediatric indication of the drug for which marketing authorization is being sought. The PDCO can grant a deferral of the obligation to implement some or all of the measures of the PIP until there are sufficient data to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the product in adults. Further, the obligation to provide pediatric clinical trial data can be waived by the PDCO when these data is not needed or appropriate because the product is likely to be ineffective or unsafe in children, the disease or condition for which the product is intended occurs only in adult populations, or when the product does not represent a significant therapeutic benefit over existing treatments for pediatric patients. Once the marketing authorization is obtained in all Member States of the EU and study results are included in the product information, even when negative, the product is eligible for six months’ supplementary protection certificate extension.
Employees and Human Capital
As of December 31, 2025, we had 146 full-time employees. Of these employees, 114 are engaged in research or product development and clinical activities. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and new employees, advisors and consultants. The principal purposes of our equity and cash incentive plans are to attract, retain and reward personnel through the granting of stock-based and cash-based compensation awards, in order to increase stockholder value and the success of our company by motivating such individuals to perform to the best of their abilities and achieve our objectives.
Corporate Information
We were incorporated in Delaware in May 2017. Our principal executive offices are located at 1715 38th Street, Boulder, Colorado 80301. Our telephone number is (720) 262-7002. Our website address is www.edgewisetx.com. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website or any website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and should not be considered to be part of this Form 10-K unless expressly noted.
We may use our website (www.edgewisetx.com), press releases, public conference calls, public webcasts, X, YouTube, and LinkedIn as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. We also make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports that we file with or furnish to the SEC in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). These include our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. We make this information available on or through our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC also maintains a website that contains our SEC filings. The address for the SEC website is https://www.sec.gov.
We use the Edgewise Therapeutics logo and other marks as trademarks in the United States and other countries. This periodic report contains references to our trademarks and service marks and to those belonging to other entities. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this periodic report, including logos, artwork and other visual displays, may appear without the TM symbol, but such references are not intended to indicate in any way that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names. We do not intend our use or display of other entities’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other entity.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this Annual Report and in our other public filings in evaluating our business. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations and the market price of our common stock.
Risk Factors Summary
Investing in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of risk because our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, as fully described below. The principal factors and uncertainties that make investing in shares of our common stock risky include, among others:
Risks Related to Our Financial Position, Need for Additional Capital and Limited Operating History
● We have a limited operating history and while we are moving toward becoming a commercial-ready biopharmaceutical company, some of our product candidates are early in development and we have no products approved for commercial sale, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate our current business and likelihood of success and future viability.
● We have not generated any revenue to date, have incurred significant net losses since our inception, and expect to continue to incur significant net losses for the foreseeable future.
● Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends significantly on our ability to achieve several objectives relating to the discovery, development and commercialization of our product candidates, if approved.
● We will require substantial additional capital to finance our operations. If we are unable to raise such capital when needed, or on acceptable terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce and/or eliminate one or more of our research and drug development programs or future commercialization efforts.
● Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.
Risks Related to the Discovery, Development and Commercialization of Our Product Candidates
● We are substantially dependent on the success of our lead product candidates, sevasemten and EDG-7500 . If we are unable to complete further development of, obtain approval for and commercialize sevasemten or EDG-7500 for one or more indications in a timely manner, our business will be harmed.
● In addition to sevasemten and EDG-7500 , our prospects depend in part upon developing and commercializing EDG-15400 and product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and discovering, developing and commercializing product candidates in future programs, which may fail or suffer delays that adversely affect their commercial viability.
● Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome. The clinical trials of our product candidates may not demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA, European Medicines Agency (EMA) or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities or otherwise produce positive results and the results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials may not be predictive of future results. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our product candidates.
● Our product candidates may cause serious adverse events, toxicities or other undesirable side effects when used alone or in combination with other approved products or investigational new drugs that may result in a safety
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profile that could prevent regulatory approval, prevent market acceptance, limit their commercial potential or result in significant negative consequences.
● The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and the results of our clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
● If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment and/or maintenance of patients in clinical trials, our regulatory submissions or receipt of necessary marketing approvals could be delayed or prevented.
● We have limited resources and are currently focusing the majority of our efforts on developing sevasemten and EDG-7500 for particular indications. As a result, we may fail to capitalize on other indications or product candidates that may ultimately have proven to be more profitable.
● We face significant competition and if our competitors develop and market technologies or products more rapidly than we do or that are more effective, safer or less expensive than the products we develop, our commercial opportunities will be negatively impacted.
● Interim, topline and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish may change as more patient data becomes available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
● We may not be successful in our efforts to develop a proprietary drug discovery platform to build a pipeline of product candidates.
● We may develop sevasemten and potentially other programs in combination with other therapies, which would expose us to additional risks.
● The manufacture of drugs is complex, and our third-party manufacturers may encounter difficulties in production. If any of our third-party manufacturers encounter such difficulties, our ability to provide adequate supply of our product candidates for clinical trials or our products for patients, if approved, could be delayed or prevented.
● Changes in methods of product candidate manufacturing or formulation may result in additional costs or delay.
● Our product candidates may not achieve adequate market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.
● The patient population suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), Becker muscular dystrophy (Becker) and Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is small and has not been established with precision. If the actual number of patients is smaller than we estimate, our revenue and ability to achieve profitability may be adversely affected. Because the target patient populations of our programs are small and the addressable patient population may be even smaller, we must be able to successfully identify patients and capture a significant market share to achieve profitability and growth.
Risks Related to Regulatory Approval and Other Legal Compliance Matters
● The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable. If we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates, we will be unable to generate product revenue and our business will be substantially harmed.
Risks Related to Employee Matters, Managing Our Growth and Other Risks Related to Our Business
● Our success is highly dependent on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled executive officers and employees.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
● Our success depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property and our proprietary technologies.
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Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
● We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials, research and studies, which may harm our business.
● We contract with third parties for the production of sevasemten, EDG-7500, and EDG-15400 for our ongoing clinical trials and the production of product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program for our ongoing preclinical studies, and expect to continue to do so for additional clinical trials, preclinical studies and ultimately for commercialization. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quality and quantities of our product candidates or such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.
● Our reliance on third parties may require us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.
● If we engage in future acquisitions or strategic partnerships, this may increase our capital requirements, dilute our stockholders, cause us to incur debt or assume contingent liabilities, and subject us to other risks.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position, Need for Additional Capital and Limited Operating History
We have a limited operating history and while we are moving toward becoming a commercial-ready biopharmaceutical company, some of our product candidates are early in development and we have no products approved for commercial sale, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate our current business and likelihood of success and future viability.
We are a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects. We are developing precision medicines for rare neuromuscular diseases which is an unproven and highly uncertain undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We commenced operations in 2017, and while we are moving toward becoming a commercial-ready biopharmaceutical company, we have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue. In July 2022, we initiated the first of four Phase 2 clinical trials for our product candidate sevasemten, in April 2024, we began enrolling a multipart Phase 2 clinical trial with our product candidate EDG-7500 for people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and in September 2025, we initiated a Phase 1 trial of healthy adults with our product candidate EDG-15400 with future disease target of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). We have not yet initiated clinical trials for any other product candidate, including product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program. Since our inception in 2017, we have devoted substantially all of our focus and financial resources to discovering, identifying and developing potential product candidates, including advancing our development programs, conducting preclinical studies of our product candidates and initiating clinical trials, organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital and securing related intellectual property rights.
We have not yet demonstrated our ability to obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial-scale product or arrange for a third-party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. As a result, it may be more difficult for investors to accurately predict our likelihood of success and viability than it could be if we had a longer operating history.
In addition, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors and risks frequently experienced by clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies in rapidly evolving fields. As we continue moving toward commercialization, we will need to transition from a company with a research and development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome such risks and difficulties, or to make such a transition. If we do not adequately address these risks and difficulties or successfully make such a transition, our business will suffer.
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We have not generated any revenue to date, have incurred significant net losses since our inception, and expect to continue to incur significant net losses for the foreseeable future.
We have incurred significant net losses since our inception, have not generated any revenue to date and have financed our operations principally through private placements of our convertible preferred stock and public offerings of our common stock. Our net loss was $167.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. As of December 31, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $546.4 million. We are advancing sevasemten , EDG-7500, and EDG-15400 in clinical development. Our other programs, including EDG-003, are in preclinical discovery and research stages. As a result, we expect that it will be a couple of years, if ever, before we receive approval to commercialize a product and generate revenue from product sales. Even if we succeed in receiving marketing approval for and commercializing one or more of our approved product candidates, we expect that we will continue to incur substantial research and development and other expenses in order to discover, develop and market additional potential products.
We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future. For example, we anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future as we scale our organization to support clinical advancement, regulatory readiness, and future commercial planning activities. The net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance, particularly since we expect our expenses to increase if and when our product candidates progress through clinical development as product candidates in later stages of clinical development generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenue. Our prior losses and expected future losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our working capital, our ability to fund the development of our product candidates and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability and the performance of our stock.
Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends significantly on our ability to achieve several objectives relating to the discovery, development and commercialization of our product candidates, if approved.
Our business depends entirely on the successful discovery, development, regulatory approval and commercialization of product candidates. We have no products approved for commercial sale and do not anticipate generating any revenue from product sales for the next couple of years, if ever. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends significantly on our ability, or any future collaborator’s ability, to achieve several objectives, including:
● successful and timely completion of preclinical and clinical development of sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and our other future product candidates and programs;
● establishing and maintaining relationships with CROs and clinical sites for the clinical development of sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and any other future product candidates and programs;
● the initiation and successful patient enrollment and completion of additional clinical trials on a timely basis;
● acceptable frequency and severity of adverse events in the clinical trials;
● the efficacy and safety profiles that are satisfactory to the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority for marketing approval;
● timely receipt of marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities for any product candidates for which we successfully complete clinical development;
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● complying with any required post-marketing approval commitments to applicable regulatory authorities;
● developing an efficient and scalable manufacturing process for our product candidates;
● establishing and maintaining commercially viable supply and manufacturing relationships with third parties that can provide adequate, in both amount and quality, products and services to support clinical development and meet the market demand for our product candidates, if approved;
● successful commercial launch following any marketing approval, including the development of a commercial infrastructure, whether in-house or with one or more collaborators;
● a continued acceptable safety profile following any marketing approval of our product candidates;
● commercial acceptance of our product candidates by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;
● timely receipt of reimbursement from applicable authorities for any product candidates for which we successfully receive regulatory approval;
● satisfying any required post-marketing approval commitments to applicable regulatory authorities;
● identifying, assessing and developing new product candidates;
● obtaining, maintaining and expanding patent protection, trade secret protection and regulatory exclusivity, both in the United States and internationally;
● protecting our rights in our intellectual property portfolio;
● defending against third-party infringement claims, if any;
● entering into, on favorable terms, any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements that may be necessary or desirable to develop, manufacture or commercialize our product candidates;
● obtaining coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors for our products and patients’ willingness to pay in the absence of such coverage and adequate reimbursement;
● obtaining additional funding to develop and potentially manufacture and commercialize our product candidates;
● addressing any competing therapies and technological and market developments;
● managing costs, including any unforeseen costs, that we may incur as a result of nonclinical study or clinical trial delays due to public health pandemics or emergencies, inflation or other causes; and
● attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel, including clinical, scientific, management and administrative personnel.
We may never be successful in achieving our objectives and, even if we do, may never generate revenue that is significant or large enough to achieve profitability. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of our company and could impair our ability to maintain or further our research and development efforts, raise additional necessary capital, grow our business and continue our operations.
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We may also experience delays in developing a sustainable, reproducible and scalable manufacturing process or transferring that process to commercial partners, which may prevent us from completing our clinical trials or commercializing our product candidates on a timely or profitable basis, if at all. Changes in the manufacturing process or facilities will require further comparability analysis and approval by the FDA before implementation, which could delay our clinical trials and product candidate development, and could require additional clinical trials, including bridging studies, to demonstrate consistent and continued safety and efficacy.
We will require substantial additional capital to finance our operations. If we are unable to raise such capital when needed, or on acceptable terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce and/or eliminate one or more of our research and drug development programs or future commercialization efforts.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $530.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. We expect our current cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our current operating plan for at least the next 12 months. On May 10, 2024, we filed an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR that allows us to undertake various equity and debt offerings. We additionally filed a prospectus supplement to the shelf registration statement and entered into a sales agreement with Leerink Partners LLC (Leerink Sales Agreement) on May 10, 2024, under which we may offer and sell shares of common stock, having aggregate sales proceeds of up to $175.0 million from time to time, through an “at the market offering” program (Leerink ATM). Pursuant to the automatic shelf registration statement, on April 3, 2025, we closed an underwritten registered direct offering of 9,935,419 shares of our common stock for net proceeds of $187.1 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. We have not yet offered or sold any shares of common stock related to the Leerink ATM. Our estimate as to how long we expect our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities to be able to continue to fund our operations is based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond our control, could cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned.
Developing pharmaceutical products, including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, is a very time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete. Our operations have consumed substantial amounts of cash since inception, and we expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we conduct clinical trials of, and seek marketing approval for, sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program, as well as develop our proprietary drug discovery platform. Even if one or more of the product candidates that we develop is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution activities. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory agencies to perform clinical trials or preclinical studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. Other unanticipated costs may also arise. Because the design and outcome of our planned and anticipated preclinical studies and clinical trials are highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate the actual amount of resources and funding that will be necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of any product candidate we develop. We are not permitted to market or promote sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program or any other product candidate before we receive marketing approval from the FDA. We also expect to incur costs associated with operating as a public company. Our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will not be sufficient for us to fund any of our product candidates through regulatory approval, and we will need to raise additional capital to complete the development and commercialization of our products. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in order to continue our operations.
Our future capital requirements will depend on may factors, including, but not limited to:
● the scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing our product candidates including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials;
● the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;
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● the number and characteristics of other product candidates that we pursue;
● the costs of future activities, including product sales, medical affairs, marketing, manufacturing and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;
● the costs of manufacturing products of consistent quality and obtaining sufficient inventory to support commercial launch;
● the revenue, if any, received from commercial sale of our products, should any of our product candidates receive marketing approval;
● the cost and timing of hiring new employees to support our continued growth;
● the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;
● the effect of competing products that may limit market penetration of our products;
● the ability to establish and maintain collaborations on favorable terms, if at all;
● the extent to which we acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies;
● the timing, receipt and amount of sales of, or milestone payments related to or royalties on, our current or future product candidates, if any;
● our need to implement additional internal systems and infrastructure, including financial and reporting systems;
● the compliance and administrative costs associated with being a public company; and
● the extent to which we acquire or invest in businesses, products, or technologies, although we currently have no commitments or agreements relating to any of these types of transactions.
A change in the outcome of any of these or other factors with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate.
We may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. In the event that we would need to obtain additional funding, our ability to raise or access capital may be affected by macroeconomic events and disruptions to the U.S. banking and financial sectors. Failures of banks and other financial institutions, such as Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, or issues in the broader U.S. financial system may impact the broader capital markets, and in turn, may impact our ability to access those markets. Further, a tightening of credit markets and lending standards could it make more difficult for us to raise capital through either debt or equity offerings on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
Attempting to secure additional financing may divert our management from our day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop our product candidates.
Our failure to raise capital as and when needed or on acceptable terms would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategy, and we may have to delay, reduce the scope of, suspend or eliminate one or more of our research-stage programs, clinical trials or future commercialization efforts.
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Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenues, we will be required to obtain further funding through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations and licensing arrangements or other sources, which may dilute our stockholders or restrict our operating activities. As summarized in the risk factor entitled, “ We will require substantial additional capital to finance our operations. If we are unable to raise such capital when needed, or on acceptable terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce and/or eliminate one or more of our research and drug development programs or future commercialization efforts .”, we have previously raised capital under our shelf registration statement that was filed on April 1, 2022 with the SEC that became effective on May 5, 2022 and was amended on January 19, 2024. On May 10, 2024, we filed an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR that allows us to undertake various equity and debt offerings and entered into the Leerink Sales Agreement under which we may offer and sell shares of common stock, having aggregate sales proceeds of up to $175.0 million from time to time, through the Leerink ATM. Pursuant to the automatic shelf registration statement, on April 3, 2025, we closed an underwritten registered direct offering of 9,935,419 shares of our common stock for net proceeds $187.1 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses.
Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making acquisitions, engaging in acquisition, merger or collaboration transactions, selling or licensing our assets, making capital expenditures, redeeming our stock, making certain investments, declaring dividends or encumbering our assets to secure future indebtedness. Such restrictions could adversely impact our ability to conduct our operations and execute our business plan.
If we raise additional funds through upfront payments or milestone payments pursuant to strategic collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution, or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income may be limited.
Our net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards may be unavailable to offset future taxable income because of restrictions under U.S. tax law. Our federal NOLs generated in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 may be carried forward indefinitely, but for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, the deductibility of federal NOLs generated in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 is limited to 80% of our current year taxable income. Our state NOLs may be subject to similar or different limitations. As of December 31, 2025, we had available federal NOL carryforwards of approximately $319.7 million, of which $318.5 million do not expire, and state NOL carryforwards of approximately $333.3 million, of which $32.7 million do not expire.
In addition, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change” (generally defined as a cumulative change in the corporation’s ownership by “5-percent shareholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period), the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs and certain other pre-change tax attributes to offset its post-change taxable income may be limited. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We may have experienced such ownership changes in the past, and we may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership, some of which are outside our control. We have not conducted any studies to determine annual
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limitations, if any, that could result from such changes in the ownership of our stock. Our ability to utilize our NOLs and certain other tax attributes could be limited by an “ownership change” as described above and consequently, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of our NOLs and certain other tax attributes, which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows and results of operations.
Changes in tax laws could have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, results of operations or financial conditions.
We are subject to tax laws, regulations, and policies of several taxing jurisdictions. Changes in tax laws, as well as other factors, could cause us to experience fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rates and otherwise adversely affect our tax positions and/or our tax liabilities. On July 4, 2025, the U.S. federal tax legislation commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the OBBB Act) was enacted, which makes a number of changes to U.S. federal income tax law, including permanently suspending the requirement to capitalize and amortize domestic research and development expenditures and permitting such deductions on a current basis. The OBBB Act did not have a material impact on us. Further, many countries, and organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD) have proposed implementing changes to existing tax laws, including a proposed 15% global minimum tax (Pillar Two) that has been implemented by several countries in 2024 and is being considered for implementation by other jurisdictions. On January 5, 2026, the OECD announced a “side-by-side” elective safe harbor that exempts U.S.-parented multinational entities from some of the Pillar Two rules (including the fifteen percent global minimum tax) for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. Any of these developments or changes in U.S. federal or state or non-U.S. tax laws or tax rulings could adversely affect our effective tax rate and our operating results.
Market conditions and changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond our control, could impair our ability to access our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments and to timely pay key vendors and others.
Market conditions and changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond our control, could impair our ability to access our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments and to timely pay key vendors and others. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), where we maintain certain operating accounts, was placed into receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which resulted in all funds held at SVB being temporarily inaccessible by SVB’s customers. If other banks and financial institutions with whom we have banking relationships enter receivership or become insolvent in the future, we may be unable to access, and we may lose, some or all of our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments to the extent those funds are not insured or otherwise protected by the FDIC. In addition, in such circumstances we might not be able to timely pay key vendors and others. We regularly maintain cash balances that are not insured or are in excess of the FDIC’s insurance limit. Any delay in our ability to access our cash, cash equivalents and investments (or the loss of some or all of such funds) or to timely pay key vendors and others could have a material adverse effect on our operations and cause us to need to seek additional capital sooner than planned.
Our operations and financial results could be adversely impacted by public health pandemics, such as COVID-19 and other related outbreaks in the United States and the rest of the world.
Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted our productivity, resulted in increased operational expenses, certain adjustments to the operations of our clinical trial, delays in the enrollment of new patients at our clinical trial site, and delays in certain supply chain activities and collecting and analyzing data from patients in our clinical trial.
To the extent we may experience any disruptions directly or indirectly through our contractors or partners as a result of any ongoing pandemic, outbreaks or other public health emergencies or disruptions that could severely impact our business and clinical trials, including:
● further delays or difficulties in enrolling and retaining patients in our clinical trials or those conducted by third parties and further incurrence of additional costs as a result of preclinical study and clinical trial delays and adjustments;
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● challenges related to ongoing and increased operational expenses related to pandemics or public health emergencies or disruptions;
● delays or difficulties in clinical site initiation, including difficulties in recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;
● delays, difficulties or increased costs to comply with public health related protocols at our leased facilities and clinical sites;
● diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of clinical trials;
● interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others;
● delays in receiving approval from local regulatory authorities to initiate our planned clinical trials;
● delays in preclinical and clinical sites receiving the supplies and materials needed to conduct our clinical trials;
● interruption in global shipping that may affect the transport of clinical trial materials, such as investigational drug products used in our clinical trials;
● changes in regulations as part of a response to public health emergencies or disruptions which may require us to change the ways in which our clinical trials are conducted, or to discontinue the clinical trials altogether, or which may result in unexpected costs;
● delays in necessary interactions with regulators, ethics committees and other important agencies and contractors due to limitations in employee resources or forced furlough of government or contractor personnel;
● refusal of the FDA to accept data from clinical trials in affected geographies outside the United States; and
● increased competition for contract research organizations (CROs), suppliers and vendors.
Additionally, certain third parties with whom we engage, including our collaborators, contract organizations, third-party manufacturers, suppliers, clinical trial sites, regulators and other third parties with whom we conduct business may adjust their operations in light of public health emergencies. If these third parties experience shutdowns or continued business disruptions, our ability to conduct our business in the manner and on the timelines presently planned could be materially and negatively impacted. Changing our third-party manufacturer could result in delays in our manufacturing supply chain which could delay or otherwise impact our development of sevasemten and result in increased costs related to sevasemten . Additionally, certain preclinical studies for our discovery research programs are conducted by CROs, which could be discontinued or delayed as a result of public health emergencies. We could also experience delays if our suppliers are delayed in delivering raw materials to our third-party manufacturers. For example, we experienced delays in enrolling patients for our Phase 1 clinical trial for sevasemten . In addition, our clinical trial sites could experience delays in collecting, receiving, and analyzing data from patients enrolled in our clinical trial for sevasemten due to limited staff at such sites, limitation or suspension of on-site visits by patients, or patients’ reluctance to visit the clinical trial sites during a public health emergency. As a result, research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses may vary significantly if there is an increased impact from public health emergencies on the costs and timing associated with the conduct of our clinical trial and other related business activities.
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In the event of a public health emergency, we could be required to develop and implement additional clinical trial policies and procedures designed to help protect subjects from such diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA issued various COVID-19 related guidance documents for sponsors and manufacturers, many of which have expired or were withdrawn with the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration on May 11, 2023, although some COVID-19 related guidance documents continue in effect.
Any continued and prolonged public health crisis could have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.
To the extent public health emergencies or outbreaks adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.
Risks Related to the Discovery, Development and Commercialization of Our Product Candidates
We are substantially dependent on the success of our lead product candidates, sevasemten and EDG-7500 . If we are unable to complete further development of, obtain approval for and commercialize sevasemten or EDG-7500 for one or more indications in a timely manner, our business will be harmed.
Our future success is dependent on our ability to timely and successfully complete clinical trials, obtain marketing approval for and successfully commercialize sevasemten and EDG-7500 , our lead product candidates. We are investing the majority of our efforts and financial resources in the research and development of sevasemten and EDG-7500 . Sevasemten is in advanced clinical trials in patients with Becker, Duchenne, and Limb-Girdle muscular dystrophies, as well as McArdle Disease, and EDG-7500 is in advanced clinical trials in patients with HCM.
Sevasemten and EDG-7500 will require additional clinical development, expansion of manufacturing capabilities, marketing approval from government regulators, substantial investment and significant marketing efforts before we can generate any revenues from product sales. We are not permitted to market or promote sevasemten, EDG-7500 , EDG-15400, or any other product candidate before we receive marketing approval from the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, and we may never receive such marketing approvals. While we announced topline results from the Phase 2 CANYON trial of sevasemten in individuals with Becker, data from MESA, an open label extension that is providing continued access to individuals with Becker, encouraging observations from the LYNX Phase 2 trial in participants with Duchenne across functional measures, initial results from the FOX Phase 2 trial in participants with Duchenne, and for our multipart Phase 2 CIRRUS-HCM trial of EDG-7500, from Part A, the single-dose arm in patients with obstructive HCM (oHCM) and Part B and Part C in patients with oHCM and nonobstructive HCM (nHCM), and interim safety results from ongoing Part D trial in patients with oHCM and nHCM, the FDA may disagree with our interpretation of the data and may require additional clinical testing before we can seek regulatory approval and begin commercialization, if at all.
The success of sevasemten and EDG-7500 will depend on several factors, including the following:
● the successful and timely completion of our ongoing nonclinical studies and clinical trials of sevasemten and EDG-7500 ;
● the initiation and successful patient enrollment and completion of additional clinical trials of sevasemten and EDG-7500 on a timely basis;
● maintaining and establishing relationships with CROs and clinical sites for the clinical development of sevasemten and EDG-7500 ;
● the frequency and severity of adverse events in clinical trials;
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● demonstrating efficacy, safety and tolerability profiles that are satisfactory to the FDA, EMA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority for marketing approval;
● the timely receipt of marketing approvals for sevasemten and EDG-7500 from applicable regulatory authorities;
● maintaining the Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation (RPDD) for sevasemten ;
● the extent of any required post-marketing approval commitments to applicable regulatory authorities;
● the maintenance of existing or the establishment of new supply arrangements with third-party drug product suppliers and manufacturers for clinical development and, if approved, commercialization of sevasemten and EDG-7500 ;
● obtaining and maintaining patent protection, trade secret protection and regulatory exclusivity, both in the United States and internationally;
● protecting our rights in our intellectual property portfolio;
● our ability to expand sevasemten and EDG-7500 into multiple indications;
● the successful launch of commercial sales following any marketing approval;
● a continued acceptable safety profile following any marketing approval;
● the actual market-size, ability to identify patients and the demographics of patients eligible for our product candidates, which may be different than expected;
● commercial acceptance by patients, the medical community and third-party payors, particularly since the product candidates we develop may be novel;
● our ability to compete or combine with other therapies; and
● addressing any delays, necessary adjustments and additional costs in nonclinical study and clinical trials resulting from factors related to public health pandemics.
We do not have complete control over many of these factors, including certain aspects of clinical development and the regulatory submission process, potential threats to our intellectual property rights and the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sales efforts of any future collaborator. If we are not successful with respect to one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize sevasemten and EDG-7500 , which would materially harm our business. If we do not receive marketing approvals for sevasemten or EDG-7500 , we may not be able to continue our operations.
In addition to sevasemten and EDG-7500 , our prospects depend in part upon developing and commercializing EDG-15400 and product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and discovering, developing and commercializing product candidates in future programs, which may fail or suffer delays that adversely affect their commercial viability.
Our future operating results are dependent on our ability to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize EDG-15400 with future disease target of HFpEF, product candidates from our EDG-003 research program currently focused on cardiometabolic indications, and our lead product candidates, sevasemten and EDG-7500 . Sevasemten is currently being studied in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials, EDG-7500 is currently in a multipart Phase 2 trial, and EDG-15400 is currently in a Phase 1 trial with healthy adults. However, research and
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development related to novel therapeutics is inherently risky. A product candidate can unexpectedly fail at any stage of preclinical and/or clinical development. The historical failure rate for product candidates is high due to risks relating to safety, efficacy, clinical execution, changing standards of medical care and other unpredictable variables. The results from preclinical testing or early clinical trials of a product candidate may not be predictive of the results that will be obtained in later stage clinical trials of the product candidate.
The success of other product candidates we may develop will depend on many factors, including the following:
● generating sufficient data to support the initiation or continuation of clinical trials;
● obtaining regulatory permission to initiate clinical trials;
● contracting with the necessary parties to conduct clinical trials;
● successful enrollment of patients in, and the completion of, clinical trials on a timely basis;
● the timely manufacture of sufficient quantities of a product candidate for use in clinical trials;
● adverse events in clinical trials; and
● addressing any delays in our research programs resulting from factors related to public health pandemics.
Even if we successfully discover and advance any other product candidates into clinical development, their success will be subject to all of the clinical, regulatory and commercial risks described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will ever be able to discover, develop, obtain regulatory approval of, commercialize, or generate significant revenue from any product candidates.
Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome. The clinical trials of our product candidates may not demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities or otherwise produce positive results and the results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials may not be predictive of future results. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our product candidates.
Although we have announced positive results from our preclinical studies and clinical trials, our product candidates’ risk of failure is high and it is impossible to predict when or if sevasemten, EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program or any other product candidate that we develop will prove effective or safe in humans or will receive marketing approval. Before obtaining marketing approval from the FDA , EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities for the sale of our product candidates, we must complete preclinical development and extensive clinical trials to demonstrate with substantial evidence the safety and efficacy of such product candidates.
Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and its ultimate outcome is uncertain. We cannot guarantee that any of our clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, or at all. Clinical trials can fail at any stage of testing and failure may result from a multitude of factors, including, among other things, flaws in study design, dose selection issues, placebo effects, patient enrollment criteria and failure to demonstrate favorable safety or efficacy traits. The outcome of preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials. For example, the primary endpoint of the GRAND CANYON cohort may not be met even though the endpoint trended towards improvement as a secondary endpoint in the earlier cohorts of the CANYON trial, and the trends observed so far in the CANYON trial may not be seen and may not be statistically significant in the GRAND CANYON cohort. In addition, our product candidates may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy in clinical development despite positive results in preclinical studies or having successfully advanced through initial clinical trials. We may also discover that the half-life of our product candidates renders them unsuitable for the therapeutic applications we
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have chosen. As a result, we cannot assure you that any clinical trials that we conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety to support marketing approval.
Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in preclinical testing and earlier-stage clinical trials, and we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their drugs. Furthermore, the failure of any of our product candidates to demonstrate safety and efficacy in any clinical trial could negatively impact the perception of our other product candidates and/or cause the FDA or other regulatory authorities to require additional testing before approving any of our product candidates.
We have experienced delays in completing our clinical trials and may experience additional delays in initiating or completing additional clinical trials. We may also experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent receipt of marketing approval or our ability to commercialize our product candidates, including:
● receipt of feedback from regulatory authorities that requires us to modify the design of our clinical trials;
● clinical trial observations or results that require us to modify the design of our clinical trials;
● negative or inconclusive clinical trial results that may require us to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon certain drug development programs;
● obtaining approval from one or more institutional review boards (IRB);
● the number of patients required for clinical trials being larger than anticipated, enrollment in these clinical trials being slower than anticipated or participants dropping out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than anticipated;
● any failure or delay in reaching an agreement with CROs and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;
● the suspension or termination of our clinical trials for various reasons, including non-compliance with regulatory requirements or a finding that our product candidates have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics or risks;
● changes to clinical trial protocol;
● clinical sites deviating from trial protocol or dropping out of a trial;
● the cost of clinical trials of our product candidates being greater than anticipated;
● the supply or quality of our product candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates being insufficient or inadequate;
● subjects experiencing severe or unexpected drug-related adverse effects;
● selection of clinical end points that require prolonged periods of clinical observation or analysis of the resulting data;
● a facility manufacturing our product candidates or any of their components being ordered by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to temporarily or permanently shut down due to violations of
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cGMPs , regulations or other applicable requirements, or infections or cross-contaminations of product candidates in the manufacturing process;
● any changes to our manufacturing process that may be necessary or desired;
● third-party clinical investigators losing the licenses or permits necessary to perform our clinical trials, not performing our clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol, good clinical practices (GCP) or other regulatory requirements;
● third-party contractors not performing data collection or analysis in a timely or accurate manner;
● interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war, such war and instability in the Middle East and other regional or geo-political conflicts given that the Company conducts trials internationally, including in Israel and certain countries in Europe and Australasia;
● third-party contractors becoming debarred or suspended or otherwise penalized by the FDA or other government or regulatory authorities for violations of regulatory requirements, in which case we may need to find a substitute contractor, and we may not be able to use some or all of the data produced by such contractors in support of our marketing applications; and
● regulators revising the requirements for approving our product candidates.
If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of our product candidates or other testing in a timely manner, if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we may incur unplanned costs, be delayed in seeking and obtaining marketing approval, if we receive such approval at all, receive more limited or restrictive marketing approval, be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements or have the drug removed from the market after obtaining marketing approval.
Moreover, in the future, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and receive compensation in connection with such services. Under certain circumstances, we may be required to report some of these relationships to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may conclude that a financial relationship between us and a principal investigator has created a conflict of interest or otherwise affected interpretation of the study. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may therefore question the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized. This could result in a delay in approval, or rejection, of our marketing applications by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority, as the case may be, and may ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of one or more of our product candidates.
If we experience delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates will be delayed. Moreover, our product development costs will also increase if we experience delays in preclinical studies or clinical trials or in obtaining marketing approvals. We do not know whether any of our preclinical studies or clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. We may also determine to change the design or protocol of one or more of our clinical trials, which could result in increased costs and expenses and/or delays. Any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues.
In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, termination or suspension of, or a delay in the commencement or completion of, clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate. Any delays to our clinical trials that occur as a result could shorten any period during which we
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may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates and our competitors may be able to bring products to market before we do, and the commercial viability of our product candidates could be significantly reduced. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
Our product candidates may cause serious adverse events, toxicities or other undesirable side effects when used alone or in combination with other approved products or investigational new drugs that may result in a safety profile that could prevent regulatory approval, prevent market acceptance, limit their commercial potential or result in significant negative consequences.
We are developing novel biologically active small molecules for muscle related diseases. As a result, there is uncertainty as to the safety profile of product candidates we may develop. In addition, our product candidates may be used in combination with certain other therapies, including corticosteroids, which may have undesirable side effects. If our product candidates are associated with undesirable side effects or have unexpected characteristics in preclinical studies or clinical trials when used alone or in combination with other approved products or investigational new drugs we may need to interrupt, delay or abandon their development or limit development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete the trial or result in potential product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product candidate and may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
Patients in our ongoing and planned clinical trials may in the future suffer other adverse events or other side effects not observed in our preclinical studies or previous clinical trials. For example, in the single ascending dose (SAD) trial for sevasemten , dose limiting somnolence was observed at the 135 mg level. In addition, in the multiple ascending dose (MAD) trial for sevasemten , the most common adverse events were dizziness and somnolence, all of which were mild and transient. In the ARCH trial of sevasemten in adults with Becker, the most common adverse events were dizziness, fall, and arthralgia, which were mild and transient. No new safety concerns have been observed in either the adult or adolescent patient populations of the CANYON trial, including the GRAND CANYON pivotal cohort, or the MESA open label extension that is providing continued access to sevasemten to participants with Becker who were previously enrolled in ARCH, or completed CANYON, including the GRAND CANYON pivotal cohort, or DUNE. In Part B and Part C of the Phase 2 CIRRUS-HCM trial of EDG-7500 in participants with HCM, the most frequently reported adverse events were dizziness, upper respiratory tract infection and atrial fibrillation (AF), nearly all of which were considered mild to moderate in severity. Sevasemten or other product candidates may be used in pediatric populations for which safety concerns may be particularly scrutinized by regulatory agencies. In addition, if sevasemten is studied in combination with other therapies, it may exacerbate adverse events associated with the therapy. Patients treated with sevasemten or our other product candidates may also be undergoing other therapies which can cause side effects or adverse events that are unrelated to our product candidate but may still impact the success of our clinical trials. The inclusion of critically ill patients in our clinical trials may result in deaths or other adverse medical events due to other therapies or medications that such patients may be using or due to the gravity of such patients’ illnesses, which could occur either during the course of our clinical trials or after participating in such clinical trials.
If further serious adverse events or other side effects are observed in any of our current or future clinical trials, we may have difficulty recruiting patients to the clinical trials, patients may drop out of our trials, or we may be required to abandon the trials or our development efforts of that product candidate altogether. We, the FDA, EMA, other comparable regulatory authorities or an IRB may suspend clinical trials of a product candidate at any time for various reasons, including a belief that subjects in such trials are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or adverse side effects. Some potential therapeutics developed in the biotechnology industry that initially showed therapeutic promise in early-stage trials have later been found to cause side effects that prevented their further development. Even if the side effects do not preclude the product candidate from obtaining or maintaining marketing approval, undesirable side effects may inhibit market acceptance due to its tolerability versus other therapies. Any of these developments could materially harm our business, financial condition and prospects. Further, if any of our product candidates obtains marketing approval, toxicities associated with such product candidates previously not seen during clinical testing may also develop after such approval and lead to a requirement to conduct additional clinical safety trials, additional contraindications, warnings and precautions
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being added to the drug label, significant restrictions on the use of the product or the withdrawal of the product from the market. We cannot predict whether our product candidates will cause toxicities in humans that would preclude or lead to the revocation of regulatory approval based on preclinical studies or early stage clinical trials.
The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and the results of our clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
We will be required to demonstrate with substantial evidence through well-controlled clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective for use in a diverse population before we can seek marketing approvals for their commercial sale. Success in preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials does not mean that future clinical trials will be successful. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. Although we have announced positive results from our preclinical studies and clinical trials, we do not know whether sevasemten, EDG-7500, or EDG-15400 will perform in current or future clinical trials as they have performed in preclinical studies or earlier clinical trials, nor do we know whether any product candidate in our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program will perform in current or future preclinical studies or future clinical trials as it has in prior preclinical studies. For example, the primary endpoint of the GRAND CANYON cohort may not be met even though the endpoint trended towards improvement as a secondary endpoint in the earlier cohorts of the CANYON trial, and the trends observed so far in the CANYON trial may not be seen and or may not be statistically significant in the GRAND CANYON cohort. Product candidates in clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities despite having progressed through preclinical studies. Regulatory authorities may also limit the scope of later-stage trials until we have demonstrated satisfactory safety, which could delay regulatory approval, limit the size of the patient population to which we may market our product candidates, or prevent regulatory approval.
In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety and efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial protocols, differences in size and type of the patient populations, differences in and adherence to the dose and dosing regimen and other trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. Patients treated with our product candidates may also be undergoing other therapies and may be using other approved products or investigational new drugs, which can cause side effects or adverse events that are unrelated to our product candidates. As a result, assessments of efficacy can vary widely for a particular patient, and from patient to patient and site to site within a clinical trial. This subjectivity can increase the uncertainty of, and adversely impact, our clinical trial outcomes.
We do not know whether any clinical trials we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety sufficient to obtain approval to market any of our product candidates.
If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment and/or maintenance of patients in clinical trials, our regulatory submissions or receipt of necessary marketing approvals could be delayed or prevented.
We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials to such trial’s conclusion as required by the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Patient enrollment is a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials. Our ability to enroll eligible patients may be limited or may result in slower enrollment than we anticipate.
For sevasemten trials, we completed our open-label ARCH trial (single site), our CANYON Phase 2 clinical trial (multiple sites), and the DUNE Phase 2 exercise challenge study (single site), as well as completed enrollment of the GRAND CANYON, the pivotal cohort of our Phase 2 CANYON clinical trial in individuals with Becker (multiple sites), and the LYNX and FOX Phase 2 studies in Duchenne (multiple sites). We have also completed enrollment for an industry-sponsored, global, prospective registry investigating the natural history of adults with
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Becker aged 18 years and older. However, we may not be successful in achieving our goal of establishing natural history reference data points. For EDG-7500 trials, we completed the Phase 1 trial in healthy subjects and for CIRRUS-HCM, our multipart Phase 2 trial, we completed Part A, the single-dose arm in patients with oHCM and Part B and Part C in patients with oHCM and nHCM, respectively, as well as completed enrollment of Part D. However, we may experience difficulty with enrollment and/or maintenance of patients in Part D of the CIRRUS-HCM trial. Additionally, we initiated a Phase 1 trial of healthy adults with our product candidate EDG-15400 with future disease target of HFpEF.
We are developing product candidates for severe muscle diseases with limited patient pools from which to draw for clinical trials. Such trials may be difficult to enroll and the lack of data on these patients may negatively impact the approvability of sevasemten . We also may encounter difficulties in identifying and enrolling subjects with a stage of disease appropriate for our planned clinical trials and monitoring such subjects adequately during and after treatment. We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials if we are unable to locate a sufficient number of eligible subjects to participate in the clinical trials required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. In addition, the process of finding and diagnosing subjects may prove costly. Further, the treating physicians in our clinical trials may also use their medical discretion in advising patients enrolled in our clinical trials to withdraw from our studies to try alternative therapies.
We expect patient enrollment to be affected because our competitors have ongoing clinical trials for programs that are under development for the same indications as our product candidates, and patients who would otherwise be eligible for our clinical trials could instead enroll in clinical trials of our competitors’ programs. Patient enrollment for our current or any future clinical trials may be affected by other factors, including:
● size and nature of the patient population;
● perceived risks and benefits of novel, unproven approaches;
● severity of the disease under investigation;
● availability and efficacy of approved drugs for the disease under investigation;
● patient eligibility criteria for the trial in question as defined in the protocol;
● perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under study;
● clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new products that may be approved or other product candidates being investigated for the indications we are investigating;
● patient referral practices of physicians;
● the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment;
● the activities of key opinion leaders (KOLs) and patient advocacy groups;
● proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients; and
● the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion or, because they may have an advanced disease, will not survive the full terms of the clinical trials.
Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials would result in significant delays or may require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates and jeopardize our ability to obtain marketing approval for the sale of our product candidates. Furthermore, even if we are able to enroll a sufficient number of
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patients for our clinical trials, we may have difficulty maintaining participation in our clinical trials through the treatment and any follow-up periods.
We have limited resources and are currently focusing the majority of our efforts on developing sevasemten and EDG-7500 for particular indications. As a result, we may fail to capitalize on other indications or product candidates that may ultimately have proven to be more profitable.
We are currently focusing the majority of our resources and efforts on developing sevasemten and EDG-7500. As a result, because we have limited resources, we may forgo or delay the pursuit of opportunities for other indications or with other product candidates that may have greater commercial potential, including EDG-15400 or product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program. In addition, while we currently have multiple compounds in our programs, we are focusing our efforts on select product candidates from each of these programs to develop as lead product candidates in each program. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial drugs or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development activities for sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, and our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target markets for sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, or the product candidates we are currently researching, such as those from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program, we may relinquish valuable rights to our product candidates or programs through collaboration, licensing or other strategic arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate or program.
We face significant competition and if our competitors develop and market technologies or products more rapidly than we do or that are more effective, safer or less expensive than the products we develop, our commercial opportunities will be negatively impacted.
The biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition and a strong emphasis on proprietary and novel products and product candidates. Our competitors have developed, are developing or may develop products, product candidates and processes competitive with our product candidates. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future. We believe that a significant number of products are currently under development, and may become commercially available in the future, for the treatment of conditions for which we may attempt to develop product candidates.
We have competitors both in the United States and internationally, including major multinational pharmaceutical companies, established biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, emerging and start-up companies, universities and other research institutions. We also compete with other organizations to recruit management, scientists and clinical development personnel, which could negatively affect our level of expertise and our ability to execute our business plan. We will also face competition in establishing clinical trial sites, enrolling subjects for clinical trials and in identifying and in-licensing new product candidates.
With sevasemten, we expect to face competition from existing products and products in development. Approximately 70% of patients with Duchenne are treated with corticosteroids to manage the inflammatory component of the disease. Deflazacort and prednisone are FDA-approved corticosteroids and are marketed by multiple companies. In October 2023, the FDA granted AGAMREE (vamorolone) approval in Duchenne patients aged 2 years and older and Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has commercialized this product in the United States following its North America exclusive license deal with Santhera.
In addition, there are four exon skipping drugs which are marketed under an accelerated approval pathway from the FDA: EXONDYS 51 (eteplirsen), AMONDYS 45 (casimersen) and VYONDYS 53 (golodirsen), which are naked phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) approved for the treatment of Duchenne patients amenable to Exon 51, Exon 45 and Exon 53 skipping, respectively, and are marketed by Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., and VILTEPSO (vitolarsen), a naked PMO approved for the treatment of Duchenne patients amenable to Exon 53 skipping, which is marketed by Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. In May 2024, Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. announced that no statistical significance was observed between the treatment group and the placebo group in VILTEPSO’s
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confirmatory study. In November 2025, Sarepta announced that AMONDYS 45 and VYONDYS 53 missed their primary endpoint in the confirmatory study. These results may affect these three drugs’ accelerated FDA approval. In June 2022, PTC Therapeutics presented new topline results with Translarna (ataluren), for patients with nonsense mutation Duchenne, a subset of the disease that impacts between 10% and 15% of patients. It remains unclear if the data will lead to FDA approval of Translarna, for which the company resubmitted the NDA in October 2024. Translarna has been conditionally approved in the European Union and Brazil for ambulatory patients aged 2 years and older with Duchenne resulting from a nonsense mutation in the dystrophin gene. However, in March 2025, the European Commission adopted the negative opinions issued by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the EMA for the renewal of conditional marketing authorization of Translarna. While this action effectively removes Translarna’s marketing authorization in the European Economic Area, individual countries within the EU can leverage existing legislation to allow continued use of Translarna. In February 2026, PTC Therapeutics withdrew its application to the FDA for Translarna in nonsense mutation Duchenne after receiving feedback on its filing.
In June 2023, the FDA approved Sarepta’s Biologics License Application seeking accelerated approval of their microdystrophin gene therapy, Elevidys (delandistrogene moxeparvovec), for the treatment of ambulant individuals with Duchenne between the ages of four to five years. In June 2024, the FDA granted Elevidys full approval for the treatment of ambulatory individuals aged 4 years and older, and accelerated approval for the treatment of non-ambulatory individuals aged 4 years and older. However, in November 2025, the FDA revised the Elevidys indication to limit to ambulatory individuals 4 years or older and added black box warnings about risks of acute and fatal liver injuries. Other companies focused on developing genetic based therapies for Duchenne that target dystrophin mechanisms include Solid Biosciences Inc., Genethon, Dyne Therapeutics, Avidity Biosciences, REGENXBIO, Wave Life Sciences, and Entrada Therapeutics. In September 2025, Avidity Biosciences announced positive topline and functional Phase 1/2 data for del-zota, demonstrating a statistically significant increase in dystrophin in individuals with Duchenne amenable to exon 44 skipping. In December 2025, Dyne announced top line Phase 1/2 data for zeleciment rostudirsen (z-rostudirsen) demonstrating a statistically significant increase in dystrophin in individuals with Duchenne amenable to exon 51 skipping. Gene editing treatments that are in preclinical development are also being pursued by Vertex and Sarepta Therapeutics.
We are also aware of several companies targeting non-dystrophin mechanisms for the treatment of Duchenne. In March 2024, the FDA approved Duvyzat (givinostat) for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in patients aged six years and older. The European Commission granted Duvyzat a conditional approval in June 2025. Moreover, in June 2021, Italfarmaco released top line Phase 2 data for givinostat in Becker. Givinostat did not show a significant difference in the primary endpoint compared to placebo. The future of this program in Becker is uncertain. In June 2025, Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the FDA has granted ODD to Deramiocel, the company’s lead cell therapy candidate, for the potential treatment of Becker, and this candidate is currently under regulatory review. Satellos Bioscience, Inc. is developing an orally administered small molecule drug designed to address deficits in muscle repair and regeneration and announced functional data from a Phase 1b trial in adult patients with Duchenne in May 2025.
With EDG-7500, we expect to face competition from existing products and products in development. Current first-line pharmaceutical treatment for patients with oHCM and nHCM consists of non-vasodilating beta blockers and non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers. Commonly prescribed beta-blockers are atenolol, propranolol, and metoprolol. Verapamil and diltiazem are calcium channel blockers used in the treatment of symptomatic oHCM and nHCM. For oHCM patients who remain symptomatic, a sodium channel blocker with negative ionotropic drug properties may also be added, typically disopyramide (either Pfizer’s Norpace, marketed by Pfizer, or a generic form marketed by several companies) and/or Camzyos (mavacamten), a cardiac myosin inhibitor (CMI), may also be added.
In the field of emerging treatments for HCM, competitors include Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Cytokinetics, Imbria Pharmaceuticals, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, and Celltrion, and Braveheart Bio. BMS markets Camzyos (mavacamten), a CMI intended for the treatment of adults with symptomatic NYHA class II-III oHCM. To date, Camzyos (mavacamten) has secured marketing approvals in the US, Europe, and other countries across five continents. In December 2025, Cytokinetics received FDA approval and a positive opinion recommending marketing authorization from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA for the treatment of oHCM in NYHA
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II-III for its CMI aficamten, marketed as Myqorzo, beginning in the first quarter of 2026. In the second quarter of 2024, BMS and Cytokinetics initiated a study of mavacamten and aficamten, respectively, in pediatric population with symptomatic oHCM. In April 2025, BMS reported that its Phase 3 study of mavacamten in nHCM failed to meet its dual primary endpoints. Cytokinetics is exploring Myqorzo in an ongoing Phase 3 nHCM clinical trial. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals is currently conducting a Phase 3 study of Sotagliflozin, an SGLT 1/2 inhibitor, for the treatment of oHCM and nHCM. Braveheart Bio is planning to initiate a global Phase 3 clinical trial in oHCM in 2026.
Other drugs in development that do not target cardiac myosin include Imbria Pharmaceuticals’ ninerafaxstat (IMB-101), a partial fatty acid oxidation (pFOX) inhibitor, Celltrion’s CT-G20, an anti-arrhythmic cibenzoline succinate, and Univar Solutions’ trientine dihydrochloride, a selective copper II chelator. In November 2023, Imbria announced Phase 2 nHCM topline results of ninerafaxstat with full results published in March 2024, and in the second quarter of 2025, initiated a Phase 2b nHCM trial of ninerafaxstat. In the third quarter of 2024, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals initiated a Phase 3 trial of sotagliflozin, an SGLT1 and SGLT2 inhibitor, in patients with symptomatic oHCM and nHCM. We have limited knowledge of CT-G20’s Phase 1 oHCM trial status, while the trientine Phase 2 oHCM clinical trial is ongoing. A myosin binding protein C3-targeting gene therapy candidate, TN-201, is being developed by Tenaya Therapeutics for genetic HCM. TN-201 is currently in a Phase 1b/2 study for which interim results were announced in December 2024, with additional results presented at the 2025 American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions . We are aware of several preclinical HCM programs including: JN-210, a microRNA activating gene therapy approach being developed by Jaan Biotherapeutics; HTX-001, an antisense oligonucleotide approach being developed by Haya Therapeutics; CDR348T and CDR641L, both are non-coding RNA-based therapies being developed by Cardior Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novo Nordisk in May 2024). We are also aware of several early-stage preclinical HCM gene therapy assets being developed by DiNAQOR, DINA-003 and DINA-001, the latter in collaboration with BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (BMN-293/DINA-001). In August 2024, BioMarin announced the discontinuation of the development of BMN-293. We have limited knowledge of DINAQOR’s future development plans for DINA-001/BMN-293. Another HCM gene therapy approach targeting cardiac troponin I3 (TNNI3), LX2022, is being developed by Lexeo Therapeutics. To the best of our knowledge, the program is currently in a preclinical stage.
Many of these current and potential competitors have significantly greater financial, manufacturing, marketing, drug development, technical and human resources and commercial expertise than we do. Large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, in particular, have extensive experience in clinical testing, obtaining regulatory approvals, recruiting patients and manufacturing biotechnology products. These companies also have significantly greater research and marketing capabilities than we do and may also have products that have been approved or are in late stages of development, and collaborative arrangements in our target markets with leading companies and research institutions. Established pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies may also invest heavily to accelerate discovery and development of novel compounds or to in-license novel compounds that could make the product candidates that we develop obsolete. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. As a result of all of these factors, our competitors may succeed in obtaining approval from the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities or in discovering, developing and commercializing products in our field before we do.
Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer side effects, are more convenient, have a broader label, are marketed more effectively, are more widely reimbursed or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain marketing approval from the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. Even if the product candidates we develop achieve marketing approval, they may be priced at a significant premium over competitive products if any have been approved by then, resulting in reduced competitiveness. Technological advances or products developed by our competitors may render our technologies or product candidates obsolete, less competitive or not economical. If we are unable to compete effectively, our opportunity to generate revenue from the sale of our products we may develop, if approved, could be adversely affected.
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Interim, topline and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish may change as more patient data becomes available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary, interim or topline data from our clinical trials. In sevasemten, on April 15, 2024, we announced positive two-year topline results from the ARCH open label trial of sevasemten in adults with Becker, on December 16, 2024, we announced positive topline data from the Phase 2 CANYON trial of sevasemten in individuals with Becker, and, on June 26, 2025, we announced encouraging topline data from our Phase 2 Duchenne trials, LYNX and FOX, and positive data from MESA, an open label extension trial that is providing continued access to sevasemten to participants with Becker who were previously enrolled in ARCH, or completed CANYON, including the GRAND CANYON pivotal cohort, or DUNE. In EDG-7500, on September 19, 2024, we announced positive topline data from the Phase 1 trial of EDG-7500 in healthy subjects and the Part A single-dose arm of the Phase 2 multipart CIRRUS-HCM trial in patients with oHCM, on April 2, 2025, we announced positive topline results from Part B and Part C of the Phase 2 multipart CIRRUS-HCM trial in patients with oHCM and nHCM, and on December 24, 2025, we announced favorable interim safety results from Part D of the Phase 2 multipart CIRRUS-HCM trial in patients with oHCM and nHCM. These interim updates are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. For example, we are continuing to evaluate additional secondary and exploratory endpoints for our CANYON trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the topline results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, topline data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. In addition, we may report interim analyses of only certain endpoints rather than all endpoints. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data becomes available. Adverse changes between interim data and final data could significantly harm our business and prospects. Further, additional disclosure of interim data by us or by our competitors in the future could result in volatility in the price of our common stock.
Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure. If the preliminary or topline data that we report differ from late, final or actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program or any other product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may not be successful in our efforts to develop a proprietary drug discovery platform to build a pipeline of product candidates.
A key element of our strategy is to leverage our proprietary drug discovery platform and our ability to design small molecule inhibitors of fast skeletal myosin to expand our pipeline of product candidates. We are leveraging our proprietary drug discovery platform and capabilities to create precision medicines for muscle diseases with high levels of unmet need. In order to do so, we must continue to invest in our proprietary drug discovery platform and development capabilities. Although our research and development efforts to date have resulted in a pipeline of product candidates, these product candidates may not be safe and effective. In addition, although we expect that our proprietary drug discovery platform will allow us to develop a diverse pipeline of product candidates across
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multiple therapeutic areas, we may not prove to be successful at doing so. Furthermore, we may also find that the uses of our proprietary drug discovery platform are limited because alternative uses of our therapeutics prove not to be safe or effective. Even if we are successful in building our pipeline, the potential product candidates that we identify may not be suitable for clinical development, including as a result of being shown to have harmful side effects or other characteristics that indicate that they are unlikely to be products that will receive marketing approval or achieve market acceptance. Further, because our product candidates and development programs are based on our proprietary drug discovery platform, adverse developments with respect to one of our programs may have a significant adverse impact on the actual or perceived likelihood of success and value of our other programs.
In addition, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies. Our future success will depend in part on our ability to maintain a competitive position with our approach. If we fail to stay at the forefront of technological change in utilizing our proprietary drug discovery platform to create and develop product candidates, we may be unable to compete effectively. Our competitors may render our approach obsolete or limit the commercial value of our product candidates, by advances in existing technological approaches or the development of new or different approaches, potentially eliminating the advantages in our drug discovery process that we believe we derive from our research approach and proprietary technologies. By contrast, adverse developments with respect to other companies that attempt to use a similar approach to our approach may adversely impact the actual or perceived value of our proprietary drug discovery platform and potential of our product candidates. If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations.
We may develop sevasemten and potentially other programs in combination with other therapies, which would expose us to additional risks.
We may develop sevasemten and potentially other programs, in combination with one or more currently approved therapies or therapies in development. Patients may not be able to tolerate sevasemten or any other product candidates in combination with other therapies or dosing of sevasemten in combination with other therapies may have unexpected consequences. Even if any of our product candidates were to receive marketing approval or be commercialized for use in combination with other existing therapies, we would continue to be subject to the risks that the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities could revoke approval of the therapy used in combination with any of our product candidates, or safety, efficacy, manufacturing or supply issues could arise with these existing therapies. In addition, it is possible that existing therapies with which our product candidates are approved for use could themselves fall out of favor. This could result in the need to identify other combination therapies for our product candidates, or our own products being removed from the market or being less successful commercially.
We may also evaluate our product candidates in combination with one or more other therapies that have not yet been approved for marketing by the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. We will not be able to market and sell any product candidate in combination with any such unapproved therapies that do not ultimately obtain marketing approval.
If the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities do not approve or revoke their approval of these other therapies, or if safety, efficacy, commercial adoption, manufacturing or supply issues arise with the therapies we may choose to evaluate in combination with sevasemten or any other product candidate, we may be unable to obtain approval of or successfully market any one or all of the product candidates we develop.
Additionally, if the third-party providers of therapies or therapies in development used in combination with our product candidates are unable to produce sufficient quantities for clinical trials or for commercialization of our product candidates, or if the cost of combination therapies are prohibitive, our development and commercialization efforts would be impaired, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
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The manufacture of drugs is complex, and our third-party manufacturers may encounter difficulties in production. If any of our third-party manufacturers encounter such difficulties, our ability to provide adequate supply of our product candidates for clinical trials or our products for patients, if approved, could be delayed or prevented.
Manufacturing drugs, especially in large quantities, is complex and may require the use of innovative technologies. Each lot of an approved drug product must undergo thorough testing for identity, strength, quality, purity and potency. Manufacturing drugs requires facilities specifically designed for and validated for this purpose, as well as sophisticated quality assurance and quality control procedures. Slight deviations anywhere in the manufacturing process, including filling, labeling, packaging, storage and shipping and quality control and testing, may result in lot failures or product recalls. When changes are made to the manufacturing process, we may be required to provide preclinical and clinical data showing the comparable quality and efficacy of the products before and after such changes. If our third-party manufacturers are unable to produce sufficient quantities for clinical trials or for commercialization as a result of these challenges, or otherwise, our development and commercialization efforts would be impaired, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Changes in methods of product candidate manufacturing or formulation may result in additional costs or delay.
As product candidates progress through preclinical and clinical trials to marketing approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods and formulation, are altered along the way in an effort to optimize yield and manufacturing batch size, minimize costs and achieve consistent quality and results. For example, we may explore alternate sevasemten formulations for use with pediatric patients, particularly Duchenne patients, who may have difficulty taking adult formulations. Such changes carry the risk that they will not achieve these intended objectives. Any of these changes could cause our product candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials conducted with the altered materials. This could delay completion of clinical trials, require the conduct of bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of our product candidates and jeopardize our ability to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, and generate revenue.
Our product candidates may not achieve adequate market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.
Even if our product candidates receive regulatory approval, they may not gain adequate market acceptance among physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. The degree of market acceptance of any of our approved product candidates will depend on a number of factors, including:
● the efficacy and safety profile as demonstrated in clinical trials compared to alternative treatments;
● the timing of market introduction of the product candidate as well as competitive products;
● the clinical indications for which a product candidate is approved;
● restrictions on the use of product candidates in the labeling approved by regulatory authorities, such as boxed warnings or contraindications in labeling, or a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, if any, which may not be required of alternative treatments and competitor products;
● the potential and perceived advantages of our product candidates over alternative treatments;
● the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments;
● the availability of an approved product candidate for use as a combination therapy;
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● relative convenience and ease of administration;
● the willingness of the target patient population or their caregivers to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies;
● the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors, including government authorities;
● patients’ willingness to pay for these therapies in the absence of such coverage and adequate reimbursement;
● the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts;
● support from KOLs and patient advocacy groups;
● unfavorable publicity relating to our product candidates; and
● the approval of other new therapies for the same indications.
If any of our product candidates are approved but do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, hospitals, healthcare payors and patients, we may not generate or derive sufficient revenue from that product candidate and our financial results could be negatively impacted.
The patient population suffering from Duchenne, Becker and Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is small and has not been established with precision. If the actual number of patients is smaller than we estimate, our revenue and ability to achieve profitability may be adversely affected. Because the target patient populations of our programs are small and the addressable patient population may be even smaller, we must be able to successfully identify patients and capture a significant market share to achieve profitability and growth.
Duchenne and Becker are rare, genetic neuromuscular disorders. We estimate that Duchenne occurs in approximately 35,000 patients in the US, EU-5 and Japan. Becker has a much lower incidence of approximately 1 in every 18,450 live male births. We estimate that Becker occurs in approximately 12,000 patients in the US, EU-5 and Japan. The approximate global prevalence of LGMDs as a group is estimated to be from 0.56 to 5.75 per 100,000. Our estimates of the size of these patient populations are based on published studies. Given the small number of patients who have the diseases that we are targeting, it is critical to our ability to grow and become profitable that we continue to successfully identify patients with these rare diseases. The effort to identify patients with diseases we seek to treat is in early stages, and we cannot accurately predict the number of patients for whom treatment might be possible. Various factors may decrease the market size of our product and product candidates, including the severity of the disease, patient demographics and the response of patients’ immune systems to our product candidates. If the results of these studies or our analysis of them do not accurately reflect the relevant patient population, our assessment of the market may be inaccurate, making it difficult or impossible for us to meet our revenue goals, or to obtain and maintain profitability.
The effort to identify patients with diseases we seek to treat is in early stages and we cannot accurately predict the number of patients for whom treatment might be possible. A newborn screening initiative was put into place with the goal of identifying and providing care for every child born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and achieving Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP) status. A newborn screening pilot program in New York State tested this and other aspects of a comprehensive newborn screening program at a large scale. The pilot was completed in October 2021 and screened more than 36,000 babies born in New York State over two years. Four babies were confirmed to have Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy, and one baby was identified as a carrier female. Two other pilot programs have been successfully conducted. An Ohio newborn screening (NBS) program was announced in April 2024 in which all newborns in the state of Ohio are screened for Duchenne. In December 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the addition of Duchenne to the RUSP. Advocates at the state level are working to add Duchenne/Becker to their state level NBS programs. Ohio and Minnesota are actively screening and Arizona, Massachusetts, and New York have passed legislation but
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screening has not started. There are 12 states with pending legislation or committee hearings and 34 states with no activity. Uncertainties remain and all states may not be able to effectively implement a NBS program. This could reduce the identifiable patient population for the diseases we seek to treat and result in our therapies not being able to be initiated early in the course of the disease.
Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for each of our product candidates may be limited or may not be amenable to treatment with our product candidates, and new patients may become increasingly difficult to identify or gain access to, which would adversely affect our results of operations and our business. Further, even if we obtain significant market share for our product candidates, because the potential target populations are very small, we may never achieve profitability despite obtaining such significant market share.
We may not be successful in augmenting our product pipeline through acquisitions and in-licenses.
We intend to evaluate select external opportunities to strategically expand our pipeline. While we plan to leverage our leadership team’s prior business development experience as we evaluate potential in-licensing and acquisition opportunities to expand our portfolio, we may not be able to identify suitable licensing or acquisition opportunities, and even if we do, we may not be able to successfully secure such licensing and acquisition opportunities. The licensing or acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and several more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment, or at all. If we are unable to successfully license or acquire additional product candidates to expand our portfolio, our pipeline, competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may be materially harmed.
Any product candidates we develop may become subject to unfavorable third-party coverage and reimbursement practices, as well as pricing regulations.
The availability and extent of coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors including government health administration authorities, private health coverage insurers, managed care organizations and other third-party payors is essential for most patients to be able to afford expensive treatments. The initial targets in our pipeline are indications with small patient populations. For product candidates that are designed to treat smaller patient populations to be commercially viable, the reimbursement for such product candidates must be higher, on a relative basis, to account for the lack of volume. Accordingly, we will need to implement a coverage and reimbursement strategy for any approved product candidate that accounts for the smaller potential market size.
Sales of any of our product candidates that receive marketing approval will depend substantially, both in the United States and internationally, on the extent to which the costs of such product candidates will be covered and reimbursed by third-party payors. If reimbursement is not available, or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish or maintain pricing sufficient to realize an adequate return on our investment. Coverage and reimbursement may impact the demand for, or the price of, any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. If coverage and reimbursement are not available or reimbursement is available only to limited levels, we may not successfully commercialize any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval.
There is significant uncertainty related to third-party payor coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. In the United States, for example, principal decisions about reimbursement for new products are typically made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency within the HHS. CMS decides whether and to what extent a new product will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare, and private third-party payors often follow CMS’s decisions regarding coverage and reimbursement to a substantial degree. However, one third-party payor’s determination to provide coverage for a product candidate does not assure that other payors will also
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provide coverage for the product candidate or at the same level of reimbursement. As a result, the coverage determination process is often time-consuming and costly. This process will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our products to each third-party payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance.
Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for medical products. Further, such payors are increasingly challenging the price, examining the medical necessity and reviewing the cost effectiveness of medical product candidates. There may be especially significant delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement for newly approved drugs. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific product candidates on an approved list, known as a formulary, which might not include all FDA-approved drugs for a particular indication. We may need to conduct expensive pharmaco-economic studies to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost effectiveness of our products. Nonetheless, our product candidates may not be considered medically necessary or cost effective. We cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement will be available for any product that we commercialize and, if reimbursement is available, what the level of reimbursement will be.
Outside the United States, the commercialization of therapeutics is generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other market regulations, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost containment initiatives in Europe, Canada and other countries has and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of therapeutics such as our product candidates. In many countries, particularly the countries of the European Union (EU), medical product prices are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after a product receives marketing approval. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product candidate to other available therapies. In general, product prices under such systems are substantially lower than in the United States. Other countries allow companies to fix their own prices for products but monitor and control company profits. Additional foreign price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our product candidates. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for our products may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenue and profits.
If we are unable to establish or sustain coverage and adequate reimbursement for any product candidates from third-party payors, the adoption of those products and sales revenue will be adversely affected, which, in turn, could adversely affect the ability to market or sell those product candidates, if approved. Coverage policies and third-party payor reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which we receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.
Our business entails a significant risk of product liability and if we are unable to obtain sufficient insurance coverage, such inability could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition. If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our products.
Our business exposes us to significant product liability risks inherent in the development, testing, manufacturing and marketing of therapeutic treatments. We currently have product liability insurance that we believe is appropriate for our stage of development and may need to obtain higher levels prior to marketing any of our product candidates, if approved. Any insurance we have or may obtain may not provide sufficient coverage against potential liabilities. Furthermore, clinical trial and product liability insurance is becoming increasingly expensive. As a result, we may be unable to obtain sufficient insurance at a reasonable cost to protect us against losses caused by product liability claims that could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition. Also, our insurance policies may have various exclusions, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We may have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. Even if our agreements with any future corporate collaborators entitle us to indemnification against losses, such indemnification may not be available or adequate should any claim arise.
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We may be sued if any of our product candidates cause or are perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, manufacturing, marketing, or sale post-approval. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability, or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection laws. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit testing and commercialization of our products. Even successful defense of a claim would require significant financial and management resources.
Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
● delays in the development of our product candidates;
● FDA, EMA or other regulatory authority investigation of the safety and effectiveness of our products, our manufacturing processes and facilities or our marketing programs;
● decreased or interrupted demand for our products;
● injury to our reputation;
● withdrawal of clinical trial participants and inability to continue clinical trials;
● initiation of investigations by regulators;
● costs to defend the related litigation;
● a diversion of management’s time and our resources;
● substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
● product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing, or promotional restrictions;
● loss of revenue;
● exhaustion of any available insurance and our capital resources; and
● the inability to commercialize any products.
Risks Related to Regulatory Approval and Other Legal Compliance Matters
The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable. If we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates, we will be unable to generate product revenue and our business will be substantially harmed.
Our product candidates are and will continue to be subject to extensive governmental regulations relating to, among other things, research, testing, development, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, approval, recordkeeping, reporting, labeling, storage, packaging, advertising and promotion, pricing, marketing and distribution of drugs. Rigorous preclinical testing and clinical trials and an extensive regulatory approval process must be successfully completed in the United States and in many foreign jurisdictions before a new drug can be approved for marketing. Obtaining approval by the FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities is costly, unpredictable, typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. In addition, approval policies, regulations or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval may change during the course of a product candidate’s clinical development and may vary among jurisdictions, which may cause delays in the
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approval or the decision not to approve an application. Regulatory authorities have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data are insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other data. Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval for our product candidates, the FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may approve our product candidates for a more limited indication or a narrower patient population than we originally requested or may impose other prescribing limitations or warnings that limit the product’s commercial potential. We have not submitted for, or obtained, regulatory approval for any product candidate, and it is possible that none of our product candidates will ever obtain regulatory approval. Further, development of our product candidates and/or regulatory approval may be delayed for reasons beyond our control. We cannot provide any assurance that any product candidate we may develop will progress through required clinical testing and obtain the regulatory approvals necessary for us to begin selling them.
We have not conducted, managed or completed large-scale or pivotal clinical trials nor managed the regulatory approval process with the FDA or any other regulatory authority. Applications for our product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:
● the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design, implementation or results of our clinical trials;
● the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may determine that our product candidates are not safe and effective, are only moderately effective or have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that preclude our obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use;
● the population studied in the clinical trial may not be sufficiently broad or representative to assure efficacy and safety in the full population for which we seek approval;
● the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials;
● we may be unable to demonstrate to the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities that our product candidate’s risk-benefit ratio for its proposed indication is acceptable;
● the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes, test procedures and specifications or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and
● the approval policies or regulations of the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.
This lengthy approval process, as well as the unpredictability of the results of clinical trials, may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market any of our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects. Any delay or failure in seeking or obtaining required approvals would have a material and adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue from any particular product candidates we are developing and for which we are seeking approval. Furthermore, any regulatory approval to market a drug may be subject to significant limitations on the approved uses or indications for which we may market, promote and advertise the drug or the labeling or other restrictions. In addition, the FDA has the authority to require a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) plan as part of approving an NDA, or after approval, which may impose further requirements or restrictions on the distribution or use of an approved drug. These requirements or restrictions might include limiting prescribing to certain physicians or medical centers that have undergone specialized training, limiting treatment to patients who meet certain safe-use criteria and requiring treated patients to enroll in a registry. These limitations and restrictions may significantly limit the size of the market for the drug and affect reimbursement by third-party payors.
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We are also subject to numerous foreign regulatory requirements governing, among other things, the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing and marketing authorization, pricing and third-party reimbursement. The foreign regulatory approval process varies among countries, and generally includes all of the risks associated with FDA and EMA approval described above as well as risks attributable to the satisfaction of local regulations in foreign jurisdictions. Moreover, the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval.
Further, under the new leadership at the HHS under the current administration, agency reorganization, mass layoffs due to the reduction in force initiative and other measures implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency may impact the normal operations of the FDA as well as other federal agencies. FDA may lack adequate staff and resources to meet current review, approval, and inspection schedules, which could delay our anticipated timelines. In January 2025, an executive order entitled “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation”, was issued which calls for at least 10 existing regulations to be repealed whenever an executive department or agency publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation. Recent developments at the FDA include implementation of Elsa, a generative AI tool, across all centers at the agency, announcement of a plan to phase out animal testing for monoclonal antibodies and certain other drugs, and the announcement of a new Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program to companies supporting certain U.S. national health priorities and interests. FDA has also increased its scrutiny of foreign drug manufacturing facilities and other contractors based in China, especially with respect to the transfer of biological materials, genetic data, and other sensitive data of American patients to parties located in China. FDA’s “real-time” release of newly issued Complete Response Letters associated with withdrawn or abandoned applications, if applicable to any of our product candidates, can materially impact our competitive advantage and intellectual property.
It is unclear how our industry and our clinical programs will be impacted by policies and regulations implemented under the current administration and FDA commissioner, or other executive orders. There is significant uncertainty in the industry and how federal agencies like the FDA will change in the coming years under the current administration.
To the extent the agency reorganization and other agency changes lead to disruptions in FDA’s operations, our correspondence and regulatory review processes with the FDA may be materially delayed.
The FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data from trials conducted in locations outside of their jurisdiction.
Our ongoing clinical trials are being undertaken in the United States. We may choose to conduct additional clinical trials internationally. The acceptance of study data by the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authority from clinical trials conducted outside of their respective jurisdictions may be subject to certain conditions. In cases where data from United States clinical trials are intended to serve as the basis for marketing approval in the foreign countries outside the United States, the standards for clinical trials and approval may be different. There can be no assurance that any United States or foreign regulatory authority would accept data from trials conducted outside of its applicable jurisdiction. If the FDA, EMA or any applicable foreign regulatory authority does not accept such data, it would result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay aspects of our business plan, and which may result in our product candidates not receiving approval or clearance for commercialization in the applicable jurisdiction.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in other jurisdictions.
Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our product candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction. For example, even if the FDA or EMA grants marketing approval of a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing and promotion and reimbursement of the product candidate in those countries. Complying with new requirements and changes in other foreign regulations that apply to clinical trials and drug development activities can delay our clinical trials and regulatory approval timelines in the EU and other foreign jurisdictions. For example, the Clinical Trials Regulation EU No. 536/2014 entered into application on January 31, 2022 and is intended to simplify the current rules for clinical trial authorization and standards of performance in EU. Any trials approved under the Clinical Trials Directive that continue running will need to comply with the Clinical Trials Regulation. Complying with such new legislation or
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changes in healthcare regulation could be time-intensive and expensive, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business.
However, a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from those in the United States, including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials as clinical trials conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the United States, a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our products is also subject to approval.
Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and establishing and maintaining compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in certain countries. If we or any future collaborator fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets or fail to receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our potential product candidates will be harmed.
The regulatory approval processes for product candidates that target rare diseases, including Duchenne, Becker and LGMD are uncertain.
Due to the lack of precedent, broad discretion of regulatory authorities, and a multitude of unique factors that impact the regulatory approval process, the likelihood of the approval of any of our product candidates that target rare diseases, such as Duchenne, Becker and LGMD is uncertain, and we may not be able to anticipate, prepare for or satisfy requests or requirements from regulatory authorities, including completing and submitting planned Investigational New Drug (IND) and NDA for our product candidates, in a timely manner, or at all. For example, Duchenne is a rare disease for which there are only two FDA approved therapeutics. In addition, no therapies are currently approved for Becker in the United States or the EU. Further, the FDA may determine, after evaluation of our data and analyses, that such data and analyses do not support an NDA submission, filing or approval. Due to this lack of predictability, we may not have the resources necessary to meet regulatory requirements and successfully complete a potentially protracted, expensive and wide-ranging approval process for commercialization of product candidates for rare diseases.
Even if our product candidates receive regulatory approval, they will be subject to significant post-marketing regulatory requirements and oversight.
Any regulatory approvals that we may receive for our product candidates will require the submission of reports to regulatory authorities and on-going surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate, may contain significant limitations related to use restrictions for specified age groups, warnings, precautions or contraindications, and may include burdensome post-approval study or risk management requirements and regulatory inspection. For example, the FDA may require a REMS in order to approve our product candidates, which could entail requirements for a medication guide, physician training and communication plans or additional elements to ensure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. In addition, if the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities approve our product candidates, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, import, export and recordkeeping for our product candidates will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as on-going compliance with cGMPs and GCPs for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. In addition, manufacturers of drug products and their facilities are subject to continual review and periodic, unannounced inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities for compliance with cGMP regulations and standards. If we or a regulatory agency discover previously unknown problems with a product, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facilities where the product is manufactured, a regulatory agency may impose restrictions on that product, the manufacturing facility or us, including requiring recall or withdrawal of the product from the market or suspension of manufacturing. In addition, failure to comply with FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory requirements may subject our company to administrative or judicially imposed sanctions, including:
● delays in or the rejection of product approvals;
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● restrictions on our ability to conduct clinical trials, including full or partial clinical holds on ongoing or planned trials;
● restrictions on the products, manufacturers or manufacturing process;
● warning or untitled letters;
● civil and criminal penalties;
● injunctions;
● suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals;
● product seizures, detentions or import bans;
● voluntary or mandatory product recalls and publicity requirements;
● total or partial suspension of production; and
● imposition of restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements.
The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, and generate revenue. Furthermore, non-compliance by us or any future collaborator with regulatory requirements, including safety monitoring and with requirements related to the development of products for the pediatric population can also result in significant financial penalties.
Further, the FDA’s or other ex-U.S. regulators’ policies may change, and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Chevron doctrine, which gives deference to regulatory agencies’ statutory interpretations in litigation against federal government agencies, such as the FDA, where the law is ambiguous. This landmark Supreme Court decision may invite more companies and other stakeholders to bring lawsuits against the FDA to challenge longstanding decisions and policies of the FDA, including FDA’s statutory interpretations of market exclusivities and the “substantial evidence” requirements for drug approvals, which could undermine the FDA's authority, lead to uncertainties in the industry, and disrupt the FDA's normal operations, any of which could delay the FDA’s review of our regulatory submissions. Further, changes in the leadership of the FDA and other federal agencies under the current administration may lead to new policies and changes in the regulations that can increase our compliance costs or delay our clinical development and timelines. We cannot predict the full impact of this decision, future judicial challenges brought against the FDA, or the nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, which would adversely affect our business, prospects and ability to achieve or sustain profitability.
We may not be able to obtain orphan drug designation or obtain or maintain orphan drug exclusivity for our product candidates and, even if we do, that exclusivity may not prevent the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, from approving competing products.
Regulatory authorities in some jurisdictions, including the United States and the EU, may designate drugs for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may designate a product as an orphan drug if it is a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally defined as a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals annually in the United States, or a patient population greater than 200,000 in the United States where there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing the drug will be recovered from sales in the United States. However, there can be no assurances that we will be able to obtain orphan designations for our product candidates.
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In the United States, orphan drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee waivers. In addition, if a product that has orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan drug exclusivity. Orphan drug exclusivity in the United States provides that the FDA may not approve any other applications, including a full NDA, to market the same drug for the same indication for seven years, except in limited circumstances. The applicable exclusivity period is 10 years in Europe. The European exclusivity period can be reduced to six years if a drug no longer meets the criteria for orphan drug designation or if the drug is sufficiently profitable so that market exclusivity is no longer justified.
The FDA granted sevasemten Fast Track designation for the treatment of Duchenne in February 2024, and ODD for the treatment of Duchenne and Becker and RPDD for the treatment of Duchenne in November 2023. The FDA previously granted Fast Track designation for the investigation and development of sevasemten for the treatment of Becker. EMA granted ODD for sevasemten for the treatment of Becker and Duchenne in April 2024. We may seek orphan drug designation for other product candidates. Even after obtaining orphan drug designation, we may not be able to obtain or maintain orphan drug exclusivity for that product candidate. We may not be the first to obtain marketing approval of any product candidate for which we have obtained orphan drug designation for the orphan-designated indication due to the uncertainties associated with developing pharmaceutical products. In addition, exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be limited if we seek approval for an indication broader than the orphan-designated indication or may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or if we are unable to ensure that we will be able to manufacture sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or condition. Further, even after obtaining orphan drug exclusivity for a product, that exclusivity may not effectively protect the product from competition because different drugs with different active moieties may be approved for the same condition. Even after an orphan drug is approved, the FDA can subsequently approve the same drug with the same active moiety for the same condition if the FDA concludes that the later drug is clinically superior in that it is shown to be safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care or the manufacturer of the product with orphan exclusivity is unable to maintain sufficient product quantity. Orphan drug designation neither shortens the development time or regulatory review time of a drug nor gives the product candidate any advantage in the regulatory review or approval process or entitles the product candidate to priority review. In view of the court decision in Catalyst Pharms., Inc. v. Becerra , 14 F.4th 1299 (11th Cir. 2021), in January 2023, the FDA published a notice in the Federal Register to clarify that while the agency complies with the court’s order in Catalyst , FDA intends to continue to apply its longstanding interpretation of the regulations to matters outside of the scope of the Catalyst order – that is, the agency will continue tying the scope of orphan-drug exclusivity to the uses or indications for which a drug is approved, which permits other sponsors to obtain approval of a drug for new uses or indications within the same orphan designated disease or condition that have not yet been approved. It is unclear how future litigation, including judicial challenges in view of the Supreme Court’s overturn of the Chevron doctrine legislation, agency decisions, and administrative actions under the current administration will impact the scope of the orphan drug exclusivity.
Where appropriate, we plan to secure approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities through the use of accelerated registration pathways. If we are unable to obtain such approval, we may be required to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials beyond those that we contemplate, which could increase the expense of obtaining, and delay the receipt of, necessary marketing approvals. Even if we receive accelerated approval from the FDA, if our confirmatory trials do not verify clinical benefit, or if we do not comply with rigorous post-marketing requirements, the FDA may seek to withdraw accelerated approval.
Where possible, we plan to pursue accelerated development strategies in areas of high unmet need. We may seek an accelerated approval pathway for our one or more of our product candidates. Under the accelerated approval provisions in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the FDA’s implementing regulations, the FDA may grant accelerated approval to a product candidate designed to treat a serious or life-threatening condition that provides meaningful therapeutic benefit over available therapies upon a determination that the product candidate has an effect on a surrogate endpoint or intermediate clinical endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. The FDA considers a clinical benefit to be a positive therapeutic effect that is clinically meaningful in the context of a given disease, such as irreversible morbidity or mortality. For the purposes of
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accelerated approval, a surrogate endpoint is a marker, such as a laboratory measurement, radiographic image, physical sign, or other measure that is thought to predict clinical benefit, but is not itself a measure of clinical benefit. An intermediate clinical endpoint is a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. The accelerated approval pathway may be used in cases in which the advantage of a new drug over available therapy may not be a direct therapeutic advantage but is a clinically important improvement from a patient and public health perspective. If granted, accelerated approval is usually contingent on the sponsor’s agreement to conduct, in a diligent manner, additional post-approval confirmatory studies to verify and describe the drug’s clinical benefit. If such post-approval studies fail to confirm the drug’s clinical benefit, the FDA may withdraw its approval of the drug. The Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act reformed the accelerated approval pathway, such as requiring the FDA to specify conditions for post-approval study requirements and setting forth procedures for the FDA to withdraw a product on an expedited basis for non-compliance with post-approval requirements.
Prior to seeking such accelerated approval, we will seek feedback from the FDA and will otherwise evaluate our ability to seek and receive such accelerated approval. For example, the FDA deemed the CANYON data alone insufficient for an accelerated approval of sevasemten. There can be no assurance that after our evaluation of the feedback and other factors we will decide to pursue or submit an NDA for accelerated approval or any other form of expedited development, review or approval. Similarly, there can be no assurance that after subsequent FDA feedback we will continue to pursue or apply for accelerated approval or any other form of expedited development, review or approval, even if we initially decide to do so. Furthermore, if we decide to submit an application for accelerated approval or under another expedited regulatory designation (e.g., breakthrough therapy designation), there can be no assurance that such submission or application will be accepted or that any expedited development, review or approval will be granted on a timely basis, or at all. The FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities could also require us to conduct further studies prior to considering our application or granting approval of any type. A failure to obtain accelerated approval or any other form of expedited development, review or approval for our product candidate would result in a longer time period to commercialization of such product candidate, could increase the cost of development of such product candidate and could harm our competitive position in the marketplace.
We may face difficulties from changes to current regulations and future legislation.
Existing regulatory policies may change, and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.
We also cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. For example, certain policies of the U.S. administration may impact our business and industry, which could impose significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, the FDA’s ability to engage in routine regulatory and oversight activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking, issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing applications. It is difficult to predict how current and future legislation, executive actions, and litigation, including the executive orders referenced below, will be implemented, and the extent to which they will impact our business, our clinical development, and the FDA’s and other agencies’ ability to exercise their regulatory authority, including FDA’s pre-approval inspection and timely review of any regulatory filings or applications we submit to the FDA. If these executive actions impose constraints on FDA’s ability to engage in oversight and implementation activities in the normal course or constraints on our business operations, including operations of our contractors, our business may be negatively impacted.
For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the ACA), was passed, which substantially
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changed the way healthcare is financed by both the government and private insurers, and continues to significantly impact the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. Since its enactment, there have been judicial and congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. In June 2021, the United States Supreme Court held that Texas and other challengers had no legal standing to challenge the ACA, dismissing the case without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA. Accordingly, the ACA remains in effect in its current form. It is unclear how future litigation or healthcare measures promulgated by the government will impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Complying with any new legislation or changes in healthcare regulation could be time-intensive and expensive, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. These changes included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year, effective April 1, 2013, which will remain in effect through 2032, unless additional congressional action is taken. In January 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, 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. These laws may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, which could have a material adverse effect on customers for our drugs, if approved, and accordingly, our financial operations.
Moreover, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny recently over the manner in which drug manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products. For example, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 eliminated the statutory cap on Medicaid Drug Rebate Program rebates that manufacturers pay to state Medicaid programs. Elimination of this cap may require pharmaceutical manufacturers to pay more in rebates than it receives on the sale of products, which could have a material impact on our business. In August 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes prescription drug provisions that have significant implications for the pharmaceutical industry and Medicare beneficiaries, including allowing the federal government to negotiate a maximum fair price for certain high-priced single source Medicare drugs, imposing penalties and excise tax for manufacturers that fail to comply with the drug price negotiation requirements, requiring inflation rebates for all Medicare Part B and Part D drugs, with limited exceptions, if their drug prices increase faster than inflation, and redesigning Medicare Part D to reduce out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for beneficiaries, among other changes. Only high-expenditure single-source drugs that have been approved for at least 7 years (11 years for single-source biologics) can qualify for negotiation, with the negotiated price taking effect two years after the selection year. For 2026, CMS selected 10 high-cost Medicare Part D drugs in 2023 and the negotiated maximum fair price for each drug has been announced. CMS has selected 15 additional Medicare Part D drugs for negotiated maximum fair pricing in 2027. For 2028, up to an additional 15 drugs, which may be covered under either Medicare Part B or Part D, will be selected, and for 2029 and subsequent years, up to 20 additional Part B or Part D drugs will be selected. Various industry stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, have initiated lawsuits against the federal government asserting that the price negotiation provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act are unconstitutional. Further, the current administration has issued executive orders focused on decreasing prescription drug prices, including directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a mechanism through which American patients can buy drugs directly from manufacturers who sell at a most-favored-nation price and directing the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in practices that purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices and drive price hikes in the United States. In November 2025, CMS announced a voluntary initiative called the GENEROUS Model (GENErating cost Reductions fOr U.S. Medicaid Model) to introduce the option of most-favored-nation pricing to the Medicaid program, whereby a drug manufacturer may voluntarily offer supplemental rebates to participating state Medicaid programs for a manufacturer’s covered outpatient drugs. Government agreements with pharmaceutical companies and other measures that use most-favored-nation pricing targets for prescription drugs, including the use of international pricing reference to set drug prices in the United States, or that increase generic and biosimilar drug entry sooner than expected can have a material adverse effect on our industry, ability to set adequate pricing for new drugs to recover R&D costs, ability to attract potential investors and potential buyers in the future. Additionally, the OBBB
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Act includes provisions that will impact the United States healthcare system in various ways, including by cuts to Medicaid and introducing new participant work and eligibility requirements for Medicaid coverage, which are expected to significantly change the administration and applicability of Medicaid coverage. The OBBB Act also expanded the orphan drug exemptions under the Medicare Price Negotiation Program, including an amendment to exclude orphan designated drugs for one or more rare diseases or conditions, instead of only one disease/condition, with the initial price applicability year 2028 and after, from Medicare price negotiations, and providing that the time for measuring a former orphan drug’s eligibility for Medicare price negotiations will be calculated from the first day after the date of FDA approval for a non-orphan disease or condition, or an approval for which the drug does not have orphan drug designation. The expansion of the exemptions for orphan designated drugs from the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program is expected to provide greater incentives for the development of drugs for orphan diseases and conditions which could potentially increase our competition. We cannot predict the full impact of the OBBB Act, executive orders, and new laws focused on reducing prescription drug prices or increasing domestic drug manufacturing capacity, or other measures that may be implemented by the current administration related to drug pricing, drug supply chain and manufacturing in the United States. The impact of ongoing and future judicial challenges as well as future legislative, executive, and administrative actions and any future healthcare measures and agency rules implemented by the current administration on us and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole is unclear. The implementation of cost containment measures, including the prescription drug provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our product candidates if approved.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented 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, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. A number of states are considering or have recently enacted state drug price transparency and reporting laws that could substantially increase our compliance burdens and expose us to greater liability under such state laws once we begin commercialization after obtaining regulatory approval for any of our products. For example, the FDA has authorized the state of Florida to develop Section 804 Importation Programs to import certain prescription drugs from Canada for a limited period of time to help reduce drug costs, provided that Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration meets the requirements set forth by the FDA. Other states may follow Florida. We are unable to predict the future course of federal or state healthcare measures in the United States directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. These and any further changes in the law or regulatory framework that reduce our revenue or increase our costs could also have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We expect that the ACA, OBBB Act, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicaid, Medicare, or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our product candidates.
Legislative and regulatory proposals have been made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for biotechnology products. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of our product candidates, if any, may be. In addition, increased scrutiny by Congress of the FDA’s approval process may significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.
The regulatory framework for privacy and personal information security issues worldwide is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. The U.S. federal and various state, local and foreign government bodies and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations limiting, or laws and regulations regarding, the collection, distribution, use, disclosure, storage, security and other processing of personal information.
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Additionally, the collection and use of health data and other personal data is governed in the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes the EU and certain other European nations, by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR extends the geographical scope of EU data protection law to entities and operations outside of the EEA under certain conditions and imposes substantial obligations upon companies and new rights for individuals, and by certain EU member state-level legislation. Failure to comply with the GDPR may result in fines up to €20,000,000 or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year, whichever is higher, and other administrative penalties. The GDPR has increased our responsibility and liability in relation to applicable personal data that we or our CROs and other contractors and service providers may process, and we may be required to put in place additional measures in an effort to comply with the GDPR and with other laws and regulations in the EEA, including those of EU member states, relating to privacy and data protection. These efforts may require substantial efforts and incurring significant costs. If our efforts to comply with the GDPR or other applicable EU laws and regulations are not successful, or are perceived to be unsuccessful, it could adversely affect our business in the EEA and elsewhere. Further, in July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a decision invalidating the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which had enabled the transfer of personal data from the EU to the U.S. for participating companies, and questioning the continued validity of the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses (SCCs). EU regulators have since issued additional guidance regarding considerations and requirements that must be considered and undertaken when using the SCCs. EU regulators also released updated standard contractual clauses that are required to be implemented. The CJEU’s decision and other regulatory guidance or developments otherwise may impose additional obligations with respect to the transfer of personal data from the EEA, United Kingdom (UK) and Switzerland to the U.S., and we may be required to engage in additional contractual negotiations relating to the new SCCs or otherwise, each of which could restrict our activities in those jurisdictions, limit our ability to provide our products and services in those jurisdictions, or increase our costs and obligations and impose limitations upon our ability to efficiently transfer personal data from the EEA, UK and Switzerland to the U.S.
Further, the UK has implemented legislation similar to the GDPR, referred to as the UK GDPR, which provides for fines of up to the greater of £17.5 million or 4% of global turnover. On June 28, 2021, the European Commission issued an adequacy decision in respect of the UK’s data protection framework, allowing personal data transfers from EU member states to the UK to continue without requiring additional contractual or other measures. This decision is subject to renewal and may be revisited by the European Commission at any time. The United Kingdom has implemented modifications to its data protection framework in the UK Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA), which was enacted on June 19, 2025. These amendments may impact the European Commission’s decision with respect to its adequacy decision regarding the UK’s data protection regime. The European Commission has proposed to renew the UK’s adequacy decision after assessing the DUAA, but additional procedural steps remain, causing some uncertainty to remain regarding the UK’s adequacy determination. In the medium and longer terms, the relationship between the UK and EU in relation to aspects of data protection law remains unclear, which exposes us to further compliance risk. The UK also has issued its own standard contractual clauses that are required to be implemented. We may incur liabilities, expenses, costs, and other operational losses relating to the GDPR, the UK GDPR, and other laws and regulations in the EEA and UK relating to privacy and data protection, including those of applicable EU member states in connection with any measures we take to comply with them.
In the United States, a broad variety of data protection laws and regulations may apply to our activities such as state data breach notification laws, state personal data privacy laws (for example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA)), state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws. A range of enforcement agencies exist at both the state and federal levels that can enforce these laws and regulations. For example, the CCPA requires covered businesses that process personal information of California residents to disclose their data collection, use and sharing practices. Further, the CCPA provides California residents with certain data privacy rights (including the ability to opt out of certain disclosures of personal data), imposes operational requirements for covered businesses, provides for civil penalties for violations as well as a private right of action for data breaches and statutory damages (that is expected to increase data breach class action litigation and result in significant exposure to costly legal judgements and settlements). Aspects of the CCPA and its interpretation and enforcement remain uncertain. In addition, the CCPA was expanded on January 1, 2023,
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when the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) became operative. The CPRA, among other things, gives California residents the ability to limit use of certain sensitive personal information, establishes restrictions on the retention of personal information, expand the types of data breaches subject to the CCPA’s private right of action, provides for increased penalties for CPRA violations concerning California residents under the age of 16, and establishes a California Privacy Protection Agency to implement and enforce the legislation. Although there are limited exemptions for clinical trial data under the CCPA, the CCPA and other similar laws could impact our business activities, depending on their interpretation. Additionally, numerous other state legislatures have enacted or are currently contemplating, and may pass, their own data privacy and security laws, with potentially greater penalties and more rigorous compliance requirements relevant to our business. Many of these laws are comprehensive privacy statutes that impose obligations similar to the CCPA. For example, Colorado enacted a Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) in June 2021 that went into effect on July 1, 2023, with enforcement commencing on the same date. The Colorado Attorney General released its rules implementing the CPA on March 15, 2023, and since has amended these rules in 2024 and 2025. Connecticut, Utah and Virginia have also enacted legislation similar to the CCPA and the CPA that took effect in 2023; Florida, Montana, Oregon and Texas have enacted similar legislation that took effect in 2024; Delaware, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nebraska and Tennessee have enacted similar legislation that took effect in 2025; and Indiana, Kentucky and Rhode Island have enacted similar legislation that has taken effect in 2026. The U.S. government also has instituted new rules, effective April 8, 2025, that prohibit or restrict transactions involving certain types and amounts of sensitive data between U.S. persons and foreign persons associated with specific countries of concern, including China. Among other things, these new rules require U.S. businesses to seek assurances from certain foreign parties with which they share sensitive data (under certain types of agreements) that those parties will not further share that data with parties in countries of concern. Further, other states have enacted laws that cover certain aspects of the collection, use, disclosure, and/or other processing of health information, such as Washington’s My Health, My Data Act, which, among other things, provides for a private right of action.
Additionally, state and foreign laws may apply generally to the privacy and security of information we maintain, and may differ from each other in significant ways, thus complicating compliance efforts and potentially requiring us to undertake additional measures to comply with them. With the GDPR, CCPA, CPRA, CPA and other laws, regulations and other obligations relating to privacy and data protection imposing new and relatively burdensome obligations, and with substantial uncertainty over the interpretation and application of these and other obligations, we may face challenges in addressing their requirements and in making necessary changes to our policies and practices, and may incur significant costs and expenses in an effort to do so. Additionally, if third parties we work with, such as vendors or service providers, violate applicable laws or regulations or our policies, such violations may also put our or our customers’ data at risk and could in turn have an adverse effect on our business. Any failure or perceived failure by us or our service providers to comply with our applicable policies or notices relating to privacy or data protection, our contractual or other obligations to third parties, or any of our other legal obligations relating to privacy or data protection, may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation, claims and other proceedings, harm our reputation, and could result in significant liability.
Inadequate funding for and other disruptions at the FDA, the SEC and other government agencies, including government shutdowns, could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner or otherwise prevent those agencies from performing normal business functions on which the operation of our business may rely, which could negatively impact our business.
The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government shutdown, lapse in U.S. government appropriations, staff departures, government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory, and policy changes. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. Government shutdown, departures and other changes in the agency personnel at the FDA can materially impact the continuity of our correspondence with the FDA, delay our clinical trials, and the timing for submitting our applications for FDA approval. In addition, government funding of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other government agencies on which our operations may rely, including those that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.
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Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies, including delays or disruptions due to government shutdown, lapse in U.S. government appropriations, changes in agency personnel, public health emergencies, travel restrictions, staffing shortages, may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved by necessary government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. If any prolonged government shutdown or disruption occurs, including due to any public health emergencies, travel restrictions, or staffing shortages, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA and other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions and provide feedback on our clinical development plans, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our anticipated timelines. Further, future government shutdowns or disruptions to normal operations could impact our ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to properly capitalize and continue our operations.
Our relationships with healthcare professionals, clinical investigators, CROs and third-party payors in connection with our current and future business activities may be subject to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, transparency laws, government price reporting, and health information privacy and security laws, which could expose us to significant losses, including, among other things, criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, exclusion from governmental healthcare programs, reputational harm, administrative burdens and diminished profits and future earnings.
Healthcare providers and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our current and future arrangements with healthcare professionals, clinical investigators, CROs, third-party payors and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we research, as well as market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations may include the following:
● the federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid;
● the federal false claims laws, including the civil False Claims Act, which can be enforced by private citizens through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, and civil monetary penalties laws, prohibit individuals or entities from, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment that are false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government;
● the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), prohibits, among other things, executing or attempting to execute a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements relating to healthcare matters;
● HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) and their implementing regulations, also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, on covered entities, which are health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and certain health care providers, as those terms are defined by HIPAA, and their respective business associates and their subcontractors, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information;
● the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires applicable manufacturers of covered drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, with specific exceptions, to annually report to CMS information regarding payments and other transfers of value made to covered recipients, including physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), certain non-physician healthcare
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professionals (such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, among others), and teaching hospitals as well as information regarding ownership and investment interests held by physicians; and
● analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance regulations promulgated by the federal government and may require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers, marketing expenditures, or drug pricing; state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales and medical representatives; state laws that govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Efforts to ensure that our current and future business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare and data privacy laws and regulations will involve substantial ongoing costs and may require us to undertake or implement additional policies or measures. We may face claims and proceedings by private parties, and claims, investigations and other proceedings by governmental authorities, relating to allegations that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations, and it is possible that courts or governmental authorities may conclude that we have not complied with them, or that we may find it necessary or appropriate to settle any such claims or other proceedings. In connection with any such claims, proceedings, or settlements, we may be subject to significant penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. Defending against any such actions can be costly, time-consuming and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired. Further, if any of the physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs.
Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial collaborators, principal investigators, CROs, suppliers and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial collaborators, principal investigators, CROs, suppliers and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities. Misconduct by these parties could include failures to comply with FDA regulations, provide accurate information to the FDA, comply with federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws and regulations, accurately report financial information or data or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, research, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the health care industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Misconduct by these parties could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. We have adopted a code of conduct but it is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by these parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, integrity oversight and
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reporting obligations, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.
If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.
Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses, we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials.
In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or commercialization efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.
Our business activities may be subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws of other countries in which we operate, as well as other trade laws, including U.S. and certain foreign export and import controls, trade sanctions, and foreign investment and data export laws and regulations. Compliance with these legal requirements could limit our ability to compete in foreign markets and subject us to liability if we violate them.
Our business activities are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (FCPA), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, and similar anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws, regulations or rules of other countries in which we operate. These laws generally prohibit companies and their employees, agents, representatives, business partners, and third-party intermediaries from, directly or indirectly, offering, promising, giving or authorizing others to give anything of value, either directly or indirectly, to recipients in the public or private sector in order to influence official action or otherwise obtain or retain business. Our business is heavily regulated and therefore involves significant interaction with public officials, including officials of non-U.S. governments. Additionally, in many other countries, hospitals are owned and operated by the government, and doctors and other hospital employees would be considered foreign officials under the FCPA.
We sometimes leverage third parties to assist with the conduct of our business abroad. We, our employees, agents, representatives, business partners and our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities and may be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these employees, agents, representatives, business partners or third-party intermediaries even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. We cannot assure you that all of our employees, agents, representatives, business partners and third-party intermediaries will not take actions in violation of applicable law for which we may be ultimately held responsible. As we increase our international sales and business, our risks under these laws may increase.
These laws also require that we make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the corporation and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls and compliance procedures designed to prevent violations of anti-corruption laws. There is no certainty that all of our
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employees, agents, representatives, business partners and third-party intermediaries, or those of our affiliates, will comply with applicable laws and regulations, for which we may be ultimately held responsible.
Violations of these laws and regulations could result in whistleblower complaints, fines, severe civil or criminal sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, damages, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, disgorgement, and other remedial measures and prohibitions on the conduct of our business including our ability to offer our products in one or more countries. Responding to any investigation or action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees. As a general matter, investigations, enforcement actions and sanctions could damage our reputation, our brand, our international activities, our ability to attract and retain employees and our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.
In addition, our products may be subject to U.S. and foreign export and import controls, trade sanctions, and foreign investment and data export laws and regulations. Governmental regulation of the import or export of our products, or our failure to obtain any required import or export authorization for our products, when applicable, could harm our international sales and adversely affect our revenue. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements regarding the export of our products may create delays in the introduction of our products in international markets or, in some cases, prevent the export of our products to some countries altogether. Furthermore, U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions prohibit the shipment of certain products and services to countries, governments, and persons targeted by U.S. sanctions. We also may be subject to review under U.S. or other national-security or foreign-investment laws and regulations when foreign persons invest in us or when we engage in certain cross-border transactions. Such review may delay or prevent proposed investments or transactions, impose material conditions or require divestiture, and failure to comply with or to obtain required clearance could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, national security concerns or changing geopolitical tensions could spur new regulations that limit our ability to transfer certain types of data abroad. For example, the Department of Justice issued a final rule which took effect in April 2025 that places limitations, and in some cases prohibitions, on certain transfers of sensitive personal data to business partners located in China and other designated countries, or with other specified links to China and other designated countries. These rules also may broadly require us to extract promises from other third-party service providers that they will not transfer data we share with them onward to parties linked to countries of concern.
If we fail to comply with these trade laws and regulations, penalties could be imposed, including fines and/or denial of certain export privileges. Moreover, any new trade restrictions, new legislation or shifting approaches in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or in the countries, persons, or products targeted by such regulations, including the impact of the changes in the U.S. government administration and policy positions , could result in decreased use of our products by existing or potential customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to sell our products would likely adversely affect our business.
Risks Related to Employee Matters, Managing Our Growth and Other Risks Related to Our Business
Our success is highly dependent on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled executive officers and employees.
To succeed, we must recruit, retain, manage and motivate qualified clinical, scientific, technical and management personnel, and we face significant competition for experienced personnel. We are highly dependent on the principal members of our management and scientific and medical staff, particularly Alan Russell, our Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. Additionally, wage inflation may interfere with our ability to hire or retain personnel. If we do not succeed in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, particularly at the management level, it could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan and harm our operating results. In particular, the loss of one or more of our executive officers could be detrimental to us if we cannot recruit suitable replacements in a timely manner. We do not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our executives or other
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employees. We could in the future have difficulty attracting and retaining experienced personnel and may be required to expend significant financial resources in our employee recruitment and retention efforts.
Many of the other biotechnology companies that we compete against for qualified personnel have greater financial and other resources, different risk profiles and a longer history in the industry than we do. They also may provide higher compensation, more diverse opportunities and better prospects for career advancement. Some of these characteristics may be more appealing to high-quality candidates than what we have to offer. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high-quality personnel, the rate and success at which we can discover, develop and commercialize our product candidates will be limited and the potential for successfully growing our business will be harmed.
Additionally, we rely on our scientific founders and other scientific and clinical advisors and consultants to assist us in formulating our research, development and clinical strategies. These advisors and consultants are not our employees and may have commitments to, or consulting or advisory contracts with, other entities that may limit their availability to us. In addition, these advisors and consultants typically will not enter into non-compete agreements with us. If a conflict of interest arises between their work for us and their work for another entity, we may lose their services. Furthermore, our advisors may have arrangements with other companies to assist those companies in developing products or technologies that may compete with ours. In particular, if we are unable to maintain consulting relationships with our scientific founders or if they provide services to our competitors, our development and commercialization efforts will be impaired and our business will be significantly harmed.
If we are unable to establish sales or marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell or market our product candidates, we may not be able to successfully sell or market our product candidates that obtain regulatory approval.
We currently do not have and have never had a marketing or sales team. In order to commercialize any product candidates, if approved, we must build marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services for each of the territories in which we may have approval to sell or market our product candidates. We may not be successful in accomplishing these required tasks.
Establishing an internal sales or marketing team with technical expertise and supporting distribution capabilities to commercialize our product candidates will be expensive and time-consuming and will require significant attention of our executive officers to manage. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities could adversely impact the commercialization of any of our product candidates that we obtain approval to market, if we do not have arrangements in place with third parties to provide such services on our behalf. Alternatively, if we choose to collaborate, either globally or on a territory-by-territory basis, with third parties that have direct sales forces and established distribution systems, either to augment our own sales force and distribution systems or in lieu of our own sales force and distribution systems, we will be required to negotiate and enter into arrangements with such third parties relating to the proposed collaboration and such arrangements may prove to be less profitable than commercializing the product on our own. If we are unable to enter into such arrangements when needed, on acceptable terms, or at all, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any of our product candidates that receive regulatory approval, or any such commercialization may experience delays or limitations. If we are unable to successfully commercialize our approved product candidates, either on our own or through collaborations with one or more third parties, our future product revenue will suffer, and we may incur significant additional losses.
In order to successfully implement our plans and strategies, we will need to grow the size of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth.
As of December 31, 2025, we had 146 full-time employees. Of these employees, 114 are engaged in research or product development and clinical activities. In order to successfully implement our development and commercialization plans and strategies, we expect to need additional managerial, operational, sales, marketing,
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financial and other personnel. Future growth would impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including:
● identifying, recruiting, integrating, maintaining and motivating additional employees;
● managing our internal development efforts effectively, including the clinical, FDA, EMA and other comparable foreign regulatory agencies’ review process for sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and any other product candidates, while complying with any contractual obligations to contractors and other third parties we may have; and
● improving our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.
Our future financial performance and our ability to successfully develop and, if approved, commercialize sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and other product candidates will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth, and our management may also have to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from day-to-day activities in order to devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities.
We currently rely, and for the foreseeable future will continue to rely, in substantial part on certain independent organizations, advisors and consultants to provide certain services, including key aspects of our research and development, clinical development and manufacturing. We cannot assure you that the services of independent organizations, advisors and consultants will continue to be available to us on a timely basis when needed, or that we can find qualified replacements. In addition, if we are unable to effectively manage our outsourced activities or if the quality or accuracy of the services provided by third-party service providers is compromised for any reason, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain marketing approval of sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and any other product candidates or otherwise advance our business. We cannot assure you that we will be able to manage our existing third-party service providers or find other competent outside contractors and consultants on economically reasonable terms, or at all.
If we are not able to effectively expand our organization by hiring new employees and/or engaging additional third-party service providers, we may not be able to successfully implement the tasks necessary to further develop and commercialize sevasemten , EDG-7500, EDG-15400, product candidates from our EDG-003 cardiometabolic discovery program and other product candidates and, accordingly, may not achieve our research, development and commercialization goals.
Our computer systems, or those of any of our CROs, manufacturers, other contractors, consultants, service providers, or potential future collaborators, may fail or suffer security or data privacy breaches or incidents or other unauthorized or improper access to, use of, or destruction of our proprietary or confidential data, employee data, or personal data, which could result in additional costs, loss of revenue, significant liabilities, harm to our brand and material disruption of our operations.
We, and our CROs, like other companies operating in today’s environment, are increasingly dependent on information systems, services and infrastructure, and information systems, services, and infrastructure owned, operated or maintained by third parties, to operate our business. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, create, generate, process, transmit and store large amounts of sensitive information, including personal information, proprietary information such as trade secrets, and other sensitive data. It is critical that we do so in a manner designed to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information systems and the information contained therein. We have incurred costs to establish a cybersecurity risk management program, including through the implementation of security measures in an effort to protect systems that store our information. However, despite the implementation of those security measures and the implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program, given the size and complexity and the increasing amounts of information maintained on our information technology systems, and those of our third-party CROs, other contractors (including sites performing our clinical trials), service providers, suppliers, and consultants, these systems are potentially
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vulnerable to breakdown or other damage or interruption from service interruptions, system malfunction, technical errors, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures, as well as security breaches and incidents from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, contractors, consultants, service providers, business partners, and/or other third parties, or from cyber-attacks by malicious third parties (including supply chain cyber-attacks or the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information), which may compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of our information systems or the information contained therein, or otherwise availability or lead to the loss, destruction, alteration, prevention of access to, disclosure, or dissemination of, or damage or unauthorized access to, our data (including trade secrets or other confidential information, intellectual property, proprietary business information, and personal information) or data that is processed or maintained on our behalf, or other assets, which could result in financial, legal, business and reputational harm to us. We, and CROs that we work with, have experienced cybersecurity incidents in the past (including one of our CROs in 2025) and we cannot eliminate the risk that we and our CROs will experience them in the future. For example, in 2019, one of our CROs experienced a cybersecurity breach which resulted in unauthorized access to certain of our preclinical data. Additionally, in 2023, one of our CROs experienced a cyber-attack for which an investigation found that no unauthorized access to Edgewise data occurred in connection with this event.
While we regularly monitor the security of our systems, attackers have become very sophisticated in the way they conceal access to systems, and we may not be aware that we have been attacked. We have received phishing attacks, and companies have, in general, experienced an increase in phishing and social engineering attacks from third parties, and cybersecurity researchers have warned of heightened risks of cyberattacks in connection with Russia’s war with Ukraine, and war and instability in the Middle East. In addition, our adoption of remote working arrangements may result in increased privacy, security, and operational concerns arising from the increased electronic transfer and other online activity. For example, employees, consultants, or contractors working remotely through home or other networks or on personal owned devices may be less secure than employees, consultants, or contractors working in company offices, which may subject us to increased security risks, including cybersecurity-related events, and expose us to risks of data or loss and associated disruptions to our operations.
Any disruption or security incident, technical outage or other event that leads to unauthorized access, use, destruction, or disclosure of our applications, any other data processed or maintained on our behalf or other assets, or for it to be believed or reported that any of these occurred, could disrupt our business, harm our reputation, contribute to delays in the development and commercialization of our product candidates, compel us to comply with applicable federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents, subject us to time consuming, distracting and expensive litigation, regulatory investigation and oversight, mandatory corrective action, require us to verify the correctness of data, or otherwise subject us to liability under laws, regulations and contractual obligations, including those that protect the privacy and security of personal information.
We also face indirect technology, cybersecurity, and operational risks relating to CROs, consultants, suppliers, and other third parties with whom we do business or upon whom we rely, or whose technology on which we rely, to facilitate or enable our business activities. We cannot assure you that our data protection efforts and our investment in information technology, or the efforts or investments of CROs, consultants or other third parties, will prevent significant breakdowns in systems or will prevent, or have prevented, other cyber incidents that could disrupt our programs and operations and the development of our product candidates or result in loss, destruction, unavailability, alteration or dissemination of, or damage or unauthorized access to, our systems and data and other data processed or maintained on our behalf or other assets, any of which could have a material adverse effect upon our reputation, business, operations or financial condition. Any such event that leads to loss, damage, or unauthorized access to, or use, alteration, or disclosure, dissemination, or other processing of, personal information, including personal information regarding our clinical trial subjects or employees, or the perception that any such event has occurred, could harm our reputation directly, compel us to comply with federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents, subject us to mandatory corrective action, cause us to incur costs, and otherwise subject us to liability under laws and regulations that protect the privacy and security of personal information, which could result in significant legal and financial exposure and reputational damages that could potentially have an adverse effect on our business.
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We also continue to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into our solutions and otherwise in our business, which may result in security incidents or otherwise increase cybersecurity risks. Further, AI technologies may be used in connection with certain cybersecurity attacks, resulting in heightened risks of security breaches and incidents. In addition, advances in technology, including increased adoption of AI technology by us and our third-party CROs, other contractors (including sites performing our clinical trials), service providers, suppliers, and consultants, and an increased level of sophistication and expertise of hackers (including through the malicious use of AI technology), may also increase the risks of cybersecurity incidents. Generative AI tools, particularly those that employ large language models (LLMs), used by us or our third-party CROs, contractors or service providers can also pose significant risks of data leakage, which could lead to loss, disclosure, dissemination, or other unauthorized processing of our data (including trade secrets or other confidential information, intellectual property, proprietary business information, and personal information), data that is maintained or otherwise processed on our behalf, or other assets, which could result in financial, legal, business and reputational harm to us. To mitigate such risks, we generally seek to limit authorized use of AI tools in our business to internal LLMs.
Notifications and follow-up actions related to a security breach or incident could impact our reputation and cause us to incur significant costs, including legal expenses and remediation costs. For example, the loss, corruption or (temporary or permanent) unavailability of clinical trial data from completed or future clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the impacted data. We expect to incur significant costs in an effort to detect and prevent security breaches and incidents, and we may face increased costs and requirements to expend substantial resources in the event of an actual or perceived security breach or incident. We also rely on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, and for other purposes, and similar events relating to their infrastructure and systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our insurance policies may not be adequate to compensate us for the potential losses arising from any such disruption in or, failure or security breach or incident of or impacting our systems or third-party systems where information important to our business operations or commercial development is stored. In addition, such insurance may not be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms, or at all. Further, our insurance may not cover all claims made against us and could have high deductibles in any event, and defending a suit, regardless of its merit, could be costly and divert management attention.
Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by fire, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failure, terrorist activity, pandemics and other events beyond our control, which could harm our business.
Our facilities are located in Boulder, Colorado. We have not undertaken a systematic analysis of the potential consequences to our business and financial results from a major flood, blizzard, fire, earthquake, power loss, terrorist activity, pandemics or other disasters and do not have a recovery plan for such disasters. In addition, we do not carry sufficient insurance to compensate us for actual losses from interruption of our business that may occur, and any losses or damages incurred by us could harm our business. Also, our CDMOs’ and suppliers’ facilities are located in multiple locations where other natural disasters or similar events which could severely disrupt our operations, could expose us to liability and could have a material adverse effect on our business. The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.
Our business may become subject to economic, political, regulatory and other risks associated with international operations directly or indirectly. A variety of risks associated with marketing our product candidates internationally could materially adversely affect our business.
Our business is subject to risks associated with business operations we conduct internationally, as well as indirect impacts from our relationships with collaborators, partners, or contractors who conduct business internationally. For example, we are currently studying sevasemten in Phase 2 trials, which are being held in U.S. and Israel and in certain countries in Europe and Australasia. We may seek regulatory approval of our product
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candidates outside of the United States and, accordingly, we expect that we will be subject to additional risks related to operating in foreign countries if we obtain the necessary approvals, including:
● differing regulatory requirements and reimbursement regimes in foreign countries, including changes in existing regulatory requirements and implementation of new regulatory requirements or policies that impact our clinical development and business operations in foreign countries;
● foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design, implementation or results of our clinical trials or our interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials;
● approval policies or regulations of foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval;
● unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers, any retaliatory actions in respect thereto, price and exchange controls and other regulatory requirements;
● economic weakness, including inflation, change in political condition, including as a result of changes in the U.S. government administration and policy positions , or political instability in particular foreign economies and markets;
● compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad;
● foreign taxes, including withholding of payroll taxes;
● foreign currency fluctuations, which could result in increased operating expenses and reduced revenue, and other obligations incident to doing business in another country;
● difficulties staffing and managing foreign operations;
● workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States;
● potential liability under the FCPA or comparable foreign regulations;
● challenges enforcing our contractual and intellectual property rights, especially in those foreign countries that do not respect and protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the United States;
● impact of public health pandemics on our ability to produce our product candidates and conduct clinical trials in foreign countries;
● production or supply shortages or other disruptions resulting from any events affecting raw material supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad, including, but not limited to, impacts due to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, addition of certain suppliers or companies to the Unverified List or other export restrictions under the Export Administration Regulations, implementation of other export controls, restrictions or sanctions, including the impact of changes in the U.S. government administration and policy positions , that can impact the supply chain, our business, or business operations of our suppliers, contractors or partners; and
● business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine and war and instability in the Middle East, other regional or geo-political conflicts, and terrorism.
In particular, there is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and various other countries, including China, with respect to trade policies, treaties, tariffs, taxes, any retaliatory actions in respect thereto, and other limitations on cross-border operations. The U.S. government has and continues
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to make significant additional changes in U.S. trade policy and may continue to take future actions, including the impact of changes in the U.S. government administration and policy positions , that could negatively impact U.S. trade and our business. For example, legislation in Congress known as the BIOSECURE Act was enacted in December 2025 as part of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, and places limitations on certain interactions with certain Chinese and other biotechnology firms that may pose a threat to United States national security; additional proposals have been raised regarding possible executive actions to further limit those Chinese service providers’ ability to engage in business in the United States. In addition, since February 2025, the U.S. administration has imposed new tariffs of 10% - 145% on many products imported from China citing authorities provided for in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and China responded with retaliatory tariffs on select U.S. goods. These additional U.S. tariffs implemented under IEEPA were rescinded on February 24, 2026, following a Supreme Court decision invalidating the use of IEEPA to authorize these tariffs, but the U.S. government subsequently announced plans to implement a new “temporary import surcharge” of 15% on many of the same imports beginning February 24, 2026, under authorities provided for in Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. These or other tariffs, actual or proposed legislation, or similar laws and regulations in the future, including changes to implemented bilateral trade deals between the U.S. and China, could adversely impact our current or future third-party arrangements with certain companies, including those in China or Chinese-owned U.S. companies, which could delay or impact our clinical trials and consequently delay or obstruct successful commercialization of our product candidates. We cannot predict what actions may ultimately be taken with respect to trade relations between the United States and China or other countries, what products and services may be subject to such actions or what actions may be taken by the other countries in retaliation. If we are unable to obtain or use services from existing service providers or become unable to export or sell our products to any of our customers or service providers, our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.
These and other risks associated with our international operations may materially adversely affect our ability to attain or maintain profitable operations.
Inflation in the global economy could negatively impact our business and results of operations.
General inflation in the United States, Europe and other geographies has risen to levels not experienced in recent decades. General inflation, including rising prices for our trial drug supply, CROs, CDMOs and rising salaries negatively impact our business by increasing our operating expenses. To the extent general inflation results in rising interest rates and has other adverse effects on the market, it may continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
Our success depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property and our proprietary technologies.
Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection and trade secret protection for our product candidates, proprietary technologies and their uses as well as our ability to operate without infringing upon the proprietary rights of others. We generally seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our product candidates, proprietary technologies and their uses that are important to our business. We also seek to protect our proprietary position by acquiring or in-licensing relevant issued patents or pending applications from third parties.
Pending patent applications cannot be enforced against third parties practicing the technology claimed in such applications unless, and until, patents issue from such applications, and then only to the extent the issued claims cover the technology. There can be no assurance that our patent applications or the patent applications of any licensor will result in additional patents being issued or that issued patents will afford sufficient protection against competitors with similar technology, nor can there be any assurance that the patents issued will not be infringed, designed around or invalidated by third parties.
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Even issued patents may later be found invalid or unenforceable or may be modified or revoked in proceedings instituted by third parties before various patent offices or in courts. The degree of future protection for our and any licensor’s proprietary rights is uncertain. Only limited protection may be available and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep any competitive advantage. These uncertainties and/or limitations in our ability to properly protect the intellectual property rights relating to our product candidates could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We cannot be certain that the claims in our U.S. pending patent applications, corresponding international patent applications and patent applications in certain foreign territories, or that of any licensor, will be considered patentable by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), courts in the United States or by the patent offices and courts in foreign countries, nor can we be certain that issued claims will not be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged.
The patent application process is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that we or any of our potential future collaborators will be successful in protecting our product candidates by obtaining and defending patents. These risks and uncertainties include the following:
● the USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other provisions during the patent process, the noncompliance with which can result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application, and partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction;
● patent applications may not result in any patents being issued;
● patents may be challenged, invalidated, modified, revoked, circumvented, found to be unenforceable or otherwise may not provide any competitive advantage;
● our competitors, many of whom have substantially greater resources than we do and many of whom have made significant investments in competing technologies, may seek or may have already obtained patents that will limit, interfere with or eliminate our ability to make, use and sell our potential product candidates;
● there may be significant pressure on the U.S. government and international governmental bodies to limit the scope of patent protection both inside and outside the United States for disease treatments that prove successful, as a matter of public policy regarding worldwide health concerns; and
● countries other than the United States may have patent laws less favorable to patentees than those upheld by U.S. courts, allowing foreign competitors a better opportunity to create, develop and market competing product candidates.
The patent prosecution process is also expensive and time-consuming, and we and any licensor may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner or in all jurisdictions where protection may be commercially advantageous. It is also possible that we or any licensor will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.
Recent reforms and changes at government agencies of the United States and those of non-U.S. jurisdictions could increase the delays, uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications, and the maintenance, enforcement, or defense of our issued patents. For example, the ability of the USPTO and other applicable patent authorities to properly administer their functions is highly dependent on the levels of funding available to the agency and their ability to retain personnel and fill key leadership appointments, among various factors. Termination of employees or delays in replacing or hiring for positions could significantly impact the ability of the USPTO and other applicable
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patent authorities to fulfill their functions and could greatly impact our ability to timely and adequately prosecute or maintain our patent applications, and our ability to timely and adequately maintain, enforce, or defend our issued patents.
In addition, although we enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to patentable aspects of our research and development output, such as our employees, outside scientific collaborators, CROs, third-party manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach such agreements and disclose such output before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection.
Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our intellectual property may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
If the scope of any patent protection we obtain is not sufficiently broad, or if we lose any of our patent protection, our ability to prevent our competitors from commercializing similar or identical product candidates would be adversely affected.
The patent position of biopharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions, and has been the subject of much litigation in recent years. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications and those of any licensor may not result in patents being issued which protect our product candidates or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive product candidates.
Moreover, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before the patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted after issuance. Even if patent applications we own or in-license currently or in the future issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors or other third parties from competing with us, or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Any patents that we own or in-license may be challenged or circumvented by third parties or may be narrowed or invalidated as a result of challenges by third parties. Consequently, we do not know whether our product candidates will be protectable or remain protected by valid and enforceable patents. Our competitors or other third parties may be able to circumvent our patents or the patents of any licensors by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our patents or the patents of any licensor may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. We may be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to the USPTO, or become involved in opposition, derivation, revocation, reexamination, post-grant review (PGR) and inter partes review (IPR), or other similar proceedings challenging our owned patent rights. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate or render unenforceable, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our product candidates and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights. Moreover, our patents or the patents of any licensor may become subject to post-grant challenge proceedings, such as oppositions in a foreign patent office, that challenge our priority of invention or other features of patentability with respect to our patents and patent applications and those of any licensor. Such challenges may result in loss of patent rights, loss of exclusivity or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our product candidates. Such proceedings also may result in substantial cost and require significant time from our scientists and management, even if the eventual outcome is favorable to us. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications or the patents and patent applications of any licensor is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future product candidates.
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Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. For example:
● others may be able to develop products that are similar to our product candidates but that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we own or license;
● we or any licensor or collaborators might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by the patent applications that we own or license;
● we or any licensor or collaborators might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our inventions;
● others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights;
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