Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the following risks. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. These risks could materially affect our business, results of operations or financial condition, cause the trading price of our outstanding common stock to decline materially or cause our actual results to differ materially from those expected or those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and the risks of our businesses described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Risk Factor Summary
Our business is subject to a number of risks, including risks that may adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows, and prospects. These risks are discussed more fully below and include, but are not limited to, risks related to:
Risks Related to Our Portfolio of Commercial Products
• Our ability to continue to grow the appropriate use of DEFINITY in suboptimal echocardiograms in the face of segment competition from other echocardiography ultrasound enhancing agents and potential generic competition as a result of patent and regulatory exclusivity expirations.
• Our dependence upon third parties for the manufacture and supply of a substantial portion of our products, raw materials and components, including DEFINITY at JHS and DEFINITY RT at SBL.
• The instability of the global Mo-99 supply, including periodic supply outages and limitations at the NTP Radioisotopes (“NTP”) processing facility in South Africa and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s (“ANSTO”) processing facility in Australia, in each case resulting in our inability to fill some or all of the demand for our TechneLite generators on certain manufacturing days during the outage or limitation periods.
• Our ability to successfully launch PYLARIFY as a commercial product, including (A) our ability to obtain FDA approval for additional PMFs that could manufacture PYLARIFY, (B) the ability of those PMFs to supply PYLARIFY to customers, (C) our ability to sell PYLARIFY to customers, and (D) our ability to obtain and maintain adequate coding, coverage and payment for PYLARIFY.
• Our ability to successfully launch PYLARIFY AI as a commercial product.
• Risks related to RELISTOR, commercialized by Bausch, and that the revenues generated for us thereby may not meet expectations.
• Risks related to the commercialization of AZEDRA, including in connection with market acceptance and reimbursement, that may cause the product not to meet revenue or operating income expectations.
• Risks associated with our DEFINITY RT formulation, approved by the FDA in November 2020, including our ability to gain post-approval market acceptance and adequate coding, coverage and payment.
Risks Related to Reimbursement and Regulation
• The dependence of many of our customers upon third party healthcare payors and the uncertainty of third party coverage and reimbursement rates.
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• Uncertainties regarding the impact of U.S. and state healthcare reform measures and proposals on our business, including measures and proposals related to reimbursement for our current and potential future products, controls over drug pricing, drug pricing transparency and generic drug competition.
• Our being subject to extensive government regulation and oversight, our ability to comply with those regulations and the costs of compliance.
Risks Related to our Business Operations and Financial Results
• The impact of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition or prospects, including: a decline in the volume of procedures and treatments using our products; potential delays and disruptions to global supply chains, manufacturing activities, logistics, operations, and clinical development programs; the business activities of our suppliers, distributors, customers and other business partners; the difficulty in recruiting and retaining employees and contractors; and the effects on worldwide economies, financial markets, social institutions, labor markets and healthcare systems.
• Our ability to hire or retain the number of qualified personnel, particularly scientific, medical and sales personnel, required for our business.
• Our ability to introduce new products and adapt to an evolving technology and medical practice landscape.
• Risks associated with our investment in and operation of our specialized manufacturing facility at our North Billerica, Massachusetts campus.
Risks Related to Our Portfolio of Clinical Development Candidates
• Risks associated with flurpiridaz F 18, which we out-licensed to GE Healthcare in 2017, including GE Healthcare’s ability to (A) successfully complete the Phase 3 development program, including delays in enrollment that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, (B) obtain FDA approval, and (C) gain post-approval market acceptance and adequate coding, coverage and payment.
• Risks associated with 1095, including delays in enrollment that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and our ability to successfully complete the Phase 2 study in mCRPC.
• Risks associated with our clinical development candidate LMI 1195
Risks Related to our Capital Structure
• Risks related to our outstanding indebtedness and our ability to satisfy those obligations.
• Risks related to the ownership of our common stock.
• The contractual contingent value rights (“CVRs”) we issued as part of the Progenics Acquisition may result in substantial future payments to holders of the CVRs.
Risks Related to Our Portfolio of Commercial Products
The near-term growth of our business is substantially dependent on our ability to continue to grow the appropriate use of DEFINITY in suboptimal echocardiograms in the face of increased segment competition from other existing echocardiography agents and potential generic competitors.
The growth of our business is substantially dependent on our ability to continue to grow the appropriate use of DEFINITY in suboptimal echocardiograms. DEFINITY currently competes with Optison, a GE Healthcare product, Lumason, a Bracco product, as well as echocardiography without ultrasound enhancing agents and other non-echocardiography agents.
We launched DEFINITY in 2001, and we continue to actively pursue additional patents in connection with DEFINITY and DEFINITY RT, both in the U.S. and internationally. In the U.S. for DEFINITY we have four Orange Book-listed method of use patents, one of which expires in 2035 and three of which expire in 2037, as well as additional manufacturing patents that are not Orange Book-listed expiring in 2021, 2023 and 2037. In the U.S. for DEFINITY RT, which became commercially available in the fourth quarter of 2021, we have five Orange Book-listed patents, including a composition of matter patent which expires in 2035. Outside of the U.S., we are currently pursuing additional DEFINITY and DEFINITY RT patents to obtain similar patent protection as in the U.S. The Orange Book-listed patents include a patent on the use of VIALMIX RFID, which expires in 2037; additional VIALMIX RFID patent applications have been submitted in major markets throughout the world.
Because our Orange Book-listed composition of matter patent expired in June 2019, we may face generic DEFINITY challengers in the near to intermediate term. Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, the FDA can approve ANDAs for generic versions of drugs before the expiration of an Orange Book-listed patent covering the innovator product if the ANDA applicant demonstrates,
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among other things, that (i) its generic candidate is the same as the innovator product by establishing bioequivalence and providing relevant chemistry, manufacturing and product data, and (ii) either the marketing of that generic candidate does not infringe the Orange Book-listed patent(s) or the Orange Book-listed patent(s) is invalid. Similarly, the FDA can approve a Section 505(b)(2) NDA from an applicant that relies on some of the information required for marketing approval to come from studies which the applicant does not own or have a legal right of reference. The ANDA applicant or the Section 505(b)(2) applicant (if relying on studies related to the innovator product) (together, the “Applicant”) must also give Notice to the innovator, which would then enable the innovator to file suit against the Applicant within 45 days of receiving the Notice. If the innovator challenges the Applicant in court in a timely manner, then FDA approval to commercialize the generic candidate will be stayed (that is, delayed) for up to 30 months while the dispute between the innovator and the Applicant is resolved in court. The 30 month stay can be shortened if the patent infringement suit is resolved in the Applicant’s favor before the 30 month stay expires, and this may involve a successful challenge of the patent’s validity in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) proceedings and appeals process. In the event a 505(b)(2) applicant does not rely on studies related to the innovator product, the 30-month stay would not apply, but additional clinical studies may be required. We can give no assurance that we would have grounds to file a patent infringement suit, that we would obtain the full 30 month stay, that we would be successful on the merits asserting that an Applicant infringes our Orange Book-listed patent, or that we would be successful defending the validity of our Orange Book-listed patent in court or in a USPTO adversarial proceeding.
As of the date of filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have not received any such Notice from any Applicant, but we can give no assurance that we will not receive a Notice in the future. If we were to receive any such Notice in the future, we would review the Notice, evaluate the strength of any potential patent infringement claims, and be prepared to challenge the Applicant in a timely fashion, which would thereby trigger the stay of up to 30 months. We can give no assurance that we would have grounds to file a patent infringement suit, that we would obtain the full 30 month stay, that we would be successful on the merits asserting that an Applicant infringes our Orange Book-listed patent, or that we would be successful defending the validity of our Orange Book-listed patent in court or in a USPTO adversarial proceeding. In addition, as discussed in our risk factor “Our business and industry are subject to complex and costly regulations. If government regulations are interpreted or enforced in a manner adverse to us or our business, we may be subject to enforcement actions, penalties, exclusion and other material limitations on our operations.” set forth below, if the FDA reclassified one or more of our imaging agents, such as DEFINITY, as a “device” rather than a “drug”, we do not know when such reclassification would become effective, how any transition rules would be formulated or applied, and whether or not the legal framework provided by the Hatch-Waxman Act would be preserved for some time after such reclassification.
As part of our microbubble franchise strategy, (i) we have developed and received FDA approval for DEFINITY RT, a modified formulation of DEFINITY, (ii) we look for other opportunities to expand our microbubble franchise, including new applications beyond echocardiography and ultrasound enhancing agent imaging generally such as our strategic arrangements with Cerevast, CarThera, Insightec and AHN, and (iii) we have constructed a specialized in-house manufacturing facility at our North Billerica campus for purposes of producing DEFINITY and, potentially, other sterile vial products. On February 22, 2022, we received FDA approval of our sNDA, authorizing commerical manufacturing of DEFINITY at our new facility. However, we can give no assurance that our microbubble franchise strategy will be successful or that the modified formulation, new applications or new manufacturing capabilities will grow our microbubble franchise.
If we are not able to continue to (i) grow DEFINITY and DEFINITY RT sales, which depend on one or more of the growth of echocardiograms, the growth in the appropriate use of ultrasound enhancing agents in suboptimal echocardiograms, and our ability to sustain and grow our leading position in the U.S. echocardiography ultrasound enhancing agent market, or (ii) be successful with our microbubble franchise strategy, we may not be able to continue to grow the revenue and cash flow of our business, which could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our dependence upon third parties for the manufacture and supply of a substantial portion of our products and certain key components and raw materials could prevent us from delivering our products to our customers in the required quantities, within the required timeframes, or at all, which could result in order cancellations and decreased revenues.
We obtain a substantial portion of our products from third party manufacturers and suppliers. We rely on JHS as a substantial supplier of DEFINITY, as well as our sole source manufacturer of NEUROLITE, Cardiolite and evacuation vials. We rely on SBL as our sole source manufacturer of DEFINITY RT. We rely on various other sole source suppliers for some of our key components and raw materials.
Based on our current estimates, we believe that we will have sufficient supply of DEFINITY, NEUROLITE, Cardiolite and evacuation vials from JHS (together with DEFINITY from our in-house manufacturing facility), and sufficient supply of saline from our sole manufacturer, to meet expected demand. However, we can give no assurances that JHS or our other manufacturing partner will be able to manufacture and distribute our products in a high quality and timely manner and in sufficient quantities to allow us to avoid product stock-outs and shortfalls.
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PYLARIFY is manufactured by a nationwide network of PMFs with radioisotope-producing cyclotrons. The radioisotope in PYLARIFY is fluorine-18, which has a 110-minute half-life, so PYLARIFY is manufactured and distributed rapidly to end-users. Because each of the PMFs manufacturing PLYARIFY is deemed by the FDA to be a separate manufacturing site, each has to be separately approved by the FDA. Although we have qualified and continue to qualify additional PMFs, we can give no assurance that the FDA will continue to approve PMFs in accordance with our planned roll-out schedule or that the PMFs will not experience issues with their ability to manufacture and deliver PYLARIFY to our customers. If FDA approval of manufacturing sites is delayed or withdrawn or our PMF sites experience manufacturing issues, our future business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected.
Xenon is captured as a by-product of the Mo-99 production process. We receive bulk unprocessed Xenon from IRE resulting from highly-enriched uranium (“HEU”) Mo-99 production, which we process and finish for our customers. We do not yet receive Xenon resulting from low-enriched uranium (“LEU”) Mo-99 production at IRE and can give no assurances as to the timing of the availability of LEU Xenon. We believe we will have a sufficient supply of Xenon to meet our customers’ needs. However, until IRE converts to LEU Xenon production or we can qualify an additional source of bulk unprocessed Xenon, we will rely on IRE as a sole source provider of HEU Xenon.
1095 is currently manufactured only at the CPDC in Ontario, Canada. Until December 2019, the CPDC was subject to an Import Alert by the FDA, which restricted the CPDC’s ability to ship products to the U.S. Although the CPDC has since been cleared by the FDA to ship products to the U.S., there can be no guarantee that the CPDC, or any other ex-U.S. third party manufacturer that we may partner with in the future, will not be subject to similar restrictions in the future.
In addition to the products described above, for reasons of quality assurance or cost-effectiveness, we purchase certain components and raw materials from sole suppliers (including, for example, the lipid blend material and perflutren gas used in the manufacturing of DEFINITY, the specially designed chemistry synthesis boxes and consumables used in the manufacturing of PYLARIFY and the lead casing for our TechneLite generators). Because we do not control the actual production of many of the products we sell and many of the raw materials and components that make up the products we sell, we may be subject to delays caused by interruption in production based on events and conditions outside of our control.
If we or one of our manufacturing partners or suppliers experiences an event, including a supply chain disruption, shortage or delay, logistics issue, labor dispute, natural disaster, fire, power outage, machinery breakdown, security problem, failure to meet regulatory requirements, product quality issue, technology transfer issue, cybersecurity breach or other issue, we or one of our manufacturing partners or suppliers may be unable to manufacture the relevant products at previous levels or on the forecasted schedule, if at all. Due to the stringent regulations and requirements of the governing regulatory authorities regarding the manufacture of our products, we may not be able to quickly restart manufacturing at a third party or our own facility or establish additional or replacement sources for certain products, components or materials.
In addition to our existing manufacturing relationships, we are also pursuing new manufacturing relationships to establish and secure additional or alternative suppliers for our commercial products. We have also constructed a specialized in-house manufacturing facility at our North Billerica, Massachusetts campus for purposes of producing DEFINITY and, potentially, other sterile vial products. On February 22, 2022, we received FDA approval of our sNDA, authorizing commercial manufacturing of DEFINITY at our new facility. This project should deliver supply chain redundancy for our current portfolio and the opportunity for margin expansion. However, we cannot assure you that these activities or any of our additional supply activities will be successful or that we will be able to avoid or mitigate interim supply shortages before new sources of product are fully functional and qualified. In addition, we cannot assure you that our existing manufacturers or suppliers or any new manufacturers or suppliers can adequately maintain either their financial health, technical capabilities or regulatory compliance to allow continued production and supply. A reduction or interruption in manufacturing, or an inability to secure alternative sources of raw materials or components, could eventually have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The global supply of Mo-99 is fragile and not stable. Our dependence on a limited number of third party suppliers for Mo-99 could prevent us from delivering some of our products to our customers in the required quantities, within the required timeframe, or at all, which could result in order cancellations and decreased revenues.
A critical ingredient of TechneLite is Mo-99. We currently purchase finished Mo-99 from three of the four main processing sites in the world, namely IRE in Belgium, NTP in South Africa and ANSTO in Australia. These processing sites provide us Mo-99 from five of the six main Mo-99-producing reactors in the world, namely BR2 in Belgium, LVR-15 in the Czech Republic, HFR in The Netherlands, SAFARI in South Africa and OPAL in Australia.
Our agreement with NTP, acting for itself and on behalf of its subcontractor ANSTO, expires on March 31, 2022. We are actively negotiating a new supply agreement with NTP, although we can give no assurance that we will be able to reach an agreement on mutually acceptable terms or at all. In the event we are not able to enter into an agreement on mutually acceptable terms or at all,
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we would expect to attempt to increase our purchases of Mo-99 from IRE and enter into a direct arrangement with ANSTO, but we can give no assurance that we would be able to increase our purchases from IRE or directly purchase from ANSTO or that there would be no disruption in our ability to fill some or all of the demand for our TechneLite generators on certain manufacturing days.
The NTP processing facility had periodic outages in 2017, 2018 and 2019. When NTP was not producing, we relied on Mo-99 supply from both IRE and ANSTO to limit the impact of the NTP outages. In 2019 and 2020, ANSTO experienced multiple facility issues that resulted in ANSTO outages and volume limitations, during which time we relied on IRE and NTP to limit the impact of those outages and limitations. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced challenges receiving regularly scheduled orders of Mo-99 from our global suppliers, particularly in the second quarter of 2020. We continue to manage these various supply chain challenges, but depending on reactor and processor schedules and operations, at times we have not been able to fill some or all of the demand for our TechneLite generators on certain manufacturing days. A prolonged disruption of service from one of our three Mo-99 processing sites or one of their main Mo-99-producing reactors could have a substantial negative effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
To augment our current supply of Mo-99, we entered into a strategic arrangement with SHINE for the future supply of Mo-99. Under the terms of the supply agreement, entered into in November 2014, SHINE will provide Mo-99 produced using its proprietary LEU-solution technology for use in our TechneLite generators once SHINE’s facility becomes operational and receives all necessary regulatory approvals, which SHINE now estimates will occur in 2023. The term of this arrangement provides for three years of supply of Mo-99. However, we cannot assure you that our arrangement with SHINE will result in commercial quantities of Mo-99 for our business, or that SHINE together with our current suppliers will be able to deliver a sufficient quantity of Mo-99 to meet our needs.
U.S., Canadian and international governments have encouraged the development of a number of alternative Mo-99 production projects with existing reactors and technologies as well as new technologies. However, we cannot say when, or if, the Mo-99 produced from these projects will become available. As a result, there is a limited amount of Mo-99 available which could limit the quantity of TechneLite that we could manufacture, sell and distribute, resulting in a further substantial negative effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Most of the global suppliers of Mo-99 rely on Framatone-CERCA in France to fabricate uranium targets and in some cases fuel for research reactors from which Mo-99 is produced. Absent a new supplier, a supply disruption relating to uranium targets or fuel could have a substantial negative effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our ability to successfully launch PYLARIFY as a commercial product is dependent on (A) our ability to obtain FDA approval for additional PMFs that could manufacture PYLARIFY, (B) the ability of those PMFs to supply PYLARIFY to customers, (C) our ability to sell PYLARIFY to customers, and (D) our ability to obtain and maintain adequate coding, coverage and payment for PYLARIFY.
The commercial launch of PYLARIFY is complex and expensive. To manufacture PYLARIFY, we assembled and qualified a nationwide network of PMFs with radioisotope-producing cyclotrons that make F 18, which has a 110-minute half-life, so PYLARIFY is manufactured and distributed rapidly to end-users. Because each of the PMFs manufacturing these products is deemed by the FDA to be a separate manufacturing site, each has to be separately approved by the FDA. Although we successfully qualified 21 PMFs in 2021 and continue to qualify additional PMFs in 2022, such that PYLARIFY is broadly available across the U.S. (including through our efforts to fly doses to certain markets ahead of PMF activation), we can give no assurance that the FDA will continue to approve PMFs in accordance with our planned roll-out schedule. If FDA approval of manufacturing sites is delayed or withdrawn, our future business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected.
PYLARIFY is sold in the U.S. to hospitals, independent imaging centers and government facilities and are generated through a PYLARIFY direct sales team and a sales team at some of our PMF partners. We generally do not use group purchasing arrangements to sell PYLARIFY and require contracts to be entered into directly with each customer. During 2021, we hired additional employees to assist us with this commercialization of PYLARIFY. Our ability to continue to successfully launch PYLARIFY depends, in part, on our ability to continue to enter into arrangements directly with the hospitals, independent imaging centers and government facilities that we serve. Any delay or inability to enter into these arrangements could have an adverse impact on our future business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
In addition, obtaining adequate coding, coverage and payment for PYLARIFY is critical, including not only coverage from Medicare, Medicaid and other government payors, as well as private payors, but also appropriate payment levels to adequately cover our customers’ costs of using PYLARIFY in PET/CT imaging procedures. We received notification that our HCPCS code, which enables streamlined billing, went into effect as of January 1, 2022. In addition, effective January 1, 2022, CMS granted Transitional Pass-Through Payment Status for PYLARIFY, enabling traditional Medicare to provide an incremental payment for PET/CT scans performed with PYLARIFY in the hospital outpatient setting. If other government payors or private payors do not provide adequate
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reimbursement for the use of PYLARIFY, our future business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected.
The successful launch of PYLARIFY is also dependent on our ability to establish PYLARIFY as a leading PET diagnostic for men with prostate cancer in the approved indications. PYLARIFY currently competes with Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited’s recently-approved Illuccix (gallium-68 PSMA-11 injection) and Bracco’s Axumin (fluciclovine F 18). We also face potential competition from Novartis AG, which has a gallium-68 PSMA-11 kit for PET imaging currently under review with the FDA, and Bracco, which has an F 18 PSMA PET imaging agent in late stage clinical development. We believe that one or both of the Novartis and Bracco PSMA agents could be approved by the FDA for commercialization later in 2022 or in 2023. To the extent we are unsuccessful in establishing the use of PYLARIFY for approved indications or we lose market share to existing or future competitors, such lack of success or loss of market share could have an adverse impact on our future business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, because we are in the process of launching this imaging agent, we can give no assurance as to how clinical practice may evolve or what our ultimate market penetration may be.
We may not be able to successfully launch PYLARIFY AI as a commercial product.
We announced in November 2021 that PYLARIFY AI, our FDA-cleared medical device software, was commercially available in the United States. Our ability to successfully launch PYLARIFY AI as a commercial product depends in part on, among other things:
• the market receptivity to PYLARIFY AI as a new digital application for quantitative assessment of PSMA PET/CT images in prostate cancer;
• our ability, and our distributors’ abilities, to secure customers’ internal approvals and sell and deploy PYLARIFY AI at customer locations;
• interruptions or performance problems associated with our digital application, including a service outage; and
• a network or data security incident that allows unauthorized access to our network or data or our customers’ data.
Although we believe that PYLARIFY AI when used with PYLARIFY will provide us an important competitive advantage in what we expect will be a highly competitive PET PSMA diagnostic imaging agent market, we can give no assurances to that effect.
We rely on Bausch to develop and commercialize RELISTOR, exposing us to significant risks.
We rely on Bausch to pursue and complete further development and obtain regulatory approvals for RELISTOR worldwide and to effectively commercialize the product and manage pricing, sales and marketing practices and inventory levels in the distribution channel. The revenue derived from royalty and milestone payments from our RELISTOR collaboration with Bausch can fluctuate significantly from period to period, and our past revenue is therefore not necessarily indicative of our future revenue. We are and will be dependent upon Bausch and any other business partners with which we may collaborate in the future to perform and fund development, including clinical testing of RELISTOR, making related regulatory filings and manufacturing and marketing products, including for new indications and in new formulations, in their respective territories. Revenue from the sale of RELISTOR depends entirely upon the efforts of Bausch and its sublicensees, which have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources they apply to sales of RELISTOR. Bausch may not be effective in obtaining approvals for new indications or formulations, marketing existing or future products or arranging for necessary sublicense or distribution relationships. Our business relationships with Bausch and other partners may not be scientifically, clinically or commercially successful. For example, Bausch has a variety of marketed products and its own corporate objectives, which may not be consistent with our best interests, and may change its strategic focus or pursue alternative technologies in a manner that results in reduced or delayed revenue to us. Bausch may also have commercial and financial interests that are not fully aligned with ours in a given territory or territories, which may make it more difficult for us to fully realize the value of RELISTOR. We may have future disagreements with Bausch, which has significantly greater financial and managerial resources which it could draw upon in the event of a dispute. Such disagreements could lead to lengthy and expensive litigation or other dispute-resolution proceedings as well as extensive financial and operational consequences to us and have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, independent actions may be taken by Bausch concerning product development, marketing strategies, manufacturing and supply issues, and rights relating to intellectual property.
We are also dependent on Bausch for compliance with regulatory requirements as they apply to RELISTOR.
The RELISTOR commercialization program continues to be subject to risk.
Future developments in the commercialization of RELISTOR may result in Bausch taking independent actions concerning product development, marketing strategies or other matters, including termination of its efforts to develop and commercialize the drug.
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Under our license agreement with Bausch, Bausch is responsible for obtaining supplies of RELISTOR, including contracting with contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”) for supply of RELISTOR active pharmaceutical ingredient and subcutaneous and oral finished drug product. These arrangements may not be on terms that are advantageous and will subject us to risks that the counterparties may not perform optimally in terms of quality or reliability.
Bausch’s ability to optimally commercialize either oral or subcutaneous RELISTOR in a given jurisdiction may be impacted by applicable labeling and other regulatory requirements. If clinical trials indicate, or regulatory bodies are concerned about, actual or possible serious problems with the safety or efficacy of RELISTOR, Bausch may stop or significantly slow further development or commercialization of RELISTOR. In such an event, we could be faced with either further developing and commercializing the drug on our own or with one or more substitute collaborators, either of which paths would subject us to the development, commercialization, collaboration and/or financing risks.
There has been growing public concern regarding the use of opioid drugs. Any efforts by the FDA or other governmental authorities to restrict or limit the use of opioids may negatively impact the market for RELISTOR. In addition, there is a substantial risk that the revenue targets for receiving additional RELISTOR milestone payments will not be met. As a result, there is no assurance that we will realize the potential revenue represented by future RELISTOR milestone payments.
Any such significant action adverse to the further development and commercialization of RELISTOR could have an adverse impact on our business.
Our AZEDRA commercialization program is subject to significant risk.
Progenics received FDA approval for AZEDRA in July 2018. Since then, the AZEDRA commercial program has faced numerous challenges, including, among other things:
• decisions by treating physicians and patients to defer treatment and by hospital facilities to limit access for our representatives until COVID-19 infection rates subside;
• challenges in securing I-131 supply and manufacturing patient-ready doses of AZEDRA;
• a small Orphan Drug patient population;
• reluctance by some potential hospital customers to invest in the necessary facility build-out to accommodate the administration of a highly radioactive therapeutic agent (including, among other things, the construction of lead-lined rooms to accommodate inpatients following AZEDRA’s administration); and
• the high cost of the drug and reimbursement.
Because of these issues, we can give no assurance that AZEDRA will become a commercial success. After increased experience administering AZEDRA, clinicians may conclude that the complexity of administration and/or safety concerns with using a highly radioactive therapeutic agent may not justify AZEDRA’s perceived clinical benefits. AZEDRA became eligible for new technology add-on payments (NTAP) under the Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) effective October 1, 2019. As required by statute, NTAP eligibility under the IPPS can continue for a period of at least two years, but not more than three years. Under the fiscal year 2022 IPPS Final Rule, published in September 2021, CMS finalized continuation of AZEDRA’s NTAP for fiscal year 2022—i.e., from October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022. AZEDRA’s NTAP will most likely expire September 30, 2022. If post-pass-through payment levels impact market acceptance for AZEDRA, the drug may not generate enough revenue to make it economically viable. In addition, the market may react negatively to the high cost of AZEDRA, which could result in negative publicity and potentially reputational harm to us. Further, to the extent new Federal restrictions relating to drug pricing are implemented and apply to AZEDRA, the additional pricing pressure could further limit AZEDRA’s economic viability.
If AZEDRA is determined to be challenging to administer, not economically viable or we are unable to successfully commercialize it, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected.
We may not be able to maintain Orphan Drug exclusivity for AZEDRA and, even if we do, that exclusivity may not prevent the FDA, from approving competing products.
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. AZEDRA currently has the Orphan Drug designation in the United States.
In the United States, Orphan Drug designation entitles a party to financial incentives such as opportunities for grant funding towards clinical trial costs, tax advantages and user-fee waivers. In addition, if a product that has Orphan Drug designation
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subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to Orphan Drug exclusivity, which means the FDA may not approve any other application to market the same drug for the same indication for a period of seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority over the product with orphan exclusivity or where the manufacturer is unable to assure sufficient product quantity.
We may not be able to maintain Orphan Drug exclusivity for AZEDRA. 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 assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs of patients with the rare disease or 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 safer, more effective or makes a major contribution to patient care. A loss of the Orphan Drug exclusivity for AZEDRA may have an adverse impact on our ability to adequately commercialize AZEDRA.
Our just-in-time manufacturing of radiopharmaceutical products relies on the reliability of our equipment and processes and the timely receipt of radioactive raw materials and the timely shipment of finished goods, and any disruption of our supply or distribution networks could have a negative effect on our business.
At our North Billerica, Massachusetts facility, we manufacture TechneLite on a highly automated production line, as well as Thallium and Gallium using our older cyclotron technology and Xenon on a hot cell line. At our Somerset, New Jersey facility, we manufacture AZEDRA on a hot cell line. As with all manufacturing facilities, equipment and infrastructure age and become subject to increasing maintenance and repair. If we experience an event, including a labor dispute, natural disaster, fire, power outage, machinery breakdown, security problem, failure to meet regulatory requirements, product quality issue, technology transfer issue or other issue, we may be unable to manufacture the relevant products at previous levels or on the forecasted schedule, if at all. Due to the stringent regulations and requirements of the governing regulatory authorities regarding the manufacture of our products, we may not be able to quickly restart manufacturing at our facilities or establish additional or replacement sources for certain products, components or materials.
In addition, because a number of our radiopharmaceutical products, including our TechneLite generators, PYLARIFY and AZEDRA, rely on radioisotopes with limited half-lives, we or our partners must manufacture, finish and distribute these products on a just-in-time basis, because the underlying radioisotope is in a constant state of decay. For example, if we receive Mo-99 in the morning of a manufacturing day for TechneLite generators, then we will generally ship finished generators to customers by the end of that same business day. Shipment of generators may be by next day delivery services or by either ground or air custom logistics. Similarly, the radioisotope used in PYLARIFY is F 18, which has a 110 minute half-life, requiring that this product be manufactured and distributed within the same day to end-users. After being made on a cyclotron at a PMF, the F 18 is then combined with certain chemical ingredients in specially designed chemistry synthesis boxes to manufacture PYLARIFY. The finished PYLARIFY is then quality control tested and transferred to a radiopharmacist who prepares and dispenses patient-specific doses from the final product. Any delay in us receiving radioisotopes from suppliers or being able to have finished products delivered to customers because of weather or other unforeseen transportation issues could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
In the U.S., we are heavily dependent on a few large customers to generate a majority of our revenues for our nuclear medical imaging products in our precision diagnostic product category. Outside of the U.S., we rely primarily on distributors to generate a substantial portion of our revenue.
In the U.S., we have historically relied on a limited number of radiopharmacy customers, primarily Cardinal, Jubilant Radiopharma, PharmaLogic, RLS and UPPI, to purchase our current largest volume nuclear imaging products. Among the existing radiopharmacies in the U.S., continued consolidations, divestitures and reorganizations may have a negative effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Our contractual arrangements with these radiopharmacy customers generally specify pricing levels and requirements to purchase minimum percentages of certain products during certain periods. The agreements generally are multi-year arrangements that may be terminated upon the occurrence of specified events, including a material breach by the other party and certain force majeure events. If these contracts are terminated prior to the expiration of their term, or are not renewed, or are renewed on terms that are less favorable to us, then such an event could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
For all of our medical imaging products, we continue to experience significant pricing pressures from our competitors, large customers and group purchasing organizations, and any significant, additional pricing pressures could lead to a reduction in revenue which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
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Outside of the U.S. and Canada, we have no sales force and, consequently, rely on third party distributors, either on a country-by-country basis or on a multi-country, regional basis, to market, sell and distribute our products. In Canada, we maintain our own direct sales force to generate sales of DEFINITY. In certain circumstances, distributors may also sell competing products to our own or products for competing diagnostic modalities and may have incentives to shift sales towards those competing products. As a result, we cannot assure you that our international distributors will increase or maintain current levels of unit sales or that we will be able to increase or maintain our current unit pricing, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We face significant competition in our business and may not be able to compete effectively.
The markets for our products are highly competitive and continually evolving. Our principal competitors for our current commercial products and leading clinical development candidates include large, global companies that are more diversified than we are and that have substantial financial, manufacturing, sales and marketing, distribution and other resources:
• For DEFINITY, our competitors currently include GE Healthcare and Bracco.
• For a number of our radiopharmaceutical commercial products, our competitors currently include Curium, GE Healthcare, Bracco and Jubilant Life Sciences, an affiliate of JHS and Jubilant Radiopharma, as well as other competitors, including NorthStar and potentially BWXT Medical.
• For PYLARIFY, our competitors currently include Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and Bracco, and may in the future include Novartis AG, which has a gallium-68 PSMA-11 kit for PET imaging currently under review with the FDA, and Bracco, which has an F 18 PSMA PET imaging agent in late stage clinical development; we believe that one or both of the Novartis and Bracco PSMA agents could be approved by the FDA for commercialization later in 2022 or in 2023. In addition, the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Los Angeles have approved NDAs for a gallium-68 PSMA-11 injection for PSMA PET imaging, which we believe will primarily be used within their hospital systems.
• For RELISTOR, our principal competitors include Nektar Therapeutics, in collaboration with AstraZeneca PLC; Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc.; Mallinckrodt plc, in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; and BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc.; together with other prescription, as well as over-the-counter, laxatives used as first line therapy for OIC.
• For AZEDRA, there are currently no approved anticancer treatments in the U.S. for malignant, recurrent, and/or unresectable pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma.
• For 1095, our principal competitors in the field of radiopharmaceutical therapeutics for mCRPC may include Novartis AG; POINT Biopharma; Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited; and Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc., each of which have product candidates in development.
• For LMI 1195, our principal competitors may include GE Healthcare’s iobenguane 123 injection.
• For flurpiridaz, our principal competitors may include rubidium generators from Bracco and Jubilant Radiopharma.
We cannot anticipate the actions of our current or future competitors in the same or competing diagnostic modalities, such as significant price reductions on products that are comparable to our own, development of new products that are more cost-effective or have superior performance than our current products or the introduction of generic versions after our proprietary products lose their patent protection. In addition, distributors of our products could attempt to shift end-users to competing diagnostic modalities and products, or bundle the sale of a portfolio of products, in either case to the detriment of our specific products. Our current or future products could be rendered obsolete or uneconomical as a result of these activities.
Further, the radiopharmaceutical industry continues to evolve strategically, with several market participants either recently sold or for sale. In addition, the supply-demand dynamics of the industry are complex because of large market positions of some participants, legacy businesses, government subsidies (in particular, relating to the manufacture of radioisotopes), and group purchasing arrangements. We cannot predict what impact new owners and new operators may have on the strategic decision-making of our competitors, customers and suppliers, and such decision-making could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Ultrasound enhancing agents may cause side effects which could limit our ability to sell DEFINITY.
DEFINITY is an ultrasound enhancing agent based on perflutren lipid microspheres. In 2007, the FDA received reports of deaths and serious cardiopulmonary reactions following the administration of ultrasound micro-bubble enhancing agents used in echocardiography. Four of the 11 reported deaths were caused by cardiac arrest occurring either during or within 30 minutes following the administration of the ultrasound enhancing agent; most of the serious but non-fatal reactions also occurred in this time frame. As a result, in October 2007, the FDA requested that we and GE Healthcare, which distributes Optison, a competitor to DEFINITY, add a boxed warning to these products emphasizing the risk for serious cardiopulmonary reactions and that the use of these products was
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contraindicated in certain patients. In a strong reaction by the cardiology community to the FDA’s new position, a letter was sent to the FDA, signed by 161 doctors, stating that the benefit of these ultrasound enhancing agents outweighed the risks and urging that the boxed warning be removed. In May 2008, the FDA substantially modified the boxed warning. On May 2, 2011, the FDA held an advisory committee meeting to consider the status of ultrasound micro-bubble contrast agents and the boxed warning. In October 2011, we received FDA approval of further modifications to the DEFINITY label, including: further relaxing the boxed warning; eliminating the sentence in the Indication and Use section “The safety and efficacy of DEFINITY with exercise stress or pharmacologic stress testing have not been established” (previously added in October 2007 in connection with the imposition of the box warning); and including summary data from the post-approval CaRES (Contrast echocardiography Registry for Safety Surveillance) safety registry and the post-approval pulmonary hypertension study. Further, in January 2017, the FDA approved an additional modification to the DEFINITY label, removing the contraindication statement related to use in patients with a known or suspected cardiac shunt. Bracco’s ultrasound enhancing agent, Lumason, has substantially similar safety labeling as DEFINITY and Optison. In April 2021, after reviewing certain adverse events that occurred in patients with a prior history of allergic reactions to polyethylene glycol (“PEG”), an inactive excipient in both DEFINITY and Lumason, the FDA and the marketing authorization holders of these products agreed to an additional contraindication for use of these products, including advising clinicians to assess patients for prior PEG hypersensitivity before administering these products. If additional safety issues arise (not only with DEFINITY but also potentially with Optison and Lumason), this may result in unfavorable changes in labeling or result in restrictions on the approval of our product, including removal of the product from the market. Lingering safety concerns about DEFINITY among some healthcare providers or future unanticipated side effects or safety concerns associated with DEFINITY could limit expanded use of DEFINITY and have a material adverse effect on the unit sales of this product and our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Reimbursement and Regulation
Many of our customers are highly dependent on payments from third party payors, including government sponsored programs, particularly Medicare, in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate, and reductions in third party coverage and reimbursement rates for our products (or services provided with our products) could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
A substantial portion of our revenue depends on the extent to which the costs of our products purchased by our customers (or services provided with our products) are reimbursed by third party payors, including Medicare, Medicaid, other U.S. government sponsored programs, non-U.S. governmental payors and private payors. These third party payors exercise significant control over patient access and increasingly use their enhanced bargaining power to secure discounted rates and impose other requirements that may reduce demand for our products. Our customers’ ability to obtain adequate reimbursement for products and services from these third party payors affects the selection of products they purchase and the prices they are willing to pay. If Medicare and other third party payors do not provide adequate reimbursement for the costs of our products (or services provided using our products), deny the coverage of the products (or those services), or reduce current levels of reimbursement, healthcare professionals may not prescribe our products and providers and suppliers may not purchase our products.
In addition, demand for new products may be limited unless we obtain favorable reimbursement (including coding, coverage and payment) from governmental and private third party payors at the time of the product’s introduction, which will depend, in part, on our ability to demonstrate that a new agent has a positive impact on clinical outcomes. Third party payors continually review their coverage policies for existing and new products and procedures and can deny coverage for procedures that include the use of our products or revise payment policies such that payments do not adequately cover the cost of our products. Even if third party payors make coverage and reimbursement available, that reimbursement may not be adequate or these payors’ reimbursement policies may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
For example, effective January 1, 2022, the CMS granted TPT Status in the hospital outpatient setting for PYLARIFY, enabling traditional Medicare to provide an incremental payment for PET/CT scans performed with PYLARIFY in that setting. TPT Status for PYLARIFY is expected to expire December 31, 2024. After TPT Status expires, under current Medicare rules, PYLARIFY, similar to other diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, would not be separately reimbursed in the hospital outpatient setting but rather would be included as part of the facility fee a hospital otherwise receives for a PET/CT imaging procedure, and the facility fee does not always cover the cost of a drug used in the procedure. The Company can give no assurance that any CMS reimbursement in the hospital outpatient setting that follows the expiration of TPT Status will be adequate to cover the cost of PYLARIFY used in a PET/CT imaging procedure.
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Over the past several years, Medicare has implemented numerous changes to payment policies for imaging procedures in both the hospital setting and non-hospital settings (which include physician offices and freestanding imaging facilities). Some of these changes have had a negative impact on utilization of imaging services. Examples of these changes include:
• Limiting payments for imaging services in physician offices and free-standing imaging facility settings based upon rates paid to hospital outpatient departments;
• Reducing payments for certain imaging procedures when performed together with other imaging procedures in the same family of procedures on the same patient on the same day in the physician office and free-standing imaging facility setting;
• Making significant revisions to the methodology for determining the practice expense component of the Medicare payment applicable to the physician office and free-standing imaging facility settings which results in a reduction in payment;
• Revising payment policies and reducing payment amounts for imaging procedures performed in the hospital outpatient settings; and
• Reducing prospective payment levels for applicable diagnosis-related groups in the hospital inpatient setting.
In the physician office and free-standing imaging facility setting, services provided using our products are reimbursed under the Medicare physician fee schedule. Payment rates under the Medicare physician fee schedule are regularly subject to updates to effectuate various policy goals. For example, since 2019, fee schedule payments have been adjusted for certain physicians based on their performance under a consolidated measurement system (that measures performance with respect to quality, resource utilization, meaningful use of certified electronic health records technology, and clinical practice improvement activities). From 2019 through payment year 2024, physicians may be eligible for a bonus based on the use of certain alternative payment models designated as “advanced” by CMS. The ongoing and future impact of these changes cannot be determined at this time.
We believe that Medicare changes to payment policies for imaging procedures applicable to non-hospital settings will continue to result in certain physician practices ceasing to provide these services and a further shifting of where certain medical imaging procedures are performed, from the physician office and free-standing imaging facility settings to the hospital outpatient setting. Changes applicable to Medicare payment in the hospital outpatient setting could also influence the decisions by hospital outpatient physicians to perform procedures that involve our products. Within the hospital outpatient setting, CMS payment policy is such that the use of many of our products are not separately payable by Medicare, although certain new drug products are eligible for separate (incremental) payment for the first three years after approval. Although Medicare generally does not provide separate payment to hospitals for the use of diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals administered in an outpatient setting, since 2013, CMS has had a policy to make a nominal additional payment ($10) to hospitals that utilize products with non-HEU, meaning the product is 95% derived from non-HEU sources. This payment policy continues in 2022. Although some of our TechneLite generators are manufactured using non-HEU, not all of our TechneLite generators currently meet CMS’s definition of non-HEU, and therefore this payment is not available for doses produced by the latter category of TechneLite generators used by our customers. Changes to the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system payment rates, including reductions implemented for certain hospital outpatient sites, could influence the decisions by hospital outpatient physicians to perform procedures that involve our products.
We also believe that all these changes and their resulting pressures may incrementally reduce the overall number of diagnostic medical imaging procedures performed. These changes overall could slow the acceptance and introduction of next-generation imaging equipment into the marketplace, which, in turn, could adversely impact the future market adoption of certain of our imaging agents already in the market or currently in development. We expect that there will continue to be proposals to reduce or limit Medicare and Medicaid payment for diagnostic services.
We also expect increased regulation and oversight of advanced diagnostic testing in which our products are used. Under section 218(b) of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, beginning January 1, 2020, a professional who is ordering advanced diagnostic imaging services (which include MRI, CT, nuclear medicine (including PET) and other advanced diagnostic imaging services that the Secretary of HHS may specify, but not currently including echocardiography) must consult a qualified clinical decision support mechanism, as identified by HHS, to determine whether the ordered service adheres to specified appropriate use criteria (“AUC”) developed or endorsed by CMS-qualified “provider led entities”. Medicare claims for such services must include information indicating whether services ordered would adhere to specified applicable AUC. Denial of claims for failure to include AUC consultation information on the claim form was set to begin on January 1, 2022. In the CY 2022 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, CMS delayed the start of these claims denials until the later of January 1, 2023, or the January 1st that follows the declared end of the Public Health Emergency for COVID–19. To the extent that these types of changes have the effect of reducing the aggregate number of diagnostic medical imaging procedures performed in the U.S., our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows would be adversely affected.
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Medicare coverage of PET radiopharmaceuticals has been the subject of a large number of National Coverage Determinations (“NCDs”) by CMS since 2000. Specific indications for PET imaging were covered, some through Coverage with Evidence Development. CMS’s longtime policy, however, was that a particular use of PET scans is not covered unless an NCD specifically provided that such use was covered. Effective March 7, 2013, CMS revised its policy through an NCD to allow local Medicare Administrative Contractors (“MACs”) to determine coverage within their respective jurisdictions for PET using radiopharmaceuticals for their FDA-approved labeled indications for oncologic imaging. Effective January 1, 2022, non-coverage in the absence of an NCD has also been removed for non-oncologic indications of PET radiopharmaceuticals, allowing MACs to determine coverage for these indications within their respective jurisdictions. To the extent that CMS or the MACs impose more restrictive coverage, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows would be adversely affected.
Reforms to the U.S. healthcare system may adversely affect our business.
A significant portion of our patient volume is derived from U.S. government healthcare programs, principally Medicare, which are highly regulated and subject to frequent and substantial changes. The Healthcare Reform Act substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. The law contains a number of provisions that affect coverage and reimbursement of drug products and medical imaging procedures in which our drug products are used and/or that could potentially reduce the aggregate number of diagnostic medical imaging procedures performed in the U.S. Subsequently, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 significantly revised the methodology for updating the Medicare physician fee schedule. And more recently, Congress enacted legislation in 2017 that effectively eliminated the Healthcare Reform Act’s “individual mandate” beginning in 2019. Congress continues to consider other healthcare reform legislation. There is no assurance that the Healthcare Reform Act, as currently enacted or as amended in the future, will not adversely affect our business and financial results, and we cannot predict how future federal or state legislative, judicial or administrative changes relating to healthcare reform will affect our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the Healthcare Reform Act was enacted. The Budget Control Act of 2011 and subsequent Congressional actions includes provisions to reduce the federal deficit. These provisions have resulted in the imposition of 2% reductions in Medicare payments to providers, which went into effect on April 1, 2013 and will remain in effect through fiscal year 2030. The CARES Act temporarily suspended the 2% payment adjustment for dates of service from May 1 through December 31, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 subsequently extended this suspension until March 31, 2021, and Congress further extended the suspension through March 31, 2022. Any significant spending reductions affecting Medicare, Medicaid or other publicly funded or subsidized health programs that may be implemented and/or any significant taxes or fees that may be imposed on us, as part of any broader deficit reduction effort or legislative replacement to the Budget Control Act, could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Further, changes in payor mix and reimbursement by private third party payors may also affect our business. Rates paid by some private third party payors are based, in part, on established physician, clinic and hospital charges and are generally higher than Medicare payment rates. Reductions in the amount of reimbursement paid for diagnostic medical imaging procedures and changes in the mix of our patients between non-governmental payors and government sponsored healthcare programs and among different types of non-government payor sources, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The full impact on our business of healthcare reforms and other new laws, or changes in existing laws, is uncertain. Nor is it clear whether additional legislative changes will be adopted or how those changes would affect our industry in general or our ability to successfully commercialize our products or develop new products.
Our business and industry are subject to complex and costly regulations. If government regulations are interpreted or enforced in a manner adverse to us or our business, we may be subject to enforcement actions, penalties, exclusion and other material limitations on our operations.
Both before and after the approval of our products and agents in development, we, our products, development agents, operations, facilities, suppliers, distributors, contract manufacturers, contract research organizations and contract testing laboratories are subject to extensive and, in certain circumstances, expanding regulation by federal, state and local government agencies in the U.S. as well as non-U.S. and transnational laws and regulations, with regulations differing from country to country, including, among other things, anti-trust and competition laws and regulations, and the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union. In the U.S., the FDA regulates, among other things, the pre-clinical testing, clinical trials, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, potency, labeling, storage, record keeping, quality systems, advertising, promotion, sale, distribution, and import and export of drug products. We are required to register our business for permits and/or licenses with, and comply with the stringent requirements of the FDA, the NRC, the HHS, Health Canada, the EMA, the MHRA, the NMPA, state and provincial boards of pharmacy, state and provincial health departments and other federal, state and provincial agencies. Violation of any of these regulatory schemes, individually or collectively, could disrupt our business and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
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Under U.S. law, for example, we are required to report certain adverse events and production problems, if any, to the FDA. We also have similar adverse event and production reporting obligations outside of the U.S., including to the EMA and MHRA. Additionally, we must comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotion for our products, including the prohibition on the promotion of our products for indications that have not been approved by the FDA or a so-called “off-label use” or promotion that is inconsistent with the approved labeling. If the FDA determines that our promotional materials constitute unlawful promotion, it could request that we modify our promotional materials or subject us to regulatory or enforcement actions. Also, quality control and manufacturing procedures at our own facility and at third party suppliers must conform to cGMP regulations and other applicable law after approval, and the FDA periodically inspects manufacturing facilities to assess compliance with cGMPs and other applicable law, and, from time to time, makes those cGMPs more stringent. Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must expend time, money, and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control. If in the future issues arise at a third party manufacturer, the FDA could take regulatory action which could limit or suspend the ability of that third party to manufacture our products or have any additional products approved at the relevant facility for manufacture until the issues are resolved and remediated. Such a limitation or suspension could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We are also subject to laws and regulations that govern financial and other arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers, including federal and state anti-kickback statutes, federal and state false claims laws and regulations, federal and state “sunshine” laws and regulations and other fraud and abuse laws and regulations.
We must offer discounted pricing or rebates on purchases of pharmaceutical products under various federal and state healthcare programs, such as the Medicaid drug rebate program, the “federal ceiling price” drug pricing program, the 340B drug pricing program and the Medicare Part D Program. We must also report specific prices to government agencies under healthcare programs, such as the Medicaid drug rebate program and Medicare Part B. Our Medicaid Drug Rebate agreements require us to report certain price information to the federal government. Determination of the rebate amount that we pay to state Medicaid programs for our products, of prices charged to government and certain private payors for our products, or of amounts paid for our products under government healthcare programs, depends upon information reported by us to the government. If we provide customers or government officials with inaccurate information about the products’ pricing or eligibility for coverage, or the products fail to satisfy coverage requirements, we could be terminated from the rebate program, be excluded from participation in government healthcare programs, or be subject to potential liability under the False Claims Act or other laws and regulations.
Failure to comply with other requirements and restrictions placed upon us or our third party manufacturers or suppliers by laws and regulations can result in fines, civil and criminal penalties, exclusion from federal healthcare programs and debarment. Possible consequences of those actions could include:
• Substantial modifications to our business practices and operations;
• Significantly reduced demand for our products (if products become ineligible for reimbursement under federal and state healthcare programs);
• A total or partial shutdown of production in one or more of the facilities where our products are produced while the alleged violation is being remediated;
• Delays in or the inability to obtain future pre-market clearances or approvals; and
• Withdrawals or suspensions of our current products from the market.
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Regulations are subject to change as a result of legislative, administrative or judicial action, which may also increase our costs or reduce sales or otherwise adversely impact our products. For example, on April 16, 2021 in the case Genus Medical Technologies LLC v. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that a product (other than a combination product) that meets the definitions of both “drug” and “device” in the FDCA must be regulated as a device. On August 9, 2021, the FDA announced that, as part of its implementation of this court decision, the FDA intended to regulate products that meet both the device and drug definition as devices, except where Congress intended a different classification. The FDA further indicated that it intended to bring previously classified products into line with the court decision and would reexamine whether individual imaging agents meet the device definition. In connection with its announcement, the FDA requested comments from the industry on five topics: categories of products implicated by the court decision; the transition process; the transition timing; user fee transitions; and determining drug or device status. We submitted comments to the FDA in response to its request for comments. While we question whether the FDA has authority to make this change, we believe that pre-existing law already establishes that a broad spectrum of imaging agents have already been established by Congress to be “drugs”, and do not believe that any of our imaging agents meets the definition of a “device” under the FDCA. We can give no assurance that the FDA will agree with our position. In addition, if the FDA determines that one or more of our imaging agents meet the definition of a “device”, we do not know when such reclassification would be effective, how any transition rules would be formulated or applied, and whether or not the legal framework provided by the Hatch-Waxman Act would be preserved for some time after such reclassification. A reclassification of one or more of our imaging agents as a “device” could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our marketing and sales practices may contain risks that could result in significant liability, require us to change our business practices, and restrict our operations in the future.
We are subject to numerous domestic (federal, state and local) and foreign laws addressing fraud and abuse in the healthcare industry, including the FCA and federal Anti-Kickback Statute, self-referral laws, the FCPA, the Bribery Act, FDA promotional restrictions, the federal disclosure (sunshine) law and state marketing and disclosure (sunshine) laws. Violations of these laws are punishable by criminal or civil sanctions, including substantial fines, imprisonment and exclusion from participation in healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid as well as health programs outside the U.S., and even settlement of alleged violations can result in the imposition of corporate integrity agreements that could subject us to additional compliance and reporting requirements and impact our business practices. These laws and regulations are complex and subject to changing interpretation and application, which could restrict our sales or marketing practices. Even minor and inadvertent irregularities could potentially give rise to a charge that the law has been violated. Although we believe we maintain an appropriate compliance program, we cannot be certain that the program will adequately detect or prevent violations and/or the relevant regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation. Additionally, if there is a change in law, regulation or administrative or judicial interpretations, we may have to change one or more of our business practices to be in compliance with these laws. Required changes could be costly and time consuming.
If our operations are found to be in violation of these laws or any other government regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including, without limitation, civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, or exclusion from state and federal healthcare programs including Medicare and Medicaid, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations and Financial Results
The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and could continue to have, a material impact on our business, results of operation and financial condition, operating results, cash flows and prospects.
Towards the end of the first quarter of 2020 we began to experience, and through the date of this filing we are continuing to experience, impacts to our business and operations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the impact of hospital staffing challenges, vaccination mandates, employee absences due to illness, and a decline in the volume of procedures and treatments using our products. In response to the pandemic, healthcare providers have, and may need to further, reallocate resources, such as physicians, staff and facilities, as they prioritize limited resources and personnel capacity to focus on the treatment of patients with COVID-19 and implement limitations on access to hospitals and other medical institutions due to concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19 in such settings. Vaccination mandates may also create additional personnel and capacity constraints.
For example, we believe that during the fourth quarter of 2021 sales of DEFINITY were impacted by hospital nursing and sonographer shortages, and sales of AZEDRA were impacted by treatment capacity constraints in hospitals, treatment deferrals and cancellations by patients, and access restrictions by hospitals. There has also been a reduction in pulmonary ventilation studies in which our Xenon is used because of institutional concerns and professional society guidelines relating to the possible spread of COVID-19 to technicians and other patients, given that Xenon is both inhaled and exhaled by the patient. As a result, Xenon sales have decreased. We expect Xenon sales to continue to be at reduced levels so long as COVID-19 precautions remain in place. Similarly, with respect to AZEDRA, the resurgence of COVID-19 infection rates impacted sales by creating treatment capacity constraints in hospitals, treatment deferrals and cancellations by patients and access restrictions by hospitals.
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These actions have significantly delayed the provision of other medical care including procedures involving our products, having an adverse effect on our revenue. These measures and challenges may continue for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and such duration is uncertain and may significantly reduce our revenue and cash flows while the pandemic continues and thereafter until we and our customers are able to resume normal business operations. We cannot predict the magnitude or duration of the pandemic’s impact on our business.
In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the following risks could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects:
• The delay or cancellation by hospitals and clinics of the procedures in which our products are used as a result of their COVID-19 response efforts and the duration of such effects, thereby reducing sales of our products for an unknown period of time;
• The inability or unwillingness of some patients to visit hospitals or clinics in order to undergo procedures in which our products are used, thereby reducing sales of our products for an unknown period of time;
• The inability of some patients to pay for procedures and/or the co-pay associated with those procedures in which our products are used due to job loss or lack of insurance, thereby reducing sales of our products for an unknown period of time;
• The inability of our distributors, radiopharmacy customers, PET manufacturing partners, hospitals, clinics and other customers to conduct their normal operations, including supplying or conducting procedures in which our products are used, because of their COVID-19 response efforts, or the reduced capacity or productivity of their employees and contractors as a result of possible illness, quarantine or other inability to work, thereby reducing sales of our products for an unknown period of time;
• The financial challenges experienced by certain of our customers due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in increased pressure from those customers on the pricing of our commercial products;
• The inability of global suppliers of raw materials or components used in the manufacture of our products, or contract manufacturers of our products, to supply and/or transport those raw materials, components and products to us in a timely and cost effective manner due to shutdowns, interruptions or delays, limiting and potentially precluding the production of our finished products, impacting our ability to supply customers, reducing our sales, increasing our costs of goods sold, and reducing our absorption of overhead;
• The partial or complete delay or cancellation of international or domestic flights by our airfreight carriers, resulting in our inability to receive raw materials, components and products from our global suppliers or to ship and deliver our finished products to our domestic and international customers in a timely or cost effective manner, thereby potentially increasing our freight costs as we seek alternate, potentially more expensive, methods to ship raw materials, components or products, and negatively impacting our sales;
• The reduced capacity or productivity of our complex, on-campus operations as a result of possible illness, quarantine or other inability of our employees and contractors to work, despite all of the preventative measures we continue to undertake to protect the health and safety of our workforce;
• The illiquidity or insolvency of our suppliers, contract manufacturers (including our PET manufacturing partners) or freight carriers whose business activities could be shut down, interrupted or delayed;
• The illiquidity or insolvency of our distributors or customers, or their inability to pay our invoices in full or in a timely manner, due to the reduction in their revenues caused by the cancellation or delay of procedures and other factors, which could potentially reduce our cash flow, reduce our liquidity and increase our bad debt reserves;
• A portion of our raw materials or finished product inventory may expire due to reduced demand for our drugs;
• Delays in our ability, and the ability of our contract research organizations and development partners to conduct, enroll and complete clinical development programs such as our ARROW Phase 2 study in mCRPC or the flurpiridaz F 18 Phase 3 clinical development program currently being conducted by GE Healthcare;
• Delays of regulatory reviews and approvals, including with respect to our product candidates and manufacturing facilities, by the FDA or other health or regulatory authorities;
• Decreased sales of those of our products that are promotionally sensitive, like DEFINITY and AZEDRA, due to the reduction of in-person sales and marketing activities and training caused by travel restrictions, quarantines, other similar social distancing measures and more restrictive hospital access policies;
• Our ability to maintain employee morale and motivate and retain management personnel and other key employees as a result of our previous work week and salary reductions;
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• A disruption in the operation of our new on-site manufacturing facility, which would delay implementation of our supply diversification strategy for DEFINITY and impact our ability to benefit from a lower cost of goods for that product;
• A reduction in revenue with continued incurrence of high fixed costs relating to our already-existing, complex and expensive radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility could adversely affect our cash flows, liquidity and ability to comply with the financial covenants in our 2019 Facility;
• The increased reliance on our personnel working from home, which may negatively impact employee engagement, loyalty and productivity, or disrupt, delay or otherwise adversely impact our business, including through the increased employee resignations and retirements;
• The instability in worldwide economies, financial markets, social institutions, labor markets and the healthcare systems as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could result in an economic downturn that could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition, as well as that of our suppliers, distributors, customers or other business partners; and
• A recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, or the development and spread of new strains of COVID-19 after social distancing and other similar measures have been relaxed.
The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our business and our results of operations and financial condition will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge in connection with the severity of the virus, the ability to treat and ultimately prevent it with vaccines, its potential recurrence or transformation into new or more contagious or virulent strains, and further actions that federal, state, local, or foreign governments may take to contain its impact.
We may not be able to hire or retain the number of qualified personnel, particularly scientific, medical and sales personnel, required for our business, which would harm the development and sales of our products and limit our ability to grow.
Competition in our industry for highly skilled scientific, healthcare and sales personnel is intense. During 2021, we hired additional employees to assist us with the commercialization of PYLARIFY, including in sales, marketing, reimbursement, quality and medical affairs. Although we were successful in hiring and onboarding those employees and we have not had any material difficulty in the past in hiring or retaining qualified personnel, if we are unable to retain our existing personnel, or attract and train additional qualified personnel, either because of competition in our industry for these personnel, prolonged remote working conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or insufficient financial resources, then our growth may be limited and it could have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we lose the services of our key personnel, our business could be adversely affected.
Our success is substantially dependent upon the performance, contributions and expertise of our chief executive officer, executive leadership and senior management team. Mary Anne Heino, our Chief Executive Officer and President, and other members of our executive leadership and senior management team play a significant role in formulating and executing on our long-term strategy, generating business and overseeing operations. We have an employment agreement with Ms. Heino and a limited number of other individuals on our executive leadership team, although we cannot prevent them from terminating their employment with us. We do not maintain key person life insurance policies on any of our executive officers. While we have experienced some turnover on our executive leadership team, we have generally been able to fill positions by either promoting existing employees or attracting new, qualified individuals to lead key functional areas. Our inability to retain our existing executive leadership and senior management team, maintain an appropriate internal succession program or attract and retain additional qualified personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our business depends on our ability to successfully introduce new products and adapt to a changing technology and medical practice landscape.
The healthcare industry is characterized by continuous technological development resulting in changing customer preferences and requirements. The success of new product development depends on many factors, including our ability to fund development of new agents or new indications for existing agents, anticipate and satisfy customer needs, obtain timely regulatory approval based on performance of our agents in development versus their clinical study comparators, develop and manufacture products in a cost-effective and timely manner, maintain advantageous positions with respect to intellectual property and differentiate our products from our competitors. To compete successfully in the marketplace, we must make substantial investments in new product development, whether internally or externally through licensing or acquisitions. Our failure to introduce new and innovative products in a timely manner would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
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Even if we are able to develop, manufacture and obtain regulatory approvals for our new products, the success of these products would depend upon market acceptance and adequate coding, coverage and payment. Levels of market acceptance for our new products could be affected by a number of factors, including:
• The availability of alternative products from our competitors;
• The breadth of indications in which alternative products from our competitors can be marketed;
• The price of our products relative to those of our competitors;
• The timing of our market entry;
• Our ability to enter into commercial contracts to sell our products;
• Our ability to market and distribute our products effectively;
• Market acceptance of our products; and
• Our ability to obtain adequate coding, coverage and payment.
The field of diagnostic medical imaging is dynamic, with new products, including equipment, software and products, continually being developed and existing products continually being refined. Our own diagnostic imaging agents compete not only with other similarly administered imaging agents but also with imaging agents employed in different and often competing diagnostic modalities, and in the case of DEFINITY, echocardiography procedures without ultrasound enhancing agents. New hardware, software or agents in a given diagnostic modality may be developed that provide benefits superior to the then-dominant hardware, software and agents in that modality, resulting in commercial displacement of the agents. Similarly, changing perceptions about comparative efficacy and safety including, among other things, comparative radiation exposure, as well as changing availability of supply may favor one agent over another or one modality over another. In addition, new or revised appropriate use criteria developed by professional societies, to assist physicians and other health care providers in making appropriate imaging decisions for specific clinical conditions, can and have reduced the frequency of and demand for certain imaging modalities and imaging agents. To the extent there is technological obsolescence in any of our products that we manufacture, resulting in lower unit sales or decreased unit sales prices, we will have increased unit overhead allocable to the remaining market share, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our future growth may depend on our ability to identify and acquire or in-license additional products, businesses or technologies, and if we do not successfully do so, or otherwise fail to integrate any new products, lines of business or technologies into our operations, we may have limited growth opportunities and it could result in significant impairment charges or other adverse financial consequences.
Even after giving effect to the Progenics Acquisition, we are continuing to seek to acquire or in-license products, businesses or technologies that we believe are a strategic fit with our business strategy. Future acquisitions or in-licenses, however, may entail numerous operational and financial risks, including:
• A reduction of our current financial resources;
• Incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of securities to pay for acquisitions;
• Difficulty or inability to secure financing to fund development activities for those acquired or in-licensed technologies;
• Higher than expected acquisition and integration costs;
• Disruption of our business, customer base and diversion of our management’s time and attention to develop acquired products or technologies; and
• Exposure to unknown liabilities.
We may not have sufficient resources to identify and execute the acquisition or in-licensing of third party products, businesses and technologies and integrate them into our current infrastructure. In particular, we may compete with larger pharmaceutical companies and other competitors in our efforts to establish new collaborations and in-licensing opportunities. These competitors likely will have access to greater financial resources than we do and may have greater expertise in identifying and evaluating new opportunities. Furthermore, there may be an overlap between our products or customers and the companies which we acquire that may create conflicts in relationships or other commitments detrimental to the integrated businesses. Additionally, the time between our expenditures to acquire or in-license new products, technologies or businesses and the subsequent generation of revenues from those acquired products, technologies or businesses (or the timing of revenue recognition related to licensing agreements and/or strategic collaborations) could cause fluctuations in our financial performance from period to period. Finally, if we devote resources to potential acquisitions or in-licensing opportunities that are never completed, or if we fail to realize the anticipated benefits of those efforts, we could incur significant impairment charges or other adverse financial consequences.
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Challenges with product quality or product performance, including defects, caused by us or our suppliers could result in a decrease in customers and revenues, unexpected expenses and loss of market share.
The manufacture of our products is highly exacting and complex and must meet stringent quality requirements, due in part to strict regulatory requirements, including the FDA’s cGMPs. Problems may be identified or arise during manufacturing, quality review, packaging or shipment for a variety of reasons including equipment malfunction, failure to follow specific protocols and procedures, defective raw materials and environmental factors. Additionally, manufacturing flaws, component failures, design defects, off-label uses or inadequate disclosure of product-related information could result in an unsafe condition or the injury or death of a patient. Those events could lead to a recall of, or issuance of a safety alert relating to, our products. We also may undertake voluntarily to recall products or temporarily shut down production lines based on internal safety and quality monitoring and testing data.
Quality, regulatory and recall challenges could cause us to incur significant costs, including costs to replace products, lost revenue, damage to customer relationships, time and expense spent investigating the cause and costs of any possible settlements or judgments related thereto and potentially cause similar losses with respect to other products. These challenges could also divert the attention of our management and employees from operational, commercial or other business efforts. If we deliver products with defects, or if there is a perception that our products or the processes related to our products contain errors or defects, we could incur additional recall and product liability costs, and our credibility and the market acceptance and sales of our products could be materially adversely affected. Due to the strong name recognition of our brands, an adverse event involving one of our products could result in reduced market acceptance and demand for all products within that brand, and could harm our reputation and our ability to market our products in the future. In some circumstances, adverse events arising from or associated with the design, manufacture or marketing of our products could result in the suspension or delay of regulatory reviews of our applications for new product approvals. These challenges could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
In the ordinary course of business, we may be subject to product liability claims and lawsuits, including potential class actions, alleging that our products have resulted or could result in an unsafe condition or injury.
Any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could be time consuming and costly to defend and could result in an increase of our insurance premiums. Although we have not had any such claims to date, claims that could be brought against us might not be covered by our insurance policies. Furthermore, although we currently have product liability insurance coverage with policy limits that we believe are customary for pharmaceutical companies in the diagnostic medical imaging industry and adequate to provide us with insurance coverage for foreseeable risks, even where the claim is covered by our insurance, our insurance coverage might be inadequate and we would have to pay the amount of any settlement or judgment that is in excess of our policy limits. We may not be able to obtain insurance on terms acceptable to us or at all, since insurance varies in cost and can be difficult to obtain. Our failure to maintain adequate insurance coverage or successfully defend against product liability claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We use hazardous materials in our business and must comply with environmental laws and regulations, which can be expensive.
Our operations use hazardous materials and produce hazardous wastes, including radioactive, chemical and, in certain circumstances, biological materials and wastes. We are subject to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations as well as non-U.S. laws and regulations relating to the transport, use, handling, storage, exposure to and disposal of these materials and wastes. Environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have generally become more stringent over time. We are required to obtain, maintain and renew various environmental permits and nuclear licenses. Although we believe that our safety procedures for transporting, using, handling, storing and disposing of, and limiting exposure to, these materials and wastes comply in all material respects with the standards prescribed by applicable laws and regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury cannot be eliminated. We place a high priority on these safety procedures and seek to limit any inherent risks. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of wastes generated by our operations. Prior to disposal, we store any low level radioactive waste at our facilities to decay until the materials are no longer considered radioactive. Although we believe we have complied in all material respects with all applicable environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we cannot assure you that we have been or will be in compliance with all such laws at all times. If we violate these laws, we could be fined, criminally charged or otherwise sanctioned by regulators. We may be required to incur further costs to comply with current or future environmental and safety laws and regulations. In addition, in the event of accidental contamination or injury from these materials, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any such liability could exceed our resources.
We previously leased a small portion of our North Billerica, Massachusetts facility to PerkinElmer for the manufacturing, finishing and packaging of certain radioisotopes, including Strontium-90, which has physical characteristics that make it more challenging to work with and dispose of than our own commercial radioisotopes, including a much longer half-life. PerkinElmer decommissioned its space and vacated the premises as of December 30, 2021. We are fully indemnified by PerkinElmer under our lease for any property damage or personal injury resulting from their activities in our facility. If any release or excursion of radioactive materials took place from their leased space that resulted in property damage or personal injury, the indemnification obligations were
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not honored, and we were forced to cover any related remediation, clean-up or other expenses, depending on the magnitude, the cost of such remediation, clean-up or other expenses could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
While we have budgeted for current and future capital and operating expenditures to maintain compliance with these laws and regulations, we cannot assure you that our costs of complying with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations will not exceed our estimates or adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. Further, we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to additional environmental claims for personal injury, investigation or cleanup in the future based on our past, present or future business activities.
If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, our competitors could develop and market products with features similar to our products, and demand for our products may decline.
Our commercial success will depend in part on obtaining and maintaining patent and trade secret protection of our commercial products and technologies and agents in development as well as successfully enforcing and defending these patents and trade secrets against third parties and their challenges, both in the U.S. and in foreign countries. We will only be able to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use by third parties to the extent that we maintain the secrecy of our trade secrets and can enforce our valid patents and trademarks.
The patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. In addition, changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the U.S. or other countries may diminish the value of our intellectual property and we may not receive the same degree of protection in every jurisdiction. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in third party patents.
The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain because legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. For example:
• We might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and issued patents, and we could lose our patent rights as a result;
• We might not have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions or our patent applications may not have been timely filed, and we could lose our patent rights as a result;
• Others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies;
• It is possible that none of our pending patent applications will result in any further issued patents;
• Our issued patents may not provide a basis for commercially viable drugs, may not provide us with any protection from unauthorized use of our intellectual property by third parties, and may not provide us with any competitive advantages;
• The validity or enforceability of our patent applications or patents may be subject to challenge through interferences, oppositions, post-grant review, ex-parte re-examinations, inter partes review or similar administrative proceedings;
• While we generally apply for patents in those countries where we intend to make, have made, use or sell patented products, we may not be able to accurately predict all of the countries where patent protection will ultimately be desirable and may be precluded from doing so at a later date;
• We may choose not to seek patent protection in certain countries where the actual cost outweighs the perceived benefit at a certain time;
• Patents issued in foreign jurisdictions may have different scopes of coverage than our U.S. patents and so our products may not receive the same degree of protection in foreign countries as they would in the U.S.;
• We may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable; or
• The patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business.
Moreover, the issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its validity or enforceability. A third party may challenge the validity or enforceability of a patent even after its issuance by the USPTO or the applicable foreign patent office. It is also uncertain how much protection, if any, will be afforded by our patents if we attempt to enforce them and they are challenged in court or in other proceedings, which may be brought in U.S. or non-U.S. jurisdictions to challenge the validity of a patent.
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The initiation, defense and prosecution of intellectual property suits (including Hatch-Waxman related litigation), interferences, oppositions and related legal and administrative proceedings are costly, time consuming to pursue and result in a diversion of resources, including a significant amount of management time. The outcome of these proceedings is uncertain and could significantly harm our business. If we are not able to enforce and defend the patents of our technologies and products, then we will not be able to exclude competitors from marketing products that directly compete with our products, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
For DEFINITY, we continue to actively pursue patents in both the U.S. and internationally. In the U.S. for DEFINITY we have four Orange Book-listed method of use patents, one of which expires in 2035 and three of which expire in 2037, as well as additional manufacturing patents that are not Orange Book-listed expiring in 2023 and 2037. In the U.S. for DEFINITY RT, we have five Orange Book-listed patents, including a composition of matter patent which expires in 2035. Outside of the U.S., we are currently pursuing additional DEFINITY and DEFINITY RT patents to obtain similar patent protection as in the U.S. The Orange Book-listed patents include a patent on the use of VIALMIX RFID, which expires in 2037; additional VIALMIX RFID patent applications have been submitted in major markets throughout the world.
We also rely on trade secrets and other know-how and proprietary information to protect our technology, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. We use reasonable efforts to protect our trade secrets, but our employees, consultants, contractors, outside scientific partners and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our confidential information to competitors or other third parties. Enforcing a claim that a third party improperly obtained and is using our trade secrets is expensive, time consuming and resource intensive, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the U.S. are sometimes less willing to protect trade secrets. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how. We rely on confidentiality agreements with our collaborators, employees, consultants and other third parties and invention assignment agreements with our employees to protect our trade secrets and other know-how and proprietary information concerning our business. These confidentiality agreements may not prevent unauthorized disclosure of trade secrets and other know-how and proprietary information, and there can be no guarantee that an employee or an outside party will not make an unauthorized disclosure of our trade secrets, other technical know-how or proprietary information, or that we can detect such an unauthorized disclosure. We may not have adequate remedies for any unauthorized disclosure. This might happen intentionally or inadvertently. It is possible that a competitor will make use of that information, and that our competitive position will be compromised, in spite of any legal action we might take against persons making those unauthorized disclosures, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We rely on our trademarks, trade names and brand names to distinguish our products from the products of our competitors, and have registered or applied to register many of these trademarks, including, among others, AZEDRA ® , AZEDRA Service Connection ® , Cardiolite ® , DEFINITY ® , DEFINITY RT TM , EXINI ® , Find, Fight and Follow ® , Find > Fight > Follow TM , Lantheus ® , Lantheus Medical Imaging ® , LUMINITY ® , Molecular Insight ® , NEUROLITE ® , Progenics ® , Progenics Pharmaceuticals ® , PYLARIFY ® , TechneLite ® , VIALMIX ® , and VIALMIX RFID ® . We cannot assure you that any pending trademark applications will be approved. Third parties may also oppose our trademark applications, or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. If our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to re-brand our products, which could result in loss of brand recognition, and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands. Further, we cannot assure you that competitors will not infringe our trademarks, or that we will have adequate resources to enforce our trademarks.
Our patents are subject to generic challenge, and the validity, enforceability and commercial value of these patents are highly uncertain.
Our ability to obtain and defend our patents impacts the commercial value of our products and product candidates. Third parties have challenged and are likely to continue challenging the patents that have been issued or licensed to us. Patent protection involves complex legal and factual questions and, therefore, enforceability is uncertain. Our patents may be challenged, invalidated, held to be unenforceable, or circumvented, which could negatively impact their commercial value. Furthermore, patent applications filed outside the United States may be challenged by other parties, for example, by filing third party observations that argue against patentability or an opposition. Such opposition proceedings are increasingly common in the EU and are costly to defend. For example, we received notices of opposition to three European patents relating to RELISTOR.
Pursuant to the RELISTOR license agreement between us and Bausch, Bausch has the first right to enforce the intellectual property rights at issue and is responsible for the costs of such enforcement. At the same time, we may incur substantial further costs in supporting the effort to uphold the validity of patents or to prevent infringement. Patent disputes are frequent, costly and can preclude, delay or increase the cost of commercialization of products. Progenics has previously been and is currently involved in patent litigation, and we expect to be subject to patent litigation in the future.
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We may be subject to claims that we have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated the patent or other intellectual property rights of a third party. The outcome of any of these claims is uncertain and any unfavorable result could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to claims by third parties that we have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights. We are aware of intellectual property rights held by third parties that relate to products or technologies we are developing. For example, we are aware of other groups investigating PSMA or related compounds and monoclonal antibodies directed at PSMA, PSMA-targeted imaging agents and therapeutics, and methylnaltrexone and other peripheral opioid antagonists, and of patents held, and patent applications filed, by these groups in those areas. While the validity of these issued patents, the patentability of pending patent applications and the applicability of any of them to our products and programs are uncertain, if asserted against us, any related patent or other intellectual property rights could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our products.
We may be subject to litigation over infringement claims regarding the products we manufacture or distribute. This type of litigation can be costly and time consuming and could divert management’s attention and resources, generate significant expenses, damage payments (potentially including treble damages) or restrictions or prohibitions on our use of our technology, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, if we are found to be infringing on proprietary rights of others, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, obtain a license (which may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all), make substantial one-time or ongoing royalty payments, or cease making, using and/or selling the infringing products, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We may be adversely affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors beyond our control.
Our ability to attract and retain customers, invest in and grow our business and meet our financial obligations depends on our operating and financial performance, which, in turn, is subject to numerous factors, including the prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors beyond our control, such as the rate of unemployment, the number of uninsured persons in the U.S. and inflationary pressures. We cannot anticipate all the ways in which the current or future economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business. We are exposed to risks associated with reduced profitability and the potential financial instability of our customers, many of which may be adversely affected by volatile conditions in the financial markets. For example, unemployment and underemployment, and the resultant loss of insurance, may decrease the demand for healthcare services and pharmaceuticals. If fewer patients are seeking medical care because they do not have insurance coverage, our customers may experience reductions in revenues, profitability and/or cash flow that could lead them to modify, delay or cancel orders for our products. If customers are not successful in generating sufficient revenue or are precluded from securing financing, they may not be able to pay, or may delay payment of, accounts receivable that are owed to us. This, in turn, could adversely affect our financial condition and liquidity. To the extent prevailing economic conditions result in fewer procedures being performed, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected.
Our business is subject to international economic, political and other risks that could negatively affect our results of operations or financial position.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we derived approximately 10% of our revenues and expended approximately 25% of our costs of goods sold outside of the fifty United States. Accordingly, our business is subject to risks associated with doing business internationally, including:
• Less stable political and economic environment and changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic conditions;
• Changes in trade policies, regulatory requirements and other barriers, including, for example, U.S. trade sanctions against Iran and those countries and entities doing business with Iran, which could adversely impact international isotope production and, indirectly, our global supply chain;
• Potential global disruptions in air transport due to COVID-19, which could adversely affect our international supply chains for radioisotopes and DEFINITY RT as well as international distribution channels for our commercial products;
• Entering into, renewing or enforcing commercial agreements with international governments or provincial authorities or entities directly or indirectly owned or controlled by such governments or authorities, such as our Belgian, Australian and South African isotope suppliers, IRE, ANSTO and NTP, and our Chinese development and commercialization partner, Double-Crane;
• International customers which are agencies or institutions owned or controlled by foreign governments;
• Local business practices which may be in conflict with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and U.K. Bribery Act;
• Currency fluctuations;
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• Unfavorable labor regulations;
• Greater difficulties in relying on non-U.S. courts to enforce either local or U.S. laws, particularly with respect to intellectual property;
• Greater potential for intellectual property piracy;
• Greater difficulties in managing and staffing non-U.S. operations, including our EXINI operations in Sweden;
• The need to ensure compliance with the numerous in-country and international regulatory and legal requirements applicable to our business in each of these jurisdictions and to maintain an effective compliance program to ensure compliance with these requirements, including in connection with the GDPR in the EU;
• Changes in public attitudes about the perceived safety of nuclear facilities;
• Civil unrest or other catastrophic events; and
• Longer payment cycles of non-U.S. customers and difficulty collecting receivables in non-U.S. jurisdictions.
These factors are beyond our control. The realization of any of these or other risks associated with operating outside the United States could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We face currency and other risks associated with international sales.
We generate revenue from export sales, as well as from operations conducted outside the United States. Operations outside the U.S. expose us to risks including fluctuations in currency values, trade restrictions, tariff and trade regulations, U.S. export controls, U.S. and non‑U.S. tax laws, shipping delays and economic and political instability. For example, violations of U.S. export controls, including those administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, could result in fines, other civil or criminal penalties and the suspension or loss of export privileges which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial conditions and cash flows.
Many of our customer relationships outside of the U.S. are, either directly or indirectly, with governmental entities, and we could be adversely affected by violations of the FCPA and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws outside the U.S.
The FCPA, the Bribery Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws in non-U.S. jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business.
The FCPA prohibits us from providing anything of value to foreign officials for the purposes of obtaining or retaining business or securing any improper business advantage. It also requires us to keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect our transactions. Because of the predominance of government-sponsored healthcare systems around the world, many of our customer relationships outside of the U.S. are, either directly or indirectly, with governmental entities and are therefore subject to the FCPA and similar anti-bribery laws in non-U.S. jurisdictions. In addition, the provisions of the Bribery Act extend beyond bribery of foreign public officials and are more onerous than the FCPA in a number of other respects, including jurisdiction, non-exemption of facilitation payments and penalties.
Our policies mandate compliance with these anti-bribery laws. We operate in many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree, and in certain circumstances strict compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. Despite our training and compliance programs, our internal control policies and procedures may not always protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or agents. Violations of these laws, or allegations of those violations, could disrupt our business and result in a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
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Our business depends on the continued effectiveness and availability of our information technology infrastructure, and failures of this infrastructure could harm our operations.
To remain competitive in our industry, we must employ information technologies to support manufacturing processes, quality processes, distribution, R&D and regulatory applications and that capture, manage and analyze large streams of data in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. We rely extensively on technology, some of which is managed by third party service providers, to allow the concurrent conduct of work sharing around the world. As with all information technology, our equipment and infrastructure age and become subject to increasing maintenance and repair and our systems generally are vulnerable to potential damage or interruptions from fires, natural disasters, power outages, blackouts, machinery breakdown, telecommunications failures and other unexpected events, as well as to break-ins, sabotage, increasingly sophisticated intentional acts of vandalism or cybersecurity threats which, due to the nature of such attacks, may remain undetected for a period of time. As these threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to enhance our information security measures or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities. Given the extensive reliance of our business on technology, any substantial disruption or resulting loss of data that is not avoided or corrected by our backup measures could harm our business, reputation, operations and financial condition.
A disruption in our computer networks, including those related to cybersecurity, could adversely affect our operations or financial position.
We rely on our computer networks and systems, some of which are managed by third parties, to manage and store electronic information (including sensitive data such as confidential business information, personally identifiable data and personal health information), and to manage or support a variety of critical business processes and activities. We may face threats to our networks from unauthorized access, security breaches and other system disruptions. Despite our security measures, our infrastructure may be vulnerable to external or internal attacks. Any such security breach may compromise information stored on our networks and may result in significant data losses or theft of sensitive or proprietary information. A cybersecurity breach could hurt our reputation by adversely affecting the perception of customers and potential customers of the security of their orders and personal information, as well as the perception of our manufacturing partners of the security of their proprietary information. In addition, a cybersecurity attack could result in other negative consequences, including disruption of our internal operations, increased cybersecurity protection costs, lost revenue, regulatory actions or litigation. Any disruption of internal operations could also have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. To date, we have not experienced any material cybersecurity attacks.
We may be limited in our ability to utilize, or may not be able to utilize, net operating loss carryforwards to reduce our future tax liability.
As of December 31, 2021, we had U.S. federal income tax loss carryforwards of $476.2 million, $338.1 million of which will expire between 2022 and 2037, $138.0 million of which can be carried forward indefinitely, and state income tax loss carryforwards of $17.4 million, tax-effected. We may be limited in our ability to use these tax loss carryforwards to reduce our future U.S. federal and state income tax liabilities if our future income is not sufficient to absorb the losses, or if we were to experience another “ownership change” as specified in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code including if we were to issue a certain amount of equity securities, certain of our stockholders were to sell shares of our common stock, or we were to enter into certain strategic transactions.
We are involved in various legal proceedings that are uncertain, costly and time-consuming and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time we are involved in legal proceedings and disputes and may be involved in litigation in the future. These proceedings are complex and extended and occupy the resources of our management and employees. These proceedings are also costly to prosecute and defend and may involve substantial awards or damages payable by us if not found in our favor. We may also be required to pay substantial amounts or grant certain rights on unfavorable terms in order to settle such proceedings. Defending against or settling such claims and any unfavorable legal decisions, settlements or orders could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
In particular, the pharmaceutical and medical device industries historically have generated substantial litigation concerning the manufacture, use and sale of products, and we expect this litigation activity to continue. As a result, we expect that patents related to our products will routinely be challenged, and our patents may not be upheld. In order to protect or enforce patent rights, we may initiate litigation against third parties. If we are not successful in defending an attack on our patents and maintaining exclusive rights to market one or more of our products still under patent protection, we could lose a significant portion of sales in a very short period. We may also become subject to infringement claims by third parties and may have to defend against charges that we violated patents or the proprietary rights of third parties. If we infringe the intellectual property rights of others, we could lose our right to develop, manufacture or sell products, or could be required to pay monetary damages or royalties to license proprietary rights from third parties.
In addition, in the U.S., it has become increasingly common for patent infringement actions to prompt claims that antitrust laws have been violated during the prosecution of the patent or during litigation involving the defense of that patent. Such claims by direct
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and indirect purchasers and other payors are typically filed as class actions. The relief sought may include treble damages and restitution claims. Similarly, antitrust claims may be brought by government entities or private parties following settlement of patent litigation, alleging that such settlements are anti-competitive and in violation of antitrust laws. In the U.S. and Europe, regulatory authorities have continued to challenge as anti-competitive so-called “reverse payment” settlements between branded and generic drug manufacturers. We may also be subject to other antitrust litigation involving competition claims unrelated to patent infringement and prosecution. A successful antitrust claim by a private party or government entity against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common stock to decline.
Risks Related to our Portfolio of Clinical Development Candidates
The process of developing new drugs and obtaining regulatory approval is complex, time-consuming and costly, and the outcome is not certain.
We currently have two clinical development programs in the U.S. – 1095 and LMI 1195, and are exploring additional lifecycle management opportunities for some of our current products, including AZEDRA. We also have a number of strategic partnerships relating to obtaining additional indications for existing commercial products or regulatory approval for clinical development candidates. To obtain regulatory approval for these agents in the indications being pursued, we must conduct extensive human tests, which are referred to as clinical trials, as well as meet other rigorous regulatory requirements, as further described in Part I, Item 1. “Business—Regulatory Matters.” Satisfaction of all regulatory requirements typically takes many years and requires the expenditure of substantial resources. A number of other factors may cause significant delays in the completion of our clinical trials, including unexpected delays in the initiation of clinical sites, slower than projected enrollment, competition with ongoing clinical trials and scheduling conflicts with participating clinicians, regulatory requirements, limits on manufacturing capacity and failure of an agent to meet required standards for administration to humans. In addition, it may take longer than we project to achieve study endpoints and complete data analysis for a clinical trial or we may decide to slow down the enrollment in a trial in order to conserve financial resources.
Our products in development are also subject to the risks of failure inherent in drug development and testing. The results of preliminary studies do not necessarily predict clinical success, and larger and later stage clinical trials may not produce the same results as earlier stage trials. Sometimes, products that have shown promising results in early clinical trials have subsequently suffered significant setbacks in later clinical trials. Agents in later stage clinical trials may fail to show desired safety and efficacy traits, despite having progressed through initial clinical testing. In addition, the data collected from clinical trials of our products in development may not be sufficient to support regulatory approval, or regulators could interpret the data differently and less favorably than we do. Further, the design of a clinical trial can determine whether its results will support approval of a product, and flaws in the design of a clinical trial may not become apparent until the clinical trial is well advanced. Clinical trials of potential products often reveal that it is not practical or feasible to continue development efforts. Regulatory authorities may require us or our partners to conduct additional clinical testing, in which case we would have to expend additional time and resources. The approval process may also be delayed by changes in government regulation, future legislation or administrative action or changes in regulatory policy that occur prior to or during regulatory review. The failure to provide clinical and preclinical data that are adequate to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the regulatory authorities that our products in development are safe and effective for their proposed use will delay or preclude approval and will prevent us from marketing those products.
We are not permitted to market our products in development in the U.S. or other countries until we have received requisite regulatory approvals. For example, securing FDA approval for a new drug requires the submission of an NDA to the FDA for our products in development. The NDA must include extensive nonclinical and clinical data and supporting information to establish the product’s safety and effectiveness for each indication. The NDA must also include significant information regarding the chemistry, manufacturing and controls for the product. The FDA review process can take many years to complete, and approval is never guaranteed. If a product is approved, the FDA may limit the indications for which the product may be marketed, require extensive warnings on the product labeling, impose restricted distribution programs, require expedited reporting of certain adverse events, or require costly ongoing requirements for post-marketing clinical studies and surveillance or other risk management measures to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. Markets outside of the U.S. also have requirements for approval of products with which we must comply prior to marketing. Obtaining regulatory approval for marketing of a product in one country does not ensure we will be able to obtain regulatory approval in other countries, but a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one country may have a negative effect on the regulatory process in other countries. Also, any regulatory approval of any of our products in development, once obtained, may be withdrawn. Approvals might not be granted on a timely basis, if at all.
We can give no assurance that GE Healthcare will be successful with the further clinical development of flurpiridaz F 18.
In May 2015, we announced complete results from the first of two planned Phase 3 clinical trials for flurpiridaz F 18. Although the development candidate appeared to be well-tolerated from a safety perspective and outperformed SPECT in a highly statistically significant manner in the co-primary endpoint of sensitivity and in the secondary endpoints of image quality and diagnostic certainty, flurpiridaz F 18 did not meet its other co-primary endpoint of non-inferiority for identifying subjects without disease. In April 2017,
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we entered into the License Agreement with GE Healthcare for the continued Phase 3 development and worldwide commercialization of flurpiridaz F 18. Under the License Agreement, GE Healthcare will, among other things, complete the worldwide development of flurpiridaz F 18 by conducting a second Phase 3 trial and pursue worldwide regulatory approvals. We cannot assure any particular outcome from GE Healthcare’s continued Phase 3 development of the agent or from regulatory review of either our or their Phase 3 study of the agent, that any of the data generated in either our or their sponsored Phase 3 study will be sufficient to support an NDA approval, that GE Healthcare will only have to conduct the one additional Phase 3 clinical study prior to filing an NDA, or that flurpiridaz F 18 will ever be approved as a PET MPI imaging agent by the FDA. Any failure or significant delay in completing clinical trials for our product candidates or in receiving regulatory approval for the sale of our product candidates may harm our business and delay or prevent us from being able to generate additional future revenue from product sales.
Even if clinical development candidates receive regulatory approval, we can give no assurance that they can be successfully commercialized.
Even if our clinical development candidates proceed through their clinical trials and ultimately receive regulatory approval, there is no guarantee that an approved product can be manufactured in commercial quantities at a reasonable cost or that such a product will be successfully marketed or distributed. For example, the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of a radiopharmaceutical like flurpiridaz F 18 will require the creation of a field-based network of specialized PET manufacturing facilities, or PMFs, with radioisotope-producing cyclotrons, similar to what we created for PYLARIFY, and will need to be manufactured and distributed rapidly to end-users.
In addition, obtaining adequate coding, coverage and payment at appropriate payment levels for any clinical development candidate will be critical, including not only coverage from Medicare, Medicaid, and other government payors, but also from private payors. We can give no assurance, even if a clinical development candidate were to obtain regulatory approval, that adequate coding, coverage and payment could be secured to allow the approved products to become successfully commercialized.
We have been and expect to continue to be dependent on partners for the development of certain product candidates, which expose us to the risk of reliance on these partners.
In connection with our ongoing development activities, we currently depend, and expect to continue to depend, on numerous collaborators. For example, in addition to our collaboration with GE Healthcare on flurpiridaz F 18, we have collaborations with Bayer to develop and commercialize products using our PSMA antibody technology, with Curium for the development and commercialization of PYLARIFY in Europe, and with ROTOP for the development and commercialization of 1404 in Europe. In addition, certain clinical trials for our product candidates may be conducted by government-sponsored agencies, and consequently will be dependent on governmental participation and funding. These arrangements expose us to the same considerations we face when contracting with third parties for our own trials.
If any of our collaborators breach or terminate its agreement with us or otherwise fail to conduct successfully and in a timely manner the collaborative activities for which they are responsible, the preclinical or clinical development or commercialization of the affected product candidate or research program could be delayed or terminated. We generally do not control the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators devote to our programs or product candidates. We also do not know whether current or future collaboration partners, if any, might pursue alternative technologies or develop alternative products either on their own or in collaboration with others, including our competitors, as a means for developing treatments for the diseases or conditions targeted by our collaborative arrangements. Our collaborators are also subject to similar development, regulatory, manufacturing, cyber-security and competitive risks as us, which may further impede their ability to successfully perform the collaborative activities for which they are responsible. Setbacks of these types to our collaborators could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We depend on licenses from third parties for our rights to develop and commercialize certain product candidates. If we fail to achieve milestone requirements or to satisfy other conditions, we may lose those rights under those license agreements, and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Many of our products or product candidates incorporate rights licensed by third parties -- for example, we license patent rights on PYLARIFY from JHU and on RELISTOR from Wyeth LLC. We could lose the rights to develop or commercialize these products and product candidates if the related license agreement is terminated due to a breach by us or otherwise. In addition, we are required to make substantial cash payments, achieve milestones and satisfy other conditions, including filing for and obtaining marketing approvals and introducing products, to maintain rights under our license agreements. Due to the nature of these agreements and the uncertainties of development, we may not be able to achieve milestones or satisfy conditions to which we have contractually committed, and as a result may be unable to maintain our rights under these licenses. If we do not comply with our license agreements, the licensors may terminate them, which could result in our losing our rights to, and therefore being unable to commercialize, related products. This loss could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Risks Related to Our Capital Structure
We have indebtedness which may limit our financial and operating activities and may adversely affect our ability to incur additional debt to fund future needs.
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $175.0 million of total principal indebtedness remaining under our five‑year secured term loan facility, which matures on June 30, 2024 (the “2019 Term Facility” and the loans thereunder, the “2019 Term Loans”) and availability of $200.0 million under our five-year revolving credit facility (the “2019 Revolving Facility” and, together with the 2019 Term Facility, the “2019 Facility”). Our indebtedness and any future indebtedness we incur could:
• Require us to dedicate a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to the payment of interest on and principal of our indebtedness, thereby reducing the funds available for other purposes, including for working capital, capital expenditures and acquisitions;
• Make it more difficult for us to satisfy and comply with our obligations with respect to our outstanding indebtedness, namely the payment of interest and principal;
• Make it more difficult to refinance the outstanding indebtedness;
• Subject us to increased sensitivity to interest rate increases;
• Make us more vulnerable to economic downturns, adverse industry or company conditions or catastrophic external events;
• Limit our ability to withstand competitive pressures;
• Reduce our flexibility in planning for or responding to changing business, industry and economic conditions; and
• Place us at a competitive disadvantage to competitors that have relatively less debt than we have.
In addition, our substantial level of indebtedness could limit our ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, or at all, for working capital, capital expenditures and general corporate purposes. Our liquidity needs could vary significantly and may be affected by general economic conditions, industry trends, performance and many other factors outside our control.
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow to meet our debt service obligations.
Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to make scheduled payments on our debt obligations will depend on our future financial performance, which will be affected by a range of economic, competitive and business factors, many of which are outside of our control. If we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to satisfy our debt obligations, including interest and principal payments, our credit ratings could be downgraded, and we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our debt, selling assets, entering into additional corporate collaborations or licensing arrangements for one or more of our products in development, reducing or delaying capital investments or seeking to raise additional capital. We cannot assure you that any refinancing would be possible, that any assets could be sold, licensed or partnered, or, if sold, licensed or partnered, of the timing of the transactions and the amount of proceeds realized from those transactions, that additional financing could be obtained on acceptable terms, if at all, or that additional financing would be permitted under the terms of our various debt instruments then in effect. Furthermore, our ability to refinance would depend upon the condition of the financial and credit markets. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt obligations, or to refinance our obligations on commercially reasonable terms or on a timely basis, would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Despite our indebtedness, we may incur more debt, which could exacerbate the risks described above.
We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future subject to the limitations contained in the agreements governing our debt, including the 2019 Facility. Although these agreements restrict us and our restricted subsidiaries from incurring additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to important exceptions and qualifications. For example, we are generally permitted to incur certain indebtedness, including indebtedness arising in the ordinary course of business, indebtedness among restricted subsidiaries and us and indebtedness relating to hedging obligations. If we or our subsidiaries incur additional debt, the risks that we and they now face as a result of our leverage could intensify. In addition, the 2019 Facility will not prevent us from incurring obligations that do not constitute indebtedness under the agreements.
Our 2019 Facility contains restrictions that will limit our flexibility in operating our business.
Our 2019 Facility contains various covenants that limit our ability to engage in specified types of transactions. These covenants limit our and our restricted subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things:
• Maintain net leverage above certain specified levels;
• Maintain interest coverage below certain specified levels;
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• Incur additional debt;
• Pay dividends or make other distributions;
• Redeem stock;
• Issue stock of subsidiaries;
• Make certain investments;
• Create liens;
• Enter into transactions with affiliates; and
• Merge, consolidate or transfer all or substantially all of our assets.
A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under the 2019 Facility. We may also be unable to take advantage of business opportunities that arise because of the limitations imposed on us by the restrictive covenants under our indebtedness.
As LIBOR is phased out, as anticipated, we will need to agree to a replacement index rate to be used under our 2019 Facility, which may have an adverse effect on our financial condition.
The use of LIBOR, as it relates to the Company’s 2019 Term Facility, is expected to be phased out by the end of June 2023. The 2019 Facility does not specify a particular “hard-wired” replacement index rate (or related margin) when LIBOR becomes unavailable, but relies on the administrative agent and the Company reaching agreement on such a replacement rate (and related margin) that gives due consideration to the then prevailing market convention for determining rates of interest for syndicated loans denominated in U.S. dollars in the United States. We expect to amend our credit facilities to provide a market-based replacement index rate and margin prior to the time when LIBOR is no longer available. Any replacement rate will be based on a negotiation between us and the administrative agent and could result in an increase in our interest expense.
U.S. credit markets may impact our ability to obtain financing or increase the cost of future financing, including interest rate fluctuations based on macroeconomic conditions that are beyond our control.
During periods of volatility and disruption in the U.S., European, or global credit markets, obtaining additional or replacement financing may be more difficult and the cost of issuing new debt or replacing our 2019 Facility could be higher than under our current 2019 Facility. Higher cost of new debt may limit our ability to have cash on hand for working capital, capital expenditures and acquisitions on terms that are acceptable to us. Additionally, our 2019 Facility has variable interest rates. By its nature, a variable interest rate will move up or down based on changes in the economy and other factors, all of which are beyond our control. If interest rates increase, our interest expense could increase, affecting earnings and reducing cash flows available for working capital, capital expenditures and acquisitions.
The CVRs we issued as part of the Progenics Acquisition may result in substantial future payments to the holders of the CVRs; in addition, the actual payments made in connection with the CVRs, if any, may not be consistent with the estimated fair value of the CVRs that we are required to prepare for accounting purposes.
As part of the consideration for the Progenics Acquisition, we issued CVRs to the stockholders of Progenics and holders of in-the-money Progenics equity awards entitling them to future cash payments of 40% of PYLARIFY net sales over $100.0 million in 2022 and over $150.0 million in 2023, subject to an aggregate cap. These payments could be substantial. In addition, we are obligated to exercise a level of effort, expertise and resources consistent with those normally used in a medical diagnostics business similar to our size and resources with respect to commercializing a product of similar market potential at a similar stage in its product life to PYLARIFY. We are also required to produce net sales statements for PYLARIFY that may be reviewed and challenged by CVR holders, with any disagreement to be resolved by an independent accountant.
Because the CVRs are considered contingent consideration liabilities, for accounting purposes we are required by accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. to estimate their fair value on a recurring basis. Adjustments in the estimated fair value of the CVRs can impact our consolidated financial statements on a quarterly or annual basis. The estimated fair value of the CVRs is determined based on a Monte Carlo simulation model that includes significant estimates and assumptions pertaining to commercialization events, sales targets, market conditions and discount rates. These estimates and assumptions are subject to the judgment of our management team and are not prepared with a view towards public disclosure of projected sales. Our sales targets are also subject to significant economic, competitive, industry and other uncertainties and contingencies, which are difficult to predict and in many cases are beyond our control. We can give no assurance that the actual amounts paid, if any, in connection with the CVRs will be consistent with any recurring fair value estimate for such CVRs.
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Our stock price could fluctuate significantly, which could cause the value of your investment to decline, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above your purchase price.
Securities markets worldwide have experienced, and may continue to experience, significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could reduce the market price of our common stock regardless of our operating performance. The trading price of our common stock is likely to be volatile and subject to wide price fluctuations in response to various factors, including:
• Market conditions in the broader stock market;
• Actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial and operating results;
• Issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;
• Investor perceptions of us and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries;
• Sales, or anticipated sales, of large blocks of our stock;
• Acquisitions or introductions of new products or services by us or our competitors, including our ongoing commercial launch of PYLARIFY;
• Positive or negative results from our clinical development programs;
• Additions or departures of key personnel;
• Regulatory or political developments;
• Loss of intellectual property protections;
• Litigation and governmental investigations;
• Geopolitical events; and
• Changing economic conditions.
These and other factors may cause the market price and demand for our common stock to fluctuate substantially, which may limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares of common stock and may otherwise negatively affect the liquidity of our common stock. In addition, in the past, when the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders brought a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit. Such a lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management from our business, which could significantly harm our profitability and reputation.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our stock, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades our stock, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our stock price could also decline.
We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, for the foreseeable future, to repay indebtedness and to fund the development and growth of our business. We do not intend to pay any dividends to holders of our common stock and the agreements governing our senior secured credit facilities limit our ability to pay dividends. As a result, capital appreciation in the price of our common stock, if any, will be your only source of gain on an investment in our common stock.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
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