Item 1. Financial Statements
Item 1. Financial Statements.
REPLIMUNE GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Amounts in thousands, except share
and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
December 31,
March 31,
2020
2020
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$ 324,475
$ 59,500
Short-term investments
168,797
109,055
Research and development incentives receivable
2,121
2,962
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
4,035
2,734
Total current assets
499,428
174,251
Property, plant and equipment, net
7,166
6,860
Restricted cash
1,636
1,636
Right-to-use asset - operating leases
5,839
4,425
Right-to-use asset - financing leases
45,129
46,925
Total assets
$ 559,198
$ 234,097
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable
$ 2,350
$ 3,434
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
7,234
5,156
Operating lease liabilities, current
965
873
Financing lease liabilities, current
2,469
2,411
Total current liabilities
13,018
11,874
Long term debt, net of debt discount
-
9,801
Operating lease liabilities, non-current
5,170
3,737
Financing lease liabilities, non-current
24,815
24,967
Total liabilities
43,003
50,379
Commitments and contingencies (Note 12)
Stockholders' equity
Common stock, $0.001 par value; 150,000,000 shares authorized as of December 31, 2020 and March 31, 2020; 46,384,675 and 36,668,743 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and March 31, 2020, respectively
46
37
Additional paid-in capital
687,934
296,961
Accumulated deficit
(171,669 )
(112,298 )
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(116 )
(982 )
Total stockholders' equity
516,195
183,718
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity
$ 559,198
$ 234,097
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
3
REPLIMUNE GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF
OPERATIONS
(Amounts in thousands, except share
and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
December 31,
2020
2019
2020
2019
Operating expenses:
Research and development
$ 14,322
$ 11,948
$ 40,529
$ 27,573
General and administrative
5,953
4,716
17,242
12,240
Total operating expenses
20,275
16,664
57,771
39,813
Loss from operations
(20,275 )
(16,664 )
(57,771 )
(39,813 )
Other income (expense):
Research and development incentives
550
951
1,991
2,192
Investment income
116
550
821
1,804
Interest expense on finance lease liability
(560 )
(834 )
(1,683 )
(1,029 )
Interest expense on debt obligations
(247 )
-
(817 )
-
Loss on extinguishment of debt
(913 )
-
(913 )
-
Other income (expense)
(454 )
(192 )
(999 )
10
Total other
income (expense), net
(1,508 )
475
(1,600 )
2,977
Net loss attributable to common stockholders
$ (21,783 )
$ (16,189 )
$ (59,371 )
$ (36,836 )
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted
$ (0.44 )
$ (0.46 )
$ (1.34 )
$ (1.13 )
Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted
49,382,213
34,877,944
44,436,680
32,742,148
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
4
REPLIMUNE GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF
COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(Amounts in thousands)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
December 31,
2020
2019
2020
2019
Net loss
$ (21,783 )
$ (16,189 )
$ (59,371 )
$ (36,836 )
Other comprehensive loss:
Foreign currency translation gain (loss)
548
408
1,162
8
Net unrealized gain (loss) on short-term investments, net of tax
(53 )
(25 )
(296 )
-
Comprehensive loss
$ (21,288 )
$ (15,806 )
$ (58,505 )
$ (36,828 )
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
5
REPLIMUNE GROUP, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’
EQUITY
(Amounts in thousands, except share amounts)
(Unaudited)
Accumulated
Additional
other
Total
Common stock
paid-in
Accumulated
comprehensive
stockholders’
Shares
Amount
capital
deficit
loss
equity
Balances as of March 31, 2020
36,668,743
$ 37
$ 296,961
$ (112,298 )
$ (982 )
$ 183,718
Issuance of prefunded warrants to purchase common stock, net of $2,100 issuance costs
-
-
32,900
-
-
32,900
Issuance of common stock, net of issuance costs and underwriter fees of $5,117
3,478,261
3
74,879
74,882
Foreign currency translation adjustment
-
-
-
-
(12 )
(12 )
Unrealized loss on short-term investments
-
-
-
-
(196 )
(196 )
Exercise of stock options
133,416
1,547
-
-
1,547
Stock-based compensation expense
-
-
2,468
-
-
2,468
Net loss
-
-
-
(17,493 )
-
(17,493 )
Balances as of June 30, 2020
40,280,420
40
408,755
(129,791 )
(1,190 )
277,814
Foreign currency translation adjustment
-
-
-
-
626
626
Unrealized loss on short-term investments
-
-
-
-
(47 )
(47 )
Exercise of stock options
31,852
-
291
-
-
291
Stock-based compensation expense
-
-
2,801
-
-
2,801
Net loss
-
-
-
(20,095 )
-
(20,095 )
Balances as of September 30, 2020
40,312,272
40
411,847
(149,886 )
(611 )
261,390
Foreign currency translation adjustment
-
-
-
-
548
548
Unrealized loss on short-term investments
-
-
-
-
(53 )
(53 )
Exercise of stock options
447,403
1
3,068
-
-
3,069
Issuance of prefunded warrants to purchase common stock, net of $3,750 issuance costs
58,750
58,750
Issuance of common stock, net of issuance costs and underwriter fees of $13,775
5,625,000
5
211,220
211,225
Stock-based compensation expense
-
-
3,049
-
-
3,049
Net loss
-
-
-
(21,783 )
-
(21,783 )
Balances as of December 31, 2020
46,384,675
$ 46
$ 687,934
$ (171,669 )
$ (116 )
$ 516,195
Balances as of March 31, 2019
31,656,950
$ 32
$ 198,645
$ (59,766 )
$ (1,055 )
$ 137,856
Foreign currency translation adjustment
-
-
-
-
(182 )
(182 )
Unrealized gain on short-term investments
-
-
-
-
65
65
Exercise of stock options
6,751
-
18
-
-
18
Stock-based compensation expense
-
-
1,810
-
-
1,810
Impact of adoption of ASC 842
-
-
-
93
-
93
Net loss
-
-
-
(9,508 )
-
(9,508 )
Balances as of June 30, 2019
31,663,701
32
200,473
(69,181 )
(1,172 )
130,152
Foreign currency translation adjustment
-
-
-
-
(218 )
(218 )
Unrealized loss on short-term investments
-
-
-
-
(40 )
(40 )
Exercise of stock options
55,645
-
105
-
-
105
Stock-based compensation expense
-
-
1,781
-
-
1,781
Net loss
-
-
-
(11,139 )
-
(11,139 )
Balances as of September 30, 2019
31,719,346
32
202,359
(80,320 )
(1,430 )
120,641
Issuance of common stock through ATM sales, net of offering costs
287,559
-
4,431
-
-
4,431
Issuance of common shares upon closing of follow-on
public offering, net of issuance costs and underwriter fees of $4,017
4,516,561
5
57,448
-
-
57,453
Issuance of prefunded warrants to purchase common
stock, net of issuance costs and underwriter fees of $1,797
-
-
28,145
-
-
28,145
Foreign currency translation adjustment
-
-
-
-
408
408
Unrealized loss on short-term investments
-
-
-
-
(25 )
(25 )
Exercise of stock options
122,184
-
357
-
-
357
Stock-based compensation expense
-
-
2,344
-
-
2,344
Net loss
-
-
-
(16,189 )
-
(16,189 )
Balances as of December 31, 2019
36,645,650
$ 37
$ 295,084
$ (96,509 )
$ (1,047 )
$ 197,565
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
6
REPLIMUNE GROUP, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF
CASH FLOWS
(Amounts in thousands)
(Unaudited)
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss
$ (59,371 )
$ (36,836 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Stock-based compensation expense
8,318
5,935
Depreciation and amortization
1,217
191
Noncash interest expense
181
94
Loss on extinguishment of debt
913
-
Net amortization of premiums and discounts on short-term investments
841
(899 )
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Research and development incentives receivable
1,078
(2,184 )
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
(1,238 )
(1,520 )
Operating lease, right-of-use-asset
341
421
Finance lease, right-of-use-asset
1,795
666
Long term prepaid rent
-
(14,051 )
Accounts payable
(1,018 )
(2,585 )
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
1,919
1,781
Operating lease liabilities
(237 )
(303 )
Net cash used in operating activities
(45,261 )
(49,290 )
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
(1,622 )
(5,202 )
Purchase of short-term investments
(225,029 )
(119,611 )
Proceeds from sales and maturities of short-term investments
164,148
111,739
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
(62,503 )
(13,074 )
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock in follow-on public offering, net of underwriting fees and discounts
286,107
57,453
Proceeds from issuance of prefunded warrants to purchase common stock, net of underwriting fees and discounts
91,650
28,145
Proceeds from issuance of common stock through ATM sales
-
4,431
Proceeds from long-term debt
10,000
Principal payment of long-term debt
(10,000 )
-
Payment of long-term debt extinguishment costs
(795 )
Payment of issuance costs
(100 )
(355 )
Principal payment of finance lease obligation
(92 )
(22 )
Exercise of stock options
4,907
480
Net cash provided by financing activities
371,677
100,132
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
1,062
(20 )
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
264,975
37,748
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period
61,136
26,890
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period
$ 326,111
$ 64,638
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid during the period for interest
$ 636
$ 282
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Net unrealized gain (loss) on short-term investments
$ (296 )
$ -
Purchases of property and equipment included in accounts payable
$ 99
$ -
Lease assets obtained in exchange for new financing lease liabilities
$ -
$ 48,224
Lease assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities
$ 1,580
$ 5,152
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
7
REPLIMUNE GROUP, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS
(Dollars in thousands, except share
and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
1. Nature of the business
Replimune Group, Inc.
(the “Company”) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of oncolytic immunotherapies to
treat cancer. Replimune Group, Inc., whose predecessor was founded in 2015, is the parent company of its wholly owned, direct
and indirect subsidiaries: Replimune Limited (“Replimune UK”); Replimune, Inc. (“Replimune US”); Replimune
Securities Corporation; and Replimune (Ireland) Limited.
The Company is subject
to risks and uncertainties common to early-stage companies in the biotechnology industry, including, but not limited to, development
by competitors of new technological innovations, dependence on key personnel, protection of proprietary technology, compliance
with government regulations and the ability to secure additional capital to fund operations. Product candidates currently under
development will require significant additional research and development efforts, including preclinical and clinical testing and
regulatory approval, prior to commercialization. These efforts require significant amounts of additional capital, adequate personnel
and infrastructure and extensive compliance and reporting capabilities. Even if the Company’s product development efforts
are successful, it is uncertain when, if ever, the Company will realize significant revenue from product sales.
Basis
of presentation
The accompanying consolidated
financial statements have been prepared on the basis of continuity of operations, realization of assets and the satisfaction of
liabilities and commitments in the ordinary course of business. The Company has incurred recurring losses since its inception,
including net losses of $21,783 and $16,189 for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively and net losses
of $59,371and $36,836 for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. In addition, as of December 31,
2020, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $171,669. The Company expects to continue to generate operating losses for the
foreseeable future. As of the issuance date of these consolidated financial statements, the Company expects that its cash and cash
equivalents and short-term investments will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through
at least 12 months from the issuance of the consolidated financial statements.
Impact of the
COVID-19 coronavirus
In December 2019,
a novel strain of coronavirus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China. Since
then, COVID-19 coronavirus has spread globally. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak
a pandemic and the U.S. government imposed travel restrictions on travel between the United States, Europe and certain other countries.
The impact of this pandemic has been, and will likely continue to be, extensive in many aspects of society, which has resulted,
and will likely continue to result, in significant disruptions to the global economy as well as businesses and capital markets
around the world.
In response to public
health directives and orders and to help minimize the risk of the virus to employees, the Company has taken precautionary measures,
including implementing work-from-home policies for the Company’s employees, other than those in its laboratory, those performing
manufacturing functions and certain other employees as deemed appropriate from time to time. For those employees, the Company has
implemented stringent safety measures designed to comply with applicable federal, state and local guidelines instituted in response
to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company has taken these and other precautionary steps while maintaining business continuity in order
to continue to progress its programs. While there has been no prolonged material disruption to the Company’s business to
date, the impact of the virus, including work-from-home policies, may negatively impact productivity, disrupt the Company’s
business, and delay its preclinical research and clinical trial activities and its development program timelines, the magnitude
of which will depend, in part, on the length and severity of the restrictions and other limitations on the Company’s ability
to conduct its business in the ordinary course. Other impacts to the Company’s business may include temporary closures of
its suppliers and disruptions or restrictions on its employees’ ability to travel. Any prolonged material disruption to the
Company’s employees or suppliers could adversely impact the Company’s preclinical research and clinical trial activities,
financial condition and results of operations, including its ability to obtain financing.
8
2. Summary of significant accounting policies
Principles
of consolidation
The accompanying consolidated
financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America,
or GAAP, and include the accounts of the Company and its direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, Replimune UK, Replimune
US, Replimune Securities Corporation and Replimune (Ireland) Limited after elimination of all intercompany accounts and transactions.
Use
of estimates
The preparation of
consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the
reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated
financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Significant estimates and assumptions reflected
in these consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, the accrual for research and development expenses and
the valuation of stock-based awards. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience, known trends and other market-specific
or other relevant factors that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances.
The full extent to
which the COVID-19 pandemic will directly or indirectly impact our business, results of operations and financial condition, including,
expenses, research and development costs and employee-related amounts, will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain,
including as a result of new information that may emerge concerning COVID-19 and the actions taken to contain it or treat COVID-19.
We have made estimates of the impact of COVID-19 within our financial statements and there may be changes to those estimates in
future periods.
Estimates are periodically
reviewed in light of reasonable changes in circumstances, facts and experience. Changes in estimates are recorded in the period
in which they become known. Actual results could differ from those estimates or assumptions.
Unaudited interim financial
information
The accompanying consolidated
balance sheet as of December 31, 2020, the consolidated statements of operations, of comprehensive loss and of stockholders’
equity for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the
nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 are unaudited. The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been
prepared on the same basis as the audited annual consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all
adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair presentation of the Company’s financial
position as of December 31, 2020 and the results of its operations for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020
and 2019 and its cash flows for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. The financial data and other information
disclosed in these consolidated notes related to the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 are unaudited.
The results for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected
for the year ending March 31, 2021, any other interim periods or any future year or period. The financial information included
herein should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the year ended March 31, 2020.
During the three and
nine months ended December 31, 2020, there have been no changes to the Company’s significant accounting policies as
described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2020 which was filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on June 3, 2020, except as described below.
9
Recently
adopted accounting pronouncements
In August 2018,
the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820), Disclosure Framework- Changes to the Disclosure
Requirements for Fair Value Measurement (“ASU 2018-13”). The amendments in this ASU require certain existing
disclosure requirements in Topic 820 to be modified or removed, and certain new disclosure requirements to be added to the Topic.
In addition, this ASU allows entities to exercise more discretion when considering fair value measurement disclosures. The Company
adopted ASU 2018-13 on April 1, 2020. The adoption of ASU 2018-13 did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated
financial statements.
In November 2018,
the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-18, Collaborative Arrangements (Topic 808): Clarifying the Interaction between Topic 808 and
Topic 606 (“ASU 2018-18”), which clarifies that certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants
should be accounted for as revenue under Topic 606 when the collaborative arrangement participant is a customer in the context
of a unit of account. In those situations, all the guidance in Topic 606 should be applied, including recognition, measurement,
presentation, and disclosure requirements. The standard adds unit-of-account guidance in Topic 808 to align with the guidance in
Topic 606 (that is, a distinct good or service) when an entity is assessing whether the collaborative arrangement or a part of
the arrangement is within the scope of Topic 606, and requires that in a transaction with a collaborative arrangement participant
that is not directly related to sales to third parties, presenting the transaction together with revenue recognized under Topic
606 is precluded if the collaborative arrangement participant is not a customer. The standard is effective for interim and annual
periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted, including adoption in any interim period for public
business entities for periods in which financial statements have not been issued. Amendments in the standard should be applied
retrospectively to the date of initial application of Topic 606, but entities may elect to apply the amendments in this Update
retrospectively either to all contracts or only to contracts that are not completed at the date of initial application of Topic
606, and should disclose the election. An entity may also elect to apply the practical expedient for contract modifications that
is permitted for entities using the modified retrospective transition method in Topic 606. The Company adopted ASU 2018-18 on April 1,
2020. The adoption of ASU 2018-18 did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
Recently
issued accounting pronouncements
In June 2016,
the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments- Credit Losses (Topic 326). The standard changes how
entities will measure credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value
through net income. Financial assets measured at amortized cost will be presented at the net amount expected to be collected by
using an allowance for credit losses. In April 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-04, Codification Improvements
to Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and Topic 825, Financial
Instruments, which clarifies and corrects certain unintended applications of the guidance contained in each of the amended
Topics. Additionally, in May 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-05, Financial Instruments - Credit
Losses (Topic 326), which provides an option to irrevocably elect to measure certain individual financial assets at fair
value instead of amortized cost. The standard is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15,
2022. Early adoption is permitted for all periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The adoption of ASU 2016-13 is not expected
to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
In December 2019,
the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12 Income Taxes (Topic 740)-Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12) ,
as part of its initiative to reduce complexity in the accounting standards. The amendments in ASU 2019-12 eliminates certain exceptions
related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period and the
recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. ASU 2019-12 also clarifies and simplifies other aspects
of the accounting for income taxes. The standard is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15,
2020. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this new guidance on its financial statements and related disclosures
but does not expect the adoption of ASU 2019-12 to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
10
3. Fair value of financial assets and liabilities
The following tables present information
about the Company’s financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis:
Fair Value Measurements as of
December 31, 2020 Using:
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Total
Assets
Money market funds
$ -
$ 276,076
$ -
$ 276,076
US Government Agency bonds
-
63,295
-
63,295
US Treasury bonds
-
105,502
-
105,502
$ -
$ 444,873
$ -
$ 444,873
Fair Value Measurements as of
March 31, 2020 Using:
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Total
Assets
Money market funds
$ -
$ 36,712
$ -
$ 36,712
Commercial paper
-
21,884
-
21,884
US Treasury bonds
-
35,810
-
35,810
US Government Agency bonds
-
15,295
-
15,295
Corporate debt securities
-
36,066
-
36,066
$ -
$ 145,767
$ -
$ 145,767
The underlying securities held in the money
market funds held by the Company are all government backed securities.
During the three and nine months ended December 31,
2020 and 2019, there were no transfers between levels.
Valuation of cash equivalents and short-term investments
Money market funds, commercial paper, U.S.
Treasury bonds, U.S. Government Agency bonds and corporate debt securities were valued by the Company using quoted prices in active
markets for similar securities, which represent a Level 2 measurement within the fair value hierarchy. Cash equivalents consisted
of money market funds at December 31, 2020 and March 31, 2020.
11
4. Short-term investments
Short-term investments by investment type
consisted of the following:
December 31, 2020
Amortized
cost
Gross unrealized
gains
Gross unrealized
losses
Fair value
US Government agency bonds
$ 63,284
$ 11
$ -
$ 63,295
US Treasury bonds
105,487
17
(2 )
105,502
$ 168,771
$ 28
$ (2 )
$ 168,797
March 31, 2020
Amortized cost
Gross unrealized gains
Gross unrealized losses
Fair value
Commercial paper
$ 21,818
$ 66
$ -
$ 21,884
US Government agency bonds
15,217
78
-
15,295
US Treasury bonds
35,590
220
-
35,810
Corporate debt securities
36,107
24
(65 )
36,066
$ 108,732
$ 388
$ (65 )
$ 109,055
5. Property, plant and equipment, net
Property, plant and equipment, net consisted
of the following:
December 31,
March 31,
2020
2020
Construction in progress
$ 1,363
$ 1,217
Plant and laboratory equipment
4,784
3,669
Leasehold improvements
785
532
Computer equipment
1,667
1,658
Office equipment
721
721
9,320
7,797
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization
(2,154 )
(937 )
$ 7,166
$ 6,860
Depreciation and amortization
expense was $402 and $1,217 for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020, respectively, and $107 and $191 for the
three and nine months ended December 31, 2019, respectively. Depreciation and amortization expense are recorded within research
and development and general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statement of operations.
6. Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
consisted of the following:
December 31,
March 31,
2020
2020
Accrued research and development costs
$ 3,714
$ 2,009
Accrued compensation and benefits costs
2,638
2,065
Accrued professional fees
363
779
Other
519
303
$ 7,234
$ 5,156
7. Long-term debt
Long-term debt consisted of the following:
December 31,
March 31,
2020
2020
Principal amount of long-term debt
$ -
$ 10,000
Unamortized debt discount
-
(199 )
Long-term debt, net of discount
$ -
$ 9,801
12
Hercules Loan Agreement
On August 8, 2019,
(the “Closing Date”) the Company and certain of its affiliates entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (as amended,
the “Hercules Loan Agreement”) with Hercules Capital, Inc. (“Hercules”) pursuant to which Hercules
agreed to make available to the Company a secured term loan facility in the amount of $30,000 (the “Term Loan Facility”),
subject to certain terms and conditions. The Company borrowed $10,000 under the Hercules Loan Agreement in one advance as a single
tranche term loan on the Closing Date upon which the Company paid a $225 facility charge and incurred $130 in additional closing
and legal fees.
On June 1, 2020,
the Company entered into the First Amendment to the Hercules Loan Agreement (the “Hercules First Amendment”), to, among
other things, increase the aggregate principal amount of the secured term loan facility from $30,000 to $40,000. Pursuant to the
Hercules First Amendment, subject to the achievement of certain milestones, the Company could have borrowed three tranches of up
to $10,000 between October 1, 2020 and December 15, 2020, July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021, and July 1,
2021 and December 15, 2021, respectively. The Company incurred $100 in additional closing and legal fees in connection with
Hercules First Amendment which were capitalized and will be amortized as part of the effective yield.
On December 15,
2020, the Company entered into a Payoff Letter with respect to the Hercules Loan Agreement, which resulted in a loss on extinguishment
of debt of $913 including both cash and non-cash expense. Pursuant to the Payoff Letter, the Company paid a total of $10,839 to
Hercules, representing $10,000 in outstanding principal, $495 end of term charge, $300 early termination fee due and $44 in accrued
interest owed to Hercules under the Hercules Loan Agreement. In connection with the execution of the Payoff Letter and the repayment
of the Company’s outstanding obligations under the Hercules Loan Agreement, the Hercules Loan Agreement and the related loan
documents were terminated.
The Term Loan Facility
was secured by substantially all of the Company’s assets, but excluding its intellectual property, and subject to certain
exceptions and exclusions. All liens on the Company’s assets held by Hercules were released in connection with the execution
of the Payoff Letter.
In connection with
entering into the Hercules Loan Agreement, the Company paid Hercules $355 of upfront fees, including closing costs and legal fees
associated with entering into the agreement, which were recorded as a debt discount. In connection with entering into the Hercules
First Amendment, the Company paid $100 of upfront fees, including closing costs and legal fees associated with entering into the
amendment, which were recorded as debt discount. The debt discount is reflected as a reduction of the carrying value of long-term
debt on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet and is being amortized to interest expense over the term of the loan using
the effective interest method.
The Company recognized
aggregate interest expense under the Hercules Loan Agreement of $247 and $817 during the three and nine months ended December 31,
2020, respectively, which included non-cash interest expense of $55 and $181 for the three and nine months ended December 31,
2020, respectively. Non-cash interest expense related to the amortization of the debt discount of $26 and $82 and the accretion
of the final payment of $29 and $99 for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020, respectively.
8. Stockholders’ equity
Common
stock
As of December 31,
2020 and March 31, 2020, the Company’s certificate of incorporation, as amended and restated, authorized the Company
to issue up to 150,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share.
As of December 31,
2020 and March 31, 2020, the Company had reserved 14,753,921 and 10,449,033 shares of common stock for the exercise of outstanding
stock options, the number of shares remaining available for grant under the Company’s 2018 Omnibus Incentive Compensation
Plan and the Company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan (see Note 9) and the exercise of the outstanding warrants to purchase
shares of common stock, respectively.
13
Undesignated
preferred stock
As of December 31,
2020, the Company’s certificate of incorporation, as amended and restated, authorized the Company to issue up to 10,000,000
shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. There were no undesignated preferred shares issued or outstanding
as of December 31, 2020.
Convertible preferred stock
and preferred stock warrants
The Company has issued
series seed convertible preferred stock (the “series seed preferred stock”), series A convertible preferred stock (the
“series A preferred stock”) and series B convertible preferred stock (the “series B preferred stock”).
The series seed preferred stock, series A preferred stock and series B preferred stock are collectively referred to as the “preferred
stock.” In connection with the closing of the Company’s initial public offering (the “IPO”) in 2018, the
preferred stock converted into 19,157,360 shares of common stock on a 1:9.94688 basis. There was no preferred stock outstanding
as of December 31, 2020 and March 31, 2020.
In
connection with the issuance of the series seed preferred stock, the Company issued to the holders of the series seed
preferred stock warrants for the purchase of 50,000 shares of series seed preferred stock, which became fully vested and
exercisable in the year of issuance. The warrants to purchase shares of series seed preferred stock were issued at an
exercise price of $10.00 per share and expire on the earlier of September 16, 2025 or a qualified change of control
event. In connection with the closing of the IPO, the series seed preferred stock warrants became exercisable for 497,344
shares of common stock and the exercise price was adjusted to $1.01 per share. Upon the closing of the IPO, the series seed
preferred stock warrants were reclassified to stockholders’ equity. The warrants to purchase 497,344 shares of common
stock remain outstanding as of December 31, 2020.
ATM program
In August 2019,
the Company entered into a Sales Agreement (as amended, the “2019 Sales Agreement”) with SVB Leerink LLC (the “Agent”),
pursuant to which the Company could sell, from time to time, at its option, up to an aggregate amount of $75,000 of shares of the
Company’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share, through the Agent, as the Company’s sales agent. In June 2020,
the 2019 Sales Agreement was amended to reduce the aggregate offering amount under the 2019 Sales Agreement from $75,000 of shares
to $30,000 of shares.
On August 11,
2020, the 2019 Sales Agreement was terminated by the execution by the Company and the Agent of a new sales agreement, which was
subsequently amended on October 21, 2020 (as amended, the “2020 Sales Agreement”). Under the 2020 Sales Agreement
the Company may sell, from time to time, at its option, up to an aggregate of $62,500 of shares of the Company’s common stock,
$0.001 par value per share (the “Shares”), through the Agent, as the Company’s sales agent.
Any Shares to be offered
and sold under the 2020 Sales Agreement will be issued and sold (i) by methods deemed to be an “at the market offering”
(“ATM”) as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended or in negotiated
transactions, if authorized by the Company and (ii) pursuant to, and only upon the effectiveness of, a registration statement
on Form S-3 filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 11, 2020 for an offering of up
to $350,000 of various securities, including shares of the Company’s common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants
and/or units for sale to the public in one or more public offerings.
Subject to the terms
of the 2020 Sales Agreement, the Agent will use reasonable efforts to sell the Shares from time to time, based upon the Company’s
instructions (including any price, time or size limits or other customary parameters or conditions the Company may impose). The
Company cannot provide any assurances that it will issue any Shares pursuant to the 2020 Sales Agreement. The Company will pay
the Agent a commission of up to 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Shares, if any. The Company has also agreed to
provide the Agent with customary indemnification rights.
During the year ended
March 31, 2020, the Company issued and sold 287,559 shares of common stock under the 2019 Sales Agreement, for gross proceeds
of $4,568 less offering fees of $137 for net proceeds of $4,431 under the ATM. The Company has not issued and sold any shares under
the 2020 Sales Agreement as of December 31, 2020.
14
Equity offerings
In November 2019,
the Company entered into an underwriting agreement (the “November 2019 Underwriting Agreement”) with J.P. Morgan
Securities LLC and SVB Leerink LLC, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein (the “November 2019
Underwriters”), relating to the issuance and sale of an aggregate of (a) 3,678,031 shares of the Company’s common
stock (the “November 2019 Shares”), and (b) pre-funded warrants to purchase 2,200,000 shares of the Company’s
common stock (the “November 2019 Pre-Funded Warrants”) to the November 2019 Underwriters (the “November 2019
Offering”). The November 2019 Shares were sold at the public offering price of $13.61 per share. The November 2019
Pre-Funded Warrants were sold at a public offering price of $13.6099 per November 2019 Pre-Funded Warrant, which represented
the per share public offering price for the November 2019 Shares less a $0.0001 per share exercise price for each such November 2019
Pre-Funded Warrant. In December 2019, the November 2019 Underwriters partially exercised their purchase option pursuant
to the November 2019 Underwriting Agreement, and the Company issued and sold an additional 838,530 shares of its common stock.
The Company received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $85,598 in the November 2019 Offering, after deducting
underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company of approximately $5,814.
Funds affiliated with
Redmile Group, LLC purchased all of the November 2019 Pre-Funded Warrants. The November 2019 Pre-Funded Warrants are
exercisable at any time after the date of issuance. A holder of November 2019 Pre-Funded Warrants may not exercise the November 2019
Pre-Funded Warrants if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than 9.99% of the number of shares
of the Company’s common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
In June 2020,
the Company entered into a separate underwriting agreement (the “June 2020 Underwriting Agreement”) with J.P.
Morgan Securities LLC and SVB Leerink LLC, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein (the “June 2020
Underwriters”), relating to the issuance and sale of an aggregate of (a) 2,826,088 shares of the Company’s common
stock (the “June 2020 Shares”), and (b) pre-funded warrants to purchase 1,521,738 shares of the Company’s
common stock (the “June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants”) to the June 2020 Underwriters. The June 2020
Shares were sold at the public offering price of $23.00 per share. The June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants were sold at a public
offering price of $22.9999 per June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrant, which represented the per share public offering price for the
June 2020 Shares less a $0.0001 per share exercise price for each such June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrant. The June 2020
Underwriters fully exercised their purchase option pursuant to the June 2020 Underwriting Agreement, and the Company issued
and sold an additional 652,173 shares of its common stock. The Company received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $107,782 after
deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company of approximately $7,217.
Funds affiliated with
Redmile Group, LLC and funds affiliated with a second institutional investor purchased all of the June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants.
The June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants are exercisable at any time after the date of issuance. A holder of June 2020 Pre-Funded
Warrants may not exercise the June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially
own more than 9.99% of the number of shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to
such exercise. A holder of June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants may increase or decrease this percentage up to 19.99% by providing
at least 61 days’ prior notice to the Company.
In
October 2020, pursuant to an underwriting agreement with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and SVB Leerink LLC, as
representatives of the several underwriters named therein, the Company issued and sold to the underwriters (a) 5,625,000
shares of the Company’s common stock, inclusive of the underwriters 30-day option to purchase up to an additional
937,500 shares of the Company’s common stock, and (b) pre-funded warrants to purchase 1,562,500 shares of the
Company’s common stock (the “October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants”). The shares of the Company’s
common stock were sold to the underwriters at the public offering price of $40.00 per share and the pre-funded warrants were
sold at a public offering price of $39.99 per October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrant, which represented the per share public offering price
for the Company’s common stock less a $0.0001 per share exercise price for each such pre-funded warrant. The Company
received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $269,975 after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and
other offering expenses payable by the Company of approximately $17,525.
15
Funds affiliated with
Redmile Group, LLC and funds affiliated with a second institutional investor purchased all of the October 2020 Pre-Funded
Warrants. The October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants are exercisable at any time after the date of issuance. A holder of October 2020
Pre-Funded Warrants may not exercise the October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants if the holder, together with its affiliates, would
beneficially own more than 9.99% of the number of shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding immediately after giving
effect to such exercise. A holder of October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants may increase or decrease this percentage up to 19.99%
by providing at least 61 days’ prior notice to the Company.
Other than as set forth
in Note 10 to these consolidated financial statements, including in the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share attributable
to common stockholders, the 5,284,238 shares of the Company’s common stock into which the November 2019 Pre-Funded Warrants,
the June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants and October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants are exercisable are not included in the number
of issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock set forth herein. As of December 31, 2020, none of the
November 2019 Pre-Funded Warrants, the June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants, or the October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants had
been exercised.
9. Stock-based compensation
2015
Enterprise Management Incentive Share Option Plan
The 2015 Enterprise
Management Incentive Share Option Plan of Replimune UK (the “2015 Plan”) provided for Replimune UK to grant incentive
stock options, non-statutory stock options, stock awards, stock units, stock appreciation rights and other stock-based awards.
Incentive stock options are granted only to the Company’s employees, including officers and directors who are also employees.
Non-statutory stock options are granted to employees, members of the board of directors, outside advisors and consultants of the
Company.
2017
Equity Compensation Plan
In July 2017,
in conjunction with the Reorganization, the 2015 Plan was terminated, and all awards were cancelled with replacement awards issued
under the 2017 Equity Compensation Plan (the “2017 Plan”). Subsequent to the Reorganization, no additional grants will
be made under the 2015 Plan and any outstanding awards under the 2015 Plan will continue with their original terms. The Company
concluded that the cancellation of the 2015 Plan and issuance of replacement awards under the 2017 Plan was a modification with
no change in the material rights and preferences and therefore no recorded change in the fair value of each respective award.
The Company’s
2017 Plan provides for the Company to grant incentive stock options or non-statutory stock options, stock awards, stock units,
stock appreciation rights and other stock-based awards. Incentive stock options may be granted only to the Company’s employees,
including officers and directors who are also employees. Restricted stock awards and non-statutory stock options may be granted
to employees, officers, members of the board of directors, advisors and consultants of the Company. The maximum number of common
shares that may be issued under the 2017 Plan was 2,659,885, of which none remained available for future grants as of December 31,
2020. Shares with respect to which awards have expired, terminated, surrendered or cancelled under the 2017 Plan without having
been fully exercised will be available for future awards under the 2017 Plan. In addition, shares of common stock that are tendered
to the Company by a participant to exercise an award are added to the number of shares of common stock available for the grant
of awards.
2018
Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan
On July 9, 2018,
the Company’s board of directors adopted, and the Company’s stockholders approved the 2018 Omnibus Incentive Compensation
Plan (the “2018 Plan”), which became effective immediately prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement
for the Company’s initial public offering. The 2018 Plan provides for the issuance of incentive stock options, non-qualified
stock options, stock awards, stock units, stock appreciation rights and other stock-based awards. The number of shares initially
reserved for issuance under the 2018 Plan is 3,617,968 shares. If any options or stock appreciation rights, including outstanding
options and stock appreciation rights granted under the 2017 Plan (up to 2,520,247 shares), terminate, expire, or are canceled,
forfeited, exchanged, or surrendered without having been exercised, or if any stock awards, stock units or other stock-based awards,
including outstanding awards granted under the 2017 Plan, are forfeited, terminated, or otherwise not paid in full in shares of
common stock, the shares of the Company’s common stock subject to such grants will be available for purposes of our 2018
Plan. On April 1, 2020, the number of shares reserved for issuance under the 2018 Plan automatically increased by 1,466,749
shares pursuant to the terms of the 2018 Plan. On April 1, 2019, the number of shares reserved for issuance under the 2018
Plan automatically increased by 1,266,278 shares pursuant to the terms of the 2018 Plan. As of December 31, 2020, 1,613,894
shares remained available for future grants under the 2018 Plan.
16
The 2015 Plan, the
2017 Plan and the 2018 Plan was administered by the board of directors or, at the discretion of the board of directors, by a committee
of the board of directors. However, the board of directors shall administer and approve all grants made to non-employee directors.
The exercise prices, vesting and other restrictions are determined at the discretion of the board of directors, except that the
exercise price per share of incentive stock options may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of the common stock on the
date of grant (or 110% of fair value in the case of an award granted to employees who hold more than 10% of the total combined
voting power of all classes of stock at the time of grant) and the term of stock options may not be greater than five years for
an incentive stock option granted to a 10% stockholder and greater than ten years for all other options granted. Stock options
awarded under both plans expire ten years after the grant date, unless the board of directors sets a shorter term. Vesting periods
for both plans are determined at the discretion of the board of directors. Incentive stock options granted to employees and non-statutory
options granted to employees, officers, members of the board of directors, advisors, and consultants of the Company typically vest
over four years.
Employee
Stock Purchase Plan
On July 9, 2018,
the Company’s board of directors adopted and the Company’s stockholders approved the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the
“ESPP”), which became effective immediately prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement for the Company’s
IPO. The total shares of common stock initially reserved for issuance under the ESPP is limited to 348,612 shares. In addition,
as of the first trading day of each fiscal year during the term of the ESPP (excluding any extensions), an additional number of
shares of the Company’s common stock equal to 1% of the total number of shares outstanding on the last trading day in the
immediately preceding fiscal year or 697,224 shares, whichever is less (or such lesser amount as determined by the Company’s
board of directors) will be added to the number of shares authorized under the ESPP. In accordance, on April 1, 2020 and 2019,
the number of shares reserved for issuance under the ESPP automatically increased by 366,687 and 316,569 shares respectively, for
a total of 1,031,868 shares reserved for the ESPP. If the total number of shares of common stock to be purchased pursuant to outstanding
purchase rights on any particular date exceed the number of shares then available for issuance under the ESPP, then the plan administrator
will allocate the available shares pro-rata and refund any excess payroll deductions or other contributions to participants. The
Company’s ESPP is not currently active.
Stock
option valuation
The fair value of stock
option grants is estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Company lacks company-specific historical and implied
volatility information. Therefore, it estimated its expected stock volatility based on the historical volatility of a publicly
traded set of peer companies. For options with service-based vesting conditions, the expected term of the Company’s stock
options has been determined utilizing the “simplified” method for awards that qualify as “plain-vanilla”
options. The expected term of stock options granted to non-employees is equal to the contractual term of the option award. The
risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award
for time periods approximately equal to the expected term of the award. Expected dividend yield is based on the fact that the Company
has never paid cash dividends and does not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
The following table
presents, on a weighted-average basis, the assumptions that the Company used to determine the grant-date fair value of stock options
granted to employees and directors:
17
Three Months Ended
December 31,
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
2020
2019
Risk-free interest rate
0.31 %
1.68 %
1.01 %
2.17 %
Expected term (in years)
6.1
6.1
6.4
6.0
Expected volatility
76.3 %
69.7 %
74.8 %
71.0 %
Expected dividend yield
0 %
0 %
0 %
0 %
Stock
options
The following table
summarizes the Company’s stock option activity:
Weighted
Weighted
Average
Average
Aggregate
Number of
Exercise
Contractual
Intrinsic
Shares
Price
Term (Years)
Value
Outstanding as of March 31, 2020
4,964,381
$ 9.78
8.02
$ 15,345
Granted
2,284,004
15.24
9.37
Exercised
(612,671 )
8.01
6.79
Cancelled
(309,137 )
12.59
Outstanding as of December 31, 2020
6,326,577
11.79
8.04
$ 167,873
Options exercisable as of March 31, 2020
2,117,721
$ 5.66
7.20
$ 11,733
Options exercisable as of December 31, 2020
2,617,429
$ 7.82
6.91
$ 79,395
The aggregate intrinsic
value of stock options is calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the stock options and the fair value of the
Company’s common stock for those stock options that had exercise prices lower than the fair value of the Company’s
common stock.
The weighted average
grant-date fair value per share of stock options granted during the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was $10.06
and $9.63, respectively. The total fair value of options vested during the three months and nine months ended December 31,
2020 was $2,069 and $8,330, respectively. The total fair value of options vested during the three months and nine months ended
December 31, 2019 was $1,063 and $4,480, respectively.
Stock-based compensation
expense
Stock-based compensation
expense was classified in the consolidated statements of operations as follows:
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
December 31,
2020
2019
2020
2019
Research and development
$ 1,454
$ 1,318
$ 3,750
$ 2,974
General and administrative
1,595
1,026
4,568
2,961
$ 3,049
$ 2,344
$ 8,318
$ 5,935
As of December 31,
2020, total unrecognized compensation cost related to the unvested stock-based awards was $31,002, which is expected to be recognized
over a weighted average period of 2.95 years.
18
10. Net loss per share
Basic and diluted net
loss per share attributable to common stockholders was calculated as follows:
Three Months Ended
December 31,
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
2020
2019
Numerator:
Net loss attributable to common stockholders
$ (21,783 )
$ (16,189 )
$ (59,371 )
$ (36,836 )
Denominator:
Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted
49,382,213
34,877,944
44,436,680
32,742,148
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted
$ (0.44 )
$ (0.46 )
$ (1.34 )
$ (1.13 )
The November 2019
Pre-Funded Warrants, the June 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants and October 2020 Pre-Funded Warrants are included as outstanding
common stock in the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders. The Company’s
potentially dilutive securities, which include stock options and warrants to purchase shares of series seed preferred stock, have
been excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share as the effect would be to reduce the net loss per share. Therefore,
the weighted average number of common shares outstanding used to calculate both basic and diluted net loss per share attributable
to common stockholders is the same. The Company excluded the following potential common shares, presented based on amounts outstanding
at each period end, from the computation of diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders for the periods indicated
because including them would have had an anti-dilutive effect:
Three and Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Options to purchase common stock
6,326,577
4,916,402
Warrants to purchase convertible preferred stock (as converted to common stock)
497,344
497,344
6,823,921
5,413,746
11. Significant agreements
Agreement
with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
In February 2018,
the Company entered into an agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (“BMS”). Pursuant to the agreement, BMS will
provide to the Company, at no cost, a compound for use in the Company’s ongoing clinical trial of RP1. Under the agreement,
the Company will sponsor, fund and conduct the clinical trial in accordance with an agreed-upon protocol. BMS granted the Company
a non-exclusive, non-transferrable, royalty-free license (with a right to sublicense) under its intellectual property to its compound
in the clinical trial and agreed to supply its compound, at no cost to the Company, for use in the clinical trial. In January 2020,
this agreement was expanded to cover an additional cohort of 125 patients with anti-PD-1 failed melanoma.
Unless earlier terminated,
the agreement will remain in effect until (i) the completion of the clinical trial, (ii) all related clinical trial data
have been delivered to both parties and (iii) the completion of any statistical analyses and bioanalyses contemplated by the
clinical trial protocol or any analysis otherwise agreed upon by the parties. The agreement may be terminated by either party (i) in
the event of an uncured material breach by the other party, (ii) in the event the other party is insolvent or in bankruptcy
proceedings or (iii) for safety reasons. Upon termination, the licenses granted to the Company to use BMS’s compound
in the clinical trial will terminate.
In April 2019,
the Company entered into a separate agreement with BMS on terms similar to the terms set forth in the agreement described above,
pursuant to which BMS will provide to the Company, at no cost, nivolumab for use in the Company’s Phase 1 clinical trial
of RP2 in combination with nivolumab.
19
As of December 31,
2020, the Company had not incurred any costs and does not expect to incur future costs in connection with this agreement.
Agreement
with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc .
In May 2018, the
Company entered into an agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron”). The Company and Regeneron
are each independently developing compounds for the treatment of certain tumor types. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company and
Regeneron will undertake one or more clinical trials using a combination of the compounds being developed by each entity. Under
the agreement, each study will be conducted under terms set out in a separately agreed upon study plan that will identify the name
of the sponsor and which party will manage the particular clinical trial, and include the protocol, the budget and a schedule of
clinical obligations. In June 2018, under the terms of the agreement between the Company and Regeneron, the parties agreed
to the first study plan. The Company and Regeneron have agreed to the protocol, budget, sample testing and clinical obligations
schedule under the study plan. Development and supply costs associated with the study plan will be split equally between the Company
and Regeneron.
Pursuant to the terms
of the agreement, each party granted the other party a non-exclusive license under its respective intellectual property and agreed
to contribute the necessary resources needed to fulfill its respective obligations, in each case, under the terms of the agreed-upon
or to-be agreed upon study plans. Development costs of a particular clinical trial will be split equally between the Company and
Regeneron in accordance with the agreed upon study plan.
The agreement may be
terminated by either party if (i) there is no active study plan for which a final study report has not been completed, (ii) the
parties have not entered into a study plan for an additional clinical trial within a period of time after the delivery of the most
recent final study report or (iii) in the event of a material breach.
The Company will account
for costs incurred as part of the study, including costs to supply compounds for use in the study, as research and development
expenses within the consolidated statement of operations. The Company will recognize any amounts received from Regeneron in connection
with this agreement as an offset to research and development expense within the consolidated statement of operations.
Under the terms
of the agreement, on a quarterly basis the Company and Regeneron true-up costs of the study and make corresponding payments
to the party that incurred the majority of the costs. During the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020 or 2019,
the Company did not make any payments under the terms of the agreement from Regeneron. During the three and nine months
ended December 31, 2020, the Company received payments under the terms of the agreement from Regeneron of $1,453 and
$3,857, respectively. During the three and nine months ended December 31, 2019, the Company received payments under
the terms of the agreement from Regeneron of $760 and $2008, respectively. As of December 31, 2020 and March 31,
2020, the Company recorded $1,195 and $971 of receivables from Regeneron in connection with this agreement in prepaid
expenses and other current assets in the consolidated balance sheet, respectively.
12. Commitments and contingencies
Leases
In April 2016,
the Company entered into a lease agreement for office and laboratory space in Abingdon, England. On June 29, 2020 the Company
modified the lease terms to extend the expiration date to April 3, 2031 and the lease modification was not accounted for as
a separate contract. As part of the lease modification, the lease liability was remeasured in accordance with the updated terms
of the contract and the associated lease liability and right-of-use asset was increased by $1,580. The Company has the right to
terminate the lease as of April 4, 2026 upon at least twelve months’ prior written notice. Monthly lease payments are
inclusive of base rent, ancillary charges, non-rent shared tenant occupancy costs and the respective value added tax to be paid.
Monthly lease payments include base rent of approximately $29 through June 23, 2020, $14 from June 24, 2020 through December 24,
2020, and $29 thereafter. Monthly base rent is subject to increase after April 2021 in proportion to the Retail Price Index
or market rates. The lease is classified as an operating lease.
20
In June 2018,
the Company entered into an agreement to lease approximately 63,000 square feet of office, manufacturing and laboratory space in
Framingham, Massachusetts. Pursuant to the lease agreement, the lease term commenced in December 2018, subject to the landlord
completing certain agreed upon landlord improvements. The rent commencement date started in August 2019. The initial lease
term is ten years from the rent commencement date and includes two optional five-year extensions. Annual lease payments during
the first year were $2,373 with increases of 3.0% each year thereafter until the expiration of the lease.
Construction was completed
associated with approximately 10,500 square feet of the leased space in Framingham, Massachusetts and the Company occupied the
building as office space beginning August 1, 2019. The Company recorded a right-of-use asset and lease liability associated
with the occupied space as of August 1, 2019. The Company recorded $2,368 in related construction costs to the right-of-use
asset upon the lease commencement date which were reclassified from prepaid rent. The Company occupied the remainder of the facility,
approximately 52,500 square feet used as laboratory space, on October 22, 2019. The Company recorded a right-of-use asset
and lease liability associated with the remaining space as of October 22, 2019. The Company recorded $18,164 in related construction
costs and $261 in rent payments made prior to the lease commencement date to the right-of-use asset upon the lease commencement
date which were reclassified from prepaid rent. The lease is classified as a financing lease.
In June 2019,
the Company entered into an agreement to lease approximately 18,700 square feet of office space in Woburn, Massachusetts. Pursuant
to the lease agreement, the lease term commenced in August 2019. The rent commenced in September 2019. The initial lease
term is ten years from the rent commencement date and includes an optional five-year extension. Annual lease payments during the
first year are $488 with increases of approximately 1.6% each year. The Company recorded a right-of-use asset and a lease liability
of $4,363 upon the commencement date of the lease and the lease is classified as an operating lease.
The Company determines
if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Operating leases are included in our balance sheet as right-to-use—operating leases,
operating lease liabilities, current and operating lease liabilities, non-current. Finance leases are included in the balance
sheet as right-to-use asset—finance lease finance lease liabilities, current, and finance lease liabilities, non-current.
Certain of the Company’s lease agreements contain renewal options; however, the Company does not recognize right-of-use assets
or lease liabilities for renewal periods unless it is determined that the Company is reasonably certain of renewing the lease at
inception or when a triggering event occurs. As the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company estimated
the incremental borrowing rate in calculating the present value of the lease payments. Since the Company elected to account for
each lease component and its associated non-lease components as a single combined lease component, all contract consideration was
allocated to the combined lease component. Some of the Company’s lease agreements contain rent escalation clauses (including
index-based escalations). The Company recognizes the minimum rental expense on a straight-line basis based on the fixed components
of a lease arrangement. The Company amortizes this expense over the term of the lease beginning with the date of initial possession,
which is the date the Company can enter the leased space and begin to make improvements in preparation for its intended use. Variable
lease components represent amounts that are not fixed in nature and are not tied to an index or rate, and are recognized as incurred.
Three Months Ended
December 31,
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
2020
2019
Lease cost
Finance lease costs:
Amortization of right-to-use asset
$ 607
$ 607
$ 1,821
$ 666
Interest on lease liabilities
560
591
1,683
652
Operating lease costs
239
262
705
633
Total lease cost
$ 1,406
$ 1,460
$ 4,209
$ 1,951
21
Finance lease costs
of $90 and $90 are recognized in general and administrative expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019,
respectively, and $268 and $149 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Finance lease costs of
$518 and $517 are recognized in research and development expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively,
and $1,553 and $517 for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Operating leases costs are recognized
in general and administrative expenses for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. The following table
summarizes the maturity of the Company’s lease liabilities on an undiscounted cash flow basis and a reconciliation to the
operating and financing lease liabilities recognized on our balance sheet as of September 30, 2020:
December 31, 2020
Operating
leases
Financing
lease
Total
2021 (remaining three months)
$ 240
$ 611
$ 851
2022
967
2,487
3,454
2023
976
2,562
3,538
2024
986
2,639
3,625
2025
995
2,718
3,713
Thereafter
5,054
43,704
48,758
Total lease payments
9,218
54,721
63,939
Less: interest
3,083
27,437
30,520
Total lease liabilities
$ 6,135
$ 27,284
$ 33,419
The following table provides lease disclosure
as of December 31, 2020 and March 31, 2020:
December 31,
2020
March 31, 2020
Leases
Right-to-use operating lease asset
$ 5,839
$ 4,425
Right-to-use finance lease asset
45,129
46,925
Total lease assets
$ 50,968
$ 51,350
Operating lease liabilities, current
$ 965
$ 873
Finance lease liabilities, current
2,469
2,411
Operating lease liabilities, non-current
5,170
3,737
Finance lease liabilities, non-current
24,815
24,967
Total lease liabilities
$ 33,419
$ 31,988
The following table provides
lease disclosure for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Other information
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows from operating leases
$ 582
$ 516
Operating cash flows from finance leases
$ 1,682
$ 623
Financing cash flows from finance leases
$ 92
$ 22
Right-to-use asset obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities
$ 1,580
$ 5,152
Weighted-average remaining lease term - operating leases
9.1
years
8.6
years
Weighted-average remaining lease term - financing leases
18.6
years
19.6
years
Weighted-average discount rate - operating leases
9.8 %
7 %
Weighted-average discount rate - financing leases
8.3 %
8 %
The variable lease costs and short-term lease costs were insignificant
for three and nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
Manufacturing
commitments
The Company has entered
into an agreement with a contract manufacturing organization to provide clinical trial products. As of December 31, 2020 and
March 31, 2020, the Company had committed to minimum payments under these arrangements totaling $1,622 and $3,569, respectively,
through March 31, 2021.
22
Indemnification
agreements
In the ordinary course
of business, the Company may provide indemnification of varying scope and terms to vendors, lessors, business partners and other
parties with respect to certain matters including, but not limited to, losses arising out of breach of such agreements or from
intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties. In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements
with members of its executive management team and its board of directors that will require the Company, among other things, to
indemnify them against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers. The maximum
potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is, in many cases,
unlimited. To date, the Company has not incurred any material costs as a result of such indemnifications. The Company is not aware
of any claims under indemnification arrangements, and therefore it has not accrued any liabilities related to such obligations
in its consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2020 or March 31, 2020.
Legal
proceedings
The Company is not
a party to any litigation and does not have contingency reserves established for any litigation liabilities.
13. Geographic information
The Company operates in two geographic regions:
the United States (Massachusetts) and the United Kingdom (Oxfordshire). Information about the Company’s long-lived assets
held in different geographic regions is presented in the tables below:
December 31, 2020
March 31, 2020
United States
$ 6,564
$ 6,357
United Kingdom
602
503
$ 7,166
$ 6,860
23
Item 2. Management’s Discussion
and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
You should read
the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our unaudited consolidated
financial statements and related notes appearing in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, or this
Quarterly Report, and with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended March 31, 2020,
included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.
In addition to historical
information, some of the statements contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Quarterly Report,
including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, or the Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about
future events. The following information and any forward-looking statements should be considered in light of factors discussed
elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, particularly including those risks identified in Part II, Item 1A “Risk Factors”
and our other filings with the SEC.
We caution you that
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition
and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from the forward-looking statements
contained in this Quarterly Report. Statements made herein are as of the date of the filing of this Quarterly Report with the Securities
Exchange Commission, or SEC, and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. Even if our results of operations, financial
condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements
contained in this Quarterly Report, they may not be predictive of results or developments in future periods. We disclaim any obligation,
except as specifically required by law and the rules of the SEC, to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect
any change in our expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based or that may
affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Overview
General
We are a clinical-stage
biotechnology company committed to applying our leading expertise in the field of oncolytic immunotherapy to transform the lives
of cancer patients. We use our proprietary Immulytic platform to design and develop product candidates that are intended to maximally
activate the immune system against cancer.
Oncolytic immunotherapy
is an emerging drug class, which we intend to establish as the second cornerstone of immune-based cancer treatments, alongside
checkpoint blockade. Oncolytic immunotherapy exploits the ability of certain viruses to selectively replicate in and directly kill
tumors, as well as induce a potent, patient-specific, anti-tumor immune response. Our product candidates incorporate multiple mechanisms
of action into a practical “off-the-shelf” approach that is intended to maximize the immune response against a patient’s
cancer and to offer significant advantages over personalized vaccine approaches. We believe that the bundling of multiple approaches
for the treatment of cancer into single therapies will simplify the development path of our product candidates, while also improving
patient outcomes at a lower cost to the healthcare system than the use of multiple different drugs.
The foundation of our
Immulytic platform consists of a proprietary, engineered strain of herpes simplex virus 1, or HSV-1, that has been “armed”
with a fusogenic glycoprotein intended to substantially increase anti-tumor activity. Our Immulytic platform enables us to incorporate
various genes into HSV-1 that are intended to further augment the inherent properties of HSV-1 in order to both directly destroy
tumor cells and induce an anti-tumor immune response. We currently have three product candidates in our development pipeline: RP1,
our lead product candidate, RP2 and RP3.
24
We are conducting a
number of clinical trials of RP1, both as a monotherapy and in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy, with a focus on immune-responsive
tumors. We are actively enrolling patients in a randomized, controlled Phase 2 clinical trial of RP1 in up to approximately
240 patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, or CSCC, RP1’s lead indication. This registration-directed clinical
trial is evaluating RP1 in combination with cemiplimab, an anti-PD-1 therapy developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
or Regeneron, versus cemiplimab alone. Regeneron has granted to us a non-exclusive royalty-free license to cemiplimab for use in
this trial, is funding one-half of the clinical trial costs, and is supplying cemiplimab at no cost to us. If this clinical trial
generates compelling clinical data demonstrating the benefits of the combined treatment, we believe the data could support a filing
with regulatory authorities seeking marketing approval. We expect the primary data read-out from this Phase 2 clinical trial
will be in 2022.
We have also opened
for enrollment a Phase 1b clinical trial of single agent RP1 in solid organ transplant recipients with CSCC, which we believe
to be potentially registrational (in its own right or, subject to discussion with regulatory authorities, following enrollment
of additional patients, including as a potential label expansion after an initial approval of RP1 in a different indication). We
are currently enrolling approximately 30 patients in this clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of RP1 in liver and
kidney transplant recipients with recurrent CSCC. Progress in this clinical trial has been particularly impacted by COVID-19, as
the patient population is severely immune-compromised and considered very high risk if they were to contract COVID-19. Nevertheless,
we expect to dose the first patient in this clinical trial in early 2021 and present initial data from this clinical trial in the
second half of the year.
We have also entered
into a collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, or BMS, under which it has granted us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license
to, and is supplying at no cost, its anti-PD-1 therapy, nivolumab, for use in combination with RP1 in a multi-cohort Phase 1/2
clinical trial. We are currently enrolling a 125-patient extension cohort of RP1 combined with nivolumab in anti-PD-1 failed cutaneous
melanoma. We initiated this cohort after completing enrollment in a prior Phase 2 cohort in the same clinical trial of approximately
30 patients with melanoma. The data generated in the prior melanoma cohort demonstrated that RP1 combined with nivolumab has
the potential to treat anti-PD-1 failed melanoma. We also believe this cohort to be potentially registrational (in its own right
or, subject to discussion with regulatory authorities, following enrollment of additional patients). We expect that the primary
data read-out from this Phase 2 melanoma cohort will be in 2022. In October 2020 we announced updated clinical data from
our multi-cohort Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating RP1 in combination with nivolumab in patients with melanoma and non-melanoma
skin cancers. As reported, RP1 in combination with nivolumab has continued to be well tolerated, and we believe demonstrates continued
promising efficacy signals of anti-tumor activity in patients with skin cancers, including in patients with anti-PD-1 failed and
other difficult-to-treat melanomas, and in patients with CSCC.
We continue to enroll
patients in other Phase 2 cohorts under our collaboration with BMS in which we are testing RP1 in combination with nivolumab,
including a non-melanoma skin cancers cohort, a microsatellite instability high, or MSI-H/dMMR tumor cohort, and we have recently
opened for enrollment a cohort of 30 patients with anti-PD-1 failed non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. We and BMS recently agreed
to increase the number of patients in our non-melanoma skin cancer cohort from 30 to 45 patients to include anti-PD-1 failed patients.
Due in part to COVID-19 related disruptions, we expect the original 30 patient non-melanoma skin cancer cohort to be fully accrued
in early 2021. Before we determine the next stages of development in this indication, we intend to enroll a total of 15 patients
into our MSI-H/dMMR cohort. We continue to accumulate data in the MSI-H/dMMR cohort and expect to decide whether to pursue MSI-H/dMMR
tumors into registration-directed development later in 2021.
We are also developing
additional product candidates, RP2 and RP3, that have been further engineered to enhance anti-tumor immune responses and are intended
to address additional tumor types. In addition to the expression of GALV-GP R(-) and human GM-CSF, RP2 has been engineered to express
an antibody-like molecule intended to block the activity of CTLA-4, a protein that inhibits the full activation of an immune response,
including to tumors. RP3, which does not include the expression of GM-CSF, has been engineered with the intent to further stimulate
an anti-tumor immune response through activation of the immune co-stimulatory pathways through expression of the ligands for CD40L
and 4-1BBL, in addition to anti-CTLA-4 and GALV-GP R(-).
25
We initiated a Phase 1
clinical trial of RP2 alone and in combination with nivolumab in October 2019. This clinical trial is also being conducted
as part of our collaboration with BMS, under which BMS has granted us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to, and will supply
at no cost, nivolumab, for use in combination with RP2. We and BMS recently agreed to increase the number of patients in the combination
part of the clinical trial from 12 to 30 patients. In October 2020, we presented positive data from the single agent RP2 portion
of the clinical trial that showed deep and durable responses, including demonstration of uninjected tumor response in patients
with difficult to treat advanced cancers. This data supports the hypothesis that anti-CTLA-4 delivered intra-tumorally through
oncolytic virus replication, with accompanying antigen release and presentation, can provide potent anti-tumor effects. Following
the monotherapy phase of this clinical trial with RP2, enrollment of patients treated with RP2 used in combination with nivolumab
is currently underway and we expect to present initial combination data in mid-2021.
We have obtained clearance
from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom to begin clinical development with RP3 and in
December 2020 we initiated dosing in this clinical trial. This Phase 1 clinical trial is designed to evaluate RP3 alone and
combined with anti-PD-1 therapy in advanced solid tumor patients. Initial data from this clinical trial is expected to be presented
in the second half of 2021.
RP1, RP2 and RP3 are
administered by direct injection into solid tumors, guided either visually or by ultrasound, computerized tomography, or CT, or
other imaging methods. We believe that direct injection maximizes virus-mediated tumor cell death, provides the most efficient
delivery of virus-encoded immune activating proteins into the tumor with the goal of activating systemic immunity, and limits the
systemic toxicities that could be associated with intravenous administration. Activation of systemic immunity through local administration
is intended to lead to the induction of anti-tumor immune responses leading to clinical response of tumors that have not themselves
been injected.
Financial
Since our inception,
we have devoted substantially all of our resources to developing our Immulytic platform, building our intellectual property portfolio,
conducting research and development of our product candidates, business planning, raising capital and providing general and administrative
support for our operations. To date, we have financed our operations primarily with proceeds from the sale of equity securities
and to a lesser extent the proceeds from the issuance of debt securities. We do not have any products approved for sale and have
not generated any revenue from product sales.
Since our initial public
offering, or IPO, on July 24 2018, we have raised an aggregate of approximately $569.2 million in net proceeds to fund our
operations, of which $101.2 million was from our IPO, $463.6 million was from three separate follow-on offerings, or the Public
Offerings, that we closed in November 2019, June 2020 and October 2020, respectively, and $4.4 million was from
at-the-market offerings. We sold 7,407,936 shares of common stock in our IPO, an aggregate of 13,619,822 shares of our common stock
and pre-funded warrants to purchase 5,284,238 shares of our common stock in the Public Offerings, and 287,559 shares of common
stock through our at-the-market facility.
Funds affiliated with
two separate institutional investors hold all of our outstanding pre-funded warrants. Other than as set forth in Note 8 of our
condensed consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, the shares of our common stock into which
our outstanding pre-funded warrants are exercisable are not included in the number of issued and outstanding shares of our common
stock set forth in this Quarterly Report.
In addition, on August 8,
2019, we entered into a Loan and Security Agreement with Hercules Capital, Inc., or Hercules, which we refer to as the Hercules
Loan Agreement, pursuant to which we borrowed $10.0 million under a secured term loan facility in the amount of $30.0 million.
The Hercules Loan Agreement was subsequently amended on June 1, 2020, in order to, among other things, increase the secured
term loan facility from $30.0 million to $40.0 million. On December 15, 2020, we paid a total of $10.8 million, representing
the outstanding principal, accrued and unpaid interest, fees, costs and expenses due and owing under the Hercules Loan Agreement
and related loan documents, in repayment of all of our outstanding obligations thereunder, and thereby terminated the Hercules
Loan Agreement and the related loan documents.
26
Since our inception,
we have incurred significant operating losses. Our ability to generate product revenue sufficient to achieve profitability will
depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. Our net losses were
$21.8 million and $16.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively and net losses of $59.4
million and $36.8 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020,
we had an accumulated deficit of $171.7 million. These losses have resulted primarily from costs incurred in connection with research
and development activities and general and administrative costs associated with our operations. We expect to continue to incur
significant expenses and increasing operating losses for at least the next several years.
We anticipate that
our expenses and capital requirements will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we
advance the preclinical activities and clinical trials of our product candidates, and if and as we:
● conduct our current and future clinical trials with RP1, RP2 and RP3;
● further preclinical development of our platform;
● operate our own in-house manufacturing facility;
● seek to identify and develop additional product candidates;
● seek marketing approvals for any of our product candidates that successfully complete clinical
trials, if any;
● establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for
which we may obtain marketing approval;
● until our manufacturing facility is fully validated, continued limited manufacturing by third parties
for clinical development;
● maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
● hire and retain additional clinical, quality control, scientific and general and administration
personnel;
● acquire or in-license other drugs and technologies; and
● add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel
to support our research and development programs, any future commercialization efforts and operating as a public company.
We will not generate
revenue from product sales unless and until we successfully complete clinical development and obtain regulatory approval for RP1
or our other product candidates. If we obtain regulatory approval for any of our product candidates and do not enter into a commercialization
partnership in any jurisdiction, we expect to incur significant expenses related to developing our internal commercialization capability
to support product sales, marketing, and distribution.
As a result, we will
need additional funding to support our continuing operations and pursue our growth strategy. Until such time as we can generate
significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through a combination of equity offerings,
debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, and marketing, distribution, or licensing arrangements. We may be unable
to raise additional funds or enter into such other agreements or arrangements when needed on favorable terms, or at all. If we
fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as, and when, needed, we may have to significantly delay, scale back, or discontinue
the development and commercialization of one or more of our product candidates.
Because of the numerous
risks and uncertainties associated with pharmaceutical product development, we are unable to accurately predict the timing or amount
of increased expenses or when, or if, we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Even if we are able to generate product
sales, we may not become profitable. If we fail to become profitable or are unable to sustain profitability on a continuing basis,
then we may be unable to continue our operations at planned levels and be forced to reduce or terminate our operations.
As of December 31,
2020, we had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $493.3 million. We believe that our existing cash and cash
equivalents and short-term investments will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through
at least 12 months from the issuance of the consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report.
27
See “—Liquidity
and capital resources” and “Risk factors—Risks related to our financial position and need for additional capital.”
The COVID-19
pandemic
In December 2019,
a novel strain of coronavirus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China. In March 2020,
the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, which continues to spread throughout the U.S. and worldwide.
We could be materially and adversely affected by the risks, or the public perception of the risks, related to an epidemic, pandemic,
outbreak, or other public health crisis, such as the recent outbreak of COVID-19. We are continuing to monitor the global outbreak
and spread of COVID-19 and have taken steps to identify and mitigate the adverse impacts on, and risks to, our business posed by
its spread and actions taken by governmental and health authorities to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The spread of COVID-19 has
caused us to modify our business practices, including implementing a global work from home policy for certain employees who are
able to perform their duties remotely and reducing travel. For those employees working from our facilities, including certain essential
employees in our laboratory and who perform manufacturing functions, and certain other employees as deemed essential from time
to time, we have implemented stringent safety measures designed to comply with applicable federal, state and local guidelines instituted
in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fluctuation in infection rates in the regions in which we operate has resulted in periodic
changes in restrictions that vary from region to region and require vigilant attention and rapid response to new or reinstated
orders. We expect to continue to take actions as may be required or recommended by government authorities or as we determine are
in the best interests of our employees, the patients we serve and other business partners in light of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic
has delayed, and we expect it may continue to delay, the timing of patient enrollment and treatment in certain of our ongoing clinical
studies. For example, the enrollment of our clinical trial of RP1 in liver and kidney transplant patients with CSCC, representing
highly immunocompromised patient populations, has been slower than expected for reasons we attribute to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the extent of these delays is currently unknown and has and will likely continue to vary by clinical study site and may
be amplified as a result of the impacts of a “second wave” of the virus outbreak. In addition, we may incur unforeseen
costs as a result of disruptions in clinical supply or preclinical study or clinical trial delays. While vaccines for COVID-19
are being, and have been developed, there is no guarantee that any such vaccine will be effective, work as expected or be made
available or will be accepted on a significant scale and in a timely manner. The impact of COVID-19 on our business future results
will largely depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the ultimate
geographic spread of the disease, the duration of the pandemic, travel restrictions and social distancing in the United States
and other countries, business closures or business disruptions, the ultimate impact on financial markets and the global economy,
and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease. See “Risk
Factors—Our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected by the recent novel coronavirus disease-2019,
or COVID-19, outbreak.” in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report.
Components of our results of operations
Revenue
To date, we have not
generated any revenue from product sales as we do not have any approved products and do not expect to generate any revenue from
the sale of products in the near future. If our development efforts for RP1 or any other product candidates that we may develop
in the future are successful and result in regulatory approval, or if we enter into collaboration or license agreements with third
parties, we may generate revenue in the future from a combination of product sales or payments from those collaborations or license
agreements.
Operating expenses
Our expenses since
inception have consisted solely of research and development costs and general and administrative costs.
28
Research and development expenses
Research and development
expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for our research activities, including our discovery efforts and the development of
our product candidates, and include:
● expenses incurred under agreements with third parties, including clinical research organizations,
or CROs, that conduct research, preclinical activities and clinical trials on our behalf as well as contract manufacturing organizations,
or CMOs, that manufacture our product candidates for use in our preclinical and clinical trials;
● salaries, benefits and other related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for personnel
engaged in research and development functions;
● costs of outside consultants, including their fees, stock-based compensation and related travel
expenses;
● costs of laboratory supplies and acquiring, developing and manufacturing preclinical study and
clinical trial materials;
● costs related to compliance with regulatory requirements in connection with the development of
our product candidates; and
● facility-related expenses, which include direct depreciation costs and allocated expenses for rent
and maintenance of facilities and other operating costs.
These
costs will be partially offset by our agreement with Regeneron related to our
Phase 2 clinical trial of RP1 in approximately 240 patients with clinical trial CSCC .
We expense research
and development costs as incurred. We recognize external development costs based on an evaluation of the progress to completion
of specific tasks using information provided to us by our service providers. Payments for these activities are based on the terms
of the individual agreements, which may differ from the pattern of costs incurred, and are reflected in our consolidated financial
statements as prepaid or accrued research and development expenses.
Our direct external
research and development expenses are tracked on a program-by-program basis and consist of costs, such as fees paid to consultants,
contractors, CMOs, and CROs in connection with our preclinical and clinical development activities. We do not allocate personnel
costs, costs associated with our discovery efforts, laboratory supplies, and facilities, including depreciation or other indirect
costs, to specific product development programs because these costs are deployed across multiple product development programs and,
as such, are not separately classified. All non-employee costs associated with our manufacturing facility have been fully burdened
to our RP1 program.
The table below summarizes
our research and development expenses by product candidate or development program for each of the periods presented:
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
December 31,
2020
2019
2020
2019
(Amounts in thousands)
Direct research and development expenses by program:
RP1
$ 6,737
$ 4,276
$ 20,185
$ 10,660
RP2 & RP3
1,263
197
2,143
627
Unallocated research and development expenses:
Personnel related (including stock-based compensation)
5,664
4,395
15,889
10,776
Other
658
3,080
2,312
5,510
Total research and development expenses
$ 14,322
$ 11,948
$ 40,529
$ 27,573
29
Research and development
activities are central to our business model. Product candidates in later stages of clinical development generally have higher
development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage
clinical trials. We expect that our research and development expenses will continue to increase for the foreseeable future as we
continue enrollment and initiate additional clinical trials and continue to discover and develop additional product candidates.
The successful development and commercialization of our product candidates is highly uncertain. This is due to the numerous risks
and uncertainties associated with product development and commercialization, including the following:
● the scope, rate of progress, expense and results of our ongoing clinical trials, as well future
clinical trials or other product candidates and other research and development activities that we may conduct;
● the number and scope of preclinical and clinical programs we decide to pursue;
● our ability to maintain our current research and development programs and to establish new ones;
● uncertainties in clinical trial design;
● the rate of enrollment in clinical trials;
● the successful completion of clinical trials with safety, tolerability, and efficacy profiles that
are satisfactory to the FDA or any comparable foreign regulatory authority;
● the receipt of regulatory approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;
● our success in operating a manufacturing facility, or securing manufacturing supply through relationships
with third parties;
● our ability to obtain and maintain patents, trade secret protection, and regulatory exclusivity,
both in the United States and internationally;
● our ability to protect our rights in our intellectual property portfolio;
● the commercialization of our product candidates, if and when approved;
● the acceptance of our product candidates, if approved, by patients, the medical community, and
third-party payors;
● our ability to successfully develop our product candidates for use in combination with third-party
products or product candidates;
● negative developments in the field of immuno-oncology;
● competition with other products; and
● significant and changing government regulation and regulatory guidance.
A change in the outcome
of any of these variables with respect to the development of a product candidate could mean a significant change in the costs and
timing associated with the development of that product candidate. For example, if the FDA or another regulatory authority were
to require us to conduct clinical trials beyond those that we anticipate will be required for the completion of clinical development
of a product candidate, or if we experience significant trial delays due to patient enrollment or other reasons, we would be required
to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development. We may never succeed in
obtaining regulatory approval for any of our product candidates.
30
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative
expenses consist primarily of salaries and other related costs, including stock-based compensation, for personnel in our executive,
finance, corporate and business development and administrative functions. General and administrative expenses also include professional
fees for legal, patent, accounting, auditing, tax and consulting services; travel expenses; and facility-related expenses, which
include direct depreciation costs and allocated expenses for rent and maintenance of facilities and other operating costs.
We expect that our
general and administrative expenses will increase in the future as we increase our general and administrative headcount to support
our continued research and development and potential commercialization of our product candidates. We also expect to continue to
incur increased expenses, including accounting, audit, legal, regulatory and tax-related services associated with maintaining compliance
with exchange listing and SEC requirements; director and officer insurance costs; and investor and public relations costs.
Other income (expense), net
Research and development incentives
Research and development
incentives consists of reimbursements of research and development expenditures. We participate, through our subsidiary in the United
Kingdom, in the research and development program provided by the United Kingdom tax relief program, such that a percentage of up
to 14.5% of our qualifying research and development expenditures are reimbursed by the United Kingdom government, and such incentives
are reflected as other income.
Investment income
Investment income consists
of income earned on our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Interest expense on finance lease liability
Interest expense on
finance lease liability consists of amortization of finance charges under our financing lease.
Interest expense on debt obligations
Interest expense on
debt obligations consists of the amortization of debt discount and cash paid for interest under the term loan facility with Hercules.
Other income (expense), net
Other income (expense),
net consists primarily of realized and unrealized foreign currency transaction gains and losses.
Income taxes
Since our inception
and through December 31, 2020, we have not recorded any income tax benefits for the net losses we incurred in each jurisdiction
in which we operate, as we believe, based upon the weight of available evidence, that it is more likely than not that all of our
net operating loss carryforwards will not be realized.
31
Results of operations
Comparison of the three months ended
December 31, 2020 and 2019
The following table
summarizes our results of operations for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
Three Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Change
(Amounts in thousands)
Operating expenses:
Research and development
$ 14,322
$ 11,948
$ 2,374
General and administrative
5,953
4,716
1,237
Total operating expenses
20,275
16,664
3,611
Loss from operations
(20,275 )
(16,664 )
(3,611 )
Other income (expense):
Research and development incentives
550
951
(401 )
Investment income
116
550
(434 )
Interest expense on finance lease liability
(560 )
(834 )
274
Loss on extinguishment of debt
(913 )
-
(913 )
Interest expense on debt obligations
(247 )
-
(247 )
Other income (expense)
(454 )
(192 )
(262 )
Total other income (expense), net
(1,508 )
475
(1,983 )
Net loss
$ (21,783 )
$ (16,189 )
$ (5,594 )
Research and development expenses
Three Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Change
(Amounts in thousands)
Direct research and development expenses by program:
RP1
$ 6,737
$ 4,276
$ 2,461
RP2 & RP3
1,263
197
1,066
Unallocated research and development expenses:
Personnel related (including stock-based compensation)
5,664
4,395
1,269
Other
658
3,080
(2,422 )
Total research and development expenses
$ 14,322
$ 11,948
$ 2,374
Research and development
expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2020 were $14.3 million, compared to $11.9 million for the three months ended
December 31, 2019. The increase of $2.4 million was due primarily to an increase of approximately $3.5 million in direct research
costs, off set by an approximately $1.2 million decrease in our unallocated research and development costs. The increase in RP1
costs was due primarily to an increase in clinical trial costs in the three months ended December 31, 2020 associated with
our ongoing clinical trials as well as costs associated with operations of our new manufacturing facility for RP1 clinical trial
supplies. The increase in costs associated with RP2 and RP3 are primarily associated with the continued clinical trial development
of these product candidates.
The decrease in unallocated
research and development expenses reflected an increase of $1.3 million in personnel-related costs. The increase in personnel-related
costs largely reflected the hiring of additional personnel in our research and development functions as we expanded the development
plan in multiple indications. Personnel related costs for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 included stock-based
compensation expense of $1.5 million and $1.3 million, respectively. Other costs decreased primarily due to our manufacturing operations
focused on the potential registrational studies associated with our RP1 development plan with multiple cohorts.
32
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative
expenses were $6.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020, compared to $4.7 million for the three months ended
December 31, 2019. The increase of $1.2 million primarily reflected increases of $0.9 million in personnel related costs,
including stock-based compensation of $0.6 million, and increases of $0.2 million in facility and other variable costs. The increase
in personnel related costs was due to the hiring of additional personnel in our general and administrative functions as we expanded
our operations in the United States. The increase in facility and other variable costs was due primarily to an increase in costs
associated with our directors and officers insurance.
Total other income (expense), net
Other income (expense)
was $(1.5) million for the three months ended December 31, 2020, compared to $0.5 million for the three months ended December 31,
2019. The decrease of $2.0 million was primarily attributable to a $0.9 million increase associated with the loss from extinguishment
of debt under our term loan facility with Hercules, a $0.2 million increase in interest expense on debt obligations related to
our term loan facility with Hercules, a $0.3 decrease in other income due primarily to the changes in foreign exchange rates of
the Great British Pounds to United States Dollar, a $0.4 million decrease in investment income due to fluctuations in the rate
of return on investments, and a $0.4 million decrease in research and development incentives.
Comparison of the nine months ended
December 31, 2020 and 2019
The following table summarizes our results
of operations for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
33
Research and development expenses
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Change
(Amounts in thousands)
Operating expenses:
Research and development
$ 40,529
$ 27,573
$ 12,956
General and administrative
17,242
12,240
5,002
Total operating expenses
57,771
39,813
17,958
Loss from operations
(57,771 )
(39,813 )
(17,958 )
Other income (expense):
Research and development incentives
1,991
2,192
(201 )
Investment income
821
1,804
(983 )
Interest expense on finance lease liability
(1,683 )
(1,029 )
(654 )
Interest expense on debt obligations
(817 )
-
(817 )
Loss on extinguishment of debt
(913 )
-
(913 )
Other income (expense)
(999 )
10
(1,009 )
Total other income (expense), net
(1,600 )
2,977
(4,577 )
Net loss
$ (59,371 )
$ (36,836 )
$ (22,535 )
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
Change
(Amounts in thousands)
Direct research and development expenses by program:
RP1
$ 20,185
$ 10,660
$ 9,525
RP2 and RP3
2,143
627
1,516
Unallocated research and development expenses:
Personnel related (including stock-based compensation)
15,889
10,776
5,113
Other
2,312
5,510
(3,198 )
Total research and development expenses
$ 40,529
$ 27,573
$ 12,956
Research and development
expenses for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 were $40.5 million, compared to $27.6 million for the nine months ended
December 31, 2019. The increase of $13.0 million was due primarily to an increase of approximately $9.5 million in direct
research costs associated with RP1, $1.5 million in direct research costs associated with RP2 and RP3, and approximately $1.9 million
increase in our unallocated research and development costs. The increase in RP1 costs was due primarily to an increase in clinical
trial costs in the nine months ended December 30, 2020 associated with our ongoing clinical trials as well as costs associated
with operations of our new manufacturing facility for RP1 clinical trial supplies. The increase in costs associated with RP2 and
RP3 is primarily associated with the continued clinical trial development of these product candidates.
The increase in unallocated
research and development expenses reflected an increase of $5.1 million in personnel-related costs, including stock-based compensation
of $0.8 million, partially offset by a decrease of $3.2 million in other costs. The increase in personnel-related costs largely
reflected the hiring of additional personnel in our research and development functions as we expanded the development plan in multiple
indications. Personnel related costs for the nine months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 included stock-based compensation
expense of $3.8 million and $3.0 million, respectively. Other costs decreased primarily due to our manufacturing operations focused
on the potential registrational studies associated with our RP1 development plan with multiple cohorts.
34
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative
expenses were $17.2 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2020, compared to $12.2 million for the nine months ended
December 31, 2019. The increase of $5.0 million primarily reflected increases of $2.8 million in personnel related costs,
including stock-based compensation of $1.6 million, increases of $1.3 million in facility and other variable costs and increases
of $0.8 million in professional fees. The increase in personnel related costs was due to the hiring of additional personnel in
our general and administrative functions as we expanded our operations in the United States. The increase in professional fees
was due to costs associated with increased spending to build out our information technology capabilities as well legal and accounting
fees related to ongoing business operations and enhancements to the internal control environment. The increase in facility and
other variable costs was due primarily to an increase in costs associated with our directors and officers insurance of approximately
$0.4 million and depreciation expense of $0.4 million associated with our corporate headquarters.
Total other income (expense), net
Other income (expense)
was $(1.6) million for the nine months ended December 31, 2020, compared to $3.0 million for the nine months ended December 31,
2019. The decrease of $4.6 million was primarily attributable to a $0.7 million increase in interest expense related to our finance
lease liability, a $0.8 million increase in interest expense on debt obligations related to our term loan facility with Hercules,
a $0.9 million increase associated with the loss from extinguishment of debt under our term loan facility with Hercules a $1.0
million increase in other expense due primarily to the changes in foreign exchange rates of the Great British Pounds to United
States Dollar, a $1.0 million decrease in investment income due to fluctuations in the rate of return on investments, and a $0.2
million decrease in research and development incentives.
Liquidity and capital resources
Since our inception,
we have not generated any revenue from product sales and have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from
our operations. We have not yet commercialized any of our product candidates, which are in various phases of preclinical and clinical
development, and we do not expect to generate revenue from sales of any products for the foreseeable future, if at all.
Sources of liquidity
To date, we have financed
our operations primarily with proceeds from the sale of equity securities and, to a lesser extent, proceeds from the issuance of
debt securities. Through December 31, 2020, we had received gross proceeds of approximately $706.5 million from our sales
of equity instruments and $10.0 million from our incurrence debt under the term loan facility with Hercules, which was repaid in
full in December 2020. As of December 31, 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $493.3
million.
In July 2018,
we completed our IPO and issued and sold 7,407,936 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $15.00 per share, resulting
in net proceeds of $103.4 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting offering costs. In
the fourth calendar quarter of 2019, we closed a registered public offering for the issuance and sale of 4,516,561 shares of our
common stock at a public offering price of $13.61 per share and pre-funded warrants to purchase 2,200,000 shares of our common
stock at a purchase price of $13.6099 per pre-funded warrant, the public offering price per share of the common stock less the
$0.0001 per share exercise price of each pre-funded warrant. We received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $85.6 million
after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses of approximately $5.8 million. In June 2020,
we closed a second public offering for the issuance and sale of 3,478,261 shares of our common stock at a public offering price
of $23.00 per share and pre-funded warrants to purchase 1,521,738 shares of our common stock at a purchase price of $22.9999 per
pre-funded warrant, the public offering price per share of common stock less the $0.0001 per share exercise price of each pre-funded
warrant. We received aggregate net proceeds of approximately $107.8 million after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions
and other offering expenses of approximately $7.2 million. On October 26, 2020, we closed a third public offering for the
issuance and sale of 5,625,000 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $40.00 per share and pre-funded warrants
to purchase 1,562,500 shares of our common stock at a purchase price of $39.99 per pre-funded warrant, the public offering price
per share of common stock less the $0.0001 per share exercise price of each pre-funded warrant. We received aggregate net proceeds
of approximately $270.0 million after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses of approximately
$17.5 million.
35
In addition to registered
public equity offerings, we also established an at-the-market offering program pursuant to a sales agreement that we entered into
with SVB Leerink LLC, or the Agent, on August 8, 2019, or the 2019 Sales Agreement. Under the 2019 Sales Agreement, and prior
to its amendment in June 2020, we could sell from time to time, at our option, up to an aggregate of $75.0 million of shares
of our common stock. In June 2020, we amended the 2019 Sales Agreement to reduce the aggregate offering amount thereunder
from $75.0 million to $30.0 million We sold 287,559 shares of our common stock under the 2019 Sales Agreement for net proceeds
of approximately $4.4 million. On August 11, 2020, in connection with our entry into separate sales agreement with the Agent,
or the 2020 Sales Agreement, we and the Agent mutually agreed to terminate the 2019 Sales Agreement. Under the 2020 Sales Agreement,
and prior to its amendment in October 2020, we could sell from time to time, at our option, up to an aggregate of $75.0 million
of shares of our common stock. In October 2020, we amended the 2020 Sales Agreement to reduce the aggregate offering amount
thereunder from $75.0 million to $62.5 million. We have not sold any shares of our common stock under the 2020 Sales Agreement.
Our incurrence of debt
was conducted entirely under the Hercules Loan Agreement, as amended, pursuant to which we borrowed $10.0 million of a maximum
of $40.0 million. On December 15, 2020, we entered into a Payoff Letter with Hercules and paid a total of $10.8 million to
Hercules representing the outstanding principal, accrued and unpaid interest, fees, costs and expense due and owed to Hercules,
thereby terminating the Hercules Loan Agreement and the related loan documents.
Cash flows
The following table
summarizes our cash flows for each of the periods presented:
Nine Months Ended
December 31,
2020
2019
(Amounts in thousands)
Net cash used in operating activities
$ (45,261 )
$ (49,290 )
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
(62,503 )
(13,074 )
Net cash provided by financing activities
371,677
100,132
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
1,062
(20 )
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
$ 264,975
$ 37,748
Operating activities
During the nine months
ended December 31, 2020, net cash used in operating activities was $45.3 million, primarily resulting from our net loss of
$ 59.4 million, partially offset by the net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $2.6 million
and non-cash charges of $11.4 million. Net cash used by our changes in our operating assets and liabilities for the nine months
ended December 31, 2020 consisted primarily of a $1.1 million decrease in research and development incentive receivables,
partially from the United Kingdom government due to the timing and amount of our qualifying expenditures, $1.2 million increase
in prepaid expenses and other current assets and $1.0 million decrease in accounts payable, partially offset by $1.9 million increase
in accrued expenses and other current liabilities and $1.9 million net decrease related to ASC 842 (including changes in operating
lease liabilities, operating lease, right-of-use asset and financing lease, right-of-use asset). The changes in accounts payable
were primarily due to the timing of vendor invoicing and payments.
36
During the nine months
ended December 31, 2019, net cash used in operating activities was $49.3 million, primarily resulting from our net loss of
$36.8 million and net cash used by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $17.8 million, partially offset by net non-
cash charges of $5.3 million. Net cash used by changes in our operating assets and liabilities for the nine months ended December 31,
2019 consisted primarily of a $14.1 million increase in long-term prepaid rent, a $2.6 million decrease in accounts payable, a
$2.2 million increase in research and development incentives receivable, partially from the United Kingdom government due to the
timing and amount of our qualifying expenditures, a $1.5 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets and a $0.3
million decrease in operating lease liabilities offset by a $1.8 million increase in accrued expenses and other current liabilities,
$0.7 million decrease in operating lease, right-of-use asset and $0.4 million decrease in financing lease, right-of-use-asset.
Investing activities
During the nine months
ended December 31, 2020, net cash used in investing activities was $62.5 million, consisting of $225.0 million in purchases
of available for sale securities and $1.6 million in purchases of property, plant and equipment, partially offset by $164.1 million
in proceeds from sales and maturities of short-term investments.
During the nine months
ended December 31, 2019, net cash used in investing activities was $13.1 million, consisting of $119.6 million in purchases
of available for sale securities and $5.2 million in purchases of property, plant and equipment, partially offset by $111.7 million
in proceeds from sales and maturities of short-term investments.
Financing Activities
During the nine months
ended December 31, 2020, net cash provided by financing activities was $371.7 million, consisting of $286.1 million from the
issuance of common stock, $91.7 million from the issuance of pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock, $4.9 million in proceeds
from the exercise of stock options, partially offset by $10.0 million in debt payments under the Hercules Loan Agreement and $0.8
million of fees associated with the extinguishment of the obligations under the Hercules Loan Agreement.
During the nine months
ended December 31, 2019, net cash provided by financing activities was $100.1 million, consisting of $57.5 million in proceeds
from the issuance of common stock, $28.1 million in proceeds from issuance of pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock, $10.0
million in proceeds from the long-term debt, $4.4 million in proceeds from the issuance of common stock through sales under the
2019 Sales Agreement and $0.5 million in proceeds from the exercise of stock options, partially offset by $0.4 million in payments
of issuance costs and $22,000 in principal payments of finance lease obligations.
Hercules Loan Agreement
On August 8, 2019
and as amended on June 1, 2020, we and certain of our affiliates entered into the Hercules Loan Agreement with Hercules, which
provided for aggregate borrowings of up to $40.0 million in the form of term loans. We borrowed $10.0 million at closing under
the Hercules Loan Agreement and, subject to the achievement of certain milestones, had the ability to borrow the unused $30.0 million
available thereunder in three separate $10.0 million advances between October 1, 2020 and December 15, 2020, July 1,
2020 and June 30, 2021, and July 1, 2021 and December 15, 2021, respectively.
On December 15,
2020, we entered into a Payoff Letter with respect to the Hercules Loan Agreement. Pursuant to the Payoff Letter, we paid a total
of $10.8 million to Hercules, representing the outstanding principal, accrued and unpaid interest, fees, costs and expenses due
and owed to Hercules under the Hercules Loan Agreement. Upon the execution of the Payoff Letter, in repayment of all of our outstanding
obligations thereunder, the Hercules Loan Agreement and the related loan documents were terminated.
Borrowings under the
Hercules Loan Agreement bore interest at a rate per annum equal to 8.75%. Under the Hercules Loan Agreement, we were required to
make monthly interest-only payments through September 1, 2022. As of December 31, 2020, there was no amount of outstanding
principal under the Hercules Loan Agreement due and owing.
37
The term loan facility
with Hercules was secured by substantially all of our assets, excluding our intellectual property, and subject to certain exceptions
and exclusions. All liens on our assets held by Hercules were released in connection with the our execution of the Payoff Letter.
Funding requirements
Our plan of operation
is to continue implementing our business strategy, continue research and development of RP1 and our other product candidates and
continue to expand our research pipeline and our internal research and development capabilities. We expect our expenses to increase
substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance the preclinical activities and clinical trials
of our product candidates and if and as we:
● conduct our current and future clinical trials with RP1, RP2 and RP3;
● further preclinical development of our platform;
● operate our own in-house manufacturing facility;
● seek to identify and develop additional product candidates;
● seek marketing approvals for any of our product candidates that successfully complete clinical
trials, if any;
● establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any products for
which we may obtain marketing approval;
● until our planned manufacturing facility is fully validated, continued limited manufacturing by
third parties for clinical development.
● maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
● acquire or in-license other drugs and technologies; and
● add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel
to support our research and development programs, any future commercialization efforts and operations as a public company.
As of December 31,
2020, we had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $493.3 million. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents
and short-term investments as of December 31, 2020, will enable us to fund our overall operations into the second half of
2024. We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could utilize our available capital resources
sooner than we expect.
Because of the numerous
risks and uncertainties associated with the development of RP1 and other product candidates and programs, and because the extent
to which we may enter into collaborations with third parties for development of our product candidates is unknown, we are unable
to estimate the timing and amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenses associated with completing the research
and development of our product candidates. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including those described
in this section and above under “—Operating expenses—Research and development expenses.”
Developing novel biopharmaceutical
products, including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that
takes years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain marketing approval for any
product candidates or generate revenue from the sale of any products for which we may obtain marketing approval. In addition, our
product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Our commercial revenues, if any, will be derived from sales
of therapies that we do not expect to be commercially available for many years, if ever. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial
additional funds to achieve our business objectives.
38
Adequate additional
funds may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. We do not currently have any committed external source of funds.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of our equity or convertible debt securities, our shareholders’
interest may be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences and anti-dilution protections
that could adversely affect the rights of our common stockholder. Additional debt or preferred equity financing, if available,
may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that may limit our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring
debt adversely impact our ability to conduct our business, and may require the issuance of warrants, which could potentially dilute
your ownership interest.
If we raise additional
funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable
rights to our technology, future revenue streams, research programs, or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may
not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings or collaborations, strategic
alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce and/or terminate
our product development programs or any future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates
that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
Contractual obligations and commitments
During the nine months
ended December 31, 2020, there were no material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments from those described
under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Contractual
Obligations and Commitments” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2020, which was filed
with the SEC on June 3, 2020.
Collaborations
BMS
On February 26,
2018, we entered into a Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, or BMS. Pursuant to
the agreement, BMS is providing to us, at no cost, nivolumab, its anti-PD-1 therapy, for use in combination with RP1 in our ongoing
Phase 1/2 clinical trial. Under the agreement, we will sponsor, fund and conduct the clinical trial in accordance with an agreed-upon
protocol. BMS granted us a non-exclusive, non-transferrable, royalty-free license (with a right to sublicense) under its intellectual
property to use nivolumab in the clinical trial and has agreed to supply nivolumab, at no cost to us, for use in the clinical trial.
Both parties will own the study data produced in the clinical trial, other than study data related solely to nivolumab, which will
belong solely to BMS, or study data related solely to RP1, which will belong solely to us. In January 2020, this agreement
was expanded to cover an additional cohort of 125 patients with anti-PD-1 failed melanoma.
Unless earlier terminated,
the agreement will remain in effect until (i) the completion of the clinical trial, (ii) all related clinical trial data
have been delivered to both parties and (iii) the completion of any statistical analyses and bioanalyses contemplated by the
clinical trial protocol or any analysis otherwise agreed upon by the parties. The agreement may be terminated by either party (i) in
the event of an uncured material breach by the other party, (ii) in the event the other party is insolvent or in bankruptcy
proceedings or (iii) for safety reasons. Upon termination, the licenses granted to us to use nivolumab in the clinical trial
will terminate. The agreement contains representations, warranties, undertakings and indemnities customary for a transaction of
this nature.
On April 12, 2019,
we entered into a separate agreement with BMS on terms similar to the terms set forth in the agreement described above, pursuant
to which BMS will provide, at no cost to us, nivolumab for use in our Phase 1 clinical trial of RP2 in combination with nivolumab.
39
Regeneron
On May 29, 2018,
we entered into a Master Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Regeneron.
Pursuant to the agreement we agreed to undertake one or more clinical trials with Regeneron for the administration of our product
candidates in combination with cemiplimab, an anti-PD-1 therapy developed by Regeneron, across multiple solid tumor types, the
first of which is our ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial testing RP1 in combination with cemiplimab versus cemiplimab alone in
patients with CSCC. Each clinical trial will be conducted pursuant to an agreed study plan which, among other things, will identify
the name of the sponsor and which party will manage the particular study, and include the protocol, the budget and a schedule of
clinical obligations. The first study plan related to the Phase 2 clinical trial in CSCC has been agreed.
Pursuant to the terms
of the agreement, each party granted the other party a non-exclusive license of their respective intellectual property and agreed
to contribute the necessary resources needed to fulfill their respective obligations, in each case, under the terms of agreed
study plans. Development costs of a particular clinical trial will be split equally. The agreement contains representations, warranties,
undertakings and indemnities customary for a transaction of this nature. The agreement also contains certain covenants that restrict
us from entering into a third-party arrangement with respect to the use of our product candidates in combination with an anti-PD-1
therapy and that restrict Regeneron from entering into a third-party arrangement with respect to the use of cemiplimab in combination
with an HSV-1 virus, in each case, for the treatment of a tumor type that is the subject of a clinical trial to which the covenants
apply. Unless otherwise mutually agreed in a future study plan, these covenants are only applicable to our ongoing Phase 2
clinical trial in CSCC, and expire upon the one-year anniversary of the commencement of the applicable study plan.
The agreement may be
terminated by either party if (i) there is no active study plan for which a final study report has not been completed, (ii) the
parties have not entered into a study plan for an additional clinical trial within a period of time after the delivery of the most
recent final study report or (iii) in the event of a material breach.
Critical accounting policies and significant
judgments and estimates
Our management’s
discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which
have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The preparation of our consolidated
financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of
assets and liabilities, costs and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our consolidated financial
statements. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe are
reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets
and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis.
Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
While our significant
accounting policies are described in greater detail in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere
in this Quarterly Report, we believe that the following accounting policies are those most critical to the judgments and estimates
used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.
Accrued
research and development expenses
As part of the process
of preparing our consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued research and development expenses.
This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel to identify services that
have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for the service
when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual costs. The majority of our service providers invoice us in arrears
for services performed, on a pre-determined schedule or when contractual milestones are met; however, some require advanced payments.
We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in the consolidated financial statements based on facts
and circumstances known to us at that time. Examples of estimated accrued research and development expenses include fees paid to:
● CROs in connection with performing research activities and conducting preclinical studies and clinical
trials on our behalf;
● CMOs in connection with the production of preclinical and clinical trial materials;
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● investigative sites or other service providers in connection with clinical trials;
● vendors in connection with preclinical and clinical development activities; and
● vendors related to product manufacturing and development and distribution of preclinical and clinical
supplies.
We base our expenses
related to preclinical studies and clinical trials on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to
quotes and contracts with multiple CMOs and CROs that supply, conduct and manage preclinical studies and clinical trials on our
behalf. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven
payment flows. There may be instances in which payments made to our vendors will exceed the level of services provided and result
in a prepayment of the expense. Payments under some of these contracts depend on factors such as the successful enrollment of
patients and the completion of clinical trial milestones. In accruing service fees, we estimate the time period over which services
will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. If the actual timing of the performance of services or
the level of effort varies from the estimate, we adjust the accrual or the amount of prepaid expenses accordingly. Although we
do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, our understanding of the status and timing
of services performed relative to the actual status and timing of services performed may vary and may result in reporting amounts
that are too high or too low in any particular period. To date, there have not been any material adjustments to our prior estimates
of accrued research and development expenses.
Stock-based compensation
We measure stock-based
awards granted to employees and directors based on their fair value on the date of the grant and recognize compensation expense
for those awards over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. We have to date
only issued stock-based awards with service-based vesting conditions and record the expense for these awards using the straight-line
method. The fair value of each stock option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model,
which requires inputs based on certain subjective assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility, the expected term
of the option, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of the option, and our expected dividend
yield. See Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report
for more information. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur. The fair value of each stock-based award is estimated on the
date of grant based on the fair value of our common stock on that same date.
Prior to the adoption
of ASC 2018-07 on April 1, 2019, for stock-based awards granted to consultants and non-employees, we recognize compensation
expense over the period during which services are rendered by such non-employees and consultants until completed. At the end of
each financial reporting period prior to completion of the service, the fair value of these awards is remeasured using the then-current
fair value of our common stock and updated assumption inputs in the Black-Scholes option pricing model.
After the adoption
of ASC 2018-07, for stock-based awards granted to consultants and non-employees, we measure stock-based these awards based on their
fair value on the date of the grant and recognizes compensation expense for those awards over the requisite service period, which
is generally the vesting period of the respective award. We have to date only issued stock-based awards with service-based vesting
conditions and record the expense for these awards using the straight-line method. The fair value of each stock option grant is
estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which requires inputs based on certain subjective
assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility, the expected term of the option, the risk-free interest rate for a
period that approximates the expected term of the option, and our expected dividend yield.
We classify stock-based
compensation expense in our consolidated statements of operations in the same manner in which the award recipient’s payroll
costs are classified or in which the award recipient’s service payments are classified.
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Off-balance sheet arrangements
We did not have any
off-balance sheet arrangements during the periods presented, and we do not currently have any off-balance sheet arrangements,
as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Recently issued accounting pronouncements
A description of recently
issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position and results of operations is disclosed in Note 2
to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report.
Emerging growth company status
As an “emerging
growth company,” the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 permits us to take advantage of an extended transition period
to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until those standards would otherwise apply to
private companies. We have irrevocably elected to “opt out” of this provision and, as a result, we will comply with
new or revised accounting standards when they are required to be adopted by public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
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Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative
Disclosures about Market Risks.
Not applicable.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.