sdgr-20251231
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_______________________________________
FORM 10-K
_______________________________________
(Mark One)
x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31 , 2025
OR
¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO
Commission File Number: 001-39206
_______________________________________
Schrodinger, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
_______________________________________
Delaware 95-4284541
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization) (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
1540 Broadway , 24 th Floor
New York , NY
10036
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: ( 212 ) 295-5800
_______________________________________
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share SDGR The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer x
Accelerated filer ¨
Non-accelerated filer ¨
Smaller reporting company ¨
Emerging growth company o
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. x
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No x
As of June 30, 2025, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $ 1,124,429,157 based upon the closing sale price of the registrant’s common stock on that date.
As of February 18, 2026, the registrant had 64,660,908 shares of common stock and 9,164,193 shares of limited common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
The registrant intends to file a definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A relating to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders within 120 days of the end of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. Portions of such definitive proxy statement are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the extent stated herein.
Auditor Firm Id: 185 Auditor Name: KPMG LLP Auditor Location: Portland, OR
Table of Contents
Page
PART I
Item 1.
Business
6
Item 1A.
Risk Factors
65
Item 1B.
Unresolved Staff Comments
124
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
124
Item 2.
Properties
125
Item 3.
Legal Proceedings
125
Item 4.
Mine Safety Disclosures
125
PART II
Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
126
Item 6.
[Reserved]
127
Item 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
127
Item 7A.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
151
Item 8.
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
F- 1
Item 9.
Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
153
Item 9A.
Controls and Procedures
153
Item 9B.
Other Information
154
Item 9C.
Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
154
PART III
Item 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
155
Item 11.
Executive Compensation
155
Item 12.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
155
Item 13.
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
155
Item 14.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services
155
PART IV
Item 15.
Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
156
Item 16.
Form 10-K Summary
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INDUSTRY DATA
This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or this Annual Report, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this Annual Report, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, are forward-looking statements. The words "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" or the negative of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report include, among other things, statements about:
• the potential advantages of our physics-based computational platform;
• our strategic plans to accelerate the growth of our software business and acquire new customers;
• our research and development efforts for our proprietary drug discovery programs and our computational platform, including the initiative to expand our computational platform to predict toxicology risk in early drug discovery;
• our drug discovery collaborations, including the initiation, timing, progress and results of such collaborations;
• our estimates or expectations regarding any milestone or other payments we may receive from drug discovery collaborations, including pursuant to our collaboration agreement with Novartis Pharma AG;
• our proprietary drug discovery programs, including the initiation, timing, progress, and results of our preclinical studies and clinical trials;
• our plans to discover and develop product candidates and to maximize their commercial potential by
advancing such product candidates ourselves or in collaboration with others;
• our plans to leverage the synergies between our businesses;
• the timing of, the ability to submit applications for, and the ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for any product candidates we or one of our collaborators may develop;
• the potential advantages of our drug discovery collaborations and our proprietary drug discovery programs;
• the rate and degree of market acceptance of our software solutions;
• the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of any product we or any of our collaborators may develop;
• our estimates regarding the potential market opportunity for our software solutions and any product candidate we or any of our collaborators may develop;
• our sales and marketing capabilities and strategy;
• our intellectual property position;
• our ability to identify technologies with significant commercial potential that are consistent with our commercial objectives;
• our expectations regarding our ability to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements with our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities;
• our expectations related to the use of our cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities;
• our estimated costs and reduction in operating expenses resulting from the restructuring of our operations;
• our expectations related to the key drivers of our performance;
• the impact of government laws and regulations;
• our competitive position and expectations regarding developments and projections relating to our competitors and any competing products, technologies, or therapies that are or become available;
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• our ability to maintain and establish collaborations or obtain additional funding;
• our reliance on key personnel and our ability to identify, recruit, and retain skilled personnel; and
• the potential impact of geopolitical and global economic developments, including tariffs, trade restrictions, regulatory pricing requirements, and public health epidemics or pandemics.
We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this Annual Report, particularly in "Risk Factor Summary" and Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors" below, that we believe could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make. Moreover, we operate in a competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, collaborations, in-licensing arrangements, joint ventures, or investments we may make or enter into.
You should read this Annual Report and the documents that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report are made as of the date of this Annual Report, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
In addition, statements that "we believe" and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
This Annual Report includes statistical and other industry and market data that we obtained from industry publications and research, surveys, and studies conducted by third parties as well as our own estimates of potential market opportunities. All of the market data used in this Annual Report involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such data. Industry publications and third-party research, surveys, and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. Our estimates of the potential market opportunities for our product candidates include several key assumptions based on our industry knowledge, industry publications, third-party research, surveys and studies, which may be based on a small sample size and may fail to accurately reflect market opportunities. While we believe that our internal assumptions are reasonable, no independent source has verified such assumptions.
Unless the context otherwise requires, we use the terms "company," "we," "us," and "our" in this Annual Report to refer to Schrödinger, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
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RISK FACTOR SUMMARY
Our business is subject to a number of risks of which you should be aware before making an investment decision. Below we summarize what we believe are the principal risk factors, but these risks are not the only ones we face, and you should carefully review and consider the full discussion of our risk factors in the section titled "Risk Factors", together with the other information in this Annual Report.
• We have a history of significant operating losses, and we expect to incur losses over the next several years.
• If we are unable to increase sales of our software, increase revenue from our drug discovery collaborations, or if we and our current and future collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize drug products, our revenues may be insufficient for us to achieve or maintain profitability.
• Our quarterly and annual results may fluctuate significantly, which could adversely impact the value of our common stock.
• If our existing customers do not renew their licenses, do not buy additional solutions from us, or renew at lower prices, our business and operating results will suffer.
• A significant portion of our revenues are generated by sales to life sciences industry customers, and factors that adversely affect this industry could adversely affect our software sales.
• The markets in which we participate are highly competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
• We may never realize a return on our investment of resources and cash in our drug discovery collaborations.
• Although we believe that our computational platform has the potential to identify more promising molecules than traditional methods and to accelerate drug discovery, our focus on using our platform technology to discover and design molecules with therapeutic potential may not result in the discovery and development of commercially viable products for us or our collaborators.
• We may not be successful in our efforts to identify, discover or develop product candidates and may fail to capitalize on programs, collaborations, or product candidates that may present a greater commercial opportunity or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
• As a company, we have very limited experience in clinical development, which may adversely impact the likelihood that we will be successful in advancing our programs.
• We will likely require additional capital to fund our operations. If we are unable to raise additional capital on terms acceptable to us or at all or generate cash flows necessary to maintain or expand our operations, we may not be able to compete successfully, which would harm our business, operations, and financial condition.
• Conducting successful clinical trials requires the enrollment of a sufficient number of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit.
• We rely on, and plan to continue to rely on, third parties to conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials, which may prevent or delay our ability to seek or obtain marketing approval for or commercialize our product candidates or otherwise harm our business.
• The outcome of preclinical studies and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and the results of our clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
• If we fail to comply with our obligations under our existing license agreements with Columbia University, under any of our other intellectual property licenses, or under any future intellectual property licenses, or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our current or any future licensors, we could lose intellectual property rights that are important to our business.
• If we are unable to obtain, maintain, enforce, and protect patent protection for our technology and product candidates or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully develop and commercialize our technology and product candidates may be adversely affected.
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• Our internal information technology systems, or those of our third-party vendors, contractors, or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches, loss or leakage of data, and other disruptions, which could result in a material disruption of our services, compromise sensitive information related to our business, or prevent us from accessing critical information, potentially exposing us to liability or otherwise adversely affecting our business.
• Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and to attract, retain, and motivate qualified personnel.
• We are pursuing multiple business strategies and may expand our development and regulatory capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our multiple business units and our growth, which could disrupt our operations.
• Our executive officers, directors, and principal stockholders, if they choose to act together, have the ability to influence all matters submitted to stockholders for approval.
• Our actual operating results may differ significantly from our guidance.
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PART I
Item 1. Business.
Overview
We are transforming the way therapeutics and materials are discovered.
Our differentiated, physics-based computational platform enables discovery of high-quality, novel molecules for drug development and materials applications more rapidly and at a lower cost, compared to traditional methods. Our software platform is licensed by biopharmaceutical and industrial companies, academic institutions, and government laboratories around the world. We are applying our computational platform to advance a broad pipeline of drug discovery programs in collaboration with leading biopharmaceutical companies. In addition, we use our computational platform to discover novel molecules for our pipeline of proprietary drug discovery programs, which we are advancing through preclinical and clinical development.
Traditional drug discovery and development efforts are complex, lengthy and capital-intensive, and are prone to high failure rates. Traditional drug discovery relies upon many iterations of costly and time-consuming manual molecule design, chemical synthesis, and experimental testing. One of the primary reasons for long timelines, high costs, and high failure rates in drug discovery is that predicting properties of molecules in advance of chemical synthesis is extremely complex and not amenable to traditional approaches.
Over the past several decades and with the concerted efforts of our scientists and software engineers, we have developed a physics-based computational platform that is capable of predicting critical properties of molecules with a high degree of accuracy. This key capability enables drug discovery teams to design and selectively synthesize molecules with more optimal properties, reducing the average time and costs required to identify a development candidate and increasing the probability that a drug discovery program will enter clinical development. Furthermore, we believe that development candidates with more optimized property profiles will have a higher probability of success in clinical development. Additionally, since the physics underlying the properties of drug molecules and materials is the same, we have been able to extend our computational platform to materials science applications in fields such as aerospace, energy, semiconductors, electronic displays, and chemicals.
We offer our customers a variety of software solutions that accelerate all stages of molecule discovery, design, and optimization. In 2025, all of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, measured by 2024 revenue, which we refer to as our top 20 pharma industry cohort, licensed our solutions, accounting for $73.7 million, or 37%, of our software revenue and $80.8 million, or 41%, of our annual contract value, or ACV, in 2025. The widespread adoption of our software, supported by our global team of sales, technical, and scientific personnel, has driven growth in our software business. Our ability to expand within our customer base is demonstrated by the increasing average ACV from our commercial customers with an ACV of over $1.0 million. For the year ended December 31, 2025, we had 27 commercial customers with an ACV of at least $1.0 million compared to 29 such customers for the year ended December 31, 2024. The average ACV per commercial customer with an ACV of over $1.0 million grew to $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. We believe the scaling up among the largest customers within our commercial customer cohort demonstrates that companies are increasingly recognizing the power and appreciating the scientific and financial benefits of using our platform at scale and the continued value of our platform. Our commercial customer cohort includes all of our customers purchasing our computational software solutions for commercial use, excluding government and academic institutions and customers from which we derive contribution revenue. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Factors Affecting Our Performance" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Change in Key Operating Metrics" for additional information regarding these operating metrics, including ACV and our industry and customer cohorts.
We also leverage our platform and capabilities across a portfolio of collaborative and proprietary drug discovery programs spanning a wide range of disease targets and indications. Our drug discovery group, which we refer to as the Schrödinger therapeutics group, is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of experts in protein science, biochemistry, biophysics, medicinal and computational chemistry, and discovery scientists with expertise in preclinical and early clinical development. We have entered into drug discovery collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies under which our collaborators are pursuing research in a number of therapeutic areas, including programs in oncology, antifungal diseases, fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic disease, autoimmune disease, immuno-oncology, cardiopulmonary disease, CNS diseases, and tuberculosis. When we engage in drug discovery with these collaborators, we typically provide
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access to our platform and platform experts who assist the drug discovery collaborator in identifying molecules that have activity against one or more specified protein targets. Our collaboration agreements typically include upfront consideration, discovery, development, commercial and regulatory milestones, and royalties from future sales of commercialized products. We generate drug discovery revenue through the performance of specified research and development activities under our collaboration agreements and upon the achievement of discovery and development milestones, and we have the potential to generate drug discovery revenue from commercial and regulatory milestones, option fees, and royalties under our collaboration agreements. We also rely on collaborators for the development and potential commercialization of product candidates we discover internally when we believe it will help maximize clinical and commercial opportunities for the product candidate.
For example, in November 2024, we entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, or Novartis, pursuant to which we and Novartis agreed to collaborate on the discovery, research and preclinical development of small molecule compounds for targets in certain specified therapeutic areas. The agreement is intended to advance multiple development candidates for development and commercialization by Novartis. We are eligible to receive up to $2.272 billion in total milestones across the initial programs, of which no milestone revenue has been recognized as revenue as of December 31, 2025, as well as a tiered percentage royalty on net sales of each product commercialized by Novartis ranging from mid-single-digits to low double-digits, subject to certain specified reductions. See "—Collaboration Agreement with Novartis Pharma AG" for additional information relating to this agreement. We also entered into a three-year software agreement with Novartis that substantially increased Novartis' access to our computational predictive modeling technology and enterprise informatics platform.
In 2018, we began to develop a pipeline of proprietary drug discovery programs with the goal of using our platform to produce a portfolio of novel, high value therapeutics. In June 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, cleared our first investigational new drug application, or IND, for our MALT1 inhibitor, which we refer to as SGR-1505. We have initiated dosing in a Phase 1 clinical trial of SGR-1505, which is designed as an open-label, multi-center dose escalation trial in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. The trial is designed to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, maximum tolerated dose, maximum administered dose and/or recommended dose of SGR-1505. Backfill cohorts evaluate additional pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, preliminary anti-tumor activity and safety to support the recommended dose.
In March 2024, we also submitted an IND to the FDA for our novel Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor, which we refer to as SGR-3515, and the FDA cleared the IND in April 2024. We have initiated dosing in a Phase 1 clinical trial of SGR-3515 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The trial is a dose-escalation trial designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and recommended Phase 2 dose of SGR-3515. Secondary and exploratory objectives of the trial include evaluating the pharmacokinetics and preliminary anti-tumor activity of SGR-3515. We anticipate reporting initial data from the trial in the second quarter of 2026.
We plan to explore strategic partnerships for the SGR-1505 and SGR-3515 programs to advance the development of these programs beyond our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials.
In August 2025, we announced the discontinuation of the clinical development program for SGR-2921, our CDC7 inhibitor, which was being evaluated in a Phase 1 dose-escalation clinical trial in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, or high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Despite early evidence of monotherapy activity observed in the Phase 1 clinical trial, based on the profile observed prior to discontinuation, including two emergent events where SGR-2921 was considered to have contributed to two deaths in patients with AML, we determined the path to development as a combination therapy would be difficult to pursue.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we generated total revenue of $255.9 million and had a net loss of $103.3 million.
Strategy
Our mission is to improve human health and quality of life by transforming the way therapeutics and materials are discovered. We aim to do this by:
• Advancing the science that underlies our computational platform: We are the leader in the field of physics-based computational drug discovery, and we believe our computational platform is far ahead of that of our nearest competitors. We intend to maintain our industry-leading position by introducing new capabilities and refining our software to further strengthen our technology and advance the science
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underlying our platform. For example, in 2024, we launched an initiative to expand our computational platform to predict toxicology risk early in drug discovery, which is being funded by $19.5 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We continue to advance our predictive toxicology initiative and have made the beta version available to customers, which encompasses approximately 50 representative kinases in addition to multiple key anti-targets. The goal of this initiative is to develop a computational solution designed to improve the properties of drug development candidates and reduce the risk of development failure associated with binding to off-target proteins, which can be associated with serious side effects. We expect to launch our predictive toxicology solution commercially and make it available more broadly to our customers during 2026.
• Growing and expanding our software business: We have experienced steady growth in our software business, achieving $199.5 million in revenue in 2025, an increase of 11% compared to 2024. In addition, ACV was $198.5 million in 2025, a 4% increase compared to 2024, reflecting continued adoption of our software solutions by the biopharmaceutical industry. Biopharmaceutical companies are increasingly adopting our software at a larger scale, and we anticipate that this scaling-up will drive future growth.
▪ Advancing our collaborative programs: We intend to continue to work with our collaborators on advancing our collaborative programs through discovery research stages. Our collaboration agreements typically include upfront consideration, discovery, development, commercial and regulatory milestones, and royalties from future sales of commercialized products. We generate drug discovery revenue through the performance of specified research and development activities under our collaboration agreements and upon the achievement of discovery and development milestones, and we have the potential to generate drug discovery revenue from commercial and regulatory milestones, option fees, and royalties under our collaboration agreements. We achieved drug discovery revenue of $56.4 million in 2025. We also benefit from our equity positions in certain of our collaborators. For example, in 2024, we received $47.6 million for the equity stake that we owned in Morphic Holding, Inc., or Morphic, one of our drug discovery collaborators and co-founded companies, in connection with Morphic's acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company, or Lilly, for approximately $3.2 billion.
▪ Progressing our proprietary drug discovery programs : We plan to progress the development of our proprietary drug discovery programs, including SGR-1505 and SGR-3515, and continue to advance new programs where we can leverage our computational platform to identify novel molecules. As we progress these programs, we plan to strategically evaluate on a program-by-program basis advancing them into and through preclinical development ourselves, entering into collaborations to co-develop them with leading industry partners, or out-licensing them to maximize their development, clinical and commercial potential. Beyond our planned investments to complete our ongoing Phase 1 dose-escalation clinical trials of SGR-1505 and SGR-3515, we do not intend to initiate additional clinical trials or advance our other proprietary preclinical programs into clinical trials independently. We plan to explore strategic partnerships for the SGR-1505 and SGR-3515 programs to advance the development of these programs beyond our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials.
• Leveraging the synergies between our businesses: We believe that there are significant synergies within our business. We leverage the feedback that we receive from our software customers, collaborators, and internal drug discovery experts to improve the functionality of our platform, which we believe supports increased customer adoption of our solutions and more rapid advancement of our collaborative and proprietary drug discovery programs. In addition, the success of our collaborators in advancing drug discovery programs provides significant validation of our platform and approach, which we believe increases the attractiveness of our platform to customers, helps us establish new collaborations, and validates the potential of our own proprietary drug discovery programs. Central to our ability to pursue these distinct lines of business is a firewall policy consisting of a set of well-established protocols and technology measures designed to ensure that the intellectual property of our software customers and drug discovery collaborators remains confidential and segregated.
Industry Overview
Traditional drug discovery and development efforts are complex, lengthy and capital-intensive, and are prone to high failure rates. Traditional drug discovery involves experimental screening of existing libraries of molecules to find molecules with detectable activity, or "hit molecules," followed by many iterations of chemical synthesis to optimize those hit molecules to a development candidate that can be advanced into human clinical trials. Efforts to optimize initial hit molecules for a drug discovery project involve costly and iterative synthesis and testing of molecules seeking to identify a
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molecule with the required property profile. The optimal profile has an acceptable balance of properties such as potency, selectivity, solubility, bioavailability, half-life, permeability, drug-drug interaction profile, synthesizability, and toxicity. These properties are often inversely correlated, meaning that optimizing one property often de-optimizes others. The challenge of optimizing hit molecules is amplified by the limited number of molecules that can be feasibly tested across these properties with traditional methods. As a result, this optimization process often fails to yield a molecule with a satisfactory property profile to be a development candidate, which is why many drug discovery programs fail to advance into clinical development.
Being able to predict molecular properties before initiating costly and time-consuming experimental synthesis would accelerate drug discovery, reduce costs, and increase the probability of success. If it were possible to accurately predict critical properties of molecules, fewer molecules would have to be experimentally synthesized and tested. As a result, larger pools of molecules could be analyzed allowing for more selective synthesis of molecules, leading to higher-quality molecules. In addition, with predictive computational methods, better selections of molecules would be synthesized through exploration of larger portions of chemical space, leading to higher-quality molecules that would in turn have a higher probability of progressing through clinical development and obtaining regulatory approval for commercial sale.
There have been many attempts to improve the efficiency of the drug discovery process by using computational methods to predict properties of molecules. One of the primary computational methods that many companies have attempted to deploy is machine learning, often referred to as artificial intelligence, or AI. One of the main benefits of machine learning is its ability to rapidly process data at scale. However, machine learning on its own has significant limitations and has therefore had a limited impact on improving the efficiency of the drug discovery process. Machine learning requires input data, referred to as a training set, to build a predictive model. This model is expected to accurately predict properties of molecules similar to the training set, but cannot extrapolate to molecules that are not similar to the training set. Accordingly, since the number of possible molecules that could be synthesized is effectively infinite, machine learning can only cover a minuscule fraction of the total number of molecules that could potentially be synthesized.
The other primary computational method that has been explored to improve drug discovery involves using fundamental, "first-principles" physics-based methods, which require a deep and thorough understanding of the specific property to be computed. However, physics-based methods are difficult to develop and can be slow compared to machine learning. Further, to apply such methods to design molecules that will bind with high affinity to a particular protein target, the three-dimensional structure of that protein must be generated with sufficient atomic detail to enable application of these physics-based approaches, which is referred to as being "structurally enabled," and such structures have been historically difficult to obtain and are only available today for a relatively small subset of the universe of human proteins. Another factor preventing computational chemistry from realizing its promise has been limited compute speed. However, despite all of these challenges, physics-based methods have a significant advantage over machine learning in that they do not require a training set and can, in principle, compute properties of molecules that are well beyond existing industry experience and data.
Our Platform
Over the past several decades since our founding in 1990, and with the concerted effort of hundreds of our scientists and software engineers, we have developed a computational platform that is capable of predicting critical properties of molecules with a high degree of accuracy. We have built our platform on a foundation of rigorous, physics-based methods, combined with the rapid data processing and scaling advantages of machine learning, that together provide a significant advantage over traditional methods. We believe that physics-based simulation has reached an inflection point as a result of the increased availability of massive computing power, combined with a more sophisticated understanding of models and algorithms and the growing availability of high-resolution protein structures.
We have demonstrated that our software platform can have a transformative impact on the drug discovery process by:
• reducing the average time and cost required to identify a development candidate; and
• increasing the probability of drug discovery programs entering clinical development.
Based on our drug discovery efforts to date, including in our collaborative programs, we believe that the development candidates discovered using our platform have a higher probability of successfully progressing through clinical development than the industry average.
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As shown below, we achieve these outcomes by tightly integrating our predictive physics-based methods, which have a high degree of accuracy, with machine learning, which is highly scalable. In addition, our platform enables real-time collaboration on drug discovery projects to inform decision-making and maximize the impact of the predictive capabilities of our computational platform.
Our computational platform provides the following significant technological advantages over traditional approaches to drug discovery, which we believe enable shorter timelines, lower costs, and higher probability of success of drug discovery efforts:
• Speed. Our platform is able to evaluate molecules in hours rather than the weeks it typically takes to screen, synthesize and test molecules in the laboratory.
• Scale. Our platform can explicitly evaluate billions of molecules per day, whereas traditional drug discovery methods only synthesize and evaluate approximately one thousand molecules per year, thereby increasing the probability that we find a novel molecule with the desired property profile.
• Quality. In a peer-reviewed study, our platform was tested against traditional methods for selecting tight-binding molecules and resulted in an eight-fold increase in the number of molecules with the desired affinity.
Our computational platform includes a broad array of capabilities:
• Faster Lead Discovery : the ability to rapidly identify potent molecules suitable for hit-to-lead and lead optimization efforts by virtually screening extremely large libraries of molecules, as well as physics-based replacement of the central core of a molecule, known as scaffold hopping, to identify novel, highly potent molecules unavailable in library collections;
• Accurate Property Prediction : the ability to assess key properties of drug-like molecules using physics-based calculations with accuracy comparable to that of experimental laboratory assays, to facilitate optimization of drug properties, including drug potency, selectivity, and bioavailability;
• Optimizing Protein Structures : the ability to refine and optimize protein structure models to increase the number of targets amenable to structure-based drug design;
• Large-Scale Molecule Exploration : the ability to computationally ideate and explore novel, high-quality drug-like molecules for consideration by discovery project teams utilizing computational enumeration and generative machine learning techniques that are trained and constructed to yield molecules that are synthetically feasible;
• Large-Scale Molecule Evaluation : the ability to scale our calculations of key drug properties to ultra-large idea sets of billions of molecules to enable more rapid and successful identification of high-quality drug candidate molecules; and
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• Integrated Data Management and Visualization : the ability to generate, access, and analyze the data derived from complex calculations integrated with assay data through a powerful and user-friendly graphical interface.
Recognition of our scientific advances has come through customer adoption, in citations of publications in peer reviewed journals and in the progress of our collaborative and proprietary drug discovery programs. For example, the initial paper describing our ligand-protein docking program, Glide, published in 2004 is one of the most cited papers in the history of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry , a premier journal in its field. Glide continues to be broadly used as a hit-finding technology throughout the biopharmaceutical industry by our customers. We have made many similar scientific advances in fields including druggability assessment, affinity calculation, protein structure refinement, and molecule ideation and design. These advances were achieved by our team of hundreds of Ph.D.-level scientists and software engineers with extensive input from our Scientific Advisory Board, which includes thought leaders in computational chemistry, physics-based simulations, statistical mechanics, and machine learning.
Our computational platform is also applicable to new problems of interest and new fields of study. Since the underlying physics that drives a biologic to bind to its target is no different than the physics that drives a small drug molecule to bind to a protein, we have been able to apply our technologies to the discovery of biologics and we continually work to increase our platform's capabilities in biologics. Similarly, the physics underlying the properties of materials is no different than the physics underlying the properties of drug molecules. Therefore, we have applied our computational platform to materials science applications, including in the fields of aerospace, energy, semiconductors, electronic displays, and chemicals.
Software Business
Overview
We are the leading provider of computational software solutions for drug discovery to the biopharmaceutical industry. In 2025, all of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies, measured by 2024 revenue, which we refer to as our top 20 pharma industry cohort, licensed our solutions, accounting for $73.7 million, or 37%, of our software revenue and $80.8 million, or 41%, of our ACV in 2025. Additionally, in 2025, our software was used by researchers around the world at more than 1,750 academic institutions. The widespread adoption of our software is supported by our global team of sales, technical, and scientific personnel. Our direct sales operations span across the United States, the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, India, and South Korea, and we have sales distributors in other important markets, including China.
We have a diverse and large existing customer base, ranging from startup biotechnology companies to the largest global pharmaceutical companies as well as an increasing number of materials science customers. We continue to expand our customer base as we provide education and information to increase the awareness of the potential of our computational platform across different industries. Our ACV was $198.5 million and $190.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The figures below show our ACV for each of the past two fiscal years based on customer and industry cohorts:
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Our top 20 pharma industry cohort had an ACV of $80.8 million in 2025 compared to $70.0 million in 2024, and our commercial customer cohort had an ACV of $177.4 million in 2025 compared to $165.8 million in 2024. We believe there is a significant opportunity to continue to expand the adoption of our platform within our existing customer base. For the year ended December 31, 2025, we had 27 commercial customers with an ACV of at least $1.0 million compared to 29 such customers for the year ended December 31, 2024. Two of the 29 commercial customers with an ACV of at least $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 were acquired prior to the end of 2025. The average ACV per commercial customer with an ACV of over $1.0 million grew to $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. We believe biopharmaceutical companies are increasingly recognizing and appreciating the scientific and financial benefits of using our platform at scale and the continued value of our platform. For example, in November 2024, we entered into an expanded, three-year, software agreement with Novartis, which is more fully described in "— Collaboration Agreements ." The three-year agreement substantially increases Novartis' access to our computational predictive modeling technology and enterprise informatics platform to industry-leading scale.
Furthermore, we believe our sales and marketing approach and the quality of our software solutions result in high retention with our commercial customers, our largest customer cohort. This is demonstrated by our gross and net dollar retention rate for our commercial customers. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, our gross dollar retention rate for our commercial customers was 96%. Our net dollar retention rate for our commercial customers was 100% for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to 113% for the year ended December 31, 2024. We believe our high gross retention rate for our commercial customer cohort coupled with our ability to expand our customers’ use of our software will continue to drive growth.
See "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Factors Affecting Our Performance" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Change in Key Operating Metrics" for additional information regarding these metrics, including ACV, customer cohorts, and gross and net dollar retention rate.
Our Software Solutions for Drug Discovery
We offer our customers a variety of software solutions that accelerate all stages of molecule discovery, design, and optimization pursuant to agreements with terms typically for one year. Our licenses give our customers the ability to execute a certain number of calculations across specified software solutions. Certain of our key software solutions are highlighted below, along with the particular stage of drug discovery in which they are employed.
• Target Identification and Validation: the identification and evaluation of a protein target that might be worthwhile to pursue as the subject of a drug discovery campaign.
◦ WaterMap characterizes the locations and energetics of water molecules occupying the binding site of, or solvating, a target protein. From this analysis, one can infer the druggability of a protein, as well as uncover opportunities to significantly increase binding affinity by exploiting the water structure in the binding site.
◦ SiteMap allows binding site identification and evaluation to help locate potential protein binding sites, including allosteric sites, and predict the approximate druggability of those sites.
◦ GlideEM, PrimeX and Phenix/OPLS4 enable optimization of intermediate quality experimental protein structures to a quality sufficient to drive structure-based drug discovery.
• Hit Discovery : the identification of hit molecules.
◦ FEP+ is our free energy calculation software. In hit discovery, this software can be used to replace the central core of earlier known tight binding molecules to identify novel, highly potent molecules unavailable in library collections. Often these molecules have much higher binding affinity and have a better property profile than typical hit molecules. FEP+ can also be used to calculate absolute binding affinities, which enables the software to evaluate and triage diverse molecules sharing no common peripheral features in a hit discovery context.
◦ Glide is our virtual screening program that is used to screen libraries of molecules to find hit molecules likely to bind a particular protein target in a specific conformation.
◦ GlideWS is our next-generation virtual screening program that utilizes a more accurate and robust description of protein-ligand interaction solvation effects. This and other novel features enable
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GlideWS to more reliably find hit molecules for challenging protein targets when screening libraries of molecules.
◦ Shape uses the three-dimensional structure and shape of earlier known hit molecules to find new hits when screening libraries of molecules.
◦ DeepAutoQSAR uses modern machine-learning methods trained to earlier known hit molecules to find novel hits when screening libraries of molecules.
◦ IFD-MD can computationally predict the binding mode of molecules to a binding site of a protein, including predicting how the conformation of the protein binding site may reorganize upon binding the molecule.
• Hit to Lead and Lead Optimization: Hit to lead is the stage at which small molecule hits are evaluated and undergo limited optimization to identify promising lead molecules. Lead optimization improves on the property profile of lead molecules by designing new analogs with improved potency, reduced off-target activities, and favorable physicochemical/metabolic properties.
◦ FEP+ is our free energy calculation software. In the hit to lead and lead optimization phases of drug discovery, FEP+ is used to predict the binding affinity of ligands to proteins with accuracy approaching that of physical experiments. It allows precise rank-ordering of large libraries of virtual molecules so that only the most potent molecules are synthesized in a program, which can save time and reduce cost. FEP+ can also be used to calculate the binding selectivity, solubility, and mutational resistance profiles of molecules, which are key properties for the optimization of bioavailability, toxicology, and efficacy.
◦ DeepAutoQSAR uses modern machine-learning methods to produce predictive quantitative structure-activity relationship, or QSAR, models. This allows more accurate methods, such as FEP+, to be applied at a much greater scale but with less accuracy to much larger sets of molecules than would otherwise be possible and enables predictive QSAR models of other properties to be developed and deployed on drug discovery projects.
◦ AutoDesigner is an enumeration tool that enables the rapid exploration of synthetically tractable ligands. When AutoDesigner is deployed in conjunction with multiparameter optimization, machine learning, and FEP+ simulations, it provides a streamlined approach to create and evaluate large sets of synthetically tractable, lead-like, potent ligands.
◦ RetroSynth , newly developed and released in the first quarter of 2026, is a machine learning-based retrosynthetic analysis method that can be used to determine synthetic routes for virtual compounds ideated either by project teams or de novo design compound ideation systems, such as AutoDesigner. In addition to determining synthetic routes, RetroSynth is also capable of assessing ease of synthesis, which enables project teams to directly balance anticipated costs and timelines associated with compound synthesis versus the expected value of the compounds, as assessed by FEP+ and DeepAutoQSAR.
• Software Solutions Used Throughout the Drug Discovery Process:
◦ LiveDesign is our user-friendly enterprise informatics solution that enables interactive and collaborative molecule design, aggregation and sharing of data, and end-to-end discovery project coordination between chemists, modelers, and biologists. LiveDesign Biologics is our informatics solution for drug discovery teams designing biologics, which builds upon our LiveDesign offering. LiveDesign is also complemented by our separate product LiveDesign Machine Learning, which provides a central hub to train and utilize machine learning methods in LiveDesign, including DeepAutoQSAR and RetroSynth. In January 2026, we announced that Lilly TuneLab, a platform launched by Lilly will be made available in LiveDesign, allowing participating biotechnology companies to access TuneLab workflows.
◦ Maestro is our user-friendly modeling environment, which allows expert modelers to utilize our advanced modeling solutions.
Furthermore, in 2024, we launched our predictive toxicology initiative and have made the beta version available to customers, which encompasses approximately 50 representative kinases in addition to multiple key anti-targets. The goal of this initiative is to develop a computational solution designed to improve the properties of drug development candidates and reduce the risk of development failure associated with binding to off-target proteins, which can be associated with serious side effects. We expect to launch our predictive toxicology solution commercially and make it available more broadly to our customers during 2026.
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Our Software Solutions for Materials Science
We also sell software licenses to customers engaged in molecule design for industrial purposes. The software solutions for our materials science customers leverage much of the same technology as our software for biopharmaceutical companies. In addition, similar to traditional drug discovery efforts, traditional approaches to discovering new molecules in these fields also suffer from long timelines, and it can take as long as 10 to 20 years to bring new materials to the market. We are focused on leveraging our technology to transform the way new materials are discovered, and we believe that materials science industries are only beginning to recognize the potential of computational methods. We are continuing to build a team of subject matter experts to further drive adoption of our computational platform in each of the following areas in which we currently operate:
• mobile electronics and displays —organic electronics (OLED);
• aerospace and defense —polymers, composites;
• microelectronics —semiconductors, thin film processing;
• oil and gas —catalysis, reactivity;
• energy —alternative energy, batteries; and
• consumer packaged goods —soft matter, formulations.
As part of our ongoing efforts to further advance our software solutions for materials science applications, in June 2020, we entered into a three-year agreement with Gates Ventures, LLC, or Gates Ventures, to develop and apply atomistic simulations methods to improve battery performance. In August 2023, we extended the agreement with Gates Ventures for an additional three-year term at an increased scale.
We also collaborate with a number of materials science companies to help accelerate the discovery and development of new materials. For example, in 2023, we entered into a research collaboration with Copernic Catalysts, Inc. to help accelerate the discovery and development of sustainable catalysts for applications in e-fuels and bulk chemicals.
Drug Discovery Business
Overview
We are using our computational platform in both our collaborative and proprietary drug discovery programs. The figure below illustrates the advantages in time, cost, and molecule quality of our computational drug design approach over traditional drug discovery approaches.
Our collaboration agreements typically include upfront consideration, discovery, development, commercial and regulatory milestones, and royalties from future sales of commercialized products. We generate drug discovery revenue through the performance of specified research and development activities under our collaboration agreements and upon the achievement of discovery and development milestones, and we have the potential to generate drug discovery revenue from commercial and regulatory milestones, option fees, and royalties under our collaboration agreements. As of December 31, 2025, we had 20 active collaborative drug discovery programs. We define an active collaborative drug discovery program as a program that we are actively progressing for, or together with, a collaborator of ours, or a program that our collaborator is progressing and which we are eligible to receive milestone payments, option fees, and/or future royalties. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2025, we had an aggregate of 16 collaborative programs for which we were eligible to
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receive future royalties on commercial sales, if any, of collaborative programs that receive marketing approval compared to 13 programs as of December 31, 2024.
We track the aggregate number of collaborators which we have collaborated with, or partnered with, for drug discovery and development since 2018, and as of December 31, 2025, we have had 20 collaborators. The number of collaborators is a cumulative number and we only include those collaborations from which we have derived revenue since the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.
While our drug discovery revenue-generating collaborations are an important component of our business, our strategy is also to advance new programs where we can leverage our computational platform to identify novel molecules. We evaluate our proprietary drug discovery programs individually to determine the advisability of advancing them into and through preclinical development ourselves, entering into collaborations to co-develop them with leading industry partners, or out-licensing programs to maximize their development, clinical and commercial potential. We also plan to continue to evaluate new collaborative programs that fit our selection criteria and where the collaborator’s particular expertise, resources or intellectual property has the potential to create substantial value. Beyond our planned investments to complete our ongoing Phase 1 dose-escalation clinical trials of SGR-1505 and SGR-3515, we do not intend to initiate additional clinical trials or advance our other proprietary preclinical programs into clinical trials independently. We plan to explore strategic partnerships for the SGR-1505 and SGR-3515 programs to advance the development of these programs beyond our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials.
Our Drug Discovery Collaborations
Over the last decade, leveraging our platform and expertise, we have steadily developed a portfolio of drug discovery collaborative programs. We have entered into a number of collaborations with leading biopharmaceutical companies under which our collaborators are pursuing research in a number of therapeutics areas, including without limitation, various programs in oncology, antifungal diseases, fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic disease, autoimmune disease, immuno-oncology, cardiopulmonary disease, CNS diseases, and tuberculosis. Many of these programs are pursuing novel molecules for targets where a low-dose small molecule inhibitor or activator with optimal drug-like properties has been difficult to achieve or where selectivity for the target of interest has been difficult to achieve relative to other proteins. We have developed our pipeline of collaborative programs by selectively entering into drug discovery collaborations with leading biopharmaceutical companies. Among the factors that we use to embark on collaborations are whether the targets are well-validated, have high therapeutic potential, and are amenable to the strengths of our computational platform, and whether or not the collaborator brings complementary capabilities, all of which we believe contribute to an increased probability of success. Certain of these programs have provided us with significant income and have the potential to produce additional milestone payments, option fees, and royalties in the future.
Through access to the maximum potential scale of our computational platform and our drug discovery and software development teams, our collaborators receive the following key benefits:
• Immediate utilization of our platform: Ability to immediately and efficiently leverage the full benefits of our computational platform, without the need for training or ramp-up time, thereby enabling accelerated drug discovery.
• Access to massive compute power : Ability to run our computational software at scale, thereby avoiding the time and cost needed to build such computational infrastructure on their own.
• Early access to cutting-edge functionality : Real-time access to emerging solutions as they are being developed.
• Target exclusivity : Under our collaboration agreements, we agree to design drugs for a particular protein target or targets using our computational platform and know-how exclusively for the collaborator.
Collaboration Agreements
Our current collaborators include, but are not limited to, Ajax Therapeutics, Inc., BMS, Bright Angel Therapeutics Inc., Lilly, Novartis, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., or Otsuka, Sanofi S.A., and Structure Therapeutics Inc. (formerly ShouTi, Inc.). Our opportunity to receive further potential revenues from any of the programs under these collaborations is generally limited to research funding payments, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, option fees, and royalties on commercial sales, if any.
With the exception of our collaboration agreements with BMS, Otsuka, Novartis, and Lilly, which are described below, our collaborative agreements typically have the following characteristics:
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Control/Ownership. All of the programs being pursued under these collaborations are fully owned and controlled by each respective collaborator. We are not responsible for advancing their preclinical or clinical development or their commercialization, if approved.
Equity Stakes . We have received equity consideration in certain of our collaborators, and from time to time, we have also made additional equity investments in certain of these collaborators. Unless otherwise noted, the following table presents our equity stakes in collaborators on an issued and outstanding basis as of December 31, 2025:
Company Ownership %
Ajax Therapeutics, Inc. 5.8%
Apollo, LLC (1)
7.9%
Bright Angel Therapeutics Inc. 31.5%
Lakshmi, LLC (2)
5.3%
Nimbus Therapeutics, LLC (3)
1.1%
Structure Therapeutics Inc. (4)
1.6%
(1) Represents our equity in the entity, which holds the rights to any future payments received in connection with Gilead Sciences, Inc.’s acquisition of Nimbus’ ACC inhibitor program, on a fully diluted basis.
(2) Represents our equity in the entity, which holds the rights to any future payments received in connection with Takeda's acquisition of Nimbus' TYK-2 inhibitor program, on a fully diluted basis.
(3) On a fully diluted basis
(4) Based on the number of ordinary shares outstanding as of October 31, 2025, as reported on Structure Therapeutics Inc.'s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2025, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on November 6, 2025.
From time to time, we may also receive distributions on account of our equity stakes in our collaborators. For example, in February 2023, Nimbus Therapeutics, LLC, or Nimbus, announced the closing of the acquisition by Takeda of Nimbus Lakshmi, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nimbus, and its TYK2 program, which includes the TYK2 inhibitor, NDI-034858, which is being evaluated for the treatment of multiple immune-mediated diseases following positive results from the Phase 2b clinical trial in psoriasis. We received an aggregate of $147.2 million in cash distributions related to the Takeda acquisition in 2023. Furthermore, in 2024, we received $47.6 million for the equity stake that we owned in Morphic, one of our drug discovery collaborators and co-founded companies, in connection with Morphic's acquisition by Lilly for approximately $3.2 billion.
Financial Rights. In addition to our equity stakes in certain of our collaborators, we also have rights to various payments on a collaborator-by-collaborator agreement basis including research funding payments, discovery, development, and commercial milestones, option fees, and potential royalties in the single-digit range. Under certain of our collaboration agreements, we are also eligible to receive a percentage of our collaborators’ sublicense revenue. Many of our collaborative programs are currently still in the discovery and preclinical development stages. Generally, the size of the payments we are eligible to receive from a collaborative program increases as the program advances.
Importantly, our current collaboration agreements typically also contemplate additional program targets being added, allowing our collaborators to potentially increase the number of programs under our current collaboration agreements, subject to our pre-existing exclusivity obligations and interests.
However, because these collaborations are not under our control, we cannot predict whether or when we might achieve any event-based increases in research funding payments, milestone payments, royalty or other payments under these collaborations or estimate the full amount of such payments, and we may never receive any such payments. For a further discussion of the risks we face with respect to receipt of any of these payments, please refer to "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Drug Discovery—We may never realize a return on our investment of resources and cash in our drug discovery collaborations".
How We Work with Our Collaborators. Generally, our existing collaboration agreements provide that we agree to design drugs for a particular target or targets using our computational platform and know-how exclusively for the collaborator. The collaborator retains the intellectual property related to any molecules developed under the collaboration. Generally, our collaborators are not contractually required to provide us with, nor do we expect generally to receive, access to nonpublic information regarding key developments related to the advancement of these collaboration programs, such as clinical trial results, including safety and efficacy data, regulatory communications, or commercialization plans and
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strategies. To the extent we do receive such information, our collaboration agreements generally require us to maintain the confidentiality of information we receive under the collaboration.
In addition to the collaborations described above, we also have collaboration agreements with BMS, Otsuka, Novartis, and Lilly which are described below:
BMS . In November 2020, we entered into an exclusive, worldwide collaboration and license agreement with BMS pursuant to which we and BMS agreed to collaborate in the discovery, research and development of small molecule compounds for biological targets in the oncology, neurology and immunology therapeutic areas. Under the agreement, we were initially responsible, at our own cost and expense, for the discovery of small molecule compounds directed to five specified biological targets pursuant to a mutually agreed research plan for each such target. In December 2022, we and BMS entered into an amendment to the agreement to include an additional target in neurology on terms similar to the original agreement. As a result of BMS electing not to proceed with further development of certain targets, there is one remaining neurology target under the agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, we received a $55.0 million upfront payment from BMS in November 2020, an additional upfront payment in December 2022, and a program fee in December 2024. As of December 31, 2025, we are eligible to receive from BMS up to $482.0 million in total milestone payments for the one neurology target currently subject to the collaboration. As of December 31, 2025, we have recognized $32.0 million in revenue related to milestones under this agreement. We are also entitled to a tiered percentage royalty on annual net sales of any product commercialized by BMS under the agreement ranging from mid-single digits to low-double digits, subject to certain specified reductions.
Lilly . In September 2022, we entered into a collaboration with Lilly, under which we are responsible for the discovery and optimization of small molecule compounds addressing an immunology target. Lilly will be responsible for the completion of preclinical development, clinical development and commercialization. Under the terms of the agreement, we received an upfront payment, and we are eligible to receive up to $420.0 million in discovery, development and commercial milestone payments. We are also eligible to receive low single- to low double-digit royalties on net sales of any products emerging from the collaboration in all markets. In February 2025, we expanded our research collaboration with Lilly to add an undisclosed target to the collaboration. The terms of the expanded collaboration with respect to the additional target are similar to the terms for the existing target.
Otsuka . In December 2022, we entered into a multi-part agreement with Otsuka, together with Otsuka’s subsidiary Astex Pharmaceuticals, which includes a collaboration for the discovery and development of a program focused on an emerging central nervous system, or CNS, disease target. In January 2025, we announced that we have expanded the collaboration with Otsuka to add an undisclosed target to the collaboration. Under the collaboration, we are responsible for drug design through lead optimization and Otsuka will be responsible for all other drug discovery and clinical development activities. We received an upfront payment and will be eligible to receive discovery, development and regulatory milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on net sales of any products emerging from the drug discovery collaboration in all markets.
Novartis. In November 2024, we entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Novartis, pursuant to which we and Novartis agreed to collaborate on the discovery, research and preclinical development of small molecule compounds for targets in certain specified therapeutic areas. The agreement is intended to advance multiple development candidates for development and commercialization by Novartis. Under the terms of the agreement, we received a $150.0 million upfront payment from Novartis in January 2025. As of December 31, 2025, we are eligible to receive up to $2.272 billion from Novartis in total milestone payments across the initial programs. Such milestones consist of up to $892.0 million in discovery and development milestones and up to $1.38 billion in commercial milestones. No revenue had been recognized related to milestones under this agreement as of December 31, 2025. We are also entitled to a tiered percentage royalty on annual net sales of each product commercialized by Novartis under the agreement ranging from mid single-digits to low double-digits, subject to certain specified reductions. See "—Collaboration Agreement with Novartis Pharma AG" for additional information relating to this agreement.
Our Proprietary Drug Discovery Programs
In 2018, we began to develop a pipeline of proprietary drug discovery programs with the goal of using our platform to produce a portfolio of novel, high value therapeutics. Our initial programs were focused on discovering and developing inhibitors for targets in DNA damage response pathways and genetically defined cancers. Since then, we have expanded into other therapeutic areas, including immunology and neurology. Our strategy is to pursue a number of proprietary programs and strategically evaluate on a program-by-program basis advancing them into and through
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preclinical development ourselves, entering into collaborations to co-develop them with leading industry partners, or out-licensing them to maximize their development, clinical and commercial potential.
The following is a summary of our proprietary drug discovery programs:
Our Approach to Target Selection
Our selection of targets is based on an extensive analysis of human targets and drug discovery programs. We analyze targets using automated methods at scale. The key steps we take in prioritizing programs involve:
• Structural and modeling enablement . We use our computational platform to analyze protein structure quality as well as druggability of binding sites across thousands of target proteins in parallel. For a subset of high-quality structures of interest, we confirm amenability to our computational platform.
• Evaluation of therapeutic potential . Our selection of targets is strongly influenced by the level of validation of the target, including analysis of human genetics and prior clinical data.
• Identification of unsolved design challenges . We determine whether there are property profile challenges that could be solved by the application of our computational platform and provide a well-timed and clinically meaningful differentiated, novel, high value product opportunity.
• Assessment of potential value of pathways and mechanisms. We evaluate industry and commercial interest as well as the clinical utility with the aim of prioritizing programs with high commercial and therapeutic potential.
Using this comprehensive analysis, we have identified a large number of protein targets that we believe are amenable to our technology. We continue to evaluate a number of additional targets using this analysis.
SGR-1505: Our MALT1 Inhibitor
We are advancing SGR-1505, our novel MALT1 inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. Constant activation of nuclear factor-kappa B, or NF-κB, a key signaling molecule in B cells, is a hallmark of several subtypes of lymphoma. MALT1 is a key mediator of the NF-κB signaling pathway, the main driver of a subset of B-cell lymphomas, and functions by forming a complex with CARMA1 (Caspase recruitment domain-containing protein 11 also known as CARD-containing MAGUK protein 1) and BCL10 (B-cell lymphoma/leukemia 10) to mediate antigen receptor-induced lymphocyte activation. MALT1 is considered a potential therapeutic target for several subtypes of lymphomas and leukemias.
Activated B-cell, or ABC, a subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, or ABC-DLBCL, is the most common type of aggressive non-Hodgkin’s B-cell lymphoma. ABC-DLBCL is associated with a number of mutations that trigger a constitutively active NF-κB signaling pathway, which often is mediated by increased MALT1 protease activity. Among these mutations is a gain of function mutation or amplification of MALT1, which has also been identified in ABC-DLBCL patients.
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We utilized our physics-based computational platform to enable the identification and advancement of multiple novel series of MALT1 inhibitors from hit finding to lead optimization. Combining multi-parameter optimization, FEP+, and machine learning, we were able to prioritize tight-binding compounds with drug-like properties, and identified multiple novel and distinct chemical series which showed strong anti-tumor activity, ultimately enabling us to select SGR-1505 as our development candidate in under two years.
In August 2023, the FDA granted orphan drug designation to SGR-1505 for the potential treatment of mantle cell lymphoma. In June 2025, the FDA granted fast track designation for SGR-1505 for the treatment of adult patients with Waldenström macroglobulinemia, or WM, that have failed at least two lines of therapy, including a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, or BTK, inhibitor. Furthermore, in October 2025, the FDA granted orphan drug designation to SGR-1505 for the potential treatment of WM. We are exploring strategic opportunities to advance the clinical development of SGR-1505 beyond our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial.
Phase 1 Clinical Trial of SGR-1505 in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory B-cell Malignancies
We are evaluating SGR-1505 in a Phase 1 clinical trial, which is designed as an open-label, multi-center dose escalation clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. We anticipate enrolling up to 98 patients in the United States and Europe with confirmed mature B-cell malignancies who are 18 years or older and have a life expectancy of equal to or greater than 12 weeks. SGR-1505 will be administered orally. The trial is designed to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, maximum tolerated dose, maximum administered dose, and/or recommended dose of SGR-1505. Backfill cohorts evaluate additional pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, preliminary anti-tumor activity and safety to support the recommended dose.
In June 2025, we reported initial clinical data from our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of SGR-1505 in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. As of May 13, 2025, the data cut-off date, 49 patients were enrolled and evaluable for safety. Patients had a median of four (range two to nine) prior lines of therapy, with the most common being anti-CD20 antibodies (94%), BTK inhibitors (55%), B-cell lymphoma 2 protein, or BCL-2, inhibitors (18%), and BTK+BCL-2 inhibitors (18%). Based on the initial data, SGR-1505 was observed to be generally well-tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities or deaths due to treatment-emergent adverse events, or TEAEs. Forty three percent of patients (n=21) experienced ≥ 1 any-grade treatment-related adverse event, or TRAE, with the most common (≥ 10%) being rash (12%) and fatigue (12%). Ten patients (20%) experienced treatment-emergent serious adverse events, or SAEs; one was treatment-related. All blood bilirubin increased TEAEs were asymptomatic, reported in patients with UGT1A1 polymorphisms and none were Grade 4. The below table shows the common (≥10%) TEAEs and TRAEs in the safety population (n=49), as of the data cut-off date of May 13, 2025:
Additionally, SGR-1505 demonstrated preliminary clinical activity, and responses were observed in multiple histologies, including in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, and WM. The overall response rate across all dose levels and patients who had at least one follow-up disease assessment or disease progression was 22% (n=10/45), with the best overall response being partial response, or PR (n=4). Two additional patients had PRs with lymphocytosis, or PR-L, one additional patient had an independently confirmed clinical PR-L that did not meet iwCLL PR criteria, and one additional patient with marginal zone lymphoma had a partial metabolic response.
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In December 2025, we reported additional clinical data from our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of SGR-1505 at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. The additional data demonstrated that, consistent with prior observations, SGR-1505 was generally well tolerated at the doses evaluated. As of October 1, 2025, the data cut-off date for the additional clinical data, a total of 61 patients were enrolled and evaluable for safety and 12 patients (20%) experienced treatment-emergent SAEs; three were treatment-related. Of the 61 patients, 52 patients had at least one follow-up disease assessment or disease progression, and the overall response rate across all doses was 25% (n=13/52), with the best overall response being an independently verified complete response in one patient with Activated B-cell, or ABC, a subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, or ABC-DLBCL. All patients (n=7) with WM had an objective response, with the best response among such patients being a Very Good Partial Response..
Additionally, in December 2025, we reported further clinical data on eight patients with CLL/small lymphocytic lymphoma who have been previously treated with both a BTK inhibitor and a BCL-2 inhibitor, which we refer to as the “double-exposed” patients. The below table shows the double-exposed patients, together with their mutational status and best overall response as of the data cut-off date of October 1, 2025:
In the eight “double-exposed” patients, two achieved independently verified PR-L, including one patient who received seven lines of prior therapy and carried the BCL2 resistance mutation D103Y.
Phase 1 Clinical Trial of SGR-1505 in Healthy Volunteers
We also completed a Phase 1 clinical trial of SGR-1505 in 73 healthy volunteers to gather additional data, including data relating to the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics of SGR-1505, as well as the effect of food and drug-drug interactions. SGR-1505 was generally well tolerated with no drug-related serious adverse events or dose limiting toxicities observed. Adverse events were primarily Grade 1 and not treatment related. Bilirubin elevations occurred in 16% of healthy volunteers but were not deemed to be clinically relevant. These elevations were primarily Grade 1 and none were Grade 3 or 4. All bilirubin elevations reversed upon discontinuation of SGR-1505.
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As shown in the figure below, we observed greater than 90 percent inhibition of IL-2 secretion in an activated T cell whole blood assay in the cohort of healthy volunteers who received doses of SGR-1505 at 100 mg twice a day for 10 days (n=4), confirming target engagement and meeting the pharmacodynamic goals for the study. Inhibition of IL-2 secretion is a marker for target engagement and pathway modulation as it is tightly linked to MALT1 and the downstream NF-κB signaling.
QD = once a day dosing, Q12H = twice a day dosing
The data from the healthy volunteer trial support the continued evaluation of SGR-1505 in our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.
SGR-3515: Our Wee1/Myt1 Inhibitor
We are advancing SGR-3515, our novel Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor for the treatment of solid tumors. Wee1 is a gatekeeper checkpoint kinase that prevents cellular progression through the cell cycle allowing time for DNA repair before cell division takes place. Inhibition of Wee1 allows for accumulation of DNA damage, triggering DNA breakage and apoptosis in tumor cells. Third party Wee1 inhibitors have shown clinically meaningful tumor regression with partial responses and stable disease in ovarian and uterine cancer in clinical trials. A third party Wee1 inhibitor is currently being studied in combination with chemotherapy. Myt1 inhibition is a potential cancer therapy as inhibition of Myt1 forces cells into premature unchecked mitosis resulting in cell death.
The biological functions of Wee1 and Myt1 are independent, yet partially overlapping. Emerging data suggests that Myt1 has a synthetic lethal relationship with Wee1 and high Myt1 protein levels are associated with resistance to Wee1 inhibitors. Concurrent loss of function of Wee1 and Myt1 confers selective vulnerability in cancer cells and could offer increased anti-tumor activity.
We identified a number of tight-binding, selective Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor series using our computational platform and ultimately selected SGR-3515 as our development candidate. We believe SGR-3515's physicochemical properties make it well suited for combinations with DNA damage response inhibitors such as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, or PARP and other targeted therapies for the treatment of ovarian, colorectal, breast, and other solid tumors.
Existing third party Wee1 inhibitors may have off-target effects resulting from inhibition of other kinases and proteins, some of which are liver enzymes responsible for elimination of drug and drug metabolites from the body, potentially making dosing and combinations more challenging.
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Preclinical Development of SGR-3515
As shown in the table below, in preclinical studies, we have benchmarked SGR-3515 against ZN-c3, a Wee1 inhibitor being advanced by Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Zentalis, and RP-6306, a PKMyt1 inhibitor initially discovered by Repare Therapeutics Inc., or Repare, and now being advanced by Debiopharm International S.A., or Debiopharm.
SGR-3515 demonstrated an improved selectivity profile against broad kinomes compared to ZN-c3 and RP-6306. SGR-3515 also showed better target engagement activity against Wee1 and Myt1 in cells and better potency, as demonstrated by lower IC 50 values in a cell viability assay in the A427 non-small cell lung cancer cells, in each case, as compared to ZN-c3 and RP-6306. We also believe SGR-3515 has lower potential for drug-drug interaction liabilities associated with CYP3A4 liver enzyme inactivation.
All competitor data is internally generated by contract research organizations, using commercially available tools or synthesized by third-party research chemists using publicly available structure information. ND = not determined; K i was measured in kinase activity assay.
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As shown in the first figure below, in cell line derived xenograft models, SGR-3515 demonstrated superior in vivo anti-tumor activity related to single inhibition of Wee1 or My1 as compared to ZN-c3 and RP-6306. As shown in the second figure below, SGR-3515 also showed stronger target engagement of both Wee1 and Myt1 in the tumor as compared to ZN-c3 and RP-6306.
n=6 per group, mean +/- SEM. Tumor PD samples were taken 8 hours post-last dose on day 28 except SGR-3515 treated tumor
samples taken on day 18 with minimal amount of tumor volume. Tumor PD samples are tissue samples that are collected for measuring target engagement in vivo by determining percent inhibition of CDK1-Y15 and CDK1-T14 phosphorylation by Wee1 and Myt1 respectively.
****P<0.001, ***P<0.005, **P<0.01
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As shown in the figures below, we observed that SGR-3515 sustained strong anti-tumor activity in vivo leading to full tumor regression at the 40 mpk and 60 mpk dose levels with an intermittent dosing schedule. SGR-3515 dosed intermittently was also shown to allow recovery from mechanism-based hematological toxicity compared to continuous dosing as measured by red blood cell counts.
A427 (NSCLC) xenograft model. N=6 per group, mean +/- SEM. Red blood cell counts were measured on the last day of the study. ****P<0.001
Clinical Development of SGR-3515
The FDA cleared our IND for SGR-3515 in April 2024. We have initiated dosing in our Phase 1 clinical trial of SGR-3515 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The trial is a dose-escalation trial designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and recommended Phase 2 dose of SGR-3515. Secondary and exploratory objectives of the trial include evaluating the pharmacokinetics and preliminary anti-tumor activity of SGR-3515. We anticipate reporting initial data from the trial in the second quarter of 2026. We are exploring strategic opportunities to advance the clinical development of SGR-3515 beyond our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial.
Other Proprietary Programs
We are also progressing a number of other programs in the areas of oncology, immunology, inflammation and neurology and a number of undisclosed programs in multiple therapeutic areas. All of these programs are currently in the discovery stage or being progressed through IND-enabling studies. A number of our early discovery programs are modality switch programs, which pursue a different therapeutic modality against an already clinically validated target or pathway. We believe this strategy allows us to leverage existing target validation while exploring opportunities to enhance target engagement, selectivity, pharmacokinetics, or other product attributes.
Besides our clinical candidates, SGR-1505 and SGR-3515, we have identified several other development candidates for our programs: SGR-4174, our SOS1 inhibitor, SGR-5573, our EGFR C797S inhibitor, and SGR-6016, our NLRP3 inhibitor.
SGR-4174, our SOS1 inhibitor. SOS1 plays a critical role in cell signaling pathways and is involved in the activation and regulation of the KRAS gene. Oncogenic mutant KRAS stimulates the growth of several cancers, such as lung, pancreatic, and colon cancer. Inhibition of SOS1 is considered a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of KRAS-driven cancers. Previously, SGR-4174, a SOS1 inhibitor, was being advanced in collaboration with BMS, after which it was returned to us based on BMS' portfolio prioritization decisions.
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SGR-5573, our EGFR C797S inhibitor. EGFR inhibitors are first-line standard of care agents for advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients with activating EGFR mutations. We have identified multiple EGFR C797S inhibitors with potential to treat patients whose disease progressed following first-line treatment, potentially achieving deeper, more durable responses through new combination regimens. SGR-5573 is our potent, selective, brain-penetrant inhibitor of osimertinib-resistant EGFR variants.
LRRK2. LRRK2, a genetically validated target, is a large multifunctional kinase enzyme, and mutations in the LRRK2 gene have been shown to be associated with the development of Parkinson's disease. In 2022, we generated cryo-electron microscopy structures of LRRK2, which have helped us to accelerate the identification of novel LRRK2 inhibitors. We received a $2.8 million research grant in 2024 from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to investigate modes of safely inhibiting the LRRK2 protein for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
With respect to SGR-5573, SGR-4174, and our LRRK2 program, our current plan is to seek to advance these programs through a collaboration or together with a partner.
SGR-6016, our NLRP3 inhibitor. NLRP3 is a validated target, and mutations in the NLRP3 gene are associated with a broad spectrum of inflammatory, auto-immune and cardiometabolic diseases. We have identified structurally distinct, selective, NLRP3 inhibitors with anti-inflammatory activity in preclinical models, and we are continuing to optimize brain-penetrant lead molecules. SGR-6016 is our brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor development candidate we are advancing for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Besides SGR-6016, we are also separately advancing peripheral NLRP3 inhibitors for the treatment of inflammation and cardiometabolic diseases.
We have identified a large number of protein targets that we believe are amenable to our computational platform, and now have a significant inventory of targets that we can potentially advance into discovery programs. We intend to pursue targets with strong biological validation and therapeutic potential that currently lack protein structures of sufficient quality to permit the use of our computational platform for drug discovery. We are actively pursuing strategic alliances with collaborators, as well as progressing internal initiatives, that enable us to generate high-quality protein structures for these targets, which will enable us to initiate additional discovery efforts.
Technical Details of Our Key Technologies
Calculation of key drug properties using physics-based methods
Over the past several decades and with the concerted effort of hundreds of our scientists and software engineers, we have developed a physics-based computational platform that is capable of predicting the binding affinity of a drug molecule with a high degree of accuracy. The binding affinity of a drug molecule to a target protein is the key driving force of its in vivo efficacy. Specifically, when a drug binds to a target protein, the affinity with which it binds directly affects the extent to which it will modulate the function of the protein. Therefore, the ability to predict the binding affinity of a drug molecule to a target protein with a high degree of accuracy can significantly accelerate discovery of new efficacious medicines.
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Accurately calculating the binding affinity of a drug molecule to a protein is enormously complex and requires a full characterization of all the physical contributions to the binding. These contributions include the deformation and/or rigidification of the small molecule into the bound conformation (ΔG(1) in the figure below) and the rigidification of the protein in the bound conformation (ΔG(2)), the removal of waters surrounding the molecule (ΔG(3)) and the removal of waters within the protein binding site (ΔG(4)), and finally the interactions achieved between the molecule and protein when binding to form the protein-molecule complex (ΔG(5)).
We have developed a solution to consistently assess all of these contributions to binding with a high degree of accuracy, building on a method called "free energy perturbation." Free energy perturbation perturbs, or transforms, an initial molecule into another molecule of interest and evaluates how that transformation changes binding affinity to a particular protein target. Our solution for conducting these calculations is called FEP+. FEP+ is enabled by the following differentiated constituent technologies:
• classical molecular mechanics force field with broad coverage of drug-like molecules with a high degree of accuracy;
• an automated workflow allowing for force field coverage to be extended on the fly utilizing our accurate quantum mechanics software;
• computationally efficient molecular dynamics engine that runs on graphic processing units;
• efficient, enhanced sampling methods that allow the calculation to be converged with reduced simulation times;
• automated atom-mapping and interaction-mapping assignment; and
• ability to scale these calculations to leverage large cloud computing environments.
All of these constituent technologies are necessary to achieve the accuracy, scalability and applicability of our free energy perturbation implementation.
In a notable peer-reviewed study including approximately 3,000 molecules across approximately 90 distinct projects, FEP+ exhibited an error profile that indicates its affinity predictions approach the accuracy of running a laboratory experiment. FEP+ is also able to perform these computations more rapidly than experimental assays. Computational assessment of a molecule utilizing FEP+ requires only a few hours. In comparison, it often takes weeks to synthesize a drug-like molecule and assay its binding affinity for the target of interest in a laboratory. As a result, our FEP+ solution can be used to explore very large numbers of molecules to identify drug candidates much more rapidly than would be possible solely using experimental approaches.
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In a peer-reviewed article published in collaboration with a large biopharmaceutical company, the ability of FEP+ to prioritize molecules for synthesis expected to bind more tightly than an initial hit was compared with several other industry-standard approaches. We found that FEP+ succeeded in prioritizing the synthesis of molecules with improved binding affinity with eight times greater success than any other technique tested. This evidence supports the essential role that FEP+ can play in advancing drug discovery programs.
Enumeration of extremely large libraries of molecules
We have developed methods to enumerate extremely large libraries of molecules of interest with our AutoDesigner software solution, thereby allowing our software customers, our drug discovery collaborators, and the Schrödinger therapeutics group to explore a much larger portion of project-relevant chemical space than is possible through manual design. The chemical enumeration technology we have developed incorporates the most commonly used chemical reactions and can, in a fully automated fashion, computationally explore billions of variations of a molecule of interest.
Scaling accurate physics-based calculations to extremely large libraries of molecules
Although FEP+ calculations have been shown to be accurate, it is not possible to apply these calculations to billions of molecules given the current availability of computing resources. To address this problem, we developed an approach that leverages the accuracy of FEP+, but allows for exploration of billions of molecules rapidly by leveraging machine learning. We have succeeded in integrating our physics-based molecule scoring with highly computationally efficient modern machine-learning methods. This combined approach allows us to apply our physics-based calculations to much larger sets of molecules than would otherwise be computationally tractable. This allows us to both increase the speed and likelihood of identifying clinically viable molecules.
Advances in deep learning, a type of machine learning, in the past several years have required very large data sets as input to train the model. In a drug discovery program, the experimental data is typically sparse and expensive to procure, which is particularly problematic given that relevant drug-like chemical space is effectively infinitely large, estimated to be 10^60 molecules. For this reason, we believe that it would be extremely difficult to realize competitive advantage in a drug discovery program by using a platform exclusively based on machine learning or deep learning. Instead, we have developed an approach to integrate physics-based and machine-learning based scoring methodologies that allows the machine learning model to interactively prioritize additional molecules for physics-based analyses, known as active learning. Active learning retains the computational efficiency of machine learning while also taking advantage of the accuracy of the physics-based method. One can evaluate the utility of any particular prediction method with regard to both its accuracy and its computational efficiency. Modern machine learning methods, such as deep learning, do provide a small improvement over conventional machine learning methods. However, for much of its history, conventional molecular simulations were much less computationally efficient than machine learning but not that much more accurate.
In developing FEP+, we were able to resolve deficiencies in early attempts to develop physics-based methods. FEP+ calculations are much more accurate than either conventional machine learning or modern machine learning when scoring molecules structurally distinct from the training set data. In addition, by integrating FEP+ with our machine learning implementation, which we refer to as DeepAutoQSAR, we developed a solution that we refer to as Active Learning FEP+. Active Learning FEP+ combines the accuracy of free energy calculations with the speed of machine learning calculations and can be used to explore up to billions of molecules within a day. By further combining this functionality with our ability to enumerate large sets of molecules provided by PathFinder and our ability to build and manage complex workflows utilizing cloud resources, we are able to deploy these capabilities at scale to advance projects.
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Active Learning FEP+ is depicted in the figure below.
FEP+ is used to build a local model for a large library of molecules instead of relying on experimental data to provide the training set for the machine learning model. That machine learning model is then used to filter the large library of molecules down to a number that is small enough to be able to prioritize with FEP+. The result is that we can prioritize one billion molecules in as little as a day, rather than one million days.
Rapid identification of novel active hit molecules suitable to initiate hit-to-lead and lead optimization efforts
Several hit-finding technologies we have developed are routinely used to identify active hit molecules to initiate small molecule drug discovery programs. In our hit-finding campaigns, we and our software customers typically utilize:
• modern machine learning models trained to the two-dimensional structures of known active molecules using our software solution, DeepAutoQSAR;
• shape-based methods trained to the known or computationally deduced three-dimensional bioactive conformations of known active molecules using our software solution, Shape;
• structure-based docking methods that evaluate the number and kind of interactions possible utilizing a static atomistic representation of the experimentally determined three-dimensional structure of the target protein receptor using our software solutions, Glide and WScore; and
• free energy calculations using our software solution FEP+, which provides a fully dynamic atomistic representation of the target protein receptor.
Computational analysis of the energetic properties of water molecules occupying molecule binding sites in proteins
Subtle structural variations in molecules can have a profound impact on binding affinity to the protein target. The effects of these structural variations can be explained by a detailed examination of the thermodynamics of binding, including the free energy changes resulting from displacing water molecules in the binding site. Our computational software solution WaterMap maps the locations and energetic properties of water molecules that occupy protein binding sites, provides insight into the properties of the binding site, and quantitatively describes the water-mediated forces driving the binding of small molecules. Further, such an analysis can be used to assess the propensity of drug-like molecules to bind to the protein target with high affinity. WaterMap presents the computed results graphically for easy visualization of the water molecules occupying a binding site and their energetic properties. This makes interpretation of binding affinity data more intuitive and provides insights to possible design routes to improve potency and selectivity.
Competition
Software Business
The overall market for molecular discovery and design software is global, rapidly evolving, competitive, and subject to changing technology and shifting customer interests and priorities. The solutions and applications offered by our competitors vary in size, breadth, and scope.
We believe the principal competitive factors in our market include, among other things, accuracy of computations, level of customer satisfaction and functionality, ease of use, breadth and depth of solution and application functionality,
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brand awareness and reputation, modern and adaptive technology platform, integration, security, scalability and reliability of applications, total cost, ability to innovate and respond to customer needs rapidly, and ability to integrate with legacy enterprise infrastructures and third-party applications.
We believe that we compete favorably on the basis of these factors and that the effort and investment required to develop a computational, physics-based platform similar to ours will hinder new entrants that are unable to invest the necessary capital and time, and lack the breadth and depth of technical expertise required to develop competing technology. Our ability to remain competitive will largely depend on our ability to continue to improve our computational platform and demonstrate success in our drug discovery efforts.
Our software solutions face competition from competitors in the business of selling or providing simulation and modeling software to biopharmaceutical companies. These competitors include BIOVIA, a brand of Dassault Systèmes SE, or BIOVIA, Chemical Computing Group (US) Inc., Cresset Biomolecular Discovery Limited, Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Optibrium Limited, Cyrus Biotechnology, Inc., Molsoft LLC, Insilico Medicine, Inc., Iktos, XtalPi Inc., AbCellera, Inductive Bio, Inc., Chemaxon, Revvity, Inc., and Simulations Plus, Inc.
We also have competitors in materials science, such as BIOVIA and Materials Design, Inc., and in enterprise software for the life sciences, such as BIOVIA, Certara USA, Inc., Chemaxon, Revvity, Inc. and Dotmatics, Inc. In some cases, these competitors are well-established providers of these solutions and have long-standing relationships with many of our current and potential customers, including large biopharmaceutical companies. In addition, there are academic consortia that develop physics-based simulation programs for life sciences and materials applications. In the life sciences industry, the most prominent academic simulation packages include AMBER, CHARMm, GROMACS, GROMOS, OpenMM, and OpenFF. These packages are primarily maintained and developed by graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, often without the intent of commercialization.
We also face competition from solutions that biopharmaceutical companies develop internally, smaller companies that offer products and services directed at more specific markets than we target, enabling these competitors to focus a greater proportion of their efforts and resources on these markets. In addition, we are facing increasing competition from companies utilizing AI and other computational approaches for drug discovery. Some of these competitors are involved in drug discovery themselves and/or with partners, and others develop software or other tools utilizing AI which can be used, directly or indirectly, in drug discovery.
Drug Discovery Business
The biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition, and strong emphasis on proprietary and novel products and product candidates. While we believe that our computational platform, technology, knowledge, experience, and scientific resources provide us with competitive advantages, our drug discovery business faces potential competition from many sources, including major pharmaceutical companies, specialty biopharmaceutical companies, technology companies, academic institutions and government agencies, and public and private research institutions. Any product candidates that we or one of our collaborators successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future.
The key competitive factors affecting the success of the product candidates we develop, if approved, are likely to be their efficacy, safety, tolerability, convenience and price, the level of branded and generic competition and the availability of adequate reimbursement from third-party payors. If any of our product candidates are approved and successfully commercialized, it is likely that we will face increased competition as a result of other companies pursuing development of similar products or products that address similar diseases.
In particular, there is intense competition in the field of oncology, which is a focus of our drug discovery efforts. We have competitors both in the United States and internationally, including major multinational pharmaceutical companies, established biotechnology companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, emerging and start-up companies, universities and other research institutions. We also compete with these organizations to recruit management, scientists and clinical development personnel, which could negatively affect our level of expertise and our ability to execute our business plan. We also face competition in finding and establishing clinical trial sites, enrolling subjects for clinical trials, accessing combination studies and recruiting credible principal investigators and advisors from key clinical disciplines and academic centers.
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For example, with respect to our MALT1 inhibitor, SGR-1505, which we are advancing for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies, we are aware of several MALT1 inhibitors in clinical development, including by AbbVie Inc., HotSpot Therapeutics, Inc. and Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In addition, we are also aware of other therapeutics, such as bi-specifics and CAR-Ts, both approved and in clinical development, for the treatment of B-cell lymphomas.
With respect to our Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor, SGR-3515, which we are advancing for the treatment of solid tumors, we are aware of several Wee1 inhibitors in clinical development, including by Zentalis, Debiopharm International SA, IMPACT Therapeutics, Inc., Shouyao Holdings Co. Ltd., BioCity Biopharma, and Aprea Therapeutics, Inc., as well as a Myt1 inhibitor in clinical development being advanced by Debiopharm. Furthermore, we are also aware of a Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor in preclinical development being advanced by Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc.
Large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, in particular, have extensive experience in building and accessing networks of expert investigators, designing and conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals, and manufacturing and commercializing biotechnology products. These companies also have significantly greater research and development and marketing capabilities than we do and may also have products that have been approved or are in late stages of development, and collaborative arrangements in our target markets with leading companies and research institutions. Established pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies may also invest heavily to accelerate discovery and development of novel compounds or to in-license novel compounds that could make the product candidates that we develop obsolete. Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than our products. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. As a result of all of these factors, our competitors may succeed in obtaining approval from the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities or in discovering, developing and commercializing products in our field before we do.
Collaboration Agreement with Novartis Pharma AG
In November 2024, we entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Novartis, pursuant to which, we and Novartis agreed to collaborate on the discovery, research and preclinical development of small molecule compounds for targets in certain specified therapeutic areas. The agreement is intended to advance multiple development candidates for development and commercialization by Novartis.
Under the agreement, during the research term, we are responsible, together with Novartis, for the discovery of small molecule compounds directed against specified targets pursuant to mutually agreed research plans, which we refer to as project plans. Under the agreement, we and Novartis have agreed to pursue multiple initial project plans. The agreement also includes mechanisms pursuant to which Novartis may, subject to specified conditions, add additional project plans.
The research term for each project plan will generally extend for four years or such earlier time as a development candidate is designated for such project plan or the project plan is terminated. We and Novartis may mutually agree to extend the research term for any project plan.
After the identification of a development candidate in any project plan, Novartis will be solely responsible for the further preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of products containing all compounds resulting from such project plan.
Under the terms of the research collaboration and license agreement, Novartis paid us an initial upfront fee of $150.0 million in January 2025, and we are eligible to receive up to $2.272 billion in total milestone payments across the initial project plans. Such milestones consist of up to $892.0 million in discovery and development milestones and up to $1.38 billion in commercial milestones. We are also entitled to receive additional milestones in the event that additional project plans are added to the agreement. We are also entitled to a tiered percentage royalty ranging from mid-single-digits
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to low double-digits on products commercialized by Novartis under the agreement, subject to certain specified reductions. To date, we have not received any milestone payments under our agreement with Novartis.
On a collaboration target-by-collaboration target basis, during a specified period and subject to specified exceptions, we are prohibited from researching, developing, manufacturing, modifying, improving or commercializing, ourselves or with a third party, any small molecule directed against such collaboration target.
Unless earlier terminated, the agreement will expire (1) on a collaboration product-by-collaboration product and country-by-country basis on the expiration of the applicable royalty term for such collaboration product in such country, (2) on a collaboration target-by-collaboration target basis upon the expiration of all royalty terms for all collaboration products directed against such collaboration target and (3) in its entirety upon expiration of all payment obligations under the agreement with respect to all collaboration products.
The agreement contains customary termination provisions, including by either party upon an uncured material breach or upon the occurrence of certain events of insolvency. Additionally, Novartis may terminate the agreement, in its entirety or on a collaboration target-by-collaboration target basis, for convenience or for safety reasons; provided that certain customary rights and obligations will survive termination.
License Agreements with Columbia University
Master License Agreement
In September 2024, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Schrödinger, LLC, entered into a master license agreement, or the Master License Agreement, with The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, or Columbia University, that amended and restated our existing license agreements with Columbia University, which we refer to as the Prior Columbia License Agreements and which are more fully described below. The Prior Columbia License Agreements provided for our rights and obligations with respect to certain patents, software code, technology and improvements that it licenses from Columbia University and that are used in, and integrated into, our software solutions and computational platform. The Prior Columbia License Agreements are described in more detail below.
The Master License Agreement was adopted to modify and streamline the royalties payable pursuant to the Prior Columbia License Agreement, to modify certain other terms of the Prior Columbia License Agreements and to create a single Master License Agreement that, from and after the effective date of the Master License Agreement, governs all of the intellectual property licensed from Columbia University to us and our affiliates. Each Prior Columbia License Agreement will remain in full force and effect with respect to any services agreement entered into by us or our affiliates under such Prior Columbia License Agreement prior to the effective date, but the Prior Columbia License Agreements will otherwise be of no further force or effect from and after the effective date.
Under the Master License Agreement, Columbia University granted us and our affiliates an exclusive license (subject to specified non-commercial rights retained by Columbia University, on behalf of itself and other institutions, and any rights of the United States government), under Columbia University’s rights in specified software, or the Licensed Software, and patents, or the Licensed Patents, to develop, make, use, market, license, sell, distribute and otherwise commercially exploit products that incorporate any of the Licensed Software or are covered by any of the Licensed Patents, including the following Company software solutions: the electronic structure software program PS-GVB v1.0, the IMPACT software program used in the Glide ligand-protein docking program, the PrimeX protein modelling program, the QSite QM/MM program, the Combiglide automated library generation program, the Prime and PrimeX protein modelling programs, the Membrane Permeability model and the products that implement the water site analysis method, or collectively, the Licensed Products. We are restricted from distributing the Licensed Software source code without the prior written consent of Columbia University, which is not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
We are obligated to pay Columbia University a low single-digit percentage royalty on consideration, subject to certain exclusions and deductions, received by us or our affiliates for sales, licenses, leasing or rentals of Licensed Products or services provided using Licensed Products. We are obligated to pay royalties on a Licensed Product-by-Licensed Product basis until: (1) with respect to each Licensed Product that incorporates any Licensed Software identified in the Master License Agreement as of the Effective Date, twenty years after the Effective Date or (2) with respect to each Licensed Product that incorporates any Licensed Software added to the Master License Agreement after the Effective Date, twenty years after such addition, each, a Royalty Term. In addition, if we incorporate specified Licensed Software improvements into a Licensed Product, then the Royalty Term for such Licensed Product will be extended for an additional ten years per incorporated improvement. If we or our affiliates receive consideration for specified services provided using
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Licensed Products in the form of equity securities, or Services Project Securities, then (1) if and when such securities may be transferred to Columbia University under applicable state and federal securities laws, we have agreed to transfer, assign or otherwise cause to be delivered to Columbia University a number of such Services Project Securities equal to the applicable royalty rate multiplied by the total number of Services Project Securities, or the Columbia Securities, and (2) until such time as the Columbia Securities are transferred, assigned or delivered to Columbia University, at the time we receive cash consideration as a result of owning Services Project Securities, whether on account of a dividend, distribution, sale or otherwise, we have agreed to pay Columbia University a portion of such proceeds that is equal to the applicable royalty rate multiplied by such amount received in cash.
Under the Master License Agreement, we have agreed to indemnify Columbia University for losses incurred in any third-party action arising out of the exercise of any rights granted to us under the Master License Agreement or as a result of any breach of the Master License Agreement by us.
Unless earlier terminated, the Master License Agreement will expire on the expiration of the last to expire Royalty Term. We may terminate any license granted under the Master License Agreement for any reason upon 180 days written notice to Columbia University. In addition, either party may terminate the Master License Agreement, or one or more licenses granted under the Master License Agreement, for the other party’s material breach, following a customary notice and cure period, and Columbia University may terminate the Master License Agreement upon the occurrence of certain events of insolvency for us. Upon termination of the Master License Agreement, (1) we will have the right, for 18 months or such longer period as the parties may reasonably agree, to sell Licensed Products, continue the development and maintenance of Licensed Products and use Licensed Products to the extent needed to perform any services required to be performed as of the date of termination and (2) any third party that has licensed any Licensed Product from us will retain the right to use such Licensed Product, and we will have the right to continue to provide support to such third parties in connection with their use of such Licensed Products.
Prior Columbia License Agreements
Prior to entering into the Master License Agreement described above, we entered into several license agreements with Columbia University, or the Prior Columbia License Agreements. The Prior Columbia License Agreements establish our rights and obligations with respect to certain patents, software code, technology, and improvements thereto that we license from Columbia University and that are used in, and integrated into, our software solutions, and our physics-based computational platform. The terms of the Prior Columbia License Agreements remain in effect for arrangements that were entered prior to the effective date of the Master License Agreement. The terms of the Master License Agreement supersede the terms of the Prior Columbia License Agreements for arrangements entered into starting from the effective date of the Master License Agreement. Our rights and obligations under, and the terms and conditions of, the Prior Columbia License Agreements that we consider material to the operation of our business are described more fully below.
On November 1, 2008, we entered into an amendment, or the Royalty Amendment, to certain Prior Columbia License Agreements, including each of the agreements described below. The Royalty Amendment simplified the royalties payable under each agreement on gross revenues generated from the use of any product which contains any code or software, or is covered by any patent, that we license from Columbia University, or a Licensed Product, in connection with a services agreement. We also pay royalties under the Prior Columbia License Agreements on gross revenues generated from the sale, licensing or renting of our Licensed Products, which we calculate on a product-by-product basis. In the event that one or more Licensed Products are sold together with other products for a single aggregate license fee, we have agreed to pay to Columbia University the applicable royalty on the gross revenues attributable to each Licensed Product based on the relative list prices of each product covered by such license fee.
For a description of the royalties payable by us to Columbia University in connection with our services agreements, see "—Services Royalty Amendment" below.
PS-GVB License Agreement
On May 5, 1994, we entered into a license agreement, or the 1994 Columbia Agreement, with Columbia University, which was amended on September 9, 2004 and November 1, 2008. The technology licensed under the 1994 Columbia Agreement is incorporated into our Jaguar quantum mechanical program, which we market and distribute as part of our physics-based computational platform. The 1994 Columbia Agreement grants us a worldwide, exclusive, license to the software code developed by Columbia University and incorporated into the electronic structure software program PS-GVB v1.0, or the PS-GVB Code, and all improvement to the PS-GVB v1.0 software program and PS-GVB Code
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developed by Columbia University, or the PS-GVB Improvements, including all PS-GVB Code and PS-GVB Improvements that are incorporated into any new products, new releases, and new versions related to the software, or the New PS-GVB Module Code, in each case, to reproduce, use, execute, copy, operate, sublicense, and distribute in connection with the marketing and sale of our products and services, to develop improvements thereto, and to conduct research and backup disaster recovery. We may only sublicense the PS-GVB Code, the PS-GVB Improvements, and the New PS-GVB Module Code, or the Licensed PS-GVB Software, to the extent they are incorporated into a product that is sold directly by us or that is distributed on our behalf. Under the 1994 Columbia Agreement, Columbia University retains the right to conduct, and to permit other academic and non-profit research institutions to conduct research using the Licensed PS-GVB Software.
As consideration for entering into the 1994 Columbia Agreement, we have agreed to pay royalties to Columbia University in the low-single digit to low-double digit percentages based upon the contribution of Columbia University generated code to the applicable PS-GVB v1.0 software program on our, and our affiliates’, gross revenues from the sale, licensing, or renting of the PS-GVB v1.0 software program, including any improvements and modifications thereto, regardless of whether such improvement or modification is marketed as a new version, new release, or new product, excluding any sales to Columbia University and any revenue generated under services agreements.
The 1994 Columbia Agreement and the licenses granted thereunder may be terminated by us or Columbia University only upon the other party’s material breach of the agreement and such party’s failure to cure such breach. Upon termination, any third party that has licensed the Licensed PS-GVB Software from us will retain the right to use such software, and we will have the perpetual right to continue to provide support to any such third parties in connection with their use of such software.
Fast Multipole RESPA License Agreement
On July 15, 1998, we entered into a license agreement, or the 1998 Columbia Agreement, with Columbia University, which was amended on September 4, 2004, and November 1, 2008. The 1998 Columbia Agreement grants us a worldwide, non-exclusive, license to the Fast Multipole RESPA code developed at Columbia University, or the RESPA Code, which was incorporated into the IMPACT software program used in our Glide ligand-protein docking program, PrimeX protein modelling program, QSite QM/MM program, and Combglide automated library generation program, and all improvements to the IMPACT software program, including any new versions and new releases thereof, that are developed by Columbia University, or the IMPACT Improvements, in each case, to reproduce, use, execute, copy, compile, operate, sublicense, and distribute in connection with the marketing and sale of our products and services, to develop improvements thereto, and to conduct research and backup disaster recovery. We may sublicense the RESPA Code and the IMPACT Improvements, or the Licensed IMPACT Software, to the extent it is incorporated into a product that is sold directly by us or that is distributed on our behalf. Under the 1998 Columbia Agreement, Columbia University retains the right to conduct, and to permit other academic and non-profit research institutions to conduct, research using the Licensed IMPACT Software.
As consideration for entering into the 1998 Columbia Agreement, we have agreed to pay royalties to Columbia University in the low-single digit to low-double digit percentages based upon the contribution of Columbia University generated code to the applicable IMPACT software program on our, and our affiliates’, gross revenues from the sale, licensing, or renting of the IMPACT software program, including any improvements and modifications thereto and any new versions and new releases thereof, excluding any sales to Columbia University and revenue generated under services agreements.
The 1998 Columbia Agreement and the licenses granted thereunder may be terminated by us or Columbia University only upon the other party’s material breach of the agreement and such party’s failure to cure such breach. Upon termination, any third party that has licensed software from us subject to the 1998 Columbia Agreement will retain the right to use such software, and we will have the perpetual right to continue to provide support to any such third parties in connection with their use of such software.
Protein Folding License Agreement
In September 2001, we entered into a license agreement, or the 2001 Columbia Agreement, with Columbia University, which was amended on September 9, 2004 and November 1, 2008. The technology licensed under the 2001 Columbia Agreement is incorporated into our Prime protein modelling program, which we market and distribute as part of our physics-based computational platform. The 2001 Columbia Agreement grants us a worldwide, exclusive license to the
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protein folding code developed by Columbia University, or the Folding Code; all improvements to the Folding Code and to any of our products, software, or code that incorporates any part of the Folding Code, including any improvements thereto and new versions or new releases thereof, that are developed by Columbia University, or the Folding Code Improvements; and the issued patent covering the Folding Code, or the Folding Code Patent, in each case, to reproduce, use, execute, copy, compile, operate, sublicense, and distribute in connection with the marketing and sale of our products and services, to develop improvements thereto, and to conduct research and backup disaster recovery. We may sublicense the Folding Code, the Folding Code Improvements and the Folding Code Patent, or the Licensed Folding Code Software, to the extent it is incorporated into a product that is sold directly by us or that is distributed on our behalf. Under the 2001 Columbia Agreement, Columbia University retains the right to conduct, and to permit other academic and non-profit research institutions to conduct, research using the Licensed Folding Code Software.
As consideration for entering into the 2001 Columbia Agreement, we paid Columbia University a one-time, nominal license fee. In addition, we have paid royalties to Columbia University in low-single digit to low-double digit percentages based upon the contribution of Columbia University generated code to the applicable product, software program, or code on our, and our affiliates’, gross revenues from the sale, licensing, or renting of any commercial product, software program, or code incorporating the Licensed Folding Code Software, excluding any sales to Columbia University and revenues generated under services agreements. Our obligation to pay any royalty under the 2001 Columbia Agreement, including any royalty paid pursuant to the Royalty Amendment, terminated with the expiration of the last to expire patent licensed under the 2001 Columbia Agreement in January 2014.
The 2001 Columbia Agreement and the licenses granted thereunder may be terminated by Columbia University only upon our material breach of the agreement and our failure to cure such breach. Upon termination, any third party that has licensed software from us subject to the 2001 Columbia Agreement will retain the right to use such software, and we will have the perpetual right to continue to provide support to any such third parties in connection with their use of such software.
PLOP License Agreement
On June 19, 2003, we entered into a license agreement, or the 2003 Columbia Agreement, with Columbia University, which was amended on November 1, 2008. The technology licensed under the 2003 Columbia Agreement is incorporated into our Prime and PrimeX protein modelling programs and our Membrane Permeability model, which we market and distribute as part of our physics-based computational platform. The 2003 Columbia Agreement grants us a worldwide, exclusive license to the protein local optimization program software code, or the PLOP Code, developed at Columbia University and the University of California and all software code comprising improvements to the PLOP Code that are developed by Columbia University or the University of California, or the PLOP Improvements, in each case, to reproduce, use, execute, copy, compile, operate, sublicense, and distribute in connection with the marketing and sale of our products and services, to develop improvements thereto, and to conduct research and backup disaster recovery. Pursuant to an interinstitutional agreement between Columbia University and the University of California, the University of California granted Columbia University the sole right to license the PLOP Code and PLOP Improvements and has agreed not to license the PLOP Code or PLOP Improvements to any third party for as long as the interinstitutional agreement remains in effect. We may sublicense the PLOP Code and PLOP Improvements to the extent they are incorporated into a product that is sold directly by us or that is distributed on our behalf. We are restricted from distributing the PLOP Code and PLOP Improvements source code without the prior written consent of Columbia University.
Columbia University and the University of California retain the right to use, and to permit other academic and non-profit research institutions to use, the PLOP Code and PLOP Improvements for teaching and academic research purposes.
As consideration for entering into the 2003 Columbia Agreement, we paid Columbia University a one-time, nominal license fee. In addition, we have agreed to pay royalties to Columbia University in low-single digit to low-double digit percentages based upon the contribution of Columbia University generated code to the applicable product, software program, or code on our, and our affiliates’, gross revenues from the sale, licensing, leasing, or renting any commercial product, software program, or code incorporating the PLOP Code or any PLOP Improvements, excluding any sales to Columbia University or the University of California and revenues generated under services agreements. Our obligation to pay any royalty under the 2003 Columbia Agreement, including any royalty paid pursuant to the Royalty Amendment, expired pursuant to its terms on June 19, 2023.
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Columbia University is responsible for the copyright registration of the PLOP Code and PLOP Improvements. We are responsible for paying all reasonable copyright registration and attorney fees in connection with such copyright registrations.
The 2003 Columbia Agreement and the licenses granted thereunder may be terminated by us or Columbia University only upon the other party’s material breach of the agreement and such party’s failure to cure such breach. Upon termination, any third party that has licensed software from us subject to the 2003 Columbia Agreement will retain the right to use such software, and we will have the perpetual right to continue to provide support to any such third parties in connection with their use of such software.
Water Site Analysis License
On May 27, 2008, we entered into a software and patent license agreement, or the 2008 Columbia Agreement, with Columbia University, which was amended on November 1, 2008. The 2008 Columbia Agreement grants us a worldwide license, exclusive in the field of computational chemistry software and related services, to (a) certain software that implements the water site analysis method, or the Water Site Software; (b) all patent rights covering the Water Site Software, or the Water Site Patents; and (c) any products that incorporate or include the Water Site Software, or that is covered by the Water Site Patents, or the Water Site Products, in each case, to reproduce, modify, distribute, and perform and display in connection with the development, marketing, and sale of our products and services, to conduct research using the Water Site Software, and to conduct backup disaster recovery. Our Water Site Products include our WaterMap Core program, which we market and distribute as part of our physics-based computational platform. We are restricted from distributing the Water Site Software source code without the prior written consent of Columbia University. Under the 2008 Columbia Agreement, Columbia University retains the right to use, and to permit other entities and individuals to use, the Water Site Software and Water Site Patents for academic and non-commercial educational purposes in the field of computational chemistry software and related services.
As consideration for entering into the 2008 Columbia Agreement, we paid Columbia University a one-time, nominal license fee. In addition, we have agreed to pay royalties to Columbia University in low-double digit percentages on our, and our affiliates’, gross revenues from the sale, licensing, leasing, or renting of any Water Site Product, excluding any sales to Columbia University and revenues generated under services agreement. The royalties under the 2008 Columbia Agreement are paid on a product-by-product basis and vary based on whether or not the gross revenues are generated in countries of manufacture or sale in which the Water Site Product is covered by a Water Site Patent. In the event that there are multiple royalties payable on a single product, we are required to (i) pay the higher of the two royalties, if there are no more than two royalties payable on the particular Water Site Product or (ii) negotiate in good faith with Columbia University on a single royalty, if there are more than two royalties payable on the particular Water Site Product. In the event that we take action against Columbia University with respect to the validity or enforceability of any Water Site Patents, excluding any defensive actions or claims, the royalties paid under the 2008 Columbia Agreement will increase by a specified amount. Our obligation to pay any royalty under the 2008 Columbia Agreement, including any royalty paid pursuant to the Royalty Amendment, will terminate on May 27, 2028.
Columbia University is responsible for the prosecution and maintenance of the Water Site Patents in the jurisdictions that we specify. If we decide to discontinue the prosecution or maintenance of any Water Site Patent in any jurisdiction, but Columbia University objects to such discontinuation, our license to use such Water Site Patent will terminate in that jurisdiction; provided that, if we are using the Water Site Patent or Water Site Software in the jurisdiction at issue, Columbia University is obligated to discuss in good faith whether the licenses should instead be non-exclusive. Columbia University is also responsible for the enforcement of the Water Site Patent at its own expense and in its sole judgment; provided that, if we provide Columbia University with evidence of infringement of a Water Site Patent by a third party, and Columbia University fails to take appropriate enforcement action, we may initiate legal proceedings against the alleged infringer. We are responsible for reimbursing Columbia University for their reasonable expenses in connection with prosecuting and maintaining the Water Site Patents.
Unless terminated earlier, the 2008 Columbia Agreement will expire on a product by product and country by country basis upon the later of (i) the expiration of the last issued Water Site Patent, (ii) fifteen years from the date of the first commercial sale of a Water Site Product in a given country, and (iii) the expiration of the Water Site Software copyright. Columbia University may terminate the 2008 Columbia Agreement if we fail to cure a material breach, become subject to a voluntary or involuntary petition for bankruptcy or any other proceeding relating to insolvency, receivership or liquidation, or initiate any proceeding or assert any claim challenging the validity or enforceability of the Water Site Patents. Upon termination, any third party that has licensed a Water Site Product from us will retain the right to use such
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product, subject to the terms of their existing license agreement with us, and we will have the right to continue to provide support to any such third parties for the duration of their license agreement.
Services Royalty Amendment
On November 1, 2008, we entered into the Royalty Amendment with Columbia University, which amended and simplified our royalty obligations under each of the Columbia License Agreements described in each of the foregoing sections. Pursuant to the Royalty Amendment, we have agreed to pay royalties to Columbia University in mid-single digit percentages on the service fees generated from services (excluding certain gross revenue, including revenue generated under agreements with Columbia University) that we, or our affiliates, perform using one or more Licensed Products under an agreement with a third party. Upon termination of any of the Columbia License Agreements for any reason other than our material breach, we will have the right to continue to use the Licensed Products to provide services under existing third-party service agreements, until the expiration or termination of such agreements.
Intellectual Property
We strive to protect and enhance the proprietary technology, inventions, and improvements that are commercially important to the development of our business, including by seeking, maintaining, and defending patent rights, whether developed internally or jointly, or licensed from third parties. We also rely on trade secrets, know-how, continuing technological innovation, collaboration opportunities, and in-licensing opportunities to develop, strengthen, and maintain our proprietary position in our field.
It is important to our future commercial success to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for commercially important technology, inventions, and know-how related to our business; defend and enforce our intellectual property rights, in particular our patent, trademark, and copyright rights; preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets; and operate without infringing, misappropriating, or violating the valid and enforceable patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing any products we develop may depend on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets that cover these activities.
The patent positions of companies like ours are generally uncertain and can involve complex legal, scientific, and factual issues. We cannot predict whether the patent applications we are currently pursuing will issue as patents in any particular jurisdiction or whether the claims of any issued patents will provide sufficient proprietary protection from competitors. We also cannot ensure that patents will issue with respect to any patent applications that we or our licensors may file in the future, nor can we ensure that any of our owned or licensed patents or future patents will be commercially useful in protecting our software, technology, computational platform, and any product candidates we develop. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application may be significantly reduced before a patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted and even challenged after issuance. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any products we develop will be protected or remain protectable by enforceable patents. Moreover, any patents that we hold or may hold may be challenged, circumvented or invalidated by third parties. See "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property" for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.
Our strategy is to file patent applications directed to our key software and our key programs in an effort to secure our intellectual property positions vis-a-vis this software and these programs. The patent portfolio for our software business includes at least 13 published patent families. As of January 20, 2026, we owned or held exclusive license rights to approximately 40 patents and patent applications, including approximately 14 issued or allowed U.S. patents, five pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications, 17 issued or allowed non-U.S. patents, including nine granted European patents which have been validated among multiple individual European Patent Convention nations, eight non-European patents, and two pending foreign patent applications relating to our computational platform. While we believe that the specific and generic claims contained in our wholly-owned and licensed pending U.S. and non-U.S. applications provide protection for various aspects of our computational platform, third parties may nevertheless challenge such claims. Any patents that are issued or that may issue from these families are expected to expire between 2026 and 2038, absent any adjustments or extensions.
As of January 20, 2026, there were approximately 10 published patent families related to our proprietary drug discovery business, and several of our drug discovery collaborators have filed patent applications related to our collaborations that include employees of ours as inventors. We do not own any intellectual property rights related to these inventions. As of January 20, 2026, we wholly-owned approximately 15 pending U.S. patent applications, including U.S.
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provisional and U.S. non-provisional patent applications, and approximately 140 pending non-U.S. patent applications, including international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, related to our proprietary drug discovery business.
Patent prosecution is a lengthy process, during which the scope of the claims initially submitted for examination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may be significantly narrowed before issuance, if issued at all. We expect this may be the case with respect to some of our pending patent applications.
The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest date of filing a non-provisional patent application, absent any adjustments or extensions.
In addition, in the United States, the term of a patent covering an FDA-approved drug may, in certain cases, be eligible for a patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 as compensation for the loss of patent term during the FDA regulatory review process. The period of extension may be up to five years, but cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval. Only one patent among those eligible for an extension and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. Similar provisions are available in Europe and in certain other jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. It is possible that issued U.S. patents we may obtain in the future may be entitled to patent term extensions. If our use of product candidates or the product candidate itself receive FDA approval, we intend to apply for patent term extensions, if available, to extend the term of patents that cover the approved use or product candidate. We also intend to seek patent term extensions in any jurisdictions where available, however, there is no guarantee that the applicable authorities, including the FDA, will agree with our assessment of whether such extensions should be granted, and even if granted, the length of such extensions.
In addition to patent protection, as of January 20, 2026, we had approximately 68 copyright registrations covering our proprietary software code, and we rely upon unpatented trade secrets and confidential know-how and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. However, trade secrets and confidential know-how are difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary information, in part, using confidentiality agreements with any collaborators, scientific advisors, service providers, employees, and consultants and invention assignment agreements with our employees. We also have agreements requiring assignment of inventions with selected consultants, scientific advisors, and collaborators. These agreements may not provide meaningful protection. These agreements may also be breached, and we may not have an adequate remedy for any such breach. In addition, our trade secrets and/or confidential know-how may become known or be independently developed by a third party, or misused by any collaborator to whom we disclose such information. Despite any measures taken to protect our intellectual property, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or to obtain or use information that we regard as proprietary. Although we take steps to protect our proprietary information, third parties may independently develop the same or similar proprietary information or may otherwise gain access to our proprietary information. As a result, we may be unable to meaningfully protect our trade secrets and proprietary information. See "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property" for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.
We also own numerous trademarks registered in the United States and foreign jurisdictions, including "Schrödinger" and "LiveDesign". We pursue additional trademark registrations to the extent we believe doing so would be beneficial to our competitive position.
Sales and Marketing
Software Business
We commercialize our software solutions in various jurisdictions around the world through our software sales organization. We have sales operations in the United States, Europe, Japan, India, and South Korea and we also have established distribution channels in other important markets, including China. These efforts are led by our global team of sales, technical, and scientific personnel. Our marketing strategy leverages our strong base of scientific publications to support the continued growth of our computational platform into computational chemistry markets across industries and academia worldwide.
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Drug Discovery Business
We have not established a commercial organization or developed distribution capabilities given the current stage of development of our proprietary drug discovery programs. We plan to enter into agreements with biopharmaceutical companies that contribute to our ability to efficiently advance development candidates that we discover internally using our computational platform through to commercialization. We expect to utilize a variety of types of collaboration, distribution, and other arrangements with one or more of these third parties to develop and ultimately commercialize our development candidates.
Manufacturing
We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of any product candidates, nor do we have plans to develop our own manufacturing operations. We rely and expect to continue to rely on third-party contract manufacturers for all of our required raw materials, drug substance, and finished drug product for the preclinical and clinical development of any development candidates we develop ourselves. We do not currently have any agreements with third-party manufacturers for the long-term supply of any of our product candidates.
Government Regulation and Product Approvals
Government authorities in the United States at the federal, state and local level, and in other countries and jurisdictions, including the European Union, extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, pricing, reimbursement, quality control, approval, packaging, storage, recordkeeping, labeling, advertising, promotion, distribution, marketing, post-approval monitoring and reporting, and import and export of biopharmaceutical products. The processes for obtaining marketing approvals in the United States and in foreign countries and jurisdictions, along with compliance with applicable statutes and regulations and other regulatory authorities, require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources and may have a significant impact on our business.
Approval and Regulation of Drugs in the United States
In the United States, drug products are approved and regulated under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and applicable implementing regulations and guidance. A company, institution, or organization which takes responsibility for the initiation and management of a clinical development program for such products, and for their regulatory approval, is typically referred to as a sponsor. The failure of a sponsor to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements at any time during the product development process, including non-clinical testing, clinical testing, the approval process or post-approval process, may result in delays to the conduct of a study, regulatory review and approval, and/or administrative or judicial sanctions.
A sponsor seeking approval to market and distribute a new drug in the United States generally must satisfactorily complete each of the following steps before the product candidate will be approved by the FDA:
• preclinical testing including laboratory tests, animal studies, and formulation studies, which must be performed in accordance with the FDA’s good laboratory practice, or GLP, regulations and standards;
• design of a clinical protocol and submission to the FDA of an IND for human clinical testing, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;
• approval by an independent institutional review board, or IRB, representing each clinical site before each clinical trial may be initiated;
• performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the product candidate for each proposed indication, in accordance with current good clinical practices, or GCP;
• preparation and submission to the FDA of a new drug application, or NDA, for a drug product which includes not only the results of the clinical trials, but also detailed information on the chemistry, manufacture and quality controls for the product candidate and proposed labeling for one or more proposed indication(s);
• review of the product candidate by an FDA advisory committee, where appropriate or if applicable;
• satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities, including those of third parties, at which the product candidate or components thereof are manufactured to assess compliance
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with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, requirements and to assure that the facilities, methods, and controls are adequate to preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality, and purity;
• satisfactory completion of any FDA audits of the non-clinical and clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCP and the integrity of clinical data in support of the NDA;
• payment of user application and program fees pursuant to the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA;
• approval of an NDA for the new drug product authorizing marketing of the new drug product for particular indications in the United States; and
• compliance with any approval or post-approval requirements, including the potential requirement to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, and the potential requirement to conduct any post- approval studies required by the FDA.
Preclinical Studies
Before a sponsor begins testing a product candidate with potential therapeutic value in humans, the product candidate enters the preclinical testing stage, including in vitro and animal studies to assess the safety and activity of the drug for initial testing in humans and to establish a rationale for therapeutic use. Preclinical tests include laboratory evaluations of product chemistry, formulation, and stability, as well as other studies to evaluate, among other things, the toxicity of the product candidate. These studies are generally referred to as IND-enabling studies.
The conduct of the preclinical tests and formulation of the compounds for testing must comply with federal regulations and requirements, including GLP regulations and standards and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Act, if applicable. The results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, any available clinical data or literature and plans for clinical trials, among other things, are submitted to the FDA as part of an IND. Some long-term preclinical testing, such as animal tests of reproductive adverse events and carcinogenicity and long-term toxicity studies may continue after the IND is submitted. With passage of the FDA’s Modernization Act 2.0 in December 2022, Congress eliminated provisions in both the FDCA and the Public Health Service Act, or PHSA, that required animal testing in support of an NDA. While animal testing may still be conducted, the FDA was authorized to rely on alternative non-clinical tests, including cell-based assays, microphysiological systems or bioprinted or computer models. In April 2025, the FDA released a roadmap to replace animal testing in preclinical safety studies with scientifically validated new approach methodologies, such as organ-on-a-chip systems, computational modeling, and advanced in vitro assays.
The IND and IRB Processes
Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with GCP requirements, which include, among other things, the requirement that all research subjects provide their voluntary informed consent in writing before their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under written study protocols detailing, among other things, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the objectives of the study, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND.
An IND is an exemption from the FDCA that allows an unapproved product candidate to be shipped in interstate commerce for use in an investigational clinical trial and a request for FDA authorization to administer such investigational product to humans. Such authorization must be secured prior to interstate shipment and administration of any product candidate that is not the subject of an approved NDA. In addition to reviewing an IND to assure the safety and rights of patients, the FDA also focuses on the quality of the investigation and whether it will be adequate to permit an evaluation of the drug’s safety and efficacy. In support of a request for an IND, sponsors must submit a protocol for each clinical trial, and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. The FDA requires a 30-day waiting period after the filing of each IND before clinical trials may begin. This waiting period is designed to allow the FDA to review the IND to determine whether human research subjects will be exposed to unreasonable health risks. At any time during this 30-day period, the FDA may raise concerns or questions about the conduct of the trials as outlined in the IND and impose a clinical hold or partial clinical hold. In these cases, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before clinical trials, or parts of the trial, can begin.
Following commencement of a clinical trial under an IND, the FDA may also place a clinical hold or partial clinical hold on that trial. Clinical holds are imposed by the FDA whenever there is concern for patient safety and may be a result of new data, findings, or developments in clinical, nonclinical, and/or chemistry, manufacturing, and controls. A
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clinical hold is an order issued by the FDA to the sponsor to delay a proposed clinical trial or to suspend an ongoing investigation. A partial clinical hold is a delay or suspension of only part of the clinical work requested under the IND. For example, a specific protocol or part of a protocol may not be allowed to proceed, while other protocols may be allowed. No more than 30 days after imposition of a clinical hold or partial clinical hold, the FDA will provide the sponsor a written explanation of the basis for the hold. Following issuance of a clinical hold or partial clinical hold, a clinical trial may only resume after the FDA has so notified the sponsor of its decision to lift the hold. The FDA will base that determination on information provided by the sponsor correcting the deficiencies previously cited or otherwise satisfying the FDA that the clinical trial can proceed.
In addition to the foregoing IND requirements, an IRB representing each institution participating in the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it commences at that institution, and the IRB must conduct continuing review and reapprove the study at least annually. The IRB must review and approve, among other things, the study protocol and informed consent information to be provided to study subjects. An IRB must operate in compliance with FDA regulations. An IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution, or an institution it represents, if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the product candidate has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients.
Additionally, some trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the trial sponsor, known as a data monitoring committee, or DMC. The DMC provides authorization as to whether or not a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access that only the DMC maintains to available data from the study. Suspension or termination of development during any phase of clinical trials can occur if it is determined that the participants or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Other reasons for suspension or termination may be made by us based on evolving business objectives and/or the competitive environment.
Expanded Access
Expanded access, sometimes called "compassionate use," is the use of investigational new products outside of clinical trials to treat patients with serious or immediately life-threatening diseases or conditions when there are no comparable or satisfactory alternative treatment options. The rules and regulations related to expanded access are intended to improve access to investigational products for patients who may benefit from investigational therapies. FDA regulations allow access to investigational products under an IND by the company or the treating physician for treatment purposes on a case-by-case basis for: individual patients (single-patient INDs for treatment in emergency settings and non-emergency settings); intermediate-size patient populations; and larger populations for use of the investigational product under a treatment protocol or Treatment IND Application.
When considering an IND for expanded access to an investigational product with the purpose of treating a patient or a group of patients, the sponsor and treating physicians or investigators will determine suitability when all of the following criteria apply: patient(s) have a serious or immediately life-threatening disease or condition, and there is no comparable or satisfactory alternative therapy to diagnose, monitor, or treat the disease or condition; the potential patient benefit justifies the potential risks of the treatment and the potential risks are not unreasonable in the context or condition to be treated; and the expanded use of the investigational product for the requested treatment will not interfere with the initiation, conduct or completion of clinical investigations that could support marketing approval of the product or otherwise compromise the potential development of the product.
There is no obligation for a sponsor to make its investigational products available for expanded access; however, as required by amendments to the FDCA included in the 21st Century Cures Act passed in 2016, if a sponsor has a policy regarding how it responds to expanded access requests with respect to product candidates in development to treat serious diseases or conditions, it must make that policy publicly available. Sponsors are required to make such policies publicly available upon the earlier of initiation of a Phase 2 or Phase 3 trial for a covered investigational product; or 15 days after the investigational product receives designation from the FDA as a breakthrough therapy, fast track product, or regenerative medicine advanced therapy. In October 2025, the FDA issued final guidance further clarifying the statutory and regulatory requirements governing expanded access.
In addition, the Right to Try Act, among other things, provides a federal framework for certain patients to access certain investigational products that have completed a Phase 1 clinical trial and that are undergoing investigation for FDA approval. Under certain circumstances, eligible patients can seek treatment without enrolling in clinical trials and without obtaining FDA permission under the FDA expanded access program. There is no obligation for a manufacturer to make its investigational products available to eligible patients as a result of the Right to Try Act.
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Human Clinical Trials in Support of an NDA
Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product candidate to human subjects under the supervision of a qualified investigator in accordance with GCP requirements, which include, among other things, the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent in writing before their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under written clinical trial protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the trial, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases, but the phases may overlap or be combined. Additional studies may also be required after approval.
Phase 1 clinical trials are initially conducted in a limited population to test the product candidate for safety, including adverse effects, dose tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution, excretion, and pharmacodynamics in healthy humans or in patients. During Phase 1 clinical trials, information about the investigational drug product’s pharmacokinetics and pharmacological effects may be obtained to permit the design of well-controlled and scientifically valid Phase 2 clinical trials.
Phase 2 clinical trials are generally conducted in a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, evaluate the efficacy of the product candidate for specific targeted indications and determine dose tolerance and optimal dosage. Multiple Phase 2 clinical trials may be conducted by the sponsor to obtain information prior to beginning larger and more costly Phase 3 clinical trials. Phase 2 clinical trials are well controlled, closely monitored and conducted in a limited patient population. A Phase 2 trial may be further subdivided to Phase 2a and Phase 2b trials. A Phase 2a trial is typically an exploratory (non-pivotal) study that has clinical efficacy, pharmacodynamics, or biological activity as the primary endpoint. A Phase 2b trial is a definite dose range finding study with efficacy as the primary endpoint.
Phase 3 clinical trials proceed if the Phase 2 clinical trials demonstrate that a dose range of the product candidate is potentially effective and has an acceptable safety profile. Phase 3 clinical trials are undertaken within an expanded patient population to further evaluate dosage, provide substantial evidence of clinical efficacy, and further test for safety in an expanded and diverse patient population at multiple, geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. A well-controlled, statistically robust Phase 3 clinical trial may be designed to deliver the data that regulatory authorities will use to decide whether or not to approve, and, if approved, how to appropriately label a drug. Such Phase 3 studies are referred to as "pivotal."
A clinical trial may combine the elements of more than one phase and the FDA often requires more than one Phase 3 trial to support marketing approval of a product candidate. A company’s designation of a clinical trial as being of a particular phase is not necessarily indicative that the study will be sufficient to satisfy the FDA requirements of that phase because this determination cannot be made until the protocol and data have been submitted to and reviewed by the FDA. Generally, pivotal trials are Phase 3 trials, but they may be Phase 2 trials if the design provides a well-controlled and reliable assessment of clinical benefit, particularly in an area of unmet medical need.
In December 2022, with the passage of Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, or FDORA, Congress required sponsors to develop and submit a diversity action plan for each phase 3 clinical trial or any other "pivotal study" of a new drug or biological product. These plans are meant to encourage the enrollment of more diverse patient populations in late-stage clinical trials of FDA-regulated products. Specifically, action plans must include the sponsor’s goals for enrollment, the underlying rationale for those goals, and an explanation of how the sponsor intends to meet them. In June 2024, the FDA issued draft guidance outlining the general requirements for diversity action plans. Unlike most guidance documents issued by the FDA, the diversity action plan guidance, when finalized, will have the force of the law. In January 2025, in response to an executive order issued by President Trump on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, the FDA removed this draft guidance from its website. That action, along with similar actions by the Trump administration to remove many other healthcare webpages, is currently the subject of ongoing litigation. In July 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Trump administration’s actions to remove these webpages, including the draft diversity action plan guidance, are unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court ordered the restoration of many of these webpages. In late July 2025, the FDA restored the draft diversity action plan guidance to its website with a statement that information on the webpage may be modified and/or removed in the future subject to the terms of the court’s order and implemented in accordance with applicable law. Accordingly, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the draft guidance and how the FDA will consider diversity action plans in connection with its review of marketing applications.
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In September 2025, the FDA issued final guidance with updated recommendations for GCPs aimed at modernizing the design and conduct of clinical trials. The updates are intended to help pave the way for more efficient clinical trials to facilitate the development of medical products. The final guidance is adopted from the International Council for Harmonisation’s recently updated E6(R3) draft guideline that was developed to enable the incorporation of rapidly developing technological and methodological innovations into the clinical trial enterprise.
In October 2025, the FDA issued final guidance that focuses on patient-focused drug development. The guidance outlines how stakeholders, such as patients, caregivers, researchers and medical product developers, can submit patient experience data in support of the development and approval of drug products. To that end, the guidance provides an overview of clinical outcome assessments in clinical trials, and the role that clinical outcome assessments may play in in evaluating the clinical benefit of a medical product.
In some cases, the FDA may approve an NDA for a product candidate but require the sponsor to conduct additional clinical trials to further assess the product candidate’s safety and effectiveness after approval. Such post-approval trials are typically referred to as post-marketing clinical trials. These studies are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of a larger number of patients in the intended treatment group and to further document a clinical benefit in the case of drugs approved under accelerated approval regulations. If the FDA approves a product while a company has ongoing clinical trials that were not necessary for approval, a company may be able to use the data from these clinical trials to meet all or part of any post-marketing clinical trial requirement or to request a change in the product labeling. Failure to exhibit due diligence with regard to conducting post-marketing clinical trials could result in withdrawal of approval for products.
In March 2022, the FDA released a final guidance entitled "Expansion Cohorts: Use in First-In-Human Clinical Trials to Expedite Development of Oncology Drugs and Biologics," which outlines how sponsors can utilize an adaptive trial design in the early stages of oncology product development ( i.e. , the first-in-human clinical trial) to compress the traditional three phases of trials into one continuous trial called an expansion cohort trial. Information to support the design of individual expansion cohorts are included in INDs and assessed by FDA. Expansion cohort trials can potentially bring efficiency to product development and reduce developmental costs and time.
Clinical Trials Outside the United States in Support of FDA Approval
In connection with our clinical development program, we are and may in the future conduct trials at sites outside the United States. When a foreign clinical trial is conducted under an IND, all IND requirements must be met unless waived. When a foreign clinical trial is not conducted under an IND, the sponsor must ensure that the study complies with certain regulatory requirements of the FDA in order to use the trial as support for an IND or application for marketing approval. Specifically, the studies must be conducted in accordance with GCP, including undergoing review and receiving approval by an independent ethics committee, and seeking and receiving informed consent from subjects. GCP requirements encompass both ethical and data integrity standards for clinical studies. The FDA’s regulations are intended to help ensure the protection of human subjects enrolled in non-IND foreign clinical studies, as well as the quality and integrity of the resulting data. They further help ensure that non-IND foreign studies are conducted in a manner comparable to that required for IND studies.
The acceptance by the FDA of trial data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States in support of US approval may be subject to certain conditions or may not be accepted at all. In cases where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the sole basis for marketing approval in the U.S., the FDA will generally not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless (i) the data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; (ii) the trials were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence and pursuant to cGCP regulations; and (iii) the data may be considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA, or if the FDA considers such inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means.
In addition, even where the foreign trial data are not intended to serve as the sole basis for approval, the FDA will not accept the data as support for an application for marketing approval unless the trial is well-designed and well-conducted in accordance with GCP requirements and the FDA is able to validate the data from the trial through an onsite inspection if deemed necessary. Many foreign regulatory authorities have similar approval requirements. In addition, such foreign trials are subject to the applicable local laws of the foreign jurisdictions where the trials are conducted.
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Interactions with FDA during the Clinical Development Program
Following the clearance of an IND and the commencement of clinical trials, the sponsor will continue to have interactions with the FDA. A development and safety update report, or DSUR, detailing the results of the clinical trials must be submitted annually to the FDA within 60 days of the anniversary date that the IND was filed. In addition, IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA for any of the following: serious and unexpected suspected adverse reactions; findings from other studies or animal or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk in humans exposed to the product; and any clinically important increase in the case of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials may not be completed successfully within any specified period, or at all. The FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCP and the integrity of the clinical data submitted.
In addition, sponsors are given opportunities to meet with the FDA at certain points in the clinical development program. Specifically, sponsors may meet with the FDA prior to the submission of an IND, or pre-IND application meeting, at the end of a Phase 2 clinical trial, or EOP2 meeting, and before an NDA is submitted, or pre-NDA meeting. Meetings at other times may also be requested. There are five types of meetings that occur between sponsors and the FDA. Type A meetings are those that are necessary for an otherwise stalled product development program to proceed or to address an important safety issue. Type B meetings include pre-IND application and pre-NDA meetings, as well as Type B end of phase meetings, such as EOP2 meetings. A Type C meeting is any meeting other than a Type A or Type B meeting regarding the development and review of a product. Finally, a type D meeting is focused on a narrow set of issues (should be limited to no more than two focused topics) and should not require input from more than three disciplines or divisions. Finally, Initial Targeted Engagement for Regulatory Advice on CBER products, or INTERACT, meetings are intended for novel products and development programs that present unique challenges in the early development of an investigational product.
These meetings provide an opportunity for the sponsor to share information about the data gathered to date with the FDA and for the FDA to provide advice on the next phase of development. For example, at an EOP2 meeting, a sponsor may discuss its Phase 2 clinical results and present its plans for the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial(s) that it believes will support the approval of the new product. Such meetings may be conducted in person, via teleconference/videoconference or written response only with minutes reflecting the questions that the sponsor posed to the FDA and the FDA’s responses. The FDA has indicated that its responses, as conveyed in meeting minutes and advice letters, only constitute mere recommendations and/or advice made to a sponsor and, as such, sponsors are not bound by such recommendations and/or advice. Nonetheless, from a practical perspective, a sponsor’s failure to follow the FDA’s recommendations for design of a clinical program may put the program at significant risk of failure. In September 2023, the FDA issued draft guidance outlining the terms of such meetings in more detail.
Reporting Clinical Trial Results
Sponsors of clinical trials are required to register and disclose certain clinical trial information on a public registry (clinicaltrials.gov) maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, or NIH. In particular, information related to the product, patient population, phase of investigation, study sites and investigators and other aspects of the clinical trial is made public as part of the registration of the clinical trial. The PHSA grants the Secretary of Health and Human Services the authority to issue a notice of noncompliance to a responsible party to failure to submit clinical trial information as required. The responsible party is allowed 30 days to correct the noncompliance and submit the required information. As of December 30, 2025, the FDA has issued eight notices of non-compliance, signaling its willingness to enforce the reporting requirements. While these notices of non-compliance did not result in civil monetary penalties, the failure to submit clinical trial information to clinicaltrials.gov, as required, is a prohibited act under the FDCA with violations subject to potential civil monetary penalties of up to $10,000 for each day the violation continues. In addition to civil monetary penalties, violations may also result in other regulatory action, such as injunction and/or criminal prosecution or disqualification from federal grants.
Manufacturing and Compliance with cGMP Requirements
Concurrent with clinical trials, companies often complete additional preclinical studies. They must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the drug as well as finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the drug candidate and, among other things, must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, purity, and potency of the final drug. Additionally, appropriate packaging
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must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the drug candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
The FDA’s regulations require that pharmaceutical products be manufactured in approved facilities and in accordance with cGMPs. The cGMP regulations include requirements relating to organization of personnel, buildings and facilities, equipment, control of components and product containers and closures, production and process controls, packaging and labeling controls, holding and distribution, laboratory controls, records and reports and returned or salvaged products. Manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved pharmaceuticals are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA for compliance with cGMPs and other requirements. The PREVENT Pandemics Act, which was enacted in December 2022, clarifies that foreign drug manufacturing establishments are subject to registration and listing requirements even if a drug or biologic undergoes further manufacture, preparation, propagation, compounding, or processing at a separate establishment outside the United States prior to being imported or offered for import into the United States.
Manufacturers and others involved in the manufacture and distribution of products must also register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with ongoing regulatory requirements, including cGMP regulations. Both domestic and foreign manufacturing establishments must register and provide additional information to the FDA upon their initial participation in the manufacturing process. Any product manufactured by or imported from a facility that has not registered, whether foreign or domestic, is deemed misbranded under the FDCA. Changes to the manufacturing process, specifications or container closure system for an approved product are strictly regulated and often require prior FDA approval before being implemented. The FDA’s regulations also require, among other things, the investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and the imposition of reporting and documentation requirements upon the sponsor and any third-party manufacturers involved in producing the approved product.
A product may also be subject to official lot release, meaning that the manufacturer is required to perform certain tests on each lot of the product before it is released for distribution. If the product is subject to official release, the manufacturer must submit samples of each lot, together with a release protocol showing a summary of the history of manufacture of the lot and the results of all the manufacturer’s tests performed on the lot, to the FDA. The FDA may in addition perform certain confirmatory tests on lots of some products before releasing the lots for distribution. Finally, the FDA will conduct laboratory research related to the safety, purity, potency and effectiveness of pharmaceutical products.
Pediatric Studies
Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act, or PREA, applications and certain types of supplements to applications must contain data that are adequate to assess the safety and effectiveness of the product for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations, and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. The sponsor must submit an initial pediatric study plan within 60 days of an EOP2 meeting or as may be agreed between the sponsor and the FDA. Sponsors must also submit pediatric study plans prior to the assessment data. Those plans must contain an outline of the proposed pediatric study or studies the sponsor plans to conduct, including study objectives and design, age groups, relevant endpoints and statistical approach, or a justification for not including such detailed information, and any request for a deferral of pediatric assessments or a full or partial waiver of the requirement to provide data from pediatric studies along with supporting information. The sponsor, the FDA, and the FDA’s internal review committee must then review the information submitted, consult with each other, and agree upon a final plan. The FDA or the sponsor may request an amendment to the plan at any time.
For investigational products intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition, the FDA must, upon the request of a sponsor, meet to discuss preparation of the initial pediatric study plan or to discuss deferral or waiver of pediatric assessments. In addition, the FDA will meet early in the development process to discuss pediatric study plans with sponsors and the FDA must meet with sponsors by no later than the end-of-phase 1 meeting for serious or life-threatening diseases and by no later than 90 days after the FDA’s receipt of the study plan.
The FDA may, on its own initiative or at the request of the sponsor, grant deferrals for submission of some or all pediatric data until after approval of the product for use in adults, or full or partial waivers from the pediatric data requirements. A deferral may be granted for several reasons, including a finding that the product or therapeutic candidate is ready for approval for use in adults before pediatric trials are complete or that additional safety or effectiveness data needs to be collected before the pediatric trials begin. Pursuant to the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012, or FDASIA, the FDA must send a PREA Non-Compliance letter to sponsors who have failed to submit their
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pediatric assessments required under PREA, have failed to seek or obtain a deferral or deferral extension or have failed to request approval for a required pediatric formulation. FDASIA further requires the FDA to publicly post the PREA Non-Compliance letter and sponsor’s response.
Unless otherwise required by regulation, the pediatric data requirements do not apply to products with orphan designation, although the FDA has taken steps to limit what it considers abuse of this statutory exemption in the PREA by announcing that it does not intend to grant any additional orphan drug designations for rare pediatric subpopulations of what is otherwise a common disease. The FDA also maintains a list of diseases that are exempt from PREA requirements due to low prevalence of disease in the pediatric population. In May 2023, the FDA issued new draft guidance that further describes the pediatric study requirements under the PREA.
Expedited Review Programs
The FDA is authorized to expedite the review of applications in several ways. None of these expedited programs changes the standards for approval but they may help expedite the development or approval process of product candidates.
• Fast Track designation. The sponsor of a product candidate may request the FDA to designate the product for a specific indication as a Fast Track product concurrent with or after the filing of the IND. Candidate products are eligible for Fast Track designation if they are intended to treat a serious or life-threatening condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the condition. Fast Track designation applies to the combination of the product candidate and the specific indication for which it is being studied. In addition to other benefits, such as the ability to have greater interactions with the FDA, the FDA may initiate review of sections of a Fast Track application before the application is complete, a process known as rolling review.
• Breakthrough therapy designation. To qualify for the breakthrough therapy program, product candidates must be intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence must indicate that such product candidates may demonstrate substantial improvement on one or more clinically significant endpoints over existing therapies. The FDA will seek to ensure the sponsor of a breakthrough therapy product candidate receives intensive guidance on an efficient development program, intensive involvement of senior managers and experienced staff on a proactive, collaborative and cross-disciplinary review and rolling review.
• Priority review. A product candidate is eligible for priority review if it treats a serious condition and, if approved, it would be a significant improvement in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis or prevention compared to marketed products. Significant improvement may be illustrated by evidence of increased effectiveness in the treatment of a condition, elimination or substantial reduction of a treatment-limiting product reaction, documented enhancement of patient compliance that may lead to improvement in serious outcomes, and evidence of safety and effectiveness in a new subpopulation. The FDA aims to complete its review of priority review applications within six months as opposed to 10 months for standard review.
• Accelerated approval. Drug products studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments may receive accelerated approval. Accelerated approval means that a product candidate may be approved on the basis of adequate and well controlled clinical trials establishing that the product candidate has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit, or on the basis of an effect on a clinical endpoint other than survival or irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity and prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require that a sponsor of a drug product candidate receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well controlled post-marketing clinical trials. In addition, the FDA currently requires as a condition for accelerated approval pre-approval of promotional materials.
With passage of FDORA in December 2022, Congress modified certain provisions governing accelerated approval of drug and biologic products. Specifically, the new legislation authorized the FDA to: require a sponsor to have its confirmatory clinical trial underway before accelerated approval is awarded, require a sponsor of a product granted accelerated approval to submit progress reports on its post-approval studies to FDA every six months until the study is completed; and use expedited procedures to withdraw accelerated approval of an NDA or BLA if certain conditions are not met, including where a confirmatory trial fails to verify the product’s clinical benefit or where evidence demonstrates the product is not shown to be safe or
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effective under the conditions of use. The FDA may also use such procedures to withdraw an accelerated approval if a sponsor fails to conduct any required post-approval trial of the product with due diligence, including with respect to “conditions specified by the Secretary.” The new procedures include the provision of due notice and an explanation for a proposed withdrawal, and opportunities for a meeting with the FDA Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designee and a written appeal, among other things. In March 2023, the FDA issued draft guidance that outlines its views and approach to accelerated approval. The FDA indicated that the accelerated approval pathway is commonly used for approval of oncology drugs due to the serious and life-threatening nature of cancer. Although single-arm trials have been commonly used to support accelerated approval, a randomized controlled trial is the preferred approach as it provides a more robust efficacy and safety assessment and allows for direct comparisons to an available therapy. To that end, the FDA outlined considerations for designing, conducting, and analyzing data for trials intended to support accelerated approvals of oncology therapeutics. Subsequently, in December 2024 and January 2025, the FDA issued additional draft guidance relating to accelerated approval. This guidance describes the FDA’s views on what it means to conduct a confirmatory trial with due diligence and how the agency plans to interpret whether such a study needs to be underway at the time of approval. While this guidance is currently only in draft form and will ultimately not be legally binding even when finalized, sponsors typically observe the FDA’s guidance closely to ensure that their investigational products qualify for accelerated approval.
• Regenerative advanced therapy. With passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, or the Cures Act, in December 2016, Congress authorized the FDA to accelerate review and approval of products designated as regenerative advanced therapies. A product is eligible for this designation if it is a regenerative medicine therapy that is intended to treat, modify, reverse or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product candidate has the potential to address unmet medical needs for such disease or condition. The benefits of a regenerative advanced therapy designation include early interactions with the FDA to expedite development and review, benefits available to breakthrough therapies, potential eligibility for priority review and accelerated approval based on surrogate or intermediate endpoints.
Even if a product candidate qualifies for one or more of these designations or programs, there is no guarantee it would result in approval of our marketing applications or that such approval, if granted, would be on an expedited basis.
Filing and Review of an NDA
In order to obtain approval to market a drug product in the United States, a NDA must be submitted to the FDA that provides sufficient data establishing the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug product for its intended indication. The application includes all relevant data available from pertinent preclinical and clinical trials, including negative or ambiguous results as well as positive findings, together with detailed information relating to the product’s chemistry, manufacturing, controls, and proposed labeling, among other things. Data can come from company-sponsored clinical trials intended to test the safety and effectiveness of a use of a product, or from a number of alternative sources, including studies initiated by independent investigators. To support marketing approval, the data submitted must be sufficient in quality and quantity to establish the safety and efficacy of the drug product to the satisfaction of the FDA.
The NDA is a vehicle through which sponsors formally propose that the FDA approve a new product for marketing and sale in the United States for one or more indications. Every new drug product candidate must be the subject of an approved NDA before it may be commercialized in the United States. Biologic License Applications, or BLAs, are submitted for licensure of biologic products under the PHSA. Under federal law, the fee required for the submission and review of an application under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or the PDUFA, is substantial (for example, for federal fiscal year 2026 this application fee is approximately $4.7 million), and the sponsor of an approved application is also subject to an annual program fee, currently more than $442,213 per eligible prescription product for federal fiscal year 2026. Certain exceptions and waivers are available for some of these fees, such as an exception from the application fee for products with orphan designation, an exception from the program fee when the program does not engage in manufacturing the drug during a particular fiscal year and a waiver for certain small businesses.
The FDA conducts a preliminary review of the application within 60 calendar days of its receipt, and must inform the sponsor within that period of time whether the application is sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. In the event that the FDA determines that an application does not satisfy this standard, it will issue a Refusal to File determination to the sponsor. The FDA may request additional information rather than accept the application for filing and, the application may be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application is also subject to review
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before the FDA accepts it for filing. In October 2025, the FDA issued internal guidance clarifying that “materially incomplete or inadequately organized” applications that would not permit timely, efficient and complete review will be the subject of a Refusal to File determination. The internal guidance also provides that the agency will issue a Refusal to File determination for an application that relies on a single adequate and well-controlled investigation to support approval if prior communications with the FDA determined the need for more than one clinical study and any justification for a single investigation is inadequate.
Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review. The FDA has agreed to specified performance goals in the review process of NDAs. Under that agreement, 90% of applications seeking approval of New Molecular Entities, or NMEs, are meant to be reviewed within ten months from the date on which the FDA accepts the application for filing, and 90% of applications for NMEs that have been designated for priority review are meant to be reviewed within six months of the filing date. For applications seeking approval of products that are not NMEs, the ten-month and six-month review periods run from the date that the FDA receives the application. The review process and the PDUFA goal date may be extended by the FDA for three additional months to consider new information or clarification provided by the sponsor to address an outstanding deficiency identified by the FDA following the original submission. Despite these review goals, it is not uncommon for FDA review of an application to extend beyond the PDUFA goal date. The FDA seeks to meet these timelines for review of an application but its ability to do so may be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, the ability to hire and retain key personnel and statutory, regulatory and policy changes. Average review times at the FDA have fluctuated in recent years as a result. For example, during the past decade, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, including the FDA, have had to furlough critical employees and stop critical activities, including the review of both NDAs and BLAs.
In connection with its review of an application, the FDA typically will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is being or will be manufactured. These pre-approval inspections may cover all facilities associated with an NDA submission, including component manufacturing, finished product manufacturing, and control testing laboratories. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. Under the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, the FDA must implement a protocol to expedite review of responses to inspection reports pertaining to certain applications, including applications for products in shortage or those for which approval is dependent on remediation of conditions identified in the inspection report.
Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCP and the integrity of the data in the application. With passage of FDORA, Congress clarified FDA’s authority to conduct inspections by expressly permitting inspection of facilities involved in the preparation, conduct, or analysis of clinical and non-clinical studies submitted to FDA as well as other persons holding study records or involved in the study process. To ensure cGMP and GCP compliance by its employees and third-party contractors, a sponsor may incur significant expenditure of time, money and effort in the areas of training, record keeping, production and quality control.
Moreover, the FDA will review a sponsor’s financial relationship with the principal investigators who conducted the clinical trials in support of the application. That is because, under certain circumstances, principal investigators at a clinical trial site may also serve as scientific advisors or consultants to a sponsor and receive compensation in connection with such services. Depending on the level of that compensation and any other financial interest a principal investigator may have in a sponsor, the sponsor may be required to report these relationships to the FDA. The FDA will then evaluate that financial relationship and determine whether it creates a conflict of interest or otherwise affects the interpretation of the trial or the integrity of the data generated at the principal investigator’s clinical trial site. If so, the FDA may exclude data from the clinical trial site in connection with its determination of the approvability of the product candidate.
In addition, as a condition of approval, the FDA may require a sponsor to develop a REMS. A REMS uses risk-minimization strategies beyond the professional labeling to ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh the potential risks. To determine whether a REMS is needed, the FDA will consider the size of the population likely to use the product, the seriousness of the disease, the expected benefit of the product, the expected duration of treatment, the seriousness of known or potential adverse events, and whether the product is a NME. The FDA determines the requirement for a REMS, as well as the specific REMS provisions, on a case-by-case basis. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the application must submit a proposed REMS and the FDA will not approve the application without a REMS.
The FDA may also refer an application for a novel product to an advisory committee or explain why such referral was not made. Typically, an advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific
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experts, that review, evaluate and provide a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but the FDA considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.
The FDA’s Decision on an NDA
The FDA reviews an application to determine, among other things, whether the product is safe and whether it is effective for its intended use(s), with the latter determination being made on the basis of substantial evidence. The FDA has interpreted this evidentiary standard to require at least two adequate and well-controlled clinical investigations to establish effectiveness of a new product. Under certain circumstances, however, the FDA has indicated that a single trial with certain characteristics and additional information may satisfy this standard. Ultimately, the FDA will determine whether the expected benefits of the drug product outweigh its potential risks to patients, and the agency will issue either a complete response letter, or CRL, or an approval letter.
A CRL indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete, and the application will not be approved in its present form. A CRL generally outlines the deficiencies in the submission and may require substantial additional testing or information in order for the FDA to reconsider the application. The CRL may require additional clinical or other data, additional pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials and/or other significant and time-consuming requirements related to clinical trials, preclinical studies or manufacturing. If a CRL is issued, the sponsor will have one year to respond to the deficiencies identified by the FDA, at which time the FDA can deem the application withdrawn or, in its discretion, grant the sponsor an additional six-month extension to respond. For those seeking to challenge FDA’s CRL decision, the FDA has indicated that sponsors may request a formal hearing on the CRL or they may file a request for reconsideration or a request for a formal dispute resolution.
While CRLs were previously treated by the FDA as confidential and were only disclosed in action packages for approved products, the FDA announced in September 2025 that it will now release CRLs promptly after they are issued to sponsors. Since that announcement, the FDA has posted a number of complete response letters on its website.
If the FDA approves a new product, it may limit the approved indications for use of the product, require that contraindications, warnings, or precautions be included in the product labeling, or require that post-approval studies, including post-marketing clinical trials, be conducted to further assess the drug’s safety after approval. The agency may also require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the product after commercialization, or impose other conditions, including distribution restrictions or other risk management mechanisms, including a REMS, to help ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh the potential risks. REMS programs can include medication guides, communication plans for health care professionals, and elements to assure safe use, or ETASU. ETASU can include, but are not limited to, special training or certification for prescribing or dispensing, dispensing only under certain circumstances, special monitoring, and the use of patent registries. The FDA may prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of post-market studies or surveillance programs. The FDA may require a REMS before or after approval if it becomes aware of a serious risk associated with use of the product. The requirement for a REMS can materially affect the potential market and profitability of a product. After approval, many types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, changing manufacturing processes, and adding labeling claims, are subject to further testing requirements and FDA review and approval.
Post-Approval Requirements
Following approval of a new prescription product, the manufacturer, the approved product and the product’s manufacturing locations are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, governing, among other things, monitoring and record-keeping activities, reporting of adverse experiences with the product and product problems to the FDA, product sampling and distribution, manufacturing and promotion and advertising.
Once an approval is granted, the FDA may withdraw the approval if compliance with regulatory requirements is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in: revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical trials to assess safety risks; or imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:
• restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product recalls;
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• fines, warning letters or holds on post-approval clinical trials;
• refusal of the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications, or suspension or revocation of product license approvals;
• product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of products; or
• injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
The FDA strictly regulates the marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of prescription drug products placed on the market. This regulation includes, among other things, standards and regulations for direct-to-consumer advertising, communications regarding unapproved uses, industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and promotional activities involving the Internet and social media. Promotional claims about a drug’s safety or effectiveness are prohibited before the drug is approved. After approval, a drug product generally may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA, as reflected in the product’s prescribing information, although it may be permissible, under very specific, narrow conditions, for a manufacturer to engage in nonpromotional, non-misleading communication regarding off-label information, such as distributing scientific or medical journal information. In the United States, health care professionals are generally permitted to prescribe drugs for such uses not described in the drug’s labeling, known as off-label uses, because the FDA does not regulate the practice of medicine. However, FDA regulations impose rigorous restrictions on manufacturers’ communications, prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses.
For example, in September 2025, President Trump issued a Memorandum directing HHS to ensure transparency and accuracy in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, including by increasing the amount of information regarding any risks associated with the use of any such prescription drug required to be provided in prescription drug advertisements. To that end, the FDA announced that it is initiating a rulemaking process “to eliminate the ‘adequate provision’ loophole that allows pharmaceutical advertisements to hide safety information by placing it in another format or location.” In this context, the FDA declared that it will no longer tolerate what it characterized as “deceptive practices” in prescription drug advertising and that it would “aggressively deploy” its available enforcement tools, with “heightened scrutiny” of fair balance and disclosures in social media promotions. The FDA also issued a generic notice letter directing companies to remove any noncompliant advertising and bring all promotional communications into compliance.
In September 2021, the FDA published final regulations which describe the types of evidence that the FDA will consider in determining the intended use of a drug product. Moreover, with passage of the Pre-Approval Information Exchange Act in December 2022, sponsors of products that have not been approved may proactively communicate to payors certain information about products in development to help expedite patient access upon product approval. In addition, in January 2025, the FDA published final guidance outlining its policies governing the distribution of scientific information to healthcare providers about unapproved uses of approved products. The final guidance calls for such communications to be truthful, non-misleading and scientifically sound and to include all information necessary for healthcare providers to interpret the strengths and weaknesses and validity and utility of the information about the unapproved use of the approved product. If a company engages in such communications consistent with the guidance’s recommendations, the FDA indicated that it will not treat such communications as evidence of unlawful promotion of a new intended use for the approved product. While this guidance only applies to communications about unapproved uses of approved products, it may be helpful in understanding the FDA’s approach to communications about unapproved products.
If a company is found to have promoted off-label uses, it may become subject to administrative and judicial enforcement by the FDA, the Department of Justice, or the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as state authorities. This could subject a company to a range of penalties that could have a significant commercial impact, including civil and criminal fines and agreements that materially restrict the manner in which a company promotes or distributes products, as well as adverse public relations and reputational harm. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion, and has also requested that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed.
In addition, the distribution of prescription pharmaceutical products is subject to the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, or PDMA, and its implementing regulations, as well as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, or DSCSA, which regulate the distribution and tracing of prescription drug samples at the federal level, and set minimum standards for the regulation of drug distributors by the states. The PDMA, its implementing regulations and state laws limit the distribution of prescription pharmaceutical product samples, and the DSCSA imposes requirements to ensure accountability in distribution and to identify and remove counterfeit and other illegitimate products from the market. Manufacturers were required by November 2023 to have such systems and processes in place to comply with the DSCSA, but, so as not to
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disrupt supply chains, the FDA has granted certain exemptions from enhanced drug distribution security requirements for eligible trading partners for particular periods of time. For wholesale drug distributors, the final DSCSA deadline was August 27, 2025, marking the date for mandatory transition to a fully electronic, interoperable system for tracking prescription drugs at the package level throughout the United States.
Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity
Orphan drug designation in the United States is designed to encourage sponsors to develop products intended for treatment of rare diseases or conditions. In the United States, a rare disease or condition is statutorily defined as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States or that affects more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the biologic for the disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product in the United States.
Orphan drug designation qualifies a company for tax credits and market exclusivity for seven years following the date of the product’s marketing approval if granted by the FDA. An application for designation as an orphan product can be made any time prior to the filing of an application for approval to market the product. A product becomes an orphan when it receives orphan drug designation from the Office of Orphan Products Development at the FDA based on acceptable confidential requests made under the regulatory provisions. The product must then go through the review and approval process like any other product.
A sponsor may request orphan drug designation of a previously unapproved product or new orphan indication for an already marketed product. In addition, a sponsor of a product that is otherwise the same product as an already approved orphan drug may seek and obtain orphan drug designation for the subsequent product for the same rare disease or condition if it can present a plausible hypothesis that its product may be clinically superior to the first drug. More than one sponsor may receive orphan drug designation for the same product for the same rare disease or condition, but each sponsor seeking orphan drug designation must file a complete request for designation.
If a product with orphan designation receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation or for a select indication or use within the rare disease or condition for which it was designated, the product generally will receive orphan drug exclusivity. Orphan drug exclusivity means that the FDA may not approve another sponsor’s marketing application for the same product for the same indication for seven years, except in certain limited circumstances. If a product designated as an orphan drug ultimately receives marketing approval for an indication broader than what was designated in its orphan drug application, it may not be entitled to exclusivity.
The period of exclusivity begins on the date that the marketing application is approved by the FDA and applies only to the indication for which the product has been designated. The FDA may approve a second application for the same product for a different use or a second application for a clinically superior version of the product for the same use. Orphan drug exclusivity will not bar approval of another product under certain circumstances, including if the company with orphan drug exclusivity is not able to meet market demand or the subsequent product with the same drug for the same condition is shown to be clinically superior to the approved product on the basis of greater efficacy or safety, or providing a major contribution to patient care. This is the case despite an earlier court opinion holding that the Orphan Drug Act unambiguously required the FDA to recognize orphan drug exclusivity regardless of a showing of clinical superiority. Under Omnibus legislation signed by President Trump on December 27, 2020, the requirement for a product to show clinical superiority applies to drugs and biologics that received orphan drug designation before enactment of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, but have not yet been approved or licensed by the FDA.
The FDA and Congress may further reevaluate the Orphan Drug Act and its regulations and policies. In February 2025, in a case challenging the scope of orphan drug exclusivity, a federal district court in Washington, D.C. fully embraced the reasoning of a prior decision from the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit holding that the term “same disease or condition” in the statute means the designated “rare disease or condition” and could not be interpreted by the FDA to mean the “indication or use.” In April 2025, the FDA appealed this decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The implications of this decision, and its impact on the FDA’s implementation of the Orphan Drug Act, are unclear at this point.
Section 505(b)(2) NDAs
NDAs for most new drug products are based on two full clinical studies which must contain substantial evidence of the safety and efficacy of the proposed new product. These applications are submitted under Section 505(b)(1) of the
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FDCA. The FDA is, however, authorized to approve an alternative type of NDA under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA. This type of application allows the sponsor to rely, in part, on the FDA’s previous findings of safety and effectiveness for a similar product, or published literature. Specifically, Section 505(b)(2) applies to NDAs for a drug for which the investigations made to show whether or not the drug is safe for use and effective in use and relied upon by the sponsor for approval of the application “were not conducted by or for the sponsor and for which the sponsor has not obtained a right of reference or use from the person by or for whom the investigations were conducted.”
Section 505(b)(2) authorizes the FDA to approve an NDA based on safety and efficacy data that were not developed by the sponsor. NDAs filed under Section 505(b)(2) may provide an alternate and potentially more expeditious pathway to FDA approval for new or improved formulations or new uses of previously approved products. If the Section 505(b)(2) sponsor can establish that reliance on the FDA’s previous approval is scientifically appropriate, the sponsor may eliminate the need to conduct certain preclinical or clinical studies of the new product. The FDA may also require companies to perform additional studies or measurements to support the change from the approved product. The FDA may then approve the new drug candidate for all or some of the label indications for which the referenced product has been approved, as well as for any new indication sought by the Section 505(b)(2) sponsor.
Generic Drugs and Regulatory Exclusivity
In 1984, with passage of the Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the FDCA, Congress established an abbreviated regulatory scheme authorizing the FDA to approve generic drugs that are shown to contain the same active ingredients as, and to be bioequivalent to, drugs previously approved by the FDA pursuant to NDAs. To obtain approval of a generic drug, a sponsor must submit an abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, to the FDA. An ANDA is a comprehensive submission that contains, among other things, data and information pertaining to the active pharmaceutical ingredient, bioequivalence, drug product formulation, specifications and stability of the generic drug, as well as analytical methods, manufacturing process validation data and quality control procedures. ANDAs are “abbreviated” because they generally do not include preclinical and clinical data to demonstrate safety and effectiveness. Instead, in support of such applications, a generic manufacturer may rely on the preclinical and clinical testing previously conducted for a drug product previously approved under an NDA, known as the reference-listed drug, or RLD.
Under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments, the FDA may not approve an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application until any applicable period of non-patent exclusivity for the RLD has expired. The FDCA provides a period of five years of regulatory exclusivity for a new drug containing a new chemical entity, or NCE. For the purposes of this provision, an NCE is a drug that contains no active moiety that has previously been approved by the FDA in any other NDA. This interpretation of the FDCA by the FDA was confirmed with enactment of the Ensuring Innovation Act in April 2021. An active moiety is the molecule or ion responsible for the physiological or pharmacological action of the drug substance. In cases where such NCE exclusivity has been granted, an ANDA may not be filed with the FDA until the expiration of five years unless the submission is accompanied by a Paragraph IV certification, in which case the sponsor may submit its application four years following the original product approval. The FDCA also provides for a period of three years of exclusivity if the NDA includes reports of one or more new clinical investigations, other than bioavailability or bioequivalence studies, that were conducted by or for the sponsor and are essential to the approval of the application.
Pediatric Exclusivity
Pediatric exclusivity is another type of non-patent marketing exclusivity in the United States and, if granted, provides for the attachment of an additional six months of regulatory exclusivity. For drug products, the six-month period of exclusivity may be attached to the term of any existing patent or regulatory exclusivity. This six-month exclusivity may be granted if an NDA or BLA sponsor submits pediatric data that fairly respond to a written request from the FDA for such data. The data do not need to show the product to be effective in the pediatric population studied; rather, if the clinical trial is deemed to fairly respond to the FDA’s request, the additional protection is granted. If reports of requested pediatric studies are submitted to and accepted by the FDA within the statutory time limits, whatever statutory or regulatory periods of non-patent exclusivity for drugs and biologics, or patent protection that covers a drug product, are extended by six months. This is not a patent term extension, but it effectively extends the regulatory period during which the FDA cannot approve another application.
Patent Term Restoration and Extension
A patent claiming a new drug product may be eligible for a limited patent term extension under the Hatch- Waxman Act, which permits a patent restoration of up to five years for patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review. The restoration period granted on a patent covering a product is typically one-half the time between the effective date of the
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IND and the submission date of an application, plus the time between the submission date of an application and the ultimate approval date. Patent term restoration cannot be used to extend the remaining term of a patent past a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. Only one patent applicable to an approved product is eligible for the extension, and only those claims covering the approved product, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it, may be extended. Additionally, the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent in question. A patent that covers multiple products for which approval is sought can only be extended in connection with one of the approvals. The United States Patent and Trademark Office reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration in consultation with the FDA.
Healthcare Compliance
In the United States, biopharmaceutical manufacturers and their products are subject to extensive regulation at the federal and state level, such as laws intended to prevent fraud and abuse in the healthcare industry. Healthcare providers and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of pharmaceutical products that are granted marketing approval. Arrangements with providers, consultants, third-party payors, and customers are subject to broadly applicable fraud and abuse, anti-kickback, false claims laws, reporting of payments to healthcare providers and patient privacy laws and regulations and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain our business and/or financial arrangements. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, including certain laws and regulations applicable only if we have marketed products, include the following:
• federal false claims, false statements and civil monetary penalties laws prohibiting, among other things, any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false claim for payment of government funds or knowingly making, or causing to be made, a false statement to get a false claim paid;
• federal healthcare program anti-kickback law, which prohibits, among other things, persons from offering, soliciting, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual for, or the purchasing or ordering of, a good or service for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid;
• the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which, in addition to privacy protections applicable to healthcare providers and other entities, prohibits executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements relating to healthcare matters;
• federal laws that require pharmaceutical manufacturers to report certain calculated product prices to the government or provide certain discounts or rebates to government authorities or private entities, often as a condition of reimbursement under government healthcare programs;
• federal Open Payments (or federal "sunshine" law), which requires pharmaceutical and medical device companies to monitor and report certain financial interactions with certain healthcare providers to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for re-disclosure to the public, as well as ownership and investment interests held by certain healthcare providers and their immediate family members;
• federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers;
• analogous state laws and regulations, including: state anti-kickback and false claims laws; state laws requiring pharmaceutical companies to comply with specific compliance standards, restrict financial interactions between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers or require pharmaceutical companies to report information related to payments to health care providers or marketing expenditures; and state laws governing privacy, security and breaches of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts; and
• laws and regulations prohibiting bribery and corruption such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which, among other things, prohibits U.S. companies and their employees and agents from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to foreign government officials, employees of public international organizations or foreign government-owned or affiliated entities, candidates for foreign public office, and foreign political parties or officials thereof.
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Violations of these laws are punishable by criminal and/or civil sanctions, including, in some instances, exclusion from participation in federal and state health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Ensuring compliance is time consuming and costly. Similar healthcare laws and regulations exist in the EU and other jurisdictions, including reporting requirements detailing interactions with and payments to healthcare providers and laws governing the privacy and security of personal information.
Privacy Requirements
Privacy and data security requirements are either in place or underway in the United States. There are a broad variety of data protection laws that may be applicable to our activities, and a range of enforcement agencies at both the state and federal levels that can review companies for privacy and data security concerns based on general consumer protection laws. The Federal Trade Commission and state Attorneys General are aggressive in reviewing privacy and data security protections for consumers.
New laws also are being considered at both the state and federal levels. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, or the CCPA, which became effective on January 1, 2020, requires companies that process information on California residents to make new disclosures to consumers about their data collection, use and sharing practices, allow consumers to opt out of certain data sharing with third parties and provide a new cause of action for data breaches. Additionally, effective as of January 1, 2023, the California Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, will significantly modify the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights with respect to certain sensitive personal information. The CPRA also creates a new state agency that will be vested with authority to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA. The CCPA and CPRA could impact our business activities depending on how it is interpreted and exemplifies the vulnerability of our business to not only cyber threats but also the evolving regulatory environment related to personal data and individually identifiable health information. These provisions may apply to some of our business activities.
In addition to California, a number of other states have passed comprehensive privacy laws similar to the CCPA and CPRA. Like the CCPA and CPRA, these laws create obligations related to the processing of personal information, as well as special obligations for the processing of “sensitive” data, which includes health data in some cases. Some of the provisions of these laws may apply to our business activities. There are also states that are strongly considering or have already passed comprehensive privacy laws that will go into effect in the near future. Other states will be considering similar laws in the future, and Congress has also been debating passing a federal privacy law. There are also states that are specifically regulating health information that may affect our business. For example, the State of Washington passed the My Health My Data Act in 2023 which specifically regulated health information that is not otherwise regulated by the HIPAA rules, and the law also has a private right of action, which further increases the relevant compliance risk. Some states have also passed similar laws regulating consumer health data, and more states are considering such legislation. These laws may impact our business activities, including our identification of research subjects, relationships with business partners and ultimately the marketing and distribution of our product candidates, if approved.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers are also increasingly using privacy-related statutes at both the state and federal level to bring lawsuits against companies for their data-related practices. In particular, there have been a significant number of cases filed against companies for their use of pixels and other web trackers. These cases often allege violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act and other state laws regulating wiretapping, as well as the federal Video Privacy Protection Act.
Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage and Health Care Reform
In the United States and markets in other countries, patients who are prescribed treatments for their conditions and providers performing the prescribed services generally rely on third-party payers to reimburse all or part of the associated health care costs. Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of products approved by the FDA and other government authorities. Thus, even if a product candidate of ours or one of our collaborators is approved, sales of the product will depend, in part, on the extent to which third-party payers, including government health programs in the United States such as Medicare and Medicaid, commercial health insurers and managed care organizations provide coverage and establish adequate reimbursement levels for the product. The process for determining whether a payer will provide coverage for a product may be separate from the process for setting the price or reimbursement rate that the payer will pay for the product once coverage is approved. Third-party payers are increasingly challenging the prices charged, examining the medical necessity and reviewing the cost-effectiveness of medical products and services and imposing controls to manage costs.
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Third-party payers may limit coverage to specific products on an approved list, also known as a formulary, which might not include all of the approved products for a particular indication.
In order to secure coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for sale, a company may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of the product, in addition to the costs required to obtain FDA or other comparable marketing approvals. Nonetheless, product candidates may not be considered medically necessary or cost effective. A decision by a third-party payer not to cover a product could reduce market acceptance once the product is approved and have a material adverse effect on sales, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, a payer’s decision to provide coverage for a product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Further, one payer’s determination to provide coverage for a product does not assure that other payers will also provide coverage and reimbursement for the product, and the level of coverage and reimbursement can differ significantly from payer to payer.
In international markets, reimbursement and health care payment systems vary significantly by country, and many countries have instituted price ceilings on specific products and therapies. In some countries, the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. To obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product to other available therapies.
The containment of health care costs also has become a priority of federal, state, and foreign governments and the prices of products have been a focus in this effort. Governments have shown significant interest in implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on coverage, reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit a company’s revenue generated from the sale of any approved products including those that we or our collaborators may develop. Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which a company or its collaborators receive marketing approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.
If we obtain approval in the future to market in the United States any product candidates we may develop, we may be required to provide discounts or rebates under government healthcare programs or to certain government and private purchasers in order to obtain coverage under federal healthcare programs such as Medicaid. Participation in such programs may require us to track and report certain drug prices. We may be subject to fines and other penalties if we fail to report such prices accurately.
Outside the United States, ensuring adequate coverage and payment for any product candidates we may develop will face challenges. Pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control in many countries. Pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can extend well beyond the receipt of regulatory marketing approval for a product and may require us to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost effectiveness of any product candidates we may develop to other available therapies. The conduct of such a clinical trial could be expensive and result in delays in our commercialization efforts.
Healthcare Reform
In March 2010, Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act, or the PPACA, which, among other things, includes changes to the coverage and payment for drug products under government health care programs. Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the PPACA was enacted. In August 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, created measures for spending reductions by Congress. A Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with recommending a targeted deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021, was unable to reach required goals, thereby triggering the legislation’s automatic reduction to several government programs. These changes included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of up to two percent per fiscal year, which went into effect in April 2013. Under current legislation, the actual reductions in Medicare payments may vary up to four percent.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in December 2022, made several changes to sequestration of the Medicare program. Section 1001 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act delays the four percent Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, or PAYGO, sequester for two years, through the end of 2024.
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Triggered by enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the four percent cut to the Medicare program would have taken effect in January 2023. The Consolidated Appropriations Act’s health care offset title includes Section 4163, which extends the two percent Budget Control Act of 2011 Medicare sequester for six months into 2032 and lowers the payment reduction percentages in years 2030 and 2031.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. These laws may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding and otherwise affect the prices we may obtain for any of our product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval or the frequency with which any such product candidate is prescribed or used.
Since enactment of the PPACA, there have been, and continue to be, numerous legal challenges and Congressional actions to repeal and replace provisions of the law. For example, the Tax Act repealed the "individual mandate." The repeal of this provision, which requires most Americans to carry a minimal level of health insurance, became effective in 2019. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the most recent judicial challenge to the PPACA after finding that the plaintiffs do not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the PPACA.
During the first Trump Administration, the Congress and administration sought to overturn the PPACA and related measures. Shortly after taking office in January 2025, President Trump revoked a number of executive orders issued by President Biden, including at least two executive orders that were designed to further implement the PPACA. We anticipate similar efforts to undermine the PPACA, and litigation and legislation over the ACA are likely to continue, with unpredictable and uncertain results.
Pharmaceutical Prices
The prices of prescription pharmaceuticals have also been the subject of considerable discussion in the United States. There have been several recent U.S. congressional inquiries, as well as proposed and enacted state and federal legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to pharmaceutical pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reduce the costs of pharmaceuticals under Medicare and Medicaid. In 2020, the Trump administration issued several executive orders intended to lower the costs of prescription products and certain provisions in these orders have been incorporated into regulations. These regulations include an interim final rule implementing a most favored nation model for prices that would tie Medicare Part B payments for certain physician-administered pharmaceuticals to the lowest price paid in other economically advanced countries, effective January 1, 2021. That rule, however, has been subject to a nationwide preliminary injunction and, on December 29, 2021, CMS issued a final rule to rescind it. With issuance of this rule, CMS stated that it will explore all options to incorporate value into payments for Medicare Part B pharmaceuticals and improve beneficiaries' access to evidence-based care.
In addition, in October 2020, HHS and the FDA published a final rule allowing states and other entities to develop a Section 804 Importation Program to import certain prescription drugs from Canada into the United States. That regulation was challenged in a lawsuit by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, but the case was dismissed by a federal district court in February 2023 after the court found that PhRMA did not have standing to sue HHS. Several states have passed legislation establishing workgroups to examine the impact of a state importation program. Several other states have passed laws allowing for the importation of drugs from Canada. Certain of these states have submitted Section 804 Importation Program proposals and are awaiting FDA approval. In January 2024, the FDA approved Florida’s plan for Canadian drug importation. Florida now has authority to import certain products from Canada for a period of two years once certain conditions are met. Florida will first need to submit a pre-import request for each product selected for importation, which must be approved by the FDA. Florida will also need to relabel the products and perform quality testing of the products to meet FDA standards.
Further, on November 20, 2020, HHS finalized a regulation removing safe harbor protection for price reductions from pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan sponsors under Part D, either directly or through pharmacy benefit managers, unless the price reduction is required by law. The final rule would eliminate the current safe harbor for Medicare drug rebates and create new safe harbors for beneficiary point-of-sale discounts and pharmacy benefit manager service fees. It originally was set to go into effect on January 1, 2022, but with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, has been delayed by Congress to January 1, 2032.
The IRA has implications for Medicare Part D, which is a program available to individuals who are entitled to Medicare Part A or enrolled in Medicare Part B to give them the option of paying a monthly premium for outpatient
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prescription drug coverage. Among other things, the IRA requires manufacturers of certain drugs to engage in price negotiations with Medicare (beginning in 2026), with prices that can be negotiated subject to a cap; imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation (first due in 2023); and replaces the Part D coverage gap discount program with a new discounting program (beginning in 2025). The IRA permits the Secretary of HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years.
Specifically, with respect to price negotiations, Congress authorized Medicare to negotiate lower prices for certain costly single-source drug and biologic products that do not have competing generics or biosimilars and are reimbursed under Medicare Part B and Part D. CMS may negotiate prices for ten high-cost drugs paid for by Medicare Part D starting in 2026, followed by 15 Part D drugs in 2027, 15 Part B or Part D drugs in 2028, and 20 Part B or Part D drugs in 2029 and beyond. This provision applies to drug products that have been approved for at least 9 years and biologics that have been licensed for 13 years. Drugs and biologics that have been approved for a single rare disease or condition were originally categorically excluded from price negotiation. With passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, Congress extended this exemption to drugs and biologics with multiple orphan drug designations. In August 2024, the HHS published the results of the first Medicare drug price negotiations for ten selected drugs that treat a range of conditions, including diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. The prices of these ten drugs became effective January 1, 2026. On January 17, 2025, CMS announced its selection of 15 additional drugs covered by Part D for the second cycle of negotiations. Following the change in administrations, CMS issued a public statement on January 29, 2025, declaring that lowering the cost of prescription drugs is a top priority of the new administration and CMS is committed to considering opportunities to bring greater transparency in the negotiation program. The second cycle of negotiations with participating drug companies occurred during 2025, and any negotiated prices for this second set of drugs will be effective starting January 1, 2027.
Further, the legislation subjects drug manufacturers to civil monetary penalties and a potential excise tax for failing to comply with the legislation by offering a price that is not equal to or less than the negotiated "maximum fair price" under the law or for taking price increases that exceed inflation. In addition to the drug price negotiation program, the IRA established inflation rebate programs under Medicare Part B and Part D. These programs require manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare if they raise their prices for certain Part B and Part D drugs faster than the rate of inflation. On December 9, 2024, with issuance of its 2025 Physician Fee Schedule final regulation, CMS finalized its rules governing the IRA inflation rebate programs. The new law also caps Medicare out-of-pocket drug costs at an estimated $2,000 beginning in 2025.
In June 2023, Merck filed a lawsuit against HHS and CMS asserting that, among other things, the IRA’s Drug Price Negotiation Program for Medicare constitutes an uncompensated taking in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. Subsequently, a number of other parties, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and pharmaceutical companies, also filed lawsuits in various courts with similar constitutional claims against HHS and CMS. HHS has generally won the substantive disputes in these cases, and various federal district court judges have expressed skepticism regarding the merits of the legal arguments being pursued by the pharmaceutical industry. In October 2024, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral argument in three of these cases, and in April 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard arguments in an additional three cases. In May 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected a challenge to the Medicare price negotiation program, finding that the program did not violate the company’s due process rights under the Constitution since there is no protected property interest in selling goods to Medicare beneficiaries at a price higher than what the government is willing to pay in reimbursement. Litigation involving these and other provisions of the IRA will continue with unpredictable and uncertain results.
In April 2025, President Trump issued an executive order which directs HHS to take steps to reduce the prices of pharmaceutical products. The executive order repeats many of the proposals advanced during the first Trump Administration, including directing the FDA to streamline and improve its existing drug importation program so as to make it easier for states to obtain approval without sacrificing the safety or quality of drug products. Other provisions of the executive order relate to the 340B drug discount program. Specifically, one provision calls on the Secretary of HHS to determine the hospital acquisition cost for covered outpatient drugs at hospital outpatient departments and to consider and propose any appropriate adjustments for Medicare payment. With respect to the IRA’s Medicare drug pricing program, the executive order, among other things, calls for alignment in “the treatment of small molecule prescription drugs with that of biological products, ending the distortion that undermines relative investment in small molecule prescription drugs, coupled with other reforms to prevent any increase in overall costs to Medicare and its beneficiaries.”
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Further, in May 2025, President Trump issued an additional executive order calling on pharmaceutical manufacturers to voluntarily reduce the prices of medicines in the United States. The executive order directs the Secretary of HHS to communicate most-favored-nation, or MFN, price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring prices in line with comparably developed nations. The executive order further provides that if such actions do not lower the costs of pharmaceuticals, the Secretary of HHS would pursue other actions, including proposing a rulemaking that imposes MFN pricing in the United States. Subsequently, HHS indicated that the proposed MFN pricing will apply only to brand products without generic or biosimilar competition and the referenced foreign countries will include only those in which the branded product similarly does not have generic or biosimilar competition. HHS also indicated that the MFN target price will be the lowest price in a country that is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, with a gross domestic product per capita of at least 60% of the U.S. gross domestic product per capita. Based on previous estimates, there are likely at least 22 OECD countries that would satisfy this criterion. The implications of these actions remain unclear and could result in litigation.
More recently, in July 2025, the President issued letters to 17 pharmaceutical companies reiterating the requirements of the May 2025 executive order and demanding that such companies extend MFN pricing to Medicaid patients, guarantee MFN pricing for newly-launched drug products, repatriate increased revenues earned abroad to lower prices for American patients and provide for direct purchasing at MFN pricing. The letters also urged these companies to stipulate that they will not offer other developed nations lower prices for new drugs than the prices offered for such products in the United States. The letters called for engagement with the FDA and CMS within 60 days to implement these changes and threatened to take action to address what the letters characterized as “abusive drug pricing practices.” Subsequently, the Trump administration has announced deals with nearly all such pharmaceutical companies to reduce the costs of drugs.
At the state level, individual states are increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. A number of states, for example, require drug manufacturers and other entities in the drug supply chain, including health carriers, pharmacy benefit managers, wholesale distributors, to disclose information about pricing of pharmaceuticals. In addition, regional healthcare organizations and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription pharmaceutical and other healthcare programs. Additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures. This is increasingly true with respect to products approved pursuant to the accelerated approval pathway. State Medicaid programs and other payers are developing strategies and implementing significant coverage barriers, or refusing to cover these products outright, arguing that accelerated approval drugs have insufficient or limited evidence despite meeting the FDA’s standards for accelerated approval.
Review and Approval of Medicinal Products in the European Union
In order to market any product outside of the United States, a sponsor must also comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries and jurisdictions regarding quality, safety, and efficacy and governing, among other things, clinical trials, marketing authorization, commercial sales, and distribution of products. Whether or not it obtains FDA approval for a product, a sponsor will need to obtain the necessary approvals by the comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities before it can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries or jurisdictions. The approval process ultimately varies between countries and jurisdictions and can involve additional product testing and additional administrative review periods. The time required to obtain approval in other countries and jurisdictions might differ from and be longer than that required to obtain FDA approval.
Regulatory approval in one country or jurisdiction does not ensure regulatory approval in another, but a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one country or jurisdiction may negatively impact the regulatory process in others. The process governing approval of medicinal products in the European Union generally follows the same lines as in the United States. It entails satisfactory completion of preclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the product for each proposed indication. It also requires the submission to the relevant competent authorities of a marketing authorization application, or MAA, and granting of a marketing authorization by these authorities before the product can be marketed and sold in the European Union.
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Preclinical Studies
Non-clinical studies are performed to demonstrate the health or environmental safety of new chemical or biological substances. Non-clinical (pharmaco-toxicological) studies must be conducted in compliance with GLP principles as set forth in EU Directive 2004/10/EC (unless otherwise justified for certain particular medicinal products – e.g., radio-pharmaceutical precursors for radio-labeling purposes). In particular, non-clinical studies, both in vitro and in vivo , must be planned, performed, monitored, recorded, reported and archived in accordance with the GLP principles, which define a set of rules and criteria for a quality system for the organizational process and the conditions for non-clinical studies. These GLP standards reflect the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development requirements.
Clinical Trial Approval
On January 31, 2022, the new Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014, or the Clinical Trials Regulation, became effective in the European Union and replaced the prior Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC, or the Clinical Trials Directive. The Clinical Trials Regulation aims at simplifying and streamlining the authorization, conduct and transparency of clinical trials in the European Union. Under the new coordinated procedure for the approval of clinical trials, the sponsor of a clinical trial to be conducted in more than one member state of the European Union, or EU Member State, will only be required to submit a single application for approval. The submission will be made through the Clinical Trials Information System, a new clinical trials portal overseen by the European Medicines Agency, or the EMA, and available to clinical trial sponsors, competent authorities of the EU Member States and the public.
All ongoing clinical trials in the European Union approved under the prior Clinical Trials Directive, or CTD, must be transitioned to the Clinical Trials Information System by January 31, 2025. This date marks the end of a three-year transition period that began when the Clinical Trials Regulation became applicable in the European Union on January 31, 2022. Clinical trials that were started under the Clinical Trials Directive and subject to transition to the Clinical Trials Regulation will, by January 31, 2025, have to comply with the obligations of the Clinical Trials Regulation even if these are not included in the previous study protocol, such as (i) obligations of notification via Clinical Trials Information System; (ii) safety reporting rules; (iii) archiving requirement; and (iv) transparency requirements. The failure to transition ongoing clinical trials to the Clinical Trials Regulation by January 31, 2025 can result in corrective measures under Article 77 Clinical Trials Regulation, including revocation of the authorization of the clinical trial or suspension of the clinical trial as well as criminal sanctions and fines under national law of EU Member States.
Beyond streamlining the process, the Clinical Trials Regulation includes a single set of documents to be prepared and submitted for the application as well as simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors, and a harmonized procedure for the assessment of applications for clinical trials, which is divided in two parts. Part I is assessed by the competent authorities of all EU Member States in which an application for authorization of a clinical trial has been submitted (EU Member States concerned). Part II is assessed separately by each EU Member State concerned. Strict deadlines have been established for the assessment of clinical trial applications. The role of the relevant ethics committees in the assessment procedure will continue to be governed by the national law of the concerned EU Member State. However, overall related timelines will be defined by the Clinical Trials Regulation.
The Clinical Trials Regulation did not change the preexisting requirement that a sponsor must obtain prior approval from the competent national authority of the EU Member State in which the clinical trial is to be conducted. If the clinical trial is conducted in different EU Member States, the competent authorities in each of these EU Member States must provide their approval for the conduct of the clinical trial. Furthermore, the sponsor may only start a clinical trial at a specific study site after the applicable ethics committee has issued a favorable opinion.
Parties conducting certain clinical trials must, as in the United States, post clinical trial information in the EU at the EU Clinical Trials Register.
PRIME Designation in the European Union
In March 2016, the EMA launched an initiative to facilitate development of product candidates in indications, often rare, for which few or no therapies currently exist. The PRIority MEdicines, or PRIME, scheme is intended to encourage drug development in areas of unmet medical need and provides accelerated assessment of products representing substantial innovation reviewed under the centralized procedure. Products from small- and medium-sized enterprises may qualify for earlier entry into the PRIME scheme than larger companies. Many benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and accelerated marketing
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authorization application assessment once a dossier has been submitted. Importantly, a dedicated agency contact and rapporteur from the Committee for Human Medicinal Products, or CHMP, or Committee for Advanced Therapies are appointed early in PRIME scheme facilitating increased understanding of the product at EMA’s committee level. A kick-off meeting initiates these relationships and includes a team of multidisciplinary experts at the EMA to provide guidance on the overall development and regulatory strategies.
Marketing Authorization
To obtain a marketing authorization for a product under European Union regulatory systems, a sponsor must submit a marketing authorization application, or MAA, either under a centralized procedure administered by the EMA, or one of the procedures administered by competent authorities in the EU Member States (decentralized procedure, national procedure or mutual recognition procedure). A marketing authorization may be granted only to a sponsor established in the European Union. Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006 provides that prior to obtaining a marketing authorization in the European Union, sponsors have to demonstrate compliance with all measures included in an EMA-approved Paediatric Investigation Plan, or PIP, covering all subsets of the pediatric population, unless the EMA has granted (1) a product-specific waiver, (2) a class waiver, or (3) a deferral for one or more of the measures included in the PIP.
The centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization by the European Commission that is valid across the European Economic Area (i.e. the European Union as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), or the EEA. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004, the centralized procedure is compulsory for specific products, including for medicines produced by certain biotechnological processes, products designated as orphan medicinal products, advanced therapy medicinal products, and products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases. For products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of other diseases and products that are highly innovative or for which a centralized process is in the interest of patients, the centralized procedure may be optional. The centralized procedure may at the request of the sponsor also be used in certain other cases.
Under the centralized procedure, the CHMP is responsible for conducting the initial assessment of a product and for several post-authorization and maintenance activities, such as the assessment of modifications or extensions to an existing marketing authorization. Under the centralized procedure in the European Union, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA is 210 days, excluding clock stops, when additional information or written or oral explanation is to be provided by the sponsor in response to questions of the CHMP. Accelerated evaluation might be granted by the CHMP in exceptional cases, when a medicinal product is of major interest from the point of view of public health and in particular from the viewpoint of therapeutic innovation. If the CHMP accepts such request, the time limit of 210 days will be reduced to 150 days but it is possible that the CHMP can revert to the standard time limit for the centralized procedure if it considers that it is no longer appropriate to conduct an accelerated assessment. At the end of this period, the CHMP provides a scientific opinion on whether or not a marketing authorization should be granted in relation to a medicinal product. Within 15 calendar days of receipt of a final opinion from the CHMP, the European Commission must prepare a draft decision concerning an application for marketing authorization. This draft decision must take the opinion and any relevant provisions of European Union law into account. Before arriving at a final decision on an application for centralized authorization of a medicinal product the European Commission must consult the Standing Committee on Medicinal Products for Human Use, or the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee is composed of representatives of the EU Member States and chaired by a non-voting European Commission representative. The European Parliament also has a related "droit de regard". The European Parliament’s role is to ensure that the European Commission has not exceeded its powers in deciding to grant or refuse to grant a marketing authorization.
Exceptional Circumstances
The European Commission may grant a so-called "marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances". Such authorization is intended for products for which the sponsor can demonstrate that it is unable to provide comprehensive data on the efficacy and safety under normal conditions of use, because the indications for which the product in question is intended are encountered so rarely that the sponsor cannot reasonably be expected to provide comprehensive evidence, or in the present state of scientific knowledge, comprehensive information cannot be provided, or it would be contrary to generally accepted principles of medical ethics to collect such information. Consequently, marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances may be granted subject to certain specific obligations, which may include the following:
• the sponsor must complete an identified program of studies within a time period specified by the competent authority, the results of which form the basis of a reassessment of the benefit/risk profile;
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• the medicinal product in question may be supplied on medical prescription only and may in certain cases be administered only under strict medical supervision, possibly in a hospital and in the case of a radiopharmaceutical, by an authorized person; and
• the package leaflet and any medical information must draw the attention of the medical practitioner to the fact that the particulars available concerning the medicinal product in question are as yet inadequate in certain specified respects.
A marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances is subject to annual review to reassess the risk- benefit balance in an annual reassessment procedure. Continuation of the authorization is linked to the annual reassessment and a negative assessment could potentially result in the marketing authorization being suspended or revoked. The renewal of a marketing authorization of a medicinal product under exceptional circumstances, however, follows the same rules as a "normal" marketing authorization. Thus, a marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances is granted for an initial five years, after which the authorization will become valid indefinitely, unless the EMA decides that safety grounds merit one additional five-year renewal.
Conditional Marketing Authorization
The European Commission may also grant a so-called "conditional marketing authorization" prior to obtaining the comprehensive clinical data required for an application for a full marketing authorization. Such conditional marketing authorizations may be granted for product candidates (including medicines designated as orphan medicinal products), if (i) the risk-benefit balance of the product candidate is positive, (ii) it is likely that the sponsor will be in a position to provide the required comprehensive clinical trial data, (iii) the product fulfills an unmet medical need, and (iv) the benefit to public health of the immediate availability on the market of the medicinal product concerned outweighs the risk inherent in the fact that additional data are still required. A conditional marketing authorization may contain specific obligations to be fulfilled by the marketing authorization holder, including obligations with respect to the completion of ongoing or new studies, and with respect to the collection of pharmacovigilance data. Conditional marketing authorizations are valid for one year, and may be renewed annually, if the risk-benefit balance remains positive, and after an assessment of the need for additional or modified conditions and/or specific obligations. The timelines for the centralized procedure described above also apply with respect to the review by the CHMP of applications for a conditional marketing authorization.
The European Union medicines rules expressly permit the EU Member States to adopt national legislation prohibiting or restricting the sale, supply or use of any medicinal product containing, consisting of or derived from a specific type of human or animal cell, such as embryonic stem cells. While the products we have in development do not make use of embryonic stem cells, it is possible that the national laws in certain EU Member States may prohibit or restrict us from commercializing our products, even if they have been granted a European Union marketing authorization.
Unlike the centralized authorization procedure, the decentralized marketing authorization procedure requires a separate application to, and leads to separate approval by, the competent authorities of each EU Member State in which the product is to be marketed. This application is identical to the application that would be submitted to the EMA for authorization through the centralized procedure. The reference EU Member State prepares a draft assessment and drafts of the related materials within 120 days after receipt of a valid application. The resulting assessment report is submitted to the concerned EU Member States who, within 90 days of receipt, must decide whether to approve the assessment report and related materials. If a concerned EU Member State cannot approve the assessment report and related materials due to concerns relating to a potential serious risk to public health, disputed elements may be referred to the European Commission, whose decision is binding on all EU Member States.
The mutual recognition procedure similarly is based on the acceptance by the competent authorities of the EU Member States of the marketing authorization of a medicinal product by the competent authorities of other EU Member States. The holder of a national marketing authorization may submit an application to the competent authority of an EU Member State requesting that this authority recognize the marketing authorization delivered by the competent authority of another EU Member State.
As in the United States, information about clinical trials in support of a marketing application must be submitted within specific timeframes to the European Union (EudraCT) website: https://eudract.ema.europa.eu/ and other countries.
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Regulatory Data Protection in the European Union
In the European Union, innovative medicinal products approved on the basis of a complete independent data package qualify for eight years of data exclusivity upon marketing authorization and an additional two years of market exclusivity pursuant to Directive 2001/83/EC. Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 repeats this entitlement for medicinal products authorized in accordance with the centralized authorization procedure. Data exclusivity prevents sponsors for authorization of generics of these innovative products from referencing the innovator’s data to assess a generic (abridged) application for a period of eight years. During an additional two-year period of market exclusivity, a generic marketing authorization application can be submitted and authorized, and the innovator’s data may be referenced, but no generic medicinal product can be placed on the European Union market until the expiration of the market exclusivity. The overall ten-year period will be extended to a maximum of 11 years if, during the first eight years of those ten years, the marketing authorization holder obtains an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization, are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies. Even if a compound is considered to be a new chemical entity so that the innovator gains the prescribed period of data exclusivity, another company nevertheless could also market another version of the product if such company obtained marketing authorization based on an MAA with a complete independent data package of pharmaceutical tests, preclinical tests, and clinical trials.
The European Union pharmaceutical legislation is currently undergoing a complete review process, in the context of the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe initiative, launched by the European Commission in November 2020. The European Commission’s proposal for revision of several legislative instruments related to medicinal products was published in April 2023 and includes, among other things, provisions that would potentially reduce the duration of regulatory data protection. In December 2025, the European Parliament and European Council reached a provisional political agreement on the revision of EU pharmaceutical legislation, which is expected to be adopted by mid-2026. Key changes include updating regulatory data exclusivity to a new system with a regulatory data protection period of eight years and a reduced market exclusivity period of one year (which can be extended if specific conditions are fulfilled), adding launch/supply obligations, incentivizing antibiotic innovation with transferable vouchers, and streamlining approval procedures in the European Union. If the legislation is finalized in line with the provisional political agreement, it will have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry.
Periods of Authorization and Renewals
A marketing authorization has an initial validity for five years in principle. The marketing authorization may be renewed after five years on the basis of a re-evaluation of the risk-benefit balance by the EMA or by the competent authority of the EU Member State. To this end, the marketing authorization holder must provide the EMA or the competent authority with a consolidated version of the file in respect of quality, safety, and efficacy, including all variations introduced since the marketing authorization was granted, at least six months before the marketing authorization ceases to be valid. The European Commission or the competent authorities of the EU Member States may decide, on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with one further five-year period of marketing authorization. Once subsequently definitively renewed, the marketing authorization shall be valid for an unlimited period. Any authorization which is not followed by the actual placing of the medicinal product on the European Union market (in case of centralized procedure) or on the market of the authorizing EU Member State within three years after authorization ceases to be valid.
Regulatory Requirements after Marketing Authorization
Following approval, the holder of the marketing authorization is required to comply with a range of requirements applicable to the manufacturing, marketing, promotion and sale of the medicinal product. These include compliance with the European Union’s stringent pharmacovigilance or safety reporting rules, pursuant to which post-authorization studies and additional monitoring obligations can be imposed. In addition, the manufacturing of authorized products, for which a separate manufacturer’s license is mandatory, must also be conducted in strict compliance with the EMA’s GMP requirements and comparable requirements of other regulatory bodies in the European Union, which mandate the methods, facilities and controls used in manufacturing, processing and packing of drugs to assure their safety and identity. Finally, the marketing and promotion of authorized products, including industry-sponsored continuing medical education and advertising directed toward the prescribers of drugs and/or the general public, are strictly regulated in the European Union under Directive 2001/83EC, as amended.
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Pricing Decisions for Approved Products
In the European Union, pricing and reimbursement schemes vary widely from country to country. Some countries provide that products may be marketed only after a reimbursement price has been agreed. Some countries may require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular product candidate to currently available therapies or so-called health technology assessments, in order to obtain reimbursement or pricing approval. For example, EU Member States have the option to restrict the range of products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement and to control the prices of medicinal products for human use. EU Member States may approve a specific price for a product or it may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the product on the market. Other EU Member States allow companies to fix their own prices for products, but monitor and control prescription volumes and issue guidance to physicians to limit prescriptions. Recently, many countries in the European Union have increased the amount of discounts required on pharmaceuticals and these efforts could continue as countries attempt to manage health care expenditures, especially in light of the severe fiscal and debt crises experienced by many countries in the European Union. The downward pressure on health care costs in general, particularly prescription products, has become intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products. Political, economic, and regulatory developments may further complicate pricing negotiations, and pricing negotiations may continue after reimbursement has been obtained. Reference pricing used by various EU Member States, and parallel trade, i.e., arbitrage between low-priced and high-priced EU Member States, can further reduce prices. There can be no assurance that any country that has price controls or reimbursement limitations for pharmaceutical products will allow favorable reimbursement and pricing arrangements for any products, if approved in those countries.
General Data Protection Regulation
Many countries outside of the United States maintain rigorous laws governing the privacy and security of personal information. The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is wide-ranging in scope and imposes numerous requirements on companies that process personal data, including heightened requirements on companies that process health and other sensitive data, such as requiring in many situations that a company obtain the consent of the individuals to whom the sensitive personal data relate before processing such data. Examples of obligations imposed by the GDPR on companies processing personal data that fall within the scope of the GDPR include providing information to individuals regarding data processing activities, implementing safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data, appointing a data protection officer, providing notification of data breaches and taking certain measures when engaging third-party processors.
The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data to countries outside the EEA, including the United States, and permits data protection authorities to impose large penalties for violations of the GDPR, including potential fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global revenues, whichever is greater. The GDPR also confers a private right of action on data subjects and consumer associations to lodge complaints with supervisory authorities, seek judicial remedies, and obtain compensation for damages resulting from violations of the GDPR. Compliance with the GDPR is a rigorous and time-intensive process that may increase the cost of doing business or require companies to change their business practices to ensure full compliance. In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, or the CJEU, invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, one of the mechanisms used to legitimize the transfer of personal data from the EEA to the United States. The CJEU decision also drew into question the long-term viability of an alternative means of data transfer, the standard contractual clauses, for transfers of personal data from the EEA to the United States.
Additionally, in October 2022, President Biden signed an executive order to implement the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which would serve as a replacement to the EU-US Privacy Shield. The European Commission adopted the adequacy decision in July 2023. The adequacy decision permits U.S. companies who self-certify to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework to rely on it as a valid data transfer mechanism for data transfers from the European Union to the United States. However, some privacy advocacy groups have already suggested that they will be challenging the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. There is currently one pending litigation against the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework before the CJEU.If these challenges are successful, they may not only impact the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, but also further limit the viability of the standard contractual clauses and other data transfer mechanisms.
Brexit and the Regulatory Framework in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, commonly referred to as Brexit, took place on January 31, 2020. The EU and the United Kingdom reached an agreement on their new partnership in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which entered into force on May 1, 2021. As of January 1, 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, or the MHRA, became responsible for supervising medicines and medical devices in Great Britain, comprising
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England, Scotland and Wales under domestic law, whereas Northern Ireland continues to be subject to EU rules under the Northern Ireland Protocol, as amended by the so called Windsor Framework agreed in February 2023. As of January 1, 2025, the changes introduced by the Windsor Framework resulted in the MHRA being responsible for approving all medicinal products destined for the United Kingdom market (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), and the EMA will no longer have any role in approving medicinal products destined for Northern Ireland. The MHRA relies on the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/1916) (as amended), or the HMR, as the basis for regulating medicines. The HMR has incorporated into the domestic law the body of EU law instruments governing medicinal products that pre-existed prior to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU.
As of January 1, 2024 on, a new international recognition procedure, or IRP, applies which intends to facilitate approval of pharmaceutical products in the UK. The IRP is open to applicants that have already received an authorization for the same product from one of the MHRA’s specified Reference Regulators, or RRs. The RRs notably include EMA and regulators in the EEA member states for approvals in the EU centralized procedure and mutual recognition procedure as well as the FDA (for product approvals granted in the U.S.).The RR assessment must have undergone a full and standalone review. RR assessments based on reliance or recognition cannot be used to support an IRP application. A CHMP positive opinion or an MRDC positive end of procedure outcome is an RR authorisation for the purposes of IRP.
Human Capital
As of February 3, 2026, we had 850 full-time employees, including a total of 363 employees with Ph.D. degrees. Of these full-time employees, 587 are located in the United States and 263 are located in our offices outside of the United States. Additionally, as of February 3, 2026, 32% of our full-time employees self-identified as female, 0.6% self-identified as non-binary, and 5.4% chose not to disclose their gender, and 25% of our executive team self-identified as female. Further, 28.6% of our new hires since January 1, 2026 self-identify as female, 0% self-identify as non-binary, and 42.9% have chosen not to disclose their gender. As of February 3, 2026, 54.9% of our full-time employees in the United States self-identified as White, 29.3% self-identified as Asian, 4.1% self-identified as having two or more races, 3.9% self-identified as Black or African American, 3.4% self-identified as Hispanic or Latino, 0.2% self-identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.2% self-identified as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 4.1% chose not to disclose their race or ethnicity. Our employees are our greatest asset and we strive to create a work environment that is inclusive, challenging and rewarding.
We are committed to embedding a long-term, formal environmental, social, and governance strategy within our business, a commitment we refer to as Corporate Sustainability. In 2022, we completed a "double materiality assessment," where we worked to determine the sustainability-related topics most important to both our company and our stakeholders. The assessment was informed by both internal and external stakeholders and by key standards and frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This assessment serves as the foundation for our annual Corporate Sustainability Report and continues to serve as the foundation for our comprehensive, data-driven, Corporate Sustainability strategy.
Our workplace philosophy is focused on maintaining an inclusive workplace for employees with a wide range of perspectives, experiences and backgrounds, and ensuring that our employees feel safe, heard, comfortable, and valued. We continue to focus many of our recruiting efforts on attracting a broad candidate pipeline of top talent in the science and technology industries. Further, we utilize a standardized interviewing model to promote equal opportunity and consistency in our hiring process across our open positions.
A selected group of senior leaders, employee resource group representatives and passionate employees meet monthly to discuss strategy, priorities, and goals for best supporting our workforce. These forums provide an environment for community support, professional development, and educational opportunities for our entire employee population.
In an industry known for its fierce competition for talent, we have been able to maintain high retention and low turnover rates. For the year ended December 31, 2025, our employee retention rate was 87.7%.
Given our financial resources, our industry-leading position in the field of physics-based computational drug discovery and materials science research and our developing proprietary drug discovery programs, we believe that we will continue to be able to fill open positions in support of our software, drug discovery and materials science businesses.
We strategically recruit talent through various methods. Prospective employees are identified by leveraging our current employee network and our existing and growing relationships with computational chemistry professors and labs,
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and by hosting networking events. We maintain a strong presence at industry conferences and post job openings to industry-specific online career forums. Employee learning and development is a high priority for our company, and we believe it is essential for its growth and success. We offer employees cross-departmental rotations, leadership training and workshops, mentoring and reverse-mentoring programs and online learning with curated learning paths.
We are committed to providing our employees with compensation that meets the expectations of the market and industry norms. We monitor our compensation programs closely using comprehensive industry surveys and data to guide us, and we provide what we consider to be a competitive mix of incentives, including competitive salaries and bonuses, a 401(k) retirement plan with an employer matching contribution, participation in our equity programs, and health and welfare benefits, including, for example, access to a variety of mental health, family care, and reproductive health benefits for our employees based in the United States. Consistent with our commitment to equal opportunity and non-discrimination, we routinely review our compensation practices and analyze our compensation decisions for all employees. A small number of our employees who are located in Europe and Japan are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.
We recognize the value of in-person collaboration and relationship building while also being mindful of the needs and priorities our employees have outside of the workplace. We have long supported a hybrid work schedule, and our employees have the option of working remotely three days per week. This allows our employees to develop a work schedule that best suits their individual needs.
Our company culture encourages engagement, both among our employees and within the communities we live and work. Internally, we have a well-regarded mentorship program and learning opportunities for hard and soft skills. We also have a variety of communications channels that allow employees to stay informed and connected, and an annual performance review process that emphasizes regular connections and real-time feedback between employees and managers. In our local communities, we are focused on giving back through educational outreach to students and educators to increase awareness, interest and literacy for students in STEM, among other social impact areas of focus. To further our community engagement efforts, we provide an annual paid volunteer day benefit and matching gift program and we have established a social impact platform to provide employees access to local volunteer opportunities in various local currencies and languages.
Our Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 1540 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10036, and our telephone number is (212) 295-5800. Our website address is www.schrodinger.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC and any reference to our website address is intended to be an inactive textual reference only.
We own or have rights to trademarks, service marks, and trade names that we use in connection with the operation of our business, including our corporate name, logos and website names. Other trademarks, service marks, and trade names appearing in this Annual Report are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, some of the trademarks, service marks, and trade names referred to in this Annual Report are listed without the ® and ™ symbols.
Available Information
We make available free of charge through our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. We make these reports available through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the SEC. We also make available, free of charge on our website, the reports filed with the SEC by our executive officers, directors and 10% stockholders pursuant to Section 16 under the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after copies of those filings are provided to us by those persons.
We may also disclose information to the public concerning our software, drug discovery programs, computational platform and other items through a variety of disclosure channels in order to achieve broad, non-exclusionary distribution of information to the public. Some of the information distributed through these disclosure channels may be considered material information. Investors and others are encouraged to review the information we make public in the locations below. This list may be updated from time to time.
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• For information concerning our software, drug discovery programs, and computational platform, please visit: www.schrodinger.com.
• For information provided to the investment community, including news releases, events and presentations, and filings with the SEC, please visit ir.schrodinger.com.
• For additional information, please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, or visit our blog, Extrapolations.com.
These websites and social media channels, and the contents thereof, are not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report nor deemed filed with the SEC.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report and our other public filings with the SEC. The risks described below are not the only risks facing our company. The occurrence of any of the following risks, or of additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial, could cause our business, prospects, operating results, and financial condition to suffer materially.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
We have a history of significant operating losses, and we expect to incur losses over the next several years.
We have a history of significant operating losses. Our net losses for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 were $103.3 million and $187.1 million, respectively. Our net income for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $40.7 million. As of December 31, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $628.8 million. The net income we generated in the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to the gain recorded on the $147.2 million cash distributions we received from Nimbus on account of our equity stake in Nimbus, following the acquisition by Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company, Limited, or Takeda, of Nimbus Lakshmi, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nimbus, and its TYK2 inhibitor NDI-034858 and the non-cash gain on our investment in Structure Therapeutics Inc., or Structure Therapeutics, which, following Structure Therapeutics' initial public offering in February 2023, we valued based on the closing price of its American Depositary Shares as of December 31, 2023. However, the potential for future distributions from, or gains in the fair value of, our equity stakes in our drug discovery collaborators are difficult to predict due to the inherent uncertainty of the events which may trigger such distributions or gains. We therefore expect that gain or loss on equity investments and fair value gains and losses will fluctuate significantly in future periods.
We anticipate that our operating expenses will increase in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in our proprietary drug discovery programs, sales and marketing infrastructure, and our computational platform. We are still in the early stages of development of our own proprietary drug discovery programs. We have no drug products approved or licensed for commercial sale, and as such, have not generated any revenue from our own drug product sales to date. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses over the next several years. Our operating expenses and net income or loss may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year and you should not rely upon the results of any quarterly or annual periods as indications of future results. We anticipate that our expenses will increase if and as we:
• continue to invest in and develop our computational platform and software solutions;
• continue our research and development efforts for our proprietary drug discovery programs;
• conduct preclinical studies and conduct clinical trials for any of our product candidates;
• prepare and make regulatory submissions for any of our product candidates;
• maintain, expand, enforce, defend, and protect our intellectual property;
• hire additional software engineers, programmers, sales and marketing, and other personnel to support our software business and other commercial operations;
• hire additional clinical, quality control, regulatory, chemical, manufacturing and control and other scientific personnel; and
• add operational, financial, and management information systems and personnel to support our operations as a public company.
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If we are unable to increase sales of our software, increase revenue from our drug discovery collaborations, or if we and our current and future collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize drug products, our revenues may be insufficient for us to achieve or maintain profitability.
To achieve and maintain profitability, we must succeed in significantly increasing our software sales and increasing revenue from our drug discovery collaborations, or we and our current or future collaborators must succeed in developing, and eventually commercializing, a drug product or drug products that generate significant revenue. We currently generate revenues from the sales of our software solutions and from achieving milestones under our collaborative drug discovery programs, and we expect to continue to derive most of our revenue from sales of our software and from achieving such milestones until such time as our or our collaborators’ drug development and commercialization efforts are successful, if ever. As such, increasing sales of our software to existing customers, successfully marketing our software to new customers, and achieving milestones under our drug discovery collaborations are critical to our success. Demand for our software solutions may be affected by a number of factors, including continued market acceptance by the biopharmaceutical industry, market adoption of our software solutions beyond the biopharmaceutical industry including for materials science applications, the ability of our platform to identify more promising molecules and accelerate and lower the costs of discovery as compared to traditional methods, timing of development and release of new offerings by our competitors, technological change, and the rate of growth in our target markets. If we are unable to continue to meet the demands of our customers, our business operations, financial results, and growth prospects will be adversely affected.
Achieving success in drug development will require us or our current or future collaborators to be effective in a range of challenging activities, including completing preclinical testing and clinical trials of product candidates, obtaining regulatory approval for these product candidates and manufacturing, marketing, and selling any products for which we or they may obtain regulatory approval. We are only in the early stages of most of these activities, and none of our current drug discovery collaborators have completed clinical development of any product candidate. We and our drug discovery collaborators may never succeed in these activities and, even if we do, we may never generate revenues that are significant enough to achieve and sustain profitability, or even if our collaborators do, we may not receive option fees, milestone payments, or royalties from them that are significant enough for us to achieve and sustain profitability. Because of the intense competition in the market for our software solutions and the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with biopharmaceutical product development, we are unable to accurately predict when, or if, we will be able to achieve or sustain profitability.
Even if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would depress the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, maintain our research and development efforts, increase sales of our software, develop a pipeline of product candidates, enter into collaborations, or even continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause our stockholders to lose all or part of their investment.
Our revenue has and may continue to fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year. For example, our total revenues increased by 23% from $207.5 million in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 to $255.9 million in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, and decreased by 4% from $216.7 million in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 to $207.5 million in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024. Although we have experienced revenue growth in certain periods, we have also experienced a decline in revenue in certain periods, and we may not be able to sustain revenue growth and we may experience certain periods of revenue decline. You should not consider our revenue growth in prior periods as indicative of our future performance. As we grow our business, our revenue growth rates may slow in future periods.
Our quarterly and annual results may fluctuate significantly, which could adversely impact the value of our common stock.
Our results of operations, including our revenues, gross margin, profitability, and cash flows, have historically varied from period to period, and we expect that they will continue to do so. As a result, period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful, and our quarterly and annual results should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Our quarterly and annual financial results may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. Factors that may cause fluctuations in our quarterly and annual financial results include, without limitation, those listed elsewhere in this "Risk Factors" section and those listed below:
• customer renewal rates and the timing and terms of customer renewals, including the seasonality of customer renewals of our on-premise software arrangements, for which revenue historically has been recognized at a single point in time in the first and fourth quarter of each fiscal year;
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• our ability to attract new customers for our software;
• the addition or loss of large customers, including through acquisitions or consolidations of such customers;
• the amount and timing of operating expenses related to the maintenance and expansion of our business, operations, and infrastructure;
• network outages or security breaches;
• industry and market conditions, including within the life sciences industry;
• general economic conditions, including the impact of increasing or decreasing inflation and interest rates and the impact of tariffs and trade restrictions;
• our ability to collect receivables from our customers;
• the amount of software purchased by our customers, including the mix of on-premise and hosted software sold during a period;
• variations in the timing of the sales of our software, which may be difficult to predict;
• changes in the pricing of our solutions and in our pricing policies or those of our competitors;
• the timing and success of the introduction of new software solutions by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive dynamics of our industry, including consolidation among competitors, customers, or strategic collaborators;
• changes in the fair value of or receipt of distributions or proceeds on account of the equity interests we hold in our drug discovery collaborators, such as Structure Therapeutics and Nimbus;
• the success of our drug discovery collaborators in developing and commercializing drug products for which we are entitled to receive milestone payments or royalties;
• the timing of the recognition of milestones achieved under our collaborative programs;
• variations in the number and size of milestones achieved under our collaborative programs;
• the timing of recognition of revenue from any payments from entering into collaborations or out-licensing our proprietary drug discovery programs, such as under our collaboration agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, or Novartis; and
• the timing of expenses related to our drug discovery programs, the development or acquisition of technologies or businesses and potential future charges for impairment of goodwill from acquired companies.
In addition, because we recognize revenues from our hosted software solutions ratably over the term of the agreement, a significant upturn or downturn in sales of our hosted software solutions may not be reflected immediately in our operating results. As a result of these factors, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results are not a good indication of our future performance and that our interim financial results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year or for any subsequent interim period.
We will likely require additional capital to fund our operations. If we are unable to raise additional capital on terms acceptable to us or at all or generate cash flows necessary to maintain or expand our operations, we may not be able to compete successfully, which would harm our business, operations, and financial condition.
We expect to devote substantial financial resources to our ongoing and planned activities, including the development of drug discovery programs and continued investment in our computational platform. We expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing and planned activities, particularly as we advance our proprietary drug discovery programs, initiate or progress preclinical and Investigational New Drug, or IND,-enabling studies, progress clinical trials and invest in the further development of our computational platform. In addition, though not our current strategy, if we decide to complete clinical development and seek regulatory approval on our own, we expect to incur significant additional expenses. Furthermore, we incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company, as compared to when we were a private company.
Our current drug discovery collaborators, from whom we are entitled to receive milestone payments upon achievement of various development, regulatory, and commercial milestones as well as royalties on commercial sales, if
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any, under the collaboration agreements that we have entered into with them, face numerous risks in the development of drugs, including the conduct of preclinical and clinical testing, obtaining regulatory approval, and achieving product sales. In addition, the amounts we are entitled to receive upon the achievement of such milestones tend to be smaller for near-term development milestones and increase if and as a collaborative product candidate advances through regulatory development to commercialization and will vary depending on the level of commercial success achieved, if any. We do not anticipate receiving significant milestone payments from many of our drug discovery collaborators for several years, if at all, and our drug discovery collaborators may never achieve milestones that would result in significant cash payments to us. In addition, while we have equity stakes in a number of our collaborators, the value of these equity stakes can vary significantly based on a number of factors beyond our control, and there can be no assurance that we can rely on such equity as capital to fund our operations. For these reasons we may need, or choose, to obtain additional capital to fund our continuing operations.
As of December 31, 2025, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities of $402.3 million. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through at least the next 24 months. However, we have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and our operating plans may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us. As a result, we could deplete our capital resources sooner than we currently expect.
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
• the growth of our software revenue;
• the timing and extent of spending to support research and development efforts;
• the continued expansion of software sales and marketing activities;
• the timing and receipt of payments from our drug discovery collaborations;
• spending to support, advance, and broaden our proprietary drug discovery programs, including the impact of tariffs and trade restrictions on such spending; and
• the timing and receipt of any distributions or proceeds we may receive from our equity stakes in our drug discovery collaborators.
In the event that we require additional financing, we may not be able to raise such financing on terms acceptable to us or at all. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. If we are unable to raise additional capital on terms acceptable to us or at all or generate cash flows necessary to maintain or expand our operations and invest in our computational platform, we may not be able to compete successfully, which would harm our business, operations, and financial condition.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations, or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or drug programs.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, our stockholders’ ownership interests will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect our stockholders’ rights as common stockholders. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, selling or licensing our assets, making product acquisitions, making capital expenditures, or declaring dividends.
If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution, or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs, or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us or agree to exploit a drug development target exclusively for one of our collaborators when we may prefer to pursue the drug development target for ourselves.
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If our estimates, judgments or assumptions relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect or financial reporting standards or interpretations change, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events, our beliefs of what could occur in the future considering available information and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant judgment, assumptions and estimates used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include, with respect to revenue, determining the allocation of the transaction price and measurement of progress, including (1) the constraint on variable consideration, (2) the identification of performance obligations and the allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations using their standalone selling price basis, and (3) the appropriate input or output based method to recognize collaboration revenue and the extent of progress to date.
Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
Additionally, we regularly monitor our compliance with applicable financial reporting standards and review new pronouncements and drafts thereof that are relevant to us. As a result of new standards, changes to existing standards and changes in their interpretation, we might be required to change our accounting policies, alter our operational policies, and implement new or enhance existing systems so that they reflect new or amended financial reporting standards, or we may be required to restate our published financial statements. Such changes to existing standards or changes in their interpretation may have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial position, and profit.
Risks Related to Our Software
If our existing customers do not renew their licenses, do not buy additional solutions from us, or renew at lower prices, our business and operating results will suffer.
We expect to continue to derive a significant portion of our software revenues from renewal of existing license agreements. As a result, maintaining the renewal rate of our existing customers and selling additional software solutions to them is critical to our future operating results. Factors that may affect the renewal rate for our customers and our ability to sell additional solutions to them include:
• the price, performance, and functionality of our software solutions;
• the availability, price, performance, and functionality of competing software solutions;
• the effectiveness of our professional services;
• our ability to develop or acquire complementary software solutions, applications, and services;
• the success of competitive products or technologies;
• the stability, performance, and security of our technological infrastructure;
• the business environment of our customers;
• the willingness of our customers to continue to adopt computational approaches to drug discovery, which can be impacted by changes in our customer’s management and/or scientific personnel; and
• the decisions of our customers to discontinue or reduce the amount of drug discovery they undertake internally.
We deliver our software through either (i) a product license that permits our customers to install the software solution directly on their own in-house hardware and use it for a specified term, or (ii) a subscription that allows our customers to access the cloud-based software solution on their own hardware without taking control of the licenses. Our customers have no obligation to renew their product licenses or subscriptions for our software solutions after the license term expires, which is typically after one year, and many of our contracts may be terminated or reduced in scope either immediately or upon notice. In addition, our customers may negotiate terms less advantageous to us upon renewal, which may reduce our revenues from these customers. Factors that are not within our control may contribute to a reduction in our software revenues. For instance, our customers may reduce the number of their employees who are engaged in research and
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who would have use of our software, which would result in a corresponding reduction in the number of user licenses needed for some of our solutions and thus a lower aggregate renewal fee. The loss, reduction in scope, or delay of a large contract, or the loss or delay of multiple contracts, could materially adversely affect our business.
Our future operating results also depend, in part, on our ability to sell new software solutions and licenses to our existing customers. For example, the willingness of existing customers to license our software will depend on our ability to scale and adapt our existing software solutions to meet the performance and other requirements of our customers, which we may not do successfully. If our customers fail to renew their agreements, renew their agreements upon less favorable terms or at lower fee levels, or fail to purchase new software solutions and licenses from us, our revenues may decline and our future revenues may be negatively impacted.
Our software sales cycle can vary and be long and unpredictable.
The timing of sales of our software solutions is difficult to forecast because of the length and unpredictability of our sales cycle. We sell our solutions primarily to biopharmaceutical companies, and our sales cycles can be as long as nine to twelve months or longer. Further, the length of time that potential customers devote to their testing and evaluation, contract negotiation, and budgeting processes varies significantly, depending on the size of the organization and the nature of their needs. In addition, we might devote substantial time and effort to a particular unsuccessful sales effort, and as a result, we could lose other sales opportunities or incur expenses that are not offset by an increase in revenue, which could harm our business.
A significant portion of our revenues are generated by sales to life sciences industry customers, and factors that adversely affect this industry could adversely affect our software sales.
A significant portion of our current software sales are to customers in the life sciences industry, in particular the biopharmaceutical industry. Demand for our software solutions could be affected by factors that adversely affect the life sciences industry. The life sciences industry is highly regulated and competitive and has experienced periods of considerable consolidation. Consolidation among our customers could cause us to lose customers, decrease the available market for our solutions, and adversely affect our business. In addition, changes in regulations that make investment in the life sciences industry less attractive or drug development more expensive could adversely impact the demand for our software solutions. For these reasons and others, selling software to life sciences companies can be competitive, expensive, and time consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that we will successfully complete a software sale. Accordingly, our operating results and our ability to efficiently provide our solutions to life sciences companies and to grow or maintain our customer base could be adversely affected as a result of factors that affect the life sciences industry generally.
We also intend to continue leveraging our solutions for broad application to industrial challenges in molecule design, including in the fields of aerospace, energy, semiconductors, electronic displays and chemicals. However, we believe the materials science industry is in the very early stages of recognizing the potential of computational methods for molecular discovery, and there can be no assurance that the industry will adopt computational methods such as our platform. Any factor adversely affecting our ability to market our software solutions to customers outside of the life sciences industry, including in these new fields, could increase our dependence on the life sciences industry and adversely affect the growth rate of our revenues, operating results, and business.
The markets in which we participate are highly competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
The overall market for molecular discovery and design software is global, rapidly evolving, competitive, and subject to changing technology and shifting customer interests and priorities. Our software solutions face competition from competitors in the business of selling or providing simulation and modeling software to biopharmaceutical companies. These competitors include BIOVIA, a brand of Dassault Systèmes SE, or BIOVIA, Chemical Computing Group (US) Inc., Cresset Biomolecular Discovery Limited, Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Optibrium Limited, Cyrus Biotechnology, Inc., Molsoft LLC, Insilico Medicine, Inc., Iktos, XtalPi Inc., AbCellera, Inductive Bio, Inc., Chemaxon, Revvity, Inc., and Simulations Plus, Inc.
We also have competitors in materials science, such as BIOVIA and Materials Design, Inc., and in enterprise software for the life sciences, such as BIOVIA, Certara USA, Inc., Chemaxon, Revvity, Inc., and Dotmatics, Inc. In some cases, these competitors are well-established providers of these solutions and have long-standing relationships with many
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of our current and potential customers, including large biopharmaceutical companies. In addition, there are academic consortia that develop physics-based simulation programs for life sciences and materials applications. In the life sciences industry, the most prominent academic simulation packages include AMBER, CHARMm, GROMACS, GROMOS, OpenMM, and OpenFF. These packages are primarily maintained and developed by graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, often without the intent of commercialization.
We also face competition from solutions that biopharmaceutical companies develop internally and from smaller companies that offer products and services directed at more specific markets than we target, enabling these smaller competitors to focus a greater proportion of their efforts and resources on these markets, as well as a large number of companies that have been founded with the goal of applying machine learning technologies to drug discovery.
Many of our competitors are able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of their software solutions and services. It is possible that our focus on proprietary drug discovery will result in loss of management focus and resources relating to our software business, thereby resulting in decreasing revenues from our software business. Furthermore, third parties with greater available resources and the ability to initiate or withstand substantial price competition could acquire our current or potential competitors. Our competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their product offerings or resources. If our competitors’ products, services, or technologies become more accepted than our solutions, if our competitors are successful in bringing their products or services to market earlier than ours, if our competitors are able to respond more quickly and effectively to new or changing opportunities, technologies, or customer requirements, or if their products or services are more technologically capable than ours, then our software revenues could be adversely affected.
In addition, we are facing increasing competition from companies utilizing artificial intelligence, or AI, and other computational approaches for drug discovery. Some of these competitors are involved in drug discovery themselves and/or with partners, and others develop software or other tools utilizing AI which can be used, directly or indirectly, in drug discovery. To the extent these other AI approaches to drug discovery prove to be successful, or more successful, than our approach, the demand for our platform could be adversely affected, which could affect our software demand as well as reduce the demand for us as a collaborator in drug discovery.
We may be required to decrease our prices or modify our pricing practices in order to attract new customers or retain existing customers due to increased competition. Pricing pressures and increased competition could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, losses, or a failure to maintain or improve our competitive market position, any of which could adversely affect our business.
We have invested and expect to continue to invest in research and development efforts that further enhance our computational platform. Such investments may affect our operating results, and, if the return on these investments is lower or develops more slowly than we expect, our revenue and operating results may suffer.
We have invested and expect to continue to invest in research and development efforts that further enhance our computational platform, often in response to our customers’ requirements. These investments may involve significant time, risks, and uncertainties, including the risk that the expenses associated with these investments may affect our margins and operating results and that such investments may not generate sufficient revenues to offset liabilities assumed and expenses associated with these new investments. The software industry changes rapidly as a result of technological and product developments, which may render our solutions less desirable. For example, in recent years, a number of companies have entered the drug discovery industry utilizing different AI approaches. While we believe we compete favorably and are meaningfully differentiated from such approaches with the combination of our physics-based computational platform and machine learning capabilities, the success of other such AI approaches to drug discovery could impact the demand for our solutions. We believe that we must continue to invest a significant amount of time and resources in our platform and software solutions to maintain and improve our competitive position. If we do not achieve the benefits anticipated from these investments, if the achievement of these benefits is delayed, if technological developments render our solutions less desirable, or if a slowdown in general computing power impacts the rate at which we expect our physics-based simulations to increase in power and domain applicability, our revenue and operating results may be adversely affected.
If we are unable to collect receivables from our customers, our operating results may be adversely affected.
While the majority of our current customers are well-established, large companies and universities, we also provide software solutions to smaller companies. Our financial success depends upon the creditworthiness and ultimate collection of amounts due from our customers, including our smaller customers with fewer financial resources. If we are
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not able to collect amounts due from our customers, we may be required to write-off significant accounts receivable and recognize bad debt expenses, which could materially and adversely affect our operating results.
Defects or disruptions in our solutions could result in diminishing demand for our solutions, a reduction in our revenues, and subject us to substantial liability.
Our software business and the level of customer acceptance of our software depend upon the continuous, effective, and reliable operation of our software and related tools and functions. Our software solutions are inherently complex and may contain defects or errors. Errors may result from our own technology or from the interface of our software solutions with legacy systems and data, which we did not develop. The risk of errors is particularly significant when a new software solution is first introduced or when new versions or enhancements of existing software solutions are released. We have from time to time found defects in our software, and new errors in our existing software may be detected in the future. Any errors, defects, disruptions, or other performance problems with our software could hurt our reputation and may damage our customers’ businesses. If that occurs, our customers may delay or withhold payment to us, cancel their agreements with us, elect not to renew, make service credit claims, warranty claims, or other claims against us, and as a result, we could lose future sales. The occurrence of any of these events could result in diminishing demand for our software, a reduction of our revenue, an increase in collection cycles for accounts receivable, require us to increase our warranty provisions, or incur the expense of litigation or substantial liability.
We rely upon third-party providers of cloud-based infrastructure to host our software solutions. Any disruption in the operations of these third-party providers, limitations on capacity, or interference with our use could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We outsource substantially all of the infrastructure relating to our hosted software solutions to third-party hosting services. Customers of our hosted software solutions need to be able to access our computational platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance, and we provide them with service-level commitments with respect to uptime. Our hosted software solutions depend on protecting the virtual cloud infrastructure hosted by third-party hosting services by maintaining its configuration, architecture, features, and interconnection specifications, as well as the information stored in these virtual data centers, which is transmitted by third-party internet service providers. Any limitation on the capacity of our third-party hosting services could impede our ability to onboard new customers or expand the usage of our existing customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, any incident affecting our third-party hosting services’ infrastructure that may be caused by cyber-attacks, natural disasters, fire, flood, severe storm, earthquake, power loss, telecommunications failures, terrorist or other attacks, and other similar events beyond our control could negatively affect our cloud-based solutions. A prolonged service disruption affecting our cloud-based solutions for any of the foregoing reasons would negatively impact our ability to serve our customers and could damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability, cause us to lose customers, or otherwise harm our business. We may also incur significant costs for using alternative equipment or taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that damage the third-party hosting services we use.
In the event that our service agreements with our third-party hosting services are terminated, or there is a lapse of service, elimination of services or features that we utilize, interruption of internet service provider connectivity, or damage to such facilities, we could experience interruptions in access to our platform as well as significant delays and additional expense in arranging or creating new facilities and services and/or re-architecting our hosted software solutions for deployment on a different cloud infrastructure service provider, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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If our security measures are breached or unauthorized access to customer data is otherwise obtained, our solutions may be perceived as not being secure, customers may reduce the use of or stop using our solutions, and we may incur significant liabilities.
Our solutions involve the collection, analysis, and storage of our customers’ proprietary information and sensitive proprietary data related to the discovery efforts of our customers. As a result, unauthorized access or security breaches, as a result of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance, or otherwise could result in the loss of information, litigation, indemnity obligations, damage to our reputation, and other liability. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. In addition, if our employees fail to adhere to practices we have established to maintain a firewall between our drug discovery group, which we refer to as the Schrödinger therapeutics group, and our teams that work with software customers, or if the technical solutions we have adopted to maintain the firewall malfunction, our customers and collaborators may lose confidence in our ability to maintain the confidentiality of their intellectual property, we may have trouble attracting new customers and collaborators, we may be subject to breach of contract claims by our customers and collaborators, and we may suffer reputational and other harm as a result. Any or all of these issues could adversely affect our ability to attract new customers, cause existing customers to elect not to renew their licenses, result in reputational damage or subject us to third-party lawsuits or other action or liability, which could adversely affect our operating results. Our insurance may not be adequate to cover losses associated with such events, and in any case, such insurance may not cover all of the types of costs, expenses, and losses we could incur to respond to and remediate a security breach.
Any failure to offer high-quality technical support services could adversely affect our relationships with our customers and our operating results.
Our customers depend on our support organization to resolve technical issues relating to our solutions, as our software requires expert usage to fully exploit its capabilities. Certain of our customers also rely on us to troubleshoot problems with the performance of the software, introduce new features requested for specific customer projects, inform them about the best way to set up and analyze various types of simulations and illustrate our techniques for drug discovery using examples from publicly available data sets. We may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for these support services. Increased customer demand for our services, without corresponding revenues, could increase costs and adversely affect our operating results. In addition, our sales process is highly dependent on the reputation of our solutions and business and on positive recommendations from our existing customers. Any failure to offer high-quality technical support, or a market perception that we do not offer high-quality support, could adversely affect our reputation, our ability to sell our solutions to existing and prospective customers and our business and operating results.
Our solutions utilize third-party open-source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open-source software licenses could adversely affect our business or our ability to sell our software solutions, subject us to litigation, or create potential liability.
Our solutions include software licensed by third parties under any one or more open-source licenses, including the GNU General Public License, the GNU Lesser General Public License, the GNU Affero General Public License, the BSD License, the MIT License, the Apache License, and others, and we expect to continue to incorporate open-source software in our solutions in the future. Moreover, we cannot ensure that we have effectively monitored our use of open-source software or that we are in compliance with the terms of the applicable open-source licenses or our current policies and procedures. There have been claims against companies that use open-source software in their products and services asserting that the use of such open-source software infringes the claimants’ intellectual property rights. As a result, we and our customers could be subject to suits by third parties claiming that what we believe to be licensed open-source software infringes such third parties’ intellectual property rights, and we may be required to indemnify our customers against such claims. Additionally, if an author or other third party that distributes such open-source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we or our customers could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations and could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the sale of our solutions that contain the open-source software and required to comply with onerous conditions or restrictions on these solutions, which could disrupt the distribution and sale of these solutions. Litigation could be costly for us to defend, have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our solutions.
Use of open-source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open-source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality
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of the code, including with respect to security vulnerabilities. In addition, certain open-source licenses require that source code for software programs that interact with such open-source software be made available to the public at no cost and that any modifications or derivative works to such open-source software continue to be licensed under the same terms as the open-source software license. The terms of various open-source licenses have not been interpreted by courts in the relevant jurisdictions, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market our solutions. By the terms of certain open-source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software, and to make our proprietary software available under open-source licenses, if we combine our proprietary software with open-source software in a certain manner. In the event that portions of our proprietary software are determined to be subject to an open-source license, we could be required to publicly release the affected portions of our source code, re-engineer all or a portion of our solutions, or otherwise be limited in the licensing of our solutions, each of which could reduce or eliminate the value of our solutions. Disclosing our proprietary source code could allow our competitors to create similar products with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of sales. Any of these events could create liability for us and damage our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, business, results of operations, and financial condition and the market price of our shares.
Risks Related to Drug Discovery
We may never realize a return on our investment of resources and cash in our drug discovery collaborations.
We use our computational platform to provide drug discovery services to collaborators who are engaged in drug discovery and development. These collaborators include start-up companies, pre-commercial biotechnology companies, and large-scale pharmaceutical companies. When we engage in drug discovery with these collaborators, we typically provide access to our platform and platform experts who assist the drug discovery collaborator in identifying molecules that have activity against one or more specified protein targets. We historically have not received significant initial cash consideration for these services, except for the upfront payment of $55.0 million we received from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, or BMS, upon entry into our collaboration agreement with BMS and the upfront payment of $150.0 million that we received in January 2025 from Novartis in connection with our entry into the research collaboration and license agreement with Novartis. However, we have received equity consideration in certain of our collaborators and/or the right to receive option fees, cash milestone payments upon the achievement of specified development, regulatory, and commercial sales milestones for the drug discovery targets, and potential royalties. From time to time, we have also made additional equity investments in our drug discovery collaborators.
We may never realize a return on our investment of resources and cash in our drug discovery collaborations. Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. Our drug discovery collaborators may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of any product candidates. In addition, our ability to realize return from our drug discovery collaborations is subject to the following risks:
• drug discovery collaborators have significant discretion in determining the amount and timing of efforts and resources that they will apply to our collaborations and may not perform their obligations as expected;
• drug discovery collaborators may not pursue development or commercialization of any product candidates for which we are entitled to option fees, milestone payments, or royalties or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on results of clinical trials or other studies, changes in the collaborator’s strategic focus or available funding, or external factors, such as an acquisition, that divert resources or create competing priorities;
• drug discovery collaborators may delay clinical trials for which we are entitled to milestone payments;
• we may not have access to, or may be restricted from disclosing, certain information regarding our collaborators’ product candidates being developed or commercialized and, consequently, may have limited ability to inform our stockholders about the status of, and likelihood of achieving, milestone payments or royalties under such collaborations;
• drug discovery collaborators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with any product candidates and products for which we are entitled to milestone payments or royalties if the collaborator believes that the competitive products are more likely to be successfully developed or can be commercialized under terms that are more economically attractive;
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• product candidates discovered in drug discovery collaborations with us may be viewed by our collaborators as competitive with their own product candidates or products, which may cause our collaborators to cease to devote resources to the commercialization of any such product candidates;
• existing drug discovery collaborators and potential future drug discovery collaborators may begin to perceive us to be a competitor more generally, particularly as we advance our proprietary drug discovery programs, and therefore may be unwilling to continue existing collaborations with us or to enter into new collaborations with us;
• a drug discovery collaborator may fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements regarding the development, manufacture, distribution, or marketing of a product candidate or product, which may impact our ability to receive milestone payments;
• disagreements with drug discovery collaborators, including disagreements over intellectual property or proprietary rights, contract interpretation, or the preferred course of development, might cause delays or terminations of the research, development, or commercialization of product candidates for which we are eligible to receive milestone payments, or might result in litigation or arbitration;
• drug discovery collaborators may not properly obtain, maintain, enforce, defend or protect our intellectual property or proprietary rights or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to potentially lead to disputes or legal proceedings that could jeopardize or invalidate our or their intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us and them to potential litigation;
• drug discovery collaborators may infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties, which may expose us to litigation and potential liability;
• drug discovery collaborators could suffer from operational delays as a result of global health impacts, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• drug discovery collaborations may be terminated prior to our receipt of any significant value from the collaboration, which has happened to us in the past and may happen to us again in the future.
Our drug discovery collaborations may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates that results in our receipt of option fees, milestone payments, or royalties in a timely manner, or at all. If any drug discovery collaborations that we enter into do not result in the successful development and commercialization of drug products that result in option fees, milestone payments, or royalties to us, we may not receive return on the resources we have invested in the drug discovery collaboration. Moreover, even if a drug discovery collaboration initially leads to the achievement of milestones that result in payments to us, it may not continue to do so.
We also rely on collaborators for the development and potential commercialization of product candidates we discover internally when we believe it will help maximize clinical and commercial opportunities for the product candidate. For example, under our research collaboration and license agreement with Novartis, we are responsible, together with Novartis, for the discovery of small molecule compounds directed against specified targets pursuant to mutually agreed research plans. After the identification of a development candidate in any project plan, Novartis will be solely responsible for the further preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of products containing all compounds resulting from such project plan. We cannot be certain that we will successfully identify development candidates for Novartis to develop and commercialize under our research collaboration and license agreement. Further, Novartis may not achieve the discovery, development, and commercial milestones for those development candidates that would result in additional payments to us.
We may not realize returns on our equity investments in our drug discovery collaborators.
We may not realize returns on our equity investments in our drug discovery collaborators. None of the drug discovery collaborators in which we hold equity generate revenue from commercial sales of drug products. They are therefore dependent on the availability of capital on favorable terms to continue their operations. In addition, if the drug discovery collaborators in which we hold equity raise additional capital, our ownership interest in and degree of control over these drug discovery collaborators will be diluted, unless we have sufficient resources and choose to invest in the drug discovery collaborator further or successfully negotiate contractual anti-dilution protections for our equity investment. The financial success of our equity investment in any collaborator will likely be dependent on a liquidity event, such as a public offering, acquisition, or other favorable market event reflecting appreciation in the value of the equity we hold. The capital markets for public offerings and acquisitions are dynamic, and the likelihood of liquidity events for the companies in which we hold equity interests could significantly worsen. Further, valuations of privately held companies are inherently complex
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due to the lack of readily available market data. If we determine that any of our investments in such companies have experienced a decline in value, we may be required to record an impairment, which could negatively impact our financial results. The fair value of our equity interests in public companies, such as Structure Therapeutics, may fluctuate significantly in future periods since we determine the fair value of such equity interests based on the market value of such companies’ common stock as of a given reporting date. All of the equity we hold in our drug discovery collaborators is subject to risk of partial or total loss of our investment.
Our drug discovery collaborators have significant discretion in determining when to make announcements, if any, about the status of our collaborations, including about clinical developments and timelines for advancing collaborative programs, and the price of our common stock may decline as a result of announcements of unexpected results or developments.
Our drug discovery collaborators have significant discretion in determining when to make announcements about the status of our collaborations, including about preclinical and clinical developments and timelines for advancing the collaborative programs. While as a general matter we intend to periodically report on the status of our collaborations, our drug discovery collaborators, and in particular, our privately-held collaborators, may wish to report such information more or less frequently than we intend to or may not wish to report such information at all. The price of our common stock may decline as a result of the public announcement of unexpected results or developments in our collaborations, or as a result of our collaborators withholding such information.
Although we believe that our computational platform has the potential to identify more promising molecules than traditional methods and to accelerate drug discovery, our focus on using our platform technology to discover and design molecules with therapeutic potential may not result in the discovery and development of commercially viable products for us or our collaborators.
Our scientific approach focuses on using our platform technology to conduct "computational assays" that leverage our deep understanding of physics-based modeling and theoretical chemistry to design molecules and predict their key properties without conducting time-consuming and expensive physical experiments. Our computational platform underpins our software solutions, our drug discovery collaborations and our own proprietary drug discovery programs.
While the results of certain of our drug discovery collaborators suggest that our platform is capable of accelerating drug discovery and identifying high quality product candidates, these results do not assure future success for our drug discovery collaborators or for us with our proprietary drug discovery programs.
Even if we or our drug discovery collaborators are able to develop product candidates that demonstrate potential in preclinical studies, we or they may not succeed in demonstrating safety and efficacy of product candidates in human clinical trials. For example, in collaboration with us, Nimbus was able to identify a unique series of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, or ACC, allosteric protein-protein interaction inhibitors with favorable pharmaceutical properties that inhibit the activity of the ACC enzyme. Nimbus achieved proof of concept in a Phase 1b clinical trial of its ACC inhibitor, firsocostat, and later sold the program to Gilead Sciences, Inc., or Gilead Sciences, in a transaction valued at approximately $1.2 billion, comprised of an upfront payment and earn outs. Of this amount, $601.3 million has been paid to Nimbus to date, and we received a total of $46.0 million in cash distributions in 2016 and 2017. In December 2019, Gilead Sciences announced topline results from its Phase 2 clinical trial which included firsocostat, both as a monotherapy and in combination with other investigational therapies for advanced fibrosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, in which the primary endpoint was not met. Gilead Sciences recently completed a Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating firsocostat in combination with Novo Nordisk A/S’s semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, for compensated cirrhosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their product candidates.
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We may not be successful in our efforts to identify, discover or develop product candidates and may fail to capitalize on programs, collaborations, or product candidates that may present a greater commercial opportunity or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial, and human resources. As an organization, we are advancing SGR-1505, our clinical-stage MALT1 inhibitor, and SGR-3515, our clinical-stage Wee1/Myt1 inhibitor, and we may fail to identify additional product candidates for development. Similarly, a key element of our business plan is to expand the use of our computational platform through an increase in software sales and drug discovery collaborations. A failure to demonstrate the utility of our platform by successfully using it ourselves to discover internal product candidates could harm our business prospects.
Because we have limited resources, we focus our research programs on protein targets where we believe our computational assays are a good substitute for experimental assays, where we believe it is theoretically possible to discover a molecule with properties that are required for the molecule to become a drug and where we believe there is a meaningful commercial opportunity, among other factors. The focus of our initial proprietary drug discovery programs was in the area of oncology, and we have only recently begun expanding into other therapeutic areas, including neurology and immunology. We may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with certain programs, collaborations, or product candidates or for indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. However, the development of any product candidate we pursue may ultimately prove to be unsuccessful or less successful than another potential product candidate that we might have chosen to pursue on a more aggressive basis with our capital resources. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic collaboration, partnership, licensing, or other arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate. Alternatively, we may allocate internal resources to a product candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more advantageous to enter into a collaboration.
Our research programs may show initial promise in identifying potential product candidates internally or with collaborators, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development for a number of reasons, including:
• our research methodology or that of any collaborator may be unsuccessful in identifying potential product candidates that are successful in clinical development;
• potential product candidates may be shown to have harmful side effects or may have other characteristics that may make the product candidates unmarketable or unlikely to receive marketing approval;
• our current or future collaborators may change their development profiles for potential product candidates or abandon a therapeutic area; or
• new competitive developments may render our product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive.
If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.
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We rely on contract research organizations to synthesize any molecules with therapeutic potential that we discover. If such organizations do not meet our supply requirements, or if such organizations do not otherwise perform satisfactorily, development of any product candidate we may develop may be delayed.
We rely and expect to continue to rely on third parties to synthesize any molecules with therapeutic potential that we discover, including SGR-1505 and SGR-3515. Reliance on third parties may expose us to different risks than if we were to synthesize molecules ourselves. Our reliance on these third parties will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our responsibilities. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines, or synthesize molecules in accordance with regulatory requirements, if there are disagreements between us and such parties or if such parties are unable to expand capacities, we may not be able to fulfill, or may be delayed in producing sufficient product candidates to meet, our supply requirements, and we may not be able to complete, or may be delayed in completing, the necessary preclinical studies or the necessary clinical trials and we will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully develop and commercialize such product candidates. The facilities of these third parties may also be affected by natural disasters, such as floods or fire, or geopolitical developments, such as tariffs and trade restrictions, or public health pandemics or such facilities could face production issues, such as contamination or regulatory concerns following a regulatory inspection of such facility. In such instances, we may need to locate an appropriate replacement third-party facility and establish a contractual relationship, which may not be readily available or on acceptable terms, which would cause additional delay and increased expense, and may have a material adverse effect on our business.
We or any third party may also encounter shortages in the raw materials or active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, necessary to synthesize any molecule we may discover in the quantities needed for preclinical studies or clinical trials, as a result of capacity constraints or delays or disruptions in the market for the raw materials or API. Even if raw materials or API are available, we may be unable to obtain sufficient quantities at an acceptable cost or quality. The failure by us or the third parties to obtain the raw materials or API necessary to synthesize sufficient quantities of any molecule we may discover could delay, prevent, or impair our development efforts and may have a material adverse effect on our business.
If we are not able to establish or maintain collaborations to develop and commercialize any of the product candidates we discover internally, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans for those product candidates and our business could be adversely affected.
We expect to rely on future collaborators for the development and potential commercialization of product candidates we discover internally when we believe it will help maximize the clinical and commercial opportunities of the product candidate. We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators for these activities, and a number of more established companies may also be pursuing such collaborations. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, financial resources, and greater clinical development and commercialization expertise. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for such collaborations will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration, and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those factors may include the design or results of preclinical studies and clinical trials, the likelihood of approval by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the subject product candidate, the costs and complexities of manufacturing and delivering such product candidate to patients, the potential of competing products, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge, and industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also consider alternative product candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such a collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us for our product candidate. Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large biopharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators.
If we are unable to reach agreements with suitable collaborators on a timely basis, on acceptable terms or at all, we may have to curtail the development of a product candidate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to fund and undertake development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional expertise and additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we fail to enter into collaborations and do not have sufficient funds or expertise to undertake the necessary development and commercialization activities, we may not be able to further develop any product candidates or bring them to market.
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As a company, we have very limited experience in clinical development, which may adversely impact the likelihood that we will be successful in advancing our programs.
As a company, we have very limited experience in clinical development. Our limited experience in designing, conducting and completing clinical development activities may adversely impact the likelihood that we will be successful in advancing our programs. Further, any predictions you make about the future success or viability of our proprietary drug discovery programs may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a history of conducting and completing clinical trials and developing our own product candidates.
Further, if we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies governing clinical trials, our development plans may be impacted. For example, in December 2022, with the passage of Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, or FDORA, Congress required sponsors to develop and submit a diversity action plan, or DAP, for each phase 3 clinical trial or any other "pivotal study" of a new drug or biological product. These plans are meant to encourage the enrollment of more diverse patient populations in late-stage clinical trials of FDA-regulated products. The legislation directs the FDA to issue new guidance on DAPs. In June 2024, the FDA issued draft guidance outlining the general requirements for DAPs. Unlike most guidance documents issued by the FDA, the guidance when finalized will have the force of law because FDORA specifically dictates that the form and manner for submission of DAPs are specified in FDA guidance. On January 27, 2025, in response to an executive order issued by President Trump on January 21, 2025, on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, the FDA removed the draft DAP guidance from its website. On July 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the administration’s actions to remove these webpages, including the draft DAP guidance, is unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and ordered the restoration of many of these webpages. In late July 2025, the FDA restored the draft DAP guidance to the FDA’s website with a statement that "information on this page may be modified and/or removed in the future subject to the terms of the court's order and implemented consistent with applicable law." Accordingly, in light of these ongoing actions, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding the draft DAP guidance and how the FDA will consider DAPs in connection with its review of marketing applications.
In addition, the regulatory landscape related to clinical trials in the European Union, or EU, recently evolved. The EU Clinical Trials Regulation, or CTR, became applicable on January 31, 2022. While the Clinical Trials Directive required a separate clinical trial application, or CTA, to be submitted in each member state, to both the competent national health authority and an independent ethics committee, the CTR introduces a centralized process and only requires the submission of a single application to all member states concerned. The CTR allows sponsors to make a single submission to both the competent authority and an ethics committee in each member state, leading to a single decision per member state. The assessment procedure of the CTA has been harmonized as well, including a joint assessment by all member states concerned, and a separate assessment by each member state with respect to specific requirements related to its own territory, including ethics rules. Each member state’s decision is communicated to the sponsor via the centralized EU portal. Once the CTA is approved, clinical study development may proceed. The CTR foresees a three-year transition period. The extent to which ongoing and new clinical trials will be governed by the CTR varies. For clinical trials whose CTA was made under the Clinical Trials Directive before January 31, 2022, the Clinical Trials Directive applied until January 31, 2025. Additionally, sponsors were still permitted to choose to submit a CTA under either the Clinical Trials Directive or the CTR until January 31, 2023 and, if authorized, those will be governed by the Clinical Trials Directive until January 31, 2025. Beginning January 31, 2025, all ongoing trials are subject to the provisions of the CTR.
As our proprietary drug discovery business grows, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays, and other known and unknown factors. Our proprietary drug discovery business will need to transition to a business capable of supporting significant clinical development activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.
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Conducting successful clinical trials requires the enrollment of a sufficient number of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit.
Conducting successful clinical trials requires the enrollment of a sufficient number of patients, and suitable patients may be difficult to identify and recruit. Identifying and qualifying patients to participate in future clinical trials for any other product candidate we develop is critical to our success. Patient enrollment in clinical trials and completion of patient participation and follow-up depends on many factors, including the severity of disease; size of the patient population; the nature of the trial protocol; the attractiveness of, or the discomforts and risks associated with, the treatments received by enrolled subjects; the availability of clinical trial investigators with appropriate competencies and experience; support staff; the number of ongoing clinical trials in the same indication that compete for the same patients; proximity of patients to clinical sites; the number and availability of trial sites; the ability to comply with the eligibility and exclusion criteria for participation in the clinical trial; ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; patient compliance; the ability to monitor patients during and after treatment; and the impact of any health pandemic or epidemic. For example, patients may be discouraged from enrolling in our clinical trials if the trial protocol requires them to undergo extensive post-treatment procedures or follow-up to assess the safety and effectiveness of our product candidates. Patients may also not participate in our clinical trials if they choose to participate in contemporaneous clinical trials of competitive products with competitors that have more clinical development experience than we do.
Our inability to locate and enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials would result in significant delays, could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether and could delay or prevent our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing.
We rely on, and plan to continue to rely on, third parties to conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials, which may prevent or delay our ability to seek or obtain marketing approval for or commercialize our product candidates or otherwise harm our business.
We rely on, and plan to continue to rely on, third-party contract research organizations, or CROs, in addition to other third parties such as research collaboratives and consortia, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators, to conduct our ongoing and future clinical trials, including for SGR-1505 and SGR-3515. These contract research organizations and other third parties play a significant role in the conduct and timing of these trials and subsequent collection and analysis of data. These third-party arrangements might terminate for a variety of reasons, including a failure to perform by the third parties. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, our product development activities might be delayed.
Our reliance on third parties for research and development activities reduces our control over these activities but does not relieve us of our responsibilities. For example, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our trials is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, and legal, regulatory and scientific standards, and our reliance on third parties does not relieve us of our responsibility to comply with any such standards. We and these third parties are required to comply with current good clinical practices, or cGCP, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA for all of our products in clinical development. Regulatory authorities in Europe and other jurisdictions have similar requirements. Regulatory authorities enforce these cGCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. If we or any of these third parties fail to comply with applicable cGCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that a given regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply with cGCP regulations. We also are required to register ongoing clinical trials and post the results of completed clinical trials on a U.S. government-sponsored database, clinicaltrials.gov, within certain timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions.
Furthermore, third parties on whom we rely may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. In addition, these third parties are not our employees, and except for remedies available to us under our agreements with such third parties, we cannot control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our ongoing clinical, nonclinical and preclinical programs. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated and we may not be able to obtain, or
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may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our medicines.
In addition, we currently rely on foreign CROs and contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, and will likely continue to rely on foreign CROs and CMOs in the future. Foreign CMOs may be subject to U.S. legislation, including sanctions, tariffs and trade restrictions and other foreign regulatory requirements which could increase the cost or reduce the supply of material available to us, delay the procurement or supply of such material or have an adverse effect on our ability to secure significant commitments from governments to purchase our potential therapies.
Our reliance on third parties to manufacture our product candidates increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.
We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of any product candidates, nor do we have plans to develop our own manufacturing operations. We rely and expect to continue to rely on third-party contract manufacturers for all of our required raw materials, drug substance, and finished drug product for the preclinical and clinical development of any product candidates we develop ourselves and for any commercial supply of approved products, if any. We have limited personnel with experience in drug manufacturing and lack the resources and the capabilities to manufacture any of our product candidates on a clinical or commercial scale.
In order to conduct preclinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates, we will need to identify suitable manufacturers with the capabilities to manufacture our compounds in large quantities in a manner consistent with existing regulations. Our third-party manufacturers may be unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for any of our product candidates in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. In addition, quality issues may arise during scale-up activities and at any other time. If our manufacturers are unable to successfully scale up the manufacture of our product candidates in sufficient quality and quantity, the development, testing and clinical trials of that product candidate may be delayed or infeasible, and regulatory approval or commercial launch of that product candidate may be delayed or not obtained, which could significantly harm our business.
We do not currently have any agreements with third-party manufacturers for the long-term supply of any of our product candidates. In the future, we may be unable to enter into agreements with third-party manufacturers for commercial supplies of our product candidates, or may be unable to do so on acceptable terms.
Even if we are able to establish and maintain arrangements with third-party manufacturers, reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks, including reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance; the possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party; the possible misappropriation of our proprietary information, including our trade secrets and know-how; and the possible termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us.
Third-party manufacturers may not be able to comply with cGMP regulations or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our product candidates.
Our product candidates and any products that we may develop may compete with other product candidates and products for access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP regulations and that might be capable of manufacturing for us. If the third parties that we engage to supply any materials or manufacture product for our preclinical tests and clinical trials should cease to continue to do so for any reason, including as a result of tariffs or trade restrictions, we likely would experience delays in advancing these trials while we identify and qualify replacement suppliers, and we may be unable to obtain replacement supplies on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, if we are not able to obtain adequate supplies of our product candidates or the substances used to manufacture them or any approved drug we may use in combination trials, it will be more difficult for us to develop our product candidates and compete effectively.
Our current and anticipated future dependence upon others for the manufacture of our product candidates may adversely affect our future results of operations and our ability to develop product candidates and commercialize any products that receive marketing approval on a timely and competitive basis.
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If serious adverse or unacceptable side effects are identified during the development or commercialization of our product candidates, we may need to abandon or limit our development and/or commercialization efforts for such product candidates.
If serious adverse events or undesirable side effects are observed in any of our clinical trials, we may have difficulty recruiting patients to our clinical trials, patients may drop out of our trials, or we may be required to abandon the trials or our development efforts of one or more product candidates altogether or limit development to certain uses or subpopulations in which the serious adverse events, undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. We, the FDA, comparable foreign regulatory authorities or an independent institutional review board may suspend clinical trials of a product candidate at any time for various reasons, including a belief that subjects or patients in such trials are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or adverse side effects. For example, in August 2025, we announced the discontinuation of the clinical development program for SGR-2921, our CDC7 inhibitor, which was being evaluated in a Phase 1 dose-escalation clinical trial in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, or high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Despite early evidence of monotherapy activity observed in the Phase 1 clinical trial, based on the profile observed prior to discontinuation, including two emergent events where SGR-2921 was considered to have contributed to two deaths in patients with AML, we determined the path to development as a combination therapy would be difficult to pursue.
Some potential therapeutics developed in the biotechnology industry that initially showed therapeutic promise in early-stage trials have later been found to cause side effects that prevented their further development. Even if the side effects do not preclude the product candidate from obtaining or maintaining marketing approval, undesirable side effects may inhibit market acceptance of the approved product due to its tolerability versus other therapies. In addition, adverse events which had initially been considered unrelated to the study treatment may later, even following approval and/or commercialization, be found to be caused by the study treatment. Any of these developments could materially harm our business, financial condition and prospects.
The outcome of preclinical studies and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and the results of our clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities.
Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any of our product candidates, we will be required to demonstrate with substantial evidence through well-controlled clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. Success in preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials does not mean that future clinical trials will be successful. The results of our product candidates in preclinical studies may not be indicative of future results in our ongoing or later stage clinical trials. Product candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA and other comparable foreign regulatory authorities despite having progressed through preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials.
In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety and efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same product candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial protocols, differences in size and type of the patient populations, differences in and adherence to the dosing regimen and other trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants. Patients treated with our product candidates may also be undergoing surgical, radiation and chemotherapy treatments and may be using other approved products or investigational new drugs, which can cause side effects or adverse events that are unrelated to our product candidate. As a result, assessments of efficacy can vary widely for a particular patient, and from patient to patient and site to site within a clinical trial. This subjectivity can increase the uncertainty of, and adversely impact, our clinical trial outcomes. We do not know whether any clinical trials we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety sufficient to obtain marketing approval to market our product candidates. Most product candidates that begin clinical trials are never approved by regulatory authorities for commercialization.
Moreover, preclinical studies and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses and many companies that believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials nonetheless failed to obtain FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority approval. We cannot guarantee that the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities will interpret trial results as we do, and more trials than we anticipated could be required before we are able to submit applications seeking approval of our product candidates. To the extent that the results of the trials are not satisfactory to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for support of a marketing application, we may be required to expend significant resources, which may not be available to us, to conduct additional
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trials in support of potential approval of our product candidates. Even if regulatory approval is secured for any of our product candidates, the terms of such approval may limit the scope and use of our product candidate, which may also limit its commercial potential. Furthermore, the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval, which may lead to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities delaying, limiting or denying approval of our product candidates.
Interim, initial, "topline", and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish in the future may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, initial, preliminary or topline data from our clinical trials, including our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of SGR-1505, which are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular trial. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available or as patients from our clinical trials continue other treatments for their disease. We will also have to make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the interim, initial, topline or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same trials, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Preliminary or topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary or topline data we previously published. As a result, interim, initial, topline and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available.
Adverse differences between interim data and final data could significantly harm our reputation and business prospects and may cause volatility in the price of our common stock.
We conduct, and we intend to continue to conduct, clinical trials for our product candidates at sites outside the United States. The FDA may not accept data from trials conducted in such locations, and the conduct of trials outside the United States could subject us to additional delays and expense.
We conduct, and we intend to continue to conduct, clinical trials for our product candidates at trial sites that are located outside the United States. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of these data is subject to certain conditions imposed by the FDA.
In cases where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the sole basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will generally not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless (i) the data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; (ii) the trials were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence and pursuant to cGCP regulations; and (iii) the data may be considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA, or if the FDA considers such inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means.
In addition, even where the foreign study data are not intended to serve as the sole basis for approval, the FDA will not accept the data as support for an application for marketing approval unless the study satisfies certain conditions. For example, the clinical trial must be well designed and conducted and performed by qualified investigators in accordance with cGCPs. The FDA must be able to validate the data from the trial, including, if necessary, through an onsite inspection. The trial population must also have a similar profile to the U.S. population and the data must be applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice in ways that the FDA deems clinically meaningful, except to the extent the disease being studied does not typically occur in the United States. In addition, while these clinical trials are subject to the applicable local laws, FDA acceptance of the data will be dependent upon its determination that the trials also complied with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations. There can be no assurance that the FDA will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States. If the FDA does not accept the data from any trial that we conduct outside the United States, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay or permanently halt our development of our product candidates or potential product candidates in the future.
In addition, the conduct of clinical trials outside the United States could have a significant adverse impact on us. Risks inherent in conducting international clinical trials include: clinical practice patterns and standards of care that vary widely among countries; non-U.S. regulatory authority requirements that could restrict or limit our ability to conduct our
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clinical trials; administrative burdens of conducting clinical trials under multiple non-U.S. regulatory authority schema; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and diminished protection of intel
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