UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018

OR

For the transition period from                          to                     

Commission File Number: 001-35966

 

bluebird bio, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

 

(339) 499-9300

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, 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.

 

 

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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 30, 2018, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, was $7,882,817,517.

As of February 15, 2019, there were 54,951,177 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement relating to its 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such Proxy Statement will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.  

 

 

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We make such forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “would,” or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

Any forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K reflect our current views with respect to future events or to our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed under Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, our business, and the markets for certain diseases, including data regarding the estimated size of those markets, and the incidence and prevalence of certain medical conditions. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties and actual events or circumstances may differ materially from events and circumstances reflected in this information. Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this industry, business, market and other data from reports, research surveys, studies and similar data prepared by market research firms and other third parties, industry, medical and general publications, government data and similar sources.

 

 

 

 

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PART I

 

 

Item 1. Business

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to developing potentially transformative gene therapies for severe genetic diseases and cancer. With our lentiviral-based gene therapy and gene editing capabilities, we have built an integrated product platform with broad therapeutic potential in a variety of indications. We believe that gene therapy for severe genetic diseases has the potential to change the way patients living with these diseases are treated by addressing the underlying genetic defect that is the cause of their disease, rather than offering treatments that only address their symptoms. Our clinical programs in severe genetic diseases include our LentiGlobin^® product candidate as a treatment for transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia, or TDT, and sickle cell disease, or SCD, and our Lenti-D^™ product candidate as a treatment for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, or CALD. Our programs in oncology are built upon our leadership in lentiviral gene delivery and T cell engineering, with a focus on developing novel T cell-based immunotherapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) T cell therapies. bb2121 and bb21217, our clinical-stage product candidates in oncology, are CAR T cell product candidates for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

We are developing our LentiGlobin product candidate for different genotypes of TDT and for SCD in the United States and the European Union, or EU.  Both TDT and SCD are rare, hereditary blood disorders that often lead to severe anemia and shortened lifespans.  In October 2018, we announced that the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, has accepted for review our marketing authorization application, or MAA, for our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. If we receive conditional approval in 2019, we expect to launch LentiGlobin in Europe and begin to generate product revenues. We plan to file a biologics license application, or BLA, in the United States in 2019 for the use of LentiGlobin in the treatment of adult and adolescent patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. We are also engaged with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and the EMA in discussions regarding our proposed development plans for LentiGlobin in SCD, with a potential first submission for regulatory approval in 2022.

We are developing our Lenti-D product candidate for CALD, a rare, hereditary neurological disorder that is often fatal.  If our Lenti-D product candidate shows a sufficiently compelling treatment effect, and pending further discussion with regulatory authorities, the results from the phase 2/3 clinical study of our Lenti-D product candidate, called the Starbeam study, could potentially form the basis of a BLA submission in the United States and  a MAA submission in the European Union. We anticipate a potential first submission for regulatory approval of our Lenti-D product candidate for the treatment of patients with CALD in 2019.

In collaboration with Celgene Corporation, or Celgene, we are developing our bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates in multiple myeloma, a hematologic malignancy that develops in the bone marrow and is fatal if untreated. We are co-developing and co-promoting the bb2121 product candidate in the United States with Celgene and we have exclusively licensed to Celgene the development and commercialization rights for the bb2121 product candidate outside of the United States. We and Celgene anticipate the first potential approval of the bb2121 product candidate for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma in the second half of 2020. We have exclusively licensed the development and commercialization rights for the bb21217 product candidate to Celgene, with an option for us to elect to co-develop and co-promote bb21217 within the United States.

Our Gene Therapy Platform

Our platform is based on lentiviral vectors which are used to introduce a functional copy of a gene to the patient’s own isolated hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs, in the case of our LentiGlobin and Lenti-D product candidates, or the patient’s own isolated white blood cells which include T cells, in the case of our bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates. Additionally, we have developed a proprietary cell-based vector manufacturing process that is both reproducible and scalable. We believe our innovations in viral vector design and related manufacturing processes are important steps towards advancing the field of gene therapy and in realizing its full potential on a commercial scale.

Utilizing our platform, we are developing product candidates comprising the patient’s own gene-modified HSCs and T cells. Clinical proof-of-concept already exists for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, or HSCT, an approach of treating a patient with HSCs contributed by a donor other than the patient that contain the properly functioning copy of the gene whose mutation has caused the underlying disease.  However, this approach has significant limitations, including difficulties in finding appropriate genetically-matched donors and carries the risk of transplant-related rejection, graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD, and mortality. Our approach is intended to address the significant limitations of allogeneic HSCT while utilizing existing stem cell transplant infrastructure and processes. Also, because our approach has the potential to drive sustained expression of the functional protein encoded by the gene insert after a single-administration, we believe the value proposition offered by our product candidates for patients, families, health care providers and payors would be significant.

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Although our initial focus for severe genetic diseases is in TDT, SCD and CALD, and for cancer is in multiple myeloma, we believe our gene therapy platform has broad therapeutic potential in a variety of indications. We believe that our lentiviral vectors can be used to introduce virtually any gene into a cell and have the potential to be manufactured on a commercial scale reproducibly and reliably, as each new vector is produced using substantially the same process.

We also have discovery research programs utilizing our cell signaling and gene editing technology platform across our pipeline. For instance, we are exploring applications of our CAR and TCR T cell technologies in combination with novel proteins based on synthetic biology. These technologies may potentially allow our future T cell-based product candidates to detect the tumor microenvironment or, in the case of future CAR T cell product candidates, to be regulated by small molecules. In addition, we are focused on utilizing homing endonuclease and megaTAL gene editing technologies in a variety of potential applications and disease areas, including oncology, hematology and other diseases.  Homing endonucleases and megaTALs are novel enzymes that provide a highly specific and efficient way to modify DNA sequences to edit or insert genetic components to potentially treat a variety of diseases.

Our Programs in Severe Genetic Diseases

The LentiGlobin product candidate

β-thalassemia

Overview

β-thalassemia is a rare genetic disease caused by a mutation in the β-globin gene resulting in the production of defective red blood cells, or RBCs. Genetic mutations cause the absence or reduced production of the beta chains of hemoglobin, or β-globin, thereby preventing the proper formation of hemoglobin A, which normally accounts for greater than 95% of the hemoglobin in the blood of adults. Hemoglobin is an iron-containing protein in the blood that carries oxygen from the respiratory organs to the rest of the body. Hemoglobin A consists of four chains—two chains each of α-globin and β-globin. Genetic mutations that impair the production of β-globin can lead to a relative excess of α-globin, leading to premature death of RBCs. The clinical implications of the α-globin/ β-globin imbalance are two-fold: first, patients lack sufficient RBCs and hemoglobin to effectively transport oxygen throughout the body and can become severely anemic; and second, the ineffective production of RBCs can lead to a range of multi-systemic complications, including but not limited to splenomegaly, marrow expansion, bone deformities, and iron overload in major organs.

The clinical course of β-thalassemia correlates with the degree of globin chain imbalance. Nearly 350 different mutations have been described in patients with β-thalassemia. Mutations can be categorized as those that result in no functional β-globin production (β⁰) and those that result in decreased functional β-globin production (β⁺). TDT refers to any mutation pairing that results in the need for chronic transfusions due to severe anemia. Affected patients produce as little as one to seven g/dL of hemoglobin (in contrast, a normal adult produces 12 to 18 g/dL of hemoglobin).

Limitations of current treatment options

In geographies where treatment is available, patients with TDT receive chronic blood transfusions to survive. These regimens consist of regular infusions with units of packed RBC, or pRBC, usually every two to five weeks, which are intended to maintain hemoglobin levels and control symptoms of the disease. While chronic blood transfusions can be effective at minimizing the symptoms of TDT, they often lead to unavoidable iron overload, which over time may lead to significant morbidity and mortality through iron-associated heart and liver toxicity. To help reduce iron overload-associated risks and resulting complications, patients must adhere to therapeutic iron chelation regimens to reduce the iron overload. Despite improvements in supportive care with transfusion and chelation, the overall life expectancy for a patient with TDT is significantly reduced compared to the general population. In addition, patient and caregiver quality of life can be significantly affected by complications associated with TDT and chronic disease management.

The only potentially curative therapy for β-thalassemia has been allogeneic HSCT, with best outcomes observed in pediatric patients with a matched sibling donor.  However, allogeneic HSCT is associated with serious risks, some of which can be life threatening and result in death.  Potential complications of allogeneic HSCT include a risk of engraftment failure in unrelated human-leukocyte-antigen, or HLA, matched patients, a risk of life-threatening infection, and a risk of GVHD, a common complication in which donor immune cells (white blood cells in the graft) recognize the cells of the recipient (the host) as “foreign” and attack them.  As a result of these safety challenges, allogeneic HSCT can lead to significant mortality rates, particularly for patients treated with cells from a donor who is not a matched sibling, and in patients >11 years old. Consequently, we believe there is a need for an option that can address the underlying genetic cause of TDT for more patients, and that TDT is a life-shortening disease with a significant unmet medical need.

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Sickle cell disease

Overview

Sickle cell disease, or SCD, is a hereditary blood disorder resulting from a mutation in the β-globin gene that causes polymerization of hemoglobin proteins, resulting in abnormal red blood cell function. The disease is characterized by anemia, vaso-occlusive events (a common complication of SCD in which there is severe pain due to obstructed blood flow in the small blood vessels of the body), cumulative damage to multiple organs, infections, stroke, overall poor quality of life and early death in a large subset of patients. Under low-oxygen conditions, which are exacerbated by the RBC abnormalities, the mutant hemoglobin polymerizes causing the RBCs to take on a sickle shape, which causes them to aggregate and obstruct small blood vessels, thereby restricting blood flow to organs resulting in pain, cell death and organ damage. If oxygen levels are restored, the hemoglobin can depolymerize and the RBCs will return to their normal shape, but over time, repeated sickling damages the cell membrane and the cells fail to return to the normal shape even in high-oxygen conditions.

Limitations of current treatment options

Where adequate medical care is available, common treatments for patients with SCD largely revolve around management and prevention of acute sickling episodes. Chronic management may include hydroxyurea and, in certain cases, chronic RBC transfusions. Hydroxyurea is currently one of two medications approved for the treatment of SCD and is recommended for patients with recurrent moderate to severe painful crises, to reduce the frequency of painful crises. However, not all SCD patients respond to hydroxyurea, or are able to tolerate the cytotoxic effect of reduced white blood cell and platelet counts. A significant number of patients with SCD find it difficult to adhere to hydroxyurea treatment, and for most patients there is no effective long-term treatment. L-glutamine was approved by the FDA in 2017 as the second medication for the treatment of sickle cell disease and as such, there is limited long-term data available regarding its safety or efficacy.

RBC transfusion therapy can be utilized to maintain the level of sickle hemoglobin below 30% to 50%, which decreases sickling of RBCs, reduces the risk of recurrent stroke, and decreases the incidence of associated co-morbidities. While transfusion therapy can be critical in the management of acute disease, and can be vital in preventing some of the chronic manifestations of SCD, it does not provide equal benefit to all patients.  Furthermore, in patients with SCD, it is associated with risks such as infection with blood-borne pathogens, alloimmunization, and adverse transfusion reactions that may lead to fatal outcomes.  Additional complications of chronic transfusion include iron overload.

The only potentially curative therapy currently available for SCD is allogeneic HSCT, but it is limited to patients with severe disease manifestations and carries significant risk of transplant-related morbidity and mortality. Thus, this option is usually offered primarily to pediatric patients with available sibling-matched donors. It is particularly difficult to find suitable donors for individuals of African descent, and it is estimated that only a fraction of eligible patients undergo transplant. In light of these factors, we believe that SCD is a seriously debilitating and life-threatening disease with a significant unmet medical need.

Development of the LentiGlobin product candidate

We are developing our LentiGlobin product candidate as a potential one-time treatment for both TDT and SCD. Our approach involves the ex vivo insertion of the normal β-globin gene with an amino acid substitution using a lentiviral vector into the patient’s own HSCs to enable formation of normally functioning hemoglobin A and normal RBCs in patients. Importantly, this amino acid substitution, referred to as T87Q, also serves as a distinct biomarker used to quantify expression levels of the functional β-globin protein in patients with TDT and SCD, while also providing anti-sickling properties in the context of SCD. We refer to the cells that have undergone our ex vivo manufacturing process resulting in genetically modified HSCs as the LentiGlobin drug product, or our LentiGlobin product candidate.

We are conducting, or have conducted, the following clinical studies of our LentiGlobin product candidate to evaluate its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with TDT:

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We are conducting, or plan to conduct, the following clinical studies of our LentiGlobin product candidate to evaluate its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with SCD:

Our LentiGlobin product candidate has been granted Orphan Drug status by the FDA and EMA for both β-thalassemia and SCD. Our LentiGlobin product candidate was granted Fast-Track designation by the FDA for the treatment of β-thalassemia major and for the treatment of certain patients with SCD.  The FDA has also granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of SCD.  The FDA has granted to our LentiGlobin product candidate Breakthrough Therapy designation for the treatment of transfusion-dependent patients with β-thalassemia major, and rare pediatric disease designation for the treatment of TDT. We are participating in the EMA’s Adaptive Pathways pilot program (formerly referred to as Adaptive Licensing), which is part of the EMA’s effort to improve timely access for patients to new medicines. In addition, the EMA has granted Priority Medicines (PRIME) eligibility for our LentiGlobin product candidate in the treatment of TDT.

In October 2018, we announced that the EMA accepted our marketing authorization application, or MAA, for LentiGlobin for the treatment of adolescents and adults with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes.  We anticipate a potential first conditional approval in the EU in 2019. Conversion to full approval may be subject to the successful completion of our Northstar-2 study and Northstar-3 study, or other studies we may be required to conduct, supportive long-term follow-up data and “real-world” post-approval monitoring data. Whether or not our clinical data are sufficient to support conditional, and ultimately full, approval will be a review decision by the EMA and European Commission. We also plan to submit a BLA in the United States in 2019 on the basis of the Northstar study and the Northstar-2 study of our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. In addition, if successful, we believe the data from our Northstar-3 study, together with data from our Northstar study and Northstar-2 study and HGB-205 study could be sufficient to form the basis for a BLA supplement submission in the United States, and a MAA variation submission in the EU, for our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of patients with TDT and β⁰/β⁰ genotypes.

We are engaged with the FDA and the EMA in ongoing discussions regarding our proposed development plans for our LentiGlobin product candidate in SCD. Based on these discussions and clinical data for our LentiGlobin product candidate in SCD, we are exploring efficacy endpoints in our HGB-206 study and planned HGB-210 study that may allow us to pursue a more accelerated development path in the United States of our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of patients with SCD who have a history of VOEs.  Specifically, we are exploring the use of a primary efficacy endpoint based on β^A-T87Q expression and total hemoglobin, and of a key secondary endpoint of frequency of VOEs.  As expanded and modified in October 2018, the HGB-206 study will increase the overall set of clinical data regarding the relationship between anti-sickling hemoglobin and clinical outcomes, and has the potential to validate the new primary efficacy endpoint as a surrogate endpoint for other SCD clinical outcomes such as VOEs. Although we cannot be certain that the HGB-206 study and planned HGB-210 study will be sufficient to form the basis for a BLA submission in the United States or a MAA in Europe for the treatment of patients with SCD, these studies have been expanded, modified and planned with the goal of achieving a more accelerated development path for our LentiGlobin product candidate in the United States for the treatment of patients with SCD who have a history of VOEs, with a potential first submission for regulatory approval in 2022.  

Clinical results of the LentiGlobin product candidate

Our Northstar study is a single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, multi-site phase 1/2 clinical study in the United States, Australia and Thailand to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the LentiGlobin product candidate in increasing hemoglobin production and eliminating or reducing transfusion dependence following treatment. In March 2014, we announced that the first patient had been treated in our Northstar study. In February 2018, we announced that the last patient in this study had completed the follow-up period under the Northstar study protocol.

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Eighteen adults and adolescents were enrolled in the study. To be eligible for enrollment in this study, patients were between 12 and 35 years of age with a diagnosis of TDT and received at least 100 mL/kg/year of pRBCs or at least eight transfusions per year in each of the two years preceding enrollment. The patients were also eligible for allogeneic HSCT.

Efficacy was evaluated primarily by the production of ≥2.0 g/dL of hemoglobin A containing β^A-T87Q-globin for the six-month period between 18 and 24 months post-treatment. Exploratory efficacy endpoints included pRBC transfusion requirements (measured in milliliters per kilogram) per month and per year, post-treatment. Safety evaluations performed during the study include success and kinetics of HSC engraftment, incidence of transplant-related mortality post-treatment, overall survival, detection of vector-derived replication-competent lentivirus in any patient and characterization of events of insertional mutagenesis leading to clonal dominance or leukemia. Subjects were monitored by regular screening. Each patient remained on study for approximately 26 months from time of consent and then were enrolled in a long-term follow-up protocol that will assess safety and efficacy beyond the study protocol’s follow-up period.

In December 2018, we presented updated clinical data from our Northstar study at the 60^th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, or ASH Annual Meeting. All data presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of September 14, 2018:

Our Northstar-2 study is an ongoing single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, international, multi-site phase 3 clinical study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the LentiGlobin product candidate to treat patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. In December 2016, we announced that the first patient had been treated in our Northstar-2 study.

Approximately 23 patients will be enrolled in the study, consisting of at least 15 adolescent and adult patients between 12 and 50 years of age at enrollment, and at least eight pediatric patients less than 12 years of age at enrollment. To be enrolled, patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes must have received at least 100 mL/kg/year of pRBCs or at least eight transfusions per year for the past two years. All patients must be eligible for allogeneic HSCT, but without a matched family allogeneic HSCT donor. Subjects in our Northstar-2 study will be treated with our LentiGlobin product candidate manufactured using our refined drug product manufacturing process with the objective of increasing the vector copy number and the percentage of transduced cells, relative to the drug product manufacturing process used in our Northstar study.

The primary endpoint of this study is the proportion of treated patients who achieve transfusion independence, defined as weighted average hemoglobin levels ≥9.0 g/dL without any pRBC transfusions for a continuous period of at least 12 months at any time during the study after treatment. The secondary endpoints of this study are to quantify gene transfer efficiency and expression, and to measure the effects of treatment with the LentiGlobin drug product on transfusion requirements post-treatment and clinical events. Safety evaluations to be performed during the study include success and kinetics of HSC engraftment, incidence of transplant-related mortality post-treatment, overall survival, detection of vector-derived replication-competent lentivirus in any patient and characterization of events of insertional mutagenesis leading to clonal dominance or leukemia. Each patient will remain on study for approximately 24 months post-treatment and then will be enrolled in a long-term follow-up protocol that will assess safety and efficacy beyond the study protocol’s follow-up period.

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In December 2018, we presented updated clinical data from our Northstar-2 study at the ASH Annual Meeting. All data presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of September 14, 2018:

Our Northstar-3 study is an ongoing single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, international, multi-site phase 3 clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the LentiGlobin product candidate to treat patients with TDT and β⁰/β⁰ genotypes or IVS-I-110 mutation. In November 2017, we announced that the first patient had been treated in our Northstar-3 study.

Approximately 15 patients who are less than 50 years of age at enrollment will be enrolled in the study. To be eligible, patients with TDT and β⁰/β⁰ genotypes or IVS-I-110 mutation must have received at least 100 mL/kg/year of pRBCs or at least eight transfusions per year for the past two years. All patients must be clinically stable and eligible to undergo HSCT, as well as having been treated and followed for at least the last two years in a specialized center that maintained detailed medical records, including transfusion history. Patients in our Northstar-3 study will be treated with our LentiGlobin product candidate manufactured using our refined drug product manufacturing process with the objective of increasing the vector copy number and the percentage of transduced cells, relative to the drug product manufacturing process used in our Northstar study.

The primary endpoint of this study is the proportion of treated patients who meet the definition of “transfusion reduction”, which is defined as demonstration of reduction in volume of pRBC transfusion requirements (in mL/kg) in the post-treatment time period of months 12 to 24 compared to the average annual transfusion requirement in the 24 months prior to enrollment.  The secondary endpoints of this study are to measure the proportion of patients who meet the definition of “transfusion independence” and also quantify gene transfer efficiency and expression, and measure the effects of treatment with the LentiGlobin drug product on transfusion requirements post-treatment and clinical events. Each patient will remain on study for approximately 24 months post-treatment and then will be enrolled in a long-term follow-up protocol that will assess safety and efficacy beyond the study protocol’s follow-up period.

In December 2018, we presented updated clinical data from our Northstar-3 study at the ASH Annual Meeting. All data presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of September 14, 2018, except as otherwise noted:

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Our HGB-206 study is a single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, multi-site phase 1/2 clinical study in the United States to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the LentiGlobin product candidate to treat SCD.  

Up to 50 adult and adolescent patients will be enrolled in the study. Patients must be ≥18 years of age with a diagnosis of sickle cell disease, with either β^S/β^S or β^S/β⁰ genotype. The sickle cell disease must be severe, as defined by recurrent severe VOEs, acute chest syndrome (ACS), history of an overt stroke, or echocardiographic evidence of an elevated tricuspid regurgitation jet velocity, an indicator of pulmonary hypertension, and patients must have failed to achieve clinical benefit from treatment with hydroxyurea.  The patients must also be eligible for HSCT. We refer to the patients enrolled under the original study protocol as patients in “Group A.” In October 2016, we announced amendments in the study protocol to incorporate several changes with the goal of increasing production of anti-sickling β-globin, such as increasing the percentage of transduced cells through manufacturing improvements, increasing target busulfan area under the curve, introducing a minimum period of regular blood transfusions prior to stem cell collection, and collecting HSCs from peripheral blood after mobilization with plerixafor rather than via bone marrow harvest. We refer to the patients enrolled under the amended study protocol utilizing HSCs from bone marrow harvest as patients in “Group B.” We refer to the patients enrolled under the amended study protocol utilizing HSCs from peripheral blood after mobilization with plerixafor as patients in “Group C.” In February 2017, we announced that the first patient had been treated under the amended study protocol.

The primary efficacy endpoint for this study is based on β^A-T87Q expression and total hemoglobin, and the secondary efficacy endpoint for this study is the frequency of VOEs. Safety endpoints include monitoring for laboratory parameters and frequency and severity of adverse events; the success and kinetics of HSC engraftment; the incidence of treatment related mortality and overall survival; the detection of vector-derived replication-competent lentivirus in any patient; and the characterization of events of insertional mutagenesis leading to clonal dominance or leukemia. Each patient will remain on study for approximately 26 months from time of consent and then will be enrolled in a long-term follow-up protocol that will assess safety and efficacy beyond the study protocol’s follow up period.

In December 2018, we presented updated clinical data from our HGB-206 study at the ASH Annual Meeting. All data presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date as of September 14, 2018:

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Our HGB-205 study is a single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, phase 1/2 clinical study at a single site in France to examine the safety and efficacy of our LentiGlobin product candidate in up to seven patients with a diagnosis of TDT or SCD. In December 2013, we announced that the first patient with TDT had been treated in our HGB-205 study and in October 2014 we announced that the first patient with SCD had been treated in our HGB-205 study.

Patients must be between five and 35 years of age with a diagnosis of TDT or SCD. To be enrolled, patients with TDT must have received at least 100 mL/kg/year of pRBCs per year for the past two years. Those with SCD must have failed to achieve clinical benefit from treatment with hydroxyurea and have an additional poor prognostic risk factor (e.g., recurrent VOEs or ACS). All patients must be eligible for allogeneic HSCT, but without a matched sibling allogeneic HSCT donor. This study is fully enrolled, with four patients with TDT and three patients with SCD enrolled in this study.

The primary objective of our HGB-205 study is to determine the safety, tolerability and success of engraftment of the LentiGlobin drug product. The secondary objectives of the study are to quantify gene transfer efficiency and expression, and to measure the effects of treatment with the LentiGlobin drug product on disease-specific biological parameters and clinical events. In the case of patients with TDT and SCD, this means the volume of pRBC transfusions, and for patients with SCD, it also means the number of VOEs and ACS in each patient, compared with the two-year period prior to treatment. Safety evaluations to be performed during the study include success and kinetics of HSC engraftment, incidence of transplant-related mortality post-treatment, overall survival, detection of vector-derived replication-competent lentivirus in any patient and characterization of events of insertional mutagenesis leading to clonal dominance or leukemia.

In December 2017, we presented updated clinical data from our HGB-205 study in patients with SCD or TDT at the 59^th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.  All data presented and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of September 20, 2017:

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The Lenti-D product candidate

Adrenoleukodystrophy

Overview

Adrenoleukodystrophy is a rare X-linked, metabolic disorder caused by mutations in the ABCD1 gene which results in a deficiency in adrenoleukodystrophy protein, or ALDP, and subsequent accumulation of very long-chain fatty acids, or VLCFA. VLCFA accumulation occurs in plasma and all tissue types, but primarily affects the adrenal cortex and white matter of the brain and spinal cord, leading to a range of clinical outcomes. The most severe form of ALD, the inflammatory cerebral phenotype, referred to as CALD, involves a progressive destruction of myelin, the protective sheath of the nerve cells in the brain that are responsible for thinking and muscle control. Symptoms of CALD usually occur in early childhood and progress rapidly if untreated, leading to severe loss of neurological function and eventual death in most patients. We estimate that approximately 35% to 40% of boys with ALD will develop CALD.

Limitations of current treatment options

Currently, the only effective treatment option for CALD is allogeneic HSCT. In this procedure, the patient is treated with HSCs containing a functioning copy of the gene contributed by a donor other than the patient. Allogeneic HSCT is an effective treatment option for patients in the earliest stages of cerebral disease, particularly if done using cells from an unaffected human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched sibling donor, which minimizes the risk associated with allogeneic HSCT. However, the majority of allogeneic HSCT procedures for CALD are carried out with non-sibling matched donor cells or partially matched related or unrelated donor cells including umbilical cord blood cells because a matched sibling donor is not available. While safety risks, including transplant-related morbidity and mortality, graft failure, GVHD, and opportunistic infections are of particular concern when transplants are performed in the absence of a matched sibling donor, the potential for life-threatening risks exists even when an HLA-matched sibling donor is available. Donor availability and transplant-related risks limit the broader use of allogeneic HSCT.

As the outcome of HSCT varies with clinical stage of the disease at the time of transplant, early diagnosis of CALD is important. In the United States, newborn screening for ALD was added in February 2016 to the Recommended Universal Screening Panel, a list of disorders that are screened at birth and recommended by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for states to screen as part of their state universal newborn screening program. Disorders are chosen based on evidence that supports the potential net benefit of screening, among other factors. An increasing number of states are including ALD testing in their state newborn screening programs.

Development of the Lenti-D product candidate

We are developing our Lenti-D product candidate as an autologous treatment of CALD, with the potential to provide the effectiveness seen with allogeneic HSCT, but without the immunologic risk. Our approach involves the ex vivo insertion of a functional copy of the ABCD1 gene via a lentiviral vector into the patient’s own HSCs. Following engraftment, we expect the transduced HSCs to differentiate into other cell types, including macrophages and cerebral microglia, which produce functional ALDP. We believe that the functional ALDP can then enable the local degradation of VLCFAs in the brain, which in turn can stabilize the disease by preventing further cerebral inflammation and demyelination that are characteristics of CALD.

We are conducting the Starbeam study (ALD-102), a multi-site, international phase 2/3 study of our Lenti-D product candidate to evaluate its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with CALD. In early 2019, we intend to initiate our planned ALD-104 study, multi-site phase 3 study of our Lenti-D product candidate for the treatment of patients with CALD, to enable access following completion of enrollment in the Starbeam study, and to evaluate the suitability of an additional conditioning regimen for use with the Lenti-D product candidate.

Based on our discussions with the FDA and EMA, we believe that we may be able to seek approval for our Lenti-D product candidate for the treatment of patients with CALD on the basis of the clinical data from our ongoing Starbeam study, and the ongoing ALD-103 observational study. For the assessment of efficacy, we expect that the clinical results of the Starbeam study will be compared to a clinically meaningful benchmark based on the medical literature and data collected in ALD-101, a retrospective analysis that assessed the natural history of CALD as well as outcomes of patients with CALD who had received allogeneic HSCT. For the assessment of safety, we expect that the clinical results of the Starbeam study will be compared to data collected from the ALD-103 study, a multinational, multi-site, prospective and retrospective observational study that is running concurrently with the Starbeam study and is designed to evaluate outcomes of allogeneic HSCT in patients with CALD. We anticipate a potential first submission for regulatory approval of our Lenti-D product candidate for the treatment of patients with CALD in 2019. Lenti-D has been granted Orphan Drug status by the FDA and EMA for adrenoleukodystrophy. The FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation and the EMA has granted PRIME eligibility to the Lenti-D product candidate for CALD.

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Clinical results of the Lenti-D product candidate

CALD is a rare disease and as such, data on the natural history of the disease, as well as the efficacy and safety profile of allogeneic HSCT is limited in the scientific literature. In order to further characterize the natural history of CALD, describe outcomes after HSCT, and identify predictors of positive treatment outcomes, we performed a large, multicenter, retrospective chart review and collected data on 72 untreated CALD patients, and 65 CALD patients who received allogeneic HSCT.  In the study, we collected survival, functional and neuropsychological assessments and neuroimaging data for both treated and untreated patients, as available; however, given the retrospective nature of the study, we were not able to collect comprehensive data for all patients.  Additional analyses were conducted to gain further insight into ongoing risks and determinants of successful outcomes after HSCT, identify appropriate populations for treatment, and define endpoints that could be useful for future clinical studies.

Our Starbeam study is a single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, international, multi-site phase 2/3 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Lenti-D drug product in males with CALD ≤ 17 years of age. We treated the first patient in the Starbeam study in the United States in October 2013. We announced that we achieved our enrollment target in September 2018.

In the study, patients must be age seventeen years or younger with a confirmed diagnosis of active CALD, including elevated levels of plasma VLCFA, a Loes score of 0.5 to ≤ 9, inclusive, evidence of gadolinium enhancement and an NFS ≤ 1. Patients with a willing, unaffected 10/10 HLA-matched sibling HSCT donor are excluded from the study.

The primary efficacy endpoint of the study is the proportion of patients who are alive and free of major functional disabilities (MFD) at 24 months post-treatment.  MFDs, which represent end-stage disease, have been characterized as having the most significant impact on the ability of patients with CALD to function independently, representing unambiguous and profound neurologic degeneration. These MFDs are: loss of communication, no voluntary movement, cortical blindness, tube feeding, wheelchair dependence, and total incontinence. Secondary and exploratory endpoints include the following:

The primary safety endpoint is the proportion of patients who experience either ≥ Grade 2 acute GVHD or chronic GVHD by 2 years post-treatment. Additional safety evaluations include the following: success and kinetics of HSC engraftment, incidence of transplant-related mortality; detection of vector-derived replication-competent lentivirus; and characterization and quantification of events related to the location of insertion of the functional gene in target cells. Patients will be followed for 24 months post-treatment under this protocol. In accordance with applicable guidance from the FDA and EMA, we will be monitoring patients in a separate long-term follow up protocol to evaluate safety for up to 15 years, and will also monitor efficacy endpoints to demonstrate a sustained treatment effect.

In September 2018, we presented updated clinical data at the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (SSIEM). All data presented and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of April 25, 2018, except as otherwise indicated below:

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We are also conducting the ALD-103 study, an observational prospective and retrospective data collection study of 60 patients with CALD ≤17 years of age who received allogeneic HSCT.  This study is ongoing and designed to collect efficacy and safety outcomes data in patients who have undergone allogeneic HSCT in a period that is contemporaneous with the Starbeam study.  We anticipate that our Lenti-D product candidate safety and efficacy will be evaluated by the FDA and EMA in light of the data collected in the Starbeam study in conjunction with our retrospective observational ALD-101 study and our retrospective and prospective observational ALD-103 study.

In September 2018, we presented interim clinical data from the ALD-103 study at SSIEM. All data presented and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of April 25, 2018:

Our collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital in SCD

We are collaborating with investigators at Boston Children’s Hospital, or BCH, to advance a product candidate that utilizes a lentiviral vector delivering a short hairpin RNA, or shRNA, embedded in a microRNA, or miRNA, which is commonly known as a shMIR, to suppress the genetic target BCL11a to upregulate fetal hemoglobin to treat patients with SCD.  We have an exclusive license to this program and the related intellectual property from BCH.

In December 2018, BCH presented initial clinical data from the investigator-initiated phase I study at the ASH Annual Meeting. All data presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and summarized here are as of the data cut-off date of July 28, 2018. One patient had received treatment with BCL11a shMIR. In the patient’s immature red blood cells, expression of the BCL11A protein was reduced by approximately 90 percent compared to levels prior to gene therapy. At 76 days following treatment this patient had a sustained total hemoglobin level of >10 g/dL and, compared to what was observed pre-gene therapy, there was a notable absence of irreversibly sickled cells as assessed by peripheral blood smear, a blood test used to identify abnormalities in the number or shape of blood cells. The safety profile of the drug product was consistent with myeloablative conditioning, and there have been no product-related adverse events and no SCD-related complications.

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Our preclinical research opportunities in severe genetic diseases

We believe our current gene therapy platform will enable us to develop and test new vectors based on similar viral vector backbones that carry different gene sequences for other severe genetic diseases. In this way, we believe that we can advance products efficiently through preclinical into clinical development. We may consider research and development programs targeting other monogenic, genetic diseases that involve cells derived from HSCs for use in the ex vivo setting. These programs may involve severe genetic and rare diseases that could be developed and potentially commercialized on our own.

In addition, we believe our expertise in gene editing and cell transduction also provides an opportunity to develop new products for use in the in vivo setting. In this case, homing endonucleases and megaTALs that provide a highly specific and efficient way to modify DNA sequences to edit or insert genetic components would be delivered directly to the disease site (e.g., to the brain, liver or eye) or into the bloodstream of the patient and, in vivo deliver the genetic material to or modify those target cells. We believe in vivo gene editing opens up additional rare disease and large market indications where this approach is more appropriate for the disease and targeted cells.

Our Programs in CAR and TCR T Cell Technologies

Like our programs for HSCs, our T cell-based immunotherapies use a customized lentiviral vector to alter T cells ex vivo, or outside the body, so that the T cells can recognize specific proteins or protein fragments on the surface of cancer cells in order to kill these diseased cells.  T cells that have been genetically-engineered to make CAR or TCRs are designed to help a patient’s immune system overcome survival mechanisms employed by cancer cells. CAR T cell technology directs T cells to recognize cancer cells based on expression of specific cell surface antigens, whereas TCR T cell technology provides the T cells with a specific T cell receptor that recognizes protein fragments derived from either intracellular or extracellular proteins which are displayed on the tumor cell surface. For both our CAR and TCR T cell technologies, we harvest a patient’s white blood cells in a process called leukapheresis, activate certain T cells to grow and then use a lentiviral vector to transfer the gene sequences for the CAR or TCR construct into the T cell DNA. Once returned to the patient, these genetically engineered cells engage the target protein on the cancer cell, triggering a series of signals that result in tumor cell killing, the production of anti-cancer cytokines, and multiple rounds of cell division to greatly expand the number of these anti-cancer T cells in the patient. These engineered T cells have the natural “auto-regulatory” capability of normal T cells and once the tumor cells containing the target antigen are destroyed, the engineered T cells decrease in number, but with the potential to leave a smaller number of memory T cells in the body as a form of immune surveillance against potential tumor regrowth. The genetically-engineered T cells are designed to supplement a patient’s immune system and may be further engineered to overcome immune evasion mechanisms employed by cancer cells.

Our CAR and TCR T cell technologies also bring genomic engineering tools to the immunotherapy field.  For instance, we are exploring applications of our CAR and TCR T cell technologies in combination with novel proteins based on synthetic biology. These technologies may potentially allow our future T cell-based product candidates to detect the tumor microenvironment or, in the case of future CAR T cell product candidates, to be regulated by small molecules. In addition, using our gene editing technology, we potentially have a number of additional options to manipulate the genome of the cancer patient’s T cells to further increase the specificity of the anti-tumor activity and to potentially make these cells even more potent.  Specificity and potency are essential to the development of T cell therapies that can effectively treat solid tumor cancers such as breast, lung and colon cancer.  Our cancer immunotherapy research group is staffed by scientists drawn from both industry and academic research centers that have pioneered the field of T cell therapy.  This team is focused on the next generation of T cell engineering to discover and develop T cell product candidates to treat a variety of hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. 

Our collaboration with Celgene focuses on CAR T cell product candidates directed against BCMA, a protein expressed on the surface of multiple myeloma cells, plasma cells and some mature B cells. We are developing, in collaboration with Celgene, our bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates with the goal of filing for regulatory approval in multiple myeloma on a global basis. We also have collaborations in the field of cancer with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Regeneron, for the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel cell therapies; with Medigene AG, through its subsidiary Medigene Immunotherapies GmbH, to discover TCR product candidates; with Gritstone Oncology, Inc., to validate targets and discover TCR product candidates; and with TC Biopharm Limited, in the research and development of gamma delta CAR T cells.

The anti-BCMA CAR T cell product candidates: bb2121 and bb21217

Overview

In collaboration with Celgene, we are developing the bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, with the goal of filing for regulatory approval in multiple myeloma on a global basis.  bb2121 and bb21217 both bind to BCMA, a cell surface protein expressed on cancer cells. Multiple myeloma is a hematologic malignancy that develops in the bone marrow in which normal antibody-producing plasma cells transform into myeloma. The growth of the cancer cells in the bone marrow blocks production of normal blood cells and antibodies, and also causes lesions that weaken the bone. BCMA is expressed on normal plasma cells, some mature B cells, and on malignant multiple myeloma cells, but is believed to be is absent from other normal tissues.

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Collaboration with Celgene

The bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates arose from our multi-year collaboration with Celgene. Since our collaboration arrangement with Celgene was announced in March 2013, we have worked collaboratively to discover, develop and commercialize CAR T cell product candidates in oncology. Our collaboration arrangement with Celgene was amended in June 2015 to focus on CAR T cell product candidates targeting BCMA. In March 2018, we entered into an agreement with Celgene to co-develop and co-promote bb2121 in the United States, in which both parties will share equally in costs and profits on terms described more fully below under “Strategic collaborations—Our strategic alliance with Celgene.” In September 2017, Celgene exercised its option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize bb21217, and we retain an option to co-develop and co-commercialize this product candidate.

In January 2019, Celgene announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, or BMS, will acquire Celgene, and that the transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019. The acquisition of Celgene by BMS may result in organizational and personnel changes, shifts in business focus or other developments that may have a material adverse effect on our collaboration with Celgene. There is no guarantee that BMS will place the same emphasis on the collaboration or on the development and commercialization of the bb2121 or bb21217 product candidates.  

Development of the bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates

In collaboration with Celgene, we are developing the bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, with the goal for filing for regulatory approval in multiple myeloma on a global basis. The FDA and EMA have granted Orphan Drug status to both bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.  The FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation and the EMA has granted PRIME eligibility to the bb2121 product candidate for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. We and Celgene anticipate a potential approval of the bb2121 product candidate for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma in the second half of 2020.

For the development of the bb2121 product candidate, Celgene is conducting, or is planning to conduct, the following clinical studies in multiple myeloma:

For the development of the bb21217 product candidate, we are conducting the CRB-402 study, an open label, single-arm, multicenter, phase 1 study of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. In September 2017, we announced that the first patient had been treated in this study.

Clinical results of bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates

Our CRB-401 study is a single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, multi-site phase 1 dose escalation/ dose expansion clinical study in the United States to examine the safety and efficacy of our bb2121 product candidate in up to 50 patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. In order to be eligible for CRB-401, patients must have received three prior regimens, including a proteasome inhibitor (PI; bortezomib or carfilzomib) and an immunomodulatory agent (IMiD; lenalidomide or pomalidomide), or be “double-refractory” to both a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent.  In the expansion cohort, patients must have received at least a PI, an IMiD and daratumumab, and be refractory to their last line of therapy. Patients receive one cycle of lymphodepletion with cyclophosphamide and fludarabine prior to infusion of the bb2121 drug product. In September 2017, we announced that the expansion cohort of the study had been initiated with first patient treated, and the final patient enrolled in this study was treated in February 2018.

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The primary endpoint of the study is the incidence of adverse events and abnormal laboratory test results, including dose-limiting toxicities. The study also seeks to assess disease-specific response including: complete response (CR), very good partial response (VGPR), and partial response (PR) according to the International Myeloma Working Group Uniform Response Criteria for Multiple Myeloma. The study also seeks to determine the maximally tolerated dose and recommended dose for further clinical trials. Each patient is followed for up to 60 months post-treatment, and then is enrolled in a long-term follow-up protocol that will assess safety and efficacy beyond the 60-month period.

In June 2018, we and Celgene presented updated clinical data from the CRB-401 study at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, or ASCO. All data presented at ASCO and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of March 29, 2018:

 

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Our CRB-402 study is a single-dose, open-label, non-randomized, multi-site phase 1 dose escalation/ dose expansion clinical study in the United States to examine the safety and efficacy of our bb21217 product candidate in up to 50 patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. In order to be eligible for CRB-402, patients must have received three prior regimens, including a proteasome inhibitor (PI: bortezomib or carfilzomib) and immunomodulatory agent (IMiD: lenalidomide or pomalidomide), or be “double-refractory” to both a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent.  In the expansion cohort, patients must have received at least a PI, and IMiD and daratumumab, and be refractory to their last line of therapy. Patients receive one cycle of lymphodepletion with cyclophosphamide and fludarabine prior to infusion of the bb21217 drug product. In September 2017, we announced the treatment of the first patient with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma in this study.  

The primary endpoint of the study is the incidence of adverse events and abnormal laboratory test results, including dose-limiting toxicities. The study also seeks to assess disease-specific response including: complete response (CR), very good partial response (VGPR), and partial response (PR) according to the International Myeloma Working Group Uniform Response Criteria for Multiple Myeloma. The study also seeks to determine the maximally tolerated dose and recommended dose for further clinical trials. Each patient will be followed for up to 60 months post-treatment, and then will be enrolled in a long-term follow-up protocol that will assess safety and efficacy beyond the 60-month period.

In December 2018, we and Celgene presented clinical data from the CRB-402 study at the ASH Annual Meeting. All data presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and summarized below are as of the data cut-off date of October 18, 2018:

Our other preclinical research opportunities in cancer

We are pursuing multiple programs that leverage the unique properties of lentiviral vectors to target T cells as a therapy for various cancers. This represents a direct application of our expertise in gene therapy and our capabilities, know-how and patents associated with lentiviral gene therapy and gene editing for ex vivo applications. We have programs at various stages of research and preclinical development through our collaborations with Regeneron, Medigene AG, Gritstone Oncology, Inc., and TC Biopharm Limited against a variety of targets relevant to both hematologic and solid tumors. We also have academic collaborations at various stages or research and preclinical development at the University of North Carolina and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. We are also independently researching and developing other CAR T cell product candidates against a variety of cancer targets.

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Our Gene Editing Capabilities

In June 2014, we acquired Pregenen, a privately-held biotechnology company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Through the acquisition, we obtained rights to Pregenen’s gene editing technology platform and cell signaling technology. Since the acquisition, we have integrated these technologies and research team and we have expanded the scope of our research efforts in this area.  We are focused on utilizing homing endonuclease and megaTAL gene editing technologies in a variety of potential applications and disease areas, including for oncology and hematology.  Homing endonucleases and megaTALs are novel enzymes that provide a highly specific and efficient way to modify the genome of a target cell to potentially treat a variety of diseases.

All of the gene-editing technologies currently being explored by the pharmaceutical industry, including zinc finger nucleases, CRISPR/Cas9, and TALENs, share common features of a DNA binding domain and a DNA cleavage domain.  They all differ in specificity, size, ease of delivery and as naturally occurring versus engineered nucleases.  Homing endonucleases and megaTALs are based on a naturally-occurring class of DNA cleaving enzymes that function as monomeric proteins able to bind DNA in a sequence-specific manner and cleave their target site. We believe there are multiple advantages of homing endonucleases and megaTALs compared to other gene editing technologies, most notably: they are highly specific and efficient in cutting DNA and their compact size simplifies delivery to therapeutically relevant cell types.  We are using our gene editing platform, along with collaborations with multiple academic institutions, to potentially discover and develop next generation versions of our current ex vivo gene therapy product candidates, and to potentially expand into new disease indications.

Manufacturing

Our gene therapy platform has two main components: lentiviral vector production and the target cell transduction process, which results in drug product.

Our lentiviral manufacturing process

Our lentiviral vectors are assembled using a human cell line called HEK293T. The HEK293T cells are maintained in disposable flasks until sufficient cell mass has been generated to fill approximately 40 ten tray cell factories, or TTCFs, then transferred and allowed to adhere to the bottom of the trays.  Adherent cells are transfected with multiple plasmids encoding all the genetic material required to assemble the lentiviral vector carrying the functional gene of interest.  The transfected HEK293T cells then assemble our lentiviral vectors packaged with the functional gene of interest, which bud off into the cell culture media. The media containing the assembled vectors is harvested, purified, concentrated and formulated prior to freezing for storage. These finished lentiviral vectors are what is ultimately used to transduce the targeted cells isolated from the patient.

We believe that our lentiviral vectors have broad applicability, since the majority of the viral production system can remain the same, while we change only the therapeutic gene “cassette” depending on the disease. In other words, the vector “backbone” stays the same, while only the therapeutic gene and related sequences are changed. If we were to undertake drug development in an additional indication, we believe we could rapidly move forward using this lentiviral vector backbone and associated assays, simply by switching the therapeutic gene insert and associated control elements.

Although we intend to continue manufacturing our Lenti-D vectors in TTCFs, we are adapting our LentiGlobin, bb2121 and bb21217 vector production technology to scalable production systems with the potential to satisfy an increased number of patients per manufacturing cycle, and we have demonstrated successful production of our LentiGlobin, bb2121 and bb21217 vectors at the scale we believe will support potential commercial demand. We intend to use a mix of internal and third-party manufacturing capabilities to accommodate future demand for our drug candidates, if approved, in their current indications as well as those beyond our initial focus.  

Our HSC transduction process in severe genetic disease

In severe genetic disease, the ultimate product of our manufacturing processes is the patient’s own gene-modified HSC cells, which we refer to as our drug product. The process for producing drug product for our HSC-based product candidates is as follows:

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The final step is to return the gene-modified HSCs to the patient.

Our T cell transduction process in cancer

In cancer, the ultimate product of our manufacturing processes is the patient’s own gene-modified T cells, which we refer to as our drug product. The process for producing drug product for our T cell-based product candidates is as follows:

The final step is to return the gene-modified T cells to the patient.  

Manufacturing Arrangements  

In November 2017, we purchased a partially completed manufacturing facility located in Durham, North Carolina for $11.5 million. We acquired this 125,000 square foot facility to provide manufacturing capacity for our lentiviral vectors in support of our current and planned gene and cell therapy product candidates. We currently expect that our facility will begin to produce lentiviral vector in 2021. We have also entered into multi-year agreements with external manufacturing partners in the United States and Europe (Brammer Bio, Novasep and SAFC Carlsbad, Inc., or SAFC, a subsidiary of MilliporeSigma), which are partnering with us on production of lentiviral vector across all of our programs. In addition, we have entered into multi-year agreements with Lonza Houston, Inc. and apceth Biopharma, or apceth, to produce drug product for Lenti-D, LentiGlobin and bb21217.  Currently, SAFC is the sole manufacturer of the lentiviral vector and apceth is the sole manufacturer of the drug product to support our potential commercial launch of LentiGlobin in Europe for the treatment of TDT. In our manufacturing agreement with SAFC, we are required to provide rolling forecasts for products on a quarterly basis, a portion of which will be considered a binding, firm order, subject to a purchase commitment. In our manufacturing agreement with apceth, we reserve production capacity for the manufacture of our drug product. In January 2019, apceth announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd., in a transaction expected to close in April 2019. Celgene manufactures drug product for bb2121.  We believe our team of technical personnel has extensive manufacturing, analytical and quality experience as well as strong project management discipline to effectively oversee these contract manufacturing and testing activities, and to compile manufacturing and quality information for our regulatory submissions and potential commercial launch. We are engaging in negotiations with apheresis centers that will be the centers for collection of HSCs from the patient and for infusion of drug product to the patient. For the treatment of patients with our drug product in the commercial setting, we intend to partner with participating apheresis centers, which we refer to as qualified treatment centers. In anticipation of the potential regulatory approval of LentiGlobin in Europe, we expect to first engage qualified treatment centers in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom in 2019.

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Commercial Operations

Subject to approval from the EMA of our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes, we expect to launch LentiGlobin in various jurisdictions in Europe in 2019. As we plan our potential transition into a commercial-stage company, we have started to build commercial operations in the United States and Europe with a goal of delivering LentiGlobin to patients through qualified treatment centers. In the course of preparing for a potential commercial launch in 2019, we have begun a staged build of commercial capabilities by adding employees with broad experience in quality assurance and compliance, medical education, marketing, supply chain, sales, public policy, patient services, market access and product reimbursement. We expect to continue expansion of these capabilities throughout 2019 and beyond as we continue to implement appropriate quality systems, compliance policies, systems and procedures, as well as internal systems and infrastructure in order to support our complex supply chain, qualify and train treatment centers, establish patient-focused programs, educate healthcare professionals, and secure reimbursement. The timing and conduct of these commercial activities will be dependent upon regulatory approvals and on agreements we have made or may make in the future with strategic collaborators. As part of the commercialization process, we are engaged in discussions with stakeholders across the healthcare system, including public and private payors, patient advocates and organizations, professional societies, and healthcare providers, to explore new payment models that we hope will enable access to more patients. Ultimately, we intend to utilize the commercial infrastructure that we build to support the potential for multiple product launches sequentially across multiple geographies. For many territories and countries, we may also elect to utilize strategic partners, distributors, or contract field-based teams to assist in the commercialization of our products.

 

 

Strategic Collaborations

Our objective is to develop and commercialize products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy to treat patients with severe genetic diseases and cancer. To access the substantial funding and other resources required to develop and commercialize gene therapy products in these diseases, we have formed, and intend to seek other opportunities to form, strategic collaborations with third parties who can augment our industry leading gene therapy, T cell immunotherapy, lentiviral vector and gene-editing expertise. To date, we have focused on forging a limited number of significant strategic collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies and academic research centers where both parties contribute expertise to enable the discovery and development of potential product candidates.

Our strategic collaborations include relationships with:

Our collaboration with Celgene

In March 2013, we announced a strategic collaboration with Celgene to discover, develop and commercialize chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells, or CAR T cells, as potentially disease-altering gene therapies in oncology, which was amended and restated in June 2015, and amended again in February 2016 and in September 2017. The multi-year research and development collaboration focused on applying our expertise in gene therapy technology to CAR T cell-based therapies, to target and destroy cancer cells. The research collaboration term ended in June 2018, with the bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates arising from the collaboration.

In February 2016, Celgene exercised its option with respect to the bb2121 product candidate, and we exclusively licensed to Celgene the worldwide rights to develop and commercialize the bb2121 product candidate, while retaining an option to co-develop and co-promote the bb2121 product candidate in the United States. In connection with its exercise of its option to obtain an exclusive license, Celgene paid to us an option fee in the amount of $10.0 million. In March 2018, we exercised our option to co-develop and co-promote the bb2121 product candidate in the United States. Under the terms of the co-development and co-promotion agreement that we have with Celgene for the development and commercialization of bb2121, we share equally in all costs relating to developing, commercializing and manufacturing the product candidate within the United States and we would share equally in the United States profits. We are also entitled to receive up to $10.0 million in clinical milestone payments and outside of the United States, up to $54.0 million in regulatory milestone payments and up to $36.0 million in commercial milestone payments. In addition, to the extent that bb2121 is commercialized, we are entitled to receive tiered royalty payments ranging from the mid-single digits to low-teens based on a percentage of net sales generated outside of the United States. The royalties payable to us are subject to certain reductions, including any royalty payments required to be made by Celgene to acquire patent rights, with an aggregate minimum floor.

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Effective as of September 2017, Celgene has exercised its option with respect to the bb21217 product candidate, and we have exclusively licensed to Celgene the worldwide rights to develop and commercialize the bb21217 product candidate, while retaining an option to co-develop and co-promote the bb21217 product candidate in the United States on terms substantially similar to the co-development and co-promotion arrangement for the bb2121 product candidate. In connection with its exercise of its option to obtain an exclusive license, Celgene paid to us an option fee in the amount of $15.0 million. Under the terms of the license agreement with Celgene for the exclusive rights to the development and commercialization of bb21217, we are and will be responsible for conducting and funding all research and development activities performed up through completion of the CRB-402 study. Celgene has agreed to reimburse us a specified amount per patient in the event we and Celgene mutually agree to expand the trial beyond a specified number of patients per clinical trial. In addition, if we do not exercise our option to co-develop and co-promote the bb21217 product candidate in the United States, we will also be eligible to receive up to $10.0 million in clinical milestone payments, up to $117.0 million in regulatory milestone payments and up to $78.0 million in commercial milestone payments, as well as a percentage of net sales as a royalty in a range from the mid-single digits to low-teens. The royalties payable to us are subject to certain reductions, including for any royalty payments required to be made by Celgene to acquire patent rights, with an aggregate minimum floor. Celgene will assume certain development obligations and must report on their progress in achieving these milestones on a quarterly basis.

Our collaboration with Celgene is governed by a joint governance committee, or JGC, formed by representatives from us and Celgene. The JGC, among other activities, reviews and approves development and commercialization plans and budgets for activities in the United States. The parties share responsibility for the manufacture and supply of the bb2121 product candidate and, if we exercise our option to co-develop and co-promote, of the bb21217 product candidate. Prior to the exercise of our option to co-develop and co-promote the bb21217 product candidate, Celgene is solely responsible for all costs and expenses of manufacturing and supplying the bb21217 product candidate beyond the requirements for conducting the CRB-402 study. Subject to customary “back-up” supply rights granted to Celgene, we have the sole right to manufacture or have manufactured supplies of vectors and associated payloads manufactured for incorporation into the optioned product candidates. Celgene will reimburse us for our costs to manufacture and supply such vectors and associated payloads, plus a mark-up.

We received an initial up-front payment of $75.0 million from Celgene in connection with the collaboration, plus an additional $25.0 million in connection with the amendment in June 2015. Either party may terminate the agreements upon written notice to the other party in the event of the other party’s uncured material breach. Celgene may terminate the agreement for any reason upon prior written notice to us. If the agreements are terminated, rights to product candidates in development at the time of such termination will be allocated to the parties through a mechanism included in the agreements. In addition, if Celgene has the right to terminate any co-development and co-promotion agreement or license agreement for our breach, Celgene may elect to continue such agreement however, any amounts payable by Celgene to us under such agreement will be reduced.

In January 2019, Celgene announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which BMS will acquire Celgene, and that the transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019. The acquisition of Celgene by BMS may result in organizational and personnel changes, shifts in business focus or other developments that may have a material adverse effect on our collaboration with Celgene. There is no guarantee that BMS will place the same emphasis on the collaboration or on the development and commercialization of the bb2121 or bb21217 product candidates.  

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 seeking, maintaining, and defending patent rights, whether developed internally or licensed from third parties. We also rely on trade secrets relating to our proprietary technology platform and on know-how, continuing technological innovation and in-licensing opportunities to develop, strengthen and maintain our proprietary position in the field of gene therapy that may be important for the development of our business. We additionally rely on regulatory protection afforded through orphan drug designations, data exclusivity, market exclusivity, and patent term extensions where available.

Our commercial success may depend in part on our ability 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 patents; preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets; and operate without infringing the valid enforceable patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing our products may depend on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets that cover these activities. With respect to both licensed and company-owned intellectual property, we cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications or with respect to any patent applications filed by us in the future, nor can we be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents that may be granted to us in the future will be commercially useful in protecting our commercial products and methods of manufacturing the same.

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We have developed or in-licensed numerous patents and patent applications and possess substantial know-how and trade secrets relating to the development and commercialization of gene therapy products. Our proprietary intellectual property, including patent and non-patent intellectual property, is generally directed to, for example, certain genes, transgenes, methods of transferring genetic material into cells, genetically modified cells, processes to manufacture our lentivirus-based product candidates and other proprietary technologies and processes related to our lead product development candidates. As of January 31, 2019, our patent portfolio includes the following:

Our objective is to continue to expand our portfolio of patents and patent applications in order to protect our gene therapy product candidates manufacturing processes. Examples of the products and technology areas covered by our intellectual property portfolio are described below. See also “—License agreements.” From time to time, we also evaluate opportunities to sublicense our portfolio of patents and patent applications that we own or exclusively license, and we may enter into such licenses from time to time.

β-thalassemia/SCD

The β-thalassemia/SCD program includes the following patent portfolios described below.

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Our β-thalassemia/SCD research program also includes the additional patent portfolio described below.

Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD)

The CALD program includes the following patent portfolios described below.

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Multiple Myeloma

The multiple myeloma program includes the following patent portfolios described below.

Lentiviral platform (e.g., vectors, manufacturing, and cell therapy products)

The lentiviral platform, which is potentially applicable to the β-thalassemia, SCD, CALD, oncology and other potential programs, includes the following patent portfolios described below.

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Oncology platform (e.g., vectors, manufacturing, and T cell-based products)

Our T cell-based oncology platform and oncology research program, which is applicable to our multiple myeloma program and other potential programs in cancer, includes the following patent portfolios described below.

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Gene editing platform (e.g., homing endonucleases, chimeric endonucleases, megaTALs, genetically modified cells)

The gene editing platform includes the following patent portfolios described below.

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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 date of filing the non-provisional application. In the United States, a patent’s term may be lengthened by patent term adjustment, which compensates a patentee for administrative delays by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in granting a patent, or may be shortened if a patent is terminally disclaimed over an earlier-filed patent.

The term of a patent that covers an FDA-approved drug may also be eligible for patent term extension, which permits patent term restoration of a U.S. patent as compensation for the patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent term extension of up to five years beyond the expiration of the patent. The length of the patent term extension is related to the length of time the drug is under regulatory review. A patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval and only one patent applicable to an approved drug may be extended. Moreover, a patent can only be extended once, and thus, if a single patent is applicable to multiple products, it can only be extended based on one product. Similar provisions are available in Europe and other foreign jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. When possible, depending upon the length of clinical trials and other factors involved in the filing of a BLA, we expect to apply for patent term extensions for patents covering our product candidates and their methods of use.

We may rely, in some circumstances, on trade secrets to protect our technology. However, trade secrets can be difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, scientific advisors and third parties. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. While we have confidence in these individuals, organizations and systems, agreements or security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors. To the extent that our consultants or collaborators use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.

License agreements

Inserm-Transfert

In May 2009, we entered into an exclusive license with Inserm-Transfert, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, for use of certain patents and know-how related to the ABCD1 gene and corresponding protein, for use in the field of human ALD therapy. Inserm-Transfert is referred to herein as Inserm. The last patent in the Inserm licensed patent portfolio expired in February of 2016.  Inserm retains the right to practice the intellectual property licensed under the agreement for educational, clinical and preclinical studies purposes.

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Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include our Lenti-D product candidate, we will be obligated to pay Inserm a percentage of net sales as a royalty for the longer of the life of any patents covering the product or 10 years from first commercial sale. This royalty is in the low single digits. The royalties payable to Inserm are subject to reduction for any third party payments required to be made, with a minimum floor in the low single digits.

We are required to use all commercially reasonable efforts to develop licensed products and introduce them into the commercial market as soon as practical, consistent with our reasonable business practices and judgment in compliance with an agreed upon development plan. We have assumed certain development, regulatory and commercial milestone obligations and must report on our progress in achieving these milestones on an annual basis.

We may unilaterally terminate the license agreement at any time. Either party may terminate the agreement in the event of the other party’s material breach which remains uncured after 60 days of receiving written notice of such breach or in the event the other party becomes the subject of a voluntary or involuntary petition in bankruptcy and such petition is not dismissed with prejudice within 120 days after filing. In addition, Inserm may terminate the license agreement in the event that we cannot prove within 60 days of written notice from Inserm that we have been diligent in developing the licensed products and introducing them into the commercial market.

Absent early termination, the agreement will automatically terminate upon the expiration of all issued patents and filed patent applications within the patent rights covered by the agreement or 10 years from the date of first commercial sale of a licensed product, whichever is later. The license grant ceases in connection with any such termination. The longest lived patent rights licensed to us under the agreement expired in 2016.

Institut Pasteur

We have entered into a license with Institut Pasteur for certain patents relating to the use of DNA sequences, lentiviral vectors and recombinant cells in the field of ex vivo gene therapy and CAR T cell-based therapy in a range of indications, excluding vaccinations. This agreement was amended twice in 2012, again in 2013 and most recently in 2015. The Institut Pasteur licensed patent portfolio includes at least 107 U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications. Any patents within this portfolio that have issued or may yet issue would have a statutory expiration dates between 2019 and 2023. The license is exclusive for products containing human and non-human lentiviral vectors. Institut Pasteur retains the right, on behalf of itself, its licensees and research partners, to conduct research using the licensed intellectual property.

We have the right to grant sublicenses outright to third parties under the agreement. For the first sublicense including a product targeting β-hemoglobinopathies (including TDT and SCD) or ALD (including CALD and AMN), we must pay Institut Pasteur an additional payment of €3.0 million. If we receive any income (cash or non-cash) in connection with sublicenses for products targeting indications other than β-hemoglobinopathies (including TDT and SCD) or ALD (including CALD and AMN), we must pay Institut Pasteur a percentage of such income varying from low single digits if the sublicense also includes licenses to intellectual property controlled by us, and a percentage of sublicense income in the mid-range double digits if the sublicense does not include licenses to intellectual property controlled by us.

Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include our LentiGlobin, Lenti-D, bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, we will be obligated to pay Institut Pasteur a percentage of net sales as a royalty. This royalty varies depending on the indication of the product but in any event is in the low single digits. In addition, starting in 2016 we must make under this agreement an annual maintenance payment which is creditable against royalty payments on a year-by-year basis. If the combined royalties we would be required to pay to Institut Pasteur and third parties is higher than a pre-specified percentage, we may ask Institut Pasteur to re-negotiate our royalty rates under this relationship.

We are required to use all reasonable commercial efforts (as compared to a company of similar size and scope) to develop and commercialize one or more products in the license field and to obtain any necessary governmental approvals in respect of, and market the products in license field, if any. Additionally, we have assumed certain development and regulatory milestone obligations. We must report on our progress towards achieving these milestones on an annual basis. We may unilaterally terminate the license agreement at any time by sending Institut Pasteur 90 days prior written notice. Either party may terminate the license in the event of the other party’s substantial breach which remains uncured after 60 days of receiving written notice of such breach. Institut Pasteur may also terminate the agreement in the event bankruptcy proceedings are opened against us and not dismissed within 60 days.

Absent early termination, the agreement will automatically terminate upon the expiration of the last licensed patents or five years after first market authorization of the first product, whichever occurs later. In the event the agreement is terminated, while the license grant would cease, we would retain the right to manufacture, import, use and sell licensed products for a certain period of time post-termination. In addition, our ownership stake in certain jointly made improvements covered by the licensed patents would survive termination of the agreement. The longest lived patent rights licensed to us under the agreement are currently expected to expire in 2023.

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Stanford University

In July 2002, we entered into a non-exclusive license agreement with the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, referred to herein as Stanford, which we amended and restated in April 2012. Under this agreement, we are granted a license to use the HEK293T cell line for any commercial or non-commercial use for research, nonclinical and clinical development purpose and human and animal gene therapy products.

We have the right to grant sublicenses outright to third parties under the agreement. For each such sublicense we grant, we must pay Stanford a fee (unless the sublicense is to a collaborating partner, contract manufacturer or contract research organization).

Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include our LentiGlobin, Lenti-D, bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, we will be obligated to pay Stanford a percentage of net sales as a royalty. This royalty varies with net sales but in any event is in the low single digits and is reduced for each third-party license that requires payments by us with respect to a licensed product, provided that the royalty to Stanford is not less than a specified percentage which is less than one percent. Since April 2013, we have been paying Stanford an annual maintenance fee, which will be creditable against our royalty payments.

We may unilaterally terminate the agreement by giving Stanford 30 days’ written notice. Stanford may also terminate the license agreement if after 30 days of providing notice we are delinquent on any report or payment, are not using commercially reasonable efforts to develop, manufacture and/or commercialize one or more licensed products, are in material breach of any provision or provide any false report. Termination of this agreement may require us to utilize different cell types for vector manufacturing, which could lead to delays.

Absent early termination, the license will expire in April 2037. We may elect to extend the term for an additional 25 years so long as we have a commercial product on the market at that time and we are in material compliance with the license agreement.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In December 1996, we entered into an exclusive license with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, referred to herein as MIT, for use of certain patents in any field. This license agreement was amended in December 2003, May 2004 and June 2011. The licensed patent portfolio includes at least 18 U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications. Any patents within this portfolio that have issued or may yet issue would have a statutory expiration date from 2017-2023. This license also has been amended to include a case jointly owned by MIT and us wherein we received the exclusive license to MIT’s rights in this case. MIT retains the right to practice the intellectual property licensed under the agreement for noncommercial research purposes.

We have the right to grant sublicenses outright to third parties under the agreement. In the event we sublicense the patent rights, we must pay MIT a percentage of all payments we receive from by the sublicensee. This percentage varies from mid-single digits to low double digits.

Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include our LentiGlobin product candidate, we will be obligated to pay MIT a percentage of net sales by us or our sublicensees as a royalty. This royalty is in the low single digits and is reduced for royalties payable to third parties, provided that the royalty to MIT is not less than a specified percentage that is less than one-percent. In addition, we make under this agreement an annual maintenance payment which may be credited against the royalty payments.

We are required to use diligent efforts to market licensed products and to continue active, diligent development and marketing efforts for licensed products during the term of the agreement. We have assumed certain milestones with respect to raising capital investment and regulatory progress. We must report on our progress on achieving these milestones on an annual basis.

We may unilaterally terminate the license agreement upon six months’ notice to MIT. MIT may terminate the agreement if we cease to carry on our business, or in the event of our material breach which remains uncured after 90 days of receiving written notice of such breach (30 days in the case of nonpayment). In the event the agreement is terminated, while the license grant would cease, we would retain a right to complete manufacture of any licensed products in process and sell then-existing inventory. In addition, MIT would grant our sublicensees a direct license following such termination. With respect to jointly owned intellectual property, any termination would allow MIT to grant licenses to any third party to such intellectual property, without our approval, unless a sublicensee was already in place, in which case, MIT would grant our sublicensees a direct license.

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Research Development Foundation

In December 2011, we entered into an exclusive license with RDF to use certain patents that involve lentiviral vectors. The RDF licensed patent portfolio includes at least 29 U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications. Any patents within this portfolio that have issued or may yet issue would have an expected statutory expiration date between 2021 and 2027. RDF retains the right, on behalf of itself and other nonprofit academic research institutions, to practice and use the licensed patents for any academic, non-clinical research and educational purposes. We have the right to grant sublicenses outright to third parties under the agreement.

Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include both our Lenti-D, LentiGlobin, bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, we are obligated to pay RDF a percentage of net sales as a royalty. This royalty is in the low single digits and is reduced by half if during the following ten years from the first marketing approval the last valid claim within the licensed patent that covers the licensed product expires or ends.

We are required to use commercially reasonable and diligent efforts for a company of our size and resources to develop or commercialize one or more licensed products, including our first licensed product by 2016 and a second licensed product by 2018. These diligence efforts include minimum annual royalty payments to RDF, which are creditable against earned royalties otherwise due to RDF, and payments upon regulatory milestones.

RDF may terminate the agreement in the event of our material breach which remains uncured after 90 days of receiving written notice of such breach (30 days in the case of nonpayment) or in the event we become bankrupt, our business or assets or property are placed in the hands of a receiver, assignee or trustee, we institute or suffer to be instituted any procedure in bankruptcy court for reorganization or rearrangement of our financial affairs, make a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, or if we or an affiliate or a sublicensee institutes any procedure challenging the validity or patentability of any patent or patent application within the licensed patents, the agreement will immediately terminate.

Absent early termination, the agreement will continue until its expiration upon the later of there being no more valid claims within the licensed patents or the expiration of our royalty obligations on licensed products that are subject to an earned royalty, if such earned royalty is based on the minimum 10-year royalty period described above. In the event the agreement is terminated, while the license grant would cease, RDF will grant our sublicensees a direct license. The longest lived patent rights licensed to us under the agreement are in one U.S. patent currently expected to expire in 2027.

Biogen

In August 2014, we entered into a license agreement with Biogen, pursuant to which we co-exclusively licensed certain patents and patent applications directed towards aspects of T cell-based products that target BCMA. Any patents within this portfolio that have issued or may yet issue would have an expected statutory expiration date between 2020 and 2032. Biogen retains the right to practice and use the licensed patents in the licensed field and territory.  We have the right to grant sublicenses to third parties, subject to certain conditions. Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include our bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, we will be obligated to pay Biogen a percentage of net sales as a royalty in the low single digits. We are required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research and develop one or more licensed products in the license field during the term of the agreement. Additionally, we have assumed certain development and regulatory milestone obligations and must report on our progress in achieving those milestones on a periodic basis. We may be obligated to pay up to $24.0 million in the aggregate for each licensed product upon the achievement of these milestones. We may unilaterally terminate the license agreement at any time with prior written notice to Biogen. Either party may terminate the license in the event of the other party’s material breach upon notice and an opportunity for the breaching party to cure. Either party may also terminate the agreement in the event bankruptcy proceedings are opened against the other party and are not dismissed within a specified period of time.  Absent early termination, the agreement will automatically terminate upon the expiration of all patent rights covered by the agreement or ten years from the date of first commercial sale of a licensed product, whichever is later. The longest lived patent rights licensed to us under the Agreement are in a U.S. patent, currently expected to expire in 2032.

NIH

In August 2015, we entered into a license agreement with the NIH, pursuant to which we exclusively licensed certain patents and patent applications directed towards aspects of T cell-based products that target BCMA. Any patents within this portfolio that have issued or may yet issue would have an expected statutory expiration date in 2033. NIH retains the right to practice the intellectual property licensed under the agreement on behalf of the government of the United States. We have the right to grant sublicenses to third parties, subject to certain conditions. For each such sublicense we grant we must pay the NIH a fee. Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include our bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, we will be obligated to pay the NIH a percentage of net sales as a royalty in the low single digits. We are required to use

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commercially reasonable efforts to research and develop one or more licensed products in the license field during the term of the agreement. Additionally, we have assumed certain development and regulatory milestone obligations and must report on our progress in achieving those milestones on a periodic basis. We may be obligated to pay up to $9.7 million in the aggregate for a licensed product upon the achievement of these milestones. We may unilaterally terminate the license agreement at any time with prior written notice to the NIH. The NIH may terminate the license in the event of our material breach upon notice and following an opportunity for us to cure the material breach. The NIH may also terminate the agreement in the event bankruptcy proceedings are opened against us and are not dismissed within a specified period of time.  Absent early termination, the agreement will automatically terminate upon the expiration of the patent rights covered by the agreement. The longest lived patent rights licensed to us under the Agreement are currently expected to expire in 2033.

SIRION

In December 2015, we entered into a license agreement with SIRION, pursuant to which we exclusively licensed certain patents and patent applications directed towards aspects of manufacturing gene therapy products. Any patents within this portfolio that have issued or may yet issue would have an expected statutory expiration date in 2033. We have the right to grant sublicenses to third parties, subject to certain conditions. Upon commercialization of our products covered by the in-licensed intellectual property, which we expect would include our LentiGlobin product candidate, we will be obligated to pay SIRION a percentage of net sales as a royalty in the low single digits. We are required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research and develop one or more licensed products in the license field during the term of the agreement, and we must report on our progress in achieving those milestones on a periodic basis. We may be obligated to pay up to $13.4 million in the aggregate upon the achievement of certain development and regulatory milestones. We may unilaterally terminate the license agreement at any time with prior written notice to SIRION. SIRION may terminate the license in the event of our material breach upon notice and following an opportunity for us to cure the material breach. SIRION may also terminate the agreement in the event bankruptcy proceedings are opened against us and are not dismissed within a specified period of time. Absent early termination, the agreement will automatically terminate upon the expiration of the patent rights covered by the agreement. The longest lived patent rights licensed to us under the Agreement are currently expected to expire in 2033.

Orchard Therapeutics Limited

In April 2017, we entered into a license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property Development Limited, or GSK, pursuant to which GSK non-exclusively licensed certain of our patent rights related to lentiviral vector technology to develop and commercialize gene therapies for Wiscott-Aldrich syndrome and metachromatic leukodystrophy, two rare genetic diseases. Effective April 2018, this license agreement was assigned by GSK to Orchard Therapeutics Limited, or Orchard. Financial terms of the agreement include an upfront payment to us as well as potential development and regulatory milestone payments and low single digit royalties on net sales of covered products.

Novartis Pharma AG

In April 2017, we entered into a license agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, or Novartis, pursuant to which Novartis non-exclusively licensed certain of our patent rights related to lentiviral vector technology to develop and commercialize chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapies for oncology, including Novartis’ approved CAR T therapy Kymriah.  Financial terms of the agreement include an upfront payment to us as well as potential development and regulatory milestone payments and low single digit royalties on net sales of covered products.

Competition

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized by intense and rapidly changing competition to develop new technologies and proprietary products. We face potential competition from many different sources, including larger and better-funded pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Not only must we compete with other companies that are focused on gene therapy products but any products that we may commercialize will have to compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future.

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There are other organizations working to improve existing therapies or to develop new therapies for our initially selected indications. Depending on how successful these efforts are, it is possible they may increase the barriers to adoption and success for our product candidates, and our preclinical T cell-based cancer immunotherapy product candidates. These efforts include the following:

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Many of our competitors, either alone or with their strategic partners, have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than we do and significantly greater experience in the discovery and development of product candidates, obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of treatments and the commercialization of those treatments. Accordingly, our competitors may be more successful than us in obtaining approval for treatments and achieving widespread market acceptance. Our competitors’ treatments may be more effective, or more effectively marketed and sold, than any treatment we may commercialize and may render our treatments obsolete or non-competitive before we can recover the expenses of developing and commercializing any of our treatments.

These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical study sites and patient registration for clinical studies, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies.

We anticipate that we will face intense and increasing competition as new drugs enter the market and advanced technologies become available. We expect any treatments that we develop and commercialize to compete on the basis of, among other things, efficacy, safety, convenience of administration and delivery, price, the level of generic competition and the availability of reimbursement from government and other third-party payors.

Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. In addition, our ability to compete may be affected in many cases by insurers or other third-party payors seeking to encourage the use of generic products. If our therapeutic product candidates are approved, we expect that they will be priced at a significant premium over competitive generic products.

Government regulation

In the United States, biological products, including gene therapy products, are subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FD&C Act, and the Public Health Service Act, or PHS Act, and other federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations. Both the FD&C Act and the PHS Act and their corresponding regulations govern, among other things, the testing, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labeling, packaging, storage, record keeping, distribution, reporting, advertising and other promotional practices involving biological products. FDA approval must be obtained before clinical testing of biological products, and each clinical study protocol for a gene therapy product is reviewed by the FDA. FDA approval also must be obtained before marketing of biological products. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources and we may not be able to obtain the required regulatory approvals.

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Within the FDA, the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, or the CBER, regulates gene therapy products. The CBER works closely with the NIH. The FDA and the NIH have published guidance documents with respect to the development and submission of gene therapy protocols. The FDA also has published guidance documents related to, among other things, gene therapy products in general, their preclinical assessment, observing subjects involved in gene therapy studies for delayed adverse events, potency testing, and chemistry, manufacturing and control information in gene therapy INDs.

Ethical, social and legal concerns about gene therapy, genetic testing and genetic research could result in additional regulations restricting or prohibiting the processes we may use. Federal and state agencies, congressional committees and foreign governments have expressed interest in further regulating biotechnology. More restrictive regulations or claims that our products are unsafe or pose a hazard could prevent us from commercializing any products. New government requirements may be established that could delay or prevent regulatory approval of our product candidates under development. It is impossible to predict whether legislative changes will be enacted, regulations, policies or guidance changed, or interpretations by agencies or courts changed, or what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.

U.S. biological products development process

The process required by the FDA before a biological product may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:

Before testing any biological product candidate, including a gene therapy product, in humans, the product candidate enters the preclinical testing stage. Preclinical tests, also referred to as nonclinical studies, include laboratory evaluations of product chemistry, toxicity and formulation, as well as animal studies to assess the potential safety and activity of the product candidate. The conduct of the preclinical tests must comply with federal regulations and requirements including GLPs.

Where a gene therapy study is conducted at, or sponsored by, institutions receiving NIH funding for recombinant DNA research, prior to the submission of an IND to the FDA, in the past, a protocol and related documentation was submitted to and the study was registered with the NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities, or OBA, pursuant to the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules, or NIH Guidelines. Pursuant to the current NIH Guidelines, research involving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules must be approved by an institutional biosafety committee, or IBC, a local institutional committee that reviews and oversees basic and clinical research conducted at that institution. The IBC assesses the safety of the research and identifies any potential risk to public health or the environment. Compliance with the NIH Guidelines is mandatory for investigators at institutions receiving NIH funds for research involving recombinant DNA, however many companies and other institutions not otherwise subject to the NIH Guidelines voluntarily follow them. Such trials remain subject to FDA and other clinical trial regulations, and only after FDA, IBC, and other relevant approvals are in place can these protocols proceed.

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The clinical study sponsor must submit the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, any available clinical data or literature and a proposed clinical protocol, to the FDA as part of the IND. Some preclinical testing may continue even after the IND is submitted. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA places the clinical study on a clinical hold within that 30-day time period. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical study can begin. The FDA may also impose clinical holds on a biological product candidate at any time before or during clinical studies due to safety concerns or non-compliance. If the FDA imposes a clinical hold, studies may not recommence without FDA authorization and then only under terms authorized by the FDA. Accordingly, we cannot be sure that submission of an IND will result in the FDA allowing clinical studies to begin, or that, once begun, issues will not arise that suspend or terminate such studies.

Clinical studies involve the administration of the biological product candidate to healthy volunteers or patients under the supervision of qualified investigators, generally physicians not employed by or under the study sponsor’s control. Clinical studies are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the clinical study, dosing procedures, subject selection and exclusion criteria, and the parameters to be used to monitor subject safety, including stopping rules that assure a clinical study will be stopped if certain adverse events should occur. Each protocol and any amendments to the protocol must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. Clinical studies must be conducted and monitored in accordance with the FDA’s regulations comprising the GCP requirements, including the requirement that all research subjects provide informed consent. Further, each clinical study must be reviewed and approved by an IRB at or servicing each institution at which the clinical study will be conducted. An IRB is charged with protecting the welfare and rights of study participants and considers such items as whether the risks to individuals participating in the clinical studies are minimized and are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits. The IRB also approves the form and content of the informed consent that must be signed by each clinical study subject or his or her legal representative and must monitor the clinical study until completed.

Human clinical studies are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:

Post-approval clinical studies, sometimes referred to as phase 4 clinical studies, may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These clinical studies are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication, particularly for long-term safety follow-up. The FDA recommends that sponsors observe subjects for potential gene therapy-related delayed adverse events for a 15-year period, including a minimum of five years of annual examinations followed by ten years of annual queries, either in person or by questionnaire, of study subjects.

During all phases of clinical development, regulatory agencies require extensive monitoring and auditing of all clinical activities, clinical data, and clinical study investigators. Annual progress reports detailing the results of the clinical studies must be submitted to the FDA. Written IND safety reports must be promptly submitted to the FDA, the NIH and the investigators for serious and unexpected adverse events, any findings from other studies, tests in laboratory animals or in vitro testing that suggest a significant risk for human subjects, or any clinically important increase in the rate of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. The sponsor must submit an IND safety report within 15 calendar days after the sponsor determines that the information qualifies for reporting. The sponsor also must notify the FDA of any unexpected fatal or life-threatening suspected adverse reaction within seven calendar days after the sponsor’s initial receipt of the information. Phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3 clinical studies may not be completed successfully within any specified period, if at all. The FDA or the sponsor or its data safety monitoring board may suspend a clinical study at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical study at its institution if the clinical study is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the biological product has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients.

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Human gene therapy products are a new category of therapeutics. Because this is a relatively new and expanding area of novel therapeutic interventions, there can be no assurance as to the length of the study period, the number of patients the FDA will require to be enrolled in the studies in order to establish the safety, efficacy, purity and potency of human gene therapy products, or that the data generated in these studies will be acceptable to the FDA to support marketing approval. The NIH has a publicly accessible database, the Genetic Modification Clinical Research Information System which includes information on gene transfer studies and serves as an electronic tool to facilitate the reporting and analysis of adverse events on these studies.

Concurrent with clinical studies, companies usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the physical characteristics of the biological product as well as finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with GMP requirements. To help reduce the risk of the introduction of adventitious agents with use of biological products, the PHS Act emphasizes the importance of manufacturing control for products whose attributes cannot be precisely defined. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the sponsor must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, potency and purity of the final biological product. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the biological product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.

U.S. review and approval processes

After the completion of clinical studies of a biological product, FDA approval of a BLA, must be obtained before commercial marketing of the biological product. The BLA must include results of product development, laboratory and animal studies, human studies, information on the manufacture and composition of the product, proposed labeling and other relevant information. In addition, under the Pediatric Research Equity Act, or PREA, as amended, a BLA or supplement to a BLA must contain data to assess the safety and effectiveness of the biological 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 FDA may grant deferrals for submission of data or full or partial waivers. Unless otherwise required by regulation, PREA does not apply to any biological product for an indication for which orphan designation has been granted. The testing and approval processes require substantial time and effort and there can be no assurance that the FDA will accept the BLA for filing and, even if filed, that any approval will be granted on a timely basis, if at all.

Within 60 days following submission of the application, the FDA reviews a BLA submitted to determine if it is substantially complete before the agency accepts it for filing. The FDA may refuse to file any BLA that it deems incomplete or not properly reviewable at the time of submission and may request additional information. In this event, the BLA must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application also is subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review of the BLA. The FDA reviews the BLA to determine, among other things, whether the proposed product is safe and potent, or effective, for its intended use, and has an acceptable purity profile, and whether the product is being manufactured in accordance with GMP to assure and preserve the product’s identity, safety, strength, quality, potency and purity. The FDA may refer applications for novel biological products or biological products that present difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee, typically a panel that includes clinicians and other experts, for review, evaluation and a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions. During the biological product approval process, the FDA also will determine whether a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, is necessary to assure the safe use of the biological product. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the BLA must submit a proposed REMS; the FDA will not approve the BLA without a REMS, if required.

Before approving a BLA, the FDA will inspect the facilities at which the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve the product unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with GMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. For a gene therapy product, the FDA also will not approve the product if the manufacturer is not in compliance with the GTPs. These are FDA regulations that govern the methods used in, and the facilities and controls used for, the manufacture of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue based products, or HCT/Ps, which are human cells or tissue intended for implantation, transplant, infusion, or transfer into a human recipient. The primary intent of the GTP requirements is to ensure that cell and tissue based products are manufactured in a manner designed to prevent the introduction, transmission and spread of communicable disease. FDA regulations also require tissue establishments to register and list their HCT/Ps with the FDA and, when applicable, to evaluate donors through screening and testing. Additionally, before approving a BLA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure that the clinical studies were conducted in compliance with IND study requirements and GCP requirements. To assure GMP, GTP and GCP compliance, an applicant must incur significant expenditure of time, money and effort in the areas of training, record keeping, production, and quality control.

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Notwithstanding the submission of relevant data and information, the FDA may ultimately decide that the BLA does not satisfy its regulatory criteria for approval and deny approval. Data obtained from clinical studies are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than we interpret the same data. If the agency decides not to approve the BLA in its present form, the FDA will issue a complete response letter that usually describes all of the specific deficiencies in the BLA identified by the FDA. The deficiencies identified may be minor, for example, requiring labeling changes, or major, for example, requiring additional clinical studies. Additionally, the complete response letter may include recommended actions that the applicant might take to place the application in a condition for approval. If a complete response letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the BLA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, withdraw the application, or request a hearing.

If a product receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific diseases and dosages or the indications for use may otherwise be limited, which could restrict the commercial value of the product. Further, the FDA may require that certain contraindications, warnings or precautions be included in the product labeling. The FDA may impose restrictions and conditions on product distribution, prescribing, or dispensing in the form of a risk management plan, or otherwise limit the scope of any approval. In addition, the FDA may require post marketing clinical studies, sometimes referred to as phase 4 clinical studies, designed to further assess a biological product’s safety and effectiveness, and testing and surveillance programs to monitor the safety of approved products that have been commercialized.

One of the performance goals agreed to by the FDA under the PDUFA is to review 90% of standard BLAs in 10 months and 90% of priority BLAs in six months, whereupon a review decision is to be made. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard and priority BLAs and its review goals are subject to change from time to time. The review process and the PDUFA goal date may be extended by three months if the FDA requests or the BLA sponsor otherwise provides additional information or clarification regarding information already provided in the submission within the last three months before the PDUFA goal date.

Orphan drug designation

Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug or biological product intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making a drug or biological product available in the United States for this type of disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product. Orphan product designation must be requested before submitting an NDA or BLA. After the FDA grants orphan product designation, the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. Orphan product designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process.

If a product that has orphan designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan product exclusivity, which means that the FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same drug or biological product for the same indication for seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan exclusivity. Competitors, however, may receive approval of different products for the indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity or obtain approval for the same product but for a different indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity. Orphan product exclusivity also could block the approval of one of our products for seven years if a competitor obtains approval of the same biological product as defined by the FDA or if our product candidate is determined to be contained within the competitor’s product for the same indication or disease. If a drug or biological product designated as an orphan product receives marketing approval for an indication broader than what is designated, it may not be entitled to orphan product exclusivity. Orphan drug status in the European Union has similar, but not identical, benefits.

Expedited development and review programs

The FDA has a Fast Track program that is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for reviewing new drugs and biological products that meet certain criteria. Specifically, new drugs and biological 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 and the specific indication for which it is being studied. The sponsor of a new drug or biologic may request the FDA to designate the drug or biologic as a Fast Track product at any time during the clinical development of the product. Unique to a Fast Track product, the FDA may consider for review sections of the marketing application on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted, if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the application, the FDA agrees to accept sections of the application and determines that the schedule is acceptable, and the sponsor pays any required user fees upon submission of the first section of the application.

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Any product submitted to the FDA for marketing, including under a Fast Track program, may be eligible for other types of FDA programs intended to expedite development and review, such as priority review and accelerated approval. Under the Breakthrough Therapy program, products intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition may be eligible for the benefits of the Fast Track program when preliminary clinical evidence demonstrates that such product may have substantial improvement on one or more clinically significant endpoints over existing therapies. Additionally, FDA will seek to ensure the sponsor of a breakthrough therapy product receives timely advice and interactive communications to help the sponsor design and conduct a development program as efficiently as possible. Any product is eligible for priority review if it has the potential to provide safe and effective therapy where no satisfactory alternative therapy exists or a significant improvement in the treatment, diagnosis or prevention of a disease compared to marketed products. The FDA will attempt to direct additional resources to the evaluation of an application for a new drug or biological product designated for priority review in an effort to facilitate the review. Additionally, a product may be eligible for accelerated approval. Drug or biological 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, which means that they may be approved on the basis of adequate and well-controlled clinical studies establishing that the product 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. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require that a sponsor of a drug or biological product receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well-controlled post-marketing clinical studies. In addition, the FDA currently requires as a condition for accelerated approval pre-approval of promotional materials, which could adversely impact the timing of the commercial launch of the product. Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, priority review and accelerated approval do not change the standards for approval but may expedite the development or approval process.

Regenerative medicine advanced therapies (RMAT) designation

As part of the 21^st Century Cures Act, Congress amended the FD&C Act to facilitate an efficient development program for, and expedite review of regenerative medicine advanced therapies, which include cell and gene therapies, therapeutic tissue engineering products, human cell and tissue products, and combination products using any such therapies or products.  Regenerative medicine advanced therapies do not include those human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue based products regulated solely under section 361 of the Public Health Service Act and 21 CFR Part 1271.  This program is intended to facilitate efficient development and expedite review of regenerative medicine therapies, which are intended to treat, modify, reverse, or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and qualify for RMAT designation.  A drug sponsor may request that FDA designate a drug as a RMAT concurrently with or at any time after submission of an IND.  FDA has 60 calendar days to determine whether the drug meets the criteria, including whether there is preliminary clinical evidence indicating that the drug has the potential to address unmet medical needs for a serious or life-threatening disease or condition.  A BLA for a regenerative medicine therapy that has received RMAT designation may be eligible for priority review or accelerated approval through use of surrogate or intermediate endpoints reasonably likely to predict long-term clinical benefit, or reliance upon data obtained from a meaningful number of sites.  Benefits of RMAT designation also include early interactions with FDA to discuss any potential surrogate or intermediate endpoint to be used to support accelerated approval.  A regenerative medicine therapy with RMAT designation that is granted accelerated approval and is subject to post-approval requirements may fulfill such requirements through the submission of clinical evidence from clinical studies, patient registries, or other sources of real world evidence, such as electronic health records; the collection of larger confirmatory data sets; or post-approval monitoring of all patients treated with such therapy prior to its approval.

Post-approval requirements

Maintaining substantial compliance with applicable federal, state, and local statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Rigorous and extensive FDA regulation of biological products continues after approval, particularly with respect to GMP. We will rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the production of clinical and commercial quantities of any products that we may commercialize. Manufacturers of our products are required to comply with applicable requirements in the GMP regulations, including quality control and quality assurance and maintenance of records and documentation. Other post-approval requirements applicable to biological products, include reporting of GMP deviations that may affect the identity, potency, purity and overall safety of a distributed product, record-keeping requirements, reporting of adverse effects, reporting updated safety and efficacy information, and complying with electronic record and signature requirements. After a BLA is approved, the product also may be subject to official lot release. As part of the manufacturing process, 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 by the FDA, the manufacturer submits samples of each lot of product to the FDA together with a release protocol showing a summary of the history of manufacture of the lot and the results of all of the manufacturer’s tests performed on the lot. The FDA also may perform certain confirmatory tests on lots of some products, such as viral vaccines, before releasing the lots for distribution by the manufacturer. In addition, the FDA conducts laboratory research related to the regulatory standards on the safety, purity, potency, and effectiveness of biological products.

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Biological product manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved biological products are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with GMPs and other laws. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain GMP compliance. Discovery of problems with a product after approval may result in restrictions on a product, manufacturer, or holder of an approved BLA, including withdrawal of the product from the market. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process or facility generally require prior FDA approval before being implemented and other types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications and additional labeling claims, are also subject to further FDA review and approval. In addition, companies that manufacture or distribute drug or biological products or that hold approved BLAs must comply with other regulatory requirements, including submitting annual reports, reporting information about adverse drug experiences, and maintaining certain records. Newly discovered or developed safety or effectiveness data may require changes to a drug’s approved labeling, including the addition of new warnings and contraindications, and also may require the implementation of other risk management measures, including a REMS or the conduct of post-marketing studies to assess a newly-discovered safety issue.

We also must comply with the FDA’s and other jursidiction’s advertising and promotion requirements, such as those related to direct-to-consumer advertising and advertising to healthcare professionals, the prohibition on promoting products for uses or in patient populations that are not described in the product’s approved labeling (known as “off-label use”), industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and promotional activities involving the internet. Discovery of previously unknown problems or the failure to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements may result in restrictions on the marketing of a product or withdrawal of the product from the market as well as possible civil or criminal sanctions. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant or manufacturer to administrative or judicial civil or criminal sanctions and adverse publicity. Consequences could include refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, clinical hold, warning or untitled letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, mandated corrective advertising or communications with healthcare professionals, debarment, restitution, disgorgement of profits, or civil or criminal penalties. Any agency or judicial enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on us.

U.S. patent term restoration and marketing exclusivity

Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of the FDA approval of the use of our product candidates, some of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, commonly referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, patent term restoration cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. The patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of an IND and the submission date of a BLA plus the time between the submission date of a BLA and the approval of that application. Only one patent applicable to an approved biological product is eligible for the extension and the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent. The U.S. PTO, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. In the future, we may intend to apply for restoration of patent term for one of our currently owned or licensed patents to add patent life beyond its current expiration date, depending on the expected length of the clinical studies and other factors involved in the filing of the relevant BLA.

A biological product can obtain pediatric market exclusivity in the United States. Pediatric exclusivity, if granted, adds six months to existing exclusivity periods and patent terms. This six-month exclusivity, which runs from the end of other exclusivity protection or patent term, may be granted based on the voluntary completion of a pediatric study in accordance with an FDA-issued “Written Request” for such a study.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Affordable Care Act, signed into law on March 23, 2010, includes a subtitle called the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 which created an abbreviated approval pathway for biological products shown to be similar to, or interchangeable with, an FDA-licensed reference biological product. This amendment to the PHS Act attempts to minimize duplicative testing. Biosimilarity, which requires that there be no clinically meaningful differences between the biological product and the reference product in terms of safety, purity, and potency, can be shown through analytical studies, animal studies, and a clinical study or studies. Interchangeability requires that a product is biosimilar to the reference product and the product must demonstrate that it can be expected to produce the same clinical results as the reference product and, for products administered multiple times, the biologic and the reference biologic may be switched after one has been previously administered without increasing safety risks or risks of diminished efficacy relative to exclusive use of the reference biologic. However, complexities associated with the larger, and often more complex, structure of biological products, as well as the process by which such products are manufactured, pose significant hurdles to implementation that are still being worked out by the FDA.

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A reference biologic is granted twelve years of exclusivity from the time of first licensure of the reference product. The first biologic product submitted under the abbreviated approval pathway that is determined to be interchangeable with the reference product has exclusivity against other biologics submitting under the abbreviated approval pathway for the lesser of (i) one year after the first commercial marketing, (ii) 18 months after approval if there is no legal challenge, (iii) 18 months after the resolution in the applicant’s favor of a lawsuit challenging the biologics’ patents if an application has been submitted, or (iv) 42 months after the application has been approved if a lawsuit is ongoing within the 42-month period.

Fraud and Abuse Laws

In addition to restrictions on marketing of pharmaceutical products, several other types of state/ federal laws and trade association membership codes of conduct have been applied to restrict certain marketing practices in the pharmaceutical industry in recent years.  These laws include anti-kickback and false claims statutes. The U.S. federal healthcare program anti-kickback statute prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or in return for purchasing, leasing, ordering or arranging for or recommending the purchase, lease or order of any healthcare item or service reimbursable, in whole or in part, under Medicare, Medicaid or other federally financed healthcare programs.  This statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on one hand and prescribers, purchasers, and formulary managers on the other.  Although there are a number of statutory exemptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting certain common activities from prosecution, the exemptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly and practices that involve remuneration to those who prescribe, purchase, or recommend pharmaceutical and biological products, including certain discounts, or engaging healthcare professionals or patients as speakers or consultants, may be subject to scrutiny if they do not fit squarely within the exemption or safe harbor.  Our practices may not in all cases meet all of the criteria for safe harbor protection from anti-kickback liability.  Moreover, there are no safe harbors for many common practices, such as educational and research grants or patient assistance programs.

The U.S. federal civil False Claims Act prohibits, among other things, any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment of government funds, or knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay money to the government or knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding, decreasing, or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government.  In recent years, several pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies have faced enforcement actions under the federal False Claims Act for, among other things, allegedly submitting false or misleading pricing information to government health care programs and providing free product to customers with the expectation that the customers would bill federal programs for the product.  Other companies have faced enforcement actions for causing false claims to be submitted because of the company’s marketing the product for unapproved, and thus non-reimbursable, uses.  Federal enforcement agencies also have showed increased interest in pharmaceutical companies’ product and patient assistance programs, including reimbursement and co-pay support services, and a number of investigations into these programs have resulted in significant civil and criminal settlements.  In addition, the Affordable Care Act amended federal law to provide that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal anti-kickback statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal civil False Claims Act.  Criminal prosecution is possible for making or presenting a false or fictitious or fraudulent claim to the federal government.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, also created several new federal crimes, including healthcare fraud and false statements relating to healthcare matters.  The healthcare fraud statute prohibits knowingly and willfully executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors.  The false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services.

The majority of states also have statutes or regulations similar to the federal anti-kickback and false claims laws, which apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs, or, in several states, apply regardless of the payor.  Several states now require pharmaceutical companies to report expenses relating to the marketing and promotion of pharmaceutical products in those states and to report gifts and payments to individual health care providers in those states.  Some of these states also prohibit certain marketing-related activities including the provision of gifts, meals, or other items to certain health care providers.  In addition, several states require pharmaceutical companies to implement compliance programs or marketing codes.

The U.S. federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act, being implemented as the Open Payments Program, requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies to engage in extensive tracking of payments and other transfers of value to prescribers and teaching hospitals, including physician ownership and investment interests, and public reporting of such data.  Pharmaceutical and biological manufacturers with products for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program are required to track such payments, and must submit a report on or before the 90th day of each calendar year disclosing reportable payments made in the previous calendar year. A number of other countries, states and municipalities have also implemented additional payment tracking and reporting requirements, which if not done correctly may result in additional penalties.

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In addition, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, prohibits corporations and individuals from engaging in certain activities to obtain or retain business or to influence a person working in an official capacity.  It is illegal to pay, offer to pay or authorize the payment of anything of value to any official of another country, government staff member, political party or political candidate in an attempt to obtain or retain business or to otherwise influence a person working in that capacity.  In many other countries, healthcare professionals who prescribe pharmaceuticals are employed by government entities, and the purchasers of pharmaceuticals are government entities.  Our dealings with these prescribers and purchasers may be subject to the FCPA.

Other countries, including a number of EU member states, have laws of similar application, including anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws such as the UK Bribery Act.  The UK Bribery Act prohibits giving, offering, or promising bribes to any person, as well as requesting, agreeing to receive, or accepting bribes from any person.  Under the UK Bribery Act, a company that carries on a business or part of a business in the United Kingdom may be held liable for bribes given, offered or promised to any person in any country by employees or other persons associated with the company in order to obtain or retain business or a business advantage for the company.  Liability under the UK Bribery Act is strict, but a defense of having in place adequate procedures designed to prevent bribery is available.

Because of the breadth of these various fraud and abuse laws, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws.  Such a challenge could have material adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations.  In the event governmental authorities conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations, they may impose sanctions under these laws, which are potentially significant and may include civil monetary penalties, damages, exclusion of an entity or individual from participation in government health care programs, criminal fines and imprisonment, as well as the potential curtailment or restructuring of our operations.  Even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could harm our financial condition and divert the attention of our management from operating our business.

Government regulation outside of the United States

In addition to regulations in the United States, we will be subject to a variety of regulations in other jurisdictions governing, among other things, clinical studies and any commercial sales and distribution of our products. Because biologically sourced raw materials are subject to unique contamination risks, their use may be restricted in some countries.

Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain the requisite approvals from regulatory authorities in foreign countries prior to the commencement of clinical studies or marketing of the product in those countries. Certain countries outside of the United States have a similar process that requires the submission of a clinical trial application, or CTA, much like the IND prior to the commencement of human clinical studies. In the European Union, for example, a CTA must be submitted for each clinical trial to each country’s national health authority and an independent ethics committee, much like the FDA and the IRB, respectively. Once the CTA is approved in accordance with a country’s requirements, the corresponding clinical study may proceed.

The requirements and process governing the conduct of clinical studies, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country. In all cases, the clinical studies are conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.

To obtain regulatory approval of an investigational product under European Union regulatory systems, we must submit a marketing authorization application. The application used to file the BLA in the United States is similar to that required in the European Union, with the exception of, among other things, region-specific document requirements. The EMA has established the Adaptive Pathways pilot program intended to expedite or facilitate either an initial approval of a medicinal product in a well-defined patient subgroup with a high medical need and subsequent iterative expansion of the indication to a larger patient population, or an early regulatory approval (e.g., conditional approval), which is prospectively planned, and where uncertainty is reduced through the collection of post-approval data on a medicinal product’s use in patients. The approach builds in regulatory processes already in place within the existing EU legal framework.

The European Union also provides opportunities for market exclusivity. For example, in the European Union, upon receiving marketing authorization, innovative medicinal products generally receive eight years of data exclusivity and an additional two years of market exclusivity. If granted, data exclusivity prevents regulatory authorities in the European Union from referencing the innovator’s data to assess a generic or biosimilar application. During the additional two-year period of market exclusivity, a generic or biosimilar marketing authorization can be submitted, and the innovator’s data may be referenced, but no generic or biosimilar product can be marketed until the expiration of the market exclusivity. However, there is no guarantee that a product will be considered by the European Union’s regulatory authorities to be an innovative medicinal product, and products may not qualify for data exclusivity. Products receiving orphan designation in the European Union can receive ten years of market exclusivity, during which time no similar medicinal product for the same indication may be placed on the market. An orphan product can also obtain an additional two years of market exclusivity in the European Union for pediatric studies. No extension to any supplementary protection certificate can be granted on the basis of pediatric studies for orphan indications.

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The criteria for designating an “orphan medicinal product” in the European Union are similar in principle to those in the United States. Under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) 141/2000, a medicinal product may be designated as orphan if (1) it is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition; (2) either (a) such condition affects no more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union when the application is made, or (b) the product, without the benefits derived from orphan status, would not generate sufficient return in the European Union to justify investment; and (3) there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment of such condition authorized for marketing in the European Union, or if such a method exists, the product will be of significant benefit to those affected by the condition, as defined in Regulation (EC) 847/2000. Orphan medicinal products are eligible for financial incentives such as reduction of fees or fee waivers and are, upon grant of a marketing authorization, entitled to ten years of market exclusivity for the approved therapeutic indication. The application for orphan drug designation must be submitted before the application for marketing authorization. The applicant will receive a fee reduction for the marketing authorization application if the orphan drug designation has been granted, but not if the designation is still pending at the time the marketing authorization is submitted. Orphan drug designation does not convey any advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the regulatory review and approval process.

The 10-year market exclusivity may be reduced to six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is established that the product no longer meets the criteria for orphan designation, for example, if the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity. Additionally, marketing authorization may be granted to a similar product for the same indication at any time if:

In the EU, the advertising and promotion of our products will also be subject to EU member states’ laws concerning promotion of medicinal products, interactions with physicians, misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices, as well as other EU member state legislation that may apply to the advertising and promotion of medicinal products.  These laws require that promotional materials and advertising in relation to medicinal products comply with the product’s approved labeling. The off-label promotion of medicinal products is prohibited in the EU.  The applicable laws at the EU level and in the individual EU member states also prohibit the direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription-only medicinal products.  Violations of the rules governing the promotion of medicinal products in the EU could be penalized by administrative measures, fines and imprisonment.  These laws may further limit or restrict communications concerning the advertising and promotion of our products to the general public and may also impose limitations on our promotional activities with healthcare professionals.

Failure to comply with the EU member state laws implementing the Community Code on medicinal products, and EU rules governing the promotion of medicinal products, interactions with physicians, misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices, with the EU member state laws that apply to the promotion of medicinal products, statutory health insurance, bribery and anti-corruption or with other applicable regulatory requirements can result in enforcement action by the EU member state authorities, which may include any of the following: fines, imprisonment, orders forfeiting products or prohibiting or suspending their supply to the market, or requiring the manufacturer to issue public warnings, or to conduct a product recall.

The national laws of certain EU member states require payments made to physicians to be publicly disclosed.  Moreover, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, or EFPIA, Code on disclosure of transfers of value from pharmaceutical companies to healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations imposes a general obligation on members of the EFPIA or related national industry bodies to disclose transfers of value to healthcare professionals.  In addition, agreements with physicians must often be the subject of prior notification and approval by the physician’s employer, his/her competent professional organization, and/or the competent authorities of the individual EU member states.  These requirements are provided in the national laws, industry codes, or professional codes of conduct, applicable in the EU member states.

For other countries outside of the EU, such as countries in Eastern Europe, Central and South America or Asia, the requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country.  This act could have implications for our interactions with physicians in and outside the UK.  In all cases, again, the clinical trials are conducted in accordance with GCP, applicable regulatory requirements, and ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.

If we fail to comply with applicable foreign regulatory requirements, we may be subject to, among other things, warning letters or untitled letters, injunctions, civil, administrative, or criminal penalties, monetary fines or imprisonment, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, suspension of ongoing clinical studies, refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to applications filed by us, suspension or the imposition of restrictions on operations, product recalls, the refusal to permit the import or export of our products or the seizure or detention of products.

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Pricing, Coverage and Reimbursement

Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any drug products for which we obtain regulatory approval. In the United States, sales of any products for which we may receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will depend in part on the availability of reimbursement from third-party payors and/or governments. Third-party payors can include government healthcare systems, managed care providers, private health insurers and other organizations. The process for determining whether a payor will provide coverage for a drug product may be separate from the process for setting the price or reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the drug product. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific drug products on an approved list, or formulary, which might not include all of the FDA-approved drugs for a particular indication. Third-party payors may provide coverage, but place stringent limitations on such coverage, such as requiring alternative treatments to be tried first. These third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price and examining the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, in addition to their safety, efficacy, and overall value. In addition, significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved healthcare products. We may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of our products, in addition to incurring the costs required to obtain FDA approvals. Our product candidates may not be considered medically reasonable or necessary or cost-effective. Even if a drug product is covered, a payor’s decision to provide coverage for a drug product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development.

Federal, state and local governments in the United States and foreign governments continue to consider legislation to limit the growth of healthcare costs, including the cost of prescription drugs. Specifically, there have been several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs.  On January 2, 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers. Future legislation could limit payments for pharmaceuticals such as the drug candidates that we are developing.

Different pricing and reimbursement schemes exist in other countries. In the EU, governments influence the price of drug products through their pricing and reimbursement rules and control of national health care systems that fund a large part of the cost of those products to consumers. Some jurisdictions operate systems under which products may be marketed only after a reimbursement price has been agreed. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval, some of these countries may require the completion of studies or analyses of clinical trials that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular product candidate to currently available therapies. Other member states allow companies to set their own prices for medicines, but exert cost controls in other ways, including but not limited to, placing revenue caps on product sales, providing reimbursement for only a subset of eligible patients, mandating price negotiations after a set period of time, or mandating that prices not exceed an average basket of prices in other countries. The downward pressure on health care costs in general, particularly treatments, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products. In addition, European governments may periodically review and decrease prices based on factors, including but not limited to, yeas-on-market, price in other countries, competitive entry, new clinical data, lack of supporting clinical data, or other factors.

The marketability of any products for which we receive regulatory approval for commercial sale may suffer if the government and third-party payors fail to provide adequate coverage and reimbursement. In addition, the emphasis on managed care in the United States has increased and we expect will continue to exert downward pressure on pharmaceutical pricing. Coverage policies, third-party reimbursement rates and pharmaceutical pricing regulations may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which we receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.

We have proposed novel payment models, including outcomes-based arrangements with payments over time, to assist with realizing the value and sharing the risk of a potential one-time treatment, such as our LentiGlobin product candidate. While we are engaged in discussions with potential payors, there is no assurance that any payors will adopt these payment models. Even with these payment models, there may be substantial resistance to the cost of our products by payors and the public generally. These payment models may not be sufficient for payors to grant coverage, and if we are unable to obtain adequate coverage for our products, the adoption of our products and access for patients may be limited. In addition, to the extent reimbursement for our products is subject to outcomes-based arrangements, our future revenues from product sales will be more at risk. These factors could affect our ability to successfully commercialize our products and adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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Employees

As of January 31, 2019, we had 764 full-time employees, 153 of whom have Ph.D., M.D. or Pharm.D. degrees. Of these full-time employees, 540 employees are engaged in research and development activities and 224 employees are engaged in commercial, finance, legal, business development, human resources, information technology, facilities and other general administrative functions. We have no collective bargaining agreements with our employees and we have not experienced any work stoppages. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated in Delaware in April 1992 under the name Genetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and subsequently changed our name to bluebird bio, Inc. in September 2010.  Our mailing address and executive offices are located at 60 Binney Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts and our telephone number at that address is (339) 499-9300. We maintain an Internet website at the following address: www.bluebirdbio.com. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference in this annual report on Form 10-K or in any other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC.

We make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports that we file with or furnish to the SEC in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These include our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and our current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. We make this information available on or through our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC.

 

 

Item 1A. Risk Factors

 

An investment in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following information about these risks, together with the other information appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements and related notes hereto, before deciding to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects. In these circumstances, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks related to the development of our product candidates

Our gene therapy product candidates are based on a novel technology, which makes it difficult to predict the time and cost of product candidate development and subsequently obtaining regulatory approval.

We have concentrated our therapeutic product research and development efforts on our gene therapy platform, and our future success depends on the successful development of this therapeutic approach. There can be no assurance that any development problems we experience in the future related to our gene therapy platform will not cause significant delays or unanticipated costs, or that such development problems can be solved. We may also experience delays in developing a sustainable, reproducible and commercial-scale manufacturing process or transferring that process to commercial partners, which may prevent us from completing our clinical studies or commercializing our products on a timely or profitable basis, if at all.

In addition, the clinical study requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, and other regulatory agencies and the criteria these regulators use to determine the safety and efficacy of a product candidate vary substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty and intended use and market of the potential products. The regulatory approval process for novel product candidates such as ours can be more expensive and take longer than for other, better known or more extensively studied pharmaceutical or other product candidates. Currently, a limited number of gene therapy products, including CAR T therapies, have been approved by the FDA, the EMA and the European Commission. Given the few precedents of approved gene therapy products, it is difficult to determine how long it will take or how much it will cost to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates in the United States, the EU or other jurisdictions. Approvals by the EMA and the European Commission may not be indicative of what the FDA may require for approval.

Regulatory requirements governing the development of gene therapy products have changed frequently and may continue to change in the future. The FDA has established the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies within the CBER, to consolidate the review of gene therapy and related products, and to advise the CBER on its review. The FDA can put an investigational new drug application, or IND, on clinical hold if the information in an IND is not sufficient to assess the risks in pediatric patients. Before a clinical study can begin at any institution, that institution’s IRB, and its Institutional Biosafety Committee will have to review the proposed clinical study to assess the safety of the study. Moreover, serious adverse events or developments in clinical trials of gene therapy product candidates conducted by others may cause the FDA or other regulatory bodies to initiate a clinical hold on our clinical trials or otherwise change the requirements for approval of any of our product candidates.

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These regulatory review agencies, committees and advisory groups and the new requirements and guidelines they promulgate may lengthen the regulatory review process, require us to perform additional or larger studies, increase our development costs, lead to changes in regulatory positions and interpretations, delay or prevent approval and commercialization of these treatment candidates or lead to significant post-approval studies, limitations or restrictions. As we advance our product candidates, we will be required to consult with these regulatory and advisory groups and comply with applicable requirements and guidelines. If we fail to do so, we may be required to delay or discontinue development of our product candidates. Delay or failure to obtain, or unexpected costs in obtaining, the regulatory approval necessary to bring a potential product to market could decrease our ability to generate sufficient product revenue to maintain our business.

Success in early clinical studies may not be indicative of results obtained in later studies.

Results from previous or ongoing studies are not necessarily predictive of our future clinical study results, and initial or interim results may not continue or be confirmed upon completion of the study. There is limited data concerning long-term safety and efficacy following treatment with our gene therapy and T cell-based product candidates. These data, or other positive data, may not continue or occur for these patients or for any future patients in our ongoing or future clinical studies, and may not be repeated or observed in ongoing or future studies involving our product candidates. For instance, while patients with TDT who have been treated with our LentiGlobin product candidate may experience a reduction or temporary elimination of transfusion support, there can be no assurance that they will not require transfusion support in the future. Similarly, patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have been treated with the bb2121 or the bb21217 product candidate may experience disease progression. We have experienced unexpected results in the past, and we may experience unexpected results in the future. For instance, initial results from our clinical studies of LentiGlobin suggested that patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes experienced better outcomes to treatment than patients with TDT and β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. Consequently, we are seeking conditional approval in the EU, and we expect to seek FDA approval in the United States, of our LentiGlobin product candidate initially for the treatment of patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. In order to support an application for FDA approval of our LentiGlobin product candidate in patients with TDT and β⁰/β⁰ genotypes, we initiated the HGB-212 study, but we do not know if or when our LentiGlobin product candidate may be commercially available to patients with all genotypes. Furthermore, our product candidates may also fail to show the desired safety and efficacy in later stages of clinical development despite having successfully advanced through initial clinical studies. There can be no assurance that any of these studies will ultimately be successful or support further clinical advancement or regulatory approval of our product candidates.

There is a high failure rate for drugs and biologics proceeding through clinical studies. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in later stage clinical studies even after achieving promising results in earlier stage clinical studies. Data obtained from preclinical and clinical activities are subject to varying interpretations, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. In addition, regulatory delays or rejections may be encountered as a result of many factors, including changes in regulatory policy during the period of product development.

Even if we complete the necessary preclinical and clinical studies, we cannot predict when or if we will obtain regulatory approval to commercialize a product candidate or the approval may be for a more narrow indication than we expect.

We cannot commercialize a product until the appropriate regulatory authorities have reviewed and approved the product candidate. Even if our product candidates demonstrate safety and efficacy in clinical studies, the regulatory agencies may not complete their review processes in a timely manner, or we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval. Additional delays may result if an FDA Advisory Committee or other regulatory advisory group or authority recommends non-approval or restrictions on approval. In addition, we may experience delays or rejections based upon additional government regulation from future legislation or administrative action, or changes in regulatory agency policy during the period of product development, clinical studies and the review process. Regulatory agencies also may approve a treatment candidate for fewer or more limited indications than requested or may grant approval subject to the performance of post-marketing studies. In addition, regulatory agencies may not approve the labeling claims that are necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of our treatment candidates. For example, the development of our product candidates for pediatric use is an important part of our current business strategy, and if we are unable to obtain regulatory approval for the desired age ranges, our business may suffer.

In October 2018, we announced that the EMA accepted the submission of our MAA of our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of adult and adolescent patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. Whether our LentiGlobin product candidate is eligible for conditional approval will ultimately be determined at the discretion of the EMA and European Commission, and will be dependent upon the data available, which may not be sufficiently robust from a safety and/or efficacy perspective to support conditional approval. The EMA may require that we conduct additional or larger clinical trials before our LentiGlobin product candidate is eligible for approval. Even if conditional approval is obtained, the conditions to be imposed on us under this program are unknown and will be imposed at the time of any such conditional approval.

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In general, the FDA requires the successful completion of two pivotal trials to support approval of a BLA, but in certain circumstances, will approve a BLA based on only one pivotal trial. If successful, we believe the results from our ongoing Northstar-2 study, together with data from our Northstar study and ongoing HGB-205 study, could be sufficient to form the basis for a BLA submission for our LentiGlobin product candidate to treat adult and adolescent patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. In addition, if successful, we believe the results from our Northstar-3 study, together with data from our Northstar study and ongoing Northstar-2 study, could be sufficient to form the basis for a BLA supplement submission for our LentiGlobin product candidate to treat patients with TDT and β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. However, it should be noted that our ability to submit and obtain approval of a BLA is ultimately an FDA review decision, which will be dependent upon the data available at such time, and the available data may not be sufficiently robust from a safety and/or efficacy perspective to support the submission or approval of a BLA. Depending on the outcome of these ongoing clinical studies, the FDA may require that we conduct additional or larger pivotal trials before we can submit or obtain approval for a BLA for our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of TDT.

Based on our discussions with the FDA and EMA, we believe that we may be able to seek approval for our Lenti-D product candidate for the treatment of patients with CALD on the basis of the clinical data from our ongoing Starbeam study, and the ongoing ALD-103 observational study. Our regulatory submission plans are contingent upon our Lenti-D product candidate demonstrating sufficient efficacy and safety in the Starbeam study. Whether our Lenti-D product candidate is eligible for approval will ultimately be determined at the discretion of the FDA and EMA, and will be dependent upon the data available at such time, and the available data may not be sufficiently robust from a safety and/or efficacy perspective to support approval. Depending on the outcome of our ongoing studies, the FDA in the United States and EMA and European Commission in the EU may require that we conduct additional or larger clinical trials before our Lenti-D product candidate is eligible for approval.

In the development of our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of patients with SCD, we are exploring efficacy endpoints based on β^A-T87Q expression and total hemoglobin, and the relationship such endpoints have with clinical outcomes. Our development plans in the United States are contingent upon our LentiGlobin product candidate demonstrating sufficient efficacy and safety in the ongoing HGB-206 study and planned HGB-210 study. Whether our LentiGlobin product candidate is eligible for approval will ultimately be determined at the discretion of the FDA and will be dependent upon the data available at such time, and the available data may not be sufficiently robust from a safety and/or efficacy perspective to support approval. For instance, the FDA may not accept β^A-T87Q expression and total hemoglobin as surrogate endpoints for other SCD clinical outcomes such as frequency of vaso-occlusive events. Depending on the outcome of our ongoing and planned studies, the FDA may require that we conduct additional or larger clinical trials before our LentiGlobin product candidate is eligible for approval for the treatment of patients with SCD. In addition, we are engaged with the EMA in discussions regarding our proposed development plans for LentiGlobin in SCD in Europe, and we cannot be certain that our HGB-206 study and planned HGB-210 study will be sufficient to form the basis for an initial MAA submission in Europe for the treatment of patients with SCD.

We may encounter substantial delays in our clinical studies or we may fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities.

Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of our product candidates, we must conduct extensive clinical studies to demonstrate the safety, purity and potency, or efficacy, of the product candidates in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, time-consuming and uncertain as to outcome. We cannot guarantee that any clinical studies will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. A failure of one or more clinical studies can occur at any stage of testing. Events that may prevent successful or timely completion of clinical development include:

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Furthermore, identifying and qualifying patients to participate in clinical studies of our product candidates is critical to our success. The timing of our clinical studies depends on the speed at which we can recruit eligible patients to participate in testing our product candidates. We may not be able to identify, recruit and enroll a sufficient number of patients, or those with required or desired characteristics to achieve diversity in a study, to complete our clinical studies in a timely manner. The conditions for which we plan to evaluate our current product candidates in severe genetic diseases are rare disorders with limited patient pools from which to draw for clinical studies. The eligibility criteria of our clinical studies will further limit the pool of available study participants, and the process of finding and diagnosing patients may prove costly. Patients may be unwilling to participate in our studies because of negative publicity from adverse events in the biotechnology or gene therapy industries or for other reasons, including competitive clinical studies for similar patient populations. We have experienced delays in some of our clinical studies in the past, and we may experience similar delays in the future.

Any inability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenues from product sales, regulatory and commercialization milestones and royalties. In addition, if we make manufacturing or formulation changes to our product candidates, we may need to conduct additional studies to demonstrate comparability of our modified product candidates to earlier versions.

Clinical study delays could also shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.

If the results of our clinical studies are inconclusive or if there are safety concerns or adverse events associated with our product candidates, we may:

Treatment with our gene therapy product candidates involves chemotherapy and myeloablative treatments, which can cause side effects or adverse events that are unrelated to our product candidates, but may still impact the perception of the potential benefits of our product candidates and the success of our clinical studies. Additionally, our product candidates could potentially cause other adverse events that have not yet been predicted. The inclusion of critically ill patients in our clinical studies may result in deaths or other adverse medical events due to other therapies or medications that such patients may be using, or the progression of their disease. As described above, any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of our product candidates and impair our ability to commercialize our products.

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In previous clinical studies involving viral vectors for gene therapy, some subjects experienced serious adverse events, including the development of leukemia due to vector-related insertional oncogenesis.  If our vectors demonstrate a similar effect, we may be required to halt or delay further clinical development of our product candidates.

A significant risk in any gene therapy product based on viral vectors is that the vector will insert in or near cancer-causing oncogenes leading to uncontrolled clonal proliferation of mature cancer cells in the patient.  In published studies, lentiviral vectors have demonstrated an improved safety profile over gamma-retroviral vectors used in early gene therapy studies, with no disclosed events of gene therapy-related adverse events, which we believe is due to a number of factors including the tendency of these vectors to integrate within genes rather than in areas that control gene expression, as well as their lack of strong viral enhancers. However, it should be noted that in a phase 1/2 study of HPV569, which utilized an earlier generation lentiviral vector of our LentiGlobin vector, we initially observed in one subject that a disproportionate number of the cells expressing our functional gene had the same insertion site. Tests showed that this partial clonal dominance contained an insertion of the functional gene in the HMGA2 gene that persisted for a period of two to three years. Although there was some initial concern that the observed clonal dominance might represent a pre-leukemic event, there have been no adverse clinical consequences of this event, or any signs of cancer, in over seven years since the observation was made. The presence of the HMGA2 clone has steadily declined in this subject over time to the point that it is no longer the most common clone observed in this subject.

Notwithstanding the historical data regarding the potential safety improvements of lentiviral vectors, the risk of insertional oncogenesis remains a significant concern for gene therapy and we cannot assure that it will not occur in any of our ongoing or planned clinical studies. There is also the potential risk of delayed adverse events following exposure to gene therapy products due to persistent biological activity of the genetic material or other components of products used to carry the genetic material. The FDA has stated that lentiviral vectors possess characteristics that may pose high risks of delayed adverse events. If any such adverse events occur, further advancement of our clinical studies could be halted or delayed, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.

Patients receiving T cell-based immunotherapies such as our oncology product candidates bb2121 and bb21217, may experience serious adverse events, including neurotoxicity and cytokine release syndrome. If our product candidates are revealed to have high and unacceptable severity and/or prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics, their clinical development, regulatory approval, and commercial potential will be negatively impacted, which will significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects.

The bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates are chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, T cell-based immunotherapies. In previous and ongoing clinical studies involving CAR T cell products, including those involving the bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates, patients experienced side effects such as neurotoxicity and cytokine release syndrome.  There have been life threatening events related to severe neurotoxicity and cytokine release syndrome, requiring intense medical intervention such as intubation or pressor support, and in several cases, resulted in death. Severe neurotoxicity is a condition that is currently defined clinically by cerebral edema, confusion, drowsiness, speech impairment, tremors, seizures, or other central nervous system side effects, when such side effects are serious enough to lead to intensive care. In some cases, severe neurotoxicity was thought to be associated with the use of certain lymphodepletion regimens used prior to the administration of the CAR T cell products. Cytokine release syndrome is a condition that is currently defined clinically by certain symptoms related to the release of cytokines, which can include fever, chills, low blood pressure, when such side effects are serious enough to lead to intensive care with mechanical ventilation or significant vasopressor support. The exact cause or causes of cytokine release syndrome and severe neurotoxicity in connection with treatment of CAR T cell products is not fully understood at this time. In addition, patients have experienced other adverse events in these studies, such as a reduction in the number of blood cells (in the form of neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anemia or other cytopenias), febrile neutropenia, chemical laboratory abnormalities (including elevated liver enzymes), and renal failure.

Undesirable side effects caused by the bb2121 or bb21217 product candidate, other CAR T product candidates targeting BCMA, or our other T cell-based immunotherapy product candidates, could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical studies and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities. In some cases, side effects such as neurotoxicity or cytokine release syndrome has resulted in clinical holds of ongoing clinical trials and/or discontinuation of the development of the product candidate. Results of our studies could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the studies or result in potential product liability claims. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff, as toxicities resulting from T cell-based immunotherapies are not normally encountered in the general patient population and by medical personnel. Medical personnel may need additional training regarding T cell-based immunotherapy product candidates to understand their side effects. Inadequate training in recognizing or failure to effectively manage the potential side effects of T cell-based immunotherapy product candidates could result in patient deaths. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.  

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Even if we obtain regulatory approval for a product candidate, our products will remain subject to regulatory scrutiny.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval in a jurisdiction, the regulatory authority may still impose significant restrictions on the indicated uses or marketing of our product candidates, or impose ongoing requirements for potentially costly post-approval studies, post-market surveillance or patient or drug restrictions. For example, the FDA typically advises that patients treated with gene therapy undergo follow-up observations for potential adverse events for a 15-year period. Additionally, the holder of an approved BLA is obligated to monitor and report adverse events and any failure of a product to meet the specifications in the BLA. The holder of an approved BLA must also submit new or supplemental applications and obtain FDA approval for certain changes to the approved product, product labeling or manufacturing process. Advertising and promotional materials must comply with FDA rules and are subject to FDA review, in addition to other potentially applicable federal and state laws.

In addition, product manufacturers and their facilities are subject to payment of user fees and continual review and periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities for compliance with good manufacturing practices, or GMP, and adherence to commitments made in the BLA. If we or a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with a product such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, a regulatory agency may impose restrictions relative to that product or the manufacturing facility, including requiring recall or withdrawal of the product from the market or suspension of manufacturing.

If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements following approval of any of our product candidates, a regulatory agency may:

Any government investigation of alleged violations of law could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity. The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate revenues.

The United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the European Union could result in increased regulatory and legal complexity, which may make it more difficult for us to do business in Europe and impose additional challenges in securing regulatory approval of our product candidates in Europe.

Negotiations for the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, or Brexit, has caused political and economic uncertainty, including in the regulatory framework applicable to our operations and potential products, and this uncertainty may persist for years. Brexit could, among other outcomes, disrupt the free movement of goods, services and people between the United Kingdom and the EU, and result in increased legal and regulatory complexities, as well as potential higher costs of conducting business in Europe. For instance, preparations for Brexit has resulted in the decision to move the EMA from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands, with operations currently scheduled to begin in the Netherlands by March 2019. This transition may cause disruption or delays in granting clinical trial authorization or opinions for marketing authorization, disruption of importation and export of active substance and other components of new drug formulations, and disruption of the supply chain for clinical trial product and final authorized formulations.

The cumulative effects of the disruption to the regulatory framework may add considerably to the development lead time to marketing authorization and commercialization of products in the European Union and/or the United Kingdom.  It is possible that there will be increased regulatory complexities which can disrupt the timing of our clinical trials and regulatory approvals.  In addition, changes in, and legal uncertainty with regard to, national and international laws and regulations may present difficulties for our clinical and regulatory strategy. Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, any marketing approvals, as a result of Brexit or otherwise, would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates in the United Kingdom and/or the European Union and restrict our ability to generate revenues and achieve and sustain profitability.  In particular, we cannot predict whether, or the extent to which, Brexit will affect the timing for the potential commercial launch of our LentiGlobin product candidate in Europe in 2019.

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In addition, as a result of Brexit, other European countries may seek to conduct referenda with respect to their continuing membership with the European Union.  Given these possibilities and others we may not anticipate, as well as the absence of comparable precedent, it is unclear what financial, regulatory and legal implications the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union would have and how such withdrawal would affect us, and the full extent to which our business could be adversely affected.

Risks related to our reliance on third parties

We expect to rely on third parties to conduct some or all aspects of our lentiviral vector production, drug product manufacturing, research and preclinical and clinical testing, and these third parties may not perform satisfactorily.

We do not expect to independently conduct all aspects of our lentiviral vector production, drug product manufacturing, research and preclinical and clinical testing. We currently rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties with respect to these items. In some cases these third parties are academic, research or similar institutions that may not apply the same quality control protocols utilized in certain commercial settings.

Our reliance on these third parties for research and development activities will reduce our control over these activities but will not relieve us of our responsibility to ensure compliance with all required regulations and study protocols. For example, for product candidates that we develop and commercialize on our own, we will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our IND-enabling studies and clinical studies are conducted in accordance with the study plan and protocols, and that our lentiviral vectors and drug products are manufactured in accordance with GMP as applied in the relevant jurisdictions.

If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines, conduct our studies in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated study plans and protocols, or manufacture our lentiviral vectors and drug products in accordance with GMP, we will not be able to complete, or may be delayed in completing, the preclinical and clinical studies and manufacturing process validation activities required to support future IND, MAA and BLA submissions and approval of our product candidates. Many of our agreements with these third parties contain termination provisions that allow these third parties to terminate their relationships with us at any time. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, our product development and commercialization activities could be delayed.

Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks to which we would not be subject if we manufactured the product candidates ourselves, including:

We may be forced to manufacture lentiviral vector and drug product candidates ourselves, for which we may not have the capabilities or resources, or enter into an agreement with a different manufacturer, which we may not be able to do on reasonable terms, if at all. In some cases, the technical skills required to manufacture our lentiviral vector or drug product candidates may be unique or proprietary to the original manufacturer, and we may have difficulty or there may be contractual restrictions prohibiting us from, transferring such skills to a back-up or alternate supplier, or we may be unable to transfer such skills at all. Any of these events could lead to clinical study delays or failure to obtain regulatory approval, or impact our ability to successfully commercialize future products. Some of these events could be the basis for FDA action, including injunction, recall, seizure or total or partial suspension of production.

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We and our contract manufacturers are subject to significant regulation with respect to manufacturing our products. The manufacturing facilities on which we rely may not continue to meet regulatory requirements and have limited capacity.

All entities involved in the preparation of therapeutics for clinical studies or commercial sale, including our existing contract manufacturers for our product candidates, are subject to extensive regulation. Some components of a finished therapeutic product approved for commercial sale or used in late-stage clinical studies must be manufactured in accordance with GMP. These regulations govern manufacturing processes and procedures (including record keeping) and the implementation and operation of quality systems to control and assure the quality of investigational products and products approved for sale. Poor control of production processes can lead to the introduction of adventitious agents or other contaminants, or to inadvertent changes in the properties or stability of our product candidates that may not be detectable in final product testing. We or our contract manufacturers must supply all necessary documentation in support of a BLA or MAA on a timely basis and where required, must adhere to the FDA’s or other regulator’s good laboratory practices, or GLP, and GMP regulations enforced by the FDA or other regulator through facilities inspection programs. Some of our contract manufacturers have not produced a commercially-approved product and therefore have not obtained the requisite FDA or other regulatory approvals to do so. Our facilities and quality systems and the facilities and quality systems of some or all of our third-party contractors must pass a pre-approval inspection for compliance with the applicable regulations as a condition of regulatory approval of our product candidates or any of our other potential products. In addition, the regulatory authorities may, at any time, audit or inspect a manufacturing facility involved with the preparation of our product candidates or our other potential products or the associated quality systems for compliance with the regulations applicable to the activities being conducted. If these facilities do not pass a pre-approval plant inspection, FDA or other regulatory approval of the products will not be granted.

The regulatory authorities also may, at any time following approval of a product for sale, audit the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contractors. If any such inspection or audit identifies a failure to comply with applicable regulations or if a violation of our product specifications or applicable regulations occurs independent of such an inspection or audit, we or the relevant regulatory authority may require remedial measures that may be costly and/or time-consuming for us or a third party to implement and that may include the temporary or permanent suspension of a clinical study or commercial sales or the temporary or permanent closure of a facility. Any such remedial measures imposed upon us or third parties with whom we contract could materially harm our business.

If we or any of our third-party manufacturers fail to maintain regulatory compliance, the FDA or other regulators can impose regulatory sanctions including, among other things, refusal to approve a pending application for a biologic product, or revocation of a pre-existing approval. As a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially harmed.

Additionally, if supply from one approved manufacturer is interrupted, there could be a significant disruption in commercial supply. The number of manufacturers with the necessary manufacturing capabilities is limited. In addition, an alternative manufacturer would need to be qualified through a BLA supplement or similar regulatory submission which could result in further delay. The regulatory agencies may also require additional studies if a new manufacturer is relied upon for commercial production. Switching manufacturers may involve substantial costs and is likely to result in a delay in our desired clinical and commercial timelines.

These factors could cause the delay of clinical studies, regulatory submissions, required approvals or commercialization of our product candidates, cause us to incur higher costs and prevent us from commercializing our products successfully. Furthermore, if our suppliers fail to meet contractual requirements, and we are unable to secure one or more replacement suppliers capable of production at a substantially equivalent cost, our clinical studies may be delayed or we could lose potential revenues.

We are dependent on Celgene for the successful development and commercialization of bb2121 and bb21217. If Celgene does not devote sufficient resources to the development of bb2121 and bb21217, is unsuccessful in its efforts, or chooses to terminate its agreements with us, our business will be materially harmed.

We are co-developing and co-promoting the bb2121 product candidate in the United States with Celgene under our amended and restated co-development and co-promotion agreement with Celgene, or the bb2121 CCPS.  Under the bb2121 CCPS, we and Celgene share the obligation to develop and commercialize the bb2121 product candidate in the United States, and we will be solely dependent on Celgene to develop and commercialize bb2121 outside of the United States.

In addition, we have exclusively licensed to Celgene the right to develop and commercialize the bb21217 product candidate, and we retain an option to co-develop and co-promote bb21217 in the United States under our license agreement with Celgene. With respect to bb21217, we are responsible for completing the ongoing CRB-402 study, but Celgene is responsible for further clinical development and commercialization costs, unless we choose to exercise our option to co-develop and co-promote bb21217 in the United States. If we exercise our option to co-develop and co-promote bb21217 in the United States, we and Celgene will share the obligation to develop and commercialize bb21217 in the United States, and we will be solely dependent on Celgene to develop and commercialize bb21217 outside of the United States. 

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In our partnership with Celgene, Celgene is obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize bb2121 and bb21217. Celgene may determine however, that it is commercially reasonable to de-prioritize or discontinue the development of bb2121 and bb21217. These outcomes may occur for many reasons, including internal business reasons (including due to the existence of other Celgene programs that are potentially competitive with bb2121 and bb21217), results from clinical trials or because of unfavorable regulatory feedback. Further, on review of the safety and efficacy data, the FDA may impose requirements on the clinical trial program that render such a program commercially nonviable. In addition, under our agreements with Celgene, Celgene has certain decision-making rights in determining the development and commercialization plans and activities for that product candidate. We may disagree with Celgene about the development strategy it employs, but we will have limited rights to impose our development strategy on Celgene. Similarly, Celgene may decide to seek regulatory approval for, and limit commercialization of, bb2121 or bb21217 to narrower indications than we would pursue. More broadly, if Celgene elects to discontinue the development of bb2121 or bb21217, we may be unable to advance the product candidate ourselves. We would also be prevented from developing or commercializing another CAR T cell-based product candidate that targets BCMA outside of our collaboration with Celgene.

This partnership may not be scientifically or commercially successful for us due to a number of important factors, including the following:

Celgene may enter into one or more transactions with third parties, including a merger, consolidation, reorganization, sale of substantial assets, sale of substantial stock or other change in control, which could divert the attention of its management and adversely affect Celgene's ability to retain and motivate key personnel who are important to the continued development of the programs under the strategic partnership with us. In addition, the third-party to any such transaction could determine to reprioritize Celgene's development programs such that Celgene ceases to diligently pursue the development of our programs and/or cause the respective collaboration with us to terminate. In January 2019, Celgene announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, or BMS, will acquire Celgene, and that the transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019. The acquisition of Celgene by BMS may result in organizational and personnel changes, shifts in business focus or other developments that may have a material adverse effect on our collaboration with Celgene. There is no guarantee that BMS will place the same emphasis on the collaboration or on the development and commercialization of the bb2121 or bb21217 product candidates.  

 

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We expect to rely on third parties to conduct, supervise and monitor our clinical studies, and if these third parties perform in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.

We expect to rely on CROs and clinical study sites to ensure our clinical studies are conducted properly and on time. While we will have agreements governing their activities, we will have limited influence over their actual performance. We will control only certain aspects of our CROs’ activities. Nevertheless, we will be responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards, and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.

We and our CROs are required to comply with the FDA’s GCPs for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical studies to assure that the data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of clinical study participants are protected. If we or our CROs fail to comply with applicable GCPs, the clinical data generated in our future clinical studies may be deemed unreliable and the FDA may require us to perform additional clinical studies before approving any marketing applications.

If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations, fail to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements, or for any other reasons, our clinical studies may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize our product candidates. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for our product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.

Because we rely on third parties to manufacture our vectors and our product candidates, and because we collaborate with various organizations and academic institutions on the advancement of our gene therapy platform, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. We seek to protect our proprietary technology in part by entering into confidentiality agreements and, if applicable, material transfer agreements, collaborative research agreements, consulting agreements or other similar agreements with our collaborators, advisors, employees and consultants prior to beginning research or disclosing proprietary information. These agreements typically limit the rights of the third parties to use or disclose our confidential information, such as trade secrets. Despite the contractual provisions employed when working with third parties, the need to share trade secrets and other confidential information increases the risk that such trade secrets become known by our competitors, are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. Given that our proprietary position is based, in part, on our know-how and trade secrets, a competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets or other unauthorized use or disclosure would impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business.

In addition, these agreements typically restrict the ability of our collaborators, advisors, employees and consultants to publish data potentially relating to our trade secrets. Our academic collaborators typically have rights to publish data, provided that we are notified in advance and may delay publication for a specified time in order to secure our intellectual property rights arising from the collaboration. In other cases, publication rights are controlled exclusively by us, although in some cases we may share these rights with other parties. We also conduct joint research and development programs that may require us to share trade secrets under the terms of our research and development partnerships or similar agreements. Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets, our competitors may discover our trade secrets, either through breach of these agreements, independent development or publication of information including our trade secrets in cases where we do not have proprietary or otherwise protected rights at the time of publication. A competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets would impair our competitive position and have an adverse impact on our business.

Risks related to our financial condition and capital requirements

We have incurred significant losses since our inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future.

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company, and we have incurred net losses in each year since our inception in 1992, including net losses of $555.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. As of December 31, 2018, we had an accumulated deficit of $1.5 billion. The amount of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of our future expenditures and our ability to generate revenues. We have devoted significant financial resources to research and development, including our clinical and preclinical development activities, which we expect to continue for the foreseeable future. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of equity securities and, to a lesser extent, through collaboration agreements and grants from governmental agencies and charitable foundations. We do not expect to generate any product revenues until the second half of 2019, assuming we receive marketing approval for LentiGlobin in the EU. Even if we obtain regulatory approval to market a product candidate, our future revenues will depend upon the size of any markets in which our product candidates have received approval, and our ability to achieve sufficient market acceptance, reimbursement from third-party payors and adequate market share for our product candidates in those markets. In addition, to the extent payment for our products is subject to outcomes-based arrangements, our future cash collection and revenues from product sales will be at risk.

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We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:

The net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year, such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance. In any particular quarter or quarters, our operating results could be below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, which could cause our stock price to decline.

We have never generated any revenue from product sales and may never be profitable.

Our ability to generate revenues and achieve profitability depends on our ability, alone or with strategic collaboration partners, to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the regulatory, pricing and reimbursement approvals necessary to commercialize our product candidates. Our ability to generate future revenues from product sales depends heavily on our success in:

We expect to continue to incur significant expenditures for the foreseeable future, and we expect these expenditures to increase as we prepare for any potential commercial launch. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA, the EMA, or other regulatory agencies, domestic or foreign, to perform clinical and other studies in addition to those that we currently anticipate. Even if one or more of the product candidates that we develop is approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate, which costs may increase with any increased competition. Even if we are able to generate revenues from the sale of any approved products, we may not become profitable and may need to obtain additional funding to continue operations.

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From time to time, we will need to raise additional funding, which may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed may force us to delay, limit or terminate our product development efforts or other operations.

We are currently advancing the LentiGlobin, Lenti-D, bb2121 and bb21217 product candidates through clinical development and other product candidates through preclinical development. Developing gene therapy products is expensive, and we expect our research and development expenses to increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance our product candidates in clinical studies.

As of December 31, 2018, our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $1.9 billion. We expect that our existing cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our current planned operations into 2022. However, our operating plan may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned, through public or private equity or debt financings, government or other third-party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements and other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements or a combination of these approaches. In any event, we will require additional capital to obtain regulatory approval for, and to commercialize, our product candidates. Even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans, we may seek additional capital if market conditions are favorable or if we have specific strategic objectives.

Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates. In addition, we cannot guarantee that future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Moreover, the terms of any financing may adversely affect the holdings or the rights of our stockholders and the issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our shares to decline. The sale of additional equity or convertible securities would dilute all of our stockholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and we may be required to agree to certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. We could also be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborative partners or otherwise at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable and we may be required to relinquish rights to some of our technologies or product candidates or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects.

If we are unable to obtain funding on a timely basis, we may be required to significantly curtail, delay or discontinue one or more of our research or development programs or the commercialization of any product candidates or be unable to expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, as desired, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks related to commercialization of our product candidates

We rely on a complex supply chain for our product candidates. The manufacture and delivery of our engineered autologous gene therapy product presents significant challenges for us, and we may not be able to produce our vector and products at the quality, quantities, locations or timing needed to support commercialization.

In order to develop our product candidates, apply for regulatory approvals and commercialize our products if approved, we will need to develop, contract for, or otherwise arrange for the necessary manufacturing capabilities. We currently rely on third parties to manufacture the vector and the drug product candidate that we require for any clinical trials that we initiate. Although we intend to rely on a mix of internal and third-party manufacturers to support our planned commercialization efforts, we are still in the process of building out our internal capacity and have not secured commercial-scale manufacturing capacity in all of the regions where we intend to commercialize our potential products. By building our own internal manufacturing facility, we have incurred substantial expenditures and expect to incur significant additional expenditures in the future. In addition, there are many risks inherent in the construction of a new facility that could result in delays and additional costs, including the need to obtain access to necessary equipment and third-party technology, if any. Also, we have had to, and will continue to, hire and train qualified employees to staff our manufacturing facility. We may not be able to timely or successfully build out or internal capacity or negotiate binding agreements at commercially reasonable terms with third-party manufacturers.

The manufacture of our lentiviral vector and drug product candidates is complex and requires significant expertise. Manufacturers of cell therapy products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling out and validating initial production, and ensuring that the product meets required specifications. These problems include difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product, quality assurance testing, operator error, shortages of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state and foreign regulations. We cannot make any assurances that these problems will not occur in the future, or that we will be able to resolve or address problems that occur in a timely manner or with available funds. Furthermore, our cost of goods development is at an early stage. The actual cost to manufacture our lentiviral vector and drug product candidates could be greater than we expect and could materially and adversely affect the commercial viability of our product

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candidates. If we or such third-party manufacturers are unable to produce the necessary quantities of lentiviral vector and our product candidates, or in compliance with GMP or other pertinent regulatory requirements, and within our planned time frame and cost parameters, the development and sales of our products, if approved, may be materially harmed. Furthermore, if we or our third-party manufacturers are unable to produce the necessary quantities of viral vectors or our product candidates in quantities, quality requirements, or within the time frames that we need to support our commercialization activities, it may result in delays in our development plans or increased capital expenditures.

In addition, any significant disruption in our supplier relationships could harm our business. We source key materials from third parties, either directly through agreements with suppliers or indirectly through our manufacturers who have agreements with suppliers. There are a small number of suppliers for certain key materials that are used to manufacture our product candidates. Such suppliers may not sell these key materials to us or to our manufacturers at the times we need them or on commercially reasonable terms. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition of these key materials by our manufacturers. Moreover, we currently do not have any agreements for the commercial production of these key materials.

Additionally, since the HSCs and T cells have a limited window of stability following procurement from the subject, we must establish transduction facilities in the regions where we wish to commercialize our product. Currently, we rely on third-party contract manufacturers in the United States and Europe to produce our product candidates for our clinical studies. Since a portion of our target patient populations will be outside the United States and Europe, we will need to establish additional transduction facilities that can replicate our transduction process in order to address those patient populations. Establishment of such facilities may be financially impractical or impeded by technical, quality, or regulatory issues related to these new sites and we may also run into technical or scientific issues related to transfer of our transduction process or other developmental issues that we may be unable to resolve in a timely manner or with available funds.

Our commercial plan is to engage apheresis centers in our key launch regions as qualified treatment centers for the collection of patient HSCs and infusion of the drug product once manufactured. To ensure that the qualified treatment centers are prepared to collect patient HSCs and to ship them to our transduction facilities in accordance with our specifications and regulatory requirements, we plan to train and conduct quality certifications of each center as part of engagement. We intend for these qualified treatment centers to be the first and last points on our complex supply chain to reach patients in the commercial setting. We may not be able engage qualified treatment centers in all of the regions in our commercial launch strategy, or we may encounter other challenges or delays in engaging qualified treatment centers. We may fail to manage the logistics of collecting and shipping patient material to the manufacturing site and shipping the product candidate back to the patient. Logistical and shipment delays and problems caused by us, our vendors other factors not in our control, such as weather, could prevent or delay the delivery of products to patients. If our qualified treatment centers fail to perform satisfactorily, we may suffer reputational, operational, and business harm.  We anticipate having to maintain a complex chain of identity and chain of custody with respect to patient material as it moves through the manufacturing process, from the qualified treatment center to the transduction facility, and back to the patient. Failure to maintain chain of identity and chain of custody could adverse patient outcomes, loss of product or regulatory action.

Although we are continuing to build out our field team, we have no sales or distribution experience and only early capabilities for marketing and market access, and expect to invest significant financial and management resources to establish these capabilities. If we are unable to establish sales and distribution capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our product candidates, we may be unable to generate any revenues.

Although we are continuing to build out our field team in anticipation of our potential first commercial launch in Europe in 2019, we have no sales or distribution experience and only early capabilities for marketing and market access. To successfully commercialize any products that may result from our development programs, we will need to develop these capabilities in the United States, Europe and other regions, either on our own or with others. We may enter into collaborations with other entities to utilize their mature marketing and distribution capabilities, but we may be unable to enter into marketing agreements on favorable terms, if at all. If our future collaborative partners do not commit sufficient resources to commercialize our future products, if any, and we are unable to develop the necessary marketing capabilities on our own, we will be unable to generate sufficient product revenue to sustain our business. We will be competing with many companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations. Without a significant internal team or the support of a third party to perform marketing and sales functions, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.

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We face intense competition and rapid technological change and the possibility that our competitors may develop therapies that are more advanced or effective than ours, which may adversely affect our financial condition and our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates. If our competitors obtain orphan drug exclusivity for products that regulatory authorities determine constitute the same drug and treat the same indications as our product candidates, we may not be able to have competing products approved by the applicable regulatory authority for a significant period of time.

We are engaged in gene therapy for severe genetic diseases and cancer, both of which are competitive and rapidly changing fields. We have competitors both in the United States and internationally, including major multinational pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and universities and other research institutions. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and other resources, such as larger research and development staff, manufacturing capabilities, experienced marketing and manufacturing organizations. Competition may increase further as a result of advances in the commercial applicability of technologies and greater availability of capital for investment in these industries. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing on an exclusive basis, products that are more effective, safer, or less costly than any product candidate that we may develop, or achieve earlier patent protection, regulatory approval, product commercialization and market penetration than us. Additionally, technologies developed by our competitors may render our potential product candidates uneconomical or obsolete, and we may not be successful in marketing our product candidates against competitors. For additional information regarding our competition, see “Item 1. Business—Competition” in our Annual Report.

Even if we are successful in achieving regulatory approval to commercialize a product candidate faster than our competitors, we may face competition from biosimilars due to the changing regulatory environment. In the United States, the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 created an abbreviated approval pathway for biological products that are demonstrated to be “highly similar,” or biosimilar, to or “interchangeable” with an FDA-approved biological product. This pathway could allow competitors to reference data from biological products already approved after 12 years from the time of approval. In Europe, the European Commission has granted marketing authorizations for several biosimilars pursuant to a set of general and product class-specific guidelines for biosimilar approvals issued over the past few years. In Europe, a competitor may reference data from biological products already approved, but will not be able to get on the market until 10 years after the time of approval. This 10-year period will be extended to 11 years if, during the first eight of those 10 years, the marketing authorization holder obtains an approval for one or more new therapeutic indications that bring significant clinical benefits compared with existing therapies. In addition, companies may be developing biosimilars in other countries that could compete with our products. If competitors are able to obtain marketing approval for biosimilars referencing our products, our products may become subject to competition from such biosimilars, with the attendant competitive pressure and consequences. Expiration or successful challenge of our applicable patent rights could also trigger competition from other products, assuming any relevant exclusivity period has expired.

In addition, although our product candidates have been granted orphan drug status by the FDA and EMA, there are limitations to the exclusivity. In the United States, the exclusivity period for orphan drugs is seven years, while pediatric exclusivity adds six months to any existing patents or exclusivity periods. In Europe, orphan drugs may be able to obtain 10 years of marketing exclusivity and up to an additional two years on the basis of qualifying pediatric studies. However, orphan exclusivity may be reduced to six years if the drug no longer satisfies the original designation criteria. Additionally, a marketing authorization holder may lose its orphan exclusivity if it consents to a second orphan drug application or cannot supply enough drug. Orphan drug exclusivity also can be lost when a second applicant demonstrates its drug is “clinically superior” to the original orphan drug. Generally, if a product candidate with an orphan drug designation receives the first marketing approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to a period marketing exclusivity, which precludes the FDA or the European Commission from approving another marketing application for a product that constitutes the same drug treating the same indication for that marketing exclusivity period, except in limited circumstances. If another sponsor receives such approval before we do (regardless of our orphan drug designation), we will be precluded from receiving marketing approval for our product for the exclusivity period for the applicable indication.

Finally, as a result of the expiration or successful challenge of our patent rights, we could face more litigation with respect to the validity and/or scope of patents relating to our competitors’ products. The availability of our competitors’ products could limit the demand, and the price we are able to charge, for any products that we may develop and commercialize.

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The commercial success of any current or future product candidate will depend upon the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community.

Ethical, social and legal concerns about gene therapy and genetic research could result in additional regulations restricting or prohibiting the products and processes we may use. Even with the requisite approvals, the commercial success of our product candidates will depend in part on the medical community, patients, and third-party or governmental payors accepting gene therapy products in general, and our product candidates in particular, as medically useful, cost-effective, and safe. Any product that we bring to the market may not gain market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. If these products do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenue and may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

Even if a potential product displays a favorable efficacy and safety profile in preclinical and clinical studies, market acceptance of the product will not be known until after it is launched. Our efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of the product candidates may require significant resources and may never be successful. For instance, UniQure encountered challenges in commercializing Glybera, the first approved gene therapy in Europe, and did not seek renewal of Glybera’s marketing authorization in Europe when it expired in October 2017, due to forecasted patient demand and limited use since its approval in 2012. Our efforts to educate the marketplace may require more resources than are required by the conventional technologies marketed by our competitors.

We intend to market our products outside of the United States, and we will be subject to the risks of doing business outside of the United States.

Because we intend to market our product candidates, if approved, outside of the United States, our business is subject to risks associated with doing business outside of the United States. Accordingly, our business and financial results in the future could be adversely affected due to a variety of factors, including:

 

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In addition to FDA and related regulatory requirements in the United States and abroad, we are subject to extensive additional federal, state and foreign anti-bribery regulation, which include the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act, and similar laws in other countries outside of the United States. We have developed and implemented a corporate compliance program based on what we believe are current best practices in the pharmaceutical industry for companies similar to ours, but we cannot guarantee that we, our employees, our consultants or our third-party contractors are or will be in compliance with all federal, state and foreign regulations regarding bribery and corruption. Moreover, our partners and third party contractors located outside the United States may have inadequate compliance programs or may fail to respect the laws and guidance of the territories in which they operate.  Even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The insurance coverage and reimbursement status of newly-approved products is uncertain. Due to the novel nature of our technology and the potential for our product candidates to offer therapeutic benefit in a single administration, we face additional uncertainty related to pricing and reimbursement for our product candidates. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for new or current products could limit our ability to market those products and decrease our ability to generate revenue.

The availability and extent of reimbursement by governmental and private payors is essential for most patients to be able to afford expensive treatments, such as our gene therapy products. In addition, because our therapies represent new treatment approaches, the estimation of potential revenues will be complex. Sales of our product candidates will depend substantially, both domestically and abroad, on the extent to which the costs of our product candidates will be paid by health maintenance, managed care, pharmacy benefit and similar healthcare management organizations, or reimbursed by government health administration authorities, private health coverage insurers and other third-party payors. If reimbursement is not available, or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our product candidates. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish or maintain pricing sufficient to realize a sufficient return on our investment.

There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products, including gene therapies that are potential one-time treatments. In the United States, the principal decisions about reimbursement for new medicines are typically made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, as CMS decides whether and to what extent a new medicine will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare. Private payors tend to follow CMS to a substantial degree. It is difficult to predict what CMS will decide with respect to reimbursement for fundamentally novel products such as ours, as there is no body of established practices and precedents for these new products. Reimbursement agencies in Europe may be more conservative than CMS. A number of cancer drugs have been approved for reimbursement in the United States and have not been approved for reimbursement in certain European countries. In addition, costs or difficulties with the reimbursement experienced by the initial gene therapies to receive marketing authorization may create an adverse environment for reimbursement of other gene therapies.

Outside the United States, certain countries, including a number of member states of the European Union, set prices and reimbursement for pharmaceutical products, or medicinal products, as they are commonly referred to in the European Union, with limited participation from the marketing authorization holders. We cannot be sure that such prices and reimbursement will be acceptable to us or our collaborators. If the regulatory authorities in these foreign jurisdictions set prices or reimbursement levels that are not commercially attractive for us or our collaborators, our revenues from sales by us or our collaborators, and the potential profitability of our drug products, in those countries would be negatively affected. An increasing number of countries are taking initiatives to attempt to reduce large budget deficits by focusing cost-cutting efforts on pharmaceuticals for their state-run health care systems. These international price control efforts have impacted all regions of the world, but have been most drastic in the European Union. Additionally, some countries require approval of the sale price of a product before it can be marketed.  In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted.  As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for a product in a particular country, but then may experience delays in the reimbursement approval of our product or be subject to price regulations that would delay our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, which could negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that particular country.

Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors, in the United States and abroad, to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and level of reimbursement for new products approved and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our product candidates. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of any of our product candidates, due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products.

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Furthermore, because our target patient populations are relatively small, the pricing and reimbursement of our product candidates, if approved, must be adequate to support our commercial infrastructure. If we are unable to obtain adequate levels of reimbursement, our ability to successfully market and sell our product candidates will be adversely affected. We have proposed novel payment models, including outcomes-based arrangements with payments over time, to assist with realizing the value and sharing the risk of a potential one-time treatment, such as our LentiGlobin product candidate. While we are engaged in discussions with potential payors, there is no assurance that any payors will adopt these payment models. Even with these payment models, there may be substantial resistance to the cost of our products by payors and the public generally. These payment models may not be sufficient for payors to grant coverage, and if we are unable to obtain adequate coverage for our products, the adoption of our products may be limited. In addition, to the extent reimbursement for our products is subject to outcomes-based arrangements, our future cash collection and revenues from product sales will be at risk. Moreover, the administration of our products require procedures for the collection of HSCs from the patient, followed by chemotherapy and myeloablative treatments, before infusion of the engineered cell therapy product. The manner and level at which reimbursement is provided for these services is also important. Inadequate reimbursement for such services may lead to physician resistance and adversely affect our ability to market or sell our products. These factors could affect our ability to successfully commercialize our products and generate revenues, which would adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Healthcare legislative reform measures may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

The United States and many foreign jurisdictions have enacted or proposed legislative and regulatory changes affecting the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates or any future product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product for which we obtain marketing approval. Changes in regulations, statutes or the interpretation of existing regulations could impact our business in the future by requiring, for example: (i) changes to our manufacturing arrangements; (ii) additions or modifications to product labeling; (iii) the recall or discontinuation of our products; or (iv) additional record-keeping requirements. If any such changes were to be imposed, they could adversely affect the operation of our business.

 

In the United States, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or the Affordable Care Act, was passed, which substantially changed the way health care is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impacts the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The Affordable Care Act, among other things, addressed a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted or injected, increased the minimum Medicaid rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and extended the rebate program to individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations, established annual fees and taxes on manufacturers of certain branded prescription drugs, and a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer  50% (70% commencing  January 1, 2019) point-of-sale discounts off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D.  

Since January 2017, the Trump administration has signed two Executive Orders designed to delay the implementation of certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act or otherwise circumvent some of the requirements for health insurance mandated by the Affordable Care Act. One Executive Order directs federal agencies with authorities and responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision of the Affordable Care Act that would impose a fiscal or regulatory burden on states, individuals, healthcare providers, health insurers, or manufacturers of pharmaceuticals or medical devices. The second Executive Order terminates the cost-sharing subsidies that reimburse insurers under the Affordable Care Act. Several state Attorneys General filed suit to stop the administration from terminating the subsidies, but their request for a restraining order was denied by a federal judge in California on October 25, 2017.  Further, on June 14, 2018, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the federal government was not required to pay more than $12 billion in Affordable Care Act risk corridor payments to third-party payors who argued were owed to them. The effects of this gap in reimbursement on third-party payors, the viability of the Affordable Care Act marketplace, providers, and potentially our business, are not yet known.

In July 2018, the CMS published a final rule permitting further collections and payments to and from certain Affordable Care Act-qualified health plans and health insurance issuers under the Affordable Care Act risk adjustment program in response to the outcome of federal district court litigation regarding the method CMS uses to determine this risk adjustment. In addition, CMS has recently published a final rule that would give states greater flexibility, starting in 2020, in setting benchmarks for insurers in the individual and small group marketplaces, which may have the effect of relaxing the essential health benefits required under the Affordable Care Act for plans sold through such marketplaces. On December 14, 2018, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Northern District of Texas, or the Texas District Court Judge, ruled that the individual mandate is a critical and inseverable feature of the Affordable Care Act, and therefore, because it was repealed as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the remaining provisions of the Affordable Care Act are invalid as well.  While the Trump Administration and CMS have both stated that the ruling will have no immediate effect, and on December 30, 2018 the Texas District Court Judge issued an order staying the judgment pending appeal, it is unclear how this decision, subsequent appeals and other efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act will impact the Affordable Care Act and our business.

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Since its enactment, some of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act have yet to be fully implemented, while certain provisions have been subject to judicial, congressional, or executive challenges. As a result, there have been delays in the implementation of, and action taken to repeal or replace, certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld certain key aspects of the legislation, including a tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year or pay a penalty, which is commonly known as the “individual mandate.” However, as a result of tax reform legislation passed in December 2017, the individual mandate has been eliminated effective January 1, 2019. On January 22, 2018, President Trump signed a continuing resolution on appropriations for fiscal year 2018 that delayed the implementation of certain Affordable Care Act-mandated fees, including the so-called “Cadillac” tax on certain high cost employer-sponsored insurance plans, the annual fee imposed on certain health insurance providers based on market share, and the medical device excise tax on non-exempt medical devices. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, or the BBA, among other things, amends the Affordable Care Act, effective January 1, 2019, to close the coverage gap in most Medicare drug plans, commonly referred to as the “donut hole.”

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. In August 2011, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011, which, among other things, created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to recommend to Congress proposals in spending reductions. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction did not achieve a targeted deficit reduction, which triggered the legislation’s automatic reduction to several government programs. This includes aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of, on average, 2% per fiscal year through 2025 unless Congress takes additional action. These reductions were extended through 2027 under the BBA. In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals and cancer treatment centers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years.

There has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to specialty drug pricing practices. Specifically, there have been several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. At the federal level, the Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 contains further drug price control measures that could be enacted during the 2019 budget process or in other future legislation, including, for example, measures to permit Medicare Part D plans to negotiate the price of certain drugs under Medicare Part B, to allow some states to negotiate drug prices under Medicaid, and to eliminate cost sharing for generic drugs for low-income patients. Additionally, the Trump administration released a “Blueprint” to lower drug prices and reduce out of pocket costs of drugs that contains additional proposals to increase manufacturer competition, increase the negotiating power of certain federal healthcare programs, incentivize manufacturers to lower the list price of their products and reduce the out of pocket costs of drug products paid by consumers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, has already started the process of soliciting feedback on some of these measures and, at the same time, is immediately implementing others under its existing authority. For example, in September 2018, CMS announced that it will allow Medicare Advantage Plans the option to use step therapy for Part B drugs beginning January 1, 2019, and in October 2018, CMS proposed a new rule that would require direct-to-consumer television advertisements of prescription drugs and biological products, for which payment is available through or under Medicare or Medicaid, to include in the advertisement the Wholesale Acquisition Cost, or list price, of that drug or biological product. Although a number of these, and other proposed measures will require authorization through additional legislation to become effective, Congress and the Trump administration have each indicated that it will continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to control drug costs. At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing.

We expect that the healthcare reform measures that have been adopted and may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product and could seriously harm our future revenues. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private third-party payors.

The delivery of healthcare in the European Union, including the establishment and operation of health services and the pricing and reimbursement of medicines, is almost exclusively a matter for national, rather than EU, law and policy. National governments and health service providers have different priorities and approaches to the delivery of health care and the pricing and reimbursement of products in that context. In general, however, the healthcare budgetary constraints in most EU member states have resulted in restrictions on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines by relevant health service providers. Coupled with ever-increasing EU and national regulatory burdens on those wishing to develop and market products, this could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to commercialize any products for which we obtain marketing approval.

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There have been, and likely will continue to be, legislative and regulatory proposals at the foreign, federal and state levels directed at broadening the availability of healthcare and containing or lowering the cost of healthcare. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our product. Such reforms could have an adverse effect on anticipated revenue from product candidates that we may successfully develop and for which we may obtain regulatory approval and may affect our overall financial condition and ability to develop product candidates.

If the market opportunities for our product candidates are smaller than we believe they are, and if we are not able to successfully identify patients and achieve significant market share, our revenues may be adversely affected and our business may suffer.

We focus our research and product development on treatments for severe genetic diseases and cancer. Our projections of both the number of people who have these diseases, as well as the subset of people with these diseases who have the potential to benefit from treatment with our product candidates, are based on estimates. These estimates have been derived from a variety of sources, including scientific literature, surveys of clinics, patient foundations, or market research, and may prove to be incorrect. Further, new studies may change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these diseases. The number of patients may turn out to be lower or more difficult to identify than expected. For instance, because newborn screening for CALD is not widely adopted, and it can be difficult to diagnose CALD in the absence of a genetic screen, we may have difficulty finding patients who are would benefit from treatment from our Lenti-D product candidate. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for our product candidates may be limited or may not be amenable to treatment with our product candidates. For instance, we are initially seeking approval of our LentiGlobin product candidate for the treatment of patients with TDT and non-β⁰/β⁰ genotypes. We do not have any assurance whether or when the LentiGlobin product candidate may be commercially available to patients with all genotypes of TDT.

Even if we obtain significant market share for our product candidates within an approved indication, because the potential target populations for our product candidates are small, we may never achieve profitability without obtaining regulatory approval for additional indications. For instance, in the field of cancer, the FDA often approves new therapies initially only for use in patients with relapsed or refractory advanced disease. We expect to initially seek approval of our T cell-based product candidates in cancer in this context. Subsequently, for those products that prove to be sufficiently beneficial, if any, we would expect to seek approval in earlier lines of treatment and potentially as a first line therapy, but there is no guarantee that our product candidates, even if approved, would be approved for earlier lines of therapy, and, prior to any such approvals, we may have to conduct additional clinical trials.

Any of these factors may negatively affect our ability to generate revenues from sales of our product and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability, and as a consequence, our business may suffer.

Risks related to our business operations

If we undertake business combinations, collaborations or similar strategic transactions, they may disrupt our business, divert management’s attention, dilute stockholder value or be difficult to integrate.

On a regular basis, we consider various business combination transactions, collaborations, license agreements and strategic transactions with third parties, including transactions which may result in us acquiring, or being acquired by, a third party. The consummation or performance of any future business combination, collaboration or strategic transaction may involve risks, such as:

As a result of these risks, we may not be able to achieve the expected benefits of any such transaction. If we are unsuccessful in completing or integrating any acquisition, we may be required to reevaluate that component of our strategy only after we have incurred substantial expenses and devoted significant management time and resources in seeking to complete and integrate the acquisition.

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Future business combinations could involve the acquisition of significant intangible assets. We may need to record write-downs from future impairments of identified intangible assets and goodwill. These accounting charges would increase a reported loss or reduce any future reported earnings. In addition, we could use substantial portions of our available cash to pay the purchase price for company or product candidate acquisitions. Subject to the limitations under our existing indebtedness, it is possible that we could incur additional debt or issue additional equity securities as consideration for these acquisitions, which could cause our stockholders to suffer significant dilution.

Negative public opinion and increased regulatory scrutiny of gene therapy and genetic research may damage public perception of our product candidates or adversely affect our ability to conduct our business or obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates.

Public perception may be influenced by claims that gene therapy, including gene editing technologies, is unsafe or unethical, and research activities and adverse events in the field, even if not ultimately attributable to us our or our product candidates could result in increased governmental regulation, unfavorable public perception, potential regulatory delays in the testing or approval of our potential product candidates, stricter labeling requirements for those product candidates that are approved, and a decrease in demand for any such product candidates. More restrictive government regulations or negative public opinion would have a negative effect on our business or financial condition and may delay or impair the development and commercialization of our product candidates or demand for any products we may develop.

Our future success depends on our ability to retain key employees, consultants and advisors and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

We are highly dependent on principal members of our executive team and key employees, the loss of whose services may adversely impact the achievement of our objectives. While we have entered into employment agreements with each of our executive officers, any of them could leave our employment at any time, as all of our employees are “at will” employees. Recruiting and retaining other qualified employees, consultants and advisors for our business, including scientific and technical personnel, will also be critical to our success. There is currently a shortage of skilled executives in our industry, which is likely to continue. As a result, competition for skilled personnel is intense and the turnover rate can be high. We may not be able to attract and retain personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for individuals with similar skill sets. In addition, failure to succeed in preclinical or clinical studies may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified personnel. The inability to recruit or loss of the services of any executive, key employee, consultant or advisor may impede the progress of our research, development and commercialization objectives.

As we evolve from a U.S.-based company primarily involved in discovery, pre-clinical research and clinical development into a company that develops and commercializes multiple drugs with an international presence, we will need to expand our organization and we may experience difficulties in managing this growth, which could disrupt our operations.

We filed our first application for marketing authorization in 2018 and are preparing for a potential commercial launch in 2019, which we hope will be the first of a sequence of marketing approvals and commercial launches for multiple products across multiple geographies. As we advance multiple product candidates through late-stage clinical research and plan submissions for marketing authorizations, we are expanding our operations in the United States and Europe. We grew our workforce significantly during 2017 and 2018, and as of December 31, 2018, we had 745 full-time employees. As we pursue our development and commercialization strategy, we expect to expand our full-time employee base and to hire more consultants and contractors in the United States and Europe. This expected growth may place a strain on our administrative and operational infrastructure. As a result, our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from our day-to-day activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of additional product candidates. If our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenues could be reduced, and we may not be able to implement our business strategy.

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We may be subject, directly or indirectly, to federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws and health information privacy and security laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face substantial penalties, reputational harm, and diminished profits and future earnings.

In the United States, the research, manufacturing, distribution, sale, and promotion of drugs and biologic products are subject to regulation by various federal, state, and local authorities in addition to FDA, including CMS, other divisions of the HHS, (e.g., the Office of Inspector General), the United States Department of Justice offices of the United States Attorney, the Federal Trade Commission and state and local governments. Our operations are directly, or indirectly through our prescribers, customers and purchasers, subject to various federal and state fraud and abuse laws and regulations, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the federal civil and criminal False Claims Act and Physician Payments Sunshine Act and regulations and equivalent provisions in other countries. These laws apply to, among other things, our proposed sales, marketing and educational programs. In addition, we may be subject to patient privacy laws by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business.

State and federal regulatory and enforcement agencies continue actively to investigate violations of health care laws and regulations, and the United States Congress continues to strengthen the arsenal of enforcement tools. Most recently, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 increased the criminal and civil penalties that can be imposed for violating certain federal health care laws, including the Anti-Kickback Statute. Enforcement agencies also continue to pursue novel theories of liability under these laws. In particular, government agencies have recently increased regulatory scrutiny and enforcement activity with respect to programs supported or sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, including reimbursement and co-pay support, funding of independent charitable foundations and other programs that offer benefits for patients. Several investigations into these programs have resulted in significant civil and criminal settlements.

Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and safe harbors available, it is possible that some of our business activities could be subject to challenge under one or more of such laws. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other government regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from participation in government health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, imprisonment and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Even if we are not determined to have violated these laws, government investigations into these issues typically require the expenditure of significant resources and generate negative publicity, which could harm our financial condition and divert the attention of our management from operating our business.

In the EU, interactions between pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals, and patients are also governed by strict laws, regulations, industry self-regulation codes of conduct and physicians’ codes of professional conduct in the individual EU member states. The provision of benefits or advantages to healthcare professionals to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order or use of medicinal products is prohibited in the EU. Also, direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription-only medicinal products is prohibited at the EU level and in the individual member states. In addition, the UK Bribery Act applies to any company incorporated in or “carrying on business” in the UK, irrespective of where in the world the alleged bribery activity occurs, which could have implications for our interactions with physicians both in and outside of the UK. Infringement of these laws could result in substantial fines and imprisonment.

Payments made to physicians in certain EU member states must be publicly disclosed. Moreover, agreements with physicians often must be the subject of prior notification and approval by the physician’s employer, his or her competent professional organization and/or the regulatory authorities of the individual EU member states. These requirements are provided in the national laws, industry codes or professional codes of conduct, applicable in the EU member states. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment.

EU member states, Switzerland and other countries have also adopted data protection laws and regulations, which impose significant compliance obligations. In the EU, the collection and use of personal health data is currently governed by the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR. The GDPR, together with the national legislation of the individual EU member states governing the processing of personal data, impose strict obligations and restrictions on the ability to collect, analyze and transfer personal data, including health data from clinical trials and adverse event reporting. In particular, these obligations and restrictions concern the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals for the consent to be considered valid, the transfer of personal data out of the European Economic Area, security breach notifications, the use of third-party processors in connection with the processing of the personal data, confidentiality of the personal data, as well as substantial potential fines for breaches of the data protection obligations. Data protection authorities from the different EU member states may interpret the GDPR and national laws differently and impose additional requirements, which add to the complexity of processing personal data in the EU. The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data to countries outside the EU, 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 our cost of doing business or require us to change our business practices, and despite those efforts, there is a risk that we may be subject to fines and penalties, litigation, and reputational harm in connection with any activities falling within the scope of the GDPR.

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We face potential product liability, and, if successful claims are brought against us, we may incur substantial liability and costs. If the use of our product candidates harms patients, or is perceived to harm patients even when such harm is unrelated to our product candidates, our regulatory approvals could be revoked or otherwise negatively impacted and we could be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims.

The use of our product candidates in clinical studies and the sale of any products for which we obtain marketing approval exposes us to the risk of product liability claims. Product liability claims might be brought against us by patients participating in clinical trials, consumers, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our products. There is a risk that our product candidates may induce adverse events. If we cannot successfully defend against product liability claims, we could incur substantial liability and costs. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in:

We carry product liability insurance and we believe our product liability insurance coverage is sufficient in light of our current clinical programs; however, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability. If and when we obtain marketing approval for product candidates, we intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products; however, we may be unable to obtain product liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or in adequate amounts. On occasion, large judgments have been awarded in class action lawsuits based on drugs or medical treatments that had unanticipated adverse effects. A successful product liability claim or series of claims brought against us could cause our stock price to decline and, if judgments exceed our insurance coverage, could adversely affect our results of operations and business.

Patients with the diseases targeted by our product candidates are often already in severe and advanced stages of disease and have both known and unknown significant pre-existing and potentially life-threatening health risks. During the course of treatment, patients may suffer adverse events, including death, for reasons that may be related to our product candidates. Such events could subject us to costly litigation, require us to pay substantial amounts of money to injured patients, delay, negatively impact or end our opportunity to receive or maintain regulatory approval to market our products, or require us to suspend or abandon our commercialization efforts. Even in a circumstance in which we do not believe that an adverse event is related to our products, the investigation into the circumstance may be time-consuming or inconclusive. These investigations may interrupt our sales efforts, delay our regulatory approval process in other countries, or impact and limit the type of regulatory approvals our product candidates receive or maintain. As a result of these factors, a product liability claim, even if successfully defended, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional product candidates.

The success of our business depends primarily upon our ability to identify, develop and commercialize products based on our gene therapy and gene editing platforms.  Our research programs, including our oncology research programs, may fail to identify other potential product candidates for clinical development for a number of reasons. We may be unsuccessful in identifying potential product candidates or our potential product candidates may be shown to have harmful side effects or may have other characteristics that may make the products unmarketable or unlikely to receive marketing approval.

If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential programs or product candidates that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful.

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We may use our financial and human resources to pursue a particular research program or product candidate and fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited resources, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with certain programs or product candidates or for indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs for product candidates may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate, or 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 partnering arrangement.

Comprehensive tax reform legislation could adversely affect our business and financial condition.              

On December 22, 2017, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (TCJA) was enacted.  The TCJA significantly reforms the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The TCJA, among other things, includes changes to U.S. federal tax rates, imposes significant additional limitations on the deductibility of interest and net operating loss carryforwards, allows for the expensing of capital expenditures, and puts into effect the migration from a “worldwide” system of taxation to a territorial system. Our net deferred tax assets and liabilities have been revalued at the newly enacted U.S. corporate tax rate, and the impact of the reduction to our deferred tax assets and associated valuation allowance was recognized in 2017.  We continue to examine the impact this tax reform legislation may have on our business. The impact of this tax reform is uncertain and could be adverse.

The increasing use of social media platforms presents new risks and challenges.              

Social media is increasingly being used to communicate about our clinical development programs and the diseases our product candidates are being developed to treat. We intend to utilize appropriate social media in connection with our commercialization efforts following approval of our product candidates. Social media practices in the biopharmaceutical industry continue to evolve and regulations relating to such use are not always clear. This evolution creates uncertainty and risk of noncompliance with regulations applicable to our business. For example, patients may use social media channels to report an alleged adverse event. When such disclosures occur, there is a risk that we fail to monitor and comply with applicable adverse event reporting obligations, or we may not be able to defend our business or the public’s legitimate interests in the face of the political and market pressures generated by social media due to restrictions on what we may say about our investigational products. There is also a risk of inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information or negative or inaccurate posts or comments about us on any social networking website, or a risk that a post on a social networking website by any of our employees may be construed as inappropriate promotion. If any of these events were to occur or we otherwise fail to comply with applicable regulations, we could incur liability, face regulatory actions, or incur other harm to our business.

Our computer systems, or those of our third-party collaborators, service providers, contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches, which could result in a material disruption of our product candidates’ development programs and have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our computer systems and those of our current or future third-party collaborators, service providers, contractors and consultants may fail and are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. The size and complexity of our information technology systems, and those of our collaborators, service providers, contractors and consultants, and the large amounts of information stored on those systems make those systems vulnerable to service interruptions, security breaches, or other failures, resulting from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees or those of third-party business partners, or from cyber-attacks by malicious third parties. Attacks on information technology systems are increasing in their frequency, levels of persistence, sophistication and intensity, and they are being conducted by increasingly sophisticated and organized groups and individuals with a wide range of motives and expertise. In addition to extracting sensitive information, such attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. The prevalent use of mobile devices also increases the risk of data security incidents. If we experience a material system failure, accident or security breach that causes interruptions in our operations or the operations of third-party collaborators, service providers, contractors and consultants, it could result in significant reputational, financial, legal, regulatory, business or operational harm. For example, the loss of clinical trial data for our product candidates could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss of or damage to our data or applications or other data or applications relating to our technology or product candidates, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liabilities and the further development of our product candidates could be delayed. We also rely on third-party service providers for aspects of our internal control over financial reporting and such service providers may experience a material system failure or fail to carry out their obligations in other respects, which may impact our ability to produce accurate and timely financial statements, thus harming our operating results, our ability to operate our business, and our investors’ view of us. In addition, our liability insurance may not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to material failures, security breaches, cyberattacks and other related breaches.

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Any failure or perceived failure by us or any third-party collaborators, service providers, contractors or consultants to comply with our privacy, confidentiality, data security or similar obligations to third parties, or any data security incidents or other security breaches that result in the unauthorized access, release or transfer of sensitive information, including personally identifiable information, may result in governmental investigations, enforcement actions, regulatory fines, litigation or public statements against us, could cause third parties  to lose trust in us or could result in claims by third parties asserting that we have breached our privacy, confidentiality, data security or similar obligations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations. Moreover, data security incidents and other security breaches can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying them may lead to increased harm. While we have implemented data security measures intended to protect our information technology systems and infrastructure, there can be no assurance that such measures will successfully prevent service interruptions or data security incidents.

Risks related to our intellectual property

If we are unable to obtain or protect intellectual property rights related to our product candidates, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.

We rely upon a combination of patents, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our product candidates. The strength of patents in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical field involves complex legal and scientific questions and can be uncertain. The patent applications that we own or in-license may fail to result in issued patents with claims that cover our product candidates in the United States or in other foreign countries. There is no assurance that all of the potentially relevant prior art relating to our patents and patent applications has been found, which can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent from issuing from a pending patent application. Even if patents do successfully issue and even if such patents cover our product candidates, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed or invalidated. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patents and patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual property, provide exclusivity for our product candidates or prevent others from designing around our claims. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.

If the patent applications we hold or have in-licensed with respect to our programs or product candidates fail to issue, if their breadth or strength of protection is threatened, or if they fail to provide meaningful exclusivity for our product candidates, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to develop product candidates, and threaten our ability to commercialize, future products. Several patent applications covering our product candidates have been filed recently. We cannot offer any assurances about which, if any, patents will issue, the breadth of any such patent or whether any issued patents will be found invalid and unenforceable or will be threatened by third parties. Any successful opposition to these patents or any other patents owned by or licensed to us could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any product candidates that we may develop. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market a product candidate under patent protection could be reduced. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing, and some remain so until issued, we cannot be certain that we were the first to file any patent application related to a product candidate. Furthermore, if third parties have filed such patent applications, an interference proceeding in the United States can be initiated by a third party to determine who was the first to invent any of the subject matter covered by the patent claims of our applications. In addition, patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after it is filed. Various extensions may be available however the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our product candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired for a product, we may be open to competition from generic medications.

In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our product candidate discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. However, trade secrets can be difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, scientific advisors and contractors. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. While we have confidence in these individuals, organizations and systems, agreements or security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors.

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Although we expect all of our employees and consultants to assign their inventions to us, and all of our employees, consultants, advisors and any third parties who have access to our proprietary know-how, information or technology to enter into confidentiality agreements, we cannot provide any assurances that all such agreements have been duly executed or that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure of our trade secrets could impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if the steps taken to maintain our trade secrets are deemed inadequate, we may have insufficient recourse against third parties for misappropriating the trade secret. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets and proprietary information. For example, the FDA, as part of its Transparency Initiative, is currently considering whether to make additional information publicly available on a routine basis, including information that we may consider to be trade secrets or other proprietary information, and it is not clear at the present time how the FDA’s disclosure policies may change in the future, if at all.

Further, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent or in the same manner as the laws of the United States. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property both in the United States and abroad. If we are unable to prevent material disclosure of the non-patented intellectual property related to our technologies to third parties, and there is no guarantee that we will have any such enforceable trade secret protection, we may not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts.

Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation, both within and outside the United States, involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions, ex parte reexaminations, post-grant review, and inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or U.S. PTO, and corresponding foreign patent offices. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are pursuing development candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our product candidates may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties.

Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for treatment related to the use or manufacture of our product candidates. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications which may later result in issued patents that our product candidates may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon these patents. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover the manufacturing process of any of our product candidates, any molecules formed during the manufacturing process or any final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize such product candidate unless we obtained a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire. Similarly, if any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our formulations, processes for manufacture or methods of use, including combination therapy, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtained a license or until such patent expires. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.

We may not be successful in obtaining or maintaining necessary rights to gene therapy product components and processes for our development pipeline through acquisitions and in-licenses.

Presently we have rights to the intellectual property, through licenses from third parties and under patents that we own, to develop our product candidates. Because our programs may involve additional product candidates that may require the use of proprietary rights held by third parties, the growth of our business will likely depend in part on our ability to acquire, in-license or use these proprietary rights. In addition, our product candidates may require specific formulations to work effectively and efficiently and these rights may be held by others. We may be unable to acquire or in-license any compositions, methods of use, processes or other third-party intellectual property rights from third parties that we identify. The licensing and acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and a number of more established companies are also pursuing strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities.

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For example, we sometimes collaborate with U.S. and foreign academic institutions to accelerate our preclinical research or development under written agreements with these institutions. Typically, these institutions provide us with an option to negotiate a license to any of the institution’s rights in technology resulting from the collaboration. Regardless of such right of first negotiation for intellectual property, we may be unable to negotiate a license within the specified time frame or under terms that are acceptable to us. If we are unable to do so, the institution may offer the intellectual property rights to other parties, potentially blocking our ability to pursue our program.

In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment. If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property rights, our business, financial condition and prospects for growth could suffer.

If we fail to comply with our obligations in the agreements under which we license intellectual property rights from third parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.

We are a party to a number of intellectual property license agreements that are important to our business and expect to enter into additional license agreements in the future. Our existing license agreements impose, and we expect that future license agreements will impose, various diligence, milestone payment, royalty and other obligations on us. If we fail to comply with our obligations under these agreements, or we are subject to a bankruptcy, the licensor may have the right to terminate the license, in which event we would not be able to market products covered by the license.

We may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of our product candidates, and we have done so from time to time. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we may be required to expend significant time and resources to develop or license replacement technology. If we are unable to do so, we may be unable to develop or commercialize the affected product candidates, which could harm our business significantly. We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents do not exist which might be enforced against our current product candidates or future products, resulting in either an injunction prohibiting our sales, or, with respect to our sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties and/or other forms of compensation to third parties.

In many cases, patent prosecution of our licensed technology is controlled solely by the licensor. If our licensors fail to obtain and maintain patent or other protection for the proprietary intellectual property we license from them, we could lose our rights to the intellectual property or our exclusivity with respect to those rights, and our competitors could market competing products using the intellectual property. In certain cases, we control the prosecution of patents resulting from licensed technology. In the event we breach any of our obligations related to such prosecution, we may incur significant liability to our licensing partners. Licensing of intellectual property is of critical importance to our business and involves complex legal, business and scientific issues and is complicated by the rapid pace of scientific discovery in our industry. Disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a licensing agreement, including:

If disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product candidates.

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We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or the patents of our licensors, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe our patents or the patents of our licensors. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours or our licensors is not valid, is unenforceable and/or is not infringed, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing.

Interference proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by us may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to our patents or patent applications or those of our licensors. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Our defense of litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. We may not be able to prevent, alone or with our licensors, misappropriation of our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties or that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.

We employ individuals who were previously employed at universities or other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants and independent contractors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any of our employee’s former employer or other third parties. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, which could adversely impact our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our patents and other intellectual property.

We may also be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents or other intellectual property. We have had in the past, and we may also have to in the future, ownership disputes arising, for example, from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our product candidates. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or ownership. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.

Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or applications will be due to be paid to the U.S. PTO and various governmental patent agencies outside of the United States in several stages over the lifetime of the patents and/or applications. We have systems in place to remind us to pay these fees, and we employ an outside firm and rely on our outside counsel to pay these fees due to non-U.S. patent agencies. The U.S. PTO and various non-U.S. governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. We employ reputable law firms and other professionals to help us comply, and in many cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, there are situations in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, our competitors might be able to enter the market and this circumstance would have a material adverse effect on our business.

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Issued patents covering our product candidates could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court.

If we or one of our licensing partners initiated legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product candidate is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including patent eligible subject matter, lack of novelty, obviousness or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the U.S. PTO, or made a misleading statement, during prosecution. Third parties may also raise similar claims before administrative bodies in the United States or abroad, even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include re-examination, post grant review, and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions (e.g., opposition proceedings). Such proceedings could result in revocation or amendment to our patents in such a way that they no longer cover our product candidates. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our product candidates. Such a loss of patent protection would have a material adverse impact on our business.

Changes in U.S. patent law could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

As is the case with other biotechnology companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biotechnology industry involve both technological and legal complexity, and is therefore obtaining and enforcing biotechnology patents is costly, time-consuming and inherently uncertain. In addition, the United States has recently enacted and is currently implementing wide-ranging patent reform legislation. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, and the U.S. PTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

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Risks related to ownership of our common stock

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price at which you purchase them.

Companies trading in the stock market in general, and The NASDAQ Global Select Market in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Broad market and biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile. Our stock price could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, including the following:

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Actual or potential sales of our common stock by our employees, including our executive officers, pursuant to pre-arranged stock trading plans could cause our stock price to fall or prevent it from increasing for numerous reasons, and actual or potential sales by such persons could be viewed negatively by other investors.

In accordance with the guidelines specified under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and our policies regarding stock transactions, a number of our employees, including executive officers and members of our board of directors, have adopted and may continue to adopt stock trading plans pursuant to which they have arranged to sell shares of our common stock from time to time in the future. Generally, sales under such plans by our executive officers and directors require public filings. Actual or potential sales of our common stock by such persons could cause the price of our common stock to fall or prevent it from increasing for numerous reasons.

Future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase common stock, including pursuant to our equity incentive plans, could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our stock price to fall.

Additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations. To the extent we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. If we sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in more than one transaction, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales. These sales may also result in material dilution to our existing stockholders, and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders.

Pursuant to our 2013 Stock Option and Incentive Plan, or the 2013 Plan, our management is authorized to grant stock options and other equity-based awards to our employees, directors and consultants. The number of shares available for future grant under the 2013 Plan automatically increases each year by up to 4% of all shares of our capital stock outstanding as of December 31 of the prior calendar year, subject to the ability of our board of directors or compensation committee to take action to reduce the size of the increase in any given year. Currently, we plan to register the increased number of shares available for issuance under the 2013 Plan each year. If our board of directors or compensation committee elects to increase the number of shares available for future grant by the maximum amount each year, our stockholders may experience additional dilution, which could cause our stock price to fall. We also have an Employee Stock Purchase Plan and any shares of common stock purchased pursuant to that plan will also cause dilution.

We could be subject to securities class action litigation.

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities. This risk is especially relevant for us because biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50% change (by value) in its equity ownership over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research tax credits) to offset its post-change income may be limited. We have completed several financings since our inception which we believe have resulted in a change in control as defined by IRC Section 382. We may also experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change net operating loss carryforwards to offset U.S. federal taxable income may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us. The TCJA also reduced the corporate income tax rate to 21%, from a prior rate of 35%. This may cause a reduction in the economic benefit of our NOLs and other deferred tax assets available to us. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOLs is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.

We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock so any returns will be limited to the value of our stock.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any return to stockholders will therefore be limited to the appreciation of their stock.

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Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or increase the cost of acquiring us, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders or remove our current management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated by-laws and Delaware law contain provisions that may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of us or changes in our management. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws, include provisions that:

These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our management.

In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which limits the ability of stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock to merge or combine with us.

Any provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated by-laws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.

 

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

 

 

Item 2. Properties

Our corporate headquarters are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Our current leased facility encompasses approximately 253,108 square feet of office and laboratory space, located at 60 Binney Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The lease commenced on October 1, 2016 and will continue until March 31, 2027. We have the option to extend the 60 Binney Street lease for two successive five-year terms. We also lease approximately 7,800 square feet of office and laboratory space in Seattle, Washington. We entered into a new lease agreement for 36,000 square feet of office and laboratory space in Seattle, Washington in July 2018, with the anticipated move-in date in mid-2019. The new lease will continue for approximately 8 years following the commencement date of the lease in January 2019.  In November 2017, we purchased a 125,000 square foot manufacturing facility located in Durham, North Carolina to provide manufacturing capacity for lentiviral vector in support of our current and planned gene and cell therapies.  We also lease office space in Zug, Switzerland, the location of our European headquarters, and entered into a new lease agreement in September 2018 for 1,136 square meters of office space. The new Zug lease will continue for 60 months with the option to renew for 2 successive 60 month terms. We believe that our existing facilities are adequate for our current needs.

 

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, we are from time to time involved in lawsuits, claims, investigations, proceedings, and threats of litigation relating to intellectual property, commercial arrangements, employment and other matters. While the outcome of these proceedings and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, as of December 31, 2018, we were not party to any legal or arbitration proceedings that may have, or have had in the recent past, significant effects on our financial position or profitability. We believe no governmental proceedings are pending or, to our knowledge, contemplated against us. We are not a party to any material proceedings in which any director, member of senior management or affiliate of ours is either a party adverse to us or our subsidiaries or has a material interest adverse to us or our subsidiaries.

 

 

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

 

 

 

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PART II

 

 

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock has been traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BLUE.”  On February 15, 2019, the last reported sale price for our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market was $137.03 per share.

Stock Performance Graph

The graph set forth below compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock between June 19, 2013 (the date of our initial public offering) and December 31, 2018, with the cumulative total return of (a) the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and (b) the Nasdaq Composite Index, over the same period. This graph assumes the investment of $100 on June 19, 2013 in our common stock, the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index and assumes the reinvestment of dividends, if any. The graph assumes our closing sales price on June 19, 2013 of $26.91 per share as the initial value of our common stock and not the initial offering price to the public of $17.00 per share.

The comparisons shown in the graph below are based upon historical data. We caution that the stock price performance shown in the graph below is not necessarily indicative of, nor is it intended to forecast, the potential future performance of our common stock.

Holders

As of February 15, 2019, there were approximately 8 holders of record of our common stock. The actual number of stockholders is greater than this number of record holders, and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include stockholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.

74

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Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock since inception and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

Information about our equity compensation plans is incorporated herein by reference to Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

 

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, the consolidated financial statements and related notes, and other financial information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We derived the consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 and as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We derived the consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 and as of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 from our audited consolidated financial statements that are not included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.  Historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in future periods.