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Nature of Business
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Nature of Business  
Nature of Business

1.  Nature of Business

 

Overview

 

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) is an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical company focused on creating medicines that make a difference for patients, building value to earn the continued support of its fellow shareholders, and empowering its team to passionately pursue excellence. The Company’s core strategy is to establish a leading gastrointestinal (“GI”) therapeutics company, leveraging its development and commercial capabilities in addressing GI disorders as well as its pharmacologic expertise in guanylate cyclase (“GC”) pathways.

 

The Company has one marketed product, linaclotide, which is available in the United States (“U.S.”) and Mexico under the trademarked name LINZESS® and is available in certain European countries and Canada under the trademarked name CONSTELLA®. Linaclotide is also being developed and commercialized in other parts of the world by certain of the Company’s partners.

 

In August 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approved LINZESS as a once-daily treatment for adult men and women suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (“IBS-C”) or chronic idiopathic constipation (“CIC”). The Company and Actavis plc (“Actavis”) began commercializing LINZESS in the U.S. in December 2012.

 

In November 2012, the European Commission granted marketing authorization to CONSTELLA for the symptomatic treatment of moderate to severe IBS-C in adults. CONSTELLA is the first, and to date, only drug approved in the European Union (“E.U.”) for IBS-C. The Company’s European partner, Almirall, S.A. (“Almirall”), began commercializing CONSTELLA in Europe in the second quarter of 2013. Currently, CONSTELLA is commercially available in certain European countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain. In May 2014, Almirall suspended commercialization of CONSTELLA in Germany following an inability to reach agreement with the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds on a reimbursement price that reflects the innovation and value of CONSTELLA. Almirall is assessing all possibilities to facilitate continued access to CONSTELLA for appropriate patients in Germany.

 

In December 2013 and February 2014, linaclotide was approved in Canada and Mexico, respectively, as a treatment for adult women and men suffering from IBS-C or CIC. Actavis has exclusive rights to commercialize linaclotide in Canada as CONSTELLA and, through a sublicense from Actavis, Almirall has exclusive rights to commercialize linaclotide in Mexico as LINZESS. In May 2014, Actavis began commercializing CONSTELLA in Canada and in June 2014, Almirall began commercializing LINZESS in Mexico.

 

Astellas Pharma Inc. (“Astellas”), the Company’s partner in Japan, is developing linaclotide for the treatment of patients with IBS-C and chronic constipation in its territory. In October 2014, Astellas initiated a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial of linaclotide in adult patients with IBS-C. In October 2012, the Company entered into a collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca AB (“AstraZeneca”) to co-develop and co-commercialize linaclotide in China, Hong Kong and Macau, with AstraZeneca having primary responsibility for the local operational execution. In the third quarter of 2013, the Company and AstraZeneca initiated a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial of linaclotide in adult patients with IBS-C. The Company continues to assess alternatives to bring linaclotide to IBS-C and CIC sufferers in the parts of the world outside of its partnered territories.

 

The Company and Actavis are also exploring development opportunities to enhance the clinical profile of LINZESS by seeking to expand its utility in its indicated populations, as well as studying linaclotide in additional indications and populations and in new formulations to assess its potential to treat various GI conditions. In November 2014, as part of this strategy, the Company and Actavis initiated a Phase III clinical trial in the U.S. evaluating a 72 mcg dose of linaclotide in adult patients with CIC to provide a broader range of treatment options to physicians and adult CIC patients. In addition to linaclotide-based opportunities, the Company is advancing multiple GI development programs as well as further leveraging the pharmacological expertise in GC pathways that it established through the development of linaclotide, a guanylate cyclase type-C agonist, to advance a second GC program targeting soluble guanylate cyclase (“sGC”). sGC is a validated mechanism with the potential for broad therapeutic utility and multiple opportunities for product development in cardiovascular disease and other indications.

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements and the related disclosures are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the Company’s annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted. Accordingly, these interim condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 18, 2015 (the “2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K”).

 

The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all normal recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2015, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other subsequent interim period.

 

Principles of Consolidation

 

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Securities Corporation and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals GmbH. All intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated in consolidation.

 

Use of Estimates

 

The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and judgments that may affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, the Company’s management evaluates its estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, available-for-sale securities, inventory valuation and related reserves, impairment of long-lived assets, balance sheet classification of notes payable, income taxes including the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, research and development expense, contingencies and share-based compensation. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Changes in estimates are reflected in reported results in the period in which they become known.

 

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

 

The Company’s significant accounting policies are described in Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” in the Company’s 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

New Accounting Pronouncements

 

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASU 2014-09”), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Accounting Standards Codification Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, and most industry-specific guidance. The new standard requires that an entity recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The update also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, including significant judgments and changes in judgments and assets recognized from costs incurred to obtain or fulfill a contract. ASU 2014-09 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2016 and should be applied retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented or retrospectively with the cumulative effect of initially applying this update recognized at the date of initial application. In April 2015, the FASB proposed a one year deferral of the effective date of this standard to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, along with an option to permit companies to early adopt the standard for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact that ASU 2014-09 may have on its financial position and results of operations.

 

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. This standard amends existing guidance to require the presentation of debt issuance costs in the balance sheet as a deduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability rather than as a deferred charge. It is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, but early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that this standard will have on its consolidated financial statements.

 

For a discussion of additional recent accounting pronouncements please refer to Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” in the Company’s 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

The Company did not adopt any new accounting pronouncements during the three months ended March 31, 2015 that had a material effect on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.