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srp

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington D. C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024

or

 

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from ___ to ___.

 

Commission file number 001-37823

 

Kintara Therapeutics, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Nevada

99-0360497

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

 

 

9920 Pacific Heights Blvd, Suite 150

San Diego, CA 92121

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

 

(858) 350-4364

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock

KTRA

The Nasdaq Capital Market

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes 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 whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer

 

 

Accelerated filer

Non-accelerated filer

 

 

Smaller reporting company

 

 

 

 

Emerging growth company

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Act) Yes No

As of December 31, 2023, the aggregate market value of the issued and outstanding common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing price of our common stock of $0.1696 was approximately $1,723,383. For purposes of the above


 

statement only, all directors, named executive officers and 10% shareholders are assumed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for any other purpose.

Number of shares of common stock outstanding as of October 7, 2024 was 55,660,578.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: None.


Auditor Name:
Marcum LLP Auditor Location: San Francisco, CA Auditor Firm ID: 688


 

FORM 10-K

 

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Page

PART I

 

Item 1

Business

2

Item 1A

Risk Factors

17

Item 1B

Unresolved Staff Comments

44

Item 1C

Cybersecurity

44

Item 2

Properties

45

Item 3

Legal Proceedings

45

Item 4

Mine Safety Disclosures

45

PART II

 

Item 5

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

46

Item 6

[Reserved]

46

Item 7

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

47

Item 7A

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

53

Item 8

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

54

Item 9

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

80

Item 9A

Controls and Procedures

80

Item 9B

Other Information

80

Item 9C

Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions Preventing Inspections

81

PART III

 

Item 10

Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance

82

Item 11

Executive Compensation

84

Item 12

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

87

Item 13

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

88

Item 14

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

90

PART IV

 

Item 15

Exhibits

91

Item 16

Form 10-K Summary

95

Signatures

96

 

i


 

PART I

Item 1. Business.

Background

 

Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. (“Kintara” or the “Company”) is a clinical stage, biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new cancer therapies.

 

We are the parent company of Del Mar Pharmaceuticals (B.C.) Ltd. (“Del Mar (BC)”), a British Columbia, Canada corporation, and Adgero Biopharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc., a Delaware Corporation (“Adgero”). We are also the parent company of Kayak Mergeco, Inc., our wholly owned subsidiary incorporated in the State of Delaware (“Kayak Mergeco”) formed to facilitate the proposed merger with TuHURA Biosciences, Inc. (“TuHURA”) as described below. In addition, we are also the parent company to 0959454 B.C. Ltd. (“Callco”) and 0959456 B.C. Ltd. (“Exchangeco”), which are British Columbia, Canada corporations. Callco and Exchangeco were formed to facilitate the reverse acquisition that occurred in 2013.

 

References to “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Kintara and our wholly-owned subsidiaries, Del Mar (BC), Adgero, Adgero Bio, Callco, Exchangeco, and Kayak Mergeco.

 

We are dedicated to the development of novel cancer therapies for patients with unmet medical needs. Our mission is to benefit patients by developing and commercializing anti-cancer therapies for patients whose solid tumors exhibit features that make them resistant to, or unlikely to respond to, currently available therapies, with particular focus on orphan cancer indications.

Our lead candidate is REM-001, a late-stage photodynamic therapy (“PDT”) for the treatment of cutaneous metastatic breast cancer (“CMBC”). PDT is a treatment that uses light sensitive compounds, or photosensitizers, that, when exposed to specific wavelengths of light, act as a catalyst to produce a form of reactive oxygen that induces local tumor cell death.

 

Corporate Events

On October 31, 2023, we announced preliminary topline results for VAL-083, a DNA-targeting agent intended to treat drug-resistant solid tumors such as glioblastoma (“GBM”) and potentially other smaller tumors, from the Glioblastoma Adaptive Global Innovative Learning Environment (“GBM AGILE”) study. VAL-083 did not perform better than the current standards of care in glioblastoma and the preliminary safety data was similar to that of the current standards of care used to treat glioblastoma. As a result, we terminated the development of VAL-083 and have turned our focus to our REM-001 program.
On December 13, 2023, the Nasdaq staff notified us that we did not comply with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement (the “Bid Price Notice”). Pursuant to the Bid Price Notice, we have 180 calendar days from the date of the Bid Price Notice, or June 10, 2024, to regain compliance for a minimum of ten consecutive business days. On June 12, 2024, the Nasdaq staff notified us that we are eligible for and has been granted an extension of 180 calendar days, or until December 9, 2024, to regain compliance for a minimum of ten consecutive business days. On October 4, 2024, at our Special Meeting of Stockholders (the “Special Meeting”), our stockholders approved a reverse stock split of our common stock, to be effected in the board of directors’ discretion of not less than 1-for-20 and not more than 1-for-40. We intend to effect a reverse stock split at a ratio within the range approved by our stockholders immediately prior to the consummation of the proposed Merger (as defined below).
In December 2023, we announced that our Board of Directors initiated a process to explore and review a range of strategic alternatives focused on maximizing stockholder value.
On February 12, 2024, we announced the initiation of an open label 15-patient study in CMBC patients which is evaluating REM-001 (the “REM-001 Study”), a second-generation PDT photosensitizer agent, and is designed to test the 0.8 mg dose as well as optimize the study design in advance of a Phase 3 trial initiation. The primary endpoint in the study is Best Overall Objective Response Rate (“bORR”) (complete response or partial response) of the target treatment fields at any time from treatment up to, and including, week 24. The majority of the costs to run this study will be covered by the $2 million Small Business Innovation Research grant Kintara was awarded from the NIH.
On February 27, 2024, we announced that we received a letter from Nasdaq stating that we had regained compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum stockholders’ equity requirement. Our common stock continues to trade on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “KTRA,” subject to our compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements.
On April 3, 2024, we announced that we had entered into a definitive merger agreement (the “Merger Agreement”) with Kayak Mergeco and TuHURA, pursuant to which Kayak Mergeco will merge with and into TuHURA, with TuHURA surviving the merger and becoming our direct, wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Merger”). Pursuant to the terms of the

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Merger, shareholders of TuHURA will receive shares of our common stock. Our existing stockholders will receive contingent value rights (“CVR”), entitling them to receive shares of our common stock upon achievement of enrollment of a minimum of 10 patients in the REM-001 Study, with such patients each completing 8 weeks of follow-up on or before December 31, 2025. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, on a pro forma basis, our stockholders post-merger are expected to collectively own approximately 2.85%, or approximately 5.45% including the shares underlying the CVR, of the common stock of the post-merger combined company on a fully-diluted basis.
On July 1, 2024, we announced advancements in enrollment, dosing and clinical site expansion in Kintara's open label 15-patient REM-001 study in CMBC. As of October 7, 2024, four patients had been dosed in the open label 15-patient REM-001 study in CMBC. In addition to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, will soon begin screening patients.
On October 4, 2024, at the Special Meeting, our stockholders approved the requisite proposals to effect the completion of the proposed Merger with TuHURA. The proposed Merger is expected to be consummated in mid-October 2024, subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions under the Merger Agreement.

 

Upcoming Clinical Milestones (subject to available financing)

 

Effective July 1, 2023, we were awarded a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) to be received over a two-year period as expenses are incurred. The grant from the NIH will fund the majority of expenses related to the REM-001 Study. As a result of receiving the NIH grant, we re-initiated our REM-001 program and have opened enrollment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where we have initiated treatment in a total of 4 patients as of October 7, 2024. We expect to complete enrollment of patients in the REM-001 Study in the fourth calendar quarter of 2024.

 

REM-001

 

Background

 

Through REM-001, we are developing our photodynamic therapy (“PDT”) for the treatment of rare, unmet medical needs. PDT is a treatment that uses light sensitive compounds, or photosensitizers, that, when exposed to specific wavelengths of light, act as catalysts to produce a form of oxygen that induces local tumor cell death. REM-001 consists of three parts: the laser light source, the light delivery device, and the REM-001 drug product (collectively, the “REM-001 Therapy”). REM-001 consists of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) in a lipid formulation. The REM-001 API is SnET2 (“tin ethyl etiopurpurin”) which is a second-generation PDT photosensitizer agent. We believe REM-001 possesses multiple advantages over earlier generation PDT compounds.

Our lead indication for REM-001 is CMBC which is a disease that may strike individuals with advanced breast cancer and for which effective treatment options are limited. In four Phase 2 and/or Phase 3 clinical studies in CMBC patients, primarily targeting patients who had previously received chemotherapy and failed radiation therapy, REM-001 Therapy was able to reduce, or eliminate, a substantial number of the treated CMBC tumors. Specifically, our analysis of the data collected from these studies indicates that in approximately 80% of evaluable tumor sites treated with REM-001 Therapy, there was a complete response; meaning that follow-up clinical assessments indicated no visible evidence of the tumor remaining. We believe clinical data indicates that REM-001 Therapy holds promise as a treatment to locally eliminate, or slow the growth of, treated cutaneous cancerous tumors in this difficult-to-treat patient population.

Numerous approaches have been utilized to treat CMBC patients, including various forms of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgical excision, hyperthermia, cryotherapy, electro-chemotherapy, topical drugs, and intra-lesional chemotherapy injections. However, for the most part, we believe that these therapies are often inadequate given the limited efficacy, toxicities and/or side effects of each. We believe our REM-001 Therapy has several advantages for this indication: it can be highly directed to the tumor site, has minimal systemic effects or normal tissue toxicities, can be used in conjunction with other therapies, and can be periodically repeated.

Our REM-001 Therapy product consists of three parts: the DD series laser light source (or equivalent), the ML2-0400 light delivery device (or equivalent) and the drug REM-001. In use, REM-001 is first administered by intravenous infusion and allowed to distribute within the body and be taken up by the tumors. Tumors are then illuminated with light using the light delivery device, which is attached to the laser light source, so that the accumulated REM-001 can be activated for the desired clinical effect.

As a result of our review of the historical data, we submitted questions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) under a Type C format to review the technology and results and determine the anticipated requirements for regulatory approval. On March 3, 2017, we received the FDA’s written response to these questions. Based on that response, we have successfully

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manufactured REM-001 and developed light delivery devices for our planned 15-patient Phase 2 study. We received a Study May Proceed letter from the FDA for our 15-patient study on August 9, 2022.

On October 19, 2022, we announced that the REM-001 program in CMBC was paused to conserve cash which was then used to support the funding of the GBM AGILE Study. Effective July 1, 2023, we were awarded a two-year $2 million Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health to support the clinical development of REM-001 for the treatment of CMBC. The grant will be received in tranches of approximately $1.25 million for the period July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024 ($0.8 million received), and approximately $0.75 million for the period July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. As a result of receiving the grant, we re-initiated our REM-001 program and have opened enrollment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where we have initiated treatment in a total of 4 patients as of October 7, 2024. We expect to complete enrollment of patients in the REM-001 Study in the fourth calendar quarter of 2024.

 

REM-001 Regulatory Filings

On August 9, 2022, we announced that we received a Study May Proceed letter from the FDA to begin our 15-patient study evaluating REM-001 PDT for the treatment of CMBC. The FDA has granted us Fast Track Designation (“FTD”) for REM-001 in CMBC.

Clinical Development Plans

CMBC

Our plan is to conduct an initial open-label, 15-patient study in CMBC to confirm planned dose and optimized study design followed by a Phase 3 clinical study in CMBC. At this time, we estimate the necessary pivotal study design will be a Phase 3 multi-center study that would enroll CMBC patients who have received prior radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Our plan is to use new lasers that are functionally equivalent to the lasers used in previous studies. Our laser is a portable solid-state diode laser system that is intended for use in PDT as the source of photoactivation of Rostaporfin for the treatment of subjects with cutaneous cancer lesions. Our laser system consists of the Kintara 665 laser with a fiber-coupled illuminator. In the case of cutaneous treatment, such as with CMBC, the light delivery device consists of an optical fiber which has a modified end to allow it to deliver a uniform light treatment field to the tumor. We have had clinical light delivery devices built by a contract medical device manufacturer using the previous basic design and tested to the same performance specifications as used previously.

The REM-001 Drug

REM-001 is a light activated photosensitizer drug used in PDT. During light activation, photosensitizer drugs act as a catalyst and absorb light energy which they transfer to surrounding oxygen-containing molecules to create reactive oxygen species (“ROS”). ROS can initiate various biological mechanisms of action:

Apoptosis—Certain photosensitizer drugs associate with the cells’ mitochondria. When light activated, these drugs generate ROS that alter mitochondria membrane permeability to allow the release of activators that initiate a programmed cell death process known as apoptosis. Apoptosis is a desirable means of inducing tumor cell death as it is the body’s natural mode for eliminating damaged cells.
Necrosis—At higher doses these photosensitizer-generated ROS can overwhelm a cell and induce cellular necrosis.
Anti-angiogenesis—As they grow, tumors develop their own micro-vasculature network. ROS can be used to create permeability in these micro-vessels which reduces their effectiveness and cuts off the tumor’s blood supply.

REM-001 is a second-generation photosensitizer drug designed with the following attributes to overcome several of the shortcomings of earlier, first generation photosensitizer drugs:

It is activated with longer wavelength, deeper penetrating light;
It has a stronger light absorption coefficient;
It is a synthetic single molecule; and
It causes transient photosensitivity of shorter duration.

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REM-001 Safety and Toxicology

PDT carries what we believe is an inherent safety advantage since it uses photosensitizer compounds that are largely inactive except when they are being illuminated by intense light at specific wavelengths. Nevertheless, drug molecules, including photosensitizer molecules, can carry safety or toxicology risks on their own. REM-001 has previously undergone preclinical and clinical studies throughout its development cycle and has undergone certain tests typically required for FDA drug approval. REM-001 has been safely administered to over 1,100 patients in prior clinical studies. Most significantly, REM-001 has been previously reviewed by the FDA as part of the NDA submitted by Miravant Medical Technologies Inc. (“Miravant”) for the use of REM-001 to treat an aspect of AMD, a non-CMBC indication. Following that review, the FDA granted an approvable letter for REM-001 in an aspect of AMD in 2004, with final approval contingent on, among other things, the successful completion of a Phase 3 study. While not definitive, we believe this letter, along with feedback we received from FDA meetings, indicates that it is unlikely that there will be significant safety or toxicology issues associated with REM-001 that would ultimately prevent marketing approval.

Based on our review of previous clinical data of CMBC studies, pain was the most common treatment-related adverse event experienced by patients in these studies. The second most common safety issue experienced with REM-001 was a transient photosensitivity, meaning extended exposure in bright light and direct sunlight should be avoided. Transient photosensitivity occurs with all photosensitizers to some degree. We believe this issue can be addressed by minimizing one’s exposure to bright light and sunlight for two to four weeks after treatment. In general, the potentially treatment-related adverse events observed in these CMBC studies were expected in nature (pain, edema, skin photosensitivity) and severity, and mostly resolved during the course of the studies.

REM-001 Therapy Target Markets

Our development plan for REM-001 Therapy is focused on the treatment of rare unmet needs in cancer, particularly those where the tumor can be accessed with a light delivery fiber device.

CMBC

While most internal cancers can metastasize to the skin, the internal cancer where this most commonly occurs is breast cancer. Radiotherapy is often used as an adjunctive therapy in breast cancer, in part to help prevent the development of local recurrences including CMBC. However, breast cancer survivors may still develop CMBC lesions, even over a decade after their original cancer treatment. In fact, physicians often watch for cutaneous (skin surface) metastases as a sign of breast cancer recurrence. A 2003 meta-analysis of approximately 20,000 cancer patients found that 24% of metastatic breast cancer patients included in the analysis had developed cutaneous metastases, which was the highest rate of skin metastases of any cancer type. Given that approximately 168,000 women in the U.S. suffer from metastatic breast cancer, we believe the prevalence of CMBC may approach 40,000 in the United States. In many cases of CMBC, surgical excision is not possible, so various standard cancer therapies, particularly radiotherapy or chemotherapy, are the first course of treatment. We believe these therapies are inadequate given the well-known dose limiting toxicities, limited efficacy, and/or side effects of each. We are not aware of any prospective clinical studies that have led to FDA approval of a therapy specifically for the treatment of CMBC and we do not expect any to be approved in the near future.

According to a market assessment from Charles River Associates (2018), there is an estimated market opportunity of approximately $500 million for the treatment of CMBC.

Cutaneous Metastatic Cancers

A meta-analysis has shown that approximately five percent of people with internal (non-melanoma, non-lymphatic, non-leukemic) cancers develop cutaneous metastatic tumors in their skin. Based on an estimated incidence of 1,500,000 such internal cancers in the United States, this means that the incidence of such cutaneous metastases is approximately 75,000 with a substantially higher prevalence given the fact that individuals often live with metastatic cancer for years. Regardless of the primary source of the cancer, these cutaneous metastatic tumors often begin as small skin nodules but, as the cancer spreads, more nodules form and can eventually cover large areas of skin. With progression, the tumor field generally becomes more painful as tumors may grow larger and more numerous, ulcerate, bleed and carry a strong odor. Part of our goal is to treat these cutaneous tumors as early as possible to either cause them to be locally eliminated or to slow their growth sufficiently to reduce their late-stage development.

Basal Cell Carcinoma Nevus Syndrome

In addition to the clinical studies that Miravant conducted with REM-001 Therapy in CMBC, it also generated clinical data for patients with BCCNS who developed extensive basal cell carcinoma. BCCNS is a rare but serious condition that is often characterized by the formation of multiple and recurring cutaneous basal cell carcinoma lesions. According to Cancer.net, as of April 2020, approximately 1 in 40,000 individuals in the U.S. have an underlying genetic condition that causes BCCNS and approximately 90% of these have BCCNS and it has been recognized as an orphan indication by FDA. In a previous Phase 1/2 clinical study (CA001B), 14 patients with BCCNS were enrolled and treated with REM-001 Therapy using the same dosing conditions as were used in the CMBC

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studies. A total of 157 lesions were treated in these patients and showed a 91% overall response rate. This was composed of a 68% complete response rate (no remaining visible evidence of a lesion) and a 23% partial response rate (lesion was reduced in size by more than 50%). In addition, 7% of lesions had stable disease (any increase in lesion size was less than 25%). The various response rates are shown in the graph below and are similar to the results seen in CMBC patients as we would expect. Based on these results we requested, and were granted, an orphan drug designation for SnET2.

Until the FDA approval of the drugs Odomzo (2015) and Erivedge (2012) treatment options for these BCCNS patients were very limited. However, we believe that, based on their package inserts, Odomzo and Erivedge have dose limiting toxicity profiles which are broader in scope than the primarily transient adverse effects observed to-date with REM-001 Therapy. We believe that the potential toxicity limitations related to the existing therapies for BCCNS, plus the positive initial Phase 1/2 data generated in clinical studies with REM-001 Therapy, suggest that REM-001 Therapy could be a viable alternative in treating recurrent basal cell carcinoma in BCCNS patients.

 

img140589240_0.jpg

 

Current and Experimental Treatments for CMBC

 

As with many cancers, the current standard treatment for CMBC is surgical excision. However, this is often not feasible due to the extent of the tumor field or the condition of the skin, particularly in patients who have had radiation therapy. A number of other therapies have been used on patients with CMBC, including various forms of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hyperthermia, cryotherapy, electro-chemotherapy, topical drugs and intra-lesional chemotherapy injections. Researchers have also attempted to combine therapies in an effort to improve efficacy. However, we believe that these therapies are often inadequate given the limited efficacy, toxicities and/or side effects of each. The side effects associated with therapies may be particularly difficult for patients who may have already experienced extensive surgery along with a full course of radiation and/or systemic chemotherapy. Also, the fact that CMBC tumors continue to develop following these therapies is a signal that the tumor cells may have developed a resistance to some of these approaches. Based on our discussions with clinicians and literature reviews, and the March 3, 2017, response from FDA, we believe that treatment of unresectable CMBC tumors is a largely unmet medical need, particularly in patients who have already received extensive radiation and chemotherapy.

Clinical Results in CMBC

While we have not conducted any clinical studies, we have undertaken an analysis of the Phase 1 and four Phase 2 and/or Phase 3 CMBC clinical studies done previously with REM-001 Therapy by Miravant. We have concluded that in these studies REM-001 Therapy provided higher tumor response rates than are generally seen with alternative CMBC treatments. However, this program was discontinued in 1998. Our review of clinical records further indicates that following this decision, Miravant continued to monitor patients in the CMBC studies and collected data as required by protocol, but they conducted no further treatment of CMBC patients with REM-001 Therapy. We believe that Miravant primarily chose to discontinue this program in order to focus its REM-001 development efforts on an aspect of “wet” AMD.

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Phase 2/3 Studies

After completion of the Phase 1 dose finding study, four Phase 2/3 studies were conducted with REM-001 Therapy for the treatment of CMBC as summarized below. These studies all used the same dosimetry as described above and most of the patients had been previously treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The light delivery devices used in these studies were the ML1-0400 or the functionally equivalent ML2-0400. The laser light source used in three of the studies was the Miravant DD2 laser and one study used the KTP model laser manufactured by LaserScope. Each study was conducted under the cancer IND using Good Clinical Practices with safety and efficacy data collected accordingly. In connection with our acquisition of the Miravant assets, ownership of that IND has been transferred to us.

The table below summarizes the CMBC Studies. Studies CA008, CA009 and CA019 required that the patients enrolled had received prior radiation therapy. Study CA013 did not have this specific inclusion requirement but our review of the data indicates that at least 50 of the 56 patients in CA013 had received prior radiation therapy. A second difference across the studies is that studies CA008, CA009 and CA019 had a 24-week follow-up period while study CA013 had a 52-week follow-up period. Also, in studies CA008 and CA009 two tumor lesions on each patient were randomly selected as controls and did not receive light activation. CA013 was conducted in Europe by a corporate partner of Miravant. Beyond these differences and those device differences noted above, we believe there were no other substantive differences between the studies and that all studies enrolled similar patients.

 

Table of Phase 2 and/or 3 CMBC Studies

(Note: SnET2 is now called REM-001)

 

Trial Title

 

Phase

 

 

Location

 

Total
Patients

 

 

Total
Patients
Previously
Treated with
Radiotherapy

 

 

Included
Randomly
Selected
Control
Tumors

CA008: Open-Label Randomized No Treatment
   Concurrent Controlled Study of Single Dose
   Tin Ethyl Etiopurpurin (SnET2) Photodynamic
   Therapy (PDT) in Patients with Advanced Breast
   Cancer Who Have Failed Radiation Therapy for the
   Management of Cutaneous Metastatic Breast
   Carcinoma (24 Week Follow Up)

 

2/3

 

 

U.S.

 

 

32

 

 

 

32

 

 

Yes

CA009: Open-Label Randomized No Treatment
   Concurrent Controlled Study of Single Dose
   Tin Ethyl Etiopurpurin (SnET2) Photodynamic
   Therapy (PDT) in Patients with Advanced Breast
   Cancer Who Have Failed Radiation Therapy for the
   Management of Cutaneous Metastatic Breast
   Carcinoma (24 Week Follow Up)

 

2/3

 

 

U.S.

 

 

36

 

 

 

36

 

 

Yes

CA013: Multinational, Open-Label Study of Single Dose
   Tin Ethyl Etiopurpurin (SnET2) Photodynamic Therapy
   (PDT) in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer for the
   Management of Cutaneous Metastases of Breast
   Carcinoma (52 Week Follow Up)

 

 

2

 

 

Europe

 

 

56

 

 

 

50

 

 

No

CA019: Open-Label Study of Single Dose Tin Ethyl
   Etiopurpurin (SnET2) Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in
   Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer Who Have Failed
   Radiation Therapy for the Management of Cutaneous
   Metastatic Breast Carcinoma (24 Week Follow Up)

 

 

3

 

 

U.S.

 

 

25

 

 

 

25

 

 

No

 

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The primary endpoints for studies CA008 and CA009 were objective tumor response rate, quality-of-life change, device performance and patient safety. Our review of the tumor response rate and quality-of-life endpoints indicated they were defined as follows:

Tumor Response: Measured as paired response difference, as calculated by the percentage of a patient’s evaluable lesions that respond minus the percentage of the patient’s control lesions that respond with this difference averaged over all treated patients.
Quality of Life Change: Measured using the Dermatologic Life Quality Index (DLQI, A.Y. Finlay and O.K. Khan, “Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI—a simple practical measure for routine clinical use”. Clinical and Experimental Dermatology 1994; 19: 210-2 16) with change measured from baseline measurements.

No significant device failures were observed in either study. Secondary endpoints in CA008 and CA009 were patient disease burden, duration of response and patient pain assessment. Previous analysis indicated, for patients for which data was available, there was a treatment benefit in disease burden (p = 0.0017 for CA008, p = 0.0020 for CA009) and duration of response (p < 0.001 for CA008, not significant in CA009) when comparing treated and control lesions. In terms of pain, there was no significant change in pain in CA008 and a treatment related increase in pain at 4 Weeks post-treatment in CA009. Treatment related pain, particularly during the first month after treatment, was the most commonly reported adverse event and was often treated with analgesics.

Studies CA013 and CA019 used similar endpoints with one notable exception. Tumor Response as Measured by Paired Response was not possible in these studies since this measurement relies on control lesions and CA013 and CA019 did not include controls. Miravant did not conduct an efficacy analysis of these two studies but we have conducted an analysis of the Quality of Life and Clinical Success endpoints used in the pivotal CA008 and CA009 studies. Results from that analysis are shown in the following table:

 

 

 

Clinical Success

 

24 Week Quality of Life Change

 

Study

 

Eligible
Patients (N)

 

 

Average
Rate of
Clinical
Success (%)

 

 

95%
Confidence
Interval

 

Eligible
Patients (N)

 

 

Mean ± SD

 

P value

 

CA013

 

 

32

 

 

 

88

%

 

71% - 97%

 

 

16

 

 

1.3 ± 3.6

 

 

1.00

 

CA019

 

 

18

 

 

 

83

%

 

45% - 86%

 

 

11

 

 

2.5 ± 4.7

 

 

1.00

 

 

The most common adverse events seen in these four studies (CA008, CA009, CA013, CA019) were pain and photosensitivity, both of which are expected with this therapy. In the four studies there were a total of 17 SAEs that were judged by investigators to be possibly, probably or definitely related to treatment. None of these were classified by the investigator as life threatening and none resulted in death. Of these 17 SAE’s, eight were related to necrosis of the treated lesions, three were related to treatment field infection, four were treatment related pain, one was a photosensitivity skin reaction and one was an allergic reaction.

We believe that the data from these studies show that REM-001 Treatment is a promising therapy for CMBC. However, because there are no approved therapies for CMBC, we have no basis for comparing these results to existing therapies. Based on the FDA’s March 3, 2017 response, we believe the FDA will view these results as supportive data and our plan is to conduct a new pivotal Phase 3 study to support a new drug application.

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The figure below shows the results of this initial preliminary analysis of the clinical data and depicts the percentage of evaluable lesions in each CMBC Study for which there was a complete response (i.e., where all visible clinical evidence of the tumor is gone after treatment with REM-001 Therapy).

 

img140589240_1.jpg

VAL-083

On October 31, 2023, we announced preliminary topline results for VAL-083 from the GBM AGILE study. VAL-083 did not perform better than the current standards of care in glioblastoma and the preliminary safety data was similar to that of the current standards of care used to treat glioblastoma. As a result, we terminated the development of VAL-083. On February 13, 2024, we sent an Opt-Out Notice to Valent Technologies, LLC (“Valent”) under the Valent Assignment Agreement whereby we assigned all rights, title, and interest in and to the patents for VAL-083 to Valent. As a result, we granted Valent a non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide and non-transferable license, subject to limited exceptions. We are entitled to receive royalties from Valent’s subsequent commercialization of VAL-083 equal to 5% of Valent Net Sales (as defined in the Valent Assignment Agreement).

 

Manufacturing

REM-001

The manufacturing process for the API in REM-001 was developed over a ten-year period and we believe is now well established and suitable for commercial scale production. This process was also included as part of Miravant’s prior NDA for the use of REM-001 to treat an aspect of AMD, which underwent an FDA review where an approvable letter was granted. The final REM-001 drug product is a lipid-based formulation and was previously produced at a commercial scale by a contract manufacturer for use in Miravant’s previous clinical studies and commercialization activities. We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of REM-001, nor the laser light source, or light delivery device for use with REM-001 Therapy. We are dependent on third-party suppliers and manufacturing organizations for both commercial and clinical study supplies of all of our raw materials, the REM-001 drug substance, drug product and the REM-001 Therapy, laser light source, and light delivery device.

We have engaged a contract manufacturer who has manufactured the starting material for our API, and then manufactured two API lots under GMP. Stability testing of the API lots is ongoing. We have also engaged a contract manufacturer who has manufactured a drug product lot under GMP for use in our planned 15-patient clinical study. With the feedback from the FDA that we could utilize the existing supply of laser systems or devices that were functionally equivalent, an in-depth assessment was made to determine which pathway would be appropriate. It has been determined that the existing lasers that were utilized in the previous clinical studies will not be used in the current clinical studies. We engaged a third-party contract medical device manufacturer who has built new lasers and light-delivery devices. We have also engaged an affiliate of this manufacturer to train the clinical staff in the use of the units, provide regulatory support for the devices, and maintain the devices while being used in the study. We believe there are readily available supplies of all raw materials needed for the manufacture of REM-001 and the related required light device components to satisfy future requirements.

St. Cloud Asset Purchase Agreement

Adgero acquired certain Miravant assets, including the REM-001 Therapy and the associated technology and intellectual property, through an Asset Purchase Agreement with St. Cloud Investments, LLC (“St. Cloud”), dated November 26, 2012, as amended (the “St. Cloud Agreement”). In conjunction with the merger with Adgero which closed on August 19, 2020, we assumed the

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St. Cloud Agreement. St. Cloud was previously a Miravant creditor and acquired these Miravant assets pursuant to a foreclosure process St. Cloud completed under California law. Pursuant to the terms of the St. Cloud Agreement, we are obligated to make certain payments under the agreement.

As of June 30, 2024, the amounts still to be paid or owed under that agreement are as follows:

Upon the earlier of (i) a subsequent equity financing to take place after we conduct a Phase 2B clinical study in which fifty patients complete the study and their clinical data can be evaluated or (ii) the commencement of a clinical study intended to be used as a definitive study for market approval in any country, we are obligated to pay an aggregate amount of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) in cash or an equivalent amount of common stock, with two hundred forty thousand dollars ($240,000) to St. Cloud and sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) to Steven Rychnovsky, PhD.
Upon receipt of regulatory approval of REM-001 Therapy, we are obligated to pay an aggregate amount of seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) in cash or an equivalent amount of common stock, with five hundred and sixty thousand dollars ($560,000) to St. Cloud and one hundred forty thousand dollars ($140,000) to Steven Rychnovsky, PhD.

With respect to the $300,000 and $700,000 potential milestone payments referenced above (each a “Milestone Payment”), if either such Milestone Payment becomes payable, and in the event we elect to pay either such Milestone Payment in shares of our common stock, the value of the common stock will equal the price per share of the most recent financing, or, if we are considered to be a publicly-traded company, the average of the closing price per share of our common stock over the twenty (20) trading days following the first public announcement of the applicable event described above.

In addition, we must pay to St. Cloud and Steven Rychnovsky, PhD, in the aggregate, a royalty fee of six percent (6%) of net sales during the royalty term on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis with St. Cloud receiving a royalty rate of four and eight tenths percent (4.8%) and Steven Rychnovsky, PhD, receiving a royalty of one and two tenths percent (1.2%). The royalty term for a product commences on the first commercial sale of the product, such as REM-001 Therapy, in any country, and the royalty fee must be paid within 30 days of each calendar quarter during which revenue is collected. The royalty term terminates on the later of (i) the invalidation, revocation, lapse or expiration of the last to expire valid claim on any patent acquired in the St. Cloud Agreement that would be infringed by the sale of the product in the country where the commercial sale takes place or (ii) the expiration of the period for which we hold exclusive marketing rights of the product in the country, if we were granted those rights under the St. Cloud Agreement.

Patents and Proprietary Rights

Our success will depend in part on our ability to protect our existing product candidates and the products we acquire or license by obtaining and maintaining a strong proprietary position. To develop and maintain our position, we intend to continue relying upon the validity and enforceability of our patents patent protection, orphan drug status, Hatch-Waxman exclusivity, trade secrets, know-how, continuing technological innovations and licensing opportunities.

There is no guarantee that patents will be granted with respect to any patent applications we may submit, own or license in the future, nor can we be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents we may own or license in the future will be useful in protecting our technology.

REM-001

Our product pipeline for REM-001 is based on technology that was originally developed by Miravant. We acquired this technology, which includes scientific and regulatory data and product know-how, through the St. Cloud Agreement. We rely on trade secret protection for our confidential and proprietary information related to REM-001 and have filed patent applications to protect our intellectual property.

Our patent applications for REM-001 can be summarized as follows:

 

Patent or Patent Application No.

Title

Expiry

United States Patent Application Serial No. 17/614,132

Methods for the production of Nickel (II) Etioporphyrin-I.

 

PCT Patent Application Serial No.
PCT/US2021/053362

 

Methods for the production of Nickel (II) Etioporphyrin-I. National phase applications pending in various countries.

2041

 

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Patent or Patent Application No.

Title

Expiry

United States Patent Application Serial No. 17/546,715

Methods for treating cutaneous metastatic cancers.

 

PCT Patent Application Serial No.
PCT/US2021/062603

 

Methods for treating cutaneous metastatic cancers. National phase applications pending in various countries.

2041

We own proprietary regulatory data for REM-001 which includes two INDs for use of REM-001 in oncology and ophthalmology, and one NDA for use of REM-001 to treat age-related macular degeneration ("AMD"). The FDA granted our request that tin ethyl etiopurpurin (the active pharmaceutical ingredient in REM-001) be designated as an orphan drug for treatment of basal cell carcinoma nevus syndrome ("BCCNS"). We also hold an orphan drug designation that was initially awarded to Miravant for tin ethyl etiopurpurin for the prevention of access graft disease in hemodialysis patients.

Government Regulation and Product Approval

Regulation by governmental authorities in the U.S. and other countries is a significant factor, affecting the cost and time of our research and product development activities, and will be a significant factor in the manufacture and marketing of any approved products. Our product candidates will require regulatory approval by governmental agencies prior to commercialization. In particular, our products are subject to rigorous preclinical and clinical testing and other approval requirements by the FDA and similar regulatory authorities in other countries. Various statutes and regulations also govern or influence the manufacturing, safety, reporting, labeling, transport and storage, record keeping and marketing of our products. The lengthy process of seeking these approvals, and the subsequent compliance with applicable statutes and regulations, require the expenditure of substantial resources. Any failure by us to obtain, or any delay in obtaining, the necessary regulatory approvals could harm our business.

The regulatory requirements relating to the testing, manufacturing and marketing of our products may change from time to time and this may impact our ability to conduct clinical studies and the ability of independent investigators to conduct their own research with support from us.

The clinical development, manufacturing and marketing of our products are subject to regulation by various authorities in the U.S., the E.U. and other countries, including, in the U.S., the FDA, in Canada, Health Canada, and, in the E.U., the EMA. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act in the U.S. and numerous directives, regulations, local laws and guidelines in Canada and the E.U. govern the testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, labeling, storage, record keeping, approval, advertising and promotion of our products. Product development and approval within these regulatory frameworks takes a number of years and involves the expenditure of substantial resources.

Regulatory approval will be required in all the major markets in which we seek to develop our products. At a minimum, approval requires the generation and evaluation of data relating to the quality, safety, and efficacy of an investigational product for its proposed use. The specific types of data required and the regulations relating to this data will differ depending on the territory, the drug involved, the proposed indication and the stage of development.

In general, new chemical entities are tested in animals until adequate evidence of safety is established to support the proposed clinical study protocol designs. Clinical studies for new products are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap. In Phase 1, the initial introduction of the pharmaceutical into either healthy human volunteers or patients with the disease (20 to 50 subjects), the emphasis is on testing for safety (adverse effects), dosage tolerance, metabolism, distribution, excretion and clinical pharmacology. Phase 2 involves studies in a limited patient population (50 to 200 patients) to determine the initial efficacy of the pharmaceutical for specific targeted indications, to determine dosage tolerance and optimal dosage and to identify possible adverse side effects and safety risks. Once a compound shows preliminary evidence of some effectiveness and is found to have an acceptable safety profile in Phase 2 evaluations, Phase 3 studies are undertaken to more fully evaluate clinical outcomes in a larger patient population in adequate and well-controlled studies designed to yield statistically sufficient clinical data to demonstrate efficacy and safety.

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In the U.S., specific preclinical data, manufacturing and chemical data, as described above, need to be submitted to the FDA as part of an IND application, which, unless the FDA objects, will become effective 30 days following receipt by the FDA. Phase 1 studies in human volunteers may commence only after the application becomes effective. Prior regulatory approval for human healthy volunteer studies is also required in member states of the E.U. Currently, in each member state of the E.U., following successful completion of Phase 1 studies, data are submitted in summarized format to the applicable regulatory authority in the member state in respect of applications for the conduct of later Phase 2 studies. The regulatory authorities in the E.U. typically have between one and three months in which to raise any objections to the proposed study, and they often have the right to extend this review period at their discretion. In the U.S., following completion of Phase 1 studies, further submissions to regulatory authorities are necessary in relation to Phase 2 and 3 studies to update the existing IND.

Authorities may require additional data before allowing the studies to commence and could demand that the studies be discontinued at any time if there are significant safety issues. In addition to the regulatory review, studies involving human subjects must be approved by an independent body. The exact composition and responsibilities of this body will differ from country to country. In the U.S., for example, each study will be conducted under the auspices of an independent institutional review board (“IRB”) at each institution at which the study is conducted. The IRB considers among other things, the design of the study, ethical factors, the privacy of protected health information as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the safety of the human subjects and the possible liability risk for the institution. Equivalent rules to protect subjects’ rights and welfare apply in each member state of the E.U. where one or more independent ethics committees, which typically operate similarly to an IRB, will review the ethics of conducting the proposed research. Other regulatory authorities around the rest of the world have slightly differing requirements involving both the execution of clinical studies and the import/export of pharmaceutical products. It is our responsibility to ensure we conduct our business in accordance with the regulations of each relevant territory.

In order to gain marketing approval, we must submit a dossier to the relevant authority for review, which is known in the U.S. as an NDA and in the E.U. as a marketing authorization application (“MAA”). The format is usually specific and laid out by each authority, although in general it will include information on the quality of the chemistry, manufacturing and pharmaceutical aspects of the product as well as the nonclinical and clinical data. Once the submitted NDA is accepted for filing by the FDA, it undertakes the review process that currently takes on average 10 months, unless an expedited priority review is granted which takes six months to complete. Approval can take several months to several years, if multiple 10-month review cycles are needed before final approval is obtained, if at all.

The approval process can be affected by a number of factors. The NDA may require additional preclinical, manufacturing data or clinical studies which may be requested at the end of the 10-month NDA review cycle, thereby delaying approval until additional data are submitted and may involve substantial unbudgeted costs.

In addition to obtaining approval for each product, in many cases each drug manufacturing facility must be approved. The regulatory authorities usually will conduct an inspection of relevant manufacturing facilities, and review manufacturing procedures, operating systems and personnel qualifications. Further inspections may occur over the life of the product. An inspection of the clinical investigation sites by a competent authority may be required as part of the regulatory approval procedure. As a condition of marketing approval, the regulatory agency may require post-marketing surveillance to monitor for adverse effects or other additional studies as deemed appropriate. After approval for the initial indication, further clinical studies may be necessary to gain approval for any additional indications. The terms of any approval, including labeling content, may be more restrictive than expected and could affect the marketability of a product.

The FDA offers a number of regulatory mechanisms that provide expedited or accelerated approval procedures for selected drugs in the indications on which we are focusing our efforts. These include accelerated approval under Subpart H of the agency’s NDA approval regulations, fast track drug development procedures, breakthrough drug designation and priority review. At this time, we have not determined whether any of these approval procedures will apply to our current drug candidates.

By leveraging existing preclinical and clinical safety and efficacy data, we seek to build upon an existing knowledge base to accelerate our research. In addition, through our focus on end-stage population which has no current treatment options, regulatory approval for commercialization may sometimes be achieved in an accelerated manner. Accelerated approval by the FDA in this category may be granted on objective response rates and duration of responses rather than demonstration of survival benefit. As a result, studies of drugs to treat end-stage refractory cancer indications have historically involved fewer patients and generally have been faster to complete than studies of drugs for other indications. We are aware that the FDA and other similar agencies are regularly reviewing the use of objective endpoints for commercial approval and that policy changes may impact the size of studies required for approval, timelines and expenditures significantly.

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The U.S., E.U. and other jurisdictions may grant orphan drug designation to drugs intended to treat a “rare disease or condition,” which, in the U.S., is generally a disease or condition that affects no more than 200,000 individuals. In the E.U., orphan drug designation can be granted if: the disease is life threatening or chronically debilitating and affects no more than 50 in 100,000 persons in the E.U.; without incentive, it is unlikely that the drug would generate sufficient return to justify the necessary investment; and no satisfactory method of treatment for the condition exists or, if it does, the new drug will provide a significant benefit to those affected by the condition. If a product that has an orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first regulatory approval for the indication for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan exclusivity, meaning that the applicable regulatory authority may not approve any other applications to market the same drug for the same indication, except in very limited circumstances, for a period of seven years in the U.S. and 10 years in the E.U. Orphan drug designation does not prevent competitors from developing or marketing different drugs for the same indication or the same drug for different indications. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting an NDA or MAA. After orphan drug designation is granted, the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are publicly disclosed. Orphan drug designation does not convey an advantage in, or shorten the duration of, the review and approval process. However, this designation provides an exemption from marketing and authorization fees charged to NDA sponsors under the Prescription Drug Act.

Maintaining substantial compliance with appropriate federal, state and local statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Drug manufacturers are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and after approval, the FDA and these state agencies conduct periodic unannounced inspections to ensure continued compliance with ongoing regulatory requirements, including cGMPs. In addition, after approval, some types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, manufacturing changes and additional labeling claims, are subject to further FDA review and approval. The FDA may require post-approval testing and surveillance programs to monitor safety and the effectiveness of approved products that have been commercialized. Any drug products manufactured or distributed by us pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to continuing regulation by the FDA, including:

record-keeping requirements;
reporting of adverse experiences with the drug;
providing the FDA with updated safety and efficacy information;
reporting on advertisements and promotional labeling;
drug sampling and distribution requirements; and
complying with electronic record and signature requirements.

In addition, the FDA strictly regulates labeling, advertising, promotion and other types of information on products that are placed on the market. There are numerous regulations and policies that govern various means for disseminating information to health-care professionals as well as consumers, including to industry sponsored scientific and educational activities, information provided to the media and information provided over the Internet. Drugs may be promoted only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label.

The FDA has very broad enforcement authority and the failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can result in administrative or judicial sanctions being imposed on us or on the manufacturers and distributors of our approved products, including warning letters, refusals of government contracts, clinical holds, civil penalties, injunctions, restitution and disgorgement of profits, recall or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, withdrawal of approvals, refusal to approve pending applications, and criminal prosecution resulting in fines and incarceration. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability. In addition, even after regulatory approval is obtained, later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product may result in restrictions on the product or even complete withdrawal of the product from the market.

Sales of our product candidates, if approved, will depend, in part, on the extent to which such products will be covered by third-party payors, such as government health care programs, commercial insurance and managed healthcare organizations. These third-party payors are increasingly limiting coverage or reducing reimbursements for medical products and services. In addition, the U.S. government, state legislatures and foreign governments have continued implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products. Third-party payors decide which therapies they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own coverage and reimbursement policies. However, decisions regarding the extent of coverage and amount of reimbursement to be provided for any drug candidates that we develop will be made on a payor-by-payor basis. Each payor determines whether or not it will provide coverage for a therapy, what amount it will pay the manufacturer for the therapy, and on what tier of its formulary it will be placed. The position on a payor’s list of covered drugs, or formulary, generally determines the co-payment that a patient will need to make to obtain the therapy and can strongly influence the adoption of such therapy by patients and physicians. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions

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with existing controls and measures, could further limit our net revenue and results. Decreases in third-party reimbursement for our product candidates or a decision by a third-party payor to not cover our product candidates could reduce physician usage of our product candidates, once approved, and have a material adverse effect on our sales, results of operations and financial condition.

Because of our current and future arrangements with healthcare professionals, principal investigators, consultants, customers and third-party payors, we will also be subject to healthcare regulation and enforcement by the federal government and the states and foreign governments in which we will conduct our business, including our clinical research, proposed sales, marketing and educational programs. Failure to comply with these laws, where applicable, can result in the imposition of significant civil penalties, criminal penalties, or both. The U.S. laws that may affect our ability to operate, among others, include: the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which governs the conduct of certain electronic healthcare transactions and protects the security and privacy of protected health information; certain state laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, some of which are more stringent than HIPAA and many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts; the federal healthcare programs’ Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs; federal false claims laws which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party payors that are false or fraudulent; federal criminal laws that prohibit executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements relating to healthcare matters; the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies to report annually to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and teaching hospitals, and ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members; and state law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers.

In addition, many states have similar laws and regulations, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws that may be broader in scope and may apply regardless of payor, in addition to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs. Additionally, to the extent that our product is sold in a foreign country, we may be subject to similar foreign laws.

We are also subject to numerous environmental and safety laws and regulations, including those governing the use and disposal of hazardous materials. The cost of compliance with and any violation of these regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of these materials comply with the standards prescribed by state and federal regulations, accidental contamination or injury from these materials may occur. Compliance with laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment has not had a material effect on our capital expenditures or our competitive position. However, we are not able to predict the extent of government regulation, and the cost and effect thereof on our competitive position, which might result from any legislative or administrative action pertaining to environmental or safety matters.

Competition

The development and commercialization of new drug products is highly competitive. We expect that we will face significant competition from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide with respect to REM-001 and any other product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future. Specifically, due to the large unmet medical need, global demographics and relatively attractive reimbursement dynamics, the oncology market is fiercely competitive and there are a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell products or are pursuing the development of product candidates for the treatment of cancer. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing technologies and drug products that are more effective, have fewer or more tolerable side effects or are less costly than any product candidates that we are currently developing or that we may develop, which could render our product candidates obsolete and noncompetitive.

All of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies, and many of the mid-size pharmaceutical companies, have a strong research and development and commercial presence in oncology and there are thousands of smaller companies who also focus on oncology and the oncology supportive care space.

We are not aware of any therapies specifically approved for CMBC in the U.S. IGEA Medical S.p.A. and Mirai Medical market electroporation devices outside the U.S. that are intended to enhance local delivery of chemotherapy agents to tumors. These are sometimes used in CMBC tumors outside the U.S. but we are not aware of any active efforts for U.S. approval in CMBC or similar conditions. Pinnacle Biologics Inc., a subsidiary of Advanz Pharma Healthcare Corp., sells Photofrin, a first-generation PDT product for treatment of certain endobronchial non-small-cell lung cancers and esophageal cancers. Photofrin is currently in Phase 2 studies in recurrent glioma. To our knowledge, there is no reported development program for Photofrin in CMBC. Rogers Sciences Inc. is a medical device company that is developing a light delivery device for use with PDT treatment of cutaneous cancers that they are currently clinically testing in a Phase 2 study in CMBC patients.

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There are numerous therapies currently used to treat CMBC patients including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgical excision, hyperthermia, cryotherapy, electro-chemotherapy, topical drugs and intra-lesional chemotherapy injections, but, to our knowledge, there are no PDT therapies currently approved by the FDA for the treatment of CMBC or similar cutaneous cancers. Some topical PDT agents have been approved by the FDA for actinic keratosis which is a precancerous skin condition and they have been approved in some other countries for some conditions that we believe pose low medical risk such as basal cell cancer and acne.

In the BCCNS field we are aware of approved drugs in the U.S., including vismodegib (Eviredge), Odomzo (sonidegib), imiquimod and topical fluorouracil that are sometimes use off-label. PellePharm also recently completed a Phase 3 study in BCCNS but, to our knowledge, has not received marketing approval.

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 marketing approval for their products before we are able to obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

Many of our existing and potential future competitors have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical studies, obtaining marketing approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller, or early stage, companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. 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.

We expect that our ability to compete effectively will depend upon our ability to:

successfully and rapidly complete adequate and well-controlled clinical studies that demonstrate statistically significant safety and efficacy and to obtain all requisite regulatory approvals in a cost-effective manner;
maintain a proprietary position for our manufacturing processes and other technology;
produce our products in accordance with FDA and international regulatory guidelines;
attract and retain key personnel; and
build or access an adequate sales and marketing infrastructure for any approved products.

Failure to do one or more of these activities could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Merger Agreement

On April 2, 2024, we entered into the Merger Agreement with Kayak Mergeco and TuHURA pursuant to which Merger Sub will merge with and into TuHURA, with TuHURA surviving the Merger and becoming our direct, wholly-owned subsidiary. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), (i) each then-outstanding share of TuHURA common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “TuHURA Common Stock”) (other than any shares held in treasury and Dissenting Shares (as defined in the Merger Agreement)) will be converted into shares of our common stock equal to the Exchange Ratio, as such term is defined in the Merger Agreement, (ii) each then-outstanding TuHURA stock option will be assumed and converted into an option to purchase shares of our common stock, subject to certain adjustments as set forth in the Merger Agreement, and (iii) each then-outstanding warrant to purchase shares of TuHURA Common Stock (the “TuHURA Warrants”) will be assumed and converted into and exchangeable for a warrant of like tenor entitling the holder to purchase shares of our common stock, subject to certain adjustments as set forth in the Merger Agreement. In addition to the foregoing, the Merger Agreement provides that, at the closing of the Merger (the “Closing”), our corporate name will be changed to “TuHURA Biosciences, Inc.” Our existing stockholders will receive CVRs, entitling them to receive shares of our common stock upon achievement of enrollment of a minimum of 10 patients in the REM-001 Study, with such patients each completing 8 weeks of follow-up on or before December 31, 2025.

Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, on a pro forma basis, our stockholders are expected to collectively own approximately 2.85%, or approximately 5.45% including the shares underlying the CVR, of the common stock of the post-merger combined company on a pro forma fully diluted basis. TuHURA stockholders are expected to collectively own approximately 97.15%,

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or 94.55% assuming the distribution of the CVR shares, of the common stock of the combined company on a pro forma fully diluted basis.

On October 4, 2024, at the Special Meeting, our stockholders approved the requisite proposals to effect the completion of the proposed Merger with TuHURA. The proposed Merger is expected to be consummated in mid-October 2024, subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions under the Merger Agreement.

Corporate History

We are a Nevada corporation formed on June 24, 2009, under the name Berry Only Inc. On January 25, 2013, we entered into and closed an exchange agreement (the “Exchange Agreement”), with Del Mar (BC), Callco, Exchangeco and the security holders of Del Mar (BC). Upon completion of the Exchange Agreement, Del Mar (BC) became a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours (the “Reverse Acquisition”).

On August 19, 2020, we merged with Adgero and changed our name from DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. We are the parent company to the following entities:

Del Mar (BC), a British Columbia, Canada corporation incorporated on April 6, 2010, which is a clinical stage company with a focus on the development of drugs for the treatment of cancer;
Adgero, a Delaware corporation incorporated on October 26, 2015, which is a clinical-stage company with a focus on the development of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of rare, unmet medical needs, specifically orphan cancer indications;
Adgero Bio, a Delaware corporation incorporated on November 16, 2007;
Callco and Exchangeco are British Columbia, Canada corporations. Callco and Exchangeco were formed to facilitate the Reverse Acquisition; and
Kayak Mergeco, a Delaware corporation incorporated on April 1, 2024. Kayak Mergeco was formed to facilitate the proposed Merger.

Research and Development

During the years ended June 30, 2024, and 2023, we recognized approximately $2.7 million and $9.3 million, respectively, in research and development expenses.

Employees

We have one full-time employee and retain the services of approximately 10 persons on an independent contractor/consultant and contract-employment basis. As such, we currently operate in a “virtual” corporate structure in order to minimize fixed personnel costs.

Available Information

We maintain an internet website at www.kintara.com. We do not incorporate the information on our website into this report and you should not consider it part of this report.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Summary of Risk Factors

We have a limited operating history, are not profitable and may never become profitable.
We have expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Failure to complete the Merger could negatively impact our stock price, future business and financial results.
Even if we consummate the Merger, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger.
Our business is heavily dependent on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our product candidates.
We will require substantial additional capital to fund our operations, and if we fail to obtain necessary financing, we may not be able to complete the development and commercialization of any of our product candidates.
Our product candidates will face significant competition and may be unable to compete effectively.
Various government regulations could limit or delay our ability to develop and commercialize our products or otherwise negatively impact our business.
The commercial potential of our products is difficult to predict. The market for any product, or for companion animal diagnostics and medical devices overall, is uncertain and may be smaller than we anticipate, which could significantly and negatively impact our revenue, results of operations and financial condition.
Our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for our products is limited.
We will rely on third parties to conduct certain portions of our development activities. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates.
We currently manufacture our clinical supplies at a single location. Any disruption at this facility could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we fail to attract and keep key personnel and members of management, we may be unable to successfully develop any of our existing or future product candidates, conduct our in-licensing and development efforts and commercialize any of our existing or future products.
Any failure by us to protect our intellectual property rights or maintain the right to use certain intellectual property may negatively affect our ability to compete.
We expect that the price of our common shares will fluctuate substantially.
Substantial future sales of shares of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
Issuance of our common stock upon exercise of convertible securities may depress the price of our common stock.
We have incurred significant costs as a result of operating as a U.S. public company, and our management will continue to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.

An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. In determining whether to purchase our common stock, an investor should carefully consider all of the material risks described below, together with the other information contained in this report before making a decision to purchase our securities. An investor should only purchase our securities if he or she can afford to suffer the loss of his or her entire investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

We have expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 include an explanatory paragraph that such financial statements were prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern. A going concern basis assumes that we will continue our operations for the foreseeable future and contemplates the realization of assets and the settlement of liabilities in the normal course of business.

We are in the clinical stage and have not generated any revenues to-date. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, we reported a loss of approximately $8.5 million and a negative cash flow from operations of approximately $7.2 million. We had an accumulated

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deficit of approximately $159.9 million and had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $4.9 million as of June 30, 2024. We do not have the prospect of achieving revenues until such time that our product candidates are commercialized, or partnered, which may not ever occur. In the near future, we will require additional funding to maintain our clinical studies, research and development projects, and for general operations. These circumstances indicate substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the date of filing of the consolidated financial statements.

Consequently, management is pursuing various financing alternatives to fund our operations so we can continue as a going concern. Management plans to secure the necessary financing through the issue of new equity and/or the entering into of strategic partnership arrangements in the event the Merger is not consummated. However, our ability to raise additional capital could be affected by various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, global unrest. We may not be able to raise sufficient additional capital and may tailor our drug candidate development programs based on the amount of funding we are able to raise in the future. Nevertheless, there is no assurance that these initiatives will be successful.

The financial statements do not give effect to any adjustments to the amounts and classification of assets and liabilities that may be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern. Such adjustments could be material.

We are a clinical stage company, have a history of operating losses, and expect to incur significant additional operating losses.

We are a clinical stage company with a history of operating losses. For the fiscal years ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, we had net losses of approximately $8.5 million and $14.6 million, respectively and an accumulated deficit of approximately $159.9 million at June 30, 2024. Our prospects must be considered in light of the uncertainties, risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in similar stages of operations. We expect to incur substantial additional net expenses and losses over the next several years as our research, development, clinical studies, and commercial activities increase.

The amount of future losses and when, if ever, we will achieve profitability are uncertain. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability will depend on, among other things, successful completion of the preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates; obtaining necessary regulatory approvals from the FDA and international regulatory agencies; successful manufacturing, sales and marketing arrangements; and raising sufficient funds to finance our activities. If we are unsuccessful at some or all of these undertakings, our business, prospects and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

We will need to raise additional capital, which may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to technologies or product candidates.

If the Merger is not consummated, or until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings and/or license and development agreements with collaboration partners. As of June 30, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $4.9 million. We expect the cash available at June 30, 2024, and the potential cash received from research grant funding, to fund our planned operations for less than one year from the date of filing this report on Form 10-K. We will need to raise additional capital to fund our planned operations.

To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of other equity or convertible debt securities, then-existing stockholders’ interests may be materially diluted, and the terms of such securities could include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect their rights as common stockholders. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that limit our ability to take specified actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. In addition, debt financing would result in fixed payment obligations.

If we raise funds through collaborations, strategic partnerships or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves. In addition, if the Merger is not consummated, we may not have sufficient capital to continue to operate our business in the long term and may become insolvent and be required to seek the protection of the bankruptcy courts and, without additional funding or a strategic transaction, we would likely be delisted from Nasdaq.

Our inability to obtain additional financing could adversely affect our ability to meet our obligations under our planned clinical studies and could negatively impact the timing of our clinical results.

Our ability to meet our obligations and continue the research and development of our product candidate is dependent on our ability to continue to raise adequate financing. We may not be successful in obtaining such additional financing in the amount required at any time, or for any period, or, if available, that it can be obtained on terms satisfactory to us. In the event that we are unable to

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obtain such additional financing, we may be unable to meet our obligations under our planned clinical studies and we may have to tailor the drug development programs for our drug candidates based on the amount of funding we raise which could negatively impact the timing of our clinical results. In addition, we could be required to cease our operations.

 

We are not currently in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market. If we do not regain compliance and continue to meet the continued listing requirements, our common stock may be delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market, which could affect the market price and liquidity for our common stock and reduce our ability to raise additional capital.

Our common stock is listed for trading on Nasdaq. We must satisfy Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, including, among other things, a minimum closing bid price requirement of $1.00 per share (“Minimum Bid Price Requirement”) for 30 consecutive business days. On December 13, 2023, the Staff of the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (the “Nasdaq Staff”) notified us that we did not comply with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement (the “Bid Price Notice”). Pursuant to the Bid Price Notice, we had 180 calendar days from the date of the Bid Price Notice, or June 10, 2024, to regain compliance for a minimum of ten consecutive business days. On June 12, 2024, the Nasdaq Staff notified us that we are eligible for and has been granted an extension of 180 calendar days, or until December 9, 2024, to regain compliance for a minimum of ten consecutive business days. On October 4, 2024, at the Special Meeting, our stockholders approved a reverse stock split of our common stock, to be effected in the board of directors’ discretion of not less than 1-for-20 and not more than 1-for-40. We intend to effect a reverse stock split at a ratio within the range approved by our stockholders immediately prior to the consummation of the proposed Merger.

We will continue to monitor our bid price and may, if appropriate, consider implementing available options to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. There can be no assurance that we will be able to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement or maintain compliance even if we implement an option that regains our compliance.

 

If we fail to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, or to meet the other applicable continued listing requirements for The Nasdaq Capital Market in the future, our common stock may be delisted and trade on the OTC Markets Group Inc. or other small trading markets, which could reduce the liquidity of our common stock materially and result in a corresponding material reduction in the price of our common stock as well as reduce our ability to raise additional capital. In addition, if our common stock is delisted from Nasdaq and the trading price remains below $5.00 per share, trading in our common stock might also become subject to the requirements of certain rules promulgated under the Exchange Act, which require additional disclosure by broker-dealers in connection with any trade involving a stock defined as a “penny stock” (generally, any equity security not listed on a national securities exchange or quoted on Nasdaq that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions). Such a delisting likely would impair your ability to sell or purchase our common stock when you wish to do so. Further, if we were to be delisted from Nasdaq, our common stock may no longer be recognized as a “covered security” and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which it offers securities. Thus, delisting from Nasdaq could adversely affect our ability to raise additional financing through the public or private sale of equity securities, would significantly impact the ability of investors to trade our securities and would negatively impact the value and liquidity of our common stock.

If we are unable to effectively maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial results and our stock price could be adversely affected.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related regulations require us to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of each fiscal year, and to include a management report assessing the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for that fiscal year. Any failure to implement new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in the implementation or operation of these controls, could harm our operations, decrease the reliability of our financial reporting, and cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could adversely affect our business and reduce our stock price.

We are a clinical stage company and may never achieve commercialization of our product candidates or profitability.

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We are a clinical stage of development and commercialization of our technologies and product candidates. We have not yet begun to market any products and, accordingly, have not begun or generate revenues from the commercialization of our products. Our products will require significant additional clinical testing and investment prior to commercialization. A commitment of substantial resources by us and, potentially, our partners to conduct time-consuming research and clinical studies will be required if we are to complete the development of our product candidates. There can be no assurance that our product candidates will meet applicable regulatory standards, obtain required regulatory approvals, be capable of being produced in commercial quantities at reasonable costs or be successfully marketed. Our product candidates are not expected to be commercially available for several years, if at all.

We are currently focused on the development of one product candidate.

Our product development efforts are currently focused on one product candidate: REM-001 for CMBC. If REM-001 fails to achieve clinical endpoints or exhibit unanticipated toxicity or if a superior product is developed by a competitor, our prospects for obtaining regulatory approval and commercialization for either candidate may be negatively impacted. For example, we expect completion of enrollment of our REM-001 15-patient clinical study in the fourth calendar quarter of 2024; however, there can be no assurance that we will achieve full enrollment.

In the long-term, we hope to establish a pipeline of multiple product candidates. However, at this time we do not have any formal agreements granting us any rights to such additional product candidates.

Even if we are able to commercialize any product candidate that we develop, the product may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party payor reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives that could harm our business.

The commercial success of our current or future 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 (such as Medicare and Medicaid), 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 products. Even if coverage is provided, the approved reimbursement amount may not be high enough to allow us to establish and maintain pricing sufficient to realize a meaningful return on our investment.

There is significant uncertainty related to third-party payor coverage and reimbursement of newly approved drugs. Marketing approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new drug products vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted. In some non-U.S. markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for a product in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, which may negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if our product candidates obtain marketing approval.

Our ability to commercialize REM-001, or any other product candidates will depend in part on the extent to which coverage and reimbursement for these products and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will cover and establish reimbursement levels. The healthcare industry is acutely focused on cost containment, both in the United States and elsewhere. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications, which could affect our ability to sell our product candidates profitably. These payors may not view our products, if any, as cost-effective, and coverage and reimbursement may not be available to our customers, or may not be sufficient to allow our products, if any, to be marketed on a competitive basis. Cost-control initiatives could cause us to decrease the price we might establish for products, which could result in lower than anticipated product revenues. If the prices for our products, if any, decrease or if governmental and other third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage or reimbursement, our prospects for revenue and profitability will suffer.

There may also be delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement for newly approved drugs, and coverage may be more limited than the indications for which the drug is approved by the FDA or comparable non- U.S. regulatory authorities. Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Reimbursement rates may vary, by way of example, according to the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used. Reimbursement rates may also be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost drugs or may be incorporated into existing payments for other services.

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In addition, increasingly, third-party payors are requiring higher levels of evidence of the benefits and clinical outcomes of new technologies and are challenging the prices charged. We cannot be sure that coverage will be available for any product candidate that we, or third-parties, commercialize and, if available, that the reimbursement rates will be adequate. Further, the net reimbursement for drug products may be subject to additional reductions if there are changes to laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States. An inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate payment rates from both government-funded and private payors for any of our product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our overall financial condition.

Pursuant to the terms of the St. Cloud Agreement we may be required to pay royalties.

Under our St. Cloud Agreement, we must pay to St. Cloud and Steven Rychnovsky, PhD, in the aggregate, a royalty fee of six percent (6%) of net sales during the royalty term on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis with St. Cloud receiving a royalty rate of four and eight tenths percent (4.8%) and Steven Rychnovsky, PhD, receiving a royalty of one and two tenths percent (1.2%). The royalty term for a product commences on the first commercial sale of the product, such as REM-001 Therapy, in any country, and the royalty fee must be paid within 30 days of each calendar quarter during which revenue is collected. The royalty term terminates on the later of (i) the invalidation, revocation, lapse or expiration of the last to expire valid claim on any patent acquired in the St. Cloud Agreement that would be infringed by the sale of the product in the country where the commercial sale takes place or (ii) the expiration of the period for which we hold exclusive marketing rights of the product in the country, if we are granted those rights under the St. Cloud Agreement.

We are dependent on obtaining certain patents and protecting our proprietary rights.

Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain patents, maintain trade secret protection and operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of third parties or having third parties circumvent our rights. We have filed and are actively pursuing patent applications for our products. The patent positions of biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions. Thus, there can be no assurance that any of our patent applications will result in the issuance of patents, that we will develop additional proprietary products that are patentable, that any patents issued to us or those that already have been issued will provide us with any competitive advantages or will not be challenged by any third parties, that the patents of others will not impede our ability to do business or that third parties will not be able to circumvent our patents. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that others will not independently develop similar products, duplicate any of our products not under patent protection, or, if patents are issued to us, design around the patented products we developed or will develop.

We may be required to obtain licenses from third parties to avoid infringing patents or other proprietary rights. No assurance can be given that any licenses required under any such patents or proprietary rights would be made available, if at all, on terms we find acceptable. If we do not obtain such licenses, we could encounter delays in the introduction of products or could find that the development, manufacture or sale of products requiring such licenses could be prohibited.

A number of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and research and academic institutions have developed technologies, filed patent applications or received patents on various technologies that may be related to or affect our business. Some of these technologies, applications or patents may conflict with our technologies or patent applications. Such conflict could limit the scope of the patents, if any, that we may be able to obtain or result in the denial of our patent applications. In addition, if patents that cover our activities are issued to other companies, there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain licenses to these patents at a reasonable cost or be able to develop or obtain alternative technology. If we do not obtain such licenses, we could encounter delays in the introduction of products, or could find that the development, manufacture or sale of products requiring such licenses could be prohibited. In addition, we could incur substantial costs in defending ourselves in suits brought against us on patents it might infringe or in filing suits against others to have such patents declared invalid.

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Patent applications in the U.S. are maintained in secrecy and not published if either: (i) the application is a provisional application or (ii) the application is filed and we request no publication, and certify that the invention disclosed “has not and will not” be the subject of a published foreign application. Otherwise, U.S. applications or foreign counterparts, if any, publish 18 months after the priority application has been filed. Since publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature often lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that we or any licensor were the first creator of inventions covered by pending patent applications or that we or such licensor was the first to file patent applications for such inventions. Moreover, we might have to participate in interference proceedings declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) to determine priority of invention, which could result in substantial cost to us, even if the eventual outcome were favorable to us. There can be no assurance that our patents, if issued, would be held valid or enforceable by a court or that a competitor’s technology or product would be found to infringe such patents.

Moreover, we may be subject to third-party pre-issuance submissions of prior art to the USPTO, or become involved in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights.

Even if our patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us, or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner.

The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our patents may be challenged in courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate, or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

Much of our know-how and technology may not be patentable. To protect our rights, we require employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. There can be no assurance, however, that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use or disclosure. Further, our business may be adversely affected by competitors who independently develop competing technologies, especially if we obtain no, or only narrow, patent protection.

We do not hold any patents covering our laser light source or light delivery device for REM-001.

Our laser light source and light delivery device are not currently covered by any patents. We do not have any patents pending, and do not currently intend to seek patent protection for these devices. As a result, competitors may be able to offer and sell products or drug delivery technology, as the case may be, using the same technology as our laser light source and/or light delivery devices, so long as these competitors do not infringe any other valid patents that it or third-parties hold.

While we plan to protect our proprietary information related to our laser light source and light delivery device as trade secrets through certain agreements with our employees, consultants, agents and other organizations to which we have disclosed our proprietary information, we cannot give any assurance that these agreements will provide effective protection for our proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of such information. If other laser light sources or light delivery devices are approved and marketed, we will be unable to prevent them from competing with REM-001 Therapy in the marketplace using a different drug molecule that is not encompassed by any of our owned or licensed patents. We expect that the presence of one or more competing products would reduce our market share and could negatively impact price levels and third-party reimbursement policies for REM-001 Therapy, any of which would materially affect our business.

We may be unable to protect our patents and proprietary rights.

Our future success will depend to a significant extent on our ability to:

obtain and keep patent protection for our products and technologies on an international basis;
enforce our patents to prevent others from using our inventions;
maintain and prevent others from using our trade secrets; and

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operate and commercialize products without infringing on the patents or proprietary rights of others.

We can provide no assurance that our patent rights will afford any competitive advantages and these rights may be challenged or circumvented by third parties. Further, patents may not be issued on any of our pending patent applications in the U.S. or abroad. Because of the extensive time required for development, testing and regulatory review of a product candidate, it is possible that before a product candidate can be commercialized, any related patent may expire, or remain in existence for only a short period following commercialization, reducing or eliminating any advantage of the patent.

If we sue others for infringing on our patents, a court may determine that such patents are invalid or unenforceable. Even if the validity of our patent rights is upheld by a court, a court may not prevent the alleged infringement of our patent rights on the grounds that such activity is not covered by our patent claims.

In addition, third parties may sue us for infringing on their patents. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may be required to:

defend litigation or administrative proceedings;
pay substantial damages;
stop using our technologies and methods;
stop certain research and development efforts;
develop non-infringing products or methods; and
obtain one or more licenses from third parties.

If required, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to obtain such licenses on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are sued for infringement, we could encounter substantial delays in development, manufacture and commercialization of our product candidates. Any litigation, whether to enforce our patent rights or to defend against allegations that we infringed third-party rights, will be costly, time consuming, and may distract management from other important tasks.

As is commonplace in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, we employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. To the extent our employees are involved in research areas which are similar to those areas in which they were involved at their former employers, we may be subject to claims that such employees and/or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed the alleged trade secrets or other proprietary information of the former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against such claims, which could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and which may have a material adverse effect on us, even if we are successful in defending such claims.

We are subject to various government regulations.

The manufacture and sale of human therapeutic and diagnostic products in the U.S., Canada and foreign jurisdictions are governed by a variety of statutes and regulations. These laws require approval of manufacturing facilities, controlled research and testing of products and government review and approval of a submission containing manufacturing, preclinical and clinical data in order to obtain marketing approval based on establishing the safety and efficacy of the product for each use sought, including adherence to current cGMP during production and storage, and control of marketing activities, including advertising and labeling.

REM-001 and any other products we may develop will require significant development, preclinical and clinical testing and investment of substantial funds prior to its commercialization. The process of obtaining required approvals can be costly and time-consuming, and there can be no assurance that we will successfully develop any future products that will prove to be safe and effective in clinical studies or receive applicable regulatory approvals. Markets other than the U.S. and Canada have similar restrictions. Potential investors and shareholders should be aware of the risks, problems, delays, expenses and difficulties which we may encounter in view of the extensive regulatory environment which controls our business.

We may request priority review for our product candidates in the future. The FDA may not grant priority review for our product candidates. Moreover, even if the FDA designated such product for priority review, that designation may not lead to a faster regulatory review or approval process and, in any event, would not assure FDA approval.

We may be eligible for priority review designation for our product candidates if the FDA determines such product candidate offers major advances in treatment or provides a treatment where no adequate therapy exists. A priority review designation means that the goal for the FDA to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review period of ten months. The FDA has broad

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discretion with respect to whether or not to grant priority review status to a product candidate, so even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for such designation or status, the FDA may decide not to grant it. Thus, while the FDA has granted priority review to other oncology disease products, our product candidates, should we determine to seek priority review, may not receive similar designation. Moreover, even if our product candidate is designated for priority review, such a designation does not necessarily mean a faster regulatory review process or necessarily confer any advantage with respect to approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. Receiving priority review from the FDA does not guarantee approval within an accelerated timeline or thereafter.

We believe we may in some instances be able to secure approval from the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities to use accelerated development pathways. If we are unable to obtain such approval, we may be required to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical studies beyond those that it contemplates, which could increase the expense of obtaining, and delay the receipt of, necessary marketing approvals.

We anticipate that we may seek an accelerated approval pathway for our product candidates. Under the accelerated approval provisions in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), and the FDA’s implementing regulations, the FDA may grant accelerated approval to a product designed to treat a serious or life-threatening condition that provides meaningful therapeutic benefit over available therapies upon a determination that the product has an effect on a surrogate endpoint or intermediate clinical endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. The FDA considers a clinical benefit to be a positive therapeutic effect that is clinically meaningful in the context of a given disease, such as irreversible morbidity or mortality. For the purposes of accelerated approval, a surrogate endpoint is a marker, such as a laboratory measurement, radiographic image, physical sign, or other measure that is thought to predict clinical benefit, but is not itself a measure of clinical benefit. An intermediate clinical endpoint is a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. The accelerated approval pathway may be used in cases in which the advantage of a new drug over available therapy may not be a direct therapeutic advantage, but is a clinically important improvement from a patient and public health perspective. If granted, accelerated approval is usually contingent on the sponsor’s agreement to conduct, in a diligent manner, additional post-approval confirmatory studies to verify and describe the drug’s clinical benefit. If such post-approval studies fail to confirm the drug’s clinical benefit, the FDA may withdraw its approval of the drug.

Prior to seeking such accelerated approval, we will seek feedback from the FDA and will otherwise evaluate our ability to seek and receive such accelerated approval. There can also be no assurance that after our evaluation of the feedback and other factors we will decide to pursue or submit an NDA, for accelerated approval or any other form of expedited development, review or approval. Similarly, there can be no assurance that after subsequent FDA feedback that we will continue to pursue or apply for accelerated approval or any other form of expedited development, review or approval, even if we initially decide to do so. Furthermore, if we decide to submit an application for accelerated approval or under another expedited regulatory designation (e.g., breakthrough therapy designation), there can be no assurance that such submission or application will be accepted or that any expedited development, review or approval will be granted on a timely basis, or at all. The FDA or other non-U.S. authorities could also require us to conduct further studies prior to considering our application or granting approval of any type. A failure to obtain accelerated approval or any other form of expedited development, review or approval for any of our product candidates that we decide to seek accelerated approval for would result in a longer time period to commercialization of such product candidate, could increase the cost of development of such product candidate and could harm our competitive position in the marketplace.

We have conducted, and may in the future conduct, clinical studies for certain of our product candidates at sites outside the United States, and the FDA may not accept data from studies conducted in such locations.

We have conducted and may in the future choose to conduct one or more of our clinical studies outside the United States. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical studies conducted outside the United States, acceptance of this data is subject to certain conditions imposed by the FDA. For example, the clinical study must be well designed and conducted and performed by qualified investigators in accordance with ethical principles. The study population must also adequately represent the U.S. population, and the data must be applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice in ways that the FDA deems clinically meaningful. Generally, the patient population for any clinical studies conducted outside of the United States must be representative of the population for whom we intend to seek approval in the United States. In addition, while these clinical studies are subject to the applicable local laws, FDA acceptance of the data will be dependent upon its determination that the studies also complied with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations. There can be no assurance that the FDA will accept data from studies conducted outside of the United States. If the FDA does not accept the data from any of our clinical studies that we determine to conduct outside the United States, it would likely result in the need for additional studies, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay or permanently halt our development of the product candidate.

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In addition, the conduct of clinical studies outside the United States could have a significant impact on us. The risks inherent in conducting international clinical studies include:

foreign regulatory requirements that could restrict or limit our ability to conduct our clinical studies;
administrative burdens of conducting clinical studies under multiple foreign regulatory schema;
foreign exchange fluctuations; and
diminished protection of intellectual property in some countries.

If our clinical studies fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA and comparable non-U.S. regulators, we may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our product candidates.

We are not permitted to commercialize, market, promote or sell any product candidate in the United States without obtaining marketing approval from the FDA. Comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities, such as the EMA, impose similar restrictions. We may never receive such approvals. We must complete extensive preclinical development and clinical studies to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans before we will be able to obtain these approvals.

Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is inherently uncertain as to outcome. We have not previously submitted an NDA to the FDA or similar drug approval filings to comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities for any product candidate.

Any inability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development could result in additional costs to us and impair our ability to generate revenues from product sales, regulatory and commercialization milestones and royalties. In addition, if (1) we are required to conduct additional clinical studies or other testing of our product candidates beyond the studies and testing that we contemplate, (2) we are unable to successfully complete clinical studies of our product candidates or other testing, (3) the results of these studies or tests are unfavorable, uncertain or are only modestly favorable, or (4) there are unacceptable safety concerns associated with our product candidate, we, in addition to incurring additional costs, may:

be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates;
not obtain marketing approval at all;
obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as we intended or desired;
obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or significant safety warnings, including boxed warnings;
be subject to additional post-marketing testing or other requirements; or
be required to remove the product from the market after obtaining marketing approval.

If we experience any of a number of possible unforeseen events in connection with clinical studies of our product candidates, potential marketing approval or commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed or prevented.

We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical studies that could delay or prevent marketing approval of our product candidates, including:

clinical studies of our product candidates may produce unfavorable or inconclusive results;
we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical studies or abandon product development programs;
the number of patients required for clinical studies of our product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, patient enrollment in these clinical studies may be slower than we anticipate or participants may drop out of these clinical studies at a higher rate than we anticipate;
data safety monitoring committees may recommend suspension, termination or a clinical hold for various reasons, including concerns about patient safety;
regulators or IRBs may suspend or terminate the study or impose a clinical hold for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements or concerns about patient safety;

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patients with serious, life-threatening diseases included in our clinical studies may die or suffer other adverse medical events for reasons that may not be related to our product candidates;
participating patients may be subject to unacceptable health risks;
patients may not complete clinical studies due to safety issues, side effects, or other reasons;
changes in regulatory requirements and guidance may occur, which require us to amend clinical study protocols to reflect these changes;
our third-party contractors, including those manufacturing our product candidates or components or ingredients thereof or conducting clinical studies on our behalf, may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner or at all;
regulators or IRBs may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical study or conduct a clinical study at a prospective study site;
we may experience delays in reaching or fail to reach agreement on acceptable clinical study contracts or clinical study protocols with prospective study sites;
patients who enroll in a clinical study may misrepresent their eligibility to do so or may otherwise not comply with the clinical study protocol, resulting in the need to drop the patients from the clinical study, increase the needed enrollment size for the clinical study or extend the clinical study’s duration;
we may have to suspend or terminate clinical studies of our product candidates for various reasons, including a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks, undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics of a product candidate;
regulators or IRBs may require that we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical research for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements or their respective standards of conduct, a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks, undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics of the product candidate or findings of undesirable effects caused by a chemically or mechanistically similar drug or drug candidate;
the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities may fail to approve or subsequently find fault with the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we enter into agreements for clinical and commercial supplies;
the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities may disagree with our clinical study design or our interpretation of data from preclinical studies and clinical studies;
the supply or quality of raw materials or manufactured product candidate or other materials necessary to conduct clinical studies of our product candidates may be insufficient, inadequate, delayed, or not available at an acceptable cost, or we may experience interruptions in supply; and
the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable non-U.S. regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient to obtain marketing approval.

Product development costs for us will increase if we experience delays in testing or pursuing marketing approvals and we may be required to obtain additional funds to complete clinical studies and prepare for possible commercialization of our product candidates. We do not know whether any preclinical tests or clinical studies will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Significant preclinical or clinical study delays also could 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 and impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, clinical study delays may ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of our product candidates.

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If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical studies, our product candidates may not achieve clinical development on our anticipated timeline, or at all, and our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.

We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical studies for REM-001 or any other product candidate if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in clinical studies. Patient enrollment is a significant factor in the timing of clinical studies, and is affected by many factors, including:

the size and nature of the patient population;
the severity of the disease under investigation;
the proximity of patients to clinical sites;
the eligibility criteria for the study;
the design of the clinical study;
efforts to facilitate timely enrollment;
competing clinical studies; and
clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages and risks of the drug being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating.

Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical studies could result in significant delays or may require us to abandon one or more clinical studies altogether. Enrollment delays in our clinical studies may result in increased development costs for our product candidates, delay or halt the development of and approval processes for our product candidates and jeopardize our ability to achieve our clinical development timeline and goals, including the dates by which we will commence, complete and receive results from clinical studies. Enrollment delays may also delay or jeopardize our ability to commence sales and generate revenues from our product candidates. Any of the foregoing could cause our value to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing, if needed.

Positive results in previous clinical studies of REM-001 may not be replicated in future clinical studies, which could result in development delays or a failure to obtain marketing approval.

Positive results in previous clinical studies of REM-001 may not be predictive of similar results in future clinical studies. Also, interim results during a clinical study do not necessarily predict final results. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical studies even after achieving promising results in early-stage development. Accordingly, the results from the completed preclinical studies and clinical studies for REM-001 may not be predictive of the results we may obtain in later stage studies. Our clinical studies may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical studies. Moreover, clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical studies have nonetheless failed to obtain FDA or EMA, or other regulatory agency, approval for their products.

FDA approval of REM-001, or future product candidates may be denied.

There can be no assurance that the FDA will ultimately approve our NDA. The FDA may deny approval of REM-001 for many reasons, including:

we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA that our products are safe and effective for its intended uses;
the FDA may disagree with our interpretation of data from the clinical studies;
we may be unable to demonstrate that any clinical or other benefits of our products outweigh any safety or other perceived risks; or
we may not be able to successfully address any other issues raised by the FDA.

If REM-001 fails to receive FDA approval, our business and prospects will be materially adversely impacted.

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We expect to rely on orphan drug status to develop and commercialize REM-001, but our orphan drug designations may not confer marketing exclusivity or other expected commercial benefits as anticipated.

Market exclusivity afforded by orphan drug designation is generally offered as an incentive to drug developers to invest in developing and commercializing products for unique diseases that impact a limited number of patients. The FDA may grant orphan drug designation to drugs 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. Qualification to maintain orphan drug status is generally monitored by the regulatory authorities during the orphan drug exclusivity period, currently seven years from the date of approval in the United States.

With respect to REM-001, the FDA granted our request that tin ethyl etiopurpurin (the active pharmaceutical ingredient in REM-001) be designated as an orphan drug for treatment of BCCNS. We also hold an orphan drug designation that was initially awarded to Miravant for tin ethyl etiopurpurin for the prevention of access graft disease in hemodialysis patients.

It is possible that another company also holding orphan drug designation for the same product candidate will receive marketing approval for the same indication before we do. If that were to happen, our applications for that indication may not be approved until the competing company’s period of exclusivity expires. Even if we are the first to obtain marketing authorization for an orphan drug indication, there are circumstances under which a competing product may be approved for the same indication during the seven-year period of marketing exclusivity, such as if the later product is shown to be clinically superior to the orphan product, or if the later product is deemed a different product than ours. Further, the seven-year marketing exclusivity would not prevent competitors from obtaining approval of the same product candidate as ours for indications other than those in which we have been granted orphan drug designation, or for the use of other types of products in the same indications as our orphan products.

If the market opportunities for our product candidates are smaller than we believe they are, our future revenues may be adversely affected and our business may suffer. Because the target patient populations of our product candidates are small, we must be able to successfully identify patients and capture a significant market share to achieve and maintain profitability.

We focus our research and product development on treatments for orphan cancer indications. Our projections of both the number of people who have failed other therapies or have limited medical options are based on estimates. These estimates may prove to be incorrect and new studies may change the estimated incidence or prevalence. The number of patients in the United States, Europe and elsewhere may turn out to be lower than expected or may not be otherwise amenable to treatment with our products, or new patients may become increasingly difficult to identify or gain access to, all of which would adversely affect our results of operations and our business. Additionally, because our target patient populations are small, we will be required to capture a significant market share to achieve and maintain profitability.

We may be required to suspend or discontinue clinical studies due to unexpected side effects or other safety risks that could preclude approval of our products.

Our clinical studies may be suspended at any time for a number of reasons. For example, we may voluntarily suspend or terminate our clinical studies if at any time we believe that they present an unacceptable risk to the clinical study patients. In addition, the FDA or other regulatory agencies may order the temporary or permanent discontinuation of our clinical studies at any time if they believe that the clinical studies are not being conducted in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements or that they present an unacceptable safety risk to the clinical study patients.

Administering any product candidate to humans may produce undesirable side effects. These side effects could interrupt, delay or halt clinical studies of our product candidates and could result in the FDA or other regulatory authorities denying further development or approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Ultimately, some or all of our product candidates may prove to be unsafe for human use. Moreover, we could be subject to significant liability if any volunteer or patient suffers, or appears to suffer, adverse health effects or even death as a result of participating in our clinical studies.

Our product candidates may cause undesirable adverse events or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, and/or result in significant negative consequences following regulatory approval, if any, including withdrawal from the market.

The REM-001 Therapy may exhibit undesirable and unintended side effects that may prevent or limit its commercial adoption and use. Even upon receiving approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities, our products may later exhibit adverse side effects that prevent widespread use or necessitate withdrawal from the market. The manifestation of such side effects could cause its business to suffer.

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Undesirable adverse events caused by our product candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical studies and may result in a more restrictive label, a delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other comparable regulatory authorities, or a significant change in our clinical protocol or even our development plan. For example, in the four clinical studies of REM-001 therapy conducted by Miravant, there were a total of 17 serious adverse events, a large portion of which were related to necrosis of treated lesions. One adverse event that has been seen with REM-001 Therapy is a period of photosensitivity after receiving REM-001 Therapy. This period of photosensitivity is generally dose dependent and typically declines over time. A second such adverse event is pain that arises or results from the treatment. Treatment-related pain has been experienced by some patients and it is often treated with analgesics but in some cases more aggressive treatment can be required.

If clinical studies of our product candidates reveal a high and unacceptable severity or prevalence of certain adverse events, our studies could be suspended or terminated and the FDA and/or other comparable regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of, or deny approval of, our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Adverse events related to our candidates also may affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete the study and could result in potential liability claims. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our reputation, business, financial condition and prospects.

Additionally, adverse events associated with our future approved products candidates may lead to potentially significant negative consequences, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

suspension of our marketing of the product;
withdrawal or revocation by regulatory authorities of their approvals of or the licenses for the product;
the requirement by regulatory authorities to conduct additional post-approval clinical studies, add additional warnings to, or otherwise change, the label of the product, or create a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;
restrictions on the distribution of the product or imposition of burdensome implementation requirements on us through the establishment of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) or similar strategy as may be required by the FDA or a comparable regulatory authority;
changes in the way the product is distributed or administered;
regulatory investigations, government enforcement actions or litigation proceedings, and being held liable for harm caused to subjects or patients;
removal of products from the marketplace; and
harm to our reputation.

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of any particular product candidate that is approved and could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

Our plan to achieve marketing approval of REM-001 Therapy depends partly on the accuracy of its preliminary efficacy analysis of REM-001 Therapy CMBC study data. While we believe the results of our preliminary efficacy analysis accurately reflect the actual clinical study results, a detailed analysis overseen by regulatory experts may yield different results.

We plan to utilize existing REM-001 Therapy clinical study data as supportive data when seeking marketing approval of REM-001 Therapy for the treatment of CMBC. Between February 1996 and January 1999, Miravant, with support from certain corporate partners, conducted four clinical studies for the treatment of CMBC using REM-001 Therapy. As part of our review of REM-001 Therapy’s data package, we noted that while Miravant’s investigators had done a safety analysis of all treated patients, these reports indicated an efficacy analysis was only performed on two of their four clinical studies. Notably, there had been no efficacy analysis on the other two studies which constituted approximately half of the CMBC patients who were treated with REM-001 Therapy. We originally performed a preliminary efficacy analysis on the data from all four CMBC studies, including the two that had not previously been analyzed. We then engaged regulatory experts who were either former FDA employees with directly related experience in reviewing similar oncology treatments who were then acting as independent consultants or individuals who have provided senior regulatory guidance to major pharmaceutical or medical device companies in situations that led to regulatory approval. These individuals guided us in conducting a second more in-depth analysis that yielded results consistent with our original analysis. Following that, we compiled a briefing document and submitted questions to FDA. While we believe the results of our preliminary efficacy analysis, and subsequent analysis conducted under the guidance of these experts which was consistent with its original preliminary analysis, accurately reflect the actual clinical study results and that the age of the underlying data from the clinical studies is not material, a more in-depth review may yield different conclusions. Such differing results may negatively impact our ability to pursue or achieve, or result in delays to obtain, marketing approval of REM-001 Therapy. There can be no certainty that results from

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our analyses done to date or results from future analyses that we may undertake will be sufficiently complete to satisfy FDA requests or that any results will be favorable to us.

We intend to use laser light devices that the FDA finds to be functionally equivalent to the Miravant devices in our planned clinical studies. If we are unable to demonstrate functional equivalence between the Miravant device and our intended laser light device or if the FDA refuses to allow the use of our intended laser light device, we will be unable to complete clinical studies for REM-001 Therapy and our business will be materially impaired.

Our REM-001 Therapy product consists of three parts, the DD series laser light source (or equivalent), the ML2-0400 light delivery device (or equivalent) and the drug REM-001. Pursuant to the Miravant oncology IND, the FDA previously approved all three components to be used together in certain Miravant CMBC Studies. Our plan is to use new lasers that are functionally equivalent to the Miravant DD2, the laser used in certain prior Miravant clinical studies, for CMBC. The light delivery devices we plan to use in our CMBC program are the same basic design developed and used previously by Miravant in its clinical studies. Our plan is to have clinical light delivery devices built by a contract medical device manufacturer using the basic Miravant design and tested to the same performance specifications as used previously. If the FDA finds that our intended laser light device is not functionally equivalent to the Miravant devices, the FDA may not approve any marketing application for REM-001.

Our REM-001 Therapy clinical study data may not be deemed acceptable by the FDA to support our new drug applications.

In seeking regulatory approval for REM-001, we intend to rely at least in part upon data gathered by Miravant in its initial Phase 1 studies and in four later Phase 2/3 clinical studies that were conducted approximately 20 years ago. Based on our initial interactions with the FDA, we believe the agency will accept these results as supportive data but we cannot ultimately be certain that the FDA will accept data that old to support our new drug applications. Also based on our initial interactions with the FDA, we believe our plans for manufacturing investigational test materials will lead to investigational test materials that FDA will recognize as being sufficiently comparable to Miravant’s materials and also suitable for further investigational studies but FDA may later raise questions about the similarity of Miravant’s investigational testing material versus its manufactured investigational testing material, or may raise questions about the processes and methods under which this old data was collected or may raise additional concerns regarding the elapsed time period. If the FDA does not accept this data, we will have to incur significant costs which may require additional capital to redo some or all of the Miravant studies or supplement these studies with additional studies.

We may not receive regulatory approvals for our product candidates or there may be a delay in obtaining such approvals.

Our products and our ongoing development activities are subject to regulation by regulatory authorities in the countries in which we or our collaborators and distributors wish to test, manufacture or market our products. For instance, the FDA will regulate the product in the U.S. and equivalent authorities, such as the EMA, will regulate in Europe. Regulatory approval by these authorities will be subject to the evaluation of data relating to the quality, efficacy and safety of the product for its proposed use, and there can be no assurance that the regulatory authorities will find our data sufficient to support product approval of REM-001 or any future product candidates.

The time required to obtain regulatory approval varies between countries. The FDA is required to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs and biologics that are intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and which demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the condition. Filling an unmet medical need is defined as providing a therapy where none exists or providing a therapy that may be potentially better than available therapy. Under the fast track program, the sponsor of a new drug or biologic candidate may request the FDA to designate the product for a specific indication as a fast track product concurrent with or after the filing of the IND for the product candidate. The FDA must determine if the product candidate qualifies for FTD within 60 days after receipt of the sponsor’s request. In the U.S., for products without “Fast Track” status, it can take over eighteen (18) months after submission of an application for product approval to receive the FDA’s decision. Even with FTD, FDA review and decision can take over twelve (12) months.

Different regulators may impose their own requirements and may refuse to grant, or may require additional data before granting, an approval, notwithstanding that regulatory approval may have been granted by other regulators. Regulatory approval may be delayed, limited or denied for a number of reasons, including insufficient clinical data, the product not meeting safety or efficacy requirements or any relevant manufacturing processes or facilities not meeting applicable requirements as well as case load at the regulatory agency at the time.

We may fail to comply with regulatory requirements.

Our success will be dependent upon our ability, and our collaborative partners’ abilities, to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements, including cGMP, and safety reporting obligations. The failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can

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result in, among other things, fines, injunctions, civil penalties, total or partial suspension of regulatory approvals, refusal to approve pending applications, recalls or seizures of products, operating and production restrictions and criminal prosecutions.

Even if one of our product candidates receives marketing approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success and the market opportunity for the product candidate may be smaller than our estimates.

We have never commercialized a product. Even if REM-001 or any other product candidates is approved by the appropriate regulatory authorities for marketing and sale, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. For example, physicians are often reluctant to switch their patients from existing therapies even when new and potentially more effective or convenient treatments enter the market. Further, patients often acclimate to the therapy that they are currently taking and do not want to switch unless their physicians recommend switching products or they are required to switch therapies due to lack of reimbursement for existing therapies.

Efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of our product candidates may require significant resources and may not be successful. If our product candidates are approved but do not achieve an adequate level of market acceptance, we may not generate significant revenues and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of REM-001 or any other product candidate, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

the efficacy and safety of the product;
the potential advantages of the product compared to alternative treatments;
the prevalence and severity of any side effects;
the clinical indications for which the product is approved;
whether the product is designated under physician treatment guidelines as a first-line therapy or as a second- or third-line therapy;
limitations or warnings, including distribution or use restrictions, contained in the product’s approved labeling;
our ability to offer the product for sale at competitive prices;
our ability to establish and maintain pricing sufficient to realize a meaningful return on our investment;
the product’s convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;
the willingness of the target patient population to try, and of physicians to prescribe, the product;
the strength of sales, marketing and distribution support;
the approval of other new products for the same indications;
changes in the standard of care for the targeted indications for the product;
the timing of market introduction of our approved products as well as competitive products and other therapies;
availability and amount of reimbursement from government payors, managed care plans and other third-party payors;
adverse publicity about the product or favorable publicity about competitive products; and
potential product liability claims.

The potential market opportunities for our product candidates are difficult to estimate precisely. Our estimates of the potential market opportunities are predicated on many assumptions, including industry knowledge and publications, third-party research reports and other surveys. While we believe that our internal assumptions are reasonable, these assumptions involve the exercise of significant judgment on the part of our management, are inherently uncertain and the reasonableness of these assumptions has not been assessed by an independent source. If any of the assumptions proves to be inaccurate, the actual markets for our product candidate could be smaller than our estimates of the potential market opportunities.

If one of our product candidates receives marketing approval and we, or others, later discover that the drug is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, our ability to market the drug could be compromised.

Clinical studies of our product candidates are conducted in carefully defined subsets of patients who have agreed to enter into clinical studies. Consequently, it is possible that our clinical studies may indicate an apparent positive effect of a product candidate that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any, or alternatively fail to identify undesirable side effects. If, following approval of

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one of our product candidates, we, or others, discover that the drug is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, any of the following adverse events could occur:

regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the drug or seize the drug;
we may be required to recall the drug or change the way the drug is administered;
additional restrictions may be imposed on the marketing of, or the manufacturing processes for, the particular drug;
we may be subject to fines, injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties;
regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as a “black box” warning or a contraindication;
we may be required to create a Medication Guide outlining the risks of the previously unidentified side effects for distribution to patients;
we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
the drug may become less competitive; and
our reputation may suffer.

Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our operations and business and could adversely impact our stock price.

Any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, qualification testing, post-approval clinical data, labeling and promotional activities for such product, will be subject to continual and additional requirements of the FDA and other regulatory authorities.

These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information, reports, registration and listing requirements, good manufacturing practices, or GMP requirements relating to quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, and recordkeeping. Even if marketing approval of any of our product candidates is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to conditions of approval, or contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of pharmaceutical products to ensure such products are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling.

In addition, later discovery of previously unknown problems with our products, manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may lead to various adverse results, including:

restrictions on such products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes;
restrictions on the labeling or marketing of a product;
restrictions on product distribution or use;
requirements to conduct post-marketing clinical studies;
requirements to institute a risk evaluation mitigation strategy, or REMS, to monitor safety of the product post-approval;
warning letters issued by the FDA or other regulatory authorities;
withdrawal of the products from the market;
refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;
recall of products, fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenue;
suspension, revocation or withdrawal of marketing approvals;
refusal to permit the import or export of our products; and
injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

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If we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into acceptable sales, marketing and distribution arrangements with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing any product candidates that we develop, if and when those product candidates are approved.

We do not have a sales, marketing or distribution infrastructure and have limited experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. To achieve commercial success for any approved product, we must either develop a sales and marketing organization, outsource these functions to third parties, or license our product candidates to others. If approved, we may seek to license REM-001 to a large pharmaceutical company with greater resources and experience than us. We may not be able to license REM-001 on reasonable terms, if at all. The development of sales, marketing and distribution capabilities will require substantial resources, will be time-consuming and could delay any product launch. We expect that we will commence the development of these capabilities prior to receiving approval of our product candidates. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing and distribution capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we could have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization costs. Such a delay may be costly, and our investment could be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel. In addition, we may not be able to hire or retain a sales force in the United States that is sufficient in size or has adequate expertise in the medical markets that we plan to target. If we are unable to establish or retain a sales force and marketing and distribution capabilities, our operating results may be adversely affected. If a potential partner has development or commercialization expertise that we believe is particularly relevant to our product candidates, then we may seek to collaborate with that potential partner even if we believe we could otherwise develop and commercialize the product independently.

We expect to seek one or more strategic partners for commercialization of our product candidates outside the United States. As a result of entering into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, our product revenues or the profitability of these product revenues may be lower, perhaps substantially lower, than if we were to directly market and sell products in those markets. Furthermore, we may be unsuccessful in entering into the necessary arrangements with third parties or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, we may have little or no control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our products effectively.

If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.

We face substantial competition from other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and our operating results may suffer if we fail to compete effectively.

The development and commercialization of new drug products is highly competitive. We expect that we will face significant competition from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide with respect to REM-001 and any other product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future. Specifically, due to the large unmet medical need, global demographics and relatively attractive reimbursement dynamics, the oncology market is fiercely competitive and there are a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell products or are pursuing the development of product candidates for the treatment of cancer. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing technologies and drug products that are more effective, have fewer or more tolerable side effects or are less costly than any product candidates that we are currently developing or that we may develop, which could render our product candidates obsolete and noncompetitive. All of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies and many of the mid-size pharmaceutical companies have a strong research and development and commercial presence in oncology. Several companies are marketing and developing oncology immunotherapy products.

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 marketing approval for their products before we are able to obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

Many of our existing and potential future competitors have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical studies, obtaining marketing approvals and marketing approved products than our does. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller or early stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. 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.

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If we are unable to obtain, or are delayed in obtaining, state regulatory licenses for the distribution of our products, we would not be able to sell our product candidates.

The majority of states require manufacturer and/or wholesaler licenses for the sale and distribution of drugs into that state. The application process is complicated, time consuming and requires dedicated personnel or a third-party to oversee and manage. If we are delayed in obtaining these state licenses, or denied the licenses, even with FDA approval, we would not be able to sell or ship product into that state which would adversely affect our sales and revenues.

We rely on key personnel and members of management and, if we are unable to retain or motivate key personnel or management, or hire qualified personnel, we may not be able to grow effectively.

We are dependent on certain members of our management, scientific and drug development staff and consultants, the loss of services of one or more of whom could materially adversely affect us.

We currently have one full-time employee, and retain the services of approximately 10 persons on an independent contractor/consultant and contract-employment basis. Our ability to manage growth effectively will require us to continue to implement and improve our management systems and to recruit and train new employees. Although we have done so in the past and expect to do so in the future, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel.

Our success depends in large part upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. We compete in our hiring efforts with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as universities and nonprofit research organizations, and we may have to pay higher salaries to attract and retain personnel, which would be very costly.

We may be subject to foreign exchange fluctuation.

Our functional and reporting currency is the United States dollar. We maintain bank accounts in United States and Canadian dollars. A portion of our expenditures are in foreign currencies, most notably in Canadian dollars and Euros, and therefore we are subject to foreign currency fluctuations, which may, from time to time, impact our financial position and results. We may enter into hedging arrangements under specific circumstances, typically through the use of forward or futures currency contracts, to minimize the impact of increases in the value of the Canadian dollar. In order to minimize our exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations we may hold sufficient Canadian dollars to cover our expected Canadian dollar expenditures.

Product liability lawsuits against us could divert our resources, cause us to incur substantial liabilities and limit commercialization of any products that we may develop.

We face an inherent risk of product liability claims as a result of the clinical testing of our product candidates despite obtaining appropriate informed consents from our clinical study participants. We will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell any product that we may develop. For example, we may be sued if any product we develop allegedly causes injury or is found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

decreased demand for our product candidates or products that we may develop;
injury to our reputation and significant negative media attention;
withdrawal of clinical study participants;
significant costs to defend resulting litigation;
substantial monetary awards to study participants or patients;
loss of revenue;
reduced resources of our management to pursue our business strategy; and
the inability to commercialize any products that we may develop.

Although we maintain general liability insurance, this insurance may not fully cover potential liabilities that we may incur. The cost of any product liability litigation or other proceeding, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. We will need to increase

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our insurance coverage if and when we begin selling any product candidate that receives marketing approval. In addition, insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive. If we are unable to obtain or maintain sufficient insurance coverage at an acceptable cost or to otherwise protect against potential product liability claims, it could prevent or inhibit the development and commercial production and sale of our product candidates, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties

We rely on third parties to conduct clinical studies for our product candidate. Any failure by a third-party to meet our obligations with respect to the clinical development of our product candidate may delay or impair our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidate.

We rely on academic institutions and private oncology centers to conduct our clinical studies. Our reliance on third parties to conduct clinical studies could, depending on the actions of such third parties, jeopardize the validity of the clinical data generated and adversely affect our ability to obtain marketing approval from the FDA or other applicable regulatory authorities.

Such clinical study arrangements provide us with information rights with respect to the clinical data, including access to and the ability to use and reference the data, including for our own regulatory filings, resulting from the clinical studies. If investigators or institutions breach their obligations with respect to the clinical studies of our product candidate, or if the data proves to be inadequate, then our ability to design and conduct any future clinical studies may be adversely affected.

We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct our clinical studies, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such studies.

We currently rely on third-party clinical research organizations, or CROs, to conduct our clinical studies. We expect to continue to rely on third parties, such as CROs, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators, to conduct our clinical studies. Our agreements with these third parties generally allow the third-party to terminate the agreement at any time. If we are required to enter into alternative arrangements because of any such termination the introduction of our product candidates to market could be delayed.

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 responsibilities. For example, we design our clinical studies and will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical studies are conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the study. Moreover, the FDA requires us to comply with standards, commonly referred to as good clinical practices, or GCPs, for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical studies to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of study participants are protected. Our reliance on third parties that we do not control does not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. We also are required to register ongoing clinical studies and post the results of completed clinical studies on a government-sponsored database, Clinicaltrials.gov, within specified timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions.

Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical studies in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, we will not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, marketing approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates.

We also expect to rely on other third parties to store and distribute drug supplies for our clinical studies. Any performance failure on the part of our distributors could delay clinical development or marketing approval of our product candidate or commercialization of our products, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.

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We may seek to enter into collaborations with third parties for the development and commercialization of our product candidates. If we fail to enter into such collaborations, or such collaborations are not successful, we may not be able to capitalize on the market potential of our product candidates.

We may seek third-party collaborators for development and commercialization of our product candidates. Our likely collaborators for any marketing, distribution, development, licensing or broader collaboration arrangements include large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, regional and national pharmaceutical companies, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and biotechnology companies. We are currently party to a limited number of such arrangements and have limited control over the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators dedicate to the development or commercialization of our product candidate. Our ability to generate revenues from these arrangements will depend on our collaborators’ abilities to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in these arrangements.

Collaborations involving our product candidates currently pose, and will continue to pose, the following risks to us:

collaborators have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations;
collaborators may not pursue development and commercialization of our product candidate or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on preclinical or clinical study results, changes in the collaborators’ strategic focus or available funding, or external factors such as an acquisition that diverts resources or creates competing priorities;
collaborators may delay clinical studies, provide insufficient funding for a clinical study program, stop a clinical study or abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical studies or require a new formulation of a product candidate for clinical testing;
collaborators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our product candidate if the collaborators believe that competitive products are more likely to be successfully developed or can be commercialized under terms that are more economically attractive than ours;
collaborators with marketing and distribution rights to one or more products may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product or products;
collaborators may not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation;
collaborators may infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, which may expose us to litigation and potential liability;
disputes may arise between the collaborators and us that result in the delay or termination of the research, development or commercialization of our product candidate or that result in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management attention and resources; and
collaborations may be terminated and, if terminated, may result in a need for additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates.

Collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of our product candidates in the most efficient manner or at all. If a collaborator of ours were to be involved in a business combination, the continued pursuit and emphasis on our product development or commercialization program could be delayed, diminished or terminated.

If we are not able to establish collaborations, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans.

Our drug development programs and the potential commercialization of our product candidates will require substantial additional cash to fund expenses. We may decide to collaborate with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for the development and potential commercialization of our product candidates.

We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those factors may include the design or results of preclinical studies or clinical studies, the likelihood of approval by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the subject product candidate, the costs and complexities of manufacturing and delivering such product candidate to patients, the potential of competing products, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge and

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industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also consider alternative product candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such a collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us for our product candidate. We may also be restricted under future license agreements from entering into agreements on certain terms with potential collaborators. Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators.

We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail the development of our product candidates, reduce or delay our development program, delay our potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop our product candidate or bring it to market and generate product revenue.

 

We currently manufacture our clinical supplies at a single location. Any disruption at this facility could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We have engaged a single manufacturer to produce REM-001 GMP pharmaceutical ingredient and a single manufacturer to produce drug product for our planned clinical studies. If our manufacturer’s facility were damaged or destroyed, or otherwise subject to disruption, it would require substantial lead-time to replace our clinical supply. In such event, we would be forced to rely entirely on other third-party contract manufacturers for an indefinite period of time. We do not currently have established relationships with any back-up manufacturers. At this time no drug product has been manufactured by a third-party back-up manufacturer. Any disruptions or delays by our third-party manufacturers or their failure to meet regulatory compliance could impair our ability to develop REM-001, which would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We rely on these third-party manufacturers to provide drug product supply for all of our planned clinical studies for REM-001. There is no assurance that such suppliers will be able to meet our needs from a technical, timing, or cost-effective manner. Our failure to execute appropriate agreements with such a third-party manufacturer would delay, or halt, our clinical studies.

We do not have a clinical supply of light delivery devices for use with REM-001 Therapy. Moreover, we do not have our own manufacturing facilities nor have we contracted a third-party to manufacture these devices for us. If a third-party manufacturer fails to meet applicable regulatory requirements or to supply us for any reason, we will be unable to complete clinical studies for REM-001 Therapy and our business will be materially impaired.

We do not have a clinical supply of REM-001 Therapy light delivery devices. Our plan calls for the use of a third-party manufacturer to produce these devices for us. The failure of a third-party manufacturer to supply such devices in a timely and cost-effective manner will delay the commencement of our clinical studies and may also impact the timing for the submission of our NDA for REM-001 Therapy.

We are planning to use laser light devices that the FDA finds to be functionally equivalent to the Miravant devices in our planned clinical studies. We do not have our own manufacturing facilities for conducting these activities nor have we contracted a third-party to manufacture these devices for us. If we are unable to contract a third-party manufacturer, or if a third-party manufacturer fails to meet applicable regulatory requirements or to supply it for any reason, we will be unable to complete clinical studies for REM-001 Therapy and our business will be materially impaired.

Our plan relies on using laser light devices that the FDA finds to be functionally equivalent to the Miravant devices. Our plan calls for the use of a third-party manufacturer to produce new laser devices for us. The failure of a third-party manufacturer to supply such devices in a timely and cost-effective manner will delay the commencement of our clinical studies and may also impact the timing for the submission of our NDA for REM-001 Therapy.

We may become subject to liabilities related to risks inherent in working with hazardous materials.

Our discovery and development processes involve the controlled use of hazardous and radioactive materials. We are subject to federal, provincial and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of such materials and certain waste products. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of such materials comply with the standards prescribed by such laws and regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be completely eliminated. In the event of such an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that result and any such liability could exceed our resources. We are not specifically insured with respect to this liability. Although we believe that we are in

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compliance in all material respects with applicable environmental laws and regulations and currently do not expect to make material capital expenditures for environmental control facilities in the near-term, there can be no assurance that we will not be required to incur significant costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations in the future, or that our operations, business or assets will not be materially adversely affected by current or future environmental laws or regulations.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

The market price of our common stock is, and is likely to continue to be, highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations.

The market price of our common stock is highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a number of factors that are beyond our control, including:

variations in our quarterly operating results;
announcements that our revenue or income are below analysts’ expectations;
general economic slowdowns;
sales of large blocks of our common stock; and
announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments.

 

Because we became public by means of a reverse acquisition, we may not be able to attract, or maintain, the attention of brokerage firms.

Because we became public through a “reverse acquisition”, securities analysts of brokerage firms may not provide or continue to provide coverage of us since there is little incentive to brokerage firms to recommend the purchase of our common stock. No assurance can be given that brokerage firms will want to conduct any follow-on offerings on our behalf in the future.

 

Our Articles of Incorporation, as amended, allow for our board of directors to create new series of preferred stock without further approval by our stockholders, which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock.

Our board of directors has the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. Our board of directors has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of our preferred stock without further stockholder approval. As a result, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of additional series of preferred stock that would grant to holders the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of common stock and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our common stock. In addition, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our common stock, or that is convertible into our common stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common stock or result in dilution to our existing stockholders. Although we have no present intention to issue any additional shares of preferred stock or to create any additional series of preferred stock, we may issue such shares in the future.

Issuance of our common stock upon exercise of warrants or options may depress the price of our common stock.

As of October 7, 2024, we had 55,661 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, outstanding warrants to purchase 611 shares of common stock, outstanding stock options to purchase 222 shares of common stock, and outstanding restricted stock units to purchase 4 shares of common stock. All common stock warrants, stock options, and restricted stock units are convertible, or exercisable into, one share of common stock.

The issuance of shares of our common stock upon the exercise of outstanding warrants or options could result in substantial dilution to our stockholders, which may have a negative effect on the price of our common stock.

We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.

We have paid no cash dividends on our common stock to date and we do not anticipate paying any dividends to holders of our common stock in the foreseeable future. While our future dividend policy will be based on the operating results and capital needs of the business, we currently anticipate that any earnings will be retained to finance our future expansion and for the implementation of our business plan. Investors should take note of the fact that a lack of a dividend can further affect the market value of our common stock, and could significantly affect the value of any investment in us.

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Risks Related to the Merger

The Exchange Ratio will not be adjusted in the event of any change in our stock price.

Except for adjustments based on the number of outstanding securities of Kintara and TuHURA immediately prior to Closing and as a result of the reverse stock split described herein, the Exchange Ratio (as defined in the Merger Agreement) is fixed. This means that the Exchange Ratio is not expected to change materially. Upon completion of the Merger, each issued and outstanding share of TuHURA common stock (other than treasury shares held by TuHURA and dissenting shares) will be converted into the right to receive approximately 1,386,777,532 shares of our common stock and each TuHURA Warrant will be converted into a warrant exercisable for that number of shares of our common stock equal to the product of (i) the aggregate number of shares of TuHURA common stock for which such warrant was exercisable and (ii) the Exchange Ratio. Therefore, the value of the shares to be issued in connection with the Merger will depend on the market price of our common stock at the Closing.

Changes in the market price of our common stock may result from a variety of factors that are beyond our control, including changes in our businesses, operations and prospects, regulatory considerations, governmental actions, and legal proceedings and developments.

Failure to complete the Merger could negatively impact our stock price, future business and financial results.

Our obligation to complete the Merger is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of a number of conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement. There can be no assurance that the conditions to completion of the Merger will be satisfied or waived or that the Merger will be completed. If the Merger is not completed for any reason, our ongoing businesses may be materially and adversely affected and, without realizing any of the benefits of having completed the Merger, we would be subject to a number of risks, including the following:

 

we may experience negative reactions from the financial markets, including negative impacts on the trading price of our common stock, which could affect our ability to secure sufficient financing in the future on attractive terms (or at all) as a standalone company, and from our customers, vendors, regulators and employees;
we may be required to pay TuHURA a termination fee of $1,000 if we fail to consummate the Merger under specified circumstances;
we will be required to pay certain expenses incurred in connection with the Merger, whether or not the Merger is completed;
the Merger Agreement places certain restrictions on the operation of each of our business prior to the Closing, and such restrictions, the waiver of which is subject to the consent of TuHURA, may prevent us from making certain acquisitions, taking certain other specified actions or otherwise pursuing business opportunities during the pendency of the Merger that we would have made, taken or pursued if these restrictions were not in place; and
matters relating to the Merger (including integration planning) will require substantial commitments of time and resources by our management and the expenditure of significant funds in the form of fees and expenses, which would otherwise have been devoted to day-to-day operations and other opportunities that may have been beneficial to us as an independent company.

In addition, we could be subject to litigation related to any failure to complete the Merger or related to any proceeding to specifically enforce our obligations under the Merger Agreement.

If any of these risks materialize, they may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, financial results and stock prices.

We may not realize the anticipated benefits and cost savings of the Merger.

While we will continue to operate independently until the completion of the Merger, the success of the Merger will depend, in part, on our ability to realize the anticipated benefits and cost savings from combining our and TuHURA’s businesses. Our ability to realize these anticipated benefits and cost savings is subject to certain risks, including, among others:

our ability to successfully combine our business with TuHURA’s;
the risk that the combined businesses will not perform as expected;
the extent to which the parties will be able to realize the expected synergies, which include realizing potential savings from re-assessing priority assets and aligning investments, eliminating duplication and redundancy, adopting an optimized

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operating model between both companies and leveraging scale, and creating value resulting from the combination of our and TuHURA’s businesses;
the possibility that the aggregate consideration being paid for TuHURA is greater than the value we will derive from the Merger;
the possibility that the combined company will not achieve the free cash flow that the parties have projected;
the reduction of cash available for operations and other uses;
the assumption of known and unknown liabilities of TuHURA; and
the possibility of costly litigation challenging the Merger.

If we are not able to successfully integrate our business with TuHURA’s within the anticipated time frame, or at all, the anticipated cost savings, synergies operational efficiencies and other benefits of the Merger may not be realized fully or may take longer to realize than expected, and the combined company may not perform as expected.

Integrating our and TuHURA’s businesses may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected.

We and TuHURA have operated and, until completion of the Merger will continue to operate, independently, and there can be no assurances that our business can be integrated successfully with TuHURA’s business. It is possible that the integration process could result in the loss of key employees, the disruption of our ongoing businesses or unexpected integration issues, such as higher than expected integration costs and an overall post-completion integration process that takes longer than originally anticipated. Specifically, issues that must be addressed in integrating our operations with TuHURA's in order to realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger so the combined business performs as expected include, among others:

combining the companies’ separate operational, financial, reporting and corporate functions;
integrating the companies’ technologies, products and services;
identifying and eliminating redundant and underperforming operations and assets;
harmonizing the companies’ operating practices, employee development, compensation and benefit programs, internal controls and other policies, procedures and processes;
addressing possible differences in corporate cultures and management philosophies;
maintaining employee morale and retaining key management and other employees;
attracting and recruiting prospective employees;
consolidating the companies’ corporate, administrative and information technology infrastructure;
coordinating sales, distribution and marketing efforts;
managing the movement of certain businesses and positions to different locations;
maintaining existing agreements with customers and vendors and avoiding delays in entering into new agreements with prospective customers and vendors;
coordinating geographically dispersed organizations; and
effecting potential actions that may be required in connection with obtaining regulatory approvals.

In addition, at times, the attention of certain members of our management and our resources may be focused on completion of the Merger and the integration of the businesses of the two companies and diverted from day-to-day business operations, which may disrupt our ongoing business and, consequently, the business of the combined company.

We will be subject to business uncertainties and contractual restrictions while the Merger is pending.

Uncertainty about the effect of the Merger on employees, vendors and customers may have an adverse effect on us and consequently on the combined company after the Closing. These uncertainties may impair our ability to retain and motivate key personnel and could cause customers and others that deal with us to defer or decline entering into contracts with us or making other decisions concerning our company or seek to change existing business relationships with us. In addition, if key employees depart because of uncertainty about their future roles and the potential complexities of the Merger, our businesses could be harmed. Furthermore, the Merger Agreement places certain restrictions on the operation of our business prior to the Closing, which may delay or prevent us from undertaking certain actions or business opportunities that may arise prior to the consummation of the Merger.

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Third parties may terminate or alter existing contracts or relationships with Kintara.

We have contracts with customers, vendors and other business partners which may require us to obtain consents from these other parties in connection with the Merger. If these consents cannot be obtained, the counterparties to these contracts and other third parties with which we currently have relationships may have the ability to terminate, reduce the scope of or otherwise materially adversely alter their relationships with us in anticipation of the Merger, or with the combined company following the Merger. The pursuit of such rights may result in us suffering a loss of potential future revenue, incurring liabilities in connection with a breach of such agreements or losing rights that are material to their businesses. Any such disruptions could limit the combined company’s ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of the Merger. The adverse effect of such disruptions could also be exacerbated by a delay in the completion of the Merger or the termination of the Merger.

The Merger is subject to a number of closing conditions and, if these conditions are not satisfied, the Merger Agreement may be terminated in accordance with its terms and the Merger may not be completed. In addition, the parties have the right to terminate the Merger Agreement under other specified circumstances, in which case the Merger would not be completed.

The Merger is subject to a number of closing conditions and, if these conditions are not satisfied or waived (to the extent permitted by law), the Merger will not be completed.

These conditions include, among others: (i) the absence of certain legal impediments, (ii) obtaining all governmental authorizations, (iii) obtaining the Kintara stockholder approvals required for the consummation of the Merger (the “Kintara Stockholder Approval”), (iv) the approval of the Merger Agreement and the Merger by TuHURA stockholders and (v) the approval of the Nasdaq listing application and the listing of the Merger Shares on Nasdaq. In addition, each party’s obligation to complete the Merger is subject to the accuracy of the other parties’ representations and warranties in the Merger Agreement, the other parties’ compliance, in all material respects, with their respective covenants and agreements in the Merger Agreement. The Kintara Stockholder Approval was obtained on October 4, 2024 at the Special Meeting.

The remaining conditions to the Closing may not be fulfilled and, accordingly, the Merger may not be completed. In addition, if the Merger is not completed by November 1, 2024, any party may choose not to proceed with the Merger. Moreover, the parties can mutually decide to terminate the Merger Agreement at any time prior to the consummation of the Merger, before or after receipt of the Kintara Stockholder Approval and the approval of the Merger Agreement and the Merger by TuHURA stockholders and each party may elect to terminate the Merger Agreement in certain other circumstances. If the Merger Agreement is terminated, we may incur substantial fees and expenses in connection with termination of such Agreement and we will not realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger. In addition, if the Merger is not completed, we may not have sufficient capital to continue to operate its business in the long term and may become insolvent and be required to seek the protection of the bankruptcy courts and, without additional funding or a strategic transaction, we would likely be delisted from Nasdaq.

We may waive one or more of the closing conditions to the Merger without re-soliciting stockholder approval.

We have the right to waive certain of the closing conditions to the Merger. Any such waiver may not require re-solicitation of stockholders, in which case our stockholders will not have the chance to change their votes as a result of any such waiver and we will have the ability to complete the Merger without seeking further stockholder approval. Any determination whether to waive any condition to the Merger, whether stockholder approval would be re-solicited as a result of any such waiver or whether the proxy statement/prospectus would be amended as a result of any waiver will be made us at the time of such waiver based on the facts and circumstances as they exist at that time, and any such waiver could have an adverse effect on the combined company.

Our stockholders will have a reduced ownership and voting interest after the Merger and will exercise less influence over management.

Following completion of the Merger, equityholders of TuHURA would own approximately 97.15% of the combined company on an “as converted” to our common stock basis (or 94.55% of the combined company after giving effect to the issuance of 53,897,125 shares of our common stock in connection with the Contingent Value Rights Agreement (as such term is defined in the Merger Agreement) (such shares, the “CVR Shares”)) and our existing equityholders would own approximately 2.85% of the combined company on an “as converted” to our common stock basis or (5.45% of the combined company after giving effect to the issuance of the CVR Shares). Consequently, our stockholders, as a group, will have reduced ownership and voting power in the combined company compared to their current ownership and voting power. In particular, upon consummation of the Merger, our stockholders, as a group, will have less than a majority of the ownership and voting power of Kintara. In addition, our stockholders, as a group, will be able to exercise less collective influence over the management and policies of Kintara than they currently exercise over the management and policies of Kintara.

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The Merger Agreement limits our ability to pursue alternatives to the Merger.

The Merger Agreement contains provisions that make it more difficult for us to enter into alternative transactions. The Merger Agreement contains certain provisions that restrict our ability to solicit or facilitate proposals from third parties with respect to transactions involving the financing or sale of Kintara, or provide non-public information to, or otherwise participate or engage in discussions or negotiations with, third parties or take certain other actions that would reasonably be expected to lead to a third-party acquisition proposal. Further, there are only limited exceptions to the Merger Agreement provision requiring that our board of directors will not change its recommendation in favor of the adoption of the Merger Agreement. However, at any time prior to the receipt of the approval by our stockholders, in response to an unsolicited superior proposal made by a third party, our board of directors may make an adverse recommendation change, and terminate the Merger Agreement to enter into an alternative acquisition agreement, if our board of directors concludes in good faith, after consultation with their respective outside financial advisors and outside legal counsel, that the failure to take such action would be inconsistent with the fiduciary duties of our board of directors under the circumstances and under applicable law.

As described above, we may be required to pay a termination fee of $1,000,000 to TuHURA if the Merger is not consummated under specified circumstances. Upon obtaining approval by our stockholders, our right to terminate the Merger Agreement in response to a superior proposal will cease.

While we believe these provisions are reasonable, customary and not preclusive of other offers, the provisions might discourage a third party that has an interest in acquiring all or a significant part of Kintara from considering or proposing such an acquisition, even if we were prepared to pay consideration with a higher per-share value than the currently proposed merger consideration or if we were prepared to enter into an agreement that may be more favorable to us or our stockholders.

The TuHURA forecasts considered by us and Lucid Capital Markets, LLC (“Lucid”), our advisor for purposes of rendering a fairness opinion in connection with the Merger, may not be realized, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock following the completion of the Merger.

In performing its financial analyses and rendering its opinion related to the Merger, Lucid relied on, among other things, certain information, including the TuHURA forecasts. The TuHURA forecasts were prepared by, or at the direction of, the management of Kintara. None of these projections or forecasts were prepared with a view towards public disclosure or compliance with the published guidelines of the SEC, U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) or the guidelines established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for preparation and presentation of financial forecasts. These projections and forecasts are inherently based on various estimates and assumptions that are subject to the judgment of those preparing them. These projections and forecasts are also subject to significant economic, competitive, industry and other uncertainties and contingencies, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Kintara. There can be no assurance that TuHURA’s financial condition, including its cash flows or results of operations will be consistent with those set forth in such projections and forecasts, which could have an adverse impact on the market price of our common stock or our financial position following the Merger.

Our executive officer and directors may have interests in the Merger that are different from, or in addition to, the rights of their respective stockholders.

Our executive officer negotiated the terms of the Merger Agreement, and our board of directors approved the Merger Agreement and the Merger and recommend that each stockholder vote in favor of the proposals at the Special Meeting. Our executive officer and directors may have interests in the Merger that are different from, or in addition to, our stockholders. These interests include the continued service of certain of our directors following the Merger, the indemnification of our executive officer and directors by Kintara.

We, and subsequently, the combined company, may have difficulty attracting, motivating and retaining executives and other key employees in light of the proposed Merger.

The combined company’s success after the Merger will depend in part on our ability to retain key executives and other employees. If any of our key employees depart or are at risk of departing, including because of issues relating to the uncertainty and difficulty of integration, financial security or a desire not to become employees of the combined business, we may have to incur significant costs in retaining such individuals or in identifying, hiring and retaining replacements for departing employees and may lose significant expertise and talent, and the combined company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger may be materially and adversely affected. No assurance can be given that the combined company will be able to attract or retain key employees to the same extent that we have been able to attract or retain employees in the past.

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We will incur significant transaction and Merger-related transition costs in connection with the Merger.

We expect that we will incur significant, non-recurring costs in connection with consummating the Merger and integrating the operations of the two companies post-closing. We may incur additional costs to retain key employees. We will also incur significant fees and expenses relating to financing arrangements and legal services (including any costs that would be incurred in defending against any potential class action lawsuits and derivative lawsuits in connection with the Merger if any such proceedings are brought), accounting and other fees and costs, associated with consummating the Merger. Some of these costs are payable regardless of whether the Merger is completed. In addition, we may be required to pay a termination fee of $1,000,000 if the Merger Agreement is terminated under specified circumstances. Though we continue to assess the magnitude of these costs, additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the Merger and the integration of our business with TuHURA’s business.

We may be the target of securities class action and stockholder lawsuits which could result in substantial costs and may delay or prevent the Merger from being completed.

Securities class action lawsuits and stockholder lawsuits are often brought against public companies that have entered into merger agreements. Even if the lawsuits are without merit, defending against these claims can result in substantial costs and divert management time and resources. An adverse judgment could result in monetary damages, which could have a negative impact on our liquidity and financial condition. Additionally, if a plaintiff is successful in obtaining an injunction prohibiting completion of the Merger, then that injunction may delay or prevent the Merger from being completed, which may adversely affect our, or, if the Merger is completed but delayed, the combined company’s business, financial position and results of operations. As of the date of this Annual Report, no such lawsuits have been filed in connection with the Merger and we cannot predict whether any will be filed.

The lack of a public market for TuHURA shares makes it difficult to determine the fair market value of the TuHURA shares, and we may pay more than the fair market value of the TuHURA shares.

TuHURA is privately held and its capital stock is not traded in any public market. The lack of a public market makes it extremely difficult to determine TuHURA’s fair market value. Because the percentage of our equity to be issued to TuHURA stockholders was determined based on negotiations between the parties, it is possible that we may pay more than the aggregate fair market value for TuHURA in connection with the Merger.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 under Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions and future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control, and which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements through our use of words such as “may,” “can,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “should,” “indicate,” “would,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “expect,” “seek,” “estimate,” “continue,” “plan,” “point to,” “project,” “predict,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “potential” and other similar words and expressions of the future.

There are a number of important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by us. These factors include, but are not limited to:

our ability to raise funds for general corporate purposes and operations, including our research activities and clinical studies;
our ability to complete the Merger with TuHURA and realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger;

 

our ability to recruit qualified management and technical personnel;

 

the cost, timing, scope and results of our clinical studies;

 

our ability to expand our international business;

 

our ability to obtain and maintain required regulatory approvals for our products;

 

our expectations regarding the use of our existing cash;

 

our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from the acquisition of Adgero;

 

our ability to obtain or maintain patents or other appropriate protection for the intellectual property utilized in our current and planned products;

 

our ability to develop and commercialize products without infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties; and

 

the other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Annual Report.

 

The foregoing does not represent an exhaustive list of matters that may be covered by the forward-looking statements contained herein or risk factors that we are faced with that may cause our actual results to differ from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Please see “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K under Part I, Item 1A, for additional risks which could adversely impact our business and financial performance.

 

All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report or the date of the document incorporated by reference into this report. We have no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update, revise or correct any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. We have expressed our expectations, beliefs and projections in good faith and we believe they have a reasonable basis. However, we cannot assure you that our expectations, beliefs or projections will result or be achieved or accomplished.

 

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

Not required for a smaller reporting company.

 

Item 1C. Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Risk Management

 

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Like many companies, we face significant and persistent cybersecurity risks. The small size of our organization and limited resources could exacerbate these risks. Our business strategy, results of operations, and financial condition have not, to date, been affected by risks from cybersecurity threats. During the reporting period, we have not experienced any material cyber incidents, nor have we experienced a series of immaterial incidents, which would require disclosure.

In the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store sensitive data, including intellectual property. To effectively prevent, detect, and respond to cybersecurity threats, we maintain a cyber risk management strategy, which is comprised of a wide array of policies, standards, architecture, processes, and governance. Under the guidance and supervision of our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), we further limit risk by delegating our information technology and cybersecurity to a leading third-party IT consultant to safeguard our networks. Additionally, as an added layer of security, all of our data is stored on the cloud.

Despite being a small organization, we are committed to maintaining governance and oversight of these risks and to implementing standard operating procedures (“SOPs”) and training to help us assess, identify, monitor and respond to these risks. Employees are trained to avoid phishing emails, and our internal controls system is designed to mitigate the risk of payments of fraudulent invoices.

Governance

We aim to incorporate industry best practices for companies of our size and financial strength throughout our cybersecurity program. Our board of directors has ultimate oversight of cybersecurity risk. The Chief Executive Officer reports to our board of directors. Our Chief Executive Officer provides periodic updates to the board of directors on (1) any critical cybersecurity risks; (2) ongoing cybersecurity initiatives and strategies; (3) applicable regulatory requirements; and (4) industry standards. The Chief Executive Officer also notifies the board of directors of any cybersecurity incidents (suspected or actual) and provides updates on the incidents as well as cybersecurity risk mitigation activities as appropriate.

Item 2. Properties.

Our corporate headquarters are currently located at 9920 Pacific Heights Blvd, Suite 150, San Diego CA, 92121. The current rent at that location under a one-year renewable lease is $2.4 thousand per year. Until January 2024, we also maintained administrative offices located at Suite 720-999 West Broadway, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on a month-to-month basis at a rate of $1.9 thousand (CA$2.5 thousand) per month. During the year ended June 30, 2024, we recorded a total of $14 thousand as rent expense (2023 - $39 thousand).

There are no legal proceedings to which we are a party or any of our property is the subject.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not applicable.

45


 

PART II

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

Since August 20, 2020, our common stock has been listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “KTRA”. From July 12, 2016, until August 19, 2020, our common stock was listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “DMPI”. Previously, our common stock was quoted on the OTCQX, and prior to that, on the OTCQB.

As of October 7, 2024, there were approximately 442 holders of record of our common stock.

Dividends

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business. As a result, we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

None.

Item 6. [Reserved]

 

46


 

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION

AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

This Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) contains “forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which represent our projections, estimates, expectations, or beliefs concerning, among other things, financial items that relate to management’s future plans or objectives or to our future economic and financial performance, all of which are based on our current expectations not taking the Merger into account and will be affected by the Merger if it is consummated and by uncertainties and risks described throughout this filing, particularly in “Risk Factors.”. In some cases, you can identify these statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “plans,” “believe,” “will,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” or “intend,” including their opposites or similar phrases or expressions. You should be aware that these statements are projections or estimates as to future events and are subject to a number of factors that may tend to influence the accuracy of the statements. These forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that our events or plans will be achieved. In particular, our future business focus and operations will be substantially different than our historical business focus and operations if the Merger is consummated. You should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report. Except as may be required under applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

You should review the factors and risks we describe under “Risk Factors” in this report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2024, and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov. Actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statement.

Corporate History

We are a Nevada corporation formed on June 24, 2009, under the name Berry Only, Inc. On January 25, 2013, we entered into and closed the Exchange Agreement with Del Mar (BC), Callco, Exchangeco and the security holders of Del Mar (BC). Upon completion of the Exchange Agreement, Del Mar (BC) became our wholly-owned subsidiary of ours (the “Reverse Acquisition”). We are also the parent company of Kayak Mergeco, our wholly owned subsidiary incorporated in the State of Delaware formed to facilitate the Merger with TuHURA. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations and liquidity and capital resources does not reflect material changes to our business, assets, liabilities, financial condition, operations, management, liquidity, capital resources, and prospects that will occur if the Merger is consummated.

On August 19, 2020, we merged with Adgero and changed our name from DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. We are the parent company to the following entities:

Del Mar (BC), a British Columbia, Canada corporation incorporated on April 6, 2010, which is a clinical stage company with a focus on the development of drugs for the treatment of cancer;
Adgero, a Delaware corporation incorporated on October 26, 2015, which is a clinical-stage company with a focus on the development of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of rare, unmet medical needs, specifically orphan cancer indications;
Adgero Bio, a Delaware corporation incorporated on November 16, 2007;
Callco and Exchangeco are British Columbia, Canada corporations. Callco and Exchangeco were formed to facilitate the Reverse Acquisition; and
Kayak Mergeco, a Delaware corporation incorporated on April 1, 2024.

Outstanding Securities

On November 10, 2022, we filed a Certificate of Change to our Articles of Incorporation, as amended, in order to effectuate a 1:50 reverse stock split (the “Reverse Stock Split”) of our issued and outstanding common stock as well as its authorized shares of common stock. As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, every 50 shares of issued and outstanding common stock were converted into one share of common stock with a proportionate reduction in our authorized shares of common stock. Any fractional shares of common stock resulting from the Reverse Stock Split were rounded up to the nearest whole post-Reverse Stock Split share. The Reverse Stock Split did not change the par value of our common stock. All outstanding securities entitling their holders to acquire

47


 

shares of common stock were adjusted as a result of the Reverse Stock Split. All common share and per share data are retrospectively restated to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split for all periods presented herein.

As of October 7, 2024, we had 55,661 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, outstanding warrants to purchase 611 shares of common stock, outstanding stock options to purchase 222 shares of common stock, and outstanding restricted stock units to purchase 4 shares of common stock. All common stock warrants, stock options, and restricted stock units are convertible, or exercisable into, one share of common stock.

On June 30, 2023, we amended our Articles of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock from 5,500 to 75,000 shares.

On July 12, 2024, we filed Certificates of Withdrawal of Designation relating to the Special Voting Preferred Stock and the Series B Preferred Stock with the Secretary of State of Nevada and terminated the designation of its Special Voting Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock. At the time of the filing of the such certificates, no shares of any of the previously designated Special Voting Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock were outstanding.

On August 19, 2024, we issued 59 shares of common stock to the holders of Series C Preferred Stock, representing the 25% dividend payable on the fourth anniversary, and 235 shares of common stock to the holders of the Series C Preferred Stock upon the automatic conversion of the outstanding Series C Preferred Stock. Also on August 19, 2024, warrants to purchase 42 shares of Series C Preferred Stock expired unexercised.

On October 4, 2024, we filed Certificates of Withdrawal of Designation relating to the Series C-1 Preferred Stock, the Series C-2 Preferred Stock and the Series C-3 Preferred Stock (collectively, the “Series C Preferred Stock”) with the Secretary of State of Nevada and terminated the designation of our Series C Preferred Stock on October 7, 2024. At the time of the filing of such certificates, no shares of any of the previously designated Series C Preferred Stock were outstanding.

On October 4, 2024, at the Special Meeting, our stockholders approved a reverse stock split of our common stock, to be effected in the board of directors’ discretion of not less than 1-for-20 and not more than 1-for-40. We intend to effect a reverse stock split at a ratio within the range approved by our stockholders immediately prior to the consummation of the proposed Merger.

Proposed Merger with TuHURA

On October 4, 2024, at the Special Meeting, our stockholders approved the requisite proposals to effect the completion of the proposed Merger with TuHURA. The proposed Merger is expected to be consummated in mid-October 2024, subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions under the Merger Agreement.

Related Parties

We acquired our initial patents and technology rights from Valent, an entity owned by Dr. Dennis Brown, our former Chief Scientific Officer. On February 13, 2024, we sent an Opt-Out Notice to Valent under the Valent Assignment Agreement whereby we assigned all rights, title, and interest in and to the patents for VAL-083 to Valent. As a result, Valent is a related party for the year ended June 30, 2024.

Selected Annual Information

The financial information reported herein has been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Our functional currency at June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2023, is the US dollar and our financial data is expressed in thousands, except par value and per share amounts unless otherwise noted. The following tables represent selected financial information for us for the periods presented.

Selected Balance Sheet data (in thousands)

 

 

 

June 30,
2024

 

 

June 30,
2023

 

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

4,909

 

 

 

1,535

 

Working capital

 

 

3,269

 

 

 

188

 

Total assets

 

 

6,202

 

 

 

3,979

 

Total stockholders’ equity

 

 

3,757

 

 

 

731

 

 

48


 

Selected Statement of Operations data (in thousands, except per share data)

For the years ended

 

 

 

June 30,
2024

 

 

June 30,
2023

 

Expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development

$

 

2,663

 

$

 

9,311

 

General and administrative

 

 

5,788

 

 

 

5,485

 

 

 

(8,451

)

 

 

(14,796

)

Other income

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign exchange

 

 

(8

)

 

 

10

 

Interest, net

 

 

139

 

 

 

137

 

 

 

131

 

 

 

147

 

Net loss for the year

 

 

(8,320

)

 

 

(14,649

)

Series A Preferred cash dividend

 

 

(8

)

 

 

(8

)

Series C Preferred stock dividend

 

 

(173

)

 

 

(362

)

Net loss for the year attributable to common
   stockholders

$

 

(8,501

)

$

 

(15,019

)

Basic and fully diluted weighted average number of shares

 

 

26,352

 

 

 

1,620

 

Basic and fully diluted loss per share

$

 

(0.32

)

$

 

(9.27

)

 

Expenses net of non-cash, share-based compensation expense - non-GAAP

The following table discloses research and development, and general and administrative expenses net of non-cash, share-based compensation payment expense. The disclosure has been provided to reconcile the total operational expenses on a U.S. GAAP basis and the non-GAAP operational expenses net of non-cash, share-based compensation in order to provide an estimate of cash used in research and development, and general and administrative expense. Management uses this estimate of expenses net of non-cash, share-based compensation for forecasting and budget purposes to determine the allocation of resources and to plan for future financing opportunities.

For the years ended (in thousands)

 

 

 

June 30,
2024
$

 

 

June 30,
2023
$

 

Research and development net of non-cash share-based,
   compensation expense - Non-GAAP

 

 

2,438

 

 

 

8,827

 

Add: non-cash share-based compensation expense

 

 

225

 

 

 

484

 

Research and development - GAAP

 

 

2,663

 

 

 

9,311

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General and administrative net of non-cash share-based,
   compensation expense - Non-GAAP

 

 

5,235

 

 

 

4,279

 

Add: non-cash share-based compensation expense

 

 

553

 

 

 

1,206

 

General and administrative - GAAP

 

 

5,788

 

 

 

5,485

 

 

49


 

Comparison of the years ended June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2023

 

 

Years ended

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 30,
2024
$

 

 

June 30,
2023
$

 

 

Change $

 

 

Change %

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

 

 

 

Expenses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development

 

 

2,663

 

 

 

9,311

 

 

 

(6,648

)

 

 

(71

)

General and administrative

 

 

5,788

 

 

 

5,485

 

 

 

303

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

(8,451

)

 

 

(14,796

)

 

 

6,345

 

 

 

 

Other income (loss)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign exchange

 

 

(8

)

 

 

10

 

 

 

(18

)

 

 

(180

)

Interest, net

 

 

139

 

 

 

137

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

131

 

 

 

147

 

 

 

(16

)

 

 

 

Net loss

 

 

(8,320

)

 

 

(14,649

)

 

 

6,329

 

 

 

 

 

Research and Development

Research and development expenses decreased to $2,663 for the year ended June 30, 2024, from $9,311 for the year ended June 30, 2023. The decrease was largely attributable to a $5,701 decrease in clinical development costs, as well as smaller decreases in personnel, intellectual property, database costs, and non-cash, share-based compensation expenses incurred during the year ended June 30, 2024, compared to the year ended June 30, 2023.

Clinical development costs have decreased in the year ended June 30, 2024, compared to the year ended June 30, 2023, primarily due to lower costs recognized for the GBM AGILE Study. Other research and development expenses, including intellectual property costs, database costs, and personnel costs, have decreased in the year ended June 30, 2024, compared to the year ended June 30, 2023, due to an overall reduction of activity resulting from the assignment of VAL-083 and its patents to Valent in the period. Non-cash, share-based compensation expense decreased to $225 for the year ended June 30, 2024, from $484 for the year ended June 30, 2023, due to the higher compensation expense recognized during the year ended June 30, 2023, for stock options granted in September 2022.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses were $5,788 for the year ended June 30, 2024, compared to $5,485 for the year ended June 30, 2023. Professional fees have increased for the year ended June 30, 2024, compared to the year ended June 30, 2023, largely due to costs incurred in relation to the Merger Agreement. This increase is offset by a decrease in lower personnel costs, non-cash, share-based compensation expenses, office and sundry, and travel in the current fiscal year compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year. Personnel costs have decreased in the year ended June 30, 2024, compared to the year ended June 30, 2023, largely due to a reduction in staff. Non-cash, share-based compensation expense decreased to $553 for the year ended June 30, 2024, from $1,206 for the year ended June 30, 2023, due to the recognition of higher compensation expense recognized during the year ended June 30, 2023, for stock options granted in September 2022. Office and sundry was lower during the year ended June 30, 2024, compared to the year ended June 30, 2023, due to reduced insurance costs.

Preferred Stock Dividends

During the year ended June 30, 2024, we issued 49 (2023 – 43) shares of common stock as a stock dividend on the Series C Preferred stock and recognized $173 (2023 - $362) as a direct increase in accumulated deficit.

For each of the years ended June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2023, we recorded $8 related to the dividend payable to Valent on the Series A Preferred Stock. The dividend has been recorded as a direct increase in accumulated deficit for both years.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Comparison of the years ended June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2023

 

 

 

June 30,
2024
$

 

 

June 30,
2023
$

 

 

Change
$

 

 

Change
%

 

Cash flows from operating activities

 

 

(7,176

)

 

 

(11,865

)

 

 

4,689

 

 

 

(40

)

Cash flows from investing activities

 

 

(20

)

 

 

(232

)

 

 

212

 

 

 

(91

)

Cash flows from financing activities

 

 

10,570

 

 

 

1,852

 

 

 

8,718

 

 

 

471

 

 

50


 

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities decreased to $7,176 for the year ended June 30, 2024, from $11,865 for the year ended June 30, 2023. During the year ended June 30, 2024, and 2023, we reported net losses of $8,320 and $14,649, respectively. Changes in adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities for the year ended June 30, 2024, included stock option expense of $607 and restricted stock unit expense of $171 being recognized during the current fiscal year compared to $1,490 and $200, respectively, in the same period in the prior fiscal year. The most significant changes in working capital for the year ended June 30, 2024, were related to a decrease in clinical trial deposits of $870, a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of $577 and a decrease in prepaid expenses of $299. The most significant changes in working capital for the year ended June 30, 2023, were related to an increase in clinical trial deposits of $1,700, a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of $442 and a decrease in related party payables of $423.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $20 for the year ended June 30, 2024, for the purchase of equipment, compared to $232 for the year ended June 30, 2023.

Financing Activities

During the year ended June 30, 2024, we received $10,471 in net proceeds from sales of shares under our ATM Facility (as defined herein) with A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners (“AGP”), $105 in net proceeds from the sale of shares under the stock purchase agreement, dated as of August 2, 2022, (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC (“Lincoln Park”), pursuant to which Lincoln Park committed to purchase up to a maximum of $20,000 of shares of our common stock.

During the year ended June 30, 2023, we received $1,903 in net proceeds from the sale of shares under the Purchase Agreement with Lincoln Park, pursuant to which Lincoln Park committed to purchase up to a maximum of $20,000 of shares of the Company’s common stock.

Going Concern and Capital Expenditure Requirements

Going Concern and Management Plans

(See note 1 to the consolidated financial statements)

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which assumes that we will continue our operations for the foreseeable future and contemplates the realization of assets and the settlement of liabilities in the normal course of business.

For the year ended June 30, 2024, we reported a loss of $8,320 and a negative cash flow from operations of $7,176. We had an accumulated deficit of $159,876 and had cash and cash equivalents of $4,909 as of June 30, 2024. We are in the clinical stage and have not generated any revenues to date. We do not have the prospect of achieving revenues until such time that our product candidates are commercialized, or partnered, which may not ever occur. On August 2, 2022, we entered into the Purchase Agreement under which we received approximately $2,008 in net proceeds as of June 30, 2024, for the issuance of an aggregate of 662 shares of common stock under the Purchase Agreement. On October 9, 2023, we received stockholder approval to issue 20% or more of our outstanding shares as of the date we entered into the Purchase Agreement with Lincoln Park. On February 22, 2024, we determined that we have concluded utilization of the equity facility pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement. In addition, on June 28, 2023, we announced that we had been awarded approximately $2,000 in grant funding for our REM-001 project.

On September 19, 2023, we entered into a Sales Agreement, (the “Sales Agreement”) with AGP pursuant to which we may offer and sell, from time to time, through AGP, as sales agent and/or principal, shares of common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $10,900 (the “ATM Facility”). From October 31, 2023, until June 30, 2024, we raised $10,471 in net proceeds from the sale of 53,151 shares of our common stock under the ATM Facility. On February 22, 2024, we determined that we have concluded utilization of the ATM facility.

Even with the proceeds from the grant funding, the stock purchase financing, and the ATM sales, we will require significant additional funding to maintain our clinical trials, research and development projects, and for general operations. These circumstances indicate substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the date of filing of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Consequently, management is pursuing various financing alternatives to fund our operations in the short and long term so we can continue as a going concern. In addition, we initiated a process to explore and review a range of strategic alternatives focused on maximizing shareholder value, and as a result, entered into the Merger Agreement for the proposed Merger with TuHURA. If the Merger is not consummated, management intends to seek to secure the necessary financing through potential additional proceeds from grant funding, and the issue of new equity and/or the entering into of strategic partnership arrangements or pursue additional strategic transactions. In addition, if the Merger is not completed, we may not have sufficient capital to continue to operate our business in the

51


 

long term and may become insolvent and be required to seek the protection of the bankruptcy courts and, without additional funding or a strategic transaction, we would likely be delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market. Our ability to raise additional capital is unknown and will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence. We may not be able to raise sufficient additional capital and may tailor our drug candidate development program based on the amount of funding we are able to raise in the future. Nevertheless, there is no assurance that these initiatives will be successful.

The consolidated financial statements do not give effect to any adjustments to the amounts and classification of assets and liabilities that may be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern. Such adjustments could be material.

Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including but not limited to:

the consummation of the Merger, subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions under the Merger Agreement;
the rate of progress and cost of our clinical studies, preclinical studies and other discovery and research and development activities;
the costs associated with establishing manufacturing and commercialization capabilities;
the costs of acquiring or investing in businesses, product candidates and technologies;
the costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights;
the costs and timing of seeking and obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals;
the effect of competing technological and market developments;
the economic and other terms and timing of any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements into which we may enter; and
the impact of us being a public entity.

Until we can generate a sufficient amount of product revenue to finance our cash requirements, which we may never do, we expect to finance future cash needs primarily through public or private equity offerings, or strategic collaborations. The sale of equity and convertible debt securities may result in dilution to our stockholders and certain of those securities may have rights senior to those of our shares of capital stock. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of preferred stock, convertible debt securities or other debt financing, these securities or other debt could contain covenants that would restrict our operations. Any other third-party funding arrangement could require us to relinquish valuable rights. Economic conditions may affect the availability of funds and activity in equity markets. We do not know whether additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are not able to complete the proposed Merger with TuHURA or secure additional funding when needed, we may have to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our clinical trials or research and development programs or make changes to our operating plan, file for bankruptcy protection or pursue a dissolution of the Company and liquidation of all of our remaining assets. In such an event, the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders, if any, will depend heavily on the timing of such decision, as with the passage of time the amount of cash available for distribution will be reduced as we continue to fund our operations. We cannot provide assurance as to the amount of cash that will be available to distribute to shareholders, if any, after paying our debts and other obligations and setting aside funds for reserves, nor as to the timing of any such distribution, if any.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, requires companies to establish accounting policies and to make estimates that affect both the amount and timing of the recording of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Some of these estimates require judgments about matters that are inherently uncertain and therefore actual results may differ from those estimates.

A detailed presentation of all of our significant accounting policies and the estimates derived therefrom is included in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024, contained in Item 8 in this Form 10-K. While all of the significant accounting policies are important to our consolidated financial statements, the following accounting policies and the estimates derived therefrom are critical:

Fair value of financial instruments
Accruals for research and development expenses and clinical trials

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Fair value of financial instruments

We recognize compensation costs resulting from the issuance of stock-based awards to employees, non-employees and directors as an expense in the statement of operations over the service period based on a measurement of fair value for each stock-based award. Prior to our adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2018-07, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718), Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2018-07”), stock options granted to non-employee consultants were revalued at the end of each reporting period until vested using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and the changes in their fair value were recorded as adjustments to expense over the related vesting period. For the years ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, the determination of grant-date fair value for stock option awards was estimated using the Black-Scholes model which includes variables such as the expected volatility of our share price, the anticipated exercise behavior of its grantee, interest rates, and dividend yields. For each of the years ended June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2023, we utilized the plain vanilla method to determine the expected life of stock options. These variables are projected based on our historical data, experience, and other factors. Changes in any of these variables could result in material adjustments to the expense recognized for share-based payments. Such value is recognized as expense over the requisite service period, net of actual forfeitures, using the accelerated attribution method. We recognize forfeitures as they occur. The estimation of stock awards that will ultimately vest requires judgment, and to the extent actual results, or updated estimates, differ from current estimates, such amounts are recorded as a cumulative adjustment in the period estimates are revised.

For the years ended June 30, 2024, and 2023, we issued stock options to our officers. The determination of grant-date fair value for options granted was estimated using the Black-Scholes model which includes variables such as the expected volatility of our share price, interest rates, dividend yields, and the term of the option.

For the years ended June 30, 2024, and 2023, we issued restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to our officers. The RSUs were valued using the closing price of our common stock on the date of issuance of the respective RSUs with the total expense being recognized over the vesting period of the RSUs.

Accruals for research and development expenses and clinical trials

As part of the process of preparing our financial statements, we are required to estimate our expenses resulting from our obligations under contracts with vendors, clinical research organizations and consultants, and under clinical site agreements in connection with conducting clinical trials. The financial terms of these contracts are subject to negotiations, which vary from contract to contract and may result in payment terms that do not match the periods over which materials or services are provided under such contracts. Our objective is to reflect the appropriate expenses in our financial statements by matching those expenses with the period in which services are performed and efforts are expended. We account for these expenses according to the timing of various aspects of the expenses. We determine accrual estimates by taking into account discussion with applicable personnel and outside service providers as to the progress of clinical trials, or the services completed. During the course of a clinical trial, we adjust our clinical expense recognition if actual results differ from our estimates. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date based on the facts and circumstances known to us at that time. Our clinical trial accruals are dependent upon the timely and accurate reporting of contract research organizations and other third-party vendors. Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, our understanding of the status and timing of services performed relative to the actual status and timing of services performed may vary and may result in us reporting amounts that are too high or too low for any particular period. For the years ended June 30, 2024, and 2023, there were no material adjustments to our prior period estimates of accrued expenses for clinical trials.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

Not required for a smaller reporting company.

53


 

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Kintara Therapeutics, Inc.

Consolidated Financial Statements

For the years ended June 30, 2024 and 2023

(expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted)

54


 

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of

Kintara Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Kintara Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) as of June 30, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended June 30, 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of June 30, 2024 and 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended June 30, 2024, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern

 

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1, the Company, has incurred significant losses and needs to raise additional funds to meet its obligations and sustain its operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Accruals for Research and Development Expenses and Clinical Trials

Description of the Matter

As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company records accruals for research and development expenses and clinical trials based upon estimates of costs incurred through the balance sheet date that have yet to be invoiced by the contract research organizations (“CRO”) and other third-party vendors.

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The Company accounts for these expenses according to the progress of the trial as measured by patient progression and the timing of various aspects of the trial. Estimated accruals are determined based on reviewing contractual terms and through communications with internal clinical personnel and external service providers including CRO’s as to the progress or state of its trials. The principal consideration for our determination that performing procedures related to the clinical trial expenses, specifically related to the year-end accrual for clinical trial costs, is a critical audit matter is that there was significant judgment by management in determining the progress of the activities included in the individual clinical trial agreements based on internal and external information.

How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit

To evaluate the accruals for research and development expenses and clinical trials, our audit procedures included, among others, testing the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data used in the estimates and evaluating the significant assumptions including, but not limited, to obtaining an understanding of the Company’s estimation process, corroborating the progress of clinical trials with the Company’s clinical teams, obtaining confirmations directly from third parties and obtaining third party invoices related to the performance of the services provided. We also tested a sample of subsequent payments to assess the reasonableness of the Company’s accruals.

/s/ Marcum llp

Marcum llp

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2019.

San Francisco, CA

October 7, 2024

 

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Kintara Therapeutics, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except par value amounts)

 

 

 

 

 

June 30,
2024

 

 

June 30,
2023

 

 

 

Note

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

 

 

4,909

 

 

 

1,535

 

Prepaid expenses, deposits and other

 

 

 

 

414

 

 

 

660

 

Clinical trial deposit

 

3

 

 

205

 

 

 

1,075

 

Total current assets

 

 

 

 

5,528

 

 

 

3,270

 

Property and equipment, net

 

5

 

 

674

 

 

 

709

 

Total assets

 

 

 

 

6,202

 

 

 

3,979

 

Liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

 

 

 

 

2,207

 

 

 

2,784

 

Related party payables

 

6

 

 

52

 

 

 

298

 

Total current liabilities

 

 

 

 

2,259

 

 

 

3,082

 

Milestone payment liability

 

7

 

 

186

 

 

 

166

 

Total liabilities

 

 

 

 

2,445

 

 

 

3,248

 

Stockholders' equity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authorized

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5,000 shares, $0.001 par value

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issued and outstanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

279 Series A shares at June 30, 2024 (June 30, 2023 – 279)

 

6,8

 

 

279

 

 

 

279

 

14 Series C shares at June 30, 2024 (June 30, 2023 – 14)

 

8

 

 

9,973

 

 

 

10,366

 

Common stock