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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

(Mark One)

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

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: 001-39397

 

INOZYME PHARMA, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

Delaware

38-4024528

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

321 Summer Street, Suite 400

Boston, Massachusetts

02210

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (857) 330-4340

 

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

 

 

Title of each class

 

Trading Symbol(s)

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share

 

INZY

 

Nasdaq Global Select 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 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, 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 in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes No ☒

 

As of June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 30, 2022, was $127,814,797.

As of March 17, 2023, the registrant had 43,720,007 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The registrant intends to file a definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. Portions of such definitive proxy statement are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

 

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

PART I

 

 

 

 

Item 1. Business

 

4

 

 

Item 1A. Risk Factors

 

55

 

 

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

 

110

 

 

Item 2. Properties

 

110

 

 

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

 

110

 

 

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

 

110

 

 

 

PART II

 

 

 

 

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

 

111

 

 

Item 6. [Reserved]

 

111

 

 

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

 

112

 

 

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

 

122

 

 

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

 

F-1

 

 

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

 

118

 

 

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

 

118

 

 

Item 9B. Other Information

 

119

 

 

Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections

 

121

 

 

 

PART III

 

 

 

 

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

 

122

 

 

Item 11. Executive Compensation

 

122

 

 

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

 

122

 

 

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

 

122

 

 

Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

 

122

 

 

 

PART IV

 

 

 

 

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

 

123

 

 

Item 16. Form 10-K Summary

 

125

 

 

Signatures

 

126

 

 

 

i


 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INDUSTRY DATA

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, our operations and financial performance. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans, objectives of management and expected market growth, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and the negative version of these words and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe these factors include but are not limited to those described under the heading “Summary of Material Risks Associated with our Business” and the “Risk Factors” section and include, among other things:

our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for adults with ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies, including statements regarding the timing of enrollment and completion of the clinical trials and the period during which the results of the clinical trials will become available;
the timing and conduct of our planned clinical trials of INZ-701 for patients with ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies;
our plans to conduct research, preclinical testing and clinical testing of INZ-701 for additional indications;
our plans to conduct research, preclinical testing and clinical testing of other product candidates;
our plans to engage in regulatory meetings with the FDA and other regulatory authorities;
the timing of, and our ability to obtain and maintain, marketing approvals of INZ-701, and the ability of INZ-701 and our other product candidates to meet existing or future regulatory standards;
our expectations regarding our ability to fund our cash flow requirements with our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments;
the potential advantages of our product candidates;
the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of our product candidates;
our estimates regarding the potential market opportunity for our product candidates;
our commercialization and manufacturing capabilities and strategy;
our intellectual property position;
our ability to identify additional products, product candidates or technologies with significant commercial potential that are consistent with our commercial objectives;
our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing;
our ability to comply with the covenants under our loan agreement;
the impact of government laws and regulations;
our competitive position; and
our expectations regarding the time during which we will be an emerging growth company under the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012.

1


We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We have included important factors in the cautionary statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly in the “Risk Factors” section, that we believe could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that we make. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, collaborations, joint ventures or investments we may make or enter into.

You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents that we have filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are made as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes statistical and other industry and market data that we obtained from industry publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties as well as our own estimates of potential market opportunities based on our analysis of these data, research, surveys and studies. All of the market data used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such data. Industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. Our estimates of the potential market opportunities for our product candidates include a number of key assumptions based on our industry knowledge, industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies, which may be based on a small sample size and fail to accurately reflect market opportunities. While we believe that our internal assumptions are reasonable, no independent source has verified such assumptions.

 

Summary of Material Risks Associated with Our Business

Our business is subject to a number of risks that if realized could materially affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. These risks are discussed more fully in the “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These risks include the following:

 

We have incurred significant losses since our inception. To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability. Our net losses were $67.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and $56.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.

 

We will need substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our research and development programs or any future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

 

We have a loan agreement that requires us to meet specified funding conditions for future draw downs and operating covenants and places restrictions on our operating and financial flexibility.

 

We have a limited operating history and are early in our development efforts. We are heavily dependent on the success of our lead product candidate, INZ-701. If we are unable to commercialize INZ-701 or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

 

We cannot be certain of the timely completion or outcome of our preclinical testing and clinical trials. The results of preclinical studies may not be predictive of the results of clinical trials, and preliminary interim topline results of clinical trials do not necessarily predict final results. The results of any early-stage clinical trials we conduct may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials and our product candidates could be associated with serious adverse events or undesirable side effects.

 

Interim topline and preliminary results from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time, such as the recently announced topline data from our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials on INZ-701 in adults with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency may change as more participant data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures, which could result in material changes in the final data.

 

2


If we are unable to obtain required marketing approvals for, commercialize, manufacture, obtain, maintain and enforce patent protection for, gain market acceptance of or obtain and maintain coverage, adequate pricing and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors for our product candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed and our ability to generate revenue from product sales will be materially impaired.

 

The design and conduct of our clinical trials for the treatment of ENPP1 or ABCC6 Deficiencies may take longer, be more costly or be less effective as a result of the novelty of development in these diseases. We may use new or novel endpoints or methodologies and regulatory authorities may not consider the endpoints of our clinical trials to provide clinically meaningful results.

 

We are conducting clinical trials for our product candidates at sites outside the United States. If the FDA determines that any such trial did not comply with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations, the FDA may not accept the data from that trial, in which case we would likely need to conduct one or more additional clinical trials.

 

We focus our research and product development on treatments for rare diseases. Given the small number of patients who have the diseases that we are targeting, it is critical to our ability to grow and become profitable that we continue to successfully identify patients with these rare diseases and capture a significant market share.

 

We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials, which may prevent or delay our ability to seek or obtain marketing approval for or commercialize our product candidates or otherwise harm our business. If we are not able to maintain these third party relationships or if these arrangements are terminated, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans and our business could be adversely affected.

 

We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for preclinical and clinical testing, as well as for commercial manufacture if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval. This reliance on third parties may increase the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

 

If we are unable to obtain, maintain, enforce and protect patent protection for our technology and products or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and products may be adversely affected.

 

We are highly dependent on the research and development, clinical, financial, operational and other business expertise of our executive officers, as well as the other principal members of our management, scientific and clinical teams. Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

 

The summary risk factors described above should be read together with the text of the full risk factors set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes, as well as in other documents that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The risks summarized above or described in full below are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not precisely known to us, or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects.

 

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PART I

Unless the context otherwise requires, we use the term “Inozyme,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and similar designations in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to refer to Inozyme Pharma, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries.

 

Item 1. BUSINESS

Overview

We are a clinical-stage rare disease biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of diseases impacting the vasculature, soft tissue and skeleton. Through our in-depth understanding of a key biological pathway, we are pursuing the development of therapeutics to address the underlying causes of these debilitating diseases. It is well established that two genes, ENPP1 and ABCC6, play key roles in this critical pathway and that defects in these genes lead to low levels of plasma pyrophosphate, or PPi, which drives pathologic mineralization, and low levels of adenosine, which drives intimal proliferation. We are initially focused on developing a novel therapy to treat the rare genetic diseases of ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies.

ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies are chronic, systemic, and progressive diseases occurring over the course of a patient’s lifetime, starting as early as fetal development and spanning into adulthood. These diseases represent a significant unmet medical need, with high mortality rates for infants with ENPP1 Deficiency and high levels of morbidity occurring for patients with these diseases throughout their lives. There are currently no approved therapies for either ENPP1 Deficiency or ABCC6 Deficiency. Currently available treatments seek to minimize the manifestations of these diseases and do not address the underlying causes of these diseases.

Our lead product candidate, INZ-701, is a soluble, recombinant, genetically engineered, fusion protein that is designed to correct a defect in a pathway involving ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies. This pathway is central to the regulation of calcium deposition throughout the body and is further associated with the inhibition of intimal proliferation, or narrowing and obstruction of blood vessels. We have generated robust proof of concept data in preclinical models demonstrating that INZ-701 prevented pathological calcification and skeletal abnormalities, led to improvements in overall health and survival and prevented intimal proliferation. INZ-701 is designed to increase circulating levels of plasma pyrophosphate, or PPi, and adenosine. In our preclinical studies conducted in Enpp1-deficient mouse models, dosing with INZ-701 resulted in increased plasma PPi levels, prevention of calcification in the heart, aorta, kidney, liver, spleen and lung, prevention of skeletal abnormalities and improvements in overall health. In Abcc6-deficient mouse models, dosing with INZ-701 also increased plasma PPi levels and prevented calcification in key tissues. In addition to increasing levels of PPi, in preclinical studies, INZ-701 prevented intimal proliferation in both wild-type and Enpp1-deficient mice, which we believe is attributable to increased levels of adenosine.

We are currently conducting Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, have granted orphan drug designation to INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency. The FDA has also granted fast track designation for INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency, and rare pediatric disease designation for INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency.

In November 2021, we initiated our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in ENPP1 Deficiency. The clinical trial initially enrolled nine adult patients with ENPP1 Deficiency at sites in North America and Europe. The trial will primarily assess the safety and tolerability of INZ-701 in adult patients with ENPP1 Deficiency, as well as characterize the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of INZ-701, including evaluation of PPi and other biomarker levels. In the Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial, we assessed INZ-701 for 32-days at doses of 0.2 mg/kg, 0.6 mg/kg, and 1.8 mg/kg administered via subcutaneous injection, with three patients per dose cohort. Patients received a single dose and then began twice weekly dosing one week later. The Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial is complete. The Phase 2 portion of the trial is ongoing.

In February 2023, we reported topline data from this trial. A rapid, significant, and sustained increase in PPi was observed in all dose cohorts and in all patients, with a target PPi threshold observed from the lowest dose of 0.2 mg/kg. PPi increased in all patients to levels comparable to those observed in a study of healthy subjects (n=10), which study showed PPi levels between 1002 nM and 2169 nM. INZ-701 activity in a dose proportional manner was observed and a long half-life of approximately 126 hours and drug accumulation as shown by a greater than dose proportional exposure suggests the potential for once weekly dosing. INZ-701 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited a favorable safety profile, with no serious or severe adverse events attributed to INZ-701 and no adverse events leading to study withdrawal. Three of the nine patients experienced mild adverse events related to INZ-701. All nine patients enrolled in Phase 2, one of whom subsequently withdrew from the study following week 12 due to travel reasons. Eight patients continue in the ongoing Phase 2 portion of the trial on INZ-701 treatment. We plan to report interim clinical data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adults with ENPP1 Deficiency in the third quarter of 2023. We also plan to investigate the potential for once weekly dosing in the ongoing trial.

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We initiated pivotal trial meetings with the FDA in the first quarter of 2023. We plan to initiate a Phase 1b clinical trial of INZ-701, or the ENERGY-1 trial, to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of INZ-701 in infants with ENPP1 Deficiency in the second quarter of 2023. We are also actively designing a pivotal trial of INZ-701 in pediatric patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and plan to initiate this trial in the third quarter of 2023, subject to receipt of regulatory approval. We anticipate initiating protocol assistance meetings with the EMA in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In February 2023, we dosed our first pediatric patient with ENPP1 Deficiency with INZ-701 under our expanded access program.

In April 2022, we initiated our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adult patients with ABCC6 Deficiency. The trial initially enrolled nine patients with ABCC6 Deficiency at sites in the United States and Europe. The trial will primarily assess the safety and tolerability of INZ-701 in adult patients with ABCC6 Deficiency, as well as characterize the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of INZ-701, including the evaluation of levels of plasma PPi and other biomarkers. In the Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the clinical trial, we assessed INZ-701 for 32-days at doses of 0.2 mg/kg, 0.6 mg/kg, and 1.8 mg/kg administered via subcutaneous injection, with three patients per dose cohort. Patients received a single dose and then began twice weekly dosing one week later. The Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial is complete. The Phase 2 portion of the trial is ongoing.

In February 2023, we reported topline data from this trial. A rapid, significant, and sustained increase in PPi was observed in all cohorts with a dose response observed. PPi showed sustained increase in the highest dose cohort to levels comparable to those observed in our study of healthy subjects (n=10), which study showed PPi levels between 1002 nM and 2169 nM. INZ-701 activity in a greater than dose proportional manner was observed and drug accumulation as shown by a greater than dose proportional exposure suggests the potential for once weekly dosing. INZ-701 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited a favorable safety profile, with no serious or severe adverse events attributed to INZ-701. Seven of the nine patients experienced adverse events related to INZ-701. All adverse events were mild to moderate in severity. One patient from the highest dose cohort (1.8 mg/kg) was withdrawn from the Phase 1 portion of the trial at day 18 due to a moderate adverse event (erythema/urticaria) related to INZ-701. A replacement patient was enrolled in the Phase 1 portion of trial and all nine patients continue in the Phase 2 portion of the trial.

We plan to report interim clinical data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial in adults in the fourth quarter of 2023. Subject to regulatory approval and sufficient funding, we plan to initiate a Phase 2/3 clinical trial in patients with ABCC6 Deficiency in 2024.

Subject to successfully completing clinical development of INZ-701 in ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies, we plan to seek marketing approvals for INZ-701 on a worldwide basis. Beyond our development focus on INZ-701, we believe that our therapeutic approach has the potential to benefit patients suffering from additional diseases of pathologic mineralization and intimal proliferation, including those without a clear genetic basis, such as calciphylaxis or calcifications as a result of end stage kidney disease, or ESKD. In December 2022, the FDA allowed our IND to enable us to evaluate INZ-701 in a clinical trial in patients with ESKD and calciphylaxis. We plan to initiate a clinical trial in ESKD patients and we expect data from this trial to inform our development plans in calciphylaxis. We are also exploring the potential for development of a gene therapy for ENPP1 Deficiency.

We retain worldwide, exclusive development and commercialization rights to our pipeline and programs, including INZ-701. Our current development programs are protected through exclusive intellectual property rights, including with filed and issued patents covering composition of matter for ENPP1-Fc fusion proteins, including INZ-701, and methods of treatment. We obtained an exclusive, worldwide license to our foundational intellectual property rights from Yale University, or Yale, in January 2017. In July 2020, we entered into an intellectual property asset purchase agreement with Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Alexion, pursuant to which Alexion sold and assigned to us its right, title and interest in and to specified patent rights and other specified assets solely related to ENPP1.

We have assembled a leadership team with a strong track record and experience in building and managing biopharmaceutical companies and in rare disease research, development and commercialization. Our executives have experience, in particular, in developing new markets, obtaining marketing approval for and commercializing therapies for rare diseases that had not previously been the focus for drug development. Axel Bolte, our President and Chief Executive Officer and a co-founder of our company, previously had a successful career in healthcare venture capital, investing in and serving on the boards of directors of multiple private and public biopharmaceutical companies. To date, we have funded our operations primarily with proceeds from the sales of convertible preferred stock, offerings of common stock and pre-funded warrants and borrowings under our loan and security agreement, or the Loan Agreement, with K2 HealthVentures LLC, or K2HV.

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Strategy

Our goal is to develop and commercialize safe and effective therapies for the treatment of patients suffering from a broad range of genetic and non-genetic diseases of pathologic mineralization. The critical components of our strategy to achieve this goal include:

Efficiently advance clinical development for our lead product candidate, INZ-701, with an initial focus on ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies. We have initiated our Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for the treatment of adults with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency. In February 2023, we reported positive topline pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and safety data from these trials. We plan to report interim clinical data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adults with ENPP1 Deficiency in the third quarter of 2023. We plan to initiate the ENERGY-1 trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of INZ-701 in infants with ENPP1 Deficiency in the second quarter of 2023. We are also actively designing a pivotal trial of INZ-701 in pediatric patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and plan to initiate this trial in the third quarter of 2023, subject to receipt of regulatory approval. We believe that our clinical strategy, subject to ongoing discussions with regulatory authorities, of linking the restoration of plasma PPi levels to measures of physiological and clinical efficacy may provide an efficient path for development and availability of clinical data.
Expand our research and development efforts for INZ-701 in additional diseases of pathologic mineralization and for other therapies beyond INZ-701. Based on its mechanism of action, we believe that INZ-701 has the potential to increase plasma PPi levels and provide therapeutic benefit to patients beyond those with monogenic defects in the ENPP1 or ABCC6 gene, including patients with calciphylaxis or calcifications as a result of ESKD. In December 2022, the FDA allowed our IND to enable us to evaluate INZ-701 in a clinical trial in patients with ESKD and calciphylaxis. We plan to initiate a clinical trial in ESKD and we expect data from this trial to inform our development plans in calciphylaxis. As a science-driven company, we also plan to continue to apply our expertise to identify and develop new therapeutics for diseases of pathologic mineralization. For example, we are currently exploring the potential for development of a gene therapy for ENPP1 Deficiency.
Establish commercialization infrastructure for the marketing and sale of INZ-701 for rare indications. We retain worldwide, exclusive development and commercialization rights to INZ-701. Given the limited number of specialists who treat the rare diseases we are initially pursuing, we believe that we will be able to commercialize INZ-701, if approved, in these indications with a small, targeted, internal sales and commercial organization in the United States and other major markets. Our executives have a strong track record and experience in developing new markets, obtaining marketing approval for and commercializing therapies for rare diseases that had not previously been the focus for drug development. We may explore the use of a variety of types of collaboration, co-promotion, distribution and other marketing arrangements with one or more third parties to commercialize our product candidates in smaller markets outside the United States or for other situations in which a larger sales and marketing organization is required.
Build a patient-focused company to treat diseases of pathologic mineralization. We intend to continue to engage with patient advocacy groups, medical centers of excellence and medical specialists in an effort to expeditiously bring our therapy to patients. In building a patient-focused company to address the needs of both genetically defined and broader patient populations, we are working with clinicians and patient organizations to better understand the symptoms and consequences of diseases of pathologic mineralization and to increase awareness of the commonalities among these diseases. We have completed a retrospective, cross-sectional natural history study of patients who had generalized arterial calcification of infancy, or GACI, or any presentation of ENPP1 Deficiency. We have also completed a burden of disease study in ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency with GACI Global, a patient advocacy organization dedicated to bettering the lives of families affected by GACI and/or autosomal-recessive hypophosphatemic rickets type 2, or ARHR2, to characterize the burden of disease and understand the systemic progression of disease from the perspective of a patient and/or caregiver. We have several ongoing programs, including a retrospective, longitudinal natural history study of patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency and a prospective, longitudinal natural history study of patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency. We believe that the findings from these studies and others like it have been and will be important in supporting ongoing and future trial design and patient enrollment.
Continue to expand our scientific understanding of pathologic mineralization and intimal proliferation, our related intellectual property portfolio and our rights to complementary technologies. We intend to continue to pursue new scientific and therapeutic insights to position ourselves as leaders in the treatment of diseases impacting the vasculature, soft tissue and skeleton as well as intimal proliferation. Both in our company laboratory and in collaboration with academic and research institutions, we plan to continue to conduct translational experiments, validate disease models and evaluate new treatment modalities in our area of focus. Our current development

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programs are protected through exclusive intellectual property rights, including with filed and issued patents covering composition of matter for ENPP1-Fc fusion proteins, including INZ-701, and methods of treatment. We have expanded and expect to continue to expand the breadth of our intellectual property portfolio over time to incorporate novel insights we obtain through our research. In addition, we may further expand our development pipeline by opportunistically in-licensing or acquiring the rights to complementary technologies and product candidates. For example, in July 2020, we expanded our intellectual property portfolio when we acquired specified patent rights and other specified assets related to ENPP1 from Alexion.

 

Pipeline

Our lead development programs, for which we retain worldwide, exclusive development and commercialization rights, are summarized in the table below.

 

img186495686_0.jpg 

 

Diseases of Pathologic Mineralization: A Significant Unmet Need

Mineralization is a biological process during which an organism deposits hydroxyapatite, an organic extracellular matrix that gives rise to essential structures, such as bone and teeth in humans. In human development, this normal mineralization process begins as early as fetal development and continues throughout life. Diseases of pathologic mineralization have high levels of morbidity and mortality and can have a genetic and non-genetic basis.

The Mineralization Pathway

A metabolic pathway that has been conserved throughout evolution in higher organisms is the key to regulating mineralization in the human body. Multiple enzymes and other proteins perform sequential reactions in this pathway as part of a normal mineralization process.

In a properly functioning mineralization pathway, the protein encoded by the ABCC6 gene (ATP-Binding Cassette in the C6 family) located on the cellular membrane is responsible for transporting adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, from inside a cell to outside the cell. The enzyme encoded by the ENPP1 gene (ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1) then cleaves ATP into pyrophosphate, or PPi, and adenosine monophosphate, or AMP. PPi is a potent regulator of mineralization and, in particular, controls the rate of calcium crystal deposition in bone. AMP is further metabolized into adenosine, a potent regulator of cellular proliferation that, in particular, modulates a blood vessel’s response to injury and is responsible for preventing intimal proliferation, or the overgrowth of smooth muscle cells inside blood vessels.

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The normal function of this mineralization pathway is depicted in the figure below.

 

img186495686_1.jpg 

 

Pathology of Diseases of Pathologic Mineralization

If the proper function of the key mineralization pathway is altered or disturbed, then both genetic and non-genetic diseases and conditions involving pathologic mineralization can result. Genetic mutations affecting ENPP1, a critical enzyme in the mineralization pathway, result in low levels of PPi and AMP, a precursor of adenosine. Genetic mutations affecting ABCC6, a critical protein in the mineralization pathway, decrease the availability of extracellular ATP required for proper ENPP1 function and give rise indirectly to low levels of PPi and AMP, a precursor of adenosine.

Low levels of PPi lead to pathologic mineralization and pathological calcification in areas of the body where it should not occur, referred to as ectopic calcification. This ectopic calcification occurs in the vasculature and soft tissue, including multiple organ systems, and results in disease. The heart, kidney, and skin are especially vulnerable to the effects of pathologic mineralization and pathological, ectopic calcification. Pathological, ectopic calcification in blood vessels inside bones can also interfere with normal skeletal mineralization.

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The mechanism of PPi and consequences of low levels of PPi are depicted in the figure below.

img186495686_2.jpg 

 

Low levels of adenosine lead to the narrowing and obstruction of blood vessels caused by intimal proliferation and potential development of cardiovascular complications.

The mechanism of adenosine and consequences of low levels of adenosine are depicted in the figure below.

img186495686_3.jpg 

ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies are chronic, systemic, and progressive diseases occurring over the course of a patient’s lifetime, starting as early as fetal development and spanning into adulthood.

 

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The consequences of genetic mutations affecting ENPP1 are depicted in the figure below.

 

img186495686_4.jpg 

 

 

The consequences of genetic mutations affecting ABCC6 are depicted in the figure below.

 

img186495686_5.jpg  

 

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ENPP1 Deficiency and Disease Manifestations

ENPP1 Deficiency is a rare, inherited, genetic inborn error of metabolism caused by inactivating mutations in the ENPP1 gene. The condition is inherited as a recessive trait in which mutations in the ENPP1 gene result in decreased or absent activity of the ENPP1 enzyme. ENPP1 Deficiency results in low plasma levels of PPi and intimal proliferation, and is a single, chronic, systemic, and progressive disease with high mortality and morbidity. The spectrum of manifestations for ENPP1 Deficiency includes an infantile phase, a pediatric phase and an adult phase.

In the acute infantile phase, which has been referred to as GACI in the medical literature, ENPP1 Deficiency is characterized by narrowing of large and medium arteries caused by severe and pathological vascular calcification and intimal proliferation, resulting in myocardial infarction, stroke, and dysfunction and potential failure of major organs, such as the heart and kidneys. The disease can be diagnosed prenatally when an ultrasound shows characteristic calcifications in the fetus. Infants with ENPP1 Deficiency have clinical signs of hypertension, heart disease and kidney disease even at birth. Mortality caused by ENPP1 Deficiency is at the highest during the infantile phase and occurs predominantly in the first 12 months of life. Approximately 50% of infants with ENPP1 Deficiency die within 6 months of birth. If they survive the crisis of infancy during the first 6 months of life, individuals with ENPP1 Deficiency are likely to survive through adolescence and beyond, but with significant morbidity and a low quality of life.

In the pediatric phase, in addition to continuing vascular and organ calcification, ENPP1 Deficiency is characterized by the onset of rickets, which has been referred to in the medical literature as autosomal-recessive hypophosphatemic rickets type 2, or ARHR2. This is associated with an excess circulating concentration of a hormone known as fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23), which in turn causes the kidneys to waste phosphate, giving rise to rickets. ENPP1 Deficiency is also associated with severe skeletal deformities, short stature, and severe bone and joint pain. In addition, children with ENPP1 Deficiency may experience excess calcification in joints and ligaments and dental problems caused by disrupted tooth movement and exfoliation. Early onset of hearing loss has also been reported in these children. Patients with pediatric ENPP1 Deficiency experience impaired growth and development and generally decreased quality of life, including impaired ability to engage in normal childhood activities.

In the adult phase following closure of the bone growth plates at the end of adolescence, in addition to continuing vascular and organ calcification, patients with ENPP1 Deficiency have osteomalacia, severe bone and joint pain, fatigue, muscle weakness and risk of recurring bone fractures. Adults with ENPP1 Deficiency experience significant functional and cognitive impairment and generally decreased quality of life, including impaired activities of daily living.

The graphs below, adapted from a third-party study, show that patients with ENPP1 Deficiency have decreased levels of PPi and elevated levels of ATP in the plasma. This study measured plasma levels of PPi and plasma levels of ATP in healthy volunteers between 19 and 40 years of age and in patients with ENPP1 Deficiency between the ages of one month and 19 years of age. A p-value is a conventional statistical method for measuring the statistical significance of clinical results. A p-value of less than 0.05 is generally considered to represent statistical significance, meaning that there is a less than 5% likelihood that the observed results occurred by chance. Values are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (SD). In these graphs, the symbol ** represents a p-value of less than 0.005 and the symbol *** represents a p-value of less than 0.001.

 

img186495686_6.jpg 

Source: Nitschke et al. Experimental & Molecular Medicine (2018)

 

 

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Retrospective Natural History Study

We conducted what we believe is the largest retrospective, cross-sectional, natural history study of infants, children and adults who had GACI or any presentation of ENPP1 Deficiency, including subjects with the acute form of ABCC6 Deficiency who were diagnosed with GACI as infants. The U.S. National Institutes of Health, or NIH, and the University of Münster in Germany contributed data on 127 subjects across 18 countries to this natural history study. Preliminary results from the study suggest that ENPP1 Deficiency, regardless of its phenotypic manifestation or original diagnosis as GACI or ARHR2, appears to be a chronic, systemic, and progressive disease that occurs over the course of a patient’s lifetime.

As shown in the graph below, in our natural history study, arterial calcification preceded skeletal abnormalities, which preceded postnatal rickets. This data is shown using a Kaplan–Meier curve, also known as the product limit estimator, a non-parametric statistic used to estimate the probability of an event occurring given a defined time frame. While they occur at a defined rate, these manifestations occur simultaneously and concurrently following birth. The data indicate that the condition referred to as GACI in the medical literature is not independent of the condition referred to as ARHR2 in the medical literature. Preliminary results from our study suggest that arterial calcification and rickets are inseparable and dependent phenomena of ENPP1 Deficiency.

 

img186495686_7.jpg 

 

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The data also suggest that patients who survive their first 12 months of life continue developing a systemic, progressive disease involving arterial, skeletal and other organ calcifications, leading to physiological dysfunction across many systems. The graph below shows the Kaplan–Meier curve demonstrating systemic progression of the disease. The following manifestations of disease occur in progression: arterial calcification, cardiac dysfunction, organ calcification, pulmonary dysfunction and neurological dysfunction.

 

img186495686_8.jpg 

 

The data suggest that arterial calcification, organ calcification and organ dysfunction proceed in a progressive manner, with organ-specific symptoms emerging sequentially with time well into adulthood.

Based on our retrospective natural history study, we believe that ENPP1 Deficiency is characterized by concurrent onset of manifestations, albeit at different rates, and that ENPP1 Deficiency is a chronic, systemic, and progressive disease.

In 2022, we initiated a retrospective, longitudinal natural history study of patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency and a prospective, longitudinal natural history study of patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency. These studies are designed to test and validate our findings from our retrospective, cross-sectional natural history study. These studies are also designed to inform the design of pivotal trials and provide control data which may potentially be used in analysis of future therapeutic trials.

ENPP1 Deficiency Incidence and Prevalence; Current Standard of Care

ENPP1 Deficiency is estimated to occur in approximately one in 64,000 pregnancies worldwide, and we believe there are approximately 37,000 patients in addressable markets worldwide with ENPP1 Deficiency. In North America, Europe and Japan, we believe there are approximately 7,800 patients with ENPP1 Deficiency. In 2022, an analysis of all published cases of ENPP1 Deficiency patients diagnosed with GACI or ARHR2, and two published natural history studies, reported a threefold increase in pathogenic/likely pathogenic ENPP1 variants compared to those identified as of 2020.

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There are currently no approved therapies for ENPP1 Deficiency. Currently available treatments seek to minimize the manifestations of this disease. Some retrospective studies have reported potential therapeutic effect in infants of the bisphosphonate etidronate, a first-generation bisphosphonate developed to treat osteoporosis. However, these findings have been controversial due to selection bias in the study. In addition, etidronate has been discontinued in the United States, and bisphosphonate use can be associated with longer term adverse effects on skeletal development. Administration of vitamin D3 and oral phosphate are sometimes used to address the rickets of ENPP1 Deficiency, although use of oral phosphate may actually increase the risk of pathological calcification. In a third-party healthy volunteer study, treating PPi Deficiency by adjusting the diet was an inefficient process, with only a small fraction of dietary PPi being absorbed.

ABCC6 Deficiency and Disease Manifestations

ABCC6 Deficiency is a rare, inherited, genetic inborn error of metabolism caused by inactivating mutations in the ABCC6 gene. The systemic and progressively debilitating condition is inherited as a recessive trait in which mutations in the ABCC6 gene result in decreased or absent activity of the ABCC6 protein.

ABCC6 Deficiency results in low plasma levels of ATP and PPi and is associated with pathological mineralization in blood vessels and soft tissues throughout the body, resulting in significant morbidity, including blindness, potentially life-threatening cardiovascular complications and skin calcification. The pathological mineralization associated with ABCC6 Deficiency is the result of ectopic calcification in elastic fibers. Elastic fibers are a component of connective tissue, which provides strength and flexibility to structures throughout the body. Ectopic calcification can affect function in elastic fibers in the eyes, blood vessels and skin, and less frequently in other areas such as the digestive tract.

Some infants with ABCC6 Deficiency are diagnosed with a vascular calcification condition called GACI Type II, resembling the acute infantile form of ENPP1 Deficiency. In older patients, ABCC6 Deficiency presents as pseudoxanthoma elasticum, or PXE, a rare disorder in which individuals develop calcification of soft connective tissues, including in the eyes, cardiovascular system and skin.

Individuals with PXE often have abnormalities in the eyes, such as a change in the pigmented cells of the retina or angioid streaks that occur when tiny cracks form in the elastic membrane, referred to as Bruch’s membrane, under the retina. Bleeding and scarring of the retina occur as well as choroidal neovascularization, which can cause vision loss. A 2019 report stated that 37% of PXE patients over the age of 50 experienced visual impairment and 15% were legally blind. Pathological mineralization of the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body may cause other signs and symptoms of PXE. Ectopic calcification narrows blood vessels, particularly in the lower extremities, and leads to claudication, characterized by cramping and pain during exercise due to decreased blood flow to the arms and legs. Individuals with PXE may also have yellowish bumps called papules on their neck, underarms and other areas of the skin surrounding joint bends. These papules coalesce, and the skin becomes loose and wrinkled and are an indication of a general systemic pathological soft tissue calcification process.

Intimal proliferation is also a pathophysiological feature of PXE. Narrowing and obstruction of blood vessels accelerates in PXE patients, resulting in higher than normal cardiovascular incidents, such as ischemic stroke and early myocardial infarctions. The number of PXE patients with cardiovascular involvement is estimated at more than 21,000 worldwide. Bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, in particular the stomach, has been reported to occur in approximately 13% of PXE patients.

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The graphs below, adapted from a third-party study, show that patients with PXE have decreased levels of PPi and ATP in the plasma. This study measured plasma levels of PPi and plasma levels of ATP in healthy volunteers with an average age of 45 years (SD 11 ± years) and in patients with PXE with an average age of 46 years (SD ± 13 years). A p-value is a conventional statistical method for measuring the statistical significance of clinical results. Values are presented as the mean ± SD. In these graphs, the symbol ### represents a p-value of less than 0.005.

img186495686_9.jpg 

Source: Kauffenstein, et al. J Inv Derm 2018

ABCC6 Deficiency Incidence and Prevalence; Current Standard of Care

ABCC6 Deficiency is estimated to afflict approximately one per 25,000 to 50,000 individuals, with the disease being diagnosed twice as frequently in females as in males, and we believe there are more than 67,000 patients worldwide with ABCC6 Deficiency. In the United States, Europe and other major markets, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Russia, we believe there are approximately 20,000 patients with ABCC6 Deficiency.

There are currently no approved therapies for ABCC6 Deficiency. Currently available treatments seek to minimize the manifestations of this disease. Ophthalmic symptoms are typically treated with intravitreal injections of vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors to slow the progression of choroidal neovascularization. However, damage to Bruch’s membrane in these patients leads to continued and recurring choroidal neovascularization, causing vision loss. The current treatment approach for slowing or limiting the cardiovascular manifestations of PXE is based on the reduction of cardiovascular risk factors through lifestyle changes or in some cases by taking cholesterol-lowering agents. In the event of severe vascular disease, patients may undergo standard surgical bypass or angioplasty procedures.

Non-genetic Implications of Pathological Mineralization

Pathologic mineralization and intimal proliferation may also manifest in non-genetic diseases, such as calciphylaxis or calcifications as a result of ESKD. Calciphylaxis, a manifestation of chronic kidney disease, or CKD, is associated with low levels of PPi and is characterized by pathological calcification of the vasculature in the skin and fat leading to skin ulcers. This disease has a reported one-year survival rate of approximately 50%. Calciphylaxis affects between 1% and 4% of patients with ESKD. The estimated incidence of calciphylaxis is at least 1,800 new patients per year in the United States. There are currently no approved therapies for calciphylaxis, although use of sodium thiosulfate, a chelating agent intended to lower calcium content in the blood, reportedly improves wound healing. Patients also are often advised to maintain a low phosphate diet. Intimal proliferation in the vasculature is a hallmark of a number of non-genetic diseases in which arteries have been damaged or disrupted by insertion of a stent, bypass graft occlusion, transplant vasculopathy or inflammation known as arteritis.

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Our Solution: INZ-701

Overview of INZ-701

INZ-701 is a soluble, recombinant protein containing the extracellular domain of native human ENPP1 fused to the fragment crystallizable, or Fc, domain of the immunoglobulin IgG1. In its native form, ENPP1 is a transmembrane enzyme with a modular structure consisting of a short intracellular domain, a single transmembrane domain and an extracellular domain that contains a conserved catalytic site responsible for enzymatic activity. ENPP1 is expressed predominantly in the liver and, to a lesser extent, in the kidney and bone. INZ-701 contains the extracellular soluble domain of ENPP1 fused to the Fc domain of IgG1 to minimize immunogenicity, stabilize the construct, increase the plasma half-life and allow ease of purification.

The construction and presumed structure of INZ-701 is depicted in the figure below.

 

img186495686_10.jpg 

 

INZ-701 is designed to replace the lost enzymatic function of genetically deficient ENPP1, thus increasing PPi and adenosine, for ENPP1 Deficiency and providing therapeutic effect to treat other diseases, like ABCC6 Deficiency, involving low PPi levels. In contrast to native ENPP1, INZ-701 is a soluble protein that is designed to circulate throughout the body and access extracellular ATP and other nucleotide proteins. Like native ENPP1, INZ-701 cleaves ATP into PPi and AMP, a precursor of adenosine. Pharmacologically, INZ-701 is designed to have prolonged distribution and elimination phases, leading to steady-state concentrations in the blood over time and making dosing possible at infrequent intervals, potentially once-weekly dosing. INZ-701 is formulated for subcutaneous delivery.

In our preclinical studies conducted in Enpp1-deficient mouse models, dosing with INZ-701 resulted in increased plasma PPi levels, prevention of ectopic calcium deposits in a variety of tissues, prevention of calcification in the heart, aorta, lung, kidney, liver and spleen, prevention of skeletal abnormalities and improvements in overall health. In Abcc6-deficient mouse models, dosing with INZ-701 also increased plasma PPi levels and reduced calcification in key tissues. In addition to increasing levels of PPi, in preclinical studies, INZ-701 prevented intimal proliferation in both wild-type and Enpp1-deficient mice, which we believe is attributable to increased levels of adenosine. The nonclinical INZ-701 toxicology studies that we conducted in two animal species showed no systemic adverse effects at doses that significantly exceeded potential human doses.

The FDA has granted orphan drug designation, fast track designation and rare pediatric disease designation to INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency and has granted orphan drug designation to INZ-701 for ABCC6 Deficiency. The EMA has also granted orphan drug designation to INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency.

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INZ-701: Preclinical Results and Data

We demonstrated preclinical proof of concept for INZ-701 using multiple mouse models containing inactivated genes for ENPP1. In these Enpp1-deficient mouse models, the animals have an increased propensity for vascular calcification and replicate key aspects of human disease due to ENPP1 Deficiency. For example, an asj mouse contains a missense mutation in the ENPP1 gene and develops severe vascular calcification and skeletal abnormalities. In these mice, vascular calcification develops in newborn pups beginning around two weeks of age to fourteen weeks of age. This vascular calcification resembles that seen in human disease in infants due to ENPP1 Deficiency, although in humans, extensive vascular calcification begins as early as fetal development.

In another preclinical model of ENPP1 Deficiency in ttw/ttw mice, INZ-701 prevented intimal proliferation from developing and maintained proper vessel integrity.

In our preclinical studies, we also used an ABCC6 mouse model with targeted ablation of the ABCC6 gene. In these mice, ectopic calcification in tissues resembles that seen in human disease due to ABCC6 Deficiency. ABCC6 is primarily expressed in the liver. In mice, ABCC6 is responsible for approximately 90% of the levels of extracellular ATP, the primary source of extracellular PPi. Mice in which the gene for ABCC6 has been inactivated exhibit significantly reduced levels of extracellular PPi in blood.

Increase in PPi

As a result of an ENPP1 gene mutation, asj mice have very low or nondetectable levels of circulating PPi. Treatment of these mice with 0.2 mg/kg, 1 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg of INZ-701 by subcutaneous injection every other day for a period of eight weeks led to significant increases in ENPP1 enzyme activity and PPi levels in plasma to approximately wild-type levels. These increases compensated for the loss of ENPP1 activity in this strain of mice. Mice treated with vehicle control lacked any ENPP1 activity and plasma PPi, as expected.

The results of these initial studies are shown in the graphs below.

img186495686_11.jpg 

 

These initial studies showed that it is possible to administer doses of INZ-701 to increase PPi levels in mice and we believe that increasing the amount of ENPP1 enzymatic activity by administration of INZ-701 could lead to further increases of PPi. We further believe this suggests that INZ-701 has the potential to provide therapeutic benefit in non-genetic diseases that involve ectopic calcification.

We also believe that our preclinical findings provide strong support for the eventual use of INZ-701 to treat patients with ABCC6 Deficiency. Individuals with PXE have dysfunctional ABCC6 and decreased levels of plasma PPi due to deficiencies in exporting ATP from within the cell. In studies in mice with defects in the ABCC6 gene, plasma PPi levels are significantly reduced relative to wild-type mice but still higher than those seen in asj mice, which have an inactivated ENPP1 gene. In other studies, overexpression of ENPP1 in asj mice containing inactivated ENPP1 normalized plasma PPi levels. Addition of the same transgene of ENPP1 in ABCC6 mutant mice normalized PPi levels, suggesting that even in the case of limiting extracellular ATP, an increase in ENPP1 activity led to the formation of additional PPi.

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Studies in mice with a genetic defect in ABCC6 led to the hypothesis that low levels of plasma PPi in patients with ABCC6 Deficiency contributes to ectopic calcification. In studies in Abcc6-deficient mice, vascular calcification was correlated with plasma PPi level and overexpression of ENPP1 through transgene expression led to high levels of PPi resulting in significant reductions in cardiac calcium deposits. We believe these findings confirm the link between ABCC6, PPi and calcification. It also suggests that increasing plasma PPi in PXE patients offers potentially significant therapeutic benefit.

To further illustrate the potential of our approach, we dosed Abcc6-deficient mice with 1 mg/kg of INZ-701 and vehicle control for eight weeks. Treatment with INZ-701 resulted in an increase in plasma PPi levels consistent with those in normal healthy mice. The increase in plasma PPi levels was also associated with a decrease in pathological calcification of the eye, a target organ for ABCC6 Deficiency and patients with PXE. The results of this study are shown in the graphs below. We believe these data support the use of INZ-701 in patients who carry mutations in the gene for ABCC6 and have soft tissue calcification due to low PPi levels.

 

img186495686_12.jpg 

 

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The above findings in Abcc6-deficient mice were also observed in another study, as shown in the graph below, where doses of INZ-701 ranging from 2 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg increased plasma PPi levels to wild-type levels. In the graph below, the symbol * represents a p-value of less than 0.05 and the symbol **** represents a p-value of less than 0.001 relative to Abcc6-deficient mice treated with vehicle. We believe that the data from these two studies in Abcc6-deficient mice suggest the potential of ENPP1-Fc fusion proteins to increase plasma PPi levels and thereby reduce pathologic tissue calcification.

 

img186495686_13.jpg 

 

Reduction of Calcification

Asj mice fed a diet rich in phosphorous and low in magnesium, referred to as an acceleration diet, develop a number of complications due to calcification defects. These defects limit their locomotion, restrict their growth, cause calcium deposits in the vasculature and soft tissues and lead to a shortened lifespan. We dosed mice on the acceleration diet, starting at week two, with both INZ-701 and vehicle control every other day for eight weeks. INZ-701 delivered to asj mice at doses of 0.2 mg/kg, 1 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg significantly reduced ectopic calcification in the kidney, spleen, lung and liver. As shown in the graphs below, treatment with as little as 0.2 mg/kg of INZ-701 reduced calcium deposits in all tissues, and mice treated with 5 mg/kg of INZ-701 showed no differences in calcification compared to wild-type controls.

 

img186495686_14.jpg 

 

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We obtained evidence of changes in vascular calcification in asj mice on the acceleration diet by carrying out scans of the heart and aorta using a technique known as high resolution micro computed tomography, or micro CT. All nine asj mice dosed with vehicle control showed variable but extensive calcification in the aorta, coronary artery and heart. All nine asj mice dosed with 0.2 mg/kg of INZ-701 showed a pattern and intensity of calcification signals similar to that shown when mice were dosed with vehicle control. In almost all cases, increasing the dose of INZ-701 to 1 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg completely prevented calcification in the heart and in the aorta. Only one out of nine mice from the 1 mg/kg group showed some evidence of cardiovascular calcification. Treatment with 5 mg/kg of INZ-701 completely prevented calcification in the heart and aorta in all eight mice dosed in the 5 mg/kg group. The dose response and degree of calcification measured by micro CT of the heart and aorta for each mouse in this study are illustrated below in increasing shades of blue and green. We believe these results suggest that INZ-701 may have the ability to significantly reduce the extent of ectopic calcification due to ENPP1 Deficiency. In the study represented by the illustration below, the p-value for the degree of calcification for asj mice dosed with INZ-701 compared to asj mice dosed with vehicle control was 0.5341 for the 0.2 mg/kg group and 0.0004 for both the 1 mg/kg group and 5 mg/kg group.

 

img186495686_15.jpg 

 

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To investigate whether increasing plasma PPi levels would prevent ectopic calcification in Abcc6-deficient mice, we dosed Abcc6-deficient mice with 2 mg/kg of INZ-701, 10 mg/kg of INZ-701 or vehicle control from two weeks of age for eight weeks every other day. At 10 weeks of age, all of the mice were euthanized and the mineralization and blood biochemistry was measured. In this study, Abcc6-deficient mice exhibited low plasma PPi levels and significantly increased muzzle skin calcification. However, treatment of Abcc6-deficient mouse with INZ-701 caused a significant increase in plasma PPi at doses of 2 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg and a significant reduction in the extent of calcification noted in the muzzle skin to wild-type levels. This increase in plasma PPi levels in the Abcc6-deficient mice contributed to the reduction in pathological tissue calcification. We believe that these data suggest that ABCC6 Deficiency contributes to increased ectopic calcification and that ENPP1, through PPi, may be able to reduce the extent of calcification. In the graph below, the symbol **** represents a p-value of less than 0.001 relative to Abcc6-deficient mice treated with vehicle.

 

 

img186495686_16.jpg 

 

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Overall Health and Survival

In addition to the measured changes in calcium deposition, treatment of asj mice with 0.2 mg/kg, 1 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg of INZ-701 and vehicle control every other day also led to improvements in overall health. Mice treated with INZ-701 had a dose-dependent increase in body weight compared to mice treated with vehicle control, whose average weight at 27 to 56 days was only 60% that of wild-type mice. Compared to asj mice treated with vehicle control, mice treated with INZ-701 at 1 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg showed significant increases in body weight. The results of this study are shown in the graph below.

 

img186495686_17.jpg 

 

 

In addition to body weight, treatment of asj mice with INZ-701 at 1 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg every other day led to improvement in a number of clinical signs associated with ENPP1 Deficiency in mice, including pinned ear, hunched back, stilted and stiff legs, dehydration and rough hair coat. Treatment with INZ-701 also prevented asj mice from early mortality associated with becoming moribund.

In another experiment, we treated mice with either 1 mg/kg of mENPP1-Fc, a research version of INZ-701 containing a mouse Fc domain, or vehicle control starting on the fourteenth day of life and until day 55. In this experiment, all eight mice treated with mENPP1-Fc survived the full 55 days of the trial (represented by the blue line in the graph below), while the median lifespan of the untreated mice decreased from 58 days to 35 days (represented by the black hatched line in the graph below).

 

img186495686_18.jpg 

 

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In another experiment, we treated asj mice with 0.2 mg/kg, 1 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg of INZ-701 and vehicle control for 56 days to analyze by micro CT the femora and tibiae bones and measure both trabecular number and cortical thickness, which are two important contributors of bone strength. The strength of a bone and its ability to resist fracture is dependent upon these two structural parameters. Treatment of asj mice with INZ-701 corrected the bone defects, leading to a dose-dependent increase in bone length, trabecular number and cortical thickness as compared to asj mice treated with vehicle control.

img186495686_19.jpg 

Intimal Proliferation

Intimal proliferation resulting from ENPP1 Deficiency was also replicated in corresponding animal models. In animal models, intimal proliferation is accelerated during conditions of injury including ligation of the artery. The exact mechanism linking ENPP1 Deficiency to Intimal proliferation is under investigation, but is believed to directly involve the adenosine pathway.

The increase in intimal proliferation can be observed in a strain of Enpp1-deficient mice known as ttw/ttw mice in a carotid artery ligation model. These mice have a single base pair change in the ENPP1 gene producing ENPP1 Deficiency. The ttw/ttw mice were treated with 10 mg/kg of INZ-701 or vehicle control every other day for seven days before carotid artery ligation surgery and for 14 days following carotid artery ligation surgery. Vehicle control-treated ttw/ttw mice showed a significant increase in intimal proliferation in the area of the artery at the sites of ligation. We believe these data, shown in the graph below, confirm that the INZ-701 treatment aligns with the earlier published findings indicating that ENPP1 treatment in mice inhibited ligation-induced intimal proliferation.

 

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Importantly, as shown in the graph below, INZ-701 also inhibited ligation-induced intimal proliferation in wild-type mice without ENPP1 Deficiency. These important findings in wild-type mice suggest that increasing levels of ENPP1 above normal may be useful in diseases in which vascular intimal proliferation is increased.

 

img186495686_20.jpg 

 

To further evaluate INZ-701’s effects on intimal proliferation, we conducted a pilot study in a swine model. In this study, three pigs underwent surgery in which stents were inserted into the coronary, profunda and femoral arteries. At day 14, the stents were re-injured with balloon dilation to initiate additional intimal proliferation at the stented arterial sites. The sites were then evaluated with angiography and optimal coherence tomography, or OCT. We dosed the pigs with vehicle control and 10 mg/kg of INZ-701 every four days, with the first dose administered on day 10. At day 42, the pigs again underwent angiography and OCT, and quantification of intimal proliferation was performed in the OCT images and compared to the day 14 OCT evaluation.

In this study, INZ-701 significantly (p<0.05) inhibited stenosis or intimal proliferation in the profunda artery over 28 days. These results in a large animal model of intimal proliferation support the results from the studies in the mouse model of intimal proliferation.

Safety and Toxicology

 

We evaluated INZ-701 in toxicology studies in rats, mice, and non-human primates. In single and multiple administration studies in rats and non-human primates, the maximum tolerated doses of INZ-701 were determined to be 180 and 100 mg/kg, respectively. In these studies, no systemic adverse effects or pathological effects were noted with INZ-701. Because both non-human primates and mice are relevant species, based on gene sequence homology and biologic activity, we subsequently conducted 28-day good laboratory practices, or GLP, IND-enabling studies in each species. In these studies, there were no adverse events and we observed normal histopathology and clinical pathology. In addition, we conducted a 28-day GLP cardiovascular study in non-human primates and, a 28-day GLP central nervous system and respiratory risk study in mice. There were no adverse observations in any of these studies at doses up to 30 mg/kg of INZ-701, which was the highest dose tested. The 28-day studies were followed by three-month GLP IND enabling toxicology studies in mice and non-human primates. There were no adverse observations in these studies at doses up to 60 mg/kg of INZ-701 in mice and 30 mg/kg of INZ-701 in non-human primates, which were the highest doses tested in each species.

 

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In addition, two GLP dose range-finding studies of INZ-701 were conducted in juvenile C57BL6 mice. In both studies INZ-701 was given by subcutaneous injection for 21 days every other day at doses up to 30 mg/kg. There were no adverse clinical observations, mortality, or moribundity in mice that received INZ-701; no test article-related changes in body weight, body weight gain, or food consumption; and no test article-related changes in hematology or coagulation in mice that received INZ-701 as compared to the concurrent control groups of the same sex (in either study).

 

A GLP multiple dose toxicity study of INZ-701 was also conducted in juvenile C57BL6 mice. The mice were given INZ-701 by subcutaneous injection every other day at doses of 5, 10, or 30 mg/kg from post-natal day 10 to post-natal day 100 and were followed for 4 additional weeks after dosing. Toxicokinetics, clinical observations, clinical chemistries, anti-drug antibodies, neuro-assessment, macro and micropathology with the addition of neurohistological parameters, and reproductive endpoints were evaluated during the study. The study concluded there were no adverse findings related to INZ-701 throughout the study period at any dose level. The no-observed-adverse-effect level for the study was the highest dose tested, 30 mg/kg.

 

Overall, in our nonclinical toxicology studies, INZ-701 exhibited a good safety profile and an acceptable therapeutic index.

Clinical Development of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency

In November 2021, we initiated our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adult patients with ENPP1 Deficiency. The Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 is an open-label, first-in-human, multiple ascending dose trial, which initially enrolled nine adult patients at sites in North America and Europe. The trial will primarily assess the safety and tolerability of INZ-701 in adult patients with ENPP1 Deficiency, as well as characterize the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of INZ-701, including evaluation of PPi and other biomarker levels. In the Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial, we assessed INZ-701 for 32 days at doses of 0.2 mg/kg, 0.6 mg/kg, and 1.8 mg/kg administered via subcutaneous injection, with three patients per dose cohort, which doses were selected based on preclinical studies and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling. Patients received a single dose and then began twice weekly dosing one week later. The Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial seeks to identify a safe and tolerable dose for further development that increases PPi levels for further clinical development. The open-label Phase 2 portion of the trial is assessing long-term safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of continued treatment with INZ-701 for up to 48 weeks, where patients may receive doses of INZ-701 at home depending on site-specific protocols. Exploratory endpoints include evaluations of ectopic calcification, skeletal, vascular, and physical function, patient-reported outcomes and exploratory biomarkers. The Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial is complete. The Phase 2 portion of the trial is ongoing.

In April 2022, we announced preliminary biomarker, safety and pharmacokinetic data from the 0.2 mg/kg cohort of the Phase 1 dose escalation portion of this trial. At the 0.2 mg/kg dose level of INZ-701, all three patients showed rapid, significant, and sustained increases in PPi levels. Preclinical findings demonstrated PPi being a key predictive biomarker of therapeutic benefit in ENPP1 Deficiency. The range of PPi levels across the three patients at screening was 132-333 nM. At the 0.2 mg/kg dose level of INZ-701, the mean PPi level observed during the 32-day dose evaluation period across the three patients was 1356 nM, an approximately 5-fold mean increase from screening across the three patients. The range of peak PPi levels observed during the 32-day dose evaluation period across the three patients was 1082-2416 nM, and was comparable to data from our study of healthy subjects (n=10), which study showed PPi levels between 1002 nM and 2169 nM. Increased PPi levels observed after dosing of INZ-701 were associated with systemic exposure and activity of INZ-701. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed INZ-701 nearing steady-state by Day 29 with an approximately 4-fold accumulation from Day 1, based on AUC0-72HRS. We believe that the half-life of INZ-701 observed in this trial suggests the potential for once-weekly dosing. All three patients from the first cohort enrolled in the open-label Phase 2 portion of the trial. At week 12, low titers of anti-drug antibodies were observed in two out of three patients in the first cohort. The significantly increased PPi levels observed during the 32-day dose evaluation period were sustained in all three patients through week 12 of the Phase 2 portion of the trial. Data from the first cohort showed that INZ-701 was generally well-tolerated, with no treatment-related serious adverse events reported, and otherwise exhibited a favorable initial safety profile.

In November 2022, we announced the first self-administration of INZ-701 in the open-label Phase 2 portion of the trial.

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In February 2023, we reported topline pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and safety data from this trial. A rapid, significant, and sustained increase in PPi was observed in all dose cohorts and in all patients, with a target PPi threshold observed from the lowest does of 0.2 mg/kg. PPi increased in all patients to levels comparable to those observed in our study of healthy subjects (n=10), which study showed PPi levels between 1002 nM and 2169 nM. The mean baseline PPi across all three cohorts in the trial was 426±407 nM. PPi levels observed after INZ-701 administration are shown in the table below:

 

 

 

 

Mean PPi (nM) ± SD

 

 

 

 

Cohort 1 (0.2 mg/kg)*

Cohort 2 (0.6 mg/kg)

Cohort 3 (1.8 mg/kg)

 

Phase 1

Single Dose

Day 1-8

1229±410

1438±715

1220±426

2x/Week Dose

Day 11-32

1494±498

1745±780

1341±330

Phase 2

2x/Week Dose

Day 32-338

1299±490

1472±516

1462±233

*Cohort 1 – n=2 post week 12

INZ-701 activity in a dose proportional manner was observed and a long half-life of approximately 126 hours and drug accumulation as shown by a greater than dose proportional exposure suggests the potential for once weekly dosing. INZ-701 exhibited a favorable immunogenicity profile with low titers of non-neutralizing anti-drug antibodies observed in seven of nine patients. INZ-701 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited a favorable safety profile, with no serious or severe adverse events attributed to INZ-701 and no adverse events leading to study withdrawal. Three of the nine patients experienced mild adverse events related to INZ-701 (including injection site reactions (bruising or pain) occurring in two of nine patients and other mild adverse events included decreased appetite and fatigue). There were two serious adverse events not related to INZ-701. All nine patients enrolled in the Phase 2 portion of the trial, one of whom subsequently withdrew from the study following week 12 due to travel reasons. Eight patients continue in the ongoing Phase 2 portion of the trial on INZ-701 treatment.

In February 2023, we also reported patient reported outcome data as measured by global impression of change, or GIC. The measurement is performed by the clinician, or C-GIC, and the patient, or P-GIC, and assesses overall change in health from baseline on a 7-point scale as measured from “very much worse” (-3) to “very much improved” (+3). GIC is an exploratory endpoint in the trial and an early indicator of potential clinical outcomes. Six of eight patients showed concordant improvements on overall health on C-GIC and P-GIC. Five of eight patients showed “much improved” (+2) or “very much improved” (+3) on P-GIC. No patients showed a deterioration in overall health from baseline on C-GIC or P-GIC.

We plan to report interim clinical data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adults with ENPP1 Deficiency in the third quarter of 2023. We also plan to investigate the potential for once weekly dosing in the ongoing trial.

We also plan to initiate a Phase 1b clinical trial of INZ-701, or the ENERGY-1 trial, to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of INZ-701 in infants with ENPP1 Deficiency in the second quarter of 2023. This single arm, open label, multicenter trial will enroll up to eight patients over a treatment period of 52-weeks. Additional objectives of the ENERGY-1 trial include increasing levels of plasma PPi and assessing the impact of INZ-701 on patient survival, growth, development, functional performance, cardiac function, biomarkers related to bone and mineral metabolism, and healthcare utilization.
 

If a safe dose is identified for further development, we plan to conduct pivotal clinical trials of INZ-701, designed to support registration, in infant, pediatric, and adult patient populations with ENPP1 Deficiency. Many companies pursuing marketing approval for enzyme replacement therapies in rare diseases have followed a similar clinical development strategy.
 

Prior to initiating these pivotal clinical trials, we plan to engage with the regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions to determine appropriate primary efficacy endpoints and other requirements for potential marketing approval. In particular, if we propose new or novel endpoints or methodologies for our clinical trials, regulatory authorities will ultimately need to conclude that the endpoints of our clinical trials have provided clinically meaningful results before we are able to obtain potential marketing approval. If successful, the Phase 1/2 clinical trial would allow us to obtain evidence of the mechanism of action of INZ-701 through restoration of plasma PPi levels and inform the design of our planned pivotal clinical trials. Our clinical strategy is to link the restoration of plasma PPi levels to measures of clinical efficacy in ENPP1 Deficiency and to establish that plasma PPi could be considered a clinically meaningful pharmacodynamic marker in patients with ENPP1 Deficiency. Subject to ongoing discussions with regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions we plan to pursue registration of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency with plasma PPi as a primary clinical endpoint if supported by appropriate secondary endpoints.

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We initiated pivotal trial meetings with the FDA in the first quarter of 2023. We are actively designing a pivotal trial of INZ-701 in pediatric patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and plan to initiate this trial in the third quarter of 2023, subject to receipt of regulatory approval. We anticipate initiating protocol assistance meetings with the EMA in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Clinical Development of INZ-701 for ABCC6 Deficiency

In April 2022, we initiated our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adult patients with ABCC6 Deficiency. The Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 is an open-label multiple ascending dose trial, which initially enrolled nine adult patients at sites in the United States and Europe. The trial will primarily assess the safety and tolerability of INZ-701 in adult patients with ABCC6 Deficiency, as well as characterize the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of INZ-701, including evaluation of plasma PPi and other biomarker levels. In the Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial, we assessed INZ-701 for 32 days at doses of 0.2 mg/kg, 0.6 mg/kg, and 1.8 mg/kg administered via subcutaneous injection, with three patients per dose cohort, which doses were selected based on preclinical studies and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling. Patients received a single dose and then began twice weekly dosing one week later. The Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of the trial seeks to identify a safe and tolerable dose for further development that increases PPi levels for further clinical development. The open-label Phase 2 portion of the trial will assess long-term safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of continued treatment with INZ-701 for up to 48 weeks, where patients may receive doses of INZ-701 at home depending on site-specific protocols. Exploratory endpoints will include evaluations of ectopic calcification, vascular and retinal function, patient reported outcomes, and exploratory biomarkers.

In July 2022, we announced preliminary biomarker, safety and pharmacokinetic data from the 0.2 mg/kg cohort from the Phase 1 dose-escalation portion of this trial. At the 0.2 mg/kg dose level of INZ-701, all three patients showed rapid and significant increases in PPi levels. Preclinical findings demonstrated PPi being a key predictive biomarker of therapeutic benefit in ABCC6 Deficiency. The mean PPi level across the three patients at baseline was 851 nM. At the 0.2 mg/kg dose level of INZ-701, the mean PPi level observed during the 32-day dose evaluation period across the three patients was 1057 nM, which was within the range observed in our study of healthy subjects (n=10), which study showed PPi levels between 1002 nM and 2169 nM. The range of peak PPi levels observed across the three patients in the 32-day dose evaluation period was 2139-4090 nM. Preliminary pharmacokinetic and INZ-701 enzymatic activity remained consistent with data reported from our ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of INZ-701 in patients with ENPP1 Deficiency. INZ-701 continued to exhibit a favorable initial safety profile. Data from this cohort showed that INZ-701 was generally well-tolerated with no serious adverse events reported. Low titers of anti-drug antibodies were observed in one patient at day 32 of the trial, which had no impact on pharmacokinetic or ENPP1 activity. All three patients from the first cohort enrolled in the open-label Phase 2 portion of the trial.

Beginning in January 2023, self-administration of INZ-701 in the open-label Phase 2 portion of the trial was available.

In February 2023, we reported topline pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and safety data from this trial. A rapid, significant, and sustained increase in PPi was observed in all cohorts with a dose response observed. PPi showed sustained increase in the highest dose cohort to levels comparable to those observed in our study of healthy subjects (n=10), which study showed PPi levels between 1002 nM and 2169 nM. Mean baseline PPi across all three cohorts in the trial was 947±193 nM. PPi levels observed after INZ-701 administration are shown in the table below:

 

 

 

 

Mean PPi (nM) ± SD

 

 

 

Cohort 1 (0.2 mg/kg)

Cohort 2 (0.6 mg/kg)

Cohort 3 (1.8 mg/kg)

Phase 1

Single Dose

Day 1-8

1087±796

1326±330

1589±1065

 

2x/Week Dose

Day 11-32

1023±454

1119±216

1415±509

 

Phase 2

2x/Week Dose

Day 32-252

900±253

1011±121

1498±465*

 

*P<0.05 vs 0.2 mg/kg – Cohort 3 – n=2 post day 18.

INZ-701 activity in a greater than dose proportional manner was observed and drug accumulation as shown by a greater than dose proportional exposure suggests the potential for once weekly dosing. INZ-701 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited a favorable safety profile, with no serious or severe adverse events attributed to INZ-701. All adverse events were mild to moderate in severity. Seven of the nine patients experienced adverse events related to INZ-701 (including mild injection site reactions (discoloration, erythema, induration, pain or pruritus) occurring in four of the nine patients and other adverse events included erythema, fatigue, night sweats and urticaria).One patient from the highest dose cohort (1.8 mg/kg) was withdrawn from the Phase 1 portion of the trial at day 18 due to a moderate adverse event (erythema/urticaria) related to INZ-701. A replacement patient was enrolled in the Phase 1 portion of trial and all nine patients continue in the Phase 2 portion of the trial.
 

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We plan to report interim clinical data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial in adults in the fourth quarter of 2023.
 

If a safe dose is identified for further development, we plan to conduct a Phase 2/3 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adults and infants with ABCC6 Deficiency. We intend to design this Phase 2/3 clinical trial as a pivotal trial for registrational purposes. Prior to initiating this Phase 2/3 clinical trial, we plan to engage with the regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions to determine appropriate primary efficacy endpoints and other requirements for potential marketing approval. In particular, if we propose new or novel endpoints or methodologies for our clinical trials, regulatory authorities will ultimately need to conclude that the endpoints of our clinical trials have provided clinically meaningful results before we are able to obtain potential marketing approval. If successful, the Phase 1/2 clinical trial would allow us to obtain evidence of the restoration of plasma PPi levels and inform the design of our planned Phase 2/3 clinical trial. Our clinical strategy, subject to ongoing discussions with the regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions, is to pursue registration of INZ-701 for ABCC6 Deficiency by linking the restoration of plasma PPi levels to measures of physiological and clinical efficacy in this patient population.

Subject to regulatory approval and sufficient funding, we plan to initiate a Phase 2/3 clinical trial in patients with ABCC6 Deficiency in 2024.

Other Potential Indications for INZ-701

Based on its mechanism of action, we believe that INZ-701 has the potential to increase plasma PPi levels and provide therapeutic benefit to patients beyond those with monogenic defects in the ENPP1 or ABCC6 gene.

We intend to explore the potential of INZ-701 as a therapy in other, non-genetic diseases of pathologic mineralization associated with low levels of PPi, such as calciphylaxis or calcifications as a result of ESKD. Calciphylaxis, a manifestation of CKD, is a non-genetic condition associated with vascular calcification and low PPi levels with a reported one-year survival rate of approximately 50%. Calciphylaxis affects between 1% and 4% of patients with ESKD. The estimated incidence of calciphylaxis is at least 1,800 new patients per year in the United States. There are currently no approved therapies for calciphylaxis, although use of sodium thiosulfate, a chelating agent intended to lower calcium content in the blood, reportedly improves wound healing. Patients are often also advised to maintain a low phosphate diet.

We have collaborated with a major academic institution to confirm that PPi levels are low in patients with calciphylaxis and to investigate associated manifestations that may be treated with INZ-701. Evidence of low PPi in calciphylaxis is supported by a third-party exploratory study designed to measure PPi in patients with calciphylaxis and to examine whether PPi levels are predictive of clinical outcomes. In this study, PPi was measured in patients with calciphylaxis at different stages of CKD/ESKD and matched for age, sex, race, and CKD/ESKD stage in patients without calciphylaxis. Results from this study revealed that PPi was significantly decreased in patients with calciphylaxis (both in those with and without dialysis-dependent CKD/ESKD) as compared to matched CKD/ESKD controls. The median PPi value was 248 nM in CKD/ESKD patients with calciphylaxis as compared to a median PPi value of 661 nM in CKD/ESKD patients without calciphylaxis, p< 0.0001. As shown in the graph below on the left, PPi levels in both CKD/ESKD populations with and without calciphylaxis were significantly lower than PPi levels in healthy volunteers. Furthermore,

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as shown in the graph below on the right, lower PPi levels were associated with increased 6-month mortality among patients with calciphylaxis.

 

img186495686_21.jpg 

Diseases of intimal proliferation include diseases without a clear genetic basis. In preclinical studies, INZ-701 prevented intimal proliferation in both wild-type and Enpp1-deficient mice, which we believe is attributable to increased levels of adenosine. We plan to continue to explore the potential of INZ-701 in non-genetic diseases in which arteries have been damaged or disrupted by insertion of a stent, bypass graft occlusion, transplant vasculopathy or inflammation known as arteritis.

ENPP1 Gene Therapy

We plan to continue to develop new and innovative therapies to treat ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies. We believe we are well-positioned to do so because of our in-depth knowledge of the biological pathways involved in mineralization and of diseases of pathologic mineralization. For example, we have identified a gene therapy construct having an optimized ENPP1-Fc sequence driven by a tissue specific promoter in our enzyme replacement therapy program that has shown restoration and sustained enzyme activity leading to an increase of plasma PPi levels in preclinical experiments without adverse effects. Our results to date encourage us to continue to optimize our gene therapy construct as a potential new modality to treat diseases of pathologic mineralization impacting the vasculature, soft tissue and skeleton, in furtherance of our mission to become leaders in the treatment of such diseases.

Treatment of asj/2j mice with, ENPP1 Deficiency with an AAV vector containing a modified ENPP1-Fc driven by a tissue specific promoter at three different doses by a single intravenous injection for a period of ten weeks led to a dose dependent increase in PPi levels. Mice treated with vehicle control lacked any plasma PPi, as expected.

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The results of this initial study are shown in the graph below:

img186495686_22.jpg 

In another study in asj/2j mice, we evaluated lower doses of an AAV vector containing a modified ENPP1-Fc driven by a tissue specific promoter at three different doses by a single intravenous injection for a period of ten weeks. These studies demonstrated increases in plasma PPi with corresponding prevention of calcification in various tissues, including the aorta, spleen and lung, as well as prevention of skeletal abnormalities such as rickets in the growth plate and ectopic calcification in the vertebrae as shown in the figures below. These studies suggested that gene therapy is a potential therapeutic modality for ENPP1 Deficiency.

The results of this study are shown below:

img186495686_23.jpg 

img186495686_24.jpg 

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img186495686_25.jpg 

 

Manufacturing and Supply

While we have personnel with substantial manufacturing experience, we do not own or operate, and currently have no plans to establish, any manufacturing facilities. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of both drug substance and finished drug product for INZ-701 and any future product candidates for preclinical and clinical testing, as well as for commercial manufacture if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval. We also rely on these third parties for packaging, labeling, sterilization, storage, distribution and other production logistics. We have only limited supply agreements in place with respect to our product candidates, and these arrangements do not extend to commercial supply. We obtain supplies of drug substance and finished drug product for INZ-701 on a purchase order basis. We do not have long term committed arrangements with respect to any of our product candidates or other materials.

Manufacturing biologics is complex, especially in large quantities. Biologic products must be made consistently and in compliance with a clearly defined manufacturing process. We have obtained from our third-party manufacturers a supply of INZ-701 that we believe is sufficient for our ongoing clinical trials of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency. However, we are continuing the process of scaling up our manufacturing processes and capabilities with our third-party manufacturers to support longer term clinical development. In addition, if we receive marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we will need to establish an agreement for commercial manufacture with a third party. We do not currently have arrangements in place for redundant supply or a second source for bulk drug substance. If any of our current contract manufacturers cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace such manufacturers. Although we believe that there are several potential alternative manufacturers who could manufacture our product candidates, we may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacement or be unable to reach agreement with an alternative manufacturer.

Commercialization

We retain worldwide, exclusive development and commercialization rights to our pipeline and programs, including INZ-701. At this stage, we have not yet established our own commercial organization or distribution capabilities as we have only recently begun the clinical development of INZ-701. We believe that we will be able to commercialize INZ-701, if approved, for ENPP1 or ABCC6 Deficiency with a small, targeted, internal sales and commercial organization in the United States and other major markets. We may explore the use of a variety of types of collaboration, co-promotion, distribution and other marketing arrangements with one or more third parties to commercialize our product candidates in smaller markets outside the United States or for other situations in which a larger sales and marketing organization is required.

We intend to continue to engage with patient advocacy groups, medical centers of excellence and medical specialists in an effort to expeditiously bring our therapy to patients.

Competition

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition and a strong emphasis on proprietary products. While we believe that our technology, expertise, scientific knowledge and intellectual property provide us with competitive advantages, we face and will continue to face competition from many different sources, including major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies and public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection, and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future. Moreover, our industry is characterized by the existence of large numbers of patents and frequent allegations of patent infringement.

The key competitive factors affecting the success of our product candidates, if approved, are likely to be their efficacy, safety, convenience and price, the level of competition and the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party

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payors. If any of our product candidates are approved and successfully commercialized, it is likely that we will face increased competition as a result of other companies pursuing development of products to address similar diseases.

There are currently no approved therapies for the treatment of either ENPP1 or ABCC6 Deficiency. Currently available treatments are only seeking to minimize the manifestations of these diseases. Although a number of companies generally are pursuing development of different enzyme replacement therapies or treatments for vascular calcification disorders and many other companies are focused on rare disease markets, we are not aware of any product candidate currently in clinical development for ENPP1 Deficiency. SNF472, a calcification inhibitor, is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for calciphylaxis by Sanifit Inc., which was acquired by Vifor Pharma and is now CSL Vifor. DS-1211, a tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase inhibitor, is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for PXE by Daiichi Sankyo Company, and CSL Vifor has product candidates in preclinical development for calcification inhibitors.

Many of the companies against which we are competing or against which we may compete in the future have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. 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 and other early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

We may pursue the in-license or acquisition of rights to complementary technologies and product candidates on an opportunistic basis. The acquisition and licensing of technologies and product candidates is a competitive area, and a number of more established companies also have similar strategies to in-license or acquire technologies and product candidates that we may consider attractive. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash resources and greater development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to in-license or acquire the relevant technology or product candidate on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment.

Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. In addition, our ability to compete may be affected in many cases by insurers or other third-party payors seeking to encourage the use of generic products. Because of our primary focus on rare diseases, if our product candidates achieve marketing approval, we expect to seek premium pricing.

Yale University License Agreement

In January 2017, we entered into a license agreement with Yale, which was amended in May 2020 and July 2020, pursuant to which Yale granted us (1) an exclusive, worldwide license, with specified rights to sublicense, under Yale’s interest in specified intellectual property rights and materials for specified therapeutic and prophylactic products, (2) a nonexclusive, worldwide license under Yale’s interest in the same intellectual property rights and materials for specified diagnostic products, and (3) a nonexclusive, worldwide license under Yale’s interest in specified know-how for specified products, in each case that use any ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase enzymes, or ENPPs, or an agonist or antagonist of ENPP, its receptors, substrates, or ENPP enzymatic products, subject to certain exceptions. These licensed intellectual property rights, materials and know-how arose, and may in the future continue to arise, primarily from research conducted by Dr. Demetrios Braddock and members of his laboratory at Yale. During the period in which Professor Braddock serves as a member of our scientific advisory board or has another arrangement with us pursuant to which he provides regular advice to us or has an active consulting arrangement with us, and so long as he is an employee or faculty member (including emeritus faculty member) at Yale, Yale is restricted from granting any third party any rights for any therapeutic or prophylactic uses for any ENPP technology made, created, developed, discovered, conceived or first reduced to practice by or on behalf of Professor Braddock or his laboratory. Under the license agreement, we are obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to pursue development and commercialization of specified ENPP products and licensed methods.

Pursuant to the license agreement, as partial upfront consideration, we paid to Yale approximately $0.1 million which amount reflected unreimbursed patent expenses incurred by Yale prior to the date of the license agreement. We are responsible for paying Yale an annual license maintenance fee in varying amounts throughout the term ranging from the low tens of thousands of dollars to the high tens of thousands of dollars. As of December 31, 2022, we have incurred a total of $0.3 million in license maintenance fees to Yale. We are required to pay Yale $3.0 million, based on the achievement of a specified net product sales milestone or specified development and commercialization milestones, for each therapeutic and prophylactic licensed product developed. In January 2022, we paid Yale an approximately $0.3 million milestone payment following dosing of the first patient in

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our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adult patients with ENPP1 Deficiency in November 2021. In March 2022, we paid Yale an approximately $0.3 million milestone payment following completion of the first cohort of our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 in adult patients with ENPP1 Deficiency. In addition, we are required to pay Yale an amount in the several hundreds of thousands of dollars, based on the achievement of a specified net product sales milestone or specified development and commercialization milestones, for each diagnostic licensed product developed. While the agreement remains in effect, we are required to pay Yale low single-digit percentage royalties on aggregate worldwide net sales of certain licensed products, which may be subject to reductions. Yale is guaranteed a minimum royalty payment amount (ranging in dollar amounts from the mid six figures to low seven figures) for each year after the first sale of a therapeutic or prophylactic licensed product that results in net sales. Yale is guaranteed a minimum royalty payment amount (ranging from the low tens of thousands of dollars to the mid tens of thousands of dollars) for each year after the first sale of a diagnostic licensed product that results in net sales. Such minimum royalty payment amounts are summed for each year after the first sale of both a therapeutic or prophylactic licensed product and a diagnostic licensed product has occurred. We must also pay Yale a percentage in the twenties of certain types of income we receive from sublicensees. We are also responsible for costs relating to the prosecution and maintenance of the licensed patents. Finally, subject to certain conditions, all payments due by us to Yale will be tripled following any patent challenge or challenge to a claim by Yale that a product is a licensed product under the agreement made by us against Yale if Yale prevails in such challenge.

We have also agreed to pay for ENPP research support from Yale pursuant to a sponsored research agreement that we entered into with Yale in January 2017 and amended in February 2019, February 2022, and May 2022. Under the sponsored research agreement, as amended, we agreed to paid Yale an aggregate of $2.5 million over six and a half years, ending in the second quarter of 2023. The research was performed by and under the supervision and direction of Professor Braddock.

The license agreement remains in effect until the latest of, on a country-by-country basis, (a) the date on which the last claim of the licensed patents in such country expires; (b) 10 years after the last licensed know-how, licensed materials or licensed methods have been provided to us by Yale; and (c) 10 years after the first sale of a specified ENPP product; but in no event later than the date that is 30 years after the effective date of the agreement. We may terminate the agreement for Yale’s uncured material breach of the agreement, we may terminate the agreement for convenience upon six months’ prior notice, and Yale may terminate the agreement for our uncured material breach of certain provisions or if we fail to make a payment when due, fail to obtain or maintain adequate insurance coverage or fail to engage in specified development and regulatory activities. The agreement will automatically terminate if we become insolvent or the subject of a bankruptcy event. Upon termination for any reason other than Yale’s breach of the agreement, in certain circumstances, Yale is permitted to use all regulatory approvals of, or clinical trials or other studies conducted by or on behalf of us on, and all filings made by or on behalf of us with regulatory agencies with respect to, certain licensed technology.

Alexion Intellectual Property Asset Acquisition

In July 2020, we entered into an intellectual property asset purchase agreement with Alexion pursuant to which Alexion sold and assigned to us Alexion’s right, title and interest in and to specified patent rights and other specified assets solely related to ENPP1. We issued 8,294,360 shares of our Series A-2 Convertible Preferred Stock to Alexion in consideration for the sale and assignment to us of such assets, which shares of preferred stock converted into 1,109,910 shares of our common stock in connection with our IPO. Under the intellectual property asset purchase agreement, we also granted a non-exclusive license to Alexion and its affiliates to continue to use the assets we acquired for Alexion’s and its affiliates’ internal, non-clinical research purposes. In addition, subject to certain specified qualifications set forth in the intellectual property assets purchase agreement, Alexion is obligated to assign to us its rights with respect to any other assets owned by it that are solely related to ENPP1.

Intellectual Property

We strive to protect and enhance the proprietary technology, inventions and improvements that are commercially important to the development of our business, including by seeking, maintaining and defending patent rights, whether developed internally or licensed from third parties. We also rely on trade secrets, know-how, continuing technological innovation and in-licensing opportunities to develop, strengthen and maintain our proprietary position in our field. Additionally, we intend to rely on regulatory protection afforded through rare drug designations, data exclusivity and market exclusivity as well as patent term extensions, where available.

Our future commercial success depends, in part, on our ability to: obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other proprietary protection in the United States and other countries for commercially important technology, inventions and know-how related to our business; defend and enforce in our intellectual property rights, in particular our patents rights; preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets; and operate without infringing, misappropriating or violating the valid and enforceable patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing our

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products may depend on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets that cover these activities.

The patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies like ours are generally uncertain and can involve complex legal, scientific and factual issues. We cannot predict whether the patent applications we are currently pursuing will issue as patents in any particular jurisdiction or whether the claims of any issued patents will provide sufficient proprietary protection from competitors. We also cannot ensure that patents will issue with respect to any patent applications that we or our licensors may file in the future, nor can we ensure that any of our owned or licensed patents or future patents will be commercially useful in protecting our product candidates and methods of manufacturing the same. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application may be significantly reduced before a patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted and even challenged after issuance. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any of our products will be protected or remain protectable by enforceable patents. Moreover, any patents that we hold may be challenged, circumvented or invalidated by third parties. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property” for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.

We generally file patent applications directed to our key programs in an effort to secure our intellectual property positions with respect to these programs. As of March 22, 2023, we owned or possessed exclusive rights to approximately 22 issued U.S. patents, two pending U.S. provisional patent applications, 18 pending U.S. non-provisional patent applications, 19 issued foreign patents (including three issued European patents), 140 pending foreign patent applications, and three pending Patent Cooperation Treaty applications.

In addition, as of March 22, 2023, we owned approximately two allowed U.S. trademark applications, two pending foreign trademark applications, and twelve foreign registered trademarks.

INZ-701

The intellectual property portfolio for INZ-701, our most advanced program, as of March 22, 2023, is summarized below. Prosecution is a lengthy process, during which the scope of the claims initially submitted for examination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may be significantly narrowed before issuance, if issued at all. We expect this may be the case with respect to some of our pending patent applications referred to below.

Currently, our patent protection includes patents and patent applications that we have exclusively licensed under our license agreement with Yale. This licensed patent portfolio includes:

A patent family that includes seven issued U.S. patents relating to: (1) reducing and/or preventing progression of pathological calcification, (2) reducing or preventing ectopic calcification of soft tissue, (3) reducing or preventing pathological ossification, (4) treating, reversing or preventing progression of ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, (5) treating aging-related hardening of arteries (6) reducing or preventing progression of chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease, calcific uremic arteriolopathy, and calciphylaxis, and (7) reducing pathological calcification of vascular tissue in a human subject in need thereof having reduced ENPP1 activity or a loss of function mutation in the gene encoding ENPP1. All such methods of treatment involve administration of soluble ENPP1 that lacks a bone targeting domain. These U.S. patents are expected to expire in 2034, absent any term adjustments or extensions. Corresponding foreign applications have been filed and are pending in Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong, and one patent has been granted in Japan.
A patent family that includes one issued U.S. patent covering certain compositions that contain ENPP1, including INZ-701. This U.S. patent is expected to expire in 2036, absent any term adjustments or extensions. Corresponding foreign applications have been filed and are pending in Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada, Brazil, India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, and Russia, and one patent has been granted in Australia, Mexico, Russia, and Japan.

Other

Through our acquisition of intellectual property assets from Alexion, we have acquired, among other assets:

A patent family that includes one issued European patent relating to polypeptides comprising ENPP1 and the therapeutic use of such polypeptides, such as in the treatment of generalized arterial calcification of infancy. This European patent is expected to expire in 2031, absent any term adjustments or extensions.

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A patent family that includes two issued U.S. patents relating to compositions and fusion proteins comprising ENPP1 and a targeting moiety. These U.S. patents are expected to expire in 2031, absent any term adjustments or extensions.
A patent family that includes one U.S. reissue patent application relating to methods for treating a subject having PXE by administering to the subject soluble ENPP1.

The term of individual patents depends upon the legal term of the patents in the countries in which they are obtained. In most countries in which we file, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest date of filing a non-provisional patent application.

In the United States, the term of a patent covering an FDA-approved drug may, in certain cases, be eligible for a patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 as compensation for the loss of patent term during the FDA regulatory review process. The period of extension may be up to five years, but cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval. Only one patent relating to an approved drug may be extended among those patents eligible for an extension and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. Similar provisions are available in Europe and in certain other jurisdictions to extend the term of a patent that covers an approved drug. It is possible that issued U.S. patents covering the use of INZ-701 and products from our intellectual property may be entitled to patent term extensions. If our use of product candidates or the product candidate itself receives FDA approval, we intend to apply for patent term extension, if available, to extend the patent term that covers the approved use or product candidate. We also intend to seek patent term extensions in any jurisdictions where available, however, there is no guarantee that the applicable authorities, including the FDA, will agree with our assessment of whether such extensions should be granted, and even if granted, the length of such extensions.

In addition to patent protection, we rely upon unpatented trade secrets and confidential know-how and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. However, trade secrets and confidential know-how are difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary information, in part, using confidentiality agreements with any collaborators, scientific advisors, employees and consultants and invention assignment agreements with our employees. We also have agreements requiring assignment of inventions with selected consultants, scientific advisors and collaborators. These agreements may not provide meaningful protection. These agreements may also be breached, and we may not have an adequate remedy for any such breach. In addition, our trade secrets and confidential know-how may become known or be independently developed by a third party, or misused by any collaborator to whom we disclose such information. Despite any measures taken to protect our intellectual property, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or to obtain or use information that we regard as proprietary. Although we take steps to protect our proprietary information, third parties may independently develop the same or similar proprietary information or may otherwise gain access to our proprietary information. As a result, we may be unable to meaningfully protect our trade secrets and proprietary information. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Intellectual Property” for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.

Government Regulation

Government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state and local level, and in other countries and jurisdictions, including the European Union, extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, pricing, reimbursement, sales, quality control, approval, packaging, storage, recordkeeping, labeling, advertising, promotion, distribution, marketing, post-approval monitoring and reporting, and import and export of pharmaceutical products, including biological products. The processes for obtaining marketing approvals in the United States and in foreign countries and jurisdictions, along with subsequent compliance with applicable statutes and regulations and other regulatory authorities, require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.

Licensure and Regulation of Biologics in the United States

In the United States, our product candidates are regulated as biological products, or biologics, under the Public Health Service Act, or PHSA, and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and its implementing regulations and guidance. A company, institution, or organization which takes responsibility for the initiation and management of a clinical development program for such products, and for their regulatory approval, is typically referred to as a sponsor. The failure of a sponsor to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, including preclinical testing, clinical testing, the approval process, or post-approval process, may subject a sponsor to delays in the conduct of the study, regulatory review, and approval, and/or administrative or judicial sanctions.

A sponsor seeking approval to market and distribute a new biologic in the United States generally must satisfactorily complete each of the following steps:

preclinical laboratory tests, animal studies, and formulation studies all performed in accordance with the FDA’s GLP regulations and standards and other applicable regulations;

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completion of the manufacture, under current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, conditions, of the drug substance and drug product that the sponsor intends to use in human clinical trials along with required analytical and stability testing;
design of clinical protocol and submission to the FDA of an IND application for human clinical testing, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;
approval by an independent institutional review board, or IRB, representing each clinical site before each clinical trial may be initiated;
performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials to establish the safety, potency, and purity of the product candidate for each proposed indication, in accordance with current Good Clinical Practices, or GCP;
preparation and submission to the FDA of a biologics license application, or BLA, for a biologic product requesting marketing for one or more proposed indications, including submission of detailed information on the manufacture and composition of the product in clinical development and proposed labelling;
review of the product by an FDA advisory committee, where appropriate or if applicable;
satisfactory completion of one or more FDA inspections of the manufacturing facility or facilities, including those of third parties, at which the product, or components thereof, are produced to assess compliance with cGMP requirements and to assure that the facilities, methods, and controls are adequate to preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality, and purity;
satisfactory completion of any FDA audits of the preclinical studies and clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GLP, as applicable, and GCP, and the integrity of clinical data in support of the BLA;
payment of user Prescription Drug User Free Act, or PDUFA, securing FDA approval of the BLA and licensure of the new biologic product; and
compliance with any post-approval requirements, including the potential requirement to implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, and any post-approval studies or other post-marketing commitments required by the FDA.

Preclinical Studies

Before testing any biologic product candidate in humans, the product candidate must undergo preclinical testing. Preclinical tests include laboratory evaluations of product chemistry, formulation and stability, as well as studies to evaluate the potential for efficacy and toxicity in animal studies. These studies are generally referred to as IND-enabling studies. The conduct of the preclinical tests and formulation of the compounds for testing must comply with federal regulations and requirements, including GLP regulations and standards and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Welfare Act, if applicable. The results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information and analytical data, are submitted to the FDA as part of an IND application.

Investigational New Drug Application

An IND is an exemption from the FDCA that allows an unapproved product candidate to be shipped in interstate commerce for use in an investigational clinical trial and a request for FDA authorization to administer such investigational product to humans. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless before that time the FDA raises concerns or questions about the product or conduct of the proposed clinical trial, including concerns that human research subjects will be exposed to unreasonable health risks. In that case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding FDA concerns before the clinical trials can begin or recommence.

As a result, submission of the IND may result in the FDA not allowing the trials to commence or allowing the trial to commence on the terms originally specified by the sponsor in the IND.

If the FDA raises concerns or questions either during this initial 30-day period, or at any time during the IND process, it may choose to impose a partial or complete clinical hold. Clinical holds are imposed by the FDA whenever there is concern for patient safety and may be a result of new data, findings, or developments in clinical, preclinical, and/or chemistry, manufacturing, and controls. This order issued by the FDA would delay either a proposed clinical trial or cause suspension of an ongoing trial, until all outstanding concerns have been adequately addressed and the FDA has notified the company that investigations may proceed. This could cause significant delays or difficulties in completing our planned clinical trial or future clinical trials in a timely manner.

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Following the issuance of a clinical hold or partial clinical hold, a clinical investigation may only resume once the FDA has notified the sponsor that the investigation may proceed. The FDA will base that determination on information provided by the sponsor correcting the deficiencies previously cited or otherwise satisfying the FDA that the investigation can proceed or recommence. Occasionally, clinical holds are imposed due to manufacturing issues that may present safety issues for the clinical study subjects.

Expanded Access to an Investigational Drug for Treatment Use

Expanded access, sometimes called “compassionate use,” is the use of investigational products outside of clinical trials to treat patients with serious or immediately life-threatening diseases or conditions when there are no comparable or satisfactory alternative treatment options. The rules and regulations related to expanded access are intended to improve access to investigational products for patients who may benefit from investigational therapies. FDA regulations allow access to investigational products under an IND by the company or the treating physician for treatment purposes on a case-by-case basis for: individual patients (single-patient IND applications for treatment in emergency settings and non-emergency settings); intermediate-size patient populations; and larger populations for use of the investigational product under a treatment protocol or treatment IND application.

When considering an IND application for expanded access to an investigational product with the purpose of treating a patient or a group of patients, the sponsor and treating physicians or investigators will determine suitability when all of the following criteria apply: patient(s) have a serious or immediately life-threatening disease or condition, and there is no comparable or satisfactory alternative therapy to diagnose, monitor, or treat the disease or condition; the potential patient benefit justifies the potential risks of the treatment and the potential risks are not unreasonable in the context or condition to be treated; and the expanded use of the investigational drug for the requested treatment will not interfere initiation, conduct, or completion of clinical investigations that could support marketing approval of the product or otherwise compromise the potential development of the product.

There is no obligation for a sponsor to make its drug products available for expanded access; however, as required by the 21st Century Cures Act, or Cures Act, passed in 2016, if a sponsor has a policy regarding how it evaluates and responds to expanded access requests, sponsors are required to make such policies publicly available upon the earlier of initiation of a Phase 2 or Phase 3 clinical trial, or 15 days after the investigational drug or biologic receives designation as a breakthrough therapy, fast track product, or regenerative medicine advanced therapy.

In addition to and separate from expanded access, on May 30, 2018, the Right to Try Act was signed into law. The law, among other things, provides a federal framework for certain patients to access certain investigational products that have completed a Phase 1 clinical trial and that are undergoing investigation for FDA approval. Under certain circumstances, eligible patients can seek treatment without enrolling in clinical trials and without obtaining FDA permission under the FDA expanded access program. There is no obligation for a manufacturer to make its investigational products available to eligible patients as a result of the Right to Try Act.

Human Clinical Trials in Support of a BLA

Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product candidate to healthy volunteers or patients with the disease or condition to be treated under the supervision of a qualified principal investigator in accordance with GCP requirements. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the trial, inclusion and exclusion criteria, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A protocol for each clinical trial and any subsequent protocol amendments must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND.

A sponsor who wishes to conduct a clinical trial outside the United States may, but need not, obtain FDA authorization to conduct the clinical trial under an IND. When a foreign clinical trial is conducted under an IND, all FDA IND requirements must be met unless waived. When a foreign clinical trial is not conducted under an IND, the sponsor must ensure that the trial complies with certain regulatory requirements, including GCP requirements, of the FDA in order to use the trial as support for an IND or application for marketing approval. The GCP requirements encompass both ethical and data integrity standards for clinical trials. The FDA’s regulations are intended to help ensure the protection of human subjects enrolled in non-IND foreign clinical trials, as well as the quality and integrity of the resulting data. They further help ensure that non-IND foreign trials are conducted in a manner comparable to that required for clinical trials in the United States.

Further, each clinical trial must be reviewed and approved by an IRB either centrally or individually at each institution at which the clinical trial will be conducted. The IRB will consider, among other things, clinical trial design, patient informed consent, ethical factors, the safety of human subjects, and the possible liability of the institution. An IRB must operate in compliance with FDA regulations. The FDA, IRB, or the clinical trial sponsor may suspend or discontinue a clinical trial at any time for various reasons, including a finding that the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with FDA requirements or that the participants are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Clinical testing also must satisfy extensive GCP rules and the requirements for informed consent.

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Additionally, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board, or DSMB. This group may recommend continuation of the trial as planned, changes in trial conduct, or cessation of the trial at designated check points based on certain available data from the trial to which only the DSMB has access.

Clinical trials typically are conducted in three sequential phases, but the phases may overlap or be combined. Additional studies may be required after approval.

Phase 1 clinical trials are initially conducted in a limited population to test the product candidate for safety, including adverse effects, dose tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution, excretion, and pharmacodynamics in healthy humans or, on occasion, in patients, such as cancer patients.
Phase 2 clinical trials are generally conducted in a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, evaluate the efficacy of the product candidate for specific targeted indications and determine dose tolerance and optimal dosage. Multiple Phase 2 clinical trials may be conducted by the sponsor to obtain information prior to beginning larger and more costly Phase 3 clinical trials.
Phase 3 clinical trials proceed if the Phase 2 clinical trials demonstrate that a dose range of the product candidate is potentially effective and has an acceptable safety profile. Phase 3 clinical trials are undertaken within an expanded patient population to further evaluate dosage, provide substantial evidence of clinical efficacy, and further test for safety in an expanded and diverse patient population at multiple, geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. A well-controlled, statistically robust Phase 3 trial may be designed to deliver the data that regulatory authorities will use to decide whether or not to approve, and, if approved, how to appropriately label a biologic; such Phase 3 studies are referred to as “pivotal.”

In some cases, the FDA may approve a BLA for a product but require the sponsor to conduct additional clinical trials to further assess the product’s safety and effectiveness after approval. Such post-approval trials are typically referred to as Phase 4 clinical trials. These studies are used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication and to document a clinical benefit in the case of biologics approved under accelerated approval regulations. If the FDA approves a product while a company has ongoing clinical trials that were not necessary for approval, a company may be able to use the data from these clinical trials to meet all or part of any Phase 4 clinical trial requirement or to request a change in the product labeling. The failure to exercise due diligence with regard to conducting Phase 4 clinical trials could result in withdrawal of approval for products.

A clinical trial may combine the elements of more than one phase and the FDA often requires more than one Phase 3 trial to support marketing approval of a product candidate. A company’s designation of a clinical trial as being of a particular phase is not necessarily indicative that the study will be sufficient to satisfy the FDA requirements of that phase because this determination cannot be made until the protocol and data have been submitted to and reviewed by the FDA. Generally, pivotal trials are Phase 3 trials, but they may be Phase 2 trials if the design provides a well-controlled and reliable assessment of clinical benefit, particularly in an area of unmet medical need.

In December 2022, with the passage of Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, or FDORA, Congress required sponsors to develop and submit a diversity action plan for each Phase 3 clinical trial or any other “pivotal study” of a new drug or biological product. These plans are meant to encourage the enrollment of more diverse patient populations in late-stage clinical trials of FDA-regulated products. Specifically, action plans must include the sponsor’s goals for enrollment, the underlying rationale for those goals, and an explanation of how the sponsor intends to meet them. In addition to these requirements, the legislation directs the FDA to issue new guidance on diversity action plans.

Finally, sponsors of clinical trials are required to register and disclose certain clinical trial information on a public registry (clinicaltrials.gov) maintained by the NIH. In particular, information related to the product, patient population, phase of investigation, study sites and investigators and other aspects of the clinical trial is made public as part of the registration of the clinical trial. Although the FDA has historically not enforced these reporting requirements due to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’, or HHS’s, long delay in issuing final implementing regulations, those regulations have now been issued and the FDA has issued several Notices of Noncompliance to manufacturers since April 2021.The failure to submit clinical trial information to clinicaltrials.gov, as required, is a prohibited act under the FDCA with violations subject to potential civil monetary penalties of up to $10,000 for each day the violation continues.

Pediatric Studies

Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003, or PREA, a BLA or supplement thereto must contain data that are adequate to assess the safety and effectiveness of the product for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations, and to support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. Sponsors must also submit pediatric study plans prior to the assessment data. Those plans must contain an outline of the proposed pediatric study or studies the sponsor plans to conduct, including study objectives and design, any deferral or waiver requests, and other information required by regulation. The sponsor, the FDA, and the FDA’s internal review committee must then review the information submitted, consult with each other, and agree upon a final plan. The FDA or the sponsor may request an amendment to the plan at any time.

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The FDA may, on its own initiative or at the request of the sponsor, grant deferrals for submission of some or all pediatric data until after approval of the product for use in adults, or full or partial waivers from the pediatric data requirements. A deferral may be granted for several reasons, including a finding that the product or therapeutic candidate is ready for approval for use in adults before pediatric trials are completed. The FDA is required to send a PREA Non-Compliance letter to sponsors who have failed to submit their pediatric assessments under PREA, have failed to seek or obtain a deferral or deferral extension or have failed to request approval for a required pediatric formulation. Unless otherwise required by regulation, the pediatric data requirements do not apply to products with orphan designation, although FDA has recently taken steps to limit what it considers abuse of this statutory exemption in PREA. The FDA also maintains a list of diseases that are exempt from PREA requirements due to low prevalence of disease in the pediatric population.

Compliance with cGMP Requirements

In connection with its review of a BLA, the FDA typically will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in full compliance with cGMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. The PHSA emphasizes the importance of manufacturing control for products like biologics whose attributes cannot be precisely defined.

Manufacturers and others involved in the manufacture and distribution of products must also register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies. Both domestic and foreign manufacturing establishments must register and provide additional information to the FDA upon their initial participation in the manufacturing process. Any product manufactured by or imported from a facility that has not registered, whether foreign or domestic, is deemed misbranded under the FDCA. Establishments may be subject to periodic unannounced inspections by government authorities to ensure compliance with cGMPs and other laws. Inspections must follow a “risk-based schedule” that may result in certain establishments being inspected more frequently. Manufacturers may also have to provide, on request, electronic or physical records regarding their establishments. Delaying, denying, limiting, or refusing inspection by the FDA may lead to a product being deemed to be adulterated. Changes to the manufacturing process, specifications or container closure system for an approved product are strictly regulated and often require prior FDA approval before being implemented. The FDA’s regulations also require, among other things, the investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and the imposition of reporting and documentation requirements upon the sponsor and any third-party manufacturers involved in producing the approved product.

The PREVENT Pandemics Act, which was enacted in December 2022, clarifies that foreign drug manufacturing establishments are subject to registration and listing requirements even if a drug or biologic undergoes further manufacture, preparation, propagation, compounding, or processing at a separate establishment outside the United States prior to being imported or offered for import into the United States.

Submission and Filing of a BLA

The results of product candidate development, preclinical testing, and clinical trials, including negative or ambiguous results as well as positive findings, are submitted to the FDA as part of a BLA requesting license to market the product. The BLA must contain extensive manufacturing information and detailed information on the composition of the product and proposed labeling as well as payment of a user fee. Under federal law, the submission of most BLAs is subject to an application user fee, which for federal fiscal year 2023 is $3,242,026 for an application requiring clinical data. The sponsor of a licensed BLA is also subject to an annual program fee, which for federal fiscal year 2023 is $393,933. Certain exceptions and waivers are available for some of these fees, such as an exception from the application fee for products with orphan designation and a waiver for certain small businesses.

Following submission of a BLA, the FDA has 60 days to conduct a preliminary review of the application and it must inform the sponsor within that period of time whether the BLA is sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. In the event that FDA determines that an application does not satisfy this standard, it will issue a Refuse to File determination to the sponsor. The FDA may request additional information and studies, and the application must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application is also subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing.

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Once the submission has been accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth review of the application. Under the goals and policies agreed to by the FDA under the PDUFA, the FDA has ten months in which to complete its initial review of a standard application and respond to the sponsor, and six months for a priority review of the application. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard and priority BLAs. The review process may often be significantly extended by FDA requests for additional information or clarification. The review process and the PDUFA goal date may be extended by three months if the FDA requests or if the sponsor otherwise provides additional information or clarification regarding information already provided in the submission within the last three months before the PDUFA goal date.

The FDA may also refer the application to an advisory committee for review, evaluation, and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. In particular, the FDA may refer applications for novel biologic products or biologic products that present difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee. Typically, an advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, that reviews, evaluates, and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.

The FDA's Decision on a BLA

Under the PHSA, the FDA may approve a BLA if it determines that the product is safe, pure, and potent, and the facility where the product will be manufactured meets standards designed to ensure that it continues to be safe, pure, and potent. Specifically, the FDA must determine that the expected benefits of the proposed product outweigh its potential risks to patients. This “benefit-risk” assessment is informed by the extensive body of evidence about the proposed product in the BLA.

In connection with its review of an application, the FDA will typically conduct a pre-approval inspection of the manufacturing facilities for the new product to determine whether the manufacturing processes and facilities comply with cGMPs. The FDA will not approve the product unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements and are adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. The FDA also may inspect the sponsor and one or more clinical trial sites to assure compliance with IND and GCP requirements and the integrity of the clinical data submitted to the FDA. With passage of FDORA, Congress clarified FDA’s authority to conduct inspections by expressly permitting inspection of facilities involved in the preparation, conduct, or analysis of clinical and non-clinical studies submitted to FDA as well as other persons holding study records or involved in the study process.

On the basis of the FDA’s evaluation of the application and accompanying information, including the results of the inspection of the manufacturing facilities and any FDA audits of preclinical and clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCPs, the FDA may issue a complete response letter, or CRL, or an approval letter.

If the application is not approved, the FDA will issue a CRL, which will contain the conditions that must be met in order to secure final approval of the application, and when possible will outline recommended actions the sponsor might take to obtain approval of the application. Sponsors that receive a CRL may submit to the FDA information that represents a complete response to the issues identified by the FDA, withdraw the application or request a hearing. The FDA will not approve an application until issues identified in the CRL have been addressed. If a CRL is issued, the sponsor will have one year to respond to the deficiencies identified by the FDA, at which time the FDA can deem the application withdrawn or, in its discretion, grant the sponsor an additional six month extension to respond. For those seeking to challenge FDA’s CRL decision, the agency has indicated that sponsors may request a formal hearing on the CRL or they may file a request for reconsideration or a request for a formal dispute resolution.

An approval letter, on the other hand, authorizes commercial marketing of the product with specific prescribing information for specific indications. The FDA may limit the approved indication(s) for use of the product. It may also require that contraindications, warnings, or precautions be included in the product labeling. In addition, the FDA may call for post-approval studies, including Phase 4 clinical trials, to further assess the product’s efficacy and/or safety after approval. The agency may also require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the product after commercialization, or impose other conditions, including distribution restrictions or other risk management mechanisms, including REMS, to help ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh the potential risks. REMS can include medication guides, communication plans for healthcare professionals, and elements to assure safe use, or ETASU. ETASU can include, but are not limited to, special training or certification for prescribing or dispensing, dispensing only under certain circumstances, special monitoring, and the use of patent registries. The FDA may prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of post-market studies or surveillance programs. After approval, many types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, manufacturing changes and additional labeling claims, are subject to further testing requirements and FDA review and approval.

Expedited Review Programs

The FDA is authorized to designate certain products for expedited review if they demonstrate the potential to address an unmet medical need in the treatment of a serious or life-threatening disease or condition. The purpose of these programs is to provide important new drugs to patients earlier than under standard review procedures. None of these expedited programs changes the standards for approval but each may help expedite the development or approval process governing product candidates.

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Under the Fast Track program, the sponsor of a product candidate may request the FDA to designate the product for a specific indication as a Fast Track product concurrent with or after the filing of the IND. Candidate products are eligible for Fast Track designation if they are intended to treat a serious or life-threatening condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the condition. Fast Track designation applies to the combination of the product candidate and the specific indication for which it is being studied. In addition to other benefits, such as the ability to have greater interactions with the FDA, the FDA may initiate review of sections of a Fast Track application before the application is complete, a process known as rolling review.

Any product candidate submitted to the FDA for marketing, including under a Fast Track program, may be eligible for other types of FDA programs intended to expedite development and review, such as breakthrough therapy designation, priority review and accelerated approval.

Breakthrough therapy designation. To qualify for the breakthrough therapy program, product candidates must be intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence must indicate that such product candidates may demonstrate substantial improvement on one or more clinically significant endpoints over existing therapies. The FDA will seek to ensure the sponsor of a breakthrough therapy product candidate receives intensive guidance on an efficient drug development program, intensive involvement of senior managers and experienced staff on a proactive, collaborative and cross-disciplinary review and rolling review.
Priority review. A product candidate is eligible for priority review if it treats a serious condition and, if approved, it would be a significant improvement in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, diagnosis or prevention compared to marketed products. FDA aims to complete its review of priority review applications within six months as opposed to 10 months for standard review.
Accelerated approval. Drug or biologic products studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit over existing treatments may receive accelerated approval. Accelerated approval means that a product candidate may be approved on the basis of adequate and well controlled clinical trials establishing that the product candidate has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit, or on the basis of an effect on a clinical endpoint other than survival or irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity and prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require that a sponsor of a drug or biologic product candidate receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well controlled post-marketing clinical trials. In addition, the FDA currently requires as a condition for accelerated approval pre-approval of promotional materials. With passage of FDORA in December 2022, Congress modified certain provisions governing accelerated approval of drug and biologic products. Specifically, the new legislation authorized the FDA to: require a sponsor to have its confirmatory clinical trial underway before accelerated approval is awarded, require that a sponsor of a product granted accelerated approval to submit progress reports on its post-approval studies to FDA every six months (until the study is completed); and use expedited procedures to withdraw accelerated approval of an NDA or BLA after the confirmatory trial fails to verify the product’s clinical benefit. Further, FDORA requires the agency to publish on its website “the rationale for why a post-approval study is not appropriate or necessary” whenever it decides not to require such a study upon granting accelerated approval.
Regenerative advanced therapy. With passage of the Cures Act, Congress authorized the FDA to accelerate review and approval of products designated as regenerative advanced therapies. A product is eligible for this designation if it is a regenerative medicine therapy that is intended to treat, modify, reverse or cure a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product candidate has the potential to address unmet medical needs for such disease or condition. The benefits of a regenerative advanced therapy designation include early interactions with the FDA to expedite development and review, benefits available to breakthrough therapies, potential eligibility for priority review and accelerated approval based on surrogate or intermediate endpoints.

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Post-Approval Regulation

If regulatory approval for marketing of a product or new indication for an existing product is obtained, the sponsor will be required to comply with all regular post-approval regulatory requirements as well as any post-approval requirements that the FDA have imposed as part of the approval process. The sponsor will be required to report certain adverse reactions and production problems to the FDA, provide updated safety and efficacy information and comply with requirements concerning advertising and promotional labeling requirements. Manufacturers and certain of their subcontractors are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with ongoing regulatory requirements, including cGMP regulations, which impose certain procedural and documentation requirements upon manufacturers. Accordingly, the sponsor and its third-party manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the areas of production and quality control to maintain compliance with cGMP regulations and other regulatory requirements.

A product may also be subject to official lot release, meaning that the manufacturer is required to perform certain tests on each lot of the product before it is released for distribution. If the product is subject to official lot release, the manufacturer must submit samples of each lot, together with a release protocol showing a summary of the history of manufacture of the lot and the results of all of the manufacturer’s tests performed on the lot, to the FDA. The FDA may in addition perform certain confirmatory tests on lots of some products before releasing the lots for distribution. Finally, the FDA will conduct laboratory research related to the safety, purity, potency, and effectiveness of pharmaceutical products.

Once an approval is granted, the FDA may withdraw the approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of post-market studies or clinical trials to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:

restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product recalls;
fines, warning letters or holds on post-approval clinical trials;
refusal of the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications, or suspension or revocation of product license approvals;
product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of products; or
injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

 

The FDA strictly regulates marketing, labeling, advertising and promotion of products that are placed on the market. Products may be promoted only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. 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.

It may be permissible, under very specific, narrow conditions, for a manufacturer to engage in nonpromotional, non-misleading communication regarding off-label information, such as distributing scientific or medical journal information. Moreover, with passage of the Pre-Approval Information Exchange Act in December 2022, sponsors of products that have not been approved may proactively communicate to payors certain information about products in development to help expedite patient access upon product approval. Previously, such communications were permitted under FDA guidance but the new legislation explicitly provides protection to sponsors who convey certain information about products in development to payors, including unapproved uses of approved products.

If a company is found to have promoted off-label uses, it may become subject to adverse public relations and administrative and judicial enforcement by the FDA, the Department of Justice, or the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as state authorities. This could subject a company to a range of penalties that could have a significant commercial impact, including civil and criminal fines and agreements that materially restrict the manner in which a company promotes or distributes drug products. In September 2021, the FDA published final regulations which describe the types of evidence that the agency will consider in determining the intended use of a biologic product.

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Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity

Orphan drug designation in the United States is designed to encourage sponsors to develop products intended for rare diseases or conditions. In the United States, a rare disease or condition is statutorily defined as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States or that affects more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the biologic for the disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product in the United States.

Orphan drug designation qualifies a company for tax credits and market exclusivity for seven years following the date of the product’s marketing approval if granted by the FDA. An application for designation as an orphan product can be made any time prior to the filing of an application for approval to market the product. A product becomes an orphan when it receives orphan drug designation from the Office of Orphan Products Development at the FDA based on acceptable confidential requests made under the regulatory provisions. The product must then go through the review and approval process like any other product.

A sponsor may request orphan drug designation of a previously unapproved product or new orphan indication for an already marketed product. In addition, a sponsor of a product that is otherwise the same product as an already approved orphan drug may seek and obtain orphan drug designation for the subsequent product for the same rare disease or condition if it can present a plausible hypothesis that its product may be clinically superior to the first drug. More than one sponsor may receive orphan drug designation for the same product for the same rare disease or condition, but each sponsor seeking orphan drug designation must file a complete request for designation.

If a product with orphan designation receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation or for a select indication or use within the rare disease or condition for which it was designated, the product generally will receive orphan drug exclusivity. Orphan drug exclusivity means that the FDA may not approve another sponsor’s marketing application for the same product for the same indication for seven years, except in certain limited circumstances. If a product designated as an orphan drug ultimately receives marketing approval for an indication broader than what was designated in its orphan drug application, it may not be entitled to exclusivity.

The period of exclusivity begins on the date that the marketing application is approved by the FDA. Orphan drug exclusivity will not bar approval of another product under certain circumstances, including if a subsequent product with the same drug for the same condition is shown to be clinically superior to the approved product on the basis of greater efficacy or safety, or providing a major contribution to patient care, or if the company with orphan drug exclusivity is not able to meet market demand. Under Omnibus legislation enacted in December 2020, the requirement for a product to show clinical superiority applies to drugs and biologics that received orphan drug designation before enactment of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017, but have not yet been approved or licensed by FDA. In addition, the FDA may approve a second application for the same product for a different use or a second application for a clinically superior version of the product for the same use.

In September 2021, the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that, for the purpose of determining the scope of market exclusivity, the term “same disease or condition” in the statute means the designated “rare disease or condition” and could not be interpreted by the FDA to mean the “indication or use.” Thus, the court concluded, orphan drug exclusivity applies to the entire designated disease or condition rather than the “indication or use.” Although there have been legislative proposals to overrule this decision, they have not been enacted into law. On January 23, 2023, FDA announced that, in matters beyond the scope of that court order, FDA will continue to apply its existing regulations tying orphan-drug exclusivity to the uses or indications for which the orphan drug was approved.

The FDA and EMA have granted orphan drug designation to INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency.

Pediatric Exclusivity

Pediatric exclusivity is another type of non-patent exclusivity in the United States and for biologics, if granted, provides for the attachment of an additional six months of regulatory exclusivity to the term of any existing regulatory exclusivity, including orphan exclusivity. This six-month exclusivity may be granted if a BLA sponsor submits pediatric data that fairly respond to a written request from the FDA for such data. The data do not need to show the product to be effective in the pediatric population studied; rather, if the clinical trial is deemed to fairly respond to the FDA’s request, the additional protection is granted. If reports of requested pediatric studies are submitted to and accepted by the FDA within the statutory time limits, whatever statutory or regulatory periods of exclusivity that cover the product are extended by six months.

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Biosimilars and Exclusivity

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in March 2010, included a subtitle called the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, or BPCIA. The BPCIA established a regulatory scheme authorizing the FDA to approve biosimilars and interchangeable biosimilars. A biosimilar is a biological product that is highly similar to an existing FDA-licensed “reference product.” As of January 1, 2021, the FDA has approved 29 biosimilar products for use in the United States. To date, the FDA has approved a number of biosimilars and the first interchangeable biosimilar product was approved on July 30, 2021 and a second product previously approved as a biosimilar was designated as interchangeable in October 2021. The FDA has also issued numerous guidance documents outlining its approach to reviewing and licensing biosimilars and interchangeable biosimilars under the PHSA, including a draft guidance issued in November 2020 that seeks to provide additional clarity to manufacturers of interchangeable biosimilars.

Under the BPCIA, a manufacturer may submit an application for licensure of a biologic product that is “biosimilar to” or “interchangeable with” a previously approved biological product or “reference product.” In order for the FDA to approve a biosimilar product, it must find that there are no clinically meaningful differences between the reference product and proposed biosimilar product in terms of safety, purity, and potency. For the FDA to approve a biosimilar product as interchangeable with a reference product, the agency must find that the biosimilar product can be expected to produce the same clinical results as the reference product, and (for products administered multiple times) that the biologic and the reference biologic may be switched after one has been previously administered without increasing safety risks or risks of diminished efficacy relative to exclusive use of the reference biologic.

Under the BPCIA, an application for a biosimilar product may not be submitted to the FDA until four years following the date of approval of the reference product. The FDA may not approve a biosimilar product until 12 years from the date on which the reference product was approved. Even if a product is considered to be a reference product eligible for exclusivity, another company could market a competing version of that product if the FDA approves a full BLA for such product containing the sponsor’s own preclinical data and data from adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to demonstrate the safety, purity, and potency of their product. The BPCIA also created certain exclusivity periods for biosimilars approved as interchangeable products. There have been recent government proposals to reduce the 12-year reference product exclusivity period, but none has been enacted to date. At the same time, since passage of the BPCIA, many states have passed laws or amendments to laws, which address pharmacy practices involving biosimilar products. In December 2022, Congress clarified through FDORA that the FDA may approve multiple first interchangeable biosimilar biological products so long as the products are all approved on the first day on which such a product is approved as interchangeable with the reference product.

Federal and State Data Privacy and Security Laws

Under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, HHS has issued regulations to protect the privacy and security of protected health information used or disclosed by covered entities including certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses. HIPAA also regulates standardization of data content, codes, and formats used in healthcare transactions and standardization of identifiers for health plans and providers. HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, and their regulations, including the omnibus final rule published on January 25, 2013, also imposes certain obligations on the business associates of covered entities that obtain protected health information in providing services to or on behalf of covered entities. In addition to federal privacy regulations, there are a number of state laws governing confidentiality and security of health information that are applicable to our business. In addition to possible federal civil and criminal penalties for HIPAA violations, state attorneys general are authorized to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce HIPAA and seek attorney’s fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. Accordingly, state attorneys general (along with private plaintiffs) have brought civil actions seeking injunctions and damages resulting from alleged violations of HIPAA’s privacy and security rules. New laws and regulations governing privacy and security may be adopted in the future as well.

Additionally, California recently enacted legislation that has been dubbed the first “GDPR-like” law in the United States. Known as the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, it creates new individual privacy rights for consumers (as that word is broadly defined in the law) and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling personal data of consumers or households. The CCPA went into effect on January 1, 2020 and requires covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers, provide such consumers new ways to opt-out of certain sales of personal information, and allow for a new cause of action for data breaches. The CCPA could impact our business activities depending on how it is interpreted and exemplifies the vulnerability of our business to not only cyber threats but also the evolving regulatory environment related to personal data and protected health information.

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In November 2020, California voters passed a ballot initiative for the California Privacy Rights Act, or the CPRA, which went into effect on January 1, 2023, and significantly expanded the CCPA to incorporate additional GDPR-like provisions including requiring that the use, retention, and sharing of personal information of California residents be reasonably necessary and proportionate to the purposes of collection or processing, granting additional protections for sensitive personal information, and requiring greater disclosures related to notice to residents regarding retention of information. The CPRA also created a new enforcement agency – the California Privacy Protection Agency – whose sole responsibility is to enforce the CPRA, which will further increase compliance risk. The provisions in the CPRA may apply to some of our business activities. In addition, other states, including Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut, already have passed state privacy laws. Virginia’s privacy law also went into effect on January 1, 2023, and the laws in the other three states will go into effect later in the year. Other states will be considering these laws in the future, and Congress has also been debating passing a federal privacy law.

Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of the statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors available under such laws, it is possible that some of our current or future business activities, including certain clinical research, sales, and marketing practices and the provision of certain items and services to our customers, could be subject to challenge under one or more of such privacy and data security laws. The heightening compliance environment and the need to build and maintain robust and secure systems to comply with different privacy compliance and/or reporting requirements in multiple jurisdictions could increase the possibility that a healthcare company may fail to comply fully with one or more of these requirements. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the privacy or data security laws or regulations described above that are applicable to us, or any other laws that apply to us, we may be subject to penalties, including potentially significant criminal, civil, and administrative penalties, damages, fines, imprisonment, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting requirements, and/or oversight if we become subject to a consent decree or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. To the extent that any of our product candidates, once approved, are sold in a foreign country, we may be subject to similar foreign laws.

Patent Term Restoration and Extension

In the United States, a patent claiming a new biologic product, its method of use or its method of manufacture may be eligible for a limited patent term extension under the Hatch-Waxman Act, which permits a patent extension of up to five years for patent term lost during product development and FDA regulatory review. Assuming grant of the patent for which the extension is sought, the restoration period for a patent covering a product is typically one-half the time between the effective date of the IND clearing clinical studies and the submission date of the BLA, plus the time between the submission date of the BLA and the ultimate approval date. Patent term restoration cannot be used to extend the remaining term of a patent past a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date in the United States. Only one patent applicable to an approved product is eligible for the extension, and the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent for which extension is sought. A patent that covers multiple products for which approval is sought can only be extended in connection with one of the approvals. The USPTO reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension in consultation with the FDA.

FDA Approval of Companion Diagnostics

In August 2014, the FDA issued final guidance clarifying the requirements that will apply to approval of therapeutic products and in vitro companion diagnostics. According to the guidance, for novel drugs, a companion diagnostic device and its corresponding therapeutic should be approved or cleared contemporaneously by the FDA for the use indicated in the therapeutic product’s labeling. Approval or clearance of the companion diagnostic device will ensure that the device has been adequately evaluated and has adequate performance characteristics in the intended population. In July 2016, the FDA issued a draft guidance intended to assist sponsors of the drug therapeutic and in vitro companion diagnostic device on issues related to co-development of the products.

The 2014 guidance also explains that a companion diagnostic device used to make treatment decisions in clinical trials of a biologic product candidate generally will be considered an investigational device, unless it is employed for an intended use for which the device is already approved or cleared. If used to make critical treatment decisions, such as patient selection, the diagnostic device generally will be considered a significant risk device under the FDA’s Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, regulations. Thus, the sponsor of the diagnostic device will be required to comply with the IDE regulations. According to the guidance, if a diagnostic device and a product are to be studied together to support their respective approvals, both products can be studied in the same investigational study, if the study meets both the requirements of the IDE regulations and the IND regulations. The guidance provides that depending on the details of the study plan and subjects, a sponsor may seek to submit an IND alone, or both an IND and an IDE.

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In April 2020, the FDA issued additional guidance which describes considerations for the development and labeling of companion diagnostic devices to support the indicated uses of multiple biological oncology products, when appropriate. The 2020 guidance expands on the policy statement in the 2014 guidance by recommending that companion diagnostic developers consider a number of factors when determining whether their test could be developed, or the labeling for approved companion diagnostics could be revised through a supplement, to support a broader labeling claim such as use with a specific group of oncology therapeutic products (rather than listing an individual therapeutic product(s)).

Under the FDCA, in vitro diagnostics, including companion diagnostics, are regulated as medical devices. In the United States, the FDCA and its implementing regulations, and other federal and state statutes and regulations govern, among other things, medical device design and development, preclinical and clinical testing, premarket clearance or approval, registration and listing, manufacturing, labeling, storage, advertising and promotion, sales and distribution, export and import, and post market surveillance. Unless an exemption applies, diagnostic tests require marketing clearance or approval from the FDA prior to commercial distribution.

The FDA previously has required in vitro companion diagnostics intended to select the patients who will respond to the product candidate to obtain pre-market approval, or PMA, simultaneously with approval of the therapeutic product candidate. The PMA process, including the gathering of clinical and preclinical data and the submission to and review by the FDA, can take several years or longer. It involves a rigorous premarket review during which the sponsor must prepare and provide the FDA with reasonable assurance of the device’s safety and effectiveness and information about the device and its components regarding, among other things, device design, manufacturing and labeling. PMA applications are subject to an application fee. For federal fiscal year 2023, the standard fee is $441,547 and the small business fee is $110,387.

Regulation and Procedures Governing Approval of Medicinal Products in the European Union

In order to market any product outside of the United States, a company must also comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries and jurisdictions regarding quality, safety, and efficacy, and governing, among other things, clinical trials, marketing authorization, commercial sales, and distribution of products. Whether or not it obtains FDA approval for a product, a sponsor will need to obtain the necessary approvals by the comparable foreign regulatory authorities before it can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries or jurisdictions. Specifically, the process governing approval of medicinal products in the European Union generally follows the same lines as in the United States. It entails satisfactory completion of preclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the product for each proposed indication. It also requires the submission to the relevant competent authorities of a marketing authorization application, or MAA, and granting of a marketing authorization by these authorities before the product can be marketed and sold in the European Union.

Clinical Trial Approval

On January 31, 2022, the new Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 became effective in the European Union and replaced the prior Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC. The new regulation aims at simplifying and streamlining the authorization, conduct and transparency of clinical trials in the European Union. Under the new coordinated procedure for the approval of clinical trials, the sponsor of a clinical trial to be conducted in more than one Member State of the European Union, or EU Member State, will only be required to submit a single application for approval. The submission will be made through the Clinical Trials Information System, a new clinical trials portal overseen by the EMA and available to clinical trial sponsors, competent authorities of the EU Member States and the public.

The main characteristics of the regulation include: a streamlined application procedure via a single entry point, the “EU Portal and Database”; a single set of documents to be prepared and submitted for the application as well as simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors; and a harmonized procedure for the assessment of applications for clinical trials, which is divided in two parts. Part I is assessed by the appointed reporting Member State, whose assessment report is submitted for review by the sponsor and all other competent authorities of all EU Member States in which an application for authorization of a clinical trial has been submitted, or concerned member states. Part II is assessed separately by each concerned member state. Strict deadlines have been established for the assessment of clinical trial applications. The role of the relevant ethics committees in the assessment procedure will continue to be governed by the national law of the concerned member state. However, overall related timelines will be defined by the Clinical Trials Regulation.

The new regulation did not change the preexisting requirement that a sponsor must obtain prior approval from the competent national authority of the EU Member State in which the clinical trial is to be conducted. If the clinical trial is conducted in different EU Member States, the competent authorities in each of these EU Member States must provide their approval for the conduct of the clinical trial. Furthermore, the sponsor may only start a clinical trial at a specific study site after the applicable ethics committee has issued a favorable opinion.

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Parties conducting certain clinical trials must, as in the United States, post clinical trial information in the European Union at the EudraCT website: https://eudract.ema.europa.eu.

PRIME Designation in the European Union

In March 2016, the EMA launched an initiative to facilitate development of product candidates in indications, often rare, for which few or no therapies currently exist. The PRIority MEdicines, or PRIME, scheme is intended to encourage drug development in areas of unmet medical need and provides accelerated assessment of products representing substantial innovation reviewed under the centralized procedure. Products from small- and medium-sized enterprises may qualify for earlier entry into the PRIME scheme than larger companies. Many benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and accelerated marketing authorization application assessment once a dossier has been submitted. Importantly, a dedicated EMA contact and rapporteur from the Committee for Human Medicinal Products, or CHMP, or Committee for Advanced Therapies are appointed early in the PRIME scheme facilitating increased understanding of the product at the EMA’s Committee level.

Marketing Authorization

To obtain a marketing authorization for a product under the European Union regulatory system, a sponsor must submit an MAA, either under a centralized procedure administered by the EMA or one of the procedures administered by competent authorities in EU Member States (decentralized procedure, national procedure, or mutual recognition procedure). A marketing authorization may be granted only to a sponsor established in the European Union. Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006 provides that prior to obtaining a marketing authorization in the European Union, a sponsor must demonstrate compliance with all measures included in an EMA-approved Pediatric Investigation Plan, or PIP, covering all subsets of the pediatric population, unless the EMA has granted a product-specific waiver, class waiver, or a deferral for one or more of the measures included in the PIP.

The centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization by the European Commission that is valid for all EU Member States. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 726/2004, the centralized procedure is compulsory for specific products, including for medicines produced by certain biotechnological processes, products designated as orphan medicinal products, advanced therapy products and products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases, including products for the treatment of cancer. For products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of other diseases and products that are highly innovative or for which a centralized process is in the interest of patients, the centralized procedure may be optional. Manufacturers must demonstrate the quality, safety, and efficacy of their products to the EMA, which provides an opinion regarding the MAA. The European Commission grants or refuses marketing authorization in light of the opinion delivered by the EMA.

Specifically, the grant of marketing authorization in the European Union for products containing viable human tissues or cells such as gene therapy medicinal products is governed by Regulation 1394/2007/EC on advanced therapy medicinal products, read in combination with Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, commonly known as the Community code on medicinal products. Regulation 1394/2007/EC lays down specific rules concerning the authorization, supervision, and pharmacovigilance of gene therapy medicinal products, somatic cell therapy medicinal products, and tissue engineered products. Manufacturers of advanced therapy medicinal products must demonstrate the quality, safety, and efficacy of their products to EMA which provides an opinion regarding the application for marketing authorization. The European Commission grants or refuses marketing authorization in light of the opinion delivered by EMA.

Under the centralized procedure, the CHMP established at the EMA is responsible for conducting an initial assessment of a product. Under the centralized procedure in the European Union, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA is 210 days, excluding clock stops when additional information or written or oral explanation is to be provided by the sponsor in response to questions of the CHMP. Accelerated evaluation may be granted by the CHMP in exceptional cases, when a medicinal product is of major interest from the point of view of public health and, in particular, from the viewpoint of therapeutic innovation. If the CHMP accepts such a request, the time limit of 210 days will be reduced to 150 days, but it is possible that the CHMP may revert to the standard time limit for the centralized procedure if it determines that it is no longer appropriate to conduct an accelerated assessment.

Regulatory Data Protection in the European Union

In the European Union, new chemical entities approved on the basis of a complete independent data package qualify for eight years of data exclusivity upon marketing authorization and an additional two years of market exclusivity pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004, as amended, and Directive 2001/83/EC, as amended. Data exclusivity prevents regulatory authorities in the European Union from referencing the innovator’s data to assess a generic (abbreviated) application for a period of eight years. During the additional two-year period of market exclusivity, a generic MAA can be submitted, and the innovator’s data may be referenced, but no generic medicinal product can be marketed until the expiration of the market exclusivity. The overall ten-year period will be extended to a maximum of eleven years if, during the first eight years of those ten years, the marketing authorization holder obtains an

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authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to authorization, is held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies. Even if a compound is considered to be a new chemical entity so that the innovator gains the prescribed period of data exclusivity, another company may market another version of the product if such company obtained marketing authorization based on an MAA with a complete independent data package of pharmaceutical tests, preclinical tests and clinical trials.

Patent Term Extensions in the European Union and Other Jurisdictions

The European Union also provides for patent term extension through Supplementary Protection Certificates, or SPCs. The rules and requirements for obtaining an SPC are similar to those in the United States. An SPC may extend the term of a patent for up to five years after its originally scheduled expiration date and can provide up to a maximum of fifteen years of marketing exclusivity for a drug. In certain circumstances, these periods may be extended for six additional months if pediatric exclusivity is obtained, which is described in detail below. Although SPCs are available throughout the European Union, sponsors must apply on a country-by-country basis. Similar patent term extension rights exist in certain other foreign jurisdictions outside the European Union.

Periods of Authorization and Renewals

A marketing authorization is valid for five years, in principle, and it may be renewed after five years on the basis of a reevaluation of the risk-benefit balance by the EMA or by the competent authority of the authorizing member state. To that end, the marketing authorization holder must provide the EMA or the competent authority with a consolidated version of the file in respect of quality, safety and efficacy, including all variations introduced since the marketing authorization was granted, at least six months before the marketing authorization ceases to be valid. Once renewed, the marketing authorization is valid for an unlimited period, unless the European Commission or the competent authority decides, on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with one additional five-year renewal period. Any authorization that is not followed by the placement of the drug on the European Union market (in the case of the centralized procedure) or on the market of the authorizing member state within three years after authorization ceases to be valid.

Regulatory Requirements after Marketing Authorization

Following approval, the holder of the marketing authorization is required to comply with a range of requirements applicable to the manufacturing, marketing, promotion and sale of the medicinal product. These include compliance with the European Union’s stringent pharmacovigilance or safety reporting rules, pursuant to which post-authorization studies and additional monitoring obligations can be imposed. In addition, the manufacturing of authorized products, for which a separate manufacturer’s license is mandatory, must also be conducted in strict compliance with the EMA’s good manufacturing practice requirements and comparable requirements of other regulatory bodies in the European Union, which mandate the methods, facilities, and controls used in manufacturing, processing and packing of drugs to assure their safety and identity. Finally, the marketing and promotion of authorized products, including industry-sponsored continuing medical education and advertising directed toward the prescribers of drugs and/or the general public, are strictly regulated in the European Union under Directive 2001/83EC, as amended.

Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity

Regulation (EC) No 141/2000 and Regulation (EC) No. 847/2000 provide that a product can be designated as an orphan drug by the European Commission if its sponsor can establish: that the product is intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of (1) a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition affecting not more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union when the application is made, or (2) a life-threatening, seriously debilitating or serious and chronic condition in the European Union and that without incentives it is unlikely that the marketing of the drug in the European Union would generate sufficient return to justify the necessary investment. For either of these conditions, the sponsor must demonstrate that there exists no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of the condition in question that has been authorized in the European Union or, if such method exists, the drug will be of significant benefit to those affected by that condition.

An orphan drug designation provides a number of benefits, including fee reductions, regulatory assistance, and the possibility to apply for a centralized European Union marketing authorization. Marketing authorization for an orphan drug leads to a ten-year period of market exclusivity. During this market exclusivity period, neither the EMA nor the European Commission or the member states can accept an application or grant a marketing authorization for a “similar medicinal product.” A “similar medicinal product” is defined as a medicinal product containing a similar active substance or substances as contained in an authorized orphan medicinal product, and which is intended for the same therapeutic indication. The market exclusivity period for the authorized therapeutic indication may, however, be reduced to six years if, at the end of the fifth year, it is established that the product no longer meets the criteria for orphan drug designation because, for example, the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify market exclusivity.

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Approval of Companion Diagnostic Devices

In the European Union, medical devices such as companion diagnostics must comply with the General Safety and Performance Requirements, or SPRs, detailed in Annex I of the European Union Medical Devices Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/745), or MDR, which came into force on May 26, 2021 and replaced the previously applicable European Union Medical Devices Directive (Council Directive 93/42/EEC). Compliance with SPRs, and additional requirements applicable to companion medical devices, is a prerequisite to be able to affix the CE Mark of Conformity to medical devices, without which they cannot be marketed or sold. To demonstrate compliance with SPRs, a manufacturer must undergo a conformity assessment procedure, which varies according to the type of medical device and its classification. The MDR is meant to establish a uniform, transparent, predictable, and sustainable regulatory framework across the European Union for medical devices.

Separately, the regulatory authorities in the European Union also adopted a new In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (EU) 2017/746, which became effective in May 2022. The new regulation replaced the In Vitro Diagnostics Directive 98/79/EC. Manufacturers wishing to apply to a notified body for a conformity assessment of their in vitro diagnostic medical device had until May 2022 to update their Technical Documentation to meet the requirements and comply with the new, more stringent Regulation. The regulation will, among other things: strengthen the rules on placing devices on the market and reinforce surveillance once they are available; establish explicit provisions on manufacturers’ responsibilities for the follow-up of the quality, performance, and safety of devices placed on the market; improve the traceability of medical devices throughout the supply chain to the end-user or patient through a unique identification number; set up a central database to provide patients, healthcare professionals and the public with comprehensive information on products available in the European Union; and strengthen rules for the assessment of certain high-risk devices, such as implants, which may have to undergo an additional check by experts before they are placed on the market.

Brexit and the Regulatory Framework in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union took place on January 31, 2020. As of January 1, 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, or the MHRA, became responsible for supervising medicines and medical devices in Great Britain, comprising England, Scotland and Wales under domestic law whereas Northern Ireland continues to be subject to European Union rules under the Northern Ireland Protocol. The MHRA will rely on the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/1916) (as amended), or the HMR, as the basis for regulating medicines. The HMR has incorporated into the domestic law the body of European Union law instruments governing medicinal products that pre-existed prior to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Since a significant proportion of the regulatory framework for pharmaceutical products in the United Kingdom covering the quality, safety, and efficacy of pharmaceutical products, clinical trials, marketing authorization, commercial sales, and distribution of pharmaceutical products is derived from EU directives and regulations, Brexit may have a material impact upon the regulatory regime with respect to the development, manufacture, importation, approval and commercialization of our product candidates in the United Kingdom. For example, the United Kingdom is no longer covered by the centralized procedures for obtaining EU-wide marketing authorization from the EMA, and a separate marketing authorization will be required to market our product candidates in the United Kingdom. However, until December 31, 2023, it is possible for the MHRA to rely on a decision taken by the European Commission/EMA’s CHMP on the approval of MAA/variations via the centralized procedure.

General Data Protection Regulation

The collection, use, disclosure, transfer, or other processing of personal data regarding individuals in the European Union, including personal health data, is subject to the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which became effective on May 25, 2018. The GDPR is wide-ranging in scope and imposes numerous requirements on companies that process personal data, including requirements relating to processing health and other sensitive data, obtaining consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, providing information to individuals regarding data processing activities, implementing safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data, providing notification of data breaches, and taking certain measures when engaging third-party processors. The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data to countries outside the European Union, including the U.S., and permits data protection authorities to impose large penalties for violations of the GDPR, including potential fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global revenues, whichever is greater. The GDPR also confers a private right of action on data subjects and consumer associations to lodge complaints with supervisory authorities, seek judicial remedies, and obtain compensation for damages resulting from violations of the GDPR. Compliance with the GDPR will be a rigorous and time-intensive process that may increase the cost of doing business or require companies to change their business practices to ensure full compliance. In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, or the CJEU, invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, one of the mechanisms used to legitimize the transfer of personal data from the EEA to the United States. The CJEU decision also drew into question the long-term viability of an alternative means of data transfer, the standard contractual clauses, for transfers of personal data from the EEA to the United States.
 

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Additionally, in October 2022, President Biden signed an executive order to implement the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which would serve as a replacement to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. The European Commission initiated the process to adopt an adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework in December 2022. It is unclear if and when the framework will be finalized and whether it will be challenged in court. The uncertainty around this issue may further impact our business operations in the EU.
 

Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU, the U.K. Data Protection Act 2018 applies to the processing of personal data that takes place in the United Kingdom and includes parallel obligations to those set forth by GDPR, including in relation to data transfers.

Coverage, Pricing, and Reimbursement

Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any product candidates for which we may seek regulatory approval by the FDA or other government authorities. In the United States and markets in other countries, patients who are prescribed treatments for their conditions and providers performing the prescribed services generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the associated healthcare costs. Patients are unlikely to use any product candidates we may develop unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of such product candidates. Even if any product candidates we may develop are approved, sales of such product candidates will depend, in part, on the extent to which third-party payors, including government health programs in the United States such as Medicare and Medicaid, commercial health insurers, and managed care organizations, provide coverage, and establish adequate reimbursement levels for, such product candidates. The process for determining whether a payor will provide coverage for a product may be separate from the process for setting the price or reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the product once coverage is approved. Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged, examining the medical necessity, and reviewing the cost-effectiveness of medical products and services and imposing controls to manage costs. Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific products on an approved list, also known as a formulary, which might not include all of the approved products for a particular indication.

In order to secure coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for sale, a company may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of the product, in addition to the costs required to obtain FDA or other comparable marketing approvals. Nonetheless, product candidates may not be considered medically necessary or cost effective. A decision by a third-party payor not to cover any product candidates we may develop could reduce physician utilization of such product candidates once approved and have a material adverse effect on our sales, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, a payor’s decision to provide coverage for a product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Further, one payor’s determination to provide coverage for a product does not assure that other payors will also provide coverage and reimbursement for the product, and the level of coverage and reimbursement can differ significantly from payor to payor. Third-party reimbursement and coverage may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development. In addition, any companion diagnostic tests require coverage and reimbursement separate and apart from the coverage and reimbursement for their companion pharmaceutical or biological products. Similar challenges to obtaining coverage and reimbursement, applicable to pharmaceutical or biological products, will apply to any companion diagnostics.

The containment of healthcare costs also has become a priority of federal, state and foreign governments and the prices of pharmaceuticals have been a focus in this effort. Governments have shown significant interest in implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on reimbursement, and requirements for substitution of generic products. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit a company’s revenue generated from the sale of any approved products. Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which a company or its collaborators receive marketing approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.

Outside the United States, ensuring adequate coverage and payment for any product candidates we may develop will face challenges. Pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control in many countries. Pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can extend well beyond the receipt of regulatory marketing approval for a product and may require us to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost effectiveness of any product candidates we may develop to other available therapies. The conduct of such a clinical trial could be expensive and result in delays in our commercialization efforts.

In the European Union, pricing and reimbursement schemes vary widely from country to country. Some countries provide that products may be marketed only after a reimbursement price has been agreed. Some countries may require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular product candidate to currently available therapies (so called

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health technology assessments) in order to obtain reimbursement or pricing approval. For example, the European Union provides options for its member states to restrict the range of products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement and to control the prices of medicinal products for human use. EU Member States may approve a specific price for a product or it may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the product on the market. Other member states allow companies to fix their own prices for products but monitor and control prescription volumes and issue guidance to physicians to limit prescriptions. Recently, many countries in the European Union have increased the amount of discounts required on pharmaceuticals and these efforts could continue as countries attempt to manage healthcare expenditures, especially in light of the severe fiscal and debt crises experienced by many countries in the European Union. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription products, has become intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products. Political, economic, and regulatory developments may further complicate pricing negotiations, and pricing negotiations may continue after reimbursement has been obtained. Reference pricing used by various EU Member States, and parallel trade (arbitrage between low-priced and high-priced member states), can further reduce prices. There can be no assurance that any country that has price controls or reimbursement limitations for pharmaceutical products will allow favorable reimbursement and pricing arrangements for any of our products, if approved in those countries.

Healthcare Law and Regulation

Healthcare providers and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of pharmaceutical products that are granted marketing approval. Arrangements with providers, consultants, third-party payors, and customers are subject to broadly applicable fraud and abuse, anti-kickback, false claims laws, reporting of payments to physicians and teaching physicians and patient privacy laws and regulations and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain our business and/or financial arrangements. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, include the following:

the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, paying, receiving, or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid;
the federal civil and criminal false claims laws, including the civil False Claims Act, and civil monetary penalties laws, which prohibit individuals or entities from, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment that are false, fictitious, or fraudulent or knowingly making, using, or causing to made or used a false record or statement to avoid, decrease, or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government;
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making, or offering or promising to make improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or otherwise seeking favorable treatment; and
the federal transparency requirements known as the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or ACA, as amended by the Health Care Education Reconciliation Act, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies to report annually to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, within HHS, information related to payments and other transfers of value made by that entity to physicians, other healthcare providers, and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians, and their immediate family members.

Some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government in addition to requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to report information related to payments to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures. In addition, certain state and local laws require drug manufacturers to register pharmaceutical sales representatives in the jurisdiction. State and foreign laws also govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.

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If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

Healthcare Reform

A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. There have been a number of federal and state proposals during the last few years regarding the pricing of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products, limiting coverage and reimbursement for drugs and other medical products, government control and other changes to the healthcare system in the United States.

In March 2010, the United States Congress enacted the ACA, which, among other things, includes changes to the coverage and payment for products under government healthcare programs.

Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. For example, in August 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, created measures for spending reductions by Congress. A Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with recommending a targeted deficit reduction of at least $1.2 trillion for the years 2012 through 2021, was unable to reach required goals, thereby triggering the legislation’s automatic reduction to several government programs. This includes aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of up to 2% per fiscal year, which will remain in effect through 2031 pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. These Medicare sequester reductions were reduced and suspended through June 2022, with the full 2% cut resuming thereafter. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which was enacted in January 2013, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals, imaging centers, and cancer treatment centers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. These laws may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding and otherwise affect the prices we may obtain for any of our product candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval or the frequency with which any such product candidate is prescribed or used. Indeed, under current legislation, the actual reductions in Medicare payments may vary up to 4%.

Since enactment of the ACA, there have been, and continue to be, numerous legal challenges and Congressional actions to repeal and replace provisions of the law. For example, with enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or the TCJA, which was signed by President Trump on December 22, 2017, Congress repealed the “individual mandate.” The repeal of this provision, which requires most Americans to carry a minimal level of health insurance, became effective in 2019. Further, on December 14, 2018, a United States District Court judge in the Northern District of Texas ruled that the individual mandate portion of the ACA is an essential and inseverable feature of the ACA, and therefore because the mandate was repealed as part of the Tax Act, the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. The United States Supreme Court heard this case on November 10, 2020 and, on June 17, 2021, dismissed this action after finding that the plaintiffs do not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the ACA. Litigation and legislation over the ACA are likely to continue, with unpredictable and uncertain results.

Although the previous administration took executive actions to undermine or delay implementation of the ACA, those actions were rescinded with issuance of an Executive Order on January 28, 2021 by President Biden, which directs federal agencies to reconsider rules and other policies that limit Americans’ access to health care, and consider actions that will protect and strengthen that access. Under this Executive Order, federal agencies are directed to re-examine: policies that undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions, including complications related to COVID-19; demonstrations and waivers under Medicaid and the ACA that may reduce coverage or undermine the programs, including work requirements; policies that undermine the Health Insurance Marketplace or other markets for health insurance; policies that make it more difficult to enroll in Medicaid and the ACA; and policies that reduce affordability of coverage or financial assistance, including for dependents.

Pharmaceutical Prices

The prices of prescription pharmaceuticals have also been the subject of considerable discussion in the United States. There have been several recent United States congressional inquiries, as well as proposed and enacted state and federal legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to pharmaceutical pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reduce the costs of pharmaceuticals under Medicare and Medicaid. In 2020, President Trump issued several executive orders intended to lower the costs of prescription products and certain provisions in these orders have been incorporated into regulations. These regulations include an interim final rule implementing a most favored nation model for prices that would tie Medicare Part B payments for certain physician-administered pharmaceuticals to the lowest price paid in other economically advanced countries, effective January 1, 2021. That rule, however, has been subject to a nationwide preliminary injunction and, on December 29, 2021, CMS issued a final rule to rescind it. With issuance of this rule, CMS stated that it will explore all options to incorporate value into payments for Medicare Part B pharmaceuticals and improve beneficiaries' access to evidence-based care.

In addition, in October 2020, HHS and the FDA published a final rule allowing states and other entities to develop a Section 804 Importation Program, or SIP, to import certain prescription products from Canada into the United States. The final rule is currently the subject of ongoing litigation, but at least six states (Vermont, Colorado, Florida, Maine, New Mexico, and New

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Hampshire) have passed laws allowing for the importation of products from Canada with the intent of developing SIPs for review and approval by the FDA. Further, on November 20, 2020, HHS finalized a regulation removing safe harbor protection for price reductions from pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan sponsors under Part D, either directly or through pharmacy benefit managers, unless the price reduction is required by law. The final rule would eliminate the current safe harbor for Medicare drug rebates and create new safe harbors for beneficiary point-of-sale discounts and pharmacy benefit manager service fees. It originally was set to go into effect on January 1, 2022, but with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, it has been delayed by Congress to January 1, 2032.

On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14063, which focuses on, among other things, the price of pharmaceuticals. The Order directs HHS to create a plan within 45 days to combat “excessive pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals and enhance domestic pharmaceutical supply chains, to reduce the prices paid by the federal government for such pharmaceuticals, and to address the recurrent problem of price gouging.” On September 9, 2021, HHS released its plan to reduce pharmaceutical prices. The key features of that plan are to: (a) make pharmaceutical prices more affordable and equitable for all consumers and throughout the health care system by supporting pharmaceutical price negotiations with manufacturers; (b) improve and promote competition throughout the prescription pharmaceutical industry by supporting market changes that strengthen supply chains, promote biosimilars, and increase transparency; and (c) foster scientific innovation to promote better healthcare and improve health by supporting public and private research and making sure that market incentives promote discovery of valuable and accessible new treatments.

More recently, on August 16, 2022, the IRA was signed into law by President Biden. The new legislation has implications for Medicare Part D, which is a program available to individuals who are entitled to Medicare Part A or enrolled in Medicare Part B to give them the option of paying a monthly premium for outpatient prescription drug coverage. Among other things, the IRA requires manufacturers of certain drugs to engage in price negotiations with Medicare (beginning in 2026), with prices that can be negotiated subject to a cap; imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation (first due in 2023); and replaces the Part D coverage gap discount program with a new discounting program (beginning in 2025). The IRA permits the Secretary of the Department of HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years.
 

Specifically, with respect to price negotiations, Congress authorized Medicare to negotiate lower prices for certain costly single-source drug and biologic products that do not have competing generics or biosimilars and are reimbursed under Medicare Part B and Part D. CMS may negotiate prices for ten high-cost drugs paid for by Medicare Part D starting in 2026, followed by 15 Medicare Part D drugs in 2027, 15 Medicare Part B or Part D drugs in 2028, and 20 Medicare Part B or Part D drugs in 2029 and beyond. This provision applies to drug products that have been approved for at least 9 years and biologics that have been licensed for 13 years, but it does not apply to drugs and biologics that have been approved for a single rare disease or condition. Further, the legislation subjects drug manufacturers to civil monetary penalties and a potential excise tax for failing to comply with the legislation by offering a price that is not equal to or less than the negotiated “maximum fair price” under the law or for taking price increases that exceed inflation. The legislation also requires manufacturers to pay rebates for drugs in Medicare Part D whose price increases exceed inflation. The new law also caps Medicare out-of-pocket drug costs at an estimated $4,000 a year in 2024 and, thereafter beginning in 2025, at $2,000 a year.
 

At the state level, individual states are increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. A number of states, for example, require pharmaceutical manufacturers and other entities in the supply chain, including health carriers, pharmacy benefit managers, wholesale distributors, to disclose information about pricing of pharmaceuticals. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs. These measures could reduce the ultimate demand for our products, once approved, or put pressure on our product pricing. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our product candidates or additional pricing pressures.

In the European Union, similar political, economic and regulatory developments to those in the United States may affect our ability to profitably commercialize our product candidates, if approved. In markets outside of the United States and the European Union, reimbursement and healthcare payment systems vary significantly by country and many countries have instituted price ceilings on specific products and therapies. In many countries, including those of the European Union, the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control and access. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, pharmaceutical firms may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of the product to other available therapies.

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Human Capital

As of December 31, 2022, we had 56 employees, including a total of 14 employees with M.D. or Ph.D. degrees. Of these full-time employees, 43 are engaged in research and development activities. None of our employees are represented by labor unions or covered by collective bargaining agreements. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.

Our future success is dependent on attracting, motivating and retaining a diverse group of talented employees. We aim to create an inclusive and empowering work environment. Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and future employees. The principal purposes of our incentive plans are to attract, retain and motivate selected employees, consultants, advisors and directors through the granting of stock-based compensation awards and cash-based performance bonus awards, as applicable. We provide a comprehensive benefits package to help employees manage their health, well-being, finances, and life outside of work, including health insurance, dental and vision insurance, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment issuance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, paid sick leave, a 401(k) plan, an employee stock purchase plan, a flexible spending account program, and paid vacation time.

We value the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees and their families. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have implemented safety measures that we determined were in the best interest of our employees, including allowing our employees to work remotely, along with measures designed to protect the health of all those entering our office.

Our Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 321 Summer Street, Suite 400, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, and our telephone number is (857) 330-4340. Our website address is http://www.inozyme.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We have included our website address in this Annual Report on Form 10-K solely as an inactive textual reference.

We own or have rights to, or have applied for, trademarks, service marks and trade names that we use in connection with the operation of our business, including our corporate name, logos and website names. Other trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, some of the trademarks, service marks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are listed without the ® and symbols.

Available Information

Through our website, we make available free of charge our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or Exchange Act. We make these reports available through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. We also make available, free of charge on our website, the reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by our executive officers, directors and 10% stockholders pursuant to Section 16 under the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after copies of those filings are provided to us by those persons. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We have included our website address in this Annual Report on Form 10-K solely as an inactive textual reference.

 

 

 

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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Our future operating results could differ materially from the results described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K due to the risks and uncertainties described below. You should consider carefully the following information about risks below in evaluating our business. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial conditions, results of operations and future growth prospects would likely decline. In addition, we cannot assure investors that our assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by forward-looking statements. See page 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of some of the forward-looking statements that are qualified by these risk factors. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include those factors discussed below. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or other factors not perceived by us to present significant risks to our business at this time also may impair our business operations.

Risks Related to our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital

We have incurred significant losses since our inception. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. Our net losses were $67.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and $56.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $214.8 million. To date, we have not yet commercialized any products or generated any revenue from product sales and have financed our operations primarily with proceeds from sales of convertible preferred stock, offerings of common stock and pre-funded warrants and borrowings under our Loan Agreement. We have devoted substantially all of our financial resources and efforts to pursuing research and development of our product candidates. We are still in the early stages of clinical development of our lead product candidate, INZ-701, and have initiated Phase 1/2 clinical trials in ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency.

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

conduct our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for adults with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency ;
prepare for, initiate and conduct our planned clinical trials of INZ-701 for patients with ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies;
conduct research, preclinical testing and clinical testing of INZ-701 for additional indications;
conduct research, preclinical testing and clinical testing of other product candidates;
seek marketing approval for INZ-701 or any other product candidate if it successfully completes clinical trials;
scale up our manufacturing processes and capabilities to support clinical trials of INZ-701 or any other product candidates we develop and for commercialization of any product candidate for which we may obtain marketing approval;
establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any product candidate for which we may obtain marketing approval;
in-license or acquire additional technologies or product candidates;
make any payments to Yale University, or Yale, under our license agreement or sponsored research agreement with Yale;
maintain, expand, enforce and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
hire additional clinical, regulatory, quality control and scientific personnel; and
add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our research, product development and planned future commercialization efforts and our operations as a public company.

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Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with pharmaceutical product development, we are unable to accurately predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when, or if, we will be able to achieve profitability. Our expenses could increase beyond our expectations if, among other things:

we are required by regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe or other jurisdictions to perform trials or studies in addition to, or different than, those that we currently expect;
there are any delays in establishing appropriate manufacturing arrangements for or completing the development of any of our product candidates; or
there are any third-party challenges to our intellectual property or we need to defend against any intellectual property-related claim.

Even if we obtain marketing approval for and are successful in commercializing one or more of our product candidates, we expect to incur substantial additional research and development and other expenditures to develop and market additional product candidates or to expand the approved indications of any marketed product. We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenue.

We have never generated revenue from product sales and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

We have only recently initiated clinical development of our first product candidate, INZ-701, and expect that it will be a number of years, if ever, before we have a product candidate ready for commercialization. We have no products that are approved for commercial sale and may never be able to develop marketable products. To become and remain profitable, we must succeed in completing development of, obtaining marketing approval for and eventually commercializing, one or more products that generates significant revenue. The ability to achieve this success will require us to be effective in a range of challenging activities, including completing clinical development of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency and for ABCC6 Deficiency, completing research, preclinical testing and clinical development of INZ-701 for additional indications or of other product candidates, scaling up our manufacturing processes and capabilities to support clinical trials of INZ-701 or of other product candidates we develop, obtaining marketing approval for INZ-701 or any other product candidates and manufacturing, marketing and selling any products for which we may obtain marketing approval. We may never succeed in these activities and, even if we do, may never generate revenues that are significant enough to achieve profitability.

Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would depress the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, maintain our research and development efforts, diversify our pipeline of product candidates or even continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause our stockholders to lose all or part of their investment.

We are heavily dependent on the success of our lead product candidate, INZ-701, which will require significant clinical testing before we can seek marketing approval and potentially launch commercial sales. If INZ-701 does not receive marketing approval or is not successfully commercialized, or if there is significant delay in doing so, our business will be harmed.

We have no products that are approved for commercial sale and may never be able to develop marketable products. Our business currently depends heavily on the successful development, marketing approval and commercialization of INZ-701. We expect that a substantial portion of our efforts and expenditures for the foreseeable future will be devoted to advancing INZ-701. We cannot be certain that INZ-701 will achieve success in ongoing or future clinical trials, receive marketing approval or be successfully commercialized.

If we were required to discontinue development of INZ-701, or if INZ-701 does not receive marketing approval for one or more of the indications we pursue, fails to achieve significant market acceptance, or fails to receive adequate reimbursement, we would be delayed by many years in our ability to achieve profitability, if ever, and may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to continue our business.

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We will need substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we could be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or commercialization efforts.

We expect our expenses to increase substantially in connection with our ongoing and planned activities, particularly as we conduct our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency, and continue research and development and initiate additional clinical trials of, and seek marketing approval for, INZ-701 and any other product candidates we develop. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for INZ-701 or any other product candidate we develop, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution. Furthermore, we have incurred and will continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital or obtain adequate funds when needed or on acceptable terms, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our research and development programs or any future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves. In addition, attempting to secure additional financing may divert the time and attention of our management from day-to-day activities and distract from our research and development efforts.

Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

the progress, costs and results of our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency and any future clinical development of INZ-701 for these indications;
the scope, progress, costs and results of research, preclinical testing and clinical trials of INZ-701 for additional indications;
the number of and development requirements for additional indications for INZ-701 or for any other product candidates we develop;
our ability to scale up our manufacturing processes and capabilities;
the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of INZ-701 and any other product candidates we develop;
potential changes in the regulatory environment and enforcement rules;
our ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations, licensing or other arrangements and the financial terms of such arrangements;
the payment of license fees and other costs of our technology license arrangements;
the extent of our debt service obligations and our ability, if desired, to refinance any of our existing debt on terms that are more favorable to us;
the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including product manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution, for INZ-701 and any other product candidates we develop for which we may receive marketing approval;
the amount and timing of revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of INZ-701 and any other product candidates we develop for which we receive marketing approval;
potential changes in pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement infrastructure;
the costs and timing of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property and proprietary rights and defending any intellectual property-related claims; and
the extent to which we in-license or acquire additional technologies or product candidates.

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As of December 31, 2022, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of approximately $127.9 million and we had $5.0 million of outstanding principal indebtedness under our Loan Agreement. We believe that our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of December 31, 2022, together with the additional $20.0 million we borrowed in February 2023 under our loan agreement, will enable us to fund our cash flow requirements into the fourth quarter of 2024. However, we have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and our operating plan may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us. In addition, changing circumstances could cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control. As a result, we could deplete our capital resources sooner than we currently expect. In addition, because the successful development of INZ-701 and any other product candidates that we pursue is highly uncertain, at this time we cannot reasonably estimate or know the nature, timing and costs of the efforts that will be necessary to complete the development of any product candidate.

Identifying potential product candidates and conducting preclinical testing and clinical trials is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain marketing approval and achieve product sales. In addition, our product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. We will not generate commercial revenues unless and until we can achieve sales of products, which we do not anticipate for a number of years, if at all. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional financing to achieve our business objectives. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Our ability to raise additional funds may be adversely impacted by general economic conditions, both inside and outside the U.S., including disruptions to, and instability and volatility in, the credit and financial markets in the U.S. and worldwide, heightened inflation, interest rate and currency rate fluctuations, and economic slowdown or recession as well as concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical events, including civil or political unrest. In addition, market instability and volatility, high levels of inflation and interest rate fluctuations may increase our cost of financing or restrict our access to potential sources of future liquidity. Alternatively, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

 

We have a loan agreement that requires us to meet specified funding conditions for future draw downs and operating covenants and places restrictions on our operating and financial flexibility.

Inclusive of our most recent draw down under our Loan Agreement in February 2023, we currently have $25.0 million of outstanding principal indebtedness, and we may in the future draw down up to $45.0 million of additional principal indebtedness under the Loan Agreement, subject to specified conditions and lender discretion. Our ability to draw down two tranche commitments totaling $20.0 million in the aggregate is subject to our achievement, as determined by the administrative agent in its sole discretion, of certain time-based, financing, clinical and regulatory milestones relating to INZ-701. Our ability to draw down an additional tranche commitment of $25.0 million is subject to use of proceeds limitations and Lender’s consent in its discretion. As security for its obligations under the Loan Agreement, we granted the Lenders a first priority security interest on substantially all of our assets (other than intellectual property), subject to certain exceptions. Because of the security interest, the Lender’s rights to repayment from a liquidation of the assets subject to that security interest would be senior to the rights of other creditors.

The Loan Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, events of default and affirmative and negative covenants, including covenants that limit or restrict our ability to, among other things, dispose of assets, make changes to our business, management, ownership or business locations, merge or consolidate, incur additional indebtedness, incur additional liens, pay dividends or other distributions or repurchase equity, make investments, and enter into certain transactions with affiliates, in each case subject to certain exceptions.

We intend to satisfy our current and future debt service obligations with our existing cash and cash equivalents. However, we may not have sufficient funds or may be unable to arrange for additional financing to pay the amounts due under our outstanding debt. Funds from external sources may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, a failure to comply with the conditions of our Loan Agreement, including a breach of any covenant, could result in an event of default thereunder. In the event of an acceleration of amounts due under our Loan Agreement as a result of an event of default, including upon the occurrence of an event or circumstance that could be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, properties, assets or financial condition or a failure to pay any amount due, we may not have sufficient funds or may be unable to arrange for additional financing to repay our indebtedness or to make any accelerated payments, and the Lenders could seek to enforce security interests in the collateral securing such indebtedness. Any declaration by the Lenders of an event of default could significantly harm our business and prospects and could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

In addition, our outstanding debt combined with our other financial obligations and contractual commitments could have significant adverse consequences, including:

restricting the amount of our cash resources, after satisfaction of our debt service obligations, available to fund working capital, research and development efforts and other general corporate purposes;

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limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry; and
placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt or better debt servicing options.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial revenues from product sales, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements. We do not have any committed external source of funds, other than under our Loan Agreement. Our ability to borrow under our Loan Agreement is subject to our satisfaction of specified conditions and lender discretion. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities or to the extent the Lenders under our Loan Agreement elect to convert a portion of their outstanding principal into shares of our common stock or elect to purchase up to $5.0 million of shares of our common stock pursuant to the Loan Agreement, our stockholders’ ownership interests will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect our stockholders’ rights as common stockholders. Debt financing and equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our operations and ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional indebtedness, making acquisitions, engaging in acquisition, merger or collaboration transactions, selling or licensing our assets, making capital expenditures, redeeming our stock, making certain investments or declaring dividends. The covenants under our Loan Agreement and the pledge of our assets as collateral limit our ability to take specific actions, including obtaining additional debt financing. If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us.

Our limited operating history may make it difficult for stockholders to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.

We commenced activities in 2017, and our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, securing intellectual property rights, conducting research and development activities, conducting preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials, establishing arrangements for the manufacture of INZ-701 and longer term planning for potential commercialization. As a company, we have limited experience in clinical development, having only recently advanced INZ-701 into early-stage clinical trials. Our prospects must be considered in light of the uncertainties, risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in their early stages of operations. We have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete any clinical trials, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales, marketing and distribution activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Consequently, any predictions stockholders make about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing, obtaining marketing approval for and commercializing products.

In addition, as our business grows, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown obstacles. We will need to transition at some point from a company with a research and development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.

As we continue to build our business, we expect our financial condition and operating results to fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, stockholders should not rely upon the results of any quarterly or annual periods as indications of future operating performance.

We hold a portion of our cash and cash equivalents that we use to meet our working capital and operating expense needs in deposit accounts, and our liquidity and operations could be adversely affected if a financial institution holding such funds fails.

We hold a portion of our cash and cash equivalents that we use to meet our working capital and operating expense needs in deposit accounts at multiple financial institutions. The balance held in these accounts typically exceeds the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, standard deposit insurance limit of $250,000 per depositor and per institution. If a financial institution in which we hold such funds fails or is subject to significant adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets, we could be subject to a risk of loss of all or a portion of such uninsured funds or be subject to a delay in accessing all or a portion of our funds. Any such loss or lack of access to these funds could adversely impact our short-term liquidity and ability to meet our operating expense obligations, including payroll obligations.

For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, was closed and the FDIC was appointed receiver for the bank. The FDIC created a successor bridge bank, and all deposits of SVB were transferred to the bridge bank under a systemic risk

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exception approved by the United States Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC. Access to and availability of deposits was delayed, though ultimately, in that case, restored. If financial institutions in which we hold funds for working capital and operating expenses were to fail, we cannot provide any assurances that the applicable governmental agencies would take action to protect our uninsured deposits or make deposits available in a similar manner.

We also maintain investment accounts with one or more financial institutions in which we hold our investments and, if access to the funds we use for working capital and operating expenses is impaired, we may not be able to open new operating accounts or to sell investments or transfer funds from our investment accounts to new operating accounts on a timely basis sufficient to meet our operating expense obligations. In addition, to the extent that the financial institutions with which we hold securities fail or are associated with banks that fail, there may be delays or other access restrictions with respect to such securities, similar to those described above for deposit accounts.

The COVID-19 pandemic may affect our ability to initiate and complete current or future preclinical studies and clinical trials, disrupt regulatory activities, disrupt our manufacturing and supply chain or have other adverse effects on our business and operations. In addition, this pandemic has caused substantial disruption in the financial markets and may adversely impact economies worldwide, both of which could result in adverse effects on our business and operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many governments to implement measures to slow the spread of the virus through quarantines, travel restrictions, heightened border scrutiny and other measures. The pandemic and government measures taken in response have also had a significant impact, both directly and indirectly, on businesses and commerce, as worker shortages have occurred; supply chains have been disrupted; facilities and production have been suspended; and demand for certain goods and services, such as medical services and supplies, has spiked, while demand for other goods and services, such as travel, has fallen. The future effects of the pandemic on our business and operations are uncertain.

We and the third-party manufacturers and clinical research organizations that we engage may face disruptions that could affect our ability to initiate and complete preclinical studies or clinical trials, including disruptions in procuring items that are essential for our research and development activities, such as, for example, raw materials used in the manufacturing of our product candidates, laboratory supplies for our ongoing and planned preclinical studies and clinical trials, or animals that are used for preclinical testing, in each case, for which there may be shortages because of ongoing efforts to address the pandemic, or disruptions in our ability to obtain necessary site approvals or other delays at clinical trial sites. For example, we experienced delays with respect to initiating dosing in our Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiency.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may experience further disruptions that could severely impact our business, including:

disruptions related to our ongoing clinical trials or future clinical trials or delays in completing preclinical studies;
manufacturing disruptions;
the inability to obtain necessary site approvals or other delays at clinical trial sites;
diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials;
interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site data monitoring, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by foreign, federal or state governments, employers and others;
interruption of clinical trial subject visits and study procedures, which may impact the integrity of subject data and clinical study endpoints;
interruption or delays in the operations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, or other regulatory authorities, which may impact review and approval timelines;
limitations on employee resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, including because of sickness of employees or their families or the desire of employees to avoid contact with large groups of people;

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difficulties recruiting or retaining patients for our clinical trials if patients are affected by the virus or are fearful of visiting or traveling to clinical trial sites because of the virus; and
risk that participants enrolled in our clinical trials will acquire COVID-19 while the clinical trial is ongoing, which could impact the results of the clinical trial, including by increasing the number of observed adverse events and refusal of the FDA, to accept data from clinical trials in these affected geographies.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic may redirect resources with respect to regulatory and intellectual property matters in a way that would adversely impact our ability to pursue marketing approvals and protect our intellectual property. In addition, we may face impediments to regulatory meetings and potential approvals due to measures intended to limit in-person interactions.

On January 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced that it will end the public health emergency declarations related to COVID-19 on May 11, 2023. On January 31, 2023, the FDA indicated that it would soon issue a Federal Register notice describing how the termination of the public health emergency will impact the agency’s COVID-19 related guidance and actions. At this point, it is unclear how, if at all, these developments will impact our efforts to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

Furthermore, third parties, including manufacturers, medical institutions, clinical investigators, contract research organizations and consultants with whom we conduct business, are similarly adjusting their operations and assessing their capacity in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. If these third parties experience shutdowns or business disruptions, our ability to conduct our business in the manner and on the timelines presently planned could be materially and negatively impacted.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and has already caused significant disruptions in the financial markets, and may continue to cause such disruptions, which could impact our ability to raise additional funds through public offerings and may also impact the volatility of our stock price and trading in our stock. Moreover, it is possible the pandemic will further significantly impact economies worldwide, which could result in adverse effects on our business and operations. We cannot be certain what the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on our business, and it has the potential to materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business, financial condition and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.

Changes in tax laws or in their implementation may adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Changes in tax law may adversely affect our business or financial condition. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the TCJA, as amended by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, significantly reformed the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. The TCJA, among other things, contains significant changes to corporate taxation, including a reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21% and the limitation of the deduction for net operating losses, or NOLs, to 80% of current year taxable income for losses arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 (though any such NOLs may be carried forward indefinitely). In addition, beginning in 2022, the TCJA requires corporations to capitalize and amortize research and development expenditures over five years for domestic expenditures and fifteen years for foreign expenditures.

In addition to the CARES Act, as part of Congress’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic relief legislation was enacted in 2020 and 2021 containing tax provisions. The Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, was also signed into law in August 2022. The IRA introduced new tax provisions, including a 1% excise tax imposed on certain stock repurchases by publicly traded corporations. The 1% excise tax generally applies to any acquisition by the publicly traded corporation (or certain of its affiliates) of stock of the publicly traded corporation in exchange for money or other property (other than stock of the corporation itself), subject to a de minimis exception. Thus, the excise tax could apply to certain transactions that are not traditional stock repurchases. Regulatory guidance under the TCJA and such additional legislation is and continues to be forthcoming, and such guidance could ultimately increase or lessen impact of these laws on our business and financial condition. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the IRA, the TCJA and additional tax legislation.

Our ability to use our NOLs and research and development tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.

We have a history of cumulative losses and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses in the foreseeable future. As a result, we do not know whether or when we will generate taxable income necessary to utilize our NOLs or research and development tax credit carryforwards. As of December 31, 2022, we had federal and state NOL carryforwards of $139.8 million and $108.8 million, respectively, and federal and state research and development tax credit carryforwards totaling $9.4 million.

In general, under Section 382 of the Code and corresponding provisions of state law, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three year period, is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs and research and development tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income. We have not conducted a study to assess whether any such

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ownership changes have occurred. We may have experienced such ownership changes in the past and may experience such ownership changes in the future (which may be outside our control). As a result, if and to the extent we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs and research and development tax credit carryforwards to offset such taxable income may be subject to limitations.

Risks Related to Research and Development of our Product Candidates

We are early in our development efforts. If we are unable to commercialize INZ-701 or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

We are early in our development efforts. In November 2021, we initiated our first clinical trial, a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency, and in April 2022, we initiated our second clinical trial, a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 for ABCC6 Deficiency.

Our ability to generate revenues from product sales, which we do not expect will occur for a number of years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development, marketing approval and eventual commercialization of INZ-701 or other product candidates we develop, which may never occur. The success of INZ-701 and any other product candidate we develop will depend on several factors, including the following:

successfully completing preclinical studies and initiating clinical trials;
successfully enrolling patients in and completing clinical trials;
scaling up manufacturing processes and capabilities to support our clinical trials of our product candidates;
applying for and receiving marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;
obtaining and maintaining intellectual property protection and regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates;
making arrangements for commercial manufacturing capabilities;
establishing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities and launching commercial sales of our product candidates, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;
acceptance of our product candidates, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;
effectively competing with other therapies;
obtaining and maintaining coverage, adequate pricing and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors, including government payors;
maintaining, enforcing, defending and protecting our rights in our intellectual property portfolio;
not infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating others’ intellectual property or proprietary rights; and
maintaining a continued acceptable safety profile of our products following receipt of any marketing approvals.

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If we do not achieve one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully develop and commercialize INZ-701 or any other product candidate we develop, which would materially harm our business. As a company, we have limited experience in clinical development, having only recently advanced INZ-701 into early-stage clinical trials. Any predictions about the future success or viability of INZ-701 or any product candidates we develop may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a history of conducting clinical trials.

Drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials may not be predictive of future results. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of INZ-701 or any other product candidate. If our clinical trials do not meet safety or efficacy endpoints, or if we experience significant delays in clinical trials, our ability to commercialize INZ-701 or any other product candidates we develop and our financial position will be impaired.

We have limited experience in clinical development, having only recently advanced INZ-701 into early-stage clinical trials. The risk of failure for INZ-701 is high. It is impossible to predict when or if INZ-701 or any other product candidate that we develop will prove effective or safe in humans or will receive marketing approval. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of INZ-701 or any other product candidate we develop, we must complete preclinical development and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans. Clinical trials may fail to demonstrate that INZ-701 or any other product candidates we develop is safe for humans and effective for indicated uses. Even if the clinical trials are successful, changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment or promulgation of additional statutes, regulations or guidance or changes in regulatory review for each submitted product application may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application.

In order to obtain regulatory approval to market a new biological product, we must demonstrate proof of safety, purity and potency or efficacy in humans. To satisfy these requirements, we will have to conduct adequate and well-controlled clinical trials. Before we can commence clinical trials for a product candidate, we must complete extensive preclinical testing and studies that support our applications to regulatory authorities in North America and Europe to allow us to initiate clinical development. We cannot be certain of the timely completion or outcome of our preclinical testing and studies and cannot predict if the outcome of our preclinical testing and studies will ultimately support the further development of our current or future product candidates or whether regulatory authorities will accept our proposed clinical programs. As a result, we may not be able to submit applications to initiate clinical development of the other product candidates we develop on the timelines we expect, if at all, and the submission of these applications may not result in regulatory authorities allowing clinical trials to begin. For example, in August 2020, our IND for INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency was placed on clinical hold, until we submitted our final study report for our three-month toxicology studies in mice and non-human primates. Furthermore, product candidates are subject to continued preclinical safety studies, which may be conducted concurrently with our clinical testing. The outcomes of these safety studies may delay the launch of or enrollment in future clinical trials and could impact our ability to continue to conduct our clinical trials.

Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to the outcome. We cannot guarantee that any of our clinical trials will be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, or at all. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing, which may result from a multitude of factors, including, among other things, flaws in study design, dose selection issues, placebo effects, patient enrollment criteria and failure to demonstrate favorable safety or efficacy traits. The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and preliminary or interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. For example, our product candidates may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy in clinical development despite positive results in preclinical studies or having successfully advanced through initial clinical trials. As a result, we cannot assure stockholders that any clinical trials that we may conduct will demonstrate consistent or adequate efficacy and safety to support marketing approval.

Many companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in preclinical testing and earlier-stage clinical trials, and we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their products. Furthermore, the failure of any of our product candidates to demonstrate safety and efficacy in any clinical trial could negatively impact the perception of our other product candidates or cause regulatory authorities to require additional testing before approving any of our product candidates. In addition, results from compassionate use protocols or investigator-sponsored trials may not be confirmed in company-sponsored trials and/or may negatively impact the prospects for our programs.

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We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize any product candidates that we develop, including:

regulators or institutional review boards, or IRBs, may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site or at all;
we may experience delays in reaching, or fail to reach, agreement on acceptable clinical trial contracts or clinical trial protocols with prospective trial sites;
regulators may determine that the planned design of our clinical trials is flawed or inadequate;
clinical trials of our product candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon product development programs;
we may be unable to establish clinical endpoints that applicable regulatory authorities consider clinically meaningful, or, if we seek accelerated approval, biomarker efficacy endpoints that applicable regulatory authorities consider likely to predict clinical benefit;
preclinical testing may produce results based on which we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional preclinical studies before we proceed with certain clinical trials, limit the scope of our clinical trials, halt ongoing clinical trials or abandon product development programs;
the number of patients required for clinical trials of our product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in these clinical trials may be slower than we anticipate or participants may drop out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate;
third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;
we may decide, or regulators or IRBs may require us, to suspend or terminate clinical trials of our product candidates for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements or a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;
regulators or IRBs may require us to perform additional or unanticipated clinical trials to obtain approval or we may be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements to maintain marketing approval;
regulators may revise the requirements for approving our product candidates, or such requirements may not be as we anticipate;
the cost of clinical trials of our product candidates may be greater than we anticipate;
the supply or quality of our product candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates may be insufficient or inadequate;
our product candidates may have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, causing us or our clinical investigators, regulators or IRBs to suspend or terminate the trials;
regulators may withdraw their approval of a product or impose restrictions on its distribution; and
business interruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of our product candidates or other testing, if the results

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of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive, if there are safety concerns or if we determine that the observed safety or efficacy profile would not be competitive in the marketplace, we may:

incur unplanned costs;
be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates;
not obtain marketing approval at all;
obtain marketing approval in some countries and not in others;
obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;
obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings;
be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements; or
have the product removed from the market after obtaining marketing approval.

Our product development costs will also increase if we experience delays in preclinical studies or clinical trials or in obtaining marketing approvals. We do not know whether any of our preclinical studies or clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. We may also determine to change the design or protocol of one or more of our clinical trials, including to add additional patients or arms, which could result in increased costs and expenses or delays. Significant preclinical study or clinical trial 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, the FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies with respect to clinical trials may change and additional government regulations may be enacted. For example, in December 2022, with the passage of Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act, or FDORA, Congress required sponsors to develop and submit a diversity action plan for each Phase 3 clinical trial or any other “pivotal study” of a new drug or biological product. These plans are meant to encourage the enrollment of more diverse patient populations in late-stage clinical trials of FDA-regulated products. Specifically, action plans must include the sponsor’s goals for enrollment, the underlying rationale for those goals, and an explanation of how the sponsor intends to meet them. In addition to these requirements, the legislation directs the FDA to issue new guidance on diversity action plans.
 

Similarly, the regulatory landscape related to clinical trials in the EU recently evolved. The EU Clinical Trials Regulation, or CTR, which was adopted in April 2014 and repeals the EU Clinical Trials Directive, became applicable on January 31, 2022. While the Clinical Trials Directive required a separate clinical trial application, or CTA, to be submitted in each member state, to both the competent national health authority and an independent ethics committee, the CTR introduces a centralized process and only requires the submission of a single application to all member states concerned. The CTR allows sponsors to make a single submission to both the competent authority and an ethics committee in each member state, leading to a single decision per member state. The assessment procedure of the CTA has been harmonized as well, including a joint assessment by all member states concerned, and a separate assessment by each member state with respect to specific requirements related to its own territory, including ethics rules. Each member state’s decision is communicated to the sponsor via the centralized EU portal. Once the CTA is approved, clinical study development may proceed. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies governing clinical trials, our development plans may be impacted.
 

Because we are developing INZ-701 for the treatment of diseases in which there is little clinical experience and, in some cases, using new endpoints or methodologies, the FDA or other regulatory authorities may not consider the endpoints of our clinical trials to predict or provide clinically meaningful results.

There are currently no therapies approved to treat ENPP1 or ABCC6 Deficiencies, and there may be no therapies approved to treat the underlying causes of diseases that we attempt to address or may address in the future. As a result, the design and conduct of clinical trials of product candidates for the treatment of these diseases may take longer, be more costly or be less effective as a result of the novelty of development in these diseases. In some cases, we may use new or novel endpoints or methodologies, such as change in plasma PPi, which we are evaluating in our Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 for ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency, and regulatory authorities may not consider the endpoints of our clinical trials to predict or provide clinically meaningful results. Any such regulatory authority may require evaluation of additional or different clinical endpoints in our clinical trials or

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ultimately determine that these clinical endpoints do not support marketing approval. In addition, if we are required to use additional or different clinical endpoints by regulatory authorities, INZ-701 may not achieve or meet such clinical endpoints in our clinical trials.

Even if a regulatory authority finds our clinical trial success criteria to be sufficiently validated and clinically meaningful, we may not achieve the pre-specified endpoint to a degree of statistical significance in any pivotal or other clinical trials we may conduct for our product candidates. Further, even if we do achieve the pre-specified criteria, our trials may produce results that are unpredictable or inconsistent with the results of other efficacy endpoints in the trial. Regulatory authorities also could give overriding weight to other efficacy endpoints over a primary endpoint even if we achieve statistically significant results on that primary endpoint, if we do not do so on our secondary efficacy endpoints. Regulatory authorities also weigh the benefits of a product against its risks and may view the efficacy results in the context of safety as not being supportive of approval.

If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in our clinical trials for INZ-701 or any other product candidate we develop, our receipt of necessary marketing approvals could be delayed or prevented.

Identifying and qualifying patients to participate in clinical trials for INZ-701 and any other product candidate we develop is critical to our success. Successful and timely completion of clinical trials will require that we enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the trial until its conclusion. Because we primarily focus on rare diseases, we may have difficulty enrolling a sufficient number of eligible patients in future clinical trials of INZ-701 or any other product candidate. ENPP1 Deficiency is estimated to occur in approximately one in 64,000 pregnancies worldwide, and we believe there are approximately 37,000 patients in addressable markets worldwide with ENPP1 Deficiency. In the United States, Europe and Japan, we believe there are approximately 7,800 patients with ENPP1 Deficiency. ABCC6 Deficiency is estimated to afflict approximately one per 25,000 to 50,000 individuals, and we believe there are more than 67,000 patients in addressable markets worldwide with ABCC6 Deficiency. In the United States, Europe and other major markets, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Russia, we believe there are approximately 20,000 patients with ABCC6 Deficiency. We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside of the United States. We cannot predict how successful we will be at enrolling subjects in future clinical trials. Patient enrollment is affected by a variety of other factors, including:

the prevalence and severity of the disease under investigation;
the eligibility criteria for the trial in question;
the perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under trial;
the requirements of the trial protocols;
the availability of existing treatments for the indications for which we are conducting clinical trials;
the ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;
the efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials;
the ability to identify specific patient populations based on specific genetic mutations or other factors;
the patient referral practices of physicians;
the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment;
our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents;
the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients;
the conduct of clinical trials by competitors for product candidates that treat the same indications or address the same patient populations as our product candidates;
the cost to, or lack of adequate compensation for, prospective patients; and
the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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Further, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA issued guidance on March 18, 2020, and updated it in 2021 to address the conduct of clinical trials during the pandemic. The guidance sets out a number of considerations for sponsors of clinical trials impacted by the pandemic, including the requirement to include in the clinical study report (or as a separate document) contingency measures implemented to manage the study, and any disruption of the study as a result of COVID-19. On January 30, 2023, the Biden administration announced that it will end the public health emergency declarations related to COVID-19 on May 11, 2023. On January 31, 2023, the FDA indicated that it would soon issue a Federal Register notice describing how the termination of the public health emergency will impact the agency’s COVID-19 related guidance, including the clinical trial guidance and updates thereto. At this point, it is unclear how, if at all, these developments will impact our efforts to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

Accordingly, our inability to locate and enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials would result in significant delays, could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether and could delay or prevent our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing.

If serious adverse events, undesirable side effects or unexpected characteristics are identified during the development of INZ-701 or any other product candidate we may develop, we may need to abandon or limit our further clinical development of those product candidates.

If INZ-701 or any other product candidate we develop is associated with serious adverse events or undesirable side effects in clinical trials or have characteristics that are unexpected in clinical trials or preclinical testing, we may need to abandon development of such product candidate or limit development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which the serious adverse events, undesirable side effects or unexpected characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. In pharmaceutical development, many compounds that initially show promise in early-stage or clinical testing are later found to cause side effects that delay or prevent further development of the compound.

Additionally, if results of our clinical trials reveal undesirable side effects, we, regulatory authorities or the IRBs at the institutions in which our studies are conducted could suspend or terminate our clinical trials, regulatory authorities could order us to cease clinical trials or deny approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications or we could be forced to materially modify the design of our clinical trials. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete any of our clinical trials. For example, one patient from the highest dose cohort (1.8 mg/kg) of our ongoing clinical trial of INZ-701 in adults with ABCC6 Deficiency was withdrawn from the Phase 1 portion of the trial at day 18 due to a moderate adverse event (erythema/urticaria) related to INZ-701. In addition, any treatment-related side effects could result in potential liability claims and may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff.

If we elect or are forced to suspend or terminate any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of such product candidate will be harmed, and our ability to generate revenues from sales of such product candidate will be delayed or eliminated. Any of these occurrences could materially harm our business.

Interim topline and preliminary results from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more participant data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures, which could result in material changes in the final data.

From time to time, we may publish interim topline or preliminary results from our clinical trials. Interim results from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as participant enrollment continues or more participant data become available. For example, the topline biomarker, safety, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data that we have disclosed in connection with our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 may not be indicative of the full results of those trials obtained upon completion. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations, and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully evaluate all data. Preliminary or topline results also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could be material and could significantly harm our reputation and business prospects and may cause the trading price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly.

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If any 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 trials are conducted in carefully defined subsets of patients who have agreed to enter into clinical trials. Consequently, it is possible that our ongoing, planned or future clinical trials 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 one or more of our product candidates receives marketing approval, and we, or others, later discover that they are less effective than previously believed, or cause undesirable side effects, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

withdrawal or limitation by regulatory authorities of approvals of such product;
seizure of the product by regulatory authorities;
recall of the product;
restrictions on the marketing of the product or the manufacturing process for any component thereof;
requirement by regulatory authorities of additional warnings on the label;
requirement that we implement a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy or create a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;
commitment to expensive post-marketing studies as a prerequisite of approval by regulatory authorities of such product;
the product may become less competitive;
initiation of regulatory investigations and government enforcement actions;
initiation of legal action against us to hold us liable for harm caused to patients; and
harm to our reputation and resulting harm to physician or patient acceptance of our products.

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of a particular product candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on research programs and product candidates that we identify for specific indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate. Failure to allocate resources or capitalize on strategies in a successful manner will have an adverse impact on our business.

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We are conducting clinical trials for our product candidates at sites outside the United States, and the FDA may not accept data from clinical trials conducted in such locations.

We are conducting clinical trials of INZ-701 outside the United States, including our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 for the treatment of ENPP1 Deficiency in Europe and Canada and our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INZ-701 for the treatment of ABCC6 Deficiency in Europe. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States, acceptance of these data is subject to conditions imposed by the FDA. For example, the clinical trial must be well designed and conducted and be performed by qualified investigators in accordance with ethical principles. The trial 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. In addition, while these clinical trials are subject to the applicable local laws, FDA acceptance of the data will depend on its determination that the trials also complied with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations. If the FDA does not accept the data from any trial that we conduct outside the United States, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and could delay or permanently halt our development of the applicable product candidates.

In addition, there are risks inherent in conducting clinical trials in multiple jurisdictions, inside and outside of the United States, such as:

regulatory and administrative requirements of the jurisdiction where the trial is conducted that could burden or limit our ability to conduct our clinical trials;
foreign exchange rate fluctuations;
manufacturing, customs, shipment and storage requirements;
cultural differences in medical practice and clinical research; and
the risk that the patient populations in such trials are not considered representative as compared to the patient population in the target markets where approval is being sought.

Because gene therapy is novel and the regulatory landscape that governs any product candidates we may develop is uncertain and may change, we cannot predict the time and cost of obtaining regulatory approval, if we receive it at all, for any product candidates we may develop.

The regulatory requirements that will govern any novel gene therapy product candidates we develop are not entirely clear and may change. Within the broader genetic medicine field, we are aware of a limited number of gene therapy products that have received marketing authorization from the FDA and the European Medicines Authority, or EMA. Even with respect to more established products that fit into the categories of gene therapies or cell therapies, the regulatory landscape is still developing. Regulatory requirements governing gene therapy products and cell therapy products have changed frequently and will likely continue to change in the future. Moreover, there is substantial, and sometimes uncoordinated, overlap in those responsible for regulation of existing gene therapy products and cell therapy products. For example, in the United States, the FDA has established the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies within its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, or CBER, to consolidate the review of gene therapy and related products, and the Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee to advise CBER on its review. Gene therapy clinical trials are also subject to review and oversight by an institutional biosafety committee, or IBC, a local institutional committee that reviews and oversees basic and clinical research conducted at the institution participating in the clinical trial. Gene therapy clinical trials conducted at institutions that receive funding for recombinant DNA research from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, are also subject to review by the NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities’ Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. Although the FDA decides whether individual gene therapy protocols may proceed, the review process and determinations of other reviewing bodies can impede or delay the initiation of a clinical trial, even if the FDA has reviewed the trial and approved its initiation. The same applies in the European Union. The EMA’s Committee for Advanced Therapies, or CAT, is responsible for assessing the quality, safety, and efficacy of advanced-therapy medicinal products. The role of the CAT is to prepare a draft opinion on an application for marketing authorization for a gene therapy medicinal candidate that is submitted to the EMA. In the European Union, the development and evaluation of a gene therapy medicinal product must be considered in the context of the relevant European Union guidelines. The EMA may issue new guidelines concerning the development and marketing authorization for gene therapy medicinal products and require that we comply with these new guidelines. As a result, the procedures and standards applied to gene therapy products and cell therapy products may be applied to any gene therapy product candidates we may develop, but that remains uncertain at this point.

Adverse public perception of genetic medicine, and gene therapy in particular, may negatively impact regulatory approval of, or demand for, our potential products.

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The clinical and commercial success of our potential products will depend in part on public acceptance of the use of gene therapy for the prevention or treatment of human diseases. Public attitudes may be influenced by claims that gene therapy is unsafe, unethical, or immoral, and, consequently, our products may not gain the acceptance of the public or the medical community. Adverse public attitudes may adversely impact our ability to enroll clinical trials. Moreover, our success will depend upon physicians prescribing, and their patients being willing to receive, treatments that involve the use of product candidates we may develop in lieu of, or in addition to, existing treatments with which they are already familiar and for which greater clinical data may be available.

Risks Related to the Commercialization of our Product Candidates

Even if any 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 any of our product candidates, if approved, may be smaller than we estimate.

If any of our product candidates receives marketing approval, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. 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 do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant revenues from product sales and we may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

the efficacy and potential advantages of our product candidates compared to the advantages and relative risks of alternative treatments;
the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts;
our ability to offer our products, if approved, for sale at competitive prices;
the clinical indications for which the product is approved;
the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments;
the convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;
the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies;
the strength of marketing and distribution support;
the timing of market introduction of competitive products;
the availability of third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement, and patients’ willingness to pay out of pocket for required co-payments or in the absence of third-party coverage or adequate reimbursement;
product labeling or product insert requirements of the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities, including any limitations or warnings contained in a product’s approved labeling;
the prevalence and severity of any side effects;
support from patient advocacy groups; and
any restrictions on the use of our products, if approved, together with other medications.

Our assessment of the potential market opportunity for our product candidates is based on industry and market data that we obtained from industry publications, research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties and our analysis of these data, research, surveys and studies. Industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. While we believe these industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies are reliable, we have not independently verified such data. Our estimates of the potential market opportunities for our product candidates include a number of key assumptions based on our industry knowledge, industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies, which may be

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based on a small sample size and fail to accurately reflect market opportunities. While we believe that our internal assumptions are reasonable, no independent source has verified such assumptions. If any of our assumptions or estimates, or these publications, research, surveys or studies prove to be inaccurate, then the actual market for any of our product candidates may be smaller than we expect, and as a result our revenues from product sales may be limited and it may be more difficult for us to achieve or maintain profitability.

If we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into sales, marketing and distribution agreements with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates if and when they are approved.

We do not have a sales or marketing infrastructure and have no experience as a company in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. To achieve commercial success for any product for which we have obtained marketing approval, we will need to establish a sales, marketing and distribution organization, either ourselves or through collaborations or other arrangements with third parties.

We believe that we will be able to commercialize INZ-701, if approved, for ENPP1 Deficiency or ABCC6 Deficiency with a small, targeted, internal sales and commercial organization in the United States and other major markets. There are risks involved with establishing our own sales, marketing and distribution capabilities. For example, recruiting and training a sales force is expensive and time-consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. These efforts may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel. In general, the cost of establishing and maintaining a sales and marketing organization may exceed the cost-effectiveness of doing so.

Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our products on our own include:

our inability to recruit, train and retain adequate numbers of effective sales, marketing, coverage or reimbursement, customer service, medical affairs and other support personnel;
our inability to equip sales personnel with effective materials, including medical and sales literature to help them educate physicians and other healthcare providers regarding rare diseases and our future products;
our inability to effectively manage a geographically dispersed sales and marketing team;
the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to physicians or persuade adequate numbers of physicians to prescribe any future products;
the inability of reimbursement professionals to negotiate arrangements for formulary access, reimbursement and other acceptance by payors;
the inability to price our products at a sufficient price point to ensure an adequate and attractive level of profitability;
restricted or closed distribution channels that make it difficult to distribute our products to segments of the patient population;
the lack of complementary products to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines; and
unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization.

If we are unable to establish our own sales, marketing and distribution capabilities and we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform these services, our revenues from product sales and our profitability, if any, are likely to be lower than if we were to market, sell and distribute any products that we develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell, market and distribute our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are acceptable to us. We likely will have little 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, marketing and distribution capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.

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We face substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do, thus rendering our products non-competitive, obsolete or reducing the size of our market.

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition and a strong emphasis on proprietary products. We face and will continue to face competition from many different sources, including major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, government agencies and public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization.

We are aware of a number of companies generally pursuing the development of different enzyme replacement therapies or treatments for vascular calcification disorders and many other companies are focused on rare disease markets. For example, SNF472, a calcification inhibitor, is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for calciphylaxis by Sanifit, which was acquired by Vifor Pharma and is now CSL Vifor. DS-1211, a tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase inhibitor, is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for pseudoxanthoma elasticum by Daiichi Sankyo Company, and CSL Vifor has product candidates in preclinical development for calcification inhibitors.

Many of the companies against which we are competing or against which we may compete in the future have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our development programs. Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than any products that we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. In addition, our ability to compete may be affected in many cases by insurers or other third-party payors seeking to encourage the use of generic products. Because of our primary focus on rare disease, if our product candidates achieve marketing approval, we expect to seek premium pricing.

Technology in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries has undergone rapid and significant change, and we expect that it will continue to do so. Any compounds, products or processes that we develop may become obsolete or uneconomical before we recover any expenses incurred in connection with their development.

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

We may pursue the in-license or acquisition of rights to complementary technologies and product candidates on an opportunistic basis. However, we may be unable to in-license or acquire any additional technologies or product candidates from third parties. The acquisition and licensing of technologies and product candidates is a competitive area, and a number of more established companies also have similar strategies to in-license or acquire technologies and product candidates that we may consider attractive. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash resources and greater development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to in-license or acquire the relevant technology or product candidate on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment.

If the market opportunities for our product candidates are smaller than we currently believe, our revenue 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 profitability and growth.

We focus our research and product development on treatments for rare diseases. Given the small number of patients who have the diseases that we are targeting, it is critical to our ability to grow and become profitable that we continue to successfully identify patients with these rare diseases. Our projections of the number of people who have these diseases are based on our beliefs and estimates. These estimates have been derived from a variety of sources, including the scientific and medical literature, industry publications, third-party research, surveys and studies, patient foundations or market research that we conducted, and may prove to be incorrect or contain errors. New studies may change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these diseases. The number of patients may turn out to be lower than expected. Our efforts to identify patients with diseases we seek to treat is in the early stages, and we cannot accurately predict the number of patients for whom treatment might be possible. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for each of our product candidates may be limited or may not be amenable to treatment with our product candidates, and new patients may become increasingly difficult to identify or gain access to, which would adversely affect our results of operations and our business.

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Further, even if we obtain significant market share for our product candidates, because the potential target populations are very small, we may never achieve profitability despite obtaining such significant market share. For example, the estimated incidence of ENPP1 Deficiency is approximately one in 64,000 pregnancies worldwide. In the United States, Europe, and Japan we believe there are approximately 7,800 patients with ENPP1 Deficiency. ABCC6 Deficiency is estimated to afflict approximately one per 25,000 to 50,000 individuals, and we believe there are more than 67,000 patients in addressable markets worldwide with ABCC6 Deficiency. In the United States, Europe and other major markets, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Russia, we believe there are approximately 20,000 patients with ABCC6 Deficiency. In addition, while we are pursuing marketing approval for ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency indications, the FDA may only grant approval for more narrow, specific disease indications that would result in a smaller market than we initially sought.

Because there are currently no products approved for the treatment of our target indications, such as ENPP1 and ABCC6 Deficiencies, the pricing and reimbursement of our product candidates, if approved, is uncertain, but must be adequate to support commercial infrastructure. In addition, while we are pursuing additional diseases of pathologic mineralization and intimal proliferation, including those without a clear genetic basis, such as calciphylaxis or calcifications as a result of end stage kidney disease, we may not receive approval for such indications or such indications may not expand the target population for INZ-701 in an amount sufficient to achieve profitability. Furthermore, if we are unable to obtain adequate levels of reimbursement, our ability to successfully market and sell our product candidates will be adversely affected.

Even if we are able to commercialize any product candidates, the products may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party coverage or reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives, which could harm our business.

The regulations that govern marketing approvals, pricing, coverage and reimbursement for new drug products vary widely from country to country. Current and future legislation may significantly change the approval requirements in ways that could involve additional costs and cause delays in obtaining approvals. 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. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost effectiveness of our product candidate to other available therapies. In some foreign 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 our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenues, if any, 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 any product candidates successfully also will depend in part on the extent to which coverage and adequate reimbursement for these products and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. The availability of coverage and adequacy of reimbursement by governmental healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurers and other third-party payors are essential for most patients to be able to afford medical services and pharmaceutical products, including our product candidates. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications. Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for medical products. Coverage and reimbursement may not be available for any product that we commercialize and, even if these are available, the level of reimbursement may not be satisfactory. Reimbursement may affect the demand for, or the price of, any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. Obtaining and maintaining adequate reimbursement for our products may be difficult. We may be required to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies to justify coverage and reimbursement or the level of reimbursement relative to other therapies. If coverage and adequate reimbursement are not available or reimbursement is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval.

There may be significant delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement for newly approved drugs, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the drug is approved by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside of the United States. Moreover, eligibility for coverage and reimbursement does not imply that a drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution expenses. Interim reimbursement levels for new drugs, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost drugs and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for drugs may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement policies. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement rates from both government-funded and private payors for any approved products that we develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our overall financial condition.

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No uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our product candidates to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Furthermore, rules and regulations regarding reimbursement change frequently, in some cases on short notice, and we believe that changes in these rules and regulations are likely.

There can be no assurance that our product candidates, even if they are approved for sale in the United States, in Europe or in other countries, will be considered medically reasonable and necessary for a specific indication or cost-effective by third-party payors, or that coverage and an adequate level of reimbursement will be available or that third-party payors’ reimbursement policies will not adversely affect our ability to sell our product candidates profitably.

Our future growth depends, in part, on our ability to penetrate foreign markets, where we would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and other risks and uncertainties that, if they materialize, could harm our business.

Our future profitability will depend, in part, on our ability to commercialize our product candidates in markets outside of the United States and the European Union. We are not permitted to market or promote INZ-701 or any other product candidates we develop before we receive approval from the applicable regulatory authority in that foreign market, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for any of our product candidates. To obtain separate marketing approvals in other countries we may be required to comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of such countries regarding the safety and efficacy of our product candidates and governing, among other things, clinical trials and commercial sales, pricing and distribution of our product candidates. If we commercialize our product candidates in these foreign markets, we will be subject to additional risks and uncertainties, including:

economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular economies and markets;
the burden of complying with complex and changing foreign regulatory, tax, accounting and legal requirements, many of which vary between countries;
different medical practices and customs in foreign countries affecting acceptance in the marketplace;
tariffs and trade barriers, as well as other governmental controls and trade restrictions;
other trade protection measures, import or export licensing requirements or other restrictive actions by U.S. or foreign governments;
longer accounts receivable collection times;
longer lead times for shipping;
compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad;
workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is common;
language barriers for technical training;
reduced protection of intellectual property rights in some foreign countries, and related prevalence of generic alternatives to therapeutics;
foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and currency controls;
differing foreign reimbursement landscapes;
uncertain and potentially inadequate reimbursement of our products; and
the interpretation of contractual provisions governed by foreign laws in the event of a contract dispute.

If risks related to any of these uncertainties materializes, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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

We face an inherent risk of clinical trial and product liability exposure related to the testing of our product candidates in human clinical trials and use of our product candidate through compassionate use, and we will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell any products that we may develop. While we currently have no products that have been approved for commercial sale, the ongoing, planned and future use of product candidates by us in clinical trials, and the sale of any approved products in the future, may expose us to liability claims. These claims might be made by patients that use the product, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies or others selling such products. On occasion, large judgments have been awarded in class action lawsuits based on products that had unanticipated adverse effects. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against claims that our product candidates or products caused injuries, we will incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

decreased demand for any product candidates or products that we may develop;
termination of clinical trials;
withdrawal of marketing approval, recall, restriction on the approval or a “black box” warning or contraindication for an approved drug;
withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
significant costs to defend any related litigation;
substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
loss of revenue;
injury to our reputation and significant negative media attention;
reduced resources of our management to pursue our business strategy;
distraction of management’s attention from our primary business; and
the inability to commercialize any products that we may develop.

We currently hold $10 million in product liability insurance coverage in the aggregate, with a per incident limit of $10 million, which may not be adequate to cover all liabilities that we may incur. We may need to increase our insurance coverage as we expand our clinical trials or if we commence commercialization of our product candidates. Insurance coverage is increasingly expensive. We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in an amount adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise. If a successful clinical trial or product liability claim or series of claims is brought against us for uninsured liabilities or in excess of insured liabilities, our assets may not be sufficient to cover such claims and our business operations could be impaired.

Risks Related to our Dependence on Third Parties

We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties to conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials, which may prevent or delay our ability to seek or obtain marketing approval for or commercialize our product candidates or otherwise harm our business. If we are not able to maintain these third party relationships or if these arrangements are terminated, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans and our business could be adversely affected.

We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third-party clinical research organizations, in addition to other third parties such as research collaboratives, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators, to conduct our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials of INZ-701 of ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency and any other clinical trials we conduct in the future. We do not plan to independently conduct clinical trials of INZ-701 or any other product candidate that we may develop. These contract research organizations and other third parties play a significant role in the conduct and timing of these trials and subsequent collection and analysis of data. These third-party arrangements might terminate for a variety of reasons, including a failure to perform by the third parties. If we need to enter into alternative arrangements, our product development activities might be delayed.

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Our reliance on these third parties for research and development activities reduces our control over these activities but does relieve us of our responsibilities. For example, we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. 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 trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. Regulatory authorities in Europe and other jurisdictions have similar requirements. Regulatory authorities enforce these GCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. If we or any of our contract research organizations or trial sites fail to comply with applicable GCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable, and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We also are required to register ongoing clinical trials and post the results of completed clinical trials 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.

If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical trials 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 develop and commercialize our product candidates. Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. In addition, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and may receive cash or equity compensation in connection with such services. If these relationships and any related compensation result in perceived or actual conflicts of interest, or the FDA concludes that the financial relationship may have affected the interpretation of the trial, the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site may be questioned, and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized, which could result in the delay or rejection of any marketing application we submit to the FDA. Any such delay or rejection could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates.

If any of our relationships with these third parties terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative third parties or do so on commercially reasonable terms. Switching or adding additional contract research organizations, investigators and other third parties involves additional cost and requires management time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition period when a new contract research organization commences work. As a result, delays can occur, which could materially impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines. The COVID-19 pandemic and government measures taken in response have also had a significant impact on many contract research organizations. Although we plan to carefully manage our relationships with our contract research organizations, investigators and other third parties, we may nonetheless encounter challenges or delays in the future, which could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.

Manufacturing biologic products is complex and subject to product loss for a variety of reasons. We contract with third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for preclinical and clinical testing and expect to continue to do so for commercialization. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

We do not own or operate, and currently have no plans to establish, any manufacturing facilities. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of both drug substance and finished drug product for INZ-701 and any future product candidates for preclinical and clinical testing, as well as for commercial manufacture if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval. We also rely on these third parties for packaging, labeling, sterilization, storage, distribution and other production logistics. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or products or such quantities at an acceptable cost or quality, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts. We may be unable to establish any agreements with third-party manufacturers or to do so on acceptable terms. Even if we are able to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers, reliance on third-party manufacturers entails additional risks, including:

reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance;
the possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party;