F-1/A 1 ff12019a4_aptorumgroup.htm AMENDMENT NO. 4 TO FORM F-1

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 21, 2019

Registration No. 333-232510

 

 

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

PRE-EFFECTIVE AMENDMENT NO. 4

TO

FORM F-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

APTORUM GROUP LIMITED

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

Cayman Islands   2834   Not Applicable
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
  (Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

 

17th Floor, Guangdong Investment Tower

148 Connaught Road Central

Hong Kong

Telephone: +852 2117 6611

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

Copies to:

 

Louis Taubman, Esq.

Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC

1450 Broadway, 26th Floor

New York, NY 10018

Tel: 917.512.0827

Fax: 212.202.6380

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after effectiveness of this registration statement.

 

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☒

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

Emerging growth company ☒

 

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, 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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

 

 

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered   Amount to
be
Registered
    Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate Price Per Share
    Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering
Price(1)
    Amount of Registration Fee  
Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $1.00 per share(2)(3)     27,765,821     $ 26.00     $ 721,911,346     $ 87,495.66  
                                 
Total     27,765,821     $ -     $ 721,911,346     $ 87,495.66  

 

(1)

Estimated solely for the purpose of determining the amount of registration fee in accordance with Rule 457(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, based on the average of the high and low trading prices on June 27, 2019 of our Class A Ordinary Shares listed on The NASDAQ Global Market.

   
(2) In accordance with Rule 416(a), the Registrant is also registering an indeterminate number of additional Class A Ordinary Shares that shall be issuable pursuant to Rule 416 to prevent dilution resulting from share splits, share dividends or similar transactions.
   
(3) Reflects the resale by Selling Shareholders included herein of their Class A Ordinary Shares.

 

The Registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission acting pursuant to said Section 8(a) may determine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. Neither we nor the Selling Shareholders may sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION

DATED October 21, 2019

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

 

 

APTORUM GROUP LIMITED

 

October 21, 2019

 

This prospectus relates to the resale from time to time by the selling shareholder identified in this prospectus under the caption “Selling Shareholders” of up to 27,765,821 of our Class A Ordinary Shares. As described in more detail in this prospectus under “Prospectus Summary - The Offering,” the number of shares offered for sale by the selling shareholder consists of (1) 5,328,067 Class A Ordinary Shares currently owned by the selling shareholder; and (2) 22,437,754 Class A Ordinary Shares underlying Class B Ordinary Shares currently owned by the selling shareholder.

 

For the details about the selling shareholder, please see “Principal and Selling Shareholders – Selling Shareholders.” The selling shareholder may sell these shares from time to time in the principal market on which our Class A Ordinary Shares are traded at the prevailing market price, in negotiated transactions, or through any other means described in the section titled “Plan of Distribution.” The selling shareholder may be deemed underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, of the Class A Ordinary Shares that they are offering. We will pay the expenses of registering these shares. We will not receive proceeds from the sale of our shares by the selling shareholder that are covered by this prospectus.

 

The shares are being registered to permit the selling shareholder, or its respective pledgees, donees, transferees or other successors-in-interest, to sell the shares from time to time in the public market. We do not know when or in what amount the selling shareholder may offer the securities for sale. The selling shareholder may sell some, all or none of the securities offered by this prospectus.

 

Our Class A Ordinary Shares are traded on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “APM.” On June 27, 2019, the last reported sale price of our Class A Ordinary Shares as reported on The NASDAQ Global Market was $25.50 share.

 

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the U.S. Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements.

 

Investing in the Class A Ordinary Shares involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 13 of this prospectus.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. 

 

The Selling Shareholders may sell their Class A Ordinary Shares described in this prospectus in a number of different ways, at prevailing market prices or privately negotiated prices and there is no termination date of the Selling Shareholders’ offering.

 

The date of this prospectus is October 21, 2019

 

 

 

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

 

We are filing this Amendment No. 4 to our registration statement on Form F-1, initially filed on July 2, 2019 and amended on August 16, 2019, September 27, 2019 and October 16, 2019 (File No. 333-232510) (the “Registration Statement”) pursuant to comments we received from the Securities and Exchange Commission to update this Explanatory Note as now set forth herein.

 

No additional securities are being registered under this Amendment No. 4. All applicable registration fees were paid at the time of the original filing of the Registration Statement.

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  Page
Commonly Used Defined Terms ii
Prospectus Summary 1
Risk Factors 13
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 53
Trademarks, Service Marks and Tradenames 54
Use of Proceeds 54
Dividend Policy 54
Capitalization 54
Selected Financial Data 55
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 57
Our Business 68
Management 113
Transactions with Related Persons 126
Principal and Selling Shareholders 131
Plan of Distribution 136
Description of Share Capital 138
Taxation 148
Expenses of This Offering 153
Legal Matters 153
Experts 153
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities 153
Where You Can Find More Information 154
Index to Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements F-1

 

i

 

 

We have not authorized any person to provide you with information different from that contained in this prospectus or any related free-writing prospectus that we authorize to be distributed to you. This prospectus is not an offer to sell, nor is it seeking an offer to buy, these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. The information in this prospectus speaks only as of the date of this prospectus unless the information specifically indicates that another date applies, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of the securities offered hereby.

 

For investors outside of the United States: We have not done anything that would permit this Offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than the United States. Persons outside of the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the Offering and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the United States.

 

This prospectus includes statistical and other industry and market data that we obtained from industry publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. 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, you are cautioned not to give undue weight to this information.

 

All references in this prospectus to “$,” “U.S.$,” “U.S. dollars,” “dollars,” “US$,” and “USD” mean United States dollars unless otherwise noted. All references to the “PRC” or “China” in this prospectus refer to the People’s Republic of China. All references to “Hong Kong” or “H.K.” in this prospectus refer to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. All references to the “United States,” “U.S.” or “US” refer to the United States of America.

 

COMMONLY USED DEFINED TERMS

 

  “Acticule” refers to Acticule Life Sciences Limited, an 80% owned subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “Aeneas” refers to AENEAS CAPITAL LIMITED, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aeneas Group Limited, which is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Jurchen Investment Corporation through Aeneas Limited. Because Mr. Huen, our CEO, holds 100% equity interest in Jurchen Investment Corporation, we refer to Aeneas as a fellow subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “AGL” refers to Aeneas Group Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aeneas Limited and we refer to AGL as a fellow subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “AL” refers to Aeneas Limited, an entity 80% owned by Jurchen Investment Corporation and we refer to AL as a fellow subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “AML” refers to Aptorum Medical Limited, a 94% owned-subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “AML Clinic” refers to an outpatient medical clinic operated by AML under the name of Talem Medical.

 

  “APD” refers to Aptorum Pharmaceutical Development Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “Aptorum Group,” “Company,” “we,” “Group” and “us” refer to Aptorum Group Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability whose principal place of business is in Hong Kong.

 

ii

 

 

  “Aptorum Non-Therapeutics Group” refers to the Company’s non-therapeutics segment that encompasses: (i) the development of surgical robotics and medical devices, which is operated through Signate Life Sciences Limited and (ii) AML Clinic.

 

  “Aptorum Therapeutics Group” refers to the Company’s therapeutics segment that is operated through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Aptorum Therapeutics Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability, whose principal place of business is in Hong Kong and its indirect subsidiary companies, whose principal places of business are in Hong Kong.

 

  “Bond” refers to the $15,000,000 convertible bond the Company originally issued to Peace Range (as hereinafter defined) in the Bond Offering, but which has since been repurchased by one of the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Aptorum Investment Holding Limited, pursuant to that certain Bond Repurchase Agreement dated April 24, 2019 between the Company, Peace Range Limited and Aptorum Investment Holding Limited.  

 

  “Bond Offering” refers to the Company’s private offering of the Bond that closed on April 25, 2018.

 

  “Boustead” refers to Boustead Securities, LLC.

 

  “cGCP” refers to Current Good Clinical Practice as adopted by the applicable regulatory authority.

 

  “cGLP” refers to Current Good Laboratory Practice as adopted by the applicable regulatory authority.

 

  “cGMP” refers to Current Good Manufacturing Practice as adopted by the applicable regulatory authority.

 

  “Class A Ordinary Shares,” “Ordinary Shares,” or “Shares” refers to the Company’s Class A Ordinary Shares, par value $1.00 per share.

 

  “CMC” refers to chemical, manufacturing and control.

 

  “Covar” refers to Covar Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a contract research organization engaged by the Company.

 

  “CROs” refers to contract research organizations.

 

  “EMA” refers to the European Medicines Agency.

 

  “EMEA” refers to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

 

  “EPO” refers to the European Patent Organization or the European Patent Office operated by it.

  

  “European Patent” refers to patents issuable by the EPO.

 

  “Exchange Act” refers to the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

 

  “FDA” refers to U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

 

  “FDCA” refers to the U.S. Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

 

  “HKD” refers to Hong Kong Dollars.

 

  “Hong Kong” or “H.K.” refers to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

 

  “Hong Kong Doctors” refers to the doctors in Hong Kong under the employment of AML Clinic.

 

iii

 

 

  “IND” refers to Investigational New Drugs.

 

  “IP” refers to intellectual property.

 

  “IPO” means the initial public offering by the Company of 761,419 Class A Ordinary Shares consummated on December 17, 2018.

 

  “Jurchen” refers to Jurchen Investment Corporation, a company wholly-owned by our CEO, Ian Huen, and a holding company of Aptorum Group.

 

  “Lead Projects” refers to three of the Company’s therapeutic projects ALS-1, ALS-4 and NLS-1.

 

  “Major Patent Jurisdictions” refers to the United States, member states of the European Patent Organization and the People’s Republic of China.

 

  “Nativus” refers to Nativus Life Sciences Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “NMPA” refers to China’s National Medical Products Administration and its predecessor, the China Food and Drug Administration.

 

  “NDA” refers to a New Drug Application issued by the FDA.

 

  “Offering” refers to the resale of the Ordinary Shares offered by the Selling Shareholders included herein.  

 

  “PRC” and “China” refer to the People’s Republic of China.

 

  “Restructure” refers to the Company’s change from an investment fund with management shares and non-voting participating redeemable preference shares to a holding company with operating subsidiaries, effective as of March 1, 2017.

 

  “R&D” refers to research and development.

 

  “R&D Center” refers to an in-house pharmaceutical development center operated by APD.

 

  “Securities Exchange Commission,” “SEC,” “Commission” or similar terms refer to the Securities Exchange Commission.

 

  “Sarbanes-Oxley Act” refers to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

  “Securities Act” refers to the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

  “Selling Shareholders” refers to our pre-existing shareholders who are selling their Class A Ordinary Shares pursuant to the F-1.

 

  “Series A Notes” refers to Series A convertible notes, at a purchase price of $10,000 per note, sold in the Series A Note Offering.

 

  “Series A Note Investors” refers to the investors who purchased Series A Notes.

 

  “Series A Note Offering” refers to the private offering of Series A Notes, pursuant to Regulation S or Regulation D, as promulgated under the Securities Act that closed on May 15, 2018.

 

  “Signate” refers to Signate Life Sciences Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “UK” refers to the United Kingdom.

 

  “Underwriter Warrants” refers to warrants issued to the underwriters of the IPO which have now been fully exercised on a cashless basis.

 

  “United States,” “U.S.” and “US” refer to the United States of America.

 

  “Videns” refers to Videns Incorporation Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptorum Group.

 

  “$,” “U.S. $,” “U.S. dollars,” “dollars,” “US$” and “USD” refer to the United States dollars.

   

iv

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

 

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before investing in our Class A Ordinary Shares, you should carefully read the entire prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. You should also consider, among other things, the matters described under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” in each case appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. Unless otherwise stated, all references to “us,” “our,” “Aptorum,” “we,” the “Company,” the “group” and similar designations refer to Aptorum Group Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability,

 

Overview

 

We are a pharmaceutical company currently in the preclinical stage, dedicated to developing and commercializing a broad range of therapeutic and diagnostic technologies to tackle unmet medical needs. We have obtained exclusive licenses for our technologies. In addition, we are also developing certain proprietary technologies as product candidates. We are pursuing therapeutic and diagnostic projects (including projects seeking to use extracts or derivatives from natural substances to treat diseases) in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas. We also have projects focused on surgical robotics. (See “Our Business – Lead Projects and Other Projects under Development – Lead Projects”) Also, we opened a medical clinic, AML Clinic, in June 2018.

 

Although none of our drug or device candidates has yet been approved for testing in humans, our goal is to develop a broad range of early stage novel therapeutics and diagnostics across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas. Key components of our strategy for achieving this goal include: (for details of our strategy, See “Our Business – Our Strategy”)

 

  Developing therapeutic and diagnostic innovations across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas;
     
  Selectively expanding our portfolio with potential products that may be able to attain orphan drug designation and/or satisfy current unmet medical needs;
     
  Collaborating with leading academic institutions and CROs;
     
  Expanding our in-house pharmaceutical development center;
     
  Leveraging our management’s expertise, experience and commercial networks;
     
  Strategically developing opportunities in Hong Kong to promote access to the PRC market; and
     
  Obtaining and leveraging government grants to fund project development.

 

We have devoted a portion of the proceeds from our IPO, to three therapeutic projects (“Lead Projects”). The drug candidates being advanced as the Lead Projects are ALS-1, ALS-4 and NLS-1, described in further detail below. If the results of the remaining preclinical studies of these drug candidates are positive, we expect to be able to submit by 2020 or 2021 an Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”) for at least one of these candidates to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) or an equivalent application to the regulatory authorities in one or more other jurisdictions such as the China’s National Medical Products Administration (“NMPA”) and/or the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”). Acceptance of these applications by the relevant regulatory authority would enable the Company to begin testing that drug candidate in humans in that jurisdiction. Our ability to obtain any approval of such applications is entirely dependent upon the results of our preclinical studies, none of which have yet been completed.

 

1

 

 

Our current business consists of “therapeutics” and “non-therapeutics” segments. However, our focus is on the therapeutics segments. Because of the risks, costs and extended development time required for successful drug development, we have determined to pursue projects within our non-therapeutics segments, such as AML Clinic, to provide some interim revenue and medical robots that may be brought to market and generate revenue more quickly.

 

Therapeutics Segment. In our therapeutics segment (“Aptorum Therapeutics Group”), we are currently seeking to develop various drug molecules (including projects seeking to use extracts or derivatives from natural substances to treat diseases) and certain technologies for the treatment (“therapeutics”) and diagnosis (“diagnostics”) of human disease conditions in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas. In addition, we are seeking to identify additional prospects which may qualify for potential orphan drug designation (e.g., rare types of cancer) or which address other current unmet medical needs. Aptorum Therapeutics Group is operated through Aptorum’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aptorum Therapeutics Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability, whose principal place of business is in Hong Kong and its indirect subsidiary companies (who we sometimes refer to herein as project companies), whose principal places of business are also in Hong Kong.

 

Non-Therapeutics Segment. The non-therapeutics segment (“Aptorum Non-Therapeutics Group”) encompasses two businesses: (i) the development of surgical robotics and medical devices and (ii) AML Clinic. The development of surgical robotics and medical devices business is operated through Signate Life Sciences Limited, a subsidiary of Aptorum Therapeutics Limited. The outpatient clinic is operated through our subsidiary, Aptorum Medical Limited. Effective as of March 2018, we leased office space in Central, Hong Kong as the home to AML Clinic. AML Clinic commenced operations under the name of Talem Medical in June 2018. The estimated general administrative expenses and other operating expenses of the AML Clinic is expected to be no more than USD120,000 per month. The clinic is expected to reach operating profit in 18 months from the clinic reaching its full operating capacity upon (i) the successful recruitment of a minimum of six full time physicians (AML Clinic currently has one full time physician and six part time physicians) and (ii) establishing steady patients flow via brand development. (See “Our Business – Lead Projects and Other Projects under Development – Other Projects under Development – Aptorum Medical Limited - AML Clinic”)

 

The Company has already obtained opportunities resulting in our existing licensing agreements from various contractual relationships that we have entered into, including service/consulting agreements with some of the world’s leading specialists and clinicians in our areas of interest, with academic institutions and organizations, and with CROs. We anticipate that these relationships will generate additional licensing opportunities in the future. In addition, we have established and are continuing to expand our in-house research facilities (collectively, the “R&D Center”) to develop some of our drug and device candidates internally and to collaborate with third-party researchers.

 

Prior to March 2017, the Company had pursued passive healthcare related investments in early stage companies primarily in the United States. However, we have since ceased pursuing further passive investment operations and intend to exit all such portfolio investments over an appropriate timeframe to focus resources on our current business.

 

Aptorum’s Lead Projects

 

Based on our evaluation of preliminary data and our consideration of a number of factors including substantial unmet needs, benefits over existing therapies, potential market size, competition in market, the Company have decided to prioritize our resources in developing our three Lead Projects, namely, ALS-1, ALS-4 and NLS-1, among all our projects under development. Overall, our rationale for selecting Lead Projects was not based on any mechanical formula or rigid selection criteria, but instead focused on a combination of the factors and individual attributes of the Lead Projects themselves.

 

2

 

 

 

For the definition of different stages of development, such as Target Identification & Selection, Lead Discovery, Lead Optimization, etc., please refer to page 72.

 

ALS-1: Small molecule intended for the treatment of viral infections caused by Influenza virus A

 

Professor Richard Kao (Inventor of ALS-1, Founder and Principal Investigator of Acticule) was the first to identify nucleoprotein (“NP”) as an effective drug target (Nature Biotechnology. 28:600-605) for the treatment of viral infections caused by Influenza virus A. It is hypothesized that Influenza A NP is an essential protein for the proliferation of the influenza virus. ALS-1 is a novel small drug molecule which targets viral NP and triggers the aggregation of NP, which prevents the aggregated NP from entering the nucleus. ALS-1 is designed to target a broad range of NP variants. We are exploring ALS-1 as a potential treatment for viral infections caused by Influenza virus A. It is currently at the Lead Optimization Stage to optimize its drug-like properties.

 

Market size of target indication

 

Influenza can cause severe illness or death especially in people with high risk. Globally, the annual epidemics are estimated to result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe influenza infections, causing about 290,000 to 650,000 deaths each year1. The market for influenza drugs is huge, the total influenza therapeutics market is expected to swell to US$1.2 billion globally by 2025, from US$600 million in 20162. Specifically, ALS-1 is a drug that targets Influenza virus A, a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by infection with virus. Around 50%-80% of influenza infections are type A3.

 

Significant unmet medical needs and benefits over existing treatments

 

The emergence of antiviral drug resistance in influenza virus is a major concern for treatment of same. ALS-1 targets a broad range of NP variants. As NP is essential to the replication of influenza virus, by disrupting NP, ALS-1 aims to suppress viral replication. Compared with the currently marketed antiviral drugs for which the viruses have acquired extensive resistance, ALS-1 acts on a completely different therapeutic target.

 

 

1 World Health Organization, “Influenza (Seasonal)”, World Health Organization, 31 January 2018, http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/influenza-(seasonal)

 

2 Bloomberg News, “New Drugs Are Coming to Fight Nasty Flu”, February 9, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-08/flu-relief-is-coming-as-successors-to-aging-tamiflu-near-market

 

3 World Health Organization, “Global circulation of influenza viruses”, Influenza Laboratory Surveillance Information generated on 28/08/2018 21:28:47 UTC by the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), http://apps.who.int/flumart/Default?ReportNo=6

 

ALS-4: Small molecule for the treatment of bacterial infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (“MRSA”)

 

ALS-4 is a small drug molecule which appears to target the products produced by bacterial genes that facilitate the successful colonization and survival of the bacterium in the body or that cause damage to the body’s systems. These products of bacterial genes are referred to as “virulence expression”. Targeting bacterial virulence is an alternative approach to antimicrobial therapy that offers promising opportunities to overcome the emergence and increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

 

3

 

 

ALS-4 is directed to a novel drug target, an enzyme essential for Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA) survival in vivo. We believe that the product of this enzyme promotes Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA) survival by shielding the bacteria from the attack by the immune system. ALS-4 may have particular value if it can be shown to be an effective therapy in situations where a Staphylococcus aureus infection is resistant to available antibiotics (i.e., where the pathogen is MRSA).

 

ALS-4 is at present under active development for the treatment of bacterial infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus including MRSA. It is currently at the IND enabling stage to optimize its drug-like properties. The development of ALS-4 candidate has been progressing well and the first series of GLP toxicology studies have been completed through an appointed North American based contract research organization (CRO). In particular, ALS-4 candidate did not show any mutagenicity in the in vitro Ames tests. ALS-4 development is on our proposed track and we target submitting the related IND in the first half year of 2020 and a hybrid Phase 1 clinical study is currently planned in North America with both healthy volunteers and patients to obtain preliminary efficacy readout.

 

Market size of target indication

 

Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal bacterium, meaning that it infects about 30% of the human population without causing symptoms or harm. A study shows that as many as 53 million people worldwide carry MRSA, which is one of the most commonly identified antibiotic-resistant pathogens.4 In its symptomatic form, it is one of the five most common causes of hospital-acquired infections and is often the cause of wound infections following surgery. For example, in the U.S. alone, approximately 126,000 hospitalizations are due to MRSA yearly, where severe MRSA infections occur in approximately 94,000 people each year and are associated with approximately 19,000 deaths5. Global MRSA drugs market generated US$2.97 billion of revenue in globally 2016, and the global market for MRSA drugs is estimated to reach US$3.91 billion by the end of 20256.

 

Significant unmet medical needs and benefits over existing treatments

 

Staphylococcus aureus commonly causes skin infections including abscesses, respiratory infections such as sinusitis, and food poisoning. Existing treatments for Staphylococcus aureus consist of antibiotics administered to kill the bacteria. However, MRSA is a type of Staphylococcus aureus that causes particularly difficult-to-treat infections in humans. Nicknamed to be a “Super Bug,” MRSA is a major hospital acquired pathogen that causes severe morbidity and mortality worldwide. MRSA has developed resistance to many common antibiotics that once destroyed it. It is now resistant to methicillin, amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin, and many other common antibiotics and may overtime develops resistance to other new antibiotics.

 

ALS-4 does not work as a typical antibiotic but instead targets virulence expression without direct bactericidal properties to kill the bacteria. It presents an alternative treatment to antimicrobial therapy and offers promising opportunities to overcome the emergence and increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Specifically, ALS-4 appears to inhibit the production of staphyloxanthin (i.e., a virulence factor that would escape from the host immune system) without killing the bacteria, and thereby enabling the immune system to clear MRSA, which may provide a novel treatment for Staphylococcus aureus infections and MRSA.

 

 

4 Roche, “Roche’s Annual Report 2017”, https://www.roche.com/dam/jcr:78519d71-10af-4e02-b490-7b4648a5edb8/en/ar17e.pdf

 

5 Charles Patrick Davis, Melissa Conrad Stöppler, “MRSA”, November 9, 2017, eMedicineHealth, https://www.emedicinehealth.com/mrsa_infection/article_em.htm#how_common_is_mrsa

 

6 Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE), “Global Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Drugs Market Analysis and Forecast Predictions”, HEALTHCAREDIVE, https://www.healthcaredive.com/press-release/20180405-global-methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus-mrsa-drugs-market-anal/

 

4

 

 

NLS-1: A Derivative of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (“Pro-EGCG”) for the treatment of Endometriosis

 

NLS-1, a drug molecule derived from natural products (green tea), is currently under development for the treatment of endometriosis, a disease in which the tissue that normally lines the uterus (endometrium) grows outside the uterus. It can grow on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, bowels, or bladder. Rarely, it grows in other parts of the body. Many studies have assessed the applications of EGCG, a naturally occurring molecule extracted from green tea, for the treatment of endometriosis in vitro and in animal models. (Hum Reprod. 2014 29(8):1677; Hum Reprod. 2013 28(1):178; Fertil Steril. 2011 96(4):1021). For example, in a mouse model, Ricci et al (Hum Reprod. 2013 28(1):178) demonstrated that EGCG brought a statistically significant reduction in the mean number and the volume of established lesions compared with the control group without treatment. The treatment diminished cell proliferation in a statistically significant manner, reduced vascular density and increased apoptosis within the lesions. EGCG induced reduction in human EEC proliferation and increased apoptosis in primary cultures. Matsuzaki and Darcha (Hum Reprod. 2014 29(8):1677) also showed that EGCG prevented the progression of fibrosis in endometriosis in an animal model.

 

However, the attractiveness of EGCG as a drug candidate has been diminished by its chemical and metabolic instability (Hum Reprod. 2014 29(8):1677; Angiogenesis. 2013 16(1):59). The Company’s drug candidate, NLS-1 is supposed to overcome these challenges. NLS-1 is an EGCG derivative synthesized by acetylation of the reactive hydroxyl groups, which appears to prevent generation of reactive phenoxide anions and radicals for dimerization and metabolism, thereby overcoming the chemical and metabolic instability of EGCG.

 

NLS-1 is under active development for the treatment of endometriosis. It is currently under lead optimization to optimize its drug-like properties.

 

Market size of target indication

 

Endometriosis affects an estimated approximately 176 million women in the world (approximately 1 in 10 women during their reproductive years)7. It is estimated that 30-40% of women with endometriosis are subject to risk of infertility and may develop complications during pregnancy8,9. The market for the treatment of endometriosis across the seven major countries (U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and Japan), is approximately $1.72 billion in 2015. It is expected to grow to just over $2 billion across the seven major countries by 202510.

 

Significant unmet medical needs and benefits over existing treatments

 

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue that normally lines inside of uterus grows outside of it, and would often cause pelvic pain and infertility to the patient. At present, endometriosis is usually treated with hormonal therapy (including Gonadotropin-releasing hormone), which is a non-invasive therapy to slow growth of endometrial tissue growth and prevent new implants of endometrial tissue. However, hormone-based therapy often causes adverse side effect, such as menopausal symptoms, infertility, bone density loss, higher risk of osteoporosis, mood swings, hair loss, etc., and is not a permanent cure as the symptoms may return after stopping of treatment. Surgery can be effective to remove endometriosis lesions and scar tissue, but success rates are dependent on the extent of disease and are invasive.

 

In view of the above, a non-invasive drug without the current side effects of hormone-based therapy are highly desirable to the market, and NLS-1 could address this unmet need. NLS-1 is a drug molecule derived from natural extracts and offers a potential non-hormonal treatment of endometriosis. As demonstrated in animal models, NLS-1 exhibits the following attributes in these studies: (i) statistically significant inhibition against development, growth and angiogenesis of uterine tissue, and (ii) statistically significant reduction of lesions compared with EGCG and other conventional hormone-based therapy.

 

 

7 ENDOMETRIOSIS.org, “Facts about endometriosis”, http://endometriosis.org/resources/articles/facts-about-endometriosis/

 

8 Washington University Physicians, “Endometriosis”, https://fertility.wustl.edu/getting-started-infertility/infertility-factors/endometriosis/

 

9 J. Fisher M. Kirkman, “Endometriosis and fertility: women’s accounts of healthcare”, Human Reproduction, Volume 31, Issue 3, March 1, 2016, Pages 554–562, January 11, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dev337

 

10 GlobalData, “Endometriosis Market Expected to Surpass $2 Billion by 2025”, November 11, 2016, R&D, https://www.rdmag.com/news/2016/11/endometriosis-market-expected-surpass-2-billion-2025

 

5

 

 

Our Structure

 

The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure as of the date of this prospectus. For more details regarding our corporate history and current structure, please refer to “Corporate History and Background” appearing on page 88 of this prospectus.

 

 

  

Controlled Company

 

As long as our officers and directors, either individually or in the aggregate, own at least 50% of the voting power of our Company, we will be a “controlled company” as defined under NASDAQ Marketplace Rules. However, even if we qualify as a “controlled company,” we do not intend to rely on the controlled company exemptions provided under NASDAQ Marketplace Rules. To that extent, we have set up the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, all of which consist solely of independent directors and adopted a charter for each committee

 

6

 

 

For so long as we are a controlled company under that definition, we are permitted however to elect to rely, and may rely, on certain exemptions from corporate governance rules, including:

 

  an exemption from the rule that a majority of our board of directors must be independent directors;
     
  an exemption from the rule that the compensation of our chief executive officer must be determined or recommended solely by independent directors; and
     
  an exemption from the rule that our director nominees must be selected or recommended solely by independent directors.

 

As a result, you will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to these corporate governance requirements.

 

Although we do not intend to rely on the “controlled company” exemption under the Nasdaq listing rules, we could elect to rely on this exemption in the future. If we elect to rely on the “controlled company” exemption, a majority of the members of our board of directors might not be independent directors and our nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees might not consist entirely of independent directors. (See “Risk Factors – Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure – As a “controlled company” under the rules of the NASDAQ Global Market, we may choose to exempt our company from certain corporate governance requirements that could have an adverse effect on our public shareholders.”)

 

Risks Associated with Our Business

 

Investing in our Class A Ordinary Shares involves risks. You should carefully consider the risks described in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 13 of this prospectus before making a decision to purchase Class A Ordinary Shares. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares would likely decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

 

Recent Events

 

Master Collaboration Agreement

 

On April 24, 2019, we signed an agreement with Aeneas, and A*ccelerate Technologies Pte. Ltd, the enterprise office of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (“A*STAR”), to co-create local deep tech startups. This agreement, which is part of A*ccelerate’s venture co-creation (“VCC”) initiative, commits all parties to the co-creation of local startups in the healthcare and life science sector (the “Master Collaboration Agreement”).

 

The goal is to create a total of up to 20 deep tech ventures in Singapore will be created by this partnership over the next 5 years. These enterprises will leverage technologies co-developed by both A*STAR’s research institutes and Aptorum Group, as well as technologies identified and collaborated on worldwide by both institutions. As part of this agreement, all parties will also actively seek expertise, and nurture entrepreneurs to accelerate the growth of its ventures through Singapore and its worldwide partnerships.

 

Under the Master Collaboration Agreement, the parties will set up a panel consisting of 1 nominee from A*STAR and 1 nominee from the Company, Aeneas, or Aptorum Innovations Holding Pte Limited (“Aptorum Innovations”) (which will act as the holding company for all subsequent venture creation or joint commercialization center activities including the development of the startups), to review and approve the business plan of all suitable startups. Each startup shall have a valuation mutually agreed upon between all parties, and shall have A*STAR and Aptorum Innovations as founding shareholders.

 

A*STAR shall contribute a total of up to $30,000,000 to any suitable startups, at their discretion. The Company will set up a healthcare and life science strategic investment fund (“Fund”) to be managed by Aeneas Capital Limited. Through the Fund, it will contribute a total of up to $30,000,000 to any suitable startups at their discretion with a focus on (i) securing pilot customers; (ii) incorporation of the startups as companies and financial commitments of such customers; (iii) capital raising and capital market plans; (iv) recruiting and building of the startup teams; (v) equipment and infrastructure; and (vi) licensing of IP to the startups under the separate technology license agreements.

 

7

 

 

The Master Collaboration Agreement shall continue for a period of 5 years, unless otherwise terminated or extended by the parties.

 

Bond Repurchase

 

On April 24, 2019, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aptorum Investment Holding Limited, repurchased convertible bonds (the “Bonds”) from Peace Range Limited (“Peace Range”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Adamas Ping An Opportunities Fund LP. The Bonds were originally issued on April 25, 2018, in the principal amount of $15,000,000 (minus a structuring fee equal to 2% of the principal amount of the Bonds). As part of the original subscription for the Bonds, the bondholder was granted certain rights to subscribe for additional ordinary shares of the Company, in an amount up to the principal amount of the Bonds at a price of US$12.17 (subject to adjustment) on or before December 17, 2019 (“Subscription Right”). The total consideration of the repurchase of Bonds and the Subscription Rights was US$13.6 million in cash, excluding accrued interest. In connection with the repurchase, various other agreements initially entered into when the Bond was originally issued to Peace Range were terminated.

 

Establishment of Smart-ACTTM Platform

 

On April 24, 2019, the Company announced the establishment of Smart Pharma (“Smart Pharma”), which operates novel computational repurposed drug discovery, modeling and validation platform, referred to as the Smart-ACTTM platform. Smart Pharma is controlled by SMTPH Limited, an International Business Company incorporated in Seychelles and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptorum Therapeutics Limited (“SMTPH”).

 

Smart-ACTTM stands for “Accelerated Commercialization of Therapeutics” and encompasses state-of-the-art technology in systematic screening of existing approved drug molecules against selected therapeutic targets. Specifically, the Smart-ACTTM platform comprises of a network of modules and processes that simulate the effectiveness of drug molecules against diseases for outcome prediction and selection. The Smart-ACTTM platform initially focuses on screening drug molecules for orphan diseases or for fulfillment of unmet medical needs.

 

To date, the Smart-ACTTM platform has completed computational screening based on structural affinity and scoring analysis of around 1,600 approved drugs against 3 therapeutic target proteins related to poor prognosis of neuroblastoma (i.e., a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue and most frequently in the adrenal glands as well as spine, chest, abdomen or neck). Among the 1,600 drugs that have been screened, around 40 have been identified for further evaluation under wet lab validation.

 

We are currently evaluating the shortlisted compounds via wet lab validation to confirm their efficacy in cell-based and animal models for treating neuroblastoma. The validation is being conducted in vitro and in vivo validation in collaboration with Aptorum Group Limited to assess and validate the compounds’ usage for the new indication.

 

Smart Pharma’s current funding needs include funding for validation and assessment of candidates, operation and improvement of the platform, legal/professional services and exchanges-listing. In an effort to raise funds for the development and operation of the Smart-ACTTM platform, Smart Pharma is conducting a Smart Pharma Token (“SMPT token”) offering (See “Prospectus Summary – Recent Events – Smart Pharma Token”).

 

Until Smart Pharma becomes self-sustaining, the proceeds from the token offering, if any, will most likely be insufficient to fully fund Smart Pharma’s current and future operations. In such case, it could have a material adverse effect on SMTPH’s ability to fund its objectives and carry out its related business plans, and its ability to develop the Smart-ACTTM platform may be limited.

 

Therefore, Smart Pharma will likely require funding from Aptorum Group to subsidize and support its operations. Nonetheless, if Smart Pharma is unable to obtain adequate funding from other sources, or if the internal funding from Aptorum Group is insufficient, Smart Pharma might be required to decrease or eliminate expenditure on the Smart-ACTTM platform altogether.

 

Smart Pharma Token

 

On April 24, 2019, the SMPT token was announced to be launched. The SMPT tokens are issued by Smart Pharmaceutical Limited Partnership (“SPLP”), a limited partnership registered in Seychelles, which is managed by SMTPH as its sole general partner. SMTPH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptorum Therapeutics Limited. Aptorum Group Limited is not involved with the offer and sale of the SMPT token in any way, other than the potential indirect benefit it will receive as a result of its subsidiary, Smart Pharma, from drug candidates developed by the Smart-ACTTM platform.

 

The SMPT token is not for sale in the U.S. and is not offered, available for sale and/or otherwise transferrable to any U.S. persons; Aptorum Group Limited is not involved with the sale of the SMPT token, other than the indirect benefit it will receive as a result of its subsidiary, Smart Pharma receiving profit from the sale of such tokens.

 

8

 

 

The SMPT token is an ERC-1404 security compliant token with ERC-20 and ERC233 compliance on the Ethereum blockchain, which tokenizes rights to a portion of sales-based royalties (as described below), non-royalty sublicensing income (as described below), as well as additional cash flow (as described below) (if applicable) (collectively referred to as “Commercialization Income”), derived from the subsequent commercialization of intellectual property rights of drug candidates discovered under our Smart-ACTTM platform. SMPT token is backed by SPLP’s assets, including intellectual property rights of drug candidates created through the Smart-ACTTM platform and Commercialization Income. SPLP acts as the intellectual property holding company of Smart Pharma, and holds all title, rights and ownership interest of the intellectual property rights developed by Smart-ACTTM (“Project IP”).

 

Specifically, Smart Pharma has the right to commercialize the drug candidates discovered under the Smart-ACTTM platform (e.g. through direct commercialization by affiliates, sublicensing to third parties, collaboration with third parties, and assignment to others) and distribute a portion of the Commercialization Income to the token holders, as set forth below.

 

First, for drug candidates that are directly commercialized by Smart Pharma or its affiliates (i.e., the licensee), Smart Pharma will set aside a 3% (minimum) to 5% (maximum) of the net sales of the products (on a product-by-product basis and as determined by Smart Pharma) to SPLP for distribution to the SMPT token holders. This type of consideration is hereby known as “sales-based royalties”.

 

Second, for drug candidates commercialized by third parties, instead of paying the sales-based royalties discussed above, Smart Pharma (i.e., the licensee) will receive from its sublicensee on account of the grant of the sublicense (on a product-by-product basis, such consideration may include royalties, upfront fees and milestone payments). Smart Pharma will set aside 10% of the consideration it receives to SPLP for distribution to the SMPT token holders. This type of consideration is hereby known as “sublicensing income”.

 

Therefore, depending on how a product is commercialized, Smart Pharma will set aside either sales-based royalties or sublicensing income to SPLP for distribution to the SMPT token holders. The above percentages for sales-based royalties or sublicensing income are subject to adjustment upon further notice to SMPT token holders.

 

Third, at its discretion, in addition to sales-based royalties and sublicensing income, Smart Pharma may occasionally set aside other additional amounts to SPLP for distribution to SMPT token holders (such as rebates, price protection, performance bonus, other discount and incentives), as applicable on a product-by-product basis. This type of consideration is hereby known as “additional cash flow”.

 

Accordingly, the amount of distributions payable to token holders is not tied to any funding we may provide to Smart Pharma and any such funding will not impact the amount of distributions so payable. The amount of distributions payable is also not correlated with the number of tokens sold or the amount of proceeds, if any raised through the token offering.

 

Once any of the above aforementioned distribution is accrued and set aside to SPLP by Smart Pharma, SPLP is not required to immediately distribute any such distribution to the SMPT token holders, but may choose to make a distribution at any time it deems it best to do so.  

 

Currently, as the drug efficacy validation process has just begun, SPLP does not expect to distribute any sales-based royalties, sublicensing income or additional cash flow generated by drug candidates developed by the Smart-ACTTM platform at any time for the near future, although it will be accruing same.

 

In the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of SPLP, the SMPT token holders will be entitled to certain liquidation rights. Specifically, SPLP will, after payment of its debts and obligations, distribute any “relevant assets” 1 of SPLP to the SMPT token holders, with equal priority pro rata among the SMPT token holders, ratably and in proportion to the full amount of the relevant assets. Given that SMPT token holders are not shareholders of SPLP, they are only entitled to collect the relevant assets but not other assets held by SPLP. Therefore, in the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of SPLP, the total distribution issuable to the token holders will not exceed the “relevant assets”.

 

There is no assurance that any or all of the SMPT tokens will be sold and SPLP can elect in their discretion not to issue any SMPT tokens for any reason.

 

The SMPT tokens are not offered for sale to citizens, nationals, residents (tax or otherwise), green card holders and/or companies domiciled in the following jurisdictions: (a) the United States of America; (b) Singapore; (c) Hong Kong (except for Professional Investors); (d) the People’s Republic of China; (e) Samoa, (f) Seychelles, (g) sanctioned countries under the OFAC and (h) any other jurisdiction which prohibits the possession, dissemination or communication of tokens. The SMPT token is not registered under the U.S. Securities Act and we have no intention of doing so. The SMPT tokens may not be offered or resold in the U.S. or to U.S. persons unless registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption therefrom. The SMPT tokens may not be transferred to a U.S person, as such term is defined in Regulation S of the Securities Act, except and unless in accordance with the provisions of U.S. securities laws, particularly they must either be registered or comply with an exemption from registration. Further, hedging transactions with regard to the SMPT tokens may not be conducted unless in compliance with the Securities Act.

 

 

 

1 The relevant assets of SPLP shall be limited to all accrued sales-based royalties, sublicensing income and/or additional cash flow generated by the drug candidates developed by the Smart-ACTTM platform, set aside by Smart Pharma and not yet distributed to the SMPT token holders. The relevant assets are secured by way of a floating charge against the Project IP (See “Risk Factors – Risks Related to the SMPT tokens - SMPT Tokenholders’ security interest in the intellectual property rights may affect our shareholder’s interest in the Company”).

 

9

 

 

Currently, Smart Pharma has no immediate plan to register the SMPT tokens under the Securities Act or to offer the SMPT tokens in the U.S.

 

Since July 2019, the SMPT tokens have been listed for trading on two cryptocurrency exchange platforms, IDAX and LATOKEN.

 

This document shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy SMPT tokens.

 

Establishment novel therapeutic platform

 

On May 6, 2019, Claves Life Sciences Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aptorum Group Limited announced the establishment of a novel therapeutic platform intended for the treatment of various diseases via modulation of the chemical signaling relating to gut microbiota.

 

Hong Kong Micro Cap Exchange

 

Effective Tuesday, May 28, 2019, the Company shall be added to the Morgan Stanley Capital International MSCI (“MSCI”) Hong Kong Micro Cap Index. MSCI Hong Kong Micro Cap Index is an international equity benchmark recognized by institutional investors. Inclusion of constituent companies is based on excellence of performance and potential of development. We believe that our inclusion in the MSCI Hong Kong Micro Cap Index will help expand Aptorum’s investor base and enhance its corporate image and market presence.

 

Our Securities

 

Our authorized share capital is divided into Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. Holders of Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares have the same rights except for voting and conversion rights. In respect of matters requiring a shareholder vote, each Class A Ordinary Share will be entitled to one vote and each Class B Ordinary Share will be entitled to ten votes. Due to the Class B Ordinary Share’s voting power, the holders of Class B Ordinary shares currently and may continue to have a concentration of voting power, which limits the holders of Class A Ordinary Shares’ ability to influence corporate matters. (See “Risk Factors Risks Related to our securities – Our Class B Ordinary Shares have stronger voting power than our Class A Ordinary Shares and certain existing shareholders have substantial influence over our Company and their interests may not be aligned with the interests of our other shareholders.”) Each Class B Ordinary Share is convertible into one Class A Ordinary Share at any time by the holder thereof. Class A Ordinary Shares are not convertible into Class B Ordinary Shares under any circumstances. (See “Description of Share Capital”)

 

Corporate Information

 

Our principal executive office is located on the 17th Floor, Guangdong Investment Tower, 148 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong. Our telephone number is +852 2117 6611.

 

Our website is www.aptorumgroup.com. The information on our website is not part of this prospectus.

 

Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company

 

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. As an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of specified reduced disclosure and other requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include:

 

  not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”);

 

10

 

 

  the ability to include only two years of audited financial statements in addition to any required interim financial statements and correspondingly reduced disclosure in management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations in the registration statement for this Offering of which this prospectus forms a part; and

 

  to the extent that we no longer qualify as a foreign private issuer, (1) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements; and (2) exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation, including golden parachute compensation.

 

We may take advantage of these exemptions for up to five years or such earlier time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company upon the earliest to occur of (1) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue; (2) the date we qualify as a “large accelerated filer” with at least $700 million of equity securities held by non-affiliates; (3) the issuance, in any three-year period, by our Company of more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; and (4) the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of the IPO. We may choose to take advantage of some but not all of these exemptions. For example, Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can use the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. We are choosing to elect to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards under Section 102(b)(2) of the JOBS Act, which allows us to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold equity securities.

 

Implications of Being a Foreign Private Issuer

 

We are also considered a “foreign private issuer.” In our capacity as a foreign private issuer, we are exempted from certain rules under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), that impose certain disclosure obligations and procedural requirements for proxy solicitations under Section 14 of the Exchange Act. In addition, our officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules under the Exchange Act with respect to their purchases and sales of our Class A Ordinary Shares. Moreover, we are not required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), as frequently or as promptly as U.S. companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. In addition, we are not required to comply with Regulation FD, which restricts the selective disclosure of material information.

 

We may take advantage of these exemptions until such time as we are no longer a foreign private issuer. We would cease to be a foreign private issuer at such time when more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities are held by U.S. residents and any of the following three circumstances applies: (1) the majority of our executive officers or directors are U.S. citizens or residents; (2) more than 50% of our assets are located in the United States; or (3) our business is administered principally in the United States.

 

We have taken advantage of certain reduced reporting and other requirements in this prospectus. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold equity securities.

 

Notes on Prospectus Presentation

 

Numerical figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, numerical figures shown as totals in various tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them. Certain market data and other statistical information contained in this prospectus is based on information from independent industry organizations, publications, surveys and forecasts. Some market data and statistical information contained in this prospectus are also based on management’s estimates and calculations, which are derived from our review and interpretation of the independent sources listed above, our internal research and our knowledge of pharmaceutical industry. While we believe such information is reliable, we have not independently verified any third-party information and our internal data has not been verified by any independent source.

 

11

 

 

Accordingly, actual events or circumstances may differ materially from events and circumstances that are assumed in this information and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such data.

  

Offering Summary

 

Issuer:   Aptorum Group Limited
     
Securities being Offered by Selling Shareholders   Up to 27,765,821 Class A Ordinary Shares. The Selling Shareholders may sell their Class A Ordinary Shares at prevailing market prices or privately negotiated prices. We will not receive any proceeds from the sales by the Selling Shareholders.
     
Symbol   Our Class A Ordinary Shares trade on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol APM.
     
Transfer Agent   Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

  

Risk Factors   Investing in our Class A Ordinary Shares involves a high degree of risk and purchasers of our Class A Ordinary Shares may lose part or all of their investment. See “Risk Factors” for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in our Class A Ordinary Shares beginning on Page 13.
     
Use of Proceeds   We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the Class A Ordinary Shares offered hereby.

 

12

 

 

RISK FACTORS

 

Investing in our Class A Ordinary Shares involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risks and all other information contained in this prospectus, including our financial statements, consolidated financial statements and the related notes, before making an investment decision regarding our securities. The risks and uncertainties described below are those significant risk factors, currently known and specific to us that we believe are relevant to an investment in our securities. If any of these risks materialize, our business, financial condition or results of operations could suffer, the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment.

 

Risks Related to the Preclinical and Clinical Development of Our Drug Candidates

 

We currently do not generate revenue from product sales and may never become profitable; unless we can raise more capital through additional financings, of which there can be no guarantee, our principal source of revenue will be from AML Clinic, which may not be substantial.

 

Our ability to generate revenue and become profitable depends upon our ability to successfully complete the development of, and obtain the necessary regulatory approvals for, the drug candidates in our Lead Projects and any future drug candidates we may develop, as we do not currently have any drugs that are available for commercial sale. We expect to continue to incur losses before commercialization of our drug candidates and any future drug candidates. None of our drug candidates has been approved for marketing in the U.S., Europe, the PRC or any other jurisdictions and may never receive such approval. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability is dependent on our ability to complete the development of our drug candidates and any future drug candidates we develop in our portfolio, obtain necessary regulatory approvals, and have our drugs products under development manufactured and successfully marketed, of which there can be no guarantee. Although AML Clinic commenced operations in June 2018 and we expect to receive some revenue from such operations, even at full capacity, AML Clinic may not bring enough revenue to support our operation and R&D. Thus, we may not be able to generate a profit until our drug candidates become profitable.

 

13

 

 

Even if we receive regulatory approval and marketing authorization for one or more of our drug candidates or one or more of any future drug candidates for commercial sale, a potential product may not generate revenue at all unless we are successful in:

 

  developing a sustainable and scalable manufacturing process for our drug candidates and any approved products, including establishing and maintaining commercially viable supply relationships with third parties;
     
  launching and commercializing drug candidates following regulatory approvals and marketing authorizations, either directly or with a collaborator or distributor;
     
  obtaining market acceptance of our drug candidates as viable treatment options;
     
  addressing any competing technological and market developments;
     
  negotiating and maintaining favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing or other arrangement into which we may enter to commercialize drug candidates for which we have obtained required approvals and marketing authorizations; and
     
  maintaining, protecting and expanding our portfolio of IP rights, including patents, trade secrets and know-how.

 

In addition, our ability to achieve and maintain profitability depends on timing and the amount of expenses we will incur. Our expenses could increase materially if we are required by the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities to perform studies in addition to those that we currently have anticipated. Even if our drug candidates are approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with the commercial launch of these products.

 

Our ability to become and remain profitable depends on our ability to generate revenue. Even if we are able to generate revenues from AML Clinic or the sale or sublicense of any products we may develop or license, we may not become profitable on a sustainable basis or at all. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of our Company and adversely affect the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares, which could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business or continue our operations.

 

AML Clinic’s operations may be our principal source of revenue for the foreseeable future and most likely, without additional financing, such revenue will not be sufficient for us to carry out all of our plans.

 

As stated above, we have not generated any revenue and do not foresee generating any revenue from our drug candidates in the near future. Effective as of March 2018, we leased the property in Central, Hong Kong that is the home to AML Clinic, which commenced operations in June 2018.

 

Until our therapeutic candidates produce revenue, our principal source of revenue shall be from AML Clinic, but we cannot guarantee that it will provide the expected revenue, and even if expected revenue is realized, it will not be sufficient by itself to fund our other operations. We believe that available cash, together with the efforts from management plans and actions described elsewhere in this registration statement, should enable the Company to meet presently anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months after the date that the financial statements are issued and the Company has prepared the consolidated financial statements on a going concern basis. However, the Company continues to have ongoing obligations and it expects that it will require additional capital in order to execute its longer-term development plan. If the Company encounters unforeseen circumstances that place constraints on its capital resources, management will be required to take various measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, deferring some of its research and seeking to dispose of marketable securities. Management cannot provide any assurance that the Company will raise additional capital if needed.

 

14

 

 

We depend substantially on the success of the drug candidates being researched as our current Lead Projects, which are in the preclinical stage of development. The preclinical development, IND-enabling, and clinical trials of our drug candidates may not be successful. If we are unable to license or sublicense, sell or otherwise commercialize our drug candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

 

Our business and the ability to generate revenue related to product sales, if ever achieved, will depend on the successful development, regulatory approval and licensing or sublicensing or other commercialization of our drug candidates or any other drug candidates we may develop. We have invested a significant amount of financial resources in the development of our drug candidates and we expect to invest in other drug candidates. The success of our drug candidates and any other potential drug candidates will depend on many factors, including but not limited to:

 

  successful enrollment in, and completion of, studies in animals and clinical trials;
     
  other parties’ ability in conducting our clinical trials safely, efficiently and according to the agreed protocol;
     
  receipt of regulatory approvals from the FDA, NMPA, EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities for our drug candidates;
     
  our ability to establish commercial manufacturing capabilities by making arrangements with third-party manufacturers;
     
  reliance on other parties to conduct our clinical trials swiftly and effectively;
     
  launch of commercial sales of our drug candidates, if and when approved;
     
  obtaining and maintaining patents, trade secrets and other IP protection and regulatory exclusivity, as well as protecting our rights in our own IP;
     
  ensuring that we do not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate patents, trade secrets or other IP rights of other parties;
     
  obtaining acceptance of our drug candidates by doctors and patients;
     
  obtaining reimbursement from third-party payors for our drug candidates, if and when approved;
     
  our ability to compete with other drug candidates and drugs; and
     
  maintenance of an acceptable safety profile for our drug candidates following regulatory approval, if and when received.

 

We may not achieve regulatory approval and commercialization in a timely manner or at all. Significant delays in obtaining approval for and/or to successfully commercialize our drug candidates would materially harm our business and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenues and cash flows to continue our operations.

 

We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional drug candidates. Due to our limited resources and access to capital, we must continue to prioritize development of certain drug candidates; such decisions may prove to be wrong and may adversely affect our business.

 

Although we intend to explore other therapeutic opportunities in addition to the drug candidates that we are currently developing, we may fail to identify other drug candidates for a number of reasons. For example, our research methodology may be unsuccessful in identifying potential drug candidates or those we identify may be shown to have harmful side effects or other undesirable characteristics that make them unmarketable or unlikely to receive regulatory approval.

 

15

 

 

Research programs to pursue the development of our drug candidates for additional indications and to identify new drug candidates and disease targets require substantial technical, financial and human resources whether or not we ultimately are successful. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential indications and/or drug candidates, yet fail to yield results for clinical development for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:

 

  the research methodology used may not be successful in identifying potential indications and/or drug candidates;
     
  potential drug candidates may, after further study, be shown to have harmful adverse effects or other characteristics that indicate they are unlikely to be effective drugs; or
     
  it may take greater human and financial resources to identify additional therapeutic opportunities for our drug candidates or to develop suitable potential drug candidates through internal research programs than we will possess, thereby limiting our ability to diversify and expand our drug portfolio.

 

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we have chosen to focus at present on our three Lead Projects, which may ultimately prove to be unsuccessful. As a result of this focus, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other drug candidates, or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential or a greater likelihood of success. Even if we determine to pursue alternative therapeutic or diagnostic drug candidates, these other drug candidates or other potential programs may ultimately prove to be unsuccessful. In short, our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities.

 

Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will ever be able to develop suitable potential drug candidates through internal research programs. This could materially adversely affect our future growth and prospects.

 

If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.

 

While we have not commenced any clinical trials and do not expect to start our first clinical trials until at least 2020 or 2021, assuming we obtain approval to do so from at least one regulatory authority, of which there can be no assurance, timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who meet the trial criteria and remain in the trial until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties enrolling and retaining appropriate patients in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

 

  the size and nature of the patient population;
     
  patient eligibility criteria defined in the clinical protocol;
     
  the size of study population required for statistical analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;
     
  the proximity of patients to trial sites;
     
  the design of the trial and changes to the design of the trial;
     
  our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;
     
  competing clinical trials for similar therapies or other new therapeutics exist and will reduce the number and types of patients available to us;

 

16

 

 

  clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages and side effects of the drug candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs or treatments that may be approved for the indications we are investigating;
     
  our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents;
     
  patients enrolled in clinical trials may not complete a clinical trial; and
     
  the availability of approved therapies that are similar to our drug candidates.

 

Even if we are able to enroll a sufficient number of patients in our clinical trials, delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our drug candidates.

 

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process and could fail at any stage of the process. We have limited experience in conducting clinical trials and results of earlier studies and trials may not be reproduced in future clinical trials.

 

For our drug candidates, clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, while failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. The results of studies in animals and early clinical trials of our drug candidates may not predict the results of later-stage clinical trials. Drug candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through studies in animals and initial clinical trials. In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety and/or efficacy results between different trials of the same drug candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial procedures set forth in protocols, differences in the size and type of the patient populations (including genetic differences), patient adherence to the dosing regimen and the patient dropout rate. Results in later trials may also differ from earlier trials due to a larger number of clinical trial sites and additional countries and languages involved in such trials. In addition, the design of a clinical trial can determine whether its results will support approval of a drug candidate, and flaws in the design of a clinical trial may not become apparent until the clinical trial is well advanced and significant expense has been incurred.

 

A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of demonstrated efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials. Clinical trials of potential products often reveal that it is not practical or feasible to continue development efforts. Furthermore, if the trials we conduct fail to meet their primary statistical and clinical endpoints, they will not support the approval from the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities for our drug candidates. If this occurs, we would need to replace the failed study with new trials, which would require significant additional expense, cause substantial delays in commercialization and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. (See “We are subject to risks related to the carrying out and outcome of clinical trials of medical devices”)

 

If clinical trials of our drug candidates fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities, or do not otherwise produce positive results, we may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our drug candidates.

 

Before applying for and obtaining regulatory approval for the sale of any of our drug candidates, we must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and may fail. A failure of one or more of our clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing and successful interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict successful final results.

 

We and our CROs are required to comply with current Good Clinical Practices (“cGCP”) requirements, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA, NMPA, EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities for all drugs in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce these cGCP through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. Compliance with cGCP can be costly and if we or any of our CROs fail to comply with applicable cGCP, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA, NMPA, EMA or comparable regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications.

 

17

 

 

We may experience numerous unexpected events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our drug candidates, including but not limited to:

 

  regulators, institutional review boards (“IRBs”) or ethics committees may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site;
     
  clinical trials of our drug candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon drug development programs;
     
  the number of patients required for clinical trials of our drug candidates may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment may be insufficient or slower than we anticipate or patients may drop out at a higher rate than we anticipate;
     
  our contractors and investigators may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;
     
  we might have to suspend or terminate clinical trials of our drug candidates for various reasons, including a lack of clinical response or a determination that participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;
     
  regulators, IRBs or ethics committees may require that we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical research for various reasons, including non-compliance with regulatory requirements;
     
  the cost of clinical trials of our drug candidates may be greater than we anticipate;
     
  the supply or quality of our drug candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our drug candidates may be insufficient or inadequate; and
     
  our drug candidates may cause adverse events, have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, causing us, our investigators, or regulators to suspend or terminate the trials.

 

If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our drug candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of our drug candidates or other testing, if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if they raise safety concerns, we may:

 

  be delayed in obtaining regulatory approval for our drug candidates;
     
  not obtain regulatory approval at all;
     
  obtain approval for indications that are not as broad as intended;
     
  have a drug removed from the market after obtaining regulatory approval;
     
  be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements;
     
  be subject to restrictions on how a drug is distributed or used; or
     
  be unable to obtain reimbursement for use of a drug.

 

Delays in testing or approvals may result in increases in our drug development costs. We do not know whether any clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured, or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Clinical trials may produce negative or inconclusive results. Moreover, these trials may be delayed or proceed less quickly than intended. Delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our drug candidate development and approval process, and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues and we may not have sufficient funding to complete the testing and approval process. Any of these events may significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects, lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our drug candidates or allow our competitors to bring drugs to market before we do, impairing our ability to commercialize our drugs if and when approved.

 

18

 

 

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

 

We may in the future conduct clinical trials for our drug candidates in sites outside the U.S. and the FDA may not accept data from trials conducted in such locations.

 

We may in the future conduct certain of our clinical trials outside the U.S. Although the FDA may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the U.S. for our New Drug Application (“NDA”), acceptance of this data is subject to certain conditions imposed by the FDA. There can be no assurance the FDA will accept data from any of the clinical trials we conduct outside the U.S. If the FDA does not accept the data from any of our clinical trials conducted outside the U.S., it would likely result in the need for additional clinical trials in the U.S., which would be costly and time-consuming and could delay or prevent the commercialization of any of our drug candidates.

 

Risks Related to Obtaining Regulatory Approval for Our Drug Candidates

 

The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, NMPA, EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities are lengthy, time-consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for our current drug candidates or any future drug candidates we may develop, our business will be substantially harmed.

 

We cannot commercialize drug candidates without first obtaining regulatory approval to market each drug from the FDA, NMPA, EMA or comparable regulatory authorities. Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any drug candidate for a target indication, we must demonstrate in studies in animals and well-controlled clinical trials, and, with respect to approval in the United States and other regulatory agencies, to the satisfaction of the FDA, NMPA, EMA or comparable regulatory authorities, that the drug candidate is safe and effective for use for that target indication and that the manufacturing facilities, processes and controls are adequate.

 

The time required to obtain approval from the FDA, NMPA, EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of studies in animals and clinical trials and depends upon numerous factors, including the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities.

 

In addition, approval policies, regulations or the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain approval can differ among regulatory authorities and may change during the course of the development of a drug candidate. We have not obtained regulatory approval for any drug candidate. It is possible that neither our existing drug candidates nor any drug candidates we may discover or acquire for development in the future will ever obtain regulatory approval. Even if we obtain regulatory approval in one jurisdiction, we may not obtain it in other jurisdictions.

 

Our drug candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval from any of the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities for many reasons, including but not limited to:

 

  disagreement with regulators regarding the design or implementation of our clinical trials;
     
  failure to demonstrate that a drug candidate is safe and effective or safe, pure and potent for its proposed indication;
     
  failure of clinical trial results to meet the level of statistical significance required for approval;

 

19

 

 

  failure to demonstrate that a drug candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;
     
  disagreement with regulators regarding our interpretation of data from studies in animals or clinical trials;
     
  insufficiency of data collected from clinical trials of our drug candidates to support the submission and filing of a New Drug Application (“NDA”), or other submission or to obtain marketing approval;
     
  the FDA, NMPA, EMA or a comparable regulatory authority’s finding of deficiencies related to the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with whom we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and
     
  changes in approval policies or regulations that render our preclinical studies and clinical data insufficient for approval.

 

Any of the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities may require more information, including additional preclinical studies or clinical data, to support approval, which may delay or prevent approval and our commercialization plans, or we may decide to abandon the development program. If we were to obtain approval, regulatory authorities may approve any of our drug candidates for fewer or more limited indications than we request. Regulatory authorities also may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials, or may approve a drug candidate with a label that is not desirable for the successful commercialization of that drug candidate. In addition, if our drug candidate produces undesirable side effects or involves other safety issues, the FDA may require the establishment of a Risk Evaluation Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”), or NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities may require the establishment of a similar strategy. Such a strategy may, for instance, restrict distribution of our drug candidates, require patient or physician education, or impose other burdensome implementation requirements on us.

 

Regulatory approval may be substantially delayed or may not be obtained for one or all of our drug candidates if regulatory authorities require additional time or studies to assess the safety or efficacy of our drug candidates.

 

We currently do not have any drug candidates that have gained approval for sale by the FDA, NMPA or EMA or other regulatory authorities in any other country, and we cannot guarantee that we will ever have marketable drugs. Our business is substantially dependent on our ability to complete the development of, obtain marketing approval for and successfully commercialize drug candidates in a timely manner. We cannot commercialize drug candidates without first obtaining marketing approval from the FDA, NMPA, EMA and comparable regulatory authorities. In the U.S., we hope to file INDs for the drug candidates from our Lead Projects and, subject to the approval of IND, Phase 1 clinical trials in humans. Even if we are permitted to commence such clinical trials, they may not be successful and regulators may not agree with our conclusions regarding the data generated by our clinical trials.

 

We may be unable to complete development of our drug candidates or initiate or complete development of any future drug candidates we may develop on our projected schedule. While we believe that our existing cash will likely enable us to complete the preclinical development of at least one of our current Lead Projects, even assuming we can complete such preclinical studies for any drug candidate by 2021, the full clinical development, manufacturing and launch of that drug candidate, will take significant additional time and likely require funding beyond the existing cash. In addition, if regulatory authorities require additional time or studies to assess the safety or efficacy of our drug candidates, we may not have or be able to obtain adequate funding to complete the necessary steps for approval for our drug candidates or any future drug candidates.

 

20

 

 

Preclinical studies in animals and clinical trials in humans to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates are time-consuming, expensive and take several years or more to complete. Delays in preclinical or clinical trials, regulatory approvals or rejections of applications for regulatory approval in the U.S., Europe, the PRC or other markets may result from many factors, including but not limited to:

 

  our inability to obtain sufficient funds required to conduct or continue a trial, including lack of funding due to unforeseen costs or other business decisions;
     
  regulatory reports for additional analysts, reports, data, preclinical studies and clinical trials;
     
  failure to reach agreement with, or inability to comply with conditions imposed by the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other regulators regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials;
     
  regulatory questions regarding interpretations of data and results and the emergence of new information regarding our drug candidates or other products;
     
  delay or failure in obtaining authorization to commence a clinical trial or inability to comply with conditions imposed by a regulatory authority regarding the scope or design of a clinical trial;
     
  withdrawal of clinical trial sites from our clinical trials as a result of changing standards of care or the ineligibility of a site to participate in our clinical trials;
     
  unfavorable or inconclusive results of clinical trials and supportive non-clinical studies, including unfavorable results regarding effectiveness of drug candidates during clinical trials;
     
  difficulty in maintaining contact with patients during or after treatment, resulting in incomplete data;
     
  our inability to obtain approval from IRBs or ethics committees to conduct clinical trials at their respective sites;
     
  our inability to enroll and retain a sufficient number of patients who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria in a clinical trial;
     
  our inability to conduct a clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols;
     
  clinical sites and investigators deviating from trial protocol, failing to conduct the trial in accordance with regulatory requirements, withdrawing from or dropping out of a trial, or becoming ineligible to participate in a trial;
     
  failure of our clinical trial managers to satisfy their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines;
     
  manufacturing issues, including problems with manufacturing or timely obtaining from third parties sufficient quantities of a drug candidate for use in a clinical trial;
     
  ambiguous or negative interim results, or results that are inconsistent with earlier results;
     
  feedback from the FDA, NMPA, EMA, an IRB, data safety monitoring boards, or comparable entities, or results from earlier stage or concurrent studies in animals and clinical trials, regarding our drug candidates, including which might require modification of a trial protocol;
     
  unacceptable risk-benefit profile or unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects; and
     
  a decision by the FDA, NMPA, EMA, an IRB, comparable entities, or the Company, or recommendation by a data safety monitoring board or comparable regulatory entity, to suspend or terminate clinical trials at any time for safety issues or for any other reason.

 

Changes in regulatory requirements and guidance may also occur, and we may need to amend clinical trial protocols submitted to applicable regulatory authorities to reflect these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit clinical trial protocols to IRBs or ethics committees for re-examination, which may increase the costs or time required to complete a clinical trial.

 

21

 

 

If we experience delays in the completion of, or the termination of, a clinical trial, of any of our drug candidates, the commercial prospects of our drug candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product sales revenues from any of those drug candidates will be delayed. In addition, any delay in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our drug candidate development and approval process, and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our drug candidates.

 

If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other studies with respect to any of our drug candidates beyond those that we initially contemplated, if we are unable to successfully complete our clinical trials or other studies or if the results of these studies are not positive or are only modestly positive, we may be delayed in obtaining regulatory approval for that drug candidate, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval at all or we may obtain approval for indications that are not as broad as intended. Our product development costs will also increase if we experience delays in testing or approvals, and we may not have sufficient funding to complete the testing and approval process. Significant clinical trial delays could allow our competitors to bring their products to market before we do and impair our ability to commercialize our drugs, if and when approved. If any of this occurs, our business will be materially harmed.

 

Our drug candidates may cause undesirable adverse events or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following any regulatory approval.

 

Undesirable adverse events caused by our drug candidates or any future drug candidates we may develop could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities. Results of our potential clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity or prevalence of adverse effects. In such event, our trials could be suspended or terminated and the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of, or deny approval of, our drug candidates for any or all target indications. Drug-related adverse events could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled subjects to complete the trial, could result in potential product liability claims and may harm our reputation, business, financial condition and business prospects significantly.

 

Additionally, if any of our current or future drug candidates receives regulatory approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such drugs, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including but not limited to:

 

  suspending the marketing of the drug;
     
  having regulatory authorities withdraw approvals of the drug;
     
  adding warnings on the label;
     
  developing a REMS for the drug or, if a REMS is already in place, incorporating additional requirements under the REMS, or to develop a similar strategy as required by a comparable regulatory authority;
     
  conducting post-market studies;
     
  being sued and held liable for harm caused to subjects or patients; and
     
  damage to our reputation.

 

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular drug candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

 

22

 

 

Even if we receive regulatory approval for our drug candidates, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our drug candidates.

 

If our drug candidates or any future drug candidates we develop are approved, they will be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements for manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, advertising, promotion, sampling, record-keeping, conduct of post-marketing studies, and submission of safety, efficacy, and other post-market information, including both federal and state requirements in the United States and requirements of comparable regulatory authorities outside of the United States.

 

Manufacturers and manufacturers’ facilities are required to comply with extensive requirements from the FDA, NMPA, EMA and comparable regulatory authorities, including, in the United States, ensuring that quality control and manufacturing procedures conform to cGMP regulations. As such, our contract manufacturers will be subject to continual review and inspections to assess compliance with cGMP and adherence to commitments made in any NDA, other marketing application, and previous responses to inspection observations. Accordingly, we and others with whom we work must continue to expend time, money and effort in all areas of regulatory compliance, including manufacturing, production and quality control.

 

Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our drug candidates may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the drug may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the drug candidate. The regulatory authorities may also require risk management plans or programs as a condition of approval of our drug candidates (such as REMS of the FDA and risk-management plan of the EMA), which could entail requirements for long-term patient follow-up, a medication guide, physician communication plans or additional elements to ensure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. In addition, if the FDA, NMPA, EMA or a comparable regulatory authority approves our drug candidates, we will have to comply with requirements including, for example, submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with cGCP and cGMP, for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval.

 

The FDA may impose consent decrees or withdraw approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the drug reaches the market. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our drug candidates, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or 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 studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:

 

  restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of our drug candidates, withdrawal of the product from the market, or voluntary or mandatory product recalls;
     
  fines, untitled or warning letters, or holds on clinical trials;
     
  refusal by the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications filed by us or suspension or revocation of license approvals;
     
  product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of our drug candidates; and
     
  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. Companies may promote drugs only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label and may not promote drugs for any off-label use, such as uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those approved by the regulatory authorities. However, physicians may prescribe drug products for off-label uses and such off-label uses are common across some medical specialties. Thus, they may, unbeknownst to us, use our product for an “off label” indication for a specific treatment recipient. The FDA, NMPA, EMA and other regulatory authorities actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and if we are found to be out of compliance with the requirements and restrictions imposed on us under those laws and restrictions, we may be subject to significant liability, including civil and administrative remedies as well as criminal sanctions, and the off-label use of our products may increase the risk of product liability claims. In addition, management’s attention could be diverted from our business operations and our reputation could be damaged.

 

23

 

 

The policies of the FDA, NMPA, EMA and other regulatory authorities may change and we cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any regulatory approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.

 

We may be subject to government regulations for dietary supplements

 

The Company may develop some of the molecules under development in formulations intended as dietary supplements. The FDA regulates dietary supplements and drugs under different regulatory schemes, and the Company’s dietary supplement formulations will also be subject to other government regulation, including regulation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, other divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, state and local governments and the foreign equivalents of the FDA and these other agencies.

 

For example, the FDA regulates the research, development, preclinical and clinical testing, safety, effectiveness, record keeping, reporting, labeling, storage processing, formulation, safety, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, advertising and distribution import and export of pharmaceutical products under various regulatory provisions. If any dietary supplements we develop are tested or marketed abroad, they will also be subject to extensive regulation by foreign governments, whether or not we have obtained FDA approval for a given product and its uses. Such foreign regulation may be equally or more demanding than corresponding U.S. regulation.

 

In addition, the regulatory policies of the agencies in the U.S. or other countries may change and additional government regulations may be issued that could prevent, limit, or delay regulatory approval of our dietary supplement candidates, or impose more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.

Risks Related to Commercialization of Our Drug Candidates

 

Even if any of our drug candidates receive regulatory 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.

 

After we complete clinical trials and receive regulatory approval for any of our drug candidates, which may not happen for some time, we recognize that such candidate(s) may ultimately fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. We may not be able to achieve or maintain market acceptance of our products over time if new products or technology are introduced that are more favorably received than our products, are more cost effective or render our drug obsolete. We will face competition with respect to our drug candidates from other pharmaceutical companies developing products in the same disease/therapeutic area and specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. Many of the companies against which we may be competing have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, animal testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approval for drugs than we do. Physicians, patients and third-party payors may prefer other novel products to ours, which means that we may not generate significant sales revenues for that product and that product may not become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of our drug candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

 

  clinical indications for which our drug candidates are approved;
     
  physicians, hospitals, and patients considering our drug candidates as a safe and effective treatment;

 

24

 

 

  the potential and perceived advantages of our drug candidates over alternative treatments;
     
  the prevalence and severity of any side effects;
     
  product labeling or product insert requirements of the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities;
     
  limitations or warnings contained in the labeling approved by the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities;
     
  the timing of market introduction of our drug candidates as well as competitive drugs;
     
  the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments and their relative benefits;
     
  the availability of adequate coverage, reimbursement and pricing by third-party payors and government authorities;
     
  lack of experience and financial and other limitations on our ability to create and sustain effective sales and marketing efforts or ineffectiveness of our sales and marketing partners; and
     
  changes in legislative and regulatory requirements that could prevent or delay regulatory approval of our drug candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any drug candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval.

 

Risks Related to Our IP

 

A significant portion of our IP portfolio currently includes pending patent applications that have not yet been issued as granted patents and if the pending patent applications covering our product candidates fail to be issued, our business will be adversely affected. If we or our licensors are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our technology and drugs, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and drugs similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and drugs may be adversely affected.

 

Our success depends largely on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection and other forms of IP rights for the composition of matter, method of use and/or method of manufacture for each of our drug candidates. Failure to obtain, maintain protection, enforce or extend adequate patent and other IP rights could materially adversely affect our ability to develop and market one or more of our drug candidates. We also rely on trade secrets and know-how to develop and maintain our proprietary and IP position for each of our drug candidates. Any failure to protect our trade secrets and know-how with respect to any specific drug and device candidate could adversely affect the market potential of that potential product.

 

As of the date hereof, the Company has, through its licenses, obtained rights to patents and patent applications covering some or all its drug and device candidates that have been filed in major jurisdictions such as the United States, member states of the European Patent Organization (the “EPO”) and the PRC (collectively, “Major Patent Jurisdictions”), as well as in other countries.

 

As of the date hereof, we are the exclusive licensee of 13 U.S. patents and 6 pending U.S. non-provisional applications, as well as corresponding patents and patent applications internationally. In addition, we are the exclusive licensee of 3 international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (the “PCT”) which we have filed and/or plan to file nationally in member states of the EPO, PRC and other jurisdictions before the expiration of the time limits for entry of national stage application. We have also filed a number of provisional applications to establish earlier filing dates for certain of our other ongoing researches, the specifics of which are currently proprietary and confidential. To the extent we do not seek or obtain patent protection in a particular jurisdiction, we may not have commercial incentive to seek marketing authorization in such jurisdiction. Nonetheless, other parties might enter those markets with generic versions or copies of our products and received regulatory approval without having significantly invested in their own research and development costs compared to the Company’s investment. For more information about our IP portfolio, please refer to the Intellectual Property section below.  

 

25

 

 

With respect to issued patents in certain jurisdictions, for example in the U.S. and under the EPO, we may be entitled to obtain a patent term extension to extend the patent expiration date provided we meet the applicable requirements for obtaining such patent term extensions. We have sought to support our proprietary position by working with our licensors in filing patent applications in the names of the licensors in the United States and through the PCT, related to the Lead Projects and certain other drug candidates. In the future, we intend to file patent applications on supplemental or improvement IP derived from the licensed technologies, where those IP would be solely or jointly owned by the Company pursuant to the terms of respective license agreements. Filing patents covering multiple technologies in multiple countries is time-consuming and expensive, and we may not have the resources file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.

 

We cannot be certain that patents will be issued or granted with respect to patent applications that are currently pending, or that issued or granted patents will not later be found to be invalid or unenforceable.

 

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies is generally uncertain because it involves complex legal and factual considerations. The standards applied by the EPO, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, and foreign patent offices in granting patents are not always applied uniformly or predictably. For example, there is no uniform worldwide policy regarding patentable subject matter or the scope of claims allowable in biotechnology and pharmaceutical patents. Consequently, patents may not issue from our pending patent applications and even if they do issue, such patents may not issue in a form that effectively prevents others from commercializing competing products. As such, we do not know the degree of future protection that we will have on our proprietary products and technology.

 

Additionally, the issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Even if patents do successfully issue and even if such patents cover our drug candidates, other parties may initiate, for patents filed before March 16, 2013 (i.e., the enactment of the America Invents Act), interference or re-examination proceedings, for patents filed on or after March 16, 2013, post-grant review, inter partes review, nullification or derivation proceedings, in court or before patent offices, or similar proceedings challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of such patents, which may result in the patent claims being narrowed or invalidated. Successful defense of its patents can constitute a material factor in a company’s expenses. According to an August 2017 article published by Bloomberg News (https://www.bna.com/cost-patent-infringement-n73014463011/), depending on the value at stake, the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s “2017 Report of the Economic Survey” reported the average cost of a patent litigation in 2017 to be $1.7 million.

 

In addition, the fact that the Company has exclusive rights to prevent others from using a patented invention does not necessarily mean that the Company itself will have the unrestricted right to use that invention. Other parties may obtain ownership or licenses to patents or other IP rights that cover the manufacture, use or sale of our current or future products (or elements thereof). This may enable such other parties to enforce their patents or IP rights against us, and may, as a result, affect the commercialization of our products or exploitation of our own technology. We endeavor to identify early patents and patent applications which may block development of a product or technology and minimize this risk by conducting prior art searches before and during the projects. However, relevant documents may be overlooked, yet-to-be published or missed, which may in turn impact on the freedom to commercialize the relevant asset. In such cases, we may not be in a position to develop or commercialize products or drug candidates unless we successfully pursue litigation to nullify or invalidate the other IP rights concerned, or enter into a license agreement with the IP right holder, if available on commercially reasonable terms.

 

If we are unable to obtain and maintain the appropriate scope for our patents, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and drugs similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and drugs may be adversely affected.

 

We may not obtain sufficient claim scope in those patents to prevent another party from competing successfully with our drug and device candidates. Even if our patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative technology or drug and device candidates in a non-infringing manner. The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its scope, validity or enforceability, and our patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to stop or prevent us from stopping others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and drug and device candidates, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and drug and device candidates. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new drug and device candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing drug and device candidates similar or identical to ours.

 

26

 

 

Further, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our and our current or future licensors’ or collaboration partners’ patent rights are highly uncertain. Our and our licensors’ pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products.

 

We may not be able to protect and enforce our IP rights throughout the world.

 

Our commercial success will depend, in part, on our ability to maintain IP protection for our drug candidates in which we seek to develop and commercialize. While we rely primarily upon a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secrets and other contractual obligations to protect the IP related to our brands, products and other proprietary technologies, these legal means may afford only limited protection.

 

Filing and prosecuting patents on drug candidates and defending the validity of the same (if challenged) in all countries throughout the world could be prohibitively expensive for us, and our IP rights in countries outside the Major Patent Jurisdictions can be less extensive than those in the Major Patent Jurisdictions. In addition, the laws of some countries in the rest of the world such as India do not protect IP rights to the same extent as laws in the Major Patent Jurisdictions. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent other parties from practicing our inventions in the rest of the world. Competitors may use our technology in jurisdictions where we have not or not yet obtained patent protection to develop their own drugs and further, may export otherwise infringing drugs to non-U.S. jurisdictions where we have patent protection.

 

Our, our licensors’ or collaboration partners’ patent applications cannot be enforced against other parties practicing the technology claimed in such applications unless and until a patent issues from such applications, and then only to the extent the issued claims cover the technology. In addition, patents and other IP rights also will not protect our technology, drug candidates if another party, including our competitors, design around our protected technology, drug candidates without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating our patents or other IP rights.

 

Moreover, currently and as our R&D continues to progress, some of our patents and patent applications are or may be co-owned with another party. Some of our licenses already provide that future-developed technologies (and any resulting patents) will be co-owned with the licensors and other patents for technologies we may acquire or develop with other parties may also be jointly owned. If we are unable to obtain an exclusive license to any such co-owners’ interest in such patents or patent applications, such co-owners may be able to license their rights to other persons, including our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology, and we will be unable to transfer or grant exclusive rights to potential purchasers or development partners of such co-owned technologies. In addition, we may need the cooperation of any such co-owners of our patents in order to enforce such patents against other parties, and such cooperation may not be provided to us. Any of the foregoing could limit the revenue we might generate from our patents or patent applications and thus have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

 

Because patent applications are confidential for a period of time after filing, and some remain so until issued, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors or collaborators were or will be the first to file any patent application related to a drug or device candidate. Furthermore, in the United States, if patent applications of other parties have an effective filing date before March 16, 2013, an interference proceeding can be initiated by such other party to determine who was the first to invent any of the subject matter covered by the patent claims of our applications. If patent applications of other parties have an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013, in the United States a derivation proceeding can be initiated by such other parties to determine whether our invention was derived from theirs.

 

27

 

 

Even where we have a valid and enforceable patent, we may not be able to exclude others from practicing our invention where the other party can show that they used the invention in commerce before our filing date or the other party benefits from a compulsory license. In addition, we may be subject to other challenges regarding our exclusive ownership of our IP. If another party were successful in challenging our exclusive ownership of any of our IP, we may lose our right to use such IP, such other party may be able to license such IP to other parties, including our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

 

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending IP rights in jurisdictions outside Major Patent Jurisdictions. The legal systems of some countries do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other IP, which could make it difficult in those jurisdictions for us to stop the infringement or misappropriation of our patents or other IP rights, or the marketing of competing drugs in violation of our proprietary rights generally.

 

To date, we have not sought to enforce any issued patents in any jurisdictions. Proceedings to enforce our patent and other IP rights in any jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business.

 

Furthermore, such proceedings could put our patents at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly, could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke other parties to assert claims of infringement or misappropriation against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate in jurisdictions where opposition proceedings are available and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. The requirements for patentability may differ in certain countries, particularly developing countries. Certain countries in Europe, the PRC, and developing countries including India, have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to other parties. In those countries, we and our licensors may have limited remedies if patents are infringed or if we or our licensors are compelled to grant a license to another party, which could materially diminish the value of those patents. This could limit our potential revenue opportunities. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our IP rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the IP that we develop.

 

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our IP, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful. Our patent rights relating to our drug and device candidates could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or before the USPTO or comparable non-U.S. authority.

 

Competitors may infringe our patent rights or misappropriate or otherwise violate our IP rights. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce or defend our IP rights, to protect our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of our own IP rights or the proprietary rights of others. This can be expensive and time-consuming. Any claim that we assert against perceived infringers could also provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their IP rights. Many of our current and potential competitors have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce and/or defend their IP rights than we can. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent other parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our IP. Litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of management resources, which could harm our business and financial results. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that patent rights or other IP rights owned by us are invalid or unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patent rights or other IP rights do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put our patent, as well as any patents that may issue in the future from our pending patent applications, at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable or interpreted narrowly. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with IP litigation, there is risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation.

 

28

 

 

If we initiate legal proceedings against another party to enforce our patent, or any patents that may be issued in the future from our patent applications, that relates to one of our drug and device candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that such patent rights are invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace, and there are numerous grounds upon which another party can assert invalidity or unenforceability of a patent. Parties may also raise similar claims before administrative bodies in the United States or abroad, even outside the context of litigation. Such mechanisms include ex parte re-examination, inter partes review, post-grant review, derivation and equivalent proceedings in non-U.S. jurisdictions, such as opposition proceedings. Such proceedings could result in revocation or amendment to our patents in such a way that they no longer cover and protect our drug and device candidates. With respect to the validity of our patents, for example, there may be invalidating prior art of which we, our patent counsel, and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our drug and device candidates. Such a loss of patent protection could have a material adverse impact on our business.

 

We may not be able to prevent misappropriation of our trade secrets or confidential information, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with IP litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation.

 

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our patents and other IP.

 

Although we are not currently experiencing any claims challenging the inventorship of our patents or ownership of our IP, we may in the future be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other parties have an interest in our patents or other IP as inventors or co-inventors. For example, we may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our drug and device candidates and who have not clearly contracted to transfer or assign any rights they may have to the Company. In addition, for our licensed patents, although a majority of our licensors have procured assignment forms and records from inventors to affirm their ownership in the licensed IP, another party or former employee or collaborator of our licensors not named in the patents may challenge the inventorship of claim an ownership interest in one or more of our or our licensors’ patents. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose rights such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, our patent rights or other IP. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

 

If we are sued for infringing IP rights of other parties, such litigation could be costly and time-consuming and could prevent or delay us from developing or commercializing our drug candidates, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

 

Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and other IP rights of other parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patent and other IP rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Numerous issued patents, provisional patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by other parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing drug candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our drug candidates may give rise to claims of infringement of the patent rights of others.

 

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

 

29

 

 

Other parties who bring successful claims against us for infringement of their IP rights may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could prevent us from developing and commercializing one or more of our drug candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merits, would involve substantial litigation expense and be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement or misappropriation against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees in the case of willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from other parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing drug candidates, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. In the event of an adverse result in any such litigation, or even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from other parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of our drug candidates. Any required license may not be available at all, or may not be available on commercially reasonable terms. In the event that we are unable to obtain such a license, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize one or more of our drug candidates, which could harm our business significantly. We may also elect to enter into license agreements in order to settle patent infringement claims or resolve disputes prior to litigation, and any such license agreements may require us to pay royalties and other fees that could significantly reduce our profitability for any product related to that patent and thus harm our business.

 

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to IP claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical personnel, management personnel, or both from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

 

There may be patent applications pending of which we are not aware, but which cover similar products to the ones we are attempting to license or develop, which may result in lost time and money, as well as litigation.

 

It is possible that we have failed to identify relevant outstanding patents or applications. For example, U.S. applications filed before November 29, 2000 and certain U.S. applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States remain confidential until patents are issued. Patent applications filed in the United States after November 29, 2000 and generally filed elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our products could have been filed by others without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications which have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our products or the use of our products. Holders of any such unanticipated patents or patent applications may actively bring infringement claims against us, with the same potential litigation consequences as alluded to elsewhere in this registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part. Any of these events could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business.

 

30

 

 

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

 

Periodic maintenance fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and other patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various non-U.S. governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment, and other similar provisions during the patent application process. Although an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Non-compliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees, and failure to properly submit documents requesting an extension of time. In any such event, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

The terms of our patents may not be sufficient to effectively protect our drug and device candidates and business.

 

In most countries in which we file, including the United States, the term of an issued patent is generally 20 years from the earliest claimed filing date of a non-provisional patent application in the applicable country. Although various extensions may be available, the life of a patent and the protection it affords is limited. For example, depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of the FDA regulatory approval for our drug candidates, one or more of our U.S. patents, if issued, might be eligible for limited patent term restoration under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent term extension of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during drug development and the FDA regulatory review process. Patent term extensions, however, cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of drug approval by the FDA, and only one patent can be extended for a particular drug. The application for patent term extension is subject to approval by the USPTO, in conjunction with the FDA. We may not be granted an extension because of, for example, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain a patent term extension for a given patent or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we will have the right to exclusively market our drug will be that of the originally issued patents themselves.

 

Even if patents covering one of our drug candidates are obtained, thereby giving us a period of exclusivity for manufacturing and marketing that drug, we will not be able to assert such patent rights upon the expiration of the issued patents against potential competitors who may begin marketing generic copies of our medications, and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

 

Changes in patent law in the United States could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our drug and device candidates.

 

The United States has recently enacted and is currently implementing wide-ranging patent reform legislation. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents once obtained, if any. Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents in the United States could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents, or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future. For example, in a recent case, Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain claims to naturally-occurring substances are not patentable. Although we do not believe that any of the patents owned or licensed by us will be found invalid based on this decision, future decisions by the courts, the U.S. Congress or the USPTO may impact the value of our patent rights. There could be similar changes in the laws of foreign jurisdictions that may impact the value of our patent rights or our other IP rights.

 

31

 

 

In addition, recent patent reform legislation in the U.S., including the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the America Invents Act, could increase those uncertainties and costs. The America Invents Act was signed into law on September 16, 2011, and many of the substantive changes became effective on March 16, 2013. The America Invents Act reforms U.S. patent law in part by changing the U.S. patent system from a “first to invent” system to a “first inventor to file” system, expanding the definition of prior art, and developing a post-grant review system, thus changing the U.S. patent law in a way that may weaken our ability to obtain patent protection in the U.S. for those applications filed after March 16, 2013. Further, the America Invents Act created new procedures to challenge the validity of issued patents in the U.S., including post-grant review and inter partes review proceedings, which some other parties have been using to cause the cancellation of selected or all claims of issued patents of competitors. For a patent with an effective filing date of March 16, 2013 or later, a petition for post-grant review can be filed by another party in a nine-month window from issuance of the patent. A petition for inter partes review can be filed immediately following the issuance of a patent if the patent has an effective filing date prior to March 16, 2013. A petition for inter partes review can be filed after the nine-month-period for filing a post-grant review petition has expired for a patent with an effective filing date of March 16, 2013 or later. Post-grant review proceedings can be brought on any ground of invalidity, whereas inter partes review proceedings can only raise an invalidity challenge based on published prior art and patents. These adversarial actions at the USPTO review patent claims without the presumption of validity afforded to U.S. patents in lawsuits in U.S. federal courts, and use a lower burden of proof than used in litigation in U.S. federal courts. Therefore, it is generally considered easier for a competitor or other party to have a U.S. patent invalidated in a USPTO post-grant review or inter partes review proceeding than invalidated in a litigation in a U.S. federal court. If any of our patents are challenged by another party in such a USPTO proceeding, there is no guarantee that we or our licensors or collaborators will be successful in defending the patent, which would result in our loss of the challenged patent right.

 

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

 

In addition to our issued patents, provisional patent, and pending patent applications, we expect to rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position and protect our drug and device candidates. We seek to protect these trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties that have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. However, any of these parties may breach such agreements and disclose our proprietary information, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. If trade secrets which are material to our business were to be obtained by a competitor, our competitive position would be harmed.

 

We may be subject to claims that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.

 

Although we try to ensure that our employees do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these employees have used or disclosed IP, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such employee’s former employer. In addition, while we typically require our employees, consultants and contractors who may be involved in the development of IP to execute agreements assigning such IP to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who in fact develops IP that we regard as our own, which may result in claims by or against us related to the ownership of such IP. We are not aware of any threatened or pending claims that any of our projects involve misappropriated IP or other proprietary information, but in the future litigation may be necessary to defend against such claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable IP rights. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

 

32

 

 

We may be unable to execute on the optimal development plan for one or more of our existing product candidates if we are unable to obtain or maintain necessary rights for some aspect of the developing technology through acquisitions or licenses.

 

Our existing programs currently use or may in the future use additional technologies subject to proprietary rights held by others, such as particular compositions or methods of manufacture, treatment or use. The licensing and acquisition of IP rights is a competitive area, and more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire such IP rights that we may consider necessary or useful. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, cash resources and greater capabilities in clinical development and commercialization.

 

In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire IP rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment. If we are unable to successfully obtain or maintain licenses or other rights from other parties to use IP of those parties, our business, financial condition and prospects for growth could suffer.

 

If we fail to comply with our obligations in the agreements under which we license IP rights from other parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could be required to pay monetary damages or could lose license rights that are important to our business.

 

Many of our projects (including our Lead Projects) are based on IP which we have licensed from other parties. (See “Our Business – Intellectual Property”) Certain of these license agreements impose diligence, development or commercialization obligations on us, such as obligations to pay royalties on net product sales of our drug and device candidates once commercialized by us, to pay a percentage of sublicensing revenues if the licensed product is sublicensed, to make other specified milestone and/or annual payments relating to our drug candidates or to pay license maintenance and other fees, as well as obligations to pursue commercialization with due diligence. Specifically, a number of our license agreements also require us to meet development timelines in order to maintain the related license(s). In spite of our efforts, our licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our obligations under such license agreements and might therefore seek to terminate the license agreements. If one of our licensors, despite our efforts, were to be successful in terminating its agreement with us, we would not be able to continue to develop, manufacture or market any drug candidate under that license agreements, and we could face claims for monetary damages or other penalties under that agreement. Such an occurrence would diminish or eliminate the value of that project to our Company, even if we are able to negotiate new or reinstated agreements, which may have less favorable terms. Depending on the importance of the IP and the related project, any such development could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

 

Moreover, disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a licensing agreement, including:

 

  the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other interpretation-related issues;
     
  the extent to which our technology and processes infringe on intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the licensing agreement;
     
  the sublicensing of patent and other rights under our collaborative development relationships;
     
  our diligence obligations under the license agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;
     
  the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us and our partners; and
     
  the priority of invention of patented technology.

 

In addition, the agreements under which we currently license intellectual property or technology from other parties are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which (depending on the importance of the IP and the related project) could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangement for a project on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected drug or device candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

 

33

 

 

We may not have complete control of the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain patents, licensed by us from other parties.

 

The Company has in-licensed, and expects in the future to in-license patents owned or controlled by others for our use as part of our development plans. We also may out-license or sublicense patents which we own or control in collaborations with others for development and commercialization of our products. In either case, the continuing right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain the patents, covering technology under development is a matter for negotiation and we may not always be the party that obtains such control, in which case we will be reliant on our licensors, collaboration partners or sublicensees for determining strategies with respect to those patents. For our existing licenses, while we have an understanding with most of the licensors who maintain control over patent prosecution and we have jointly appointed and engaged patent agents nominated by us under one or more of our licenses, we cannot guarantee that such licensors or collaborators will always accept prosecution strategies proposed by us and/or our patent agents. Therefore, these patents and applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. If our current or future licensors or collaboration partners fail to establish, maintain or protect such patents and other IP rights, such rights may be reduced or eliminated. If our licensors or joint development partners are not fully cooperative or disagree with us as to the prosecution, maintenance or enforcement of any patent rights, such patent rights could be compromised.

 

Risks Related to Our Reliance on Unrelated Parties

 

We rely on unrelated parties to conduct discovery and further improvement of our innovations and licensed technologies, as well as our preclinical studies and clinical trials. If these unrelated parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our drug candidates, and our business could be substantially harmed.

 

We have relied upon and plan to continue to rely upon CROs and collaborating institutions to monitor and manage data for our ongoing preclinical studies and programs. We rely on these parties for execution of preclinical studies and clinical trials, and control only certain aspects of their activities. Nevertheless, we are responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, and regulatory requirements and scientific standards, and our reliance on the CROs and collaborating institutions does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. If CROs, collaborating institutions or clinical investigators do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, development of our product candidates could be delayed and our business could be adversely affected.

 

In addition, our CROs and collaborating institutions, are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and waste. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we might be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We could also be subject to civil or criminal fines and penalties, and significant associated costs.

 

If the Company obtains approval of an IND for one of our drug candidates and moves into human clinical trials requiring significantly larger quantities of the candidate to be tested, we expect to rely on unrelated parties to manufacture supplies of that candidate. If those unrelated parties fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of clinical supply on that candidate or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices, or fail to maintain required cGMP licenses, we may not be able to manufacture that candidate in sufficient quantities to conduct the necessary human trials. Should the failure by the CRO occur in anticipation of or after marketing approval of that candidate, we may be unable to generate as much revenue as rapidly (and such revenue may not be as profitable) as we had anticipated.

 

The manufacture of many drug products, particularly in commercial quantities, can be complex and may require significant expertise and capital investment, particularly if the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and process controls are required. If we obtain approval of an IND for any of our drug candidates, of which there can be no assurance, we intend to contract with outside contractors to manufacture clinical supplies and process our drug candidates. We have not yet had our drug candidates to be manufactured or processed on a commercial scale and may not be able to do so for any of our drug candidates.

 

34

 

  

As we expect to engage contract manufacturers, the Company will be exposed to the following risks:

 

  we might be unable to identify manufacturers on acceptable terms or at all because the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities must approve any manufacturers we determine to use and any potential manufacturer may be unable to satisfy federal, state or international regulatory standards;
     
  although we would be choosing manufacturers with the type of experience most suitable for our drug candidates, it is possible that our contract manufacturers may not be able to execute unique manufacturing procedures and other logistical support requirements we have developed and they might require a significant amount of support from us to implement and maintain the infrastructure and processes required to manufacture our particular drug candidates;
     
  our contract manufacturers might be unable to reproduce the quantity and quality of the drugs we need to meet our clinical and commercial needs within the time frames when we require those drugs;
     
  our contract manufacturers may breach their contracts with us, including by not performing as agreed or not devoting sufficient resources to our drug candidates, or they may not remain in the contract manufacturing business for the time required to supply our clinical trials or to successfully produce, store and distribute our products;
     
  even if initially accepted by regulatory authorities, a manufacturer remains subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspection by regulatory authorities to ensure strict compliance with cGMP and other government regulations, and our contract manufacturers may fail to comply with these regulations and requirements, resulting in rescission of cGMP licenses and our inability to continue using their services, requiring us to find a replacement manufacturer;
     
  depending on the terms of our agreement with a manufacturer, we may not own, or may have to share, the IP rights to any improvements made by the manufacturer in the manufacturing process for our drug candidates; and
     
  our contract manufacturers may have unacceptable or inconsistent product quality success rates and yields.

 

Each of these risks could delay or prevent the completion of our clinical trials or the approval of any of our drug candidates by the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities, result in higher costs or adversely impact commercialization of our drug candidates.

 

We are also responsible for quality control by our manufacturers. We intend to rely on those unrelated-party manufactures to perform certain quality assurance tests on our drug candidates prior to delivery to patients. If these tests are not appropriately done and test data are not reliable, patients could be put at risk of serious harm and the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities could place significant restrictions on our Company until deficiencies are remedied.

 

35

 

 

Manufacturers of drug products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up or out, validating the production process, and assuring high reliability of the manufacturing process (including the absence of contamination). These problems include logistics and shipping, difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product, product testing, operator error, availability of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state and non-U.S. regulations. Furthermore, if contaminants are discovered in our supply of our drug candidates or in the manufacturing facilities, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination. It is possible that stability failures or other issues relating to the manufacture of our drug candidates may occur in the future. Additionally, our manufacturers may experience manufacturing difficulties due to resource constraints, or as a result of labor disputes or unstable political environments. If our manufacturers were to encounter any of these difficulties, or otherwise fail to comply with their contractual obligations, our ability to provide our drug candidate to patients in clinical trials would be jeopardized. Any delay or interruption in the manufacturing of clinical trial supplies could delay the completion of clinical trials, increase the costs associated with maintaining clinical trial programs and, depending upon the period of delay, require us to begin new clinical trials with additional costs or terminate clinical trials completely.

 

Review of changes in the manufacturing process of our drug candidates could cause delays resulting from the need for additional regulatory approvals.

 

Changes in a process or procedure for manufacturing one of our drug candidates, including a change in the location where the drug candidate is manufactured or a change of a contract manufacturer, could require prior review by the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities and approval of the manufacturing process and procedures in accordance with the FDA, NMPA or EMA’s regulations, or comparable requirements. This review may be costly and time-consuming and could delay or prevent the launch of a product. The new facility will also be subject to pre-approval inspection. In addition, we would have to demonstrate that the product made at the new facility is equivalent to the product made at the former facility by physical and chemical methods, which are costly and time-consuming. It is also possible that the FDA, NMPA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities may require clinical testing as a way to prove equivalency, which would result in additional costs and delay.

 

Risks Related to AML Clinic

 

Failure to comply with all laws and regulations applicable to the business of AML Clinic could have a material, adverse impact on the Company’s business.

 

Operation of AML Clinic subjects the Company to a variety of Hong Kong laws and regulations specific to companies and professionals in the business of delivering medical care. We and our employees will be subject to licensing and professional qualifications that do not apply to our other businesses. Breach of any of these laws, regulations or licensing requirements could subject the Company to significant fines and other penalties and possibly damage the Company’s reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business.

 

Risks Related to Our Device Candidates

 

We are subject to risks related to obtaining regulatory approval for device candidates.

 

The Company’s device candidates (including those being developed under SLS-1), are likely to be regulated as medical devices. Medical devices are subject to extensive regulations, supervised by regulatory authorities around the world, including the FDA, NMPA and applicable national authorities in relevant European countries. The regulatory framework related to medical devices covers research, development, design, manufacturing, safety, reporting, testing, labeling, packaging, storage, installation, servicing, marketing, sales and distribution. The Company is and may also be, in addition to these industry-specific regulations, subject to numerous other ongoing regulatory obligations, such as data protection, environmental, health and safety laws and restrictions. The costs of compliance with applicable regulations, requirements or guidelines could be substantial. Furthermore, the regulatory environment has generally become more stringent and extensive over time. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in sanctions including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, denial of applications for marketing approval of the Company’s products, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of products, operating restrictions, partial suspension or total shutdown of production and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly increase the Company’s costs, delay the development and commercialization of its device candidates.

 

36

 

 

We are subject to risks related to the carrying out and outcome of clinical trials of medical devices.

 

The Company may sponsor studies on human participants in clinical studies of its device candidates. Such clinical studies are performed to support regulatory approvals for market access or to generate evidence relating to clinical benefits and cost benefits of using such device candidates. Clinical studies are costly and time consuming and associated with risks such as finding trial sites, recruitment of suitable patients, the actual cost per patient exceeding budget and inadequacies in the execution of the trials. There is also a risk of delays in the performance of clinical studies, which can occur for a variety of reasons. For example, delays in obtaining regulatory approval to commence a trial, reaching agreements on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations (“CROs”) and clinical investigational sites, obtaining institutional review board approval at each site, difficulties in patient enrolment, patients failing to complete a trial or return for follow-up, adding new sites or obtaining sufficient supplies of products or clinical sites dropping out of a trial. If delays persist, there is a risk that studies eventually are suspended or terminated if the delays occur due to circumstances that a sponsor of a clinical trial has difficulties controlling, or is unable to control, or if the measures required for conducting the studies further are deemed too costly or extensive in relation to the scopes and goals of the studies.

 

There are many factors which may affect patient enrollment. Amongst these are the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the trial, the design of the clinical study and competing clinical studies. Furthermore, clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new products that may be approved for the indications the company is investigating. Clinical studies may also be suspended or terminated if participating subjects are exposed to unacceptable health risks or undesired side-effects.

 

Furthermore, there is a risk that clinical studies may not demonstrate the required clinical benefit for the prospective indication the trial is aimed at. Failure in premarketing clinical studies could lead to market clearance or approvals not being obtained which could delay or jeopardize the Company’s ability to develop, market and sell the device candidates being studied. At any stage of the development, the Company may discontinue device candidate based on review of available preclinical and clinical data, the estimated costs of continued development, market considerations and other factors. Furthermore, with respect to the clinical studies of device candidates conducted by CROs and others, the Company may have less control over their timing or outcome.

 

Risks Related to Our Industry, Business and Operation

 

If we do not comply with laws regulating the protection of the environment and health and human safety, our business could be adversely affected.

 

Our research, development and clinic operations involve the use of hazardous materials, chemicals and various radioactive compounds/radiation and AML Clinic may create medical waste and radiation. Our R&D Center may maintain quantities of various flammable and toxic chemicals in our facilities that are required for our research, development and manufacturing activities. We are subject to local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials and of medical waste at the jurisdictions where we operate our clinic and research facilities, which are currently limited to Hong Kong. We believe our procedures for storing, handling and disposing of these materials comply with the relevant guidelines and laws of the jurisdictions in which our facilities are located. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of these materials comply with the standards mandated by applicable regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be eliminated. If an accident occurs, we could be held liable for resulting damages, which could be substantial. We are also subject to numerous environmental, health and workplace safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures, exposure to blood-borne pathogens and the handling of biohazardous materials and medical waste.

 

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of these materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological, hazardous or radioactive materials. Additional federal, state and local laws and regulations affecting our operations may be adopted in the future. We may incur substantial costs to comply with, and substantial fines or penalties, if we violate any of these laws or regulations.

 

37

 

 

Our future success depends on our ability to retain our Chief Executive Officer, our scientific and clinical advisors, and other key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

 

We are highly dependent on Ian Huen, our Chief Executive Officer, as well as, other principal members of our management teams, scientific teams as well as scientific and clinical advisors. Although we have formal employment agreements, which we refer to as appointment letters, with all of our executive officers, these agreements do not prevent our executives from terminating their employment with us at any time, subject to applicable notice periods. Nevertheless, the loss of the services of any of these persons could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives.

 

To induce valuable employees to remain at our Company, in addition to salary and cash incentives, we plan to provide share incentive grants that vest over time. The value to employees of these equity grants that vest over time may be significantly affected by movements in the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares that are beyond our control, and may at any time be insufficient to counteract more lucrative offers from other companies. Although we have appointment letters with our key employees, any of our employees could resign at any time, with 1-month to 3-months prior written notice or with payment in lieu of notice.

 

Recruiting and retaining qualified officers, scientific, clinical, sales and marketing personnel or consultants will also be critical to our success. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our discovery and preclinical studies development and commercialization strategy. The loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees and consultants could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives and seriously harm our ability to successfully implement our business strategy.

 

Furthermore, replacing executive officers and key employees or consultants may be difficult and may take an extended period of time, because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to successfully develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize drug and device candidates. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these key personnel or consultants on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel.

 

We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to pursue our growth strategy will be limited.

 

38

 

 

We will need to increase the size and capabilities of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing our growth.

 

As of the date hereof, we have 41 employees, including 39 full-time employees and 2 part-time employees. Of these, 15 are engaged in full-time research and development and laboratory operations, 19 are engaged in general and administrative functions, 5 are full-time employees engaged in the clinic operation and 2 part-time employees are engaged in sponsored research and development, laboratory operations and legal clerical support. As of the date of hereof, 41 of our employees are located in Hong Kong. In addition, we have engaged and may continue to engage 33 independent contracted consultants and advisors to assist us with our operations. As our development and commercialization plans and strategies develop, and as we have transitioned into operating as a public company, we will need to establish and maintain effective disclosure and financial controls and make changes in our corporate governance practices. We will need to add a significant number of additional managerial, operational, sales, marketing, financial and other personnel with the appropriate public company experience and technical knowledge and we may not successfully recruit and maintain such personnel. Future growth will impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including:

 

  identifying, recruiting, integrating, maintaining and motivating additional employees;
     
  managing our internal development efforts effectively, including clinical, the FDA or other comparable regulatory authority review process for our drug and device candidates, while complying with our contractual obligations to contractors and others; and
     
  improving our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.

 

Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize our drug candidates will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage our future growth, and our management may also have to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from day-to-day activities in order to devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities.

 

We currently rely, and for the foreseeable future will continue to rely, in substantial part on certain independent organizations, advisors and consultants for significant input in selecting and evaluating new products to pursue. These independent organizations, advisors and consultants may not continue to be available to us on a timely basis when needed, and in such case, we may not have the ability to find qualified replacements. In addition, if we are unable to effectively manage our outsourced activities, or if the quality or accuracy of the services provided by consultants is compromised for any reason, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval of our drug candidates or otherwise advance our business. Furthermore, we may not be able to manage our existing consultants or find other competent outside contractors and consultants on economically reasonable terms, if at all.

 

If we are not able to effectively expand our organization by hiring new employees and expanding our groups of consultants and contractors, we may not be able to successfully implement the tasks necessary to further develop and commercialize our drug and device candidates and, accordingly, may not achieve our research, development and commercialization goals.

 

We intend to seek additional collaborations, strategic alliances or acquisitions or enter into royalty-seeking or sublicensing arrangements in the future, but we may not realize the benefits of these arrangements.

 

We intend to form or seek strategic alliances, create joint ventures or collaborations, acquire complimentary products, IP rights, technology or businesses or enter into additional licensing arrangements with unrelated parties that we determine may complement or augment our development and commercialization efforts with respect to our drug and device candidates. Any of these relationships may require us to incur non-recurring and other charges, increase our near and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our existing shareholders, or disrupt our management and business.

 

We will face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic partners and the negotiation process is likely to be time-consuming, costly and complex. Moreover, we may not be successful in our efforts to establish a strategic partnership or another alternative arrangement for any of our drug and device candidates because their state of development may be deemed to be too early for collaborative effort and others may not view our drug and device candidates as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy. If and when we enter into an agreement with a collaboration partner or sublicensee for development and commercialization of a drug or device candidate, we can expect to relinquish some or all of the control over the future success of that drug and device candidate to the unrelated-party.

 

Further, even if we enter into a collaboration involving any of our drug and device candidates, the arrangement will be subject to numerous risks, which may include the following:

 

  the collaborators will likely have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to a collaboration;
     
  the collaborator may ultimately choose not pursue development and commercialization of our drug candidates or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs, based on clinical trial results, changes in their strategic focus due to the acquisition of competitive drugs, availability of funding, or other external factors, such as a business combination that diverts resources or creates competing priorities;

 

39

 

 

  the collaborator may delay clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a clinical trial, stop a clinical trial, abandon a drug or device candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical trials, or require a new formulation of a drug or device candidate for clinical testing;
     
  the collaborator could independently develop, or develop with unrelated parties, drugs that compete directly or indirectly with our drugs or drug and device candidates;
     
  the collaborator with marketing and distribution rights to one or more drugs may not commit sufficient resources to their marketing and distribution;
     
  the collaborator may not properly maintain or defend our IP rights or may use our IP or proprietary information in a way that gives rise to actual or threatened litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our IP or proprietary information or expose us to potential liability;
     
  disputes may arise between us and the collaborator that cause the delay or termination of the research, development or commercialization of our drug and device candidates, or that result in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management attention and resources;
     
  the collaboration may be terminated and, if terminated, may result the Company needing additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable drug and device candidates;
     
  the collaborator may own or co-own IP covering our drugs that results from our collaborating with them, and in such cases, we would not have the exclusive right to commercialize such IP;
     
  the collaboration may result in increased operating expenses or the assumption of indebtedness or contingent liabilities; and
     
  the collaboration arrangement may result in the loss of key personnel and uncertainties in our ability to maintain key business relationships.

 

As a result, if we enter into collaboration agreements and strategic partnerships or license our drugs, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions, which could delay our timelines or otherwise adversely affect our business. Following a strategic transaction or license, we may not achieve the revenue or specific net income that justifies such transaction. If we are unable to reach agreements with a suitable collaborator on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all, we may have to curtail the development of a drug or device candidate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense.

 

If we fail to enter into collaborations, we may seek to fund and undertake development or commercialization activities on our own, but we may not have sufficient funds or expertise to undertake the necessary development and commercialization activities. In such a case, we may not be able to further develop our drug and device candidates or bring them to market and generate product sales revenue, which would harm our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

40

 

 

Our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements.

 

We are exposed to the risk of fraud, misconduct or other illegal activity by our employees, independent contractors, consultants, commercial partners and vendors. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and negligent conduct that fails to: comply with the laws of the FDA and other similar non-U.S. regulatory authorities; provide true, complete and accurate information to the FDA and other similar non-U.S. regulatory authorities; comply with manufacturing standards we have established; comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws in the United States and similar non-U.S. fraudulent misconduct laws; or report financial information or data accurately or to disclose unauthorized activities to us. If we obtain the FDA approval for any of our drug and device candidates and begin commercializing those drugs in the United States, our potential exposure under U.S. laws will increase significantly and our costs associated with compliance with such laws are also likely to increase. These laws may impact, among other things, our current activities with principal investigators of our sponsored researches and research patients and our use of information obtained in the course of patient recruitment for clinical trials, as well as proposed and future sales, marketing and education programs. In particular, the promotion, sales and marketing of healthcare items and services, as well as certain business arrangements in the healthcare industry, are subject to extensive laws designed to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, structuring and commission(s), certain customer incentive programs and other business arrangements generally.

 

It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses, or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant fines or other sanctions.

 

Our disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect all errors or acts of fraud.

 

Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, and recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC.

 

We believe that any disclosure controls and procedures, or internal controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met.

 

These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations, and lead to a decline in the trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions. We may also be required to restate our financial statements from prior periods.

 

If we fail to establish and maintain proper internal financial reporting controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.

 

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are required to file a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting, including an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. However, while we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm and due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies, we are not required to include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting in this registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part. The presence of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting could result in financial statement errors which, in turn, could lead to errors in our financial reports and/or delays in our financial reporting, which could require us to restate our operating results. In connection with the audit of our financial statements for the period January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017, the period March 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2018, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified one material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, as defined in the standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of the United States, as of December 31, 2018. The material weakness identified was the lack of dedicated resources to take responsibility for the finance and accounting functions and the preparation of financial statements in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP.

 

41

 

 

We have already taken some steps and have continued to implement measures to remediate the material weakness identified, including but not limited to providing trainings to staff, changing to a new and well-established accounting system, and continuing to monitor the internal control over financial reporting. However, we cannot assure you that we will not identify additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in the future.

 

Due to the material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting, we conclude that our internal controls over financial reporting are ineffective and therefore investors may lose confidence in our operating results, the price of the Class A Ordinary Shares could decline and we may be subject to litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. In addition, if we are unable to meet the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Class A Ordinary Shares may not be able to remain listed on the NASDAQ Global Market.

 

We may market our products, if approved, globally; if we do, we will be subject to the risk of doing business internationally.

 

We operate and expect to operate in various countries, and we may not be able to market our products in, or develop new products successfully for, these markets. We may also encounter other risks of doing business internationally including but not limited to:

 

  unexpected changes in, or impositions of, legislative or regulatory requirements;
     
  efforts to develop an international sales, marketing and distribution organization may increase our expenses, divert our management’s attention from the acquisition or development of drug candidates or cause us to forgo profitable licensing opportunities in these geographies;
     
  the occurrence of economic weakness, including inflation or political instability;
     
  the effects of applicable non-U.S. tax structures and potentially adverse tax consequences;
     
  differences in protection of our IP rights including patent rights of other parties;
     
  the burden of complying with a variety of foreign laws including difficulties in effective enforcement of contractual provisions;
     
  delays resulting from difficulty in obtaining export licenses, tariffs and other barriers and restrictions, potentially longer payment cycles, greater difficulty in accounts receivable collection and potentially adverse tax treatment; and
     
  production shortages resulting from any events affecting raw material supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad.

 

In addition, we are subject to general geopolitical risks in foreign countries where we operate, such as political and economic instability and changes in diplomatic and trade relationships, which could affect, among other things, customers’ inventory levels and consumer purchasing, which could cause our results to fluctuate and our net sales to decline. The occurrence of any one or more of these risks of doing business internationally, individually or in the aggregate, could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

 

42

 

 

If we engage in future acquisitions or strategic partnerships, this may increase our capital requirements, dilute our shareholders, cause us to incur debt or assume contingent liabilities, and subject us to other risks.

 

We may evaluate various acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including licensing or acquiring complementary products, IP rights, technology or businesses. Any potential acquisition or strategic partnership may entail numerous risks, including, but not limited to:

 

  increase in operating expenses and cash requirements;
     
  the assumption of additional indebtedness or contingent liabilities;
     
  the issuance of our equity securities;
     
  assimilation of operations, IP and products of an acquired company, including difficulties associated with integrating new personnel;
     
  the diversion of our management’s attention from our existing product programs and initiatives in pursuing such a strategic merger or acquisition;
     
  retention of key employees, the loss of key personnel, and uncertainties in our ability to maintain key business relationships;
     
  risks and uncertainties associated with the other party to such a transaction, including the prospects of that party and their existing drugs or drug and device candidates and regulatory approvals; and
     
  our inability to generate revenue from acquired technology and/or products sufficient to meet our objectives in undertaking the acquisition or even to offset the associated acquisition and maintenance costs.

 

In addition, if we undertake acquisitions, we may issue dilutive securities, assume or incur debt obligations, incur large one-time expenses and acquire intangible assets that could result in significant future amortization expense. Moreover, we may not be able to locate suitable acquisition opportunities and this inability could impair our ability to grow or obtain access to technology or products that may be important to the development of our business.

 

If we fail to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), or other anti-bribery laws, our reputation may be harmed and we could be subject to penalties and significant expenses that have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We are subject to the FCPA. The FCPA generally prohibits us from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We are also subject to the anti-bribery laws of other jurisdictions, particularly the PRC. As our business expands, the applicability of the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws to our operations will increase. Our procedures and controls to monitor anti-bribery compliance may fail to protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or agents. If we, due to either our own deliberate or inadvertent acts or those of others, fail to comply with applicable anti-bribery laws, our reputation could be harmed and we could incur criminal or civil penalties, other sanctions and/or significant expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects.

 

If we commence clinical trials of one of our drug or device candidates, and product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and the commercialization of such drug or device candidates may be affected.

 

If any of our drug or device candidates enter clinical trials, we will face an inherent risk of product liability suits and will face an even greater risk if we obtain approval to commercialize any drugs. For example, we may be sued if our drug candidates cause or are perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable during clinical testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the drug, negligence, strict liability or a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our drug candidates. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

 

  decreased demand for our drugs;
     
  injury to our reputation;

 

43

 

 

  withdrawal of clinical trial participants and inability to continue clinical trials;
     
  initiation of investigations by regulators;
     
  costs to defend the related litigation;
     
  a diversion of management’s time and our resources;
     
  substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
     
  product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;
     
  loss of revenue;
     
  exhaustion of any available insurance and our capital resources;
     
  the inability to commercialize any drug candidate; and
     
  a decline in the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares.

 

We shall seek to obtain the appropriate insurance once our candidates are ready for clinical trial. However, our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of drugs we develop, alone or with collaborators. We currently do not have in place product liability insurance and although we plan to have in place such insurance as and when the products are ready for commercialization, as well as insurance covering clinical trials, the amount of such insurance coverage may not be adequate, we may be unable to maintain such insurance, or we may not be able to obtain additional or replacement insurance at a reasonable cost, if at all. Our insurance policies may also have various exclusions, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We may have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. Even if our agreements with any future corporate collaborators entitle us to indemnification against losses, such indemnification may not be available or adequate should any claim arise.

 

Additionally, we may be sued if the products that we commercialize, market or sell cause or are perceived to cause injury or are found to be otherwise unsuitable, and may result in:

 

  decreased demand for those products;
     
  damage to our reputation;
     
  costs incurred related to product recalls;
     
  limiting our opportunities to enter into future commercial partnership; and
     
  a decline in the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares.

 

Our insurance coverage may be inadequate to protect us against losses.

 

We currently maintain property insurance for our office premises (including one unit of server and accessories). We hold employer’s liability insurance generally covering death or work-related injury of employees; we maintain “Office Care Plan Insurance” for those persons working in our offices and “Medical Plan” for our employee. We hold public liability insurance covering certain incidents involving unrelated parties that occur on or in the premises of the Company. We do have directors and officers liability insurance. We do not have key-man life insurance on any of our senior management or key personnel, or business interruption insurance. Our insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover any claim for product liability, damage to our fixed assets or employee injuries. If any claims for damage are brought against us, or if we experience any business disruption, litigation or natural disaster, we might incur substantial costs and diversion of resources.

 

44

 

 

Fluctuations in exchange rates could result in foreign currency exchange losses

 

Our operations and equity are funded in U.S. dollars and we currently incur the majority of our expenses in U.S. dollars or in H.K. dollars. H.K. dollar is currently pegged to the U.S. dollar; however, we cannot guarantee that such peg will continue to be in place in the future. Our exposure to foreign exchange risk primarily relates to the limited cash denominated in currencies other than the functional currencies of each entity and limited revenue contracts dominated in H.K. dollars in certain Hong Kong operating entities. We do not believe that we currently have any significant direct foreign exchange risk and have not hedged exposures denominated in foreign currencies or any other derivative financial instruments.

 

If we are exposed to foreign currency exchange risk as our results of operations, cash flows maybe subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. For example, if a significant portion of our clinical trial activities may be conducted outside of the United States, and associated costs may be incurred in the local currency of the country in which the trial is being conducted, which costs could be subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. We currently do not engage in hedging transactions to protect against uncertainty in future exchange rates between particular foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. A decline in the value of the U.S. dollar against currencies in countries in which we conduct clinical trials could have a negative impact on our research and development costs. Foreign currency fluctuations are unpredictable and may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

Our investments are subject to risks that could result in losses.

 

We had unrestricted cash of $4.47 million, $12.01 million and $16.25 million as of June 30, 2019, December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. We may invest our cash in a variety of financial instruments. All of these investments are subject to credit, liquidity, market and interest rate risk. Such risks, including the failure or severe financial distress of the financial institutions that hold our cash, cash equivalents and investments, may result in a loss of liquidity, impairment to our investments, realization of substantial future losses, or a complete loss of the investments in the long-term, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, liquidity and financial condition. While we believe our cash position does not expose us to excessive risk, future investments may be subject to adverse changes in market value.

 

We are exposed to risks associated with our computer hardware, network security and data storage.

 

Similar to all other computer network users, our computer network system is vulnerable to attack of computer virus, worms, trojan horses, hackers or other similar computer network disruptive problems. Any failure in safeguarding our computer network system from these disruptive problems may cause breakdown of our computer network system and leakage of confidential information of the Company. Any failure in the protection of our computer network system from external threat may disrupt our operation and may damage our reputation for any breach of confidentiality to our customers, which in turn may adversely affect our business operation and performance. In the event that our confidential information is stolen and misused, we may become exposed to potential risks of losses from litigation and possible liability.

 

In addition, we are highly dependent on our IT infrastructure to store research data and information and manage our business operations. We do not backup all data on a real-time basis and the effectiveness of our business operations may be materially affected by any failure in our IT infrastructure. If our communications and IT systems do not function properly, or if there is any partial or complete failure of our systems, we could suffer financial losses, business disruption or damage to our reputation.

 

45

 

 

Business disruptions could seriously harm our future revenue and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.

 

Our operations, and those of our research institution collaborators, CROs, suppliers and other contractors and consultants, could be subject to earthquakes, power shortages, telecommunications failures, damage from computer viruses, material computer system failures, water shortages, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, fires, extreme weather conditions, medical epidemics and other natural or man-made disasters or business interruptions. In addition, we partially rely on our research institution collaborators for conducting research and development of our drug candidates, and they may be affected by government shutdowns or withdrawn funding. The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. We rely on contract manufacturers to produce and process our drug candidates. Our ability to obtain clinical supplies of our drug candidates could be disrupted if the operations of these suppliers are affected by a man-made or natural disaster or other business interruption. A large portion of our contract manufacturer’s operations is located in a single facility. Damage or extended periods of interruption to our corporate or our contract manufacturer’s development or research facilities due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, communications failure, unauthorized entry or other events could cause us to cease or delay development of some or all of our drug candidates.

 

Although we do not currently conduct any business in the PRC, we may in the future; in doing so we would be exposed to various risks related to doing business in the PRC.

 

Although we currently do not conduct any business in the PRC, we are the exclusive licensee to certain PRC patents directed to our drug candidates such as ALS-1, NLS-1, NLS-2 and SPLS-1, and we intend to file application for certain products in the PRC. The pharmaceutical industry in the PRC is subject to comprehensive government regulation and supervision, encompassing the approval, registration, manufacturing, packaging, licensing and marketing of new drugs. (See “Our Business – Government Regulation – PRC Regulations”). In recent years, the regulatory framework in the PRC regarding the pharmaceutical industry has undergone significant changes, and we expect that it will continue to undergo significant changes. Any such changes or amendments may result in increased compliance costs on our business or cause delays in or prevent the successful development or commercialization of our drug candidates in the PRC and reduce the current benefits that we believe are available to us from developing and manufacturing drugs in the PRC. Chinese authorities have become increasingly vigilant in enforcing laws in the pharmaceutical industry and any failure by us or our partners to maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations or obtain and maintain required licenses and permits may result in the suspension or termination of our business activities in the PRC. We believe our strategy and approach is aligned with the PRC government’s policies, but we cannot ensure that our strategy and approach will continue to be aligned.

 

If in the future, we commence business or operation in the PRC, changes in the political and economic policies of the PRC government may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and may result in our inability to sustain our growth and expansion strategies. Once we start doing business in the PRC, our financial condition and results of operation in the PRC could be materially and adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us, and consequently have a material adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The SEC could take the position that we are an “investment company” subject to the extensive requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Such a characterization and the associated compliance requirements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

Our business had historically included passive healthcare related investments in early stage companies primarily in the United States. Although we are in the process of liquidating those securities that remain in our portfolio, we still hold some such investments and these are included as assets of our Company on a consolidated basis. As part of the Restructure, we resolved to exit such portfolio investments over an appropriate timeframe and focus our resources on our current business. Since the date of the Restructure, we have not held ourselves out as an investment company and we do not believe we are an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940. If the SEC or a court, however, were to disagree with us, we could be required to register as an investment company. This would subject us to disclosure and accounting rules geared toward investment companies, rather than operating companies, which may limit our ability to borrow money, issue options, issue multiple classes of stock and debt, and engage in transactions with affiliates, and may require us to undertake significant costs and expenses to meet the disclosure and regulatory requirements to which we would be subject as a registered investment company.

 

46

 

 

If we are classified as a passive foreign investment company for U.S. federal income tax purposes, United States holders of our Class A Ordinary Shares may be subject to adverse United States federal income tax consequences.

 

A non-U.S. corporation will be a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, for such year, if either

 

  At least 75% of its gross income for such year is passive income; or
     
  The average percentage of our assets (determined at the end of each quarter) during such year which produce passive income or which are held for the production of passive income is at least 50%.

 

Passive income generally includes dividends, interests, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of passive assets.

 

A separate determination must be made after the close of each taxable year as to whether a non-U.S. corporation is a PFIC for that year. For purposes of the PFIC analysis, in general, a non-U.S. corporation is deemed to own its pro rata share of the gross income and assets of any entity in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the equity by value. Based on the current and anticipated value of our assets, we believe we were a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ending December 31, 2017, and we may be a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our current taxable year ending December 31, 2018.

 

In determining whether we are a PFIC, cash is considered by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to be a passive asset. During our taxable year ending December 31, 2018, we believe that the amount of restricted and unrestricted cash we had on hand was greater than 50% of our total assets. The composition of our assets during the current taxable year may cause us to continue to be classified as a PFIC. The determination of whether we will be a PFIC for our current taxable year or a future year may depend in part upon how quickly we spend our liquid assets, and on the value of our goodwill and other unbooked intangibles not reflected on our balance sheet, which may depend upon the market value of our Class A Ordinary Shares from time to time. Further, while we will endeavor to use a classification methodology and valuation approach that is reasonable, the IRS may challenge our classification or valuation of our goodwill and other unbooked intangibles for purposes of determining whether we are a PFIC in the current or one or more future taxable years.

 

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder owns our Class A Ordinary Shares, certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences could apply to such U.S. Holder. As discussed under “Taxation – Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations for U.S. Holders – Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules”, a U.S. Holder may be able to make certain tax elections that would lessen the adverse impact of PFIC status; however, in order to make such elections the U.S. holder will usually have to have been provided information about the company by us, and there is no assurance that the company will provide such information.

 

For a more detailed discussion of the application of the PFIC rules to us and the consequences to U.S. holders if we were determined to be a PFIC. (See “Taxation – Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations for U.S. Holders – Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules”)

 

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

 

Our CEO has control over key decision making as a result of his control of a majority of our voting shares.

 

Our Founder, CEO, and our Executive Director, Mr. Ian Huen, and his affiliates, over which he is deemed to have control and/or have substantial influence, has voting rights with respect to an aggregate of 17,836,077 ordinary shares, on an as converted basis (1,774,608 Class A Ordinary Shares and 16,061,469 Class B Ordinary Shares), representing approximately 70% of the voting power of our outstanding ordinary shares as of the date hereof. As a result, Mr. Huen has the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our shareholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, Mr. Huen has the ability to control the management and affairs of our company as a result of his position as our CEO and his ability to control the election of our directors. Additionally, in the event that Mr. Huen controls our company at the time of his death, control may be transferred to a person or entity that he designates as his successor. As a board member and officer, Mr. Huen owes a fiduciary duty to our shareholders and must act in good faith in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of our shareholders. As a shareholder, even a controlling shareholder, Mr. Huen is entitled to vote his shares, and shares over which he has voting control as a result of voting agreements, in his own interests, which may not always be in the interests of our shareholders generally.

 

47

 

 

The dual class structure of our ordinary shares has the effect of concentrating voting control with our CEO, directors and their affiliates.

 

Each Class B Ordinary Share has ten votes per share and each Class A Ordinary Share has one vote per share. Shareholders who hold shares of Class B Ordinary Shares, including our executive officers and their affiliates who hold such shares, hold approximately 97 % of the voting power of our outstanding ordinary shares as of the date hereof. Because of the ten-to-one voting ratio between our Class B and Class A Ordinary Shares, the holders of our Class B Ordinary Shares collectively will continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our ordinary share and therefore be able to control all matters submitted to our shareholders for approval so long as the shares of Class B Ordinary Shares represent at least 9.1% of all outstanding shares of our Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future.

 

Future transfers by holders of Class B Ordinary Shares will generally result in those shares converting to Class A Ordinary Shares, subject to limited exceptions, such as certain transfers effected for estate planning purposes. The conversion of Class B Ordinary Shares to Class A Ordinary Shares will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those holders of Class B Ordinary Shares who retain their shares in the long term. If, for example, Mr. Huen retains a significant portion of his holdings of Class B Ordinary Share for an extended period of time, he could, in the future, continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares.

 

As a “controlled company” under the rules of the NASDAQ Global Market, we may choose to exempt our company from certain corporate governance requirements that could have an adverse effect on our public shareholders.

 

Our directors and officers beneficially own a majority of the voting power of our outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares. Under the Rule 4350(c) of the NASDAQ Global Market, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirement that a majority of our directors be independent, as defined in the NASDAQ Global Market Rules, and the requirement that our compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees consist entirely of independent directors. Although we do not intend to rely on the “controlled company” exemption under the Nasdaq listing rules, we could elect to rely on this exemption in the future. If we elect to rely on the “controlled company” exemption, a majority of the members of our board of directors might not be independent directors and our nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees might not consist entirely of independent directors. Accordingly, during any time while we remain a controlled company relying on the exemption and during any transition period following a time when we are no longer a controlled company, you would not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NASDAQ Global Market corporate governance requirements. Our status as a controlled company could cause our Class A Ordinary Share to look less attractive to certain investors or otherwise harm our trading price.

 

Risks Related to our Securities

 

Shares eligible for future sale may adversely affect the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares if the shares are successfully listed on NASDAQ or other stock markets, as the future sale of a substantial amount of outstanding Class A Ordinary Shares in the public marketplace could reduce the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares.

 

The market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares could decline as a result of sales of substantial amounts of our Class A Ordinary Shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur. In addition, these factors could make it more difficult for us to raise funds through future offerings of our Class A Ordinary Shares. An aggregate of 6,597,362 Class A Ordinary Shares are outstanding as of the date of this prospectus. We are including 27,765,821 Resale Shares in this prospectus, all of which, once sold by the Selling Shareholders pursuant to this prospectus upon and after its effectiveness, will be freely tradable. All of the Class A Ordinary Shares sold in our initial public offering are freely transferable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act. The remaining Class A Ordinary Shares will be “restricted securities” as defined in Rule 144. These Class A Ordinary Shares may be sold without registration under the Securities Act to the extent permitted by Rule 144 or other exemptions under the Securities Act.

 

48

 

 

A sale or perceived sale of a substantial number of our Ordinary Shares may cause the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares to decline.

 

If our shareholders sell substantial amounts of our Class A Ordinary Shares in the public market, the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares could fall. Moreover, the perceived risk of this potential dilution could cause shareholders to attempt to sell their shares and investors to short our Class A Ordinary Shares. These sales also may make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and price that we deem reasonable or appropriate.

 

Issuances by us of additional securities, whether in traditional or token format, could affect ownership and voting rights over us. In addition, the issuance of preferred shares, or options or warrants to purchase those preferred shares, could negatively impact the value of the Ordinary Shares as the result of preferential dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption rights and liquidation provisions granted to the stockholders of such preferred shares.

 

From time to time, we may issue in public or private sales additional securities to third party investors. Such securities may provide holders with ownership and voting rights that could provide the holders thereof with substantial influence over our business. Any preferred shares that may be issued shall have such rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions as may be designated from time-to-time by our board, including preferential dividend rights, voting rights, conversion rights, redemption rights and liquidation provisions. There cannot be any assurance that we will not issue preferred securities with rights and preferences that are more beneficial than those provided to our Ordinary Shares.

 

We have not paid dividends in the past and do not expect to pay dividends in the future, and any return on investment may be limited to the value of our shares.

 

We have never paid any cash dividends on our Class A Ordinary Shares and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our Class A Ordinary Shares in the foreseeable future, and any return on investment may be limited to the value of our Class A Ordinary Shares. We plan to retain any future earnings to finance growth.

 

Our dividend policy is subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on, among other things, our earnings, financial condition, capital requirements and other factors. There is no assurance that our Board of Directors will declare dividends even if we are profitable. Under Cayman Islands law, dividends may be declared and paid only out of funds legally available therefor, namely out of either profit or our share premium account, and provided further that a dividend may not be paid if this would result in our Company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business and the realizable value of assets of our Company will not be less than the sum of our total liabilities, other than deferred taxes as shown on our books of account, and our capital.

 

Our Class B Ordinary Shares have stronger voting power than our Class A Ordinary Shares and certain existing shareholders have substantial influence over our Company and their interests may not be aligned with the interests of our other shareholders.

 

We have a dual-class voting structure consisting of Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. Under this structure, holders of Class A Ordinary Shares are entitled to one vote per share, and holders of Class B Ordinary Shares are entitled to ten votes per share, which can cause the holders of Class B Ordinary Shares to have an unbalanced, higher concentration of voting power. Our management team as a group beneficially owns over 18 million Class B Ordinary Shares representing 80% voting power. As a result, until such time as their collective voting power is below 50%, our management team as a group of controlling shareholders have substantial influence over our business, including decisions regarding mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. They may take actions that are not in the best interests of us or our other shareholders. These corporate actions may be taken even if they are opposed by our other shareholders. Further, concentration of ownership of our Class B Ordinary Shares may discourage, prevent or delay the consummation of change of control transactions that shareholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which shareholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. Future issuances of Class B Ordinary Shares may also be dilutive to the holders of Class A Ordinary Shares. As a result, the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares could be adversely affected.

 

49

 

 

Shareholders who hold shares of Class B Ordinary Shares, including our executive officers and their affiliates, hold approximately 97% of the voting power of our outstanding ordinary shares. Because of the ten-to-one voting ratio between our Class B and Class A Ordinary Shares, the holders of our Class B Ordinary Shares will collectively continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our Ordinary Shares and therefore be able to control all matters submitted to our shareholders for approval, so long as the Class B Ordinary Shares represent at least 9.1% of all outstanding shares of our Ordinary Shares.

 

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our shareholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technology or drug and device candidates.

 

We may seek additional funding through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, licensing arrangements, strategic alliances and marketing or distribution arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a holder of our Class A Ordinary Shares. The incurrence of additional indebtedness or the issuance of certain equity securities could result in increased fixed payment obligations, and could also result in certain additional restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt or issue additional equity, limitations on our ability to acquire or license IP rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. In addition, issuance of additional equity securities, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares to decline. In the event that we enter into collaborations or licensing arrangements to raise capital, we may be required to accept unfavorable terms, including relinquishing or licensing to another party on unfavorable terms our rights to technology or drug and device candidates that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves or potentially reserve for future potential arrangements when we might be able to achieve more favorable terms.

 

Resales of our Class A Ordinary Shares in the public market by the Selling Shareholders may cause the market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares to decline.

 

Sales of Resale Shares could result in resales of our Class A Ordinary Shares by our current shareholders concerned about the potential dilution of their holdings. In turn, these resales could have the effect of depressing the market price for our Class A Ordinary Shares.

 

Since we are a Cayman Islands exempted company, the rights of our shareholders may be more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the United States.

 

Our corporate affairs are governed by our Second Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (as may be amended from time to time) (“Memorandum and Articles”), the Companies Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands (the “Companies Law”) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. This common law is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, which has persuasive, but not binding, authority on a court in the Cayman Islands. Under the laws of some jurisdictions in the United States, majority and controlling shareholders generally have certain fiduciary responsibilities to the minority shareholders. Shareholder action must be taken in good faith, and actions by controlling shareholders which are obviously unreasonable may be declared null and void. Cayman Islands law protecting the interests of minority shareholders may not be as protective in all circumstances as the law protecting minority shareholders in some U.S. jurisdictions. In addition, the circumstances in which a shareholder of a Cayman Islands company may sue the company derivatively, and the procedures and defenses that may be available to the company, may result in the rights of shareholders of a Cayman Islands company being more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the United States. Accordingly, shareholders may have fewer alternatives available to them if they believe that corporate wrongdoing has occurred. The Cayman Islands courts are also unlikely to recognize or enforce judgments from U.S. courts based on certain liability provisions of U.S. securities laws that are penal in nature. There is no statutory recognition in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, although the courts of the Cayman Islands will generally recognize and enforce non-penal judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction for a liquidated sum without retrial on its merits which is not obtained in a manner contrary to public policy in the Cayman Islands and in respect of which there are no concurrent proceedings in the Cayman Islands. This means, even if shareholders were to sue us successfully, they may not be able to recover anything to make up for the losses suffered.

 

50

 

 

Furthermore, our directors have the power to take certain actions without shareholder approval which would require shareholder approval under the laws of most U.S. jurisdictions. For example, the directors of a Cayman Islands company, without shareholder approval, may implement a sale of any assets, property, part of the business, or securities of the Company.

 

While Cayman Islands law allows a dissenting shareholder to express the shareholder’s view that a court sanctioned reorganization of a Cayman Islands company would not provide fair value for the shareholder’s shares, Cayman Islands statutory law does not specifically provide for shareholder appraisal rights on a merger or consolidation of a company. This may make it more difficult for you to assess the value of any consideration you may receive in a merger or consolidation or to require that the acquirer gives you additional consideration if you believe the consideration offered is insufficient. However, Cayman Islands’ statutory law does provide a mechanism for a dissenting shareholder in a merger or consolidation to apply to the Grand Court for a determination of the fair value of the dissenter’s shares, if it is not possible for the Company and the dissenter to agree a fair price within the time limits prescribed.

 

Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies, such as our Company, have no general rights under Cayman Islands’ law to inspect corporate records and accounts or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders. Our directors have discretion under our Memorandum and Articles to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.

 

Lastly, under the law of the Cayman Islands, there is little statutory law for the protection of minority shareholders. The principal protection under statutory law is that shareholders may bring an action to enforce the constituent documents of the corporation, our Memorandum and Articles. Shareholders are entitled to have the affairs of the company conducted in accordance with the general law and the memorandum and articles of association.

 

There are common law rights for the protection of shareholders that may be invoked, largely dependent on English company law, since the common law of the Cayman Islands for business companies is limited. Under the general rule pursuant to English company law known as the rule in Foss v. Harbottle, a court will generally refuse to interfere with the management of a company at the insistence of a minority of its shareholders who express dissatisfaction with the conduct of the company’s affairs by the majority or the board of directors. However, every shareholder is entitled to have the affairs of the company conducted properly according to law and the constituent documents of the company. As such, if those who control the company have persistently disregarded the requirements of company law or the provisions of the company’s memorandum and articles of association, then the courts will grant relief. Generally, the areas in which the courts will intervene are the following: (1) an act complained of which is outside the scope of the authorized business or is illegal or not capable of ratification by the majority; (2) acts that constitute fraud on the minority where the wrongdoers control the company; (3) acts that infringe on the personal rights of the shareholders, such as the right to vote; and (4) where the company has not complied with provisions requiring approval of a special or extraordinary majority of shareholders, which are more limited than the rights afforded minority shareholders under the laws of many states in the United States subject to limited exceptions, under Cayman Islands Law a minority shareholder may not bring a derivative action against directors. Our Cayman Islands’ counsel has advised us that they are aware of one recent as yet unreported derivative action having been brought in a Cayman Islands’ court. Class actions are not recognized in the Cayman Islands, but groups of shareholders with identical interests may bring representative proceedings, which are similar.

 

As a result, you may be limited in your ability to protect your interests if you are harmed in a manner that would otherwise enable you to sue in a United States federal court. In addition, shareholders of Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in U.S. federal courts.

 

As a result of all of the above, shareholders of our Company may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would have as shareholders of a public U.S. company.

 

You may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law, we currently conduct substantially all of our operations outside the United States and some of our directors and executive officers reside outside the United States.

 

We are incorporated in the Cayman Islands and currently conduct substantially all of our operations outside the United States through our subsidiaries. Some of our directors and executive officers reside outside the United States and a substantial portion of their assets are located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the Cayman Islands or in Hong Kong, in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed under the securities laws of the United States or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong may render you unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers. There is no statutory recognition in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States or Hong Kong, although the courts of the Cayman Islands will generally recognize and enforce a non-penal judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits if such judgment is final, for a liquidated sum, not in the nature of taxes, a fine or penalty, is not inconsistent with a Cayman Islands’ judgment in respect of the same matters, and was not obtained in a manner which is contrary to public policy. In addition, a Cayman Islands court may stay proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

 

51

 

 

We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act and will take advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements.

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act and take advantage of certain exemptions from various requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, most significantly, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for so long as we are an emerging growth company. As a result, if we elect not to comply with such auditor attestation requirements, our investors may not have access to certain information they may deem important.

 

The JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company does not need to comply with any new or revised financial accounting standards until such date that a private company is otherwise required to comply with such new or revised accounting standards. The Company has elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standard under Section 102(b)(2) of the Jobs Act, that allows the Company to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies.

 

Risks Related to the SMPT tokens

 

There is no assurance that purchasers of the SMPT tokens will receive a return on their investment.

 

Each Token will entitle its holder (each, a “Tokenholder”) to receive certain sales-based royalties, sublicensing income or additional cash flow generated by drug candidates developed by the Smart-ACTTM platform (the “Token Distribution”) (See “Prospectus Summary – Recent Events – Smart Pharma Token”).

 

As identified in the aforementioned risk factors, a pharmaceutical company’s ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability is dependent on its ability to complete the development of drug candidates and any future drug candidates one develops in its portfolio, obtain necessary regulatory approvals, and have our drugs products under development manufactured and successfully marketed, of which there can be no guarantee. Furthermore, the research methodology used may be unsuccessful in identifying potential drug candidates, or those drug candidates identified may have harmful side effects or other undesirable characteristics that make them unmarketable or unlikely to receive regulatory approval (See “Risk Factors – Risks Related to the Preclinical and Clinical Development of Our Drug Candidates - We currently do not generate revenue from product sales and may never become profitable; unless we can raise more capital through additional financings, of which there can be no guarantee, our principal source of revenue will be from AML Clinic, which may not be substantial” and “We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional drug candidates. Due to our limited resources and access to capital, we must continue to the prioritize development of certain drug candidates; such decisions may prove to be wrong and may adversely affect our business”).

 

Therefore, we cannot guarantee that any drug candidates currently and subsequently developed by SMTPH using the Smart-ACTTM platform will generate any revenue that would derive any sales-based royalties, sublicensing income or additional cash flow for distribution to Tokenholders.

 

Accordingly, there is no assurance that purchasers of SMPT tokens will realize any return on their investments or that their entire investments will not be lost.

 

SMPT Tokenholders’ security interest in the intellectual property rights may affect our shareholder’s interest in the Company.

 

SPLP acts as the intellectual property holding company of Smart Pharma, and holds all title, rights and ownership interest of the intellectual property rights developed by Smart-ACTTM (“Project IP”). The SMPT tokens are secured by way of a floating charge against the Project IP to guarantee the distribution of accrued sales-based royalties, sublicensing income or additional cash flow generated by drug candidates developed by the Smart-ACTTM platform (See “Prospectus Summary – Recent Events – Smart Pharma Token”).

 

Therefore, regardless of the number of the SMPT tokens sold and the amount of proceeds raised from the token sales, Tokenholders will only be eligible to receive a Token Distribution if any sales-based royalties, sublicensing income or additional cash flow is generated by drug candidates developed by the Smart-ACTTM platform, as and when SPLP declares the distribution.

 

Because the Token Distribution is secured by a security interest in such intellectual property rights, if and when SPLP defaults in its distribution obligations to the Tokenholders, or in the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of SPLP, the floating charge may crystallize into a fixed charge over the charged assets (i.e., the Project IP owned by SPLP), while a receiver may be appointed by the Tokenholders to sell off the Project IP. If this were to occur, the disposal of the Project IP by an appointed receiver may trigger a breach of any commercialization agreements between Smart Pharma and third parties with respect to the repurposed drug project, which may in turn affect our business, revenue and reputation.

 

The distributions to SMPT Tokenholders are not correlated with the number of SMPT tokens sold or net proceeds raised through the SMPT token sales.

 

SMTPH intends to use all of the proceeds raised from the SMPT token sales towards the development and operation of the Smart-ACTTM platform. If the issuance of the SMPT tokens does not result in substantial proceeds, it could have a material adverse effect on SMTPH’s ability to fund these objectives and carry out its related business plans, its ability to develop the Smart-ACTTM platform may be limited.

 

Aptorum Group anticipates that the net proceeds from the sales of the SMPT tokens will not be sufficient to fully fund Smart Pharma's current and future operations until it becomes self-sustaining. Smart Pharma’s current funding needs include funding for validation and assessment of candidates, operation and improvement of the platform, legal/professional services and exchanges-listing.

 

Therefore, Smart Pharma will likely require funding from Aptorum Group or other sources to subsidize and support its operations. The presence and level of funding support from Aptorum Group or other sources will not affect the aggregate distribution entitled by the Tokenholders, as the aggregate distribution is dependent on the ability for Smart-ACTTM to develop drug candidates that can generate sales-based royalties, sublicensing income or additional cash flow and the extent of commercial success of such candidate.

 

Therefore, the distributions to SMPT Tokenholders would not necessarily be correlated with the number of SMPT tokens sold or the net proceeds raised through the SMPT token sales. The dollar value of the aggregate distributions will not be affected by proceeds from the SMPT token sales, regardless of whether the proceeds greatly exceed or are significantly lower than the actual costs for funding Smart Pharma’s current and future operations.

 

52

 

 

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This prospectus, including the sections titled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Our Business” contains forward-looking statements that are based on our management’s belief and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements relate to future events or our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus include, but are not limited to, statements about:

 

  the initiation, timing, progress and results of our preclinical and clinical trials, and our research and development programs;

 

  our ability to advance our drug candidates into, and successfully complete, clinical trials;

 

  our ability to identify and develop new drug and device candidates;

 

  our reliance on the success of our drug candidates currently undergoing preclinical development; in particular, our Lead Project candidates;

 

  the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals;

 

  the commercialization of our drug and device candidates, if approved;

 

  our ability to develop sales and marketing capabilities;

 

  the pricing and reimbursement of our drug candidates, if approved;

 

  the implementation of our business model, strategic plans for our business and technology;

 

  the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for IP rights covering our drug and device candidates and technology;

 

  our ability to operate our business without infringing the IP rights and proprietary technology of other parties;

 

  costs associated with defending IP infringement, product liability and other claims;

 

  regulatory development in the U.S., Europe and PRC and other jurisdictions;

 

  estimates of our expenses, future revenues, capital requirements and our needs for additional financing;

 

  the potential benefits of strategic collaboration agreements and our ability to enter into strategic arrangements;

  

  our ability to maintain and establish collaborations or obtain additional grant funding; the rate and degree of market acceptance of our drug and device candidates;

 

  developments relating to our competitors and industry, including competing therapies;

 

  our ability to effectively manage our anticipated growth;

 

  our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel;

 

  our expectations regarding the period during which we qualify as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act;

 

  statements regarding future revenue, hiring plans, expenses, capital expenditures, capital requirements and share performance;

 

  the future trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares and impact of securities analysts’ reports on these prices; and

 

  other risks and uncertainties, including those listed under the caption “Risk Factors.”

 

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminologies. These statements are only predictions. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could materially affect results. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual events or results may vary significantly from those implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance. You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

 

The forward-looking statements in this prospectus represent our views as of the date of this prospectus. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should therefore not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this prospectus.

 

This prospectus contains market data and industry forecasts that were obtained from industry publications. These data involve a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. While we believe the market position, market opportunity and market size information included in this prospectus is generally reliable, such information is inherently imprecise.

53

 

 

TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND TRADENAMES

 

This prospectus contains trademarks, service marks and trade names of others, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks, logos and trade names referred to in this prospectus are included without the ® and ™ symbols. All trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this prospectus are, to our knowledge, the property of their respective owners. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trademarks, service marks, copyrights or trade names to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies or unrelated parties.

  

USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the Class A Ordinary Shares by the selling shareholder pursuant to this prospectus. All proceeds from the sale of the shares will be for the account of the selling shareholder. The selling shareholder may sell these shares in the open market or otherwise, at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to the prevailing market price, or at negotiated prices.

 

The selling shareholder will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions and expenses incurred by the selling shareholder for brokerage or legal services or any other expenses incurred by the selling shareholder in disposing of the shares included in this prospectus. We will bear all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of the shares covered by this prospectus, including all registration and filing fees and fees and expenses of our counsel and accountants.

 

DIVIDEND POLICY

 

We have never declared or paid cash dividends to our shareholders, and we do not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We intend to reinvest any earnings in developing and expanding our business. Any future determination relating to our dividend policy will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on a number of factors, including future earnings, our financial condition, operating results, contractual restrictions, capital requirements, business prospects, our strategic goals and plans to expand our business, applicable law and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

 

Under Cayman Islands law, dividends may be declared and paid only out of funds legally available therefor, namely out of either profit or our share premium account, and provided further that a dividend may not be paid if this would result in our Company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business.

 

(See “Risk Factors – We have not paid dividends in the past and do not expect to pay dividends in the future, and any return on investment may be limited to the value of our shares” and “Description of Share Capital – Dividends”)

 

CAPITALIZATION

 

The table below sets forth our capitalization and indebtedness as of June 30, 2019:

 

  on an actual basis (column 1); and
     
  on a pro forma basis as adjusted basis, to give effect to the issuance of 22,437,754 Class A Ordinary Shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B Ordinary Shares; (See “Description of Share Capital”) (column 2).
     
  The table does not include any shares underlying the outstanding options.

 

This table should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

   June 30, 2019 
   1   2 
   Actual   Pro Forma 
   US$   US$ 
Equity        
Class A Ordinary Shares   6,597,362    29,035,116 
Class B Ordinary Shares   22,437,754    - 
Additional paid-in capital   23,857,814    23,857,814 
Accumulated other comprehensive income   7,345    7,345 
Accumulated deficit   (27,957,689)   (27,957,689)
Non-controlling interests   (920,298)   (920,298)
Total equity   24,022,288    24,022,288 
Total capitalization   24,022,288    24,022,288 

  

The information above is illustrative only.

 

54

 

 

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

The following summary consolidated balance sheets (successor basis) as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss (successor basis) for the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017, as well as the statement of operations (predecessor basis) for the period January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017, have been derived from our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The related consolidated balance sheet (successor basis) as of June 30, 2019, consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 have been derived from our unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. You should read this data together with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus and the information under the captions “Capitalization” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our future results. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP.

 

You should not view our historical results as an indicator of our future performance.

 

The following table presents our summary consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss (successor basis) for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017.

 

Selected Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (Successor Basis)

(In U.S. Dollars, except number of shares)

 

  

 

Six months
ended
June 30,
2019

   Six months ended
June 30,
2018
   Year Ended
December 31,
2018
   March 1,
2017
through
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)         
Revenue:                
Healthcare services income  $239,792   $26,662   $383,450   $- 
Expenses:                    
Cost of healthcare services   (371,218)   (22,749)   (318,011)   - 
Research and development expenses   (2,714,217)   (1,342,179)   (3,101,432)   (2,560,323)
General and administrative fees   (3,232,916)   (2,238,025)   (4,919,626)   (1,480,093)
Legal and professional fees   (2,008,774)   (1,063,032)   (1,811,770)   (1,395,490)
Other operating expenses   (120,788)   (235,413)   (560,709)   (257,177)
Total expenses   (8,447,913)   (4,901,398)   (10,711,548)   (5,693,083)
Other (loss) income:                    
Gain on investments in marketable securities, net   315,977    -    501,522    3,912,500 
Gain on non-marketable investments   1,147,199    -    -    - 
Gain (loss) on investments in derivatives, net   310,195    (359,844)   (974,444)   (827,501)
Realized gain on use of digital currencies   12,334    -    -    - 
Changes in fair value of warrant liabilities   (866,300)   -    124,726    - 
Gain on extinguishment of convertible debts   1,198,490    -    -    - 
Interest (expense) income, net   (3,678,566)   (301,362)   (4,458,191)   44,269 
Dividend income   -    -    -    2,308 
Sundry income   128,444    -    -    - 
Total other (loss) income, net   (1,432,227)   (661,206)   (4,806,387)   3,131,576 
                     
Net loss   (9,640,348)   (5,535,942)   (15,134,485)   (2,561,507)
Less: net loss attributable to non-controlling interests   (551,877)   (47,570)   (302,762)   (14,045)
                     
Net loss attributable to Aptorum Group Limited  $(9,088,471)  $(5,488,372)  $(14,831,723)  $(2,547,462)
                     
Net loss per share – basic and diluted*  $(0.31)  $(0.20)  $(0.53)  $(0.09)
Weighted-average shares outstanding – basic and diluted   28,978,151    27,864,135    27,909,788    26,963,435 
                     
Net loss  $(9,640,348)  $(5,535,942)  $(15,134,485)  $(2,561,507)
                     
Other comprehensive income (loss)                    
Unrealized loss on investments in available-for-sale securities   -    (178,027)   (1,122,251)   (367,782)
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations   2,000    167    5,345    - 
Other comprehensive income (loss)   2,000    (177,860)   (1,116,906)   (367,782)
                     
Comprehensive loss   (9,638,348)   (5,713,802)   (16,251,391)   (2,929,289)
Less: comprehensive loss attributable to non-controlling interests   (551,877)   (47,570)   (302,762)   (14,045)
                     
Comprehensive loss attributable to the shareholders of Aptorum Group Limited  $(9,086,471)  $(5,666,232)  $(15,948,629)  $(2,915,244)

 

* The shares and per share data are presented at a weighted average basis to reflect the nominal share issuance.

 

55

 

 

The following table presents our summary statements of operations (predecessor basis) for the period January 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017.

 

Selected Statement of Operations (Predecessor Basis) 

(In U.S. Dollars)

 

   January 1,
2017
through
February 28,
2017
 
Investment income:    
Interest income  $3,011 
Total investment income   3,011 
Expenses     
General and administrative fees   17,516 
Management fees   108,958 
Legal and professional fees   98,646 
Other operating expenses   1,907 
Total expenses   227,027 
Net investment loss  $(224,016)
      
Realized and unrealized losses     
Net realized losses on investments in unaffiliated issuers  $(15,327)
Net change in unrealized depreciation on investments   (386,741)
Net realized and unrealized losses   (402,068)
      
Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations  $(626,084)

  

The following table presents our summary consolidated balance sheets (successor basis) as of June 30, 2019, December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017.

 

   As of
June 30,
2019
   As of
December 31,
2018
   As of
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)         
Cash, restricted cash and marketable securities  $6,135,837   $27,121,576   $18,698,455 
Total current assets   7,742,644    28,722,941    20,283,399 
Total assets   24,740,370    45,074,640    31,559,982 
Total current liabilities   597,141    12,184,865    1,330,734 
Total liabilities   718,082    12,328,738    1,330,734 
Total equity attributable to the shareholders of Aptorum Group Limited   24,942,586    33,114,435    30,243,293 
Non-controlling interests   (920,298)   (368,533)   (14,045)
Total equity   24,022,288    32,745,902    30,229,248 
Total liabilities and equity  $24,740,370   $45,074,640   $31,559,982 

 

56

 

 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION 

AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 

 

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the section titled “Selected Financial Data” and the financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” and in other parts of this prospectus. Our financial statements and consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

 

Overview

 

We are a pharmaceutical company currently in the preclinical stage, dedicated to developing and commercializing a broad range of therapeutic and diagnostic technologies to tackle unmet medical needs. We have obtained exclusive licenses for our technologies. In addition, we are also developing certain proprietary technologies as product candidates. We are pursuing therapeutic and diagnostic projects (including projects seeking to use extracts or derivatives from natural substances to treat diseases) in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas. We also have projects focused on surgical robotics. (See “Our Business – Lead Projects and Other Projects under Development”) Also, we opened a medical clinic, AML Clinic, in June 2018.

 

Although none of our drug or device candidates has yet been approved for testing in humans, our goal is to develop a broad range of early stage novel therapeutics and diagnostics across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas. Key components of our strategy for achieving this goal include: (for details of our strategy, See “Our Business – Our Strategy”)

 

  Developing therapeutic and diagnostic innovations across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas;
     
  Selectively expanding our portfolio with potential products that may be able to attain orphan drug designation and/or satisfy current unmet medical needs;
     
  Collaborating with leading academic institutions and CROs;
     
  Expanding our in-house pharmaceutical development center;
     
  Leveraging our management’s expertise, experience and commercial networks;
     
  Strategically developing opportunities in Hong Kong to promote access to the PRC market; and
     
  Obtaining and leveraging government grants to fund project development.

 

We have begun to devote a significant percentage of our resources, including a substantial portion of the proceeds to three therapeutic projects (“Lead Projects”). The drug candidates being advanced as the Lead Projects are ALS-1, ALS-4 and NLS-1, described in further detail below. If the results of the remaining preclinical studies of these drug candidates are positive, we expect to be able to submit by 2020 or 2021 an Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”) for at least one of these candidates to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) or an equivalent application to the regulatory authorities in one or more other jurisdictions such as the China’s National Medical Products Administration (“NMPA”) and/or the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”). Acceptance of these applications by the relevant regulatory authority would enable the Company to begin testing that drug candidate in humans in that jurisdiction. Our ability to obtain any approval of such applications is entirely dependent upon the results of our preclinical studies, none of which have yet been completed.

 

57

 

 

Our current business consists of “therapeutics” and “non-therapeutics” segments. However, our focus is on the therapeutics segments. Because of the risks, costs and extended development time required for successful drug development, we have determined to pursue projects within our non-therapeutics segments, such as AML Clinic, to provide some interim revenue and medical robots that may be brought to market and generate revenue more quickly.

 

Therapeutics Segment. In our therapeutics segment (“Aptorum Therapeutics Group”), we are currently seeking to develop various drug molecules (including projects seeking to use extracts or derivatives from natural substances to treat diseases) and certain technologies for the treatment (“therapeutics”) and diagnosis (“diagnostics”) of human disease conditions in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas. In addition, we are seeking to identify additional prospects which may qualify for potential orphan drug designation (e.g., rare types of cancer) or which address other current unmet medical needs. Aptorum Therapeutics Group is operated through Aptorum’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aptorum Therapeutics Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability, whose principal place of business is in Hong Kong and its indirect subsidiary companies (who we sometimes refer to herein as project companies), whose principal places of business are also in Hong Kong.

 

Non-Therapeutics Segment. The non-therapeutics segment (“Aptorum Non-Therapeutics Group”) encompasses two businesses: (i) the development of surgical robotics and medical devices and (ii) AML Clinic. The development of surgical robotics and medical devices business is operated through Signate Life Sciences Limited, a subsidiary of Aptorum Therapeutics Limited. The outpatient clinic is operated through our subsidiary, Aptorum Medical Limited. Effective as of March 2018, we leased office space in Central, Hong Kong as the home to our medical clinic (“AML Clinic”). AML Clinic commenced operations under the name of Talem Medical in June 2018. The estimated general administrative expenses and other operating expenses of AML Clinic is expected to be no more than USD120,000 per month. The clinic is expected to reach operating profit in 18 months from the clinic reaching its full operating capacity upon (i) the successful recruitment of a minimum of six full time physicians (AML Clinic currently has one full time physician and six part time physicians) and (ii) establishing steady patients flow via brand development. (See “Our Business – Lead Projects and Other Projects under Development – Other Projects under Development – Aptorum Medical Limited - AML Clinic”)

 

The Company has already obtained opportunities resulting in our existing licensing agreements from various contractual relationships that we have entered into, including service/consulting agreements with some of the world’s leading specialists and clinicians in our areas of interest, with academic institutions and organizations, and with CROs. We anticipate that these relationships will generate additional licensing opportunities in the future. In addition, we have established and are continuing to expand our in-house research facilities (collectively, the “R&D Center”) to develop some of our drug and device candidates internally and to collaborate with third-party researchers.

 

Prior to March 2017, the Company had pursued passive healthcare related investments in early stage companies primarily in the United States. However, we have since ceased pursuing further passive investment operations and intend to exit all such portfolio investments over an appropriate timeframe to focus resources on our current business.

 

Critical Accounting Policies, Estimates and Assumptions

 

Basis of presentation

 

The consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Before March 1, 2017, the Company was an investment company under U.S. GAAP for the purposes of financial reporting. U.S. GAAP for an investment company requires investments to be recorded at estimated fair value and the unrealized gains and/or losses in an investment’s fair value are recognized on a current basis in the statements of operations. In addition, the Company did not consolidate its subsidiaries, since they were operating companies and not investment companies. Such entities were fair valued in accordance with ASC Topic 946 (“ASC 946”) and ASC Topic 820 (“ASC 820”).

 

As of March 1, 2017, after the change of business purpose, legal form and substantive activities, the Company’s status changed to an operating company from an investment company since it no longer met the criteria to qualify as an investment company under the ASC 946. The Company discontinued applying the guidance in ASC 946 and began to account for the change in status prospectively by accounting for its investments in accordance with other U.S. GAAP topics. The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

 

58

 

 

Principles of consolidation

 

The consolidated financial statements of the Group are presented on the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with U.S. GAAP and include the accounts of the Company, its direct and indirect wholly and majority owned subsidiaries and a variable interest entity. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in preparation of the consolidated financial statements. Non-controlling interests represent the equity interest that is not owned by the Group.

 

Use of estimates

 

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements on successor basis in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations as well as income and expenses during the reporting period. Significant accounting estimates reflected in the Group’s consolidated financial statements include valuing equity securities, fair value of investments in securities, convertible debts and finance lease, the useful lives of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment, impairment of long-lived assets, valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, and collectability of receivables. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

Foreign currency translation and transaction

 

USD is the reporting currency. The functional currency of subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands is USD, the functional currency of subsidiaries in Hong Kong is Hong Kong Dollars (“HKD”), the functional currency of a subsidiary in Macao is Macanese Pataca (“MOP”) and the functional currency of a subsidiary in the United Kingdom is Great British Pound (“GBP”). An entity’s functional currency is the currency of the primary economic environment in which it operates, normally that is the currency of the environment in which it primarily generates and expends cash. The management considered various indicators, such as cash flows, market expenses, financing and inter-company transactions and arrangements in determining the Group’s functional currency.

 

In the consolidated financial statements, the financial information of the Company and its subsidiaries, which use HKD, MOP and GBP as their functional currency, has been translated into USD. Assets and liabilities are translated from each subsidiary’s functional currency at the exchange rates on the balance sheet date, equity amounts are translated at historical exchange rates, and revenues, expenses, gains, and losses are translated using the average rate for the year. Translation adjustments are reported as cumulative translation adjustments and are shown as a separate component of other comprehensive income or loss in the statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

 

Fair value measurement

 

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining the fair value measurements for assets and liabilities required or permitted to be recorded at fair value, the Group considers the principal or most advantageous market in which it would transact its business, and it considers assumptions that market participants would use when pricing the asset or liability.

 

As a basis for considering such assumptions, a three-tier fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs utilized in measuring fair value as follows:

 

  Level 1 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
     
  Level 2 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data.
     
  Level 3 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

 

59

 

 

Impairment of long-lived assets

 

The Group reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may no longer be recoverable. When these events occur, the Group measures impairment by comparing the carrying value of the long-lived assets to the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. If the sum of the expected undiscounted cash flow is less than the carrying amount of the assets, the Group would recognize an impairment loss, which is the excess of carrying amount over the fair value of the assets, using the expected future discounted cash flows.

 

Convertible debts

 

The Group determines the appropriate accounting treatment of its convertible debts in accordance with the terms in relation to the conversion feature, call and put option, beneficial conversion feature (“BCF”) and settlement feature. On December 17, 2018, the Group concluded that the contingency of BCF was effectively resolved upon the completion of the IPO and recognized BCF according to the agreement.

 

Convertible debts are subsequently measured at amortized cost, using the effective interest rate method. Amortized cost is calculated by taking into account any discount or premium on acquisition and fees or costs that are an integral part of the effective interest rate. The effective interest rate amortization is included in interest expense in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

 

Amortized cost is calculated by taking into account any discount or premium on acquisition and fees or costs that are an integral part of the effective interest rate. The effective interest rate amortization is included in finance costs in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

 

The repurchasing of convertible debts is considered an extinguishment and the difference between the repurchasing price of debt, the net carrying amount of the extinguished debt and the intrinsic value of BCF is recognized in the condensed consolidated statement of operations. The intrinsic value of BCF at the extinguishment date decrease to additional paid-in capital. On April 24, 2019, the Group repurchased its convertible debts at $13.6 million with carrying amount of $13.5 million and the intrinsic value of BCF is $1.3 million with a gain on extinguishment of convertible debts of $1.2 million.

 

Revenue recognition

 

Revenue is recognized when (or as) the Company satisfies performance obligations by transferring a promised goods or services to a customer. Revenue is measured at the transaction price which is based on the amount of consideration that the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring the promised goods or services to the customer. Contracts with customers are comprised of invoices and written contracts. Revenue from healthcare services is measured upon the provision of the relevant services. 

 

Income taxes

 

The Group accounts for income taxes under the asset and liability method. Under this method, deferred income taxes are determined based on differences between the financial carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their tax bases. Income taxes are provided for in accordance with the laws of the relevant taxing authorities.

 

A valuation allowance is provided for deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that these items will either expire before the Group is able to realize their benefits, or that future deductibility is uncertain. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

 

RESULTS OF OPERATION (SUCCESSOR BASIS)

 

Explanatory Note

 

After the Restructure, the results of operations and cash flows of the Group for period beginning March 1, 2017 and subsequent balance sheet dates are referred to herein as “Successor” consolidated financial information.

 

Financial statements and information are presented for the year ended December 31, 2018 (Successor) and the ten months ended December 31, 2017 (Successor), which may not be comparable with amounts shown in each year/period.

 

60

 

 

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.

 

  

 

Six months ended
June 30,
2019

   Six months ended
June 30,
2018
   Year Ended
December 31,
2018
   March 1,
2017
through
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)         
Revenue:                
Healthcare services income  $239,792   $26,662   $383,450   $- 
Expenses:                    
Cost of healthcare services   (371,218)   (22,749)   (318,011)   - 
Research and development expenses   (2,714,217)   (1,342,179)   (3,101,432)   (2,560,323)
General and administrative fees   (3,232,916)   (2,238,025)   (4,919,626)   (1,480,093)
Legal and professional fees   (2,008,774)   (1,063,032)   (1,811,770)   (1,395,490)
Other operating expenses   (120,788)   (235,413)   (560,709)   (257,177)
Total expenses   (8,447,913)   (4,901,398)   (10,711,548)   (5,693,083)
Other (loss) income:                    
Gain on investments in marketable securities, net   315,977    -    501,522    3,912,500 
Gain on non-marketable investments   1,147,199    -    -    - 
Gain (loss) on investments in derivatives, net   310,195    (359,844)   (974,444)   (827,501)
Realized gain on use of digital currencies   12,334    -    -    - 
Changes in fair value of warrant liabilities   (866,300)   -    124,726    - 
Gain on extinguishment of convertible debts   1,198,490    -    -    - 
Interest (expense) income, net   (3,678,566)   (301,362)   (4,458,191)   44,269 
Dividend income   -    -    -    2,308 
Sundry income   128,444    -    -    - 
Total other (loss) income, net   (1,432,227)   (661,206)   (4,806,387)   3,131,576 
                     
Net loss  $(9,640,348)  $(5,535,942)  $(15,134,485)  $(2,561,507)

 

Revenue

 

Healthcare services income was $239,792, $26,662 and $383,450 for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, and the year ended December 31, 2018, respectively, which related to the service income derived from the AML Clinic. We had no healthcare services income for the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.

 

Research and development expenses

 

Research and development expenses comprised of costs incurred related to research and development activities, including payroll expenses to our research and development staff, sponsored research programs with various universities and research institutions and costs in acquiring IP rights which did not meet the criteria of capitalization under the U.S. GAAP. We currently maintain a system to keep track of costs spent by each project. The following table sets forth a summary of our research and development expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to the incurred expenses for new sponsored research entered into with Universities in the current period, and the full operation of research and development was started in the second half of 2018 which led to depreciation and increase in payroll expenses since second half of 2018.

 

   Six months ended
June 30,
2019
   Six months ended
June 30,
2018
   Year Ended
December 31,
2018
   March 1,
2017
through
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)         
Research and Development Expenses:                
Payroll expenses  $810,166   $575,968   $1,363,740   $95,078 
Sponsored research   844,575    306,822    796,943    1,327,247 
Amortization and depreciation   384,782    160,502    437,453    58,903 
Consultation   544,722    192,107    298,315    92,129 
General R&D expense   122,472    106,780    174,981    186,910 
Research grant   7,500    -    30,000    800,056 
Total Research and Development Expenses  $2,714,217   $1,342,179   $3,101,432   $2,560,323 

 

61

 

 

General and administrative fees

 

The following table sets forth a summary of our general and administrative expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. The increase in general and administration fees was mainly due to the increased headcount in the Group to support the business development, and the higher amounts of insurance expense incurred after the Company listed its securities on NASDAQ.

 

   Six months ended
June 30,
2019
   Six months ended
June 30,
2018
   Year Ended
December 31,
2018
   March 1,
2017
through
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)         
General and Administrative Fees:                
Administrative fees  $-   $384,615   $448,718   $640,932 
Payroll expenses   1,604,933    1,060,950    2,510,331    306,967 
Rent and rates   285,037    296,074    681,502    49,518 
Travelling expenses   431,287    126,286    414,696    175,671 
Amortization and depreciation   200,919    48,765    244,839    344 
Insurance   341,614    88,649    199,698    23,412 
Recruitment expenses   1,316    29,665    50,476    125,535 
Other expenses   367,810    203,021    369,366    157,714 
Total General and Administrative Fees  $3,232,916   $2,238,025   $4,919,626   $1,480,093 

  

Management fees/Administrative fees

 

AENEAS CAPITAL LIMITED, formerly known as APTUS CAPITAL LIMITED, a related company of the Group/Company, provided management and administrative services to the Group and incurred pre-determined management fees. For the six months ended June 30, 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017, the administrative fees of $384,615, $448,718 and $640,932, respectively, has been reclassified to general and administrative fees due to the Restructure and since the Company has become a pharmaceutical company, so the management fees are no longer determined by net asset value since then. The services were terminated in July 2018.

 

Legal and professional fees

 

For the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017, the legal and professional fees were $2,008,774, $1,063,032, $1,811,770 and $1,395,490, respectively. The increase in legal and professional fees was mainly due to the increasing need for consultancy services on various projects.

 

62

 

 

Other operating expenses

 

The following table sets forth a summary of our other operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. The increase in other operating expenses in 2018 was mainly due to more corporate events held to promote the Company and business expansion.

 

   Six months ended
June 30,
2019
   Six months ended
June 30,
2018
   Year Ended
December 31,
2018
   March 1,
2017
through
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)         
Other Operating Expenses:                
Event and meeting expenses  $52,507   $131,926   $385,483   $83,288 
Commission expenses   1,759    -    1,517    55,726 
Other expenses   66,522    103,487    173,709    118,163 
Total Other Operating Expenses   120,788    235,413    560,709    257,177 

 

Other (loss) income

 

The following table sets forth a summary of our other (loss) income for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.

 

   Six months ended
June 30,
2019
   Six months ended
June 30,
2018
   Year Ended
December 31,
2018
   March 1,
2017
through
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)         
Other (loss) income:                
Gain on investments in marketable securities, net  $315,977   $-   $501,522   $3,912,500 
Gain on non-marketable investment   1,147,199    -    -    - 
Gain (loss) on investments in derivatives, net   310,195    (359,844)   (974,444)   (827,501)
Realized gain on use of digital currencies   12,334    -    -    - 
Changes in fair value of warrant liabilities   (866,300)   -    124,726    - 
Gain on extinguishment of convertible debts   1,198,490    -    -    - 
Interest (expense) income, net   (3,678,566)   (301,362)   (4,458,191)   44,269 
Dividend income   -    -    -    2,308 
Sundry income   128,444    -    -    - 
Total other (loss) income   (1,432,227)   (661,206)   (4,806,387)   3,131,576 

  

Net loss attributable to Aptorum Group Limited

 

For the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017, net loss attributable to Aptorum Group Limited (excluding net loss attributable to non-controlling interests) was $9,088,471, $5,488,372, $14,831,723 and $2,547,462, respectively.

 

RESULTS OF OPERATION (PREDECESSOR BASIS)

 

Explanatory Note

 

Before March 1, 2017, Aptorum Group Limited was incorporated as an exempted company with limited liability in the Cayman Islands and operated as an open ended investment company, which would own and oversee the management, operations and investments of its subsidiaries. On February 21, 2017, a special resolution was passed at a directors’ meeting, and on March 1, 2017, a resolution also was passed at a shareholders’ meeting. According to which, the Company changed from an investment fund with management shares and non-voting participating redeemable preference shares to a holding company with operating subsidiaries (the “Restructure”). After the Restructure, the Company has become a Hong Kong based pharmaceutical company currently in the preclinical stage. The results of operations and cash flows of the Company for the periods ended on or prior to February 28, 2017, and its financial position as of balance sheet date on or prior to February 28, 2017 are referred to as “Predecessor” financial information.

 

Financial statements and information are presented for the two months ended February 28, 2017 (Predecessor).

 

General and administrative fees

 

For the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017, the general and administrative fees were $17,516 which are miscellaneous expenses.

 

Management fees

 

AENEAS CAPTIAL LIMITED, formerly known as APTUS CAPITAL LIMITED, a related company of the Group/Company, provided management and administrative services to the Group and incurred pre-determined management fees. For the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017, AENEAS CAPITAL LIMITED was entitled to receive a management fee which was equal to 2.5% per annum of the net asset value of the Company.

 

63

 

 

Legal and professional fees

 

For the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017, the legal and professional fees were $98,646.

 

Other operating expenses

 

For the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017, other operating expenses were $1,907.

 

Other income

 

The Company met the assessment of an investment company under the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 (“ASC 946”) and was an investment company under U.S. GAAP for the purposes of financial reporting for the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017, which the interest income was $3,011.

 

Realized and unrealized losses on investments

 

Realized and unrealized losses on investments mainly consist of net realized loss on investments in unaffiliated issuers and net unrealized depreciation on investments in unaffiliated issuers. For the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017, the realized and unrealized losses were $402,068.

 

Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations

 

For the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017, the net decrease in net assets resulting from operations was $626,084.

 

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

 

The Company reported a net loss of $9,640,348 and net operation cash outflow of $7,335,009 for the six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively. In addition, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $27,957,689 as of June 30, 2019. The Company’s operating results for future periods are subject to numerous uncertainties and it is uncertain if the Company will be able to reduce or eliminate its net losses for the foreseeable future. If management is not able to generate significant revenues from its product candidates currently in development, the Company may not be able to achieve profitability.

 

The Company’s principal sources of liquidity have been cash and marketable securities. As of the date of issuance of the consolidated financial statements, the Company has approximately $3 million of cash and marketable securities. In addition, based upon the current market price of the Company’s marketable securities, it anticipates it can liquidate such marketable securities for greater than its carrying amount, if necessary. On August 13, 2019, the Company entered into financing arrangements with Aeneas Group Limited, a related party, and Jurchen Investment Corporation, the ultimate parent of the Group, allowing the Group to access up to a total $15.0 million in line of credit debt financing.

 

The Company believes that available cash and marketable securities, together with signed loan facilities, should enable the Company to meet presently anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months after the date that the financial statements are issued and the Company has prepared the consolidated financial statements on a going concern basis. If the Company encounters unforeseen circumstances that place constraints on its capital resources, management will be required to take various measures to conserve liquidity, which could include, but not necessarily be limited to, deferring some of its research and seeking to dispose of marketable securities.

 

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

 

The following table sets forth our contractual obligations as of June 30, 2019.

 

   Payment Due by Period 
   Total   One to
three years
   Three to
five years
 
   US$   US$   US$ 
Operating lease commitments   1,399,332    1,399,332    - 

  

64

 

 

Operating lease commitments

 

We have several operating leases, primarily for offices. Our principal executive offices are located in Hong Kong; we also have offices in London and Jersey City. Payments under operating leases are expensed on a straight-line basis over the periods of the respective leases, and the terms of the leases do not contain rent escalation, contingent rent, and renewal or purchase options. The aggregate future minimum payment under these non-cancelable operating leases are summarizes in the table above.

 

CONTINGENT PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS

 

The Group has additional contingency payment obligations under each of the license agreements, such as milestone payments, royalties, research and development funding, if certain condition or milestone is met.

 

Milestone payments are to be made upon achievements of certain conditions, such as Investigational New Drugs (“IND”) filing or U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approval, first commercial sale of the licensed products, or other achievements. The aggregate amount of the milestone payments that the Group are required to pay up to different achievements of conditions and milestones for all the license agreements signed as of June 30, 2019 are below:

 

   Amount 
Drug molecules: up to the conditions and milestones of    
Preclinical to IND filing  $372,564 
From entering phase 1 to before first commercial sale   24,216,410 
First commercial sale   15,656,410 
Net sales amount more than certain threshold in a year   75,769,231 
Subtotal   116,014,615 
      
Surgical robotics and medical devices: up to the conditions and milestones of     
Before FDA approval   270,000 
FDA approval obtained   200,000 
Subtotal   470,000 
      
Total  $116,484,615 

 

For the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017, the Group incurred $nil, $nil, $30,000 and $nil milestone payments, respectively. For the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017, the Group did not incur any royalties or research and development funding, respectively. As of June 30, 2019, no other milestone payments had been triggered under any of the existing license agreements.

 

CONDENSED SUMMARY OF OUR CASH FLOWS (SUCCESSOR BASIS)

 

   Six months ended
June 30,
2019
   Six months ended
June 30,
2018
   Year Ended
December 31,
2018
   March 1,
2017
through
December 31,
2017
 
   (Unaudited)   (Unaudited)         
Net cash used in operating activities  $(7,335,009)  $(6,315,706)  $(10,035,531)  $(5,782,695)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities   (678,566)   (2,779,328)   (6,061,987)   12,802,718 
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities   (13,626,922)   15,296,425    25,478,949    9,082,001 
Net (decrease) increase in cash and restricted cash   (21,640,497)   6,201,391    9,381,431    16,102,024 

 

65

 

 

Operating activities

 

Net cash used in operating activities amounted to $7.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. During the period, the Group had net loss of $9.6 million. Meanwhile, the Group had gain on extinguishment of convertible debts of $1.2 million, gain on non-marketable investments of $1.1 million, and interest expense and accretion of convertible debts of $3.7 million.

 

Net cash used in operating activities amounted to $6.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. During the period, the Group had net loss of $5.5 million. Meanwhile, the Group had an increase of long-term prepayments of $1.6 million, an increase of accounts payable and accrued expenses of $0.2 million, loss on investments in derivatives of $0.4 million and amortization and depreciation expenses of $0.2 million.

 

Net cash used in operating activities amounted to $10.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. During the year, the Group had net loss of $15.1 million. Meanwhile, the Group had interest expense and accretion of convertible debts of $4.6 million.

 

Net cash used in operating activities amounted to $5.8 million for the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. During the period, the Group had net loss of $2.6 million. Meanwhile, the Group had gain on investments in marketable securities of $3.9 million, loss on investments in derivatives of $0.8 million and an increase of other receivables and prepayments of $0.3 million.

 

Investing activities

 

Net cash provided by investing activities amounted to $0.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. During the period, the Group had purchases of property, plant and equipment of $0.7 million, proceeds from sale of marketable securities of $0.8 million, net loan to a third party of $0.6 million.

 

Net cash used in investing activities amounted to $2.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. During the period, the Group had purchases of property, plant and equipment of $2.5 million and purchases of intangible assets of $0.2 million.

 

Net cash used in investing activities amounted to $6.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. During the year, the Group had purchases of property, plant and equipment of $5.6 million and purchases of intangible assets of $0.4 million.

 

Net cash provided by investing activities amounted to $12.8 million for the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. During the period, the Group had proceeds from sales of investment securities of $16.0 million, purchases of intangible assets of $1.0 million and purchases of equipment of $2.1 million.

 

Financing activities

 

Net cash used in financing activities amounted to $13.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019. During the period, the Group had repurchased of convertible debts of $13.6 million.

 

Net cash provided by financing activities amounted to $15.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. During the period, the Group had proceeds from issuance of convertible debts of $16.1 million and payments for debt issuance costs of $0.9 million.

 

Net cash provided by financing activities amounted to $25.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. During the year, the Group had proceeds from issuance of convertible debts of $16.1 million, proceeds from issuance of shares of $11.1 million, payments of debt issuance costs of $1.1 million and payments of initial public offering costs of $0.5 million.

 

Net cash provided by financing activities amounted to $9.1 million for the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. During the period, the Group had proceeds from issuance of shares of $8.6 million and proceeds from issuance of convertible debts of $0.5 million.

 

CONDENSED SUMMARY OF OUR CASH FLOWS (PREDECESSOR BASIS)

 

Operating activities

 

Net cash used in operating activities amounted to $0.3 million for the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017. During the period, the Company had net decrease in net assets resulting from operations of $0.6 million and unrealized depreciation on investments of $0.4 million.

 

Investing activities

 

No cash flow from investing activities for the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017.

 

Financing activities

 

Net cash flow from financing activities was nil for the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017.

 

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES

 

Our capital expenditures were $0.7 million, $2.8 million, $6.0 million and 3.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017, respectively. We did not incur capital expenditures for the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017. These capital expenditures were incurred primarily for investments in facilities, leasehold improvements, equipment and technology.

 

66

 

 

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

 

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

 

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASU 2014-09”), which was subsequently modified in August 2015 by ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Deferral of the Effective Date. We adopted this standard effective January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective approach, in which case the cumulative effect of applying the standard would be recognized at the date of initial application. The adoption does not have a material impact to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

In January 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01 (ASU 2016-01) "Financial Instruments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities," which amends various aspects of the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial instruments. We adopted ASU 2016-01 as of January 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective method for our marketable equity securities and the prospective method for our non-marketable equity securities. The following table summarizes the changes to our condensed consolidated balance sheet for the adoption of ASU 2016-01:

 

   December 31, 2018   Adjustment due to ASU 2016-01   January 1,
2019
 
Accumulated deficit  $(17,379,185)  $(1,490,033)  $(18,869,218)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss  $(1,484,688)  $1,490,033   $5,345 

 

We have elected to use the measurement alternative for our non-marketable equity securities, defined as cost adjusted for changes from observable transactions for identical or similar investments of the same issuer, less impairment. The adoption of ASU 2016-01 increases the volatility of our other income (expense), net, as a result of the unrealized gain or loss from the remeasurement of our equity securities.

 

Recently issued accounting standards which have not yet been adopted

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (“ASU 2016-02”), which requires a lessee to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for operating leases, initially measured at the present value of the future lease payments, in the balance sheet. ASU 2016-02 also requires a lessee to recognize a single lease cost, calculated so that the cost of the lease is allocated over the lease term, generally on a straight-line basis. This new guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential effects of adopting the provisions of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements.

 

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which amends ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement. This ASU modifies the disclosure requirements for fair value measurements by removing, modifying, or adding certain disclosures. The effective date is the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, with early adoption permitted for the removed disclosures and delayed adoption until fiscal year 2021 permitted for the new disclosures. The removed and modified disclosures will be adopted on a retrospective basis and the new disclosures will be adopted on a prospective basis. The adoption will not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

 

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses ("ASU 2016-13"). Subsequently, the FASB issued ASU 2019-05, Financial Instruments- Credit Losses (Topic 326): Targeted Transition Relief. The amendments in ASU 2016-13 update guidance on reporting credit losses for financial assets. These amendments affect loans, debt securities, accounts receivables, net investments in leases, off balance sheet credit exposures, reinsurance receivables, and any other financial assets not excluded from the scope that have the contractual right to receive cash. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact on its financial statements of adopting this guidance.

 

67

 

 

The Group does not believe other recently issued but not yet effective accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the consolidated financial position, statements of operations and cash flows.

 

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

 

As of June 30, 2019, the Company has obtained 11 exclusively licensed technologies in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, surgical robotics and natural health and is in the process of developing two “in-house” projects in the neurology area. For the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the year ended December 31, 2018 and the period March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017, the Group incurred $2,714,217, $1,342,179, $3,101,432 and $2,560,323, respectively, on research and development expenses. We did not incur research and development expenses for the period January 1, 2017 to February 28, 2017.

 

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

 

As at June 30, 2019, the Company did not have any off-balance sheet debt, nor do we have any transactions, arrangements or relationships with any special purpose entities.

  

OUR BUSINESS

 

Overview

  

We are a pharmaceutical company currently in the preclinical stage, dedicated to developing and commercializing a broad range of therapeutic and diagnostic technologies to tackle unmet medical needs. We have obtained exclusive licenses for our technologies. In addition, we are also developing certain proprietary technologies as product candidates. We are pursuing therapeutic and diagnostic projects (including projects seeking to use extracts or derivatives from natural substances to treat diseases) in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas. We also have projects focused on surgical robotics. (See “Lead Projects and Other Projects under Development – Lead Projects”) Also, we opened a medical clinic, AML Clinic, in June 2018.

 

Although none of our drug or device candidates has yet been approved for testing in humans, our goal is to develop a broad range of early stage novel therapeutics and diagnostics across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas. Key components of our strategy for achieving this goal include: (for details of our strategy, See “Our Strategy”)

 

  Developing therapeutic and diagnostic innovations across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas;
     
  Selectively expanding our portfolio with potential products that may be able to attain orphan drug designation and/or satisfy current unmet medical needs;
     
  Collaborating with leading academic institutions and CROs;
     
  Expanding our in-house pharmaceutical development center;
     
  Leveraging our management’s expertise, experience and commercial networks;
     
  Strategically developing opportunities in Hong Kong to promote access to the PRC market; and
     
  Obtaining and leveraging government grants to fund project development.

 

We have devoted a portion of the proceeds from our IPO, to three therapeutic projects (“Lead Projects”). The drug candidates being advanced as the Lead Projects are ALS-1, ALS-4 and NLS-1, described in further detail below. If the results of the remaining preclinical studies of these drug candidates are positive, we expect to be able to submit by 2020 or 2021 an Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”) for at least one of these candidates to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) or an equivalent application to the regulatory authorities in one or more other jurisdictions such as the China’s National Medical Products Administration (“NMPA”) and/or the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”). Acceptance of these applications by the relevant regulatory authority would enable the Company to begin testing that drug candidate in humans in that jurisdiction. Our ability to obtain any approval of such applications is entirely dependent upon the results of our preclinical studies, none of which have yet been completed.

 

68

 

 

Our current business consists of “therapeutics” and “non-therapeutics” segments. However, our focus is on the therapeutics segments. Because of the risks, costs and extended development time required for successful drug development, we have determined to pursue projects within our non-therapeutics segments, such as AML Clinic, to provide some interim revenue and medical robots that may be brought to market and generate revenue more quickly.

 

Therapeutics Segment. In our therapeutics segment (“Aptorum Therapeutics Group”), we are currently seeking to develop various drug molecules (including projects seeking to use extracts or derivatives from natural substances to treat diseases) and certain technologies for the treatment (“therapeutics”) and diagnosis (“diagnostics”) of human disease conditions in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas. In addition, we are seeking to identify additional prospects which may qualify for potential orphan drug designation (e.g., rare types of cancer) or which address other current unmet medical needs. Aptorum Therapeutics Group is operated through Aptorum’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aptorum Therapeutics Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability, whose principal place of business is in Hong Kong and its indirect subsidiary companies (who we sometimes refer to herein as project companies), whose principal places of business are also in Hong Kong.

 

Non-Therapeutics Segment. The non-therapeutics segment (“Aptorum Non-Therapeutics Group”) encompasses two businesses: (i) the development of surgical robotics and medical devices and (ii) AML Clinic. The development of surgical robotics and medical devices business is operated through Signate Life Sciences Limited, a subsidiary of Aptorum Therapeutics Limited. The outpatient clinic is operated through our subsidiary, Aptorum Medical Limited. Effective as of March 2018, we leased office space in Central, Hong Kong as the home to AML Clinic. AML Clinic commenced operations under the name of Talem Medical in June 2018. The estimated general administrative expenses and other operating expenses of the AML Clinic is expected to be no more than USD120,000 per month. The clinic is expected to reach operating profit in 18 months from the clinic reaching its full operating capacity upon (i) the successful recruitment of a minimum of six full time physicians (AML Clinic currently has one full time physician and six part time physicians) and (ii) establishing steady patients flow via brand development. (See “Lead Projects and Other Projects under Development – Other Projects under Development – Aptorum Medical Limited - AML Clinic”)

 

The Company has already obtained opportunities resulting in our existing licensing agreements from various contractual relationships that we have entered into, including service/consulting agreements with some of the world’s leading specialists and clinicians in our areas of interest, with academic institutions and organizations, and with CROs. We anticipate that these relationships will generate additional licensing opportunities in the future. In addition, we have established and are continuing to expand our in-house research facilities (collectively, the “R&D Center”) to develop some of our drug and device candidates internally and to collaborate with third-party researchers.

 

Prior to March 2017, the Company had pursued passive healthcare related investments in early stage companies primarily in the United States. However, we have since ceased pursuing further passive investment operations and intend to exit all such portfolio investments over an appropriate timeframe to focus resources on our current business.

 

Our Strategy

  

Although we plan to continue the development and improvement of a broad range of novel therapeutics and diagnostics across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas, over the next 24-36 months we plan to concentrate on development of our Lead Projects, while also allocating some resources to develop SLS-1 and maintaining our AML Clinic.

 

We believe that execution of this strategy will position the Company to catalyze the development and improvement of a broad range of early-staged novel therapeutics and diagnostics across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas. Failure to achieve positive results in at least one of the programs for a Lead Project could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s prospects and business.

 

69

 

 

To achieve this goal, we are implementing the following strategies:

 

  Developing therapeutic and diagnostic innovations across a wide range of disease/therapeutic areas. We are currently developing drug and device candidates in several disease/therapeutic areas. We believe that by diversifying our research efforts, it would increase the likelihood that at least one of our projects will achieve clinical success and therefore add value to the Company. As of date hereof, we have obtained 11 exclusively licensed technologies across the areas of neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, surgical robotics and natural health. Our initial focus will be on developing our Lead Projects, but intend to continue developing our other current projects and seeking new licensing opportunities where we determine that the market potential justifies the additional commitment of our limited resources.
     
  Selectively expanding our portfolio with potential products that may be able to attain orphan drug designation and/or satisfy current unmet medical needs. We have selected innovations for development which we believe are of superior scientific quality, whilst taking into account the potential market size and demand for same, for example, taking into consideration whether the relevant product can satisfy significant unmet medical needs. In particular, Aptorum Therapeutics Limited has established a Scientific Assessment Committee, which helped us to select our current projects and which we expect will provide input from a scientific perspective towards any future opportunities for acquiring or licensing life science innovations. We intend to continue expanding our line of projects under development, and subject to our financial and other resource limitations, exploring acquisitions or licenses of additional products which may be able to attain orphan drug designations (e.g., rare types of cancer) or satisfy significant unmet medical needs and that show strong preclinical and/or early clinical data to provide promising opportunities for clinical and commercial success.
     
  Collaborating with leading academic institutions and CROs. In building and developing our product portfolio, we believe that accessing external innovation, expertise and technology through collaboration with leading academic institutions and CROs is a vital and cost-efficient strategy. We have established strong relationships with leading academic institutions around the world and expect to continue to strengthen our collaborations by, for example, seeking to provide their affiliated Principal Investigators resources through sponsorship to conduct further research in specialty fields of interest and association with personnel connected to our current project companies, in exchange for obtaining for the Company the first right to negotiate for an exclusive license to any resulting innovations. In addition, we have entered and will continue to actively source arrangements with pharmaceutical companies, in most cases in roles as CROs, to streamline the development of our projects. This may include outsourcing part of the preclinical, clinical studies and clinical supplies manufacturing to externally accredited cGLP, cGMP and cGCP standard CROs or laboratories in order to attain the required studies for submission to the regulatory authorities as part of the clinical development plan. (See “Arrangements with Other Parties”)
     
  Expanding our in-house pharmaceutical development center. We believe collaborations between the R&D Center operated by APD and the scientists engaged in work for our project companies will enhance clinical and commercial potential of the projects. In addition, APD will assist the project companies by engaging external pharmaceutical companies and/or CROs to outsource any part of the preclinical or clinical development work that cannot be performed by the R&D Center in order to obtain the resources necessary for our development process.
     
  Leveraging our management’s expertise, experience and commercial networks. We believe the combination of our management’s expertise and experience, with their academic and commercial networks make us an effective platform for advancing healthcare innovations towards clinical studies and commercialization in key global markets. We have assembled a management team with global experience and an extensive record of accomplishments in medical research, consulting and financing, and identification and acquisition of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical drug and device candidates. Our Head of Research and Development also has extensive experiences in drug development. We also employ key management personnel with banking and financial experience, which enhances our capability to establish the most efficient financial structure for the development of our programs.

 

70

 

 

 

Strategically developing opportunities in Hong Kong to provide access to the PRC market. The PRC is the world’s second largest healthcare market (https://seekingalpha.com/article/4038677-opportunities-chinas-healthcare-market) and we plan to market our products there in the future as part of our overall growth strategy. In October 2017, the PRC government announced that the country is planning to accept trial data gathered overseas to speed up drug approvals (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pharmaceuticals/china-to-accept-overseas-trial-data-in-bid-to-speed-up-drug-approvals-idUSKBN1CE080 and http://www.lawinfochina.com/display.aspx?id=26778&lib=law), which is a potential boon for foreign pharmaceutical companies. We believe strategically locating our principal businesses in Hong Kong, as a Special Administrative Region of the PRC, may provide us distinctive advantages in accessing the PRC healthcare market. Two of our key collaborators, The University of Hong Kong (the “HKU”) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (the “CUHK”) have received clinical drug trial accreditation by the NMPA for their clinical trial units/centers (http://www.crmo.med.cuhk.edu.hk/en-us/nmpaaccreditation.aspx and https://www.ctc.hku.hk/assurance_cfda.php).

     
  Obtaining and leveraging government grants to fund project development. The Hong Kong government pays close attention to the development of the biotechnology sector in Hong Kong and provides support and funding. We intend to aggressively seek government support from Hong Kong for our product development and to facilitate the development of some of our projects.

 

Arrangements with Other Parties

 

As mentioned above, part of our business model includes collaborating with research entities such as academic institutions and CROs, as well as highly regarded experts in their respective fields. We engage these entities and researchers either for purposes of exploring new innovations or advancing preclinical studies of our existing licensed drug candidates. Although the financial cost of these arrangements does not represent a material expense to the Company, the relationships we can access through, specifically, sponsored research arrangements (“SRAs”) with academic institutions and organizations can provide significant value for our business; for example, we may decide whether to continue development of certain early-staged projects and/or out-license a project based on the data and results from research governed by SRAs. However, as of the date hereof, we do not consider the particulars of any of our SRAs to be material to the success of our current business plans.

 

Our drug discovery programs are based upon licenses from universities and are mainly conducted in universities via SRAs. As for the development of our drug candidates, our R&D Center conducts part of the CMC work. However, since our current facilities are not cGMP, cGLP or cGCP qualified, we will have to rely on CROs to conduct that type of work, if and when our drug candidates reach the level of development that requires such qualification.

  

Lead Projects and Other Projects under Development

  

We are actively operating and managing the development of our drug and device candidates through various subsidiaries. Each candidate is being researched in a subsidiary with a medical/scientific area of focus related to the drug and device candidate in development. We refer to these as our “Project Companies” and their products or areas of focus as either our Lead Projects (i.e., ALS-1, ALS-4 and NLS-1) or Other Projects under Development (as defined below). The selection of a drug and device candidate is based on our estimate of the market potential for that candidate, the scientific expertise required to develop it, and our overall corporate strategy, including our ability to commit personnel and future investment to that candidate.

 

71

 

 

To pursue a number of our current projects, our Project Companies have entered into standard license agreements with various university and licensing entities customized to the nature of each project. These license agreements largely contain the same terms, as is typically seen in license agreements for an early-stage life science invention; such terms include a worldwide license with licensed field comprising indications in the intended treatment areas, having upfront payments, certain royalty rates, sublicensing royalties, as well as provisions for payments upon occurrence of development and/or regulatory milestones. Under the license agreements, the Project Company must also adhere to certain diligence obligations and may or may not be required to obtain prior consent from the licensor to sublicense the invention. The license terms of our Lead Projects are discussed in detail below.

  

Generally speaking, pharmaceutical development consists of preclinical and clinical phases. Our immediate efforts would be on the preclinical phase which can further sub-divided into the following stages:

 

Target Identification & Selection: The target is the naturally existing cellular or modular structure that appears to have an important role in a particular disease pathway and will be targeted by the drug that will subsequently be developed. Target validation techniques for different disease areas can be very different but typically include from in vitro and in silico methods through to the use of whole animal models.

 

Lead Discovery: Following “Target Identification & Selection,” compound screening assays are developed as part of the Lead Discovery. ‘Lead’ molecules can mean slightly different things to different researches or companies, but in this prospectus, we refer to Lead Discovery as the process of identifying one or more small molecules with the desired activity against the identified targets. Leads can be identified through one or more approaches, which can depend on the target and what, if any, previous knowledge exists.

 

Lead Optimization: In this stage of the drug discovery process, the aim is to produce a preclinical drug candidate by maintaining the desired and favorable properties in the lead compounds, while repairing or reducing deficiencies in their structures. For example, to optimize the chemical structures to improve, among others, efficacy, reduce toxicity, improve metabolism, absorption and pharmacokinetic properties.

 

IND-Enabling Studies: Includes all the essential studies such as GLP toxicology studies, pharmacology and efficacy, pharmacokinetics, in vitro metabolism, CMC studies, and the data of which are used for IND submission.

 

72

 

 

 

 *See “Explanatory Note” and “Incorporation Of Certain Information By Reference”

 

Anoth