SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management and expected market growth are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements about:
the success, cost and timing of our clinical development of our product candidates, including CLN-081, CLN-049 and CLN-619;
the initiation, timing, progress, results and cost of our research and development programs and our current and future preclinical and clinical studies, including statements regarding the timing of initiation and completion of studies or trials and related preparatory work, the period during which the results of the trials will become available, and our research and development programs;
our ability to initiate, recruit and enroll patients in and conduct our clinical trials at the pace that we project;
our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, and any related restrictions, limitations or warnings in the label of any of our product candidates, if approved;
our ability to compete with companies currently marketing or engaged in the development of treatments that our product candidates are designed to target;
our reliance on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and to manufacture drug substance for use in our clinical trials;
the size and growth potential of the markets for oncology diseases and any of our current product candidates or other product candidates we may identify and pursue, and our ability to serve those markets;
our ability to identify and advance through clinical development any additional product candidates;
the commercialization of our current product candidates and any other product candidates we may identify and pursue, if approved, including our ability to successfully build a specialty sales force and commercial infrastructure to market our current product candidates and any other product candidates we may identify and pursue;
the expected benefits of our hub-and-spoke business model, including our ability to identify research priorities and apply a risk-mitigated strategy to efficiently discover and develop product candidates;
our ability to retain and recruit key personnel;
our ability to obtain and maintain adequate intellectual property rights;
our expectations regarding government and third-party payor coverage and reimbursement;
our estimates of our expenses, ongoing losses, capital requirements and our needs for or ability to obtain additional financing;
the potential benefits of strategic collaboration agreements, our ability to enter into strategic collaborations or arrangements, and our ability to attract collaborators with development, regulatory and commercialization expertise;
our financial performance;
developments and projections relating to our competitors or our industry;
the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, including mitigation efforts and economic effects, on any of the foregoing or other aspects of our business operations, including but not limited to our preclinical studies and future clinical trials; and
other risks and uncertainties, including those listed under the section titled “Risk Factors.”
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 Annual Report on Form 10-K. 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. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment and new risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements we may make. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance.
You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the documents that we reference herein and have filed or incorporated by reference as exhibits hereto completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, our business and the markets for our product candidates. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties and actual events or circumstances may differ materially from events and circumstances that are assumed in this information. Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this industry, business, market and other data from our own internal estimates and research as well as from reports, research surveys, studies, and similar data prepared by market research firms and other third parties, industry, medical and general publications, government data and similar sources. While we are not aware of any misstatements regarding any third-party information presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, their estimates, in particular, as they relate to projections, involve numerous assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Summary of the Material and Other Risks Associated with Our Business
Below is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our common stock speculative or risky. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, and other risks that we face, are summarized in “Risk Factors” and should be carefully considered, together with other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, before making an investment decision regarding our common stock.
We are early in our development efforts and are substantially dependent on our lead product candidates, CLN-081, CLN-049 and CLN-619. If we are unable to advance these or any of our other product candidates through clinical development, or to obtain regulatory approval and ultimately commercialize any such product candidates, either by ourselves or with or by third parties or if we experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
Difficulty in enrolling patients could delay or prevent clinical trials of our product candidates, and ultimately delay or prevent regulatory approval.
Interim, “topline” and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish may change as more patient data become available and are subject to confirmation, audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit their commercial potential or result in significant negative consequences following any potential marketing approval.
Our limited operating history may make it difficult for you to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.
We have incurred significant losses since inception and we expect to incur losses over the next several years and may not be able to achieve or sustain revenues or profitability in the future.
We will require substantial additional funding to develop and commercialize our product candidates and identify and invest in new product candidates. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we would be compelled to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or other operations.
We may not be successful in our efforts to use our differentiated hub-and-spoke business model to build a pipeline of product candidates with commercial value.
Our subsidiaries are party to certain agreements that provide our licensors, collaborators or other shareholders in our subsidiaries with rights that could delay or impact the potential sale of our subsidiaries or could impact the ability of our subsidiaries to sell assets, or enter into strategic alliances, collaborations or licensing arrangements with other third parties.