SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, including the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by us, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, future revenue, business strategy, prospects, product candidates, planned preclinical studies and clinical trials, results of clinical trials, research and development costs, regulatory approvals, timing and likelihood of success, as well as plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that are in some cases beyond our control and may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
The words “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report include, but are not limited to, express or implied statements about:
These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and 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 any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward- looking events and circumstances discussed in this Annual Report may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report are made as of the date of this Annual Report, and although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, advancements, discoveries, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, except as required by law, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this Annual Report to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.
You should read this Annual Report and the documents that we reference in this Annual Report and have filed with the SEC with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.
In addition, this Annual Report contains estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, our business and the markets for our product candidates, including data regarding the estimated size of such markets and the incidence of certain medical conditions. We obtained the industry, market and similar data set forth in this Annual Report from our internal estimates and research, and from academic and industry research, publications, surveys and studies conducted by third-parties, including governmental agencies. Industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Our estimates of the potential market opportunities for our product candidates include a number of key assumptions based on our industry knowledge, industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies, which may be based on a small sample size and fail to accurately reflect market opportunities. Information 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 reports, research surveys, studies and similar data prepared by us and third parties, industry, medical and general publications, government data and similar sources.
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing a robust pipeline of T cell receptor-engineered T cell, or TCR-T, therapies for the treatment of patients with cancer. Our approach is based on the central premise that we can learn from patients who are winning their fight against cancer in order to treat those who are not. Using one of our proprietary platform technologies, TargetScan, we analyze the T cells of cancer patients with exceptional responses to immunotherapy to discover how the immune system naturally recognizes and eliminates tumor cells in these patients. This allows us to precisely identify the targets of T cell receptors, or TCRs, that are driving these exceptional responses. We aim to use these anti-cancer TCRs to treat patients with cancer by genetically engineering their own T cells to recognize and eliminate their cancer. In addition to discovering TCR-T therapies against novel targets, we are using our ReceptorScan technology to further diversify our portfolio of therapeutic TCRs with TCR-T therapies against known targets. We reduce the risk and enhance the safety profile of these therapeutic TCRs by screening them using SafetyScan to identify potential off-targets of a TCR and eliminate those TCR candidates that cross-react with proteins expressed at high levels in critical organs.
We believe this three-pronged approach will enable us to discover and develop a wide array of potential treatment options for patients with cancer.
We are advancing a robust pipeline of TCR-T therapy candidates for the treatment of patients with hematologic and solid tumor malignancies. Our lead liquid tumor product candidates, TSC-100 and TSC-101, are in development for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies to eliminate residual leukemia and prevent relapse following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or HCT. TSC-100 and TSC-101 target HA-1 and HA-2 antigens, respectively, which are well-recognized TCR targets that were identified in patients with exceptional responses to HCT-associated immunotherapy. We submitted Investigational New Drug, or IND, applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for each of TSC-100 and TSC-101 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The FDA has cleared the IND for TSC-100 while the IND for TSC-101 remains on clinical hold pending additional assessment of the potential for off-tumor reactivity in certain tissues. We plan to initiate the Phase 1 clinical study of TSC-100 in the first half of 2022. Pending clearance of the IND for TSC-101, we will initiate the TSC-101 arm of the trial. In addition, we are developing multiple TCR-T therapy candidates for the treatment of solid tumors. One of the key goals for our solid tumor program is to develop what we refer to as multiplexed TCR-T therapy. We are designing these multiplexed therapies to be a combination of up to three highly active TCRs that are customized for each patient and selected from our bank of therapeutic TCRs, which we refer to as ImmunoBank. We plan to populate the ImmunoBank with TCRs for multiple targets as well as multiple HLA types for each target, thus helping us to overcome the key solid tumor resistance mechanisms of target loss as well as HLA loss. We are currently advancing five solid tumor programs: TSC-200 in IND-enabling activities; TSC-204 advancing to IND-enabling studies; and TSC-201, TSC-202, and TSC-203, in lead optimization. We expect to submit two IND applications for our solid tumor TCR-T therapy candidates in the second half of 2022, with additional IND applications expected to be submitted in 2023.
T cells are an essential component of the adaptive immune system and provide protection against cancer, infection, and autoimmune disease. Multiple approaches have been and are continuing to be explored to develop effective T cell-based therapies for the treatment of cancer, including tumor infiltrating lymphocyte, or TIL, therapy and chimeric antigen receptor T cell, or CAR-T, therapy. The success of TIL therapy depends on the specific T cells present in the patient. If their TILs do not have appropriate anti-cancer specificities, the therapy is unlikely to be effective. In addition, TIL therapy has, to date, shown limited applicability for the treatment of liquid tumors. In contrast, CAR-T therapy has proven effective in certain hematological malignancies of lymphoid origin but have not yet shown efficacy or safety in myeloid malignancies. Additionally, this type of treatment is limited to targets on the surface of tumor cells and has not yet been shown to effectively penetrate solid tumors. Both TIL and CAR-T therapies, as well as other immunotherapies such as checkpoint inhibitors, harness the power of cytotoxic T cells in fighting cancer. Despite demonstrating compelling efficacy, they are only effective in a subset of patients. To address a broader patient population, we believe additional T cell-based approaches are needed that more closely mimic the way the immune system recognizes and fights cancer in patients who are responding to immunotherapy.