NASDAQ: NAMS
NewAmsterdam Pharma Co N.V.CIK 0001936258 · Pharmaceutical Preparations
We are a late-stage biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to improve patient care in populations with cardiometabolic diseases where currently approved therapies have not been adequate or well tolerated. We seek to fill a significant unmet need for a safe, well tolerated and convenient… About this business →
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Latest financial statements
From 10-Q filed May 7, 2026 (period ending Mar 31, 2026). SEC XBRL (companyfacts) — not generated by the model.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
| Description | Q1 ended Mar 31, 2026 | Q3 ended Sep 30, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue: | ||
| Total revenue / net sales | 3.0 | 0.3 |
| Operating expenses: | ||
| Research and development | 38.0 | 31.0 |
| General and administrative | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Selling, general and administrative | 23.5 | 24.5 |
| Total operating expenses | 61.5 | 55.5 |
| Operating income | (58.4) | (55.1) |
| Income before income taxes | (48.4) | (72.0) |
| Net income | (48.4) | (72.0) |
| Basic earnings per share | (0.40) | (0.61) |
| Diluted earnings per share | (0.40) | (0.61) |
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
| Description | Mar 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Current assets: | ||
| Cash and equivalents | 457.6 | 490.0 |
| Short-term investments | 178.5 | 146.2 |
| Other receivables, net | 8.0 | 6.8 |
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 20.6 | 38.1 |
| Total current assets | 658.0 | 675.7 |
| Property, plant and equipment, net | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Operating lease right-of-use assets, net | 0.02 | 0.2 |
| Other long-term assets | 74.2 | 93.0 |
| TOTAL ASSETS | 732.6 | 769.3 |
| Current liabilities: | ||
| Accounts payable | 8.1 | 9.0 |
| Current portion of operating lease liabilities | 0.02 | 0.1 |
| Deferred revenue, current | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Other current liabilities | 55.3 | 72.7 |
| Total current liabilities | 67.4 | 85.8 |
| Total liabilities | 67.4 | 85.9 |
| Shareholders' equity: | ||
| Common stock | 14.6 | 14.3 |
| Capital in excess of stated value | 1,457 | 1,427 |
| Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) | 4.2 | 4.8 |
| Retained earnings (deficit) | (810.8) | (762.4) |
| Total shareholders' equity | 665.2 | 683.4 |
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY | 732.6 | 769.3 |
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
| Description | Q1 ended Mar 31, 2026 | Nine months ended Sep 30, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Activities: | ||
| Net cash from operating activities | (30.6) | (106.9) |
| Investing Activities: | ||
| Net cash from investing activities | (11.5) | (153.8) |
| Financing Activities: | ||
| Net cash from financing activities | 11.1 | 15.8 |
Amounts in millions USD; EPS as reported. Line labels are presentation-friendly mappings of filer XBRL tags — not a re-audit of the full statements. Use EDGAR for interactive notes and detail. Interactive statements & notes on EDGAR ↗
About NewAmsterdam Pharma Co N.V.
Source: Item 1 (Business) from the 10-K filed February 18, 2026. Description as filed by the company with the SEC.
Item 1. Business
Overview
We are a late-stage biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to improve patient care in populations with cardiometabolic diseases where currently approved therapies have not been adequate or well tolerated. We seek to fill a significant unmet need for a safe, well tolerated and convenient low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (“LDL-C”) lowering therapy. In multiple Phase 3 trials, we have investigated obicetrapib, an oral, low-dose, once-daily, highly selective cholesteryl ester transfer protein (“CETP”) inhibitor, alone or as a fixed-dose combination (“FDC”) with ezetimibe, as preferred LDL-C lowering therapies to be used as an adjunct to statin therapy for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease (“CVD”) with elevated LDL-C, for whom existing therapies are not sufficiently effective or well tolerated. Additionally, we believe that CETP inhibition may also play a role in other indications by potentially mitigating the risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Obicetrapib is a next-generation, oral, low-dose, highly selective CETP inhibitor that we are developing to potentially overcome the limitations of current LDL-C lowering treatments. We believe that obicetrapib has the potential to be a once-daily oral CETP inhibitor for lowering LDL-C, if approved. In each of our Phase 3 clinical trials, BROADWAY and BROOKLYN, evaluating obicetrapib as an adjunct to high-intensity statin therapy, obicetrapib met its primary and secondary endpoints, with statistically significant reductions in LDL-C observed. In our Phase 3 TANDEM clinical trial, evaluating obicetrapib in combination with ezetimibe as an adjunct to high-intensity statin therapy, obicetrapib in combination with ezetimibe met its primary and secondary endpoints, with statistically significant reductions in LDL-C observed. In five of our Phase 2 clinical trials, TULIP, ROSE, OCEAN, ROSE2 and our Japan Phase 2b clinical trial, evaluating obicetrapib as a monotherapy or a combination therapy with ezetimibe 10 mg, we observed statistically significant LDL-C lowering. In each of these trials, side effects were similar in frequency and severity to placebo including muscle-related side effects and drug-related treatment-emergent serious adverse events (“TESAEs”). We have observed obicetrapib to be well tolerated in an aggregate of over 3,500 patients with low or moderately elevated LDL-C levels (“dyslipidemia”) in our clinical trials to date. Furthermore, we believe that obicetrapib’s oral delivery, demonstrated activity at low doses, chemical properties and tolerability make it well-suited for combination approaches.
Read full description ↓
Lowering of LDL-C, has been associated with major adverse cardiovascular events (“MACE”) benefit in trials of LDL-C lowering drugs, including the REVEAL trial with the CETP inhibitor, anacetrapib. In our Phase 3 BROADWAY clinical trial, we observed a 21% reduction in the exploratory MACE endpoint (coronary heart disease death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke and coronary revascularization) and we are performing a Phase 3 cardiovascular outcomes trial (“CVOT”), PREVAIL, to reconfirm this relationship.
Obicetrapib has shown to not only reduce LDL-C but also several additional biomarkers associated with MACE. To date, obicetrapib has shown reductions in non-HDL-C, apolipoprotein B (“ApoB”), and small dense lipoprotein particles (“sdLDL-P”). In our clinical trials, we have also observed reductions in lipoprotein(a) (“Lp(a)”), which is believed to be an independent MACE risk factor, along with reductions in total lipoprotein (“LDL”) particles and more specifically small LDL particles, which are believed to be more atherogenic particles.
CVD is a leading cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (“ASCVD”) is primarily caused by atherosclerosis, which involves the build-up of fatty material within the inner walls of the arteries. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease. One of the most important risk factors for ASCVD is hypercholesterolemia, which refers to elevated LDL-C levels within the body, commonly known as high cholesterol.
A significant proportion of patients with high cholesterol do not achieve acceptable LDL-C levels using statin therapy alone. We estimate that in the United States there are approximately 30 million patients that are not at their risk-based LDL-C goals despite treatment with lipid lowering therapy, including approximately 13 million with ASCVD. Existing non-statin treatment options have been largely unable to address the needs of patients with high cholesterol due to limited efficacy, an inconvenient injectable administration route and, in the past, market access restrictions. It is estimated that over 75% of ASCVD and heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (“HeFH”) outpatients prefer oral drugs to injectable therapies.
Our goal is to develop and commercialize an LDL-C lowering monotherapy and an FDC therapy, which offers the advantage of a single, low dose, once-daily oral pill, and fulfills the significant unmet need for an effective and convenient LDL-C lowering therapy. If we obtain marketing approval, we intend to commercialize obicetrapib for patients with ASCVD and/or HeFH and elevated levels of LDL-C despite being treated with currently available optimal lipid lowering therapy.
We have partnered with Menarini, providing them with the exclusive rights to commercialize obicetrapib 10 mg, either as a sole active ingredient product or in an FDC with ezetimibe, in the majority of European countries (the "Menarini Territory"), if approved. In August 2025, the EMA accepted for review the Marketing Authorization Applications ("MAAs") submitted by Menarini for obicetrapib 10 mg monotherapy and the FDC of 10 mg obicetrapib plus 10 mg ezetimibe for the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia, including heterozygous familial and non-familial or mixed dyslipidemia. Subsequently, MAAs were also submitted to regulators in the United Kingdom ("UK") and Switzerland and accepted for review. The submissions are supported by data from the BROADWAY, BROOKLYN, and TANDEM pivotal Phase 3 trials. We anticipate that Menarini will receive decisions on the MAAs from each of the regulators in the second half of 2026. If the
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MAAs are approved by the regulators, Menarini will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize obicetrapib in the Menarini Territory.
Our current plan is to pursue development and, subject to the receipt of marketing approval, commercialization of obicetrapib in the United States ourselves, and to consider additional partners for jurisdictions outside of the United States and Europe, including in Japan and China. We conducted multiple Phase 3 trials simultaneously, with clinical plans that incorporate feedback from the FDA, the EMA, the Japan Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (“PMDA”) and the China National Medical Products Administration (“NMPA”). In addition to our partnership with Menarini, we may in the future utilize a variety of types of collaboration, license, monetization, distribution and other arrangements with other third parties relating to the development or commercialization, once approved, of obicetrapib or future product candidates or indications. We are also regularly evaluating the potential acquisition or license of new product candidates.
The following table summarizes our current clinical programs:
* PREVAIL will continue until the last participant has been followed up for a minimum of 2.5 years and the target number of MACE events have occurred. As a result, the earliest the trial could conclude based on the minimum follow-up period is the end of 2026. However, we will continue the trial until the target number of MACE events occur, which could likely require the trial to continue beyond this point.
Note: Other than as noted, this graphic represents trials that are currently ongoing. Projections are subject to inherent limitations. Actual results may differ from expectations. Other than as noted, the timing of regulatory submissions is subject to additional discussions with regulators.
We conducted two Phase 3 pivotal clinical trials, BROADWAY and BROOKLYN, to evaluate obicetrapib as a monotherapy used as an adjunct to maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapies to potentially enhance LDL-C lowering in patients with ASCVD and/or HeFH. We announced topline results for BROOKLYN in July 2024 and for BROADWAY in December 2024, both of which met the primary endpoint for the study with safety and tolerability comparable to placebo. Over 2,500 patients were randomized in the BROADWAY trial and over 350 patients were randomized in the BROOKLYN trial. In March 2022, we commenced our Phase 3 PREVAIL CVOT, which is designed to assess the potential of obicetrapib to reduce occurrences of MACE, including cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke and non-elective coronary revascularization in at least 9,000 patients. We completed enrollment in PREVAIL in April 2024. PREVAIL will continue until the last participant has been followed for a minimum of 2.5 years and the target number of MACE events have occurred. As a result, the earliest the trial could conclude based on the minimum follow-up period is the end of 2026. However, we will continue the trial until the target number of MACE events occur, which could likely require the trial to continue beyond this point.
We are also investigating obicetrapib as an FDC with ezetimibe, an oral cholesterol absorption inhibitor and LDL-C lowering therapy, and plan to seek approval for this FDC in parallel with obicetrapib monotherapy. In our Phase 3 TANDEM trial, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of 10 mg obicetrapib and 10 mg ezetimibe as an FDC used as an adjunct to diet and maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapies to potentially enhance LDL-lowering in patients with HeFH, ASCVD or ASCVD risk equivalents. In November 2024, we reported data from the Phase 3 TANDEM trial, which met its primary and secondary endpoints, with safety and tolerability comparable to placebo.
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Our goal is to submit a New Drug Application (“NDA”) in the U.S. for the FDC shortly after submitting an NDA for obicetrapib as a monotherapy. We expect that efficacy and safety data from BROADWAY and BROOKLYN will be described in the FDC product label, if approved.
We believe that CETP inhibition may also play a role in other indications by potentially mitigating the risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or diabetes. Evidence suggests that cholesterol accumulation in the brain is a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease. For example, rodents lack the CETP gene and are resistant to Alzheimer’s disease. In early preclinical studies, when the human CETP gene is knocked into a mouse, the cholesterol content of the mouse brain was observed to increase by 25%; when combined with the gene for the amyloid precursor protein, hypothesized to be a driver of Alzheimer’s disease, the risk of developing disease analogous to Alzheimer’s disease was observed to greatly increase in the double transgenic mice. In a preclinical study, we observed that CETP inhibition promoted cholesterol removal from the brain and improved cognition. We commenced a Phase 2a open-label and single-arm trial in early 2022 in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease and the apolipoprotein E4 (“ApoE4”) naturally occurring variant to evaluate the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic effects, safety and tolerability of obicetrapib. A total of 13 patients were given 10 mg obicetrapib and followed for 24 weeks. In September 2023, we announced initial data from this trial. We observed reductions in the levels of 24-hydroxycholesterol and 27-hydroxycholestrol of 11% and 12%, respectively, in the cerebrospinal fluid (“CSF”) compared to baseline. In addition, an increase of 8% compared to baseline in the Aβ42/40 ratio in patients’ plasma was observed and pTau181 levels were observed to be stable. Overall, obicetrapib was observed to be well-tolerated. No serious adverse events (“AEs”) were reported, nor were any AEs considered to be related to the trial drug.
Additionally, in July 2025, we announced data from the prespecified Alzheimer’s disease biomarker analysis in our BROADWAY clinical trial. This analysis evaluated the effect of obicetrapib on plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in 1,727 patients with established ASCVD and/or HeFH whose apolipoprotein E (“ApoE”) status was able to be determined based on phenotypic testing, including 367 ApoE4 carriers. Safety in this population was not evaluated independently from the overall BROADWAY study population, where obicetrapib was observed to be well-tolerated, with safety results comparable to placebo. Because this analysis was based on a subset of patients from BROADWAY, it was not controlled for baseline differences between the treatment and placebo population.
In this analysis, treatment with obicetrapib 10 mg daily for 12 months resulted in statistically significant lower absolute changes in plasma p-tau217, a key biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease pathology, in both the analysis set of patients with baseline and end of study datapoints above the lower limit of quantification (p=0.0019; n=1,515) and in ApoE4 carriers (p=0.0215; n=367). Favorable trends were also observed across additional biomarkers, including neurofilament light chain (“NFL”), glial fibrillary acidic protein (“GFAP”), p-tau181, and the Aβ42/40 ratio, in the full analysis set and in ApoE4 carriers, with the greatest effect generally observed in carriers of two E4 proteins. Based on these results, we expect to initiate a new clinical trial evaluating obicetrapib in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease in 2026.
Clinically demonstrated anti-diabetic benefits have also been observed with CETP inhibition in Phase 3 CVOTs that, if seen in obicetrapib, would differentiate it from current treatment alternatives, especially statin therapy. We are planning preclinical studies to examine the potential of obicetrapib for patients suffering from diabetes and have included new onset of Type 2 diabetes as an endpoint in our PREVAIL CVOT, as measured by AEs indicating Type 2 diabetes, initiation of anti-diabetes medication after confirmed diabetes diagnosis or high levels of hemoglobin A1c and fasting plasma glucose. In the Phase 3 BROADWAY trial, we observed a statistically significant improvement in these prespecified AEs of special interest after one year of treatment that we hope to reconfirm in the PREVAIL CVOT trial.
Our Management Team and Investors
We are led by a world-class team of industry veterans, including some of the world’s preeminent cardiometabolic experts. Dr. Michael Davidson, our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors (the “Board of Directors”), is a leading expert in the field of lipidology and is a seasoned executive who served as founder and Chief Executive Officer of Corvidia Therapeutics, Inc. and founder and Chief Medical Officer of Omthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In addition, Dr. Davidson is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiology and clinical lipidology and has extensive experience designing, managing and evaluating clinical research. Dr. John Kastelein, our founder and Chief Scientific Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Department of Vascular Medicine at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Kastelein was a co-founder of uniQure N.V. and Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. His clinical research on the development of novel therapies for CVD and the genetic basis of dyslipidemia is widely published, and he serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Vascular Research Network, a site maintenance organization comprising dozens of hospitals in the Netherlands that are involved in clinical trials for cardiometabolic disease. Douglas Kling, our Chief Operating Officer, is an expert in the development of drugs to treat dyslipidemia and CVD, and has managed clinical operations at both Corvidia Therapeutics, Inc. and Omthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Ian Somaiya, our Chief Financial Officer, has nearly three decades of experience in senior leadership roles in the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Somaiya, our Chief Financial Officer, most recently served as CFO and Chief Business Officer of Elucida Oncology and, before that, as CFO of TCR2 Therapeutics, where he guided the company through its initial public offering and two subsequent follow-on offerings, as well as led the company’s finance, reporting, business development and investor relations functions. Prior to joining TCR2 Therapeutics, Mr. Somaiya was a managing director and head of biotechnology research at BMO Capital Markets. He also served as a Managing Director and equity analyst at Nomura Securities, Piper Jaffray and Thomas Weisel Partners. BJ Jones, our Chief Commercial Officer, has three decades of commercial and launch experience in both large pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. Most recently, he served as CCO, Migraine & Common Diseases at Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, and led the commercial enterprise that launched Biohaven’s
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Nurtec® ODT. Earlier in his career, Mr. Jones held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim and NitroMed, during which time he supported mass market product launches for notable brands including Excedrin Migraine®, Farxiga®, Pradaxa®, BiDil®, and Abilify®.
In addition, we are backed by leading life sciences investors, including Frazier Life Sciences, Bain Capital, Forbion, RA Capital and Viking Global. Prospective investors should not rely on the past investment decisions of our investors, as our investors may have different risk tolerances and may have received their securities in prior offerings at a significant discount to the market price.
Cardiovascular Disease and Hyperlipidemia
Market Overview and Unmet Medical Need
According to the World Health Organization, CVD is the leading cause of death globally and was responsible for approximately 20 million deaths, or approximately 32% of all global deaths, in 2022. Hyperlipidemia, more commonly known as high cholesterol, has been observed to nearly double the risk of developing CVD compared to those with normal total cholesterol levels. Despite the availability of lipid lowering therapies, CVD events are on the rise. This increase despite aggressive secondary prevention efforts speaks to the concept known as “residual cardiovascular risk,” defined as the risk of CVD events that persists despite treatment for, or achievement of targets for risk factors such as LDL-C.
LDL-C is the primary cause of ASCVD, and the target of many interventions aimed at reducing risk of cardiovascular events. An LDL-centric approach to risk reduction, namely with lipid lowering therapies, including statins, serves as the foundation for reducing residual cardiovascular risk. Data from a number of cardiovascular outcomes trials suggests that LDL-C is one of the most modifiable risk factors of ASCVD. Currently available strategies for LDL-C-lowering include lifestyle interventions and drug therapies including oral statins, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid, and injectable PCSK9 inhibitor therapies.
Lowering LDL-C has been observed to reduce morbidity and mortality in those with, or at risk of, CVD. The Cholesterol Treatment Trialists Collaboration (“CTT”) showed that lowering of LDL cholesterol by about 40 mg/dL with standard statin regimens safely reduced the 5-year incidence of major coronary events, revascularizations, and ischemic strokes by 23% . They also noted that a more pronounced absolute reduction of LDL-C may lead to substantially greater relative reduction in cardiovascular events. Furthermore, as seen in the Heart Protection Study and the CTT collaboration, benefit was seen in each tertile of baseline LDL-C. Similar relationships have also been documented in non-statin CVOTs for ezetimibe, two PCSK9 inhibitors, evolocumab and alirocumab, and the CETP inhibitor, anacetrapib. These trials have provided evidence that absolute LDL-C reduction and duration of therapy form a consistent model for predicting improved outcomes in patients with established ASCVD.
Despite the availability of current lipid lowering therapies, many patients are unable to achieve their risk-based LDL-C goals. In the United States, we estimate that approximately 30 million patients remain above their risk-based LDL-C goal despite treatment with lipid lowering therapy, including approximately 13 million with ASCVD. Additionally, we estimate that approximately 10 million patients diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia are receiving no therapy at all.
Patients unable to achieve treatment goals with maximally tolerated statin therapy require additional lipid-lowering therapy. Cholesterol absorption inhibitors, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid or PCSK9 inhibitors are all prescribed as alternatives or adjuncts to statins. However, there are several limitations with these lines of therapy, such as limited efficacy, route of administration, market access hurdles and side effects.
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Because PCSK9 inhibitors are injectable, they pose a less attractive option for patients who broadly prefer oral medications, and they have not received the expected utilization by clinicians or patients. The two non-statin oral LDL-C-lowering therapies, ezetimibe and bempedoic acid, often do not provide the efficacy required for many patients, including high-risk ASCVD patients, that have more aggressive LDL-C goals, and bempedoic acid has label warnings of hyperuricemia and tendon rupture. Therefore, there remains a significant unmet medical need for therapies to reduce LDL-C levels and residual cardiovascular risk in a convenient dosage form, and with a more favorable tolerability and safety profile to encourage long-term use and patient compliance. We believe that a potent, convenient, safe and well-tolerated low-dose oral medication to reduce LDL-C could fulfill this unmet need.
Our Solution: Enhanced LDL-C Lowering Through CETP Inhibition with Obicetrapib
We believe that CETP inhibition with obicetrapib has the potential, if approved, to provide patients and physicians with a new oral therapy option to robustly reduce LDL-C. Obicetrapib is designed to be a next-generation, oral, low-dose, highly selective CETP inhibitor with powerful LDL-C lowering capability. We are developing obicetrapib as both a monotherapy and an FDC with ezetimibe and have structured our obicetrapib program to overcome the safety, potency, trial design and commercial viability limitations of prior CETP inhibitors. Further, we believe that obicetrapib’s oral delivery, demonstrated activity in low doses, chemical properties and potential tolerability make it well-suited for combination approaches.
Obicetrapib has intrinsic properties, such as ionizable features and substantially reduced lipophilicity, that we believe give it more favorable properties as a drug candidate compared to prior CETP inhibitors. We have observed a favorable tolerability profile for obicetrapib in an aggregate of over 3,500 patients with dyslipidemia from Phase 1 through Phase 3 clinical trials. We conducted two Phase 3 pivotal trials, BROADWAY and BROOKLYN, to evaluate obicetrapib as a monotherapy used as an adjunct to maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapies to potentially enhance LDL-C lowering in patients with ASCVD and/or HeFH. We completed enrollment for BROADWAY in July 2023 and for BROOKLYN in April 2023. Over 2,500 patients were randomized in the BROADWAY trial and over 350 patients were randomized in the BROOKLYN trial. We reported top-line data from BROOKLYN in July 2024 and from BROADWAY in December 2024. In March 2022, we commenced our Phase 3 PREVAIL CVOT, which is designed to assess the potential of obicetrapib to reduce occurrences of MACE, including cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke and non-elective coronary revascularization. We completed enrollment in PREVAIL in April 2024. PREVAIL will continue until the last participant has been followed for a minimum of 2.5 years and the target number of MACE events have occurred. As a result, the earliest the trial could conclude based on the minimum follow-up period is the end of 2026. However, we will continue the trial until the target number of MACE events occur, which could likely require the trial to continue beyond this point.
We also continue investigating obicetrapib as an FDC with ezetimibe following the announcement of data from our Phase 3 TANDEM trial. In parallel with the ROSE2 trial, we formulated two prototype FDC tablets of obicetrapib and ezetimibe. These formulations were compared to the co-administration of obicetrapib and ezetimibe in a pilot bioequivalence trial, which was completed in the first half of 2023. Based on the results of this pilot bioequivalence trial and the data and learnings from our ROSE2 trial, we selected a formulation for an FDC tablet of obicetrapib and ezetimibe and initiated TANDEM, a Phase 3 pivotal trial, to evaluate 10 mg obicetrapib and 10 mg ezetimibe as an FDC used as an adjunct to diet and maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapies to potentially enhance LDL-C lowering in patients with HeFH, ASCVD or ASCVD risk equivalents, in the first quarter of 2024 and announced topline data in November 2024.
We believe that obicetrapib has the potential to significantly impact the existing treatment paradigm for patients with ASCVD and/or HeFH and elevated levels of LDL-C, and that the key differentiating attributes of our product candidate include the following:
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Enhanced LDL-C reduction capability. We believe that obicetrapib’s physical, pharmacokinetic and biopharmaceutical properties position it to potentially demonstrate more favorable potency and enhanced LDL-C lowering capability than previous CETP inhibitors. In previously conducted clinical trials in patients with moderately high LDL-C levels with or without prior statin therapy, obicetrapib has been observed to lower LDL-C both as a monotherapy and a combination therapy with ezetimibe (an approved LDL-C-lowering medication). In our Phase 3 BROADWAY and BROOKLYN clinical trials, we observed a mean LDL-C reduction capability of 33% and 36%, respectively, compared to placebo in patients treated with 10 mg obicetrapib on top of high-intensity statins. In our Phase 3 TANDEM clinical trial, we observed a mean LDL-C reduction of 52% in patients treated with a combination of 10 mg obicetrapib and 10 mg of ezetimibe as an adjunct to high-intensity statins, when compared to placebo.
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Promising tolerability profile. Patients are often non-compliant with existing cholesterol-lowering therapies, particularly statin therapy, due to their side effect profiles, which could result in suboptimal treatment outcomes and disease progression. In three of our Phase 3 and five of our Phase 2 clinical trials of obicetrapib, we observed statistically significant LDL-lowering activity combined with a similar incidence of generally moderate side effects compared to placebo and no drug-related, treatment-emergent serious AEs. In addition, CETP inhibitors previously under development were observed to produce anti-diabetic benefits in Phase 3 CVOTs, which has also been observed with obicetrapib, and could make it a potentially attractive adjunct for patients who are concerned about the risks of diabetes associated with statin therapy.
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Convenience. We believe that obicetrapib’s simple once-daily, low-dose oral formulation can improve patient adherence, thereby amplifying its cholesterol-lowering impact. Additionally, unlike injectable PCSK9 inhibitors, obicetrapib, an oral small molecule, is better suited for combination with other oral treatments as oral FDC products.
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Patient access. In addition, payor confidence is essential to ensuring access for patients. Based on the LDL-lowering activity of obicetrapib and oral route of administration, we believe payors will perceive the LDL-C lowering capability of obicetrapib to be on par with PCSK9 inhibitors, which are administered by injection, and to exceed the LDL-lowering capabilities of other existing oral therapies and will ultimately prefer obicetrapib to existing treatment alternatives.
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Effect on other predictors of disease risk. Like other types of LDL-C lowering therapies, i.e., statins and PCSK9 inhibitors, CETP inhibition enhances the removal of ApoB, a protein found in lipoprotein particles that contributes to atherosclerosis. However, unlike statins, based on observations from our Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials, obicetrapib also decreased the presence of Lp(a), an important biomarker for CVD risk reduction.
Lowering LDL-C Through CETP Inhibition
Hyperlipidemia, and in particular hypercholesterolemia, or high cholesterol, is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, which involves the build-up of fatty material within the inner walls of the arteries. This is because LDL-C (“a package” of cholesterol contained within a particle that contains ApoB) has the tendency to penetrate the inner lining of the arterial wall becoming trapped leading to a build-up of fatty material, which in turn elicits a pro-inflammatory response and causes the arterial walls to stiffen. Left untreated, these deposits of fatty material can result in ulceration of the vessel wall which causes acute clotting of the blood and a heart attack or a stroke. Another lipoprotein particle, Lp(a), functions in the circulation as a “sink” for oxidized phospholipids and is also prone, like ApoB, to becoming trapped in the arterial wall, attached to proteoglycans of the extracellular matrix. Subsequently, these particles build up and contribute to plaque formation and inflammation. Because of the tendency of LDL-C to build up in the arteries, LDL-C is often referred to as “bad cholesterol” and is one of the most prominent risk factors for the development of CVD.
LDL-C and ApoB levels are mainly regulated by the liver through a surface protein known as the LDL receptor. Most current LDL-C lowering therapies work, at least in part, by increasing the number of LDL receptors, and thereby increasing the clearance of LDL particles from the blood. Statin therapy is the current standard of care for patients with ASCVD or HeFH and elevated levels of LDL-C. Statin therapy reduces cholesterol in the blood by blocking a key enzyme, HMG-CoA-Reductase, necessary for the synthesis of cholesterol, which reduces the amount of cholesterol made by the liver; in addition, statins upregulate the LDL receptor, resulting in lower blood cholesterol. PCSK9 inhibitors, another LDL-C-lowering treatment, also increase the presence of LDL receptors by inhibiting PCSK9, an enzyme involved in the degradation of LDL receptors. Two other LDL-C lowering therapies, ezetimibe and Nexletol/Nexlizet, also work by upregulating LDL receptors. CETP is a plasma glycoprotein produced in the liver that circulates in the blood primarily bound to a high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (“HDL-C” or “HDL”) particle. CETP can also attach to an LDL particle and form a bridge to transfer cholesterol from HDL to LDL, as shown in the figure below. Consequently, CETP inhibitors, including obicetrapib, reduce the cholesterol concentration of LDL particles and increase the cholesterol concentration of HDL particles. This results in a decrease of the cholesterol pool in the liver as a result of the augmented excretion of cholesterol via the liver into the bile and ultimately the feces. The liver also produces more LDL receptors thereby resulting in more LDL-C particles and ApoB being cleared from the bloodstream. In animal models, CETP inhibition has been shown to block the transfer of cholesterol from HDL particles to LDL particles and to upregulate LDL receptors, thereby reducing the development of atherosclerosis and risk of ASCVD.
Although it was previously believed that the HDL-raising effects of CETP inhibition would be its primary contributor to decreased CVD risk, LDL-reduction is now known to be the most significant factor for lowering CVD risk. In a population with CETP loss of function genotypes, a 16% reduction in CVD risk was observed for every 10 mg/dL decrease in LDL-C levels. The relationship between genomic loss of CETP function and lower LDL-C levels and CVD risk is consistent with other mechanisms of genomic LDL-C reduction such as HMG-CoA reductase (statins), NPC1L1 (ezetimibe), ATP-citrate lyase (Nexletol/Nexlizet) and PCSK9 (PCSK9 inhibitors). Multiple genetic studies provide support that specific mutations associated with lifelong lower LDL-C levels reduce the risk of CVD.
CETP inhibition also increases the removal of ApoB. Apolipoproteins are proteins that are involved in packaging different types of large lipid-particle complexes that store cholesterol in the body. As shown in the figure below, the primary effect of CETP inhibition is a reduced rate of transfer of cholesteryl esters from HDL into triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, including LDL, which in turn leads to an increased concentration of cholesteryl esters in HDL particles and the formation of larger HDL particles. Consequently, we have observed an increase in
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the excretion of cholesterol via the liver into digestive tract and an upregulation of LDL receptors on the liver, resulting in enhanced clearances of LDL or ApoB-containing lipoproteins from the body. In addition, there is evidence that CETP inhibition also promotes cholesterol excretion into the intestines directly contributing to the reduced cholesterol levels in the liver thus maintaining upregulation of LDL receptors.
sdLDL-P are also believed to be an important predictor of CVD risk, with lower levels of sdLDL-P having been observed to correlate closely to lower cardiovascular risk. The measurement of using LDL particle (“LDL-P”) size and particles numbers is an alternative approach to determining CVD risk assessment and research suggest that LDL-P size, density and numbers may be more closely correlated to CVD risk than LDL-C. Increased levels of LDL-P suggest an increased presence of sdLDL-P which may have a greater potential to develop into arterial plaque due to their increased time in circulation compared to larger LDL-P and greater ability to become trapped in the arterial wall. Research has suggested that treatments lowering LDL-C alone may trigger a disconnect between LDL-C and LDL-P, which, given the observed strong connection between LDL-P and CVD risk, suggests there is a need for a drug which lowers both.
Limitations of Current Non-Statin Therapies
Increased attention by physicians to aggressive LDL-C lowering for high-risk CVD patients has led to the increased use of non-statin therapies with LDL-C lowering capabilities, including ezetimibe, Nexletol/Nexlizet and PCSK9 inhibitors, either on their own or in conjunction with statins.
However, the needs of patients at very high risk to experience a future cardiovascular event with elevated levels of LDL-C despite being treated with maximally tolerated statin therapy remain largely unaddressed by current non-statin treatment options, which have only modest efficacy or are inconveniently administered through an injection. In a cross-sectional study of over 20 thousand patients on lipid-lowering medication, current treatments including statins, ezetimibe, PCSK9 inhibitors or a combination of the foregoing resulted in fewer than 3% of patients reaching recommended cholesterol goals of lower than 1.8 mmol/L (70 mg/dL).
•
Ezetimibe. The non-statin cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe functions by preventing the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines by blocking the NPC1L1 protein. Although these drugs are administered at a low dose, which contributes to their safety and tolerability, and are generic and broadly available, they have been shown to only moderately reduce LDL-C. Ezetimibe as monotherapy or when given in combination with statin therapy has been observed to reduce LDL-C by approximately 13% to 20% and reduce MACE by 7%. Despite its modest efficacy, ezetimibe is the most prescribed non-statin lipid lowering therapy with approximately 11% market share.
•
Nexletol/Nexlizet. The other currently available oral non-statin therapy, Nexletol/Nexlizet (Esperion Therapeutics), which inhibits the enzyme ATP citrate lyase, an enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis, shows only relatively modest improvement in lowering LDL-C by approximately 17% as a monotherapy and a MACE reduction of 13%. Along with its relatively modest efficacy, Nexletol/Nexlizet’s label contains safety warnings that include tendon rupture and gout. We believe Nexletol/Nexlizet’s access and uptake have been limited because its efficacy profile is comparable to generic ezetimibe.
•
PCSK9 Inhibitors. The PCSK9 inhibitors on the market, such as Repatha (Amgen Inc.), Praluent (Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) and Leqvio (Novartis International AG), are injectable monoclonal antibodies and small interfering RNA that have been observed to reduce LDL-C levels by approximately 50% compared to baseline and MACE by 15%. While PCSK9 inhibitors have demonstrated their effectiveness at reducing LDL-C when used alone and as an adjunct to statin therapy, we believe their injectable route of administration makes them inconvenient for patients, and their access is further limited by their associated high cost and low rates of prescription approval by payors. It is estimated that over 75% of ASCVD and HeFH outpatients prefer oral drugs to injectable therapies.
Limitations of Prior Attempts to Develop CETP Inhibitors
As described above, CETP inhibitors, including obicetrapib, are designed to work by blocking the transfer of cholesteryl esters from HDL to LDL particles, thereby reducing LDL-C levels in the body. We believe that obicetrapib can improve upon existing therapies by providing a combination of potent LDL-C lowering activity favorable tolerability and the ability to be administered orally.
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Other CETP inhibitors have reached varying stages of clinical development, but none have been approved or otherwise able to generate a potent, safe and well-tolerated low-dose oral option. We believe that the prior CETP inhibitor programs did not select optimal compounds because they focused on exploring the prominent increase in HDL-C rather than the potential for lowering LDL-C. Given the focus on HDL-C raising, we believe their clinical trial designs were suboptimal. Nevertheless, anacetrapib, the latest of the prior CETP inhibitors, provided clinical support for the proposition that the absolute reduction in LDL-C over time by CETP inhibition confers a predictable benefit in the prevalence of adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
The focus on HDL-C raising by developers of prior CETP inhibitors likely resulted in the selection of chemical compounds that were not optimized for LDL-C lowering, which we believe in turn resulted in only modest reductions to CVD risk. In addition, one CETP inhibitor, torcetrapib, experienced off-target toxicity resulting in increased blood pressure and elevated aldosterone concentration in Phase 2 clinical trials. While another CETP inhibitor, dalcetrapib, did not experience the off-target toxicity as observed with torcetrapib, the drug had no LDL-C lowering activity and therefore no effect on reducing major adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
Given the emphasis on the HDL-C raising capabilities of the prior CETP inhibitors in development, the associated CETP inhibitor programs also used CVOTs designed to evaluate patients with controlled rather than elevated LDL-C levels. Therefore, we believe these study designs minimized the potential to observe relative reductions in CVD risk. In addition, we believe the evacetrapib CVOT was too short (a median duration of only two years) and most likely the sample size too low for the full magnitude of MACE benefits to be observed based on the modest reduction in LDL-C achieved. Similar CVOTs with other agents that lowered LDL-C by a similar magnitude required at least three years to demonstrate a MACE benefit, including the CVOTs of the CETP inhibitor anacetrapib.
In the Phase 3 REVEAL CVOT investigating the efficacy of anacetrapib in approximately 30,000 patients with ASCVD receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy, there was an observed correlation between MACE benefits for anacetrapib and the magnitude of the LDL-C reduction, suggesting that CETP inhibitors work according to the same principle as statin therapy in reducing MACE. The REVEAL trial began enrollment in August 2011 and completed its long-term follow-up in April 2019. A median four-year follow-up of the REVEAL trial showed that CETP inhibition resulted in a 9% reduction in MACE (first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization) compared to placebo. We believe the REVEAL results provide clinical support showing that the absolute reduction in LDL-C over time by CETP inhibition confers a predictable benefit in the prevalence of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, as measured by MACE. However, due to a very low baseline level of LDL-C (61 mg/dl), the trial showed only a modest absolute LDL-C lowering of 11 mg/dl (17%). In addition, anacetrapib’s potential commercial viability was limited by its lipophilicity, which caused it to accumulate in fat tissue over time.
We selected obicetrapib 10 mg for our Phase 3 development program given its observed LDL-C-lowering activity and safety profile and designed our CVOT to avoid the shortcomings of prior CETP inhibitor programs and to ultimately fulfill the unmet need of ASCVD or HeFH patients with elevated LDL-C levels despite being treated with currently available optimal lipid lowering therapy. Obicetrapib has intrinsic properties, such as ionizable features and substantially reduced lipophilicity, that we believe give it more favorable physical, pharmacokinetic and biopharmaceutical properties as a drug candidate compared to other CETP inhibitors.
Clinical Development Plan
We conducted two Phase 3 pivotal trials – our BROADWAY and BROOKLYN trials – designed to measure obicetrapib’s ability to reduce LDL-C as a monotherapy administered as an adjunct to maximally tolerated lipid-modifying therapy. Following our end of Phase 2 meeting with the FDA in the fourth quarter of 2021, we also commenced our Phase 3 PREVAIL CVOT for obicetrapib as a monotherapy administered as an adjunct to maximally tolerated lipid-modifying therapy in early 2022. In our Phase 2 ROSE2 trial, we evaluated the effect of an FDC of obicetrapib 10 mg with ezetimibe 10 mg on top of high-intensity statin therapy on reduction in LDL-C. In parallel with the ROSE2 trial, we formulated two prototype FDC tablets of obicetrapib and ezetimibe. These formulations were compared to the co-administration of obicetrapib and ezetimibe in a pilot bioequivalence trial, which was completed in the first half of 2023. Based on the results of this pilot bioequivalence trial and the data and learnings from our ROSE2 trial, we selected a formulation for an FDC tablet of obicetrapib and ezetimibe. We initiated TANDEM, a Phase 3 pivotal trial, to evaluate 10 mg obicetrapib and 10 mg ezetimibe as an FDC used as an adjunct to diet and maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapies to potentially enhance LDL-lowering in patients with HeFH, ASCVD or ASCVD risk equivalents, in the first quarter of 2024 and released topline data in November 2024.
We have set forth below our current obicetrapib clinical development programs.
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* PREVAIL will continue until the last participant has been followed up for a minimum of 2.5 years and the target number of MACE events have occurred. As a result, the earliest the trial could conclude based on the minimum follow-up period is the end of 2026. However, we will continue the trial until the target number of MACE events occur, which could likely require the trial to continue beyond this point.
Note: Other than as noted, this graphic represents trials that are currently ongoing. Projections are subject to inherent limitations. Actual results may differ from expectations. Other than as noted, the timing of regulatory submissions is subject to additional discussions with regulators.
Additionally, based on the lipid-modifying effects of CETP inhibition we have observed in our clinical trials for obicetrapib to date, we have conducted preclinical and early clinical assessments of obicetrapib to test its potential for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Following a Type B meeting in June 2021, the FDA confirmed that our preclinical data are sufficient to support a proposed clinical trial of obicetrapib for this indication, and we commenced a Phase 2a clinical trial in early 2022 in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease to evaluate the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic effects, safety and tolerability of obicetrapib. We announced initial data from this trial in September 2023. In July 2025, we announced data from a prespecified analysis in BROADWAY that evaluated the effects of longer duration of therapy (12 months) on certain biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease with a prespecified population of ApoE3/4 or 4/4 carriers, based on phenotypic analysis. Based on these results, we expect to initiate a new clinical trial evaluating obicetrapib in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease in 2026.
Obicetrapib for Cardiovascular Disease
There is broad scientific consensus that elevation in LDL-C is a primary causal factor for ASCVD, and CVD outcomes in high-risk populations improve as the level of LDL-C achieved on therapy decreases. A study published in the Journal of the American Medicine in 2017 found that genetic variants related to lower LDL-C levels were significantly associated with a lower risk of CVD. Specifically, the study concluded that the quantum of reduced genetic risk for CVD associated with CETP mutations was almost identical to the genetic risk of CVD observed in patients with genetically reduced levels of the proteins targeted by statins, PCSK9 inhibitors and ezetimibe. We believe the consistency of benefit across genotypes observed in all target genes is predictive of the clinical efficacy of CETP-induced LDL-C lowering on CVD.
The direct correlation between LDL-C reduction and decrease in atherosclerotic cardiovascular events has been documented for both statin, as well as non-statin, therapies in CVOTs for ezetimibe, the PCSK9 inhibitors evolocumab and alirocumab, and for the CETP inhibitor anacetrapib. Most notably, a median four-year follow-up of the REVEAL Phase 3 trial of anacetrapib showed that CETP inhibition resulted in a 9% reduction in MACE (first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization) compared to placebo. However, due to a very low baseline level of LDL-C (61 mg/dl), the trial showed only a modest absolute LDL-C lowering of 11 mg/dl (17%). After approximately six and a half years of total follow-up, the REVEAL clinical trial showed additional MACE reduction of 20%. The table below shows the reduction in MACE and each component of MACE in the in-trial and post-trial periods.
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We believe the REVEAL results provide clinical support for the hypothesis that the absolute reduction in LDL-C over time by CETP inhibition confers a predictable benefit in the prevalence of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, as measured by MACE. Specifically, the decrease in MACE observed in the REVEAL trial of anacetrapib is consistent with the findings of the CTT Collaboration, illustrated in the graphic below. The CTT collaboration conducted a meta-analysis of 26 statin clinical trials and showed that there is a consistent, linear decrease in MACE for every absolute unit of non-HDL (which is primarily composed of LDL-C) cholesterol reduction. The MACE reduction observed in REVEAL falls on the meta-regression line – specifically, the CTT metaregression line predicts that an absolute reduction of non-HDL of 17 mg/dl, as seen in REVEAL, would correspond to the 11% reduction in coronary death and myocardial infarction observed in REVEAL.
*The graphic above presents a linear prediction of MACE benefit, as discussed above. Actual results may differ materially.
With these learnings in mind, we are executing a Phase 3 clinical development plan for obicetrapib focused on patients with elevated baseline LDL-C and that is designed to support a broad CVD label, if successful. To date, we have completed seven Phase 1 trials, five Phase 2 trials and three Phase 3 trials of obicetrapib, and we are currently conducting a Phase 3 PREVAIL CVOT trial.
Planned and Ongoing Clinical Trials for Cardiovascular Disease
Phase 3 PREVAIL Cardiovascular Outcomes Trial
We have initiated our PREVAIL trial (TA-8995-304), our Phase 3 CVOT, to evaluate the effects of 10 mg obicetrapib in participants with ASCVD on MACE, including cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke and non-elective coronary revascularization. We enrolled over 9,500 participants at sites in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia with established ASCVD and an LDL-C level of at least 55 mg/dL, and an additional risk enhancer in participants with an LDL-C level below 100 mg/dL, whose LDL-C levels are not adequately controlled despite maximally tolerated lipid-modifying therapies. The planned median trial follow-up is expected to be approximately 42
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months, and the treatment period will continue until the last participant has been followed for a minimum of 2.5 years after the last patient has been randomized or until the target number of primary endpoint events (i.e., coronary heart disease death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, fatal or non-fatal ischemic stroke, or coronary revascularization) have occurred, whichever is later.
We designed our PREVAIL trial based on insights gained from analyzing failures of prior CVOTs for other CETP inhibitors. Our trial design targets patients above their LDL-C risk-based goal, despite treatment with maximally tolerated lipid modifying therapies, which we believe creates potential for greater observed absolute LDL-C reduction, particularly given the observed median LDL-lowering activity observed in our clinical trials. We are focused on patients with elevated LDL-C levels and who have at least one other risk enhancer (including recent myocardial infarction, Type 2 diabetes, high triglyceride levels or low HDL-C), compared to prior CVOTs for CETP inhibitors that enrolled patients with low baseline LDL-C. We are planning for longer duration of follow-up to maximize opportunities to observe MACE reduction, with all patients to be followed for a minimum of 2.5 years. We believe that the inclusion of a patient population with established ASCVD who are at very high risk to experience a future cardiovascular event given their elevated LDL-C levels despite being treated with maximum lipid lowering therapy and who have other additional risk enhancers increases the likelihood that the trial will accrue sufficient primary endpoint events over time and potentially result in a strong relative risk reduction in the treatment arm.
Phase 3 REMBRANDT Imaging Trial
We have initiated REMBRANDT, a Phase 3 cardiovascular computed tomography angiography imaging trial to evaluate the effect of obicetrapib and ezetimibe in FDC on coronary plaque. The placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, Phase 3 study is being conducted in adult participants with high-risk ASCVD who are not adequately controlled by their maximally tolerated lipid-modifying therapy, to assess the impact of the obicetrapib 10 mg and ezetimibe 10 mg FDC daily on coronary plaque and inflammation characteristics. The study is expected to complete enrollment of approximately 300 patients in 2026.
Phase 3 RUBENS Trial
RUBENS is a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, 12-week study conducted in adult participants with Type 2 diabetes and/or Metabolic Syndrome on stable, guideline- recommended lipid lowering therapy to evaluate the LDL-C lowering of obicetrapib alone, or obicetrapib and ezetimibe in FDC. Participants completing the 12-week double-blind treatment will enter a 9-month open label extension with obicetrapib and ezetimibe in FDC. The study is expected to enroll approximately 300 patients, with topline data expected by the end of 2026.
Phase 2 VINCENT Trial
VINCENT is a Phase 2 clinical study to evaluate the effects of obicetrapib alone and in combination with evolocumab on Lp(a) in patients with mild dyslipidemia. The single arm study will treat patients with obicetrapib 10 mg daily for 8 weeks followed by obicetrapib 10 mg daily plus evolocumab 140 mg/dL every other week for 8 weeks. There will be two cohorts in the study. The first cohort will include 39 participants with Lp(a) levels greater than 50 mg/dL or 125 nmol/L, and the second cohort will include 30 participants with Lp(a) levels greater than 20 mg/dL or 50 nmol/L but less than 50 mg/dL or 125 nmol/L.
Completed Phase 3 Clinical Trials
We have completed three Phase 3 clinical trials of obicetrapib for the treatment of cardiometabolic disease. TANDEM evaluated 10 mg obicetrapib and 10 mg ezetimibe as an FDC, while BROADWAY and BROOKLYN were designed to measure the effect of obicetrapib 10 mg as monotherapy on top of maximally tolerated lipid-modifying therapy.
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Phase 3 TANDEM Fixed-Dose Combination Trial
We completed TANDEM, a Phase 3 pivotal trial, to evaluate 10 mg obicetrapib and 10 mg ezetimibe as an FDC used as an adjunct to diet and maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapies to potentially enhance LDL-lowering in patients with HeFH, ASCVD or ASCVD risk equivalents in November 2024. We enrolled approximately 400 patients in the United States that had a baseline LDL-C of ≥ 70 mg/dL. Following a 14-day screening period, patients were randomized 1:1:1:1 to obicetrapib 10 mg and ezetimibe 10 mg FDC, obicetrapib 10 mg monotherapy, ezetimibe 10 mg monotherapy or placebo for an 84-day treatment period.
TANDEM’s co-primary endpoints were percent change from baseline in LDL-C of the FDC compared to each monotherapy arm after 84 days and obicetrapib 10 mg compared to placebo after day 84. Secondary endpoints incorporated percent changes from baseline in other biomarkers, including Lp(a), non-HDL-C and ApoB. The TANDEM trial met all co-primary endpoints. Overall, the FDC was observed to be well-tolerated compared to placebo in this trial. For all treatment groups, the most common treatment-emergent adverse events (“TEAEs”) were hypertension (4.4%), arthralgia (4.2%), upper respiratory tract infection (3.4%), diarrhea (2.5%), and fatigue (2.5%).
We believe that the stronger observed LDL-C lowering among patients receiving the combination therapy as compared with those receiving ezetimibe in combination with statin therapy is potentially due to the synergistic mechanisms of action for each of obicetrapib and ezetimibe. While obicetrapib is designed to promote the expression of LDL receptors in the liver, there is evidence that CETP inhibition also promotes cholesterol excretion into the intestines, where ezetimibe is designed to block cholesterol reabsorption into the body. Therefore, the combined mechanism is expected to synergistically enhance fecal sterol removal of cholesterol. We believe that LDL-C lowering effects of ezetimibe can be enhanced by introducing obicetrapib to help facilitate this synergistic mechanism of action.
LDL-C percentage change:
Ezetimibe
(n=101)
Obicetrapib (n=102)
Obicetrapib and Ezetimibe FDC
(n=102)
Day 84 – from placebo
Mean %
-23.3
-35.5
-52.2
Median %
-22.6
-37.2
-54.0
LS mean %
-20.7
-31.9
-48.6
Comparison to pbo
-
(p<0.0001)
(p<0.0001)
Comparison to eze 10 mg
-
-
(p<0.0001)
Comparison to obi 10 mg
-
-
(p=0.0007)
Phase 3 BROADWAY and BROOKLYN Lipid Trials
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We conducted two Phase 3 pivotal trials designed to measure obicetrapib’s LDL-C lowering capability and enrolled patients across both trials who require additional LDL-lowering on top of their maximum tolerated lipid-modifying therapies. BROADWAY, which completed enrollment in July 2023 and for which topline results were announced in December 2024, randomized approximately 2,500 patients in the United States, Europe and Asia with HeFH (individuals genetically predisposed to very high cholesterol) or established ASCVD, and who have baseline LDL-C of at least 55 mg/dL, and an additional risk enhancer in participants with an LDL-C level below 100 mg/dL (including other abnormal biometrics, a recent myocardial infarction or Type 2 diabetes). BROOKLYN, which completed enrollment in April 2023 and for which topline results were announced in July 2024, enrolled HeFH patients in the United States, Canada, Europe and Africa who had baseline LDL-C of at least 70 mg/dL. Obicetrapib was administered in a once-daily 10 mg dose as an adjunct to diet (for regulatory purposes in the European Union) and maximally tolerated lipid-modifying therapy, for a 52-week treatment period. Such lipid-modifying therapies included statins or, for statin-intolerant patients, ezetimibe, Nexletol/Nexlizet, PCSK9 inhibitors, or fibrates (a class of drugs which increase HDL-C without significantly reducing LDL-C).
The primary endpoint of both trials was percent change from baseline in LDL-C of obicetrapib 10 mg compared to placebo after 84 days. Secondary endpoints also included percent changes from baseline of obicetrapib 10 mg compared to placebo after 84 days in Lp(a), ApoB, HDL-C and non-HDL-C (representing total cholesterol minus HDL-C), and for BROADWAY, LDL-C levels at days 180 and 365, total cholesterol and triglycerides. For BROADWAY, other exploratory outcome measures included time from randomization until first confirmed occurrence of MACE in the obicetrapib arm compared to placebo. The safety and tolerability profile of obicetrapib was comparable to placebo in both trials (which included a broad representation of adult males and females of all ages, including elderly and very elderly participants), assessed by AEs, vital signs, clinical laboratory values and electrocardiogram measurements. In addition, we evaluated obicetrapib’s effects on blood pressure and no difference from placebo was shown.
The tables below summarize data from each study:
LDL-C LS mean percentage change in BROOKLYN trial:
% Change from Baseline
Obicetrapib % Change
Placebo (n=118)
Obicetrapib (n=236)
Compared to Placebo
p-value
Day 84
+0.3%
-36.1%
-36.3%
<0.0001
Day 365
+10.3%
-31.1%
-41.5%
<0.0001
LDL-C percentage change at day 84 in BROADWAY trial:
Placebo
(n = 844)
Obicetrapib 10 mg
(n = 1686)
Difference
Mean
-2%
-35%
-33%
Median
-4%
-40%
-36%
LS mean (with imputation)
+3%
-30%
-33%
While BROADWAY was not designed or powered to measure MACE benefit, MACE was evaluated as an exploratory endpoint and as part of our safety analysis. Despite the limitations of the trial design, we observed a 21% reduction in MACE favoring obicetrapib after one year.
MACE from BROADWAY:
Placebo
(n = 844)
Obicetrapib 10 mg
(n= 1686)
Hazard Ratio
95% CI
All-cause mortality – no. (%)
12 (1.4)
19 (1.1)
0.83
(0.40-1.71)
Coronary heart death – no. (%)
5 (0.6)
8 (0.5)
0.80
(0.26-2.44)
First 4-point MACE – no. (%)
44 (5.2)
70 (4.2)
0.79
(0.54-1.15)
4-point MACE: CHD death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, coronary revascularization. MACE was not a primary or secondary endpoint of the BROADWAY trial.
Pooled MACE from BROADWAY and BROOKLYN:
Placebo
(n = 962)
Obicetrapib 10 mg
(n= 1920)
Hazard Ratio
95% CI
All-cause mortality – no. (%)
14 (1.5)
20 (1.0)
0.78
(0.39-1.58)
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Coronary heart death – no. (%)
7 (0.7)
9 (0.5)
0.63
(0.24-1.70)
First 4-point MACE – no. (%)
49 (5.1)
75 (3.9)
0.75
(0.53-1.08)
4-point MACE: CHD death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, coronary revascularization. MACE was not a primary or secondary endpoint of the BROADWAY or BROOKLYN trials.
Neither the BROADWAY nor BROOKLYN trials were designed to assess MACE as the primary or secondary endpoints and as a result there are limitations on the results presented above. We are conducting PREVAIL, our Phase 3 cardiovascular outcomes trial designed to assess the MACE benefit of obicetrapib, to provide support for obicetrapib’s potential MACE benefit.
Overall, obicetrapib was observed to be well-tolerated compared to placebo in the BROADWAY trial. TEAEs in BROADWAY were reported by 1,007 (59.8%) patients in the obicetrapib 10 mg group compared to 513 (60.9%) patients in the placebo group. Most TEAEs were mild or moderate. TESAEs were observed in 13.9% of the placebo group and in 12.5% of the obicetrapib group. For all treatment groups, the most common TEAEs were COVID-19 (5.1%), hypertension (4.5%), upper respiratory tract infection (3.2%), hyperglycemia (2.8%), and nasopharyngitis (2.6%).
The following table summarizes the safety results from the BROADWAY trial:
Placebo
N= 843
n (%)
Obicetrapib 10 mg
N= 1,685
n (%)
Any TEAEs
513 ( 60.9)
1,007 ( 59.8)
Any TEAEs by maximum severity
Mild
228 ( 27.0)
481 ( 28.5)
Moderate
217 ( 25.7)
408 ( 24.2)
Severe
68 ( 8.1)
118 ( 7.0)
Any trial drug related TEAEs
39 ( 4.6)
76 ( 4.5)
Any trial drug-related TEAEs by maximum severity
Mild
25 ( 3.0)
51 ( 3.0)
Moderate
14 ( 1.7)
23 ( 1.4)
Severe
0 ( 0.0)
2 ( 0.1)
Any TEAEs leading to discontinuation of trial drug
43 ( 5.1)
68 ( 4.0)
Any TESAEs
117 ( 13.9)
211 ( 12.5)
Any treatment-emergent non-serious AEs
495 ( 58.7)
959 ( 56.9)
Any trial drug-related TESAEs
0 ( 0.0)
1 ( 0.1)
Any TEAEs leading to death
12 ( 1.4)
19 ( 1.1)
Overall, obicetrapib was also observed to be well-tolerated compared to placebo in the BROOKLYN trial. TEAEs were reported by 149 (63.7%) patients in BROOKLYN in the obicetrapib 10 mg group compared to 83 (70.3%) patients in the placebo group. Most TEAEs were mild or moderate. TESAEs were observed in 6.8% of the placebo group and in 5.6% of the obicetrapib group. For all treatment groups, the most common TEAEs were influenza (8.0%), COVID-19 (6.5%), hypertension (6.3%), nasopharyngitis (5.7%), and diarrhea (4.8%).
The following table summarizes the safety results from the BROOKLYN trial:
Placebo
N= 118
n (%)
Obicetrapib 10 mg
N= 234
n (%)
Total
N= 352
n (%)
Any TEAEs
83 (70.3)
149 (63.7)
232 (65.9)
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Any trial drug related TEAEs
8 (6.8)
10 (4.3)
18 (5.1)
Any TEAEs leading to discontinuation of trial drug
8 (6.8)
10 (4.3)
18 (5.1)
Any TESAEs
8 (6.8)
13 (5.6)
21 (6.0)
Completed Phase 2 Clinical Trials
We have completed five Phase 2 trials of obicetrapib for the treatment of cardiometabolic disease. In our Phase 2 trials obicetrapib was observed to robustly lower LDL-C and increase HDL-C from baseline across various treatment settings. Obicetrapib was also observed to be well-tolerated compared to placebo, in both the 5 mg and 10 mg doses and as a combination therapy with ezetimibe. The majority of TEAEs were mild or moderate in severity and there were no drug-related, TESAEs. The graphs below summarize the results of our Phase 1 multiple ascending dose and Phase 2 trials, with 10 mg of obicetrapib.
Phase 2b ROSE Trial
In our Phase 2b ROSE trial, we observed that obicetrapib has robust LDL-C lowering capability as an adjunct to high-intensity statins at both 5 mg and 10 mg dosages. Based on our ROSE trial, we are using a 10 mg dosage for our Phase 3 trials. In our Phase 2a TULIP trial, we observed that a daily dose of up to 10 mg of obicetrapib alone significantly reduced LDL-C and increased HDL-C. Based on observations from our Phase 2b OCEAN trial, we believe that obicetrapib is at least additive for LDL lowering as a combination therapy with ezetimibe.
Phase 2a TULIP Trial
A Phase 2a TULIP trial of obicetrapib, which was completed in 2014, was a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial among 364 patients with mild dyslipidemia and not on lipid-altering therapy at screening and involved once-daily oral dosing of obicetrapib up to 10 mg or a placebo alone and as a combination therapy with statins. The primary endpoints were the percent changes in LDL-C and HDL-C levels from baseline to week 12 of the trial, which were met for both doses. The 5 mg dose of obicetrapib resulted in a mean reduction of LDL-C by 45% and increased HDL-C by 161%, compared to placebo. In patients treated with 10 mg obicetrapib plus statin therapy (20 mg atorvastatin or 10 mg rosuvastatin), LDL-C levels were approximately 50% lower and HDL-C levels were approximately 140% higher, respectively, than those observed in patients receiving statin therapy alone.
A total of 284 (78.2%) patients experienced at least one TEAE, of which 95 (26.2%) experienced a suspected trial drug-related TEAE. For all treatment groups, the most common TEAEs were the common cold and headache (22.9% and 13.2%, respectively). Most TEAEs were mild or moderate in severity with only 13 (3.6%) patients experiencing a severe TEAE, two of which were suspected to be related to the trial drug (one subject in the placebo group and one subject in the atorvastatin 20 mg and obicetrapib 10 mg combination). Prevalence, incidence
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and severity of TEAEs were similar across all treatment groups. There were eight patients with a TESAE, none of which were trial drug related, and no deaths occurred during the trial.
Phase 2b ROSE Trial
Our Phase 2b ROSE trial, which was completed in August 2021, was a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial among 120 patients with mild dyslipidemia who were already receiving high-intensity statin therapy. The trial involved a once-daily oral dose of obicetrapib at either 5 mg or 10 mg dose level for eight weeks. The primary endpoint of this clinical trial was LDL-C reduction from baseline and was met for both doses. Obicetrapib had a rapid effect, with LDL-C levels dropping dramatically in the first four weeks of the trial and remaining relatively steady for the remaining four weeks of the trial. At the 5 mg dose level, approximately 20% of patients experienced a decrease in median LDL-C levels of over 60%; at the 10 mg dose level, that percentage nearly doubled.
Overall, obicetrapib as an adjunct to high-intensity statin therapy at both doses was observed to be well-tolerated compared to placebo. TEAEs were reported by 15 (37.5%) subjects in the 5 mg group and 8 (20.0%) subjects in the 10 mg group, compared with 19 (47.5%) subjects in the placebo group. For all treatment groups, the most common TEAEs were fatigue (4.2%), arthralgia (2.5%), nausea (2.5%) and headache (2.5%). All other TEAEs were experienced by only one or no subjects in each treatment group. TEAEs that were considered by the investigator to be related to trial treatment were reported by three subjects (two subjects in the 5 mg group and one subject in the 10 mg group), compared with four subjects in the placebo group. There were no TEAEs leading to death. One subject in the placebo group had a TEAE leading to discontinuation. The majority of TEAEs were mild and moderate in severity; one subject in the placebo group had a severe TEAE. There were two serious TEAEs, both of which occurred in the placebo group.
Based on our ROSE trial and the enhanced LDL-C reduction capability of a 10 mg dose compared with 5 mg and the safety profile we observed, we selected a 10 mg dose for our Phase 3 lipid trials and CVOT.
Phase 2b OCEAN Trial
Our Phase 2b OCEAN trial, which we completed in June 2021, evaluated the effect of obicetrapib as a combination therapy with ezetimibe on LDL-C levels. This randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial among 100 patients with mild dyslipidemia involved once-daily oral 5 mg dose of obicetrapib alone and as a combination therapy with 10 mg of ezetimibe, compared to both placebo and ezetimibe alone, for eight weeks.
The primary endpoint of the trial was percent change in LDL-C compared to baseline, which was met. We observed that obicetrapib 5 mg, ezetimibe 10 mg and their combination each significantly reduced LDL-C from baseline and compared with placebo, with statistically significant reductions compared to baseline measured at 34.4%, 14.8% and 52.0%, respectively, compared to a 1.4% reduction in the placebo group.
Obicetrapib 5 mg alone and as a combination therapy with ezetimibe 10 mg taken once daily for eight weeks displayed a favorable tolerability profile. TEAEs were reported by 4 (14.3%) subjects in the obicetrapib 5 mg group and 9 (33.3%) subjects in the combination group, compared with 8 (28.6%) subjects in the ezetimibe 10 mg group and six subjects in the placebo group. For all treatment groups, the most common TEAEs were diarrhea (3.6%), headache (3.6%), myalgia (1.8%) and constipation (1.8%). All other TEAEs were experienced by one or no subjects in each treatment group. TEAEs that were considered to be related to trial treatment were reported by one subject and three subjects in the obicetrapib 5 mg and combination groups, respectively, compared with three subjects and four subjects in the ezetimibe 10 mg and placebo groups, respectively. There were no TEAEs leading to death. One subject in the ezetimibe 10 mg group had a TEAE leading to discontinuation of the trial drug, compared to no subjects in the 5 mg group and two subjects in the combination group. The majority of TEAEs were mild and moderate in severity, and one subject in the ezetimibe 10 mg group had a severe TEAE.
ROSE2 Clinical Trial
In June 2023, we announced full results from our Phase 2 ROSE2 trial, our clinical trial evaluating obicetrapib in combination with ezetimibe as an adjunct to high-intensity statin therapy. ROSE2 met its primary and secondary endpoints, with statistically significant reductions in LDL-C and ApoB observed. Statistically significant improvements in non-HDL-C and total and small LDL-P were also observed. We also observed significant improvements in Lp(a). In addition, the combination of obicetrapib and ezetimibe was observed to be well-tolerated, with a safety profile observed to be comparable to placebo.
ROSE2 was designed as a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of obicetrapib 10 mg in combination with ezetimibe 10 mg as an adjunct to high-intensity statin therapy. Patients were randomized to receive combination therapy, obicetrapib 10 mg or placebo for a 12 week treatment period. A total of 119 patients enrolled in ROSE2, of whom 97 were included in the on-treatment analysis. Certain patients were excluded from the on treatment population as a result of suspected non-adherence to the trial protocol. Patients presented at baseline with a fasting LDL-C greater than 70 mg/dL and triglycerides less than 400 mg/dL and all were receiving a stable dose of high-intensity statin therapy.
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The primary endpoint was the percent change from baseline to week 12 in Friedewald-calculated LDL-C for the obicetrapib plus ezetimibe combination treatment group compared with placebo. Secondary efficacy endpoints included the percent changes from baseline to week 12 in LDL-C for obicetrapib monotherapy compared with placebo and in ApoB for the obicetrapib plus ezetimibe combination compared with placebo and the obicetrapib monotherapy compared with placebo. Exploratory endpoints included the percent changes from baseline to week 12 in lipoprotein(a), non-HDL-C, HDL-C, total and small LDL-P assessed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and the proportion of patients at the end of treatment who achieved LDL-C levels below 100 mg/dL, 70 mg/dL and 55 mg/dL for the obicetrapib plus ezetimibe combination and obicetrapib monotherapy groups compared with placebo.
Overall, obicetrapib alone and in combination with ezetimibe was observed to be well-tolerated compared to placebo. TEAEs were reported by 11 (27.5%) subjects in the combination group, 8 (20.5%) subjects in the monotherapy group and 16 (40.0%) subjects in the placebo group. For all treatment groups, the most common AEs nausea (3.4%), urinary tract infection (2.5%), and headache (2.5%). Overall, no drug-related, TESAEs were observed, and there were no TEAEs leading to death. One subject in the combination group had a TEAE leading to discontinuation of the trial drug, compared to two in the monotherapy group and two in the placebo group. There were two severe TEAEs in the placebo group (both nervous system disorders) and one in the monotherapy group (a cardiac disorder).
In parallel with the ROSE2 trial, we formulated two prototype FDC tablets of obicetrapib and ezetimibe. These formulations were compared to the co-administration of obicetrapib and ezetimibe in a pilot bioequivalence trial, which was completed in the first half of 2023. Based on the results of this pilot bioequivalence trial and the data and learnings from our ROSE2 trial, we have selected a formulation for an FDC tablet of obicetrapib and ezetimibe and initiated TANDEM, a Phase 3 pivotal trial, to evaluate 10 mg obicetrapib and 10 mg ezetimibe as an FDC used as an adjunct to diet and maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapies to potentially enhance LDL-lowering in patients with HeFH, ASCVD or ASCVD risk equivalent patients, in the first quarter of 2024 and released topline data in November 2024.
Japan Phase 2b Clinical Trial
In June 2023, we announced topline results from our Phase 2b Japan trial evaluating the effects of three doses of obicetrapib (2.5 mg, 5 mg, and 10 mg) on LDL-C levels. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of obicetrapib as an adjunct to stable statin therapy in Japanese patients. The trial was conducted at hospitals and clinics across Japan. The primary endpoint was the percent change from baseline to end of treatment (day 56) in LDL-C for each obicetrapib group compared to placebo. The trial enrolled 102 adult participants, who were randomized 1:1:1:1 to receive obicetrapib 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg or placebo for the 56-day treatment period. Patients treated with obicetrapib 2.5 mg, 5 mg or 10 mg achieved a median reduction in LDL-C of 24.8%, 31.9%, and 45.8%, respectively, as compared to patients treated with placebo, who achieved a median reduction in LDL-C of 0.9%. In addition, patients treated with obicetrapib 10 mg achieved a median reduction in ApoB of 29.7%, compared to a 0.4% reduction in patients treated with placebo, and a median reduction in non-HDL-C of 37.0%, as compared to a 0.4% reduction in patients treated with placebo. The p-value for each endpoint in the obicetrapib arms of the trial compared to placebo was <0.0001. Overall, the different dosages of obicetrapib were observed to be generally well-tolerated, with a safety profile comparable to placebo. TEAEs were reported by 15 (57.7%) subjects in the 10 mg obicetrapib group, 7 (28.0%) subjects in the 5 mg obicetrapib group, 9 (36.0%) subjects in the 2.5 mg group and 15 (57.7%) subjects in the placebo group. AEs observed to date were primarily mild. One TESAE was observed in the 5 mg group, but it was not considered by the investigator to be related to trial treatment. Overall, no drug-related TESAEs were observed, and there were no TEAEs leading to death.
Obicetrapib for Other Therapeutic Areas
Alzheimer’s disease
According to the World Health Organization, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias affect approximately 55 million people as of 2021, and this is expected to increase to 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050. Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent form of dementia, resulting in the generalized degeneration of the brain.
In a healthy brain, excess cholesterol levels in the neurons and amyloid-beta (“Aβ”) peptide removal from brain parenchyma are regulated properly. The brain is the most cholesterol-rich organ in the body; comprising only two percent of the body’s mass, it contains approximately 20% of the body’s cholesterol, which is recycled and redistributed through an ApoE-mediated lipoprotein pathway. Inside populations of cells called astrocytes, ApoE binds with cholesterol that has been released into the brain by neurons and converts it into a different form of cholesterol that is transported out of the brain into the systemic circulation. In addition to ApoE, the protein associated with HDL, ApoA1, also acts as the brain’s “vacuum cleaner,” by removing toxic cholesterol from peripheral tissue to promote healthy cell function and survival. In addition, small HDL particles that transverse the blood brain barrier remove excess Ab peptides in brain parenchyma for ultimate conversion and transport out of the brain.
Alzheimer’s disease, however, is characterized in part by the aggregation of Aβ peptides into amyloid plaques in brain parenchyma, facilitated by the presence of excess cholesterol in cell membranes. Thus, the accumulation of cholesterol in cell membranes and the ineffective clearance of Aβ plaques by ApoE and ApoA1 in their HDL forms is associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Importantly, certain forms of ApoE (in particular, ApoE4) are worse at Ab transport than others, such as ApoE2, and are known to be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Further, CETP activity has been detected in astrocytes, the cells where ApoE bind with cholesterol,
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indicating the potential for a CETP inhibitor to function in the brain similarly to its lipid-modifying effects in the cardiovascular system. Genetic studies have shown that CETP loss of function mutations mitigate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in patients with the ApoE4 genotype.
Based on these observations as well as the marked increases of ApoA1 in the circulation observed in our Phase 2 clinical trials and the increases in ApoE in the circulation observed in the TULIP trial, we have conducted preclinical assessments of obicetrapib for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Following a Type B meeting in June 2021, the FDA confirmed that our preclinical data are sufficient to support a proposed clinical trial of obicetrapib for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. We commenced a Phase 2a open-label and single-arm clinical trial in early 2022 in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease and the ApoE4 mutation to evaluate the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic effects, safety and tolerability of obicetrapib. A total of 13 patients were given 10 mg obicetrapib and followed for 24 weeks. In September 2023, we announced initial data from this trial. We observed reductions in the levels of 24-hydroxycholesterol and 27-hydroxycholestrol of 11% and 12%, respectively, in the CSF compared to baseline. In addition, an increase of 8% compared to baseline in the Aβ42/40 ratio in patient’s plasma was observed and pTau181 levels were observed to be stable. Increases in 24-hydroxycholesterol and 27-hydroxycholesterol over time have been observed previously to lead to a rise in cognitive and related functional impairment. We believe reductions of these oxysterols in the CSF may indicate improved cholesterol metabolism in the brain and may lead to improved cognitive function. In addition, this trial assessed the Aβ42/40 ratio and plasma pTau181, also believed to be biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease, with lower levels of Aβ42/40 and increased levels of pTau181 having been associated with a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Overall, obicetrapib was observed to be well-tolerated. No serious AEs were reported, nor were any AEs considered to be related to the trial drug.
In BROADWAY, a pre-specified Alzheimer's disease analysis was designed to assess plasma Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in patients enrolled in the BROADWAY trial and evaluated the effects of longer duration of therapy (12 months) with a prespecified population of ApoE3/4 or 4/4 carriers, based on phenotypic analysis. The analysis included 1,515 patients, including 367 ApoE4 carriers, whose ApoE status was able to be determined. Because this analysis was based on a subset of patients from BROADWAY (which was designed to evaluate LDL-C reductions in an ASCVD and/or HeFH population), the Alzheimer's disease analysis was not controlled for baseline differences between the treatment and placebo population. The primary outcome measure was p-tau217 absolute and percent change over 12 months, among patients with baseline and end of study datapoints above the lower limit of quantitation. Additional outcome measures included NFL, GFAP, p-tau181, and Aβ42/40 ratio absolute and percent change over 12 months. We observed statistically significant lower absolute changes in p-tau217 compared to placebo over 12 months in both the full analysis set (p=0.0019; n=1,515) and in ApoE4 carriers (p=0.0215; n=367). Although a safety analysis was not performed in the Alzheimer's disease study population, in BROADWAY obicetrapib was observed to be well-tolerated, with safety results comparable to placebo. Based on these results, we expect to initiate a new clinical trial evaluating obicetrapib in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease in 2026.
Manufacturing and Supply
We currently have no manufacturing facilities and instead rely on several contract manufacturers to produce drug substance and drug products. The production is overseen by an experienced group of personnel. Obicetrapib and obicetrapib and ezetimibe FDC tablets are manufactured and tested in accordance with current good manufacturing practices (“cGMPs”) at facilities in the United States, Canada, Austria and India. In preparation for commercial supply, we are in the process of expanding our supply network to support a commercial launch of obicetrapib, if approved.
Marketing and Sales
While we do not currently have the internal marketing, sales or distribution capabilities necessary to commercialize obicetrapib or any future product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, we are currently developing our own commercial infrastructure and capabilities in the United States and have entered, and expect to continue entering, into arrangements with third parties to perform these services outside of the United States. We may also opportunistically seek strategic collaborations to maximize the commercial opportunities for our future product candidates inside and outside the United States. We entered into the Menarini License, pursuant to which we granted Menarini the exclusive rights to commercialize obicetrapib 10 mg either as a sole active ingredient product or in an FDC with ezetimibe in the majority of European countries, if approved. As any future product candidates near regulatory approval and potential commercial launch, we plan to assess our options for commercializing each respective product candidate and may choose to commercialize themselves ourselves or with a partner.
Menarini License
We entered into the Menarini License, pursuant to which we granted Menarini an exclusive, royalty-bearing, sublicensable license under certain of our intellectual property and our regulatory documentation to undertake post approval development activities and commercialize multiple brands of obicetrapib in a single unit dose of 10 mg or less, either as a sole active ingredient product or in an FDC with ezetimibe (the “Licensed Products”), for any use in the Menarini Territory. We retained all rights to obicetrapib in all other territories and in other dosages.
We are solely responsible for conducting the development activities to obtain regulatory approval for obicetrapib. Menarini may conduct market access studies, medical affairs activities, non-registration studies and Phase IV clinical trials in the Menarini Territory. Menarini is responsible for submitting and obtaining the required regulatory approvals to commercialize obicetrapib (at the licensed dosage) in the
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Menarini Territory and will own the regulatory approvals, if received. In August 2025, the EMA accepted for review the MAAs submitted by Menarini for obicetrapib 10 mg monotherapy and the FDC of 10 mg obicetrapib plus 10 mg ezetimibe for the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia, including heterozygous familial and non-familial or mixed dyslipidemia. If the MAAs are approved by the EMA, Menarini will also be solely responsible for commercializing obicetrapib monotherapy and the FDC of obicetrapib plus ezetimibe (at the licensed dosage) and will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize obicetrapib in the Menarini Territory.
Pursuant to the Menarini License, Menarini made an upfront payment to us of €115.0 million. Menarini has also committed to providing €27.5 million in funding for our research and development activities over several years, together with bearing 50% of any development costs incurred in respect of the pediatric population in the Menarini Territory. We are also eligible to receive up to an additional €863 million upon the achievement of various clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, of which a total of €30 million has been received to date. If obicetrapib is approved and successfully commercialized by Menarini, we will be entitled to tiered royalties ranging from the low double digits to the mid-twenties as a percentage of net sales in the Menarini Territory, with royalty step-downs in the event of generic entrance or in respect of required third-party intellectual property payments.
The Menarini License will expire on the last to expire royalty term, which is determined on a Licensed Product-by-Licensed Product and country-by-country basis, and is the later of (i) the expiration of the last to expire licensed patent that includes a valid claim in the country, (ii) expiration of regulatory exclusivity granted by the prevailing governmental authority for the Licensed Product in the country or (iii) 12 years from the first commercial sale of the Licensed Product in the country.
In addition, we have entered into a supply agreement with Menarini pursuant to which we will supply Menarini with obicetrapib monotherapy and with the FDC of obicetrapib plus ezetimibe finished product in bulk tablet form (the “Drug Products”). We will initially be Menarini’s exclusive supplier of the Drug Products and fulfill purchase orders based on periodic volume forecasts that Menarini is required to provide, a portion of which will be binding. The price to be paid by Menarini will be based on a specified mark-up to our “cost of goods sold” for the supplied Drug Products (as determined in accordance with the supply agreement), subject to periodic adjustments.
The term of the supply agreement continues for the duration of the term of the Menarini License unless terminated earlier. We may terminate the supply agreement for convenience upon advance 120 days’ written notice to Menarini, provided that the effective date of such a termination must follow the earlier of (i) completion of a process to transfer manufacturing of the Drug Products to Menarini or a designated third-party contract manufacturer, and (ii) two years after the initiation of such transfer. Either party may terminate the supply agreement for uncured material breaches of the supply agreement, if the other party becomes insolvent, or if a force majeure event continues for six months or longer.
Intellectual Property
Our future commercial success depends, in part, on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for commercially important inventions, to obtain and maintain know-how related to our business, including our product candidates, to defend and enforce our intellectual property rights, in particular our patent rights, to preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets, and to operate without infringing, misappropriating, or violating the valid and enforceable patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties. Our ability to preclude or restrict third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing competing molecules to our products may depend on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents and trade secrets that cover these activities.
We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, and contractors. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems.
We strive to protect and enhance our proprietary inventions and improvements that we consider commercially important to the development of our business, including by seeking, maintaining, and defending U.S. and foreign patent rights. All of the issued patents and pending patent applications in our patent portfolio are owned by our subsidiary, NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V., Dutch Chamber of Commerce registry number 55971946. As of December 31, 2025, we owned:
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10 issued U.S. patents and 25 pending U.S. patent applications,
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114 granted European patents and 10 pending European patent applications,
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1 granted Chinese patent and 14 pending Chinese patent applications,
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5 granted Japanese patents and 6 pending Japanese patent applications, and
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54 granted patents and about 139 pending patent applications in other foreign jurisdictions, including international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”).
The patent positions of pharmaceutical companies are generally uncertain and can involve complex legal, scientific, and factual issues. We cannot predict whether any patent applications we pursue will issue as patents in any particular jurisdiction, or whether the claims of any issued patents will provide sufficient proprietary protection from competitors. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application may be significantly reduced before a patent is granted, and its scope can be reinterpreted and even challenged after issuance. As a result, we cannot
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guarantee that any of our products will be protected or remain protectable by enforceable patents. Moreover, any patents that we license or may own in the future may be challenged, circumvented, or invalidated by third parties. In addition, because of the extensive time required for clinical development and regulatory review of a product candidate we may develop, it is possible that, before our product candidate can be commercialized successfully, any related patents may expire or remain in force for only a short period following commercial launch, thereby limiting the protection such patent would afford the applicable product and any competitive advantage such patent may provide.
For any individual patent, the term depends on the applicable law in the country in which the patent is issued. In most countries where we have patents and patent applications, including the United States, patents have a term of 20 years from the application filing date or earliest claimed nonprovisional priority date. In the United States, the patent term may be shortened if a patent is terminally disclaimed over another patent that expires earlier. The term of a U.S. patent may also be lengthened by a patent term adjustment that is awarded by the USPTO, in order to address administrative delays by the USPTO in examining and granting a patent.
In the United States, the term of a patent that covers an FDA-approved drug may be eligible for patent term extension in order to restore the period of a patent term lost during the premarket FDA regulatory review process. Specifically, the Hatch-Waxman Amendments permits a patent term extension of up to five years beyond the natural expiration of the patent (but the total patent term, including the extension period, must not exceed 14 years following FDA approval). The patent term extension period granted on a patent covering a product is typically one-half the time between the effective date of the IND for the first investigation involving human beings and the submission date of an NDA seeking FDA approval, plus the entire time from submission date of the NDA to the ultimate approval date. Only one patent applicable to an approved product is eligible for patent term extension, and only those claims covering the approved product, an approved method for using the approved product, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. The application for patent term extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent. The USPTO reviews and approves the application for any Patent Term Extension in consultation with the FDA.
Prosecution is a lengthy process, during which the scope of the claims initially submitted for examination by the USPTO and other patent offices may be significantly revised before issuance, if granted at all.
For more information regarding the risks related to our intellectual property, please see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”
The issued patents and pending patent applications for obicetrapib as of December 31, 2025 are detailed below. We have segregated these patents into three groups for ease of reference: First Generation Patents, Second Generation Patents and Third Generation Patents based on the patent application filing dates and subject matter.
Obicetrapib First Generation Patents
Our first generation obicetrapib patent portfolio includes:
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a patent family directed generally to compounds, pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds, and methods of treatment using the compounds and pharmaceutical compositions. We have 1 granted patent in the United States in this patent family covering a genus of compounds that includes obicetrapib and claims that more narrowly cover the obicetrapib compound and pharmaceutical compositions thereof. This United States patent is expected to expire in August 2027, without taking potential patent term extension into account.
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a patent family covering a method of synthesizing obicetrapib. In this patent family, we have 1 granted patent in the United States, 5 granted patents in Europe including the United Kingdom, and 1 granted patent in Japan. Patents in this family are expected to expire between March 29, 2027 and March 31, 2029, not including potential patent term extensions.
Obicetrapib Second Generation Patents
Our second generation obicetrapib patent portfolio includes:
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a patent family directed to solid oral dosage forms containing 5 to 10 mg of obicetrapib, including tablet forms, and methods of treatment comprising administration of 1 to 25 mg of obicetrapib daily which includes 4 granted patents and 2 pending patent applications in the United States, 39 granted patents in Europe, 1 granted patent in Japan, 6 pending patent applications in China, and 22 granted patents and 13 pending patent applications in other foreign jurisdictions. These patents, and patent applications if granted, are expected to expire in February 2034, without taking potential patent term extensions or patent term adjustment into account.
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a patent family directed to compositions that contain obicetrapib and a statin, methods of treating with compositions that contain obicetrapib and a statin, and in various foreign jurisdictions, methods of use in which obicetrapib and a statin are separately administered which include 1 granted patent in the United States (expected to expire in February 2034), 2 granted patents in Japan, 2 pending patent applications in China, and 7 granted patents and 3 pending patent applications in other foreign jurisdictions. Outside the United States, patents, and patent applications if granted, are expected to expire in August 2035, without taking potential patent term extensions or patent term adjustment into account.
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a patent family that claims a synthetic intermediate used in a synthetic process we intend to use commercially, as well as processes to make that intermediate, which includes 1 granted patent in the United States, 39 granted patents and 1 pending patent application in Europe, 1 granted patent in China, 1 granted patent in Japan, and 22 granted patents and 2 pending patent applications in other foreign jurisdictions. Patents, and patent applications if granted, are expected to expire in July 2035, without taking potential patent term extensions or patent term adjustment into account.
Obicetrapib Third Generation Patents
Our third generation obicetrapib patent portfolio includes:
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a patent family covering the solid salt form of obicetrapib that we intend to commercialize, a process for its commercial synthesis, and a novel intermediate used in that synthetic process. In the United States, we have 2 granted patents including a granted patent with claims covering the solid salt form of obicetrapib, and 2 pending applications. Patent applications are pending in Europe, China, Japan, and in over 40 other foreign jurisdictions. Our United States patents, and patents if granted on the pending applications worldwide, are expected to expire in July 2043, without taking potential patent term adjustment or extensions into account.
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patent families directed to the combination of obicetrapib with ezetimibe, including patent families covering methods of treatment, fixed dose combinations, and the formulation of our intended FDC product. Certain patent families directed to formulations also include the commercial formulation of our intended single-active product. Patents in these families, if granted, are expected to expire from February 2042 to November 2045, without taking potential patent term adjustment or extensions into account.
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patent families directed to the combination of obicetrapib with statins for use in certain subpopulations, the combination of obicetrapib with SGLT2 inhibitors, and the combination of obicetrapib with PCSK9 inhibitors. Patents in these families, if granted, are expected to expire from July 2042 to April 2046, without taking potential patent term adjustment or extensions into account.
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patent families directed to methods of using obicetrapib to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Granted patents in these families, and patent applications if granted, are expected to expire from March 2042 to September 2045, without taking potential patent term adjustment or extensions into account.
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patent families directed to treatment of patient populations enrolled in our Phase 3 clinical trials, or directed to other clinical indications. Patents in these families, if granted, are expected to expire from September 2044 to September 2045, without taking potential patent term adjustment or extensions into account.
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patent families directed to other aspects of obicetrapib and related molecules, such as synthesis processes, solid forms and formulations, and methods of preparation and use thereof. Patents in these families, if granted, are expected to expire from November 2045 to November 2046, without taking potential patent term adjustment or extensions into account.
Trade Secrets
We also rely on trade secrets, know-how, confidential information and continuing technological innovation to develop, strengthen and maintain our proprietary position in our field and protect aspects of our business that are not amenable to, or that we do not consider appropriate for, patent protection. However, trade secrets can be difficult to protect. While we take measures to protect and preserve our trade secrets, such measures can be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. We seek to protect our proprietary information, in part, using confidentiality agreements and invention assignment agreements with our collaborators, employees and consultants. These agreements are designed to protect our proprietary information and, in the case of the invention assignment agreements, to grant us ownership of technologies that are developed through a relationship with a third party. We cannot guarantee, however, that we have executed such agreements with all applicable counterparties. Furthermore, these agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors and other third parties, or misused by any collaborator to whom we disclose such information. To the extent that our collaborators, employees and consultants use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions. For more information regarding the risks related to our intellectual property, please see “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property.”
Government Regulation and Product Approval
Government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state and local level, and in other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, marketing, and export and import of drug products. We, along with any third-party contractors, will be required to navigate the various preclinical, clinical and commercial approval requirements of the governing regulatory agencies of the countries in which we wish to conduct studies, clinical trials or seek approval of our products and product candidates. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.
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U.S. Drug Development Process
In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “FDCA”), as amended, and its implementing regulations. Drugs are also subject to other federal, state and local statutes and regulations. A new drug must be approved by the FDA through the NDA process before it may be legally marketed in the United States, and this process generally involves the following:
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completion of preclinical laboratory tests, animal studies, and formulation studies in accordance with FDA’s Good Laboratory Practice (“GLP”) requirements and other applicable regulations;
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submission to the FDA of an Investigational New Drug application (“IND”), which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin and must be updated annually and when certain changes are made;
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approval by an independent investigational review board (“IRB”) or independent ethics committee (“EC”) at each clinical site before each trial may be initiated;
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performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials in accordance with good clinical practice (“GCP”) requirements, to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug for its intended use;
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preparation of and submission to the FDA of an NDA after completion of pivotal trials;
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a determination by the FDA within 60 days of its receipt of an NDA to file the application for review;
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satisfactory completion of an FDA advisory committee review, if applicable;
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satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the drug is produced to assess compliance with cGMP requirements to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the drug’s identity, strength, quality and purity;
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potential FDA audit of the nonclinical study and/or clinical trials sites that generated data in support of the NDA; and
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FDA review and approval of the NDA to permit commercial marketing of the product for particular indications for use in the United States.
Prior to beginning the first clinical trial with a product candidate in the United States, a sponsor must submit an IND to the FDA. An IND is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational new drug product to humans. The central focus of an IND submission is on the general investigational plan and the protocol(s) for clinical trials. The IND also includes results of animal and in vitro studies assessing the toxicology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology and pharmacodynamic characteristics of the product; chemistry, manufacturing and controls information; and any available human data or literature to support the use of the investigational product. An IND must become effective before human clinical trials may begin. Some long-term preclinical testing may continue after the IND is submitted. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA, within the 30-day time period, raises safety concerns or questions about the proposed clinical trial. In such a case, the IND may be placed on clinical hold and the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns or questions before the clinical trial can begin. Submission of an IND therefore may or may not result in FDA authorization to begin a clinical trial or not allowing it to commence on the terms originally specified in the IND.
Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators in accordance with GCPs, which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent for their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the trial, dosing procedures, subject selection and exclusion criteria, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety, and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. A separate submission to the existing IND must be made for each successive clinical trial conducted during product development and for any subsequent protocol amendments. Furthermore, an independent IRB for each site proposing to conduct the clinical trial must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial and its informed consent form before the clinical trial begins at that site and must monitor the trial until completed. Some trials also include oversight by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or data monitoring committee, which provides authorization for whether or not a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the trial and may halt the clinical trial if it determines that there is an unacceptable safety risk for subjects or other grounds, such as no demonstration of efficacy. The FDA or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk or that the trial is unlikely to meet its stated objectives. Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the drug has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. There are also requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical trials and clinical trial results to public registries.
A sponsor who wishes to conduct a clinical trial outside of the U.S. may, but need not, obtain FDA authorization to conduct the clinical trial under an IND. If a foreign clinical trial is not conducted under an IND, the sponsor must ensure that the clinical trial complies with regulatory requirements if the data is to be used in support of NDA approval. The FDA will accept a well-designed and well-conducted foreign clinical trial not conducted under an IND if the trial was conducted in accordance with GCP requirements, the FDA is able to validate the data through an onsite inspection, if deemed necessary, and the FDA determines that the data is applicable to the U.S. patient population.
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Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:
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Phase 1: The product candidate is initially introduced into healthy human subjects or patients with the target disease or condition. These trials are designed to test the safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, excretion and distribution of the investigational product in humans, the side effects associated with increasing doses, and, if possible, to gain early evidence on effectiveness.
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Phase 2: The product candidate is administered to a limited patient population with a specified disease or condition to evaluate the preliminary efficacy, optimal dosages, and dosing schedule and to identify possible adverse side effects and safety risks. Multiple Phase 2 clinical trials may be conducted to obtain information prior to beginning larger and more expensive Phase 3 clinical trials.
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Phase 3: The product candidate is administered to an expanded patient population to further evaluate dosage, to provide statistically significant evidence of clinical efficacy, and to further test for safety, generally at multiple geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. These clinical trials are intended to establish the overall risk/benefit ratio of the investigational product and to provide an adequate basis for product approval and labeling. Generally, two adequate and well-controlled Phase 3 clinical trials are required by the FDA for approval of an NDA, although this may vary and in some instances hybrid trials may be conducted that meet the criteria for multiple phases under one trial design.
In some cases, the FDA may require, or companies may voluntarily pursue, additional clinical trials after a product is approved to gain more information about the product. These so-called Phase 4 trials may be conducted after initial marketing approval and may be used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication and are commonly intended to generate additional safety data regarding use of the product in a clinical setting. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of an NDA.
Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the drug and finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the manufacturer must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality, and purity of the final drug. In addition, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
While the IND is active and before approval, progress reports summarizing the results of the clinical trials and nonclinical studies performed since the last progress report must be submitted at least annually to the FDA, and written IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and investigators for serious and unexpected suspected AEs, findings from other trials suggesting a significant risk to humans exposed to the same or similar drugs, findings from animal or in vitro testing suggesting a significant risk to humans, and any clinically important increased incidence of a serious suspected adverse reaction compared to that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure.
In addition, during the development of a new drug, sponsors are given opportunities to meet with the FDA at certain points. These points may be prior to submission of an IND, at the end of Phase 2, and before an NDA is submitted. Meetings at other times may be requested. These meetings can provide an opportunity for the sponsor to share information about the data gathered to date, for the FDA to provide advice, and for the sponsor and the FDA to reach agreement on the next phase of development. Sponsors typically use the meetings at the end of the Phase 2 trial to discuss Phase 2 clinical results and present plans for the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials that they believe will support approval of the new drug.
U.S. Review and Approval Process
Assuming successful completion of all required testing in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements, the results of product development, preclinical, and other nonclinical studies and clinical trials, along with descriptions of the manufacturing process, analytical tests conducted on the chemistry of the drug, proposed labeling, and other relevant information are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA requesting approval to market the product. Data can come from company-sponsored clinical trials intended to test the safety and effectiveness of a use of the product, or from a number of alternative sources, including trials initiated by independent investigators. To support marketing approval, the data submitted must be sufficient to establish the safety and efficacy of the investigational product to the satisfaction of the FDA. The submission of an NDA is subject to the payment of user fees; a waiver of such fees may be obtained under certain limited circumstances.
The FDA conducts a preliminary review of all NDAs within the first 60 days after submission, before accepting them for filing, to determine whether they are sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. The FDA may refuse to file the application if the application is not sufficiently complete to permit substantive review and request additional information rather than accept an NDA for filing. In this event, the NDA must be resubmitted with the additional information. The resubmitted application also is subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing. Once accepted for filing, the FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether a product is safe and effective for its intended use and whether its manufacturing is cGMP-compliant to assure and preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality, and purity. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”), guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the filing date to complete its initial review and act on a standard NDA for a drug that is a new molecular entity, and of ten months from the date of NDA receipt to review and act on a standard NDA for a drug that is not a new molecular entity. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates, and the review process is often extended by FDA requests for additional information or clarification.
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The FDA may refer an application for a novel drug to an advisory committee. An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts, including clinicians and other scientific experts, that reviews, evaluates, and provides a recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of an advisory committee, but it has considered such recommendations carefully when making decisions.
Before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within designated specifications. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCPs and assure the integrity of the clinical data submitted to the FDA. If the FDA determines that the application, manufacturing process or manufacturing facilities are not acceptable, it will outline the deficiencies in the submission and often will request additional testing or information. Notwithstanding the submission of any requested additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval.
After the FDA evaluates an NDA and conducts inspections of manufacturing facilities where the investigational product and/or its drug substance will be produced, the FDA may issue an approval letter, a tentative approval letter (in the case of, for example, certain types of NDAs referred to as 505(b)(2) NDAs that rely in whole or in part on other company’s approvals), or a Complete Response Letter (“CRL”). An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the product with specific prescribing information for specific conditions of use, including specific indications. A tentative approval letter is notification that an NDA otherwise meets the requirements for approval but cannot be approved because of exclusivity or patent reasons. A drug product that is granted tentative approval is not an approved drug and will not be approved until FDA issues an approval letter after any necessary additional review of the NDA. A CRL indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete and the application is not ready for approval. A CRL will describe all of the deficiencies that the FDA has identified in the NDA, except that where the FDA determines that the data supporting the application are inadequate to support approval, the FDA may issue the CRL without first conducting required inspections and/or reviewing proposed labeling. In issuing the CRL, the FDA may recommend actions that the applicant might take to place the NDA in condition for approval, including requests for additional information or clarification. The FDA will refuse approval of an NDA if applicable statutory and regulatory criteria are not satisfied and may require additional testing or information and/or require post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor safety or efficacy of a product.
If regulatory approval of a product is granted, such approval will be granted for particular conditions of use, including particular indications, and may entail limitations on the indicated uses for which such product may be marketed. For example, the FDA may approve the NDA with a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”), to ensure the benefits of the product outweigh its risks. A REMS is a safety strategy to manage a known or potential serious risk associated with a medicine and to enable patients to have continued access to such medicines by managing their safe use, and could include medication guides, physician communication plans, assessment plans, and/or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries, and other risk minimization tools. The FDA also may condition approval on, among other things, changes to proposed labeling or the development of adequate controls and specifications. The FDA may also require one or more Phase 4 post-marketing trials and surveillance to further assess and monitor the product’s safety and effectiveness after commercialization and may limit further marketing of the product based on the results of these post-marketing trials or surveillance programs.
In addition, the Pediatric Research Equity Act (“PREA”) requires a sponsor to conduct pediatric clinical trials for most drugs, for a new active ingredient, new indication, new dosage form, new dosing regimen, or new route of administration. Under PREA, original NDAs and supplements must contain a pediatric assessment unless the sponsor has received a deferral or waiver. The required assessment must evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the product for the claimed indications in all relevant pediatric subpopulations and support dosing and administration for each pediatric subpopulation for which the product is safe and effective. The sponsor or the FDA may request a deferral of pediatric clinical trials for some or all of the pediatric subpopulations. A deferral may be granted for several reasons, including a finding that the drug is ready for approval for use in adults before pediatric clinical trials are complete or that additional safety or effectiveness data needs to be collected before the pediatric clinical trials begin. The FDA must send a non-compliance letter to any sponsor that fails to submit the required assessment, keep a deferral current, or fails to submit a request for approval of a pediatric formulation. In addition, failure to fulfill the requirement to submit a pediatric study plan with an application may be grounds for refusal to file an application.
U.S. Expedited Development and Review Programs
The FDA offers a number of expedited development and review programs for qualifying product candidates. For example, the Fast Track program is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for reviewing new products that are intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs for the disease or condition. Fast Track designation applies to a particular product for the specific qualifying disease or condition. The sponsor of a Fast Track designated product has opportunities for more frequent interactions with the applicable FDA review team during product development and, once an NDA is submitted, the product candidate may be eligible for priority review. A Fast Track-designated product may also be eligible for rolling review, where the FDA may consider for review sections of the NDA on a rolling basis before the complete application is submitted. Rolling review may occur if the sponsor provides a schedule for the submission of the sections of the NDA, the FDA agrees to accept sections of the NDA and determines that the schedule is acceptable, and the sponsor pays any required user fees upon submission of the first section of the NDA. FDA may also only commence its review upon submission of the final section of the NDA.
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A product candidate intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition may also be eligible for Breakthrough Therapy designation to expedite its development and review. A product candidate can receive Breakthrough Therapy designation if preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the product candidate, alone or as a combination therapy with one or more other drugs may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. The designation includes all of the Fast Track program features, as well as more intensive FDA interaction and guidance beginning as early as Phase 1 and an organizational commitment to expedite the development and review of the product candidate, including involvement of senior managers.
A marketing application for a drug submitted to the FDA for approval, including a product candidate with a Fast Track designation and/or Breakthrough Therapy designation, may be eligible for other types of FDA programs intended to expedite the FDA review and approval process, such as priority review. A product candidate is eligible for priority review if it is designed to treat a serious condition, and if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness compared to available alternatives for such disease or condition. For new-molecular-entity NDAs, priority review designation means the FDA’s goal is to take action on the marketing application within six months of the 60-day filing date, or with respect to non-new-molecular-entity NDAs, within six months of the NDA receipt date.
Additionally, product candidates studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions may utilize an accelerated approval pathway upon a determination that the product has an effect on (1) a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit or (2) a clinical endpoint that can be measured earlier than irreversible morbidity or mortality, that is reasonably likely to predict an effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of accelerated approval, the FDA will generally require the sponsor to perform adequate and well-controlled post-marketing clinical trials to verify and describe the anticipated effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefit. Products receiving accelerated approval may be subject to withdrawal of its approval if, for example, the sponsor fails to conduct the required post-marketing trials or if such trials fail to verify the predicted clinical benefit. In addition, for products being considered for accelerated approval, the FDA generally requires, unless otherwise informed by the agency, that all advertising and promotional materials intended for dissemination or publication within 120 days of marketing approval be submitted to the agency for review during the pre-approval review period, which could adversely impact the timing of the commercial launch of the product.
Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, priority review designation, and the accelerated approval pathway do not change the scientific or medical standards for approval or the quality of evidence necessary to support approval, but may expedite the development or review process. Even if a product candidate qualifies for one or more of these programs, the FDA may later decide that the product no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.
U.S. Marketing and Data Exclusivity
Market and data exclusivity provisions under the FDCA can delay the submission or the approval of certain marketing applications. The FDA provides periods of non-patent regulatory exclusivity, which provides the holder of an approved NDA limited protection from new competition in the marketplace. Five years of exclusivity are available to new chemical entities (“NCEs”). An NCE is a drug that contains no active moiety that has been approved by the FDA in any other NDA. An active moiety is the molecule or ion, excluding those appended portions of the molecule that cause the drug to be an ester, salt (including a salt with hydrogen or coordination bonds), or other noncovalent derivative (such as a complex, chelate, or clathrate) of the molecule, responsible for the physiological or pharmacological activity of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”) or a 505(b)(2) NDA that contains the same active moiety may not be submitted. An ANDA or 505(b)(2) application, however, may be submitted one year before NCE exclusivity expires if a Paragraph IV certification of patent invalidity, unenforceability, or non-infringement is filed.
The FDCA alternatively provides three years of marketing exclusivity for an NDA, or supplement to an existing NDA, containing a previously approved active moiety, if FDA determines that it contains reports of new clinical investigations (other than bioavailability studies) essential to the approval of the application and conducted or sponsored by the applicant. New indications, dosages or strengths of an existing active moiety may be eligible for three-year exclusivity. If eligible, FDA may not approve an ANDA or 505(b)(2) application containing the same active moieties (or combination of active moieties) for the same conditions of approval protected by the exclusivity for three years after approval of the eligible NDA or supplement. This three-year exclusivity protects only the modification for which the drug received approval on the basis of the new clinical investigations and often can be “carved out” of the labeling of the ANDA or 505(b)(2) application to permit approval. This exclusivity does not prohibit the FDA from approving ANDAs or 505(b)(2) NDAs for drugs containing the active moiety (or combination of active moieties) for previously approved, unprotected conditions of use. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a 505(b)(1) NDA.
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan drug designation to drugs intended to treat rare diseases or conditions affecting fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States. If a product with orphan drug designation receives FDA approval for an indication within the designated disease, the FDA generally may not approve another marketing application for the same drug for the same approved indication for a period of seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority by a subsequent product or if the holder of the orphan drug exclusivity is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet patient needs.
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The FDA may also grant pediatric exclusivity, which provides a six-month extension to existing regulatory or patent exclusivity. To be eligible for pediatric exclusivity, the FDA must issue a Written Request detailing the studies to be performed and the timeframe for their completion. If an applicant agrees to perform the studies as outlined in the Written Request, the applicant must submit study reports at least fifteen months prior to the expiry of the exclusivity that is to be extended. To be eligible for pediatric exclusivity, FDA must determine that the studies fairly respond to the Written Request, have been conducted in accordance with commonly accepted scientific principles and protocols, and have been reported in accordance with the requirements for filing.
U.S. Post-approval Requirements
Drug products manufactured or distributed pursuant to FDA approvals are subject to pervasive and continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, requirements relating to record-keeping, reporting of adverse experiences, periodic reporting, product sampling and distribution, and advertising and promotion of the product, which include restrictions on promoting products for unapproved uses or patient populations (known as “off-label use”) and limitations on industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities. After approval, for certain modifications to the drug or the labeling of the drug, including changes in indications, other prescribing information or manufacturing processes or facilities, the applicant may be required to submit and obtain prior FDA approval of a new NDA or NDA supplement, which may require the development and submission of additional data. A limited category of changes made be made 30 days after submission of an NDA supplement or at the same time as an NDA supplement is submitted. These are known as “changes being effected” supplements. There also are continuing, annual program fees for any marketed products. Drug manufacturers and their subcontractors involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved drugs are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP, which impose certain procedural and documentation requirements upon us and our third-party manufacturers. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and impose reporting requirements in the event of a deviation involving distributed product. Manufacturers and other parties involved in the drug supply chain for prescription drug products must also comply with product tracking and other tracking requirements and must notify the FDA of counterfeit, diverted, stolen and intentionally adulterated products or products that are otherwise unfit for distribution in the United States. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production, quality and distribution control to maintain compliance with cGMP and other aspects of regulatory compliance.
The FDA may withdraw approval if compliance with regulatory requirements and standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. If new or increased safety risks are identified, there may be required revisions to the approved labeling, imposition of post-market trials or clinical trials, or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. A failure to meet applicable regulatory requirements can result in potential consequences to include, among other things:
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restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, complete withdrawal of the product from the market or product recalls;
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fines, warning letters or untitled letters;
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clinical holds on clinical trials;
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refusal of the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications or suspension or revocation of product approvals;
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product seizure or detention or refusal to permit the import or export of products;
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consent decrees, corporate integrity agreements, debarment or exclusion from federal healthcare programs;
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mandated modification of promotional materials and labeling and the issuance of corrective information;
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the issuance of safety alerts, Dear Healthcare Provider letters, press releases, and other communications containing warnings or other safety information about the product; or
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injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
The FDA closely regulates the marketing, labeling, advertising, and promotion of drug products. A company can make only those claims relating to safety and efficacy, purity, and potency that are approved by the FDA and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and other advertising and promotion requirements. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in, among other things, adverse publicity, warning letters, corrective advertising, and potential civil and criminal penalties.
Other Healthcare Laws
In the United States, drug manufacturers and sponsors are subject to a number of federal and state healthcare regulatory laws that restrict business practices in the healthcare industry. These laws include, but are not limited to, federal and state anti-kickback, false claims, and other healthcare fraud and abuse laws, as follows:
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The U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, any person or entity from knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting, receiving, or providing any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, to induce or in return for purchasing, leasing, ordering, or arranging for, or recommending the purchase, lease, or order of any good, facility, item or service reimbursable, in whole or in part, under Medicare, Medicaid, or other federal healthcare programs. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation.
The federal false claims laws, including the federal False Claims Act (the “FCA”), prohibit, among other things, any person or entity from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim for payment to, or approval by, the federal government, knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to the federal government, or knowingly making a false statement to avoid, decrease, or conceal an obligation to pay money to the U.S. federal government. A claim includes “any request or demand” for money or property presented to the U.S. government. Actions under the civil FCA may be brought by the U.S. Department of Justice or as a qui tam action by a private individual in the name of the government. Moreover, a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil FCA.
In addition, the Civil Monetary Penalties statute, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits, among other things, the offer or transfer of remuneration to a Medicare or state healthcare program beneficiary if the person knows or should know it is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier of services reimbursable by Medicare or a state healthcare program.
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) created additional federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other actions, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors, knowingly and willfully embezzling or stealing from a healthcare benefit program, willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense, and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation.
HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), and their respective implementing regulations, imposes obligations on “covered entities,” including certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses, as well as their respective “business associates” and their respective subcontractors that create, receive, maintain, or transmit individually identifiable health information for or on behalf of a covered entity, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security, and transmission of individually identifiable health information.
The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) information related to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, and chiropractors), certain other healthcare professionals including physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and teaching hospitals, and applicable manufacturers and applicable group purchasing organizations to report annually to CMS ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members.
There are federal price reporting laws, which require manufacturers to calculate and report complex pricing metrics to government programs, and such reported prices may be used in the calculation of reimbursement and/or discounts on approved products.
Similar state and local laws and regulations may also restrict business practices in the pharmaceutical industry, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to business practices, including but not limited to, research, distribution, sales, and marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers, or by patients themselves; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s otherwise voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state laws and regulations that require drug manufacturers to file reports relating to pricing information and marketing expenditures or which require tracking gifts and other remuneration and items of value provided to physicians, other healthcare providers and entities; and state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives.
Violations of any of these laws and other applicable healthcare fraud and abuse laws may be punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including fines and civil monetary penalties, the possibility of exclusion from federal healthcare programs (including Medicare and Medicaid), disgorgement and corporate integrity agreements, which impose, among other things, rigorous operational and monitoring requirements on companies. Similar sanctions and penalties, as well as imprisonment, also can be imposed upon executive officers and employees of such companies.
Coverage and Reimbursement
Sales of any pharmaceutical product depend, in part, on the extent to which such product will be covered by third-party payors, such as federal, state and foreign government healthcare programs, commercial insurance and managed healthcare organizations, and the level of
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reimbursement for such product by third-party payors. In the United States, no uniform policy exists for coverage and reimbursement for pharmaceutical products among third-party payors. Therefore, decisions regarding the extent of coverage and amount of reimbursement to be provided are made on a plan-by-plan basis. The process for determining whether a third-party payor will provide coverage for a product typically is separate from the process for setting the price of such product or for establishing the reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the product once coverage is approved.
Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific products on an approved list, also known as a formulary, which might not include all of the FDA-approved products for a particular indication, or place products at certain formulary levels that result in lower reimbursement levels and higher cost-sharing obligation imposed on patients. One third-party payor’s decision to cover a particular medical product or service does not ensure that other payors will also provide coverage for the medical product or service, and they often require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our products to each payor separately, which can be a time- consuming process, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Additionally, a third-party payor’s decision to provide coverage for a product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved.
Moreover, as a condition of participating in, and having products covered under, certain federal healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, we will be subject to federal laws and regulations that require pharmaceutical manufacturers to calculate and report certain price reporting metrics to the government, such as Medicaid Average Manufacturer Price (“AMP”), and Best Price, Medicare Average Sales Price, the 340B Ceiling Price and Non-Federal AMP reported to the Department of Veteran Affairs, and with respect to Medicaid, pay statutory rebates on utilization of manufacturers’ products by Medicaid beneficiaries. Compliance with such laws and regulations require significant resources and any findings of non-compliance may have a material adverse effect on our revenues.
Healthcare Reform
In the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare system and the reimbursement of drug products. For example, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) sets forth meaningful changes to drug product reimbursement by Medicare. The IRA, among other things, (i) directs HHS to negotiate the price of certain high-expenditure, single-source drugs and biologics covered by Medicare and subjects drug manufacturers to civil monetary penalties and a potential excise tax for offering a price that is not equal to or less than the negotiated "maximum fair price" under the law, and (ii) imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation. The IRA permits HHS to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years. These provisions began to take effect in 2023, although several significant challenges concerning the provisions for Medicare price negotiations are currently pending before federal appeals courts. With respect to price negotiations, Congress authorized Medicare to negotiate lower prices for certain costly single-source drug and biologic products that do not have competing generics or biosimilars and are reimbursed under Medicare Part B or Part D. CMS negotiated prices for ten high-cost drugs paid for by Medicare Part D effective in 2026 and 15 Part D drugs effective in 2027. CMS will negotiate prices for 15 Part B or D drugs effective in 2028 and 20 Part B or Part D drugs effective in 2029 and each year thereafter. This provision applies to drug products that have been approved for at least 7 years and biologics that have been licensed for 11 years, but it does not apply to drugs and biologics that have been approved only for rare diseases or conditions.
The IRA also establishes a rebate obligation for drug manufacturers that increase prices of Medicare Part B and Part D covered drugs at a rate greater than the rate of inflation. The inflation rebates may require us to pay rebates if we increase the price of a covered Medicare Part B or Part D approved product faster than the rate of inflation. In addition, the law eliminates the “donut hole” under Medicare Part D as of 2025, significantly lowers the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost, and requires manufacturers to subsidize, through a newly established manufacturer discount program, 10% of Part D enrollees’ prescription costs for brand drugs below the out-of-pocket maximum and 20% once the out-of-pocket maximum has been reached. Our cost-sharing responsibility for any approved product covered by Medicare Part D could be significantly greater under the newly designed Part D benefit structure compared to the pre-IRA benefit design. Additionally, manufacturers that fail to comply with certain provisions of the IRA may be subject to penalties, including civil monetary penalties. The IRA is anticipated to have significant effects on the pharmaceutical industry and may reduce the prices we can charge and reimbursement we can receive for our products, among other effects.
These provisions of the IRA may heighten the risk that we would not be able to achieve the expected return on our drug products or full value of our patents protecting our products.
In addition as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011, health care providers are subject to Medicare payment reductions of 2% per fiscal year. This 2% reductions was temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since been reinstated and, unless Congress and/or the Executive Branch take additional action, will begin to increase gradually starting in April 2030, reaching 4% in April 2031, until sequestration ends in October 2031.
There has been heightened governmental scrutiny in the United States of pharmaceutical pricing practices in light of the rising cost of prescription drugs and biologics. Such scrutiny has resulted in several recent Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for products. At the federal level, the Trump Administration (the “Administration”) has issued Executive Orders relating to prescription drug pricing and letters to pharmaceutical
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manufacturers that direct drug manufacturers to, among other things, offer most favored nation (“MFN”) pricing in Medicaid, offer MFN pricing for all newly launched drugs; repatriate increased revenue from abroad to lower drug prices in the United States, and implement direct-to-consumer and direct-to-business distribution of their products at MFN pricing. The Administration has warned that manufacturers that fail to make “significant progress” toward MFN pricing will face enumerated regulatory and enforcement consequences. In September 2025, the Administration began announcing deals with specific manufacturers to address the Administration’s MFN goals.
Further, on November 30, 2020, HHS, finalized a regulation removing safe harbor protection for price reductions from pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan sponsors under Part D, either directly or through pharmacy benefit managers, unless the price reduction is required by law. The IRA delayed the implementation of the rule to January 1, 2032. The rule also creates a new safe harbor for price reductions reflected at the point-of-sale, as well as a new safe harbor for certain fixed fee arrangements between pharmacy benefit managers and manufacturers; the implementation of these provisions has also been delayed by the IRA until January 1, 2032.
Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly active in implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures and, in some cases, mechanisms to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine which drugs and suppliers will be included in their healthcare programs. Furthermore, there has been increased interest by third-party payors and governmental authorities in reference pricing systems and publication of discounts and list prices.
We expect additional state and federal healthcare reform measures to be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our products or additional pricing pressure.
Data Privacy and Security Laws
Numerous state, federal and foreign laws, including consumer protection laws and regulations, govern the collection, dissemination, use, access to, confidentiality and security of personal information, including health-related information. In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including data breach notification laws, health information privacy and security laws, including HIPAA, and federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act) that govern the collection, use, disclosure and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our partners. In addition, certain state and non-U.S. laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, the California Privacy Rights Act and the European General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”), govern the privacy and security of personal information, including health-related information in certain circumstances, some of which are more stringent than HIPAA and many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts. Privacy and security laws, regulations and other obligations are constantly evolving, and these may conflict with each other which makes compliance efforts more challenging. Failure to comply with these laws, where applicable, can result in (i) the imposition of significant civil claims; (ii) private litigation; (iii) regulatory investigations and proceedings; (iv) significant penalties imposed by regulators; (v) enforcement notices and restrictions on data processing, requiring us to stop or change the way we use personal information; and (vi) negative publicity, reputational harm and a potential loss of business and goodwill.
Regulation and Procedures Governing Approval of Medicinal Products in the European Union
In addition to regulations in the United States, we will be subject to a variety of foreign regulations governing clinical trials and commercial sales, manufacturing and distribution of our product candidates to the extent we choose to sell any of our product candidates outside of the United States. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we or our third-party partners must obtain approval of a product by equivalent competent authorities in foreign jurisdictions before we can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. The approval process varies from country to country and the time may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country. As in the United States, post-approval regulatory requirements, such as those regarding product manufacture, marketing, or distribution would apply to any product that is approved outside the United States.
Medicinal products in the European Union (the “EU”) must be granted a marketing authorization (“MA”) before they can be marketed and sold in any EU member state. The process to obtain an MA requires the satisfactory completion of preclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to establish the safety, quality and efficacy of the medicinal product for each proposed therapeutic indication. It also requires the submission to the relevant competent authorities of an EU MAA and granting of an MA by these authorities. The aforementioned EU rules are applicable in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), which consists of the 27 EU member states, as well as Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
Failure to comply with EU and member state laws that apply to the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing approval, the authorization of medicinal products and marketing of such products, both before and after grant of the MA, or with other applicable regulatory requirements may result in administrative, civil, or criminal penalties. These penalties could include delays or refusal to authorize the conduct of clinical trials, or to grant MA, product withdrawals and recalls, product seizures, suspension, withdrawal, or variation of the MA, total or partial
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suspension of production, distribution, manufacturing or clinical trials, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, fines and criminal penalties.
EU Non-Clinical Studies and Clinical Trials
Similar to the United States, the various phases of non-clinical research in the EU are subject to significant regulatory controls.
Non-clinical studies are performed to demonstrate the health or environmental safety of new chemical substances. Non-clinical health and environmental safety studies must be conducted in compliance with the principles of GLP, as set forth in Directive 2004/10/EC. In particular, non-clinical health and environmental safety studies, both in vitro and in vivo, must be planned, performed, monitored, recorded, reported and archived in accordance with the GLP principles, which define a set of rules and criteria for a quality system for the organizational process and the conditions for non-clinical studies. These GLP standards reflect the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development requirements. Research involving animals conducted within the EEA must comply with relevant national implementations of Directive 2010/63/EU, requiring that such testing is carried out in licensed facilities with appropriate staff and in compliance with animal welfare standards.
The Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 (which replaced the previous Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC) governs the system for the approval of clinical trials and the investigational medicinal product supply chain in the EU. The main characteristics of the Clinical Trials Regulation include: a streamlined application procedure for clinical trial authorization via a single-entry point, the Clinical Trials Information System; a single set of documents to be prepared and submitted for the application, as well as simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors; and a harmonized procedure for the assessment of applications for clinical trials, which is divided in two parts. Part I is jointly assessed by the competent authorities of all EU member states in which an application for authorization of a clinical trial has been submitted (member states concerned). Part II is assessed separately by each member state concerned, and applicant may only start a clinical trial at a specific trial site after the competent ethics committee has issued a related favorable opinion. Strict deadlines have been established for the assessment of clinical trial applications. The role of the relevant ethics committees in the assessment procedure will continue to be governed by the national law of the concerned EU member state. However, overall related timelines are defined by the Clinical Trials Regulation.
The application for authorization of a clinical trial must be accompanied by, among other documents, a copy of the trial protocol and an investigational medicinal product dossier containing information about the manufacture and quality of the medicinal product under investigation as prescribed by the Clinical Trials Regulation, and further detailed in applicable guidance documents. Any substantial changes to the trial protocol or to other information submitted with the clinical trial application must be notified to or approved by the relevant competent national authorities and ethics committees through the Clinical Trials Information System. Medicinal products used in clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with GMP, including in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1569. EU clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with EU and national regulations and, if intended for regulatory submissions, the International Conference on Harmonization (“ICH”) guidelines on GCP, as well as the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki. If the sponsor of the clinical trial is not established within the EEA, it must appoint an entity within the EEA to act as its legal representative.
The Clinical Trials Regulation additionally prescribes that member states must implement a scheme providing for compensation for damage caused by participation in clinical trials within their territory in the form of insurance, a guarantee, or a similar arrangement that is equivalent as regards its purpose and which is appropriate to the nature and the extent of the risk.
EU Marketing Authorizations
To obtain an MA for a product in the EU, an applicant must submit an MAA either under a centralized procedure administered by the EMA or one of the procedures administered by competent authorities in the EEA member states (decentralized procedure, national procedure, or mutual recognition procedure). An MA may be granted only to an applicant established in the EEA.
The centralized procedure comprises a single application, evaluation and authorization and provides for the grant of a single MA by the European Commission that is valid for all EU member states, and by extension also in the three EEA states. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004, the centralized procedure is compulsory for specific products, including for (i) medicinal products derived from biotechnological processes, (ii) products designated as orphan medicinal products, (iii) advanced therapy medicinal products and (iv) products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, auto-immune and other immune dysfunctions and viral diseases. For products with a new active substance indicated for the treatment of other diseases and products that are a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation or for which a centralized process is in the interest of patients, the centralized procedure may be optional.
Under the centralized procedure, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”), is responsible for conducting the initial assessment of a product. The CHMP is also responsible for several post-authorization and maintenance activities, such as the assessment of modifications or extensions to an existing MA.
Under the centralized procedure in the EU, the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA is 210 days, excluding clock stops when additional information or written or oral explanation is to be provided by the applicant in response to questions of the CHMP.
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Accelerated assessment may be granted by the CHMP in exceptional cases, when a medicinal product is expected to be of major interest from the point of view of public health and in particular from the viewpoint of therapeutic innovation. If the CHMP accepts a request for accelerated assessment, the time limit of 210 days will be reduced to 150 days (not including clock stops). The CHMP can, however, revert to the standard time limit for the centralized procedure if it considers that it is no longer appropriate to conduct an accelerated assessment.
Innovative products that target an unmet medical need and are expected to be of major public health interest may be eligible for a number of expedited development and review programs, such as the Priority Medicines ("PRIME") scheme, which provides incentives similar to the breakthrough therapy designation in the United States. PRIME is a voluntary scheme aimed at enhancing the EMA's support for the development of medicinal products that are not authorized in the EU and show the potential to target unmet medical needs. It permits increased interaction and early dialogue with companies developing promising medicinal products, to optimize their product development plans and speed up their evaluation under the centralized procedure to help the product reach patients as early as possible. Product developers that benefit from PRIME designation are potentially eligible for accelerated assessment of their MAA although this is not guaranteed. Benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and potentially accelerated MAA assessment once a dossier has been submitted under the centralized procedure.
Unlike the centralized authorization procedure, the decentralized MA procedure requires a separate application to, and leads to separate approval by, the competent authorities of each EU member state in which the product is to be marketed. This application is identical to the application that would be submitted to the EMA for authorization through the centralized procedure. The reference EU member state prepares a draft assessment report and drafts of the related materials within 120 days after receipt of a valid application. The resulting assessment report and related materials are submitted to the concerned EU member states who, within 90 days of receipt, must decide whether to approve the assessment report and related materials. If a concerned EU member state cannot approve the assessment report and related materials due to concerns relating to a potentially serious risk to public health, disputed elements may be referred to the Heads of Medicines Agencies’ Coordination Group for Mutual Recognition and Decentralised Procedures—Human ("CMDh") for review. The CMDh seeks to resolve the issue by achieving a negotiated consensus amongst participating member states. If that is not possible, the issue may be referred to the CHMP. The CHMP will allow submissions from the applicant and, having considered the relevant issues and data, will issue an opinion by majority vote. The Committee will then send the opinion to the European Commission, which will adopt a decision that is binding on the applicant and all EU relevant member states.
The mutual recognition procedure allows companies that have a medicinal product already authorized in one EU member state under national procedures to apply for this authorization to be recognized by the competent authorities in other EU member states. Like the decentralized procedure, the mutual recognition procedure is based on the acceptance by the competent authorities of the EU member states of the MA of a medicinal product by the competent authorities of other EU member states. The holder of a national MA may submit an application to the competent authority of an EU member state requesting that this authority recognize the MA delivered by the competent authority of another EU member state.
In principle, any EU MA has an initial validity of five years. The MA may be renewed after five years on the basis of a re-evaluation of the risk-benefit balance by the EMA or by the competent authority of the EU member state in which the original MA was granted. To support the application, the MA holder must provide the EMA or the competent authority with a consolidated version of the Common Technical Document, providing up-to-date data concerning the quality, safety and efficacy of the product, including all variations introduced since the MA was granted, at least nine months before the MA ceases to be valid. The European Commission or the competent authorities of the EU member states may decide, on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with one further five-year renewal period for the MA. Once subsequently definitively renewed, the MA shall be valid for an unlimited period. Any authorization that is not followed by the actual placing of the medicinal product on the EU market (in case of centralized procedure) or on the market of the authorizing EU member state within three years after authorization ceases to be valid (the so-called sunset clause).
In the EU, a “conditional” MA may be granted to meet the unmet medical needs of patients for medicinal products intended for the treatment, prevention or medical diagnosis of seriously debilitating or life-threatening diseases in cases where all the required safety and efficacy data are not yet available. The conditional MA is subject to conditions to be fulfilled for generating the missing data or ensuring increased safety measures. It is valid for one year and must be renewed annually until all related conditions have been fulfilled. Once the specific obligations under the conditional MA are fulfilled (such as the completion of certain ongoing or new trials) and the complete data confirm that the medicinal product’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks, the conditional MA can be converted into a standard MA. However, if the specific obligations are not fulfilled within the timeframe set by the EMA, the conditional MA may cease to be renewed.
An MA may also be granted “under exceptional circumstances” where the applicant can show that it is unable to provide comprehensive data on the efficacy and safety under normal conditions of use even after the product has been authorized and subject to specific procedures being introduced. These circumstances may arise in particular when the intended indications are very rare and, in the state of scientific knowledge at that time, it is not possible to provide comprehensive information or when generating data may be contrary to generally accepted ethical principles. Like a conditional MA, an MA granted in exceptional circumstances is reserved for medicinal products intended to be authorized for the treatment of rare diseases or unmet medical needs for which the applicant does not hold a complete data set that is required for the grant of a standard MA. While an MA under exceptional circumstances may be subject to an obligation to conduct post-approval studies, unlike the conditional MA, an applicant for authorization in exceptional circumstances is not required to provide the missing data on
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the medicinal product’s efficacy and safety necessary to convert the conditional MA into a standard MA. Subject to renewal after five years (as with all standard MAs), the MA “under exceptional circumstances” is granted definitively, but the risk-benefit balance of the medicinal product is reviewed annually and the MA can be withdrawn if the risk-benefit ratio is no longer favorable.
In addition to an MA, various other requirements apply to the manufacturing and placing on the EU market of medicinal products. Manufacture of medicinal products in the EEA requires a manufacturing authorization, and import of medicinal products into the EEA requires a manufacturing authorization allowing for import. The manufacturing authorization holder must comply with various requirements set out in the applicable EU laws, regulations and guidance. These requirements include compliance with EU GMP standards when manufacturing medicinal products and active pharmaceutical ingredients (“API”), including the manufacture of APIs outside of the EU with the intention to import the APIs into the EU. Similarly, the distribution of medicinal products within the EU is subject to compliance with the applicable EU laws, regulations and guidelines, including good distribution practice standards and the requirement to hold appropriate authorizations for distribution granted by the competent authorities of the EU member states. MA holders, manufacturing and import authorization (“MIA”) holders or distribution authorization holders may be subject to civil, criminal or administrative sanctions, including suspension of the MA, MIA or distribution authorization, in case of non-compliance with the EU or EU member states’ requirements applicable to the manufacturing, import and distribution of medicinal products.
EU Data and Market Exclusivity
The EU provides opportunities for data and market exclusivity related to MAs. Upon receiving an initial MA, innovative medicinal products that comprise a new active substance are entitled to eight years of data exclusivity and ten years of market exclusivity. Data exclusivity, if granted, prevents generic or biosimilar product manufacturers from referencing the innovator’s preclinical and clinical data in generic or biosimilar MAAs for eight years from the date of authorization of the innovative product, after which a generic or biosimilar MAA can be submitted, and the innovator’s data may be referenced. The market exclusivity period prevents a successful generic or biosimilar applicant from commercializing its product in the EU until ten years have elapsed from the initial MA of the reference product in the EU. The overall ten-year period may, occasionally, be extended for a further year to a maximum of 11 years if, during the first eight years of those ten years, the MA holder obtains an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization, are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies. However, there is no guarantee that an innovative medicinal product will be considered by the EU’s regulatory authorities to be a new active substance eligible for data and market exclusivity. These periods of data and market exclusivity may also be granted for a new MA for an existing active substance if the applicant is unrelated to the original MA holder and the MAA comprises a full free-standing dossier with relevant preclinical and clinical data.
In the EU, there is a special regime for biosimilars products that are similar to a reference medicinal product but that do not meet the definition of a generic medicinal product. For such products, the results of appropriate preclinical or clinical trials regarding biosimilarity must be provided in support of an MAA.
In December 2025, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a provisional agreement to amend existing EU pharmaceutical legislation that will, among other things, alter the conditions and periods for data exclusivity available to MA holders when adopted into EU law. The final text of the new legislation is due to be released in early 2026 and expected transitional provisions mean that it will most likely apply from mid-2028.
EU Post-Approval Requirements
Where an MA is granted in relation to a medicinal product in the EU, the holder of the MA is required to comply with a range of regulatory requirements applicable to the manufacturing, marketing, promotion and sale of medicinal products.
Similar to the United States, both MA holders and manufacturers of medicinal products are subject to comprehensive regulatory oversight by the EMA, the European Commission or the competent regulatory authorities of the individual EU member states. The holder of an MA must establish and maintain a pharmacovigilance system and appoint an individual qualified person for pharmacovigilance who is responsible for oversight of that system. Key obligations include expedited reporting of suspected serious adverse reactions and submission of periodic safety update reports (“PSURs”).
All new MAAs must include a risk management plan describing the risk management system the company will put in place and documenting measures to prevent or minimize the risks associated with the product. The regulatory authorities may also impose specific obligations as a condition of the MA. Such risk-minimization measures or post-authorization obligations may include additional safety monitoring, more frequent submission of PSURs, or the conduct of additional clinical trials or post-authorization safety trials.
In the EU, the advertising and the promotion of medicinal products are subject to both EU and EU member states’ laws governing promotion of medicinal products, interactions with physicians and other healthcare professionals or organizations, misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices. Although the general requirements for the advertising and the promotion of medicinal products are established under EU directives, the details are governed by laws and regulations in each member state and can differ from one country to another. For example, applicable laws prohibit pre-authorization and misleading advertising and require that promotional materials and advertising in relation to medicinal products comply with the product’s Summary of Product Characteristics (“SmPC”), as approved by the competent authorities in connection with an MA. The SmPC is the document that provides information to physicians concerning the safe and
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effective use of the product. Promotional activity that does not comply with the SmPC is considered off-label and is prohibited in the EU. Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicinal products is also prohibited in the EU. There is also a prohibition on the offer or supply of inappropriate inducements to prescribe, subject to exemptions in certain jurisdictions, such as benefits that are inexpensive and relevant to the practice of medicine.
Proposals to amend EU pharmaceutical laws
In December 2025, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a provisional agreement on legislation to amend the current EU pharmaceutical regulatory framework. The legislative reforms are intended to achieve a balance between supporting innovation and increasing the affordability and geographic availability of medicines. The text of the new legislation is due to be released in early 2026. Such legislation is likely to include altering the conditions and periods of marketing protections available for innovative products, requiring applicants to include environmental impact assessments in MAAs, increasing transparency and disclosure requirements, and restructuring the EMA’s scientific committees. Legislative changes are not expected to come into force until early 2026 and the expected transitional provisions mean that such changes will most likely apply from mid-2028.
Japanese Drug Regulation
Japan is a member of the ICH, and has pharmaceutical law and regulations that are similar in many respects those of the United States and the EU. Those requirements are embodied in the Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices (also known as the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act) and related cabinet orders, Ministerial ordinances, and guidelines.
Clinical trials of medicinal products in Japan must be conducted in accordance with Japanese regulations and the ICH GCP guidelines. If the sponsor of the clinical trial is not an entity within Japan, it must appoint a domestic entity to act as its agent and carry out obligations on the overseas sponsor’s behalf. The sponsor must hold a clinical trial insurance policy, and in accordance with industry practice, should establish a compensation policy for the injuries from the trial.
Prior to the commencement of human drug clinical trial, the sponsor must complete a preclinical safety evaluation of the investigative product and submit a clinical trial notification, including the clinical trial protocol, to the Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare’s PMDA. This notification must be submitted after obtaining agreement of the IRB in relevant clinical trial institution(s). If the authorities do not raise an issue or comment on the notification application within 30 days, the sponsor may proceed to conclude clinical trial agreement(s) with the site(s) and commence the clinical trial.
Any substantial changes to the trial protocol or other information submitted must be cleared by the IRB and notified to the authorities. Medicines used in clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with Japan’s cGMPs.
Non-clinical studies performed to demonstrate the safety of new chemical or biological substance must be conducted in compliance with the principles of Japanese GLP which reflect the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) requirements. Currently, Japan and EU have a mutual recognition agreement for GLP, and data generated compliant with EU requirements will be accepted by the Japanese authorities. There is no similar agreement with the United States, but this is not a significant issue because of the OECD arrangement.
To market an innovative medicinal product in Japan, domestic or overseas applicant must obtain government approval (or marketing authorization) through a new drug application. If the product is designed for treating certain difficult diseases or those for which the patient population is limited and demonstrates unique therapeutic value, the applicant may be able to obtain designation as an orphan drug product. There are also expedited programs for (i) truly innovative products for grave diseases with a unique mechanism of action (provided that development in Japan is concurrent or ahead of other jurisdictions) and (ii) products that satisfy certain unmet medical needs.
The evaluation of new drug applications is based on PMDA’s assessment of the risk-benefit balance of the product on the basis of scientific criteria concerning its quality, safety and efficacy. Once PMDA completes its review, the matter is considered by the advisory committee of experts, and the government grants approval upon any positive recommendation from the committee. If foreign data are part of the application, a dose response clinical trial for Japanese subjects may be required to ensure that data can be extrapolated to Japan’s population.
Separate from the approval requirement, it is also mandatory that the marketing authorization holder or its partner in Japan possess a drug marketing license. Companies in Japan that actually manufacture drugs must possess a drug manufacturing license, and overseas manufacturers must obtain a manufacturing certification.
People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) Drug Regulation
China heavily regulates the development, approval, manufacturing, and distribution of drugs, including biologics. For purposes of the below description of drug regulation in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, which are governed by separate drug laws, are excluded. The regulatory requirements applicable depend, in part, on whether the drug is made and finished in China, which is referred to as a domestically manufactured drug, or made abroad and imported into China in finished form, which is referred to as an imported drug, as well as the approval
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or “registration” category of the drug. For both imported and domestically manufactured drugs, China requires regulatory approval for a clinical trial application (“CTA”) to conduct clinical trials in China and submit China clinical trial data, prior to submitting an application for marketing approval. For imported drugs, the sponsor and marketing authorization holder must be an overseas company that, if the drug is already approved abroad, holds a marketing authorization in another country.
China also prioritizes review and approval of drugs and improvements to drugs (e.g., new indications, routes of administration) that have not yet been approved in any other jurisdiction (i.e., new to the world). In addition, China has created a set of expedited programs for drugs in high priority disease areas and drugs that more effectively treat life-threatening illnesses or that are needed for national emergencies.
The framework law in the drug space in China is the PRC Drug Administration Law (“DAL”). The DAL is implemented by various regulations and rules. The primary drug authority that regulates the life cycle of drugs is the NMPA. The NMPA has its own set of regulations, rules and guidelines further implementing the DAL. The rule governing CTAs, marketing approval, and post-approval amendment and renewal is known as the Drug Registration Regulation (“DRR”).
NMPA’s Center for Drug Evaluation (“CDE”) approves clinical trials and conducts the technical evaluation of each drug and biologic marketing application to assess safety and efficacy. Provincial-level medical products administrations help to enforce these rules, and issue entity licenses to domestic companies, such as drug manufacturing and distribution licenses.
The National Health Commission of the PRC (“NHC”) is China’s primary healthcare regulatory agency. It is responsible for regulating the health care system, including the licensure of medical institutions, which also serve as clinical trial sites, and credentialing of medical personnel.
PRC Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the NMPA
Among other expedited programs, China administers a Breakthrough Therapy Designation. To qualify, a drug must be new to the world, intended to treat a life-threatening disease or one that can seriously impact quality of life, and for which there is no existing therapy in China or a demonstrated substantial improvement over available therapies. Drugs that are designated as breakthrough therapies will receive priority in meeting scheduling, enhanced guidance from CDE to expedite drug development, and may also qualify for other expedited programs, such as priority review and conditional approval.
PRC Non-Clinical Research
The NMPA requires preclinical data to support registration applications for imported and domestic drugs. For domestic laboratories, NMPA oversees an accreditation program pursuant to China’s GLP. If the preclinical research is conducted outside of China, then the applicant must sign and submit a certification with its CTA and marketing application stating that such research was conducted in accordance with applicable good laboratory practice rules.
PRC Clinical Trials and Regulatory Approval
Upon completion of preclinical studies, a sponsor will often need to conduct clinical trials in China to support registration. The materials required for a clinical trial application are substantial even at the CTA stage, including detailed manufacturing information. Drug registration trials in China many only be conducted after obtaining approval of a CTA submitted to CDE, approval of the ethics committee at each accredited hospital site, and human genetic resource approval (“HGR”), which is required for the collection of samples and certain associated data. CTAs may be approved in 60 business days if there is no comment from CDE, and the other applications can take approximately 3-4 months each. Prior to consenting subjects, information about clinical trials must be registered on a CDE-administered platform and continually updated during the trial, and certain information, not including the protocol, is made publicly available on the platform.
PRC Trial Exemptions and Acceptance of Foreign Data
The NMPA may reduce requirements for clinical trials and data, depending on the drug and the existing data. In some cases, NMPA has granted waivers for certain phases of trials and has stated that it will accept data generated abroad (even if not part of a global study with a site in China), including early phase data, that meets its requirements. According to the Technical Guidance Principles on Accepting Foreign Drug Clinical Trial Data the data from foreign clinical trials must meet China’s authenticity, completeness, accuracy, and traceability requirements, and be obtained consistent with the relevant requirements under the China’s Drug GCP. Sponsors must be attentive to potentially meaningful ethnic differences in the subject populations.
PRC Clinical Trial Process and Good Clinical Practices
Pre-market drug clinical trials may have three phases, which can each require a CTA (unless one CTA covers all three). These clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with a protocol that NMPA, various ethics committees at different sites, and the Ministry of Science and Technology (which grants HGR approvals) all review as part of the aforementioned approvals, and in accordance with applicable drug rules, including China’s Drug GCP, issued jointly by NMPA and NHC. Trials must also be conducted at sites that have received credentials from the NHC and NMPA.
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China is a member of the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (“International Council for Harmonisation”), so its GCP resemble the International Council for Harmonisation GCP in a great many respects. However, there are some differences. For example, under China’s GCP the sponsor must provide legal and economic guarantee to the investigator for clinical trial-related injuries, but harm or death caused by medical negligence is excluded. The drug rules contain procedures for amending the clinical trial approval, including obtaining approval for safety-related protocol amendments. NMPA (specifically, its Center for Food and Drug Inspections) has the power to audit trials and sites for GCP compliance during and after the clinical trial.
PRC Drug Marketing Application and Approval
Upon completion of the development process, the applicant may submit a marketing authorization application to CDE. CDE will organize pharmaceutical, medical, and other technical personnel to conduct a review of the safety, efficacy, and quality controllability of the drug based on the application materials submitted, and the results of a verification and inspection (if required). If NMPA decides to approve the drug based on CDE’s opinion, it will issue a drug registration certificate (i.e., a marketing authorization). A marketing authorization must be renewed every five years.
As the marketing authorization holder (“MAH”), a drug company is responsible for the life cycle of the product, including development, production and distribution, post-market trials, routine annual reporting, and safety monitoring and reporting of adverse drug reactions, among other obligations. The MAH may engage third parties to fulfill some of these obligations, such as appropriately-qualified manufacturers and distributors. If the MAH is overseas, as is required for imported drugs, the MAH must appoint an agent, which must be an entity in China that assists with meeting regulatory obligations. Marketing authorizations can be transferred to entities with the required capacity.
Both investigational and marketed drugs must be made in accordance with China GMPs. Domestic manufacturers must have a drug manufacturing license, and overseas manufacturers must certify that they will make drugs in accordance with GMP and meet their home country’s requirements. Drugs must be distributed in China by licensed drug distributors.
Competition
The biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by intense competition and rapid innovation. Our potential competitors include large pharmaceutical companies, smaller biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies and generic drug companies. Many of our potential competitors have greater financial and technical human resources than we do, as well as greater experience in the discovery and development of product candidates, obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of products, and the commercialization of those products. Accordingly, our potential competitors may be more successful than us in obtaining FDA-approved drugs and achieving widespread market acceptance. We anticipate that we will face intense and increasing competition as new drugs enter the market and advanced technologies become available. Finally, the development of new treatment methods for the diseases we are targeting could render our product candidates non-competitive or obsolete.
We believe the key competitive factors that will affect the development and commercial success of our obicetrapib product candidate, if approved, will be its enhanced LDL-lowering capability as a monotherapy or as a combination therapy, tolerability profile, convenience of oral dosing and availability of reimbursement from governmental and other third-party payors, and effect on other predictors of disease risk.
We are currently developing obicetrapib primarily for the treatment of patients at high cardiovascular risk with elevated levels of LDL-C as an adjunct to statins. If approved, obicetrapib would compete with approved non-statin treatments such as ezetimibe, Nexletol/Nexlizet and PCSK9 inhibitors such as Repatha, Praluent and Leqvio. We are also aware of two orally administered small molecule product candidates that target the PCSK9 protein as a mechanism to lower LDL-C and reduce the risk of ASCVD in various stages of clinical development. These consist of MK-0616 (Enlicitide) from Merck & Co., Inc, for which Merck released data from completed Phase 3 trials of adult patients with hypercholesterolemia in November 2025 and, if approved, has the potential to enter the U.S. market in 2026, and AZD0780 from AstraZeneca, which is being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial. There are also a number of other product candidates in clinical development by third parties, such as Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, CVI Pharmaceuticals, Innovent Biologics, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Lib Therapeutics, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Verve Therapeutics and others, that are intended to treat ASCVD by lowering LDL-C and/or Lp(a).
Employees and Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2025, we had 100 employees, consisting of clinical, research and development, business development, regulatory, finance and operational personnel. None of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good. In addition, as of December 31, 2025, we engaged a total of 12 independent contractors. These independent contractors provide a diverse array of services, which includes assisting with our clinical development, manufacturing activities and regulatory obligations.
No Works Council or other employee representative body (personeelsvertegenwoordiging) is established within the Company or its subsidiaries.
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We recognize that our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate exceptional employees is vital to ensuring our long-term competitive advantage. Our employees are critical to our long-term success and are essential to helping us meet our goals. Among other things, we support and incentivize our employees in the following ways:
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Talent development, compensation and retention: We strive to provide our employees with a rewarding work environment, including the opportunity for growth, success and professional development. We provide a competitive compensation and benefits package, including bonus and equity incentive plans and a 401(k) plan for US employees—all designed to attract and retain a skilled and diverse workforce.
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Health and safety: We support the health and safety of our employees by providing comprehensive insurance benefits, company-paid holidays, a personal time-off program and other additional benefits which are intended to assist employees to manage their well-being.
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Inclusion and diversity: We are committed to efforts to increase diversity and foster an inclusive work environment that supports our workforce.
Corporate Information
Our legal and commercial name is NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V. We were incorporated as a private company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) under the laws of the Netherlands on June 10, 2022, solely for the purpose of effectuating the Business Combination (as defined below). As part of the Business Combination, we converted our legal form to a public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) under the laws of the Netherlands on November 21, 2022. The Company is registered with the Dutch Trade Register under number 86649051. The address of our registered office is Gooimeer 2-35 1411 DC Naarden, the Netherlands, and the telephone number of the Company is +31 (0) 35 206 2971. Our agent in the United States is our subsidiary, NewAmsterdam Pharma Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware. NewAmsterdam Pharma Corporation’s address is 20803 Biscayne Blvd, Suite #105, Aventura, Florida.
On November 22, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), we consummated a business combination pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of July 25, 2022 (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among the Company, Frazier Lifesciences Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company (“FLAC”), NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V., and NewAmsterdam Pharma Investment Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”).
Beginning on the day immediately prior to the Closing Date and finishing on the day immediately after the Closing Date, the following transactions occurred pursuant to the terms of the Business Combination Agreement (collectively, the “Business Combination”):
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The shareholders of NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V. (“Participating Shareholders”) contributed all outstanding shares in the capital of NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V. to the Company in exchange for the issuance of ordinary shares, nominal value €0.12 per share (the “Ordinary Shares”), in the share capital of the Company (the “Exchange”);
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Immediately after giving effect to the Exchange, the Company’s legal form was converted from a Dutch private company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) to a Dutch public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap);
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After giving effect to the Exchange, Merger Sub merged with and into FLAC (the “Merger”), with FLAC surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company;
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In connection with the Merger, each issued and outstanding ordinary share of FLAC was canceled and extinguished in exchange for a claim for an Ordinary Share, and such claim was then contributed into the Company against the issuance of a corresponding Ordinary Share;
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Immediately following the Merger, each outstanding warrant to purchase a Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, of FLAC became a warrant to purchase one Ordinary Share, on the same contractual terms;
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Each NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V. option that was outstanding and unexercised (“NewAmsterdam Pharma Options”) remained outstanding, and to the extent unvested, such option will continue to vest in accordance with its applicable terms, and at the time of the Exchange, such NewAmsterdam Pharma Options became options to purchase, and will when exercised be settled in Ordinary Shares; and
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On the day following the Closing Date, FLAC changed its jurisdiction of incorporation by deregistering as a Cayman Islands exempted company and domesticated as a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “Domestication”).
Upon the achievement of a certain clinical development milestone, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, in March 2025 we issued to the Participating Shareholders (including Saga Investments Coöperatief U.A. (“Amgen”), an affiliate of Amgen, Inc., and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (“MTPC”) for this purpose) and holders of NewAmsterdam Pharma Options prior to the closing of the Business Combination, who were directors, officers, employees or consultants of NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V. as of the date of the Business Combination Agreement and who were at the time of achievement of such milestone providing services to the Company or its subsidiaries (the
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“Participating Optionholders”), 1,886,137 additional Ordinary Shares (the “Earnout Shares”), which in the case of the Participating Optionholders took the form of awards of 143,001 restricted stock units (the “Earnout RSUs”) in the aggregate under the LTIP.
Prior to the Business Combination, we did not conduct any material activities other than those incident to our formation and certain matters related to the Business Combination, such as the making of certain required securities law filings. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V. became our direct, wholly owned subsidiary, and holds all of our material assets and conducts all of our business activities and operations.
Available Information
Our website address is www.newamsterdampharma.com. Our website and information included in or linked to our website are not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We file reports with the SEC, which we make available on our website free of charge. These reports include annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to such reports, each of which is provided on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such materials with or furnish them to the SEC. Our website also includes our Annual Report on Form 20-F and information furnished on Form 6-K filed while we were a foreign private issuer. In addition, the SEC maintains a website (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers, like us, that file electronically with the SEC.
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