NASDAQ: NMRA
Neumora Therapeutics, Inc.CIK 0001885522 · Biological Products
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded to confront the greatest medical challenges of our generation by bringing forward the next generation of novel therapies with brain-penetrant chemistry that offer improved treatment outcomes and quality of life for patients. Our therapeutic… About this business →
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About Neumora Therapeutics, Inc.
Source: Item 1 (Business) from the 10-K filed March 30, 2026. Description as filed by the company with the SEC.
ITEM 1. Business.
Overview
We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded to confront the greatest medical challenges of our generation by bringing forward the next generation of novel therapies with brain-penetrant chemistry that offer improved treatment outcomes and quality of life for patients. Our therapeutic pipeline currently consists of programs that target novel mechanisms of action for a broad range of underserved, prevalent diseases. We are advancing a Phase 3 program for navacaprant, a novel once-daily oral kappa opioid receptor (“KOR”) antagonist that is being developed for the treatment of major depressive disorder (“MDD”), which we believe has the potential to provide significant advantages relative to the standard of care, if approved. We are also advancing NMRA-511, a highly selective, novel antagonist of the vasopressin 1a receptor (“V1aR”) being developed for the treatment of agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (“AD”). Beyond navacaprant and NMRA-511, Neumora is advancing NMRA-898, a novel M4 PAM with potential best in class pharmacology for the treatment of schizophrenia. Additionally, Neumora is developing NMRA-215, a highly brain-penetrant, oral NLRP3 inhibitor for the treatment of obesity. We expect several updates from these programs throughout 2026, including to report Phase 3 KOASTAL-2 and -3 topline data in the second quarter of 2026, report MAD extension data with NMRA-511 in the second half of 2026, and to report multiple ascending dose (“MAD”) data with NMRA-898 in the second half of 2026.
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Our Product Candidates
We have rapidly scaled our pipeline through both internal discovery capabilities and business development activities. Our therapeutic pipeline comprises programs for neurodegenerative diseases, neuropsychiatric diseases, and metabolic disorders, each targeting a novel mechanism of action. The current pipeline is shown in the table below.
ALS = Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; CK1δ= Casein Kinase I Isoform delta; GCase = Glucocerebrosidase; KOR = kappa opioid receptor; M4 = Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor M4; NLRP3 = Nucleotide-binding Domain, Leucine-rich–containing Family, Pyrin Domain–containing-3; V1aR = Vasopressin 1a Receptor; DIO = diet induced obesity mouse model.
NMRA-511
NMRA-511 is a highly potent and selective, investigational antagonist of the V1aR that exhibited greater than 3,000-fold selectivity over the V1b and V2 receptors and approximately 300-fold selectivity over the oxytocin receptor in preclinical studies. The V1aR is known to play a role in regulation of aggression, affiliation, stress and anxiety response and several lines of evidence indicate that V1aR antagonists have therapeutic potential for reducing symptoms of agitation.
In the first quarter of 2026, we reported NMRA-511 Phase 1b results, demonstrating a clinically meaningful effect size in people with AD agitation. Following the topline Phase 1b results announced in January 2026, we announced new data from a pre-specified analysis of the Phase 1b study in patients with a Neuropsychiatric Inventory Agitation/Aggression (“NPI-AA”) score ≥4, which aligns with the
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enrollment criteria from other sponsors’ pivotal studies. That new data supports the unsurpassed clinical effect of NMRA-511. We plan to report data from a multiple ascending dose expansion cohort evaluating higher doses of NMRA-511 in the second half of 2026 and to initiate a Phase 2 study with NMRA-511 in Alzheimer’s disease agitation in the first quarter of 2027.
NMRA-GCase
NMRA-GCase is an activator program focused on elevating the activity of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (“GCase”) that we are developing for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease (“PD”). Mutations in the GBA1 gene, which codes for the enzyme GCase, are the single largest genetic risk factor for PD. GCase deficiencies lead to storage disorders of the lysosome, which plays an important role in maintaining cellular balance, and a group of patients with PD have lysosomal dysfunction. Our NMRA-GCase program is in the preclinical phase of development. We exclusively licensed certain intellectual property rights related to NMRA-GCase from Amgen. The enzyme GCase belongs to a family of proteins known as “lysosomal glycoside hydrolases” that are located within the lysosomal compartments of cells and cause the cleavage of complex molecules containing sugar. The GBA gene encodes GCase and homozygous or compound heterozygous mutation carriers in GBA are associated with Gaucher’s disease, a lysosomal storage disorder. Mutations in the GBA gene are associated with PD (approximately 10% of PD patients). Functional GCase is crucial for the recycling and disposal of proteins and lipids in the lysosome. Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that GCase mutations trigger lysosomal dysfunction, cell toxicity, inflammation and the accumulation of alpha-synuclein (a hallmark of PD), which is toxic to neurons.
NMRA-CK1δ
NMRA-CK1δ is a casein kinase 1 isoform delta (“CK1δ”) inhibitor program that we intend to develop for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (“ALS”). CK1δ is a kinase that has been identified as a proximal upstream regulator of TDP-43 phosphorylation, a key driver of TDP-43-driven pathology in approximately 95% of sporadic ALS cases. There is also genetic evidence supporting the role of TDP-43 in ALS. Our NMRA-CK1δ program is in preclinical development. We exclusively licensed certain intellectual property rights related to NMRA-CK1δ from Amgen. CK1δ is a key proximal kinase phosphorylating TDP-43, a protein implicated in the pathology of both sporadic and familial ALS and certain types of frontotemporal dementia (“FTD”). Protein aggregates containing phosphorylated TDP-43 are present in degenerating motor neurons of ALS patients. It is hypothesized that reduction of TDP-43 phosphorylation with a CK1δ inhibitor will reduce TDP-43 driven pathology and slow disease progression. Published data have demonstrated that CK1δ inhibitors reverse aberrant TDP-43 related phenotypes in both in vitro and in vivo studies.
Navacaprant (NMRA-140) (KOR)
Navacaprant is a novel, oral once-daily, selective kappa opioid receptor (“KOR”) antagonist in development for the monotherapy treatment of MDD. There are currently over 21 million adults in the United States diagnosed with MDD, 85% of whom either do not receive treatment with a pharmacological agent or fail to achieve remission with first-line selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (“SSRIs”) / serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (“SNRIs”). We are developing navacaprant as a once-daily oral medication designed to modulate the dopamine and reward processing pathways that play an important role in the regulation of mood, cognition, reward and behavior. The KOR/dynorphin system is well-characterized, known to modulate depression, anhedonia and anxiety, and represents a novel approach to treating MDD and other major neuropsychiatric disorders. Navacaprant is being investigated in the KOASTAL pivotal Phase 3 program evaluating navacaprant monotherapy in patients with moderate to severe MDD.
The KOASTAL program includes three Phase 3 studies, KOASTAL-1, KOASTAL-2 and KOASTAL-3 as well as an open-label extension study, KOASTAL-LT, designed to evaluate the long-term safety of navacaprant, which were all initiated in 2023. In January 2025, we announced results from the first study in the KOASTAL program, KOASTAL-1. The study did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement on the primary endpoint of change from baseline in the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (“MADRS”) total score at Week 6 or the key secondary endpoint of a change from baseline in the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (“SHAPS”) scale. In the study navacaprant was shown to be safe and generally well-tolerated with no serious adverse events reported. There was no signal for increased suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior compared to placebo, as measured by Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (“C-SSRS”). Following the announcement of topline results from the KOASTAL-1 study, Neumora conducted extensive analyses to identify factors that might have contributed to the study outcome, and made adjustments to the KOASTAL-2 and -3 studies based on the findings of those analyses. The KOASTAL-2 and -3 studies are fully enrolled with more than 400 patients enrolled in each study. We expect a joint topline data readout for KOASTAL-2 and -3 in the second quarter of 2026 including topline data for each study as well as pre-specified analyses with more than 450 patients enrolled after study optimizations in early 2025.
NMRA-898
Neumora’s M4 franchise comprises two highly potent and selective M4 muscarinic receptor positive allosteric modulators (“PAMs”), NMRA-861 and NMRA-898, that may offer an improved therapeutic profile for schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders over standard of care. Neumora exclusively licensed certain intellectual property rights related to NMRA-861 and NMRA-898 from the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery at Vanderbilt University.
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In March 2026, we announced that we designated NMRA-898 as the lead program in our M4 franchise. We believe that NMRA-898 is well suited for continued development in schizophrenia based on promising clinical results from a Phase 1 single ascending dose study, including:
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NMRA-898 demonstrated an approximately 80-100-hour half-life in humans to date, confirming the potential for once-daily dosing and supporting development advantages.
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Exposures were dose proportional with low variability and predicted free exposures in the brain above in vitro M4 EC50 levels.
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Exposure-dependent increases in heart rate, of similar magnitude to those demonstrated by Cobenfy (“KarXT”), providing pharmacodynamic evidence of target engagement.
We are conducting a multiple ascending dose (“MAD”) study with NMRA-898 in healthy volunteers and patients with stable schizophrenia. The goal of the study is to identify a maximum tolerated dose of NMRA-898 and confirm central nervous system (“CNS”) penetration via cerebrospinal fluid (“CSF”) exposure. We expect to report data from the ongoing Phase 1 study in the second half of 2026.
NMRA-215
NMRA-215 is a, highly brain-penetrant, oral NLRP3 inhibitor in development for the treatment of obesity. The NLRP3 inflammasome is a critical part of the innate immune system that responds to pathogens and cellular damage and is implicated in both CNS and peripheral system disorders. NLRP3-mediated neuroinflammation in the hypothalamus is lined to obesity, and targeting NLRP3 in the hypothalamus is hypothesized to modulate dysfunctional neuronal circuitry related to appetite, leading to decreased food intake. In October 2025, we announced pre-clinical weight loss data with NMRA-215 from three diet-induced obesity (“DIO”) mouse studies. In the studies, NMRA-215 demonstrated class-leading weight loss of up to 19% as a monotherapy with semaglutide-like induction and 26% in combination with semaglutide. We also completed a 12-week DIO study, that reinforces the potential of NMRA-215 for the treatment of obesity in both the mechanism of action switch and weight loss maintenance paradigms.
We have successfully completed 28-day rat and dog and 13-week dog toxicology studies with NMRA-215. Each study identified a No Observed Adverse Effect Level (“NOAEL”) with high margins to predicted human exposures of NMRA-215 that we believe will achieve sustained IC90 concentrations in the brain.
Separately, in a 13-week rat toxicology study, unexpected adverse findings were observed in 5 of the 142 animals. The findings were not dose dependent and are not associated with a known on-target or molecule related effect. We believe these findings may be related to a study conduct issue, and have opened a for-cause audit of the 13-week rat toxicology study.
In parallel, we are repeating the 13-week rat toxicology study with a different contract research organization and now expect to bring NMRA-215 into the clinic in the first quarter of 2027.
Intellectual Property
Our success depends in large part upon our ability to obtain and maintain proprietary protection for our products and technologies and to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of others. Our policy is to protect our proprietary position by, among other methods, filing U.S. and foreign patent applications that relate to our proprietary technologies, inventions and improvements that are important to the development and implementation of our business. We also rely on trademarks, trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological innovation.
Our patent portfolio includes three primary types of patents and patent applications: (i) molecule patents that cover composition of matter and methods of treatment; (ii) patents directed to our precision neuroscience approach that covers key artificial intelligence (“AI”) algorithms and machine learning (“ML”)-based processes for identifying and monitoring targeted patient populations; and (iii) biomarker patents that cover methods of diagnosing and treating patients, with our molecules. As of December 31, 2025, we own, co-own, or have an exclusive license to over 400 patents and pending applications in the United States and foreign jurisdictions. These include 51 issued U.S. patents and 153 issued foreign patents.
The term of any individual issued patent depends upon the legal term of the patent in the country in which it is obtained. In most countries that we file, the patent term is 20 years from the earliest date of filing a nonprovisional patent application related to the issued patent. However, the actual protection afforded by an issued patent varies on a product-by-product basis, from country to country, and depends upon many factors, including the type of patent, the scope of its coverage, the availability of regulatory-related extensions, the availability of legal remedies in a particular country, and the validity and enforceability of the patent. A U.S. patent also may be accorded patent term adjustment (“PTA”), under certain circumstances to compensate for delays in obtaining the patent from the United States
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Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). In some instances, such a PTA may result in a U.S. patent term extending beyond 20 years from the earliest date of filing a non-provisional patent application related to the U.S. patent. In addition, in the United States, the term of a U.S. patent that covers a United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approved drug may also be eligible for patent term extension, which permits patent term restoration as compensation for the patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process.
Molecule Patent Portfolio
As of December 31, 2025, our molecule patents include over 348 owned and exclusively licensed patents and patent applications, of which 33 are issued U.S. patents and 141 are issued foreign patents. A further breakdown of our material molecule patents and applications as of December 31, 2025 is below:
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Navacaprant (NMRA-140): We own, co-own or exclusively license two patent families that include five issued U.S. patents, and additional U.S. and foreign patents and pending applications related to navacaprant. These patents and applications cover composition of matter. We have an exclusive license from The Scripps Research Institute (“TSRI”) to one of the patent families, which includes two issued U.S. patents that are expected to expire in 2033 excluding any patent term adjustment or patent term extension. We co-own the other patent family with TSRI. This family has three patents granted in the United States, and additional patents granted in Europe, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Australia, Mexico, Singapore, India, Israel, Japan, Eurasia, Brazil, and South Africa. An additional patent application in this family is pending in Canada. The last issued patent from these families licensed to us from TSRI is expected to expire in 2038 excluding any patent term adjustment or patent term extension. We anticipate that we will apply for any available patent term extension to the family with base expiration in 2038.
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NMRA-511: We own two issued U.S. patents and additional U.S. and foreign patents and pending applications related to NMRA-511. These patents and applications cover composition of matter. This family has two patents granted in the United States, and additional patents granted in Singapore, Europe, Japan, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Korea, and China. An additional patent application in this family is pending in Canada. The issued U.S. patents and future patents that issue are expected to expire in 2038 excluding any patent term adjustment or patent term extension.
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M4R: We exclusively license several patent families that include 19 issued U.S. patents and additional U.S. and foreign patents and pending applications related to our M4R franchise from Vanderbilt. These patents and applications cover composition of matter. The last patent expiration date for the issued patents and patents expected to issue that are exclusively licensed from Vanderbilt that cover NMRA-898 and NMRA-861 is 2044 excluding any patent term adjustment or patent term extension.
Precision Toolbox Patent Portfolio
Our Precision Toolbox is covered by process patents and patent applications relating to multimodal methods of identifying and monitoring targeted patient populations. The process patents and patent applications are directed to (i) the use of tools to detect and capture data from patients using specific modalities, unimodal processing and/or diagnostic techniques for specific modality types; and (ii) multimodal machine learning and AI-based processes for combining different types of data to identify and monitor targeted patient populations. Our Precision Toolbox patent portfolio includes several patent families, comprising 18 issued U.S. patents, additional pending U.S. and foreign patent applications. The issued U.S. and foreign patent and future patents that issue from these families are expected to expire between 2038 and 2045, excluding any patent term adjustment.
The Precision Toolbox patent portfolio also includes coverage for multimodal processes that span various modalities including genetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, in vitro cell, MRI, EEG, voice, facial, behavioral, clinical and others.
Biomarker Patent Portfolio
Our Precision Toolbox is also covered by biomarker patents and applications directed to unimodal and multimodal biomarkers that identify patients that respond to specific drugs. These biomarker patents are process patents for identifying and diagnosing patients with selected biomarkers, and methods of treating patients with those biomarkers with neural drugs. We own more than six patent applications relating to biomarkers. Generally speaking, those selected biomarkers include genetic, proteomic, task-based, clinical assessment-based, and others.
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Trade Secrets
In addition to our reliance on patent protection for our inventions, product candidates and precision neuroscience approach, we also rely on trade secrets, know-how, confidentiality agreements and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. For example, some elements of manufacturing processes, proprietary assays, analytics techniques and processes, knowledge gained through clinical experience such as approaches to dosing and administration and management of patients, as well as related processes and software, are based on unpatented trade secrets and know-how that are not publicly disclosed. It is our policy to require our employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers and other advisors to execute confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of employment or consulting relationships with us. These agreements provide that all confidential information concerning our business or financial affairs developed or made known to the individual or entity during the course of the party’s relationship with us is to be kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties except in specific circumstances. In the case of employees, the agreements provide that all inventions conceived of by the individual during the course of employment, and which relate to or are reasonably capable of being used in our current or planned business or research and development are our exclusive property. In addition, we take other appropriate precautions, such as physical and technological security measures, to guard against misappropriation of our proprietary technologies by third parties.
Trademarks
We also protect our brands through the procurement of trademark rights and have a portfolio of registered and pending trademark applications in the United States and abroad. As of December 31, 2025, the portfolio includes trademark applications for the mark NEUMORA, that are pending in Canada, and International Applications filed under the Madrid Protocol. Trademark applications for NEUMORA have been registered in Australia, Brazil, Europe, India, Israel, Japan, China, Mexico, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In-Licensing and Collaboration Agreements
Exclusive License Agreements with Amgen for CK1d and GCase
In September 2021, we entered into two exclusive license agreements with Amgen (the “Amgen Licenses”) with one of the agreements covering development of products directed to casein kinase 1 delta (the “CK1d License”) and the other covering development of products directed to ß- Glucocerebrosidase (the “GCase License”).
Under each Amgen License, Amgen granted to us a worldwide, exclusive, sublicensable license under certain of its patents and know-how to research, develop, manufacture, use and commercialize specified products containing compounds that, with respect to the CK1d License, are directed to CK1d, including compounds developed by us prior to the effective date of the CK1d License, and with respect to the GCase License, are directed to GCase, collectively referred to as the licensed products, for any and all uses. We have filed one patent application directed to CK1d. The license grants are subject to Amgen’s right to use the licensed patents and know-how solely for internal research use. Until a specified period of time following the achievement of the first successful Phase 2 clinical trial for any licensed product, if we choose to sell, transfer, sublicense or divest rights to a licensed product in certain major markets, Amgen has a time-limited, exclusive right of first negotiation to enter into an agreement with us for such rights. Amgen also agreed to transfer to us certain licensed materials and licensed know-how relating to the licensed products.
Under each Amgen License, we are solely responsible for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of the licensed products. We are obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop, manufacture, obtain regulatory approval, and commercialize at least one licensed product under each Amgen License. Under each Amgen License, we also agreed, until a specified period of time following the first commercial sale of the first licensed product in the United States, not to clinically develop, commercialize, or manufacture any compounds or products, other than the licensed products, that are directed to CK1d or GCase, unless we treat them as licensed products that are subject to diligence, milestone and royalty obligations under the Amgen Licenses. If we choose not to treat such compounds or products obtained through a transaction with a third party as a licensed product, then we are obligated to divest or terminate the program for such compounds or products.
Under the Amgen Licenses, we agreed to pay Amgen contingent consideration payable in cash up to an aggregate of $360.0 million in commercial milestone payments upon the achievement of certain sales thresholds per licensed product under the CK1d License and up to an aggregate $360.0 million in commercial milestone payments upon the achievement of certain sales thresholds per licensed product under the GCase License. We also agreed to pay tiered royalties at percentages ranging from the low to high-single-digits on annual worldwide net sales of licensed products under the CK1d License, and royalties at a low-single-digit percentage on annual worldwide net sales of licensed products under the GCase License, payable on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis until the later of the expiration of the last to expire licensed patent or Neumora patent claiming the composition of matter of such licensed product and the tenth anniversary of the first commercial sale of such licensed product in such country. Under each Amgen License, the royalty payments are subject to reductions on a country-by-country basis for lack of patent coverage, generic entry and payment
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obligations for third-party licenses. As of December 31, 2025, none of the milestones pursuant to the Amgen Licenses have been achieved and no amounts were recognized related to the contingent consideration milestones.
Each of the Amgen Licenses continues in force until the expiration of all royalty payment obligations to Amgen unless terminated earlier. We may terminate either Amgen License at-will with 30 days’ prior written notice to Amgen at any time prior to the initiation of clinical development for any licensed product or 120 days’ prior written notice to Amgen at any time thereafter. Either party may terminate either Amgen License upon written notice for the other party’s material breach that remains uncured for ninety days (or for one year if an approved plan to remedy such breach is being diligently pursued) or upon the other party’s bankruptcy or insolvency. Amgen may also terminate either Amgen License upon written notice if we breach our obligations to not clinically develop, commercialize or manufacture compounds or products directed to CK1d or GCase, other than licensed products, unless we treat them as licensed products or divest or terminate the program(s) for such compounds or products.
Upon termination of either of the Amgen Licenses, all rights and licenses granted by Amgen to us under that license will terminate, except that, under the CK1d License, we will retain rights to the compounds directed to CK1d that were developed by us prior to the effective date of the CK1d License. In addition, with respect to all other licensed products, at Amgen’s election and in return for tiered royalties at percentages ranging from the low to mid-single-digits on annual worldwide net sales under the CK1d License, and royalties at a low-single-digit percentage on annual worldwide net sales under the GCase License, we will grant to Amgen an automatic, worldwide, perpetual, sublicensable, irrevocable and exclusive license to exploit such licensed products, under all patent rights and know-how controlled by us that cover such licensed products and are necessary to exploit any such licensed product as it exists as of the termination date.
In connection with the Amgen License Agreements and a since terminated research and collaboration agreement with Amgen entered into in September 2021, we issued to Amgen 20.0 million shares of our Series A-2 Preferred Stock. Additionally, Amgen purchased 12.7 million shares of our Series A-2 Preferred Stock at a purchase price of $7.85 per share, for total consideration of $100.0 million.
2015 TSRI License Agreement
In connection with the acquisition of BlackThorn in September 2020, we gained rights to a license agreement between BlackThorn and TSRI entered into in November 2015, as amended in November 2017 and April 2019 (“2015 TSRI License Agreement”). Pursuant to the 2015 TSRI License Agreement, TSRI granted us a worldwide, exclusive license under certain patent rights and a worldwide, non-exclusive license under certain know-how relating to TSRI’s Kappa Opioid Receptor (“KOR” or “navacaprant”), V1aR Receptor (“V1aR” or “NMRA-511”) Antagonist and oxytocin receptors (“OTR”) positive allosteric modulator programs (collectively, the “TSRI Programs”), in each case that is sublicensable under certain conditions, to use, manufacture and commercialize products (i) that are covered by the relevant licensed patents, (ii) that involve the use or incorporation of the licensed know-how or (iii) that are KOR, V1aR or OTR modulators discovered by BlackThorn within two years of the effective date of the 2015 TSRI License Agreement for the diagnostic, prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of humans and animals. The last patent expiration date for the patents licensed pursuant to the TSRI 2015 License Agreement is 2038, excluding any patent term adjustment or patent term extension. The licensed patent rights are subject to TSRI’s right to use the licensed patents for internal research and educational purposes and to grant non-exclusive licenses to other non-profit or academic institutions to use the licensed patent rights for internal research and educational purposes.
We are subject to certain research and development milestone timeline obligations and have agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approvals and to commercialize the licensed products.
Under the 2015 TSRI License Agreement, BlackThorn issued TSRI shares of its capital stock representing one percent of all outstanding shares of its capital stock calculated on a fully diluted basis. We paid a change of control success fee to TSRI in shares of our Series A-1 convertible preferred stock with a fair value of $0.3 million. In December 2023, as part of the milestone payment under the BlackThorn Merger Agreement that became due upon the dosing of the first patient in the Phase 3 clinical trial for navacaprant, (1) we issued 50,903 shares of stock to TSRI as a success fee under the 2015 TSRI License Agreement and (2) we paid to TSRI $0.3 million as a milestone payment under the 2015 TSRI License Agreement. Beyond the payment of the change in control success fee, the success fee for the BlackThorn Merger Agreement milestone and the navacaprant milestone payment under the 2015 TSRI License Agreement, as of December 31, 2025, no other contingent consideration related to the milestones, royalty or other payments have been made to TSRI pursuant to the TSRI 2015 License Agreement.
We are obligated to pay TSRI a specified nominal annual license fee that is creditable against any royalties due for that calendar year. Upon achieving specified development and regulatory milestone events, we are obligated to pay TSRI milestone payments in the aggregate of up to $1.5 million for each TSRI Program and upon achieving specified commercial milestone events, we are obligated to pay TSRI milestone payments in the aggregate of up to $3.5 million for each occurrence. We are also obligated to pay TSRI a percentage in the mid-single digits of any sublicensing revenues we receive from a sublicensee. We also agreed to pay TSRI, on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis, royalties in the low-single digit percentages on worldwide net sales of products, which are either
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tiered or not tiered depending on the category of product, until the later of the expiration of the last to expire licensed patent in the world and the tenth anniversary of the first commercial sale of such licensed product in such country, subject to certain reductions for generic entry, lack of patent coverage and payment obligations for third-party licenses.
The 2015 TSRI License Agreement continues in force until the expiration of all royalty payment obligations to TSRI. We may terminate the 2015 TSRI License Agreement for any reason upon 90 days’ prior written notice to TSRI. TSRI may immediately terminate the 2015 TSRI License Agreement if we fail to make a payment and do not cure within 20 days after written notice from TSRI, default on our indemnification or insurance obligations, become insolvent or bankrupt, are convicted of a felony relating to the development, manufacture, or commercialization of the licensed products, underpay by a certain percentage within any specified period of time, or default in the performance of any of our other obligations and fail to remedy the default within 60 days after written notice from TSRI. In the event we do not use commercially reasonable efforts to achieve the research and development milestones within the agreed upon time period and do not either meet the milestone or make substantial progress towards achieving the goals of the applicable research and development plan for such Program, in each case, within a specified cure period, TSRI has the right, based on the decision of an arbitrator, to either terminate the 2015 TSRI License Agreement with respect to a particular Program or terminate the 2015 TSRI License Agreement in its entirety. Upon any termination, all rights and licenses granted by TSRI to us will terminate. We also agreed to grant to TSRI, in return for royalties at a low-single-digit percentage of TSRI’s net sales of licensed products, an irrevocable, exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, sublicensable license to data, information, or other materials exclusively controlled by us that directly relate to the licensed products, to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize the licensed products for the diagnostic, prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of humans and animals.
Vanderbilt License Agreement
Pursuant to the Vanderbilt License Agreement, we obtained an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sublicensable (subject to certain restrictions) license under certain patent rights and a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sub-licensable (subject to certain restrictions) license under certain know-how covering small molecule positive allosteric modulators (“PAMs”) predominantly of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype 4 (“M4”), to develop, manufacture and commercialize products, processes, and services covered by such patent rights or that incorporate or use such know-how, for any and all uses. The last patent expiration date for the licensed patents that are issued or expected to issue, from currently pending or provisional applications, pursuant to the Vanderbilt License Agreement is 2041, excluding any patent term adjustment or patent term extension. The licensed patent rights are subject to Vanderbilt’s right to use the patent rights for research, internal non-commercial use and educational purposes.
We have agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize licensed products, and to achieve certain development milestones. Failure to meet our obligations in accordance with the Vanderbilt License Agreement to achieve such milestones may constitute a material breach of contract that entitles Vanderbilt to terminate the Vanderbilt License Agreement.
Under the Vanderbilt License Agreement, we paid an upfront fee of $13.0 million. We are also obligated to pay Vanderbilt tiered royalties at mid-single-digit percentages on net sales of royalty-bearing products, which are payable on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis until the later of expiration of the last to expire valid claim covering composition of matter in the licensed patents and the tenth anniversary of the first commercial sale of such product in such country. Under the Vanderbilt License Agreement, the royalty payments are subject to reductions on a country-by-country basis for the lack of patent coverage, generic entry and payment obligations for third-party licenses. In addition, we are obligated to pay Vanderbilt a low-double- digit percentage of sublicense income we receive for sublicenses entered into before the achievement of a specified event. We also agreed to pay Vanderbilt payments of up to $42.0 million upon achievement of specified development milestone events and up to $380.0 million upon achievement of specified commercial milestone events, but in no event will our total milestone payments to Vanderbilt exceed $422.0 million. In November 2023 and July 2025, a $2.0 and $5.0 million, respectively, development milestone was paid to Vanderbilt under the Vanderbilt License Agreement. Also in November 2023, Neumora and Vanderbilt executed an option exercise notice pursuant to which we agreed to include within the scope of the exclusive license under the Vanderbilt License Agreement certain patent rights conceived or developed by Vanderbilt in the course of carrying out the sponsored research pursuant to a sponsored research agreement between us and Vanderbilt. As consideration for the exercise of this option, Neumora paid Vanderbilt $0.8 million in 2023. As of December 31, 2025, no other milestone, royalty or other payment (other than the upfront payment and development milestone described above) has become payable to Vanderbilt pursuant to the Vanderbilt License Agreement.
In May 2024, the Company and Vanderbilt entered into a second sponsored research agreement with Vanderbilt and concurrently entered into an amendment to the Vanderbilt License Agreement (“Second Amendment to the Vanderbilt License Agreement”), to extend the rights granted to the Company under the Vanderbilt License Agreement to the data and patent rights conceived or developed by Vanderbilt in the course of carrying out the sponsored research pursuant to the second sponsored research agreement.
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The Vanderbilt License Agreement will remain in force, on a country-by-country basis, until the expiration of all royalty payment obligations to Vanderbilt in such country. If we bring a patent challenge against any licensed patents, in addition to paying certain costs associated with the proceeding, Vanderbilt may convert the exclusive licenses to non-exclusive licenses or terminate the Vanderbilt License Agreement. If the licensed patents survive the patent challenge, all payments under the agreement will be increased by a specified amount. We have the right to terminate the Vanderbilt License Agreement at any time by providing Vanderbilt with 90 days’ prior notice. Vanderbilt has the right to terminate the Vanderbilt License Agreement if we file for bankruptcy. The Vanderbilt License Agreement will automatically terminate if our insurance coverage lapses and is not cured within 90 days. Vanderbilt also has the right to terminate if we fail to make payments, breach our diligence obligations or breach any other material term upon 60 days prior notice.
Government Regulation
Government authorities in the United States, at the federal, state and local level, and other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, 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 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.
U.S. Drug Development Process
In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and its implementing regulations. A new drug must be approved by the FDA through the New Drug Application (“NDA”) process before it may be legally marketed in the United States. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. The process required by the FDA before a drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:
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completion of certain 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 IND, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;
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approval by an independent Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) or ethics committee 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 practices (“GCPs”) 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 all 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 current Good Manufacturing Practice (“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 inspection of selected clinical investigation sites to assess compliance with GCPs; 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.
Once a product candidate is identified for development, it enters the preclinical development stage. The preclinical developmental stage generally involves laboratory evaluations of chemistry, formulation and stability, as well as studies to evaluate the product candidate’s toxicity in animals, in an effort to support subsequent clinical testing. The conduct of preclinical studies is subject to federal regulations and requirements, including GLP regulations for certain studies.
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Prior to beginning the first clinical trial with a product candidate in the United States, the trial sponsor must submit the results of preclinical testing, together with manufacturing information and analytical data, to the FDA as part of, an IND. An IND is a request for authorization from the FDA to administer an investigational drug product to humans. The central focus of an IND submission is on the general investigational plan and the protocol(s) for clinical studies. The IND also includes results of animal and in vitro studies assessing the toxicology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology and pharmacodynamic characteristics of the product candidate, chemistry, manufacturing and controls information, and any available human data or literature to support the use of the product candidate. An IND must become effective before human clinical trials may begin. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA, within the 30-day time period, places the IND on clinical hold. In such case, 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.
Clinical trials involve the administration of the investigational product to human subjects under the supervision of qualified investigators, generally physicians not employed by or under the trial sponsor’s control, in accordance with GCPs, which include the requirement that all research subjects provide their informed consent in writing for their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials must be conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the trial, dosing procedures, subject selection and exclusion criteria and the safety and effectiveness criteria to be evaluated. Each protocol must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND, and 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. While the IND is active, progress reports summarizing the results of the clinical trials and nonclinical studies performed since the last progress report, among other information, 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 adverse events, findings from other studies 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.
Furthermore, an independent IRB at each institution participating in the clinical trial must review and approve review and approve each protocol before a clinical trial commences at that institution and must also approve the information regarding the trial and the consent form that must be provided to each trial subject or his or her legal representative, monitor the study until completed and otherwise comply with IRB regulations. Regulatory authorities, the IRB or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the subjects are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk or that the trial is unlikely to meet its stated objectives. In addition, some studies also include oversight by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. Depending on its charter, this group may determine whether a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the trial. There are also requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical studies and clinical trial results to public registries, including clinicaltrials.gov.
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 studies 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 its effectiveness.
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Phase 2: The product candidate is administered to a limited patient population with a specified disease or condition identify possible adverse side effects and safety risks, to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of the product candidate for specific targeted diseases and to determine dosage tolerance and appropriate dosage.
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Phase 3: The product candidate is administered to an expanded patient population to further evaluate dosage, to provide substantial evidence of 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 product candidate and provide an adequate basis for product labeling.
In some cases, the FDA may require, or sponsors may voluntarily pursue, additional clinical trials after a product is approved to gain more information about the product. These clinical trials, sometimes referred to as Phase 4, studies may be used to gain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of an NDA.
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 alignment on the next phase of development.
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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.
U.S. Review and Approval Process
The results of product development, preclinical and other non-clinical 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. The submission of an NDA is subject to the payment of substantial user fees, unless a waiver or exemption applies.
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 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 filed, 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 a standard review of an NDA for a drug that is a new molecular entity. This review typically takes twelve months from the date the NDA is submitted to FDA because the FDA has approximately two months to make a “filing” decision after it the application is submitted.
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 considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions.
Before approving an NDA, the FDA will typically inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA may inspect one or more clinical trial sites to assure compliance with GCPs.
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 or a Complete Response Letter (“CRL”). An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with prescribing information for specific indications. A CRL indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete, and the application will not be approved in its present form. A CRL usually describes the specific deficiencies in the NDA identified by the FDA and may require additional clinical data, such as an additional clinical trial or other significant and time-consuming requirements related to clinical trials, nonclinical studies or manufacturing. If a CRL is issued, the sponsor must resubmit the NDA or, addressing all of the deficiencies that the FDA has identified in the letter, or withdraw the application. Even if such data and information are submitted, the FDA may decide that the NDA does not satisfy the criteria for approval.
If a product receives regulatory approval, the approval may be significantly limited to specific diseases and dosages or the indications for use may otherwise be limited, which could restrict the commercial value of the product. In addition, the FDA may require a sponsor to conduct post-market, clinical trials designed to further assess a drug’s safety and/or effectiveness after NDA approval, and may require additional testing and surveillance programs to monitor the safety of approved products which have been commercialized. The FDA may also place other conditions on approval including the requirement for a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (“REMS”), to assure the safe use of the drug. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the NDA must submit a proposed REMS, which could include medication guides, physician communication plans, or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. The FDA will not approve the NDA without an approved REMS, if required. Any of these limitations on approval or marketing could restrict the commercial promotion, distribution, prescription or dispensing of products.
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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 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.
Expedited Development and Review Programs
The FDA offers a number of programs intended to expedite the development or review of a marketing application for a drug product. For example, the Fast Track program is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for developing and reviewing product candidates 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 the combination of the product and the specific indication for which it is being studied. The sponsor of a Fast Track product candidate has opportunities for more frequent interactions with the applicable FDA review team during development and, once an NDA is submitted, the application may be eligible for priority review. An NDA for a Fast Track product candidate 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, 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.
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 in combination 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.
Any 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 development and review processes, such as priority review. An NDA is eligible for priority review if the product candidate 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, as compared to ten months for review of new-molecular-entity NDAs under its current PDUFA review goals.
Additionally, depending on the design of the applicable clinical trials, product candidates studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions may be eligible for accelerated approval upon a determination that the product candidate has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit, or on 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 benefits, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of continued approval, the FDA will generally require the sponsor to perform adequate and well-controlled confirmatory clinical studies to verify and describe the anticipated effect on irreversible morbidity or mortality or other clinical benefits, and may require that such confirmatory trials be underway prior to granting accelerated approval. Products receiving accelerated approval may be subject to expedited withdrawal procedures if the sponsor fails to conduct the required confirmatory studies in a timely manner or if such studies fail to verify the predicted clinical benefit. In addition, the FDA currently requires as a condition for accelerated approval pre-approval of promotional materials, which could adversely impact the timing of the commercial launch of the product.
Fast Track designation, Breakthrough Therapy designation, priority review, and accelerated approval do not change the standards for approval, but may expedite the development or approval 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.
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Orphan Drug Designation and Exclusivity
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug intended to treat a rare disease or condition, defined as a disease or condition with a patient population of fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or a patient population greater than 200,000 individuals in the United States and when there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making available the drug in the United States will be recovered from sales in the United States for that drug. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting an NDA. After the FDA grants orphan drug designation, the generic identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. Orphan designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process.
If a product that has orphan drug designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for a particular active ingredient for the disease or condition for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan product exclusivity, which means that the FDA may not approve any other applications, including a full NDA, to market the same drug for the same approved indication or use within such disease or condition for seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan drug exclusivity or if the FDA finds that the holder of the orphan drug exclusivity has not shown that it can assure the availability of sufficient quantities of the orphan drug to meet the needs relating to the approved indication or use of patients with the disease or condition for which the drug was designated. Orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent the FDA from approving a different drug for the same indication or use within the relevant disease or condition, or the same drug for a different disease or condition. Among the other benefits of orphan drug designation are tax credits for certain research and a waiver of the NDA application user fee.
A designated orphan drug may not receive orphan drug exclusivity if it is approved for a use that is broader than the disease or condition for which it received orphan designation. In addition, orphan drug exclusive marketing rights in the United States may be lost if the FDA later determines that the request for designation was materially defective or, as noted above, if a second applicant demonstrates that its product is clinically superior to the approved product with orphan exclusivity in the relevant indication or the manufacturer of the approved product is unable to assure sufficient quantities of the product to meet the needs relating to the approved indication or use of patients with the relevant rare disease or condition.
Post-approval Requirements
Any 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. After approval, most changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, certain manufacturing changes and additional labeling claims, are subject to further FDA review and approval. There also are continuing, annual program fees for any marketed products. Drug manufacturers and their subcontractors are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMPs and other laws and regulations. Changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated, and, depending on the significance of the change, may require prior FDA approval before being implemented. FDA regulations also require investigation and correction of any deviations from cGMP and impose reporting requirements. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money and effort in the area of production and quality 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. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in revisions to the approved labeling to add new safety information; imposition of requirements for post-market studies or clinical studies to assess new safety risks; or imposition of distribution restrictions or other restrictions under a REMS program. Other potential consequences include, among other things:
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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 studies;
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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.
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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 that are approved by the FDA and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in, among other things, adverse publicity, warning letters, corrective advertising and potential civil and criminal penalties. Physicians may prescribe, in their independent professional medical judgment, legally available products for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those tested and approved by the FDA. Physicians may believe that such off-label uses are the best treatment for many patients in varied circumstances. The FDA does not regulate the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. The FDA does, however, restrict manufacturer’s communications on the subject of off-label use of their products. However, companies may share truthful and not misleading information that is otherwise consistent with a product’s FDA-approved labeling.
Marketing Exclusivity
Market exclusivity provisions under the FDCA can delay the submission or the approval of certain marketing applications. The FDCA provides a five-year period of non-patent data exclusivity within the United States to the first applicant to obtain approval of an NDA for a new chemical entity. A drug is a new chemical entity if the FDA has not previously approved any other new drug containing the same active moiety, which is the molecule or ion responsible for the action of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not approve or even accept for review an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”) or an NDA submitted under Section 505(b)(2) (505(b)(2) NDA) submitted by another company for another drug based on the same active moiety, regardless of whether the drug is intended for the same indication as the original innovative drug or for another indication, where the applicant does not own or have a legal right of reference to all the data required for approval. However, an application may be submitted after four years if it contains a certification of patent invalidity or non-infringement to one of the patents listed with the FDA by the innovator NDA holder.
The FDCA alternatively provides three years of non-patent exclusivity for an NDA, or supplement to an existing NDA if new clinical investigations, other than bioavailability studies, that were conducted or sponsored by the applicant are deemed by the FDA to be essential to the approval of the application, for example new indications, dosages or strengths of an existing drug. This three-year exclusivity covers only the modification for which the drug received approval on the basis of the new clinical investigations and does not prohibit the FDA from approving ANDAs or 505(b)(2) NDAs for drugs containing the active agent for the original indication or condition of use. Five-year and three-year exclusivity will not delay the submission or approval of a full NDA. However, an applicant submitting a full NDA would be required to conduct or obtain a right of reference to all of the preclinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.
Pediatric exclusivity is another type of marketing exclusivity available in the United States. Pediatric exclusivity provides for an additional six months of marketing exclusivity attached to another period of regulatory exclusivity or existing patent term if a sponsor conducts clinical trials in children in response to a written request from the FDA. The issuance of a written request does not require the sponsor to undertake the described clinical trials.
Other U.S. Regulatory Requirements
In addition to FDA regulation of pharmaceutical products, pharmaceutical companies are also subject to additional healthcare regulation and enforcement by the federal government and by authorities in the states and foreign jurisdictions in which they conduct their business and may constrain the financial arrangements and relationships through which we research, as well as sell, market and distribute any products for which we obtain marketing authorization. Such laws include, without limitation, state and federal anti-kickback, fraud and abuse, false claims, and transparency laws and regulations related to drug pricing and payments and other transfers of value made to physicians and other healthcare providers. If their operations are found to be in violation of any of such laws or any other governmental regulations that apply, they may be subject to penalties, including, without limitation, administrative, civil and criminal penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, the curtailment or restructuring of operations, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs and imprisonment.
Foreign Government Regulation
To market any product outside of the United States, we would need to comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries regarding safety and efficacy and governing, among other things, clinical trials, marketing authorization (“MA”), commercial sales and distribution of our products. The foreign regulatory approval process includes all of the risks associated with FDA approval set forth above, as well as additional country-specific regulation.
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Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain approval of a product by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries before we can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. Approval by one regulatory authority does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. The approval process varies from country to country, can involve additional testing beyond that required by FDA, and may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing, promotion, and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country.
Non-clinical Studies and Clinical Trials
Similarly to the United States, the various phases of non-clinical and clinical research in the European Union (“EU”) are subject to significant regulatory controls.
Non-clinical studies are performed to demonstrate the health or environmental safety of new chemical or biological substances. Non-clinical (pharmaco-toxicological) studies must be conducted in compliance with the principles of good laboratory practice (“GLP”) as set forth in EU Directive 2004/10/EC (unless otherwise justified for certain particular medicinal products, e.g., radio-pharmaceutical precursors for radio-labeling purposes). In particular, non-clinical 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.
Clinical trials of medicinal products in the EU must be conducted in accordance with EU and national regulations and the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (“ICH”) guidelines on Good Clinical Practices (“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 EU, it must appoint an EU entity to act as its legal representative. The sponsor must take out a clinical trial insurance policy, and in most EU member states, the sponsor is liable to provide ‘no fault’ compensation to any study subject injured in the clinical trial.
The regulatory landscape related to clinical trials in the EU has been subject to recent changes. The EU Clinical Trials Regulation (“CTR”) which was adopted in April 2014 and repeals the EU Clinical Trials Directive, became applicable on January 31, 2022. Unlike directives, the CTR is directly applicable in all EU member states without the need for member states to further implement it into national law. The CTR notably harmonizes the assessment and supervision processes for clinical trials throughout the EU via a Clinical Trials Information System, which contains a centralized EU portal and database.
While the Clinical Trials Directive required a separate clinical trial application (“CTA”) to be submitted in each member state in which the clinical trial takes place, to both the competent national health authority and an independent ethics committee, much like the FDA and IRB respectively, the CTR introduces a centralized process and only requires the submission of a single application for multi-center trials. The CTR allows sponsors to make a single submission to both the competent authority and an ethics committee in each member state, leading to a single decision per member state. The CTA must include, among other things, 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. The assessment procedure of the CTA has been harmonized as well, including a joint assessment by all member states concerned, and a separate assessment by each member state with respect to specific requirements related to its own territory, including ethics rules. Each member state’s decision is communicated to the sponsor via the centralized EU portal. Once the CTA is approved, clinical study development may proceed.
The CTR transition period ended on January 31, 2025, and all clinical trials (and related applications) are now fully subject to the provisions of the CTR.
Medicines used in clinical trials must be manufactured in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (“GMP”). Other national and EU-wide regulatory requirements may also apply.
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Marketing Authorization
In order to market our product candidates in the EU and many other foreign jurisdictions, we must obtain separate regulatory approvals. More concretely, in the EU, medicinal product candidates can only be commercialized after obtaining an MA. To obtain regulatory approval of a product candidate under EU regulatory systems, we must submit a MA application (“MAA”). The process for doing this depends, among other things, on the nature of the medicinal product. There are two types of MAs:
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“Centralized MAs” are issued by the European Commission through the centralized procedure based on the opinion of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”) of the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) and are valid throughout the EU. The centralized procedure is compulsory for certain types of medicinal products such as (i) medicinal products derived from biotechnological processes, (ii) designated orphan medicinal products, (iii) advanced therapy medicinal products (“ATMPs”) (such as gene therapy, somatic cell therapy and tissue engineered products) and (iv) medicinal products containing a new active substance indicated for the treatment of certain diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases or autoimmune diseases and other immune dysfunctions, and viral diseases. The centralized procedure is optional for products containing a new active substance not yet authorized in the EU, or for products that constitute a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation or which are in the interest of public health in the EU.
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“National MAs” are issued by the competent authorities of the EU member states, only cover their respective territory, and are available for product candidates not falling within the mandatory scope of the centralized procedure. Where a product has already been authorized for marketing in an EU member state, this national MA can be recognized in another member state through the mutual recognition procedure. If the product has not received a national MA in any member state at the time of application, it can be approved simultaneously in various member states through the decentralized procedure. Under the decentralized procedure an identical dossier is submitted to the competent authorities of each of the member states in which the MA is sought, one of which is selected by the applicant as the reference member state.
Under the centralized procedure the maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA by the European Medicine Agency (“EMA”) is 210 days, excluding clock stops.
Under the above-described procedures, in order to grant the MA, the EMA or the competent authorities of the EU member states make an assessment of the risk benefit balance of the product on the basis of scientific criteria concerning its quality, safety and efficacy. MAs have an initial duration of five years. After these five years, the authorization may be renewed on the basis of a reevaluation of the risk-benefit balance.
The aforementioned EU rules are generally applicable in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
Failure to comply with EU and member state laws that apply to the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing approval, MA of medicinal products and marketing of such products, both before and after grant of the MA, manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, statutory health insurance, bribery and anti-corruption 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 suspension of production, distribution, manufacturing or clinical trials, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, fines and criminal penalties.
Brexit and the Regulatory Framework in the United Kingdom
Following the end of the Brexit transition period on January 1, 2021 and the implementation of the Windsor Framework on January 1, 2025, the United Kingdom (“UK”) is not generally subject to EU laws with respect to medicines. The EU laws that have been transposed into UK law through secondary legislation remain applicable in the UK, however, new legislation such as the (“EU”) CTR is not applicable in the UK.
Under the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021, the Secretary of State or an ‘appropriate authority’ has delegated powers to amend or supplement existing regulations in the area of medicinal products and medical devices. This allows new rules to be introduced in the future by way of secondary legislation, which aims to allow flexibility in addressing regulatory gaps and future changes in the fields of human medicines, clinical trials and medical devices.
Since January 1, 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) is the UK’s standalone medicines and medical devices regulator. As a result of the Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol, different rules apply in Northern Ireland than in England, Wales, and Scotland, together, Great Britain (“GB”), which continued to follow the EU regulatory regime. However, on January 1, 2025 a new arrangement called the “Windsor Framework” came into effect and reintegrated Northern Ireland under the regulatory authority of the MHRA with respect to medicinal products. The Windsor Framework removes EU licensing processes and EU labelling and serialization requirements in relation to Northern Ireland and introduces a UK-wide licensing process for medicines.
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The UK regulatory framework in relation to clinical trials is governed by the Medicines for Human Use (“Clinical Trials”) Regulations 2004, as amended, which is derived from the CTD, as implemented into UK national law through secondary legislation. On January 17, 2022, the MHRA launched an eight-week consultation on reframing the UK legislation for clinical trials, and which aimed to streamline clinical trials approvals, enable innovation, enhance clinical trials transparency, enable greater risk proportionality, and promote patient and public involvement in clinical trials. The MHRA published its consultation outcome on March 21, 2023 confirming that it would bring forward changes to the legislation. The resulting legislative amendments, which are yet to be published, will ultimately determine the extent to which the UK regulations align with the (“EU”) CTR. In October 2023, the MHRA announced a new Notification Scheme for clinical trials which enables a more streamlined and risk-proportionate approach to initial clinical trial applications for Phase 4 and low-risk Phase 3 clinical trial applications.
Marketing authorizations in the UK are governed by the Human Medicines Regulations (SI 2012/1916), as amended. All existing EU MAs for centrally authorized products were automatically converted or grandfathered into UK MAs, effective in GB (only), free of charge on January 1, 2021, unless the MA holder opted-out. Under the terms of the Windsor Framework, these licenses became valid for the whole of the UK from January 1, 2025. In order to use the centralized procedure to obtain a MA that will be valid throughout the EEA, companies must be established in the EEA. Therefore since Brexit, companies established in the UK can no longer use the EU centralized procedure and instead an EEA entity must hold any centralized MAs. In order to obtain a UK MA to commercialize products in the UK, an applicant must be established in the UK and must follow one of the UK national authorization procedures or one of the remaining post-Brexit international cooperation procedures. Applications are governed by the Human Medicines Regulations (SI 2012/1916) and are made electronically through the MHRA Submissions Portal. The MHRA has introduced changes to national licensing procedures, including procedures to prioritize access to new medicines that will benefit patients, a 150-day assessment (subject to clock-stops) and a rolling review procedure. The rolling-review procedure permits the separate or joint submission of quality, non-clinical, and clinical data to the MHRA which can be reviewed on a rolling basis. After an application under the rolling-review procedure has been validated, the decision should be received within 100 days (subject to clock-stops). In addition, since January 1, 2024, the MHRA may rely on the International Recognition Procedure (“IRP”), when reviewing certain types of MAAs. Pursuant to the IRP, the MHRA will take into account the expertise and decision-making of trusted regulatory partners (e.g. the regulatory in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, the U.S.A. and the EU). The MHRA will conduct a targeted assessment of IRP applications but retain the authority to reject applications if the evidence provided is considered insufficiently robust. The IRP allows medicinal products approved by such trusted regulatory partners that meet certain criteria to undergo a fast-tracked MHRA review to obtain and/or update a MA in the UK or Great Britain. Applications should be decided within a maximum of 60 days if there are no major objections identified that cannot be resolved within such 60 day period and the approval from the trusted regulatory partner selected has been granted within the previous 2 years or if there are such major objections identified or such approval hasn’t been granted within the previous 2 years within 110 days. Applicants can submit initial MAAs to the IRP but the procedure can also be used throughout the lifecycle of a product for post-authorization procedures including line extensions, variations and renewals.
In the UK, the initial duration of an MA is five years and following renewal will be valid for an unlimited period unless the MHRA decides on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with only one additional five-year renewal. Any authorization which is not followed by the actual placing of the drug on the market in the UK within three (3) years shall ease to be in force.
There will be no pre-MA orphan designation. Instead, the MHRA will review applications for orphan designation in parallel to the corresponding MA application. The criteria are essentially the same, but have been tailored for the market, i.e., the prevalence of the condition in GB, rather than the EU, must not be more than five in 10,000. Should an orphan designation be granted, the period or market exclusivity will be set from the date of first approval of the product in GB.
Coverage and Reimbursement
Sales of any 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 reimbursement for such product by third-party payors. Decisions regarding the extent of coverage and amount of reimbursement to be provided are made on a plan-by-plan basis. These third-party payors are increasingly reducing reimbursements for medical products, drugs and services. In addition, the U.S. government, state legislatures and foreign governments have continued implementing cost- containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on coverage and reimbursement and requirements for substitution of generic products. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could further limit sales of any product.
Decreases in third-party reimbursement for any product or a decision by a third-party payor not to cover a product could reduce physician usage and patient demand for the product and also have a material adverse effect on sales.
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Healthcare Reform
In the United States, there have been, and continue to be, legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities, and affect the profitable sale of product candidates, and similar healthcare laws and regulations exist in the EU and other jurisdictions. Among policy makers and payors in the United States, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality and/or expanding access. In the United States, the pharmaceutical industry has been a particular focus of these efforts and has been significantly affected by major legislative initiatives.
By way of example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) was passed, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly affected the pharmaceutical industry. The ACA, among other things, increased the minimum level of Medicaid rebates payable by manufacturers of brand name drugs from 15.1% to 23.1% of the average manufacturer price; required collection of rebates for drugs paid by Medicaid managed care organizations; imposed a non-deductible annual fee on pharmaceutical manufacturers or importers who sell certain “branded prescription drugs” to specified federal government programs; implemented a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for certain drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted, or injected; expanded eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs; created a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research; and established a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the CMS to test innovative payment and service delivery models to lower Medicare and Medicaid spending, potentially including prescription drug spending.
Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive and political challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the most recent judicial challenge to the ACA brought by several states without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA. On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into law, which, among other things, extended enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in ACA marketplaces through plan year 2025. It is unclear how other healthcare reform measures, if any, will impact our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. For example, on March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed into law, which eliminated the statutory Medicaid drug rebate cap, beginning January 1, 2024. The rebate was previously capped at 100% of a drug’s average manufacturer price. Further, in August 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers, which went into effect on April 1, 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect until 2032, with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020 through March 31, 2022, unless additional Congressional action is taken. On January 2, 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years.
Moreover, heightened governmental scrutiny is likely to continue over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which already has resulted in several 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 pharmaceutical products. Most recently, the IRA marks the most significant action by Congress with respect to the pharmaceutical industry since the adoption of the ACA in 2010. Among other things, the IRA requires manufacturers of certain drugs to engage in price negotiations with Medicare (beginning in 2026), imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation (first due in 2023), and replaces the Part D coverage gap discount program with a new discounting program (which began on January 1, 2025). Manufacturers that fail to comply with the IRA may be subject to various penalties, including civil monetary penalties. The IRA permits the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement many of these provisions through guidance, as opposed to regulation, for the initial years. HHS announced the agreed upon prices of the first ten drugs that are subject to price negotiations, which took effect in January 2026, and the subsequent fifteen drugs, which will first be effective in 2027. Each year thereafter, more Part B and Part D products will become subject to HHS price negotiation program, although the program is currently subject to legal challenges. For that and other reasons, it is currently unclear how the IRA will be effectuated, and while the impact of the IRA on the pharmaceutical industry cannot yet be fully determined, it is likely to be significant.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) also included significant reforms to Medicaid, including an estimated $1 trillion in reduced federal Medicaid spending from 2025 through 2034, the imposition of work requirements for certain adult enrollees, more frequent eligibility redeterminations, and increased cost-sharing for beneficiaries. These changes are expected to reduce overall Medicaid enrollment and access to care. Although the effect on our business is currently unknown, any decrease in the number of insured patients or reimbursement levels for our products, if approved, could adversely affect our revenue and commercial prospects.
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The Trump administration is pursuing a two-fold strategy to reduce drug costs in the United States. While it is unclear whether and how the Trump proposals will be implemented, the Trump policies are likely to have a negative impact on the pharmaceutical industry and on our ability to receive adequate revenues for our product candidates, if approved. On the one hand, President Trump has threatened to impose significant tariffs on pharmaceutical manufacturers that do not adopt pricing policies such as most favored nation pricing, which would tie the price for drugs in the United States to the lowest price in a group of other countries. In response, multiple manufacturers have reportedly entered into confidential pricing agreements with the federal government. On the other hand, the Trump administration is pursuing traditional regulatory pathways to impose drug pricing policies, although final regulations have not yet been published. Even regulatory proposals or executive actions that are ultimately deemed unlawful could negatively impact the U.S. pharmaceutical sector and our business. In addition, pharmaceutical pricing and marketing has long been the subject of considerable discussion in Congress and among policymakers, and it is possible that Congress could enact additional laws that negatively affect the pharmaceutical industry. 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, marketing cost disclosure, drug price reporting and other transparency measures. Some states have enacted legislation creating so-called prescription drug affordability boards, which ultimately may attempt to impose price limits on certain drugs in these states, while some states are also seeking to implement general, across the board price caps for pharmaceuticals, or are seeking to regulate drug distribution. Some measures are designed to encourage importation from other countries. These types of initiatives may result in additional reductions in Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthcare funding, and may otherwise affect the prices we may obtain for our investigational products that receive approval.
We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our products once approved or additional pricing pressures. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to generate revenue, attain profitability or commercialize our product candidates.
Data Privacy and Security
Numerous state, federal and foreign laws, regulations and standards govern the collection, use, access to, confidentiality and security of health-related and other personal information, including clinical trial data, and could apply now or in the future to our operations or the operations of our partners. In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including data breach notification laws, health information privacy and security laws and consumer protection laws and regulations govern the collection, use, disclosure and protection of health-related and other personal information. Further, to the extent we collect personal data from individuals outside of the United States, through clinical trials or otherwise, we could be subject to foreign laws, such as the GDPR, which govern the privacy and security of personal data, including health-related data. Our use of AI/ML may also be subject to evolving laws and regulations, controlling for data bias and anti-discrimination. Privacy and security laws, regulations and other obligations are constantly evolving, may conflict with each other to complicate compliance efforts, and can result in investigations, proceedings, or actions that lead to significant civil and/or criminal penalties and restrictions on data processing.
Commercialization
We intend to retain significant development and commercial rights to our product candidates and, if marketing approval is obtained, we may commercialize our product candidates on our own, or potentially with a partner, in the United States and other geographies. We currently have no sales, marketing or commercial product distribution capabilities. We may build the necessary infrastructure and capabilities over time for the United States, and potentially other regions, though like all things we do, we would seek to leverage technology to build these capabilities over time to be significantly more efficient than the industry average. Decisions to create this infrastructure and capability will be made following further advancement of our product candidates and based on our assessment of our ability to build said capabilities and infrastructure with competitive advantage. Clinical data, the size of the addressable patient population, the size of the commercial infrastructure, manufacturing needs and major trends as to how value is accrued in the industry may all influence or alter our commercialization plans.
Manufacturing
We do not own or operate any manufacturing facilities. We currently depend on and expect to continue to depend on third-party contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”) for all of our requirements of raw materials, drug substance and drug product for our preclinical research and clinical trials of our product candidates. Certain of these CMOs, including the drug substance supplier for our navacaprant and the drug product suppliers for our navacaprant and NMRA-511 programs, are single-source suppliers. None of these single-source suppliers have the ability to terminate these agreements for convenience and there are no minimum purchase commitments. We intend to continue to rely on CMOs for later-stage development and commercialization of our product candidates, including any additional product candidates that we may identify. Although we rely on CMOs, we have personnel and third-party consultants with extensive manufacturing experience to oversee the relationships with our contract manufacturers.
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Competition
Neumora is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded to confront the global brain disease crisis by taking a fundamentally different approach to the way treatments for brain diseases are developed. Our efforts to date have resulted in a pipeline of clinical and preclinical programs targeting a broad range of underserved, prevalent disorders. The foundation of our approach is an integration between our portfolio of therapeutic candidates with novel mechanisms of action and our precision neuroscience approach, supported by our Precision Toolbox of translational neuroscience tools, methods, and data science capabilities. As such, we compete with multiple biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are similarly working to develop therapeutics targeting neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. While we believe we have the competitive advantages referred to above, we face competition from major biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies, consortiums and public and private research institutions, among others, many of whom have significantly greater resources than us. Notable competitors include traditional biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies targeting brain diseases such as Axsome Therapeutics; Denali Therapeutics; Neurocrine Biosciences; Prothena Corporation; and Xenon Pharmaceuticals.
Facilities
Our corporate headquarters are located in Watertown, Massachusetts, where we sublease approximately 10,000 square feet of office space pursuant to a sublease agreement that expires in August 2027.
We believe that our existing facilities are sufficient for our near-term needs but expect to need additional space as we grow. We believe that suitable additional alternative spaces will be available in the future on commercially reasonable terms, if required.
Employees and Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2025, we had 96 full-time employees, 56 of whom were primarily engaged in research and development activities. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or party to a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and additional employees. The principal purposes of our equity incentive plans are to attract, retain and motivate selected employees, consultants and directors through the granting of stock-based compensation awards and cash-based performance bonus awards.
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