NASDAQ: OLMA
Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc.CIK 0001750284 · Pharmaceutical Preparations
Olema is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of next-generation targeted therapies for breast cancer and beyond. We are advancing our pipeline of novel therapies by leveraging our deep understanding of endocrine-driven cancers,… About this business →
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About Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Source: Item 1 (Business) from the 10-K filed March 16, 2026. Description as filed by the company with the SEC.
Item 1. Business.
Overview
Olema is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of next-generation targeted therapies for breast cancer and beyond. We are advancing our pipeline of novel therapies by leveraging our deep understanding of endocrine-driven cancers, nuclear receptors, and mechanisms of acquired resistance.
Our lead product candidate, palazestrant (formerly known as OP-1250), is a novel, orally-available small molecule with dual activity as both a complete estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist (CERAN) and selective ER degrader (SERD), currently being investigated in patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic ER-positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-), breast cancer. In pre-clinical models, palazestrant binds and completely blocks ER-driven transcriptional activity in both wild-type and mutant forms of metastatic ER+ breast cancer. In clinical studies across more than 400 patients, palazestrant has demonstrated strong anti-tumor activity, attractive pharmacokinetics and prolonged drug exposure, favorable tolerability, and combinability with cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) with no significant drug-drug interaction. Based on the clinical results we have achieved to date, we are advancing palazestrant through late-stage clinical development both as a monotherapy and in combination with other targeted agents.
In November 2023, we initiated OPERA-01, our pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of palazestrant as a monotherapy in second/third-line ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer. We anticipate top-line results for this trial in the fall of 2026, expect to submit the NDA in 2027, and, if successful, anticipate potential U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and commercial launch in late 2027.
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In combination, we are investigating palazestrant in multiple Phase 1/2 studies with CDK4/6 inhibitors (palbociclib or ribociclib), a phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase alpha (PI3Ka) inhibitor (alpelisib), a mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor (everolimus), and a CDK4 inhibitor (atirmociclib). In October 2025, at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), we presented updated results from the ongoing Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of palazestrant in combination with ribociclib in patients with ER+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer. These data further support our thesis that palazestrant possesses key characteristics to make it a potential backbone endocrine therapy of preference for ER+/HER2- breast cancer, while also supporting the ongoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of palazestrant in combination with ribociclib in front-line ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, called OPERA-02. The execution of OPERA-02 is supported by our clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Novartis Pharma AG (Novartis), which was also announced in December 2024. Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis is providing Olema with ribociclib drug supply for the OPERA-02 trial, which we initiated in 2025. We anticipate top-line data in 2028 and, if successful, anticipate potential FDA approval and commercial launch in the frontline MBC setting in the United States in 2029.
Our second product candidate in clinical development, called OP-3136, is a novel, orally-available small molecule that potently and selectively inhibits KAT6, an epigenetic target that is dysregulated in breast and other cancers. We believe OP-3136 presents a potential best-in-class KAT6 inhibitor in breast and other solid tumor cancers. In October 2024, we presented new pre-clinical data at the EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics demonstrating OP-3136's robust anti-tumor activity as a single agent, as well as potential synergy and enhanced anti-tumor activity in combination with palazestrant. The Investigational New Drug (IND) application for OP-3136 was cleared by FDA in late 2024, the Phase 1 clinical trial is enrolling patients, and we expect to present the first clinical data from this program in the second quarter of 2026.
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Since our inception, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to organizing and staffing our company, research and development activities, business planning, raising capital, establishing and maintaining our intellectual property portfolio, conducting non-clinical studies and clinical trials and providing general and administrative support for these operations.
We do not have any product candidates approved for commercial sale, and we have not generated any revenue from product sales. Our ability to generate product revenue sufficient to achieve profitability, if ever, will depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates which we expect, if it ever occurs, will take a number of years. We also do not own or operate, and currently have no plans to establish, any manufacturing facilities. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for non-clinical and clinical testing, as well as for commercial manufacturing if any of our product candidates obtain marketing approval. We believe that this strategy allows us to maintain a more efficient infrastructure by eliminating the need for us to invest in our own manufacturing facilities, equipment and personnel while also enabling us to focus our expertise and resources on the development of our product candidates.
Our Approach
We are committed to transforming the standard of care and improving outcomes for women living with cancer. Breast cancer represents approximately 30% of all new diagnoses of cancer in women. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that in 2026 there will be approximately 321,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed and approximately 42,140 deaths from breast cancer in the United States. Treatment decisions are based on a combination of individual patient characteristics and tumor biology, most importantly the expression of three proteins: ER, progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Approximately 79% of all breast cancers are ER+, and approximately 70% are ER+/HER2-, highlighting the central role of the ER in driving a large majority of breast cancer. Approximately 6-10% of breast cancer patients present with metastatic disease at diagnosis and a further 20-30% of patients initially diagnosed with early-stage disease ultimately develop metastatic disease. The current five-year survival rate for patients with ER+ metastatic breast cancer is approximately 32%. Based on our internal estimates, we believe that the current global ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer market represents approximately $20 billion. In the U.S. and E.U., we believe the market potential for palazestrant is up to $5 billion in the second- and third-line settings and up to $10 billion in the first-line setting.
The ER is a nuclear receptor that functions as a ligand regulated transcription factor. When bound to estrogen, the ER directs the expression of genes that are essential for breast cancer cells’ survival and proliferation. For more than four decades, researchers have been developing new approaches and therapies to prevent activation of the ER pathway, thereby inhibiting the ability of the ER to drive tumor cell growth. In 1977, the first endocrine therapeutic, the anti-estrogen tamoxifen, was approved by the FDA for the treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen is still commonly used today but is challenged by the development of acquired drug resistance, which in some cases may be due to its partial agonist activity. In the search for a different mechanism to target the estrogen pathway, aromatase inhibitors (AIs), were developed in the 1990s to block the synthesis of estrogen and deprive the ER+ cells of its activating ligand. However, up to 50% of patients taking AIs develop arthralgia, leading to suspension of treatment in up to 15% of patients. Additionally, most patients with metastatic breast cancer have been shown to ultimately develop resistance to AIs, the most common of which is the development of a ligand-independent activating mutation in the estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1) gene. In pre-menopausal women, treatment with AIs must also be accompanied by ovarian suppression.
In 2002, fulvestrant was approved as a treatment for HR+ metastatic breast cancer patients and is typically used as a second- or third-line endocrine agent. Fulvestrant was designed to be a CERAN, and later discovered to also be a SERD, and represented a breakthrough for the field with improved outcomes for patients whose disease had progressed on prior endocrine therapy. However, fulvestrant has several limitations, including its suboptimal drug exposure and its route of administration, which requires two monthly intramuscular injections. Despite these drawbacks, fulvestrant achieved worldwide sales of over $1.1 billion in 2019.
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More recently, the field has focused on the discovery and development of oral agents that have fulvestrant’s dual mechanism of action to completely inactivate and degrade the ER. Some of these oral SERD agents are CERANs, such as palazestrant, but others have partial agonist activity despite being SERDs and thus are not CERANs. These agents can be considered selective ER modulators (SERM) SERDs. SERM/SERDs reduce the levels of the ER but they do not entirely eliminate it. Notably, naturally-occurring estrogen itself leads to ER degradation when binding the ER.
We have spent a significant amount of time designing and optimizing our lead product candidate, palazestrant. We believe that the ability to function as a CERAN and a SERD, together with attractive pharmacokinetics and drug exposure, favorable tolerability, combinability with CDK4/6 inhibitors, and central nervous system (CNS) penetration, are important characteristics to enable the success of a next generation endocrine therapy. We believe that results from our pre-clinical and clinical studies demonstrate that palazestrant has shown properties supporting its potential to achieve these objectives, address an unmet need in the treatment of breast cancer, and improve upon standard of care.
Based on the clinical results we have achieved to date, we are advancing palazestrant through late-stage clinical development both as a monotherapy and in combination with other targeted agents. We own worldwide development and commercialization rights to palazestrant. We believe palazestrant’s oral formulation and dual mechanism of action directly address the limitations of current endocrine therapies, such as fulvestrant, aromatase inhibitors and tamoxifen, and position palazestrant as a potential endocrine therapy of choice for the treatment of ER+ breast cancers. We are also advancing OP-3136, our second product candidate in clinical development, which targets KAT6. Taken together, we believe our product candidates have the potential to represent the future of breast cancer care.
Our Strategy
Our goal is to discover, develop, and commercialize next generation targeted therapies for breast and other cancers. The key elements of our business strategy to achieve this goal include:
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Applying our deep understanding of nuclear receptors — particularly the ER — and mechanisms of resistance to develop novel therapeutic approaches for endocrine-driven cancers. Our team has spent over a decade characterizing the structure and function of the ER and its role in driving tumor cell proliferation in HR+ breast cancer. Our knowledge of the ER’s functional domains combined with our medicinal chemistry expertise has allowed us to develop a potent and oral compound that both completely inactivates and strongly promotes degradation of the ER in non-clinical studies. We believe palazestrant’s oral formulation and dual mechanism of action as a CERAN/SERD directly address the limitations of current endocrine therapies, such as fulvestrant, AIs, and tamoxifen, and has the potential to drive deeper, more durable responses.
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Rapidly advancing our product candidates, including palazestrant, through late-stage clinical development for the treatment of ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, and OP-3136 through early-stage clinical development in breast and other cancers. We are currently evaluating palazestrant in a pivotal Phase 3 trial, called OPERA-01, as a monotherapy in the second- and third-line setting of ER+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Patients are enrolling in OPERA-02, a pivotal Phase 3 trial evaluating palazestrant in combination with ribociclib in the frontline metastatic setting of ER+/HER2- breast cancer. OP-3136 is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial being evaluated both as a monotherapy and in combination with fulvestrant and palazestrant.
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Establishing palazestrant as the endocrine therapy of choice with targeted therapy combinations for the treatment of metastatic ER+ breast cancers. We believe palazestrant’s differentiated product profile has the potential to overcome many of the limitations of current endocrine therapy options. While targeted chemotherapy and other targeted anti-body drug conjugates continue to show promising data and will likely gain further favorability as a treatment option, we believe these new treatment options will replace traditional chemotherapy, not endocrine therapies. Our goal is to successfully demonstrate improved efficacy and a favorable tolerability profile in combination with other targeted therapies to position palazestrant as the endocrine therapy of choice in the first-line setting for advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer.
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Exploring additional clinical opportunities for palazestrant, including metastatic breast cancer with brain metastases and other hormone sensitive tumors. Metastatic breast cancer is the second most common cancer associated with brain metastases in the United States. The primary treatment for CNS metastases is typically surgery, radiation, or a combination of both and these patients tend to have a poor prognosis. In pre-clinical studies, palazestrant demonstrated robust CNS penetration and, in an intracranial breast cancer brain metastases xenograft study, palazestrant demonstrated the ability to shrink tumors and improve survival in mice. We believe that combining palazestrant with HER2-targeted agents may represent an opportunity to improve upon recent advancements in the treatment of CNS disease in patients that express both ER and HER2, as up to 50% of patients with metastatic ER+/HER2+ breast cancer develop CNS disease. In non-clinical studies, the addition of palazestrant to HER2 inhibitors improved tumor growth inhibition in ER+/HER2+ xenograft models.
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Expanding our portfolio of product candidates through both internal research activities and business development efforts. We are applying our internal drug discovery capabilities to identify and evaluate novel targeted therapies that can improve the lives of people living with cancer. We have an active discovery research team exploring additional opportunities for targeted therapies for breast cancer. We successfully identified KAT6 as a novel target and entered into a collaboration with Aurigene Oncology in 2022, which led to the discovery and development of OP-3136. We plan to continue to explore opportunities to acquire products and technologies that align with our core areas of expertise and complement our existing portfolio.
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Continuing to evaluate opportunities to accelerate clinical development timelines and enhance the commercial potential of our programs through collaboration with third parties. We own full worldwide development and commercialization rights to both palazestrant and OP-3136. We have established clinical collaborations with both Novartis and Pfizer and we intend to continue evaluating opportunities to work with partners that meaningfully enhance our capabilities with respect to the development and commercialization of our product candidates. In addition, we intend to commercialize our product candidates in key markets either alone or with partners to maximize the worldwide commercial potential of our programs.
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As summarized in the figure below, our plan is to develop our wholly-owned lead product candidate, palazestrant, in a number of ER+ breast cancer indications, both as a monotherapy and in combination with approved targeted therapies that have shown improved outcomes with other endocrine therapies. In addition, our KAT6 program, OP-3136, entered clinical development in late 2024, and we are evaluating potential combination development with both fulvestrant and palazestrant.
Figure 1. Olema product pipeline
Our Opportunity
Epidemiology and classification of breast cancer
Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer worldwide, with nearly two million new diagnoses per year. The ACS estimates 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in her lifetime and that, in 2026, there will be approximately 321,910 new cases of female breast cancer and approximately 42,140 deaths in the United States, making it the second-leading cause of cancer death in women. Approximately 2,800 men are also diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the United States. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease which is grouped into several clinical subtypes based on the expression of three proteins: ER, PR and HER2. Both ER and PR are hormone receptors, and tumors that express either of these receptors are referred to as HR+. It is unusual for a tumor to express PR in the absence of the ER, therefore most tumors are referred to as either ER+ or ER-. Tumors that express HER2 are denoted HER2+, and tumors that do not express ER, PR, or HER2 are classified as triple negative breast cancer. Approximately 79% of all breast cancers are HR+, and approximately 70% are HR+/HER2-, highlighting the central role of ER signaling in driving a large majority of breast cancer.
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Treating breast cancer
Early-stage breast cancer
Breast cancer stage is determined by the size of the tumor and whether or not the cancer has spread to lymph nodes. A tumor that is confined to the breast with or without the involvement of local, ipsilateral lymph nodes is considered early-stage breast cancer. Treatment for patients with early-stage breast cancer involves two components. First, there is local treatment of the breast, chest wall, and local lymph nodes, if any, with surgery, either a lumpectomy or mastectomy, and potentially radiation. Second, based on the biology and characteristics of the tumor, patients may also be offered systemic therapy, referred to as adjuvant therapy, in order to decrease the risk of recurrence of breast cancer anywhere in the body. Systemic therapy can be given either after surgery (adjuvant), prior to surgery (neoadjuvant), or a combination of both.
The initial standard of care for patients with early-stage ER+ breast cancer is at least five years of adjuvant endocrine therapy. The endocrine treatment options for early-stage disease are AIs, such as anastrozole, exemestane or letrozole, or an ER antagonist such as a tamoxifen. For patients diagnosed with early-stage ER+ breast cancer who undergo surgical and adjuvant/neoadjuvant treatment, the five-year survival rate is over 90%.
Metastatic breast cancer
When cancer has spread beyond local lymph nodes, either to distant lymph nodes, bones, or visceral organs, the cancer is now considered metastatic. Approximately 6-10% of breast cancer patients present with de novo metastatic disease, also referred to as stage IV disease, at initial diagnosis. In addition, approximately 30% of patients diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer will develop metastatic disease. In contrast to the goals of adjuvant therapy, treatments for metastatic disease are palliative with the desired outcome of controlling symptoms and extending survival as long as possible. The current five-year survival rate for patients with ER+ metastatic breast cancer is approximately 32%.
While there are national guidelines and recommendations for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, the actual treatment decision is based on a combination of individual patient characteristics and tumor biology, including whether they received adjuvant therapy and, if so, how quickly the cancer recurred. There is significant overlap in the agents that are recommended, but guidelines vary in the sequence in which these agents are used. In the past five years, several new classes of targeted therapies have been approved to be used in combination with endocrine agents for the treatment of HR+/HER2‑ breast cancer. CDK4/6 inhibitors, such as palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib, used in combination with an AI or fulvestrant, led to significant increases in progression-free survival and overall survival. Everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, was approved in 2012 for the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced HR+/HER2- breast cancer in combination with exemestane after failure of treatment with letrozole or anastrozole. Alpelisib, a PI3Ka inhibitor, was approved in 2019 in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of HR+/HER2‑ breast cancers that have mutations in PIK3CA. Figure 2 shows the endocrine treatment options available for ER+ metastatic breast cancer, and an example of the sequence of treatments, by agent and line of therapy.
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Figure 2. Available endocrine options and example of sequential alternating of endocrine based therapy in ER+ metastatic breast cancer
When moving a patient from one line of therapy to the next, the standard of care is to switch to an endocrine agent with a different mechanism of action depending upon last therapy, co-morbidities, and individual patient characteristics.
Metastatic breast cancer is the second most common cancer associated with brain metastases in the United States. About 10% to 15% of women with metastatic breast cancer develop brain metastases. Brain metastases present a significant challenge to systemic therapy and the primary treatment for CNS metastases is typically surgical resection, radiation, or a combination of both. Given the limited treatment options available for these patients, the prognosis remains poor, making it an area of continued, high unmet medical need. In addition, brain metastases in breast cancer patients are a major cause of morbidity, associated with progressive neurologic deficits that result in a reduced quality of life.
ER signaling in cancer
The ER is a nuclear receptor that functions as a ligand regulated transcription factor. When bound to estrogen, the ER directs the expression of genes that are essential for breast cancer cells’ survival and proliferation. The ER has three modular functional domains:
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The amino terminal domain, which contains the activation function 1 (AF1), the activity of which can be increased by multiple cell proliferative signaling pathways;
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The DNA binding domain, which directs the ER to bind to a specific set of ER-responsive genes; and
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The ligand binding domain, which contains the activation function 2 (AF2), which is turned on when bound to estrogen.
Activation of either AF1 or AF2 can drive transcription and cancer cell proliferation.
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Figure 3. Growth and proliferation mechanism driving ER+ breast cancer
Classes of endocrine therapies and their limitations
For more than four decades, researchers have been developing new approaches and therapies to prevent activation of the ER pathway, thereby inhibiting the ability of the ER to drive tumor cell growth. The two major classes of endocrine therapies are AIs and ER antagonists.
Antagonists with partial agonist activity
Although tamoxifen, the first endocrine therapy for the treatment of breast cancer, directly competes with estrogen and prevents activation of the AF2 transcription factor activation domain, it does not block AF1 activity and therefore does not completely inhibit ER function. As a consequence of this partial agonist activity, tamoxifen mimics estrogen in some circumstances and promotes proliferation. In addition, some breast cancers can develop resistance to these partial agonists by activation of upstream AF1 signaling pathways, such as mTOR, PI3K, MAPK, c-SRC, EGFR, FGFR and IGFR. Therefore, while tamoxifen is commonly used today, it is challenged by acquired drug resistance and a relatively short duration of response.
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Figure 4. Partial agonists, such as tamoxifen, are unable to completely block ER activation
In search of a different mechanism to target the estrogen pathway, AIs were developed in the 1990s to block the synthesis of estrogen and deprive the ER+ tumor of its activating ligand. However, most patients with metastatic breast cancer have been shown to ultimately develop resistance to these therapies. Similar to tamoxifen, resistance to AIs, such as anastrozole, exemestane or letrozole, can develop by multiple mechanisms, including activation of the AF1 pathway and development of mutations. Mutations in ESR1 that confer estrogen-independent ER activity arise in up to 50% of patients receiving treatment with an AI in combination with a CDK4/6 inhibitor in the first-line metastatic setting.
SERDs
In the search for more potent ER antagonists, researchers focused on another class of ER drugs that were described as SERDs. This classification arose from the observation that certain ligands bind tightly to ER leading to ER degradation. The field shifted drug discovery efforts to SERDs based on the hypothesis that degrading ER would be more efficacious than inhibiting it. However, similar to tamoxifen, many compounds with SERD activity are not complete ER antagonists nor do they achieve complete degradation of the ER. Recent experiments conducted by us and third parties in non-clinical models of breast cancer suggest that ER degradation, as achieved by many SERDs, on its own is not sufficient to effectively treat tumors and that the ability to completely inhibit ER function is best achieved through complete antagonism.
CERANs
A CERAN is a molecule that completely blocks the ability of both AF1 and AF2 to stimulate gene transcription. CERANs inhibit activation of the AF2 transcription factor activation domain and inactivate AF1 activity by recruiting nuclear receptor corepressors of the N-CoR/ SMRT family. Previous work by one of our co-founders identified specific interactions between fulvestrant-bound ER and N-CoR and that the strength of these interactions correlated with the ability of fulvestrant-bound ER to inactivate gene transcription through the transcription factor activating domain, AF1.
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Figure 5. Complete antagonists turn off AF2 and recruit N-CoR to inactivate AF1
In 2002, fulvestrant was approved as a treatment for HR+ metastatic breast cancer and is typically used as a second- or third-line endocrine agent. Fulvestrant represented a breakthrough for the field based on its dual- mechanism of action as a CERAN and SERD which led to improved efficacy outcomes for patients. However, fulvestrant, the only FDA-approved anti-estrogen lacking agonist-type effects in in vivo uterotropic assays in immature or ovariectomized mice and rats, has several limitations including:
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Painful and inconvenient route of administration. Fulvestrant is a highly insoluble compound with poor oral bioavailability and therefore must be given intramuscularly. Fulvestrant is administered every 28 days in two 5 ml intramuscular injections into the buttocks. Injection site reactions occur in approximately 10% of patients and include sciatica, neuralgia, neuropathic pain, and peripheral neuropathy.
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Suboptimal drug exposure limits efficacy. In a non-clinical mouse model, an increase in antitumor activity and ER degradation was observed as the dose of fulvestrant was increased from 25 mg/kg to 200 mg/kg. However, researchers estimated that achieving an equivalent level of fulvestrant in humans to a 200 mg/kg dose in mice would require a dose that is eight times higher than is currently clinically achievable. Furthermore, xenograft models created using patient-derived tumors containing ESR1 mutations show that even plasma levels substantially higher than those achievable in humans at the approved dose fail to demonstrate optimal antitumor effect.
Our Lead Product Candidate: Palazestrant
We own worldwide development and commercialization rights to palazestrant. Our plan is to develop palazestrant for the treatment of a number of ER+ breast cancer indications, both as monotherapy and in combination with approved targeted therapies that have shown improved outcomes with other endocrine therapies.
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Palazestrant is an oral small molecule clinical-stage product candidate for the treatment of endocrine-driven cancers. Palazestrant was designed by our scientific team based both on a detailed structural understanding of the ER and on known alterations to this structure induced by fulvestrant and other ER ligands. We have demonstrated in non-clinical studies that palazestrant functions both as a CERAN, inactivating both AF1 and AF2 transcriptional activation functions, and a SERD, promoting degradation of the ER. We believe palazestrant’s oral formulation and dual mechanism of action directly address the limitations of current endocrine therapies, such as fulvestrant and tamoxifen, and position palazestrant as a potential endocrine therapy of choice for the treatment of ER+ breast cancers.
In July 2022, palazestrant was granted Fast Track designation from the FDA in patients with ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed following one or more lines of endocrine therapy with at least one line given in combination with a CDK4/6 inhibitor.
Our pivotal Phase 3 monotherapy trial: OPERA-01
In November 2023, we initiated our first pivotal Phase 3 trial of palazestrant, OPERA-01, which is a randomized Phase 3 trial evaluating palazestrant versus standard-of-care treatment for ER+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The trial is expected to enroll approximately 510 second/third-line metastatic breast cancer patients randomized one-to-one with either palazestrant or standard-of-care endocrine therapy. Key inclusion criteria for the trial include evaluable disease and prior exposure to endocrine therapy in combination with a CDK4/6 inhibitor in the advanced setting. One additional line of endocrine therapy in the advanced or metastatic setting is permitted. The trial consists of two parts: a three-arm dose selection part followed by assessment of the selected dose (90 mg) of palazestrant versus standard of care. Top-line results from the trial are expected in the fall of 2026.
Figure 6. OPERA-01 study design
Phase 2 monotherapy clinical study
We presented positive Phase 2 monotherapy clinical results in an oral presentation at ESMO in October 2023. As of the data cut-off of July 7, 2023, 86 patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer were treated at the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D) of 120 mg. The group was heavily pretreated with 42% of patients being fourth-line or later at study entry, 65% of patients having received two or more prior lines of endocrine therapy for metastatic disease, and 31% having received prior chemotherapy. Almost all patients (97%) received prior treatment with a CDK4/6 inhibitor, and 66% received prior treatment with fulvestrant. Of 75 patients whose circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), was assessed, 48% had activating mutations in ESR1 at baseline.
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Pharmacokinetics
Palazestrant demonstrated favorable pharmacokinetics characterized by high oral bioavailability, dose proportional exposure and a long half-life of eight days, with steady-state plasma levels showing minimal peak-to-trough variability, enabling consistent inhibition of the ER for the full dosing interval.
Safety and tolerability profile
Treatment with palazestrant at the RP2D of 120 mg was well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities, and the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), was not reached. The majority of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), were Grade 1 or 2. Of the 86 patients treated, events of Grade 4 neutropenia were observed in six patients, occurring approximately 4–6 weeks into therapy. Of these patients, three had a dose interruption with recovery and subsequent dose reduction (two continued at 90 mg and one continued at 60 mg) without any recurrence, and three had dose discontinuation followed by recovery. All six patients had prior exposure to CDK4/6 inhibitors.
Efficacy profile
Across all 86 patients, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.6 months and the clinical benefit rate (CBR), was 40% with a 6-month PFS rate of 38%. In patients with an ESR1 mutation, the median PFS was 5.6 months and the CBR was 52% with a 6-month PFS rate of 46%. In ESR1 wild-type patients, the median PFS was 3.5 months and the CBR was 32% with a 6-month PFS rate of 35%.
In a subset analysis of 49 patients that received palazestrant as a second- or third-line therapy with or without prior chemotherapy, the median PFS was 7.2 months and the CBR was 48% across all patients with a 6-month PFS rate of 54%. In patients with an ESR1 mutation, the median PFS was 7.3 months and CBR was 59% with a 6-month PFS rate of 62%. In ESR1 wild-type patients the median PFS was 5.5 months and the CBR was 38% with a 6-month PFS rate of 44%.
Anti-tumor activity was observed in this heavily pretreated population, with 40% of patients demonstrating reduction in target lesions and evidence of activity in both ESR1 wild-type and ESR1-mutant patients. Given the advanced and heavily pretreated nature of the patients, many of these patients are expected to be resistant to monotherapy endocrine treatment.
Palazestrant Phase 1b/2 study in combination with ribociclib
In October 2025, we announced data from our clinical study of palazastrant in combination with ribociclib at ESMO in Berlin, Germany. As of July 8, 2025, 72 patients were enrolled across the 90 mg and 120 mg palazestrant dose cohorts. 56 patients received 120 mg once-daily palazestrant and 16 patients received 90 mg once-daily palazestrant, all with the approved dose of ribociclib for metastatic breast cancer of 600 mg daily. 45 (63%) patients had prior treatment with CDK4/6i with endocrine therapy for advanced disease. 33% (15/45) of patients who had prior treatment with CDK4/6i in the advanced setting (2/3L) had an ESR1 mutation at baseline.
Efficacy profile
In the 90 mg palazestrant dose cohort, with a median follow-up of 10.8 months, median progression-free survival (PFS) was not reached. In the 120 mg palazestrant dose cohort, with a median follow-up of more than 19 months, median PFS are mature. Median PFS was 15.5 months for all patients. Median PFS was 12.2 months for those who received prior treatment with CDK4/6i, including 9.2 months for patients with ESR1 wild-type tumors and 13.8 months for patients with tumors with ESR1 mutations.
Safety profile and pharmacokinetics
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Across 72 patients treated, 90 mg or 120 mg of palazestrant combined with 600 mg of ribociclib daily was well tolerated with no new safety signals or increase in toxicity. Palazestrant and ribociclib did not demonstrate any drug-drug interactions and the overall safety profile was consistent with the established safety profile of ribociclib plus an endocrine therapy. The majority of treatment-emergent adverse events were grade 1 or 2, and the severity and incidence of adverse events were consistent with the expected safety profile of each drug.
Conclusions
These data support the ongoing Phase 3 OPERA-02 study evaluating 90 mg QD palazestrant in combination with ribociclib for the first-line treatment of ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancer.
Our pivotal Phase 3 combination trial of palazestrant in combination with ribociclib: OPERA-02
In the third quarter of 2025, we initiated OPERA-02, the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of palazestrant in combination with ribociclib in patients with frontline advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer. The trial is currently enrolling, and is expected to enroll approximately 1,000 patients, half of whom will receive palazestrant plus ribociclib; the other half will receive letrozole, a standard-of-care aromatase inhibitor, plus ribociclib. The trial is enrolling first-line patients who have received no prior systemic therapy for the treatment of advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Progression free survival is the primary endpoint, and overall survival is a key secondary endpoint.
Figure 7. OPERA-02 study design
Palazestrant Phase 1b/2 study in combination with palbociclib
We presented Phase 1b/2 data from our clinical study of palazastrant in combination with palbociclib at SABCS on December 7, 2023. With a data cutoff of September 15, 2023, across 46 patients as of the cutoff date of September 15, 2023, the combination of palazestrant (120 mg) with palbociclib (125 mg) daily was well tolerated, with an overall safety profile consistent with the expected safety profile of palbociclib plus an endocrine therapy.
There was no observed drug-drug interaction between palazestrant and palbociclib, and there was no induced metabolism or increase in exposure of either palbociclib or palazestrant when administered in combination. Most treatment-emergent adverse events were grade 1 or 2. Neutropenia incidence was similar to the PALOMA-3 study; it was reversible in all patients and the timing was generally consistent with the palbociclib-related neutropenia.
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Tumor responses and prolonged disease stabilization were observed in this patient group, including in those previously exposed to CDK4/6 inhibitors, in both ESR1 mutant and ESR1 wild-type tumors. Partial responses were observed in seven patients, with two confirmed partial responses and five unconfirmed partial responses. The clinical benefit rate was 46% in all patients and 60% in patients with an ESR1 mutation at baseline. In patients naïve to prior CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment, the CBR was 71%. 53% of patients had any reduction in target lesion size.
Twenty-two (48%) patients remained on treatment, and efficacy data were still maturing. Findings from this study were consistent with previously reported data and support the ongoing clinical development of palazestrant in combination with CDK4/6 inhibitors for the treatment of ER+/HER2− metastatic breast cancer. Enrollment of sixty patients in the Phase 2 portion of the palazestrant-palbociclib combination clinical study is complete.
Additional palazestrant pre-clinical combination data
In October 2024, we presented new pre-clinical data at the EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics showing that the combination of palazestrant with both everolimus and capivasertib are synergistic and have the potential to result in significant tumor regression. Palazestrant and everolimus demonstrated synergy in vitro and in vivo and resulted in greater anti-proliferative activity than either agent alone; this combination also caused gene signature transcriptional changes, downregulating cell cycle progression and upregulating apoptosis. Palazestrant and capivasertib in combination worked synergistically to inhibit proliferation of multiple ER+ breast cancer models, both in vitro and in vivo.
Clinical development plan for palazestrant and additional clinical opportunities
Everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, is a targeted therapy that is often used by oncologists in the treatment of advanced breast or other cancers. Clinical studies evaluating everolimus in combination with endocrine therapies has demonstrated clinical results that indicate a potential benefit for patients in later-line settings. In the third quarter of 2024, we initiated evaluation of palazestrant in combination with everolimus in a Phase 1b/2 clinical study. Our primary objectives are to determine the safety, tolerability, and PK profile of the combination with palazestrant, and secondarily to determine efficacy and duration of response in patients with ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.
In September 2025, we announced a new clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Pfizer, Inc. to evaluate, in a Phase 1b/2 study, the safety and combinability of palazestrant plus atirmociclib, Pfizer’s investigational, highly selective-CDK4 inhibitor, in patients with ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.
Furthermore, though we are currently evaluating palazestrant in patients with ER+/HER2- breast cancer, we believe that there is an opportunity for us to study palazestrant in patients with ER+/HER2+ breast cancer, which represents approximately 11% of breast cancer patients and more than 50% of the patients with HER2+ breast cancer. In particular, up to 50% of patients with metastatic HER2+ breast cancer develop CNS disease. We believe that combining palazestrant with HER2 targeted agents may represent an opportunity to improve upon recent advancements in the treatment of CNS disease in patients that express both ER and HER2.
While our initial studies are focused on treating breast cancer patients with metastatic disease, we believe that if palazestrant is determined to be safe and effective in this population, there is potential for it to be used in earlier stage disease. Based on our extensive non-clinical studies, including certain head-to-head studies, we believe that palazestrant could have superior PK properties and improved clinical outcomes than fulvestrant. If proven in the clinic, we believe that palazestrant has the potential to not only replace fulvestrant but to become the endocrine treatment of choice for the treatment of both advanced/metastatic ER+ breast cancer as well as ultimately in early-stage ER+ breast cancer in the adjuvant setting.
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Our Second Product Candidate: OP-3136
In October 2023, we presented new pre-clinical data regarding the discovery of novel compounds targeting KAT6, an epigenetic target that is dysregulated in breast and other cancers at the 2023 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. In January 2024, we nominated a development candidate for this program, OP-3136 and in late 2024, the IND application for OP-3136 was cleared by the FDA and we initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating OP-3136 in patients with ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer and other cancers.
In a non-clinical xenograft model, OP-3136 caused dose-dependent tumor growth inhibition and tumor regression comparable to or better than a positive-control patented KAT6 inhibitor and demonstrated synergy in combination with CDK4/6 inhibitors or palazestrant.
KAT6 is a clinically validated target and its overexpression has been shown to be correlated with worse clinical outcomes in ER+ breast cancer. KAT6 inhibition downregulates genes involved in estrogen receptor signaling and other signaling pathways.
Figure 8. Schematic of KAT6 biology and impact of OP-3136 inhibition
In KAT6-amplified and overexpressing ER+ breast cancer cell lines, OP-3136 strongly inhibited cell proliferation whereas KAT6-low cell lines were insensitive to the compounds. In a non-clinical xenograft model, OP-3136 caused dose-dependent tumor growth inhibition and tumor regression comparable to or better than a positive-control patented KAT6 inhibitor and demonstrated synergy in combination with CDK4/6 inhibitors or an endocrine therapy, palazestrant. In addition, OP-3136 demonstrated activity in both ESR1 wild-type and mutant breast cancer cell lines.
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Figure 9. Impact of OP-3136 and positive control on tumor volume in a 25-day mouse xenograft model
In October 2024, we presented compelling new pre-clinical data at the EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics demonstrating OP-3136's robust anti-tumor activity as a single agent, as well as potential synergy and enhanced anti-tumor activity in combination with palazestrant. OP-3136 inhibited cell proliferation and synergized with anti-estrogens (fulvestrant and palazestrant) and a CDK4/6 inhibitor (ribociclib) in a breast cancer cell line. OP-3136 led to either tumor growth inhibition or tumor regression in vivo in xenograft models across all treatment groups. In combination with OP-3136, palazestrant was consistently superior to fulvestrant and led to improved anti-tumor activity and tumor regression; OP-3136 also showed robust synergistic anti‑tumor activity when combined with fulvestrant or palazestrant as doublet therapy in breast cancer models.
In April 2025, we announced preclinical data demonstrating the anti-tumor activity of OP-3136 in prostate, ovarian, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) models at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. OP-3136 showed potent anti-proliferative activity in multiple ovarian, NSCLC, and prostate cell lines in vitro as well as activity that was independent of KAT6 amplification or over expression. As a monotherapy, OP-3136 demonstrated anti-tumor activity in in vivo xenograft models of ovarian (OVCAR3), NSCLC (LCLC-97TM1), and prostate (22Rv1) cancers.
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Figure 10. OP-3136 demonstrates synergistic activity in combination
In December 2024, we announced that the FDA cleared our IND application for OP-3136. The Phase 1 clinical trial is enrolling patients, and we expect to present initial clinical data from this program in the second quarter of 2026.
Figure 11. OP-3136 Phase 1 clinical trial
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Clinical Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Novartis
In July 2020, we entered into a non-exclusive Clinical Collaboration and Supply Agreement (as amended from time to time, the 2020 Novartis Agreement) with Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc. (Novartis). On January 13, 2022, we entered into an Amended and Restated Clinical Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Novartis, and on October 9, 2023, we entered into Amendment No. 1 to Amended and Restated Clinical Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Novartis. The collaboration is focused on the evaluation of the safety, tolerability and efficacy of palazestrant in combination with Novartis’ proprietary CDK4/6 inhibitor KISQALI® (ribociclib) and/or Novartis’ proprietary phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor PIQRAY® (alpelisib), or collectively the Novartis Study Drugs, as part of our planned Phase 1b clinical study of palazestrant in patients with metastatic ER+ breast cancer. The October 2023 Amendment No. 1 expanded the size of the ongoing ribociclib and palazestrant study cohort to a total of approximately 60 patients. In March 2024, we entered into Amendment No. 2 to Amended and Restated Clinical Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Novartis, which amended the agreement and expanded the collaboration to explore 90mg of palazestrant in combination with ribociclib, bringing the total enrollment to approximately 75 patients. We are responsible for the conduct of the clinical studies for the combined therapies in accordance with a mutually agreed development plan. As part of the collaboration, the parties granted to each other a non-exclusive, royalty-free license under certain of the parties’ respective background patent rights and other technology to use the parties’ respective study drugs in research and development, solely to the extent reasonably needed for the other party’s activities in the collaboration. All inventions and data developed in the performance of the clinical studies for the combined therapies (other than those specific to each component study drug), are jointly owned by the parties.
We are responsible for manufacturing, packaging and labeling palazestrant, and for packaging and labeling all drugs used in the clinical studies for the combined therapies (other than the Novartis Study Drugs). Novartis is responsible for manufacturing and delivering to us the Novartis Study Drugs in such quantities as reasonably needed for the clinical studies for the combined therapies. In accordance with an agreed budget, Novartis is reimbursing us for a portion of the direct outside costs, but no more than an amount in the low single digit millions of U.S. dollars, that we incur related to conducting the activities under the agreed development plan in conducting the clinical trials for the combined therapies.
The 2020 Novartis Agreement will terminate upon completion of all activities outlined in the development plan and the relevant protocols. Either party may terminate the 2020 Novartis Agreement for the uncured material breach or insolvency of the other party, if it reasonably deems it necessary in order to protect the safety, health or welfare of subjects enrolled in the clinical studies for the combined therapies due to the existence of a material safety issue, or in certain circumstances for an unresolved clinical hold with respect to either the Novartis Study Drugs or palazestrant. In addition, Novartis may terminate the 2020 Novartis Agreement if certain disputes between the parties are not resolved after following the applicable dispute resolution procedures, and we may terminate the 2020 Novartis Agreement in the event we terminate all clinical studies of the combined therapies other than due to a material safety issue or upon a clinical hold.
The 2020 Novartis Agreement does not grant any right of first negotiation to participate in future clinical trials, and each of the parties retains all rights and ability to evaluate their respective compounds in any studies or clinical trials, either as a monotherapy or in combination with any other product or compound, in any therapeutic area. The parties retain their independent rights to commercialize their respective therapies both alone or with other parties.
Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Novartis
In November 2024, we entered into a Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement (the 2024 Novartis Agreement), with Novartis. Pursuant to the 2024 Novartis Agreement, Novartis is providing us with ribociclib drug supply for our ongoing Phase 3 OPERA-02 trial of palazestrant in combination with ribociclib in ER+/HER2- frontline advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
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Under the 2024 Novartis Agreement, we supply (including manufacturing, packaging and labeling) palazestrant and letrozole for the OPERA-02 trial. Novartis manufactures and supplies (including primary packaging) a specified amount of ribociclib, which amount is expected to be sufficient for the OPERA-02 trial. The parties have granted each other a non-exclusive, royalty-free license under certain of the parties’ respective background patent rights and other technology to use the parties’ respective study drugs in research and development, solely to the extent reasonably needed for the other party’s activities in the collaboration. Any inventions developed in the performance of the clinical studies for the combined therapies (other than those specific to each component study drug) will be jointly owned by the parties. Except as otherwise specified, the 2024 Novartis Agreement does not grant any right of first negotiation to participate in future clinical trials, and each party retains all rights and ability to evaluate their respective compounds in any studies or clinical trials, either as a monotherapy or in combination with any other product or compound, in any therapeutic area. The parties retain their independent rights to commercialize their respective therapies both alone and with third parties.
We granted Novartis a right of first negotiation with respect to (a) the grant to any person or entity any right, license or sublicense to exploit palazestrant, in any field or territory, other than to third party service providers, or (b) the sale or other transfer to any person or entity of palazestrant and any related assets, each referred to herein as an Olema Compound Transaction. If we desire to or do, at any time, (a) solicit or entertain any third party proposal or indication of interest with respect to an Olema Compound Transaction, or (b) negotiate (including in response to any proposal or indication of interest received by the Company), enter into or perform under, in each case, any written definitive agreement with a third party with respect to or that contemplates an Olema Compound Transaction, then we must provide written notice to Novartis regarding such Olema Compound Transaction, along with certain other specified information. Novartis will have 30 days after receipt of such notice to elect to enter into exclusive good faith negotiations with respect to such Olema Compound Transaction for a period of up to 120 days.
If our board of directors (or a duly authorized board committee) determines that we should pursue or explore a change of control or sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company (an Olema Change of Control Transaction), other than in response to an unsolicited bona fide acquisition proposal (a Proposed Sale), we must promptly notify Novartis of such determination. In the event Novartis elects to engage in negotiations with us in respect of such Proposed Sale, then from the date such notice is given until 45 days after the later of (a) the date on which the foregoing notice is given to Novartis, (b) the date on which Novartis is given notice that a data room has been populated as required by the 2024 Novartis Agreement, and (c) entry by us and Novartis into a customary nondisclosure agreement, Novartis will have the exclusive right (but no obligation) to conduct due diligence on us and our business and negotiate with us the definitive terms and conditions of the Proposed Sale.
If the Company or its affiliates receive an unsolicited bona fide acquisition proposal from a third party, the Company must promptly notify its board of directors (or a duly authorized board committee) of the receipt thereof and request that they consider the merits of such acquisition proposal. If, after such consideration, the Company’s board of directors (or authorized committee) authorizes the Company to engage in negotiations with regard to such acquisition proposal, then the Company must notify Novartis in writing within 24 hours of receipt of such authorization. To the extent possible in light of any confidentiality obligations, such notice must include a summary of the key structural, non-financial terms of such acquisition proposal.
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In the event of an Olema Compound Transaction or Olema Change of Control involving a third party other than Novartis (the first to occur, referred to as a Repayment Trigger Event), the Company must promptly pay, or procure the payment of, the Repayment Amount (as defined below) to Novartis. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the 2024 Novartis Agreement is terminated as a result of certain patient safety issues, lack of product efficacy, regulatory issues or clinical hold issues prior to the consummation of the Olema Compound Transaction or Olema Change of Control, then the Company shall not be obligated to pay the Repayment Amount unless (a) the Olema Change of Control or Olema Compound Transaction occurs after such termination and (b) prior to the fifth anniversary of such Olema Change of Control or Olema Compound Transaction (as applicable), the Company or its affiliates (or the applicable acquirer, successor, licensee or option holder of the Company or its affiliates) enrolls a subject in any clinical study involving the combination of palazestrant and ribociclib (the Olema Combination) or submits any filing with any regulatory authority relating to the Olema Combination. The Repayment Amount is the proportion of approximately $275 million that is represented by the number of units of ribociclib actually supplied to the Company under the 2024 Novartis Agreement as of immediately prior to the Repayment Trigger Event as compared to the total number of units that could be supplied under the 2024 Novartis Agreement.
The foregoing rights of first negotiation, first offer and notice and repayment obligations remain in effect until the first to occur of: (a) the date that is 120 days after filing of the New Drug Application for the Olema Combination, (b) one year after any expiration or termination of the 2024 Novartis Agreement, and (c) such time as the 2024 Novartis Agreement is terminated by the Company due to Novartis’ material breach. However, in the event the 2024 Novartis Agreement is terminated due to certain patient safety issues, lack of product efficacy, regulatory issues or clinical hold issues prior to the consummation of an Olema Change of Control or Olema Compound Transaction, then the Repayment Obligation shall survive until the fifth anniversary of such Olema Change of Control or Olema Compound Transaction (as applicable) or, if payment of the Repayment Amount is required, until the next business day after the Repayment Amount has been received by Novartis.
The 2024 Novartis Agreement will terminate on the fifth anniversary of the date on which the first dose of palazestrant is administered to the first study subject. Either party may terminate the 2024 Novartis Agreement for the uncured material breach or insolvency of the other party, for failure to comply with certain anti-corruption obligations, in the event of a change of control of the other party, if it reasonably deems it necessary in order to protect the safety, health or welfare of subjects enrolled in the clinical studies for the combined therapies due to the existence of a material safety issue, if the parties jointly decide that the Olema Combination is not achieving sufficiently superior levels of efficacy, if any regulatory authority action prevents a party (or the Letrozole supplier) from supplying its product, in the event of an unresolved force majeure event, or in certain circumstances for an unresolved clinical hold with respect to ribociclib, palazestrant or letrozole (or the combination of ribociclib and palazestrant or ribociclib and letrozole). In addition, Novartis may terminate the 2024 Novartis Agreement if the Company has failed to commence the OPERA-02 trial on or prior to March 31, 2026 or if the Company consummates an Olema Compound Transaction, and the Company may terminate the 2024 Novartis Agreement if the Company terminates the OPERA-02 trial other than due to a material safety issue, efficacy issue, regulatory action or upon a clinical hold.
Clinical Trial Agreement with Pfizer
In November 2020, we entered into a non-exclusive clinical trial agreement with Pfizer (the Pfizer Agreement) to evaluate the safety and tolerability of palazestrant in combination with Pfizer’s proprietary CDK4/6 inhibitor IBRANCE® (palbociclib) in patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2‑ breast cancer in a clinical trial. Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, we are responsible for conducting the clinical study for the combined therapies and Pfizer is responsible for supplying IBRANCE® to us at no cost to us. As part of the collaboration, the parties granted to each other a non-exclusive, royalty- free license under certain of the parties’ respective patent rights in the combination of IBRANCE® and palazestrant to use the parties’ respective study drugs in research and development, solely to the extent reasonably needed for the other party’s activities in the collaboration. All inventions and data developed in the performance of the clinical trials for the combined therapies (other than those specific to each component study drug), are jointly owned by the parties.
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We are responsible for manufacturing, packaging and labeling palazestrant, and for packaging and labeling all drugs used in the clinical trials for the combined therapies (other than IBRANCE® (palbociclib)). Pfizer is responsible for manufacturing and delivering to us IBRANCE® (palbociclib) in such quantities as reasonably needed for the clinical studies for the combined therapies.
The Pfizer Agreement will terminate upon completion of all activities outlined in the study plan and the relevant protocols. Either party may terminate the Pfizer Agreement for the uncured material breach or insolvency of the other party, if it reasonably deems it necessary in order to protect the safety, health or welfare of subjects enrolled in the clinical studies for the combined therapies due to the existence of a material safety issue, or in certain circumstances for an unresolved clinical hold with respect to either the IBRANCE® (palbociclib) or palazestrant. In addition, either party may terminate the Pfizer Agreement if certain disputes between the parties are not resolved after following the applicable dispute resolution procedures or if either party determines to discontinue clinical development for medical, scientific, legal or other reasons.
The Pfizer Agreement does not grant any right of first negotiation to participate in future clinical studies, and each of the parties retains all rights and ability to evaluate their respective compounds.
Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Pfizer
In September 2025, we announced that we entered into a non-exclusive clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Pfizer (the 2025 Pfizer Agreement), to evaluate the safety and tolerability of palazestrant in combination with Pfizer’s proprietary investigative selective CDK4 inhibitor atirmociclib in patients with metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial. Under the terms of the 2025 Pfizer Agreement, we are responsible for conducting the clinical trial for the combined therapies and Pfizer is responsible for supplying atirmociclib to us at no cost. As part of the collaboration, the parties granted to each other a non-exclusive, royalty-free license under certain of the parties’ respective patent rights in the combination of atirmociclib and palazestrant to use the parties’ respective study drugs in research and development, solely to the extent reasonably needed for the other party’s activities in the collaboration. All inventions and data developed in the performance of the clinical trials for the combined therapies (other than those specific to each component study drug), will be jointly owned by the parties.
We are responsible for manufacturing, packaging and labeling palazestrant, and for packaging and labeling all drugs used in the clinical trials for the combined therapies. Pfizer is responsible for manufacturing and delivering to us atirmociclib in such quantities as reasonably needed for the clinical trials for the combined therapies.
The 2025 Pfizer Agreement will terminate upon completion of all activities outlined in the study plan and the relevant protocols. Either party may terminate the 2025 Pfizer Agreement for the uncured material breach of the other party, if it reasonably deems it necessary in order to protect the safety, health or welfare of subjects enrolled in the clinical trials for the combined therapies due to the existence of a material safety issue, or in certain circumstances for an unresolved clinical hold with respect to either atirmociclib or palazestrant. In addition, Pfizer may terminate the 2025 Pfizer Agreement if Pfizer reasonably and in good faith believes that atirmociclib is being used in an unsafe manner, and either party may terminate the 2025 Pfizer Agreement if either party determines to discontinue clinical development for medical, scientific, legal or other reasons. The 2025 Pfizer Agreement does not grant any right of first negotiation to participate in future clinical trials, and each of the parties retains all rights and ability to evaluate their respective compounds.
License Agreement with Aurigene
In June 2022, we entered into an exclusive global license agreement with Aurigene, to research, develop and commercialize novel small molecule inhibitors of an undisclosed oncology target (the Aurigene Agreement).
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Under the terms of the Aurigene Agreement, Aurigene provides to us an exclusive license to its portfolio of novel small molecule inhibitors of the target. Financial terms of the Aurigene Agreement include a $8.0 million upfront payment from us for rights to a pre-existing Aurigene program and remaining potential future milestone payments of up to $45.0 million in clinical development and regulatory milestones, and up to $370.0 million in commercial milestones. Aurigene is also eligible to receive mid-single-digit to low double-digit royalties as percentages of product sales, if any. During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, we made one-time milestone payments to Aurigene of $10.0 million and $5.0 million, respectively, pursuant to the Aurigene Agreement. During the research term, we contribute funding to Aurigene to facilitate Aurigene’s ongoing discovery efforts. We and Aurigene jointly direct further pre-clinical work and, if successful, we will lead clinical development as well as regulatory and commercial activities. We and Aurigene jointly own collaboration compounds and rights to any inventions made during the research term.
The term of the Aurigene Agreement will continue until the expiration of the last-to-expire of all payment obligations with respect to all licensed products thereunder, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the terms of the Aurigene Agreement. The Aurigene Agreement may be terminated (a) by us for convenience, in our sole discretion, upon prior written notice to Aurigene, (b) by either us or Aurigene in connection with the other party’s uncured material breach or (c) by either us or Aurigene in connection with the insolvency of the other party.
Other Licensing Agreements
On October 17, 2024, we signed an out-license of our de-prioritized TRPM4 targeted research program to Black Shadow Therapeutics LLC in exchange for potential single-digit royalties on world-wide net sales should a product be approved by regulatory authorities.
Intellectual Property
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights for palazestrant, OP-3136, and any future product candidates and other discoveries, inventions, trade secrets, and know-how that are critical to our business operations. Our success also depends in part on our ability to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property and proprietary rights of others, and in part, on our ability to prevent others from infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property and proprietary rights. A comprehensive discussion on risks relating to intellectual property is provided under the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks related to our intellectual property.”
Intellectual property rights relevant to pharmaceutical companies typically include a combination of patent rights, trademark rights, and trade secret protection. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to secure and enforce each of these types of intellectual property rights.
The patent positions of companies like ours are generally uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions. No consistent policy regarding the scope of claims allowable in patents in the field of biotechnology has emerged in the United States and in Europe, among other countries. Changes in the patent laws and rules, either by legislation, judicial decisions, or regulatory interpretation may diminish our ability to protect our inventions and enforce our intellectual property rights, and more generally could affect the value of our intellectual property. In particular, our ability to stop third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell, importing or otherwise commercializing any of our patented inventions, either directly or indirectly, will depend in part on our success in obtaining, defending and enforcing patent claims that cover our technology, inventions, and improvements. Regardless of the coverage we seek under our existing patent applications, there is always a risk that an alteration to the product or process may provide sufficient basis for a competitor to avoid infringement claims. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before a patent is issued and courts can reinterpret claim scope after issuance. Moreover, many jurisdictions, including the United States, permit third parties to challenge issued patents in administrative proceedings, which may result in further narrowing or even cancellation of patent claims.
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An issued patent provides its owner (or possibly its licensee) with a right to exclude others from making, using or selling that which is claimed in the patent, for a specified period of time (the “term” of the patent), in the jurisdiction in which the patent is issued. In the United States, and in many other countries, utility patents have a presumptive term of 20 years from their effective filing date (which is the earliest non-provisional filing date to which the patent claims priority). However, many jurisdictions, including the United States, require the payment of periodic annuities or maintenance fees for patents to remain in force for the full 20‑year term. The United States also has provisions under which a patent’s term may be reduced if its claims are deemed insufficiently distinct from those of another patent owned by the same party with an earlier expiration date. The term of a patent, and the protection it affords, is therefore limited and once the patent term of our issued patents has expired, we may face competition. Because of the extensive time required for clinical development and regulatory review of the drugs we develop, it is possible that, before palazestrant, OP-3136, or any future product candidates we may develop can be commercialized, any related patent may expire or remain in force for only a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing any advantage of any such patent.
The United States and certain other jurisdictions also have provisions that permit extension of patent term. Patent term extension may be available for an unexpired patent that claims an approved product, or its approved use or method of making, where the approval follows a period of regulatory review and the patentee files a timely request for an extension of patent term. In the United States, such extension associated with regulatory approval is called a Patent Term Extension (PTE) and it is limited to a maximum of five years, or less if the extended patent term would exceed 14 years after the date of regulatory approval. Only one patent can receive patent term extension (e.g., PTE) per product approval.
The United States also provides, in certain cases, a different form of added patent term, known as Patent Term Adjustment (PTA), whereby a particular patent’s term is automatically extended beyond the 20‑year date if the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) causes delay during its examination; however, potentially available PTA is reduced by any amount of any delay caused by the patent applicant. Patent term adjustment is generally calculated as the net number of days of USPTO-caused delay during prosecution, minus any periods of applicant-caused delay, and is added to the patent’s expiration date. We may not receive an extension if we fail to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, fail to apply within applicable deadlines, fail to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise fail to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the length of the extension could be less than we request. There can be no assurance that we will benefit from any patent term extension or favorable adjustment to the term of any of our patents.
A provisional patent application can establish a priority date for a patent, but only if certain deadlines and procedures are met. Specifically, a non-provisional application must be filed within 12 months of the earliest-filed provisional filing date, and such non-provisional filing must be made by an applicant who has properly documented its right to claim priority. Furthermore, if any changes are made to the application between the provisional and the non- provisional filings, the changed material may not be entitled to an earlier priority date. In the biopharmaceutical industry, it is common for applicants to file an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) as a non-provisional filing. Such an international application, referred to as a “PCT application,” like a provisional application, cannot itself issue as a patent but rather preserves the applicant’s right to pursue patent filings in individual countries, which patent filings are referred to as “national applications” or “national phase filings” and can claim the benefit of priority to the prior PCT application (which may in turn claim priority to the prior provisional filing(s)). For most jurisdictions, national phase applications claiming priority to a PCT application must be filed within 30 to 32 months of the PCT’s earliest priority date. If we fail to meet the deadline for filing non-provisional or national phase applications, or fail to complete all procedural requirements associated with such filings, we may lose our right to claim priority. Moreover, even if we comply with all deadlines and requirements, we may not be able to secure granted patents in relevant jurisdictions, and furthermore cannot predict whether any patents that might issue will provide us with any competitive advantage.
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We have granted patents and pending applications relating to palazestrant, including granted claims that encompass the palazestrant compound, pharmaceutical compositions that include palazestrant, and certain methods of using palazestrant, e.g., for treating particular disorders or diseases, where such treatment may include combination therapy. The 20-year term for these patents expires in 2036. In the United States, it is uncertain whether any PTE will be available, and if so, how much. Additional patent applications are pending, including applications that relate to dosing regimens and treatment of particular cancers, formulations, and additional combination therapies, including combination therapy with ribociclib, among other patent applications, and, if granted, will have 20-year terms that expire between 2040 and 2046.
We co-own with Aurigene a patent-family related to OP-3136, which includes claims that encompass the OP-3136 compound, pharmaceutical compositions that include OP-3136, and certain methods of using OP-3136. Under the Aurigene Agreement, Aurigene has provided to us an exclusive license to Aurigene's rights to patents and applications related to OP-3136 and other KAT6 inhibitor compounds. The 20-year term for patents and applications in this patent family, including a granted U.S. patent, related to OP-3136 expires in 2044. In the United States, it is uncertain whether any PTE will be available, and if so, how much.
Certain patents related to palazestrant or OP-3136 may be eligible for PTE in certain jurisdictions, including the United States and Europe, upon approval of a commercial use of the corresponding product by a regulatory agency in the jurisdiction where the patent was granted. However, there can be no assurance that we will receive or benefit from any PTE with respect to such patents.
With respect to our owned intellectual property, we cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications or with respect to any patent applications filed by us in the future, nor can we be sure that any current patents or any patents that may be granted to us in the future will be commercially useful in protecting palazestrant, OP-3136, or any future product candidates and the methods used to manufacture them. Moreover, any issued patents and those that may be issued in the future may not guarantee us the right to prevent competitors from practicing our technology in relation to the commercialization of palazestrant, OP-3136, or any future product candidates. Any patents and those that may issue in the future may be challenged, narrowed, circumvented or invalidated, which could limit our ability to stop competitors from marketing related product candidates or limit the length of the term of patent protection that we may have for palazestrant, OP-3136, or any future product candidates. In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with complete protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar products to ours. For information regarding risks related to intellectual property, see the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks related to our intellectual property.”
We do not currently own any U.S. registered trademarks for our brand or trade names. Our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations.
In addition to our patents, anticipated regulatory exclusivities, and trademarks, we rely on trade secret and know-how protection to further secure our proprietary position around our chemistry, technology and other discoveries and inventions that we consider important to our business.
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We also seek to protect our intellectual property, including our trade secrets and know-how, in part by entering into confidentiality agreements with companies with whom we share proprietary and confidential information in the course of business discussions, and by having confidentiality terms in our agreements with our employees, consultants, scientific advisors, clinical investigators and other contractors and also by requiring our employees, commercial contractors, and certain consultants and investigators, to enter into invention assignment agreements that grant us ownership of any discoveries or inventions made by them while in our employ or carrying out work on behalf of Olema. However, trade secrets and know-how can be difficult to protect. We cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary technology and processes or that these agreements will afford us adequate protection of our intellectual property and proprietary rights. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors. For information regarding risks related to intellectual property, see the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks related to our intellectual property.”
Sales and Marketing
Given our stage of development, we have not yet established a commercial organization or distribution capabilities. We intend to build a commercial infrastructure to support sales of any approved products. We intend to continue evaluating opportunities to work with partners that enhance our capabilities with respect to the development and commercialization of palazestrant and OP-3136. In addition, we intend to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, in key markets either alone or with partners in order to maximize the worldwide commercial potential of our programs.
Manufacturing
We currently do not own or operate any manufacturing facilities. We rely, and expect to continue to rely for the foreseeable future, on third-party contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) to produce palazestrant and OP-3136 for non-clinical and clinical testing, as well as for commercial manufacture if palazestrant or OP-3136 receives marketing approval. We require that our CMOs produce bulk drug substances and finished drug products in accordance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) and all other applicable laws and regulations. We maintain agreements with our manufacturers that include confidentiality and intellectual property provisions to protect our proprietary rights related to palazestrant and OP-3136.
We have engaged CMOs to manufacture and package palazestrant and OP-3136 for non-clinical and clinical use. Additional CMOs are used to label and distribute palazestrant and OP-3136 for clinical use. We obtain our supplies from these CMOs on a purchase order basis and do not have long-term supply arrangements in place. We expect to put commercial manufacturing agreements into place as we prepare for potential commercialization of palazestrant. We have identified and have under contract a second manufacturer for palazestrant active pharmaceutical ingredient and also anticipate two manufacturers for drug product. More broadly, for palazestrant, OP-3136, and any future product candidates we may develop, we intend to identify and qualify additional manufacturers to provide the active pharmaceutical ingredient and fill-and-finish services prior to seeking regulatory approval.
Competition
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized by rapid technological advancement, significant competition and an emphasis on intellectual property. We face potential competition from many different sources, including major and specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research institutions, governmental agencies and public and private research institutions. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with current therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future.
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Many of the companies against which we may compete have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, non-clinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and oncology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.
Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or less expensive than any products we may develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their product candidates more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. We believe that the key competitive factors affecting the success of any of our product candidates, if approved, will include efficacy, combinability, safety profile, convenience, cost, level of promotional activity devoted to them and intellectual property protection.
If the product candidates for our priority programs are approved for the indications we are currently targeting, they will compete with the products discussed below. Furthermore, it is possible that other companies are also engaged in discovery or non-clinical development of product candidates for the same indications. These competitors, if successful in clinical development, may achieve regulatory approval and market adoption in advance of our product candidates, constraining our ability to gain significant market share for such product candidates. In addition, our product candidates, if approved, will complete with multiple approved products or products that may be approved for future indications for which we develop such product candidate.
There are several currently marketed drugs and product candidates currently in development for the treatment of ER+ breast cancer that target the estrogen receptor that may compete with palazestrant including: fulvestrant, marketed as Faslodex® by AstraZeneca PLC and or any generic equivalents of Faslodex that are marketed or in development; elacestrant, marketed as ORSERDUTM by Stemline Therapeutics Inc.; giredestrant (GDC-9545), being developed by Roche Holding AG/Genentech, Inc.; camizestrant (AZD9833), being developed by AstraZeneca PLC; imlunestrant, marketed as InluriyoTM by Eli Lilly and Co.; vepdegestrant (ARV‑471), being developed by Arvinas, Inc. in partnership with Pfizer, Inc.; and lasofoxifene, being developed by LeonaBio, Inc. There are a number of KAT6 inhibitor product candidates in development that may compete with OP-3136 including prifetrastat and PF-08032562, which are being developed by Pfizer, MEN2312 being developed by Stemline Therapeutics, and BG-75202 being developed by BeOne Medicines.
Government Regulation and Product Approval
As a biopharmaceutical company that operates in the United States, we are subject to extensive regulation. Government authorities in the United States (at the federal, state and local level) and in other countries extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacturing, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, marketing and export and import of drug products such as those we are developing. Any drug candidates that we develop must be approved by the FDA before they may be legally marketed in the United States and by the appropriate foreign regulatory agency before they may be legally marketed in foreign countries. Generally, our activities in other countries will be subject to regulation that is similar in nature and scope as that imposed in the United States, although there can be important differences. Additionally, some significant aspects of regulation in Europe are addressed in a centralized way, but country-specific regulation remains essential in many respects.
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U.S. drug development process
In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), and implementing regulations. Drugs are also subject to other federal, state and local statutes and regulations. 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. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant to administrative or judicial sanctions. FDA sanctions could include, among other actions, refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, a clinical hold, warning letters, product recalls or withdrawals from the market, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement or civil or criminal penalties. Any agency or judicial enforcement action could have a material adverse effect on us. 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 extensive non-clinical laboratory tests, non-clinical animal studies and formulation studies in accordance with applicable regulations, including the FDA’s Good Laboratory Practices, or GLP, regulations and other applicable regulations;
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submission to the FDA of an investigational new drug application (IND), which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin;
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approval by an independent institutional review board (IRB) 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 applicable regulations, including the FDA’s current good clinical practice (GCP) regulations to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed drug for its proposed indication;
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submission to the FDA of a New Drug Application (NDA) for a new drug;
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a determination by the FDA within 60 days of its receipt of an NDA to file the NDA for review;
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satisfactory completion of an FDA pre-approval inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities where the drug is produced to assess compliance with the FDA’s 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 FDA audit of the non-clinical and/or clinical trial sites that generated the data in support of the NDA;
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satisfactory completion of an FDA advisory committee review, if applicable; and
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FDA review and approval of the NDA prior to any commercial marketing or sale of the drug in the United States.
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Before testing any compounds with potential therapeutic value in humans, the drug candidate enters the non-clinical testing stage. Non-clinical tests include laboratory evaluations of product chemistry, toxicity and formulation, as well as animal studies, to assess the characteristics and potential safety and activity of the drug candidate. The conduct of the non-clinical tests must comply with federal regulations and requirements including GLPs. The sponsor must submit the results of the non-clinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data, any available clinical data or literature and a proposed clinical protocol, to the FDA as part of the 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 human trials. Some non-clinical testing may continue even after the IND is submitted. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA raises concerns or questions regarding the proposed clinical trials and places the IND on clinical hold within that 30 day time period. In such a case, the IND may be placed on clinical hold and the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns or questions before the clinical trial can begin. The FDA may also impose clinical holds on a drug candidate at any time before or during clinical trials due to safety concerns or non-compliance.
For each successive clinical trial conducted with the investigational drug, a separate, new protocol submission to an existing IND must be made, along with any subsequent changes to the investigational plan. Sponsors are also subject to ongoing reporting requirements, including submission of IND safety reports for any serious adverse experiences associated with use of the investigational drug or findings from non-clinical studies suggesting a significant risk for human subjects, as well as IND annual reports on the progress of the investigations conducted under the IND.
Clinical trials involve the administration of the drug candidate to healthy volunteers or patients 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 for their participation in any clinical trial. Clinical trials are conducted under protocols detailing, among other things, the objectives of the clinical trial, dosing procedures, subject selection and exclusion criteria and the parameters to be used to monitor subject safety and assess efficacy. Each protocol, and any subsequent amendments to the protocol, must be submitted to the FDA as part of the IND. Further, each clinical trial must be reviewed and approved by an IRB, at or servicing each institution at which the clinical trial will be conducted. An IRB is charged with protecting the welfare and rights of trial participants and considers such items as whether the risks to individuals participating in the clinical trials are minimized and are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits. The IRB also approves the informed consent form that must be provided to each clinical trial subject or his or her legal representative and must monitor the clinical trial until completed. There are also requirements governing the reporting of ongoing clinical trials and completed clinical trial results to public registries.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:
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Phase 1. The drug is initially introduced into healthy human subjects and tested for safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution and excretion, the side effects associated with increasing doses and if possible, to gain early evidence of effectiveness. In the case of some products for severe or life-threatening diseases, especially when the product may be too inherently toxic to ethically administer to healthy volunteers, the initial human testing is often conducted in patients.
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Phase 2. The drug is evaluated in a limited patient population to identify possible adverse effects and safety risks, to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy of the product for specific targeted diseases or conditions and to determine dosage tolerance, optimal dosage and dosing schedule.
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Phase 3. Clinical trials are undertaken to further evaluate dosage, clinical efficacy and safety in an expanded patient population at geographically dispersed clinical trial sites. These clinical trials are intended to establish the overall benefit/risk ratio of the product and provide an adequate basis for product approval. Generally, two adequate and well-controlled Phase 3 clinical trials are required by the FDA for approval of an NDA.
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Post-approval studies (Phase 4 clinical trials) may be conducted after initial marketing approval. These trials are 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 trials. In certain instances, the FDA may mandate the performance of Phase 4 clinical trials as a condition of approval of an NDA.
Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials must be submitted at least annually to the FDA and written IND safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and the investigators for serious and unexpected adverse events or any finding from tests in laboratory animals that suggests a significant risk for human subjects.
Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials may not be completed successfully within any specified period, if at all. The FDA, the IRB, or the sponsor may suspend or terminate a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the research subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk.
Similarly, an IRB can suspend or terminate approval of a clinical trial at its institution if the clinical trial is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or if the drug has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients. Additionally, some clinical trials are overseen by an independent group of qualified experts organized by the clinical trial sponsor, known as a data safety monitoring board or committee. This group assesses whether or not a trial may move forward at designated check points based on access to certain data from the ongoing trial.
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 as well as 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 drug candidate and, among other things, must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality and purity of the final drug. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested, and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the drug candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
U.S. review and approval processes
Assuming successful completion of all required testing in accordance with all applicable regulatory requirements, the results of product development, 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. Data may come from company-sponsored clinical trials intended to test the safety and effectiveness of a use of a product, or from a number of alternative sources, including studies initiated by investigators. To support marketing approval, the data submitted must be sufficient in quality and quantity to establish the safety and effectiveness of the investigational drug product to the satisfaction of the FDA. The submission of an NDA is subject to the payment of substantial user fees; a waiver of such fees may be obtained under certain limited circumstances.
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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 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. Unless otherwise required by regulation, the PREA does not apply to any drug for an indication for which orphan designation has been granted. However, if only one indication for a product has orphan designation, a pediatric assessment may still be required for any applications to market that same product for the non-orphan indication(s).
The FDA reviews all NDAs submitted before it accepts them for filing and may request additional information rather than accepting an NDA for filing. The FDA must make a decision on accepting an NDA for filing within 60 days of receipt. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth review of the NDA. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) guidelines that are currently in effect, the FDA has a goal of ten months from the date of “filing” of a standard NDA for a new molecular entity to review and act on the submission. This review typically takes twelve months from the date the NDA is submitted to the FDA because the FDA has approximately two months to make a “filing” decision after it the application is submitted The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard and priority NDAs, and the review process is often significantly extended by FDA requests for additional information or clarification.
After the NDA submission is accepted for filing, the FDA reviews the NDA to determine, among other things, whether the proposed product is safe and effective for its intended use and whether the product is being manufactured in accordance with cGMP to assure and preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality and purity. The FDA may refer applications for novel drug products or drug products which present difficult questions of safety or efficacy to an advisory committee, typically a panel that includes clinicians and other experts, for review, evaluation and 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 and typically follows the advisory committee’s recommendations.
Before approving an NDA, the FDA will inspect the facilities at which the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve the product unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. Additionally, before approving an NDA, the FDA may inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with GCP requirements. After the FDA evaluates the application, manufacturing process and manufacturing facilities, it may issue an approval letter or a Complete Response Letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with specific prescribing information for specific indications. A Complete Response Letter indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete and the application will not be approved in its present form. A Complete Response Letter usually describes all of the specific deficiencies in the NDA identified by the FDA. The Complete Response Letter may require additional clinical data and/or (an) additional pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial(s), and/or other significant and time-consuming requirements related to clinical trials, non-clinical studies or manufacturing. If a Complete Response Letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the NDA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, or withdraw the application. Even if such data and information is submitted, the FDA may ultimately decide that the NDA does not satisfy the criteria for approval.
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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. Further, the FDA may require that certain contraindications, warnings or precautions be included in the product labeling or may condition the approval of the NDA on other changes to the proposed labeling, development of adequate controls and specifications, or a commitment to conduct one or more post-market studies or clinical trials. For example, the FDA may require Phase 4 testing, which involves clinical trials designed to further assess a drug safety and effectiveness and may require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the safety of approved products that have been commercialized. The FDA may also determine that a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) is necessary 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; the FDA will not approve the NDA without an approved REMS, if required. A REMS 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.
Expedited development and review programs
The FDA has a Fast Track designation program that is intended to expedite or facilitate the process for reviewing new drug products that meet certain criteria. Specifically, new drugs are eligible for Fast Track designation if they 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. Unique to a Fast Track product, 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.
Any product submitted to the FDA for approval, including a product with a Fast Track designation, may also be eligible for other types of FDA programs intended to expedite development and review, such as priority review and accelerated approval. A product is eligible for priority review if it has the potential to provide safe and effective therapy for a serious condition where no satisfactory alternative therapy exists or a significant improvement in the treatment, diagnosis or prevention of a serious condition compared to marketed products. The FDA will attempt to direct additional resources to the evaluation of an application for a new drug designated for priority review in an effort to facilitate the review.
In addition, a product may be eligible for accelerated approval. Drug products intended to treat serious or life- threatening diseases or conditions may be eligible for accelerated approval upon a determination that the product 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 benefit, taking into account the severity, rarity, or prevalence of the condition and the availability or lack of alternative treatments. As a condition of approval, the FDA may require that a sponsor of a drug receiving accelerated approval perform adequate and well-controlled post- marketing clinical trials. 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, priority review and accelerated approval do not change the standards for approval but may expedite the development or approval process.
Even if a product 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. In addition, this designation may not provide a material commercial advantage.
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Post-approval requirements
Any drug products for which we receive FDA approvals are subject to continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, record-keeping requirements, reporting of adverse experiences with the product, providing the FDA with updated safety and efficacy information, product sampling and distribution requirements, and complying with FDA promotion and advertising requirements, which include, among others, standards for direct- to-consumer advertising, restrictions on promoting drugs for uses or in patient populations that are not described in the drug’s approved labeling (known as “off-label use”), limitations on industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities, and requirements for promotional activities involving the internet. Although physicians may prescribe legally available drugs for off-label uses, manufacturers may not market or promote such off-label uses.
In addition, quality control and manufacturing procedures must continue to conform to applicable manufacturing requirements after approval to ensure the long-term stability of the drug product. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the production of clinical and commercial quantities of our products in accordance with cGMP regulations. cGMP regulations require among other things, quality control and quality assurance as well as the corresponding maintenance of records and documentation and the obligation to investigate and correct any deviations from cGMP. Drug manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacture and distribution of approved drugs are required to register their establishments with the FDA and certain state agencies and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and certain state agencies for compliance with cGMP and other laws. Accordingly, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money, and effort in the area of production and quality control to maintain cGMP compliance. Discovery of problems with a product after approval may result in restrictions on a product, manufacturer, or holder of an approved NDA, including, among other things, recall or withdrawal of the product from the market. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process are strictly regulated, and depending on the significance of the change, may require prior FDA approval before being implemented. Other types of changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications and additional labeling claims, are also subject to further FDA review and approval.
The FDA also may require post-marketing testing, known as Phase 4 testing, and surveillance to monitor the effects of an approved product. Discovery of previously unknown problems with a product or the failure to comply with applicable FDA requirements can have negative consequences, including adverse publicity, judicial or administrative enforcement, warning letters from the FDA, mandated corrective advertising or communications with doctors, and civil or criminal penalties, among others. Newly discovered or developed safety or effectiveness data may require changes to a product’s approved labeling, including the addition of new warnings and contraindications, and also may require the implementation of other risk management measures. Also, new government requirements, including those resulting from new legislation, may be established, or the FDA’s policies may change, which could delay or prevent regulatory approval of our products under development.
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U.S. patent term restoration and marketing exclusivity
Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of the FDA approval of the use of our product candidates, some of our U.S. patents, if granted, may be eligible for limited PTE under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, commonly referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. As compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process, the Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term (PTE), which is limited to a maximum of five years, or less if the extended patent term would exceed 14 years after the date of the regulatory approval of the product. The patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between the effective date of an IND and the submission date of an NDA plus the time between the submission date of an NDA and the approval of that application. Only one patent applicable to an approved drug or drug product, or its approved use, is eligible for the extension and the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration. In the future, we may intend to apply for restoration of a patent term for one of our currently owned or licensed patents to add patent life beyond its current expiration date, depending on the expected length of the clinical trials and other factors involved in the filing of the relevant NDA. However, we may not receive an extension if we fail to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, fail to apply within applicable deadlines, fail to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise fail to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the length of the extension could be less than we request. There can be no assurance that we will benefit from any PTE or favorable adjustment to the term of any of our patents.
Market exclusivity provisions under the FDCA can also delay the submission or the approval of certain marketing applications. The FDCA provides a five-year period of non-patent marketing 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 a 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 marketing 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 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 non-clinical studies and adequate and well-controlled clinical trials necessary to demonstrate safety and effectiveness.
Orphan drug exclusivity, as described above, may offer a seven-year period of marketing exclusivity, except in certain circumstances. Pediatric exclusivity is another type of non-patent market exclusivity in the United States. Pediatric exclusivity, if granted, adds six months to existing exclusivity periods and patent terms. This six-month exclusivity, which runs from the end of other exclusivity protection or patent term, may be granted based on the voluntary completion of a pediatric trial in accordance with an FDA-issued “Written Request” for such a trial.
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Other U.S. healthcare laws and compliance requirements
Although we currently do not have any products on the market, we are and, upon approval and commercialization, will be subject to additional healthcare regulation and enforcement by the federal government and by authorities in the states and foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct our business. In the United States, such laws include, without limitation, state and federal fraud and abuse (such as anti-kickback and false claims), privacy and security, price reporting, and provider transparency laws and regulations.
The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, any person or entity, from knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce or in return for purchasing, leasing, ordering or arranging for the purchase, lease or order of any item or service reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs. The term remuneration has been interpreted broadly to include anything of value. The Anti-Kickback Statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical manufacturers on the one hand and prescribers, purchasers, and formulary managers on the other. There are a number of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting some common activities from prosecution. The exceptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly and practices that involve remuneration that may be alleged to be intended to induce prescribing, purchasing or recommending may be subject to scrutiny if they do not qualify for an exception or safe harbor but the exceptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly and require strict compliance in order to offer protection.
Failure to meet all of the requirements of a particular applicable statutory exception or regulatory safe harbor does not make the conduct per se illegal under the Anti-Kickback Statute. Instead, the legality of the arrangement will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on a cumulative review of all of its facts and circumstances. Our practices may not in all cases meet all of the criteria for protection under a statutory exception or regulatory safe harbor.
Additionally, the intent standard under the Anti-Kickback Statute and certain criminal healthcare fraud statutes (discussed below) was amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, together with subsequent amendments and regulations, collectively, the ACA, to a stricter standard such that a person or entity no longer needs to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. In addition, the ACA codified case law that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal False Claims Act (discussed below).
The federal False Claims Act prohibits, among other things, any person or entity from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false claim for payment to, or approval by, the federal government or knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim to the federal government. As a result of a modification made by the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, a claim includes “any request or demand” for money or property presented to the U.S. government. Pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies have been prosecuted under these laws for, among other things, allegedly providing free product to customers with the expectation that the customers would bill federal programs for the product and for causing false claims to be submitted because of the companies’ marketing of the product for unapproved, and thus non- covered, uses.
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) also created new federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud or to obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises, any money or property owned by, or under the control or custody of, any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up by trick, scheme or device, a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. Also, many states have similar fraud and abuse statutes or regulations that apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs, or, in several states, apply regardless of the payor.
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Additionally, the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act within the ACA, and its implementing regulations, require that certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biological and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) annually report information related to certain payments or other transfers of value made or distributed to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), other healthcare professionals (such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners), and teaching hospitals, and certain ownership and investment interests held by these physicians and their immediate family members.
We may also be subject to data privacy and security regulations promulgated by both the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business. HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) and its implementing regulations, impose requirements on covered entities, including certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses, and their respective business associates that create, receive, maintain or transmit individually identifiable health information for or on behalf of a covered entity as well as their covered subcontractors relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information. Among other things, HITECH makes HIPAA’s privacy and security standards directly applicable to business associates, independent contractors or agents of covered entities that receive or obtain protected health information in connection with providing a service on behalf of a covered entity. HITECH also created four new tiers of civil monetary penalties, amended HIPAA to make civil and criminal penalties directly applicable to business associates, and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. In addition, state laws govern the privacy and security of health information in specified circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a rule entitled the Preventing Access to U.S. Sensitive Personal Data and Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern or Covered Persons, which places additional restriction on certain data transactions involving countries of concern (e.g., China, Russia, Iran) and covered persons. Violations of the rule could lead to significant civil and criminal fines and penalties. The rule applies regardless of whether data is anonymized, key-coded, pseudonymized, de-identified or encrypted. In Europe, the Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) regulates resilience and incident response capabilities of entities operating in a number of sectors, including the health sector. Non-compliance with NIS2 may lead up to administrative fines of a maximum of 10 million Euros or up to 2% of the total worldwide revenue of the preceding fiscal year. Also in Europe, some of our customers may be subject to the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and similar UK regulatory requirements on operational resilience. These laws may obligate our customers to impose contractual provisions on us, including certain mandatory third-party risk management provisions.
In order to distribute products commercially, we must comply with state laws that require the registration of manufacturers and wholesale distributors of pharmaceutical products in a state, including, in certain states, manufacturers and distributors who ship products into the state even if such manufacturers or distributors have no place of business within the state. Some states also impose requirements on manufacturers and distributors to establish the pedigree of product in the chain of distribution, including some states that require manufacturers and others to adopt new technology capable of tracking and tracing product as it moves through the distribution chain. Several states have enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical companies to establish marketing compliance programs, file periodic reports with the state, make periodic public disclosures on sales, marketing, pricing, track and report gifts, compensation and other remuneration made to physicians and other healthcare providers, clinical trials and other activities, and/or register their sales representatives, as well as to prohibit pharmacies and other healthcare entities from providing certain physician prescribing data to pharmaceutical companies for use in sales and marketing, and to prohibit certain other sales and marketing practices. All of our activities are potentially subject to federal and state consumer protection and unfair competition laws.
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If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the federal and state healthcare laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including without limitation, civil, criminal and/or administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, injunctions, private “qui tam” actions brought by individual whistleblowers in the name of the government, or refusal to allow us to enter into government contracts, contractual damages, reputational harm, administrative burdens, diminished profits and future earnings, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.
U.S. and foreign laws, regulations, rules, contractual obligations, policies and other obligations related to data privacy and security
We are or will become subject to privacy laws in the jurisdictions in which we are established or in which we sell or market our products or run clinical trials. For example, in Europe we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in relation to our collection, control, processing and other use of personal data (i.e., data relating to an identified or identifiable living individual). We process personal data in relation to participants in our clinical trials in the European Economic Area (EEA), including the health and medical information of these participants. The GDPR is directly applicable in each of the twenty-seven member states of the European Union (EU Member States), however, it provides that EU Member States may introduce further conditions that could cause our compliance costs to increase, ultimately having an adverse impact on our business.
We are subject to the supervision of local data protection authorities in those European Union jurisdictions where we are established or otherwise subject to the GDPR. Fines for certain breaches of the GDPR are significant: up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of total global annual turnover. Further, we must comply with both the GDPR and separately the GDPR as implemented in the United Kingdom (UK), each regime having the ability to fine up to the greater of €20 million / £17 million or 4% of global turnover. A breach of the GDPR or other applicable privacy and data protection laws and regulations could result in regulatory investigations, reputational damage, orders to cease/change our use of data, enforcement notices, or potential civil claims including class action type litigation. In general, if our efforts to comply with the GDPR or other applicable European Union laws and regulations are not successful, it could adversely affect our business in the European Union.
In the ordinary course of business, we may transfer personal data from Europe and other jurisdictions to the United States or other countries. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a rule entitled the Preventing Access to U.S. Sensitive Personal Data and Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern or Covered Persons, which places additional restriction on certain data transactions involving countries of concern (e.g., China, Russia, Iran) and covered persons that may impact certain business activities such as vendor engagements, sale or sharing of data, employment of certain individuals, and investor agreements. Violations of the rule could lead to significant civil and criminal fines and penalties. The rule applies regardless of whether data is anonymized, key-coded, pseudonymized, de-identified or encrypted, which presents particular challenges for companies like ours and may impact our ability to transfer data in connection with certain transactions or agreements.
Europe and other jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring data to be localized or limiting the transfer of personal data to other countries. In particular, the EEA and the UK have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries whose privacy laws it believes are inadequate. Other jurisdictions may adopt similarly stringent interpretations of their data localization and cross-border data transfer laws. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EEA and UK to the United States in compliance with law, such as the EEA and UK’s standard contractual clauses, these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges, and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States.
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If there is no lawful manner for us to transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or other jurisdictions to the United States, or if the requirements for a legally-compliant transfer are too onerous, we could face significant adverse consequences, including the interruption or degradation of our operations, the need to relocate part of or all of our business or data processing activities to other jurisdictions at significant expense, increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and penalties, the inability to transfer data and work with partners, vendors and other third parties, and injunctions against our processing or transferring of personal data necessary to operate our business. Additionally, companies that transfer personal data out of the EEA and UK to other jurisdictions, particularly to the United States, are subject to increased scrutiny from regulators, individual litigants, and activist groups. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to suspend or permanently cease certain transfers out of Europe for allegedly violating the GDPR’s cross-border data transfer limitations.
In the United States, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) creates individual privacy rights for California consumers (as defined in the law) and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling certain personal data of consumers or households. The CCPA requires covered companies to provide new disclosure to consumers about such companies’ data collection, use and sharing practices, provide such consumers new ways to opt-out of certain sales or transfers of personal information, and provide consumers with additional causes of action. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. The CCPA (a) allows enforcement by the California Attorney General with fines and (b) authorizes private lawsuits to recover statutory damages for certain data breaches.
In addition, laws in all 50 U.S. states require businesses to provide notice to consumers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. State laws are changing rapidly and there is discussion in the U.S. Congress of a new comprehensive federal data privacy law to which we would become subject if it is enacted. The CCPA may impact our business activities and exemplifies the vulnerability of our business to the evolving regulatory environment related to personal data and protected health information. Additionally, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) significantly modifies the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights with respect to certain sensitive personal information. The CPRA also creates a new state agency that will be vested with authority to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA. New legislation proposed or enacted in various other states will continue to shape the data privacy environment nationally. For example, Virginia, Colorado, Utah, and Connecticut have all enacted broad privacy legislation. Certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to confidential, sensitive and personal information than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, which may complicate compliance efforts. In addition to the foregoing, any breach of privacy laws or data security laws, particularly resulting in a significant security incident or breach involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized use or disclosure of sensitive or confidential patient or consumer information, could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and financial condition. As a data controller, we will be accountable for any third-party service providers we engage to process personal data on our behalf, including our contract research organizations (CROs). We attempt to mitigate the associated risks but there is no assurance that privacy and security-related safeguards will protect us from all risks associated with the third-party processing, storage and transmission of such information.
Pharmaceutical coverage, pricing and reimbursement
Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any product candidates for which we or our collaborators obtain regulatory approval. In the United States and markets in other countries, sales of any products for which we or our collaborators receive regulatory approval for commercial sale will depend, in part, on the extent to which third-party payors provide coverage, and establish adequate reimbursement levels for such drug products. In the United States, third-party payors include federal and state healthcare programs, government authorities, private managed care providers, private health insurers and other organizations.
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Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price, examining the medical necessity and reviewing the cost-effectiveness of medical drug products and medical services, in addition to questioning their safety and efficacy. Such payors may limit coverage to specific drug products on an approved list, also known as a formulary, which might not include all of the FDA-approved drugs for a particular indication. We or our collaborators may need to conduct expensive pharmaco-economic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of our products, in addition to the costs required to obtain the FDA approvals. Nonetheless, our product candidates may not be considered medically necessary or cost-effective. Moreover, the process for determining whether a third-party payor will provide coverage for a drug product may be separate from the process for setting the price of a drug product or for establishing the reimbursement rate that such a payor will pay for the drug product. A payor’s decision to provide coverage for a drug product does not imply that an adequate reimbursement rate will be approved. Further, one payor’s determination to provide coverage for a drug product does not assure that other payors will also provide coverage for the drug product. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development.
If we elect to participate in certain governmental programs, we may be required to participate in discount and rebate programs, which may result in prices for our future products that will likely be lower than the prices we might otherwise obtain. For example, drug manufacturers participating under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program must pay rebates on prescription drugs to state Medicaid programs. Under the Veterans Health Care Act (VHCA) drug companies are required to offer certain drugs at a reduced price to a number of federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the Public Health Service and certain private Public Health Service designated entities in order to participate in other federal funding programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. Recent legislative changes require that discounted prices be offered for certain U.S. Department of Defense purchases for its TRICARE program via a rebate system. Participation under the VHCA also requires submission of pricing data and calculation of discounts and rebates pursuant to complex statutory formulas, as well as the entry into government procurement contracts governed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations. If our products are made available to authorized users of the Federal Supply Schedule of the General Services Administration, additional laws and requirements apply.
There has been heightened governmental scrutiny recently over the manner in which pharmaceutical companies set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several Presidential executive orders, Congressional inquiries and proposed federal legislation, as well as state efforts, designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products. For example, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) imposes rebates on many Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D products to penalize price increases that outpace inflation on an annual basis. In addition, HHS has been empowered to negotiate the price of certain single-source drugs that have been on the market for at least seven (7) years covered under Medicare as part of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Each year up to twenty (20) products will be selected by HHS for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Products subject to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program are expected to experience a significant reduction in reimbursement from the Medicare program on a per unit basis.
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Different pricing and reimbursement schemes exist in other countries. In the European Union, governments influence the price of pharmaceutical products through their pricing and reimbursement rules and control of national health care systems that fund a large part of the cost of those products to consumers. Some jurisdictions operate positive and negative list systems under which products may only be marketed once a reimbursement price has been agreed. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval, some of these countries may require the completion of clinical trials that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular drug candidate to currently available therapies. This Health Technology Assessment (HTA) process is the procedure according to which the assessment of the public health impact, therapeutic impact and the economic and societal impact of use of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country is conducted. The outcome of HTA regarding specific medicinal products will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these medicinal products by the competent authorities of individual EU Member States. At the EU level, on January 12, 2025, Regulation No 2021/2282 on Health Technology Assessment (HTA Regulation), entered into application through a phased implementation. The Regulation initially applies to new active substances for oncology and ATMPs. It will be expanded to orphan medicinal products in January 2028, and to all centrally authorized medicinal products as of 2030. Select high-risk medical devices also came into scope in 2026. The HTA Regulation is intended to boost cooperation among Member States in assessing health technologies, including new medicinal products. The HTA Regulation establishes a framework for EU level joint clinical assessments, joint scientific consultations, and the early identification of emerging health technologies. The HTA Regulation permits EU Member States to use common tools, methodologies, and procedures and requires them to rely on EU level joint clinical assessment reports for the clinical components of their national HTA evaluations. Individual EU Member States will continue to be responsible for assessing non-clinical (e.g., economic, social, ethical) aspects of health technologies, and making decisions on pricing and reimbursement. However, under the HTA Regulation, EU Member States will still be free to make their own pricing and reimbursement decisions. Moreover, EU Member States may, and do, choose to restrict the range of products for which their national health insurance systems or national healthcare systems provide reimbursement and to control the prices of such products. EU Member States may impose direct controls on pricing, or otherwise adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the companies placing such products on the market. Other EU Member States allow companies to set their own prices but monitor and control prescription volumes and issue guidance to medical professionals to limit prescriptions of such products. The downward pressure on health care costs in general, particularly prescription drugs, has become very intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products. In addition, in some countries, cross-border imports from low-priced markets exert a commercial pressure on pricing within a country.
The marketability of any product candidates for which we or our collaborators receive regulatory approval for commercial sale may suffer if the government and third-party payors fail to provide adequate coverage and reimbursement. In addition, emphasis on managed care in the United States has increased and we expect will continue to increase the pressure on pharmaceutical pricing. Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more products for which we or our collaborators receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future.
Healthcare reform
A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and other third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medical products and services, implementing reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding and applying new payment methodologies. For example, in March 2010, the ACA was enacted, which affected existing government healthcare programs and resulted in the development of new programs.
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There have been executive, judicial and Congressional challenges and amendments to certain aspects of the ACA. For example, on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law, which narrowed access to ACA marketplace exchange enrollment and declined to extend the ACA enhanced advanced premium tax credits that expired at the end of 2025, which, among other provisions in the law, are anticipated to reduce the number of Americans with health insurance. The OBBBA also is expected to reduce Medicaid spending and enrollment by implementing work requirements for some beneficiaries, capping state-directed payments, reducing federal funding, and limiting provider taxes used to fund the program. Congress is considering proposed legislation intended to further reduce healthcare costs with alternatives to replace the expired ACA subsidies.
Other legislative changes have also been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. On August 2, 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, included aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year, which went into effect on April 1, 2013, and will remain in effect through 2032, unless additional Congressional action is taken. Additionally, on March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed into law, which eliminated the statutory Medicaid drug rebate cap, previously set at 100% of a drug’s average manufacturer price, for single source and innovator multiple source drugs, effective January 1, 2024.
The current administration is pursuing policies to reduce regulations and expenditures across government agencies including at HHS, the FDA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and related agencies. These actions, presently directed by executive orders or memoranda from the Office of Management and Budget, may propose policy changes that create additional uncertainty for our business. For example, the current administration has announced agreements with pharmaceutical companies that require the drug manufacturers to offer, through a direct-to-consumer platform (TrumpRx), U.S. patients and Medicaid programs prescription drug Most-Favored Nation pricing equal to or lower than those paid in other developed nations, with additional mandates for direct-to-patient discounts and repatriation of foreign revenues. Other recent actions, for example, include (1) directing agencies to reduce agency workforce and cut programs; (2) directing HHS and other agencies to lower prescription drug costs through a variety of initiatives; (3) imposing tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products; and (4) as part of the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s Strategy Report released in September 2025, working across government agencies to increase enforcement on direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. Additionally, the current administration recently called on Congress to enact “The Great Healthcare Plan,” to codify and expand Most-Favored Nation pricing, lower government subsidies to private insurance companies, increase healthcare price transparency, expand pharmaceutical drugs available for over-the-counter purchase, and enact restrictions on pharmacy benefit manager payment methodologies, among other things. These actions and policies may significantly reduce U.S. drug prices, potentially impacting manufacturers’ global pricing strategies and profitability, while increasing their operational costs and compliance risks. In June 2024, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the U.S. Supreme Court greatly reduced judicial deference to regulatory agencies, which could increase successful legal challenges to federal regulations affecting our operations. Congress may introduce and ultimately pass health care related legislation that could impact the drug approval process and make changes to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. Any such approved importation plans, when implemented, may result in lower drug prices for products covered by those programs.
In addition, it is possible that there will be further legislation or regulation that could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) prohibits any U.S. individual or business from paying, offering, or authorizing payment or offering of anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, political party or candidate for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of the foreign entity in order to assist the individual or business in obtaining or retaining business. The FCPA also obligates companies whose securities are listed in the United States to comply with accounting provisions requiring the company to maintain books and records that accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international subsidiaries, and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls for international operations.
Europe / rest of world government regulation
In addition to regulations in the United States, we will be subject to a variety of regulations in other jurisdictions governing, among other things, clinical trials and any commercial sales and distribution of our products. Whether or not we or our potential collaborators obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain the requisite approvals from regulatory authorities in foreign countries prior to the commencement of clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries.
Clinical trials in the EU
Certain countries outside of the United States have a similar process that requires the submission of a clinical trial application much like the IND prior to the commencement of human clinical trials. In the European Union, for example, clinical trials are governed by the Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 (CTR), which entered into application on January 31, 2022 repealing and replacing the former Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20 (CTD). The CTR is intended to harmonize and streamline clinical trial authorizations, simplify adverse-event reporting procedures, improve the supervision of clinical trials and increase transparency. Specifically, the Regulation, which is directly applicable in all EU Member States, introduces a streamlined application procedure through a single-entry point, the "EU portal", the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS); a single set of documents to be prepared and submitted for the application; as well as simplified reporting procedures for clinical trial sponsors. A harmonized procedure for the assessment of applications for clinical trials has been introduced and is divided into two parts. Part I assessment is led by the competent authorities of a reference Member State selected by the trial sponsor and relates to clinical trial aspects that are considered to be scientifically harmonized across EU Member States. This assessment is then submitted to the competent authorities of all concerned EU Member States in which the trial is to be conducted for their review. Part II is assessed separately by the competent authorities and Ethics Committees in each concerned EU Member State. Individual EU Member States retain the power to authorize the conduct of clinical trials on their territory. The CTR foresaw a three-year transition period that ended on January 31, 2025. Since this date, all new or ongoing trials are subject to the provisions of the CTR.
The requirements and processes governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country. In all major territories, including the European Union, clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki.
Review and authorization process in the EU
In the EU, medicinal products can only be commercialized after a related marketing authorization (MA), has been granted. To obtain an MA for a product in the EU, an applicant must submit a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA), either under a centralized procedure administered by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or one of the procedures administered by the competent authorities of EU Member States (decentralized procedure, national procedure or mutual recognition procedure). An MA may be granted only to an applicant established in the EU.
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The European Union and the European Economic Area consist of the EU Member States, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein which are member states of the European Economic Area. To obtain regulatory approval of an investigational drug or biological product under European Union regulatory systems, we must submit a marketing authorization application either under the so-called centralized or national authorization procedures.
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The Centralized marketing authorization, which is issued by the European Commission through the Centralized Procedure, based on the scientific opinion of the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, and which is valid throughout the entire territory of the European Economic Area (which is compromised of the 27 EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). The Centralized Procedure is mandatory for certain types of products, such as (i) biotechnology medicinal products such as genetic engineering, (ii) orphan medicinal products, (iii) medicinal products containing a new active substance indicated for the treatment of AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, autoimmune and viral diseases and (iv) advanced-therapy medicines, such as gene therapy, somatic cell therapy or tissue-engineered medicines. The Centralized Procedure is optional for products containing a new active substance not yet authorized in the European Union, or for products that constitute a significant therapeutic, scientific or technical innovation or which are in the interest of public health in the European Union. Under the centralized procedure, the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), conducts the initial assessment of a product. The CHMP is also responsible for several post-authorization and maintenance activities, such as the assessment of modifications or extensions to an existing MA. The maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an MAA under the centralized procedure is 210 days, excluding clock stops when additional information or written or oral explanation is to be provided by the applicant in response to questions of the CHMP.
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Decentralized Procedure marketing authorizations are available for products not falling within the mandatory scope of the Centralized Procedure. An identical dossier is submitted to the competent authorities of each of the EU Member States in which the marketing authorization is sought, one of which is selected by the applicant as the Reference Member State (RMS), to lead the evaluation of the regulatory submission. The competent authority of the RMS prepares a draft assessment report, a draft summary of the product characteristics (SmPC), and a draft of the labeling and package leaflet as distilled from the preliminary evaluation, which are sent to the other concerned EU Member States (referred to as the Concerned Member States) for their approval. If the Concerned Member States raise no objections, based on a potential serious risk to public health, to the assessment, SmPC, labeling, or packaging proposed by the RMS, the RMS records the agreement, closes the procedure and informs the applicant accordingly. If a concerned Member State cannot approve the assessment report and related materials due to concerns relating to a potential serious risk to public health, disputed elements are referred to the Heads of Medicines Agencies’ Coordination Group for Mutual Recognition and Decentralised Procedures – Human (CMDh), for review. If the CMDh fails to reach a consensus, the matter escalates to the European Commission who’s decision is binding on all EU Member States. Each Member State concerned by the procedure is required to adopt a national decision to grant a national marketing authorization in conformity with the approved assessment report, SmPC and the labeling and package leaflet as approved.
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Where a product has already been authorized for marketing in an EU Member, the granted national marketing authorization can be used for mutual recognition in other EU Member States through the Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP), resulting in progressive national approval of the product in the EU.
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National marketing authorizations, which are issued by a single competent authority of the EU Member States and only covers such authority’s respective territory, are also available for products not falling within the mandatory scope of the Centralized Procedure. Once a product has been authorized for marketing in an EU Member State through the National Procedure, this National marketing authorization can be recognized in other Member States through the Mutual Recognition Procedure.
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An MA has, in principle, an initial validity of five years. The MA may be renewed after five years on the basis of a re-evaluation of the risk-benefit balance by the EMA or by the competent authority of the EU Member State in which the original MA was granted. To support the application, the MA holder must provide the EMA or the competent authority with a consolidated version of the Common Technical Document providing up-to-date data concerning the quality, safety and efficacy of the product, including all variations introduced since the MA was granted, at least nine months before the MA ceases to be valid. The European Commission or the competent authorities of the EU Member States may decide on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with one further five year renewal period for the MA. Once subsequently definitively renewed, the MA shall be valid for an unlimited period. Any authorization which is not followed by the actual placing of the medicinal product on the EU market (for a centralized MA) or on the market of the authorizing EU Member State within three years after authorization ceases to be valid (the so-called sunset clause).
Accelerated and alternative marketing authorization mechanisms in the EU
Innovative products that target an unmet medical need and are expected to be of major public health interest may be eligible for a number of expedited development and review programs, such as the Priority Medicines (PRIME), scheme, which provides incentives similar to the breakthrough therapy designation in the U.S. PRIME is a voluntary scheme aimed at enhancing the EMA’s support for the development of medicinal products that target unmet medical needs. Eligible products must target conditions for which there is an unmet medical need (there is no satisfactory method of diagnosis, prevention or treatment in the EU or, if there is, the new medicinal product will bring a major therapeutic advantage) and they must demonstrate the potential to address the unmet medical need by introducing new methods of therapy or improving existing ones. Benefits accrue to sponsors of product candidates with PRIME designation, including but not limited to, early and proactive regulatory dialogue with the EMA, frequent discussions on clinical trial designs and other development program elements, and potentially accelerated MAA assessment once a dossier has been submitted. Importantly, a dedicated contact and rapporteur from CHMP, or Committee for Advanced Therapies, are appointed early in the PRIME scheme facilitating increased understanding of the product at EMA’s Committee level. A kick-off meeting initiates these relationships and includes a team of multidisciplinary experts at the EMA to provide guidance on the overall development and regulatory strategies. Where, during the course of development, a medicine no longer meets the eligibility criteria, support under the PRIME scheme may be withdrawn.
A “conditional” MA may be granted in cases where all the required safety and efficacy data are not yet available. The European Commission may grant a conditional MA for a medicinal product if it is demonstrated that all of the following criteria are met: (i) the benefit-risk balance of the medicinal product is positive; (ii) it is likely that the applicant will be able to provide comprehensive data post-authorization; (iii) the medicinal product fulfils an unmet medical need; and (iv) the benefit of the immediate availability to patients of the medicinal product is greater than the risk inherent in the fact that additional data are still required. The conditional MA is subject to conditions to be fulfilled for generating the missing data or ensuring increased safety measures. It is valid for one year and must be renewed annually until all related conditions have been fulfilled. Once any pending studies are provided, the conditional MA can be converted into a traditional MA. However, if the conditions are not fulfilled within the timeframe set by the EMA and approved by the European Commission, the MA will cease to be renewed.
An MA may also be granted “under exceptional circumstances” where the applicant can show that it is unable to provide comprehensive data on efficacy and safety under normal conditions of use even after the product has been authorized and subject to specific procedures being introduced. These circumstances may arise in particular when the intended indications are very rare and, in the state of scientific knowledge at that time, it is not possible to provide comprehensive information, or when generating data may be contrary to generally accepted ethical principles. Like a conditional MA, an MA granted in exceptional circumstances is reserved to medicinal products intended to be authorized for treatment of rare diseases or unmet medical needs for which the applicant does not hold a complete data set that is required for the grant of a standard MA. However, unlike the conditional MA, an applicant for authorization in exceptional circumstances is not subsequently required to provide the missing data. Although the MA “under exceptional circumstances” is granted definitively, the risk-benefit balance of the medicinal product is reviewed annually, and the MA will be withdrawn if the risk-benefit ratio is no longer favorable.
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Pediatric development in the EU
In the EU, Regulation (EC) No 1901/2006 provides that all MAAs for new medicinal products have to include the results of trials conducted in the pediatric population, in compliance with a pediatric investigation plan (PIP), agreed with the EMA’s Pediatric Committee (PDCO). The PIP sets out the timing and measures proposed to generate data to support a pediatric indication of the medicinal product for which MA is being sought. The PDCO can grant a deferral of the obligation to implement some or all of the measures provided in the PIP until there are sufficient data to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the product in adults. Further, the obligation to provide pediatric clinical trial data can be waived by the PDCO when these data are not needed or appropriate because the product is likely to be ineffective or unsafe in children, the disease or condition for which the product is intended occurs only in adult populations, or when the product does not represent a significant therapeutic benefit over existing treatments for pediatric patients. Once the MA is obtained in all EU Member States and study results are included in the product information, even when negative, the product is eligible for a six-month extension to the Supplementary Protection Certificate, or SPC, if any is in effect at the time of authorization or, in the case of orphan medicinal products, a two-year extension of orphan market exclusivity.
Data and market exclusivity in the EU
The EU provides opportunities for data and market exclusivity related to MAs. Upon receiving an MA, innovative medicinal products are generally entitled to receive eight years of data exclusivity and 10 years of market exclusivity. Data exclusivity, if granted, prevents regulatory authorities in the EU from referencing the innovator’s data to assess a generic application or biosimilar application for eight years from the date of authorization of the innovative product, after which a generic or biosimilar MAA can be submitted, and the innovator’s data may be referenced. The market exclusivity period prevents a successful generic or biosimilar applicant from commercializing its product in the EU until 10 years have elapsed from the initial MA of the reference product in the EU. The overall ten-year period may, occasionally, be extended for a further year to a maximum of 11 years if, during the first eight years of those ten years, the MA holder obtains an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization, are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies. However, there is no guarantee that a product will be considered by the EU’s regulatory authorities to be a new chemical/biological entity, and products may not qualify for data exclusivity.
Orphan designation in the EU
The European Commission may also grant orphan drug designation to promote the development of products that may offer therapeutic benefits for life-threatening or chronically debilitating conditions affecting not more than five in 10,000 people in the European Union. In addition, orphan drug designation can be granted if the drug is intended for a life threatening, seriously debilitating or serious and chronic condition in the European Union and without incentives it is unlikely that sales of the drug in the European Union would be sufficient to justify developing the drug. Orphan drug designation is only available if there is no other satisfactory method approved in the European Union of diagnosing, preventing or treating the condition, or if such a method exists, the proposed orphan drug will be of significant benefit to patients. Orphan drug designation provides opportunities for free protocol assistance, fee reductions for access to the centralized regulatory procedures and ten years of market exclusivity following drug approval, which can be extended to 12 years if trials are conducted in accordance with an agreed-upon pediatric investigational plan. The exclusivity period may be reduced to six years if the designation criteria are no longer met, including where it is shown that the product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity.
Pricing and reimbursement in the EU
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In the EU, pricing and reimbursement schemes vary widely from country to country. Some EU Member States may approve a specific price for a product, or they may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the product on the market. Other EU Member States allow companies to fix their own prices for products but monitor and control prescription volumes and issue guidance to physicians to limit prescriptions.
In addition, some EU Member States may require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular medicinal product candidate to currently available therapies. This Health Technology Assessment (HTA), process is the procedure according to which the assessment of the public health impact, therapeutic impact and the economic and societal impact of use of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country is conducted. The outcome of HTA regarding specific medicinal products will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these medicinal products by the competent authorities of individual EU Member States. At the EU level, on January 12, 2025,the HTA Regulation entered into application through a phased implementation. The Regulation initially applies to new active substances for oncology and ATMPs. It will be expanded to orphan medicinal products in January 2028, and to all centrally authorized medicinal products as of 2030. Select high-risk medical devices also came into scope in 2026. The HTA Regulation is intended to boost cooperation among EU Member States in assessing health technologies, including new medicinal products. The HTA Regulation establishes a framework for cooperation at EU level for joint clinical assessments, joint scientific consultations, and the early identification of emerging health technologies. The HTA Regulation permits EU Member States to use common tools, methodologies, and procedures and requires them to rely on EU level joint clinical assessment reports for the clinical components of their national HTA evaluations. Individual EU Member States will continue to be responsible for assessing non-clinical (e.g., economic, social, ethical) aspects of health technologies, and making decisions on pricing and reimbursement.
Other compliance requirements in the EU
Much like the Anti-Kickback Statute prohibition in the United States, as described below, the provision of benefits or advantages to physicians and other health care professionals to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order or use of medicinal products is also prohibited in the E.U. Interactions between pharmaceutical companies and health care professionals are governed by strict laws, such as national anti-bribery laws of European countries, national sunshine rules, regulations, industry self-regulation codes of conduct and physicians’ codes of professional conduct. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment. Infringement of related laws could result in substantial fines and imprisonment.
Payments made to physicians and other health care professionals in certain EU Member States must be publicly disclosed. Moreover, agreements with health care professionals may require prior notification or approval by the health care professional’s employer, his or her competent professional organization and/or the regulatory authorities of the individual EU Member States. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment.
Regulatory framework in the United Kingdom
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the United Kingdom’s standalone regulator for medicinal products and medical devices.
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While the United Kingdom’s regulatory framework for clinical trials was historically based on the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004, which implemented the former EU Clinical Trials Directive, this has been significantly reformed by the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) (Amendment) Regulations 2024. The new legislation, which was adopted in April 2025, modernizes the United Kingdom's approach to make it a more attractive location for research, and includes key features such as: (i) a risk-proportionate approach, including a notification scheme for lower-risk trials; (ii) a combined review process integrating ethics committee and regulatory approvals into a single, streamlined pathway; (iii) enhanced transparency requirements mandating registration of clinical trials in a public registry and publication of trial results within 12 months of trial completion (with scope for deferrals in certain circumstances); (iv) greater flexibility to support innovation in clinical trial design; and (v) measures to promote patient and public involvement. The amendments will become applicable on April 28, 2026 following a one-year transition period.
Marketing authorizations in the United Kingdom are governed by the Human Medicines Regulations (SI 2012/1916), as amended. In order to obtain a United Kingdom MA to commercialize products in the United Kingdom, an applicant must be established in the United Kingdom and must follow one of the United Kingdom 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 United Kingdom. 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.
Existing EU marketing authorizations for centrally authorized products were automatically converted into United Kingdom’s marketing authorizations, effective in Great Britain only, free of charge on January 1, 2021, unless the marketing authorization holder opted-out of this possibility. On January 1, 2025, the Windsor Framework came into effect, reintegrating Northern Ireland under the regulatory authority of the MHRA with respect to medicinal products and introducing a United Kingdom-wide licensing process for medicines.
There is no pre-marketing authorization orphan designation for medicinal products in the UK. Instead, the MHRA reviews applications for orphan designation in parallel to the corresponding marketing authorization application. The criteria are essentially the same as those in the EU, but have been tailored for the market. This includes the criterion that prevalence of the condition in the United Kingdom, rather than the EU, must not be more than five in 10,000. Upon the grant of a marketing authorization with orphan status, the medicinal product will benefit from up to 10 years of market exclusivity from similar products in the approved orphan indication. The start of this market exclusivity period will be set from the date of first approval of the product in the United Kingdom.
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For other countries outside of the European Union, such as countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America or Asia, the requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary from country to country. In all major territories, clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with GCP and the applicable regulatory requirements and the ethical principles that have their origin in the Declaration of Helsinki. If we or our potential collaborators fail to comply with applicable foreign regulatory requirements, we may be subject to, among other things, fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution.
Employees and Human Capital
Our commitment to innovation begins with the dedication to creating an environment that attracts and retains highly skilled people, including top scientific talent. This is a critical factor for us in delivering on our mission and creating value for our stakeholders.
We have grown significantly since our initial public offering in November 2020 and have since built a diverse organization, both in our Board of Directors where three global biotech female leaders are seated, and across our employee base. We have been successful in hiring employees with broad experience and backgrounds while facing significant competition for biotechnology talent from both established and early-stage biotechnology companies. Further, we are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area and have operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts—both of which are global biotechnology hubs with many employment choices. Despite the competition, we have been successful in hiring highly qualified staff to join Olema.
As of January 31, 2026, we had 131 employees, all of whom were full time, consisting of clinical, research, operations, regulatory, and administrative personnel. Thirty-eight of our employees hold Ph.D. or M.D. degrees. None of our employees is subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
We strive to create a positive employee experience and we are committed to the health, safety, and well-being of our employees. This commitment is reflected in our ability to attract and retain high performers. We believe we have a robust employment package that promotes well-being across all aspects of our employees’ lives, including healthcare, paid time-off, retirement savings with a company match through a 401(k) plan, our equity incentive plans, and our employee stock purchase plan. The principal purposes of our equity incentive plans are to attract, motivate, and retain our employees and directors through the granting of stock-based compensation awards. From time to time, we may offer additional stock-based compensation awards to our employees to continue to motivate them and support retention, particularly at times when our stock price, or the stock price of biotechnology companies generally, is volatile. We grant stock options to all full-time employees to foster alignment and promote a spirit of ownership.
Corporate Information
We were incorporated in Delaware on August 7, 2006, under the legal name of CombiThera, Inc., and, on March 25, 2009, were renamed Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Available Information
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, are filed with the SEC. Such reports and other information filed by us with the SEC are available free of charge on the Investors section of our website, www.olema.com, when such reports are available on the SEC’s website. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The information contained on the websites referenced in this Annual Report is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, any references to website URLs are intended to be inactive textual references only.
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