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Structure Therapeutics, Inc. Sponsored ADR (GPCR) Risk Analysis
Risk Overview Q2, 2026
Source: the company's latest filing for the period ended Jun 30, 2026, filed Aug 06, 2026
Risk Change Over Time
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 1We are early in our development efforts and only have four product candidates in early clinical development - aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535 and LTSE-2578. All of our other development programs are in the preclinical or discovery stage. If we are unable to advance our product candidates in clinical development, obtain regulatory approval and ultimately commercialize our product candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
We are in the early stages of our development efforts and have four product candidates, aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535 and LTSE-2578, in early clinical development. Our other product candidates are still in the preclinical or discovery stages. We will need to progress our product candidates through ongoing and planned clinical trials and progress our other current and future development programs through preclinical studies and submit INDs to the FDA or appropriate regulatory documents to applicable foreign authorities prior to initiating their clinical development. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of our product candidates. The success of our product candidates will depend on several factors, including the following: - completion of preclinical studies with favorable results;- successful enrollment in, and completion of, clinical trials;- sufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials;- allowance to proceed with clinical trials under INDs by the FDA or under similar regulatory submissions by applicable foreign authorities for the conduct of clinical trials of our product candidates and our proposed design of future clinical trials;- demonstrating the safety and efficacy of our product candidates to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities;- receipt of regulatory approvals from applicable regulatory authorities, including NDAs from the FDA and maintaining such approvals;- making arrangements with third-party manufacturers, or establishing clinical and commercial manufacturing capabilities for our product candidates;- establishing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities and launching commercial sales of our products, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;- establishing and maintaining patent and trade secret protection or regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates;- acceptance of any products we develop and their benefits and uses, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;- effectively competing with other therapies;- obtaining and maintaining healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors;- maintaining an acceptable safety profile of our products following approval; and - building and maintaining an organization of people who can successfully develop our product candidates. We have not yet succeeded and may not succeed in demonstrating efficacy and safety for any product candidates in clinical trials or in obtaining marketing approval thereafter. Given our early stage of development, it will take several years before we can demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a product candidate sufficient to warrant approval for commercialization, if we can do so at all. If we are unable to develop, or obtain marketing approval for, or, if approved, successfully commercialize our product candidates, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to continue our business.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 2Clinical and preclinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain timelines and outcomes. The results of prior clinical trials and preclinical studies are not necessarily predictive of future results, and may not be favorable, or receive regulatory approval on a timely basis, if at all.
Clinical drug development is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Our clinical trials may not be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all, and failure can occur at any time during the preclinical study or clinical trial process. For example, we depend on the availability of non-human primates ("NHPs") to conduct certain preclinical studies that we are required to complete prior to submitting an IND and initiating clinical development. There is currently a global shortage of NHPs available for drug development. This has caused the cost of obtaining NHPs for our preclinical studies to increase dramatically and, if the shortage continues, could also result in delays to our development timelines. Despite promising preclinical or clinical results, any product candidate can unexpectedly fail at any stage of preclinical or clinical development. The historical failure rate for product candidates in our industry is high. Furthermore, the results from clinical trials or preclinical studies of a product candidate may not predict the results of later clinical trials of the product candidate, and interim results of a clinical trial are not necessarily indicative of final results. For example, the preliminary topline nature of aleniglipron results, the length of the trial and sample size may render these results not necessarily indicative of the results for our future clinical trials for aleniglipron and may not be comparable to other weight loss products or product candidates, including other oral selective GLP-1RAs. In addition, given the size of the Phase 2a obesity cohort, the primary efficacy endpoint of weight loss was calculated using LSM and analyzed based on the primary efficacy estimand using a mixed model for repeated measures. This means that we drew on all available data, including data from patients that did not follow-up at 12 weeks. The model estimates how patients with missing data would have responded based on patients who continued the trial and had similar baseline characteristics (implicit imputation). Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy characteristics despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. In particular, while we have conducted, or are conducting certain preclinical studies of our product candidates, the predictive value of these trials with respect to future testing in humans is limited, particularly in indications where animal models are less developed. Even if our clinical trials are completed, the results may not be sufficient to obtain marketing approval for our product candidates. In clinical trials that are based on preclinical studies and early clinical trials, it is not uncommon to observe unexpected results, and many product candidates fail in clinical development despite very promising early results. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data may be susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in clinical development even after achieving promising results in earlier trials. In addition, in some cases, external experts or regulatory authorities disagreed with such companies' views and interpretations of the data and results from earlier preclinical studies or clinical trials. As we investigate aleniglipron for obesity, overweight and related conditions, ACCG-2671 and ACCG-3535 for obesity and overweight, LTSE-2578, our product candidate for IPF, we may encounter new and unforeseen difficulties. Similarly, any future product candidates we may develop may not be able to progress from preclinical to Phase 1 clinical development. For the foregoing reasons, we cannot be certain that our ongoing and planned clinical trials and preclinical studies will be successful. Any of the foregoing occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 3Any difficulties or delays in the commencement or completion, or termination or suspension, of our ongoing and planned clinical trials could result in increased costs to us, delay or limit our ability to generate revenue and adversely affect our commercial prospects.
In order to obtain FDA approval to market our product candidates, we must demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans to the satisfaction of the FDA. To meet these requirements, we will have to conduct adequate and well-controlled clinical trials. In addition, before we can initiate clinical trials for any product candidate, we must submit the results of preclinical studies to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities along with other information, including information about product candidate chemistry, manufacturing and controls and our proposed clinical trial protocol, as part of an IND or similar regulatory submission, and we are also required to submit comparable applications to foreign regulatory authorities for clinical trials outside of the United States. Clinical testing is expensive, time-consuming and subject to uncertainty. Conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials represents a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive process. The length of time may vary substantially according to the type, complexity and novelty of the program, and often can be several years or more per program. Delays associated with programs for which we are directly conducting preclinical studies may cause us to incur additional operating expenses. Clinical trials may not be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. Events that may prevent successful or timely completion of clinical development include: - delays in reaching a consensus with applicable regulatory authorities on trial design or implementation;- delays in obtaining regulatory authorization to commence a clinical trial;- delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations ("CROs"), other vendors, or clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different vendors and trial sites;- delays in obtaining approval from one or more institutional review boards ("IRB") refusing to approve, suspending or terminating the trial at an investigational site, precluding enrollment of additional participants, or withdrawing their approval of the trial;- delays in recruiting suitable patients to participate in our ongoing and planned clinical trials;- changes to the clinical trial protocol;- clinical sites deviating from trial protocol such as the data collection omission we experienced at a clinical site as discussed above or dropping out of a trial;- delays in manufacturing sufficient quantities of our product candidates for use in clinical trials, or delays in sufficiently developing, characterizing or controlling a manufacturing process suitable for clinical trials;- delays in having patients complete participation in a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;- participants choosing an alternative treatment for the indication for which we are developing our product candidates, or participating in competing clinical trials;- lack of adequate funding to continue a clinical trial;- occurrence of adverse events ("AEs") or serious adverse events ("SAEs") associated with the product candidate that are viewed to outweigh its potential benefits;- occurrence of SAEs in clinical trials of the same class of agents conducted by other companies;- imposition of a temporary or permanent clinical hold by regulatory authorities;- selection of clinical trial end points that require prolonged periods of clinical observation or analysis of the resulting data;- clinical trials producing negative or inconclusive results;- a facility manufacturing our product candidates or any of their components being ordered by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities to temporarily or permanently shut down due to violations of current good manufacturing practice ("cGMP") regulations or other applicable requirements, or contamination or cross-contaminations of product candidates in the manufacturing process;- third-party clinical investigators losing the licenses or permits necessary to perform our clinical trials, not performing our clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol or other regulatory requirements or committing fraud; or - changes in regulatory requirements, guidance, or feedback from regulatory agencies that require amending or submitting new clinical protocols or otherwise modifying the design of our clinical trials. We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, by a Data Safety Monitoring Board for such trial or by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. In addition, changes in regulatory requirements and policies may occur, and we may need to amend clinical trial protocols to comply with these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit our clinical trial protocols to IRBs for reexamination and approval, which may impact the costs, timing or successful completion of a clinical trial. Further, conducting clinical trials in foreign countries, as we may do for our product candidates, presents additional risks that may delay completion of our clinical trials. These risks include the failure of enrolled patients in foreign countries to adhere to clinical protocols as a result of differences in healthcare services or cultural customs, managing additional administrative burdens associated with foreign regulatory requirements, as well as political, currency exchange and other economic risks relevant to such foreign countries. Investigators and patients may not be able to comply with clinical trial protocols if quarantines impede patient movement or interrupt healthcare services. Similarly, our ability to recruit and retain patients and principal investigators and site staff may be reduced, which in turn could adversely impact our clinical trial operations. Additionally, we may experience interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring, due to limitations on travel, quarantines or social distancing protocols imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others in connection with public health concerns. We have faced and may continue to face delays in meeting our anticipated timelines for our ongoing and planned clinical trials. We experienced delays in our patient enrollment and our supply chain as a direct result of COVID-19 on our suppliers' ability to timely manufacture and ship certain supplies such as reagents and other lab consumables and due to the data collection omission at a clinical site as discussed above. These delays have previously impacted and could in the future adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Any inability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenue from future product sales and regulatory and commercialization milestones. In addition, if we make manufacturing or formulation changes to our product candidates, we may need to conduct additional testing to bridge our modified product candidate to earlier versions. For example, to facilitate potential commercial-scale manufacturing, we expect to transition from capsule formulations of our product candidates used for early clinical trials to tablet formulations, including the addition of excipients, in later stage clinical trials. While these formulation transitions are common for small molecule drug candidates, we cannot guarantee that we will not encounter delays or unexpected results in bridging trials or implementing necessary changes to the manufacturing process. Clinical trial delays could also shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, or allow our competitors to bring comparable products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 4Enrollment and retention of patients in clinical trials is an expensive and time-consuming process and could be made more difficult or rendered impossible by multiple factors outside our control, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects.
Patient enrollment is a significant factor impacting the duration of our clinical trials, along with treatment duration and completion of required follow-up periods. Clinical trials may be prolonged, or we may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate as required by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities. For certain of our product candidates, the conditions which we may evaluate include rare diseases with limited patient pools from which to draw. In some cases, patient populations for rare diseases are located at specific academic sites focused on such indications, often with multiple competing clinical trials. Potential patients for any planned clinical trials may not be adequately diagnosed or identified with the diseases which we are targeting or may not meet the entry criteria for such trials. We also may encounter difficulties in identifying and enrolling patients with a stage of disease appropriate for our planned clinical trials and monitoring such patients adequately during and after treatment. As noted above, other pharmaceutical companies targeting these same diseases are recruiting clinical trial patients from these patient populations, which may make it more difficult to fully enroll our clinical trials. In addition, the process of finding and diagnosing patients may prove costly. The eligibility criteria of our clinical trials, once established, may further limit the pool of available trial participants. If the actual number of patients with these diseases is smaller than we anticipate, we may encounter difficulties in enrolling patients in our clinical trials, thereby delaying or preventing development and approval of our product candidates. Even once enrolled we may be unable to retain a sufficient number of patients to complete any of our trials. The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the trial until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment or retention in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. Patient enrollment and retention in clinical trials depends on many factors, including: - the size and nature of the patient population;- the severity of the disease under investigation;- the design of the trial protocol;- the existing body of safety and efficacy data for the product candidate;- the number and nature of competing treatments and ongoing clinical trials of competing therapies for the same indication;- the proximity of patients to clinical sites;- the eligibility criteria for the trial;- the ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;- the ability to adequately monitor patients during a trial, clinicians' and patients' perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied;- the risk that patients will drop out of a trial before completing all site visits; and - clinicians' and patients' perceptions as to the potential advantages of the drug being studied in relation to other available therapies. Furthermore, our efforts to build relationships with patient communities may not succeed, which could result in delays in patient enrollment in our clinical trials. If we encounter any delays in enrolling such additional participants, this may further delay our clinical trial. In addition, any negative results we may report in clinical trials of our product candidate may make it difficult or impossible to recruit and retain patients in other clinical trials of that same product candidate. Delays or failures in planned patient enrollment or retention may result in increased costs, program delays or both, which could have a harmful effect on our ability to develop our product candidates, or could render further development impossible. For example, the impact of public health epidemics may delay or prevent patients from enrolling or from receiving treatment in accordance with the protocol and the required timelines, which could delay our clinical trials, or prevent us or our partners from completing our clinical trials at all, and harm our ability to obtain approval for such product candidate. Further, if patients drop out of our clinical trials, miss scheduled doses or follow-up visits, or otherwise fail to follow clinical trial protocols, the integrity of data from our clinical trials may be compromised or not accepted by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities, which would represent a significant setback for the applicable program. In addition, we may rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure proper and timely conduct of our current and future clinical trials and, while we have entered and intend to enter into agreements governing their services, we will be limited in our ability to compel their actual performance. Such delays or failures could adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 5As an organization, we have never conducted later-stage clinical trials or submitted an NDA and may be unable to do so for any of our product candidates.
We are early in our development efforts for our product candidates, and we will need to successfully complete pivotal clinical trials in order to seek FDA or applicable foreign authority approval to market aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535, LTSE-2578 and any future product candidates we may develop. Carrying out clinical trials and the submission of NDAs is complicated. We have not conducted any later stage or pivotal clinical trials, have limited experience as a company in preparing, submitting and prosecuting regulatory filings and have not previously submitted an NDA or other applicable foreign regulatory submission for any product candidate. We also plan to conduct a number of clinical trials for multiple product candidates in parallel over the next several years. This may be a difficult process to manage with our limited resources and may divert the attention of management. In addition, we are currently planning for later stage interactions with FDA, and other foreign regulatory agencies; however, we cannot guarantee timely feedback or alignment on our clinical trial designs, Phase 3 dose rationale and overall size of the data base needed for any future marketing applications. Consequently, we may be unable to successfully and efficiently execute and complete necessary clinical trials in a way that leads to regulatory submission and approval of any of our product candidates. We may require more time and incur greater costs than our competitors and may not succeed in obtaining marketing approvals of product candidates that we develop. Failure to commence or complete, or delays in, our planned clinical trials, could prevent us from or delay us in submitting NDAs for and commercializing our product candidates.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 6We have conducted, or plan to conduct, our initial clinical trials for aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535, LTSE-2578 and our other product candidates outside of the United States. However, the FDA and other foreign equivalents may not accept data from such trials, in which case our development plans will be delayed, which could materially harm our business.
We have conducted our initial clinical trials for aleniglipron in Australia, and may conduct our Phase 1 trials for other drug candidates in Australia, China or other foreign countries. The acceptance of trial data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States or another jurisdiction by the FDA or applicable foreign authority may be subject to certain conditions or may not be accepted at all. In cases where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the sole basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will generally not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless (i) the data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; (ii) the trials were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence and pursuant to good clinical practices ("GCP") regulations; and (iii) the data may be considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA, or if the FDA considers such inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means. In addition, even where the foreign trial data are not intended to serve as the sole basis for approval, the FDA will not accept the data as support for an application for marketing approval unless the trial is well-designed and well-conducted in accordance with GCP requirements and the FDA is able to validate the data from the trial through an onsite inspection if deemed necessary. Many foreign regulatory authorities have similar approval requirements. In addition, such foreign trials would be subject to the applicable local laws of the foreign jurisdictions where the trials are conducted. There can be no assurance that the FDA or any applicable foreign authority will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States or the applicable jurisdiction. If the FDA or any applicable foreign authority does not accept such data, it would result in the need for additional trials, which could be costly and time-consuming, and which may result in current or future product candidates that we may develop not receiving approval for commercialization in the applicable jurisdiction. We believe that clinical data generated in Australia and China or other foreign countries will be accepted by the FDA and its foreign equivalents; however, there can be no assurance the FDA or applicable foreign authorities will accept data from any other clinical trials that we may conduct in Australia, China or other foreign countries. If the FDA or applicable foreign authorities do not accept any such data, we would likely be required to conduct additional Phase 1 clinical trials, which would be costly and time consuming, and delay aspects of our development plan, which could harm our business. Conducting clinical trials outside the United States exposes us to additional risks, including risks associated with: - additional foreign regulatory requirements;- foreign exchange fluctuations;- compliance with foreign manufacturing, customs, shipment and storage requirements;- cultural differences in medical practice and clinical research; and - diminished protection of intellectual property in some countries.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 7Preliminary, topline and interim data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, preliminary or topline data from our clinical trials, which are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the topline or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same trials, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Topline and preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the topline or preliminary data we previously made public. As a result, topline and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. From time to time, we may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse differences between topline, preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects. For example, topline results and the length of the study and sample size may render the results of our prior aleniglipron trials not necessarily indicative of the results for our future clinical trials for aleniglipron and may not be comparable to other weight loss products or product candidates, including other oral selective GLP-1RAs. In addition, given the size of the Phase 2a obesity cohort, the primary efficacy endpoint of weight loss was calculated using LSM and analyzed based on the primary efficacy estimand using a mixed model for repeated measures. This means that we drew on all available data, including data from patients that did not follow-up at 12 weeks. The model estimates how patients with missing data would have responded based on patients who continued the trial and had similar baseline characteristics (implicit imputation). Due to the preliminary nature of these results and the length of the trial and sample size, these results are not necessarily indicative of the final results for our clinical trials for aleniglipron. If the final data is materially different from the preliminary topline data reported, this could significantly harm our business prospects. Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular product, product candidate or our business. If the topline or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, our product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition.
Risk Highlights Q2, 2026
Risk Word Cloud
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 102
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 1We conduct certain research and development operations through our Australian wholly-owned subsidiaries. We have voluntarily refunded a research and development tax credit previously received under Australian regulations. If we lose our ability to operate in Australia, or if any of our subsidiaries are unable to receive the research and development tax credit allowed by Australian regulations, or are required to refund any research and development tax credit previously received or reserve for such credit in our financial statements, our business and results of operations could suffer.
In 2021, we formed two wholly-owned Australian subsidiaries, Annapurna Bio Pty Limited ("Annapurna AU") and Gasherbrum Bio Pty Limited ("Gasherbrum AU"), to conduct various preclinical and clinical activities for our product and development candidates in Australia. Due to the geographical distance and lack of employees currently in Australia, as well as our lack of experience operating in Australia, we may not be able to efficiently or successfully monitor, develop and commercialize our lead products in Australia, including conducting clinical trials. Furthermore, we have no assurance that the results of any clinical trials that we conduct for our product candidates in Australia will be accepted by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities. In addition, current Australian tax regulations provide for a refundable research and development tax credit equal to 43.5% of qualified expenditures. Although we have previously claimed a refundable research and development tax credit there is a possibility that we may not be able to claim such credit or we might qualify for a lesser credit. If we lose our ability to operate Annapurna AU or Gasherbrum AU in Australia, or if in the future we are ineligible or unable to receive the research and development tax credit or are required to refund any research and development tax credit previously received or have to reserve for such credit in our financial statements, or if the Australian government significantly reduces or eliminates the tax credit, our business and results of operation may be adversely affected.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 2The adoption and deployment of AI in our, and any third-party collaborators' operations, and in particular our and any third-party collaborators' R&D efforts to explore new targets and develop effective products, may not be effective and may expose us to risk.
The industry in which we compete is characterized by rapid technological advancements, frequent introductions of new products and heavy competition. The discovery of new products and targets remain vital to our success and the implementation by us and by any third-party collaborators of AI technologies and processes, including advanced predictive analytics, computational approaches for drug discovery and so-called "generative" AI, has the potential to provide significant benefits in these areas. Use of AI in our efforts may be difficult to deploy successfully due to operational issues inherent in such methods. In particular, the AI algorithms utilize machine learning and predictive analytics which may lead to flawed, biased, and inaccurate results, which could lead to ineffective product or target candidates and exposure to competitive and reputational harm. We face increased competition from other companies that are using AI and related methods for drug discovery, some of which have more resources than we do and may have developed more effective methods than we and any third-party collaborators have, which may reduce our and any third-party collaborator's effectiveness in identifying potential targets and attracting additional collaborators to work with us. Even with the successful implementation of AI, we may fail to correctly identify indications and allocate resources efficiently, which could adversely impact our pipeline and ability to compete effectively. Further, AI presents additional risks and challenges, especially as the use of these technologies becomes more important to our operations over time. Generative AI may be used improperly or inappropriately which could lead to the tainting of our proprietary information and render us unable to qualify for patent protection. Their use by people, including our vendors, employees, suppliers and contractors, with access to our proprietary and confidential information, including trade secrets, may continue to increase and may lead to the release of such information, which may impact our ability to realize the benefit of our intellectual property. Our use of generative AI platforms may lead to novel and urgent cybersecurity risks, which may adversely affect our operations and reputation, as well as the operations of any third-party collaborators. Emerging ethical issues surround the use of AI, and we may be subject to reputational and legal risk if our deployment or use of AI becomes controversial. Regulators could limit our, or any third-party collaborator's ability to develop or implement AI-based technologies as part of measures taken against us or any third-party collaborators in particular or as a consequence of broader legislation, which could have an adverse effect on our or any third-party collaborators' business, results of operations and financial conditions. Several jurisdictions around the globe, including Europe and certain U.S. states, have proposed, enacted, or are considering laws governing the development and use of AI/Machine Learning, such as the EU's AI Act and the Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act. For example, the EU AI Act sets out a risk-based framework, subjecting certain AI technologies to numerous compliance obligations, including transparency, conformity and risk assessment, monitoring and human oversight requirements. Under the EU AI Act, non-compliant companies may be subject to administrative fines of up to 35 million Euros or 7% of a company's total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is the higher. Certain of our activities subject us to the EU AI Act and depending on how the EU AI Act is implemented and interpreted, we may have to adapt our business practices, contractual arrangements, and services to comply with such obligations. We expect other jurisdictions will adopt similar laws. Uncertainty in the legal regulatory regime may require significant resources to modify and maintain business practices to comply with U.S. and non-U.S. laws, the nature of which cannot be determined at this time.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 3ChangedWe are early in our development efforts and only have four product candidates in early clinical development - aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535 and LTSE-2578. All of our other development programs are in the preclinical or discovery stage. If we are unable to advance our product candidates in clinical development, obtain regulatory approval and ultimately commercialize our product candidates, or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.
We are in the early stages of our development efforts and have four product candidates, aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535 and LTSE-2578, in early clinical development. Our other product candidates are still in the preclinical or discovery stages. We will need to progress our product candidates through ongoing and planned clinical trials and progress our other current and future development programs through preclinical studies and submit INDs to the FDA or appropriate regulatory documents to applicable foreign authorities prior to initiating their clinical development. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of our product candidates. The success of our product candidates will depend on several factors, including the following: - completion of preclinical studies with favorable results;- successful enrollment in, and completion of, clinical trials;- sufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary preclinical studies and clinical trials;- allowance to proceed with clinical trials under INDs by the FDA or under similar regulatory submissions by applicable foreign authorities for the conduct of clinical trials of our product candidates and our proposed design of future clinical trials;- demonstrating the safety and efficacy of our product candidates to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities;- receipt of regulatory approvals from applicable regulatory authorities, including NDAs from the FDA and maintaining such approvals;- making arrangements with third-party manufacturers, or establishing clinical and commercial manufacturing capabilities for our product candidates;- establishing sales, marketing and distribution capabilities and launching commercial sales of our products, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;- establishing and maintaining patent and trade secret protection or regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates;- acceptance of any products we develop and their benefits and uses, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors;- effectively competing with other therapies;- obtaining and maintaining healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors;- maintaining an acceptable safety profile of our products following approval; and - building and maintaining an organization of people who can successfully develop our product candidates. We have not yet succeeded and may not succeed in demonstrating efficacy and safety for any product candidates in clinical trials or in obtaining marketing approval thereafter. Given our early stage of development, it will take several years before we can demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a product candidate sufficient to warrant approval for commercialization, if we can do so at all. If we are unable to develop, or obtain marketing approval for, or, if approved, successfully commercialize our product candidates, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to continue our business.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 4ChangedClinical and preclinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain timelines and outcomes. The results of prior clinical trials and preclinical studies are not necessarily predictive of future results, and may not be favorable, or receive regulatory approval on a timely basis, if at all.
Clinical drug development is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Our clinical trials may not be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all, and failure can occur at any time during the preclinical study or clinical trial process. For example, we depend on the availability of non-human primates ("NHPs") to conduct certain preclinical studies that we are required to complete prior to submitting an IND and initiating clinical development. There is currently a global shortage of NHPs available for drug development. This has caused the cost of obtaining NHPs for our preclinical studies to increase dramatically and, if the shortage continues, could also result in delays to our development timelines. Despite promising preclinical or clinical results, any product candidate can unexpectedly fail at any stage of preclinical or clinical development. The historical failure rate for product candidates in our industry is high. Furthermore, the results from clinical trials or preclinical studies of a product candidate may not predict the results of later clinical trials of the product candidate, and interim results of a clinical trial are not necessarily indicative of final results. For example, the preliminary topline nature of aleniglipron results, the length of the trial and sample size may render these results not necessarily indicative of the results for our future clinical trials for aleniglipron and may not be comparable to other weight loss products or product candidates, including other oral selective GLP-1RAs. In addition, given the size of the Phase 2a obesity cohort, the primary efficacy endpoint of weight loss was calculated using LSM and analyzed based on the primary efficacy estimand using a mixed model for repeated measures. This means that we drew on all available data, including data from patients that did not follow-up at 12 weeks. The model estimates how patients with missing data would have responded based on patients who continued the trial and had similar baseline characteristics (implicit imputation). Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy characteristics despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. In particular, while we have conducted, or are conducting certain preclinical studies of our product candidates, the predictive value of these trials with respect to future testing in humans is limited, particularly in indications where animal models are less developed. Even if our clinical trials are completed, the results may not be sufficient to obtain marketing approval for our product candidates. In clinical trials that are based on preclinical studies and early clinical trials, it is not uncommon to observe unexpected results, and many product candidates fail in clinical development despite very promising early results. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data may be susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses. A number of companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in clinical development even after achieving promising results in earlier trials. In addition, in some cases, external experts or regulatory authorities disagreed with such companies' views and interpretations of the data and results from earlier preclinical studies or clinical trials. As we investigate aleniglipron for obesity, overweight and related conditions, ACCG-2671 and ACCG-3535 for obesity and overweight, LTSE-2578, our product candidate for IPF, we may encounter new and unforeseen difficulties. Similarly, any future product candidates we may develop may not be able to progress from preclinical to Phase 1 clinical development. For the foregoing reasons, we cannot be certain that our ongoing and planned clinical trials and preclinical studies will be successful. Any of the foregoing occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 5ChangedAny difficulties or delays in the commencement or completion, or termination or suspension, of our ongoing and planned clinical trials could result in increased costs to us, delay or limit our ability to generate revenue and adversely affect our commercial prospects.
In order to obtain FDA approval to market our product candidates, we must demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans to the satisfaction of the FDA. To meet these requirements, we will have to conduct adequate and well-controlled clinical trials. In addition, before we can initiate clinical trials for any product candidate, we must submit the results of preclinical studies to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities along with other information, including information about product candidate chemistry, manufacturing and controls and our proposed clinical trial protocol, as part of an IND or similar regulatory submission, and we are also required to submit comparable applications to foreign regulatory authorities for clinical trials outside of the United States. Clinical testing is expensive, time-consuming and subject to uncertainty. Conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials represents a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive process. The length of time may vary substantially according to the type, complexity and novelty of the program, and often can be several years or more per program. Delays associated with programs for which we are directly conducting preclinical studies may cause us to incur additional operating expenses. Clinical trials may not be conducted as planned or completed on schedule, if at all. Events that may prevent successful or timely completion of clinical development include: - delays in reaching a consensus with applicable regulatory authorities on trial design or implementation;- delays in obtaining regulatory authorization to commence a clinical trial;- delays in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations ("CROs"), other vendors, or clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different vendors and trial sites;- delays in obtaining approval from one or more institutional review boards ("IRB") refusing to approve, suspending or terminating the trial at an investigational site, precluding enrollment of additional participants, or withdrawing their approval of the trial;- delays in recruiting suitable patients to participate in our ongoing and planned clinical trials;- changes to the clinical trial protocol;- clinical sites deviating from trial protocol such as the data collection omission we experienced at a clinical site as discussed above or dropping out of a trial;- delays in manufacturing sufficient quantities of our product candidates for use in clinical trials, or delays in sufficiently developing, characterizing or controlling a manufacturing process suitable for clinical trials;- delays in having patients complete participation in a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;- participants choosing an alternative treatment for the indication for which we are developing our product candidates, or participating in competing clinical trials;- lack of adequate funding to continue a clinical trial;- occurrence of adverse events ("AEs") or serious adverse events ("SAEs") associated with the product candidate that are viewed to outweigh its potential benefits;- occurrence of SAEs in clinical trials of the same class of agents conducted by other companies;- imposition of a temporary or permanent clinical hold by regulatory authorities;- selection of clinical trial end points that require prolonged periods of clinical observation or analysis of the resulting data;- clinical trials producing negative or inconclusive results;- a facility manufacturing our product candidates or any of their components being ordered by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities to temporarily or permanently shut down due to violations of current good manufacturing practice ("cGMP") regulations or other applicable requirements, or contamination or cross-contaminations of product candidates in the manufacturing process;- third-party clinical investigators losing the licenses or permits necessary to perform our clinical trials, not performing our clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol or other regulatory requirements or committing fraud; or - changes in regulatory requirements, guidance, or feedback from regulatory agencies that require amending or submitting new clinical protocols or otherwise modifying the design of our clinical trials. We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, by a Data Safety Monitoring Board for such trial or by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. In addition, changes in regulatory requirements and policies may occur, and we may need to amend clinical trial protocols to comply with these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit our clinical trial protocols to IRBs for reexamination and approval, which may impact the costs, timing or successful completion of a clinical trial. Further, conducting clinical trials in foreign countries, as we may do for our product candidates, presents additional risks that may delay completion of our clinical trials. These risks include the failure of enrolled patients in foreign countries to adhere to clinical protocols as a result of differences in healthcare services or cultural customs, managing additional administrative burdens associated with foreign regulatory requirements, as well as political, currency exchange and other economic risks relevant to such foreign countries. Investigators and patients may not be able to comply with clinical trial protocols if quarantines impede patient movement or interrupt healthcare services. Similarly, our ability to recruit and retain patients and principal investigators and site staff may be reduced, which in turn could adversely impact our clinical trial operations. Additionally, we may experience interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring, due to limitations on travel, quarantines or social distancing protocols imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others in connection with public health concerns. We have faced and may continue to face delays in meeting our anticipated timelines for our ongoing and planned clinical trials. We experienced delays in our patient enrollment and our supply chain as a direct result of COVID-19 on our suppliers' ability to timely manufacture and ship certain supplies such as reagents and other lab consumables and due to the data collection omission at a clinical site as discussed above. These delays have previously impacted and could in the future adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Any inability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development could result in additional costs to us or impair our ability to generate revenue from future product sales and regulatory and commercialization milestones. In addition, if we make manufacturing or formulation changes to our product candidates, we may need to conduct additional testing to bridge our modified product candidate to earlier versions. For example, to facilitate potential commercial-scale manufacturing, we expect to transition from capsule formulations of our product candidates used for early clinical trials to tablet formulations, including the addition of excipients, in later stage clinical trials. While these formulation transitions are common for small molecule drug candidates, we cannot guarantee that we will not encounter delays or unexpected results in bridging trials or implementing necessary changes to the manufacturing process. Clinical trial delays could also shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates, if approved, or allow our competitors to bring comparable products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 6ChangedEnrollment and retention of patients in clinical trials is an expensive and time-consuming process and could be made more difficult or rendered impossible by multiple factors outside our control, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects.
Patient enrollment is a significant factor impacting the duration of our clinical trials, along with treatment duration and completion of required follow-up periods. Clinical trials may be prolonged, or we may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate as required by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities. For certain of our product candidates, the conditions which we may evaluate include rare diseases with limited patient pools from which to draw. In some cases, patient populations for rare diseases are located at specific academic sites focused on such indications, often with multiple competing clinical trials. Potential patients for any planned clinical trials may not be adequately diagnosed or identified with the diseases which we are targeting or may not meet the entry criteria for such trials. We also may encounter difficulties in identifying and enrolling patients with a stage of disease appropriate for our planned clinical trials and monitoring such patients adequately during and after treatment. As noted above, other pharmaceutical companies targeting these same diseases are recruiting clinical trial patients from these patient populations, which may make it more difficult to fully enroll our clinical trials. In addition, the process of finding and diagnosing patients may prove costly. The eligibility criteria of our clinical trials, once established, may further limit the pool of available trial participants. If the actual number of patients with these diseases is smaller than we anticipate, we may encounter difficulties in enrolling patients in our clinical trials, thereby delaying or preventing development and approval of our product candidates. Even once enrolled we may be unable to retain a sufficient number of patients to complete any of our trials. The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the trial until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment or retention in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. Patient enrollment and retention in clinical trials depends on many factors, including: - the size and nature of the patient population;- the severity of the disease under investigation;- the design of the trial protocol;- the existing body of safety and efficacy data for the product candidate;- the number and nature of competing treatments and ongoing clinical trials of competing therapies for the same indication;- the proximity of patients to clinical sites;- the eligibility criteria for the trial;- the ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;- the ability to adequately monitor patients during a trial, clinicians' and patients' perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied;- the risk that patients will drop out of a trial before completing all site visits; and - clinicians' and patients' perceptions as to the potential advantages of the drug being studied in relation to other available therapies. Furthermore, our efforts to build relationships with patient communities may not succeed, which could result in delays in patient enrollment in our clinical trials. If we encounter any delays in enrolling such additional participants, this may further delay our clinical trial. In addition, any negative results we may report in clinical trials of our product candidate may make it difficult or impossible to recruit and retain patients in other clinical trials of that same product candidate. Delays or failures in planned patient enrollment or retention may result in increased costs, program delays or both, which could have a harmful effect on our ability to develop our product candidates, or could render further development impossible. For example, the impact of public health epidemics may delay or prevent patients from enrolling or from receiving treatment in accordance with the protocol and the required timelines, which could delay our clinical trials, or prevent us or our partners from completing our clinical trials at all, and harm our ability to obtain approval for such product candidate. Further, if patients drop out of our clinical trials, miss scheduled doses or follow-up visits, or otherwise fail to follow clinical trial protocols, the integrity of data from our clinical trials may be compromised or not accepted by the FDA or applicable foreign authorities, which would represent a significant setback for the applicable program. In addition, we may rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure proper and timely conduct of our current and future clinical trials and, while we have entered and intend to enter into agreements governing their services, we will be limited in our ability to compel their actual performance. Such delays or failures could adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 7ChangedAs an organization, we have never conducted later-stage clinical trials or submitted an NDA and may be unable to do so for any of our product candidates.
We are early in our development efforts for our product candidates, and we will need to successfully complete pivotal clinical trials in order to seek FDA or applicable foreign authority approval to market aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535, LTSE-2578 and any future product candidates we may develop. Carrying out clinical trials and the submission of NDAs is complicated. We have not conducted any later stage or pivotal clinical trials, have limited experience as a company in preparing, submitting and prosecuting regulatory filings and have not previously submitted an NDA or other applicable foreign regulatory submission for any product candidate. We also plan to conduct a number of clinical trials for multiple product candidates in parallel over the next several years. This may be a difficult process to manage with our limited resources and may divert the attention of management. In addition, we are currently planning for later stage interactions with FDA, and other foreign regulatory agencies; however, we cannot guarantee timely feedback or alignment on our clinical trial designs, Phase 3 dose rationale and overall size of the data base needed for any future marketing applications. Consequently, we may be unable to successfully and efficiently execute and complete necessary clinical trials in a way that leads to regulatory submission and approval of any of our product candidates. We may require more time and incur greater costs than our competitors and may not succeed in obtaining marketing approvals of product candidates that we develop. Failure to commence or complete, or delays in, our planned clinical trials, could prevent us from or delay us in submitting NDAs for and commercializing our product candidates.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 8ChangedWe have conducted, or plan to conduct, our initial clinical trials for aleniglipron, ACCG-2671, ACCG-3535, LTSE-2578 and our other product candidates outside of the United States. However, the FDA and other foreign equivalents may not accept data from such trials, in which case our development plans will be delayed, which could materially harm our business.
We have conducted our initial clinical trials for aleniglipron in Australia, and may conduct our Phase 1 trials for other drug candidates in Australia, China or other foreign countries. The acceptance of trial data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States or another jurisdiction by the FDA or applicable foreign authority may be subject to certain conditions or may not be accepted at all. In cases where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the sole basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will generally not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless (i) the data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; (ii) the trials were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence and pursuant to good clinical practices ("GCP") regulations; and (iii) the data may be considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA, or if the FDA considers such inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means. In addition, even where the foreign trial data are not intended to serve as the sole basis for approval, the FDA will not accept the data as support for an application for marketing approval unless the trial is well-designed and well-conducted in accordance with GCP requirements and the FDA is able to validate the data from the trial through an onsite inspection if deemed necessary. Many foreign regulatory authorities have similar approval requirements. In addition, such foreign trials would be subject to the applicable local laws of the foreign jurisdictions where the trials are conducted. There can be no assurance that the FDA or any applicable foreign authority will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States or the applicable jurisdiction. If the FDA or any applicable foreign authority does not accept such data, it would result in the need for additional trials, which could be costly and time-consuming, and which may result in current or future product candidates that we may develop not receiving approval for commercialization in the applicable jurisdiction. We believe that clinical data generated in Australia and China or other foreign countries will be accepted by the FDA and its foreign equivalents; however, there can be no assurance the FDA or applicable foreign authorities will accept data from any other clinical trials that we may conduct in Australia, China or other foreign countries. If the FDA or applicable foreign authorities do not accept any such data, we would likely be required to conduct additional Phase 1 clinical trials, which would be costly and time consuming, and delay aspects of our development plan, which could harm our business. Conducting clinical trials outside the United States exposes us to additional risks, including risks associated with: - additional foreign regulatory requirements;- foreign exchange fluctuations;- compliance with foreign manufacturing, customs, shipment and storage requirements;- cultural differences in medical practice and clinical research; and - diminished protection of intellectual property in some countries.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 9ChangedPreliminary, topline and interim data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.
From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, preliminary or topline data from our clinical trials, which are based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the topline or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same trials, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Topline and preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the topline or preliminary data we previously made public. As a result, topline and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. From time to time, we may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse differences between topline, preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects. For example, topline results and the length of the study and sample size may render the results of our prior aleniglipron trials not necessarily indicative of the results for our future clinical trials for aleniglipron and may not be comparable to other weight loss products or product candidates, including other oral selective GLP-1RAs. In addition, given the size of the Phase 2a obesity cohort, the primary efficacy endpoint of weight loss was calculated using LSM and analyzed based on the primary efficacy estimand using a mixed model for repeated measures. This means that we drew on all available data, including data from patients that did not follow-up at 12 weeks. The model estimates how patients with missing data would have responded based on patients who continued the trial and had similar baseline characteristics (implicit imputation). Due to the preliminary nature of these results and the length of the trial and sample size, these results are not necessarily indicative of the final results for our clinical trials for aleniglipron. If the final data is materially different from the preliminary topline data reported, this could significantly harm our business prospects. Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular product, product candidate or our business. If the topline or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, our product candidates may be harmed, which could harm our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 10Our approach to the discovery of product candidates based on our technology platform is unproven, and we do not know whether we will be able to develop any products of commercial value.
The success of our business depends primarily upon our ability to identify novel product candidates based on our structure-based drug discovery platform and to successfully develop and commercialize those product candidates. While we have had favorable preclinical study and topline clinical trial results for certain of our development programs, we have not yet succeeded and may not succeed in demonstrating efficacy and safety for any product candidates in clinical trials or in obtaining marketing approvals or in commercializing such product candidates. We also may be unsuccessful in identifying additional product candidates using our platform, and any of our product candidates may be shown to have harmful side effects or may have other characteristics that may necessitate additional clinical testing, or make the product candidates unmarketable or unlikely to receive marketing approval. In particular, because all of our product candidates have been derived from our structure-based drug discovery platform, any failure of one of our development programs could create a perception that our other programs are less likely to succeed or that our discovery platform is not viable. Similarly, adverse developments with respect to other companies that attempt to use a similar approach to our approach may adversely impact the actual or perceived value and potential of our discovery platform and resulting product candidates. If any of these events occur, our ability to successfully discover, develop and commercialize any product candidates may be impaired and the value of our company could decline significantly.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 11Serious adverse events, undesirable side effects or other unexpected properties of our product candidates may be identified during development or after approval, which could lead to the discontinuation of our clinical development programs, refusal by regulatory authorities to approve our product candidates or, if discovered following marketing approval, revocation of marketing authorizations or limitations on the use of our product candidates, any of which would limit the commercial potential of such product candidate.
During the conduct of clinical trials, patients report changes in their health, including illnesses, injuries and discomforts, to their doctor. Often, it is not possible to determine whether or not the product candidate being studied caused these conditions. Regulatory authorities may draw different conclusions or require additional testing to confirm these determinations, if they occur. In addition, it is possible that as we test our product candidates in larger, longer and more extensive clinical trials with a broader group of patients, or as use of these product candidates becomes more widespread if they receive marketing approval, illnesses, injuries, discomforts and other AEs that were observed in earlier trials, as well as conditions that did not occur or went undetected in previous trials, will be reported by participants. Many times, side effects are only detectable after investigational product candidates are tested in large-scale, Phase 3 trials or, in some cases, after they are made available to patients on a commercial scale after approval. If additional clinical experience indicates that any of our current product candidates and any future product candidates has serious or life-threatening side effects or other side effects that outweigh the potential therapeutic benefit, the development of the product candidate may fail or be delayed, or, if the product candidate has received marketing approval, such approval may be revoked, which would harm our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. In particular, because we are developing our product candidates for chronic indications, the FDA and applicable foreign authorities will likely require that our product candidates demonstrate a higher level of safety over a longer period of time than would be the case for product candidates intended for short-term use. Moreover, if we elect, or are required, to delay, suspend or terminate any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate revenue through their sale may be delayed or eliminated. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly. Moreover, if any of our product candidates are associated with undesirable side effects in clinical trials or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may elect to abandon their development or limit their development to more narrow uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective, which may limit the commercial value for the product candidate if approved. We may also be required to modify our trial plans based on findings in our ongoing clinical trials. In our completed Phase 1 SAD and Phase 1b MAD trial of aleniglipron, the following adverse events occurred and were considered probably or possibly related to the trial drug: nausea, headache, vomiting, dehydration, decreased appetite, dizziness, and diarrhea. In our completed Phase 2a trial of aleniglipron, the following adverse events occurred and were considered probably or possibly related to the trial drug: nausea, headache, vomiting, decreased appetite, dyspepsia, and diarrhea. In our aleniglipron ACCESS II trial, the following adverse events occurred and were considered probably or possibly related to the trial drug: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, constipation and abdominal distention. However, further analysis may reveal AEs inconsistent with the safety results observed. Many compounds that initially showed promise in early-stage testing have later been found to cause side effects that prevented further development of the compound. In addition, regulatory authorities may draw different conclusions or require additional testing to confirm these determinations. In addition, if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval, the FDA could require us to include a black box warning in our label or adopt a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy ("REMS"), to ensure that the benefits outweigh its risks, which may include, among other things, a medication guide outlining the risks of the drug for distribution to patients and a communication plan to health care practitioners. For example, the FDA has required that the product labels of approved drugs targeting GLP-1R include a black box warning related to the risk of thyroid C-cell tumors based on rodent carcinogenicity trials. While we have not yet conducted carcinogenicity trials for aleniglipron, because it also targets GLP-1R, it is possible that absent compelling data to the contrary, the FDA and applicable foreign authorities will similarly require a black box warning for aleniglipron if it is approved for marketing. Furthermore, if we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by our product candidates, several other potentially significant negative consequences could result, including: - regulatory authorities may suspend or withdraw approvals of such product candidate;- regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the label, including "boxed" warnings, or issue safety alerts, Dear Healthcare Provider letters, press releases or other communications containing warnings or other safety information about the product;- we may be required to change the way a product candidate is administered or conduct additional clinical trials;- we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;- we could be subject to fines, injunctions, or the imposition of criminal or civil penalties;- we may need to conduct a recall;- we may be forced to suspend marketing of that product, or decide to remove the product from the marketplace; and - the product may become less competitive, and our reputation may suffer. Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of our product candidates and could significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
- Innovation / R&D - Risk 12We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on specific product candidates, indications and discovery programs. Correctly prioritizing our research and development activities is particularly important for us due to the breadth of potential product candidates and indications that we believe could be pursued using our platform technologies. As a result, we may forgo or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates that could have had greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through future collaborations, licenses and other similar arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate. In addition, in recent years, a number of companies have entered the drug discovery industry utilizing different artificial intelligence ("AI") approaches. The success of other such AI approaches to drug discovery could create more competition for us. We believe that we must continue to invest a significant amount of time and resources in our platform technologies to maintain and improve our competitive position.
See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.
