Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)1
Registration No. 333-186516
PROSPECTUS
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC.
23,529,411 Units
Each Unit Consisting of One Share of Common Stock
and
0.75 of a Warrant to Purchase One Share of Common Stock
We are offering 23,529,411 units, each of which consists of one share of our common stock, par value $0.00005 per share, and 0.75 of a warrant to purchase one share of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.25 per share. The warrants will be immediately exercisable and will expire on the third anniversary of the issuance date. No units will be issued, however, and purchasers will receive only shares of common stock and warrants. The common stock and the warrants may be transferred separately immediately upon issuances.
Our common stock is traded on the OTCQB Marketplace, operated by OTC Markets Group, under the symbol “BCLI”. On August 12, 2013, the last reported sales price for our common stock was $0.21 per share. We do not intend to list the warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market and we do not expect that a public trading market will develop for the warrants.
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should review carefully the risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” beginning on page 5 of this prospectus, and under similar headings in any amendments or supplements to this prospectus.
Per Unit | Total | |||||||
Public offering price | $ | 0.17 | $ | 4,000,000 | ||||
Underwriting discounts and commissions (1) | $ | 0.01105 | $ | 260,000 | ||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us | $ | 0.15895 | $ | 3,740,000 |
(1) We estimate the total expenses of this offering will be approximately $220,000. We have also agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain expenses. See “Underwriting” on page 22 of this prospectus for a description of these arrangements.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The underwriters expect to deliver the units against payment on or about August 16, 2013.
Roth Capital Partners | Maxim Group LLC |
The date of this prospectus is August 13, 2013.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page | ||
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY | 1 | |
RISK FACTORS | 5 | |
DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS | 19 | |
EXCHANGE RATE INFORMATION | 20 | |
USE OF PROCEEDS | 20 | |
DIVIDEND POLICY | 20 | |
DILUTION | 21 | |
Underwriting |
22 | |
NOTICE TO INVESTORS | 26 | |
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK | 28 | |
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES WE ARE OFFERING | 29 | |
OUR BUSINESS | 30 | |
PROPERTIES | 48 | |
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS | 48 | |
MARKET FOR OUR COMMON EQUITY | 49 | |
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS | 50 | |
CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE | 53 | |
MANAGEMENT | 54 | |
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION | 60 | |
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT | 64 | |
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS | 65 | |
LEGAL MATTERS | 69 | |
EXPERTS | 69 | |
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION | 69 |
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS
You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus and any related free writing prospectus that we may provide to you in connection with this offering. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.
As used herein, “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company” refers to Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. and all of its consolidated subsidiaries.
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY
This summary provides an overview of selected information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information you should consider before investing in our securities. You should carefully read this prospectus and the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part in their entirety before investing in our securities, including the information discussed under “Risk Factors” beginning on page 5 and our financial statements and notes thereto that appear elsewhere in this prospectus.
Company Overview
We are a biotechnology company developing novel adult stem cell therapies for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and Parkinson’s disease (PD). These diseases have limited treatment options and as such represent unmet medical needs.
We believe that NurOwn, our proprietary process for the propagation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) and their differentiation into NeuroTrophic factor-(NTF) secreting cells (MSC-NTF), and their transplantation at, or near, the site of damage, offers the hope of more effectively treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Our approach is considered safe based on our use of autologous cells, which are free of the risk of rejection and tumor formation. It is also free of the controversy associated with the use of embryonic stem cells in some countries.
Our core technology was developed in collaboration with prominent neurologist Prof. Eldad Melamed, former head of Neurology of the Rabin Medical Center and member of the Scientific Committee of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and expert cell biologist Prof. Daniel Offen of the Felsenstein Medical Research Center of Tel Aviv University.
Our wholly-owned Israeli subsidiary, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Ltd. (the Israeli Subsidiary), holds rights to commercialize the technology, through a licensing agreement with Ramot at Tel Aviv University Ltd. (Ramot), the technology licensing company of Tel Aviv University, Israel.
On February 8, 2010, our Israeli Subsidiary entered into an agreement with Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd., a subsidiary of the Hadassah Medical Organization (Hadassah), pursuant to which Hadassah provides the Israeli Subsidiary with lab services.
On February 17, 2010, our Israeli Subsidiary entered into an agreement with Hadassah and Professor Dimitrios Karussis (the Clinical Trial Agreement). Under the Clinical Trial Agreement, Hadassah and our personnel agreed to conduct a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of our NurOwn cells in patients with ALS, in accordance with a protocol developed jointly by us and Professor Karussis.
In February 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Orphan Drug designation to NurOwn for the treatment of ALS.
In June 2011, we initiated a Phase I/II clinical trial for the treatment of ALS with NurOwn at the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem (HUMC), after receiving approval from the Israeli Ministry of Health (MoH).
In July 2011, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMass) in anticipation of applying for FDA approval to begin ALS human clinical trials in the United States. This memorandum of understanding expired on July 7, 2012. Pending submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the FDA and subsequent approval, we are planning to enter into an agreement with these institutions in order to launch a Phase II clinical trial in late 2013, which we expect to complete during the first half of 2015.
In July 2012, together with Professor Karussis, we submitted an interim safety evaluation report to the Israeli MoH for the first 12 of 24 patients in the Phase I/II clinical trial. The report confirmed that our NurOwn therapy is safe, did not cause any adverse side effects, and some of the patients showed promising indications of clinical improvement.
In January 2013, the Israeli MoH approved acceleration to a Phase IIa combined treatment, dose-escalating trial, which we are currently conducting at HUMC. In this safety and preliminary efficacy trial, 12 early-stage ALS patients will receive both intramuscular and intrathecal injections of NurOwn cells in three cohorts with increasing doses. The patients will be followed for six months after transplantation.
In January 2013, we also announced that we had successfully completed a 12-week repeat dose toxicity study with our NurOwn cells in mice. These repeat doses were prepared from frozen cells, using a proprietary method developed by the Company. We believe that our cryopreservation, or freezing, method will enable long-term storage, and production of repeat patient doses of NurOwn without the need for additional bone marrow aspirations. We believe that the positive data from the toxicity study in mice will support our efforts to obtain approval for a future repeat dose clinical study in ALS patients. The study was conducted at Harlan Israel’s laboratories, according to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards of the FDA. The study protocol was approved by Israel’s National Council for Animal Experimentation.
On February 21, 2013, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics UK Ltd., a wholly-owned U.K. subsidiary of the Israeli Subsidiary (the UK Subsidiary), filed a request for Orphan Medicinal Product Designation by the European Medicine Agency (EMA) for our autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells secreting neurotropic factors.
In March 2013, principal investigator Professor Dimitrios Karussis of Hadassah presented some of the final data from the Phase I/II trial at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. The trial results analyzed to date confirmed the safety of the NurOwn treatment and also demonstrated initial signs of possible efficacy. There was a slower decline in overall clinical and respiratory function, as measured by the ALS Functional Rating Score (ALSFRS-R) and Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) score respectively, in the six patients that received an intrathecal injection of the cells, in the six months following treatment as compared to the three months preceding treatment.
On March 14, 2013, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to participate as an additional clinical site in the Phase II ALS clinical trial planned for later this year. The team there will be led by Professor Anthony J. Windebank, Head of the Regenerative Neurobiology Laboratory in the Department of Neurology. This Memorandum of Understanding is due to expire on March 14, 2014.
On April 3, 2013, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber) under which Dana-Farber’s Connell and O'Reilly Cell Manipulation Core Facility will produce NurOwn in its cGMP-compliant clean rooms for the MGH and UMass clinical sites during our upcoming Phase II ALS clinical trial in the United States.
In June 2013, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PRC Clinical, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) based in the San Francisco Bay Area, in anticipation of our planned Phase II multi-center ALS clinical trial in the United States.
On July 17, 2013, we received Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for our NurOwn for the treatment of ALS from the European Commission.
On August 1, 2013 we announced that we submitted a favorable safety report to the hospital Helsinki Committee (IRB) for the second group of patients in our ongoing Phase IIa ALS clinical trial at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. We announced that the treatment was well tolerated and no serious adverse events were observed. We plan to release the preliminary efficacy data at the conclusion of the trial.
Our Proprietary Technology
Our NurOwn technology is based on a novel differentiation protocol that differentiates the bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neuron-supporting cells, MSC-NTF cells, capable of releasing several neurotrophic factors, including Glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), both of which are critical for the growth, survival, and differentiation of developing neurons.
Our approach to treatment of neurodegenerative diseases with autologous adult stem cells includes a multi-step process beginning with harvesting of undifferentiated stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow, and concluding with transplantation of differentiated, neurotrophic factor-secreting mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-NTF) into the same patient – intrathecally and/or intramuscularly. Intrathecal (injection into the cerebrospinal fluid) transplantation consists of injection with a standard lumbar puncture; there is no need for a laminectomy - an invasive, orthopedic spine operation to remove a portion of the vertebral bone, as required by other technologies. Intramuscular (injection directly into muscle) transplantation is performed via a standard injection procedure as well.
Our proprietary, optimized processes for induction of differentiation of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells into differentiated cells that produce NTF (MSC-NTF) are conducted in full compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).
Our proprietary technology is licensed to and developed by our Israeli Subsidiary.
The NurOwn Transplantation Process
§ | Bone marrow aspiration from patient; |
§ | Isolation and expansion of the mesenchymal stem cells; |
§ | Differentiation of the expanded stem cells into neurotrophic-factor secreting (MSC-NTF) cells; and |
§ | Autologous transplantation into the patient’s spinal cord or muscle tissue. |
Differentiation before Transplantation
The ability to induce differentiation of autologous adult mesenchymal stem cells into MSC-NTF cells before transplantation is unique to NurOwn, making it the first-of-its-kind for treating neurodegenerative diseases.
The specialized cells secrete neurotrophic factors for:
§ | Protection of existing motor neurons; |
§ | Promotion of motor neuron growth; and |
§ | Re-establishment of nerve-muscle interaction. |
Autologous (Self-transplantation)
The NurOwn approach is autologous, or self-transplanted, using the patient’s own stem cells. In autologous transplantation there is no risk of rejection and no need for treatment with immunosuppressive agents, which can cause severe and/or long-term side effects. In addition, it is free of controversy associated with the use of embryonic stem cells in some countries.
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Transplantation site and method
Clinical Indication I: ALS (current) – Based on the approval of the Israeli MoH, we are currently conducting a Phase IIa dose-escalating trial to evaluate safety and preliminary efficacy of NurOwn in ALS patients. Pending submission of an IND application to the FDA and subsequent approval, we are planning to launch a Phase II clinical trial in the USA in late-2013, which we expect to complete during the first half of 2015. If this trial is successful, we intend to conduct further Phase II and Phase III clinical trials of NurOwn.
Clinical Indication II: MS (future) – Based on positive proof-of-concept results obtained at Tel Aviv University with MSC-NTF cells for MS, we are currently conducting pre-clinical studies for this disease.
Proposed Reverse Stock Split
On February 28, 2013, our Board of Directors approved, subject to stockholder approval, a resolution authorizing our Board of Directors to effect a reverse stock split of our common stock by a ratio of between 1-for-10 and 1-for-20, inclusive, with our Board of Directors retaining the discretion as to whether to implement the reverse stock split and which exchange ratio to implement. On April 18, 2013, our stockholders approved this resolution. In connection with this offering, we have agreed that for a period of 90 days from the date hereof, we will not effect or make any public announcement that it intends to effect any reverse split, combination or other recapitalization of our Common Stock which would reduce the outstanding shares of Common Stock without the prior written consent of the Underwriters.
Corporate Information
We are incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. Our principal executive offices are located at 605 Third Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, New York 10158, and our telephone number is (646) 666-3188. We maintain an Internet website at http://www.brainstorm-cell.com. The information on our website is not incorporated into this prospectus.
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The Offering
Securities we are offering: | 23,529,411 units, each consisting of one share of our common stock and 0.75 of a warrant to purchase one share of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.25 per share. The warrants will be immediately exercisable and will expire on the third anniversary of the issuance date. | |
Public offering price: | $0.17 per unit. | |
Common stock outstanding before this offering: | 152,714,176 shares. | |
Common stock included in the units: | 23,529,411 shares. | |
Common stock to be outstanding after this offering: | 176,243,587 shares. | |
Use of proceeds: | We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of the units offered by this prospectus will be approximately $3.5 million after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We intend to use the net proceeds of this offering for the clinical development of NurOwn treatment, including the completion of our Phase II clinical trial, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. For a more complete description of our intended use of proceeds from this offering, see “Use of Proceeds.” | |
Market Symbol and Listing: | Our common stock is quoted on the OTCQB Marketplace under the symbol “BCLI”. There is no established trading market for the warrants and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply for listing of the warrants on any national securities exchange or other trading market. | |
Risk Factors: | Investing in our securities involves substantial risks. You should carefully review and consider the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus beginning on page 5 for a discussion of factors to consider before deciding to invest in our securities. |
The number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering is based on 152,714,176 shares outstanding as of July 30, 2013 and excludes as of that date:
· | 9,371,664 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options, at a weighted average exercise price of $0.23 per share, under our equity incentive plans; |
· | 5,138,437 additional shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans; and |
· | 51,224,785 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants with exercise prices ranging from $0.00005 per share to $1.00 per share. |
Except as otherwise indicated herein, all information in this prospectus assumes or gives effect to no excercise of the warrants offered hereby.
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RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider and evaluate all of the information in this prospectus, including the risk factors listed below. Risks and uncertainties in addition to those we describe below, that may not be presently known to us, or that we currently believe are immaterial, may also harm our business and operations. If any of these risks occur, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed, the price of our common stock could decline, and future events and circumstances could differ significantly from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus.
Risks related to our business
We need to raise additional capital. If we are unable to raise additional capital on favorable terms and in a timely manner, we will not be able to execute our business plan and we could be forced to restrict or cease our operations.
We will need to raise additional funds to meet our anticipated expenses so that we can execute our business plan. We expect to incur substantial and increasing net losses for the foreseeable future as we increase our spending to execute our development programs. Our auditors have expressed in their audit report that there is substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern.
The amount of financing required will depend on many factors including our financial requirements to fund our research and clinical trials, and our ability to secure partnerships and achieve partnership milestones as well as to fund other working capital requirements. Our ability to access the capital markets or to enlist partners is mainly dependent on the progress of our research and development and regulatory approval of our products.
We expect that the net proceeds of this offering will be insufficient to meet our obligations in the upcoming 12 months, as we commence and pursue clinical trials in the United States, and that additional capital will be required in order to finance the Company’s planned operations or the Company will reduce its costs, including curtailing its current plan to accelerate pursuit of U.S. clinical trials, in order to continue operating for the next 12 months.
Assuming we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities, these securities may have rights, preferences or privileges (including registrations rights) senior to those of the rights of our common stock and our stockholders will experience additional dilution.
Our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
As described in Note 1 of our accompanying financial statements, our auditors have issued a going concern opinion on our financial statements, expressing substantial doubt that we can continue to operate as a going concern. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty. If we cannot continue as a viable entity, our stockholders may lose some or all of their investment in us.
If our NurOwn treatment candidate does not demonstrate safety and efficacy sufficient to obtain regulatory approval, it will not receive regulatory approval and we will be unable to market it.
The therapeutic treatment development and regulatory approval process is expensive, uncertain and time-consuming. The timing of any future regulatory approval, if any, for our NurOwn treatment candidate cannot be accurately predicted. We do not expect to receive regulatory approval for any of our product candidates until at least 2015, if ever. If we fail to obtain regulatory approval for our NurOwn treatment candidate, we will be unable to market and sell it and we may never be profitable.
As part of the regulatory process, we must conduct clinical trials, including Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials, for our NurOwn treatment candidate to demonstrate safety and efficacy in humans to the satisfaction of the FDA and regulatory authorities in other countries.
A failure of one or more of our clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. Previous results obtained in uncontrolled clinical trials may not be predictive of future results obtained in controlled clinical trials. Interim results obtained in clinical trials may not be confirmed upon full analysis of the results of a clinical trial. Results of later stage clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy despite acceptable results in earlier clinical trials. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their treatments.
Specifically, we have not yet compared our NurOwn treatment candidate against placebo or any other active therapy control group. While comparisons of outcomes to results from other reported clinical trials can provide some insight into the efficacy of our NurOwn treatment candidate, there are many factors that affect the outcome of clinical trials, some of which are not apparent in published reports, and results from two different trials cannot always be reliably compared.
We are currently searching for a new Chief Executive Officer. If we were to unable to hire and retain an experienced and qualified CEO, we may experience difficulty executing our business strategy.
Our future success depends in a large part upon the continued service of key members of our senior management team. Alon Natanson, our Chief Executive Officer, has announced his resignation from the Company effective October 26, 2013. Chaim Lebovits, our President, has assumed the duties and responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis while we search for a new Chief Executive Officer. Identifying and hiring an experienced and qualified Chief Executive Officer may be difficult for a small, development stage, biotech company such as ours. In particular, we expect that the CEO we hire will be critical to the overall management of the Company as well as the development of our technology, our culture and our strategic direction. If we are unable to hire and retain an experienced CEO or if we lose any other key members of our management or personnel we may not be able to execute our business strategy.
Our business in the foreseeable future will be based on technology licensed from Ramot and if this license were to be terminated upon failure to make required royalty payments in the future, we would need to change our business strategy and we may be forced to cease our operations.
Agreements we and our Israeli Subsidiary have with Ramot impose on us royalty payment obligations. If we fail to comply with these obligations, Ramot has the right to terminate the license under certain circumstances. If Ramot elects to terminate our license, we would need to change our business strategy and we may be forced to cease our operations. We currently do not owe Ramot any overdue payments.
Our company has a history of losses and we expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future.
As a development stage company, we are in the early stages of executing our business plan. We had no revenues for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012 or December 31, 2011 nor through March 31, 2013. Our ability to operate successfully is materially uncertain and our operations are subject to significant risks inherent in a developing business enterprise. We are currently in the process of introducing the Company to strategic partners. In the upcoming three years, the Company will focus on clinical trials. We are unable at this time to foresee when we will generate revenues from strategic partnerships or otherwise. Furthermore, we expect to incur substantial and increasing operating losses for the next several years as we increase our spending to execute our development programs. These losses are expected to have an adverse impact on our working capital, total assets and stockholders’ equity, and we may never achieve profitability.
Our product development programs are based on novel technologies and are inherently risky.
We are subject to the risks of failure inherent in the development of products based on new technologies. The novel nature of our stem cell therapy creates significant challenges with regard to product development and optimization, manufacturing, government regulations, and market acceptance. For example, the FDA has relatively limited experience with stem cell therapies. None have been approved by them for commercial sale, and the pathway to regulatory approval for our cell therapy product candidates may accordingly be more complex and lengthy. As a result, the development and commercialization pathway for our therapies may be subject to increased uncertainty, as compared to the pathway for new conventional drugs.
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We are faced with uncertainties related to our research.
Our research programs are based on scientific hypotheses and experimental approaches that may not lead to desired results. In addition, the timeframe for obtaining proof of principle and other results may be considerably longer than originally anticipated, or may not be possible given time, resource, financial, strategic and collaborator scientific constraints. Success in one stage of testing is not necessarily an indication that the particular program will succeed in later stages of testing and development. It is not possible to predict, based upon studies in in-vitro models and in animals, whether any of the therapies designed for these programs will prove to be safe, effective, and suitable for human use. Each therapy will require additional research and development, scale-up, formulation and extensive clinical testing in humans. Unsatisfactory results obtained from a particular study relating to a program may cause the Company to abandon its commitment to that program or to the lead therapy or product candidate being tested. The discovery of unexpected toxicities, lack of sufficient efficacy, unacceptable pharmacology, inability to increase scale of manufacture, market attractiveness, regulatory hurdles, competition, as well as other factors, may make our targets, lead therapies or product candidates unattractive or unsuitable for human use, and we may abandon our commitment to that program, target, lead therapy or product candidate. In addition, preliminary results seen in animal and/or limited human testing may not be substantiated in larger controlled clinical trials.
If serious or unexpected adverse side effects are identified during the development of our NurOwn treatment candidate, we may need to abandon or limit its development.
If patients treated with our NurOwn treatment candidate suffer serious or unexpected adverse effects, we may need to abandon its development or limit development to certain uses or subpopulations in which these effects are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective.
The field of stem cell therapy is relatively new and our development efforts may not yield an effective treatment of human diseases.
Our intended cell therapeutic treatment methods for ALS involve a new approach that has not yet been proven to work in humans. We are currently conducting Phase IIa clinical trials for ALS, which, together with other stem cell therapies, may ultimately prove ineffective in treatment of human diseases. If we cannot successfully implement our NurOwn stem cell therapy in human testing, we would need to change our business strategy and we may be forced to change our operations.
Our NurOwn treatment candidate is based on a novel technology, which may raise development issues that we may not be able to resolve, regulatory issues that could delay or prevent approval or personnel issues that may keep us from being able to develop our treatments.
Regulatory approval of treatment candidates that utilize novel technology such as ours can be more expensive and take longer than for other treatments that are based on more well-known or more extensively studied technology, due to our and the regulatory agencies’ lack of experience with them. This may lengthen the regulatory review process, require us to perform additional studies, including clinical trials, increase our development costs, lead to changes in regulatory positions and interpretations, delay or prevent approval and commercialization of these treatment candidates or lead to significant post-approval limitations or restrictions. For example, the differentiated cell component of our NurOwn treatment candidate is a complex biologic product that is manufactured from the patient’s own bone marrow that must be appropriately harvested, isolated, expanded and differentiated so that its identity, strength, quality, purity and potency may be characterized prior to release for treatment. No differentiated cell treatment for ALS has yet been approved for marketing by the FDA or any other regulatory agency. The tests that we use to make identity, strength, quality, purity and potency determinations on our NurOwn treatment candidate may not be sufficient to satisfy the FDA’s expectations regarding the criteria required for release of products for patient treatment and the regulatory agency may require us to employ additional testing measures for this purpose, which could require us to undertake additional testing and/or additional clinical trials.
The novel nature of our NurOwn treatment candidate also means that fewer people are trained in or experienced with treatments of this type, which may make it difficult to recruit, hire and retain capable personnel for the research, development and manufacturing positions that will be required to continue our development and commercialization efforts.
A significant global market for our services has yet to emerge.
Very few companies have been successful in their efforts to develop and commercialize a stem cell product. Stem cell products in general may be susceptible to various risks, including undesirable and unintended side effects, unintended immune system responses, inadequate therapeutic efficacy, or other characteristics that may prevent or limit their approval or commercial use. The demand for stem cell processing and the number of people who may use cell or tissue-based therapies is difficult to forecast. Physicians, patients, formularies, third party payers or the medical community in general may not accept or utilize any products that the Company or its collaborative partners may develop. Our success is dependent on the establishment of a large global market for our products and services and our ability to capture a share of this market.
We have limited experience in conducting and managing clinical trials and the application process necessary to obtain regulatory approvals.
Our limited experience in conducting and managing clinical trials and the application process necessary to obtain regulatory approvals might prevent us from successfully designing or implementing a preclinical study or clinical trial. Cell-based therapy products, in general, may be susceptible to various risks, including undesirable and unintended side effects, unintended immune system responses, inadequate therapeutic efficacy or other characteristics that may prevent or limit their approval by regulators or commercial use. Many companies in the industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, despite promising results in earlier trials. If our clinical trials are unsuccessful, or if we do not complete our clinical trials, we may not receive regulatory approval for or be able to commercialize our product candidates.
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If we do not succeed in conducting and managing our preclinical development activities or clinical trials, or in obtaining regulatory approvals, we might not be able to commercialize our product candidates, or might be significantly delayed in doing so, which will materially harm our business.
Our ability to generate revenues from any of our product candidates will depend on a number of factors, including our ability to successfully complete clinical trials, obtain necessary regulatory approvals and implement our commercialization strategy. We may, and anticipate that we will need to, transition from a company with a research and development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities and we may not succeed in such a transition.
We may not be able to secure and maintain research institutions to conduct our clinical trials.
We rely on research institutions to conduct our clinical trials. Our reliance upon research institutions, including hospitals and clinics, provides us with less control over the timing and cost of clinical trials and the ability to recruit subjects. If we are unable to reach agreements with suitable research institutions on acceptable terms, or if any resulting agreement is terminated, we may be unable to quickly replace the research institution with another qualified institution on acceptable terms. Furthermore, we may not be able to secure and maintain suitable research institutions to conduct our clinical trials.
We are subject to a strict regulatory environment. If we fail to obtain and maintain required regulatory approvals for our potential cell therapy products, our ability to commercialize our potential cell therapy products will be severely limited.
None of our product candidates have received regulatory approval for commercial sale. We do not expect to receive regulatory approval for any of our product candidates until at least 2015, if ever.
Numerous statutes and regulations govern human testing and the manufacture and sale of human therapeutic products in the United States and other countries where we intend to market our products. Such legislation and regulation bears upon, among other things, the approval of protocols and human testing, the approval of manufacturing facilities, testing procedures and controlled research, review and approval of manufacturing, preclinical and clinical data prior to marketing approval including adherence to GMP during production and storage as well as regulation of marketing activities including advertising and labeling.
The completion of the clinical testing of our product candidates and the obtaining of required approvals are expected to take several years and require the expenditure of substantial resources. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, the clinical trial process that could delay or prevent regulatory approval and/or commercialization of our product candidates, including the following:
· | The FDA or similar foreign regulatory authorities may find that our product candidates are not sufficiently safe or effective or may find our processes or facilities unsatisfactory; |
· | Officials at the Israeli MoH, the FDA or similar foreign regulatory authorities may interpret data from preclinical studies and clinical trials differently than we do; |
· | Our clinical trials may produce negative or inconclusive results or may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the Israeli MoH, the FDA or other regulatory authorities, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional preclinical studies and/or clinical trials or to abandon one or more of our development programs; |
· | The Israeli MoH, the FDA or similar foreign regulatory authorities may change their approval policies or adopt new regulations; |
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· | There may be delays or failure in obtaining approval of our clinical trial protocols from the Israeli MoH, the FDA or other regulatory authorities or obtaining institutional review board approvals or government approvals to conduct clinical trials at prospective sites; |
· | We, or regulators, may suspend or terminate our clinical trials because the participating patients are being exposed to unacceptable health risks or undesirable side effects; |
· | We may experience difficulties in managing multiple clinical sites; |
· | Enrollment in our clinical trials for our product candidates may occur more slowly than we anticipate, or we may experience high drop-out rates of subjects in our clinical trials, resulting in significant delays; and |
· | We may be unable to manufacture or obtain from third party manufacturers sufficient quantities of our product candidates for use in clinical trials. |
Investors should be aware of the risks, problems, delays, expenses and difficulties which may be encountered by us in light of the extensive regulatory environment in which our business operates. In particular, our development costs will increase if we have material delays in our clinical trials, or if we are required to modify, suspend, terminate or repeat a clinical trial. If we are unable to conduct our clinical trials properly and on schedule, marketing approval may be delayed or denied by the Israeli MoH or the FDA.
Even if a product candidate is approved by the Israeli MoH, the FDA or any other regulatory authority, we may not obtain approval for an indication whose market is large enough to recoup our investment in that product candidate. We may never obtain the required regulatory approvals for any of our product candidates. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, manufacturer or facility may result in restrictions on the product or manufacturer, including a withdrawal of the product from the market.
Even if regulatory approvals are obtained for our product candidates, we will be subject to ongoing government regulation. If we or one or more of our partners or collaborators fail to comply with applicable current and future laws and government regulations, our business and financial results could be adversely affected.
The healthcare industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in the United States. The federal government, individual state and local governments and private accreditation organizations all oversee and monitor the activities of individuals and businesses engaged in the delivery of health care products and services. Even if regulatory authorities approve any of our human therapeutic product candidates, current laws, rules and regulations that could directly or indirectly affect our ability and the ability of our strategic partners and customers to operate each of their businesses could include, without limitation, the following:
· | State and local licensing, registration and regulation of laboratories, the collection, processing and storage of human cells and tissue, and the development and manufacture of pharmaceuticals and biologics; |
· | The federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act and amendments of 1988; |
· | Laws and regulations administered by the FDA, including the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and related laws and regulations; |
· | The Public Health Service Act and related laws and regulations; |
· | Laws and regulations administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, including the Office for Human Research Protections; |
· | State laws and regulations governing human subject research; |
· | Occupational Safety and Health requirements; and |
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· | State and local laws and regulations dealing with the handling and disposal of medical waste. |
Compliance with such regulation may be expensive and consume substantial financial and management resources. If we, or any future marketing collaborators or contract manufacturers, fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, we may be subject to sanctions including fines, product recalls or seizures, injunctions, total or partial suspension of production, civil penalties, withdrawal of regulatory approvals and criminal prosecution. Any of these sanctions could delay or prevent the promotion, marketing or sale of our products.
Our NurOwn treatment candidate, even if approved, may not be accepted in the marketplace; therefore, we may not be able to generate significant revenue, if any.
Even if our NurOwn treatment candidate is approved for sale, physicians and the medical community may not ultimately use it or may use it only in applications more restricted than we anticipate. Our NurOwn treatment candidate, if successfully developed, will compete with a number of traditional products manufactured and marketed by major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Our NurOwn treatment candidate may also compete with new products currently under development by such companies and others. Physicians will prescribe a treatment only if they determine, based on experience, clinical data, side effect profiles and other factors, that it is beneficial as compared to other products currently available and in use. Physicians also will prescribe a product based on their traditional preferences. Many other factors influence the adoption of new products, including patient perceptions and preferences, marketing and distribution restrictions, adverse publicity, product pricing, views of thought leaders in the medical community and reimbursement by government and private payers. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Adoption of our NurOwn treatment candidate for the treatment of patients with ALS, or other neurodegenerative diseases, even if approved, may be slow or limited. If our NurOwn treatment candidate does not achieve broad acceptance as a treatment option for ALS, or other neurodegenerative diseases, our business would be harmed.
If approved, the rate of adoption of our NurOwn treatment candidate as a treatment for ALS, or other neurodegenerative diseases, and the ultimate sales volume for our treatment, will depend on several factors, including educating treating physicians on how to use our NurOwn treatment candidate. Our NurOwn treatment candidate utilizes individualized stem cell therapy, which is significantly different from the pharmacological approach currently used to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Acceptance of our NurOwn treatment candidate by treating physicians may require us to provide them with extensive education regarding the mechanism of action of our treatment, the method of delivery of the treatment, expected side effects and the method of monitoring patients for efficacy and follow-up. In addition, the manufacturing and delivery processes associated with our treatment will require treating physicians to adjust their current treatment of patients, which may delay or prevent market adoption of our NurOwn treatment candidate as a preferred therapy, even if approved.
We are subject to environmental, health and safety laws.
We are subject to various laws and regulations relating to safe working conditions, laboratory and manufacturing practices, the experimental use of animals and humans, emissions and wastewater discharges, and the use and disposal of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances used in connection with our research. We also cannot accurately predict the extent of regulations that might result from any future legislative or administrative action. Any of these laws or regulations could cause us to incur additional expense or restrict our operations.
Compliance with environmental laws and regulations may be expensive, and current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts.
Our success will depend in part on establishing and maintaining effective strategic partnerships and collaborations, which may impose restrictions on our business and subject us to additional regulation.
A key aspect of our business strategy is to establish strategic relationships in order, to expand or complement our research and development or commercialization capabilities, and to reduce the cost of research and development. There can be no assurance that we will enter into such relationships, that the arrangements will be on favorable terms or that such relationships will be successful. If we are ultimately successful in executing our strategy of securing collaborations with companies and institutions that would undertake advanced clinical development and commercialization of our products, we may not have day-to-day control over their activities. Any such collaborator may adhere to criteria for determining whether to proceed with a clinical development program under circumstances where we might have continued such a program. Potential collaborators may have significant discretion in determining the efforts and amount of resources that they dedicate to our collaborations or may be unwilling or unable to fulfill their obligations to us, including their development and commercialization. Potential collaborators may underfund or not commit sufficient resources to the testing, marketing, distribution or other development of our products. They may also not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or they may utilize our proprietary information in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or potentially invalidate our proprietary information or expose us to potential liability. Potential collaboration partners may have the right to terminate the collaboration on relatively short notice and if they do so or if they fail to perform or satisfy their obligations to us, the development or commercialization of products would be delayed and our ability to realize any potential milestone payments and royalty revenue would be adversely affected.
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We will need to develop or acquire additional capabilities in order to commercialize our NurOwn treatment candidate, if approved for sale, and we may encounter unexpected costs or difficulties in doing so.
We will need to acquire additional capabilities and effectively manage our operations and facilities to successfully pursue and complete future research, development and, if our NurOwn treatment candidate receives regulatory approval, commercialization efforts. Currently, we have no experience in preparing applications for marketing approval, commercial-scale manufacturing, managing of large-scale information technology systems or managing a large-scale distribution system. We will need to add personnel and expand our capabilities, which may strain our existing managerial, operational, regulatory compliance, financial and other resources. To do this effectively, we must:
• | train, manage and motivate a growing employee base; | ||
• | accurately forecast demand for our treatment; and | ||
• | expand existing operational, financial and management information systems. |
We will need to increase our manufacturing capacity prior to seeking approval for the sale of our products. If we are not successful in establishing a regulatory-compliant manufacturing process, we may not obtain approval of products or our ability to obtain regulatory approval for sale could be delayed, which would further delay the period of time when we would be able to generate revenues from the sale of such products, if we are even able to generate revenues at all.
We expect to expand our development, regulatory, manufacturing and sales and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.
We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of product development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and sales and marketing. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The physical expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.
We have never manufactured our NurOwn treatment candidate at commercial scale and there can be no assurance that it can be manufactured in compliance with regulations at a cost or in quantities necessary to make it commercially viable.
We have no experience in commercial-scale manufacturing, the management of large-scale information technology systems or the management of a large-scale distribution system. We may develop our manufacturing capacity in part by expanding our current facilities and/or by setting up additional facilities in other regions of the country. These activities would require substantial additional funds and we would need to hire and train significant numbers of qualified employees to staff these facilities. We may not be able to develop commercial-scale facilities that are sufficient to produce the treatment candidates or their components for later-stage clinical trials or commercial use.
Furthermore, we must supply all necessary documentation, including product characterization and process validation, to regulatory authorities in support of our BLA on a timely basis and must adhere to cGMP regulations and current Good Tissue Practices, or GTP, enforced by the regulatory authority through its facilities inspection program. We have not fully characterized our NurOwn treatment candidate and have not validated our manufacturing process. If the FDA determines that the products used in our clinical trials are not sufficiently characterized, we may be required to repeat all or a portion of our clinical trials. If our facilities cannot pass a pre-approval plant inspection, the regulatory approval of the treatment candidates will not be granted.
We are subject to significant regulation with respect to manufacturing of our NurOwn treatment candidate.
All entities involved in the preparation of a therapeutic biological for clinical trials or commercial sale are subject to extensive regulation. Our NurOwn treatment candidate must be manufactured in accordance with cGMP and GTP before it can be used in our clinical trials or approved for commercial sale. These regulations govern manufacturing processes and procedures and the implementation and operation of quality systems to control and assure the quality of investigational treatment candidates and treatments, including treatment component characterization and process validation, approved for sale. Our facilities and quality systems and the facilities and quality systems of some or all of our third party suppliers must pass a pre-approval inspection for compliance with the applicable regulations as a condition of regulatory approval of our NurOwn treatment candidate. If any inspection or audit of our manufacturing facilities identifies a failure to comply with applicable regulations, or if a violation of applicable regulations occurs independent of an inspection or audit, we or the relevant regulatory authority may require remedial measures that may be costly and/or time consuming for us or a third party to implement and that may include the temporary or permanent suspension of a clinical trial or commercial sales or the temporary or permanent closure of a facility. Any such remedial measures imposed on us or third parties with whom we contract could materially harm our business.
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Lack of coordination internally among our employees and externally with physicians, hospitals and third-party suppliers and carriers, could cause manufacturing difficulties, disruptions or delays and cause us to not meet our expected clinical trial requirements or potential commercial requirements.
Manufacturing our NurOwn treatment candidate requires coordination internally among our employees and externally with physicians, hospitals and third-party suppliers and carriers. For example, a patient’s physician or clinical site will need to coordinate with us for the shipping of a patient’s bone marrow to our manufacturing facility, and we will need to coordinate with them for the shipping of the treatment components to them. Such coordination involves a number of risks that may lead to failures or delays in manufacturing our NurOwn treatment candidate, including:
• | failure to obtain a sufficient supply of key raw materials of suitable quality; | ||
• | difficulties in manufacturing our treatment candidates for multiple patients simultaneously; | ||
• | difficulties in obtaining adequate patient-specific material, such as bone marrow samples, from physicians; | ||
• | difficulties in completing the development and validation of the harvested cells required to ensure the consistency of our NurOwn treatment candidate; | ||
• | failure to ensure adequate quality control and assurances in the manufacturing process as we increase production quantities; | ||
• | difficulties in the timely shipping of patient-specific materials to us or in the shipping of the treatment candidates to the treating physicians due to errors by third-party carriers, transportation restrictions or other reasons; | ||
• | loss or destruction of, or damage to, patient-specific materials or our NurOwn treatment candidate during the shipping process due to improper handling by third-party carriers, hospitals, physicians or us; | ||
• | loss or destruction of, or damage to, patient-specific materials or our NurOwn treatment candidate during storage at our facilities; and | ||
• | loss or destruction of, or damage to, patient-specific materials or our NurOwn treatment candidate stored at clinical and future commercial sites due to improper handling or holding by clinicians, hospitals or physicians. |
If we are unable to coordinate appropriately, we may encounter delays or additional costs in achieving our clinical and commercialization objectives, including in obtaining regulatory approvals of our treatment candidates and supplying products, which could materially damage our business and financial position.
We face competition in our efforts to develop cell therapies for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.
We face competition in our efforts to develop cell therapies and other treatment or procedures to cure or slow the effects of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. Among our competitors are companies that are involved in the fetal cell transplant or embryonic stem cell derived cell therapy and companies developing adult stem cells. Other companies are developing traditional chemical compounds, new biological drugs, cloned human proteins and other treatments, which are likely to impact the markets that we intend to target. Some of our competitors possess longer operating histories and greater financial, managerial, scientific and technical resources than we do and some possess greater name recognition and established customer bases. Some also have significantly more experience in preclinical testing, human clinical trials, product manufacturing, the regulatory approval process and marketing and distribution than we do.
The trend towards consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may adversely affect us.
There is a trend towards consolidation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. This consolidation trend may result in the remaining companies having greater financial resources and discovery technological capabilities, thus intensifying competition in these industries. This trend may also result in fewer potential collaborators or licensees for our therapeutic product candidates. Also, if a consolidating company is already doing business with our competitors, we may lose existing licensees or collaborators as a result of such consolidation.
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There is a scarcity of experienced professionals in the field of cell therapy and we may not be able to retain key personnel or hire new key personnel needed to implement our business strategy and develop our products and businesses. If we are unable to retain or hire key personnel, we may be unable to continue to grow our business or to implement our business strategy, and our business may be materially and adversely affected.
Given the specialized nature of cell therapy and the fact that it is a young field, there is an inherent scarcity of experienced personnel in the field. Our success depends on a significant extent to the continued services of certain highly qualified scientific and management personnel. We face competition for qualified personnel from numerous industry sources, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to attract and retain qualified personnel on acceptable terms. The loss of service of any of our key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our operations or financial condition. In the event of the loss of services of such personnel, no assurance can be given that we will be able to obtain the services of adequate replacement personnel. We do not have key person life insurance on all of our key personnel. The future success of the Company also depends upon our ability to attract and retain additional qualified personnel (including medical, scientific, technical, commercial, business and administrative personnel) necessary to support our anticipated growth, develop our business, and maintain appropriate licensure, on acceptable terms. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in attracting or retaining personnel required by us to continue and grow our operations. The loss of a key employee, the failure of a key employee to perform in his or her current position or our inability to attract and retain skilled employees, as needed, could result in our inability to continue to grow our business or to implement our business strategy, or may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Technological and medical developments or improvements in conventional therapies could render the use of stem cells and our services and planned products obsolete.
The pharmaceutical industry is characterized by rapidly changing markets, technology, emerging industry standards and frequent introduction of new products. The introduction of new products embodying new technologies, including new manufacturing processes, and the emergence of new industry standards may render our technologies obsolete, less competitive or less marketable. Advances in other treatment methods or in disease prevention techniques could significantly reduce or entirely eliminate the need for our stem cell services, planned products and therapeutic efforts. Additionally, technological or medical developments may materially alter the commercial viability of our technology or services, and require us to incur significant costs to replace or modify equipment in which we have a substantial investment. In either event, we may experience a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may expend our limited resources to pursue our NurOwn treatment candidate or a specific indication for its use and fail to capitalize on treatment 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 have focused development of our NurOwn treatment candidate for use in patients with ALS. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other treatment candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our spending on current and future research and development efforts on our NurOwn treatment candidate for this indication may not yield a commercially viable treatment. Our resource allocation decisions also may cause us to fail to capitalize on a viable commercial treatment, a more viable indication or profitable market opportunities.
We have based our research and development efforts on our NurOwn treatment candidate. Notwithstanding our large investment to date and anticipated future expenditures in our NurOwn treatment candidate, we have not yet developed, and may never successfully develop, any marketed treatments using this approach. As a result of pursuing the development of our NurOwn treatment candidate, we may fail to develop treatment candidates or address indications based on other scientific approaches that may offer greater commercial potential or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Our long-term business plan is to develop our NurOwn treatment candidate for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, MS and PD. Even if we successfully develop our NurOwn treatment candidate for use in one indication, we may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional indications for it. Clinical programs to develop new indications for our NurOwn treatment candidate will require substantial technical, financial and human resources. These development programs may initially show promise in identifying potential treatment indications, yet fail to obtain regulatory approval for commercial sale.
If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for our NurOwn treatment candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that treatment through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights.
If Ramot is unable to obtain patents on the patent applications and technology licensed to our Israeli Subsidiary or if patents are obtained but do not provide meaningful protection, we may not be able to successfully market our proposed products.
We rely upon the patent applications filed by Ramot, the technology licensing company of Tel Aviv University, and the license granted to us by Ramot, all in accordance with the Second Ramot Agreement dated as of July 26, 2007. We further agreed under the Second Ramot Agreement that Ramot, in consultation with us, is responsible for obtaining patent protection for technology owned by Ramot and licensed to us. No assurance can be given that any of our pending or future patent applications will be approved, that the scope of any patent protection granted will exclude competitors or provide us with competitive advantages, that any of the patents that may be issued to us will be held valid if subsequently challenged, or that other parties will not claim rights to or ownership of our patents or other proprietary rights that we hold license to. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that others have not developed or will not develop similar products, duplicate any of our technology or products or design around any patents that have been or may be issued to us or any future licensors. Since patent applications in the United States and in Europe are not disclosed until applications are published, there can be no assurance that others did not first file applications for products covered by our pending patent applications, nor can we be certain that we will not infringe any patents that may be issued to others. Also, we have abandoned our rights to certain patents of Ramot in certain countries in connection with the Letter Agreement by and between us and Ramot dated December 24, 2009, which may limit our ability to fully market our proposed products.
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We also rely upon unpatented proprietary technology, know-how and trade secrets and seek to protect them through confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants and advisors. If these confidentiality agreements are breached, we may not have adequate remedies for the breach. In addition, others may independently develop or otherwise acquire substantially the same proprietary technology as our technology and trade secrets.
We may be unable to protect our intellectual property from infringement by third parties.
Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property, third parties may infringe or misappropriate our intellectual property. Our competitors may also independently develop similar technology, duplicate our processes or services or design around our intellectual property rights. We may have to litigate to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights to determine their scope, validity or enforceability. Intellectual property litigation is costly, time-consuming, diverts the attention of management and technical personnel and could result in substantial uncertainty regarding our future viability. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to secure or enforce intellectual property protection would limit our ability to develop or market our services in the future. This would also likely have an adverse effect on the revenues generated by any sale or license of such intellectual property. Furthermore, any public announcements related to such litigation or regulatory proceedings could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
Third parties may claim that we infringe on their intellectual property.
We may be subject to costly litigation in the event our technology is claimed to infringe upon the proprietary rights of others. Third parties may have, or may eventually be issued, patents that would be infringed by our technology. Any of these third parties could make a claim of infringement against us with respect to our technology. We may also be subject to claims by third parties for breach of copyright, trademark or license usage rights. Litigation and patent interference proceedings could result in substantial expense to us and significant diversion of efforts by our technical and management personnel. An adverse determination in any such proceeding or in patent litigation could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties or require us to seek licenses from third parties. Such licenses may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. Adverse determinations in a judicial or administrative proceeding or failure to obtain necessary licenses could prevent us from commercializing our products, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
As a result of our reliance on consultants, we may not be able to protect the confidentiality of our technology, which, if disseminated, could negatively impact our plan of operations.
We currently have relationships with two academic consultants who are not employed by us, and we may enter into additional relationships of such nature in the future. We have limited control over the activities of these consultants and can expect only limited amounts of their time to be dedicated to our activities. These persons may have consulting, employment or advisory arrangements with other entities that may conflict with or compete with their obligations to us. Our consultants typically sign agreements that provide for confidentiality of our proprietary information and results of studies. However, in connection with every relationship, we may not be able to maintain the confidentiality of our technology, the dissemination of which could hurt our competitive position and results of operations. To the extent that our scientific consultants develop inventions or processes independently that may be applicable to our proposed products, disputes may arise as to the ownership of the proprietary rights to such information, we may expend significant resources in such disputes and we may not win those disputes.
It is uncertain to what extent the government, private health insurers and third-party payers will approve coverage or provide reimbursement for the therapies and products to which our services relate. Availability for such reimbursement may be further limited by an increasing uninsured population and reductions in Medicare and Medicaid funding in the United States.
Our ability to successfully commercialize our human therapeutic products will depend significantly on our ability to obtain acceptable prices and the availability of reimbursement to the patient from third-party payers, such as government and private insurance plans. While we have not commenced discussions with any such parties, these third-party payers frequently require companies to provide predetermined discounts from list prices, and they are increasingly challenging the prices charged for pharmaceuticals and other medical products. Our human therapeutic products may not be considered cost-effective, and reimbursement to the patient may not be available or sufficient to allow us to sell our products on a competitive basis. Further, as cost containment pressures are increasing in the health care industry, government and private payers adopt strategies designed to limit the amount of reimbursement paid to health care providers. Such cost containment measures may include:
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· | Reducing reimbursement rates; |
· | Challenging the prices charged for medical products and services; |
· | Limiting services covered; |
· | Decreasing utilization of services; |
· | Negotiating prospective or discounted contract pricing; |
· | Adopting capitation strategies; and |
· | Seeking competitive bids. |
Similarly, the trend toward managed health care and bundled pricing for health care services in the United States could significantly influence the purchase of healthcare services and products, resulting in lower prices and reduced demand for our therapies.
We may not be able to negotiate favorable reimbursement rates for our human therapeutic products. If we fail to obtain acceptable prices or an adequate level of reimbursement for our products, the sales of our products would be adversely affected or there may be no commercially viable market for our products.
Unintended consequences of recently adopted health reform legislation in the U.S. may adversely affect our business.
The healthcare industry is undergoing fundamental changes resulting from political, economic and regulatory influences. In the U.S., comprehensive programs are under consideration that seek to, among other things, increase access to healthcare for the uninsured and control the escalation of healthcare expenditures within the economy. On March 23, 2010, health reform legislation was approved by Congress and has been signed into law. While we do not believe this legislation will have a direct impact on our business, the legislation has only recently been enacted and requires the adoption of implementing regulations, which may have unintended consequences or indirectly impact our business. For instance, the scope and implications of the recent amendments pursuant to the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 have yet to be fully determined or adjudicated and as a result it is difficult to predict how future enforcement initiatives may impact our business. Also, in some instances our clients may be health insurers that will be subject to limitations on their administrative expenses and new federal review of “unreasonable” rate increases which could impact the prices they pay for our services. If the legislation causes such unintended consequences or indirect impact, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Ethical and other concerns surrounding the use of stem cell therapy may negatively impact the public perception of our stem cell services, thereby suppressing demand for our services.
Although our stem cell business pertains to adult stem cells only, and does not involve the more controversial use of embryonic stem cells, the use of adult human stem cells for therapy could give rise to similar ethical, legal and social issues as those associated with embryonic stem cells, which could adversely affect its acceptance by consumers and medical practitioners. Additionally, it is possible that our business could be negatively impacted by any stigma associated with the use of embryonic stem cells if the public fails to appreciate the distinction between adult and embryonic stem cells. Delays in achieving public acceptance may materially and adversely affect the results of our operations and profitability.
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We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
A significant portion of our business, particularly our research and development, is conducted outside the United States. Therefore, we are exposed to currency exchange fluctuations in other currencies such as the New Israeli Shekels (NIS) and the Euro. Moreover, a portion of our expenses in Israel and Europe are paid in NIS and Euros, respectively, which subjects us to the risks of foreign currency fluctuations. Our primary expenses paid in NIS are employee salaries, fees for consultants and subcontractors and lease payments on our Israeli facilities.
The dollar cost of our operations in Israel will increase to the extent increases in the rate of inflation in Israel are not offset by a devaluation of the NIS in relation to the dollar, which would harm our results of operations.
Since a considerable portion of our expenses such as employees' salaries are linked to an extent to the rate of inflation in Israel, the dollar cost of our operations is influenced by the extent to which any increase in the rate of inflation in Israel is or is not offset by the devaluation of the NIS in relation to the dollar. As a result, we are exposed to the risk that the NIS, after adjustment for inflation in Israel, will appreciate in relation to the dollar. In that event, the dollar cost of our operations in Israel will increase and our dollar-measured results of operations will be adversely affected. During the past few years inflation-adjusted NIS appreciated against the dollar, which raised the dollar cost of our Israeli operations. We cannot predict whether the NIS will appreciate against the dollar or vice versa in the future. Any increase in the rate of inflation in Israel, unless the increase is offset on a timely basis by a devaluation of the NIS in relation to the dollar, will increase labor and other costs, which will increase the dollar cost of our operations in Israel and harm our results of operations.
We may be subject to significant product liability claims and litigation which could adversely affect our future earnings and financial condition.
Our business exposes us to potential product liability risks inherent in the testing, processing and marketing of stem cell therapy products. Specifically, the conduct of clinical trials in humans involves the potential risk that the use of our stem cell therapy products will result in adverse effects. Such liability claims may be expensive to defend and result in large judgments against us. We currently maintain liability insurance for our clinical trials; however such liability insurance may not be adequate to fully cover any liabilities that arise from clinical trials of our stem cell therapy products. We also maintain errors and omissions, directors and officers, workers’ compensation and other insurance appropriate to our business activities. If we were to be subject to a claim in excess of this coverage or to a claim not covered by our insurance and the claim succeeded, we would be required to pay the claim from our own limited resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and business. Additionally, liability or alleged liability could harm our business by diverting the attention and resources of our management and damaging our reputation and that of our subsidiaries.
Political, economic and military instability in Israel may impede our ability to execute our plan of operations.
Our principal operations and the research and development facilities of the scientific team funded by us under the Second Ramot Agreement are located in Israel. Accordingly, political, economic and military conditions in Israel may affect our business. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have occurred between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Acts of random terrorism periodically occur which could affect our operations or personnel. Ongoing or revived hostilities or other factors related to Israel could harm our operations and research and development process and could impede our ability to execute our plan of operations.
In addition, Israeli-based companies and companies doing business with Israel have been the subject of an economic boycott by members of the Arab League and certain other predominantly Muslim countries since Israel's establishment. Although Israel has entered into various agreements with certain Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority, and various declarations have been signed in connection with efforts to resolve some of the economic and political problems in the Middle East, we cannot predict whether or in what manner these problems will be resolved. Wars and acts of terrorism have resulted in damage to the Israeli economy, including reducing the level of foreign and local investment.
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Furthermore, certain of our officers and employees may be obligated to perform annual reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces and are subject to being called up for active military duty at any time. Israeli citizens who have served in the army may be subject to an obligation to perform reserve duty until they are between 40 and 49 years old, depending upon the nature of their military service.
Risks related to investing in our securities
The price of our stock is expected to be volatile.
The market price of our common stock has fluctuated significantly, and is likely to continue to be highly volatile. To date, the trading volume in our stock has been relatively low and significant price fluctuations can occur as a result. An active public market for our common stock may not continue to develop or be sustained. If the low trading volumes experienced to date continue, such price fluctuations could occur in the future and the sale price of our common stock could decline significantly. Investors may therefore have difficulty selling their shares.
Your percentage ownership will be diluted by future issuances of our securities.
In order to meet our financing needs, we may issue additional significant amounts of our common stock and warrants to purchase shares of our common stock. The precise terms of any future financings will be determined by us and potential investors and such future financings may also significantly dilute your percentage ownership in the Company.
ACCBT Corp. holds equity participation rights and other rights that could affect our ability to raise funds.
Pursuant to the subscription agreement with ACCBT Corp., a company under the control of Mr. Chaim Lebovits, our President, we granted ACCBT Corp. the right to acquire additional shares of our common stock whenever we issue additional shares of common stock or other securities of the Company, or options or rights to purchase shares of the Company or other securities directly or indirectly convertible into or exercisable for shares of the Company (including shares of any newly created class or series). This participation right could limit our ability to enter into equity financings and to raise funds from third parties. ACCBT Corp. is entitled to purchase its pro rata share of any additional securities we offer, so that its percentage ownership of the Company remains the same after any such issuance of additional securities. Such additional securities will be offered to ACCBT Corp. at the same price and on the same terms as the other investors in the transaction. ACCBT Corp. will have 30 days from the date of our notice to ACCBT Corp. of any intended transaction, to decide whether it wishes to exercise its participation rights in the transaction. We also are prohibited from taking certain corporate actions without the consent of ACCBT Corp., including issuing shares, acquiring or divesting assets and making payment of cash compensation over $60,000 per year. Further, ACCBT Corp. also has the right to appoint a majority of our Board of Directors. In connection with the subscription agreement, we entered into a registration rights agreement with ACCBT Corp. pursuant to which we granted piggyback registration rights to ACCBT Corp. In addition, we issued ACCBT warrants to purchase up to 30,250,000 shares of common stock, of which 30,250,000 warrants are presently outstanding. The outstanding warrants contain full-ratchet anti-dilution provisions and cashless exercise provisions, which permit the cashless exercise of up to 50% of the underlying shares of common stock, and 10,083,333 of such Warrants have an exercise price of $0.20 and the remainder have an exercise price of $0.29. ACCBT has waived its participation rights, registration rights and anti-dilution rights with respect to issuances that were made prior to the date hereof and with regard to this offering.
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You may experience difficulties in attempting to enforce liabilities based upon U.S. federal securities laws against us and our non-U.S. resident directors and officers.
Our principal operations are located through our subsidiary in Israel and our principal assets are located outside the U.S. Our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and some of our directors are foreign citizens and do not reside in the U.S. It may be difficult for courts in the U.S. to obtain jurisdiction over our foreign assets or these persons and as a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to enforce judgments rendered against us or our directors or executive officers in U.S. courts. Thus, should any situation arise in the future in which you have a cause of action against these persons or entities, you are at greater risk in investing in our Company rather than a domestic company because of greater potential difficulties in bringing lawsuits or, if successful, collecting judgments against these persons or entities as opposed to domestic persons or entities.
The trading price of our common stock entails additional regulatory requirements, which may negatively affect such trading price.
Our common stock is listed on the OTCQB Marketplace, an over-the-counter electronic quotation service. Because the trading price of our common stock is below $5.00 per share, trading in our common stock is subject to the requirements of certain “penny stock” rules promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These rules require additional disclosure by broker-dealers in connection with any trades generally involving any equity security not listed on either a securities exchange or NASDAQ that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. Such rules require the delivery, before any penny stock transaction, of a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the risks associated therewith, and impose various sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to persons other than established customers and accredited investors (generally institutions). For these types of transactions, the broker-dealer must determine the suitability of the penny stock for the purchaser and receive the purchaser's written consent to the transaction before sale. The additional burdens imposed upon broker-dealers by such requirements may discourage broker-dealers from effecting transactions in our common stock. As a consequence, the market liquidity of our common stock could be severely affected or limited by these regulatory requirements.
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If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations or prevent fraud, and investor confidence and the market price of our common stock may be materially and adversely affected.
As a public company in the United States, we are subject to the reporting obligations under the U.S. securities laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, as required under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has adopted rules requiring every public company to include a report of management on the effectiveness of such company’s internal control over financial reporting in its annual report. In prior years, management has identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If any of our prior material weaknesses recurs, or if we identify additional weaknesses or fail to timely and successfully implement new or improved controls, our ability to assure timely and accurate financial reporting may be adversely affected, and we could suffer a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which in turn could negatively impact the trading price of our shares of common stock, result in lawsuits being filed against us by our shareholders, or otherwise harm our reputation. If material weaknesses are identified in the future, it could be costly to remediate such material weaknesses, which may adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, our auditor is not required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting due to our status of qualifying as a small reporting company. As a result, current and potential investors could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and have an adverse effect on our share price.
Delaware law could discourage a change in control, or an acquisition of us by a third party, even if the acquisition would be favorable to you, and thereby adversely affect existing stockholders.
The Delaware General Corporation Law contain provisions that may have the effect of making more difficult or delaying attempts by others to obtain control of our Company, even when these attempts may be in the best interests of stockholders. Delaware law imposes conditions on certain business combination transactions with “interested stockholders.” These provisions and others that could be adopted in the future could deter unsolicited takeovers or delay or prevent changes in our control or management, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then current market prices. These provisions may also limit the ability of stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in their best interests.
We do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, and accordingly you must rely on stock appreciation for any return on your investment.
We have paid no cash dividends on our common stock to date, and we currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the continued development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, any payment of cash dividends will also depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors, including contractual restrictions to which we may be subject, and will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors.
Risks related to this offering
U.S. holders of warrants may not be able to exercise their warrants without compliance with applicable state securities laws and the value of your warrants may be significantly reduced.
Because our common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange, the exercise of the warrants by U.S. holders may not be exempt from state securities laws. As a result, depending on the state of residence of a holder of the warrants, a U.S. holder may not be able to exercise its warrants unless we comply with any state securities law requirements necessary to permit such exercise or an exemption applies. Although we plan to use our reasonable efforts to assure that U.S. holders will be able to exercise their warrants under applicable state securities laws if no exemption exists, there is no assurance that we will be able to do so. As a result, your ability to exercise your warrants may be limited. The value of the warrants may be significantly reduced if U.S. holders are not able to exercise their warrants under applicable state securities laws.
A large number of shares issued in this offering may be sold in the market following this offering, which may depress the market price of our common stock.
A large number of shares issued in this offering may be sold in the market following this offering, which may depress the market price of our common stock. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market following this offering could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. If there are more shares of common stock offered for sale than buyers are willing to purchase, then the market price of our common stock may decline to a market price at which buyers are willing to purchase the offered shares of common stock and sellers remain willing to sell the shares. All of the securities issued in the offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act).
The Company has a right to effect a Reverse Stock Split.
On April 18, 2013, our stockholders approved a proposal which authorizes our Board of Directors, in its discretion, to effect a reverse stock split of our common stock by a ratio of between 1-for-10 and 1-for-20, inclusive. The proposed reverse stock split is intended to allow us to meet the minimum share price requirement of The NASDAQ Capital Market’s initial listing requirements. We have applied to list our common stock on The NASDAQ Capital Market; however, if we effect a reverse split it could potentially negatively impact the price per share of our Common Stock.
In connection with this offering, we have agreed that for a period of 90 days from the date of the Underwriting Agreement, the Company will not effect or make any public announcement that it intends to effect any reverse split, combination or other recapitalization of its Common Stock which would reduce the outstanding shares of Common Stock without the prior written consent of the Underwriters.
We may use these proceeds in ways with which you may not agree.
We have considerable discretion in the application of the proceeds of this offering. You will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether the proceeds are being used in a manner agreeable to you. You must rely on our judgment regarding the application of the net proceeds of this offering. The net proceeds may be used for corporate purposes that do not improve our profitability or increase the price of our shares. The net proceeds may also be placed in investments that do not produce income or that lose value.
You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value per share of the common stock you purchase.
Since the public offering price per unit is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our common stock, you will suffer substantial dilution in the net tangible book value of the common stock you purchase in this offering. Based on the public offering price of $0.17 per unit and attributing no value to the warrants, if you purchase units in this offering, you will suffer immediate and substantial dilution of approximately $0.13 per share in the net tangible book value of the shares of common stock included in the units. See the section entitled "Dilution" in this prospectus for a more detailed discussion of the dilution you will incur if you purchase units in this offering.
The warrants may not have any value.
The warrants have an exercise price of $0.25 per share and expire on the third anniversary of the date of issuance. In the event our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of the warrants during the period when the warrants are exercisable, the warrants may not have any value.
There is no public market for the warrants being sold in this offering.
There is no established public trading market for the warrants being offered in this offering, and we do not expect a market to develop. We do not intend to apply for listing of any such warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market. Without an active market, the liquidity of the warrants will be limited.
Holders of our warrants will have no rights as common stockholders until they acquire our common stock.
Until you acquire shares of our common stock upon exercise of your warrants, you will have no rights with respect to our common stock. Upon exercise of your warrants, you will be entitled to exercise the rights of a common stockholder only as to matters for which the record date occurs after the exercise date.
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DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions. In addition, other written or oral statements that constitute forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry and markets in which we operate and statements may be made by or on our behalf. Words such as “should,” “could,” “may,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “estimate,” variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. There are a number of important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.
Forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:
· | Statements as to the anticipated timing of clinical studies and other business developments; |
· | Statements as to the development of new products; |
· | Our expectations regarding federal, state and foreign regulatory requirements; |
· | Our expectations regarding grants from federal resources; and |
· | Statements regarding growth strategies, financial results, product development, competitive strengths, intellectual property rights, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, market acceptance or continued acceptance of our products, accounting estimates, financing activities and ongoing contractual obligations. |
These statements reflect our views with respect to future events as of the date of this prospectus and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this prospectus and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or review publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this prospectus. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. You should read this prospectus and the documents referenced in this prospectus and filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, merger, dispositions, joint ventures or investments we may undertake. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.
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EXCHANGE RATE INFORMATION
In this prospectus, references to “$” are to U.S. dollars, and references to “NIS” are to New Israeli Shekels. The exchange rate between the NIS and the U.S. dollar used in this prospectus varies depending on the date and context of the information contained herein.
The following table sets forth for each period indicated: (1) the low and high exchange rates during such period; (2) the exchange rates in effect at the end of the period; and (3) the average exchange rates for such period, for one U.S. dollar, expressed in NIS, as quoted by the Bank of Israel. The average exchange rate is calculated on the last business day of each month for the applicable period.
Year ended December 31, | Quarter
Ended March 31, | Quarter
Ended June 30, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||
Low | 3.690 | 3.549 | 3.363 | 3.700 | 3.637 | 3.556 | ||||||||||||||||||
High | 4.256 | 3.894 | 3.821 | 4.084 | 3.791 | 3.707 | ||||||||||||||||||
Period End | 3.775 | 3.549 | 3.821 | 3.733 | 3.648 | 3.618 | ||||||||||||||||||
Average | 3.933 | 3.733 | 3.578 | 3.858 | 3.709 | 3.626 |
As of August 8, 2013, the daily representative rate of exchange between the NIS and the U.S. dollar as published by the Bank of Israel was NIS 3.545 to $1.00.
USE OF PROCEEDS
We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of the units offered by this prospectus will be approximately $3.5 million after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. This amount does not include the proceeds which we may receive in connection with the exercise of the warrants. We intend to use the net proceeds of this offering for the clinical development of NurOwn treatment, including the completion of our Phase II clinical trial, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
The net proceeds from this offering will not be sufficient to complete clinical trials and other studies required for the approval of our NurOwn treatment for any indication by the FDA, and we will need significant additional funds in the future. See the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation.”
As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to be received upon the completion of this offering. Accordingly, we will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, and investors will be relying on our judgment regarding the application of the proceeds of this offering.
Pending our use of the net proceeds from this offering, we intend to invest the net proceeds in a variety of capital preservation investments, including short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments and U.S. government securities.
DIVIDEND POLICY
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the growth and development of our business. Therefore, we do not anticipate that we will declare or pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will be dependent upon our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions under any existing indebtedness and other factors the Board of Directors deems relevant.
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DILUTION
Dilution represents the difference between the public offering price of the units and the net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after completion of this offering, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants. Net tangible book value is the amount that results from subtracting total liabilities and intangible assets from total assets.
At March 31, 2013, the net tangible book value of our shares of common stock was $3,481,000 or approximately $0.023 per share. After giving effect to the sale by us of 23,529,411 units in this offering at a public offering price of $0.17 per unit and attributing no value to the warrants included in the units, and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses payable by us, our as adjusted net tangible book value as of March 31, 2013 would have been approximately $7.0 million or approximately $0.040 per share of common stock. This represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value of approximately $0.017 per share to existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of approximately $0.130 per share to new investors. The following table illustrates this per share dilution:
Public offering price per unit | $ | 0.17 | ||||||
Net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2013 | $ | 0.023 | ||||||
Increase per share attributable to new investors | 0.017 | |||||||
As adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering | 0.040 | |||||||
Dilution per share to new investors | $ | 0.130 |
Investors that acquire additional shares of common stock through the exercise of the warrants offered hereby may experience additional dilution depending on our net tangible book value at the time of exercise.
The information in the table above is based on 151,854,176 shares of our common stock outstanding as of March 31, 2013 and excludes as of that date:
· 51,191,451 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans;
· 8,751,665 options outstanding under our equity incentive plans with a weighted average exercise price of $0.23 per share;
· 6,525,103 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants with exercise prices ranging from $0.00005 per share to $1.00 per share; and
· shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants sold as part of this offering.
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UNDERWRITING
We have entered into an underwriting agreement with Roth Capital Partners, LLC and Maxim Group LLC, whom we refer to as the underwriters, with respect to the units subject to this offering. Subject to certain conditions, we have agreed to sell to the underwriters, and the underwriters have agreed to purchase, the number of units provided below opposite their respective names.
Underwriters | Number of Units | |||
Roth Capital Partners, LLC | 12,941,176 | |||
Maxim Group LLC | 10,588,235 | |||
Total | 23,529,411 |
The underwriters are offering the units subject to their acceptance of the units from us and subject to prior sale. The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to pay for and accept delivery of the units offered by this prospectus is subject to the approval of certain legal matters by their counsel and to certain other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to take and pay for all of the units if any such units are taken.
Discounts, Commissions and Expenses
The underwriters have advised us that they propose to offer the units to the public at the offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and to certain dealers at that price less a concession not in excess of $0.005525 per unit. After this offering, the offering price and concession to dealers may be changed by the underwriters. No such change shall change the amount of proceeds to be received by us as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. The units are offered by the underwriters as stated herein, subject to receipt and acceptance by them and subject to their right to reject any order in whole or in part. The underwriters have informed us that they do not intend to confirm sales to any accounts over which they exercise discretionary authority.
The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions payable to the underwriters by us in connection with this offering.
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Per unit | Total | |||||||
Public offering price | $ | 0.17 | $ | 4,000,000 | ||||
Underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us | $ | 0.01105 | $ | 260,000 |
We estimate that expenses payable by us in connection with this offering, other than the underwriting discounts and commissions referred to above, will be approximately $220,000. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain out-of-pocket expenses not to exceed $150,000 without our prior approval, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld. In no event will the expenses reimbursable by us exceed $175,000 in the aggregate.
Leader Underwriters (1993) Ltd, or Leader, an underwriter registered under the laws of Israel, is acting as a selling group member for the sole purpose of arranging for the sale of units registered under the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part to investors in Israel. The offering of units in Israel will be pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements in Israel and will be considered a private placement in Israel under Israeli law. Pursuant to the terms of a Selected Dealer Agreement with the underwriters, Leader will receive from the underwriters a cash payment equal to 5.5% of the gross proceeds received by us from securities sold by Leader.
Indemnification
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act and liabilities arising from breaches of representations and warranties contained in the underwriting agreement, or to contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in respect of those liabilities.
Lock-up Agreements
We and our executive officers and directors have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, for a period of 90 days after the date of the underwriting agreement, not to offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly any shares of common stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock either owned as of the date of the underwriting agreement or thereafter acquired without the prior written consent of the underwriters. This 90-day period may be extended if (1) during the last 17 days of the 90-day period, we issue an earnings release or material news or a material event regarding us occurs or (2) prior to the expiration of the 90-day period, we announce that we will release earnings results during the 16-day period beginning on the last day of the 90-day period, then the period of such extension will be 18 days, beginning on the issuance of the earnings release or the occurrence of the material news or material event. If after any announcement described in clause (2) of the preceding sentence, we announce that we will not release earnings results during the 16-day period, the lock-up period shall expire the later of the expiration of the 90-day period and the end of any extension of such period made pursuant to clause (1) of the preceding sentence. The underwriters may, in their sole discretion and at any time or from time to time before the termination of the lock-up period, without notice, release all or any portion of the securities subject to lock-up agreements.
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Price Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids
The underwriters have advised us that they do not intend to conduct any stabilization or over-allotment activities in connection with this offering.
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Listing and Transfer Agent
Our common stock is traded on the OTCQB Marketplace, operated by OTC Markets Group, under the symbol “BCLI”. The transfer agent of our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company LLC.
Electronic Distribution
This prospectus in electronic format may be made available on websites or through other online services maintained by the underwriters, or by their affiliates. Other than this prospectus in electronic format, the information on the underwriters’ websites and any information contained in any other website maintained by the underwriters is not part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or either underwriter in its capacity as underwriter, and should not be relied upon by investors.
Other
From time to time, the underwriters and/or their affiliates have provided, and may in the future provide, various investment banking and other financial services for us for which services they have received and, may in the future receive, customary fees. Except for services provided in connection with this offering, the underwriters have not provided any investment banking or other financial services during the 180-day period preceding the date of this prospectus and we do not expect to retain either underwriter to perform any investment banking or other financial services for at least 90 days after the date of this prospectus.
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NOTICE TO INVESTORS
Notice to Investors in Israel
In the State of Israel, this prospectus shall not be regarded as an offer to the public to purchase units under the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968, which requires a prospectus to be published and authorized by the Israel Securities Authority, if it complies with certain provisions of Section 15 of the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968, including, inter alia, if: (i) the offer is made, distributed or directed to not more than 35 investors, together with the number of investors to whom we sold securities during the twelve months that preceded this offer (the Addressed Investors); or (ii) the offer is made, distributed or directed to certain qualified investors defined in the First Addendum of the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968, subject to certain conditions, or the Qualified Investors. The Qualified Investors shall not be taken into account in the count of the Addressed Investors and may be offered to purchase securities in addition to the 35 Addressed Investors. We have not and will not take any action that would require us to publish a prospectus in accordance with and subject to the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968. We have not and will not distribute this prospectus or make, distribute or direct an offer to subscribe for our common stock to any person within the State of Israel, other than to Qualified Investors and up to 35 Addressed Investors, subject to the above-mentioned conditions.
Qualified Investors may have to submit written evidence that they meet the definitions set out in the First Addendum to the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968. In particular, we may request, as a condition to be offered units, that Qualified Investors will each represent, warrant and certify to us and/or to anyone acting on our behalf: (i) that it is an investor falling within one of the categories listed in the First Addendum to the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968; (ii) which of the categories listed in the First Addendum to the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968 regarding Qualified Investors is applicable to it; (iii) that it will abide by all provisions set forth in the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968 and the regulations promulgated thereunder in connection with the offer to be issued units; (iv) that the units that it will be issued are, subject to exemptions available under the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968: (a) for its own account; (b) for investment purposes only; and (c) not issued with a view to resale within the State of Israel, other than in accordance with the provisions of the Israeli Securities Law, 5728 – 1968; and (v) that it is willing to provide further evidence of its Qualified Investor status. Addressed Investors may have to submit written evidence in respect of their identity and may have to sign and submit a declaration containing, inter alia, the Addressed Investor’s name, address, and passport number or Israeli identification number.
Notice to Investors in the United Kingdom
In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a Relevant Member State) an offer to the public of any securities which are the subject of the offering contemplated by this prospectus may not be made in that Relevant Member State except that an offer to the public in that Relevant Member State of any such securities may be made at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Directive, if they have been implemented in that Relevant Member State:
(a) to legal entities which are authorized or regulated to operate in the financial markets or, if not so authorized or regulated, whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities;
(b) to any legal entity which has two or more of (1) an average of at least 250 employees during the last financial year; (2) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000; and (3) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000, as shown in its last annual or consolidated accounts;
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(c) by the underwriter to fewer than 100 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive); or
(d) in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, provided that no such offer of these securities shall result in a requirement for the publication by the issuer or the underwriter of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any of the securities in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any such securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase any such securities, as the same may be varied in that Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Member State and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC and includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State.
Each underwriter has represented, warranted and agreed that:
(a) it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the FSMA)) received by it in connection with the issue or sale of any of the securities in circumstances in which section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to the issuer; and
(b) it has complied with and will comply with all applicable provisions of the FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the securities in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom.
European Economic Area
In particular, this document does not constitute an approved prospectus in accordance with European Commission’s Regulation on Prospectuses no. 809/2004 and no such prospectus is to be prepared and approved in connection with this offering. Accordingly, in relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (being the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2003/71/EC and including any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State) (each, a Relevant Member State), with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that Relevant Member State (the Relevant Implementation Date) an offer of securities to the public may not be made in that Relevant Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to such securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that it may, with effect from and including the Relevant Implementation Date, make an offer of securities to the public in that Relevant Member State at any time:
· | to legal entities which are authorized or regulated to operate in the financial markets or, if not so authorized or regulated, whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities; |
· | to any legal entity which has two or more of (1) an average of at least 250 employees during the last financial year; (2) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000; and (3) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000, as shown in the last annual or consolidated accounts; or |
· | in any other circumstances which do not require the publication by the Issuer of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive. |
For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of securities to the public” in relation to any of the securities in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the securities, as the same may be varied in that Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Member State. For these purposes the units offered hereby are “securities.”
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DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The following is a summary of all material characteristics of our capital stock as set forth in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws. The summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and, to the extent applicable, to the provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law.
Common stock
We are authorized to issue 800,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.00005 par value. As of July 30, 2013, there were 152,714,176 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding, held by approximately 69 record holders.
The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by stockholders, including the election of directors. The holders of common stock do not have any cumulative voting, conversion, redemption or preemptive rights. The holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably dividends as may be declared from time to time by our Board of Directors out of funds legally available for that purpose. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution, or winding up, the holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in our assets available for distribution to such holders. All issued and outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and non-assessable.
Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law
We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination,” except under certain circumstances, with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the date such person became an “interested stockholder” unless:
· | before such person became an interested stockholder, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the interested stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; |
· | upon the consummation of the transaction that resulted in the interested stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding shares held by directors who also are officers of the corporation and shares held by employee stock plans; or |
· | at or following the time such person became an interested stockholder, the business combination is approved by the board of directors of the corporation and authorized at a meeting of stockholders by the affirmative vote of the holders of 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation which is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
The term “interested stockholder” generally is defined as a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or, within the three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, owned, 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock. The term “business combination” includes mergers, asset or stock sales and other similar transactions resulting in a financial benefit to an interested stockholder. Section 203 makes it more difficult for an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with a corporation for a three-year period. The existence of this provision would be expected to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by our Board of Directors, including discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by stockholders.
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Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company LLC.
OTCQB Marketplace
Our common stock is traded on the OTCQB Marketplace operated by OTC Markets Group under the trading symbol “BCLI.”
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES WE ARE OFFERING
We are offering 23,529,411 units, each unit consisting of one share of our common stock and 0.75 of a warrant to purchase one share of our common stock.
The units will not be issued or certificated. The shares of common stock and the warrants that we are issuing are immediately separable and will be issued separately. This registration statement also registers the shares of common stock issuable from time to time upon exercise of the warrants offered hereby.
Common Stock
The material terms and provisions of our common stock and each other class of our securities which qualifies or limits our common stock are described under the caption “Description of Capital Stock” in this prospectus.
Warrants
The following summary of certain terms and provisions of the warrants that are being offered hereby is not complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by the provisions of the warrant, the form of which has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Prospective investors should carefully review the terms and provisions of the form of the warrant for a complete description of the terms and conditions of the warrants.
Duration and Exercise Price .. The warrants offered hereby will entitle the holders thereof to purchase up to an aggregate of 17,647,058 shares of our common stock at an initial exercise price of $0.25 per share of common stock. The warrants will be immediately exercisable and will expire on the third anniversary of the date of issuance. The warrants will be issued separately from the common stock included in the units, and may be transferred separately immediately thereafter. The warrants will be issued in certificated form only. After the exercise period, holders of the warrants will have no further rights to exercise the warrants.
Exercisability . The warrants will be exercisable, at the option of each holder, in whole or in part, by delivering to us a duly executed exercise notice accompanied by payment in full for the number of shares of our common stock purchased upon such exercise (except in the case of a cashless exercise as discussed below). A holder may not exercise any portion of the warrant to the extent that the holder, together with its affiliates and any other person or entity acting as a group, would own more than 4.9% of the outstanding common stock after exercise, except that upon at least 61 days’ prior notice from the holder to us, the holder may increase the amount of ownership of outstanding stock after exercising the holder’s warrants up to 9.9% of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to the exercise, as such percentage ownership is determined in accordance with the terms of the warrants.
Cashless Exercise. If, at the time a holder exercises its warrant, there is no effective registration statement registering, or the prospectus contained therein is not available for an issuance of the shares underlying the warrant to the holder, then in lieu of making the cash payment otherwise contemplated to be made to us upon such exercise in payment of the aggregate exercise price, the holder may elect instead to receive upon such exercise (either in whole or in part) the net number of shares of common stock determined according to a formula set forth in the warrant.
Anti-Dilution .The warrants also include, subject to certain exceptions, full ratchet anti-dilution protection in the event of the issuance of any common stock, securities convertible into common stock, or certain other issuances at a price below the then-current exercise price of the warrants, which would result in an adjustment to the exercise price of the warrants.
Fundamental Transactions . In the event of any fundamental transaction, as described in the warrants and generally including any merger with or into another entity, sale, lease, license or other disposition of all or substantially all of our assets, tender offer or exchange offer, or reclassification of our common stock, then upon any subsequent exercise of a warrant, the holder will have the right to receive as alternative consideration, for each share of our common stock that would have been issuable upon such exercise immediately prior to the occurrence of such fundamental transaction, the number of shares of common stock of the successor or acquiring corporation or of our company, if it is the surviving corporation, and any additional consideration receivable upon or as a result of such transaction by a holder of the number of shares of our common stock for which the warrant is exercisable immediately prior to such event. In addition, in the event of a fundamental transaction, that is (1) an all cash transaction, (2) a “Rule 13e-3 transaction” as defined in Rule 13e-3 under the Exchange Act or (3) with certain limited exceptions, a fundamental transaction involving a person or entity not traded on the OTCQB, the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, The New York Stock Exchange, Inc., The NYSE MKT, LLC, The NASDAQ Global Select Market, The NASDAQ Global Market or The NASDAQ Capital Market, then we or any successor entity shall pay at the holder’s option, exercisable at any time concurrently with or within forty-five (45) days after the consummation of the fundamental transaction, an amount of cash equal to the value of the warrant as determined in accordance with the Black Scholes option pricing model described in the warrants.
Transferability. Subject to applicable laws and the restriction on transfer set forth in the warrant, the warrants may be transferred at the option of the holder upon surrender of the warrant to us together with the appropriate instruments of transfer.
Listing. We do not intend to list the warrants on any securities exchange or other trading market.
Right as a Stockholder. Holders of the warrants will not have the rights or privileges of holders of our common stock, including any voting rights, until they exercise their warrants.
Waivers and Amendments. Subject to certain exceptions, any term of the warrant may be amended or waived with our written consent and the written consent of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the then-outstanding warrants.
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OUR BUSINESS
Company Overview
We are a biotechnology company developing novel adult stem cell therapies for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS, MS, and PD. These diseases have limited treatment options and as such represent unmet medical needs.
We believe that NurOwn, our proprietary process for the propagation of MSC and their differentiation into NTF secreting cells (MSC-NTF), and their transplantation at, or near, the site of damage, offers the hope of more effectively treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Our approach is considered safe based on our use of autologous cells, which are free of the risk of rejection and tumor formation. It is also free of the controversy associated with the use of embryonic stem cells in some countries.
Our core technology was developed in collaboration with prominent neurologist Prof. Eldad Melamed, former head of Neurology of the Rabin Medical Center and member of the Scientific Committee of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and expert cell biologist Prof. Daniel Offen of the Felsenstein Medical Research Center of Tel Aviv University.
Our Israeli Subsidiary holds rights to commercialize the technology, through a licensing agreement with Ramot, the technology licensing company of Tel Aviv University, Israel.
On February 8, 2010, our Israeli Subsidiary entered into an agreement with Hadassah, pursuant to which Hadassah provides the Israeli Subsidiary with lab services.
On February 17, 2010, our Israeli Subsidiary entered into the Clinical Trial Agreement with Hadassah and Professor Dimitrios Karussis. Under the Clinical Trial Agreement, Hadassah and our personnel agreed to conduct a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of our NurOwn cells in patients with ALS, in accordance with a protocol developed jointly by us and Professor Karussis.
In February 2011, the FDA granted Orphan Drug designation to NurOwn for the treatment of ALS.
In June 2011, we initiated a Phase I/II clinical trial for the treatment of ALS with NurOwn at HUMC, after receiving approval from the Israeli MoH.
In July 2011, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with MGH and UMass in anticipation of applying for FDA approval to begin ALS human clinical trials in the United States. This Memorandum of Understanding expired on July 7, 2012. Pending submission of an IND application to the FDA and subsequent approval, we are planning to enter into an agreement with these institutions in order to launch a Phase II clinical trial in late 2013, which we expect to complete during the first half of 2015.
In July 2012, together with Professor Karussis, we submitted an interim safety evaluation report to the Israeli MoH for the first 12 of 24 patients in the Phase I/II clinical trial. The report confirmed that our NurOwn therapy is safe, did not cause any adverse side effects, and some of the patients showed promising indications of clinical improvement.
In January 2013, the Israeli MoH approved acceleration to a Phase IIa combined treatment, dose-escalating trial, which we are currently conducting at HUMC. In this safety and preliminary efficacy trial, 12 early-stage ALS patients will receive both intramuscular and intrathecal injections of NurOwn cells in three cohorts with increasing doses. The patients will be followed for six months after transplantation.
In January 2013, we also announced that we had successfully completed a 12-week repeat dose toxicity study with our NurOwn cells in mice. These repeat doses were prepared from frozen cells, using a proprietary method developed by the Company. We believe that our cryopreservation, or freezing, method will enable long-term storage, and production of repeat patient doses of NurOwn without the need for additional bone marrow aspirations. We believe that the positive data from the toxicity study in mice will support our efforts to obtain approval for a future repeat dose clinical study in ALS patients. The study was conducted at Harlan Israel’s laboratories, according to GLP standards of the FDA. The study protocol was approved Israel’s National Council for Animal Experimentation.
On February 21, 2013, the UK Subsidiary filed a request for Orphan Medicinal Product Designation by the EMA for our autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells secreting neurotropic factors.
In March 2013, principal investigator Professor Dimitrios Karussis of Hadassah presented some of the final data from the Phase I/II trial at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. The trial results analyzed to date confirmed the safety of the NurOwn treatment and also demonstrated initial signs of possible efficacy. There was a slower decline in overall clinical and respiratory function, as measured by the ALS Functional Rating Score (ALSFRS-R) and Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) score respectively, in the six patients that received an intrathecal injection of the cells, in the six months following treatment as compared to the three months preceding treatment.
On March 14, 2013, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to participate as an additional clinical site in the Phase II ALS clinical trial planned for later this year. The team there will be led by Professor Anthony J. Windebank, Head of the Regenerative Neurobiology Laboratory in the Department of Neurology. This Memorandum of Understanding is due to expire on March 14, 2014.
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On April 3, 2013, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with Dana-Farber under which Dana-Farber’s Connell and O'Reilly Cell Manipulation Core Facility will produce NurOwn in its cGMP-compliant clean rooms for the MGH and UMass clinical sites during our upcoming Phase II ALS clinical trial in the United States, which we expect to complete during the first half of 2015.
In June 2013, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PRC Clinical, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) based in the San Francisco Bay Area, in anticipation of our planned Phase II multi-center ALS clinical trial in the United States.
On July 17, 2013, we received Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for our NurOwn for the treatment of ALS from the European Commission.
Our Proprietary Technology
Our NurOwn technology is based on a novel differentiation protocol that differentiates the bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neuron-supporting cells, MSC-NTF cells, capable of releasing several neurotrophic factors, including GDNF and BDNF, both of which are critical for the growth, survival, and differentiation of developing neurons.
Our approach to treatment of neurodegenerative diseases with autologous adult stem cells includes a multi-step process beginning with harvesting of undifferentiated stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow, and concluding with transplantation of differentiated, neurotrophic factor-secreting mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-NTF) into the same patient – intrathecally and/or intramuscularly. Intrathecal transplantation consists of injection with a standard lumbar puncture; there is no need for a laminectomy - an invasive, orthopedic spine operation to remove a portion of the vertebral bone, as required by other technologies. Intramuscular transplantation is performed via a standard injection procedure as well.
Our proprietary, optimized processes for induction of differentiation of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells into differentiated cells that produce NTF (MSC-NTF) are conducted in full compliance with cGMP.
Our proprietary technology is licensed to and developed by our Israeli Subsidiary.
The NurOwn Transplantation Process
§ | Bone marrow aspiration from patient; |
§ | Isolation and expansion of the mesenchymal stem cells; |
§ | Differentiation of the expanded stem cells into neurotrophic-factor secreting (MSC-NTF) cells; and |
§ | Autologous transplantation into the patient’s spinal cord or muscle tissue. |
Differentiation before Transplantation
The ability to induce differentiation of autologous adult mesenchymal stem cells into MSC-NTF cells before transplantation is unique to NurOwn, making it the first-of-its-kind for treating neurodegenerative diseases.
The specialized cells secrete neurotrophic factors for:
§ | Protection of existing motor neurons; |
§ | Promotion of motor neuron growth; and |
§ | Re-establishment of nerve-muscle interaction. |
Autologous (Self-transplantation)
The NurOwn approach is autologous, or self-transplanted, using the patient’s own stem cells. In autologous transplantation there is no risk of rejection and no need for treatment with immunosuppressive agents, which can cause severe and/or long-term side effects. In addition, it is free of controversy associated with the use of embryonic stem cells in some countries.
Transplantation site and method
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Clinical Indication I: ALS (current) – Based on the approval of the Israeli MoH, we are currently conducting a Phase IIa dose-escalating trial to evaluate safety and preliminary efficacy of NurOwn in ALS patients. Pending submission of an IND application to the FDA and subsequent approval, we are planning to launch a Phase II clinical trial in the USA in late-2013. If this trial is successful, we intend to conduct further Phase II and Phase III clinical trials of NurOwn.
Clinical Indication II: MS (future) – Based on positive proof-of-concept results obtained at Tel Aviv University with MSC-NTF cells for MS, we are currently conducting pre-clinical studies for this disease.
Proposed Reverse Stock Split
On February 28, 2013, our Board of Directors approved, subject to stockholder approval, a resolution authorizing our Board of Directors to effect a reverse stock split of our common stock by a ratio of between 1-for-10 and 1-for-20, inclusive, with our Board of Directors retaining the discretion as to whether to implement the reverse stock split and which exchange ratio to implement. On April 18, 2013, our stockholders approved this resolution. In connection with this offering, the Company has agreed that for a period of 90 days from the date hereof, the Company will not effect or make any public announcement that it intends to effect any reverse split, combination or other recapitalization of its Common Stock which would reduce the outstanding shares of Common Stock without the prior written consent of the Underwriters.
History
The Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Washington on September 22, 2000, under the name Wizbang Technologies, Inc. and acquired the right to market and sell a digital data recorder product line in certain states in the U.S. Subsequently, the Company changed its name to Golden Hand Resources Inc. On July 12, 2004, the Company entered into a research and license agreement with Ramot to acquire certain stem cell technology and decided to discontinue all activities related to the sales of the digital data recorder product. In November 2004, the Company changed its name from Golden Hand Resources Inc. to Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. to better reflect its new line of business in development of novel cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. In October 2004, the Company formed its wholly-owned subsidiary, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Ltd. in Israel. On December 18, 2006, the stockholders of the Company approved a proposal to change the state of incorporation of the Company from the State of Washington to the State of Delaware. The reincorporation was completed on December 21, 2006 through the merger of the Company into a newly formed, wholly-owned Delaware subsidiary of Brainstorm, also named Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. On February 19, 2013, the Israeli Subsidiary formed its wholly-owned subsidiary, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics UK Ltd. in the United Kingdom.
Other Recent Developments
Public Offering
On July 17, 2012, we raised approximately $5.7 million through a public offering (Public Offering) of our common stock. We issued a total of 19,818,968 shares of our common stock at $0.29 per share and 14,864,228 warrants to purchase 0.75 shares of common stock for every share purchased in the Public Offering, at an exercise price of $0.29 per share. The warrants are exercisable until the 30 month anniversary of the date of issuance. After deducting closing costs and fees, we received net proceeds of approximately $5 million.
MS Pre-Clinical Trials
Based on positive proof-of-concept results obtained at Tel Aviv University with MSC-NTF cells for MS, we are currently conducting pre-clinical studies for this disease.
Governmental Grants
In September 2011, we received notice from the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) of its commitment to grant the Company approximately $1.1 million in accordance with OCS guidelines and the relevant plan approved by the OCS (the Approved Plan). The entire grant has been received.
In 2012, we received notices from the OCS of its commitment to grant the Company in total 4,145,658 NIS (approximately $1,086,000) for the year ending June 30, 2013.
With regards to any funding received from the OCS, we are obligated to pay royalties to the OCS, amounting to 3% to 5% of revenues (subject to the relevant regulations, as amended from time to time) derived from sales of the products funded with the OCS grant, depending on the origin of the products’ production. Such royalty payments shall be up to an amount equal to 100% of the grant received.
Any plan approved by the OCS research committee for grant funding, is subject to the Israel's Encouragement of Industrial Research and Development Law, 5744 - 1984 (R&D Law), which, among others, restricts the transfer of any know-how (as further defined therein) and the transfer of the manufacture of the outcome product of such Approved Plan outside of Israel.
The research committee may, in special cases, approve the transfer abroad of know-how or any right thereof, derived from research and development conducted under the Approved Plan in Israel, in exchange for receiving know-how from the party aboard; provided, however, that such exchange is towards joint and new research and development.
The research committee may, in special cases and on grounds to be recorded, approve a request to transfer outside of Israel, the manufacturing or the rights to manufacture a product developed within the framework of the Approved Plan; provided, however, that in exchange for such approval, the OCS shall be entitled to, inter alia, payment of increased royalties due to the transfer of such manufacturing rights (as further detailed therein).
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Collaboration with Octane Biotech
On December 10, 2012, we signed a development agreement (the Octane Agreement) with Octane Biotech Inc. of Kingston, Ontario (Octane), to jointly collaborate towards developing proprietary bioreactor for scale up production of our NurOwn treatment. The customized bioreactor (the NurOwn Bioreactor) will enable us to enhance the efficiency of our NurOwn production process, significantly increasing our production capabilities by using a single clean room for multiple patients, reducing costs and time.
According to the Octane Agreement, in the event that the parties successfully complete the development of the NurOwn Bioreactor, the parties reserve the right to enter into an agreement for the supply of clinical products and/or provisions of services.
The Octane Agreement further dictates that Octane shall be prohibited from selling and/or transferring the NurOwn Bioreactor to any third party without our prior written consent.
The 3-year collaborative project with a total budget of approximately 1,365,000 Canadian dollars is being supported by the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation which collaborates with the Israeli OCS. The Israeli OCS has confirmed its participation, in such project, of 530,000 NIS (approximately U.S. $141,000) for the first year, which comprises 50% of our budget of approximately 1,060,000 NIS (approximately U.S. $282,000) for that period.
Development of Cryopreservation Method
In January 2013, we announced the development of a proprietary method for cryopreservation, or freezing, of cells, which we believe will enable long-term storage, and production of repeat patient doses of NurOwn without the need for additional bone marrow aspirations. We believe that cryopreservation will enable us to create a personalized NurOwn stem cell bank for each patient, for ongoing, repeat treatments.
Orphan Drug Status in EMA
On July 17, 2013, we received Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for our NurOwn for the treatment of ALS from the European Commission.
Clinical Trial Update
On August 1, 2013 we announced that we submitted a favorable safety report to the hospital Helsinki Committee (IRB) for the second group of patients in our ongoing Phase IIa ALS clinical trial at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. We announced that the treatment was well tolerated and no serious adverse events were observed. We plan to release the preliminary efficacy data at the conclusion of the trial.
Chief Executive Officer
On July 28, 2013, Alon Natanson, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, informed us of his resignation from his position with the Company effective 90 days after the notice. The Company expects that Mr. Natanson will continue to hold the title of Chief Executive Officer of the Company until the end of the 90 day notice period required by Mr. Natanson’s employment agreement or until such earlier time as the Company appoints a new Chief Executive Officer. The Company is currently searching for a permanent Chief Executive Officer to replace Mr. Natanson.
On August 1, 2013, the Company appointed Chaim Lebovits, the President of the Company, as its principal executive officer, and to assume the duties and responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis while we search for a new Chief Executive Officer.
Our efforts are currently directed at:
§ | Completing our Phase IIa dose-escalating clinical trial of NurOwn for the treatment of ALS with 12 ALS patients in Israel; |
§ | Submitting an IND for NurOwn for the treatment of ALS to the FDA; |
§ | Initiating a Phase II ALS clinical trial of NurOwn in the United States; |
§ | Collaborating with Octane on development of a customized NurOwn bioreactor; and |
§ | Completing pre-clinical studies of NurOwn for the treatment of MS. |
Stem Cell Therapy
Our activities are within the stem cell therapy field. Stem cells are non-specialized cells with a potential for both self-renewal and differentiation into cell types with a specialized function, such as muscle, blood or brain cells. The cells have the ability to undergo asymmetric division such that one of the two daughter cells retains the properties of the stem cell, while the other begins to differentiate into a more specialized cell type. Stem cells are therefore central to normal human growth and development, and also are a potential source of new cells for the regeneration of diseased and damaged tissue. Stem cell therapy aims to restore diseased tissue function by the replacement and/or addition of healthy cells by stem cell transplants.
Currently, two principal platforms for cell therapy products are being explored: (i) embryonic stem cells (ESC), isolated from the inner mass of a few days old embryo; and (ii) adult stem cells, sourced from bone marrow, spinal cord blood or various organs. Although ESCs are the easiest to grow and differentiate, their use in human therapy is limited by safety concerns associated with their tendency to develop teratomas (a form of tumor) and their potential to elicit an immune reaction. In addition, ESC has generated much political and ethical debate due to the derivation of ESCs from aborted fetuses.
Cell therapy using adult stem cells avoids many of these concerns. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an example of adult stem cells. These “multi-potent” cells can produce more than one type of specialized cell of the body, such as bone, fat, cartilage, and other types of cells. They secrete factors that promote tissue repair, and decrease inflammatory and immune reactions. The bone marrow (BM) is an invaluable source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Moreover, bone marrow may be obtained through simple procedure of aspiration, from the patient himself, enabling autologous cell therapy, thus obviating the need for donor matching, circumventing immune rejection and other immunological mismatch risks, as well as avoiding the need for immunosuppressive therapy. We believe that autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, which are capable of in-vitro growth and multipotential differentiation, are a preferable source of therapeutic stem cells.
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Studies of neurodegenerative diseases suggest that symptoms that arise in afflicted individuals are secondary to defects in neuron cell function and neural circuitry. To date, these diseases have not been treated effectively with systemic drug delivery. Consequently, alternative approaches for treating neurodegenerative diseases have been attempted, such as transplantation of cells capable of replacing or supplementing the function of damaged neurons. For such cell replacement therapy to work, implanted cells must survive and integrate, both functionally and structurally, within the damaged tissue.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
According to the ALS Association ALS, often referred to as “Lou Gehrig's disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to death. As motor neurons degenerate, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become completely paralyzed. However, in most cases, mental faculties are not affected.
Approximately 5,600 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. Estimated annual treatment costs for advanced stage patients can be as high as $200,000, representing an aggregate direct cost to the healthcare system of more than $6 billion per year (Source: Alliance for Regenerative Medicine).
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Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness or stiffness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing.
ALS is most often found in the 40 to 70 year age group with similar incidence as MS. There appear to be more MS sufferers because MS patients tend to live much longer, some for 30 years or more. The life expectancy of an ALS patient averages about two to five years from the time of diagnosis. However, up to 10% of ALS patients will survive more than ten years.
Treatment decisions are typically determined by the patient's symptoms and the stage of the disease. Some medications used for ALS patients include:
· | Riluzole - the only medication approved by the FDA to slow the progress of ALS. While it does not reverse ALS in clinical studies, Riluzole has been shown to reduce nerve damage. Riluzole may extend the time before a patient needs a ventilator (a machine to assist breathing) and may prolong the patient's life by several months; |
· | Baclofen or Diazepam - used to control muscle spasms, stiffness or tightening (spasticity) that interfere with daily activities; and |
· | Trihexyphenidyl or Amitriptyline - used to treat patients who have excess saliva or secretions, and emotional changes. |
Other medications may be prescribed to help reduce other symptoms as fatigue, pain, sleep disturbances, constipation, and excess saliva and phlegm.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
MS is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that affects the brain and spinal cord. Nerve cells are normally insulated with a protective layer called myelin, which allows nerve signals to travel properly. In MS, the myelin is destroyed (demyelination), causing loss of function of the nerve cells and disrupting transmission of brain messages to various parts of the body. While generally thought to be an autoimmune disease, the exact cause of MS is unknown.
There are currently over 2.5 million people with MS worldwide, with roughly 800,000 of these in the U.S. and Europe. Over 10,000 new cases are diagnosed annually in the U.S., with the majority of these in women between the ages of 20 and 50. Annual treatment costs for MS can be as much as $34,000 a year per patient.
MS can cause blurred vision, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, and problems with memory and concentration. Most MS patients experience muscle weakness in their extremities and difficulty with coordination and balance. These symptoms may be severe enough to impair walking or even standing. In the worst cases, MS can produce partial or complete paralysis. MS is not considered a fatal disease, as the vast majority of people with MS live a normal life-span. But the unpredictability of the disease can present many challenges, including the possibility of facing increasing limitations.
Most people experience MS symptoms between the ages of 20 and 40. At least two to three times more women than men have been diagnosed with MS. MS occurs in most ethnic groups, including African-Americans, Asians and Latinos, but is more common in Caucasians of northern European ancestry.
Treatment of MS focuses on symptom management, treatment of attacks, and reduction of disease progression. Of the nine FDA-approved, disease modifying treatments introduced since 1993, three are interferon-based, two are immunomodulators, one is an immunosuppressant, one is an antineoplastic, one is a monoclonal antibody, and one's exact mechanism is unknown. (Source: National MS Society).
While disease-modifying treatments reduce the progression rate of the disease, they do not stop it. As multiple sclerosis progresses, the symptomatology tends to increase. Therefore, MS treatment management includes symptomatic treatments as well as rehabilitative and psychological approaches such as physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, support groups, an exercise program, a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition, rest and relaxation.
The variable clinical presentation of MS and the lack of established diagnostic laboratory tests leads to delays and difficulties in diagnosis. New diagnostic methods are being investigated as well as biomarkers for monitoring disease activity.
Parkinson’s Disease (PD)
PD is a chronic, progressive disorder, affecting certain nerve cells, which reside in the Substantia Nigra of the brain and which produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that directs and controls movement. In PD, these dopamine-producing nerve cells break down, causing dopamine levels to drop below the threshold levels and resulting in brain signals directing movement to become abnormal. The cause of the disease is unknown.
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Over 6.3 million people worldwide suffer from PD, of whom about one million are in the United States. Most people are diagnosed with the disease between the ages of 55 and 65 and about 85% of people with Parkinsons are over the age of 65. Prevalence of PD is increasing in line with the general aging of the population. The market for pharmaceutical treatments for PD has been estimated to be $2.4 billion a year in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. However, these costs are dwarfed when compared to the total economic burden of the disease, which has been estimated by the National Parkinson Foundation to exceed $14 billion annually in the U.S. alone, including costs of medical treatment, caring, facilities and other services, as well as loss of productivity of both patients and caregivers.
The symptoms of PD include shaking (tremor), stiff muscles (rigidity) and slow movement (Bradykinesia). A person with fully developed PD may also have a stooped posture, a blank stare or fixed facial expression, speech problems and difficulties with balance or walking. Although it can be highly debilitating, the disease is not life threatening and an average patient’s life span is approximately 20 years from the onset of symptoms.
Treatment of PD primarily comprises dopamine replacement, either directly (levodopa), with dopamine mimetics or by inhibition of its breakdown. These treatments focus on treating the symptoms of the disease and are not a cure for PD.
Levodopa, which remains the standard and most potent PD medication available, has been shown to cause serious motor response complications with long-term use. Moreover, effective drug dosage often requires gradual increase, leading to more adverse side effects and eventual resistance to its therapeutic action. This greatly limits patient benefit. Therefore, physicians and researchers have sought levodopa-sparing strategies in patients with early-stage disease to delay the need for levodopa.
PD is also treated by Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), which consists of implanting electrodes deep into the brain to provide permanent electrical stimulation to specific areas of the brain and to cause a delay in the activity in those areas. However, DBS is problematic as it can cause uncontrollable and severe side effects such as bleeding in the brain, infection and depression. In addition, like drug therapy, DBS focuses on treating the symptoms of PD and does not provide a cure.
There is a greatly unsatisfied need for novel approaches towards management of PD, primarily to control levodopa-induced adverse side effects and motor dysfunction, as well as to delay the onset of disease-related dementia.
In addition to the symptomatic drug development approaches, there is an intense effort to develop cell and gene therapeutic “curative” approaches to restore the neural function in patients with PD, by (i) replacing the dysfunctional cells with dopamine producing cell transplant, or by (ii) providing growth factors and proteins, such as GDNF, that can maintain or preserve the patient’s remaining dopaminergic cells, protecting them from further degeneration. Preclinical evaluation of cell therapeutic approaches based on transplantation of dopaminergic neurons differentiated in-vitro from ESC, have been successful in ameliorating PD in animal models, as has direct gene therapy with vectors harboring the GDNF gene. However, these approaches are limited, in the first case, by the safety and ethical considerations associated with use of ESC, and, in the second case, by the safety risks inherent to gene therapy. As a result, intensive efforts have been made to develop an adult stem-cell based treatment.
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Company Business Strategy
Our company is focused on advancing the NurOwn treatment, with the goal of obtaining FDA regulatory approval for uses as a treatment of ALS patients.
§ | Phase IIa dose-escalating safety and preliminary efficacy clinical trial in Israel; |
§ | Phase II ALS safety and preliminary efficacy clinical trial in the United States; and |
§ | Phase II/III repeat dose clinical efficacy trial in the United States. |
Additional strategic goals of the Company:
§ | Development of a customized NurOwn bioreactor for optimization and scale-up of NurOwn production; |
§ | Development of additional clinical indications, i.e. MS; and |
§ | Pursuing strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies as we progress towards advanced clinical development and commercialization. |
Sales and Marketing
We intend to establish and maintain fully-equipped cGMP certified Cell-Processing Centers in strategic locations to support NurOwn production and distribution over the broadest geographic area. Each Cell-Processing Center would receive an initial tissue sample of the patient, harvested at a medical center. The patient’s MSC cells would be isolated and expanded, in order to produce an initial dose of NurOwn cells. A master cell bank for each individual patient would be maintained for production of subsequent, future NurOwn doses on a long-term basis. These doses would be produced as needed and transported to the medical centers, where they would then be transplanted back into the patient.
We intend to seek partnering opportunities with a strategic partner as we progress towards advanced clinical development and commercialization.
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Intellectual Property
Patents:
We have pending patent applications in (1) the United States; (2) Europe; (3) Israel; and (4) Hong Kong, as follows:
A. The Israeli Subsidiary is the sole owner of United States Provisional patent application Serial No. 61/679,822, filed August 6, 2012, entitled "Methods of Generating Mesenchymal Stem Cells Which Secrete Neurotrophic Factors.”
This invention is directed to a method of generating MSCs which secrete neurotrophic factors (NTFs) comprising incubating a population of undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in a differentiating medium comprising basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), heregulin and cAMP. The application also covers a method of treating a disease for which administration of neurotrophic factors is beneficial in a subject in need thereof, comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of isolated population of MSCs which secretes neurotrophic factors made according to the above method. Also taught is a method of selecting mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) which secrete neurotrophic factors (NTFs) from a mixed population of MSCs, comprising: (a) analyzing the cells of said mixed population of cells for at least one of the following parameters: (i) cells which express CD44 below a predetermined threshold, or (ii) cells which express CD73 above a predetermined threshold; and (b) selecting cells which are positive for at least one of said parameters, thereby selecting the MSCs which secrete neurotrophic factors. The application teaches a pharmaceutical composition comprising the isolated population of MSCs as an active agent and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
B. The Israeli Subsidiary is co-owner, with Ramot in the invention entitled “Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Treatment of CNS Diseases”, filed as a PCT application on May 26, 2009, currently pending as National Phase patent applications in the following countries:
· | United States: Serial No. 12/994,761 |
· | Europe: Serial No. 09754337.5 |
· | Europe: Serial No. 13164650.7 |
· | Israel: Serial No. 209604 |
· | Hong Kong: Serial No. 11107062.5 |
This invention is directed to an isolated human cell comprising at least one mesenchymal stem cell phenotype and secreting brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), wherein a basal secretion of the BDNF is at least five times greater than a basal secretion of the BDNF in a mesenchymal stem cell. Also disclosed in this application is an isolated cell population comprising human mesenchymal stem cells, wherein at least 50% of the cells express glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and secrete at least one neurotrophic factor. Also taught is an isolated cell population comprising human cells wherein (i) at least N% of said human cells secreting brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), wherein a basal secretion of said BDNF is at least five times greater than a basal secretion of the BDNF in a mesenchymal stem cell; (ii) at least M% of said human cells comprise at least one mesenchymal stem cell phenotype; and (iii) at least one of the human cells secretes the BDNF and the mesenchymal stem cell phenotype; where M and N are each independently selected between 1 and 99. Methods of generating same and uses of same are also disclosed. The method of generating cells useful for treating a CNS disease or disorder comprises (a) incubating mesenchymal stem cells in a culture medium comprising platelet lysate to generate propagated mesenchymal stem cells; and (b) incubating said propagated mesenchymal stem cells in a differentiating medium, thereby generating cells useful for treating the CNS disease or disorder. Another method taught is that of generating cells secreting neurotrophic factors, comprising (a) incubating mesenchymal stem cells in a serum free medium comprising platelet lysate to generate propagated mesenchymal stem cells; and (b) incubating the propagated mesenchymal stem cells in a differentiating medium comprising at least one differentiating agent, said at least one differentiating agent being selected from the group consisting of platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), human neuregulin 1-b1, FGF2, EGF, N2, IBMX and cAMP, thereby generating cells secreting neurotrophic factors. The European applications claim an isolated human cell comprising a cell being non-genetically manipulated, and characterized by: a) expressing tyrosine hydroxylase, nestin and H-NF and b) secreting brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and b) not secreting nerve growth factor (NGF) wherein a basal secretion of said BDNF is at least five times greater than a basal secretion of said BDNF in a mesenchymal stem cell; an isolated cell population comprising cells generated from human bone marrow derived cells expressing CD73, CD90 and CD105 and not expressing CD14, CD19, CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR, wherein at least 50% of the cells of the cell population express glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and secrete BDNF; and a method of generating cells useful for treating a CNS disease or disorder, the method comprising: (a) incubating bone marrow derived cells expressing CD73, CD90 and CD105 and not expressing CD14, CD19, CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR in a culture medium comprising human platelet lysate to generate propagated cells; and (b) incubating said propagated cells in a medium comprising a differentiating agent, thereby generating cells useful for treating the CNS disease or disorder, wherein said differentiating agent is selected from the group consisting of platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), human neuregulin l-βl, FGF2, EGF, N2, IBMX and cAMP.
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C. The Israeli Subsidiary is the licensee of the following patent applications owned by Ramot under terms set forth in the Second Ramot Agreement and the Assignment Agreement, as follows:
1. Invention entitled “Isolated Cells and Populations Comprising Same for the Treatment of CNS Diseases”, filed as a PCT application on June 18, 2006, currently pending as National Phase patent applications in the following countries:
· | Europe: Serial No. 06766101.7 |
· | Europe: Serial No.: 11000994.1 |
· | Hong Kong: Serial No.: 12112468.4 |
· | United States: Serial No 11/727,583, Continuation-in-Part filed on March 27, 2007 |
This invention is directed to an isolated human cell and populations thereof comprising at least one astrocytic phenotype and at least one mesenchymal stem cell phenotype, wherein the mesenchymal stem cell phenotype is not an astrocytic phenotype; an isolated human cell comprising at least one mesenchymal stem cell phenotype and at least one astrocytic structural phenotype, wherein the mesenchymal stem cell phenotype is not an astrocytic structural phenotype; or an isolated human cell comprising at least one mesenchymal stem cell phenotype and at least one astrocytic functional phenotype, wherein the mesenchymal stem cell phenotype is not an astrocytic functional phenotype. Also taught is a method of generating astrocyte-like cells expressing S100 beta, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), glutamine sythetase, GLAST, GLTI and glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) comprising (a) culturing mesenchymal stem cells in a medium comprising human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) and human basic fibroblast growth factor (hbFGF); and (b) incubating the mesenchymal stem cells in a differentiating medium comprising platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) and human neuregulin 1-b1, thereby generating astrocyte-like cells. Another disclosed method of generating astrocyte-like cells teaches (a) incubating mesenchymal stem cells in a medium comprising epidermal growth factor (hEGF) and human basic fibroblast growth factor (hbFGF) to generate cells predisposed to generate into astrocyte-like cells; and (b) incubating the predisposed cells in a differentiating medium comprising platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) and human neuregulin 1-b1, thereby generating astrocyte-like cells.
2. Invention entitled “Methods, nucleic acid constructs and cells for treating neurodegenerative disorders", filed on May 17, 2005 as United States patent application Serial No. 13/783,607. This invention is directed to a method of treating a neurodegenerative disorder by administering to an individual in need thereof cells capable of exogenously regulatable neurotransmitter synthesis. The cells are produced by incubating bone marrow stromal cells in a differentiating medium comprising docosahexaenoic acid or arachidonic acid and at least one differentiating agent.
Trademarks:
We own a pending United States application to register the trademark NUROWN (application no. 85154891, filed October 18, 2010) for use in connection with “compositions of cells derived from stem cells for medical purposes; stem cells for medical purposes.” The application was filed based on an intent-to-use the mark, but has not matured to registration yet.
The patent applications, as well as relevant know-how and research results are licensed from Ramot. We intend to work with Ramot to protect and enhance our mutual intellectual property rights by filing continuations and divisional patent applications. New discoveries arising in the course of research and development within the Company will be patented by us independently.
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Research and License Agreement with Ramot
On July 12, 2004, we entered into a Research and License Agreement (the Original Ramot Agreement) with Ramot, the technology licensing company of Tel Aviv University, which agreement was amended on March 30, 2006 by the Amended Research and License Agreement (described below). Under the terms of the Original Ramot Agreement, Ramot granted to us a license to (i) the inventions, know-how and results made with respect to the above-mentioned stem cell technology developed by the team led by Prof. Melamed and Prof. Offen in the course of the performance of the research, and the patents and pending patent applications owned by Ramot, and (ii) the results of further research to be performed by the same team on the development of the stem cell technology. Simultaneously with the execution of the Original Ramot Agreement, we entered into individual consulting agreements with Prof. Melamed and Prof. Offen pursuant to which all intellectual property developed by Prof. Melamed or Prof. Offen in the performance of services thereunder will be owned by Ramot and licensed to us under the Original Ramot Agreement.
On March 30, 2006 and on May 23, 2006, we entered into an Amended Research and License Agreement and an Amendment Agreement to the Amended Research and License Agreement, respectively (collectively, the Amended Research and License Agreement) with Ramot. Under the Amended Research and License Agreement, the funding of further research relating to the licensed technology in an amount of $570,000 per year was reduced to $380,000 per year. Moreover, under the Amended Research and License Agreement, the initial period of time that we agreed to fund the research was extended from an initial period of two (2) years to an initial period of three (3) years. The Amended Research and License Agreement also extended the additional two-year period in the Original Ramot Agreement to an additional three-year period, if certain research milestones were met.
We entered into a Second Amended and Restated Research and License Agreement with Ramot on July 26, 2007, effective July 12, 2004, (the Second Ramot Agreement), which amended and replaced the Amended Research and License Agreement. The Second Ramot Agreement imposed on us development and commercialization obligations, milestone and other obligations. The license was granted in consideration for (i) royalty payments ranging from three percent (3%) to five percent (5%) of all net sales and (ii) potential payments concerning sublicenses ranging from twenty percent (20%) to twenty-five percent (25%) of sublicense receipts. In addition, in the event that the research period was extended for an additional three year period in accordance with the terms of the Second Ramot Agreement then we had to make payments to Ramot for each year of the extended research period in the amount of $380,000. As of June 30, 2007, we owed Ramot an aggregate amount of $513,249 in overdue payments and patent fees under the Amended Research and License Agreement.
On August 1, 2007, we obtained a waiver and release from Ramot pursuant to which Ramot agreed to an amended payment schedule regarding our payment obligations under the Second Ramot Agreement and waived all claims against us resulting from our previous breaches, defaults and non-payment under the Amended Research and License Agreement.
After our failure to meet the amended payment schedule and subsequent negotiations, on December 24, 2009, we entered into a Letter Agreement and an amended agreement to the Second Ramot Agreement (collectively, the Letter Agreement) with Ramot, pursuant to which, among other things, Ramot agreed to: (i) release us from our obligation to fund three years of additional research (which would have totaled $1,140,000) and (ii) accept conversion of certain research payments due in the amount of $272,000 into 1,120,000 shares of our common stock. Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, we agreed, among other things, to: (i) reimburse Ramot for outstanding patent-related expenses; and (ii) abandon our rights in certain joint patent rights and patents of Ramot in certain countries.
As of February 2011, Ramot had sold the 1,120,000 shares of common stock of the Company for approximately $235,000 and we paid the remaining approximately $5,000 due to Ramot. To date there is no additional debt to Ramot.
On December 20, 2011, we entered into an Assignment Agreement with our Israeli Subsidiary (the Assignment Agreement), with the consent of Ramot. Under the Assignment Agreement, we assigned and transferred all of our rights, interests, titles, liabilities and obligations (the Rights) under the Second Ramot Agreement to our Israeli Subsidiary, effective as of January 1, 2007 and our Israeli Subsidiary agreed to assume all such Rights. We agreed to be a guarantor of all obligations of our Israeli Subsidiary under the Second Ramot Agreement and Ramot can look to us to demand compliance with the Second Ramot Agreement.
In May 2012, we, the Israeli Subsidiary and Prof. Offen entered into a Consulting Agreement, effective as of January 1, 2012, which replaced the previous consulting agreement, dated July 31, 2004, pursuant to which all work product resulting from the provision of services will vest solely with the Israeli Subsidiary and if any work product resulting from the provision of services results in the creation or development of intellectual property it will be deemed a joint invention, and will be jointly owned by Ramot and the Israeli Subsidiary.
Government Regulations and Supervision
Government Regulation and Product Approval
Once fully developed, we intend to market our bone marrow derived differentiated neurothropic-factor secreting cell product, NurOwn, for autologous transplantation in patients by neurosurgeons in medical facilities in the U.S., Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim. We plan to submit a biologics license application (BLA) in the United States for the development of NurOwn for the treatment of ALS patients. We have initiated the regulatory process and had a Pre-IND meeting with the FDA in September 2012. We have retained expert regulatory consultants to assist us in our approaches to the FDA. In January 2013, the EMA Committee for Advanced Therapies, classified NurOwn as an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product.
Government authorities in the United States at the federal, state and local level extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, approval, labeling, packaging, storage, record-keeping, promotion, advertising, distribution, marketing, export and import of products such as those we are developing. Our product candidates must receive final approval from the FDA before they may legally be marketed in the United States or by the appropriate foreign regulatory agency before it may be legally marketed in foreign countries.
U.S. Drug Development Process
In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, and implementing regulations. Drugs are also subject to other federal, state and local statutes and regulations. Biologics are subject to regulation by the FDA under the FDCA, the Public Health Service Act, or the PHSA, and related regulations and other federal, state and local laws and regulations. Biological products are therapies used to treat disease and health conditions. They include a wide variety of products including vaccines, blood and blood components, gene therapies, tissue and proteins. Unlike most prescription products made through chemical processes, biological products generally are made from human and/or animal materials. To be lawfully marketed in interstate commerce, a biologic product must be the subject of a BLA, issued by the FDA on the basis of a demonstration that the product is safe, pure and potent, and that the facility in which the product is manufactured meets standards to assure that it continues to be safe, pure and potent. The FDA has developed and is continuously updating the requirements with respect to cell and gene therapy products and has issued documents concerning the regulation of cellular and tissue-based products. Manufacturers of cell and tissue-based products must comply with the FDA’s current good tissue practices, or cGTP, which are FDA regulations that govern the methods used in, and the facilities and controls used for, the manufacture of such products. The primary intent of the cGTP requirements is to ensure that cell and tissue based products are manufactured in a manner designed to prevent the introduction, transmission and spread of communicable disease.
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The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and ensuring compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations requires 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. These sanctions could include the FDA’s refusal to approve pending applications, withdrawal of an approval, a clinical hold, warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, product detention, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement or civil or criminal penalties. The process required by the FDA before a biological product or drug may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:
· | completion of preclinical laboratory tests, animal studies and formulation studies according to Good Laboratory Practices or other regulations; |
· | submission to the FDA of an investigational new drug application, or IND, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin; |
· | performance of adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials according to Good Clinical Practices, or GCP, to establish the safety and efficacy of the proposed biological product or drug for its intended use; |
· | submission to the FDA of a new drug application, or NDA, for a new drug; or a biologic license application for a new biological product; |
· | satisfactory completion of an FDA inspection of the manufacturing facility or facilities at which the drug is produced to assess compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, to assure that the facilities, methods and controls are adequate to preserve the drug’s or biologic’s identity, strength, quality and purity; and |
· | FDA review and approval of the BLA or NDA. |
The testing and approval process require substantial time, effort and financial resources and we cannot be certain that any approvals for our product candidates will be granted on a timely basis, if at all.
Once a pharmaceutical product candidate is identified for development, it enters the preclinical testing stage. Preclinical tests include laboratory evaluations of product chemistry, toxicity, formulation and stability, as well as animal studies. An IND sponsor must submit the results of the preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information, analytical data and any available clinical data or literature, to the FDA as part of the IND. The sponsor must also include a protocol detailing, among other things, the objectives of the initial clinical trial, the parameters to be used in monitoring safety and the effectiveness criteria to be evaluated if the initial clinical trial lends itself to an efficacy evaluation. Some preclinical testing may continue even after the IND is submitted. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA places the clinical trial on a clinical hold within that 30-day time period. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. Clinical holds also may be imposed by the FDA at any time before or during trials due to safety concerns or non-compliance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that submission of an IND will result in the FDA allowing clinical trials to begin or, once begun, issues will not arise that result in the suspension or termination of such trial.
All clinical trials must be conducted under the supervision of one or more qualified investigators in accordance with GCP regulations. These regulations include the requirement that all research subjects provide informed consent. Further, an institutional review board, or IRB, must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it commences at any institution. An IRB considers, among other things, whether the risks to individuals participating in the trials are minimized and are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits. The IRB also approves the information regarding the clinical trial and the 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. Once an IND is in effect, each new clinical protocol and any amendments to the protocol must be submitted to the IND for FDA review, and to the IRBs for approval.
Human clinical trials are typically conducted in three sequential phases that may overlap or be combined:
· | Phase 1. The product is initially introduced into healthy human subjects and tested for safety, dosage tolerance, absorption, metabolism, distribution and excretion. 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 may be conducted in patients having the specific disease. |
· | Phase 2. Phase 2 trials involve investigations 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 and to determine dosage tolerance and optimal dosage and schedule. |
· | 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 trials are intended to establish the overall risk/benefit ratio of the product and provide an adequate basis for regulatory approval and product labeling. |
Post-approval studies, also called Phase 4 trials, may be conducted after initial marketing approvals. These studies are used to obtain additional experience from the treatment of patients in the intended therapeutic indication and may be required by the FDA as part of the approval process.
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Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical trials must be submitted at least annually to the FDA and safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and the investigators for serious and unexpected side effects. Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 testing may not be completed successfully within any specified period, if at all. The FDA 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 or biologic has been associated with unexpected serious harm to patients.
Concurrent with clinical trials, companies usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the chemistry and physical characteristics of the product and finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with cGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the manufacturer must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality and purity of the final product. Additionally, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.
During the development of a new drug or biologic, a sponsor may be able to request a Special Protocol Assessment, or SPA, the purpose of which is to reach agreement with the FDA on the Phase 3 clinical trial protocol design and analysis that will form the primary basis of an efficacy claim. An SPA is intended to provide assurance that if the agreed upon clinical trial protocol is followed, the clinical trial endpoints are achieved, and there is a favorable risk-benefit profile, the data may serve as the primary basis for an efficacy claim in support of a BLA or an NDA. However, an SPA is not a guarantee of an approval of a product candidate or any permissible claims about the product candidate. In particular, SPAs are not binding on the FDA if previously unrecognized public health concerns arise during the performance of the clinical trial, other new scientific concerns regarding product candidate’s safety or efficacy arise, or if the sponsoring company fails to comply with the agreed upon clinical trial protocol.
The results of product development, preclinical studies and clinical trials, along with descriptions of the manufacturing process, analytical tests conducted on the biologic or drug, proposed labeling and other relevant information, are submitted to the FDA as part of an NDA or BLA, requesting approval to market the product. The submission of an NDA or BLA is subject to the payment of substantial user fees which may be waived under certain limited circumstances.
FDA Review of Biologics License Applications and New Drug Applications
The FDA reviews all BLAs and NDAs submitted to ensure that they are sufficiently complete for substantive review before it accepts them for filing. The FDA may request additional information rather than accept a BLA or an NDA for filing. In this event, the BLA or NDA must be re-submitted with the additional information. The re-submitted application also is subject to review before the FDA accepts it for filing. Once the submission is accepted for filing, the FDA begins an in-depth substantive review. Under the goals and policies agreed to by the FDA under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, the FDA has ten months in which to complete the initial review of a standard BLA or NDA and respond to the applicant and six months for a priority BLA or NDA. The FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates for standard and priority BLAs or NDAs. The FDA reviews an NDA to determine, among other things, whether a product is safe and effective for its intended use and whether its manufacturing is cGMP-compliant to assure and preserve the product’s identity, strength, quality and purity. The FDA reviews a BLA to determine, among other things, whether the product is safe, pure, and potent and the facility in which it is manufactured, processed, packaged or held meets standards designed to assure the products continued safety, purity and potency. Before approving an NDA or BLA, the FDA will inspect the facility or facilities where the product is manufactured. The FDA will not approve an application unless it determines that the manufacturing processes and facilities are in compliance with cGMP requirements, and additionally, in the case of biologics in accordance with cGTP guidelines, and adequate to assure consistent production of the product within required specifications. The FDA may refer the NDA or BLA to an advisory committee for review, evaluation and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved and under what conditions. An advisory committee is a panel of independent experts who provide advice and recommendations when requested by the FDA on matters of importance that come before the agency. The FDA is not bound by the recommendation of an advisory committee.
The approval process is lengthy and difficult and the FDA may refuse to approve a BLA an NDA if the applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied or may require additional clinical data or other data and information.
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Even if such data and information is submitted, the FDA may ultimately decide that the BLA or NDA does not satisfy the criteria for approval. Data obtained from clinical trials are not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than we interpret the same data. The FDA will issue a complete response letter if the agency decides not to approve the BLA or NDA in its present form. The complete response letter usually describes all of the specific deficiencies that the FDA identified in the BLA or NDA. The deficiencies identified may be minor, for example, requiring labeling changes, or major, for example, requiring additional clinical trials. Additionally, the complete response letter may include recommended actions that the applicant might take to conform the application to a condition suitable for approval. If a complete response letter is issued, the applicant may either resubmit the BLA or NDA, addressing all of the deficiencies identified in the letter, withdraw the application, or request an opportunity for a hearing.
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. In addition, the FDA may require Phase 4 testing which involves clinical trials designed to further assess a drug’s or biologic’s safety and effectiveness after BLA or NDA approval and may require testing and surveillance programs to monitor the safety of approved products that have been commercialized.
Orphan Drug Designation
Under the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan designation to a drug or biological product intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is generally a disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States, or more than 200,000 individuals in the United States and for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing and making a drug or biological product available in the United States for this type of disease or condition will be recovered from sales of the product. Orphan product designation must be requested before submitting an NDA or BLA. After the FDA grants orphan product designation, the identity of the therapeutic agent and its potential orphan use are disclosed publicly by the FDA. Orphan product designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the regulatory review and approval process. In addition to the potential for a period of exclusivity, we may be eligible for grant funding of up to $400,000 per year for four years to defray costs of clinical trial expenses, tax credits for clinical research expenses and potential exemption from the FDA application user fee.
If a product that has orphan designation subsequently receives the first FDA approval for the disease or condition for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan product exclusivity, which means that the FDA may not approve any other applications to market the same drug or biological product for the same indication for seven years, except in limited circumstances, such as (i) the drug’s orphan designation is revoked; (ii) it’s marketing approval is withdrawn; (iii) the orphan exclusivity holder consents to the approval of another applicant’s product; (iv) the orphan exclusivity holder is unable to assure the availability of a sufficient quantity of drug; or (v) a showing of clinical superiority to the product with orphan exclusivity by a competitor product. Competitors, however, may receive approval of different products for the indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity or obtain approval for the same product but for a different indication for which the orphan product has exclusivity. Orphan product exclusivity also could block the approval of one of our products for seven years if a competitor obtains approval of the same drug or biological product as defined by the FDA or if our drug or biological candidate is determined to be contained within the competitor's product for the same indication or disease. If a drug or biological product designated as an orphan product receives marketing approval for an indication broader than what is designated, it may not be entitled to orphan product exclusivity. Orphan drug status in the European Union has similar but not identical benefits in the European Union.
In February 2011, we received Orphan Drug Designation for NurOwn for the treatment of ALS in the United States. In July 2013, we received Orphan Medicinal Product Designation for NurOwn for the treatment of ALS from the EMA.
Patent Term Restoration and Marketing Exclusivity
Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA marketing approval of our product candidates, some of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, commonly referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, patent term restoration cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the product’s approval date. The patent term restoration period is generally one-half the time between (a) the effective date of an IND and the submission date of a BLA or an NDA plus (b) the time between the submission date of a BLA or an NDA and the approval of that application. Only one patent applicable to an approved drug or biologic is eligible for the extension and the application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent and within 60 days of approval of the drug or biologic. The U.S. patent and Trademark Office, in consultation with the FDA, reviews and approves the application for any patent term extension or restoration.
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Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009
The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, or BPCIA, amended the PHSA to create a new licensure framework for biosimilar products, which could ultimately subject our biological product candidates to competition. Under the BPCIA, a manufacturer may submit an application for licensure of a biological product that is "biosimilar to" or "interchangeable with" a referenced, branded biologic product. Previously, there had been no licensure pathway for such biosimilar or interchangeable products. For purposes of the BPCIA, a reference product is defined as the single biological product licensed under a full BLA against which a biological product is evaluated in an application submitted under a follow-on BLA.
The BPCIA also created a 12-year period of reference product exclusivity, which can be extended to 12.5 years with pediatric exclusivity. The 12-year exclusivity period begins on the date of first licensure of the reference product under the PHSA and during which the licensure of a follow-on application for a biosimilar or interchangeable product cannot be made effective. During the first four years (or four and one-half years with pediatric exclusivity) of the 12-year period, an application for a biosimilar or interchangeable version of the reference product cannot be submitted to the FDA. Under budget proposals submitted by President Obama, the Administration has requested that reference product exclusivity would decrease from twelve to seven years. Congress has not yet enacted such a change in the BPCIA, but could move to enact such a decrease in the reference product exclusivity period.
The BPCIA includes limits on obtaining 12-year reference product exclusivity for certain changes or modifications to the reference product. A separate 12-year reference product exclusivity period does not apply to:
· | a BLA supplement for the product that is the reference product; |
· | a subsequent BLA filed by the same reference product sponsor or manufacturer (or a licensor, predecessor in interest, or other related entity) for a change (not including a modification to the structure of the biological product) that results in a new indication, route of administration, dosing schedule, dosage form, delivery system, delivery device or strength; or |
· | a modification to the structure of the biological product that does not result in a change in safety, purity or potency. |
In February 2012, the FDA issued three draft guidance documents on biosimilar product development. The FDA is soliciting comments on the draft guidance documents which are described by the FDA as follows: (1) Scientific Considerations in Demonstrating Biosimilarity to a Reference Product, which is intended to assist companies in demonstrating that a proposed therapeutic protein product is biosimilar to a reference product for the purpose of submitting an application, called a "351(k)" application, to the FDA. This draft guidance describes a risk-based "totality-of-the-evidence" approach that the FDA intends to use to evaluate the data and information submitted in support of a determination of biosimilarity of the proposed product to the reference product; (2) Quality Considerations in Demonstrating Biosimilarity to a Reference Protein Product, which provides an overview of analytical factors to consider when assessing biosimilarity between a proposed therapeutic protein product and a reference product for the purpose of submitting a 351(k) application; and (3) Biosimilars: Questions and Answers Regarding Implementation of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, which provides answers to common questions from people interested in developing biosimilar products. We cannot predict when or whether these draft guidance documents will ever be finalized or what changes the agency may make in its approach to implementation of the BPCIA.
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In addition to creating a 12-year period of reference product exclusivity, the BPCIA clarifies the interaction of that exclusivity with orphan drug exclusivity, such that, if a reference product has been designated for a rare disease or condition the licensure of a biosimilar or interchangeable version of a reference product for such disease or condition may only occur after the later of the expiration of any applicable seven-year orphan drug exclusivity or the 12-year reference product exclusivity (or seven and one-half years and 12.5 years with pediatric exclusivity).
Our biological product candidates, if approved, could be considered reference products entitled to 12-year exclusivity. Even if our products are considered to be reference products eligible for exclusivity, another company could market a competing version of any of our biological products if the FDA approves a full BLA for such product containing the sponsor's own preclinical data and data from adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to demonstrate the safety, purity and potency of their product.
The BPCIA also sets forth a complex mechanism for resolving patent disputes that involves a step-wise exchange of information prior to the initiation of a patent infringement lawsuit against a biosimilar or interchangeable product sponsor. Unlike the Hatch-Waxman Act, the BPCIA provides no automatic stay on approval of a biosimilar product application, except an interchangeable product receives the lesser of one year of exclusivity after the date of first commercial marketing or 18 months of exclusivity after a final court decision or dismissal of a patent challenge or, if the applicant has not been sued, after approval. The BPCIA does not prevent a competitor from conducting its own clinical trials and submitting a full BLA on the same or similar product.
Post-Approval Requirements
Any drugs for which we receive FDA approval are subject to continuing regulation by the FDA, including, among other things, record-keeping requirements, reporting of adverse effects with the product, reporting of changes in distributed products which would require field alert reports (FARs) for drugs and biological product deviation reports (BPDRs), providing the FDA with updated safety and efficacy information, product sampling and distribution requirements, complying with certain electronic records and signature requirements and complying with FDA promotion and advertising requirements. In September 2007, the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 was enacted, giving the FDA enhanced post-marketing authority, including the authority to require post-marketing studies and clinical trials, labeling changes based on new safety information, and compliance with risk evaluations and mitigation strategies, or REMS, approved by the FDA. The FDA strictly regulates labeling, advertising, promotion and other types of information on products that are placed on the market. Drugs and biologics may be promoted only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. Further, manufacturers of drugs and biologics must continue to comply with cGMP requirements, which are extensive and require considerable time, resources and ongoing investment to ensure compliance. In addition, changes to the manufacturing process generally require prior FDA approval before being implemented and 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.
Drug and biologic manufacturers and other entities involved in the manufacturing and distribution of approved drugs and biologics 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, GTP applicable to biologics, and other laws. The cGMP requirements apply to all stages of the manufacturing process, including the production, processing, sterilization, packaging, labeling, storage and shipment of the drug. Manufacturers must establish validated systems to ensure that products meet specifications and regulatory standards, and test each product batch or lot prior to its release.
The FDA may withdraw a product approval if compliance with regulatory standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the market. Discovery of previously unknown problems with a product subsequent to its approval may result in restrictions on the product or even complete withdrawal of the product from the market. Further, the failure to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements may result in administrative or judicial actions, such as fines, warning letters, holds on clinical trials, product recalls or seizures, product detention or refusal to permit the import or export of products, refusal to approve pending applications or supplements, restrictions on marketing or manufacturing, injunctions or civil or criminal penalties.
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From time to time, legislation is drafted, introduced and passed in Congress that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the approval, manufacturing and marketing of products regulated by the FDA. In addition to new legislation, the FDA regulations and policies are often revised or reinterpreted by the agency in ways that may significantly affect our business and our product candidates. It is impossible to predict whether further legislative or FDA regulation or policy changes will be enacted or implemented and what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.
Foreign Regulation
In addition to regulations in the United States, we will be subject to a variety of foreign regulations governing clinical trials and commercial sales and distribution of our product candidates to the extent we choose to clinically evaluate or sell any products outside of the United States. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain approval of a product by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries before we can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in those countries. The approval process varies from country to country and the time may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country. As in the United States, post-approval regulatory requirements, such as those regarding product manufacture, marketing, or distribution would apply to any product that is approved outside the United States.
Third Party Payor Coverage and Reimbursement
Significant uncertainty exists as to the coverage and reimbursement status of any of our biologic or drug candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval. In both the United States and foreign markets, our ability to commercialize our product candidates successfully, and to attract commercialization partners for our product candidates, depends in significant part on the availability of adequate financial coverage and reimbursement from third party payors, including, in the United States, governmental payors such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, managed care organizations, and private health insurers. Medicare is a federally funded program managed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, through local fiscal intermediaries and carriers that administer coverage and reimbursement for certain healthcare items and services furnished to the elderly and disabled. Medicaid is an insurance program for certain categories of patients whose income and assets fall below state defined levels and who are otherwise uninsured that is both federally and state funded and managed by each state. The federal government sets general guidelines for Medicaid and each state creates specific regulations that govern its individual program. Each payor has its own process and standards for determining whether it will cover and reimburse a procedure or particular product. Private payors often rely on the lead of the governmental payors in rendering coverage and reimbursement determinations. Therefore, achieving favorable CMS coverage and reimbursement is usually a significant gating issue for successful introduction of a new product. The competitive position of some of our products will depend, in part, upon the extent of coverage and adequate reimbursement for such products and for the procedures in which such products are used. Prices at which we or our customers seek reimbursement for our product candidates can be subject to challenge, reduction or denial by the government and other payors.
The U.S. Congress and state legislatures may, from time to time, propose and adopt initiatives aimed at cost containment, which could impact our ability to sell our product candidates profitably. For example, in March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the associated reconciliation bill, which we refer to collectively as the Health Care Reform Law, a sweeping law intended to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add new transparency requirements for healthcare and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms. Effective October 1, 2010, the Health Care Reform Law revises the definition of “average manufacturer price” for reporting purposes, which could increase the amount of Medicaid drug rebates to states once the provision is effective. Further, the law imposes a significant annual fee on companies that manufacture or import branded prescription drug products. Substantial new provisions affecting compliance have also been enacted, which may require us to modify our business practices with healthcare practitioners. We will not know the full effects of the Health Care Reform Law until applicable federal and state agencies issue regulations or guidance under the new law. Although it is too early to determine the effect of the Health Care Reform Law, the new law appears likely to continue the pressure on pharmaceutical pricing, especially under the Medicare program, and may also increase our regulatory burdens and operating costs. Moreover, in the coming years, additional changes could be made to governmental healthcare programs that could significantly impact the success of our product candidates.
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The cost of pharmaceuticals continues to generate substantial governmental and third party payor interest. We expect that the pharmaceutical industry will experience pricing pressures due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of managed care organizations and additional legislative proposals. Our results of operations could be adversely affected by current and future healthcare reforms.
Some third party payors also require pre-approval of coverage for new or innovative devices, biologics or drug therapies before they will reimburse healthcare providers that use such therapies. While we cannot predict whether any proposed cost-containment measures will be adopted or otherwise implemented in the future, the announcement or adoption of these proposals could have a material adverse effect on our ability to obtain adequate prices for our product candidates and operate profitably.
Different pricing and reimbursement schemes exist in other countries. In the European Community, 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 or biological candidate to currently available therapies. Other member states allow companies to fix their own prices for medicines, but monitor and control company profits. The downward pressure on health care costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and biologics, 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.
Other Healthcare Laws and Compliance Requirements
In the United States, our activities are potentially subject to regulation by various federal, state and local authorities in addition to the FDA, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, other divisions of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (e.g., the Office of Inspector General), the United States Department of Justice and individual United States Attorney offices within the Department of Justice, and state and local governments. These regulations include:
· | the federal healthcare program anti-kickback law, which prohibits, among other things, persons from soliciting, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, to induce either the referral of an individual, for an item or service or the purchasing or ordering of a good or service, for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs; |
· | federal false claims laws which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid, or other government reimbursement programs that are false or fraudulent; |
· | the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which prohibits executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements relating to healthcare matters and which also imposes certain requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information; |
· | the federal transparency requirements under the Health Care Reform Law requires manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics, and medical supplies to report to the Department of Health and Human Services information related to physician payments and other transfers of value and physician ownership and investment interests; |
· | the FDCA, which among other things, strictly regulates drug and biologic product marketing, prohibits manufacturers from marketing drug or biologic products for off-label use and regulates the distribution of drug samples; and |
· | state law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third party payor, including commercial insurers, and state laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by federal laws, thus complicating compliance efforts. |
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Compliance with Environmental, Health and Safety Laws
In addition to FDA regulations, we are also subject to evolving federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. In the past, compliance with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations has not had a material effect on our capital expenditures. We believe that we comply in all material respects with existing environmental, health and safety laws and regulations applicable to us. Compliance with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the future may require additional capital expenditures.
Competition
There are a number of clinical trials underway for potential treatments for ALS, of which only two are stem cell-based trials being conducted by other commercial entities. One is US-based Neuralstem (CUR), which recently received FDA approval to proceed with a Phase II trial for its allogeneic, human (fetal) spinal cord derived neural stem cells. The other is Corestem, a Korean company, which is currently conducting two Phase I stem cell-based clinical trials. One is a recently launched Phase I trial with allogeneic bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells, and a previous trial, which is not actively recruiting, is with autologous, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. There is little public information available about Corestem. Five non-stem cell-based companies are undergoing Phase I/II, Phase II or Phase III clinical trials for ALS. A number of academic institutions are also developing treatment candidates for ALS.
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Employees
We currently have 17 scientific and administrative employees, 15 of whom are full-time. None of our employees is represented by a labor union and we believe that we have good relationships with our employees.
PROPERTIES
Our executive offices are located in premises at 605 Third Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10158, which we use, free of charge, pursuant to an oral agreement with Malcolm Taub, a member of our Board of Directors.
On December 1, 2004, our Israeli Subsidiary entered into a lease agreement (the Lease Agreement) for the lease of premises in 12 Basel Street, Petach Tikva, Israel, which include approximately 600 square meters of office and laboratory space. The original term of the lease was 36 months (the Lease Term), commencing on April 1, 2005, with two options to extend: one for an additional 24 months (the First Option); and one for an additional 36 months (the Second Option). On November 11, 2012, the Israeli Subsidiary entered into an amendment to the Lease Agreement, pursuant to which the Lease Term (including the First Option and the Second Option) was extended by an additional five years, through March 31, 2018. After three years, we will have the right to cancel the agreement with 6 months’ notice. Rent is paid on a monthly basis in the amount of NIS 40,000 (approximately U.S. $11,000).
We expanded our Petach Tikva facility in 2008 to include an animal research facility.
As part of the clinical trials with Hadassah, we pay $67,000 per month for rental and operation of two clean room facilities at Hadassah facilities in Jerusalem.
We believe that the current office and laboratory space is adequate to meet our needs or will be available in the U.S. to meet the needs of U.S. clinical trials.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
From time to time, we may become involved in litigation relating to claims arising out of operations in the normal course of business, which we consider routine and incidental to our business. We currently are not a party to any legal proceedings the adverse outcome of which, in management’s opinion, would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation or financial condition.
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MARKET FOR OUR COMMON EQUITY
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on the OTCQB Marketplace under the symbol “BCLI”.The following table contains information about the range of high and low sales prices for our common stock based upon reports of transactions on the OTCQB Marketplace.
Quarter Ended | High | Low | ||||||
September 30, 2013 (through August 12, 2013) | $ | 0.26 | $ | 0.18 | ||||
June 30, 2013 | $ | 0.25 | $ | 0.19 | ||||
March 31, 2013 | $ | 0.27 | $ | 0.22 | ||||
December 31, 2012 | $ | 0.27 | $ | 0.17 | ||||
September 30, 2012 | $ | 0.38 | $ | 0.21 | ||||
June 30, 2012 | $ | 0.30 | $ | 0.21 | ||||
March 31, 2012 | $ | 0.34 | $ | 0.20 | ||||
December 31, 2011 | $ | 0.40 | $ | 0.20 | ||||
September 30, 2011 | $ | 0.56 | $ | 0.27 | ||||
June 30, 2011 | $ | 0.60 | $ | 0.25 | ||||
March 31, 2011 | $ | 0.43 | $ | 0.18 |
The source of these high and low prices was the OTCQB Marketplace. The high and low prices listed have been rounded up to the next highest two decimal places.
On August 12, 2013, the closing bid price of our common stock as reported by the OTCQB Marketplace was $0.21 per share.
Trades in our common stock may be subject to Rule 15g-9 of the Exchange Act, which imposes requirements on broker/dealers who sell securities subject to the rule to persons other than established customers and accredited investors. For transactions covered by the rule, broker/dealers must make a special suitability determination for purchasers of the securities and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction before the sale.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also has rules that regulate broker/dealer practices in connection with transactions in “penny stocks.” Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 (other than securities listed on certain national exchanges, provided that the current price and volume information with respect to transactions in that security is provided by the applicable exchange or system). The penny stock rules require a broker/dealer, before effecting a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from the rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the Securities and Exchange Commission that provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market. The broker/dealer also must provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker/dealer and its salesperson in the transaction, and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. The bid and offer quotations, and the broker/dealer and salesperson compensation information, must be given to the customer orally or in writing before effecting the transaction, and must be given to the customer in writing before or with the customer’s confirmation. These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity in the secondary market for shares of common stock of the Company. As a result of these rules, investors may find it difficult to sell their shares.
Dividends
We have not paid or declared any cash or other dividends on our common stock within the last two fiscal years. Any future determination as to the payment of dividends will depend upon our results of operations, and on our capital requirements, financial condition and other factors relevant at the time. See “Dividend Policy.”
Record Holders
As of July 30, 2013, there were approximately 69 holders of record of our common stock.
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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Company Overview
We are a biotechnology company developing novel adult stem cell therapies for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS, MS, and PD. These diseases have limited treatment options and as such represent unmet medical needs.
We believe that NurOwn, our proprietary process for the propagation of MSC and their differentiation into NTF secreting cells (MSC-NTF), and their transplantation at, or near, the site of damage, offers the hope of more effectively treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Our approach is considered safe based on our use of autologous cells, which are free of the risk of rejection and tumor formation. It is also free of the controversy associated with the use of embryonic stem cells in some countries.
Critical Accounting Policies
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. For a discussion of our significant accounting policies, please see Note 2 to our financial statements included in this prospectus, starting on page F-17.
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Results of Operations
The Company has been a development stage company since its inception. For the period from inception (September 22, 2000) until March 31, 2013, the Company has not earned any revenues from operations. The Company does not expect to earn revenues from operations until at least 2017, if ever. In addition, the Company has incurred operating costs and other expenses of approximately $1,081,000 during the three months ended March 31, 2013, and approximately $46,021,000 for the period from inception (September 22, 2000) through March 31, 2013. Operating expenses incurred since inception were approximately $19,310,000 for general and administrative expenses and $26,711,000 for research and development costs.
Year ended December 31, 2012 vs. year ended December 31, 2011
Research and Development, net
Our business model calls for significant investments in research and development. Our research and development expenditures (i) in 2012 (before participation by the OCS) were $2,688,000, which included $210,000 in stock-based compensation and (ii) in 2011 (before participation by the OCS) were $2,077,000, which included $316,000 in stock-based compensation. Research and development expenses, net for the year ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 were $1,770,000 and $1,689,000, respectively. In addition, our grant from The Office of the Chief Scientist, or OCS, increased by $530,000 to $918,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012 from $388,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011.
The increase in research and development expenses is primarily due to: (i) an increase of $500,000 in costs associated with our Phase I/II clinical trial, for an aggregate amount of $1,300,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012, compared to $800,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011; (ii) an increase of $180,000 in payroll costs due to recruitment of three additional employees to conduct our Phase I/II clinical trials; and (iii) an increase of $170,000 for consulting and travel costs. This increase was offset by: (i) a decrease in stock-based compensation expenses, of $240,000 in the year ended December 31, 2011 to $74,000 in the year ended December 31, 2012; and (ii) an increase of $530,000 in OCS grants from $388,000 in the year ended December 31, 2011 to $918,000 in the year ended December 31, 2012.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 were $1,748,000 and $2,205,000, respectively. The decrease in general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2012, is mainly due to a decrease of $530,000 in stock-based compensation expenses, from $1,075,000 in the year ended December 31, 2011 to $545,000 in the year ended December 31, 2012; this decrease was partially offset by an increase of $74,000 in payroll costs from $366,000 in the year ended December 31, 2011 to $440,000 in the year ended December 31, 2012.
Financial Expenses
Financial income for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $93,000 compared to financial expense of $151,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011.
The increase in financial income for the year ended December 31, 2012, is primarily due to a one-time $192,000 financial expense included in the year ended December 31, 2011, from conversion of debt to a subcontractor to our common stock. The issuance of stock to the subcontractor was in an amount that was lower than the amount owed to the supplier. The value of the amount issued was based on the per share price on the date of the grant. In addition, the increase in financial income is due to (i) an increase in financial income of $33,000 from conversion exchange, compared to $41,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011; and (ii) an interest receivable from a bank deposit in the amount of $19,000 (no such income was received in the year ended December 31, 2011).
Net Loss
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $3,430,000, as compared to a net loss of $3,918,000 for the year ended December 31, 2011. Net loss per share for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $0.02, compared to net loss per share of $0.03 for the year ended December 31, 2011.
The decrease in the net loss for the year ended December 31, 2012 is due to (i) a decrease in stock-based compensation expenses, and (ii) an increase in OCS grants. This decrease was partially offset by increased expenses relating to our Phase I/II clinical trial.
The weighted average number of shares of common stock used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share for the year ended December 31, 2012 was 137,596,391, compared to 120,117,724 for the year ended December 31, 2011.
The increase in the weighted average number of shares of common stock used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share for the year ended December 31, 2012 was due to (i) the issuance of shares of common stock in the Public Offering, as described in more detail below, (ii) the exercise of options and warrants, and (iii) the issuance of shares to service providers.
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Quarter ended March 31, 2013 vs. quarter ended March 31, 2012
Research and Development, net
Research and development expenses, net for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 were $522,000 and $369,000, respectively. In addition, our grant from the OCS increased by $40,000 to $280,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2013 from $240,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2012.
The increase in research and development expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2013 is primarily due to: (i) an increase of $71,000 in costs associated with our dose-escalating Phase II clinical trial, for an aggregate amount of $415,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2013, compared to $343,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2012; (ii) an increase of $70,000 in payroll costs due to recruitment of three additional employees to conduct the clinical trial and (iii) an increase of $49,000 for consulting fees, stock-based compensation expenses, rent and travel costs. This increase was offset by an increase of $40,000 in OCS grants from $240,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2012 to $280,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2013.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 were $559,000 and $510,000, respectively.
The increase in general and administrative expenses for the three month period ended March 31, 2013 from the three month period ended March 31, 2012 is primarily due to: (i) an increase of $58,000 in stock-based compensation expenses, from $168,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2012 to $226,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2013 and (ii) an increase of $35,000 in payroll costs in the three months ended March 31, 2013. This increase was partially offset by a decrease of $44,000 for consulting fees.
Financial Expenses
Financial expense for the three months ended March 31, 2013 was $1, compared to a financial income of $11,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2012.
The financial expense for the three months ended March 31, 2013 is mainly due to bank charges that were offset by an interest receivable from a bank deposit in the amount of $22,000 (no such income was received in the three months ended March 31, 2012). The financial income for the three months ended March 31, 2012 was mainly from conversion exchange rates and income on deposits in banks.
Net Loss
Net loss for the three months ended on March 31, 2013 was $1,082,000, as compared to a net loss of $872,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2012. Net loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and March 31, 2012 was $0.01.
The weighted average number of shares of common stock used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2013 was 150,953,117, compared to 126,591,262 for the three months ended March 31, 2012.
The increase in the weighted average number of shares of common stock used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2013 was due to (i) the issuance of shares of common stock in the Public Offering, as described in more detail below, (ii) the exercise of options and warrants, and (iii) the issuance of shares to service providers and private investors.
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have financed our operations since inception primarily through public and private sales of our common stock, warrants and convertible promissory notes. To date, we have raised approximately $20 million from sales of our securities. At March 31, 2013, we had approximately $1.9 million of cash and approximately $1.8 million of short term deposits.
Net cash used in operating activities was $670,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2013. Cash used for operating activities was primarily attributed to cost of clinical trials, rent of clean rooms and materials for clinical trials, payroll costs, rent, outside legal fee expenses and public relations expenses.
Net cash provided by investing activities was $971,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2013.
Net cash provided by financing activities was $250,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and is solely attributable to private investors.
On July 17, 2012, we raised approximately $5.7 million through the Public Offering of our common stock. We issued a total of 19,818,972 shares of our common stock at $0.29 per share and warrants to purchase 0.75 shares of common stock for every share purchased in the Public Offering, at an exercise price of $0.29 per share. The warrants are exercisable until the 30 month anniversary of the date of issuance. After deducting closing costs and fees, we received net proceeds of approximately $5 million.
Our material cash needs for the next 12 months include the payments due under an agreement with Hadassah and Prof. Karussis to conduct our dose-escalating Phase II clinical trial, under which we must pay to Hadassah an amount of (i) up to $32,225 per patient (up to $773,400 in the aggregate) and (ii) $65,000 per month for rent and operation of the GMP facilities.
Our other material cash needs for the next 12 months will include payments of (i) initiation and on-going costs of the clinical trial in the US (ii) employee salaries, (iii) patents, (iv) construction fees for facilities to be used in our research and development and (v) fees to our consultants and legal advisors.
Future operations are expected to be highly capital intensive and will require substantial capital raisings. If we are not able to raise substantial additional capital in this offering or other financing transactions, we may not be able to continue to function as a going concern and may have to cease operations or the Company will reduce its costs, including curtailing its current plan to accelerate pursuit of U.S. clinical trials, in order to continue operating for the next 12 months. Even if we obtain funding sufficient to continue functioning as a going concern, we will be required to raise a substantial amount of capital in the future in order to reach profitability and to complete the commercialization of our products. Our ability to fund these future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including the following:
· | our ability to obtain funding from third parties, including any future collaborative partners; |
· | the scope, rate of progress and cost of our clinical trials and other research and development programs; |
· | the time and costs required to gain regulatory approvals; |
· | the terms and timing of any collaborative, licensing and other arrangements that we may establish; |
· | the costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing patents, patent applications, patent claims, trademarks and other intellectual property rights; |
· | the effect of competition and market developments; and |
· | future pre-clinical and clinical trial results. |
Off Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no off balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
We have not had any changes in or disagreements with accountants on accounting and financial disclosure during our two most recent fiscal years and the subsequent interim period.
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MANAGEMENT
Executive Officers and Directors
The following table lists our current executive officers and directors. Our executive officers are elected annually by our Board of Directors and serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Each current director is serving a term that will expire at our Company’s next annual meeting. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.
Name | Age | Position | Served as an Officer or Director Since | |||
Alon Natanson | 50 | Chief Executive Officer | 2013 | |||
Chaim Lebovits | 42 | President | 2007 | |||
Liat Sossover | 45 | Chief Financial Officer | 2010 | |||
Adrian Harel | 56 | Director of Research and Development | 2011 | |||
Dr. Irit Arbel | 53 | Director | 2004 | |||
Mordechai Friedman | 60 | Director | 2011 | |||
Dr. Abraham Israeli | 59 | Chairman and Director | 2010 | |||
Alon Pinkas | 51 | Director | 2010 | |||
Chen Schor | 41 | Director | 2011 | |||
Dr. Robert Shorr | 59 | Director | 2005 | |||
Malcolm Taub | 67 | Director | 2009 |
Alon Natanson joined the Company on January 24, 2013 as our Chief Executive Officer. On July 28, 2013, Alon Natanson informed the Company of his resignation from his position with the Company effective 90 days after the notice. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Natanson led large as well as early-stage companies, in the fields of life science, high-tech, and retail. Prior positions include Director of Marketing and Finance at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Copaxone® division, where he was involved in commercialization of patented therapeutics for multiple sclerosis, establishing the division and planning and executing its international strategy and product launch. From 2008 to August 2012, Mr. Natanson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Procognia, a biotechnology company specializing in glycobiology and biopharmaceutical analytics.
Chaim Lebovits joined the Company in 2007 as President. On August 1, 2013, the Company appointed Chaim Lebovits, the President of the Company, as its principal executive officer, and to assume the duties and responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer on an interim basis while we search for a new Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Lebovits controls ACC HOLDINGS INTERNATIONAL, and its subsidiaries ACC Resources, specializing in the mining, oil, and energy industries, and ACC BioTech, which is focused on biotechnology. He has been at the forefront of mining and natural resource management in African regions for over a decade and has spent years leading the exploration and development of resources in West Africa and Israel and served as a member of the board of directors of several companies in the industry. Mr. Lebovits has also held senior positions for the worldwide Chabad Lubavitch organization, the largest Jewish organization in the world today.
Liat Sossover joined the Company on June 23, 2010 as our Chief Financial Officer. From 2001 until June 2010, Ms. Sossover served as the Vice President of Finance of ForeScout Technologies, an international high tech company in the network security solutions field. In such role, Ms. Sossover managed all financial and accounting aspects. Prior to that, Ms. Sossover served as VP of Finance and Secretary of Maximal Innovative Intelligence, a high tech company in the field of business intelligence solutions, which was acquired by Microsoft. She has held positions as Chief Financial Officer at Real Time Synthesized Entertainment Technology Ltd (RT-Set), currently known as Vizrt Ltd., a publicly traded company in Norway. Vizrt provides real-time 3D graphics and asset management tools for the broadcast industry. Ms. Sossover served as a Financial Controller for BVR Systems (1998), Ltd., currently known as RVB Holdings Ltd., a company that is traded on Nasdaq, which develops, manufactures and markets simulation systems for military applications, which later was acquired by Elbit Systems. Ms. Sossover holds an MBA from Edinburgh University, and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting & Economics from Ben Gurion University.
Dr. Adrian Harel joined the Company on January 24, 2011 as Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer. In June 2012 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Director of R&D. On February 1, 2013 he ceased serving as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Harel combines a broad scientific education with extensive GMP industry experience. In 2009 he established Da-Ta Biotech, a consulting and advisory business focused on early stage biotech companies. During 2010 he provided consulting services to KMBY Ltd. in conjunction with a medical device in the orthopedic field. From 2008-2010 Dr. Harel was CEO of Meditor Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company, and Aminolab Technologies 2000, a company focused on production of new ethical drugs (blood pressure and migraine). From 2003-2007 he served as Chief Operating Officer of Sepal Pharma (anti-cancer drug) and Molecular Cytomics (research device), both innovative biotechnology companies. From 2002-2003 he was Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Heal-Or, a biopharmaceutical company developing wound healing treatment, and from 2000-2002 he was Chief Executive Officer of the Jerusalem Biotechnology Center, a bio-incubator. He also served as General Manager & VP Operations at Proneuron Biotechnologies, a cell therapy company. Dr. Harel holds a Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the Weizmann Institute of Science and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Washington University. He received an MBA from the University of Haifa, Israel.
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Dr. Irit Arbel joined the Company in May 2004 as a director and served as President of the Company for six months. Currently, Dr. Arbel is the Chair of the Governance, Nominating and Compensation Committee. Dr. Arbel serves as Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Savicell Diagnostic Ltd. since July 2012. Savicell Diagnostic Ltd. is a biotechnology company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Online Disruptive Technologies, Inc. From 2009 through 2011, Dr. Arbel served as Chairperson of Real Aesthetics Ltd., a company specializing in cellulite ultrasound treatment, and BRH Medical, developer of medical devices for wound healing. She was also Director of M&A at RFB Investment House, a private investment firm focusing on early stage technology related companies. Previously, Dr. Arbel was President and Chief Executive Officer of Pluristem Life Systems, a biotechnology company, and prior to that, Israeli Sales Manager of Merck, Sharp & Dohme, a pharmaceutical company. Dr. Arbel earned her Post Doctorate degree in 1997 in Neurobiology, after performing research in the area of Multiple Sclerosis. Dr. Arbel also holds a Chemical Engineering from the Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology. We believe that Dr. Arbel possesses specific attributes that qualify her to serve on our Board of Directors including Dr. Arbel’s extensive experience in the biotechnology field and significant leadership skills as a chief executive officer. Dr. Arbel previously served as our President, which service has given her a deep knowledge of the Company and its business and directly relevant management experience.
Mordechai Friedman joined the Company on April 4, 2011 as a director and as Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board. Mr. Friedman currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Israel Financial Levers Ltd, an Israeli real estate company traded on Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange. From 2007 through 2010, Mr. Friedman served as the Chairman of the Board of The Israel Electric Corp., an electric utility company. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Friedman served as Deputy Chairman of Brightman Almagor Zohar CPAs, the Israel Member Firm of Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu. Mr. Friedman has been a partner and director in several business ventures and companies in Israel and abroad in the transportation, consumer business, telecommunication and energy industries. Mr. Friedman currently serves as a director in the following public companies (traded on Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange): (i) Elco Holdings Ltd. (Chairman of the Board); and (ii) Carmel Olefins Ltd. Mr. Friedman holds a B.A. in Economics and Accounting from Tel Aviv University. We believe that Mr. Friedman possesses specific attributes that qualify him to serve on our Board of Directors including Mr. Friedman’s considerable experience in accounting and valuable leadership skills as a chief executive officer.
Dr. Abraham Israeli joined the Company on April 13, 2010 as a director, as Chairman of the Board and as a consultant. Since November 2009, Dr. Israeli has served as Head of the Department of Health Policy, Health Care Management and Health Economics at the Hebrew University, Hadassah Faculty of Medicine. Since 1996, Dr. Israeli has held the Chair of Dr. Julien Rozan Professorship of Family Medicine and Health Promotion at the Hebrew University - Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem. From November 2003 to October 2009, Dr. Israeli served as the Director General of the Israel Ministry of Health, and currently serves as Chief Scientist of the Israel Ministry of Health. Dr. Israeli holds a M.D. and M.P.H. from Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School and a Master’s Degree from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Israeli completed residencies in Internal Medicine and in Health-Care Management at Hadassah University Hospital and has certification in both specialties. We believe that Dr. Israeli possesses specific attributes that qualify him to serve on our Board of Directors including Dr. Israeli’s extensive experience in health care and health policy. Dr. Israeli also has substantial leadership, public policy, government and regulatory experience from his service as the Director General of the Israel Ministry of Health.
Alon Pinkas joined the Company on December 13, 2010 as a director. Mr. Pinkas served as the Israeli Consul General to New York from 2000 to 2004 and is an internationally respected foreign affairs analyst. Mr. Pinkas currently serves as an adviser at Tigris Financial Group, a financial services company, and the Rhodium Group, an advisory firm, and as a director for Ormat Industries Limited, B.G.I. Investments (1961) Ltd. and Agri-Invest Ltd. Mr. Pinkas holds a B.S. in Political Science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Master’s Degree in Politics from Georgetown University. We believe that Mr. Pinkas possesses specific attributes that qualify him to serve on our Board of Directors including Mr. Pinkas’ considerable experience in foreign affairs. Mr. Pinkas also has substantial leadership and government experience from his service as the consul general of Israel to New York and as chief of staff to Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Israel.
Chen Schor joined the Company as a director on August 22, 2011. Mr. Schor is a global industry leader with vast experience in biotechnology, medical devices, business development and private equity. Mr. Schor led multiple licensing and M&A transactions valued at over $2 billion with companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Pfizer, Bayer, Merck-Serono and OncoGeneX Pharmaceuticals, and raised significant funds from reputable investors. Mr. Schor has a broad range of experience in multiple therapeutic areas including Neurology, Respiratory, Oncology, Auto-Immune, Genetic Diseases, and Women’s Health. In addition to leading the global business development at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Schor played a key role in building early stage companies to regulatory approvals, IPOs and M&As. From March 2009 until September 2011, Mr. Schor served as Vice President of Business Development, global branded products at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Teva, Mr. Schor was Chief Business Officer at Epix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly known as Predix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) from December 2003 until March 2009, leading the formation of more than $1.5 billion collaborations with GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen and additional pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Epix, Mr. Schor was a Partner at Yozma Venture Capital from September 1998 until December 2003, managing the fund’s investments in biotechnology and medical device companies. Mr. Schor previously held positions at Arthur Anderson and BDO Consulting, an advisory firm, Mr. Schor holds an M.B.A, a B.A. in Biology, a B.A. in Economics and is a Certified Public Accountant. We believe that Mr. Schor possesses specific attributes that qualify him to serve on our Board of Directors including Mr. Schor’s extensive experience in biotechnology and significant leadership skills from his service as a partner of a venture capital firm.
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Dr. Robert Shorr joined the Company in March 2005 as a director. Since 1999, Dr. Shorr has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Science Officer of Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company. He has also been a member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at SUNY Stony Brook, where he also served as Director of Business Development for the university’s Center for Advanced Technology. He has served as trustee at the Tissue Engineering Charities, Imperial College, London. From 1999 until 2005, Dr. Shorr was Vice-President of Science and Technology (CSO) of United Therapeutics, a NASDAQ listed biotechnology company. Prior to 1998, he was Vice President, Resarch and Development at Enzon Inc., a NASDAQ listed pharmaceuticals company, and AT Biochem, a pharmaceuticals company, of which he was also founder. Dr. Shorr also served on the Board of Directors of Biological Delivery Systems Inc., a NASDAQ listed company. Dr. Shorr holds both a Ph.D. and a D.I.C. from the University of London, Imperial College of Science and Technology as well as a B.Sc. from SUNY Buffalo. We believe that Dr. Shorr possesses specific attributes that qualify him to serve on our Board of Directors including Dr. Shorr’s extensive experience in biotechnology and valuable leadership skills as a chief executive officer.
Malcolm Taub joined the Company in March 2009 as a director. Since October 2010, Mr. Taub has been a Partner at Davidoff Malito & Hutcher LLP, a full service law and government relations firm. From 2001 to September 30, 2010, Mr. Taub was the Managing Member of Malcolm S. Taub LLP, a law firm which practiced in the areas of commercial litigation, among other practice areas. Mr. Taub also works on art transactions, in the capacity as an attorney and a consultant. Mr. Taub has also served as a principal of a firm which provides consulting services to private companies going public in the United States. Mr. Taub has acted as a consultant to the New York Stock Exchange in its Market Surveillance Department. Mr. Taub acts as a Trustee of The Gateway Schools of New York and The Devereux Glenholme School in Washington, Connecticut. Mr. Taub has served as an adjunct professor at Long Island University, Manhattan Marymount College and New York University Real Estate Institute. Mr. Taub holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Mr. Taub formerly served on the Board of Directors of Safer Shot, Inc. (formerly known as Monumental Marketing Inc.). We believe that Mr. Taub possesses specific attributes that qualify him to serve on our Board of Directors including Mr. Taub’s vast law experience and his demonstrated leadership skills as a managing member of a law firm.
Independence of the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors has determined that each of Dr. Arbel, Mr. Friedman, Dr. Israeli, Mr. Pinkas, Dr. Shorr and Mr. Taub satisfies the criteria for being an “independent director” under the standards of the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (Nasdaq) and has no material relationship with the Company other than by virtue of service on the Board of Directors. During the course of determining the independence of Dr. Israeli, the Board of Directors considered the Agreement entered into by and among the Company, Hadasit and Dr. Israeli described above in “Certain Arrangements” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions. ”
The Board of Directors is comprised of a majority of independent directors and the Audit and GNC Committees are comprised entirely of independent directors.
Consulting Agreement with Dr. Israeli
On April 13, 2010, the Company, Dr. Israeli and Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd. (Hadasit) entered into an Agreement, which was amended to clarify certain terms on December 31, 2011 (as amended, the Agreement) pursuant to which Dr. Israeli agreed, during the term of the Agreement, to serve as (i) our Clinical Trials Advisor and (ii) a member of our Board of Directors. Any party may terminate the Agreement upon 30 days prior notice to the other parties. In consideration of the services to be provided by Dr. Israeli to us under the Agreement, we agreed to grant: (i) options to Dr. Israeli annually during the term of the Agreement for the purchase of 166,666 shares of our common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.00005 per share and (ii) warrants to Hadasit annually during the term of the Agreement for the purchase of 33,334 shares of our common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.00005 per share. Such options and warrants will vest and become exercisable in twelve (12) consecutive equal monthly amounts. In addition, in December 2010 the Board of Directors granted Dr. Israeli an option to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.15 in recognition of his service as the Chairman of the Board and the number of hours Dr. Israeli devotes to fulfillment of his responsibilities of such role.
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Consulting Agreement with Mr. Schor
On August 22, 2011, we entered into an agreement with Chen Schor, which was amended and restated on November 11, 2011 to clarify vesting terms (as amended and restated, the Executive Director Agreement) pursuant to which we pay $15,000 per quarter to Mr. Schor for his services as an Executive Board Member. In accordance with the terms of the Executive Director Agreement, the Company and Mr. Schor have also entered into an amended and restated Restricted Stock Agreement on November 11, 2011, pursuant to which Mr. Schor received 923,374 shares of our restricted common stock under our 2005 U.S. Stock Option and Incentive Plan. The shares vest over 3 years – 307,791 shares on August 22, 2012, 307,791 shares on August 22, 2013 and 307,792 shares on August 22, 2014. Mr. Schor is not entitled to any other compensation for his services as a director.
Involvement in certain legal proceedings
None of our directors or executive officers has during the past ten years:
· | been convicted in a criminal proceeding or been subject to a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offences); |
· | had any bankruptcy petition filed by or against the business or property of the person, or of any partnership, corporation or business association of which he was a general partner or executive officer, either at the time of the bankruptcy filing or within two years prior to that time; |
· | been subject to any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction or federal or state authority, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting, his involvement in any type of business, securities, futures, commodities, investment, banking, savings and loan, or insurance activities, or to be associated with persons engaged in any such activity; |
· | been found by a court of competent jurisdiction in a civil action or by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law, and the judgment has not been reversed, suspended, or vacated; |
· | been the subject of, or a party to, any federal or state judicial or administrative order, judgment, decree, or finding, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated (not including any settlement of a civil proceeding among private litigants), relating to an alleged violation of any federal or state securities or commodities law or regulation, any law or regulation respecting financial institutions or insurance companies including, but not limited to, a temporary or permanent injunction, order of disgorgement or restitution, civil money penalty or temporary or permanent cease-and-desist order, or removal or prohibition order, or any law or regulation prohibiting mail or wire fraud or fraud in connection with any business entity; or |
· | been the subject of, or a party to, any sanction or order, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any self-regulatory organization (as defined in Section 3(a)(26) of the Exchange Act, any registered entity (as defined in Section 1(a)(29) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1(a)(29))), or any equivalent exchange, association, entity or organization that has disciplinary authority over its members or persons associated with a member. |
Code of Ethics
On May 27, 2005, our Board of Directors adopted a Code of Ethics that applies to, among other persons, members of our Board of Directors, officers and employees. A copy of our Code of Ethics is posted on our website at www.brainstorm-cell.com.We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement regarding any amendment to, or waiver of, a provision of the Code of Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer or our senior financial officers (principal financial officer and controller or principal accounting officer, or persons performing similar functions) by posting such information on our website.
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Committees of the Board of Directors
Audit Committee
On February 7, 2008, the Board of Directors established a standing Audit Committee in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which assists the Board of Directors in fulfilling its responsibilities to stockholders concerning our financial reporting and internal controls, and facilitates open communication among the Audit Committee, Board of Directors, outside auditors and management. The Audit Committee discusses with management and our outside auditors the financial information developed by us, our systems of internal controls and our audit process. The Audit Committee is solely and directly responsible for appointing, evaluating, retaining and, when necessary, terminating the engagement of the independent auditor. The independent auditors meet with the Audit Committee (both with and without the presence of management) to review and discuss various matters pertaining to the audit, including our financial statements, the report of the independent auditors on the results, scope and terms of their work, and their recommendations concerning the financial practices, controls, procedures and policies employed by us. The Audit Committee preapproves all audit services to be provided to us, whether provided by the principal auditor or other firms, and all other services (review, attest and non-audit) to be provided to us by the independent auditor. The Audit Committee coordinates the Board of Directors’ oversight of our internal control over financial reporting, disclosure controls and procedures and code of conduct. The Audit Committee is charged with establishing procedures for (i) the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters; and (ii) the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the Company of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters. The Audit Committee reviews all related party transactions on an ongoing basis, and all such transactions must be approved by the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee is authorized, without further action by the Board of Directors, to engage such independent legal, accounting and other advisors as it deems necessary or appropriate to carry out its responsibilities. The Board of Directors has adopted a written charter for the Audit Committee, which is available in the corporate governance section of our website at www.brainstorm-cell.com. The Audit Committee currently consists of Mr. Friedman (Chair), Dr. Arbel and Mr. Pinkas each of whom is independent within the meaning of The NASDAQ Marketplace Rules and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. The Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Friedman is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K. The Audit Committee held five meetings during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012.
GNC Committee
On June 27, 2011, the Board of Directors established a standing Governance, Nominating and Compensation Committee (the GNC Committee), which assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities relating to (i) compensation of the Company’s executive officers, (ii) the director nomination process and (iii) reviewing the Company’s compliance with SEC corporate governance requirements. The Board has adopted a written charter for the GNC Committee, which is available in the corporate governance section of our website at www.brainstorm-cell.com. The GNC Committee currently consists of Dr. Arbel (Chair), Dr. Shorr and Mr. Taub, each of whom is independent as defined under applicable Nasdaq listing standards. The GNC Committee held one meeting during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012.
The GNC Committee determines salaries, incentives and other forms of compensation for the Chief Executive Officer and the executive officers of the Company and reviews and makes recommendations to the Board with respect to director compensation. The GNC Committee annually reviews and approves the corporate goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of the Chief Executive Officer, evaluates the Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of these goals and objectives, and sets the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation level based on this evaluation. The GNC Committee meets without the presence of executive officers when approving or deliberating on executive officer compensation, but may invite the Chief Executive Officer to be present during the approval of, or deliberations with respect to, other executive officer compensation. In addition, the GNC Committee administers the Company’s stock incentive compensation and equity-based plans.
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The GNC Committee makes recommendations to the Board concerning all facets of the director nominee selection process. Generally, the GNC Committee identifies candidates for director nominees in consultation with management and the independent members of the Board, through the use of search firms or other advisers, through the recommendations submitted by stockholders or through such other methods as the GNC Committee deems to be helpful to identify candidates. Once candidates have been identified, the GNC Committee confirms that the candidates meet the independence requirements and qualifications for director nominees established by the Board. The GNC Committee may gather information about the candidates through interviews, questionnaires, background checks, or any other means that the GNC Committee deems to be helpful in the evaluation process. The GNC Committee meets to discuss and evaluate the qualities and skills of each candidate, both on an individual basis and taking into account the overall composition and needs of the Board. Upon selection of a qualified candidate, the GNC Committee would recommend the candidate for consideration by the full Board.
In considering whether to include any particular candidate in the Board’s slate of recommended director nominees, the Board will consider the candidate’s integrity, education, business acumen, knowledge of the Company’s business and industry, age, experience, diligence, conflicts of interest and the ability to act in the interests of all stockholders. The Board believes that experience as a leader of a business or institution, sound judgment, effective interpersonal and communication skills, strong character and integrity, and expertise in areas relevant to our business are important attributes in maintaining the effectiveness of the Board. As a matter of practice, the Board considers the diversity of the backgrounds and experience of prospective directors as well as their personal characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, age) in evaluating, and making decisions regarding, Board composition, in order to facilitate Board deliberations that reflect a broad range of perspectives. The Board does not assign specific weights to particular criteria and no particular criterion is a prerequisite for each prospective nominee. The Company believes that the backgrounds and qualifications of its directors, considered as a group, should provide a significant breadth of experience, knowledge and abilities that will allow the Board to fulfill its responsibilities.
Stockholder Nominations
On June 27, 2011, the Board of Directors adopted the Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. Shareholder Nominations and Communications Policy (the Policy), which established procedures by which stockholders may recommend nominees to our Board of Directors. Previously, we had no formal policy by which a stockholder could recommend nominees to our Board of Directors.
Pursuant to the Policy, stockholders may recommend nominees for consideration by submitting the following information to our Secretary at our executive offices: (i) a current resume and curriculum vitae of the candidate; (ii) a statement describing the candidate’s qualifications; and (iii) contact information for personal and professional references. In addition, submission must include the name and address of the stockholder making the nomination, the number of shares which are owned by such stockholder and a description of all arrangements or understandings between such stockholder and the candidate. Assuming that the required material has been provided on a timely basis, the GNC Committee will evaluate stockholder-recommended candidates by following substantially the same process, and applying substantially the same criteria, as it follows for candidates submitted by others.
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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Summary Compensation
The following table sets forth certain summary information with respect to the compensation paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 earned by the former Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer (the Named Executive Officers). In the table below, columns required by the regulations of the SEC have been omitted where no information was required to be disclosed under those columns.
Summary Compensation Table (*)
Name and Principal Position | Year | Salary ($) | Bonus ($) | Option Awards ($) (1)(2) | All Other Compensation ($)(3) | Total ($) | ||||||||||||||||||
Adrian Harel(4) | 2012 | 121,438 | 60,000 | (5) | 16,005 | 71,257 | 268,701 | |||||||||||||||||
Director of Research and Development and Former Chief Executive Officer | 2011 | 117,000 | — | 203,026 | 65,000 | 385,026 | ||||||||||||||||||
Liat Sossover | 2012 | 99,330 | (6) | 20,000 | (7) | 13,719 | 56,073 | 189,123 | ||||||||||||||||
Chief Financial Officer | 2011 | 98,000 | — | — | 46,000 | 144,000 |
(*) The Named Executive Officers were paid in NIS; the amounts above are the U.S. dollar equivalent. The conversion rate used was the average of the end of month’s rate between the U.S. dollar and the NIS as published by the Bank of Israel, the central bank of Israel.
(1) The amounts shown in the “Option Awards” column represent the aggregate grant date fair value of awards computed in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 (ASC 718), not the actual amounts paid to or realized by the Named Executive Officer during fiscal 2012 and fiscal 2011. ASC 718 fair value amount as of the grant date for stock options generally is spread over the number of months of service required for the grant to vest.
(2) The fair value of each stock option award is estimated as of the date of grant using the Black-Scholes valuation model. Additional information regarding the assumptions used to estimate the fair value of all stock option awards is included in Note(8)(B)(2)(a) to Consolidated Financial Statements.
(3) Includes management insurance (which includes pension, disability insurance and severance pay), payments towards such employee’s education fund, Israeli social security and amounts paid for use of a Company car and cellular phone. Each Named Executive Officer also receives gross-up payments for the taxes on these benefits.
(4) Dr. Harel joined the Company on January 24, 2011 as our Chief Operating Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer. On June 11, 2012, Dr. Harel was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Director of Research and Development. On February 1, 2013, Dr. Harel ceased serving as our Chief Executive Officer.
(5) On August 1, 2012, the GNC Committee approved: (i) a $50,000 cash bonus in recognition of Dr. Harel’s efforts in completing the Company’s recent financing transaction; and (ii) a $10,000 cash bonus for Dr. Harel achieving individual performance goals.
(6) On August 1, 2012, the GNC Committee approved a 10% increase in Ms. Sossover’s base salary (from NIS29,000 to NIS31,900).
(7) On August 1, 2012, the GNC Committee approved a $20,000 cash bonus in recognition of Ms. Sossover’s efforts in completing the Company’s recent financing transaction.
Executive Employment Agreements
Alon Natanson. Pursuant to his employment agreement dated January 24, 2013, Mr. Natanson is entitled to a monthly salary of NIS 53,000 (approximately $14,200). Mr. Natanson also receives other benefits that are generally made available to our employees, including pension and education fund benefits. Mr. Natanson is provided with a Company car and cellular phone, and a gross-up payment for any taxes relating thereto. Mr. Natanson also received a grant of a stock option (the Initial Grant) on January 24, 2013 (the Grant Date) for the purchase of 4,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, which will vest and become exercisable as to 33 1/3% of the number of shares on the first anniversary of the Grant Date (the Initial Vesting Date) and the remainder of the shares will vest and become exercisable in equal monthly installments on each of the 36 monthly anniversaries following the Initial Vesting Date. The exercise price for the Initial Grant is $0.29 per share. In the event that prior to the first anniversary of the Grant Date (and provided that Mr. Natanson is then actively employed by us): (i) we have raised $10 million or more in one transaction; (ii) the shares of the Company have been admitted for trading on NASDAQ; and (iii) we have been granted the approval of the FDA to conduct clinical trials in the United States, then on the first anniversary of the Grant Date, Mr. Natanson will be granted an additional stock option for the purchase of an additional 2,000,000 shares of our common stock upon the same terms as the Initial Grant. On July 28, 2013, Alon Natanson informed the Company of his resignation from his position with the Company effective 90 days after the notice.
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Adrian Harel. Pursuant to his employment agreement dated January 30, 2011, as amended effective August 1, 2011, Dr. Harel is entitled to a monthly salary of NIS 39,000 (approximately $10,600) (including benefits for monthly totals of approximately NIS 60,300 (approximately $16,400)). Dr. Harel also receives other benefits that are generally made available to our employees. Dr. Harel is provided with a company car and a gross-up payment for any taxes relating thereto.
Liat Sossover. Pursuant to her employment agreement dated June 23, 2010, Ms. Sossover is entitled to a monthly salary of NIS 31,900 (approximately $8,700) per month. Ms. Sossover is also entitled to contributions on her behalf by the Company into a manager’s insurance fund, disability insurance and an education fund. Ms. Sossover is provided with a Company car and cellular phone, and a gross-up payment for any taxes relating thereto.
Chaim Lebovits. Currently, we do not have an employment agreement with Mr. Lebovits and he is not entitled to receive any compensation from us at this time.
Terms of Option Awards
All options granted to the Named Executive Officers were granted pursuant to our 2004 Global Share Option Plan (as amended, the Global Plan) and each such option expires on the tenth anniversary of the grant date.
On June 27, 2011, Dr. Harel was granted an option to purchase 450,000 shares of our common stock at a price per share of $0.20. Such option vested and became exercisable as to 1/3 of the shares subject to the option on January 23, 2012 and the remainder of the shares subject to the option vest and become exercisable over the following 24 months in equal installments.
On August 10, 2011, Dr. Harel was granted an option to purchase 70,000 shares of our common stock at a price per share of $0.20. Such option became fully vested and exercisable upon our receipt of clean room approval in connection with the Hadassah trial.
On August 1, 2012, Dr. Harel was granted an option to purchase 70,000 shares of our common stock at a price per share of $0.26. Such option becomes fully vested and exercisable in 12 equal monthly installments.
On August 1, 2012, Ms. Sossover was granted an option to purchase 60,000 shares of our common stock at a price per share of $0.26. Such option becomes fully vested and exercisable in 12 equal monthly installments.
Outstanding Equity Awards
The following table sets forth information regarding equity awards granted to the Named Executive Officers that are outstanding as of December 31, 2012. In the table below, columns required by the regulations of the SEC have been omitted where no information was required to be disclosed under those columns.
Outstanding Equity Awards at December 31, 2012
Option Awards | ||||||||||||||
Name | Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable | Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable | Option Exercise Price ($) | Option Expiration Date | ||||||||||
Adrian Harel | 287,500 | 162,500 | (1) | 0.20 | 6/27/2021 | |||||||||
70,000 | — | 0.20 | 8/10/2021 | |||||||||||
23,333 | 46,667 | (2) | 0.26 | 8/1/2022 | ||||||||||
Liat Sossover | 333,333 | 66,667 | (3) | 0.18 | 6/23/2020 | |||||||||
20,000 | 40,000 | (4) | 0.26 | 8/1/2022 |
(1) Stock option vesting with respect to 12,500 shares each month beginning on 1/23/2013 and ending on 1/23/2014.
(2) Stock option vesting with respect to approximately 5,833 shares each month beginning on 1/1/2013 and ending on 8/1/2013.
(3) Stock option vesting with respect to approximately 11,111 shares each month beginning on 1/23/2013 and ending on 6/23/2013.
(4) Stock option vesting with respect to 5,000 shares each month beginning on 1/1/2013 and ending on 8/1/2013.
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Stock Incentive Plans
In November 2004 and February 2005, our Board of Directors adopted and ratified the Global Plan and the 2005 U.S. Stock Option and Incentive Plan (as amended, the U.S. Plan and together with the Global Plan, the Plans), respectively, and further approved the reservation of 9,143,462 shares of our common stock for issuance thereunder. Our stockholders approved the Plans and the shares reserved for issuance thereunder at a special meeting of stockholders that was held on March 28, 2005.
On April 28, 2008, the Board approved the amendment and restatement of the Plans to increase the number of shares available for issuance under the Plans by an additional 5,000,000 shares. Our stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Plans on June 5, 2008.
On April 21, 2011, the Board approved another amendment and restatement of the Plans to increase the number of shares available for issuance under the Plans by an additional 5,000,000 shares. Our stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Plans on June 10, 2011.
On May 6, 2012, the Board approved another amendment and restatement of the Plans to increase the number of shares available for issuance under the Plans by an additional 9,000,000 shares. Our stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Plans on June 12, 2012.
Under the Global Plan, we granted a total of 16,328,319 options with various exercise prices and expiration dates, to service providers, subcontractors, directors, officers, and employees. Under the U.S. Plan, we issued an additional 5,290,040 shares of restricted stock and options to Scientific Advisory Board members, consultants, and directors. As of March 31, 2013, there were 6,525,103 shares available for issuance under the Plans.
Compensation of Directors
The following table sets forth certain summary information with respect to the compensation paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 earned by each of the directors of the Company. In the table below, columns required by the regulations of the SEC have been omitted where no information was required to be disclosed under those columns.
Director Compensation Table for Fiscal 2012
Name | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($) | Stock Awards ($) (1) | Option Awards ($) (1)(2) | Total ($) | ||||||||||||
Dr. Irit Arbel | — | — | 41,156 | (3) | 41,156 | |||||||||||
Mr. Mordechai Friedman | — | — | 34,297 | (4) | 34,297 | |||||||||||
Dr. Abraham Israeli | — | — | 40,000 | (5) | 40,000 | |||||||||||
Mr. Alon Pinkas | — | — | 29,724 | (6) | 29,724 | |||||||||||
Mr. Chen Schor | 60,000 | (7) | — | (8) | — | 60,000 | ||||||||||
Dr. Robert Shorr | — | 33,800 | (9) | — | 33,800 | |||||||||||
Mr. Malcolm Taub | — | 33,800 | (10) | — | 33,800 |
(1) The amounts shown in the “Stock Awards” and “Option Awards” columns represent the aggregate grant date fair value of awards computed in accordance with ASC 718, not the actual amounts paid to or realized by the directors during fiscal 2012.
(2) The fair value of each stock option award is estimated as of the date of grant using the Black-Scholes valuation model. Additional information regarding the assumptions used to estimate the fair value of all stock option awards is included in Note(8)(B)(2)(a) to Consolidated Financial Statements.
(3) At December 31, 2012, Dr. Arbel had options (vested and unvested) to purchase 1,168,333 shares of common stock.
(4) At December 31, 2012, Mr. Friedman had options (vested and unvested) to purchase 316,667 shares of common stock.
(5) At December 31, 2012, Dr. Israeli had options (vested and unvested) to purchase 699,998 shares of common stock.
(6) At December 31, 2012, Mr. Pinkas had options (vested and unvested) to purchase 310,000 shares of common stock.
(7) Represents the amount paid to Mr. Schor pursuant to the Executive Director Agreement for his services as a director and consultant.
(8) At December 31, 2012, Mr. Schor had 615,582 shares of unvested restricted common stock.
(9) At December 31, 2012, Mr. Shorr had 86,667 shares of unvested restricted common stock.
(10) At December 31, 2012, Mr. Taub had vested options to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock and 86,667 shares of unvested restricted common stock.
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On October 14, 2007, we implemented a compensation plan for non-employee directors. Under this compensation plan, each director was entitled to receive an option to purchase 100,000 shares of our common stock or 100,000 restricted shares of common stock. Dr. Israeli did not earn compensation in accordance with this compensation plan. In 2010, we issued an option to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock to Dr. Arbel under this compensation policy. In addition, in 2010, we approved the issuance of 200,000 restricted shares of common stock to Dr. Shorr and Mr. Taub under this compensation policy. The determination to grant equity awards in an amount greater than as set forth in the compensation plan was made at the discretion of the Board of Directors and as recognition for service on the Audit Committee by Drs. Arbel and Shorr and as recognition of service on the Board by Mr. Taub.
The Board also made the determination to issue an option to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock to Dr. Israeli in recognition of his service as the Chairman of the Board and the number of hours Dr. Israeli devotes to fulfillment of his responsibilities of such role.
On June 27, 2011, we implemented a new Director Compensation Plan for non-employee directors (the Director Compensation Plan). Every non-employee director of the Company, other than Dr. Israeli and Mr. Schor, are eligible to participate in the Director Compensation Plan. Under the Director Compensation Plan, each eligible director is granted an annual award immediately following each annual meeting of stockholders beginning with the 2011 annual meeting. For non-U.S. directors, this annual award consists of a nonqualified stock option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock. For U.S. directors, at their option, this annual award is either (i) a nonqualified stock option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock or (ii) 100,000 shares of restricted stock. Additionally, each member of the GNC Committee or Audit Committee receives (i) a nonqualified stock option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock or (ii) in the case of U.S. directors and at their option, 30,000 shares of restricted stock. The Chair of the GNC Committee or Audit Committee will instead of the above committee award receive (i) a nonqualified stock option to purchase 50,000 shares of common stock or (ii) in the case of U.S. directors and at their option, 50,000 shares of restricted stock. Any eligible participant who is serving as chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Company shall also receive (i) a nonqualified stock option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock or (ii) in the case of U.S. directors and at their option, 100,000 shares of restricted stock. Awards are granted on a pro rata basis for directors serving less than a year at the time of grant. The exercise price for options for U.S. directors will be equal to the closing price per share of the common stock on the grant date as reported on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board or the national securities exchange on which the common stock is then traded. The exercise price for options for non-U.S. directors is $0.15. Every option and restricted stock award will vest monthly as to 1/12 the number of shares subject to the award over a period of twelve months from the date of grant, provided that the recipient remains a director of the Company on each such vesting date, or, in the case of a committee award, remains a member of the committee on each such vesting date.
On June 27, 2011 and August 1, 2012, the following grants were made under the Director Compensation Plan to the eligible directors: Dr. Arbel received a stock option to purchase 180,000 shares of common stock for her service as a director, chair of the GNC Committee and a member of the Audit Committee; Mr. Friedman received a stock option to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock for his service as a director and chair of the Audit Committee; Mr. Pinkas received a stock option to purchase 130,000 shares of common stock for his service as a director and a member of the Audit Committee; Mr. Shorr received 130,000 shares of restricted stock for his service as a director and a member of the GNC Committee; and Mr. Taub received 130,000 shares of restricted stock for his service as a director and a member of the GNC Committee.
Dr. Israeli receives an annual option for the purchase of 166,666 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.00005 per the terms of the Agreement, as described in detail in “Consulting Agreement with Dr. Israeli” above and in “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” below, which option is compensation for both his service as a director and as a clinical trials advisor. In addition, in December 2010 the Board of Directors granted Dr. Israeli an option to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.15 in recognition of his service as the Chairman of the Board and the number of hours Dr. Israeli devotes to fulfillment of his responsibilities of such role.
On August 22, 2011, Mr. Schor received a grant of 923,374 shares of restricted common stock and receives $15,000 per quarter for his services as a director and advisor of the Company pursuant to the terms of the Executive Director Agreement, as described in detail in “Consulting Agreement with Mr. Schor” above.
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SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The following table sets forth certain information as of July 30, 2013 with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock by the following: (i) each of our current directors; (ii) the Named Executive Officers; (iii) all of the current executive officers and directors as a group; and (iv) each person known by us to own beneficially more than five percent (5%) of the outstanding shares of our common stock.
For purposes of the following table, beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and the information is not necessarily indicative of beneficial ownership for any other purpose. Except as otherwise noted in the footnotes to the table, we believe that each person or entity named in the table has sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of our common stock shown as beneficially owned by that person or entity (or shares such power with his or her spouse). Under the SEC’s rules, shares of our common stock issuable under options that are exercisable on or within 60 days after July 30, 2013 (Presently Exercisable Options) or under warrants that are exercisable on or within 60 days after July 30, 2013 (Presently Exercisable Warrants) are deemed outstanding and therefore included in the number of shares reported as beneficially owned by a person or entity named in the table and are used to compute the percentage of the common stock beneficially owned by that person or entity. These shares are not, however, deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of the common stock beneficially owned by any other person or entity. Unless otherwise indicated, the address of each person listed in the table is c/o Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., 605 Third Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, New York 10158.
The percentage of the common stock beneficially owned by each person or entity named in the following table is based on 152,714,176 shares of common stock outstanding as of July 30, 2013 plus any shares issuable upon exercise of Presently Exercisable Options and Presently Exercisable Warrants held by such person or entity.
Shares Beneficially Owned | ||||||||
Name of Beneficial Owner | Number of Shares | Percentage of Class | ||||||
Directors and Named Executive Officers | ||||||||
Chaim Lebovits (6) | 59,556,924 | (5) | 32.6 | % | ||||
Alon Natanson | — | — | ||||||
Adrian Harel | 540,000 | (1) | * | |||||
Liat Sossover | 460,000 | (1) | * | |||||
Irit Arbel | 3,543,333 | (2) | 2.3 | % | ||||
Mordechai Friedman | 379,167 | (1) | * | |||||
Abraham Israeli | 769,443 | (1) | * | |||||
Alon Pinkas | 364,165 | (1) | * | |||||
Chen Schor | 923,374 | * | ||||||
Robert Shorr | 490,000 | * | ||||||
Malcolm Taub | 798,333 | (3) | * | |||||
All current directors and officers as a group (11 persons) | 67,824,739 | (4) | 36.3 | % | ||||
5% Shareholders | ||||||||
ACCBT Corp. Morgan & Morgan Building Pasea Estate, Road Town Tortola British Virgin Islands | 59,556,924 | (5) | 32.6 | % |
* | Less than 1%. |
(1) | Consists of shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of Presently Exercisable Options. |
(2) | Includes 1,243,333 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of Presently Exercisable Options. Dr. Arbel’s address is 6 Hadishon Street, Jerusalem, Israel. |
(3) | Includes 100,000 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of Presently Exercisable Options. |
(4) | Includes (i) 29,006,924 shares of common stock owned by ACCBT Corp. (Chaim Lebovits, our President, may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of these shares), (ii) 30,250,000 shares of common stock issuable to ACCBT Corp. upon the exercise of Presently Exercisable Warrants (iii) 300,000 shares of common stock owned by ACC International Holdings Ltd. (Chaim Lebovits, our President, may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of these shares) and (iv) 3,856,108 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of Presently Exercisable Options. |
(5) | Consists of (i) 29,006,924 shares of common stock owned by ACCBT Corp., (ii) 30,250,000 shares of common stock issuable to ACCBT Corp. upon the exercise of Presently Exercisable Warrants and (iii) 300,000 shares of common stock owned by ACC International Holdings Ltd. ACC International Holdings Ltd. and Chaim Lebovits, our President, may each be deemed the beneficial owners of these shares. |
(6) | Appointed principal executive officer of the Company on August 1, 2013. |
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RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions
The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors reviews and approves all related-party transactions. A “related-party transaction” is a transaction that meets the minimum threshold for disclosure under the relevant SEC rules (transactions involving amounts exceeding the lesser of $120,000 or one (1) percent of the average of the smaller reporting company's total assets at year end for the last two fiscal years in which a “related person” or entity has a direct or indirect material interest). “Related persons” include our executive officers, directors, 5% or more beneficial owners of our common stock, immediate family members of these persons and entities in which one of these persons has a direct or indirect material interest. When a potential related-party transaction is identified, management presents it to the Audit Committee to determine whether to approve or ratify it.
The Audit Committee reviews the material facts of any related-party transaction and either approves or disapproves of the entry into the transaction. If advance approval of a related-party transaction is not feasible, then the transaction will be considered and, if the Audit Committee determines it to be appropriate, ratified by the Audit Committee. No director may participate in the approval of a transaction for which he or she is a related party.
Research and License Agreement with Ramot
On July 12, 2004, we entered into the Original Ramot Agreement with Ramot, a former 5% stockholder of the Company, which agreement was amended on March 30, 2006 by the Amended Research and License Agreement (described below). Under the terms of the Original Ramot Agreement, Ramot granted to us a license to (i) the inventions, know-how and results made with respect to the stem cell technology developed by the team led by Prof. Melamed and Prof. Offen in the course of the performance of the research, and the patents and pending patent applications owned by Ramot, and (ii) the results of further research to be performed by the same team on the development of the stem cell technology. Simultaneously with the execution of the Original Ramot Agreement, we entered into individual consulting agreements with Prof. Melamed and Prof. Offen pursuant to which all intellectual property developed by Prof. Melamed or Prof. Offen in the performance of services thereunder will be owned by Ramot and licensed to us under the Original Ramot Agreement.
Under the Original Ramot Agreement, we agreed to fund further research relating to the licensed technology in an amount of $570,000 per year for an initial period of two years, and for an additional two-year period if certain research milestones were met.
In consideration for the license, we originally agreed to pay Ramot:
· | An up-front license fee payment of $100,000; |
· | An amount equal to 5% of all net sales of products; and |
· | An amount equal to 30% of all sublicense receipts. |
On March 30, 2006 and on May 23, 2006, we entered into an Amended Research and License Agreement and an Amendment Agreement to the Amended Research and License Agreement, respectively (collectively, the Amended Research and License Agreement) with Ramot. Under the Amended Research and License Agreement, the funding of further research relating to the licensed technology in an amount of $570,000 per year was reduced to $380,000 per year. Moreover, under the Amended Research and License Agreement, the initial period of time that we agreed to fund the research was extended from an initial period of two (2) years to an initial period of three (3) years. The Amended Research and License Agreement also extended the additional two-year period in the Original Ramot Agreement to an additional three-year period, if certain research milestones were met.
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We entered into a Second Amended and Restated Research and License Agreement with Ramot on July 26, 2007, effective July 12, 2004, (the Second Ramot Agreement), which amended and replaced the Amended Research and License Agreement. The Second Ramot Agreement imposed on us development and commercialization obligations, milestone and other obligations. The license was granted in consideration for (i) royalty payments ranging from three percent (3%) to five percent (5%) of all net sales and (ii) potential payments concerning sublicenses ranging from twenty percent (20%) to twenty-five percent (25%) of sublicense receipts. In addition, in the event that the research period was extended for an additional three year period in accordance with the terms of the Second Ramot Agreement, then we had to make payments to Ramot for each year of the extended research period in the amount of $380,000. As of June 30, 2007, we owed Ramot an aggregate amount of $513,249 in overdue payments and patent fees under the Amended Research and License Agreement.
On August 1, 2007, we obtained a waiver and release from Ramot pursuant to which Ramot agreed to an amended payment schedule regarding our payment obligations under the Second Ramot Agreement and waived all claims against us resulting from our previous breaches, defaults and non-payment under the Amended Research and License Agreement.
After our failure to meet the amended payment schedule and subsequent negotiations, on December 24, 2009, we entered into a Letter Agreement and an amended agreement to the Second Ramot Agreement (collectively, the Letter Agreement) with Ramot, pursuant to which, among other things, Ramot agreed to: (i) release us from our obligation to fund three years of additional research (which would have totaled $1,140,000); and (ii) accept conversion of certain research payments due in the amount of $272,000 into 1,120,000 shares of our common stock. Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, we agreed, among other things, to: (i) reimburse Ramot for outstanding patent-related expenses; and (ii) abandon our rights in certain joint patent rights and patents of Ramot in certain countries.
As of February 2011, Ramot had sold the 1,120,000 shares of common stock of the Company for approximately $235,000 and we paid the remaining approximately $5,000 due to Ramot. To date, there is no additional debt to Ramot.
On December 20, 2011, we entered into an Assignment Agreement with our Israeli Subsidiary (the Assignment Agreement), with the consent of Ramot. Under the Assignment Agreement, we assigned and transferred all of our rights, interests, titles, liabilities and obligations (the Rights) under the Second Ramot Agreement to our Israeli Subsidiary, effective as of January 1, 2007 and our Israeli Subsidiary agreed to assume all such Rights. We agreed to be a guarantor of all obligations of our Israeli Subsidiary under the Second Ramot Agreement and Ramot can look to us to demand compliance with the Second Ramot Agreement.
In May 2012, we, the Israeli Subsidiary and Prof. Offen entered into a Consulting Agreement, effective as of January 1, 2012, which replaced the previous consulting agreement, dated July 31, 2004, pursuant to which all work product resulting from the provision of services will vest solely with the Israeli Subsidiary and if any work product resulting from the provision of services results in the creation or development of intellectual property it will be deemed a joint invention, and will be jointly owned by Ramot and the Israeli Subsidiary.
Investment Agreement with ACCBT Corp.
On July 2, 2007, we entered into a Subscription Agreement with ACCBT, a 32.8% stockholder and a company under the control of Mr. Chaim Lebovits, our President, pursuant to which we agreed to sell (i) up to 27,500,000 shares of our common stock for an aggregate subscription price of up to $5.0 million, and (ii) for no additional consideration, warrants to purchase up to 30,250,000 shares of our common stock. Subject to certain closing conditions, separate closings of the purchase and sale of the shares and the warrants were scheduled to take place from August 30, 2007 through November 15, 2008. The warrants originally had the following exercise prices: (i) warrants for the first 10,083,333 shares of our common stock had an exercise price of $0.20; (ii) warrants for the next 10,083,333 shares of our common stock had an exercise price of $0.29; and (iii) warrants for the final 10,083,334 shares of our common stock had an exercise price of $0.36. Each warrant issued pursuant to the Subscription Agreement was to expire on November 5, 2011.
Pursuant to the terms of the Subscription Agreement, as amended, and a related registration rights agreement, ACCBT has the following rights for so long as ACCBT or its affiliates hold at least 5% of our issued and outstanding share capital:
· | Board Appointment Right: ACCBT has the right to appoint 50.1% (any fractions to be rounded up to the nearest whole number) of the members of our Board of Directors and any of our committees and the Board of Directors of our subsidiary. |
· | Preemptive Right: ACCBT has the right to receive thirty day notice of, and to purchase a pro rata portion (or greater under certain circumstances where offered shares are not purchased by other subscribers) of, securities issued by us, including options and rights to purchase shares. This preemptive right does not include issuances under our equity incentive plans. |
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· | Consent Right: ACCBT’s written consent is required for certain corporate actions, including issuance of shares (other than existing warrants and issuances under our incentive plans), amendment of our charter or bylaws, repurchase of shares, declaration or payment of dividends or distributions, related party transactions, non-ordinary course transactions involving $25,000 or more, liquidation or dissolution, the creation, acquisition or disposition of a subsidiary or entry into a joint venture or strategic alliance, a material change to our business, merger, change of control, sale of the Company, any acquisition, and any payment of cash compensation over $60,000 per year. |
In addition, ACCBT is entitled to demand and piggyback registration rights, whereby ACCBT may request, upon 15 days’ written notice, that we file, or include within a registration statement to be filed, with the Securities and Exchange Commission for ACCBT’s resale of the Subscription Shares, as adjusted, and the shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants.
On August 20, 2007, we received an aggregate of $1,000,000 from ACCBT, and, in connection therewith, ACCBT agreed to apply the principal amounts outstanding under a $250,000 convertible promissory note, dated as of May 6, 2007, issued to ACCBT by us towards the $5 million aggregate subscription price under the subscription agreement in exchange for shares of common stock (at which point the promissory note was cancelled). Accordingly, we issued to ACCBT an aggregate of 6,875,000 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase an aggregate of 7,562,500 shares of common stock. In November 2007, we received an aggregate of $750,000 from ACCBT, and we issued to ACCBT an aggregate of 4,125,000 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase an aggregate of 4,537,500 shares of common stock. On April 3, 2008, we closed a transaction where we received an aggregate of $750,000 from ACCBT and a permitted assignee, and we issued 2,125,000 shares of common stock to the permitted assignee, 2,000,000 shares of common stock to ACCBT and a warrant to purchase an aggregate of 4,537,500 shares of common stock to ACCBT. On September 8, 2008, we received an aggregate of $750,000 from ACCBT, and we issued to ACCBT an aggregate of 4,125,000 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase an aggregate of 4,537,500 shares of common stock.
On August 18, 2009, we entered into an amendment to the Subscription Agreement (the Amendment), dated as of July 31, 2009, with ACCBT.
Under the terms of the Subscription Agreement, ACCBT was no longer obligated to invest any further amounts in the Company. Pursuant to the Amendment, ACCBT agreed to invest the remaining amount outstanding under the Subscription Agreement up to $5.0 million in the Company, and, in return, we agreed to amend the Subscription Agreement to, among other things: (i) decrease the purchase price per share of the up to 27,500,000 shares (the Subscription Shares) of our common stock that ACCBT previously purchased or will purchase pursuant to the terms of the Subscription Agreement, as amended, from $0.1818 to $0.12 (the Repricing); (ii) adjust the number of shares of common stock issuable under the Subscription Agreement in accordance with the Repricing; (iii) extend the expiration date of all warrants (as described below); (iv) amend the exercise price of certain of the warrants from $0.36 to $0.29; and (v) revise the investment schedule of the purchase and sale of the Subscription Shares. Pursuant to the Amendment, the Repricing retroactively applied to all Subscription Shares purchased by ACCBT prior to the Amendment.
Pursuant to the Amendment, ACCBT agreed to purchase the remainder of the Subscription Shares, as adjusted, at an aggregate purchase price of $947,347 at a price per share of $0.12 in monthly installments of not less than $50,000 (with the last payment in an amount up to the maximum subscription price of $5.0 million) at closings to be held monthly beginning on August 1, 2009.
As described above, pursuant to the terms of the Subscription Agreement, we originally agreed to sell to ACCBT the Subscription Shares for an aggregate subscription price of up to $5.0 million and, for no additional consideration, if ACCBT purchased the Subscription Shares, warrants to purchase up to 30,250,000 shares of common stock (the Warrants). As of July 31, 2009, ACCBT had purchased an aggregate of 18,306,925 shares of common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $4,052,652, and the following Warrants (the Issued Warrants) had been issued to ACCBT: (i) 10,083,333 Warrants with an exercise price of $0.20; (ii) 10,083,333 Warrants with an exercise price of $0.29; and (iii) 1,008,334 Warrants (the Last Warrant) with an exercise price of $0.36. Pursuant to the Amendment, the exercise price of the Last Warrant decreased from $0.36 to $0.29. Pursuant to the Amendment, the expiration date of all of the Warrants, including the Issued Warrants, was changed to November 5, 2013 instead of November 5, 2011.
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Pursuant to the Amendment and in connection with ACCBT’s completion of the investment of up to $5.0 million, we issued to ACCBT the remainder of the Warrants.
In connection with the Repricing and the Amendment, we agreed to issue 9,916,667 shares of common stock to ACCBT for no additional consideration in order to retroactively apply the Repricing. On October 28, 2009, we issued the 9,916,667 shares of common stock to various designees of ACCBT, including 5,000,000 shares to Yosef Sternberg, a former 5% stockholder of the Company.
On May 10, 2012, we entered into a Warrant Amendment Agreement with ACCBT pursuant to which we agreed, upon the effectiveness of a six month lock-up agreement entered into by ACCBT in connection with an offering, the then current expiration date of each Warrant was automatically extended by an additional 18 months (until May 5, 2015) .
As of the date of this prospectus, ACCBT has purchased all of the Subscription Shares.
In sum, Warrants to purchase up to 30,250,000 shares of common stock were issued to ACCBT, of which 30,250,000 Warrants are presently outstanding. The outstanding Warrants contain full-ratchet anti-dilution provisions and cashless exercise provisions, which permit the cashless exercise of up to 50% of the underlying shares of common stock, and 10,083,333 of such Warrants have an exercise price of $0.20 and the remainder have an exercise price of $0.29. ACCBT has waived its participation rights, registration rights and anti-dilution rights with respect to issuances that were made prior to the date hereof and with regard to this offering.
Agreement with Abraham Israeli
On April 13, 2010, the Company, Dr. Israeli, a director of the Company, and Hadasit entered into an Agreement, which was amended to clarify certain terms on December 31, 2011, pursuant to which Dr. Israeli agreed, during the term of the Agreement, to serve as (i) our Clinical Trials Advisor and (ii) a member of our Board of Directors. Any party may terminate the Agreement upon 30 days’ prior written notice to the other parties. In consideration of the services to be provided by Dr. Israeli to us under the Agreement, we agreed to grant options and warrants annually during the term of the Agreement for the purchase of our common stock, as follows:
· | an option for the purchase of 166,666 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.00005 per share to Dr. Israeli; and |
· | warrants for the purchase of 33,334 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.00005 per share to Hadasit, |
Such options will vest and become exercisable in twelve (12) consecutive equal monthly amounts.
Agreement with Dr. Jonathan Javitt
On December 12, 2011, we entered into a Settlement Agreement with Dr. Jonathan Javitt, a former director of the Company, to settle certain disputed stock issuances. Under this agreement, we issued 350,000 shares of our common stock to Dr. Javitt to settle the disputed stock issuances. As part of this agreement, Dr. Javitt released the Company and related parties from all claims he may have had against the Company and its related parties.
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LEGAL MATTERS
Validity of the securities offered by this prospectus will be passed upon for us by BRL Law Group LLC, Boston, Massachusetts. As of March 31, 2013, Thomas B. Rosedale, the Managing Member of BRL Law Group LLC, beneficially owned 545,041 shares of our common stock. Lowenstein Sandler LLP, New York, New York has acted as counsel to the underwriters with respect to this offering.
EXPERTS
The financial statements included in this Prospectus of the Company have been audited by Brightman Almagor Zohar & Co., a member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report appearing herein (which report expresses an unqualified opinion on the financial statements and includes an explanatory paragraph regarding the Company's ability to continue as a going concern). Such financial statements have been so included in reliance upon the report of such firm given upon their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We file annual, quarterly and special reports and other information with the SEC. These filings contain important information that does not appear in this prospectus. For further information about us, you may read and copy any reports, statements and other information filed by us at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549-0102. You may obtain further information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. Our SEC filings are also available on the SEC Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, which contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.
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BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2012
U.S. DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS
(Except share data)
INDEX
Page | |
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firms | F-1 |
Consolidated Financial Statements | |
Consolidated Balance Sheets | F-3 |
Consolidated Statements of Operations | F-4 |
Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity (Deficiency) | F-5 |
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows | F-15 |
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | F-16 |
Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements | |
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012 | F-41 |
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 | F-42 |
Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity (Deficiency) | F-43 |
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 | F-52 |
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited) | F-53 |
70 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS Inc. (A Development Stage Company)
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS Inc. and subsidiary (a development stage company) (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the related consolidated statement of income, stockholders' equity (deficiency), and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from April 1, 2004 to December 31, 2012. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's Board of Directors and management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements based on our audits.
The financial statements for the period from April 1, 2004 through December 31, 2007, were audited by other auditors. The consolidated financial statements for the period from April 1, 2004 through December 31, 2007 included a net loss of $32,325,000. Our opinion on the consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders' deficiency and cash flows for the period from April 1, 2004 through December 31, 2012, insofar as it relates to amounts for prior periods through December 31, 2007, is based solely on the report of other auditors. The other auditors report dated April 13, 2008 expressed an unqualified opinion, and included an explanatory paragraph concerning an uncertainty about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern, and regarding the status of the Company research and development license agreement with Ramot.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, based on our audits and the report of other auditor, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS Inc. and subsidiary as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2012 and for the period from April 1, 2004 to December 31, 2012, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company is a development stage enterprise engaged in development innovative stem cell therapeutic products based on technologies enabling the in-vitro differentiation of bone marrow stem cells into neural-like cells, based on the acquired technology and research to be conducted and funded by the Company as discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements. The Company's operating losses since inception through December 31, 2012 raise substantial doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans concerning these matters are also described in Note 1 to the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of' these uncertainties.
/s/ Brightman Almagor Zohar & Co.
Brightman Almagor Zohar & Co.
Certified Public Accountants
A Member Firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Tel Aviv, Israel
March 13, 2013
Audit.Tax.Consulting.Financial Advisory. | Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu |
F-1 |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC.
(A development stage company)
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (a development stage company) ("the Company") and its subsidiary as of December 31, 2007, and the related consolidated statements of operations, statements of changes in stockholders' equity (deficiency) and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2007, for the nine months ended December 31, 2006 and 2005 and for the period from March 31, 2004 through December 31, 2007. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. We were not engaged to perform an audit of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits and the report of the other auditors provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, based on our audits, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company and its subsidiary as of December 31, 2007, and the consolidated results of their operations and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2007, for the nine months ended December 31, 2006 and 2005 and for the period from March 31, 2004 through December 31, 2007, in conformity with U.S generally accepted accounting principles.
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2007, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standard Board Statement No. 123(R), "Share-Based Payment".
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1h, the Company has incurred operating losses and has a negative cash flow from operating activities and has a working capital deficiency. As for the Company research and development license agreement with Ramot, see Note 3. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue to operate as a going concern. The financial statements do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
/s/ Kost Forer Gabbay & Kasierer | |
Tel-Aviv, Israel | KOST FORER GABBAY & KASIERER |
April 13, 2008 | A Member of Ernst & Young Global |
F-2 |
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
U.S. dollars in thousands
(Except share data)
December 31, | ||||||||
2 0 1 2 | 2 0 1 1 | |||||||
ASSETS | U.S. $ in thousands | |||||||
Current Assets: | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | 1,317 | 1,923 | ||||||
Short-term deposit | 2,769 | - | ||||||
Accounts receivable (Note 5) | 742 | 312 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses | 46 | 69 | ||||||
Total current assets | 4,874 | 2,304 | ||||||
Long-Term Assets: | ||||||||
Prepaid expenses | 17 | 17 | ||||||
Severance pay fund | 172 | 109 | ||||||
Total long-term assets | 189 | 126 | ||||||
Property And Equipment, Net (Note 6) | 247 | 314 | ||||||
Total assets | 5,310 | 2,744 | ||||||
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY | ||||||||
Current Liabilities: | ||||||||
Trade payables | 358 | 244 | ||||||
Accrued expenses | 605 | 750 | ||||||
Other accounts payable | 176 | 141 | ||||||
Total current liabilities | 1,139 | 1,135 | ||||||
Accrued Severance Pay | 189 | 121 | ||||||
Total liabilities | 1,328 | 1,256 | ||||||
Stockholders' Equity: | ||||||||
Stock capital: (Note 8) | 7 | 6 | ||||||
Common stock $0.00005 par value - Authorized: 800,000,000 shares at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011; Issued and outstanding: 150,085,035 and 126,444,309 shares | ||||||||
Additional paid-in-capital | 51,483 | 45,560 | ||||||
Deficit accumulated during the development stage | (47,508 | ) | (44,078 | ) | ||||
Total stockholders' equity | 3,982 | 1,488 | ||||||
Total liabilities and stockholders' Equity | 5,310 | 2,744 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.
F-3 |
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
U.S. dollars in thousands
(Except share data)
Year
ended December 31, | Period from September 22, 2000 (inception date) through December 31, | |||||||||||
2 0 1 2 | 2 0 1 1 | 2 0 1 2(*) | ||||||||||
U.S. $ in thousands | ||||||||||||
Operating costs and expenses: | ||||||||||||
Research and development, net (Note 9) | 1,770 | 1,689 | 26,189 | |||||||||
General and administrative | 1,748 | 2,205 | 18,751 | |||||||||
Total operating costs and expenses | 3,518 | 3,894 | 44,940 | |||||||||
Financial expense (income), net | (93 | ) | 151 | 2,454 | ||||||||
Other income | - | (132 | ) | (132 | ) | |||||||
Operating loss | 3,425 | 3,913 | 47,262 | |||||||||
Taxes on income (Note 10) | 5 | 5 | 82 | |||||||||
Loss from continuing operations | 3,430 | 3,918 | 47,344 | |||||||||
Net loss from discontinued operations | - | - | 164 | |||||||||
Net loss | 3,430 | 3,918 | 47,508 | |||||||||
Basic and diluted net loss per share from continuing operations | 0.02 | 0.03 | - | |||||||||
Weighted average number of shares outstanding used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share | 137,596,391 | 120,117,724 | - | |||||||||
(*) Out of which, $163, relating to the period from inception to March 31 2004, is unaudited.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements
F-4 |
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIENCY)
U.S. dollars in thousands
(Except share data)
Common stock | Additional paid-in | Deferred Stock - based | Deficit accumulated during the development | Total stockholders' equity | ||||||||||||||||||||
Number | Amount | capital | compensation | stage | (deficiency) | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of September 22, 2000 (date of inception) (unaudited) | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | |||||||||||||
Stock issued on September 22, 2000 for cash at $0.00188 per share | 8,500,000 | 1 | 16 | - | - | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock issued on June 30, 2001 for cash at $0.0375 per share | 1,600,000 | * | 60 | - | - | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
Contribution of capital | - | - | 8 | - | - | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | (17 | ) | (17 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2001 (unaudited) | 10,100,000 | $ | 1 | $ | 84 | $ | - | $ | (17 | ) | $ | 68 | ||||||||||||
Contribution of capital | - | - | 11 | - | - | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | (26 | ) | (26 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2002 (unaudited) | 10,100,000 | $ | 1 | $ | 95 | $ | - | $ | (43 | ) | $ | 53 | ||||||||||||
Contribution of capital | - | - | 15 | - | - | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | (47 | ) | (47 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2003 (unaudited) | 10,100,000 | $ | 1 | $ | 110 | $ | - | $ | (90 | ) | $ | 21 | ||||||||||||
2-for-1 stock split | 10,100,000 | * | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock issued on August 31, 2003 to purchase mineral option at $0.065 per share | 100,000 | * | 6 | - | - | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
Cancellation of shares granted to Company's President | (10,062,000 | ) | * | * | - | - | - | |||||||||||||||||
Contribution of capital | - | * | 15 | - | - | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | (73 | ) | (73 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2004 (unaudited) | 10,238,000 | $ | 1 | $ | 131 | $ | - | $ | (163 | ) | $ | (31 | ) | |||||||||||
* Represents an amount less than $1.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements
F-5 |
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIENCY)
U.S. dollars in thousands
(Except share data)
Common stock | Additional paid-in | Deferred Stock - based | Deficit accumulated during the development | Total stockholders' equity | ||||||||||||||||||||
Number | Amount | capital | compensation | stage | (deficiency) | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2004 | 10,238,000 | $ | 1 | $ | 131 | $ | - | $ | (163 | ) | $ | (31 | ) | |||||||||||
Stock issued on June 24, 2004 for private placement at $0.01 per share, net of $25,000 issuance expenses | 8,510,000 | * | 60 | - | - | 60 | ||||||||||||||||||
Contribution capital | - | - | 7 | - | - | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock issued in 2004 for private placement at $0.75 per unit | 1,894,808 | * | 1,418 | - | - | 1,418 | ||||||||||||||||||
Cancellation of shares granted to service providers | (1,800,000 | ) | * | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||||||
Deferred stock-based compensation related to options granted to employees | - | - | 5,979 | (5,979 | ) | - | - | |||||||||||||||||
Amortization of deferred stock-based compensation related to shares and options granted to employees | - | - | - | 584 | - | 584 | ||||||||||||||||||
Compensation related to shares and options granted to service providers | 2,025,000 | * | 17,506 | - | - | 17,506 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | (18,840 | ) | (18,840 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2005 | 20,867,808 | $ | 1 | $ | 25,101 | $ | (5,395 | ) | $ | (19,003 | ) | $ | 704 | |||||||||||
* Represents an amount less than $1.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements
F-6 |
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDER' EQUITY (DEFICIENCY)
U.S. dollars in thousands
(Except share data)
Common stock | Additional paid-in | Deferred Stock - based | Deficit accumulated during the development | Total stockholders' equity | ||||||||||||||||||||
Number | Amount | capital | compensation | stage | (deficiency) | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2005 | 20,867,808 | $ | 1 | $ | 25,101 | $ | (5,395 | ) | $ | (19,003 | ) | $ | 704 | |||||||||||
Stock issued on May 12, 2005 for private placement at $0.80 per share | 186,875 | * | 149 | - | - | 149 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock issued on July 27, 2005 for private placement at $0.60 per share | 165,000 | * | 99 | - | - | 99 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock issued on September 30, 2005 for private placement at $0.80 per share | 312,500 | * | 225 | - | - | 225 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock issued on December 7, 2005 for private placement at $0.80 per share | 187,500 | * | 135 | - | - | 135 | ||||||||||||||||||
Forfeiture of options granted to employees | - | - | (3,363 | ) | 3,363 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||
Deferred stock-based compensation related to shares and options granted to directors and employees | 200,000 | * | 486 | (486 | ) | - | - | |||||||||||||||||
Amortization of deferred stock-based compensation related to options and shares granted to employees and directors | - | - | 51 | 1,123 | - | 1,174 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation related to options and shares granted to service providers | 934,904 | * | 662 | - | - | 662 | ||||||||||||||||||
Reclassification due to application of ASC 815-40-25 | - | - | (7,906 | ) | (7,906 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Beneficial conversion feature related to a convertible bridge loan | - | - | 164 | - | - | 164 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | (3,317 | ) | (3,317 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2006 | 22,854,587 | $ | 1 | $ | 15,803 | $ | (1,395 | ) | $ | (22,320 | ) | $ | (7,911 | ) |
* Represents an amount less than $1.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements
F-7 |
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIENCY)
U.S. dollars in thousands
(Except share data)
Common stock | Additional paid-in | Deferred Stock - based | Deficit accumulated during the development | Total stockholders' equity | |||||||||||||||||||
Number | Amount | capital | compensation | stage | (deficiency) | ||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of March 31, 2006 | 22,854,587 | $ | 1 | $ | 15,803 | $ | (1,395 | ) | $ | (22,320 | ) | $ | (7,911 | ) | |||||||||
Elimination of deferred stock compensation due to implementation of ASC 718-10 |
- | - | (1,395 | ) | 1,395 | - | - | ||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation related to shares and options granted to directors and employees |
200,000 | * | 1,168 | - | - | 1,168 | |||||||||||||||||
Reclassification due to application of ASC 815-40-25 | - | - | 7,191 | - | - | 7,191 | |||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation related to options and shares granted to service providers |
1,147,225 | - | 453 | - | - | 453 | |||||||||||||||||
Warrants issued to convertible note holder | - | - | 11 | - | - | 11 | |||||||||||||||||
Warrants issued to loan holder | - | - | 110 | - | - | 110 | |||||||||||||||||
Beneficial conversion feature related to convertible bridge loans |
- | - | 1,086 | - | - | 1,086 | |||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - | - | - | (3,924 | ) | (3,924 | ) | |||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2006 | 24,201,812 | $ | 1 | $ | 24,427 | $ | - | $ | (26,244 | ) | $ | 1,816 | ) |
* Represents an amount less than $1.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements
F-8 |
BRAINSTORM CELL THERAPEUTICS INC. AND SUBSIDIARY
(A development stage company)
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIENCY)
U.S. dollars in thousands
(Except share data)
Common stock | Additional paid-in | Deferred Stock - based | Deficit accumulated during the development | Total stockholders' equity | ||||||||||||||||||||
Number | Amount | capital | compensation | stage | (deficiency) | |||||||||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2006 | 24,201,812 | $ | 1 | $ | 24,427 | $ | - | $ | (26,244 | ) | $ | (1,816 | ) | |||||||||||
Stock-based compensation related to options and shares granted to service providers | 544,095 | 1,446 | - | - | 1,446 | |||||||||||||||||||
Warrants issued to convertible note holder | - | - | 109 | - | - | 109 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation related to shares and options granted to directors and employees | 200,000 | * | 1,232 | - | - | 1,232 | ||||||||||||||||||
Beneficial conversion feature related to convertible loans | - | - | 407 | - | - | 407 | ||||||||||||||||||
Conversion of convertible loans | 725,881 | * | 224 | - | - | 224 | ||||||||||||||||||
Exercise of warrants | 3,832,621 | * | 214 | - | - | 214 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stock issued for private placement at $0.1818 per unit, net of finder's fee | 11,500,000 | 1 | 1,999 | - | - | 2,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
Net loss | - | - |