Table of ContentsPROSPECTUS
CYCLACEL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
4,259,590 Shares
COMMON STOCK
This prospectus relates to the resale of up to 4,259,590 shares of our common stock that we may issue to the selling stockholder listed in the section beginning on page 33 of this prospectus. The shares of common stock offered under this prospectus by the selling stockholder are issuable to Kingsbridge Capital Limited, or Kingsbridge, pursuant to a common stock purchase agreement between Kingsbridge and ourselves dated December 10, 2007 and a warrant we issued to Kingsbridge on that date. We are not selling any securities under this prospectus and will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholder.
The selling stockholder may sell the shares of common stock described in this prospectus in a number of different ways and at varying prices. We provide more information about how the selling stockholder may sell its shares of common stock in the section titled ‘‘Plan of Distribution’’ on page 34. We will not be paying any underwriting discounts or commissions in this offering. We will pay the expenses incurred in registering the shares, including legal and accounting fees.
Our common stock is quoted on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ‘‘CYCC.’’ On December 10, 2007, the last reported sale price of our common stock was $5.52 per share.
Investing in our securities involves risks.
See ‘‘Risk Factors’’ beginning on page 12 of this prospectus.Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
THE DATE OF THIS PROSPECTUS IS December 20, 2007.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS
You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We have not, and the selling stockholder has not, authorized anyone to provide you with additional or different information. These securities are not being offered in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted. You should assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front of the document and that any information we have incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of our common stock. Unless the context otherwise requires, references to ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘our,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or the ‘‘company’’ in this prospectus mean Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
2
Table of ContentsPROSPECTUS SUMMARY
The following is only a summary. We urge you to read the entire prospectus, including the more detailed consolidated financial statements, notes to the consolidated financial statements and other information included herein or incorporated by reference from our other filings with the SEC. Investing in our securities involves risks. Therefore, please carefully consider the information provided under the heading ‘‘Risk Factors’’ starting on page 12.
Our Business
We are a development stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel, mechanism-targeted drugs to treat human cancers and other serious disorders. We, through our wholly-owned subsidiary, ALIGN Pharmaceuticals, LLC (‘‘ALIGN’’) market directly in the U.S. Xclair® Cream for radiation dermatitis and Numoisyn® Liquid and Numoisyn® Lozenges for xerostomia. Three Cyclacel drugs are in clinical development. Sapacitabine, an orally-available, cell cycle modulating nucleoside analog, is in Phase II for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and in Phase I in patients with hematologic malignancies. Seliciclib, an orally-available CDK (cyclin dependent kinase) inhibitor, is in Phase II for the treatment of lung cancer and for nasopharyngeal cancer. CYC116, an orally-available, Aurora kinase and VEGFR2 inhibitor, is in Phase I in patients with solid tumors. Several additional programs are at an earlier stage. Our strategy is to build a diversified biopharmaceutical business focused in oncology, hematology and other therapeutic areas based on a portfolio of commercial products and a development pipeline of novel drug candidates.
Our core area of scientific expertise is in cell cycle biology, or the processes by which cells divide and multiply. We focus primarily on the discovery and development of orally available anticancer agents that target the cell cycle with the aim of slowing the progression or shrinking the size of tumors, and enhancing quality of life and improving survival rates of cancer patients. We are generating several families of anticancer drugs that act on the cell cycle including Cyclin Dependent kinase (CDK) and Aurora kinase (AK) inhibitors. We are advancing three of our anticancer drug candidates, sapacitabine, seliciclib and CYC116 through in-house research and development activities. Sapacitabine, our orally available nucleoside analog, has completed Phase I studies in approximately 160 patients at five centers in the United States including two Phase I studies evaluating 87 patients in refractory solid tumors. We are currently conducting a Phase Ib dose escalation clinical trial with sapacitabine for the treatment of patients with advanced hematologic malignancies with approximately 47 patients as of December 8, 2007. Interim results from this trial were presented in a poster at the 49th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, or ASH. We plan to open a multicenter randomized Phase II clinical trial during December 2007 of oral sapacitabine in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are previously untreated or in first relapse. We plan to evaluate sapacitabine in Phase II studies in both hematological cancers and solid tumors and we announced the first study on April 30, 2007, when we initiated a Phase II clinical trial in patients with advanced cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Seliciclib is currently being studied in a Phase IIb, multi-center, randomized, double-blinded trial, called APPRAISE, to evaluate the efficacy and safety of seliciclib as a third line treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC. The APPRAISE study builds on the observation of prolonged stable disease experienced by heavily-pretreated NSCLC patients enrolled in a Phase I study of single agent seliciclib. We commenced a Phase II multicenter, international, blinded, randomized study of oral seliciclib as a single agent in patients with previously treated nasopharyngeal cancer or NPC. We are also developing CYC116, a novel inhibitor of Aurora kinases A and B and VEGFR2 for the treatment of cancer. We began a multicenter Phase I pharmacologic clinical trial of orally-available CYC116 in patients with advanced solid tumors in June 2007. We have worldwide rights to commercialize sapacitabine, seliciclib and CYC116 and our business strategy is to enter into selective partnership arrangements with these programs. We are also progressing further novel drug series, principally for cancer, which are at earlier stages. Taken together, our pipeline covers all four phases of the cell cycle, which we believe will improve the
3
Table of Contentschances of successfully developing and commercializing novel drugs that work on their own or in combination with approved conventional chemotherapies or with other targeted drugs to treat human cancers.
Recent Developments
Acquisition of ALIGN Pharmaceuticals, LLC and ALIGN Holdings, LLC
On October 5, 2007, Achilles Acquisition, LLC (renamed immediately following the acquisition to ALIGN Pharmaceuticals, LLC (‘‘ALIGN’’)), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cyclacel, entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement (the ‘‘Agreement’’) with ALIGN Pharmaceuticals, LLC and ALIGN Holdings, LLC (together, the ‘‘Sellers’’), to acquire substantially all of the Sellers’ assets (the ‘‘Transaction’’). The closing of the Transaction occurred simultaneously with the execution of the Agreement (the ‘‘Closing Date’’).
Cyclacel, through ALIGN, acquired the Sellers’ exclusive rights to sell and distribute three products in the United States used primarily to manage the effects of radiation or chemotherapy in cancer patients: Xclair® Cream, Numoisyn® Liquid and Numoisyn® Lozenges. The acquired business provides Cyclacel with the foundation to build a commercial organization focused on cancer that is complementary to Cyclacel’s oncology/hematology products in development and is part of Cyclacel’s strategy to build a diversified biopharmaceutical business.
As consideration for the Transaction and pursuant and subject to the terms of the Agreement, Cyclacel, through ALIGN, paid $3,331,428 in cash to the Sellers and shall pay an additional aggregate amount of $452,464 within 130 business days from the Closing Date, in cash, shares of the Company’s common stock, or a combination thereof, as further described in the Agreement. In addition, the Company may be required to issue to the Sellers a maximum number of shares of common stock, in an amount equal to $1,116,108, issuable at a price per share of $6.06 (the average closing price of Cyclacel’s common stock on the 90 trading days immediately before the Closing Date), which issuance is contingent upon the achievement of certain operational and financial milestones and subject to satisfaction of any outstanding indemnification obligations by the Sellers. The Company will issue the shares of common stock only to the extent that the milestones are achieved. The Company, as part of securing long term supply arrangements has commitments to make future payments of approximately $0.5 million in each of 2009 and 2010.
The transaction will be accounted for as a business combination and the results of operations of Cyclacel will include the results of operations from the Sellers’ from the Closing Date. The assets and certain agreed liabilities of ALIGN will be recorded as of the Closing Date at their estimated fair values. The transaction will qualify as a reorganization within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. William C. Collins, the former chief executive officer and manager of the Sellers, was appointed as the general manager of ALIGN.
Oncology development Programs
We are generating several families of anticancer drugs that act on the cell cycle including cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) and Aurora kinase inhibitors. Although a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are currently attempting to develop CDK inhibitor drugs, we believe that our lead drug candidate, seliciclib, is the only orally available CDK inhibitor drug candidate currently in Phase II trials.
We are advancing three of our anticancer drug candidates, sapacitabine, seliciclib and CYC116 through in-house research and development activities. In addition we are progressing further novel drug series, principally for cancer, which are at earlier stages. Taken together, our pipeline covers all four phases of the cell cycle, which we believe will improve the chances of successfully developing and commercializing novel drugs that work on their own or in combination with approved conventional chemotherapies or with other targeted drugs to treat human cancers.
4
Table of ContentsSapacitabine
Our lead drug candidate, sapacitabine, is an orally available prodrug of CNDAC, which is a novel nucleoside analog, or a compound with a structure similar to a nucleoside. A prodrug is a compound that has a therapeutic effect after it is metabolized within the body. CNDAC has a significantly longer residence time in the blood when it is produced in the body through metabolism of sapacitabine than when it is given directly. Sapacitabine acts through a dual mechanism whereby the compound interferes with DNA synthesis by causing single-strand DNA breaks and induces arrest of the cell division cycle at G2 phase. A number of nucleoside drugs, such as gemcitabine, or Gemzar®; Eli Lilly and cytarabine (Ara-C), are in wide use as conventional chemotherapies. Both sapacitabine and its major metabolite, CNDAC, have demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity in both blood and solid tumors in preclinical studies. In a liver metastatic mouse model, sapacitabine was shown to be superior to gemcitabine or 5-FU, two widely used nucleoside analogs, in delaying the onset and growth of liver metastasis.
Two Phase I studies of sapacitabine were completed in the United States by Sankyo, from which we in-licensed sapacitabine, evaluating 87 patients in refractory solid tumors. A Phase Ib dose escalation clinical trial is currently in progress in the United States for the treatment of patients with refractory solid tumors or lymphomas. Preliminary results from this study were reported at the meeting of the 18th EORTC-NCI-AACR Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in November 2006. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the safety profile of sapacitabine administered twice daily for 14 consecutive days or 7 consecutive days every 21 days. Of the 37 treated patients, 28 received the drug twice daily for 14 days and 9 received the drug twice daily for 7 days. The dose-limiting toxicity was reversible myelosuppression. One patient treated at the maximum tolerated dose died of candida sepsis in the setting of grade 4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Non-hematological toxicities were mostly mild to moderate. The best response by investigator assessment was stable disease in 13 patients, five with non-small cell lung cancer, two with breast cancer, two with ovarian cancer and one each with colorectal cancer, adenocarcinoma of unknown primary, gastrointestinal stroma tumor, and parotid acinar carcinoma. The primary toxicity was reversible myelosuppression.
In December 2007, at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, we reported updated interim results from a Phase I clinical trial of sapacitabine in patients with advanced leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes or MDS. Data from this study demonstrated that sapacitabine had a favorable safety profile and promising anti-leukemic activity in patients with relapsed and refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) when administered by two different dosing schedules. The primary objective of the study is to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of sapacitabine administered twice daily for seven consecutive days every 21 days or three consecutive days per week for two weeks every 21 days. The MTD was reached at 375 mg on the seven-day schedule and 475 mg on the 3-day schedule. Dose-limiting toxicity was gastrointestinal which included abdominal pain, diarrhea, small bowel obstruction and neutropenic colitis. One patient treated at the MTD of 375 mg on the seven-day schedule died of complications from neutropenic colitis. Among 46 patients with AML (n=42) or MDS (n=4) in this dose escalating study, the best responses were complete remissions (CR) or complete remissions without platelet recovery (CRp) in six patients. In addition, 15 patients had a significant decrease in bone marrow blasts including seven with blast reduction to 5% or less. The study is ongoing at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and is led by Dr. Hagop Kantarjian, Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Leukemia Department and Dr. William Plunkett, Professor and Chief, Section of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Department of Experimental Therapeutics. We plan to open a multicenter randomized Phase II clinical trial later this month of oral sapacitabine in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are previously untreated or in first relapse. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the one-year survival rate of three dosing schedules. The study will use a selection design to identify a dosing schedule that produces a better one-year survival rate in the event that all three dosing schedules are active.
5
Table of ContentsWe plan to start Phase II evaluation of sapacitabine in solid tumors in the second half of 2008. During April 2007, we initiated a Phase II clinical trial in patients with advanced cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or CTCL. CTCL is a cancer of T-lymphocytes, or white blood cells, which causes disfiguring skin lesions and severe itching. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate tolerability and response rate of 50 mg and 100 mg regimens (both twice a day for three days per week for two weeks in a three week cycle) in approximately 32 patients with progressive, recurrent, or persistent CTCL on or following two systemic therapies. The study uses a selection design to choose an optimal dose if both are active. Secondary objectives are to assess response duration, time to response, time to progression and relief of pruritus or itching.
This study has enrolled five patients to date at two hospital centers. According to recently available and preliminarily analyzed data, the best response by investigator assessment is partial response in one and stable disease in four patients. The partial response patient was crossed over from the 50 mg to the 100 mg regimen. As both regimens are well tolerated with no grade 2 toxicities, the protocol is being amended to increase dosing to 100 mg and 200 mg respectively using the same schedule as that used previously. The study is being expanded to include additional centers.
We have retained worldwide rights to commercialize sapacitabine with the exception of Japan where Sankyo has a right of first refusal to market the drug under terms to be negotiated.
Seliciclib
Our second drug candidate, seliciclib, is a novel, first-in-class, orally available, CDK inhibitor. The compound selectively inhibits a spectrum of enzyme targets — CDK2/E, CDK2/A, CDK7 and CDK9 — that are central to the process of cell division and cell cycle control. Preclinical studies have shown that the drug works by inducing cell apoptosis, or cell suicide, in multiple phases of the cell cycle. To date, seliciclib has been evaluated in approximately 240 patients in several Phase I and II uncontrolled studies and has shown early signs of anti-cancer activity.
We have completed two Phase I trials that enrolled 24 healthy volunteers and three Phase I trials that enrolled a total of 84 cancer patients testing different doses and schedules. The primary toxicities observed were of a non-hematological nature including asthenia or weakness, elevation of liver enzymes, hypokalemia or decreased potassium levels, nausea and vomiting and elevation in creatinine. Although these trials were designed to test safety rather than efficacy of seliciclib given alone as monotherapy in patients with solid tumors who failed multiple previous treatments, several of these patients appeared to have benefited from seliciclib treatment.
Seliciclib was shown in a further Phase I study sponsored and conducted by independent investigators to have clinical antitumor activity in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer, measured as a decrease in the size of primary tumor and involved lymph nodes, as well as an increase in tumor cell deaths by biomarker analyses. Four Phase II trials have been conducted in cancer patients to evaluate the tolerability and antitumor activities of seliciclib alone or in combination with standard chemotherapies used in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, or breast cancer. Interim data from two Phase II open-label studies of a total of 54 patients with NSCLC, suggest that seliciclib treatment did not aggravate the known toxicities of standard first and second-line chemotherapies nor appear to cause unexpected toxicities, although these trials were not designed to provide statistically significant comparisons. The combination of seliciclib with standard dose of capecitabine was not well tolerated in patients with advanced breast cancer.
Seliciclib is currently being investigated in the Phase II APPRAISE study as a treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC. APPRAISE is a double-blinded, randomized study of single agent seliciclib versus best supportive care in patients with NSCLC treated with at least two prior systemic therapies. The study’s main objective is to learn the anti-tumor activity of seliciclib as a single agent in refractory NSCLC and help determine further development strategies. The study design is randomized discontinuation. All patients receive seliciclib (1200 mg twice a day for three days) for at least three cycles of two weeks each. Patients who achieve stable disease after three cycles will be randomized to
6
Table of Contentscontinue on seliciclib or receive placebo with best supportive care. Patients in the placebo arm who progress will be given the option to cross-over and again receive seliciclib. The primary efficacy endpoint of APPRAISE is progression free survival (PFS) which will be measured in the randomized portion of the study. To detect a 100% increase in PFS from two to four months 80 randomized patients are required. An interim assessment of safety and efficacy will be performed after approximately 40 patients have been randomized. Approximately 160 patients will be enrolled. Calculation of the sample size was based on the assumption that approximately 50% will achieve stable disease during the initial six week treatment and undergo randomization.
According to recently available and preliminarily analyzed data 120 patients have been enrolled and 26 randomized. The major reason for discontinuation prior to randomization is progression of disease. In particular, 76% of enrolled patients have failed at least three prior treatment regimens and 75% progressed on the last treatment immediately prior to enrollment. A likely cause of the lower than assumed randomization rate may be that seliciclib does not have a high level of activity as a single agent in this population of patients with refractory NSCLC. Following consultation with the chair and co-chair of the study, Cyclacel intends to continue enrollment until 160 patients are enrolled or approximately 40 are randomized, whichever occurs first. A committee of independent experts will then be convened to review the blinded data and recommend whether the study should be continued in order to adequately assess the antitumor effect of seliciclib in this patient population. This will allow the Company to make an informed decision based on the study’s objectives and available data. We have retained worldwide rights to commercialize seliciclib.
We recently commenced a Phase II multicenter, international, blinded randomized study of oral seliciclib as a single agent in patients with NPC. The primary objective is to evaluate 6 month progression-free survival (PFS) of two dosing schedules of seliciclib in approximately 75 patients with previously treated nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Secondary objectives are overall survival, response rate, response duration, safety and tolerability. The first part of the study is designed to confirm safety and tolerability of 400 mg twice a day for four days per week or 800 mg once a day for four days per week of seliciclib. It is open to approximately 12 to 24 patients with advanced solid tumors as well as patients with NPC. The second part of the study is designed to detect major differences between the two dosing schedules of seliciclib and a placebo group in terms of 6 month PFS in approximately 51 patients. The study uses a selection design to choose an optimal dosing schedule if both seliciclib dosing schedules are active versus placebo.
CYC116
We submitted in December 2006 an Investigational New Drug, or IND application, with the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, to begin clinical trials of CYC116, an orally-active inhibitor of Aurora kinases A & B and VEGFR2, for the treatment of cancer. In June 2007, we initiated a multicenter Phase I pharmacologic clinical trial of CYC116, an orally-available inhibitor of Aurora kinases A and B, and VEGFR2, in patients with advanced solid tumors. The study is being conducted by Nithya Ramnath, M.D., Alex A. Adjei, M.D. and colleagues at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, and Anthony Tolcher, M.D. and colleagues at South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics (START) in San Antonio, Texas. The multicenter Phase I trial is designed to examine the safety and tolerability of CYC116 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The primary objective of the study is to determine the maximum tolerated dose. Secondary objectives are to evaluate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of the drug and to document anti-tumor activity. We expect to report data from this Phase I pharmacologic clinical trial during the first half of 2008. During the first half of 2008, we expect to initiate a Phase I trial of CYC116 in hematological cancers. Aurora kinases are a family of serine/threonine protein kinases that are only expressed in actively dividing cells and are crucial for the process of cell division, or mitosis. These proteins, which have been found to be over-expressed in many types of cancer, have generated significant scientific and commercial interest as cancer drug targets. Aurora kinases were discovered by Professor David Glover, Chief Scientist of Cyclacel’s Polgen Division. VEGFR2 is a receptor protein that is part of an
7
Table of Contentsimportant and validated pathway in angiogenesis, or blood vessel formation. We have retained worldwide rights to commercialize CYC116.
In our development programs, we have been an early adopter in the use of biomarker analysis to help evaluate whether our drug candidates are having their intended effect through their assumed mechanisms. Biomarkers are proteins or other substances whose presence in the blood can serve as an indicator or marker of diseases. Biomarker data from early clinical trials may also enable us to design subsequent trials more efficiently and to monitor patient compliance with trial protocols. We believe that in the longer term biomarkers may allow the selection of patients more likely to respond to its drugs for clinical trial and marketing purposes and increase the benefit to patients.
Our approach to drug discovery and development relies on proprietary genomic technology to identify gene targets, which are then progressed by means of structure-based design techniques through to the development stage. This approach is exemplified by our Aurora kinase and Plk, or Polo-like kinase, inhibitor programs. Fundamentally, this approach to drug discovery and design aims to improve our ability to select promising drug targets in the early stages of the process so as to decrease compound attrition rates during the later, more expensive stages of drug development. We devote more resources initially to enrich the target selection process, so that we focus our efforts on targets that have a higher probability of yielding successful drug candidates. To this end, we have assembled an integrated suite of sophisticated discovery and design technologies, together with highly skilled personnel.
Equity Financing Facility With Kingsbridge Capital
On December 10, 2007, we entered into a Committed Equity Financing Facility, or CEFF, with Kingsbridge, pursuant to which Kingsbridge committed to purchase, subject to certain conditions, up to $60 million of our common stock. As part of the CEFF, we entered into a common stock purchase agreement and a registration rights agreement with Kingsbridge, both dated December 10, 2007, and on that date we also issued a warrant to Kingsbridge to purchase up to 175,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $7.17 per share. This warrant is fully exercisable beginning six months after December 10, 2007 and for a period of five years thereafter, subject to certain conditions.
The common stock purchase agreement entitles us to sell and obligates Kingsbridge to purchase, from time to time over a period of three years, shares of our common stock for cash consideration up to an aggregate of $60 million, subject to certain conditions and restrictions. The shares of common stock that may be issued to Kingsbridge under the common stock purchase agreement and the warrant will be issued pursuant to an exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement, we have filed a registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, covering the possible resale by Kingsbridge of any shares that we may issue to Kingsbridge under the common stock purchase agreement or upon exercise of the warrant. Through this prospectus, the selling stockholder may offer to the public for resale shares of our common stock that we may issue to Kingsbridge pursuant to the common stock purchase agreement or that Kingsbridge may acquire upon exercise of the warrant.
For a period of 36 months from the first trading day following the effective date of this prospectus, we may, from time to time, at our discretion, and subject to certain conditions that we must satisfy, draw down funds under the CEFF by selling shares of our common stock to Kingsbridge. The purchase price of these shares will be at a discount of up to 10 percent from the volume weighted average of the price of our common stock for each of the eight trading days following our election to sell shares, or ‘‘draw down,’’ under the CEFF. The discount on each of these eight trading days will be determined as follows:
8
Table of Contents
Discount) Greater than $11.00 per shareDuring the eight trading day pricing period for a draw down, if the VWAP for any one trading day is less than the greater of (i) $2.50 or (ii) 90 percent of the closing price of our common stock for the trading day immediately preceding the beginning of the draw down period, the VWAP from that trading day will not be used in calculating the number of shares to be issued in connection with that draw down, and the draw down amount for that pricing period will be reduced by one-eighth of the draw down amount we had initially specified. In addition, if trading in our common stock is suspended for any reason for more than three consecutive or non-consecutive hours during any trading day during a draw down pricing period, that trading day will not be used in calculating the number of shares to be issued in connection with that draw down, and the draw down amount for that pricing period will be reduced by one-eighth of the draw down amount we had initially specified.
The maximum number of shares of common stock that we can issue pursuant to the CEFF is the lesser of 4,084,590 shares and $60 million of our common stock. An additional 175,000 shares of common stock are issuable if Kingsbridge exercises the warrant that we issued to it in connection with the CEFF. We intend to exercise our right to draw down amounts under the CEFF, if and to the extent available, at such times as we have a need for additional capital and when we believe that sales of stock under the CEFF provide an appropriate means of raising capital. We may exercise our right to draw down shortly after the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.
Our ability to require Kingsbridge to purchase our common stock is subject to various limitations. We can make draw downs up to 2.0 percent of the closing price market value of our outstanding shares of common stock at the time of the draw down. Alternatively, we can make drawdowns to a maximum of the lesser of 3.0 percent of the closing price market value of our outstanding shares of common stock at the time of the draw down and the alternative draw down amount calculated pursuant to the common stock purchase agreement. Unless Kingsbridge agrees otherwise, a minimum of three trading days must elapse between the expiration of any draw down pricing period and the beginning of the next draw down pricing period. Kingsbridge is not obligated to purchase shares at prices below $2.50 per share.
During the term of the CEFF, without Kingsbridge’s prior written consent, we may not issue securities that are, or may become, convertible or exchangeable into shares of common stock where the purchase, conversion or exchange price for our common stock is determined using a floating discount or other post-issuance adjustable discount to the market price of the common stock, including pursuant to an equity line or other financing that is substantially similar to the arrangement provided for in the CEFF, with certain exceptions.
The issuance of our common stock under the CEFF or upon exercise of the Kingsbridge warrant will have no effect on the rights or privileges of existing holders of common stock except that the economic and voting interests of each stockholder will be diluted as a result of any such issuance.
9
Table of ContentsAlthough the number of shares of common stock that stockholders presently own will not decrease, these shares will represent a smaller percentage of our total shares that will be outstanding after any issuances of shares of common stock to Kingsbridge. If we draw down amounts under the CEFF when our share price is decreasing, we will need to issue more shares to raise the same amount than if our stock price was higher. Such issuances will have a dilutive effect and may further decrease our stock price.
Kingsbridge agreed in the common stock purchase agreement that during the term of the CEFF, neither Kingsbridge nor any of its affiliates, nor any entity managed or controlled by it, will enter into any short sale of any shares of our common stock as defined in Regulation SHO promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Before Kingsbridge is obligated to buy any shares of our common stock pursuant to a draw down, the following conditions, none of which is in Kingsbridge’s control, must be met:
10
Table of ContentsThere is no guarantee that we will be able to meet the foregoing conditions or any other conditions under the common stock purchase agreement or that we will be able to draw down any portion of the amounts available under the CEFF.
We also entered into a registration rights agreement with Kingsbridge. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement, we have filed a registration statement, which includes this prospectus, with the SEC relating to Kingsbridge’s resale of any shares of common stock purchased by Kingsbridge under the common stock purchase agreement or issued to Kingsbridge as a result of the exercise of the Kingsbridge warrant. The effectiveness of this registration statement is a condition precedent to our ability to sell common stock to Kingsbridge under the common stock purchase agreement. In the event that we fail to maintain the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part (other than during a blackout period as discussed below), and such failure was within our reasonable control, we must pay to Kingsbridge certain amounts based on the change in market price of our common stock during the period of ineffectiveness of the registration statement or offer to repurchase our shares from Kingsbridge at a price based on the market price of our common stock on the trading day prior to the first day of ineffectiveness of the registration statement. We are entitled in certain circumstances, including the existence of certain kinds of nonpublic information, to deliver a blackout notice to Kingsbridge to suspend the use of this prospectus and prohibit Kingsbridge from selling shares under this prospectus. If we deliver a blackout notice in the 15 trading days following the settlement of a draw down, then we must pay amounts to Kingsbridge, or issue Kingsbridge additional shares in lieu of payment, calculated by means of a varying percentage of an amount based on the number of shares held by Kingsbridge that were purchased pursuant to the draw down and the change in the market price of our common stock between the date the blackout notice is delivered and the date the prospectus again becomes available.
The foregoing summary of the CEFF does not purport to be complete and is qualified by reference to the common stock purchase agreement, the registration rights agreement and the warrant, copies of which have been filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.
Our corporate headquarters are located at 200 Connell Drive, Suite 1500, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922; telephone number (908) 517-7330, where our medical and regulatory functions are also located. Our primary research facility is located in Dundee, Scotland which is the center of our structure-based drug design and development programs. A second research facility is located in Cambridge, England and is home to our Polgen division, which is focused on discovering the function of new cancer genes and validating their use as potential druggable targets.
11
Table of ContentsRISK FACTORS
The following factors should be considered carefully in evaluating whether to purchase shares of Cyclacel common stock. These factors should be considered in conjunction with any other information included or incorporated by reference herein, including in conjunction with forward-looking statements made herein. See ‘‘Where You Can Find More Information’’ on page 47.
We are at an early stage of development as a company and we do not have, and may never have, any products that generate significant revenues.
We are at an early stage of development as a company and have a limited operating history on which to evaluate our business and prospects. While we expect to receive modest product revenues from the ALIGN business acquired in October 2007, since beginning operations in 1996 we have not generated any product revenues from our product candidates currently in development. We cannot guarantee that any of our product candidates currently in development will ever become marketable products. We must demonstrate that our drug candidates satisfy rigorous standards of safety and efficacy for their intended uses before the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and other regulatory authorities in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere. Significant additional research, preclinical testing and clinical testing is required before we can file applications with the FDA or other regulatory authorities for premarket approval of our drug candidates. In addition, to compete effectively, our drugs must be easy to administer, cost-effective and economical to manufacture on a commercial scale. We may not achieve any of these objectives. Seliciclib and sapacitabine, our most advanced drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, are currently our only drug candidates in clinical trials and we cannot be certain that the clinical development of these or any other drug candidates in preclinical testing or clinical development will be successful, that we will receive the regulatory approvals required to commercialize them or that any of our other research and drug discovery programs will yield a drug candidate suitable for investigation through clinical trials. Our commercial revenues from our product candidates currently in development, if any, will be derived from sales of drugs that will not become marketable for several years, if at all.
We have a history of operating losses and we may never become profitable. Our stock is a highly speculative investment.
We have incurred operating losses in each year since beginning operations in 1996 due to costs incurred in connection with our research and development activities and general and administrative costs associated with our operations, and we may never achieve profitability. As of September 30, 2007, our accumulated deficit was $150.9 million. Our net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders for the three months ended September 30, 2006 and 2007 was $5.4 million and $4.2 million respectively. Our net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders from inception through September 30, 2007 was $189.1 million. Our initial drug candidates are in the early stages of clinical testing and we must conduct significant additional clinical trials before we can seek the regulatory approvals necessary to begin commercial sales of its drugs. We expect to incur continued losses for several years, as we continue our research and development of our initial drug candidates, seek regulatory approvals, commercialize any approved drugs and market and promote Xclair® Cream, Numoisyn® Liquid and Numoisyn® Lozenges. If our initial drug candidates are unsuccessful in clinical trials or we are unable to obtain regulatory approvals, or if our drugs are unsuccessful in the market, we will not be profitable. If we fail to become and remain profitable, or if we are unable to fund our continuing losses, you could lose all or part of your investment.
We will need to raise substantial additional capital to fund our operations and if we fail to obtain additional funding, we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of our drug candidates or continue our research and development programs.
We have funded all of our operations and capital expenditures with proceeds from the issuance of public equity securities, private placements of our securities, interest on investments, government grants and research and development tax credits. In order to conduct the lengthy and expensive
12
Table of Contentsresearch, preclinical testing and clinical trials necessary to complete the development and marketing of our drug candidates, we will require substantial additional funds. Based on our current operating plans, we expect our existing resources to be sufficient to fund our planned operations for at least the next 12 months. To meet these financing requirements, we may raise funds through public or private equity offerings, debt financings or strategic alliances. Raising additional funds by issuing equity or convertible debt securities will cause our shareholders to experience substantial dilution in their ownership interests and new investors may have rights superior to the rights of our other stockholders. Raising additional funds through debt financing, if available, may involve covenants that restrict our business activities and options. To the extent that we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our drug discovery and other technologies, research programs or drug candidates, or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. Additional funding may not be available to us on favorable terms, or at all. If we are unable to obtain additional funds, we may be forced to delay or terminate our clinical trials and the development and marketing of our drug candidates.
Clinical trials are expensive, time consuming and subject to delay.
Clinical trials are expensive and complex and can take many years and have uncertain outcomes. We estimate that clinical trials of our most advanced drug candidates will continue for several years, but may take significantly longer to complete. The designs used in some of our trials have not been used widely by other pharmaceutical companies. Failure can occur at any stage of the testing and we may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, the clinical trial process that could delay or prevent commercialization of our current or future drug candidates, including but not limited to:
If we suffer any significant delays, setbacks or negative results in, or termination of, our clinical trials, we may be unable to continue development of our drug candidates or generate revenue and our development costs could increase significantly.
Adverse events have been observed in our clinical trials and may force us to stop development of our product candidates or prevent regulatory approval of our product candidates.
Adverse or inconclusive results from our clinical trials may substantially delay, or halt entirely, any further development of our drug candidates. Many companies have failed to demonstrate the safety or effectiveness of drug candidates in later stage clinical trials notwithstanding favorable results in early stage clinical trials. Previously unforeseen and unacceptable side effects could interrupt, delay
13
Table of Contentsor halt clinical trials of our drug candidates and could result in the FDA or other regulatory authorities denying approval of our drug candidates. We will need to demonstrate safety and efficacy for specific indications of use, and monitor safety and compliance with clinical trial protocols throughout the development process. To date, long-term safety and efficacy has not been demonstrated in clinical trials for any of our drug candidates. Toxicity and ‘severe adverse effects’ as defined in trial protocols have been noted in preclinical and clinical trials involving certain of our drug candidates. For example, elevations of liver enzymes and decrease in potassium levels have been observed in some patients receiving our lead drug candidate, seliciclib and neutropenia was observed in patients receiving sapacitabine. In addition, we may pursue clinical trials for seliciclib in more than one indication. There is a risk that severe toxicity observed in a trial for one indication could result in the delay or suspension of all trials involving the same drug candidate. We are currently conducting Phase IIb clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of seliciclib in the treatment of non small cell lung cancer. Independent investigators are conducting Phase I clinical trials to test the safety of sapacitabine in patients with advanced cancers. If these trials or any future trials are unsuccessful, our business and reputation could be harmed and our share price could be negatively affected.
Even if we believe the data collected from clinical trials of our drug candidates are promising with respect to safety and efficacy, such data may not be deemed sufficient by regulatory authorities to warrant product approval. Clinical data can be interpreted in different ways. Regulatory officials could interpret such data in different ways than we do which could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. The FDA, other regulatory authorities or we may suspend or terminate clinical trials at any time. Any failure or significant delay in completing clinical trials for our drug candidates, or in receiving regulatory approval for the commercialization of our drug candidates, may severely harm our business and reputation.
If our understanding of the role played by CDKs or Aurora kinases in regulating the cell cycle is incorrect, this may hinder pursuit of our clinical and regulatory strategy.
We have programs to develop small molecule inhibitors of cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) and Aurora kinases. One of our drug candidate, seliciclib, is a CDK inhibitor, and CYC116 is an Aurora kinase inhibitor, based on our understanding of CDK and Aurora kinase inhibitors. Although a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are attempting to develop CDK or Aurora inhibitor drugs for the treatment of cancer, no CDK or Aurora kinase inhibitor has yet reached the market. Our seliciclib program relies on our understanding of the interaction of CDKs with other cellular mechanisms that regulate key stages of cell growth. If our understanding of the role played by CDKs or Aurora kinase inhibitors in regulating the cell cycle is incorrect, our lead drug and CYC116 may fail to produce therapeutically relevant results, hindering our ability to pursue our clinical and regulatory strategy.
If we fail to enter into and maintain successful strategic alliances for our drug candidates, we may have to reduce or delay our drug candidate development or increase our expenditures.
An important element of our strategy for developing, manufacturing and commercializing our drug candidates is entering into strategic alliances with pharmaceutical companies or other industry participants to advance our programs and enable us to maintain our financial and operational capacity.
We face significant competition in seeking appropriate alliances. We may not be able to negotiate alliances on acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, these alliances may be unsuccessful. If we fail to create and maintain suitable alliances, we may have to limit the size or scope of, or delay, one or more of our drug development or research programs. If we elect to fund drug development or research programs on our own, we will have to increase our expenditures and will need to obtain additional funding, which may be unavailable or available only on unfavorable terms.
We are making extensive use of biomarkers, which are not scientifically validated, and our reliance on biomarker data may thus lead us to direct our resources inefficiently.
We are making extensive use of biomarkers in an effort to facilitate our drug development and to optimize our clinical trials. Biomarkers are proteins or other substances whose presence in the blood
14
Table of Contentscan serve as an indicator of specific cell processes. We believe that these biological markers serve a useful purpose in helping us to evaluate whether our drug candidates are having their intended effects through their assumed mechanisms, and thus enable us to identify more promising drug candidates at an early stage and to direct our resources efficiently. We also believe that biomarkers may eventually allow us to improve patient selection in connection with clinical trials and monitor patient compliance with trial protocols.
For most purposes, however, biomarkers have not been scientifically validated. If our understanding and use of biomarkers is inaccurate or flawed, or if our reliance on them is otherwise misplaced, then we will not only fail to realize any benefits from using biomarkers, but may also be led to invest time and financial resources inefficiently in attempting to develop inappropriate drug candidates. Moreover, although the FDA has issued for comment a draft guidance document on the potential use of biomarker data in clinical development, such data are not currently accepted by the FDA or other regulatory agencies in the United States, the European Union or elsewhere in applications for regulatory approval of drug candidates and there is no guarantee that such data will ever be accepted by the relevant authorities in this connection. Our biomarker data should not be interpreted as evidence of efficacy.
To the extent we elect to fund the development of a drug candidate or the commercialization of a drug at our expense, we will need substantial additional funding.
We plan to market drugs on our own, with or without a partner, that can be effectively commercialized and sold in concentrated markets that do not require a large sales force to be competitive. To achieve this goal, we will need to establish our own specialized sales force, marketing organization and supporting distribution capabilities. The development and commercialization of our drug candidates is very expensive. To the extent we elect to fund the full development of a drug candidate or the commercialization of a drug at our expense, we will need to raise substantial additional funding to:
Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:
If we are not able to secure additional funding when needed, we may have to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our clinical trials or research and development programs or future commercialization efforts.
15
Table of ContentsDue to our reliance on contract research organizations or other third parties to conduct clinical trials, we are unable to directly control the timing, conduct and expense of our clinical trials.
We do not have the ability to independently conduct clinical trials required to obtain regulatory approvals for our drug candidates. We must rely on third parties, such as contract research organizations, medical institutions, clinical investigators and contract laboratories to conduct our clinical trials. In addition, we rely on third parties to assist with our preclinical development of drug candidates. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or regulatory obligations or meet expected deadlines, if the third parties need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for other reasons, our preclinical development activities or clinical trials may be extended, delayed, suspended or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize our drug candidates.
To the extent we are able to enter into collaborative arrangements or strategic alliances, we will be exposed to risks related to those collaborations and alliances.
Although we are not currently party to any collaboration arrangement or strategic alliance that is material to our business, in the future we expect to be dependent upon collaborative arrangements or strategic alliances to complete the development and commercialization of some of our drug candidates particularly after the Phase II stage of clinical testing. These arrangements may place the development of our drug candidates outside our control, may require us to relinquish important rights or may otherwise be on terms unfavorable to us.
We may be unable to locate and enter into favorable agreements with third parties, which could delay or impair our ability to develop and commercialize our drug candidates and could increase our costs of development and commercialization. Dependence on collaborative arrangements or strategic alliances will subject us to a number of risks, including the risk that:
We have no manufacturing capacity and will rely on third party manufacturers for the late stage development and commercialization of any drugs we may develop.
We do not currently operate manufacturing facilities for clinical or commercial production of our drug candidates under development. We currently lack the resources or the capacity to manufacture any of our products on a clinical or commercial scale. We anticipate future reliance on a limited number of third party manufacturers until we are able to expand our operations to include manufacturing capacities. Any performance failure on the part of future manufacturers could delay late stage clinical development or regulatory approval of our drug candidates or commercialization of our drugs, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenues.
If the FDA or other regulatory agencies approve any of our drug candidates for commercial sale, or if we significantly expand our clinical trials, we will need to manufacture them in larger quantities. To date, our drug candidates have been manufactured in small quantities for preclinical testing and
16
Table of Contentsclinical trials and we may not be able to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity, whether in collaboration with third party manufacturers or on our own, for any of our drug candidates in a timely or economic manner, or at all. For example, the manufacture of our drug candidate sapacitabine and CYC116 require several steps and it is not known if scale up to commercial production is feasible. Significant scale-up of manufacturing may require additional validation studies, which the FDA and other regulatory bodies must review and approve. If we are unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for a drug candidate whether for late stage clinical trials or for commercial sale, the drug development, regulatory approval or commercial launch of any related drugs may be delayed or there may be a shortage in supply. Even if any third party manufacturer makes improvements in the manufacturing process for our drug candidates, we may not own, or may have to share, the intellectual property rights to such innovation.
We currently have no marketing or sales staff. If we are unable to conclude strategic alliances with marketing partners or if we are unable to develop our own sales and marketing capabilities, we may not be successful in commercializing any drugs we may develop.
Our strategy is to develop compounds through the Phase II stage of clinical testing and market or co-promote certain of our drugs on our own. We have no sales, marketing or distribution capabilities. We will depend primarily on strategic alliances with third parties, which have established distribution systems and sales forces, to commercialize our drugs. To the extent that we are unsuccessful in commercializing any drugs ourselves or through a strategic alliance, product revenues will suffer, we will incur significant additional losses and our share price will be negatively affected.
Our customer base is highly concentrated.
Our principal customers are a small number of wholesale drug distributors. These customers comprise a significant part of the distribution network for pharmaceutical products in the United States. Three large wholesale distributors, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Cardinal Health, Inc. and McKesson Corporation, control a significant share of the market in the United States. Our ability to distribute any product, including Xclair® Cream, Numoisyn® Liquid and Numoisyn® Lozenges, and to recognize revenues on a timely basis is substantially dependent on our ability to maintain commercially reasonable agreements with each of these wholesale distributors and the extent to which these distributors, over whom we have no control, comply with such agreements. Our agreements with wholesaler distributors may contain terms that are not favorable, given our relative lack of market leverage (as a company with only three approved products) or other factors, which could adversely affect our commercialization of Xclair® Cream, Numoisyn® Liquid and Numoisyn® Lozenges (collectively, the ‘‘ALIGN products’’). The loss of any of these customers could materially and adversely affect our ability to distribute our products, resulting in a negative impact on our operations and financial condition.
Our distribution rights to the ALIGN products are licensed from others, and any termination of that license could harm our business.
We have in-licensed from Sinclair Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. the distribution rights to the ALIGN products. This license agreement imposes obligations on us. Although we are currently in compliance with all of our material obligations under this license, if we were to breach any such obligations, Sinclair would be permitted to terminate the license. This would restrict us from distributing the ALIGN products.
If our supplier upon whom we rely fails to produce on a timely basis the finished goods in the volumes that we require or fails to meet quality standards and maintain necessary licensure from regulatory authorities, we may be unable to meet demand for our products, potentially resulting in lost revenues.
Our licensor and supplier Sinclair Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., contracts with third party manufacturers to supply the finished goods to us to meet our needs. If any of Sinclair’s third party manufacturers service providers do not meet our or our licensor’s requirements for quality, quantity or timeliness, or do not achieve and maintain compliance with all applicable regulations, demand for our products or our ability to continue supplying such products could substantially decline.
17
Table of ContentsIn all the countries where we sell our products, governmental regulations exist to define standards for manufacturing, packaging, labeling and storing. All of our suppliers of raw materials and contract manufacturers must comply with these regulations. Failure to do so could result in supply interruptions. In the United States, the FDA requires that all suppliers of pharmaceutical bulk material and all manufacturers of pharmaceuticals for sale in or from the United States achieve and maintain compliance with the FDA’s cGMP regulations and guidelines. Failure of our third-party manufacturers to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on them or us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, disgorgement, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our products. In addition, before any product batch produced by our manufacturers can be shipped, it must conform to release specifications pre-approved by regulators for the content of the pharmaceutical product. If the operations of one or more of our manufacturers were to become unavailable for any reason, any required FDA review and approval of the operations of an alternative supplier could cause a delay in the manufacture of our products.
The commercialization of our products is substantially dependent on our ability to develop effective sales and marketing capabilities.
Our successful commercialization of Xclair® Cream, Numoisyn® Liquid and Numoisyn® Lozenges in the United States will depend on our ability to establish and maintain an effective sales and marketing organization in the United States. We are in the process of hiring, training and deploying additional marketing personnel and a national sales force. Prior to our launches of these products, we had never sold or marketed any products.
For our product candidates currently under development, our strategy is to develop compounds through the Phase II stage of clinical testing and market or co-promote certain of our drugs on our own. We have limited sales, marketing or distribution capabilities. We will depend primarily on strategic alliances with third parties, which have established distribution systems and sales forces, to commercialize our drugs. To the extent that we are unsuccessful in commercializing any drugs or devices ourselves or through a strategic alliance, product revenues will suffer, we will incur significant additional losses and our share price will be negatively affected.
We may not be able to obtain approval in additional countries to market Numoisyn® Liquid.
Numoisyn® Liquid is currently approved for marketing in the United States and we own the rights to market the drug in Canada. There is no guarantee that we will be able to obtain approval to market Numoisyn® Liquid in Canada and hence market the drug and earn potential sales revenue in Canada.
As we evolve from a company primarily involved in discovery and development to one also involved in the commercialization of drugs and devices, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth and expanding our operations successfully.
In order to execute our business strategy, we will need to expand our development and regulatory capabilities and develop manufacturing, marketing and sales capabilities or contract with third parties to provide these capabilities for us. If our operations expand, we expect that we will need to manage additional relationships with various collaborative partners, suppliers and other third parties. Our ability to manage our operations and any growth will require us to make appropriate changes and upgrades (as necessary) to our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures where we may operate. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plan or disrupt our operations.
The failure to attract and retain skilled personnel and key relationships could impair our drug development and commercialization efforts.
We are highly dependent on our senior management and key scientific, technical and sales and marketing personnel. Competition for these types of personnel is intense. The loss of the services of
18
Table of Contentsany member of our senior management, scientific, technical or sales or marketing staff may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of drug development and other business objectives and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. We also rely on consultants and advisors to assist us in formulating our strategy. All of our consultants and advisors are either self-employed or employed by other organizations, and they may have conflicts of interest or other commitments, such as consulting or advisory contracts with other organizations, that may affect their ability to contribute to us. With the acquisition of ALIGN, the success of the commercialization of those products depends, in large part, on our continued ability to develop and maintain important relationships with leading key distributors and research and medical institutions. Failure to do that could have a material adverse effect on our ability to commercialize the ALIGN products.
We intend to expand and develop new drug candidates. We will need to hire additional employees in order to continue our clinical trials and market our drug candidates. This strategy will require us to recruit additional executive management and scientific and technical personnel. There is currently intense competition for skilled executives and employees with relevant scientific and technical expertise, and this competition is likely to continue. The inability to attract and retain sufficient scientific, technical and managerial personnel could limit or delay our product development efforts, which would adversely affect the development of our drug candidates and commercialization of our potential drugs and growth of our business.
Our drug candidates are subject to extensive regulation, which can be costly and time-consuming, and we may not obtain approvals for the commercialization of any of our drug candidates.
The clinical development, manufacturing, selling and marketing of our drug candidates are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere. These regulations also vary in important, meaningful ways from country to country. We are not permitted to market a potential drug in the United States until we receive approval of a New Drug Application, or NDA, from the FDA. We have not received an NDA approval from the FDA for any of our drug candidates.
Obtaining an NDA approval is expensive and is a complex, lengthy and uncertain process. The FDA approval process for a new drug involves completion of preclinical studies and the submission of the results of these studies to the FDA, together with proposed clinical protocols, manufacturing information, analytical data and other information in an Investigational New Drug application, or IND, which must become effective before human clinical trials may begin. Clinical development typically involves three phases of study: Phase I, II and III. The most significant costs associated with clinical development are the Phase III clinical trials as they tend to be the longest and largest studies conducted during the drug development process. After completion of clinical trials, an NDA may be submitted to the FDA. In responding to an NDA, the FDA may refuse to file the application, or if accepted for filing, the FDA may grant marketing approval, request additional information or deny the application if it determines that the application does not provide an adequate basis for approval. In addition, failure to comply with FDA and other applicable foreign and U.S. regulatory requirements may subject it to administrative or judicially imposed sanctions. These include warning letters, civil and criminal penalties, injunctions, product seizure or detention, product recalls, total or partial suspension of production and refusal to approve either pending NDAs, or supplements to approved NDAs.
Despite the substantial time and expense invested in preparation and submission of an NDA or equivalents in other jurisdictions, regulatory approval is never guaranteed. The FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere exercise substantial discretion in the drug approval process. The number, size and design of preclinical studies and clinical trials that will be required for FDA or other regulatory approval will vary depending on the drug candidate, the disease or condition for which the drug candidate is intended to be used and the regulations and guidance documents applicable to any particular drug candidate. The FDA or other regulators can delay, limit or deny approval of a drug candidate for many reasons, including, but not limited to:
19
Table of ContentsWith regard to the ALIGN products, and following regulatory approval of any of our drug candidates, we are subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and restrictions, which may result in significant expense and limit our ability to commercialize our potential drugs.
With regard to our ALIGN products and our drug candidates, if any, approved by the FDA or by another regulatory authority, we are held to extensive regulatory requirements over product manufacturing, labeling, packaging, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and record keeping. Regulatory approvals may also be subject to significant limitations on the indicated uses or marketing of the drug candidates. Potentially costly follow-up or post-marketing clinical studies may be required as a condition of approval to further substantiate safety or efficacy, or to investigate specific issues of interest to the regulatory authority. Previously unknown problems with the product or drug candidate, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, may result in restrictions on the marketing of the drug or device, and could include withdrawal of the drug or device from the market.
In addition, the law or regulatory policies governing pharmaceuticals may change. New statutory requirements may be enacted or additional regulations may be enacted that could prevent or delay regulatory approval of our drug candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of adverse government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or elsewhere. If we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we might not be permitted to market our drugs and our business could suffer.
Our applications for regulatory approval could be delayed or denied due to problems with studies conducted before we in-licensed some of our product candidates.
We currently license some of the compounds and drug candidates used in our research programs from third parties. These include sapacitabine, licensed from Sankyo Co., Ltd and CYC381 and related intellectual property, licensed from Lorus Therapeutics, Inc. Our present research involving these compounds relies upon previous research conducted by third parties over whom we had no control and before we in-licensed the drug candidates. In order to receive regulatory approval of a drug candidate, we must present all relevant data and information obtained during our research and development, including research conducted prior to our licensure of the drug candidate. Although we are not currently aware of any such problems, any problems that emerge with preclinical research and testing conducted prior to our in-licensing may affect future results or our ability to document prior research and to conduct clinical trials, which could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval for our drug candidates.
We face intense competition and our competitors may develop drugs that are less expensive, safer, or more effective than our drug candidates.
We are engaged in a rapidly changing and highly competitive field. We are seeking to develop and market products that will compete with other products and drugs that currently exist or are being developed. We compete with companies that are developing small molecule drugs, as well as companies that have developed drugs or are developing alternative drug candidates for cancer or other serious disorders where there is abnormal cell proliferation. We believe that other companies are currently developing drugs targeting cancer that may compete with our drug candidates, including AstraZeneca, Eisai, Pfizer, Roche, Schering AG, and Sunesis. Although Aventis, a predecessor of Sanofi-Aventis, had previously announced that it has ceased Phase II development of alvocidib or
20
Table of Contentsflavopiridol, a CDK inhibitor, we believe that the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program is continuing to enroll patients in a Phase II trial and that Sanofi-Aventis has reinitiated development of alvocidib in Phase III clinical trials in patients with chronic leukemia. Several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have nucleoside analogs on the market or in clinical trials for oncology indications, including Eli Lilly, Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline and Supergen. A number of companies are pursuing discovery and research activities in each of the other areas that are the subject of our research and drug development programs. We believe that AstraZeneca, Merck, jointly with Vertex, Millennium and Serono have commenced Phase II or Phase I clinical trials of Aurora kinase inhibitors in patients with advanced cancers. Several companies have reported selection of Aurora kinase inhibitor candidates for development and may have started or are expected to start clinical trials within the next twelve months. We believe that Boehringer Ingelheim and Onconova have commenced Phase I or Phase II clinical trials with Plk inhibitor candidates for oncology indications.
Our competitors, either alone or together with collaborators, may have substantially greater financial resources and research and development staff. Our competitors may also have more experience:
Our competitors may succeed in obtaining patent protection and regulatory approval and may market drugs before we do. If our competitors market drugs that are less expensive, safer, more effective or more convenient to administer than our potential drugs, or that reach the market sooner than our potential drugs, we may not achieve commercial success. Scientific, clinical or technical developments by our competitors may render our drug candidates obsolete or noncompetitive. We anticipate that we will face increased competition in the future as new companies enter the markets and as scientific developments progress. If our drug candidates obtain regulatory approvals, but do not compete effectively in the marketplace, our business will suffer.
The commercial success of the ALIGN products and our drug candidates depends upon their market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare providers and payors and the medical community.
It is necessary that our and our distribution partners’ products, including Xclair® Cream, Numoisyn® Liquid and Numoisyn® Lozenges achieve and maintain market acceptance. If our drug candidates are approved by the FDA or by another regulatory authority, the resulting drugs, if any, may not gain market acceptance among physicians, healthcare providers and payors, patients and the medical community. The degree of market acceptance of any of our approved drugs or devices will depend on a variety of factors, including:
If our drugs fail to achieve market acceptance, we may not be able to generate significant revenue and our business would suffer.
21
Table of ContentsIf we are unable to compete successfully in our market place, it will harm our business.
There are existing products in the marketplace that compete with our products. Companies may develop new products that compete with our products. Certain of these competitors and potential competitors have longer operating histories, substantially greater product development capabilities and financial, scientific, marketing and sales resources. Competitors and potential competitors may also develop products that are safer, more effective or have other potential advantages compared to our products. In addition, research, development and commercialization efforts by others could render our products obsolete or non-competitive. Certain of our competitors and potential competitors have broader product offerings and extensive customer bases allowing them to adopt aggressive pricing policies that would enable them to gain market share. Competitive pressures could result in price reductions, reduced margins and loss of market share. We could encounter potential customers that, due to existing relationships with our competitors, are committed to products offered by those competitors. As a result, those potential customers may not consider purchasing our products.
There is uncertainty related to coverage, reimbursement and payment by healthcare providers and payors for the ALIGN products and newly approved drugs, if any. The inability or failure to obtain or maintain coverage could affect our ability to market the ALIGN products and our future drugs and decrease our ability to generate revenue.
The availability and levels of coverage and reimbursement of newly approved drugs by healthcare providers and payors is subject to significant uncertainty. The commercial success of the ALIGN products and our drug candidates in both the U.S. and international markets is substantially dependent on whether third party coverage and reimbursement is available. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, health maintenance organizations and other third party payors in the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions are increasingly attempting to contain healthcare costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement of new drugs and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for its potential drugs. The ALIGN products and our drug candidates may not be considered cost-effective and reimbursement may not be available to consumers or may not be sufficient to allow the ALIGN products or our drug candidates to be marketed on a competitive basis.
In some countries, pricing of prescription drugs is subject to government control. In such countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take three to 12 months or longer following application to the competent authorities. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in such countries may require conducting an additional clinical trial comparing the cost-effectiveness of the drug to other alternatives. In the United States, the Medicare Part D drug benefit implemented in 2006 will limit drug coverage through formularies and other cost and utilization management programs, while Medicare Part B limits drug payments to a certain percentage of average price or through restrictive payment policies of ‘‘least costly alternatives’’ and ‘‘inherent reasonableness.’’ Our business could be materially harmed if coverage, reimbursement or pricing is unavailable or set at unsatisfactory levels.
We may be exposed to product liability claims that may damage our reputation and we may not be able to obtain adequate insurance.
Because we conduct clinical trials in humans, we face the risk that the use of our drug candidates will result in adverse effects. We believe that we have obtained reasonably adequate product liability insurance coverage for our trials. We cannot predict, however, the possible harm or side effects that may result from our clinical trials. Such claims may damage our reputation and we may not have sufficient resources to pay for any liabilities resulting from a claim excluded from, or beyond the limit of, our insurance coverage.
Due to the acquisition of ALIGN, we now have the right to commercially market products. We are exposed to additional risks of product liability claims. These risks exist even with respect to those drugs and devices that are approved for commercial sale by the FDA or other regulatory authorities in the United States, the European Union or elsewhere and manufactured in facilities licensed and
22
Table of Contentsregulated by the FDA or other such regulatory authorities. We have secured limited product liability insurance coverage, but may not be able to obtain such insurance on acceptable terms with adequate coverage, or at a reasonable cost. There is also a risk that third parties that we have agreed to indemnify could incur liability. Even if we were ultimately successful in product liability litigation, the litigation would consume substantial amounts of our financial and managerial resources and may create adverse publicity, all of which would impair our ability to generate sales of the litigated product as well as our other potential drugs.
We may be subject to damages resulting from claims that our employees or we have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.
Many of our employees were previously employed at universities or other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although no claims against us are currently pending, we may be subject to claims that these employees or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. A loss of key research personnel or their work product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize certain potential drugs, which could severely harm our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.
Defending against claims relating to improper handling, storage or disposal of hazardous chemical, radioactive or biological materials could be time consuming and expensive.
Our research and development involves the controlled use of hazardous materials, including chemicals, radioactive and biological materials such as chemical solvents, phosphorus and bacteria. Our operations produce hazardous waste products. We cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or discharge and any resultant injury from those materials. Various laws and regulations govern the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous materials. We may be sued for any injury or contamination that results from our use or the use by third parties of these materials. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations may be expensive, and current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development and production efforts.
We may be required to defend lawsuits or pay damages in connection with the alleged or actual violation of healthcare statutes such as fraud and abuse laws, and our corporate compliance programs can never guarantee that we are in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
Our commercialization efforts in the United States are subject to various federal and state laws pertaining to promotion and healthcare fraud and abuse, including federal and state anti-kickback, fraud and false claims laws. Anti-kickback laws make it illegal for a manufacturer to offer or pay any remuneration in exchange for, or to induce, the referral of business, including the purchase of a product. The federal government has published many regulations relating to the anti-kickback statutes, including numerous safe harbors or exemptions for certain arrangements. False claims laws prohibit anyone from knowingly and willingly presenting, or causing to be presented for payment to third-party payers (including Medicare and Medicaid), claims for reimbursed products or services that are false or fraudulent, claims for items or services not provided as claimed, or claims for medically unnecessary items or services.
Our activities relating to the sale and marketing of our products will be subject to scrutiny under these laws and regulations. It may be difficult to determine whether or not our activities, comply with these complex legal requirements. Violations are punishable by significant criminal and/or civil fines and other penalties, as well as the possibility of exclusion of the product from coverage under governmental healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. If the government were to investigate or make allegations against us or any of our employees, or sanction or convict us or any of our employees, for violations of any of these legal requirements, this could have a material adverse
23
Table of Contentseffect on our business, including our stock price. Our activities could be subject to challenge for many reasons, including the broad scope and complexity of these laws and regulations, the difficulties in interpreting and applying these legal requirements, and the high degree of prosecutorial resources and attention being devoted to the biopharmaceutical industry and health care fraud by law enforcement authorities. During the last few years, numerous biopharmaceutical companies have paid multi-million dollar fines and entered into burdensome settlement agreements for alleged violation of these requirements, and other companies are under active investigation. Although we have developed and implemented corporate and field compliance programs as part of our commercialization efforts, we cannot assure you that we or our employees, directors or agents were, are or will be in compliance with all laws and regulations or that we will not come under investigation, allegation or sanction.
In addition, we are required to prepare and report product pricing-related information to federal and state governmental authorities, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and under the Medicaid program. The calculations used to generate the pricing-related information are complex and require the exercise of judgment. If we fail to accurately and timely report product pricing-related information or to comply with any of these or any other laws or regulations, various negative consequences could result, including criminal and/or civil prosecution, substantial criminal and/or civil penalties, exclusion of the approved product from coverage under governmental healthcare programs (including Medicare and Medicaid), costly litigation and restatement of our financial statements. In addition, our efforts to comply with this wide range of laws and regulations are, and will continue to be, time-consuming and expensive.
If we fail to enforce adequately or defend our intellectual property rights our business may be harmed.
Our commercial success depends in large part on obtaining and maintaining patent and trade secret protection for our drug candidates, the methods used to manufacture those drug candidates and the methods for treating patients using those drug candidates. Specifically our two lead drug candidates have composition of matter patents that expire at the earliest case in 2016 and 2014. Failure to obtain, maintain or extend the patents could adversely affect our business. We will only be able to protect our drug candidates and our technologies from unauthorized use by third parties to the extent that valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets cover them.
Our ability to obtain patents is uncertain because legal means afford only limited protections and may not adequately protect our rights or permit it to gain or keep any competitive advantage. Some legal principles remain unresolved and the breadth or interpretation of claims allowed in patents in the United States, the European Union or elsewhere can still be difficult to ascertain or predict. In addition, the specific content of patents and patent applications that are necessary to support and interpret patent claims is highly uncertain due to the complex nature of the relevant legal, scientific and factual issues. Changes in either patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the United States, the European Union or elsewhere may diminish the value of our intellectual property or narrow the scope of our patent protection. Our existing patents and any future patents we obtain may not be sufficiently broad to prevent others from practicing our technologies or from developing competing products and technologies. In addition, we generally do not control the patent prosecution of subject matter that we license from others and have not controlled the earlier stages of the patent prosecution. Accordingly, we are unable to exercise the same degree of control over this intellectual property as we would over our own.
Even if patents are issued regarding our drug candidates or methods of using them, those patents can be challenged by our competitors who may argue such patents are invalid and/or unenforceable. Patents also will not protect our drug candidates if competitors devise ways of making or using these product candidates without legally infringing our patents. The U.S. Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic, or FD&C, Act and FDA regulations and policies and equivalents in other jurisdictions provide incentives to manufacturers to challenge patent validity or create modified, noninfringing versions of a drug in order to facilitate the approval of abbreviated new drug applications for generic substitutes. These same types of incentives encourage manufacturers to submit new drug applications that rely on literature and clinical data not prepared for or by the drug sponsor.
24
Table of ContentsProprietary trade secrets and unpatented know-how are also very important to our business. We rely on trade secrets to protect our technology, especially where we do not believe that patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. Our employees, consultants, contractors, outside scientific collaborators and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our confidential information to competitors, and confidentiality agreements may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Enforcing a claim that a third party obtained illegally and is using trade secrets is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how. Failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position.
If we infringe intellectual property rights of third parties, we may increase our costs or be prevented from being able to commercialize our drug candidates and/or the ALIGN products.
There is a risk that we are infringing or will infringe the proprietary rights of third parties because patents and pending applications belonging to third parties exist in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere in the world in the areas of our research and/or the ALIGN products. Others might have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our or our licensors’ pending patent applications and issued patents and might have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions. In addition, because the patent application process can take several years to complete, there may be currently pending applications, unknown to us, which may later result in issued patents that cover the production, manufacture, commercialization or use of our drug candidates. In addition, the production, manufacture, commercialization or use of our product candidates may infringe existing patents of which we are not aware. Numerous third-party United States and foreign issued patents and pending applications exist in the area of kinases, including CDK, Aurora and Plk for which we have research programs. Because patent applications can take several years to issue, there may be pending applications that may result in issued patents that cover our technologies or product candidates. For example, some pending patent applications contain broad claims that could represent freedom to operate limitations for some of our kinase programs should they be issued unchanged. If we wish to use the technology or compound claimed in issued and unexpired patents owned by others, we will need to obtain a license from the owner, enter into litigation to challenge the validity of the patents or incur the risk of litigation in the event that the owner asserts that we infringe its patents. In one case we have opposed a European patent relating to human aurora kinase. We are also aware of a corresponding U.S. patent containing method of treatment claims for specific cancers using aurora kinase modulators which, if held valid, could potentially restrict the use of our aurora kinase inhibitors once clinical trials are completed.
There has been substantial litigation and other proceedings regarding patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Defending against third party claims, including litigation in particular, would be costly and time consuming and would divert management’s attention from our business, which could lead to delays in our development or commercialization efforts. If third parties are successful in their claims, we might have to pay substantial damages or take other actions that are adverse to our business. As a result of intellectual property infringement claims, or to avoid potential claims, we might:
25
Table of ContentsIntellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our drug candidate and/or the ALIGN products.
If patents issued to third parties contain valid claims that cover our compounds or their manufacture or uses relevant to our development plans, we may be required to obtain licenses to these patents or to develop or obtain alternative technology. We are aware of several published patent applications, and understand that others may exist, that could support claims that, if granted, could cover various aspects of our developmental programs, including in some cases particular uses of our lead drug candidate, seliciclib, sapacitabine or other therapeutic candidates, or gene sequences and techniques that we use in the course of our research and development. In addition, we understand that other applications exist relating to potential uses of seliciclib and sapacitabine that are not part of our current clinical programs for these compounds. Although we intend to continue to monitor these applications, we cannot predict what claims will ultimately be allowed and if allowed what their scope would be. If a patent is issued that covers our compounds or their manufacture or uses or screening assays related to our development plans then we may not be in a position to commercialize the related drug candidate unless we successfully pursue litigation to have that patent invalidated or enter into a licensing arrangement with the patent holder. Any such litigation would be time consuming and costly, and its outcome would not be guaranteed, and we cannot be certain that we would be able to enter into a licensing arrangement with the patent holder on commercially reasonable terms. In either case, our business prospects could be materially adversely affected. In one case we have opposed a granted European patent related to human aurora kinase. We are also aware of a corresponding US patent containing method of treatment claims for specific cancers using aurora kinase modulators, which if held valid, could potentially restrict the use of certain of our aurora kinase inhibitors.
The development programs for our two lead drug candidates are based in part on intellectual property rights we license from others, and any termination of those licenses could seriously harm our business.
We have in-licensed certain patent rights in connection with the development programs for each of our two lead drug candidates. With respect to seliciclib, we hold a license from Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, or CNRS, and Institut Curie. With respect to sapacitabine, we hold a license from Sankyo Co., Ltd. of Japan. Both of these license agreements impose payment and other material obligations on us. Under the CNRS/Institut Curie license, we are obligated to pay license fees, milestone payments and royalties. We are also obligated to use reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize products based on the licensed patents. Under the Sankyo license, we are obligated to pay license fees, milestone payments and royalties. We are also obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize products based on the licensed rights and to use reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approval to sell the products in at least one country by September 2011. Although we are currently in compliance with all of our material obligations under these licenses, if we were to breach any such obligations our counterparties would be permitted to terminate the licenses. This would restrict or delay or eliminate our ability to develop and commercialize these drug candidates, which could seriously harm our business.
We have limited experience attempting to comply with public company obligations. Attempting to comply with these requirements will increase our costs and require additional management resources, and we still may fail to comply.
As a newly public company, we face and will continue to face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that we did not incur as a private company. Compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, as well as other rules of the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and The Nasdaq Global Market has resulted in a significant initial cost to us as well as an ongoing increase in our legal, audit and financial compliance costs. As a public company, we are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act relating to internal control over financial reporting. We have completed a formal process to evaluate our internal controls for purposes of Section 404, and we can conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective.
Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to
26
Table of Contentsprevent fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our operating results could be harmed. We have completed a formal process to evaluate our internal control over financial reporting. However, guidance from regulatory authorities in the area of internal controls continues to evolve and substantial uncertainty exists regarding our on-going ability to comply by applicable deadlines. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
Our common stock may have a volatile public trading price.
An active public market for our common stock has not developed. Our stock can trade in small volumes which may make the price of our stock highly volatile. The last reported price of our stock may not represent the price at which you would be able to buy or sell the stock. The market prices for securities of companies comparable to us have been highly volatile. Often, these stocks have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations for reasons unrelated to the operating performance of the individual companies. Factors giving rise to this volatility may include:
Fluctuations in our operating losses could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
Our operating losses may fluctuate significantly on a quarterly basis. Some of the factors that may cause our operating losses to fluctuate on a period-to-period basis include the status of our preclinical and clinical development programs, level of expenses incurred in connection with our preclinical and clinical development programs, implementation or termination of collaboration, licensing, manufacturing or other material agreements with third parties, non-recurring revenue or expenses under any such agreement, and compliance with regulatory requirements. Period-to-period comparisons of our historical and future financial results may not be meaningful, and investors should not rely on them as an indication of future performance. Our fluctuating losses may fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors. Our failure to meet these expectations may cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and provisions of Delaware law may make an acquisition more difficult and could result in the entrenchment of management.
We are incorporated in Delaware. Anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may make a change in control or efforts to remove management more difficult. Also, under Delaware law, our board of directors may adopt additional anti-takeover measures.
We have the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock and to determine the terms of those shares of stock without any further action by our stockholders. If the board of directors exercises this power to issue preferred stock, it could be more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting stock and vote the stock they acquire to remove management or directors.
27
Table of ContentsOur amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws also provides staggered terms for the members of our board of directors. Under Section 141 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our directors may be removed by stockholders only for cause and only by vote of the holders of a majority of voting shares then outstanding. These provisions may prevent stockholders from replacing the entire board in a single proxy contest, making it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us without the consent of our board of directors. These provisions could also delay the removal of management by the board of directors with or without cause. In addition, our directors may only be removed for cause and amended and restated bylaws limit the ability our stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders.
Under Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation may not engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock until the holder has held the stock for three years unless, among other possibilities, the board of directors approves the transaction. Our board of directors could use this provision to prevent changes in management. The existence of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and certain provisions of Delaware law may delay or prevent a change in our management and make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change in our board of directors and management teams. Some of these provisions:
In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which limits the ability of large stockholders to complete a business combination with, or acquisition of, us. These provisions may prevent a business combination or acquisition that would be attractive to stockholders and could limit the price that investors would be willing to pay in the future for our stock.
These provisions also make it more difficult for our stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions could in turn affect any attempt to replace our current management team. Additionally, these provisions may prevent an acquisition that would be attractive to stockholders and could limit the price that investors would be willing to pay in the future for our common stock.
We may have limited ability to pay cash dividends on the convertible preferred stock.
Delaware law may limit our ability to pay cash dividends on the convertible preferred stock. Under Delaware law, cash dividends on our capital stock may only be paid from ‘surplus’ or, if there is no ‘surplus,’ from the corporation’s net profits for the current or preceding fiscal year. Delaware law defines ‘surplus’ as the amount by which the total assets of a corporation, after subtracting its total liabilities, exceed the corporation’s capital, as determined by its board of directors. Since we are not profitable, our ability to pay cash dividends will require the availability of adequate surplus. Even if adequate surplus is available to pay cash dividends on the convertible preferred stock, we may not have sufficient cash to pay dividends on the convertible preferred stock. If that was to happen, holders of preferred stock would be granted certain additional rights until such dividends were repaid.
Our common and convertible preferred stock may experience extreme price and volume fluctuations, which could lead to costly litigation for the Company and make an investment in the Company less appealing.
The market price of our common and convertible preferred stock may fluctuate substantially due to a variety of factors, including:
28
Table of ContentsThe market prices of the securities of biotechnology companies, particularly companies like us without product revenues and earnings, have been highly volatile and are likely to remain highly volatile in the future. This volatility has often been unrelated to the performance of particular companies. In the past, companies that experience volatility in the market price of their securities have often faced securities class action litigation. Moreover, market prices for stocks of biotechnology-related and technology companies frequently reach levels that bear no relationship to the performance of these companies. These market prices generally are not sustainable and are highly volatile. Whether or not meritorious, litigation brought against us could result in substantial costs, divert our management’s attention and resources and harm our financial condition and results of operations.
The future sale of our common and convertible preferred stock, and future issuances of our common stock upon conversion of our convertible preferred stock and upon the payment of make-whole dividends, if any, could negatively affect our stock price.
If our common or convertible preferred stockholders sell substantial amounts of its stock in the public market, or the market perceives that such sales may occur, the market price of our common and convertible preferred stock could fall.
In addition, if we exercise our rights to pay make-whole dividends in common stock rather than in cash upon conversion of our convertible preferred stock to common stock, then the sale of such shares of common stock or the perception that such sales may occur could cause the market price of our stock to fall. Additionally, after our convertible preferred stock offering, the holders of our convertible preferred stock had the right to convert each share of convertible preferred stock into approximately 0.42553 shares of our common stock. Such conversion rate is subject to certain antidilution adjustments that, upon the occurrence of certain events, will increase the number of shares of common stock that each holder of convertible preferred stock will receive upon conversion into common stock. Such antidilution price adjustments may apply in the case of any strategic alternative that we pursue which may result in further dilution to the holders of outstanding common stock. The conversion of our convertible preferred stock into common stock and the payment of any make-whole dividends in shares of common stock in lieu of cash, may result in substantial dilution to the interests of our holders of common stock.
If we exchange the convertible preferred stock for debentures, the exchange will be taxable but we will not provide any cash to pay any tax liability that any convertible preferred stockholder may incur.
An exchange of convertible preferred stock for debentures, as well as any dividend make-whole or interest make-whole payments paid in our common stock, will be taxable events for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which may result in tax liability for the holder of convertible preferred stock without any corresponding receipt of cash by the holder. In addition, the debentures may be treated as having original issue discount, a portion of which would generally be required to be included in the holder’s gross income even though the cash to which such income is attributable would not be received until maturity or redemption of the debenture. We will not distribute any cash to you to pay these potential tax liabilities.
29
Table of ContentsIf we automatically convert the convertible preferred stock, there is a substantial risk of fluctuation in the price of our common stock from the date we elect to automatically convert to the conversion date.
We may elect to automatically convert the convertible preferred stock on or prior to maturity if our common stock price has exceeded 150% of the conversion price for at least 20 trading days during a 30-day trading period ending within five trading days prior to the notice of automatic conversion. You should be aware that there is a risk of fluctuation in the price of our common stock between the time when we may first elect to automatically convert the preferred and the automatic conversion date.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash dividends will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, the outcome of the review of our strategic alternatives and other factors and will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, investors will have to rely on capital appreciation, if any, to earn a return on their investment in our common stock. Furthermore, we may in the future become subject to contractual restrictions on, or prohibitions against, the payment of dividends.
The number of shares of common stock which are being registered, including the shares to be issued upon exercise of our outstanding warrants, is significant in relation to our currently outstanding common stock and could cause downward pressure on the market price for our common stock.
The number of shares of common stock registered for resale, including those shares which are to be issued upon exercise of our outstanding warrants, is significant in relation to the number of shares of common stock currently outstanding. If the security holder determines to sell a substantial number of shares into the market at any given time, there may not be sufficient demand in the market to purchase the shares without a decline in the market price for our common stock. Moreover, continuous sales into the market of a number of shares in excess of the typical trading volume for our common stock, or even the availability of such a large number of shares, could depress the trading market for our common stock over an extended period of time.
If persons engage in short sales of our common stock, including sales of shares to be issued upon exercise of our outstanding warrants, the price of our common stock may decline.
Selling short is a technique used by a stockholder to take advantage of an anticipated decline in the price of a security. In addition, holders of options and warrants will sometimes sell short knowing they can, in effect, cover through the exercise of an option or warrant, thus locking in a profit. A significant number of short sales or a large volume of other sales within a relatively short period of time can create downward pressure on the market price of a security. Further sales of common stock issued upon exercise of our outstanding warrants could cause even greater declines in the price of our common stock due to the number of additional shares available in the market upon such exercise, which could encourage short sales that could further undermine the value of our common stock. You could, therefore, experience a decline in the value of your investment as a result of short sales of our common stock.
Our committed equity financing facility with Kingsbridge may not be available to us if we elect to make a draw down, may require us to make additional ‘‘blackout’’ or other payments to Kingsbridge, and may result in dilution to our stockholders.
On December 10, 2007, we entered into the CEFF with Kingsbridge. The CEFF entitles us to sell and obligates Kingsbridge to purchase, from time to time over a period of three years, shares of our common stock for cash consideration up to an aggregate of $60 million, subject to certain conditions and restrictions. Kingsbridge will not be obligated to purchase shares under the CEFF unless certain conditions are met, which include a minimum price for our common stock; the accuracy of
30
Table of Contentsrepresentations and warranties made to Kingsbridge; compliance with laws; effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part; and the continued listing of our stock on The NASDAQ Global Market. In addition, Kingsbridge is permitted to terminate the CEFF if it determines that a material and adverse event has occurred affecting our business, operations, properties or financial condition and if such condition continues for a period of 10 days from the date Kingsbridge provides us notice of such material and adverse event. If we are unable to access funds through the CEFF, or if the CEFF is terminated by Kingsbridge, we may be unable to access capital on favorable terms or at all.
We are entitled, in certain circumstances, to deliver a blackout notice to Kingsbridge to suspend the use of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and prohibit Kingsbridge from selling shares under this prospectus. If we deliver a blackout notice in the 15 trading days following the settlement of a draw down, or if the registration statement is not effective in circumstances not permitted by the agreement, then we must make a payment to Kingsbridge, or issue Kingsbridge additional shares in lieu of this payment, calculated on the basis of the number of shares held by Kingsbridge (exclusive of shares that Kingsbridge may hold pursuant to exercise of the Kingsbridge warrant) and the change in the market price of our common stock during the period in which the use of the registration statement is suspended. If the trading price of our common stock declines during a suspension of the registration statement, the blackout or other payment could be significant.
Should we sell shares to Kingsbridge under the CEFF, or issue shares in lieu of a blackout payment, it will have a dilutive effective on the holdings of our current stockholders, and may result in downward pressure on the price of our common stock. If we draw down under the CEFF, we will issue shares to Kingsbridge at a discount of up to 10 percent from the volume weighted average price of our common stock. If we draw down amounts under the CEFF when our share price is decreasing, we will need to issue more shares to raise the same amount than if our stock price was higher. Issuances in the face of a declining share price will have an even greater dilutive effect than if our share price were stable or increasing, and may further decrease our share price.
31
Table of ContentsSPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The Securities and Exchange Commission encourages companies to disclose forward-looking information so that investors can better understand a company’s future prospects and make informed investment decisions. This prospectus contains such ‘‘forward-looking statements’’ within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be made directly in this prospectus, and they may also be made a part of this prospectus by reference to other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is known as ‘‘incorporation by reference.’’
Words such as ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘expects,’’ ‘‘projects,’’ ‘‘intends,’’ ‘‘plans,’’ ‘‘believes’’ and words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are management’s present expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements might include one or more of the following:
Please also see the discussion of risks and uncertainties under the heading ‘‘Risk Factors’’ beginning on page 12.
In light of these assumptions, risks and uncertainties, the results and events discussed in the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus or in any document incorporated by reference might not occur. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this prospectus or the date of the document incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We are not under any obligation, and we expressly disclaim any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All subsequent forward-looking statements attributable to Cyclacel or to any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section.
USE OF PROCEEDS
We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares of our common stock by the selling stockholder pursuant to this prospectus. Any issuance of shares by us to Kingsbridge under the common stock purchase agreement or in connection with the exercise of the Kingsbridge warrant will be made pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. We will use the proceeds from these sales for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures, the advancement of our drug candidates in clinical trials, and to meet working capital needs. The amounts and timing of the expenditures will depend on numerous factors, such as the timing and progress of our clinical trials and research and development efforts, technological advances and the competitive environment for our drug candidates. We expect from time to time to evaluate the acquisition of businesses, products and technologies for which a portion of the net proceeds may be used, although we currently are not planning or negotiating any such transactions. As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to us from the sale of shares to Kingsbridge. Accordingly, we will retain broad discretion over the use of these proceeds, if any.
32
Table of ContentsSELLING STOCKHOLDER
This prospectus relates to the possible resale by the selling stockholder, Kingsbridge Capital Limited (‘‘Kingsbridge’’ or the ‘‘Selling Stockholder’’), of shares of common stock that we may issue pursuant to the common stock purchase agreement we entered into with Kingsbridge on December 10, 2007, or upon exercise of the warrant we issued to Kingsbridge. We are filing the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part pursuant to the provisions of the registration rights agreement we entered into with Kingsbridge on December 10, 2007 in connection with the common stock purchase agreement with Kingsbridge on December 10, 2007, in which we agreed to sell up to the lesser of 4,084,590 shares of common stock and $60 million of common stock, and in connection with which we issued a warrant to Kingsbridge to purchase 175,000 shares of common stock.
The selling stockholder may from time to time offer and sell pursuant to this prospectus any or all of the shares that it acquires under the common stock purchase agreement or upon exercise of the warrant.
The following table presents information regarding Kingsbridge and the shares that it may offer and sell from time to time under this prospectus. This table is prepared based on information supplied to us by the selling stockholder, and reflects holdings as of December 10, 2007. As used in this prospectus, the term ‘‘selling stockholder’’ includes Kingsbridge and any donees, pledgees, transferees or other successors in interest selling shares received after the date of this prospectus from a selling stockholder as a gift, pledge or other non-sale related transfer. The number of shares in the column ‘‘Number of Shares Being Offered’’ represents all of the shares that the selling stockholder may offer under this prospectus. The selling stockholder may sell some, all or none of its shares. We do not know how long the selling stockholder will hold the shares before selling them, and we currently have no agreements, arrangements or understandings with the selling stockholder regarding the sale of any of the shares.
Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with Rule 13d-3(d) promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The percentage of shares beneficially owned prior to the offering is based both on 20,433,167 shares of our common stock actually outstanding as of December 10, 2007 and on the assumption that all shares of common stock issuable under the common stock purchase agreement we entered into with Kingsbridge on December 10, 2007 and all shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrant held by Kingsbridge are outstanding as of that date.
Beneficially Owned Prior to
Offering
Being Offered
Beneficially Owned After
Offering Security Holders33
Table of ContentsPLAN OF DISTRIBUTION
We are registering 4,259,590 shares of common stock under this prospectus on behalf of Kingsbridge. Except as described below, to our knowledge, the selling stockholder has not entered into any agreement, arrangement or understanding with any particular broker or market maker with respect to the shares of common stock offered hereby, nor, except as described below, do we know the identity of the brokers or market makers that will participate in the sale of the shares.
The selling stockholder may decide not to sell any shares. The selling stockholder may from time to time offer some or all of the shares of common stock through brokers, dealers or agents who may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the selling stockholder and/or the purchasers of the shares of common stock for whom they may act as agent. In effecting sales, broker-dealers that are engaged by the selling stockholder may arrange for other broker-dealers to participate. Kingsbridge is an ‘‘underwriter’’ within the meaning of the Securities Act. Any brokers, dealers or agents who participate in the distribution of the shares of common stock may also be deemed to be ‘‘underwriters,’’ and any profits on the sale of the shares of common stock by them and any discounts, commissions or concessions received by any such brokers, dealers or agents may be deemed to be underwriting discounts and commissions under the Securities Act. Kingsbridge has advised us that it may effect resales of our common stock through any one or more registered broker-dealers. To the extent the selling stockholder may be deemed to be an underwriter, the selling stockholder will be subject to the prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act and may be subject to certain statutory liabilities of, including but not limited to, Sections 11, 12 and 17 of the Securities Act and Rule 10b-5 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act.
The selling stockholder will act independently of us in making decisions with respect to the timing, manner and size of each sale. Such sales may be made over The NASDAQ Global Market, on the over-the-counter market, otherwise or in a combination of such methods of sale, at then prevailing market prices, at prices related to prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices. The shares of common stock may be sold according to one or more of the following methods:
Any shares covered by this prospectus which qualify for sale pursuant to Rule 144 of the Securities Act may be sold under Rule 144 rather than pursuant to this prospectus. In addition, the selling stockholder may transfer the shares by other means not described in this prospectus.
Any broker-dealer participating in such transactions as agent may receive commissions from Kingsbridge (and, if they act as agent for the purchaser of such shares, from such purchaser). Broker-dealers may agree with Kingsbridge to sell a specified number of shares at a stipulated price per share, and, to the extent such a broker-dealer is unable to do so acting as agent for Kingsbridge, to purchase as principal any unsold shares at the price required to fulfill the broker-dealer commitment to Kingsbridge. Broker-dealers who acquire shares as principal may thereafter resell such shares from time to time in transactions (which may involve crosses and block transactions and which may involve sales to and through other broker-dealers, including transactions of the nature described
34
Table of Contentsabove) on The NASDAQ Global Market, on the over-the-counter market, in privately-negotiated transactions or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale or at negotiated prices, and in connection with such resales may pay to or receive from the purchasers of such shares commissions computed as described above. To the extent required under the Securities Act, an amendment to this prospectus or a supplemental prospectus will be filed, disclosing:
Underwriters and purchasers that are deemed underwriters under the Securities Act may engage in transactions that stabilize maintain or otherwise affect the price of the securities, including the entry of stabilizing bids or syndicate covering transactions or the imposition of penalty bids. Kingsbridge and any other persons participating in the sale or distribution of the shares will be subject to the applicable provisions of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder including, without limitation, Regulation M. These provisions may restrict certain activities of, and limit the timing of, purchases by the selling stockholder or other persons or entities. Furthermore, under Regulation M, persons engaged in a distribution of securities are prohibited from simultaneously engaging in market making and certain other activities with respect to such securities for a specified period of time prior to the commencement of such distributions, subject to special exceptions or exemptions. Regulation M may restrict the ability of any person engaged in the distribution of the securities to engage in market-making and certain other activities with respect to those securities. In addition, the anti-manipulation rules under the Exchange Act may apply to sales of the securities in the market. All of these limitations may affect the marketability of the shares and the ability of any person to engage in market-making activities with respect to the securities.
We have agreed to pay the expenses of registering the shares of common stock under the Securities Act, including registration and filing fees, printing expenses, administrative expenses and certain legal and accounting fees, as well as certain fees of counsel for the selling stockholder incurred in the preparation of the CEFF agreements and the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The selling stockholder will bear all discounts, commissions or other amounts payable to underwriters, dealers or agents, as well as transfer taxes and certain other expenses associated with the sale of securities.
Under the terms of the Kingsbridge common stock purchase agreement and the registration rights agreement, we have agreed to indemnify the selling stockholder and certain other persons against certain liabilities in connection with the offering of the shares of common stock offered hereby, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act or, if such indemnity is unavailable, to contribute toward amounts required to be paid in respect of such liabilities.
At any time a particular offer of the shares of common stock is made, a revised prospectus or prospectus supplement, if required, will be distributed. Such prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment will be filed with the SEC, to reflect the disclosure of required additional information with respect to the distribution of the shares of common stock. We may suspend the sale of shares by the selling stockholder pursuant to this prospectus for certain periods of time for certain reasons, including if the prospectus is required to be supplemented or amended to include additional material information.
35
Table of ContentsDESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
Common Stock
We are authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share. As of December 10, 2007, approximately 20,433,167 shares of common stock were issued and outstanding. The following descriptions of our common stock and provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws are only summaries, and we encourage you to review complete copies of these documents, which have been filed as exhibits to our periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Dividends, Voting Rights and Liquidation
Holders of common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders, and do not have cumulative voting rights. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding shares of preferred stock, holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of funds legally available for dividend payments. All outstanding shares of common stock are fully paid and non-assessable, and the shares of common stock to be issued upon completion of this offering will be fully paid and non-assessable. The holders of common stock have no preferences or rights of conversion, exchange, pre-emption or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our affairs, holders of common stock will be entitled to share ratably in our assets that are remaining after payment or provision for payment of all of our debts and obligations and after liquidation payments to holders of outstanding shares of preferred stock, if any.
Listing
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ‘‘CYCC.’’ Our preferred stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol ‘‘CYCCP.’’
Transfer Agent and Registrar
American Stock Transfer & Trust Company is the transfer agent and registrar for our common stock. Their address is 59 Maiden Lane, Plaza Level, New York, NY 10038, and their telephone number is (800) 937-5449.
Delaware Law and Certain Charter and By-law Provisions
The provisions of (1) Delaware law, (2) our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, and (3) our amended and restated bylaws discussed below could discourage or make it more difficult to accomplish a proxy contest or other change in our management or the acquisition of control by a holder of a substantial amount of our voting stock. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish, or could deter, transactions that stockholders may otherwise consider to be in their best interests or in our best interests. These provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and in the policies formulated by the board of directors and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened change of control of us. These provisions are designed to reduce our vulnerability to an unsolicited acquisition proposal. The provisions also are intended to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. Such provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our management.
Delaware Statutory Business Combinations Provision. We are subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a ‘‘business combination’’ with an ‘‘interested stockholder’’ for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is, or the transaction in which the person
36
Table of Contentsbecame an interested stockholder was, approved in a prescribed manner or another prescribed exception applies. For purposes of Section 203, a ‘‘business combination’’ is defined broadly to include a merger, asset sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder, and, subject to certain exceptions, an ‘‘interested stockholder’’ is a person who, together with his or her affiliates and associates, owns (or within three years prior, did own) 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock.
Classified Board of Directors; Removal of Directors for Cause. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors is divided into three classes, each serving staggered three-year terms ending at the annual meeting of our stockholders. All directors elected to our classified board of directors will serve until the election and qualification of their respective successors or their earlier resignation or removal. The board of directors is authorized to create new directorships and to fill such positions so created and is permitted to specify the class to which any such new position is assigned. The person filling such position would serve for the term applicable to that class. The board of directors (or its remaining members, even if less than a quorum) is also empowered to fill vacancies on the board of directors occurring for any reason for the remainder of the term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred. Members of the board of directors may only be removed for cause and only by the affirmative vote of 80% of our outstanding voting stock. These provisions are likely to increase the time required for stockholders to change the composition of the board of directors. For example, in general, at least two annual meetings will be necessary for stockholders to effect a change in a majority of the members of the board of directors.
Advance Notice Provisions for Stockholder Proposals and Stockholder Nominations of Directors. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, for nominations to the board of directors or for other business to be properly brought by a stockholder before a meeting of stockholders, the stockholder must first have given timely notice of the proposal in writing to our Secretary. For an annual meeting, a stockholder’s notice generally must be delivered not less than 45 days nor more than 75 days prior to the anniversary of the mailing date of the proxy statement for the previous year’s annual meeting. For a special meeting, the notice must generally be delivered by the later of 90 days prior to the special meeting or ten days following the day on which public announcement of the meeting is first made. Detailed requirements as to the form of the notice and information required in the notice are specified in the amended and restated bylaws. If it is determined that business was not properly brought before a meeting in accordance with our bylaw provisions, such business will not be conducted at the meeting.
Special Meetings of Stockholders. Special meetings of the stockholders may be called only by our board of directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of directors.
No Stockholder Action by Written Consent. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws do not permit our stockholders to act by written consent. As a result, any action to be effected by our stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of the stockholders.
Super-Majority Stockholder Vote Required for Certain Actions. The Delaware General Corporation Law provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares entitled to vote on any matter is required to amend a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, unless the corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, as the case may be, requires a greater percentage. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80% of our outstanding voting stock to amend or repeal any of the provisions discussed in this section of this prospectus entitled ‘‘Anti-Takeover Provisions’’ or to reduce the number of authorized shares of common stock or preferred stock. This 80% stockholder vote would be in addition to any separate class vote that might in the future be required pursuant to the terms of any preferred stock that might then be outstanding. In addition, an 80% vote is also required for any amendment to, or repeal of, our amended and restated bylaws by the stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws may be amended or repealed by a simple majority vote of the board of directors.
37
Table of ContentsPREFERRED STOCK
We have the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock. As of December 10, 2007, 2,046,813 shares of our preferred stock were outstanding (see ‘‘6% Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock’’ below). The description of preferred stock provisions set forth below is not complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our certificate of incorporation and the certificate of designations relating to each series of preferred stock.
The board of directors has the right, without the consent of holders of common stock, to designate and issue one or more series of preferred stock, which may be convertible into common stock at a ratio determined by the board. A series of preferred stock may bear rights superior to common stock as to voting, dividends, redemption, distributions in liquidation, dissolution, or winding up, and other relative rights and preferences. The board may set the following terms of any series preferred stock, and a prospectus supplement will specify these terms for each series offered:
Dividends on outstanding shares of preferred stock will be paid or declared and set apart for payment before any dividends may be paid or declared and set apart for payment on the common stock with respect to the same dividend period.
If, upon any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company, the assets available for distribution to holders of preferred stock are insufficient to pay the full preferential amount to which the holders are entitled, then the available assets will be distributed ratably among the shares of all series of preferred stock in accordance with the respective preferential amounts (including unpaid cumulative dividends, if any) payable with respect to each series.
Holders of preferred stock will not be entitled to preemptive rights to purchase or subscribe for any shares of any class of capital stock of the corporation. The preferred stock will, when issued, be fully paid and nonassessable. The rights of the holders of preferred stock will be subordinate to those of our general creditors.
We have previously issued 2,990,000 shares of preferred stock in one series, designated as 6% Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock, of which 2,046,813 are currently outstanding and is quoted on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol ‘‘CYCCP.’’
6% Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock
General
Our board of directors has designated 2,990,000 shares of the preferred stock that were issued as convertible preferred stock on November 3, 2004. The shares of convertible preferred stock are duly
38
Table of Contentsand validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. These shares will not have any preemptive rights if we issue other series of preferred stock. The convertible preferred stock is not subject to any sinking fund. We have no obligation to retire the convertible preferred stock. The convertible preferred stock has a perpetual maturity and may remain outstanding indefinitely, subject to the holder’s right to convert the convertible preferred stock and our right to cause the conversion of the convertible preferred stock and exchange or redeem the convertible preferred stock at our option. Any convertible preferred stock converted, exchanged or redeemed or acquired by us will, upon cancellation, have the status of authorized but unissued shares of convertible preferred stock. We will be able to reissue these cancelled shares of convertible preferred stock.
Dividends
When and if declared by our board of directors out of the legally available funds, holders of the convertible preferred stock are entitled to receive cash dividends at an annual rate of 6% of the liquidation preference of the convertible preferred stock. Dividends are payable, and have been paid since February 1, 2005, quarterly on the first day of February, May, August and November. If any dividends are not declared, they will accrue and be paid at such later date, if any, as determined by our board of directors. Dividends on the convertible preferred stock will be cumulative from the issue date. Dividends will be payable to holders of record as they appear on our stock books not more than 60 days nor less than 10 days preceding the payment dates, as fixed by our board of directors. If the convertible preferred stock is called for redemption on a redemption date between the dividend record date and the dividend payment date and the holder does not convert the convertible preferred stock (as described below), the holder shall receive the dividend payment together with all other accrued and unpaid dividends on the redemption date instead of receiving the dividend on the dividend date. Dividends payable on the convertible preferred stock for any period greater or less than a full dividend period will be computed on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months. Accrued but unpaid dividends will not bear interest.
If we do not pay or set aside cumulative dividends in full on the convertible preferred stock and any other preferred stock ranking on the same basis as to dividends, all dividends declared upon shares of the convertible preferred stock and any other preferred stock ranking on the same basis as to dividends will be declared on a pro rata basis until all accrued dividends are paid in full. For these purposes, ‘‘pro rata’’ means that the amount of dividends declared per share on the convertible preferred stock and any other preferred stock ranking on the same basis as to dividends bear to each other will be the same ratio that accrued and unpaid dividends per share on the shares of the convertible preferred stock and such other preferred stock bear to each other. We will not be able to redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire any of our stock ranking on the same basis as the convertible preferred stock as to dividends or liquidation preferences unless we have paid or set aside full cumulative dividends, if any, accrued on all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock.
Unless we have paid or set aside cumulative dividends in full on the convertible preferred stock and any other of the convertible preferred stock ranking on the same basis as to dividends:
Under Delaware law, we may only make dividends or distributions to our stockholders from:
Our ability to pay dividends and make any other distributions in the future will depend upon our financial results, liquidity and financial condition.
39
Table of ContentsConversion
Conversion Rights
Holders of our convertible preferred stock may convert the convertible preferred stock at any time into a number of shares of common stock determined by dividing the $10 liquidation preference by the conversion price of $23.50, being the original conversion price of $2.35 as adjusted following a reverse stock split, subject to adjustment as described below. This conversion price is equivalent to a conversion rate of approximately 0.42553 shares of common stock for each share of convertible preferred stock. We will not make any adjustment to the conversion price for accrued or unpaid dividends upon conversion. We will not issue fractional shares of common stock upon conversion. However, we will instead pay cash for each fractional share based upon the market price of the common stock on the last business day prior to the conversion date. If we call the convertible preferred stock for redemption, the holder’s right to convert the convertible preferred stock will expire at the close of business on the business day immediately preceding the date fixed for redemption, unless we fail to pay the redemption price.
Automatic Conversion
Unless we redeem or exchange the convertible preferred stock, we may elect to convert some or all of the convertible preferred stock into shares of our common stock if the closing price of our common stock has exceeded 150% of the conversion price for at least 20 out of 30 consecutive trading days ending within five trading days prior to the notice of automatic conversion. If we elect to convert less than all of the shares of convertible preferred stock, we shall select the shares to be converted by lot or pro rata or in some other equitable manner in our discretion. On or after November 3, 2007, we may not elect to automatically convert the convertible preferred stock if full cumulative dividends on the convertible preferred stock for all past dividend periods have not been paid or set aside for payment.
Conversion Price Adjustment — General
The conversion price of $23.50 will be adjusted if:
40
Table of ContentsIf we implement a stockholder rights plan, this new rights plan must provide that, upon conversion of the existing convertible preferred stock the holders will receive, in addition to the common stock issuable upon such conversion, the rights under such rights plan regardless of whether the rights have separated from the common stock before the time of conversion. The distribution of rights or warrants pursuant to a stockholder rights plan will not result in an adjustment to the conversion price of the convertible preferred stock until a specified triggering event occurs.
The occurrence and magnitude of certain of the adjustments described above is dependent upon the current market price of our common stock. For these purposes, ‘‘current market price’’ generally means the lesser of:
We may make a temporary reduction in the conversion price of the convertible preferred stock if our board of directors determines that this decrease would be in our best interest. We may, at our option, reduce the conversion price if our board of directors deems it advisable to avoid or diminish any income tax to holders of common stock resulting from any dividend or distribution of stock or rights to acquire stock or from any event treated as such for income tax purposes.
Conversion Price Adjustment — Merger, Consolidation or Sale of Assets
If we are involved in a transaction in which shares of our common stock are converted into the right to receive other securities, cash or other property, or a sale or transfer of all or substantially all of our assets under which the holders of our common stock shall be entitled to receive other securities, cash or other property, then appropriate provision shall be made so that the shares of convertible preferred stock will convert into:
The company formed by the consolidation, merger, asset acquisition or share acquisition shall provide for this right in its organizational document. This organizational document shall also provide for adjustments so that the organizational document shall be as nearly practicably equivalent to adjustments in this section for events occurring after the effective date of the organizational document.
The following types of transactions, among others, would be covered by this adjustment:
41
Table of ContentsFundamental Change Conversion Price Adjustments
If a fundamental change occurs, the conversion price will be adjusted as follows:
the conversion price shall be the conversion price in effect immediately prior to such common stock fundamental change multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is one (1) and the denominator of which is the number of shares of common stock of the successor, acquiror or other third party received by a holder of one share of our common stock as a result of the common stock fundamental change; and
Holders of convertible preferred stock may receive significantly different consideration upon conversion depending upon whether a fundamental change is a non-stock fundamental change or a common stock fundamental change. In the event of a non-stock fundamental change, the shares of convertible preferred stock will convert into stock and other securities or property or assets, including cash, determined by the number of shares of common stock receivable upon conversion at the conversion price as adjusted in accordance with (2) above. In the event of a common stock fundamental change, under certain circumstances, the holder of convertible preferred stock will receive different consideration depending on whether the holder converts his or her shares of convertible preferred stock on or after the common stock fundamental change.
42
Table of ContentsDefinitions for the Fundamental Change Adjustment Provision
‘‘applicable price’’ means:
‘‘common stock fundamental change’’ means any fundamental change in which more than 50% of the value, as determined in good faith by our board of directors, of the consideration received by holders of our common stock consists of common stock that, for the 10 trading days immediately prior to such fundamental change, has been admitted for listing or admitted for listing subject to notice of issuance on a national securities exchange or quoted on the Nasdaq National Market, except that a fundamental change shall not be a common stock fundamental change unless either:
‘‘fundamental change’’ means the occurrence of any transaction or event or series of transactions or events pursuant to which all or substantially all of our common stock shall be exchanged for, converted into, acquired for or shall constitute solely the right to receive cash, securities, property or other assets, whether by means of an exchange offer, liquidation, tender offer, consolidation, merger, combination, reclassification, recapitalization or otherwise. However, for purposes of adjustment of the conversion price, in the case of any series of transactions or events, the fundamental change shall be deemed to have occurred when substantially all of the common stock shall have been exchanged for, converted into or acquired for, or shall constitute solely the right to receive, such cash, securities, property or other assets, but the adjustment shall be based upon the consideration that the holders of our common stock received in the transaction or event as a result of which more than 50% of our common stock shall have been exchanged for, converted into or acquired for, or shall constitute solely the right to receive, such cash, securities, property or other assets.
‘‘non-stock fundamental change’’ means any fundamental change other than a common stock fundamental change.
‘‘purchaser stock price’’ means the average of the daily closing price for one share of the common stock received by holders of the common stock in the common stock fundamental change during the 10 trading days immediately prior to the date fixed for the determination of the holders of the common stock entitled to receive such common stock or, if there is no such date, prior to the date upon which the holders of the common stock shall have the right to receive such common stock.
Liquidation Rights
In the event of our voluntary or involuntary dissolution, liquidation, or winding up, the holders of the convertible preferred stock shall receive a liquidation preference of $10 per share and all accrued and unpaid dividends through the distribution date. Holders of any class or series of preferred stock ranking on the same basis as your convertible preferred stock as to liquidation shall also be entitled to receive the full respective liquidation preferences and any accrued and unpaid dividends through the distribution date. Only after the preferred stock holders have received their liquidation preference and any accrued and unpaid dividends will we distribute assets to common stock holders or any of our
43
Table of Contentsother stock ranking junior to the shares of convertible preferred stock upon liquidation. If upon such dissolution, liquidation or winding up, we do not have enough assets to pay in full the amounts due on the convertible preferred stock and any other preferred stock ranking on the same basis with the convertible preferred stock as to liquidation, the holders of the convertible preferred stock and such other preferred stock will share ratably in any such distributions of our assets:
• first in proportion to the liquidation preferences until the preferences are paid in full, and
• then in proportion to the amounts of accrued but unpaid dividends.
After we pay any liquidation preference and accrued dividends, holders of the convertible preferred stock will not be entitled to participate any further in the distribution of our assets. The following events will not be deemed to be a dissolution, liquidation or winding up of Cyclacel:
Optional Redemption
On or after November 6, 2007 we may redeem the convertible preferred stock, out of legally available funds, in whole or in part, at our option, at the redemption prices listed below. The redemption price is as follows for the 12-month period beginning November 1 of the following years, beginning November 6, 2007 and ending on October 31, 2008 in the case of the first period:
Price 2007and $10.00 at November 1, 2014 and thereafter. In each case we will pay accrued and unpaid dividends to, but excluding, the redemption date. We are required to give notice of redemption not more than 60 and not less than 20 days before the redemption date.
If we redeem less than all of the shares of convertible preferred stock, we shall select the shares to be redeemed by lot or pro rata or in some other equitable manner in our sole discretion.
Exchange Provisions
We may exchange the convertible preferred stock in whole, but not in part, for debentures on any dividend payment date on or after November 1, 2005 at the rate of $10 principal amount of debentures for each outstanding share of convertible preferred stock. Debentures will be issuable in denominations of $1,000 and integral multiples of $1,000, as discussed in the section entitled ‘‘Description of Debentures’’ below. If the exchange results in an amount of debentures that is not an integral multiple of $1,000, we will pay in cash an amount in excess of the closest integral multiple of $1,000. We will mail written notice of our intention to exchange the convertible preferred stock to each record holder not less than 30 nor more than 60 days prior to the exchange date.
We refer to the date fixed for exchange of the convertible preferred stock for debentures as the ‘‘exchange date.’’ On the exchange date, the holder’s rights as a stockholder of Cyclacel shall cease, the shares of convertible preferred stock will no longer be outstanding, and will only represent the right to receive the debentures and any accrued and unpaid dividends, without interest. We may not exercise our option to exchange the convertible preferred stock for the debentures if:
44
Table of ContentsVoting Rights
Our convertible preferred stock will have no voting rights except as described below or as required by law. Shares held by us or any entity controlled by us will not have any voting rights.
If we have not paid dividends on the convertible preferred stock or on any outstanding shares of preferred stock ranking on the same basis as to dividends with the convertible preferred stock in an aggregate amount equal to at least six quarterly dividends whether or not consecutive, we will increase the size of our board of directors by two additional directors. So long as dividends remain due and unpaid, holders of the convertible preferred stock, voting separately as a class with holders of preferred stock ranking on the same basis as to dividends having like voting rights, will be entitled to elect two additional directors at any meeting of stockholders at which directors are to be elected. These directors will be appointed to classes on the board as determined by our board of directors. These voting rights will terminate when we have declared and either paid or set aside for payment all accrued and unpaid dividends. The terms of office of all directors so elected will terminate immediately upon the termination of these voting rights.
Without the vote or consent of the holders of at least a majority of the shares of convertible preferred stock, we may not:
No class vote on the part of convertible preferred stock shall be required (except as otherwise required by law or resolution of our board of directors) in connection with the authorization, issuance or increase in the authorized amount of any shares of capital stock ranking junior to or on parity with the convertible preferred stock both as to the payment of dividends and as to distribution of assets upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, whether voluntary or involuntary, including our common stock and the convertible preferred stock.
In addition, without the vote or consent of the holders of at least a majority of the shares of convertible preferred stock we may not:
unless the convertible preferred stock remains outstanding and its rights, privileges and preferences are unaffected or it is converted into or exchanged for convertible preferred stock of the surviving entity having rights, preferences and limitations substantially similar, but no less favorable, to the convertible preferred stock.
In determining a majority under these voting provisions, holders of convertible preferred stock will vote together with holders of any other preferred stock that rank on parity as to dividends and that have like voting rights.
45
Table of ContentsWARRANT
We issued a warrant to Kingsbridge to purchase up to 175,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $7.17 per share. This warrant is exercisable beginning six months after December 10, 2007 and for a period of five years thereafter. Under the terms of the warrant, the warrant may not be exercised to the extent that such exercise would cause the warrant holder to beneficially own (or be deemed to beneficially own) a number of shares of our common stock that would exceed 9.9% of our then outstanding shares of common stock following such exercise.
LEGAL MATTERS
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., New York, New York, will provide us with an opinion as to the legal matters in connection with the securities we are offering.
EXPERTS
The consolidated financial statements of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. appearing in Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2006 included therein, have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their reports thereon, included therein, and incorporated herein by reference. Such consolidated financial statements and management’s assessment are incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon such reports given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
46
Table of ContentsWHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We are a public company and file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at Station Place, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You can request copies of these documents by writing to the SEC and paying a fee for the copying cost. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for more information about the operation of the public reference room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov, and on our web site at http://www.cyclacel.com. The information contained on our web site is not included or incorporated by reference into this prospectus. In addition, our common stock is listed for trading on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ‘‘CYCC’’ and our preferred stock is listed for trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol ‘‘CYCCP.’’ You can read and copy reports and other information concerning us at the offices of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. located at 1735 K Street, Washington, D.C. 20006.
This prospectus is only part of a Registration Statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and therefore omits certain information contained in the Registration Statement. We have also filed exhibits and schedules with the Registration Statement that are excluded from this prospectus, and you should refer to the applicable exhibit or schedule for a complete description of any statement referring to any contract or other document. You may:
INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The SEC allows us to ‘‘incorporate by reference’’ the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus and information we file later with the SEC will automatically update and supersede this information. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any future filings made by us with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. The documents we are incorporating by reference as of their respective dates of filing are:
47
Table of ContentsYou may request, orally or in writing, a copy of these filings, which will be provided to you at no cost, by contacting our investor relations department our principal executive offices, which are located at 200 Connell Drive, Suite 1500, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922, Attention: Investor Relations, Telephone: (908) 517-7330.
To the extent that any statements contained in a document incorporated by reference are modified or superseded by any statements contained in this prospectus, such statements shall not be deemed incorporated in this prospectus except as so modified or superseded.
We also incorporate by reference all documents subsequently filed by us pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, including all such documents filed after the date of this prospectus and prior to the termination of this offering, which documents shall become a part of this prospectus from the date such documents are filed. Any statement contained in this prospectus or in a document incorporated by reference is modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in any subsequent filed document modifies or supersedes such statement.
48