e10vq
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
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QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2006
OR
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to .
Commission File Number 0-51110
VIACELL, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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Delaware
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04-3244816 |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or
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(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
Organization) |
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245 First Street, Cambridge, MA
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02142 |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
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(Zip Code) |
(617) 914-3400
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by
Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for
such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been
subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer,
or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of accelerated filer and large accelerated filer in
Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer
o Accelerated filer o Non-accelerated filer þ
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934).
Yes o No þ
As of August 8, 2006, 38,616,471 shares of the Companys common stock, $0.01 par value, were
outstanding.
ViaCell, Inc.
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
For the Fiscal Quarter Ended June 30, 2006
NOTE ABOUT REFERENCES TO VIACELL
Throughout this report, the words we, our, us and ViaCell refer to ViaCell, Inc. and its
subsidiaries.
NOTE ABOUT TRADEMARKS
ViaCell® and ViaCord® are registered trademarks of ViaCell, Inc.
ViaCytesm is a service mark of ViaCell, Inc.
NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains forward-looking statements, including statements about our current projections
as to future financial performance, our expectations as to the potential and anticipated results of
our development programs, and our views as to the possible outcome of pending litigation and
actions related to our intellectual property portfolio. We have based these forward-looking
statements on our current expectations about such future events. While we believe these
expectations are reasonable, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Our actual results may differ materially from
those suggested by these forward-looking statements for various reasons, including those discussed
in this report in Part II Item 1A (Risk Factors). Given these risks and uncertainties, you are
cautioned not to place substantial weight on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking
statements included in this report are made only as of the date of this report. We do not undertake
any obligation to update or revise any of these statements.
2
PART I FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1 Financial Statements
ViaCell, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(amounts in thousands, except share data)
(unaudited)
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June 30, |
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December 31, |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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ASSETS
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Current assets: |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
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$ |
29,932 |
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$ |
33,138 |
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Short-term investments |
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26,756 |
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27,406 |
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Accounts receivable, less allowances of $1,436 and $1,111 at June 30, 2006 and December 31, 2005,
respectively |
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11,876 |
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13,736 |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
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3,215 |
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2,679 |
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Restricted cash |
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162 |
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162 |
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Total current assets |
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71,941 |
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77,121 |
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Property and equipment, net |
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8,877 |
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8,702 |
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Goodwill |
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3,621 |
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3,621 |
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Intangible assets, net |
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2,722 |
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2,823 |
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Restricted cash |
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1,944 |
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1,932 |
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Other assets |
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31 |
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31 |
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Total assets |
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$ |
89,136 |
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$ |
94,230 |
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LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY
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Current liabilities: |
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Current portion of long-term debt obligations |
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$ |
661 |
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$ |
1,543 |
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Accounts payable |
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1,671 |
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1,141 |
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Accrued expenses |
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10,755 |
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7,706 |
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Deferred revenue |
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6,706 |
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5,785 |
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Total current liabilities |
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19,793 |
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16,175 |
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Deferred revenue |
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12,103 |
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9,930 |
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Deferred rent |
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3,705 |
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3,876 |
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Contingent purchase price |
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8,155 |
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8,155 |
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Long-term debt obligations, net of current portion |
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53 |
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84 |
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Total liabilities |
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43,809 |
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38,220 |
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Commitments and contingencies (Note 4 )
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Stockholders equity: |
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Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; authorized 5,000,000 shares at June 30, 2006 and December 31, 2005 |
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Common stock, $0.01 par value; authorized 100,000,000 shares at June 30, 2006 and December 31,
2005; issued and outstanding 38,374,069 and 38,117,725 shares at June 30, 2006 and December 31,
2005, respectively |
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384 |
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381 |
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Additional
paid - in capital |
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230,161 |
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229,955 |
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Deferred compensation |
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(1,087 |
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Accumulated deficit |
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(185,433 |
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(173,443 |
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Accumulated other comprehensive income |
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215 |
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204 |
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Total stockholders equity |
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45,327 |
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56,010 |
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Total liabilities and stockholders equity |
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$ |
89,136 |
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$ |
94,230 |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
4
ViaCell, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(amounts in thousands, except per share data)
(unaudited)
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Three Months Ended June 30, |
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Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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Processing and storage revenues |
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$ |
13,362 |
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$ |
11,188 |
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$ |
25,299 |
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$ |
21,163 |
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Grant revenues |
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177 |
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195 |
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320 |
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360 |
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Total revenues |
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13,539 |
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11,383 |
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25,619 |
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21,523 |
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Operating expenses: |
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Cost of processing and storage revenues |
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2,536 |
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2,028 |
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4,864 |
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3,981 |
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Research and development |
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3,660 |
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3,116 |
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7,126 |
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6,762 |
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Sales and marketing |
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9,995 |
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6,076 |
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17,916 |
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11,645 |
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General and administrative |
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5,013 |
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3,588 |
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9,650 |
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6,635 |
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Restructuring |
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0 |
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90 |
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(180 |
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211 |
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Total operating expenses |
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21,204 |
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14,898 |
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39,376 |
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29,234 |
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Loss from operations |
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(7,665 |
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(3,515 |
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(13,757 |
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(7,711 |
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Interest income (expense): |
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Interest income |
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803 |
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458 |
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1,527 |
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773 |
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Interest expense |
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(17 |
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(38 |
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(43 |
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(193 |
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Total interest income, net |
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786 |
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420 |
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1,484 |
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580 |
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Loss from operations before cumulative effect of
change in accounting
principle |
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(6,879 |
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(3,095 |
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(12,273 |
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(7,131 |
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Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle |
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283 |
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Net loss |
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(6,879 |
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(3,095 |
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(11,990 |
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(7,131 |
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Accretion on redeemable convertible preferred stock |
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987 |
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Net loss attributable to common stockholders |
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$ |
(6,879 |
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$ |
(3,095 |
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$ |
(11,990 |
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$ |
(8,118 |
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Net loss per share: |
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Net loss per common share, basic and diluted |
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$ |
(0.18 |
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$ |
(0.08 |
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$ |
(0.31 |
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$ |
(0.24 |
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Weighted average shares used in basic and diluted
net loss per share computation |
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38,367 |
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37,526 |
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38,329 |
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33,261 |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
5
ViaCell, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
(amounts in thousands)
(unaudited)
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Three Months Ended June 30, |
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Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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Net loss |
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$ |
(6,879 |
) |
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$ |
(3,095 |
) |
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$ |
(11,990 |
) |
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$ |
(7,131 |
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Foreign currency translation adjustment |
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2 |
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(13 |
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11 |
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(55 |
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Comprehensive loss |
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$ |
(6,877 |
) |
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$ |
(3,108 |
) |
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$ |
(11,979 |
) |
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$ |
(7,186 |
) |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
6
ViaCell,
Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(amounts in thousands)
(unaudited)
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Six Months Ended June 30, |
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2006 |
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2005 |
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Cash flows from operating activities: |
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Net loss |
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$ |
(11,990 |
) |
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$ |
(7,131 |
) |
Adjustments
to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used
in) operating activities: |
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Depreciation and amortization |
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1,130 |
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|
991 |
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Cumulative effect of change in accounting principle |
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(283 |
) |
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Stock-based compensation |
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1,531 |
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|
794 |
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Reserve for bad debt |
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777 |
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188 |
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Non-cash interest expense on related party notes |
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|
87 |
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Loss on disposal of property and equipment |
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17 |
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Tenant improvement allowance |
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60 |
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Other |
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4 |
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11 |
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Changes in assets and liabilities: |
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Accounts receivable |
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1,093 |
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(3,390 |
) |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
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(733 |
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1,448 |
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Accounts payable |
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|
507 |
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|
510 |
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Accrued expenses |
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3,007 |
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|
335 |
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Deferred revenue |
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3,094 |
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|
3,421 |
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Deferred rent |
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(263 |
) |
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|
3,172 |
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Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities |
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(2,066 |
) |
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453 |
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Cash flows from investing activities: |
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Purchases of property and equipment |
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(1,204 |
) |
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(2,721 |
) |
Proceeds from maturities of investments |
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20,922 |
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|
14,346 |
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Purchase of investments |
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(20,276 |
) |
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(17,734 |
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Changes in other assets |
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210 |
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Net cash used in investing activities |
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(558 |
) |
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(5,899 |
) |
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Cash flows from financing activities: |
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Proceeds from exercise of stock options |
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49 |
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|
630 |
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Net proceeds from sale of common stock in initial
public offering, net of offering costs |
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53,249 |
|
Proceeds from refund of security deposit |
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218 |
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Repayments on credit facilities |
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(881 |
) |
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(822 |
) |
Repayment of notes payable to related party,
including accrued interest |
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(15,510 |
) |
Payments on capital lease principal |
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(36 |
) |
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(45 |
) |
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Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities |
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|
(650 |
) |
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|
37,502 |
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|
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Effect of change in exchange rates on cash |
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|
68 |
|
|
|
(109 |
) |
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents |
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|
(3,206 |
) |
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|
31,947 |
|
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period |
|
|
33,138 |
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|
|
6,746 |
|
|
|
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Cash and cash equivalents, end of period |
|
$ |
29,932 |
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|
$ |
38,693 |
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|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
7
ViaCell, Inc.
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(unaudited)
1. Organization and Nature of Business
ViaCell is a biotechnology company dedicated to researching, developing and commercializing
cellular therapies. The Company has a pipeline of proprietary umbilical cord blood-derived and
adult-derived stem cell product candidates being studied as possible treatments for cancer, cardiac
disease and diabetes. The Companys lead umbilical cord blood-derived stem cell therapy product
candidate, CB001, is being developed as a possible treatment for hematopoietic stem cell
reconstitution in patients affected by a variety of cancers. In addition to the Companys
therapeutic research and development programs, it has a reproductive health business that generates
revenues from sales of ViaCord, a service offering through which expectant families can preserve
their babies umbilical cord blood for possible future medical use. The Company is working to
leverage its commercial infrastructure and product development capabilities by developing ViaCyte,
its product candidate being studied for its potential to broaden reproductive choices for women
through the cryopreservation of human unfertilized eggs, as well as potential in-licensing or
acquisition of additional opportunities.
ViaCell was incorporated in the State of Delaware on September 2, 1994. The Companys
corporate headquarters and main research facility are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The
Company has processing and storage facilities in Hebron, Kentucky and an additional research and
development operation in Singapore.
On September 30, 2003, ViaCell acquired the outstanding shares of Kourion Therapeutics AG
(Kourion) in a purchase business combination. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of
Kourion exchanged all of their outstanding shares for a $14 million note and 549,854 shares of
ViaCells Series I convertible preferred stock. As potential additional consideration, the Company
issued 241,481 additional shares of Series I convertible preferred stock to an escrow account and
reserved 289,256 shares of Series I convertible preferred stock for possible issuance in the
future.
The Company restructured its operations in September and December 2004 to reduce operating
expenses and concentrate its resources on key products and product candidates, and related business
initiatives (Note 5).
On January 26, 2005 the Company completed its initial public offering (IPO). The Company
issued 8,625,000 shares at $7.00 per share resulting in net proceeds to the Company of
approximately $53,249,000 after underwriters discounts and offering expenses. As a result of the
IPO, all shares of the Companys preferred stock immediately converted into 25,810,932 shares of
common stock. On January 26, 2005, the Company paid in full a related party note of $15,509,760,
which included all outstanding principal and interest owed at that date.
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2006 and for the three and
six months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005, and related notes, are unaudited but in managements
opinion include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, that the Company
considers
8
necessary for fair statement of the interim periods presented. The Company has prepared its
unaudited, consolidated financial statements following the requirements of the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) for interim reporting. As permitted under these rules, the Company has
condensed or omitted certain footnotes and other financial information that are normally required
by accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The Companys accounting policies are
described in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in its 2005 Annual Report on Form
10-K and updated, as necessary, in this Form 10-Q. Results for the three and six months ended June
30, 2006 are not necessarily indicative of results for the entire fiscal year or future periods.
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company
and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the U.S. requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported
amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date
of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting
period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Stock-Based Compensation
The ViaCell, Inc. Amended and Restated 1998 Equity Incentive Plan (the Plan) provides for
the grant of incentive and nonqualified stock options to employees, consultants and directors of
the Company. The number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the Plan as of
June 30, 2006 was 7,200,000. Incentive stock options may only be granted to employees of the
Company. The exercise price of each option is determined by the Board of Directors. The exercise
price of each incentive stock option, however, may not be less than the fair market value of the
stock on the date of grant. On January 1, 2006, the Company adopted Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123R Share-Based Payment (SFAS 123R) using the modified
prospective method, which results in the provisions of SFAS 123R only being applied to the
consolidated financial statements on a going-forward basis (that is, the prior period results have
not been restated). Under the fair value recognition provision of SFAS 123R, stock-based
compensation expense is measured using the Black-Scholes option pricing model at the grant date
based on the value of the award and is recognized as expense on a straight-line basis over the
requisite service period. Previously, the Company had followed
Accounting Principles Board Opinion
No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees, and related interpretation, which resulted in
the accounting for employee stock options at their intrinsic value in the consolidated financial
statements.
The Company recognized the full impact under SFAS 123R of the Companys share-based payment
plan as stock-based compensation expense for continuing operations in its unaudited condensed
consolidated statements of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2006 as follows
(in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months |
|
|
Six Months |
|
|
|
Ended June 30, |
|
|
Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2006 |
|
Cost of processing and storage revenues |
|
$ |
17 |
|
|
$ |
32 |
|
Research and development |
|
|
136 |
|
|
|
240 |
|
Sales and marketing |
|
|
70 |
|
|
|
127 |
|
General and administrative |
|
|
597 |
|
|
|
1,132 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total stock-based compensation expense |
|
$ |
820 |
|
|
$ |
1,531 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9
Upon adoption of SFAS 123R, using the modified prospective method, the Company recognized a
one-time benefit of $0.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2006 as a cumulative effect
of a change in accounting principle resulting from the adjustment to estimate forfeitures of the
Companys stock option grants at the date of grant instead of recognizing them as incurred. The
estimated forfeiture rate was applied to the previously recorded stock-based compensation expense
of the Companys unvested stock options in determining the cumulative effect of a change in
accounting principle. The impact to the Company of adopting SFAS 123R for the three and six
months ended June 30, 2006 was an increase to loss from operations of $0.8 million and $1.5
million, respectively, an increase to net loss of $0.8 million and $1.2 million, respectively, an
increase to cash flows from operating activities of $0.8 million and $1.2 million, respectively, and
an increase in net loss per basic and diluted share of $0.02 and $0.03, respectively.
The Company had previously adopted the provisions of SFAS No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based
Compensation, as amended by SFAS No. 148, Accounting for Stock-Based CompensationTransition and
Disclosure, through disclosure only. The following table illustrates the effect on net loss and
net loss per share for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2005 as if the Company had
applied the fair value recognition provisions of SFAS No. 123 to stock-based employee awards.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ended June 30, |
|
|
Six Months Ended |
|
In thousands except per share data |
|
2005 |
|
|
June 30, 2005 |
|
Net loss attributable to common
stockholders as reported |
|
$ |
(3,095 |
) |
|
$ |
(8,118 |
) |
Add: employee stock-based
compensation expense included in
reported net loss |
|
|
358 |
|
|
|
792 |
|
Deduct: total employee stock-based
compensation expense determined under
fair value based method for all
awards |
|
|
(1,144 |
) |
|
|
(2,222 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pro forma net loss attributable to
common stockholders |
|
$ |
(3,881 |
) |
|
$ |
(9,548 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted net loss per share
as reported |
|
$ |
(0.08 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.24 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pro forma basic and diluted net loss
per share |
|
$ |
(0.10 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.29 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Companys expected stock-price volatility assumption in its Black-Scholes
option-pricing model is based on both current implied volatility and historical volatilities of the
underlying stock which is obtained from public data sources. For stock option grants issued during
the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2006, the Company used a weighted-average expected
stock-price volatility of 65%.
The Company determined the weighted-average option life assumption based on the exercise
behavior that different employee groups exhibited historically, adjusted for specific factors that
may influence future exercise patterns. For stock option grants made during the three and six month
periods ended June 30, 2006, the Company used a weighted average expected option life assumption of
4.57
10
years. The risk-free interest rate used for each grant is equal to the U.S. Treasury yield
curve in effect at the time of grant for instruments with a similar expected life.
The fair market value of the stock options at the date of grant was estimated using the
Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months ended |
|
Six Months ended |
|
Three Months ended |
|
Six Months ended |
|
|
June 30, 2006 |
|
June 30, 2005 |
Option life |
|
4.57 |
years |
|
4.57 |
years |
|
5.00 |
years |
|
5.00 |
years |
Risk-free interest rate |
|
|
4.61 |
% |
|
|
4.61 |
% |
|
|
3.61 |
% |
|
|
3.61 |
% |
Stock volatility |
|
|
65 |
% |
|
|
65 |
% |
|
|
100 |
% |
|
|
100 |
% |
Dividend rate |
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
0 |
% |
As of June 30, 2006, there remained approximately $6.7 million of compensation costs related
to non-vested stock options to be recognized as expense over a weighted-average period of
approximately 1.7 years.
Presented below is the Companys stock option activity for the six months ended
June 30, 2006 and 2005:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, 2006 |
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
|
Number of |
|
|
Average |
|
|
Number of |
|
|
Average |
|
|
|
Options |
|
|
Exercise |
|
|
Options |
|
|
Exercise |
|
|
|
Outstanding |
|
|
Price |
|
|
Outstanding |
|
|
Price |
|
Outstanding, December 31 |
|
|
3,930,694 |
|
|
$ |
2.77 |
|
|
|
4,455,538 |
|
|
$ |
2.28 |
|
Granted |
|
|
507,625 |
|
|
|
5.12 |
|
|
|
212,200 |
|
|
|
7.90 |
|
Exercised |
|
|
(48,051 |
) |
|
|
1.03 |
|
|
|
(326,978 |
) |
|
|
1.94 |
|
Canceled |
|
|
(36,252 |
) |
|
|
5.73 |
|
|
|
(88,626 |
) |
|
|
5.10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Outstanding, June 30 |
|
|
4,354,016 |
|
|
$ |
3.03 |
|
|
|
4,252,134 |
|
|
$ |
2.53 |
|
Exercisable, June 30 |
|
|
2,275,932 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2,103,472 |
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted
average fair value of options granted |
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
2.88 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
7.07 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Options Outstanding at |
|
|
Options Exercisable at |
|
|
|
|
June 30, 2006 |
|
|
June 30, 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average |
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
|
|
Number of |
|
|
Remaining |
|
|
Average |
|
|
Number of |
|
|
Average |
|
Exercise Price |
|
Shares |
|
|
Contractual Life |
|
|
Exercise Price |
|
|
Shares |
|
|
Exercise Price |
|
$0.30 |
|
|
|
1,380,043 |
|
|
|
3.89 |
|
|
$ |
0.30 |
|
|
|
1,080,043 |
|
|
$ |
0.30 |
|
0.75 |
|
|
|
33,200 |
|
|
|
4.60 |
|
|
|
0.75 |
|
|
|
33,200 |
|
|
|
0.75 |
|
0.95 |
|
|
|
119,986 |
|
|
|
4.85 |
|
|
|
0.95 |
|
|
|
119,986 |
|
|
|
0.95 |
|
2.00 |
|
|
|
727,925 |
|
|
|
5.47 |
|
|
|
2.00 |
|
|
|
201,925 |
|
|
|
2.00 |
|
4.00 |
|
|
|
47,275 |
|
|
|
5.77 |
|
|
|
4.00 |
|
|
|
47,275 |
|
|
|
4.00 |
|
5.00 |
|
|
|
1,220,698 |
|
|
|
7.40 |
|
|
|
5.00 |
|
|
|
645,638 |
|
|
|
5.00 |
|
5.03 |
|
|
|
267,000 |
|
|
|
9.89 |
|
|
|
5.03 |
|
|
|
19,636 |
|
|
|
5.03 |
|
5.21 |
|
|
|
232,216 |
|
|
|
9.67 |
|
|
|
5.21 |
|
|
|
15,756 |
|
|
|
5.21 |
|
5.31 |
|
|
|
138,250 |
|
|
|
9.23 |
|
|
|
5.31 |
|
|
|
25,913 |
|
|
|
5.31 |
|
5.62 |
|
|
|
9,750 |
|
|
|
9.44 |
|
|
|
5.62 |
|
|
|
1,435 |
|
|
|
5.62 |
|
7.25 |
|
|
|
25,000 |
|
|
|
8.82 |
|
|
|
7.25 |
|
|
|
7,812 |
|
|
|
7.25 |
|
8.17 |
|
|
|
96,423 |
|
|
|
8.52 |
|
|
|
8.17 |
|
|
|
63,677 |
|
|
|
8.17 |
|
9.00 |
|
|
|
7,000 |
|
|
|
8.61 |
|
|
|
9.00 |
|
|
|
1,750 |
|
|
|
9.00 |
|
10.89 |
|
|
|
40,000 |
|
|
|
9.03 |
|
|
|
10.89 |
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
10.89 |
|
11.10 |
|
|
|
9,250 |
|
|
|
9.04 |
|
|
|
11.10 |
|
|
|
1,886 |
|
|
|
11.10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4,354,016 |
|
|
|
6.24 |
|
|
$ |
3.03 |
|
|
|
2,275,932 |
|
|
$ |
2.34 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The aggregate intrinsic value of outstanding and exercisable options as of June 30, 2006 was $5.3
million and $2.9 million, respectively. The intrinsic value of options exercised during the three
months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005 was $0.05 million and $0.1 million, respectively. The intrinsic
value of options exercised during the six months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005 was $0.2 million and
$2.5 million, respectively.
Net Loss Per Common Share
Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss attributable to common stockholders
by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted net
loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders for the
period by the weighted average number of common and potentially dilutive common shares outstanding
during the period. Potentially dilutive common shares consist of the common shares issuable upon
the exercise of stock options and warrants and the conversion of convertible preferred stock (using
the if-converted method). Potentially dilutive common shares are excluded from the calculation if
their effect is anti-dilutive.
The following sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net loss per share (in
thousands, except per share data):
12
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
Basic and
diluted net loss per share |
Net loss attributable to common stockholders |
|
$ |
(6,879 |
) |
|
$ |
(3,095 |
) |
|
$ |
(11,990 |
) |
|
$ |
(8,118 |
) |
Weighted average number of common shares
outstanding |
|
|
38,367 |
|
|
|
37,526 |
|
|
|
38,329 |
|
|
|
33,261 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted net loss per share |
|
$ |
(0.18 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.08 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.31 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.24 |
) |
The following potentially dilutive securities were excluded because their effect was
antidilutive due to the Companys net loss for the periods presented (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
Options |
|
|
4,209 |
|
|
|
4,143 |
|
|
|
4,069 |
|
|
|
3,869 |
|
Warrants |
|
|
1,431 |
|
|
|
3,600 |
|
|
|
1,634 |
|
|
|
3,604 |
|
3. Accrued Expenses
At June 30, 2006 and December 31, 2005, accrued expenses consisted of the following (in
thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 30, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
Payroll and payroll related |
|
$ |
1,841 |
|
|
$ |
1,541 |
|
Management incentive |
|
|
662 |
|
|
|
881 |
|
Professional fees |
|
|
2,378 |
|
|
|
1,206 |
|
Accrued marketing |
|
|
2,232 |
|
|
|
1,260 |
|
Accrued restructuring (Note 5) |
|
|
574 |
|
|
|
632 |
|
Deferred rent, current |
|
|
626 |
|
|
|
619 |
|
Accrued taxes |
|
|
370 |
|
|
|
537 |
|
Other |
|
|
2,072 |
|
|
|
1,030 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accrued expenses |
|
$ |
10,755 |
|
|
$ |
7,706 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4. Commitments and Contingencies
Agreements
In June 2006, the Company entered into a research collaboration agreement with the Stem Cell
Internal Venture (SCIV) of Centocor Research and Development, Inc. to evaluate ViaCells
proprietary cord blood-derived multi-potent stem cells in preclinical testing as a potential
treatment for cardiac disease. The collaboration is also supported by the Biologics Delivery
Systems Group of Cordis Corporation, and will focus on dosing, delivery and targeting of ViaCells
expanded proprietary cord
13
blood stem cells using Cordis NOGA delivery system. Under the terms of the agreement,
ViaCell will receive an initial up-front payment of $350,000 which it will record as a liability
and amortize as a reduction of research and development expense, as work is performed. SCIV will
be responsible for its own costs under the collaboration and will pay 50% of the research costs
that ViaCell incurs under the collaboration, consistent with the agreed upon budget. In addition,
the agreement provides SCIV with the first right to negotiate a collaboration with ViaCell on the
clinical development and commercialization of a cardiac product offering based on ViaCells
proprietary cord blood stem cells.
In January 2005, the Company entered into development and supply agreements with Miltenyi
Biotec GmbH. The development agreement provides for the development by Miltenyi of a cGMP cell
separation kit for ViaCell consisting of various antibodies conjugated with magnetic particles to
be used in ViaCells proprietary Selective Amplification process for the development and
commercialization of certain of ViaCells proprietary cellular therapy product candidates. Under
the development agreement, Miltenyi is obligated to perform various tasks set forth in the
agreement in connection with the development of the cell separation kit, including making various
filings with the FDA. The Company is obligated to pay up to $950,000 to Miltenyi under the
agreement. For the year ended December 31, 2005, the Company had recognized $950,000 of expense
related to this development agreement. As of June 30, 2006, the Company had paid $700,000 relating
to the development of the product, and has recognized the expense as the work was performed over
the development period. The Company paid the remaining $250,000 in August 2006.
The supply agreement with Miltenyi provides for the exclusive supply of the cell separation
kits by Miltenyi to ViaCell. The initial term of the supply agreement is seven years. The Company
has purchased $625,000 of cell separation kits in the first six months of 2006, and has committed
to purchase an additional $625,000 of cell separation kits during the remainder of 2006. The
Company also has certain minimum annual purchase requirements starting in fiscal 2007.
The Company has entered into an agreement with the Economic Development Board (EDB) of the
Government of Singapore under which the Government of Singapore has agreed to give the Company a
grant of up to $4,000,000 to fund stem cell research and development programs conducted in
Singapore. Under this agreement, the Government of Singapore reimburses the Company for a portion
of research and development expenses incurred for work done in Singapore. The Company funded
approximately $259,000 and $341,000 of research and development in Singapore during the three
months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005, respectively, and recorded grant revenue of approximately
$177,000 and $195,000 during the three months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005, respectively. The
Company funded approximately $527,000 and $637,000 of research and development in Singapore during
the six months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005, respectively, and recorded grant revenue of
approximately $320,000 and $360,000 during the six months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005,
respectively. The Company and EDB have initiated discussions regarding the grant, which
expires in May 2007, and EDBs desire to extend the grant period. The EDB has informed the Company
that it has reviewed grants made to the Company and wants to amend the grant terms to lower EDBs
overall percentage commitment to fund expenses. The Company does not currently expect that any
changes will affect prior periods, however there is no assurance that the grant authorities will
not challenge whether the grant conditions have been met or seek to recover grants previously made.
The Company enters into indemnification provisions under its agreements with other companies
and individuals performing services for the Company in the ordinary course of business, typically
with business partners, licensors and clinical sites. Under these provisions, the Company generally
indemnifies and holds harmless the indemnified party for losses suffered or incurred by the
indemnified
14
party as a result of the partys activities. Certain indemnification provisions survive
termination of the underlying agreement. The maximum potential amount of future payments the
Company could be required to make under these indemnification provisions is unlimited. However, to
date, the Company has not incurred material costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to
these indemnification provisions. As a result, the estimated fair value of these agreements is
minimal. The Company has approximately $51,000 recorded for these agreements as of June 30, 2006
and December 31, 2005.
Litigation
In 2002, PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc. filed suit against the Company and several
other defendants in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging infringement of
U.S. Patents No. 5,004,681 (681) and No. 5,192,553 (553), relating to certain aspects of the
collection, cryopreservation and storage of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells from
umbilical cord blood. The Company believes that it does not infringe these patents and that the
patents are invalid.
In 2003, a jury ruled against the Company and the other defendants, Cbr Systems Inc, CorCell,
Inc. and Cryo-Cell International Inc, who represent a majority of the family cord blood
preservation industry finding that the patents were valid and enforceable, and that the defendants
infringed the patents. A judgment was entered against the Company for approximately $2.9 million,
based on 6.125% royalties on the Companys revenue from the processing and storage of umbilical
cord blood since April 2000. In 2004, the District Court judge in the case overturned the jurys
verdict stating that PharmaStem had failed to prove infringement. PharmaStem has appealed the
judges decision. The Company has appealed the jurys finding as to validity of the patents. A
hearing on the appeal took place on April 4, 2006.
In July 2004, PharmaStem filed a second complaint against the Company. The second complaint
was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging infringement of
U.S. Patents No. 6,461,645 (645) and 6,569,427 (427), which also relate to certain aspects of the
collection, cryopreservation and storage of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells from
umbilical cord blood. The Company believes that the patents in this new action are invalid and/or
that the Company does not infringe them. On January 7, 2005, PharmaStem filed a Motion for
Preliminary Injunction in the Massachusetts litigation. That motion is currently stayed. The
Company believes the issues presented in this case are substantially the same as the issues
presented in the original Delaware litigation. Accordingly, the Company filed a motion to
consolidate the Massachusetts case with six other actions against other defendants in a single
proceeding in the District of Delaware. On February 16, 2005, the Companys request was granted.
The cases have been consolidated in Delaware.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO) ordered the re-examination of both the 553
method patent and the 681 composition patent at issue in the first case and the 645 and 427
patents at issue in the second case based on prior art. A second re-examination of the 427 patent
was ordered in order to determine whether certain claims of the 427 patent should expire in 2008,
rather than in 2010. In the second quarter of 2006, the U.S. PTO issued separate office actions
rejecting all of the claims of the 645, 681, 553 and 427 patents. The U.S. PTO ruled that
PharmaStems patent claims are unpatentable over prior art. The office actions issued by the U.S.
PTO are not final determinations. PharmaStem has responded to the office actions and is challenging
the U.S. PTOs decision. PharmaStem will also have recourse through the Board of Appeals on the
office actions.
On October 6, 2005, the Delaware court granted the Companys motion to stay all discovery in
the second lawsuit pending decisions from the Federal Circuit on PharmaStems appeal of the
District Courts ruling of non-infringement in the original case and from the U.S. PTO on the
patent re-examinations.
15
In either of the pending cases, if the Company is ultimately found to infringe valid claims of
the PharmaStem patents, the Company could have a significant damages award entered against it. If
the Company is found to infringe at any time during the course of either case, including if the
court of appeals were to overturn the district courts non-infringement ruling, the Company could
also face an injunction which could prohibit the Company from further engaging in the umbilical
cord stem cell business absent a license from PharmaStem. PharmaStem would be under no legal
obligation to grant the Company a license or to do so on economically reasonable terms, and
previously informed the Company that it would not do so after October 15, 2004. While the Company
does not believe this outcome is likely, in the event of an injunction, if the Company is not able
to obtain a license under the disputed patents on economically reasonable terms or at all and the
Company cannot operate under an equitable doctrine known as intervening rights, the Company could
be required to stop preserving and storing cord blood and to cease using cryopreserved umbilical
cord blood as a source for stem cell products. The Company may enter into settlement negotiations
with PharmaStem regarding the litigation. The Company cannot predict whether any such negotiations
would lead to a settlement of these lawsuits or what the terms or timing of any such settlement
might be, if it occurs at all.
On May 13, 2004, the Company received a First Amended Complaint filed in the Superior Court of
the State of California by Kenneth D. Worth, by and for the People of the State of California, and
naming as defendants a number of private cord blood banks, including the Company. The complaint
alleged that the defendants made fraudulent claims in connection with the marketing of their cord
blood banking services and sought restitution for those affected by such marketing, injunctive
relief precluding the defendants from continuing to abusively and fraudulently market their
services and requiring them to provide certain information and refunds to their customers,
unspecified punitive and exemplary damages and attorneys fees and costs. Subsequently, the Company
received a Notice of Ex Parte Application for Leave to Intervene filed on behalf of the Cord Blood
Foundation by the same individual and seeking similar relief. On October 7, 2004, the Court orally
granted a motion to strike the complaint under the California anti-SLAPP statute and dismissed the
complaint as to all defendants without leave to amend. Judgment has been entered, dismissing the
complaint, and plaintiff appealed and then settled the litigation with all defendants other than
the Company. On June 19, 2006, the California Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on the ground
that plaintiff lack standing to serve as both class representative and counsel for the class.
The Company has undertaken a review of its various job classifications for legal compliance
under state and federal employment laws. Based on that review, the Company has identified certain
job classifications that may be subject to possible challenge and for which there is a reasonable
possibility that the Company could incur a liability, although the Company also believes that the
present classifications can be supported and defended. It is not possible based on the current
available information to reasonably estimate the scope of any potential liability.
5. Restructuring
In December 2004, the Company restructured its German operations and sublet its laboratory
facility in Germany to a third party effective January 1, 2005. As a result, the Company recorded
an additional restructuring charge of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, including
facility-related costs of $1.1 million and a contract termination fee of $0.1 million. The majority
of the facility-related costs consisted of the write off of the leasehold improvements and fixed
assets in the Companys German facility, as well as the future minimum lease payments related to
the facility. The amount of this write off was partially reduced by the minimum future sublease
payments received from the sublessee. At December 31, 2004, restructuring costs of $1.2 million had
been paid, the net book value of fixed assets was written
16
down by $0.9 million and the accrued liability relating to the restructurings was $0.9
million. In November 2005, the sub-lessee verbally gave notice of their intent to not extend the
sublease past December 31, 2006. The sub-lessee has prepaid rent through December 2006. In March
2006, the Company executed an agreement with the sub-lessee under which the sub-lessee made a
one-time payment to the Company of approximately $180,000 for giving notice of termination prior to
the termination of the first period of the sublease agreement.
The Company is finalizing discussions with the German grant authorities regarding repayment of part
of certain grants made to our German subsidiary in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, the Company was
notified that approximately $500,000 in grant proceeds related to fixed asset and operating
expenditures in Germany were not reimbursable under the grant and would have to be repaid. As a
result, the Company reserved an additional $410,000 during the year ended December 31, 2005 for its
estimated liability under this grant. The additional reserves resulted in reversals of grant
revenue of approximately $105,000 for the year ended December 31, 2005. In addition, the Company
reclassified approximately $200,000 of accrued restructuring reserves to reduce outstanding grants
receivable. In May 2006, the State of North-Rhine-Westfalia, Germany performed an audit of the
grant as part of an audit of the States economic grants granted throughout its territory. It is
possible, however, that the grant authorities could request additional repayment of grant funds
related to certain operating expenses that were previously funded by the grant authorities for
research performed in Germany. However, as of June 30, 2006, the Company considers this
possibility to be remote in light of the current status of the audit. As of June 30, 2006, the
Company had received approximately $3.6 million in cumulative grant proceeds from the German grant
authorities. The Companys restructuring accrual was $0.6 million at June 30, 2006 and December
31, 2005.
Following
is the Companys activity in the restructuring accrual for the
six months ended June 30, 2006 (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
Balance, December 31, 2005 |
|
$ |
632 |
|
Payments |
|
|
(58 |
) |
|
|
|
|
Balance, June 30, 2006 |
|
$ |
574 |
|
6. Recent Accounting Pronouncement
In
June 2006, the FASB issued FASB Interpretation No. (FIN)
48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes - An
Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109, which prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. FIN 48 will be effective for fiscal years beginning after
December 15, 2006. The Company has not yet completed its evaluation
of the impact of adoption on its financial position or results of operations.
7. Subsequent Event
In August 2006, the Company entered into a data license and marketing services agreement and
related amendment with Mothers Work, Inc. Under the agreement, the Company will obtain an exclusive
(within a specifically defined field) license to use information and data related to certain
Mothers Work customers for direct marketing purposes (where such customers
have affirmatively opted-in to permit such disclosure of information
and data) and receive certain marketing services from
Mothers Work for its ViaCord service offering. Under the terms of the agreement, ViaCell will pay
Mothers Work $5,000,000 per year over the three-year term of the agreement which begins on January
1, 2007 and ends on December 31, 2009. The agreement can be terminated early by either party if
the other party commits a material breach of the agreement and can be terminated by the Company in
the event that Mothers Work is acquired by a competitor of the Company. In addition, either party
can terminate the agreement if certain defined early termination trigger events occur relating to
certain third party actions concerning the agreement. In certain circumstances, the Company will,
on January 1, 2009, issue to Mothers Work a warrant to purchase 100,000 shares of the Companys
common stock with an exercise price at a 30% premium to the average closing price of the Companys
common stock over the ten trading days immediately preceding January 1, 2007. The warrant would be
exercisable for a 1-year period beginning on January 1, 2010.
17
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The
following discussion and analysis by our management of our financial condition and results of
operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the
accompanying notes appearing in Item 1 of this report. This discussion and other parts of this
report contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements
of our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Our actual results could differ materially
from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to
such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in Part II Item 1A (Risk
Factors) section of this report.
Overview
ViaCell is a biotechnology company dedicated to researching, developing and
commercializing cellular therapies. We have a pipeline of proprietary umbilical cord blood-derived
and adult-derived stem cell product candidates being studied as possible treatments for cancer,
cardiac disease and diabetes. CB001, our lead umbilical cord blood-derived stem cell therapy
product candidate, is being developed as a possible treatment for hematopoietic stem cell
reconstitution in patients affected by a variety of cancers. In July 2006, we announced that we
had completed enrollment and treated the last patient in the Phase 1
trial of CB001. If the results of the
Phase 1 trial are positive, we intend to advance the product into a Phase 2 trial. In addition to
our therapeutic research and development programs, we have a reproductive health business unit that
generates revenues from sales of ViaCord, a service offering through which expectant families can
preserve their babys umbilical cord blood for possible future medical use. We are working to
leverage our commercial infrastructure and product development capabilities by developing
ViaCytesm, our product candidate being studied for its potential to broaden
reproductive choices for women through the cryopreservation of human unfertilized eggs, as well as
potential in-licensing or acquisition of additional opportunities. In June 2006, the FDA gave
conditional approval of an Investigational Device Exemption to allow ViaCyte to be used in a
clinical trial. No further action on the part of the FDA is required to commence the trial. The
Company currently plans to conduct a single, pivotal clinical trial to study the safety and
efficacy of ViaCyte. Enrollment in the trial is expected to commence in late 2006. The goal of
the clinical trial is to generate data to submit to the FDA for 510(k) clearance for ViaCyte.
Our management currently uses consolidated financial information in determining how to
allocate resources and assess performance. We have determined that we conduct operations in one
business segment. The majority of our revenues since inception have been generated in the U.S., and
the majority of our long-lived assets are located in the U.S.
Revenues
Our current revenues are derived primarily from fees charged to families for the preservation
and storage of a childs umbilical cord blood collected at birth. These fees consist of an initial
fee for collection, processing and freezing of the umbilical cord blood and an annual storage fee.
The annual storage fee provides a growing annuity of future revenue as the number of stored
umbilical cords increases. Our revenues are recorded net of discounts and rebates that we offer our
customers under certain circumstances from time to time. Our revenues have increased substantially
over the last several years as cord blood banking has gained increased popularity; however, we are
unable to predict our long-term future revenues from our umbilical cord blood business. We offer
our customers the opportunity to pay their fees directly to us or to finance them with a third
party credit provider. The majority of our customers pay their fees directly to us; accordingly we
assume the risk of losses due to unpaid accounts.
18
We maintain a reserve for doubtful accounts to allow for this exposure and consider the amount
of this reserve to be adequate as of June 30, 2006.
We are in ongoing litigation with PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc. over PharmaStems claims that
our cord blood preservation business infringes certain of PharmaStems patents. In the second half
of 2004, the Delaware District Court overturned a jury verdict of infringement against us in such
suit. As a result of this ruling, we do not expect the PharmaStem litigation to have a materially
adverse impact on our net sales, revenues or income from continuing operations. However, PharmaStem
has appealed the courts decision and has also filed a new suit claiming that we infringe
additional patents. Should we ultimately lose the appeal, or the additional ongoing litigation with
PharmaStem, it could have a material adverse effect on our net sales, revenues or income from
continuing operations, including, possibly, resulting in an injunction preventing us from operating
our cord blood preservation business.
In addition to the revenues generated by our ViaCord product offering, we recorded revenues in the
periods presented from a grant agreement with the Economic Development Board (EDB) of the
Government of Singapore. We maintain a research facility in Singapore. We and the EDB have
initiated discussions regarding the grant, which expires in May 2007, and EDBs desire to
extend the grant period. The EDB has informed us that it has reviewed grants made to us and wants
to amend the grant terms to lower EDBs overall percentage commitment to fund expenses. We do not
currently expect that any changes will affect prior periods, however there is no assurance that the
grant authorities will not challenge whether the grant conditions have been met or seek to recover
grants previously made.
We closed our German research facility in December 2004, and have transitioned the research
activities performed there to the U.S. As a result, revenues from grants in Germany ceased as of
December 31, 2004.
Operating Expenses
Cost of processing and storage revenues reflects the cost of transporting, testing, processing
and storing umbilical cord blood at our cord blood processing facility in Hebron, Kentucky. Our
cost of processing and storage revenues also includes expenses incurred by third party vendors
relating to the transportation of cord blood to our processing facility and certain assay testing
performed by a third party on the cord blood before preservation. Other variable costs include
collection materials, labor, and processing and storage supplies, while other fixed costs include
rent, utilities and other general facility overhead expenses. Cost of processing and storage
revenues does not include costs associated with our grant revenue. Such costs are included in
research and development expense.
In 2003, we recorded a royalty expense of $3.3 million following an unfavorable jury verdict
in the PharmaStem litigation. In 2004, the District Court overturned the jury verdict. Based on the
courts ruling, we reversed the entire royalty accrual in 2004 and have not recorded any royalties
since such date. PharmaStem has appealed the District Courts ruling. PharmaStem has also filed a
new lawsuit claiming that we infringe additional patents. Pending a decision on the appeal and
further action by the court on the new litigation, we do not intend to record a royalty expense in
future periods, since we believe PharmaStems claims are without merit. It is possible that the
final outcome of these litigations could result in damages payable for infringement of PharmaStems
patents, at a higher or lower amount than previously awarded by the jury in Delaware. Should this
occur, our financial position and results of operations could be materially affected. We may enter
into settlement negotiations with PharmaStem regarding the litigation. If a settlement agreement
were entered into, we do not know whether it would
19
provide for a payment by us of an ongoing royalty or payment of other amounts by us to
PharmaStem, or what those amounts might be.
Our research and development expenses consist primarily of costs associated with the continued
development of our lead stem cell product candidate, CB001, our expansion technologies, including
Selective Amplification, our other cellular therapy product candidates and ViaCyte, our oocyte
cryopreservation product candidate. These expenses represent both clinical development costs and
costs associated with non-clinical support activities such as toxicological testing, manufacturing,
process development and regulatory services. The cost of our research and development staff is the
most significant category of expense, however we also incur expenses for external service
providers, including those involved in preclinical studies, consulting expenses, and lab supplies.
The major outside expenses relating to our CB001 clinical trial include external services provided
for outside quality control testing, clinical trial monitoring, data management, and fees relating
to the general administration of the clinical trial. Other direct expenses relating to our CB001
clinical trial include site costs and the cost of the cord blood.
We expect that research and development expenses will increase in the foreseeable future as we
add personnel, expand our clinical trial activities, including activities related to the clinical
trial of ViaCyte, and increase our development and clinical and regulatory capabilities. The amount
of these increases is difficult to predict due to the uncertainty inherent in our research,
development and manufacturing programs and activities, the timing and scope of our clinical trials,
the rate of patient enrollment in our clinical trials, and the detailed design of future clinical
trials. In addition, the results from our clinical trials, as well as the results of trials of
similar therapeutics under development by others, will influence the number, size and duration of
planned and unplanned trials. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate the results of our product candidate
programs, all of which are currently in early stages. Based on these assessments, we consider
options for each program, including, but not limited to, terminating the program, funding
continuing research and development with the eventual aim of commercializing products, or licensing
the program to third parties.
Our sales and marketing expenses relate to our ViaCell Reproductive Health business. The
majority of these costs relate to our sales force and support personnel, marketing expenses and
telecommunications expense related to our call center. We also incur external costs associated with
advertising, direct mail, promotional and other marketing services. We expect that sales and
marketing expenses will remain steady in the foreseeable future since we completed our recent field
sales expansion in the quarter ended June 30, 2006. However, we may, from time to time, implement
additional promotions and other marketing programs that may increase sales and marketing expenses.
Our general and administrative expenses include our costs related to the finance, legal, human
resources, business development, investor relations and corporate governance areas. These costs
consist primarily of expenses related to our staff, as well as external fees paid to our legal and
financial advisors, business consultants, and others. We expect that these costs will increase in
future years as we expand our business activities.
In December 2004, we restructured our German operations and sub-leased our German facility to
a third party. As a result we recorded a restructuring charge of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter
of 2004, including facility costs of $1.1 million and $0.1 million related to a contract
termination fee. The majority of the facility-related costs consists of the write off of the
leasehold improvements and fixed assets in our German facility, as
well as the future minimum lease payments related to the facility. The amount of this write off was partially reduced by the minimum
future lease payments receivable from the sub-lessee, as described in Results of Operations
Restructuring.
20
We are finalizing discussions with the German grant authorities regarding repayment of part of
certain grants made to our German subsidiary in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, we were notified that
approximately $500,000 in grant proceeds related to fixed asset and operating expenditures in
Germany were not reimbursable under the grant and would have to be repaid. As a result, we reserved
an additional $410,000 during the year ended December 31, 2005 for our estimated liability under
this grant. The additional reserves resulted in reversal of grant revenue of approximately $105,000
for the year ended December 31, 2005. In addition, we reclassified approximately $200,000 of
accrued restructuring reserves to reduce outstanding grants receivable. In May 2006, the State of
North-Rhine-Westfalia, Germany performed an audit of the grant as part of an audit of the States
economic grants throughout its territory. It is, however, possible that the grant authorities
could request additional repayment of grant funds related to certain operating expenses that were
previously funded by the grant authorities for research performed in Germany, however, as of June
30, 2006, we consider this possibility to be remote in light of the current status of the audit.
As of June 30, 2006 we had received approximately $3.6 million in cumulative grant proceeds from
the German grant authorities.
Results of Operations
Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2006 and 2005 (table amounts in thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
|
Change |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
|
Change |
|
Processing revenues |
|
$ |
10,822 |
|
|
$ |
9,349 |
|
|
|
16 |
% |
|
$ |
20,433 |
|
|
$ |
17,668 |
|
|
|
16 |
% |
Storage revenues |
|
|
2,540 |
|
|
|
1,839 |
|
|
|
38 |
% |
|
|
4,866 |
|
|
|
3,495 |
|
|
|
39 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total processing and
storage revenues |
|
|
13,362 |
|
|
|
11,188 |
|
|
|
19 |
% |
|
|
25,299 |
|
|
|
21,163 |
|
|
|
20 |
% |
Grant revenues |
|
|
177 |
|
|
|
195 |
|
|
|
(9 |
)% |
|
|
320 |
|
|
|
360 |
|
|
|
(11 |
)% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total revenues |
|
$ |
13,539 |
|
|
$ |
11,383 |
|
|
|
19 |
% |
|
$ |
25,619 |
|
|
$ |
21,523 |
|
|
|
19 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The increase in processing revenues of $1.5 million, or 16%, from the three months ended June
30, 2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006, and the increase in processing revenues of $2.8
million, or 16%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the six months ended June 30, 2006 was
due primarily to an increase in the total number of umbilical cords processed, partially offset by
a slight decrease in the average selling price for processing.
The increase in storage revenues of $0.7 million, or 38%, from the three months ended June 30,
2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006, and the increase in storage revenues of $1.4 million,
or 39%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the six months ended June 30, 2006 was due
primarily to increases in the number of umbilical cords stored, as well as a slight increase in the
average selling price for storage.
The slight decrease in grant revenues of $0.02 million, or 9%, from the three months ended June 30,
2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006 and the slight decrease in grant revenues of $0.04
million, or 11%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the six months ended June 30, 2006, was
primarily due to decreased spending in our Singapore research facility.
21
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
Cost of
processing and
storage revenues |
|
$ |
2,536 |
|
|
$ |
2,028 |
|
|
|
25 |
% |
|
$ |
4,864 |
|
|
$ |
3,981 |
|
|
|
22 |
% |
The increase in direct costs of $0.5 million, or 25%, from the three months ended June 30,
2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006 and the increase in direct costs of $0.9 million, or
22%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the six months ended June 30, 2006 was due
primarily to increases in variable expenses related to the increased number of umbilical cords
processed and an increase in the number of umbilical cords stored.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
Research and development |
|
$ |
3,660 |
|
|
$ |
3,116 |
|
|
|
17 |
% |
|
$ |
7,126 |
|
|
$ |
6,762 |
|
|
|
5 |
% |
During the three and six months ended June 30, 2006 and 2005, our research and development
expenses primarily related to our CB001, cardiac and diabetes programs, as well as our basic
research programs. The increase in costs associated with research and development of $0.5 million,
or 17%, from the three months ended June 30, 2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006 and $0.4
million, or 5%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the six months ended June 30, 2006, was
primarily due to an increase in outside services related to ongoing clinical and preclinical
testing of our programs for cancer, cardiac disease, and diabetes, as well as an increase in
headcount-related expenses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
Sales and marketing |
|
$ |
9,995 |
|
|
$ |
6,076 |
|
|
|
64 |
% |
|
$ |
17,916 |
|
|
$ |
11,645 |
|
|
|
54 |
% |
The increase in sales and marketing expenses of $3.9 million, or 64%, from the three months
ended June 30, 2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006, and the increase in sales and
marketing expenses of $6.3 million, or 54%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the six
months ended June 30, 2006
was primarily related to increased staffing within both the internal and external sales
organization and increased external marketing expenses to strengthen our market presence.
22
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
General and administrative |
|
$ |
5,013 |
|
|
$ |
3,588 |
|
|
|
40 |
% |
|
$ |
9,650 |
|
|
$ |
6,635 |
|
|
|
45 |
% |
The increase in general and administrative expenses of $1.4 million, or 40%, from the three
months ended June 30, 2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006 was primarily due to increased
accounting fees and outside service fees of approximately $0.4 million associated with compliance
with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, increased employee related expenses of $0.6 million, increased
bad debt expense of $0.4 million reflecting higher processing and storage revenues, as well as
increased stock-based compensation related to the adoption of
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.
123R-Share-Based Payment (SFAS 123R). The increase in general
and administrative expenses of $3.0 million, or 45%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the
six months ended June 30, 2006 was primarily due to increased accounting fees and outside service
fees of approximately $0.9 million associated with compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
increased employee related expenses of $1.0 million, increased bad debt expense of $0.6 million
reflecting higher processing and storage revenues, as well as increased stock-based compensation
related to the adoption of SFAS 123R.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
Change |
Restructuring |
|
$ |
0 |
|
|
$ |
90 |
|
|
|
(100 |
)% |
|
$ |
(180 |
) |
|
$ |
211 |
|
|
|
(185 |
)% |
In December 2004, we restructured our German operations and sub-leased our German facility to
a third party. As a result we recorded a restructuring charge of $1.2 million in the fourth quarter
of 2004, including facility costs of $1.1 million and $0.1 million related to a contract
termination fee. The majority of the facility-related costs consisted of the write off of the
leasehold improvements and fixed assets in our German facility, as well as the future minimum lease
payments related to the facility. The amount of this write off was partially reduced by the minimum
future lease payments receivable from the sub-lessee. In November 2005, the sub-lessee verbally
gave notice of their intent to not extend the sublease past December 31, 2006. The sub-lessee has
prepaid rent through December 2006. In March 2006, we signed an agreement with the sub-lessee
under which the sub-lessee made a one-time payment to us of approximately $180,000 for giving
notice of termination prior to the termination of the first period of the sublease agreement.
In 2005, we were notified that approximately $0.5 million in grant proceeds related to fixed
asset and operating expenditures in Germany were not reimbursable under the grant and would have to
be repaid. As a result, during 2005, we recorded restructuring expense of $0.09 million and $0.2
million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2005, respectively, to reserve for this
liability. In May 2006, the State of North-Rhine-Westfalia, Germany performed an audit of the
grant to our German subsidiary, as part of an audit of the States economic grants throughout its
territory. It is, however, possible that the German grant authorities could request additional
repayment of grant funds related to certain operating expenses that were previously funded by them
for research performed in Germany, however, as of June 30, 2006, we consider this possibility to be
remote in light of the current outcome of the audit. As of June 30, 2006, we had received
approximately $3.6 million in grant proceeds from the German grant authorities.
23
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
|
Change |
|
|
2006 |
|
|
2005 |
|
|
Change |
|
Interest income |
|
$ |
803 |
|
|
$ |
458 |
|
|
|
75 |
% |
|
$ |
1,527 |
|
|
$ |
773 |
|
|
|
98 |
% |
Interest expense |
|
|
(17 |
) |
|
|
(38 |
) |
|
|
(55 |
)% |
|
|
(43 |
) |
|
|
(193 |
) |
|
|
(78 |
)% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total interest income, net |
|
$ |
786 |
|
|
$ |
420 |
|
|
|
87 |
% |
|
$ |
1,484 |
|
|
$ |
580 |
|
|
|
156 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest income is earned primarily from the investment of our cash in short-term securities
and money market funds. The increase in interest income of $0.3 million, or 75%, from the three
months ended June 30, 2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006 and the increase in interest
income of $0.8 million, or 98%, from the six months ended June 30, 2005 to the six months ended
June 30, 2006 primarily relates to an increase in interest rates.
The decrease in interest expense of $0.02 million, or 55%, from the three months ended June
30, 2005 to the three months ended June 30, 2006 was primarily related to the repayment of debt
obligations. The decrease in interest expense of $0.2 million, or 78%, from the six months ended
June 30, 2005 to the six months ended June 30, 2006 relates primarily to the repayment of debt
obligations, as well as the reduction of interest on the related party notes payable, which were
paid in full following the closing of our Initial Public Offering
(IPO) in January 2005.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
From inception through June 30, 2006, we have raised $192.0 million from common and preferred
stock issuances, which includes $53.3 million in net proceeds from our IPO in January 2005. We used
approximately $15.5 million of these net proceeds to repay in full related party notes of $14.0
million, and accrued interest thereon of $1.5 million. As of June 30, 2006, we had approximately
$56.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments.
Table excerpted from our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (in millions):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six Months |
|
Six Months |
|
|
|
|
Ended June 30, |
|
Ended June 30, |
|
|
|
|
2006 |
|
2005 |
|
$ Change |
Net cash provided by (used in)
operating activities |
|
$ |
(2.1 |
) |
|
$ |
0.5 |
|
|
$ |
(2.6 |
) |
Net cash used in investing activities |
|
|
(0.6 |
) |
|
|
(5.9 |
) |
|
|
5.3 |
|
Net cash provided by (used in)
financing activities |
|
|
(0.7 |
) |
|
|
37.5 |
|
|
|
(38.2 |
) |
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period |
|
$ |
30.0 |
|
|
$ |
38.7 |
|
|
$ |
(8.7 |
) |
Net cash used in operating activities was $2.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2006,
an increase of $2.6 million from the $0.5 million provided by operating activities in the six
months ended June 30, 2005. For the six months ended June 30, 2006, the $2.1 million cash used by
operations was primarily due to our net loss of $12.0 million, reduced by non-cash expenses of $3.2
million, net increases in deferred revenue of $3.1 million, and a net decrease in working capital
(accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, and accrued
expenses) of $3.9 million, offset by a decrease in deferred rent of $0.3 million. The increase in
deferred revenue of $3.1 million related to sales of long-term pre-paid storage contracts. For the
six months ended June 30, 2005, the $0.5
24
provided by operating activities was due to a net increase in deferred rent of $3.2 million
for reimbursements to be received from our landlord related to the build-out of our laboratory
facility in Cambridge and prepaid rent received by us from a sublease tenant in Germany. In
addition, we had a net increase in deferred revenue of $3.4 million related to increases in
long-term pre-paid storage contracts, as well advances received in connection with our grant
program with the government of Singapore. These net increases in cash from operating activities
were offset by our net loss, net of non-cash expense, of $5.0 million and a net increase in working
capital of $1.1 million.
Net cash used in investing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2006 was $0.6 million
as compared to net cash used of $5.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005. For the six
months ended June 30, 2006, $20.9 million of U.S. Government and high-rated corporate securities
matured and $20.3 million was invested in similar securities. We also invested approximately $1.2
million in property and equipment for the six months ended June 30, 2006. For the six months ended
June 30, 2005, $14.3 million of U.S. Government and high-rated corporate securities matured and
$17.7 million was invested in similar securities. We also invested $2.7 million in property and
equipment for the six months ended June 30, 2005.
Net cash used in financing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2006 was $0.7 million
as compared to net cash provided of $37.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005. For the
six months ended June 30, 2006, the net cash used in financing activities was principally related
to repayments of $0.9 million on our long-term debt obligations, offset by proceeds from stock
option exercises of $0.2 million. For the six months ended June 30, 2005, the net cash provided by
financing activities included net proceeds from our IPO of $53.3 million and proceeds of $0.6
million relating to stock options exercised. These proceeds were partially reduced by cash used to
repay a related party note related to the acquisition of Kourion Therapeutics of $15.5 million and
repayment of $0.8 million relating to our credit facility with General Electric Capital
Corporation.
We anticipate that our current cash, cash equivalents and investments will be sufficient to
fund our operations for the next three years. However, our forecast for the period of time
during which our financial resources will be adequate to support our operations is subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results could vary materially. If we are unable to
raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may have to significantly delay,
scale back or discontinue one or more clinical trials, or other aspects of our operations.
Other than outstanding warrants exercisable for up to 1,430,833 shares of our common stock at
June 30, 2006, we have no off balance sheet arrangements, as defined by Item 303(a)(4) of the
SECs Regulation S-K. Please see note 8 of our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 for a
description of the warrants.
25
Commitments and Contingencies
Agreements
In June 2006, we entered into a research collaboration agreement with the Stem Cell Internal
Venture (SCIV) of Centocor Research and Development, Inc. to evaluate our proprietary cord
blood-derived multi-potent stem cells in preclinical testing as a potential treatment for cardiac
disease. The collaboration is also supported by the Biologics Delivery Systems Group of Cordis
Corporation, and will focus on dosing, delivery and targeting of our expanded proprietary cord
blood stem cells using Cordis NOGA delivery system. Under the terms of the agreement, we will
receive an initial up-front payment of $350,000 which we will record as a liability and amortize as
a reduction of research and development expense, as work is performed. SCIV will be responsible
for its own costs under the collaboration and will pay 50% of the research costs that we incur
under the collaboration, consistent with the agreed upon budget. In addition, the agreement
provides SCIV with the first right to negotiate a collaboration with us on the clinical development
and commercialization of a cardiac product offering based on our proprietary cord blood stem cells.
In August 2006, we entered into a data license and marketing services agreement and related
amendment with Mothers Work, Inc. Under the agreement, we will obtain an exclusive (within a
specifically defined field) license to use information and data related to certain Mothers Work
customers for direct marketing purposes (where such customers have
affirmatively opted-in to permit such disclosure of information and
data) and receive certain marketing services from Mothers Work
for our ViaCord service offering. Under the terms of the agreement, we will pay Mothers Work
$5,000,000 per year over the three-year term of the agreement which begins on January 1, 2007 and
ends on December 31, 2009. The agreement can be terminated early by either party if the other
party commits a material breach of the agreement and can be terminated by us in the event that
Mothers Work is acquired by a competitor of ours. In addition, either party can terminate the
agreement if certain defined early termination trigger events occur relating to certain third party
actions concerning the agreement. In certain circumstances, we will, on January 1, 2009, issue to
Mothers Work a warrant to purchase 100,000 shares of our common stock with an exercise price at a
30% premium to the average closing price of our common stock over the ten trading days immediately
preceding January 1, 2007. The warrant would be exercisable for a 1-year period beginning on
January 1, 2010.
Legal Proceedings
In 2002, PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc. filed suit against us and several
other defendants in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging infringement of
U.S. Patents No. 5,004,681 (681) and No. 5,192,553 (553), relating to certain aspects of the
collection, cryopreservation and storage of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells from
umbilical cord blood. We believe that we do not infringe these patents and that the patents are
invalid.
In 2003, a jury ruled against us and the other defendants, Cbr Systems Inc, CorCell, Inc. and
Cryo-Cell International Inc, who represent a majority of the family cord blood preservation
industry finding that the patents were valid and enforceable, and that the defendants infringed the
patents. A judgment was entered against us for approximately $2.9 million, based on 6.125%
royalties on our revenue from the processing and storage of umbilical cord blood since April 2000.
In 2004, the District Court judge in the case overturned the jurys verdict stating that PharmaStem
had failed to prove infringement. PharmaStem has appealed the judges decision. We have appealed
the jurys finding as to validity of the patents. A hearing on the appeal took place on April 4,
2006.
26
In July 2004, PharmaStem filed a second complaint against us. The second complaint was filed
in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging infringement of U.S. Patents
No. 6,461,645 (645) and 6,569,427 (427), which also relate to certain aspects of the collection,
cryopreservation and storage of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells from umbilical cord
blood. We believe that the patents in this new action are invalid and/or that we do not infringe
them. On January 7, 2005, PharmaStem filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the Massachusetts
litigation. That motion is currently stayed. We believe the issues presented in this case are
substantially the same as the issues presented in the original Delaware litigation. Accordingly, we
filed a motion to consolidate the Massachusetts case with six other actions against other
defendants in a single proceeding in the District of Delaware. On February 16, 2005, our request
was granted. The cases have been consolidated in Delaware.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO) ordered the re-examination of both the 553
method patent and the 681 composition patent at issue in the first case and the 645 and 427
patents at issue in the second case based on prior art. A second re-examination of the 427 patent
was ordered in order to determine whether certain claims of the 427 patent should expire in 2008,
rather than in 2010. In the second quarter of 2006, the U.S. PTO issued separate office actions
rejecting all of the claims of the 645, 681, 553 and 427 patents. The U.S. PTO ruled that
PharmaStems patent claims are unpatentable over prior art. The office actions issued by the U.S.
PTO are not final determinations. PharmaStem has responded to the office actions and is challenging
the U.S. PTOs decision. PharmaStem will also have recourse through the Board of Appeals on the
office actions.
On October 6, 2005, the Delaware court granted our motion to stay all discovery in the second
lawsuit pending decisions from the Federal Circuit on PharmaStems appeal of the District Courts
ruling of non-infringement in the original case and from the U.S. PTO on the patent
re-examinations.
In either of the pending cases, if we are ultimately found to infringe valid claims of the
PharmaStem patents, we could have a significant damages award entered against us. If we are found
to infringe at any time during the course of either case, including if the court of appeals were to
overturn the district courts non-infringement ruling, we could also face an injunction which could
prohibit us from further engaging in the umbilical cord stem cell business absent a license from
PharmaStem. PharmaStem would be under no legal obligation to grant us a license or to do so on
economically reasonable terms, and previously informed us that it would not do so after October 15,
2004. While we do not believe this outcome is likely, in the event of an injunction, if we are not
able to obtain a license under the disputed patents on economically reasonable terms or at all and
we cannot operate under an equitable doctrine known as intervening rights, we could be required
to stop preserving and storing cord blood and to cease using cryopreserved umbilical cord blood as
a source for stem cell products. We may enter into settlement negotiations with PharmaStem
regarding the litigation. We cannot predict whether any such negotiations would lead to a
settlement of these lawsuits or what the terms or timing of any such settlement might be, if it
occurs at all.
On May 13, 2004, we received a First Amended Complaint filed in the Superior Court of the
State of California by Kenneth D. Worth, by and for the People of the State of California, and
naming as defendants a number of private cord blood banks, including us. The complaint alleged that
the defendants made fraudulent claims in connection with the marketing of their cord blood banking
services and sought restitution for those affected by such marketing, injunctive relief precluding
the defendants from continuing to abusively and fraudulently market their services and requiring
them to provide certain information and refunds to their customers, unspecified punitive and
exemplary damages and attorneys fees and costs. Subsequently, we received a Notice of Ex Parte
Application for Leave to Intervene filed on behalf of the Cord Blood Foundation by the same
individual and seeking similar relief. On October 7,
27
2004, the Court orally granted a motion to strike the complaint under the California
anti-SLAPP statute and dismissed the complaint as to all defendants without leave to amend.
Judgment has been entered, dismissing the complaint, and plaintiff appealed and then settled the
litigation with all defendants other than us. On June 19, 2006, the California Court of Appeal
dismissed the appeal on the ground that plaintiff lack standing to serve as both class
representative and counsel for the class.
We have undertaken a review of its various job classifications for legal compliance under
state and federal employment laws. Based on that review, we have identified certain job
classifications that may be subject to possible challenge and for which there is a reasonable
possibility that we could incur a liability, although we also believe that the present
classifications can be supported and defended. It is not possible based on the current available
information to reasonably estimate the scope of any potential liability.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting
principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of these financial statements requires us
to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues
and expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that
we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making
judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from
other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or
conditions. Our critical accounting policies include:
Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation. We have one stock-based employee compensation plan.
On January 1, 2006, we adopted SFAS 123R using the modified prospective method, which results in the
provisions of SFAS 123R only being applied to the condensed consolidated financial statements on a
going-forward basis (that is, the prior period results have not been restated). Under the fair
value recognition provisions of SFAS 123R, stock-based compensation expense is measured at the
grant date based on the value of the award and is recognized as expense over the requisite service
period. Stock-based employee compensation expense was $0.8 million and $1.5 million for the three
and six months ended June 30, 2006. Previously, we had followed Accounting Principles Board Opinion
No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees, and related interpretations, which resulted in
the accounting for employee stock options at their intrinsic value in the condensed consolidated
financial statements.
We
were required to make significant estimates related to the adoption
of SFAS 123R. Changes in the subjective input assumptions can
materially affect the fair value estimate of stock-based compensation
expense. Our
expected stock-price volatility assumption is based on both current implied volatility and
historical volatilities of the underlying stock which is obtained from public data sources. For
stock option grants issued during the three and six month period ended June 30, 2006, we used a
weighted-average expected stock-price volatility of 65%. Higher
estimated volatility increases the fair value of a stock option, and
therefore increases the expense to be recognized per stock option. We also determined the weighted-average
option life assumption based on the exercise behavior that different employee groups exhibited
historically, adjusted for specific factors that may influence future exercise patterns. For stock
option grants made during the three and six month period ended June 30, 2006, we used a
weighted-average expected option life assumption of 4.57 years.
Longer expected term assumptions increase the fair value of the
stock option, and therefore increase the expense to be recognized
per stock option.
We recognized the full impact of our share-based payment plan in the condensed consolidated
statement of income for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2006 under SFAS 123R and did
not capitalize any such costs on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Upon adoption of SFAS
123R, using the modified prospective method, we recognized a benefit of $0.3 million during the six
months
28
ended June 30, 2006 as a cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle resulting from the
requirement to estimate forfeitures of our stock option grants at the date of grant instead of
recognizing them as incurred. The estimated forfeiture rate was applied to the previously recorded
stockbased compensation expense of our unvested stock options in determining the cumulative
effect of a change in accounting principle.
Other
In June
2006, the FASB issued FASB Interpretation No. (FIN) 48,
Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes - An Interpretation
of FASB Statement No. 109, which prescribes a recognition
threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement
recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be
taken in a tax return. FIN 48 will be effective for fiscal years
beginning after December 15, 2006. We have not yet completed
our evaluation of the impact of adoption on our financial position or
results of operations.
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Investment Risk
We own financial instruments that are sensitive to market risks as part of our investment
portfolio. We use this investment portfolio to preserve our capital until it is required to fund
operations, including our research and development activities. Our investment portfolio includes
only marketable securities with active secondary or resale markets to help ensure portfolio
liquidity, and we have implemented guidelines limiting the duration of investments. We invest in
highly-rated commercial paper with maturities of less than two years and money market funds. None
of these market-risk sensitive instruments is held for trading purposes. We do not own derivative
financial instruments in our investment portfolio.
Foreign Exchange Risk
Transactions by our German and Singapore subsidiaries are recorded in euros and Singapore
dollars, respectively. Exchange gains or losses resulting from the translation of these
subsidiaries financial statements into US dollars are included as a separate component of
stockholders equity. We hold euro-based and Singapore dollar-based currency accounts to mitigate
foreign currency transaction risk. Since both the revenues and expenses of the Singapore subsidiary
are denominated in Singapore dollars and the expenses of the German subsidiary are denominated in
euros, the fluctuations of exchange rates may adversely affect our results of operations, financial
position and cash flows.
Interest Rate Risk
We invest our cash in a variety of financial instruments, principally securities issued by the
U.S government and its agencies, investment grade corporate and money market instruments. These
investments are denominated in U.S. dollars. These bonds are subject to interest rate risk, and
could decline in value if interest rates fluctuate. Due to the conservative nature of these
instruments, we do not believe that we have a material exposure to interest rate risk.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Under the supervision and with the participation of
our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we have
evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures
as of June 30, 2006 and, based on their evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal
financial officer have concluded that these controls and procedures are effective. Disclosure
controls and procedures are our controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that
information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported,
within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commissions rules and forms.
Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to
ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file under the
Securities Exchange Act is
29
accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and
principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required
disclosure.
There were no changes in our internal controls over financial reporting during the three
months ended June 30, 2006 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially
affect, our internal controls over financial reporting.
PART II OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The section entitled Litigation in Notes to Condensed Consolidated
Financial Statements in Part I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is incorporated into this
item by reference.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains forward-looking statements, including statements about our current
projections as to future financial performance, our expectations as to the potential and
anticipated results of our development programs, and our views as to the possible outcome of
pending litigation and actions related to our intellectual property portfolio. We have based these
forward-looking statements on our current expectations about such future events. While we believe
these expectations are reasonable, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and
uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Our actual results may differ materially from
those suggested by these forward-looking statements for various reasons, including those discussed
in this report under this Risk Factors section. Given these risks and uncertainties, you are
cautioned not to place substantial weight on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking
statements included in this report are made only as of the date of this report. We do not undertake
any obligation to update or revise any of these statements.
We expect to continue to incur operating losses and may never become profitable.
We have generated operating losses since our inception. As of June 30, 2006, we had cumulative
net losses of approximately $185.4 million. These losses have resulted principally from the costs
of our research and development activities, which have totaled approximately $108.8 million since
our inception. We expect our losses to continue for the next several years as we make substantial
expenditures to further develop and commercialize our product candidates. In particular, we expect
that our rate of spending will accelerate over the next several years as a result of increased
costs and expenses associated with research, clinical trials, submissions for regulatory approvals,
and the expansion of clinical and commercial scale manufacturing facilities. Furthermore, we may
make additional sales and marketing investments in our ViaCell Reproductive Health business, if
deemed advisable to expand the market for our ViaCord product offering. Our ability to become
profitable will depend on many factors, including our ability to increase sales of our ViaCord
product offering particularly in the face of significant competition, and our ability to establish
the safety and efficacy of our product candidates, obtain necessary regulatory approvals for such
product candidates and successfully commercialize the resulting products. We cannot assure you that
we will ever become profitable. Factors that may affect our ability to become profitable are
described in more detail elsewhere in this Risk Factors section.
30
We may not be able to sustain our current level of revenues or our recent growth rates.
Revenues from sales of ViaCord have grown significantly over the past several years, from $7.1
million in fiscal year 2001, to $20.1 million, $30.9 million, $36.8 million, and $43.8 million in
fiscal years 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, respectively. In the first six months of 2006, we had
revenues from sales of ViaCord of $25.3 million, an increase of 19% over the first six months of
2005. We believe that this revenue growth is a result of our increased marketing efforts and from
increased awareness by the public generally of the concept of umbilical cord blood banking. We may
not be able in the future, however, to sustain this growth rate or the current level of ViaCords
revenues. The principal factors that may adversely affect our revenues include competition from
other private cord blood banks, a decline in the market for cord blood banking, the risks of
associated litigation, in particular, the pending PharmaStem litigation, the risks of operational
issues, the risks of not being able to maintain relationships with key third
party marketing partners, and the risks of reputational damage. These and other risks that may
affect our future revenues are described in more detail elsewhere in this Risk Factors section.
If we are unable to sustain our revenues, we may need to reduce our product development activities
or raise additional funds earlier than anticipated or on unfavorable terms, and our stock price may
be adversely affected.
If we do not prevail in the PharmaStem litigation, we may be prevented from selling our ViaCord
product, or may have to incur significant expenses.
In 2002, PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc. filed suit against us and several other defendants in
the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging infringement of US Patents No.
5,004,681 (681) and No. 5,192,553 (553), relating to certain aspects of the collection,
cryopreservation and storage of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells from umbilical cord
blood. We believe that we do not infringe these patents and that the patents are invalid.
In 2003, a jury ruled against us and the other defendants, Cbr Systems Inc, CorCell, Inc. and
Cryo-Cell International Inc, who represent a majority of the family cord blood preservation
industry finding that the patents were valid and enforceable, and that the defendants infringed the
patents. A judgment was entered against us for approximately $2.9 million, based on 6.125%
royalties on our revenue from the processing and storage of umbilical cord blood since April 2000.
In 2004, the District Court judge in the case overturned the jurys verdict and entered judgment in
our favor and against PharmaStem, stating that PharmaStem had failed to prove infringement.
PharmaStem has appealed the judges decision. We have appealed the jurys finding as to validity of
the patents. A hearing on the appeal was held on April 4, 2006.
In July 2004, PharmaStem filed a second complaint against us. The second complaint was filed
in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging infringement of U.S. Patents
No. 6,461,645 (645) and 6,569,427 (427), which also relate to certain aspects of the collection,
cryopreservation and storage of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells from umbilical cord
blood. We believe that the patents in this new action are invalid and/or that we do not infringe
them in any event. On January 7, 2005, PharmaStem filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction in the
Massachusetts litigation. That motion is currently stayed. We believe the issues presented in this
case are substantially the same as the issues presented in the original Delaware litigation.
Accordingly, we filed a motion to consolidate the Massachusetts case with six other actions against
other defendants in a single proceeding in the District of Delaware. On February 16, 2005, our
request was granted. The cases have been consolidated in Delaware.
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The U.S. PTO has ordered the re-examination of both the 553 method patent and the 681
composition patent at issue in the first case and the 645 and the 427 patents at issue in the
second case based on prior art. A second re-examination of the 427 patent was ordered in order to
determine whether certain claims of the patent should expire in 2008, rather than in 2010. In the
second quarter of 2006, the U.S. PTO issued separate office actions rejecting all of the claims of
the 645, 681, 553 and 427 patents. The U.S. PTO ruled that PharmaStems patent claims are
unpatentable over prior art. The office actions issued by the U.S. PTO are not final
determinations. PharmaStem has responded to the office action and is challenging the U.S. PTOs
decision. PharmaStem will also have recourse through the Board of Appeals on the office actions.
On October 6, 2005, the Delaware court granted our motion to stay all discovery in the second
lawsuit pending decisions from the Federal Circuit on PharmaStems appeal of the District Court of
Delawares ruling in the original case and from the U.S. PTO on the patent re-examinations.
In either of the pending cases, if we are ultimately found to infringe valid claims of the
PharmaStem patents, we could have a significant damages award entered against us. If we are found
to infringe or at any other time during the course of either case, including if the court of
appeals were to overturn the district courts non-infringement ruling, we could also face an
injunction which could prohibit us from further engaging in the umbilical cord stem cell business
absent a license from PharmaStem. PharmaStem would be under no legal obligation to grant us a
license or to do so on economically reasonable terms, and previously informed us that it would not
do so after October 15, 2004. While we do not believe this outcome is likely, in the event of an
injunction, if we are not able to obtain a license under the disputed patents on economically
reasonable terms or at all and we cannot operate under an equitable doctrine known as intervening
rights, we could be required to stop preserving and storing cord blood and to cease using
cryopreserved umbilical cord blood as a source for stem cell products. We may enter into settlement
negotiations with PharmaStem regarding the litigation. We cannot predict whether any such
negotiations would lead to a settlement of these lawsuits or what the terms or timing of any such
settlement might be, if it occurs at all.
A loss in either of the PharmaStem lawsuits could have a material adverse effect on our
ability to generate revenues from our ViaCord product offering, which is currently our only
commercialized product, and would have a significant adverse impact on our business, results of
operations and stock price. Even if we ultimately prevail, we are likely to incur significant legal
expenses during the course of the cases.
If we are not able to successfully develop and commercialize new products, our future
prospects may be limited.
No company has yet been successful in its efforts to develop and commercialize a stem cell
product. Stem cell products in general may be susceptible to various risks, including undesirable
and unintended side effects, unintended immune system responses, inadequate therapeutic efficacy or
other characteristics that may prevent or limit their approval or commercial use.
Our cellular therapy product candidates are in the early stages of development. Only one of
our therapeutic product candidates, CB001, has been tested in human clinical trials. CB001 consists
of a highly enriched population of hematopoietic stem cells which are expanded from umbilical cord
blood using our Selective Amplification technology. While stem cell populations expanded using our
Selective Amplification technology have shown promising results in preclinical research, those
results have not been obtained in humans and may not be indicative of results we may encounter in
clinical trials. We may discover that manipulation of stem cells using Selective Amplification or
any of our other expansion
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technologies changes the biological characteristics of the stem cells. For this or other
reasons, therapeutic products developed with our stem cell expansion technology may fail to work as
intended, even in areas where stem cell therapy is already in use. This may result from the failure
of our product candidates to:
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provide the intended therapeutic benefits; or |
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achieve benefits or a safety profile that is acceptable and better or equal to existing therapies. |
In
July 2006, we announced that we had completed enrollment and treated the last
patient in the Phase 1 clinical of CB001. We expect to announce top-line results from the
trial in the fourth quarter of 2006 and, if the results are positive,
we intend to
advance the product into a Phase 2 trial. If we were to continue development of CB001, we can give
no assurance about the timing of such clinical development. There is no
assurance, however, that the results of the Phase 1 trial will warrant further clinical development
or that CB001 will ultimately prove to be safe and effective. We may also encounter other hurdles
related to the clinical path for CB001. For example, in improving our Selective Amplification
process, the resulting product candidate may be viewed by the FDA as sufficiently different from
the product candidate being used in our current Phase 1 clinical trial. If so, the FDA may require
that we conduct new Phase 1 clinical trials using the product candidate manufactured using the
improved process to generate appropriate safety data to support later stage clinical trials. In
addition, there is evidence that clinicians are increasingly using a new procedure for stem cell
transplant patients involving less toxic doses of chemotherapy and radiation than used in
conventional transplants. This so called mini-transplant procedure was not used in our Phase 1
trials. If we need to redesign trials for CB001 that incorporate mini-transplants, it could require
repeating earlier trials. Repeating clinical trials for any reason would significantly delay our
development efforts related to CB001.
Drug development in general involves a high degree of risk. As we obtain results and safety
information from preclinical or clinical trials of our product candidates, we may elect to
discontinue development or delay additional preclinical studies or clinical trials in order to
focus our resources on more promising product candidates. We may also change the indication being
pursued for a particular product candidate or otherwise revise the development plan for that
candidate. Moreover, product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the
desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through earlier clinical testing.
We cannot market any product candidate until regulatory agencies grant marketing approval or
licensure. The industry and the FDA have relatively little experience with therapeutics based on
cellular medicine generally. As a result, the pathway to regulatory approval for our stem
cell-based product candidates, including CB001, may be more complex and lengthy than the pathway
for approval of a new conventional drug. Similarly, to obtain approval to market our stem cell
products outside of the U.S., we will need to submit clinical data concerning our products and
receive regulatory approval from the appropriate governmental agencies. Standards for approval
outside the U.S. may differ from those required by the FDA. We may encounter delays or rejections
if changes occur in regulatory agency policies during the period in which we develop a product
candidate or during the period required for review of any application for regulatory agency
approval.
The process of obtaining regulatory approval is lengthy, expensive and uncertain, and we may
never gain necessary approvals. Any difficulties that we encounter in developing our product
candidates and in obtaining regulatory approval may have a substantial adverse impact on our
operations and cause our
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stock price to decline significantly. If we are not able to successfully develop our product
candidates and obtain regulatory approval, we will not be able to commercialize such products, and
therefore may not be able to generate sufficient revenues to support our business.
We expect that none of our cellular therapy product candidates will be commercially available
for at least several years, if at all. We will need to devote significant additional research and
development, financial resources and personnel to develop commercially viable products and obtain
regulatory approvals.
We may not be able to successfully develop our ViaCyte oocyte cryopreservation product candidate.
In June 2006, the FDA gave us conditional approval of our Investigational Device Exemption, or
IDE, to allow our ViaCyte cryopreservation product candidate to be used in a clinical trial. We are
currently planning to conduct a single, pivotal clinical trial to study the safety and efficacy of
ViaCyte. Enrollment in the trial is expected to commence in late 2006. The goal of the clinical
trial is to generate data to submit to the FDA for a 510(k) application. In response to the
original 510(k) application filed by our media supplier, the FDA indicated that the media supplier
had not demonstrated substantial equivalence of the media to a predicate device and, as a result,
the FDA could not clear the media for commercial use. The FDA indicated that the 510(k) application
could be re-submitted when additional data supporting substantial equivalence of the media to a
predicate device were available. There is no assurance that we will be able to show that our
ViaCyte cryopreservation product is safe and effective for its intended use. While methods for
preserving sperm and embryos are well-established and have been utilized for in vitro fertilization
procedures for the past three decades, methods for cryopreserving oocytes have not been widely
employed due to difficulties encountered in freezing this cell. There is no assurance that we will
be able to generate the number of live births needed to show that our product candidate is
effective. We may also encounter unexpected safety issues. Even if the results of the trial are
favorable, there is no assurance that the FDA will agree that we have met the standards for 510(k)
clearance. The FDA could at any time determine that some or all of the components used to
cryopreserve the oocytes will require pre-market approval, or PMA, and additional trials, which would
involve additional time and expense. Even if we are successful in our efforts to develop and gain
approval for the ViaCyte oocyte cryopreservation product candidate, the FDA could ask for
post-approval safety monitoring which would entail additional expense. The FDA could also restrict
the label for the product to limited patient populations which could limit its commercial
potential.
We may not be able to raise additional funds necessary to fund our operations.
As of June 30, 2006, we had approximately $56.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and
short-term investments. In order to develop and bring our new products to market, we must commit
substantial resources to costly and time-consuming research and development, preclinical testing
and clinical trials. While we anticipate that our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments
will be sufficient to fund our current operations for the next three years, we may need or want to
raise additional funding sooner, particularly if our business or operations change in a manner that
consumes available resources more rapidly than we anticipate. We expect to attempt to raise
additional funds well in advance of completely depleting our available funds.
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
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the level of cash flows from sales of our ViaCord product; |
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the scope and results of our research and development programs; |
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the clinical pathway for each of our product candidates, including the number, size,
scope and cost of clinical trials required to establish safety and efficacy; |
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the results of litigation; |
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the timing of and the costs involved in obtaining regulatory approvals for our product
candidates, which could be more lengthy or complex than obtaining approval for a new
conventional drug given the FDAs relatively little experience with cellular-based
therapeutics; |
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the costs of research and development work focused on developing clinical and
commercial scale processes for manufacturing cellular products and the costs of building
and operating our manufacturing facilities, both in the near-term to support our clinical
activities, and also in anticipation of growing our commercialization activities; |
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funds spent in connection with acquisitions of related technologies or businesses,
including contingent payments that may be made in connection with our acquisition of
Kourion Therapeutics; |
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the costs associated with expanding our portfolio of product candidates through
licensing, collaborations or acquisitions; |
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the costs of increasing or expanding our ViaCord sales and marketing efforts; |
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the costs of maintaining, expanding and protecting our intellectual property portfolio,
including litigation costs and liabilities; and |
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our ability to establish and maintain collaborative arrangements and obtain milestones,
royalties and other payments from collaborators. |
We may seek additional funding through collaborative arrangements and public or private
financings. Additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we
obtain additional capital through collaborative arrangements, these arrangements may require us to
relinquish greater rights to our technologies or product candidates than we might otherwise have
done. If we raise additional capital through the sale of equity, or securities convertible into
equity, further dilution to our then existing stockholders will result. If we raise additional
capital through the incurrence of debt, our business may be affected by the amount of leverage we
incur. For instance, such borrowings could subject us to covenants restricting our business
activities, servicing interest would divert funds that would otherwise be available to support
research and development, clinical or commercialization activities, and holders of debt instruments
would have rights and privileges senior to those of our equity investors. If we are unable to
obtain adequate financing on a timely basis, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of or
eliminate one or more of our programs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our
business.
We depend on patents and other proprietary rights that may fail to protect our
business.
Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual
property protection for our product candidates, technologies and trade secrets. We own or have
exclusive licenses to U.S. patents and international patents. We also own or have exclusive
licenses to pending applications in the U.S. and pending applications in foreign countries. Our
pending patent applications may not issue,
35
and we may not receive any additional patents. The patent position of biotechnology companies
is generally highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has recently been
the subject of much litigation. Neither the U.S. PTO nor the courts have a consistent policy
regarding the breadth of claims allowed or the degree of protection afforded under many
biotechnology patents. The claims of our existing U.S. patents and those that may issue in the
future, or those licensed to us, may not offer significant protection of our Selective
Amplification and other technologies. Our patents on Selective Amplification, in particular, are
quite broad. While Selective Amplification is covered by issued patents and we are not aware of any
challenges to the validity of these patents, patents with broad claims tend to be more vulnerable
to challenge by other parties than patents with more narrowly written claims. Our patent
applications covering Unrestricted Somatic Stem Cells, or USSCs, claim these cells and/or their
use in the treatment of many diseases. It is possible that these cells could be covered by other
patents or patent applications which identify, isolate or use the same cells by other markers,
although we are not aware of any. Third parties may challenge, narrow, invalidate or circumvent any
patents we obtain based on these applications. Interference proceedings brought by the U.S. PTO may
be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to our patent applications or
those of our collaborators or licensors. Litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even
if successful, may result in substantial costs and distraction to our management.
Competitors may infringe our patents or the patents of our collaborators or licensors.
Although we have not needed to take such action to date, we may be required to file infringement
claims to counter infringement or unauthorized use. This can be expensive, particularly for a
company of our size, and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may
decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party
from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover its technology. An
adverse determination of any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents
at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk
of not issuing. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection
with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information
could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. In addition, during the course
of this kind of litigation, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions
or other interim proceedings or developments. If investors perceive these results to be negative,
it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock.
Furthermore, our competitors may independently develop similar technologies or duplicate any
technology developed by us in a manner that does not infringe our patents or other intellectual
property. Because of the extensive time required for development, testing and regulatory review of
a potential product, it is possible that, before any of our products can be commercialized, any
related patent may expire or remain in force for only a short period following commercialization,
thereby reducing any advantages of the patent. For instance, our issued patents on Selective
Amplification will expire in 2015. To the extent our product candidates based on that technology
are not commercialized significantly ahead of this date, or to the extent we have no other patent
protection on such products, those products would not be protected by patents beyond 2015. Without
patent protection, those products might have to compete with identical products by competitors.
In an effort to protect our unpatented proprietary technology, processes and know-how as trade
secrets, we require our employees, consultants, collaborators and advisors to execute
confidentiality agreements. These agreements, however, may not provide us with adequate protection
against improper use or disclosure of confidential information. These agreements may be breached,
and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. In addition, in some situations, these
agreements may conflict with, or be subject to, the rights of third parties with whom our
employees, consultants, collaborators or advisors have previous employment or consulting
relationships. Also, others may independently develop
36
substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques or otherwise gain access to
our trade secrets. We may not be able, alone or with our collaborators and licensors, to prevent
misappropriation of our proprietary rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not
protect such rights as fully as in the U.S.
Third parties may own or control patents or patent applications that are infringed by our
technologies or product candidates.
Our success depends in part on our not infringing other parties patents and proprietary
rights as well as not breaching any licenses relating to our technologies and product candidates.
In the U.S., patent applications filed in recent years are confidential for 18 months, while older
applications are not published until the patent issues. As a result, there may be patent
applications of which we are unaware that will result in issued patents in our field, and avoiding
patent infringement may be difficult. We may inadvertently infringe third party patents or patent
applications. These third parties could bring claims against us, our collaborators or our licensors
that, even if resolved in our favor, could cause us to incur substantial expenses and, if resolved
against us, could additionally cause us to pay substantial damages. For example, some aspects of
our Selective Amplification technology involve the use of antibodies, growth factors and other
reagents that are, in certain cases, the subject of third party rights. We believe we have the
rights to third party patents for use of all growth factors employed in manufacturing our current
product candidates for preclinical and clinical testing, including licenses from Amgen for ex vivo
use for SCF, G-CSF and Flt3-L and GlaxoSmithKline for TPO mimetic. The media in which we amplify
the cells is available from several commercial sources. Before we commercialize any product
utilizing this technology, including CB001, we may need to obtain additional license rights to use
reagents from third parties not covered by these patents or licenses. If we are not able to obtain
these rights on reasonable terms or redesign our Selective Amplification process to use other
reagents, we may not be able to commercialize any products, including CB001. If we must redesign
our Selective Amplification process to use other reagents, we may need to demonstrate comparability
in subsequent clinical trials or be required to repeat earlier clinical trials, which would be
costly and time consuming.
We may be required to pay substantial damages to a patent holder in an infringement case in
the event of a finding of infringement. Under some circumstances in the U.S., these damages could
be triple the actual damages the patent holder incurred, and we could be ordered to pay the costs
and attorneys fees incurred by the patent holder. If we have supplied infringing products to third
parties for marketing, or licensed third parties to manufacture, use or market infringing products,
we may be obligated to indemnify these third parties for any damages they may be required to pay to
the patent holder and for any losses the third parties may sustain themselves as the result of lost
sales or damages paid to the patent holder. Further, if patent infringement suits are brought
against us, our collaborators or our licensors, we or they could be forced to stop or delay
research, development, manufacturing or sales of any infringing product in the country or countries
covered by the patent we infringe, unless we can obtain a license from the patent holder. Such a
license may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all, particularly if the third party is
developing or marketing a product competitive with the infringing product. Even if we, our
collaborators or our licensors were able to obtain a license, the rights may be nonexclusive, which
would give our competitors access to the same intellectual property. In addition, payments under
such licenses would reduce the earnings otherwise attributable to the specific products.
Patent infringement cases often involve substantial legal expenses. For example, we are
involved in two patent infringement lawsuits filed against us by PharmaStem. As of June 30, 2006,
we have incurred total legal expenses of approximately $7.3 million related to these cases.
Depending upon the results of PharmaStems appeal of the District Courts decision to overturn the
jury verdict against us in this case, and the extent to which we are required to litigate the
second lawsuit brought by PharmaStem
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and any related appeals, we estimate that we could incur at least an additional $1.0 million
to $5.0 million in litigation expenses.
In addition to the two PharmaStem patent infringement lawsuits we are contesting, we are aware
that PharmaStem owns an additional patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,605,275, in the umbilical cord blood
preservation field, which is the field in which we currently do business with our ViaCord product
offering and potentially might relate to our CB001 product candidate, if approved and
commercialized. This patent expires in 2010. We are also aware of two patents relating to
compositions of purified hematopoietic stem cells and their use in hematopoietic stem cell
transplantation, which could impact our stem cell therapeutics business. We believe, based on
advice of our patent counsel, that we do not infringe any valid claims of this additional
PharmaStem patent or of these two other patents. We cannot state with assurance, however, that if
we are sued on any of these patents we would prevail. Proving invalidity, in particular, is
difficult since it requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption
of validity enjoyed by issued patents. If we are found to infringe these patents and are not able
to obtain a license, we may not be able to operate our business.
Any successful infringement action brought against us may also adversely affect marketing of
the infringing product in other markets not covered by the infringement action, as well as our
marketing of other products by us based on similar technology and may also delay the regulatory
approval process for future product candidates. Furthermore, we may suffer adverse consequences
from a successful infringement action against us even if the action is subsequently reversed on
appeal, nullified through another action or resolved by settlement with the patent holder. The
damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may be significant. As a result, any infringement action
against us may harm our competitive position, be very costly and require significant time and
attention of our key management and technical personnel.
Our success will depend in part on establishing and maintaining effective strategic
partnerships and collaborations.
A key aspect of our business strategy is to establish strategic relationships in order to gain
access to technology and critical raw materials, to expand or complement our research, development
or commercialization capabilities, or to reduce the cost of developing or commercializing products
on our own. While we are continually in discussions with a number of companies, universities,
research institutions, cord blood banks and others to establish additional relationships and
collaborations, we may not reach definitive agreements with any of them. Even if we enter into
these arrangements, we may not be able to maintain these relationships or establish new ones in the
future on acceptable terms. Furthermore, these arrangements may require us to grant certain rights
to third parties, including exclusive marketing rights to one or more products, or may have other
terms that are burdensome to us, and may involve the acquisition of our securities. Our partners
may decide to develop alternative technologies either on their own or in collaboration with others
or commercialize or market competitive products in collaboration with others. If any of our
partners terminate their relationship with us or fail to perform their obligations in a timely
manner, the development or commercialization of our technology, potential products or existing
products may be substantially delayed or adversely impacted. For example, our agreement with
Mothers Work, Inc. related to the marketing of our ViaCord product offering is subject to
termination by either party under various specified circumstances, some of which relate to
actions that may be taken by third parties and may be outside of our
control. We understand from Mothers Work that a third party has taken
an action that might give rise to a termination right by Mothers Work
or ViaCell. If the termination right were to arise, we believe that
the agreement would be terminated prior to the January 1, 2007
effective starting date of the agreement.
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Our cell preservation activities are subject to regulations that may impose significant costs
and restrictions on us.
Cord blood preservation. The FDA has adopted good tissue practice, or GTP,
regulations that establish a comprehensive regulatory program for human cellular and tissue-based
products. Our ViaCord product offering is subject to GTP regulations. We have registered with the
FDA as an umbilical cord blood preservation service, listed our products with the FDA, and we are
subject to FDA inspection. We believe that we comply with the new GTP regulations as adopted,
though we have not yet been inspected by the FDA. However, we may not be able to maintain this
compliance or comply with future regulatory requirements that may be imposed on us, including
product standards that may be developed. Moreover, the cost of compliance with government
regulations may adversely affect our revenue and profitability. Regulation of our cord blood
preservation services in foreign jurisdictions is still evolving.
Consistent with industry practice, the ViaCord collection kits have not been cleared as a
medical device. The FDA could at any time require us to obtain PMA or 510(k)
clearance for the collection kits, or new drug application NDA, approval for a drug
component of the kits or to file an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) or Biologics License
Application (BLA), and seek approval for the cell product. Securing any necessary medical device
510(k) clearance or PMA for the cord blood collection kits, or NDA approval for a drug component
of the kits or BLA, would likely involve the submission of a substantial volume of data and may
require a lengthy substantive review. The FDA also could require that we cease distributing the
collection kits and require us to obtain medical device 510(k) clearance or PMA for the kits or
NDA approval of a drug component of the kits or BLA approval prior to further distribution of the
kits.
Of the states in which we provide cord blood banking services, only New Jersey, New York,
Maryland, Kentucky, Illinois and Pennsylvania currently require that cord blood services be
licensed, permitted or registered. We are currently licensed, permitted or registered to operate in
all of these states. If other states adopt requirements for the licensing, permitting or
registration of cord blood preservation services, we would have to obtain licenses, permits or
registration to continue providing services in those states.
Oocyte cryopreservation. There are no established precedents for U.S. and
international regulation of oocyte cryopreservation. The FDA has informed us that it will require a
clinical study to support approval of the technology used in oocyte cryopreservation. In June 2006,
the FDA gave us conditional approval of an IDE to allow our ViaCyte cryopreservation product
offering to be used in a clinical trial. We are currently planning to conduct a single, pivotal
clinical trial to study the safety and efficacy of ViaCyte. Enrollment in the trial is expected to
commence in late 2006. The goal of the clinical trial is to generate data to submit to the FDA for
a 510(k) application. We cannot assure you that the FDA will find the data sufficient to grant
510(k) clearance.
If we submit a new 510(k) and the FDA does not find the information adequate to support 510(k)
clearance, the FDA could require us to obtain PMA to market ViaCyte. This requirement could
substantially lengthen our planned developmental timeline and increase the costs of developing and
commercializing this product candidate. We cannot assure you that this product candidate will
receive either 510(k) clearance or PMA. We believe that the time to conduct a clinical study,
prepare a new 510(k), and receive FDA clearance for our oocyte cryopreservation product candidate
will take several years.
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We have not investigated the regulations for the cryopreservation of oocytes in foreign
jurisdictions.
There is no assurance that we will ever be able to generate sufficient data to receive approval to
market technology for the cryopreservation of oocytes.
We have only limited experience manufacturing cell therapy product candidates, and we may not
be able to manufacture our product candidates in quantities sufficient for clinical studies or for
commercial scale.
We currently produce limited quantities of stem cells using our Selective
Amplification and USSC technologies. We have not built commercial scale manufacturing facilities,
and have no experience in manufacturing cellular products in the volumes that will be required for
later stage clinical studies or commercialization. If we successfully obtain marketing approval for
any products, we may not be able to produce sufficient quantities of our products at an acceptable
cost. Commercial-scale production of therapies made from live human cells involves production in
small batches and management of complex logistics. Cellular therapies are inherently more difficult
to manufacture at commercial-scale than chemical pharmaceuticals, which are manufactured using
standardized production technologies and operational methods. We may encounter difficulties in
production due to, among other things, quality control, quality assurance and component supply.
These difficulties could reduce sales of our products, increase our cost or cause production
delays, all of which could damage our reputation and hurt our profitability.
We are dependent on our existing suppliers and establishing relationships with certain other
suppliers for certain components of our product candidates and to manufacture and supply ViaCyte.
The loss of such suppliers or our inability to establish such relationships may delay development
or limit our ability to manufacture our stem cell therapy products or our ViaCyte product
candidate.
In order to produce cells for use in clinical studies and produce stem cell products for
commercial sale, certain biological components used in our production process will need to be
manufactured in compliance with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP. To meet this
requirement, we will need to maintain supply agreements with third parties who manufacture these
components to cGMP standards. Once we engage these third parties, we may be dependent on them for
supply of cGMP grade components. If we are unable to obtain cGMP grade biological components for
our product candidates, we may not be able to market our stem cell product candidates.
Certain antibodies, growth factors and other reagents are critical components used in our stem
cell production process. Our Selective Amplification process currently uses components sold to us
by certain manufacturers, and we need to establish relationships with other suppliers to
manufacture cGMP grade products for commercial sale. We are dependent on our suppliers for such
components as SCF, Flt3-L, TPO mimetic and cGMP grade antibodies conjugated with magnetic
particles. Some of these components are currently supplied to us by Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline and
Miltenyi Biotec, who are currently single-source suppliers. Other components, such as research
grade materials that are suitable for production of stem cells used for research and in Phase 1
human clinical studies, are purchased as catalog products from vendors, such as StemCell
Technologies and R&D Systems, with whom we do not have relationships. In order to continue our
clinical trials and commercialize our Selective Amplification product candidates, we will need to
establish relationships with some of these suppliers. In the event that our suppliers are unable or
unwilling to produce such components on commercially reasonable terms, and we are unable to find
substitute suppliers for such components, we may not be able to commercialize our stem cell product
candidates. We depend on our suppliers to perform their obligations in a timely manner and in
accordance with applicable government regulations. In the event that any of these
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suppliers becomes unwilling or unable to continue to supply necessary components for the
manufacture of our stem cell products, we will need to repeat certain development work to identify
and demonstrate the equivalence of alternative components purchased from other suppliers. If we are
unable to demonstrate the equivalence of alternative components in a timely manner, or purchase
these alternative components on commercially reasonable terms, development of our product
candidates may be delayed and we may not be able to complete development of or market our stem cell
product candidates.
We will utilize contract manufacturers to manufacture and supply our ViaCyte media product.
We will be dependent on these manufacturers and relationships to satisfy all regulatory
requirements and produce sufficient amounts of cGMP-quality product on commercially reasonable
terms. In the event that we are unable to find a suitable contract manufacturer that is willing to
produce such products on commercially reasonable terms, we may not be able to develop or
commercialize our ViaCyte product candidate.
If our cord blood processing and storage facility or our clinical manufacturing facilities are
damaged or destroyed, our business, programs and prospects could be negatively affected.
We process and store our customers umbilical cord blood at our facility in
Hebron, Kentucky. If this facility or the equipment in the facility were to be significantly
damaged or destroyed, we could suffer a loss of some or all of the stored cord blood units.
Depending on the extent of loss, such an event could reduce our ability to provide cord blood stem
cells when requested, could expose us to significant liability from our cord blood banking
customers and could affect our ability to continue to provide umbilical cord blood banking
services.
We lease a clinical manufacturing facility located in Worcester, Massachusetts that is capable
of producing stem cells for Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. We have built out, but not yet completed
validation of, a facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts that we intend to replace our Worcester
facility and to be capable of producing stem cells for Phase 1, Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials and
initial commercialization. With the completion of the CB001 Phase 1 clinical trial, we plan to
transfer our existing manufacturing operations from the Worcester facility to our Cambridge
manufacturing facility in 2006.
If we are able to successfully validate the Cambridge facility and transfer existing
manufacturing operations to the facility, we expect to manufacture all of our stem cell product
candidates in the facility for the next several years. If the Cambridge facility or the equipment
in it is significantly damaged or destroyed, we may not be able to quickly or inexpensively replace
our manufacturing capacity. In the event of a temporary or protracted loss of this facility or
equipment, we may be able to transfer manufacturing to a third party, but the shift would likely be
expensive, and the timing would depend on availability of third party resources and the speed with
which we could have a new facility approved by the FDA.
While we believe that we have insured against losses from damage to or destruction of our
facilities consistent with typical industry practices, if we have underestimated our insurance
needs, we will not have sufficient insurance to cover losses above and beyond the limits on our
policies. Currently, we maintain insurance coverage totaling $21.9 million against damage to our
property and equipment, and an additional $19.0 million to cover incremental expenses and loss of
profits resulting from such damage.
41
Our competitors may have greater resources or capabilities or better technologies than we
have, or may succeed in developing better products or develop products more quickly than we do, and
we may not be successful in competing with them.
The private umbilical cord banking business is highly competitive. In private
umbilical cord blood banking, we compete with companies such as Cbr Systems, Cryo-Cell
International, Inc., CorCell, Inc. and LifeBank USA, a division of Celgene Cellular Therapeutics, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation. Any of these companies may choose to invest more in
sales, marketing, research and product development than we have. In cord blood banking, we also
compete with public cord blood banks such as the New York Blood Center (National Cord Blood
Program), University of Colorado Cord Blood Bank, Milan Cord Blood Bank, Düsseldorf Cord Blood
Bank, and approximately 50 other cord blood banks around the world. Public cord blood banks provide
families with the option of donating their cord blood for public use. There is no cost to donate
and, as public banks grow in size and increase in diversity, which is, for instance, the aim of the
Stem Cell Therapeutic Act, the probability of finding suitably matched cells for a family member
may increase, which may result in a decrease in demand for private cord blood banking. In addition,
if the science of human leukocyte antigens, or HLA, typing advances, then unrelated cord blood
transplantation may become safer and more efficacious, similarly reducing the clinical advantage of
related cord blood transplantation.
The pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses are also highly competitive. We compete with
many organizations that are developing cell therapies for the treatment of a variety of human
diseases, including companies such as Aastrom Biosciences, Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc., Celgene
Corporation, Cytori Therapeutics, Inc., Gamida-Cell, Genzyme Corporation, Bioheart, Inc., and
Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. We also face competition in the cell therapy field from academic
institutions and governmental agencies. We are also aware that some larger pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical companies have programs in the cell therapy area. Some of these competitors, and
future competitors, may have similar or better product candidates or technologies, greater
financial and human resources than we have, including more experience in research and development
and more established sales, marketing and distribution capabilities. Specifically, Gamida-Cell, a
private company based in Israel, is developing a hematopoietic stem cell therapy product candidate
that may be similar to CB001. This product has been evaluated in a Phase 1/2 trial. Enrollment for
this trial was completed in August 2004. This product candidate, and potentially others, could have
equal or better efficacy than CB001 or could potentially reach the market more quickly than CB001.
In addition, public cord blood banks may, as a result of a recent legislative initiative, be able
to better compete with our potential cell therapy products, such as CB001. The Stem Cell
Therapeutic Act provides financing for a national system of public cord blood banks to encourage
cord blood donations from an ethnically diverse population. An increase in the number and diversity
of publicly-available cord blood units from public banks could diminish the necessity for cord
blood-derived therapeutics produced with our Selective Amplification technology.
In oocyte cryopreservation, if our ViaCyte product candidate is successfully developed and
approved, we expect to compete with IVF centers, including Florida Institute for Reproductive
Medicine, Stanford University, the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine, and Egg Bank USA
(through Advanced Fertility Clinic) and individual companies offering oocyte cryopreservation,
including Extend Fertility. Current and future competitors in this field, too, may have greater
financial and human resources than we have, and may have similar or better product candidates or
technologies, or product candidates which are brought to the market more quickly than ours.
Specifically, several IVF centers (including all of those mentioned here) are already performing
oocyte cryopreservation on a limited basis and Extend Fertility is offering related services, which
may make it more difficult for us to establish our product candidate or achieve a significant
market share.
42
We anticipate this competition to increase in the future as new companies enter the stem cell
therapy, cord blood preservation and oocyte cryopreservation markets. In addition, the health care
industry is characterized by rapid technological change, and new product introductions or other
technological advancements could make some or all of our product candidates obsolete.
Due to the nature of our cell preservation activities, harm to our reputation could have a
significant negative impact on our financial condition, and damage to or loss of our customers
property held in our custody could potentially result in significant legal liability.
Our reputation among clients and the medical and birthing services community is
extremely important to the commercial success of our ViaCord product offering. This is due in
significant part to the nature of the product and service we provide. For instance, as part of our
ViaCord product offering, we are assuming custodial care of a childs umbilical cord blood tissue
entrusted to us by the parents for potential future use as a therapeutic for the child or its
siblings. We believe that our reputation enables us to market ourselves as a premium provider of
cord blood preservation among our competitors. While we seek to maintain high standards in all
aspects of our provision of products and services, we cannot guarantee that we will not experience
problems. Like family cord blood banks generally, we face the risk that a customers cord blood
unit could be lost or damaged while in transit from the collection site to our storage facility,
including while the unit is in the possession of third party commercial carriers used to transport
the units. There is also risk of loss or damage to the unit during the preservation or storage
process. Any such problems, particularly if publicized in the media or otherwise, could negatively
impact our reputation, which could adversely affect our business and business prospects.
In addition to reputational damage, we face the risk of legal liability for loss of or damage
to cord blood units. We do not own the cord blood units banked by our ViaCord customers; instead,
we act as custodian on behalf of the child-donors guardian. Loss or damage to the units would
be loss or damage to the customers property. We cannot be sure to what extent we could be found
liable, in any given scenario, for damages suffered by an owner or donor as a result of harm or
loss of a cord blood unit, and if we are found liable, whether our insurance coverage will be
sufficient to cover such damages.
The manufacture and sale of products may expose us to product liability claims for which we
could have substantial liability.
We face an inherent business risk of exposure to product liability claims if our products or
product candidates are alleged or found to have caused injury. While we believe that our current
liability insurance coverage is adequate for our present commercial activities, we will need to
increase our insurance coverage if and when we begin commercializing additional products. We may
not be able to obtain insurance with adequate coverage for potential liability arising from any
such potential products on acceptable terms or may be excluded from coverage under the terms of any
insurance policy that we obtain. We may not be able to maintain insurance on acceptable terms or at
all. If we are unable to obtain insurance or any claims against us substantially exceed our
coverage, then our business could be adversely impacted.
If we are not able to recruit and retain qualified management and other personnel, we may fail
in developing our technologies and product candidates.
Our success is highly dependent on the retention of the principal members of our scientific,
management and sales personnel. Marc D. Beer, our President and Chief Executive Officer, is
critical to our ability to execute our overall business strategy. Morey Kraus, our Chief Technology
Officer and co-founder, is a co-inventor of our Selective Amplification technology and has
significant and unique
43
expertise in stem cell expansion and related technologies. We maintain key man life insurance on
the lives of Marc D. Beer and Morey Kraus. Additionally, we have several other employees with
scientific or other skills that we consider important to the successful development of our
technology. Any of our key employees could terminate his or her relationship with us at any time
and, despite any non-competition agreement with us, work for one of our competitors. Furthermore,
our future growth will require hiring a significant number of qualified technical, commercial and
administrative personnel. Accordingly, recruiting and retaining such personnel in the future will
be critical to our success.
There is intense competition from other companies, universities and other research
institutions for qualified personnel in the areas of our activities. If we are not able to continue
to attract and retain, on acceptable terms, the qualified personnel necessary for the continued
development of our business, we may not be able to sustain our operations or achieve our business
objectives.
We may face difficulties in managing and maintaining the growth of our business.
We expect to continue expanding our reproductive health business and our
research and development activities. This expansion could put significant strain on our management,
operational and financial resources. To manage future growth, we would need to hire, train and
manage additional employees.
We completed our initial public offering in January 2005. Our reporting obligations as a
public company, as well as our need to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002, the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the NASDAQ National
Market, place significant additional demands on our finance and accounting staff, on our financial,
accounting and information systems and on our internal controls. We have increased the number of
our accounting and finance personnel and have taken steps to proactively monitor our networks and
to improve our financial, accounting and information systems and internal controls in order to
fulfill our responsibilities as a public company and to support growth in our business. We cannot
assure you that our current and planned personnel, systems procedures and controls will be adequate
to support our anticipated growth or that management will be able to hire, train, retain, motivate
and manage required personnel.
Our failure to manage growth effectively could limit our ability to achieve our research and
development and commercialization goals or to satisfy our reporting and other obligations as a
public company.
If we acquire other businesses or technologies the transactions may be dilutive and we may be
unable to integrate them successfully with our business, our financial performance could suffer.
If we are presented with appropriate opportunities, we may acquire other businesses. We
have had limited experience in acquiring and integrating other businesses. Since our incorporation
in 1994, we have acquired three businesses: ViaCord in 2000, Cerebrotec, Inc. in 2001 and Kourion
Therapeutics AG in 2003. The integration process following any future acquisitions may produce
unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures and may absorb significant management attention
that would otherwise be available for the ongoing development of our business. Also, in any future
acquisitions, we may issue shares of stock dilutive to existing stockholders, incur debt, assume
contingent liabilities, or create additional expenses related to amortizing intangible assets, any
of which might harm our financial results and cause our stock price to decline. Any financing we
might need for future acquisitions may be available to us only on terms that restrict our business
or impose costs that increase our net loss.
44
The
successful commercialization of our potential cell therapy products
will depend on patients and physicians
obtaining reimbursement for use of these product candidates from third party payers.
If we successfully develop and obtain necessary regulatory approvals for our therapeutic
product candidates, we intend to sell such products initially in the U.S. and, potentially, the
European Union. In the U.S., the market for many pharmaceutical products is affected by the
availability of reimbursement from third party payers such as government health administration
authorities, private health insurers, health maintenance organizations and pharmacy benefit
management companies. Our potential cellular therapy products may be relatively expensive
treatments due to the higher cost of production and more complex logistics of cellular products
compared with standard pharmaceuticals. This, in turn, may make it
more difficult for patients and physicians to obtain
adequate reimbursement from third party payers, particularly if we cannot demonstrate a favorable
cost-benefit relationship. Third-party payers may also deny coverage or offer inadequate levels of
reimbursement for our potential products if they determine that the product has not received
appropriate clearances from the FDA or other government regulators or is experimental, unnecessary
or inappropriate. In the countries of the European Union and in some other countries, the pricing
of prescription pharmaceutical products and services and the level of government reimbursement are
subject to governmental control.
Managing and reducing health care costs has been a concern generally of federal and state
governments in the U.S. and of foreign governments. Although we do not believe that any recently
enacted or presently proposed legislation should impact our business, we cannot be sure that we
will not be subject to future regulations that may materially restrict the price we receive for our
products. Cost control initiatives could decrease the price that we receive for any product we may
develop in the future. In addition, third-party payers are increasingly challenging the price and
cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, and any of our potential products may
ultimately not be considered cost-effective by these payers. Any of these initiatives or
developments could materially harm our business.
Although we are aware of a small fraction of ViaCord customers receiving reimbursement, we
believe our ViaCord cord blood preservation product, like other private cord blood banking, is not
generally subject to reimbursement. However, if our potential cell therapy products are not
reimbursed by the government or third party insurers, the market for those products would be
limited. We cannot be sure that third party payers will reimburse sales of a product or enable us
or our partners to sell the product at prices that will provide a sustainable and profitable
revenue stream.
We face potential liability related to the privacy of health information we obtain from
research collaborators or from providers who enroll patients and collect cord blood or human
oocytes.
Our business relies on the acquisition, analysis, and storage of potentially
sensitive information about individuals health, both in our research activities and in our
reproductive health product and service offerings. These data are protected by numerous federal and
state privacy laws.
Most health care providers, including research collaborators from whom we obtain patient
information, are subject to privacy regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA. Although we ourselves are not directly regulated by
HIPAA, we could face substantial criminal penalties if we knowingly receive individually
identifiable health information from a health care provider who has not satisfied HIPAAs
disclosure standards. In addition, certain state privacy laws and genetic testing laws may apply
directly to our operations and impose restrictions on our use and dissemination of individuals
health information. Moreover, patients about whom we obtain information, as well as the providers
who share this information with us, may have contractual rights that limit our ability to use and
disclose the information. Claims that we have violated
45
individuals privacy rights or breached our contractual obligations, even if we are not found
liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity that
could harm our business.
Ethical and other concerns surrounding the use of stem cell therapy may negatively affect
regulatory approval or public perception of our products and product candidates, thereby reducing
demand for our products and product candidates.
The use of embryonic stem cells for research and stem cell therapy has been the subject of
debate regarding related ethical, legal and social issues. Although we do not currently use
embryonic stem cells as a source for our research programs, the use of other types of human stem
cells for therapy could give rise to similar ethical, legal and social issues as those associated
with embryonic stem cells. The commercial success of our product candidates will depend in part on
public acceptance of the use of stem cell therapy, in general, for the prevention or treatment of
human diseases. Public attitudes may be influenced by claims that stem cell therapy is unsafe, and
stem cell therapy may not gain the acceptance of the public or the medical community. Adverse
events in the field of stem cell therapy that may occur in the future also may result in greater
governmental regulation of our product candidates and potential regulatory delays relating to the
testing or approval of our product candidates. In the event that our research becomes the subject
of adverse commentary or publicity, the market price for our common stock could be significantly
harmed.
Our business involves the use of hazardous materials that could expose us to environmental and
other liability.
We have facilities in Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Singapore that are subject
to various local, state and federal laws and regulations relating to safe working conditions,
laboratory and manufacturing practices, the experimental use of animals and the use and disposal of
hazardous or potentially hazardous substances, including chemicals, micro-organisms and various
radioactive compounds used in connection with our research and development activities. In the U.S.,
these laws include the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Toxic Test Substances Control Act
and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Although we believe that our safety procedures for
handling and disposing of these materials comply with the standards prescribed by these
regulations, we cannot assure you that accidental contamination or injury to employees and third
parties from these materials will not occur. We do not have insurance to cover claims arising from
our use and disposal of these hazardous substances other than limited clean-up expense coverage for
environmental contamination due to an otherwise insured peril, such as fire.
Volatility of Our Stock Price
The market price for our common stock is highly volatile, and likely will continue to
fluctuate due to a variety of factors, including:
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material public announcements; |
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the data, positive or negative, generated from the development of our product candidates; |
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setbacks or delays in any of our development programs; |
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the outcome of material litigation; |
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the financial results achieved by our cord blood preservation business;
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the impact of competition; |
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unusual or unexpectedly high expenses; |
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developments related to patents and other proprietary rights; |
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market trends affecting stock prices in our industry; and |
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economic or other external factors. |
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ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
Sales of Unregistered
Securities
None.
Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities
We registered shares of our common stock in connection with our initial public offering under
the Securities Act of 1933. Our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Reg. No. 333-114209) in
connection with our initial public offering was declared effective by the SEC on January 19, 2005.
The offering commenced as of January 20, 2005. 8,625,000 shares of our common stock registered were
sold in the offering. The offering did not terminate before any securities were sold. We completed
the offering on January 26, 2005. Credit Suisse and UBS Investment Bank were the managing
underwriters.
All 8,625,000 shares of our common stock registered in the offering were sold, with an initial
public offering price per share of $7.00. The aggregate purchase price of the offering was
$60,375,000, of a maximum potential registered aggregate offering price of $92,000,000. The net
offering proceeds to us after deducting total related expenses were approximately $53,300,000.
No payments for the above expenses nor other payments of proceeds were made directly or
indirectly to (i) any of our directors, officers or their associates, except as described below
(ii) any person(s) owning 10% or more of any class of our equity securities or (iii) any of our
affiliates.
The net proceeds of the initial public offering, after payment of approximately $15.5 million
for all outstanding principal and interest on promissory notes held by funds affiliated with MPM
Asset Management LLC, the manager of which served on our board of directors until June 9, 2005, are
invested in investment grade securities with the weighted average days to maturity of the portfolio
less than six months and no security with an effective maturity in excess of 12 months. To date,
apart from the payment of promissory notes of $15.5 million, we have not used any of the net
proceeds from the initial public offering and there has been no material change in the planned use
of proceeds from our initial public offering as described in our final prospectus filed with the
SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act.
ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES
None.
ITEM 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS
We held our Annual Meeting of Stockholders on May 19, 2006. The following
proposals were voted upon at the meeting:
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(a) |
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A proposal to elect Paul Blake, Paul Hastings and Jan van Heek as directors to serve
for a three year term ending in 2009 and until their successors are duly elected and
qualified or their earlier resignation or removal was approved with the following vote: |
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Director |
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For |
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Withheld |
Paul Blake |
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26,750,947 |
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289,462 |
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Paul Hastings |
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26,750,842 |
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289,567 |
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Jan van Heek |
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26,751,369 |
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289,040 |
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(b) |
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A proposal to ratify the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent
registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006 was approved
with 26,852,496 votes for, 174,390 votes against, and 13,523 abstentions. There were no
broker non-votes for this proposal. |
ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
ITEM 6. EXHIBITS
See the Exhibit Index following the Signatures page below.
49
SIGNATURES
In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, the registrant caused this report to be
signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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VIACELL, INC. |
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August
14, 2006 |
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/s/ Marc D. Beer |
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Marc D. Beer
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Chief Executive Officer |
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(Principal Executive Officer) |
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August
14, 2006 |
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/s/ Stephen G. Dance |
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Stephen G. Dance
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Chief Financial Officer |
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(Principal Financial Officer) |
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50
Exhibit Index
10.1(1) |
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Letter agreement between ViaCell, Inc. and James Corbett, dated April 4, 2006 |
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31.1 |
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Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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31.2 |
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Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002 |
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32.1 |
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Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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32.2 |
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Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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(1) |
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Incorporated by reference to our current report on Form 8-K (No. 0-51110) filed with
the SEC on April 13, 2006. |
51