UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
For the fiscal year ended December 31 , 2020
or
| 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: 001-33500
JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |||||||
011-353 -1 -634-7800
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
| | ||||||||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
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 ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | Emerging growth company | |||||||||||||||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as of June 30, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $5,958,338,704 based upon the last sale price reported for the registrant’s ordinary shares on such date on The Nasdaq Global Select Market. The calculation of the aggregate market value of voting and non-voting common equity excludes 1,454,458 ordinary shares of the registrant held by executive officers, directors and shareholders that the registrant concluded were affiliates of the registrant on that date. Exclusion of such shares should not be construed to indicate that any such person possesses the power, direct or indirect, to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of the registrant or that such person is controlled by or under common control with the registrant.
As of February 16, 2021, a total of 56,325,436 ordinary shares, nominal value $0.0001 per share, of the registrant were outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
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JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS PLC
2020 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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| PART I | ||||||||
| Item 1. | ||||||||
| Item 1A. | ||||||||
| Item 1B. | ||||||||
| Item 2. | ||||||||
| Item 3. | ||||||||
| Item 4. | ||||||||
| PART II | ||||||||
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| Item 6. | ||||||||
| Item 7. | ||||||||
| Item 7A. | ||||||||
| Item 8. | ||||||||
| Item 9. | ||||||||
| Item 9A. | ||||||||
| Item 9B. | ||||||||
| PART III | ||||||||
| Item 10. | ||||||||
| Item 11. | ||||||||
| Item 12. | ||||||||
| Item 13. | ||||||||
| Item 14. | ||||||||
| PART IV | ||||||||
| Item 15. | ||||||||
| Item 16. | ||||||||
We own or have rights to various copyrights, trademarks, and trade names used in our business in the U.S. and/or other countries, including the following: Jazz Pharmaceuticals®, Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) oral solution, Sunosi® (solriamfetol), Defitelio® (defibrotide sodium), Defitelio® (defibrotide), Erwinaze® (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi), Erwinase®, CombiPlex®, Vyxeos® (daunorubicin and cytarabine) liposome for injection, Vyxeos® liposomal 44 mg/100 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion, Zepzelca™ (lurbinectedin), and Xywav™ (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium oxybates) oral solution. This report also includes trademarks, service marks and trade names of other companies. Trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K are the property of their respective owners.
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10‑K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “propose,” “intend,” “continue,” “potential,” “possible,” “strive,” “seek,” “designed,” “goal”, “foreseeable,” “likely,” “unforeseen” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance, time frames or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, time frames or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We discuss many of these risks, uncertainties and other factors in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors.” Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. In addition, our goals and objectives are aspirational and are not guarantees or promises that such goals and objectives will be met. Also, these forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this filing. You should read this Annual Report on Form 10‑K completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We hereby qualify our forward-looking statements by our cautionary statements. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons that actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.
SUMMARY RISK FACTORS
Below is a summary of material factors that make an investment in our ordinary shares speculative or risky. Importantly, this summary does not address all of the risks and uncertainties that we face. Additional discussion of the risks and uncertainties summarized in this risk factor summary, as well as other risks and uncertainties that we face, can be found under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. The below summary is qualified in its entirety by that more complete discussion of such risks and uncertainties. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K as part of your evaluation of an investment in our ordinary shares.
•We may not realize the anticipated benefits and synergies from our proposed acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals.
•The pending acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals may not be completed on the currently contemplated timeline or terms, or at all; and regulatory bodies could impose certain requirements upon the combined company as a condition to approval that could reduce the anticipated benefits of the transaction.
•Failure to complete the acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals could have a material and adverse effect on us.
•The indebtedness of the combined company following the consummation of the acquisition will be substantially greater than our indebtedness on a standalone basis and greater than the combined indebtedness of Jazz Pharmaceuticals and GW Pharmaceuticals prior to the announcement of the acquisition. This increased level of indebtedness could adversely affect the combined company’s business flexibility and increase its borrowing costs.
•Our inability to maintain or increase sales from our neuroscience therapeutic area would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
•The introduction of new products in the U.S. market that compete with, or otherwise disrupt the market for, our oxybate products and product candidates would adversely affect sales of our oxybate products and product candidates.
•The distribution and sale of our oxybate products are subject to significant regulatory restrictions, including the requirements of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, and these regulatory requirements subject us to risks and uncertainties, any of which could negatively impact sales of Xyrem and Xywav.
•While we expect our oxybate products, Xyrem and our newly approved Xywav, to remain the largest part of our business, our success also depends on our ability to effectively commercialize products in our oncology therapeutic area.
•We face substantial competition from other companies, including companies with larger sales organizations and more experience working with large and diverse product portfolios.
•Adequate coverage and reimbursement from third party payors may not be available for our products and we may be unable to successfully contract for coverage from pharmacy benefit managers and group purchasing organizations, which could diminish our sales or affect our ability to sell our products profitably; conversely, to secure coverage from these organizations, we may be required to pay rebates or other discounts or other restrictions to reimbursement that could diminish our sales.
•The pricing of pharmaceutical products has come under increasing scrutiny as part of a global trend toward healthcare cost containment and resulting changes in healthcare law and policy may impact our business in ways that we cannot currently predict, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
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•In addition to access, coverage and reimbursement, the commercial success of our products depends upon their market acceptance by physicians, patients, third party payors and the medical community.
•Delays or problems in the supply of our products for sale or for use in clinical trials, loss of our single source suppliers or failure to comply with manufacturing regulations could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
•Our future success depends on our ability to successfully develop and obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for our late-stage product candidates and, if approved, to successfully launch and commercialize those product candidates.
•We may not be able to successfully identify and acquire or in-license additional products or product candidates to grow our business, and, even if we are able to do so, we may otherwise fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these transactions.
•Conducting clinical trials is costly and time-consuming, and the outcomes are uncertain. A failure to prove that our product candidates are safe and effective in clinical trials, or to generate data in clinical trials to support expansion of the therapeutic uses for our existing products, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
•We have incurred and may in the future incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patents, other intellectual property rights and related matters, and we may be unable to protect our rights to, or commercialize, our products.
•Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain directors and officers liability insurance, and such insurance coverage may have reduced policy limits and coverage, may not be sufficient to cover our potential liabilities and may make it more difficult for us to attract and retain directors and officers.
•Our business is currently adversely affected and could be materially and adversely affected in the future by the evolving effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic and related global economic slowdown as a result of the current and potential future impacts on our commercialization efforts, clinical trial activity, research and development activities, supply chain and corporate development activities and other business operations, in addition to the impact of a global economic slowdown.
•Significant disruptions of information technology systems or data security breaches could adversely affect our business.
•We are subject to significant ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight, which may result in significant additional expense and limit our ability to commercialize our products.
•If we fail to comply with our reporting and payment obligations under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program or other governmental pricing programs, we could be subject to additional reimbursement requirements, penalties, sanctions and fines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
•We have incurred substantial debt, which could impair our flexibility and access to capital and adversely affect our financial position, and our business would be adversely affected if we are unable to service our debt obligations.
•To continue to grow our business, we will need to commit substantial resources, which could result in future losses or otherwise limit our opportunities or affect our ability to operate and grow our business.
•The market price of our ordinary shares has been volatile and is likely to continue to be volatile in the future, and the value of your investment could decline significantly.
NOTE REGARDING COMPANY REFERENCE
In this report, unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all references to “Jazz Pharmaceuticals,” “Jazz,”“the registrant,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and its consolidated subsidiaries.
PART I
Item 1.Business
Overview
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is an innovative global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing life-changing medicines that transform the lives of patients with serious diseases – often with limited or no options. We have a diverse portfolio of marketed medicines and novel product candidates, in early- to late-stage development, across key therapeutic areas. Our focus is in neuroscience, including sleep and movement disorders, and in oncology, including hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. We actively explore new options for patients including novel compounds, small molecule advancements, biologics and innovative delivery technologies.
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Our lead marketed products are:
•Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) oral solution, a product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and marketed in the U.S. for the treatment of both cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness, or EDS, in narcolepsy patients seven years of age and older;
•Xywav™ (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium oxybates) oral solution, a product that contains 92% less sodium than Xyrem, approved by FDA and launched in the U.S. in November 2020 for the treatment of cataplexy or EDS in narcolepsy patients seven years of age and older;
•Sunosi® (solriamfetol), a product approved by FDA and the European Commission, or the EC, and marketed in the U.S. and in Europe to improve wakefulness in adult patients with EDS associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA;
•Defitelio® (defibrotide sodium), a product approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease, or VOD, also known as sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, or SOS, with renal or pulmonary dysfunction following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or HSCT, and in Europe (where it is marketed as Defitelio® (defibrotide)) for the treatment of severe VOD in adults and children undergoing HSCT therapy;
•Erwinaze® (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi), a product approved in the U.S. and in certain markets in Europe (where it is marketed as Erwinase®) for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, who have developed hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase;
•Vyxeos® (daunorubicin and cytarabine) liposome for injection, a product approved in the U.S. and in Europe (where it is marketed as Vyxeos® liposomal 44 mg/100 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion) for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia, or t-AML, or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes, or AML-MRC; and
•Zepzelca™ (lurbinectedin), a product approved by FDA and launched in July 2020 in the U.S. for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer, or SCLC, with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Our strategy to create sustainable shareholder value is focused on:
•Strong commercial execution to drive diversified revenue growth and address unmet medical needs of our patients across our product portfolio including with rapid adoption of Xywav in the U.S., Sunosi growth globally and establishing Zepzelca as a treatment of choice for second line SCLC patients;
•Expanding and advancing our pipeline with internal and external patient-centric innovation to achieve a valuable product portfolio of durable, highly differentiated programs;
•Continuing to build a flexible, efficient, and productive development engine for targeted therapeutic conditions to identify and progress early- and mid-stage assets; and
•Investing in an efficient, scalable operating model and differentiated capabilities to enable growth; and unlock further value through indication expansion and global markets.
In 2020, consistent with our strategy, we continued to focus on research and development activities within our neuroscience and oncology therapeutic areas, such as our expansion into movement disorders and solid tumors, and exploring and investing in adjacent therapeutic areas that could further diversify our portfolio, such as post-traumatic stress disorders through our acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc.’s, fatty acid amide hydrolase, or FAAH, inhibitor program. For a summary of our ongoing research and development activities, see “Business—Research and Development” in this Part I, Item 1.
Proposed Acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals
On February 3, 2021, we announced that we have entered into a definitive transaction agreement, or the GW Transaction Agreement, with GW Pharmaceuticals plc, or GW, under which a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours, Jazz Pharmaceuticals UK Holdings Limited, or Acquisition Sub, agreed to acquire GW. The GW Transaction Agreement provides, among other things, that, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the GW Transaction Agreement, we (through Acquisition Sub) will acquire the entire issued share capital of GW, which we refer to in this report as the GW Acquisition. Under the GW Transaction Agreement, the consideration to be paid by us in the GW Acquisition consists of $220.00 per American Depositary Share in GW, to be paid in the form of $200 in cash and $20 in our ordinary shares, for total consideration of approximately $7.2 billion. The GW Acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the
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conditions set forth in the GW Transaction Agreement, including applicable regulatory approvals and the approval of GW shareholders.
Our Commercialized Products
Neuroscience
Xyrem. Xyrem is a product approved by FDA and marketed in the U.S. for the treatment of both cataplexy and EDS in both adult and pediatric patients with narcolepsy. Sodium oxybate, the active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, in Xyrem, is a formulation of the sodium salt of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, an endogenous neurotransmitter and metabolite of gamma-aminobutyric acid.
Narcolepsy is a chronic, debilitating neurological disorder characterized by EDS and the inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. It affects an estimated one in 2,000 people in the U.S., with symptoms typically appearing in childhood. There are five primary symptoms of narcolepsy, including EDS, cataplexy, disrupted nighttime sleep, sleep-related hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. While patients with narcolepsy may not experience all five symptoms, EDS, an essential symptom of narcolepsy, is present in all narcolepsy patients and is characterized by chronic, pervasive sleepiness as well as sudden irresistible and overwhelming urges to sleep (inadvertent naps and sleep attacks). Narcolepsy may affect many areas of life, including limiting a patient’s education and employment opportunities, and may lead to difficulties at work, school, or in daily life activities like driving, operating machinery or caring for children. Patients with narcolepsy may also suffer from significant medical comorbidities, including cardiac disorders, depression, suicide risk, anxiety, diseases of the digestive system and respiratory diseases.
Cataplexy, the sudden loss of muscle tone with retained consciousness, can be one of the most debilitating symptoms of narcolepsy. Cataplexy is present in approximately 70% of patients with narcolepsy. Cataplexy can range from slight weakness or a drooping of facial muscles to the complete loss of muscle tone resulting in postural collapse. It may also impair a patient’s vision or speech. Cataplexy is often triggered by strong emotions such as laughter, anger or surprise. Cataplexy can severely impair a patient’s quality of life and ability to function.
Xyrem was approved in the U.S. for the treatment of cataplexy in adult patients with narcolepsy in 2002 and was approved for EDS in adult patients with narcolepsy in 2005. In October 2018, Xyrem was also approved in the U.S. for the treatment of cataplexy or EDS in pediatric narcolepsy patients ages seven and older. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends Xyrem as a standard of care for the treatment of both cataplexy and EDS associated with narcolepsy.
In an effort to reach more patients who might benefit from our oxybate products, we continue to implement initiatives such as outreach to prescribers who treat narcolepsy, physician/healthcare provider education, enhanced patient and physician support services and unbranded disease awareness programs for the public.
Our marketing, sales and distribution of Xyrem in the U.S. are subject to a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, which is required by FDA to mitigate the risks of serious adverse outcomes resulting from inappropriate prescribing, abuse, misuse and diversion of Xyrem. Under this REMS, all of the Xyrem sold in the U.S. must be dispensed and shipped directly to patients or caregivers through a central pharmacy. Xyrem may not be stocked in retail pharmacies. Physicians and patients must complete an enrollment process prior to fulfillment of Xyrem prescriptions, and each physician and patient must receive materials concerning the serious risks associated with Xyrem before the physician can prescribe, or a patient can receive, the product. The central certified pharmacy must monitor and report instances of patient or prescriber behavior giving rise to a reasonable suspicion of abuse, misuse or diversion of Xyrem, and maintains enrollment and prescription monitoring information in a central database. The central pharmacy ships the product directly to the patient (or caregiver) by a courier service.
We have had exclusive agreements with Express Scripts Specialty Distribution Services, Inc., or ESSDS, the central pharmacy for Xyrem, to distribute Xyrem in the U.S. and provide patient support services related to Xyrem since 2002. In July 2020, upon expiration of the existing exclusive agreements with ESSDS, we entered into new agreements with ESSDS with a two-year term. Our current agreements with ESSDS, which expire on July 1, 2022, may be terminated by either party at any time without cause on 180 days’ prior written notice to the other party.
In 2020, net product sales of Xyrem were $1.7 billion, which represented 74% of our total net product sales.
Xywav. Xywav (formerly JZP-258) is a product approved by FDA for the treatment of cataplexy or EDS in both adult and pediatric patients with narcolepsy. Xywav is an oxybate product that contains 92% less sodium than Xyrem. In January 2020, we submitted a new drug application, or NDA, for Xywav for the treatment of both cataplexy and EDS in patients with narcolepsy and in connection with this submission, redeemed the priority review voucher, or PRV, we acquired in May 2018. FDA approved Xywav for this indication in July 2020 and we commenced the U.S. launch of Xywav in November 2020. The 92% reduction of sodium translates into a reduction of approximately 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams per day for a patient prescribed an oxybate product, depending on the dose. When patients start Xywav after a sodium oxybate product, Xywav treatment is
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initiated at the same dose and regimen as the sodium oxybate product (gram for gram) and titrated as needed based on efficacy and tolerability. The label for Xywav, unlike Xyrem, does not include a warning to prescribers to monitor patients sensitive to sodium intake, including patients with heart failure, hypertension or renal impairment.
Narcolepsy is a chronic condition where patients, by virtue of their diagnosis, are at increased risk of cardiovascular events and disease, and the impact of sodium on cardiovascular health is well established. There is also broad scientific consensus that reducing sodium consumption, which is a modifiable risk factor, is associated with clinically-meaningful reductions in blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. Given that narcolepsy is a life-long condition, we therefore believe that reducing sodium intake vs. the standard of care by 92% each and every day is a significant advancement for these patients. Health care providers and patients who understand the increased risk of cardiovascular disease faced by narcolepsy patients and who have been educated on the meaningful reduction in sodium from Xyrem to Xywav cite that meaningful reduction as a key reason for prescribing or starting on Xywav.
In approving Xywav, FDA approved a REMS to cover both Xywav and Xyrem. The Xywav and Xyrem REMS have the same requirements for both products and is also distributed by the central pharmacy through exclusive agreements with ESSDS.
In 2020, net product sales of Xywav were $15.3 million, which represented 1% of our total net product sales. Following the U.S. launch of Xywav in November 2020, approximately 1,900 patients were taking Xywav by the end of 2020. With respect to Xyrem and Xywav in the aggregate, average active oxybate patients on therapy was approximately 15,300 in the fourth quarter of 2020. Total net product sales of Xywav were offset by the cost of launch related co-pay coupons and a free product program for certain qualified patients. We expect to have broad commercial payor coverage within the first 6 to 9 months following launch. To date, we have entered into agreements with various entities and have achieved coverage for Xywav for over 60% of commercial lives.
Sunosi. Sunosi received FDA approval in March 2019 and was launched in the U.S. in July 2019 to improve wakefulness in adult patients with EDS associated with narcolepsy or OSA. Sunosi was also approved in January 2020 by the EC to improve wakefulness and reduce EDS in adults with narcolepsy (with or without cataplexy) or OSA. We launched Sunosi in Germany for the treatment of narcolepsy in May 2020 and in Denmark in October 2020. We expect to continue the rolling launch in Europe as we secure pricing and reimbursement approvals in more European countries.
OSA, commonly referred to as sleep apnea, is a highly prevalent disease, and EDS, a major symptom of OSA, is characterized by the inability to stay awake and alert during the day resulting in unplanned lapses into sleep or drowsiness. Although positive airway pressure therapy, with its most common form being continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, has been shown to be an effective therapy for sleep apnea that frequently results in improvement in EDS in many patients, not all patients tolerate CPAP therapy and among those who tolerate CPAP, usage is highly variable. EDS may persist in people with OSA despite using CPAP.
In 2020, net product sales of Sunosi were $28.3 million, which represented 1% of our total net product sales.
Oncology
Defitelio. Defibrotide, the API in Defitelio, is approved for the treatment of VOD, a potentially life-threatening complication of HSCT, and is in development for other complications following anti-cancer treatment. Defibrotide is the sodium salt of a complex mixture of single-stranded oligodeoxyribonucleotides derived from porcine DNA. Defibrotide mediates its effects via interaction with endothelial cells. Non-clinical data suggest that defibrotide stabilizes endothelial cells by reducing endothelial cell activation and by protecting them from further damage.
Stem cell transplantation is a frequently used treatment modality for hematologic cancers and other conditions in both adults and children. Certain conditioning regimens used as part of HSCT can damage the cells that line the hepatic vessels, which is thought to lead to the development of VOD, also referred to as SOS, a blockage of the small vessels in the liver, that can lead to liver failure and potentially result in significant dysfunction in other organs such as the kidneys and lungs. Severe VOD is the most extreme form of VOD and is associated with multi-organ failure and high rates of morbidity and mortality. An analysis of retrospective data, prospective cohort studies and clinical trials published between 1979 and 2007 found that the 100-day mortality rate in severe VOD cases is greater than 80%.
The EC granted marketing authorization under exceptional circumstances for Defitelio for the treatment of severe VOD in adults and children undergoing HSCT in 2013. We commenced a rolling launch of Defitelio in European countries in 2014.
In 2016, FDA approved our NDA for Defitelio for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with VOD with renal or pulmonary dysfunction following HSCT. We launched Defitelio in the U.S. shortly after FDA approval. We also launched defibrotide in Canada in 2017. In June 2019, Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd., the partner to whom we have granted exclusive rights to develop and commercialize defibrotide in Japan, received marketing authorization from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and launched defibrotide in Japan in September 2019. Further geographic expansion occurred in July 2020 and
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September 2020, as Defitelio was approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and Swissmedic in Switzerland, respectively, for the treatment of VOD.
In 2020, Defitelio/defibrotide product sales were $195.8 million, which represented 8% of our total net product sales.
Erwinaze. Erwinaze (called Erwinase in markets outside the U.S.) is a biologic product used in conjunction with chemotherapy to treat patients with ALL who have developed hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase. Originally developed by Public Health England, a national executive agency of the United Kingdom, or UK, Erwinaze is an asparaginase, a type of enzyme that can deprive leukemic cells of an amino acid essential for their growth. It is derived from a rare bacterium (Erwinia chrysanthemi) and is immunologically distinct from E. coli-derived asparaginase and suitable for patients with hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived treatments.
For ALL patients with hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase, Erwinaze can be a crucial component of their therapeutic regimen. Current treatment guidelines and protocols recommend switching a patient receiving E. coli-derived asparaginase to treatment with Erwinaze if the patient’s hypersensitivity reaction to the E. coli-derived asparaginase is clinically meaningful, indicating that the hypersensitivity reaction has resulted in an intervention or interruption in infusion occurring in the patient’s treatment regimen. While treatment protocols for pediatric, adolescent and young adult (up to age 39) patients commonly include asparaginase, adult protocols do not.
First approved by FDA under a biologics license application, or BLA, for administration via intramuscular injection in conjunction with chemotherapy, Erwinaze was launched in the U.S. in 2011. In 2014, FDA approved a supplemental BLA for administration of Erwinaze via intravenous infusion in conjunction with chemotherapy.
Erwinaze was exclusively licensed to us for worldwide marketing, sales and distribution by Porton Biopharma Limited, or PBL, a company that is wholly owned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care. Our license and supply agreement with PBL, which includes our license to Erwinaze trademarks and manufacturing know-how, expired on December 31, 2020. Under our agreement with PBL, we have the right to sell certain Erwinaze inventory for a post-termination sales period of 12 months and retain ownership of certain data, know-how and other rights, including the BLA for Erwinaze in the U.S. and marketing authorizations for Erwinase in several other countries. During this post-termination period, PBL also manufactures the product for us and is our sole supplier for Erwinaze. We are obligated to make tiered royalty payments to PBL based on worldwide net sales of Erwinaze. Subject to successful receipt, release and FDA approval for the batches from PBL, we expect to distribute available Erwinaze supply during the first half of 2021.
In 2020, net product sales of Erwinaze were $147.1 million, which represented 6% of our total net product sales.
Vyxeos. Vyxeos is a liposomal formulation of a fixed ratio combination of daunorubicin and cytarabine for intravenous infusion that is indicated for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC and has been shown to have synergistic effects at killing leukemia cells in vitro and in animal models. Vyxeos is the first drug delivery combination product based on our CombiPlex technology platform to be approved by FDA and the EC.
AML is a rapidly progressing and life-threatening blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow, which produces most of the body's new blood cells. AML cells crowd out healthy cells and move aggressively into the bloodstream to spread cancer to other parts of the body. AML is a relatively rare disease representing about 1% of all new cancer cases and has the lowest survival rate of any form of leukemia. Patients with newly diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC may have a particularly poor prognosis.
In 2017, we launched Vyxeos in the U.S. after FDA approved our NDA for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC. In August 2018, the EC granted marketing authorization for Vyxeos and, as part of our rolling launch of Vyxeos in Europe, we are continuing to make pricing and reimbursement submissions in European countries.
In 2020, Vyxeos product sales were $121.1 million, which represented 5% of our total net product sales.
Zepzelca. In furtherance of our interest in and efforts to expand our oncology therapeutic area, in December 2019, we entered into an exclusive license agreement with Pharma Mar, S.A., or PharmaMar, pursuant to which we obtained exclusive U.S. development and commercialization rights to Zepzelca.
Zepzelca for injection (4 mg) is approved by FDA to treat adults with metastatic small cell lung cancer, or SCLC, with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Zepzelca is approved based on response rate and how long the response lasted. Additional studies will further evaluate the benefit of Zepzelca for this use.
Zepzelca was granted orphan drug designation for SCLC by FDA in August 2018. In December 2019, PharmaMar submitted an NDA to FDA for accelerated approval of Zepzelca for relapsed SCLC based on data from a Phase 2 trial, and in February 2020, FDA accepted the NDA for filing with priority review. In June 2020, FDA granted accelerated approval of Zepzelca for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic SCLC with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. In October 2020, we entered into an amendment to the license agreement with PharmaMar to expand our
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exclusive license to include rights to develop and commercialize Zepzelca in Canada. The term of the amended license agreement extends on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis until the latest of: (i) expiration of the last PharmaMar patent covering Zepzelca in that country (subject to certain exclusions), (ii) expiration of regulatory exclusivity for Zepzelca in that country and (iii) 12 years after the first commercial sale of Zepzelca in that country. We have the right to terminate the amended license agreement at will upon a specified notice period, and either party can terminate the amended license agreement for the other party’s uncured material breach or bankruptcy. For a description of additional terms of the amended license agreement, including financial terms, see Note 3, Asset Acquisitions, Collaborations and Disposition—License Agreement of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
In December 2020 we, in conjunction with PharmaMar, announced results from the ATLANTIS Phase 3 study evaluating Zepzelca in combination with doxorubicin for adult patients with SCLC whose disease progressed following one prior platinum-containing line. The study did not meet the pre-specified criteria of significance for its primary endpoint. Key secondary and subgroup analyses favored the lurbinectedin combination arm. Patients received lurbinectedin at 2.0mg/m2 in the combination arm, which is lower than the FDA approved dose of Zepzelca at 3.2mg/m2. Lurbinectedin monotherapy was not tested in ATLANTIS. We anticipate initiating the Phase 4 study for the Zepzelca program, with an objective to provide critical data to complement the findings from the Basket trial, which supported the accelerated approval of Zepzelca.
In 2020, Zepzelca product sales were $90.4 million, which represented 4% of our total net product sales.
Research and Development
A key aspect of our growth strategy is our continued investment in our evolving and expanding research and development activities. We actively explore new options for patients including novel compounds, small molecule advancements, biologics and innovative delivery technologies. We are focused on research and development activities within our neuroscience and oncology therapeutic areas, such as our expansion into movement disorders and solid tumors, and exploring and investing in adjacent therapeutic areas that could further diversify our portfolio.
Our development activities encompass all stages of development and currently include clinical testing of new product candidates and activities related to clinical improvements of, or additional indications or new clinical data for, our existing marketed products. We have also expanded into preclinical exploration of novel therapies primarily through external research collaborations, including precision medicines in hematology and oncology. We are increasingly leveraging our growing research and development function, and have supported additional investigator-sponsored trials that will generate additional data related to our products. We have a number of licensing and collaboration agreements with third parties, including biotechnology companies, academic institutions and research-based companies and institutions,related to preclinical and clinical research and development activities in hematology and in precision oncology, as well as in neuroscience.
Our current and planned development activities in our neuroscience therapeutic area are focused on JZP-258 for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, JZP-385, JZP-150 and JZP-324, as well as exploring additional indications for Sunosi.
JZP-258 for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia. In October 2020, we announced positive top-line results from a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating JZP-258 in adult patients with idiopathic hypersomnia, a chronic, neurological disorder that is primarily characterized by EDS and that currently has no approved therapies in the U.S. We completed the rolling submission of a supplemental new drug application, or sNDA, in February 2021, and if approved by FDA in a timely manner, we expect a potential launch of JZP-258 in the fourth quarter of 2021. FDA granted Fast Track designation for JZP-258 for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia in September 2020.
JZP-385. JZP-385 is a T-type calcium channel modulator that is a small molecule currently in development for the treatment of essential tremor. We acquired JZP-385 in our acquisition of Cavion, Inc., or Cavion, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, in August 2019. We expect to initiate a Phase 2b study of JZP-385 in mid-year 2021.
JZP-150. JZP-150 is a FAAH inhibitor program for the potential treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and associated symptoms. In October 2020, we entered into an asset purchase and exclusive license agreement with SpringWorks, under which we acquired SpringWorks’ FAAH inhibitor program, including an assignment of SpringWorks’ proprietary FAAH inhibitor PF-04457845, or PF-’845, now named JZP-150. We expect to initiate a Phase 2 study of JZP-150 in late 2021.
JZP-324. We are also pursuing early-stage activities related to the development of JZP-324, an extended-release low sodium, oxybate formulation that we believe could provide a clinically meaningful option for narcolepsy patients.
Our current and planned research and development activities in our oncology therapeutic area are focused on JZP-458, exploring additional indications for Defitelio and Vyxeos, generating additional clinical data for Zepzelca and Vyxeos, including in combination with other therapeutic agents, and the research and development of new product candidates through our external collaborations.
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JZP-458. JZP-458 is a recombinant Erwinia asparaginase that uses a novel Pseudomonas fluorescens expression platform, which is being developed for use as a component of a multi-agent chemotherapeutic regimen in the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with ALL or lymphoblastic lymphoma, or LBL, who are hypersensitive to E. coli-derived asparaginase products. JZP-458 was granted Fast Track designation by FDA in October 2019 for the treatment of this patient population, and in December 2019, the first patient was enrolled in the pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical study for JZP-458 conducted in collaboration with the Children’s Oncology Group. In December 2020, we initiated the submission of a BLA to FDA for JZP-458 under Real-Time Oncology Review, or RTOR, pilot program, with the potential approval and launch in the U.S. in mid-year of 2021.
Defitelio. Our Defitelio clinical development strategy generally focuses on the prevention and treatment of serious diseases associated with stem cell transplantation and endothelial cell damage.
Vyxeos. Our Vyxeos clinical development strategy is designed to target potential new patient segments across the AML landscape and to generate clinical data on Vyxeos when used in combination with other therapeutic agents. As reflected in the table below, we are pursuing this strategy by sponsoring clinical trials, working with cooperative groups who are conducting clinical trials, and partnering with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, or MD Anderson. In August 2018, we announced a five-year collaboration with MD Anderson to evaluate potential treatment options for hematologic malignancies, with a near-term focus on Vyxeos, and shortly thereafter, commenced development activities under this collaboration. In addition, there are multiple ongoing investigator-sponsored trials studying Vyxeos.
Zepzelca. We anticipate the initiation in 2021 of a Phase 3 study evaluating Zepzelca in combination with immunotherapy versus immunotherapy alone in patients with extensive-stage SCLC after induction chemotherapy.
CombiPlex Platform. We are also evaluating the use of our CombiPlex delivery technology platform in a number of therapeutic combinations in oncology as part of our internal oncology research and development activities. CombiPlex enables the design and rapid evaluation of various combinations of therapies to deliver enhanced anti-cancer activity by identifying an optimal synergistic ratio of drugs in vitro and fixing this ratio in a nanoscale delivery complex that maintains and then coordinates the release of the synergistic combination after administration. CombiPlex utilizes two proprietary nanoscale delivery platforms: liposomes to control the release and distribution of water-soluble drugs and drugs that are both water- and fat-soluble (amphipathic), and nanoparticles to control the release and distribution of non-water-soluble (hydrophobic) drugs.
Through third parties, we are also pursuing preclinical and clinical research and development activities in hematology and in precision oncology under a number of licensing and collaboration agreements, including with:
•Codiak BioSciences, Inc., or Codiak, for an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license to develop, manufacture and commercialize potential therapeutic candidates directed at five targets to be developed using Codiak's engEx™ precision engineering platform for exosome therapeutics;
•Pfenex, Inc., which was acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, or Ligand, for rights to an early-stage long-acting Erwinia asparaginase and an option to negotiate a license for a recombinant pegaspargase product candidate;
•XL-protein GmbH, or XLp, for rights to use XLp’s PASylation® technology to extend the plasma half-life of selected asparaginase product candidates; and
•Redx Pharma, or Redx, for preclinical collaboration activities related to the pan-Raf inhibitor program that we purchased from Redx for the potential treatment of Raf and Ras mutant tumors and to discover and develop drug candidates for two cancer targets in the Ras/Raf/MAP kinase pathway.
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Below is a summary of our key ongoing and planned development projects related to our products and pipeline and their corresponding current stages of development:
Neuroscience
| Product Candidates | Description | ||||
| Regulatory | |||||
| JZP-258 (oxybate; 92% sodium reduction) | Idiopathic hypersomnia | ||||
| Phase 2b | |||||
| JZP-385 | Essential tremor (planned study) | ||||
| Phase 2 | |||||
JZP-150 | Post-traumatic stress disorder (planned study) | ||||
| Phase 1 | |||||
| JZP-324 | Oxybate extended-release formulation | ||||
| Preclinical | |||||
| Undisclosed targets | Neuroscience | ||||
Oncology
| Product Candidates | Description | ||||
| Regulatory | |||||
JZP-458 (recombinant Erwinia asparaginase) (pivotal Phase 2/3) | ALL/LBL | ||||
| Phase 3 | |||||
| Vyxeos | AML or high-risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome, or MDS (AML18 and AML19) (cooperative group studies) | ||||
| Newly diagnosed adults with standard- and high-risk AML (AML Study Group cooperative group study) | |||||
| Newly diagnosed pediatric patients with AML (Children’s Oncology Group cooperative group study) | |||||
| Phase 2 | |||||
| Vyxeos | High-risk MDS (European Myelodysplastic Syndromes Cooperative Group cooperative group study) | ||||
| Newly diagnosed older adults with high-risk AML (planned cooperative group study) | |||||
| Vyxeos + venetoclax | De novo or relapsed/refractory, or R/R, AML (MD Anderson collaboration study) | ||||
| Phase 1 | |||||
| Vyxeos | Low intensity dosing for higher risk MDS (MD Anderson collaboration study) | ||||
| Vyxeos + other approved therapies | R/R AML or hypomethylating agent failure MDS (MD Anderson collaboration study) | ||||
| First-line, fit AML (Phase 1b study) | |||||
| Low intensity therapy for first-line, unfit AML (Phase 1b study) | |||||
| Preclinical | |||||
| CombiPlex | Hematology/oncology exploratory activities | ||||
JZP-341 (long-acting Erwinia asparaginase) | ALL and other hematological malignancies (collaboration with Ligand) | ||||
| Recombinant pegaspargase | Hematological malignancies (Jazz opt-in opportunity with Ligand) | ||||
| Pan-Raf inhibitor program | Raf and Ras mutant tumors (acquired from Redx, which is continuing development) | ||||
| Undisclosed targets | Ras/Raf/MAP kinase pathway (collaboration with Redx) | ||||
| Exosome targets (NRAS, STAT3 and 3 others) | Hematological malignancies/solid tumors (collaboration with Codiak) | ||||
| Defitelio | Exploratory activities | ||||
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As a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken measures to implement remote and virtual approaches, including remote data monitoring where possible, to maintain patient safety and trial continuity and to preserve study integrity. Although we have seen limited COVID-19-related impact to our mid- and late-stage clinical trial activity, despite delays in initiating trial sites, if the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic become more severe, we could experience significant disruptions to our clinical development timelines, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. For a more detailed discussion of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our clinical trial activities, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Overview—COVID-19 Business Update” in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
For 2021 and beyond, we expect that our research and development expenses will continue to increase from previous levels, particularly as we prepare for anticipated regulatory submissions and data read-outs from clinical trials, initiate and undertake additional clinical trials and related development work and potentially acquire rights to additional product candidates.
Subsequent Events
GW Transaction Agreement
On February 3, 2021, we announced that we have entered into the GW Transaction Agreement with GW, under which a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours, Acquisition Sub, agreed to acquire GW. The GW Transaction Agreement provides, among other things, that subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the GW Transaction Agreement, Acquisition Sub will acquire the entire issued share capital of GW pursuant to a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006, or Scheme of Arrangement, which we refer to as the GW Acquisition.
Under the GW Transaction Agreement, at the effective time of the Scheme of Arrangement, all GW ordinary shares issued and outstanding will be transferred to Acquisition Sub, and the holders of GW ordinary shares will have the right to receive, for each such share, (a) $16.662⁄3 in cash and (b) an amount of our ordinary shares determined based on the exchange ratio, which exchange ratio will be determined as follows:
•If the volume-weighted average sales price of our ordinary shares, as determined in accordance with the GW Transaction Agreement, or the Defined VWAP, is greater than $139.72 but less than $170.76, the exchange ratio will be an amount equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) $1.662⁄3 by (y) the Defined VWAP;
•If the Defined VWAP is equal to or less than $139.72, the exchange ratio will be 0.011929; or
•If the Defined VWAP is an amount equal to or greater than $170.76, the exchange ratio will be 0.009760.
Because each American Depositary Share in GW, or GW ADSs, represents a beneficial interest in 12 GW ordinary shares, holders of GW ADSs will be entitled to receive 12 times the foregoing cash and share amounts, or (1) $200 in cash and (2) $20 in the form of our ordinary shares with the actual number of our ordinary shares being determined based on the exchange ratio set out above. The total consideration to be paid by us for the entire issued share capital of GW is approximately $7.2 billion.
The respective obligations of GW and us to consummate the GW Acquisition are subject to the satisfaction or waiver of a number of customary conditions, including the approval by GW’s shareholders of the Scheme of Arrangement, obtaining certain regulatory approvals, including expiration of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, and obtaining sanction of the Scheme of Arrangement by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. The GW Acquisition is not subject to approval by our shareholders, nor is the GW Acquisition subject to a financing contingency. The GW Acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the GW Transaction Agreement. The GW Transaction Agreement contains customary representations and warranties given by GW and us, covenants regarding the conduct of GW’s business prior to the consummation of the GW Acquisition, termination rights and other customary provisions.
Financing Commitment
On February 3, 2021, in connection with the execution of the GW Transaction Agreement, we entered into a commitment letter with BofA Securities, Inc., Bank of America, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. pursuant to which these commitment parties have committed to provide us with a senior secured revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $500.0 million, a senior secured term loan B facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $3,150.0 million and a senior secured bridge loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $2,200.0 million to, among other things, finance our obligations in respect of the GW Acquisition. The effectiveness of such credit facilities is subject to the occurrence of customary closing conditions, including the consummation of the GW Acquisition.
Commercialization Activities
We have commercial operations primarily in the U.S., Europe and Canada. In the U.S., our products are commercialized through a number of teams, including a team of experienced, trained sales professionals who provide education and promote
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Xyrem, Xywav, Sunosi, Defitelio, Erwinaze, Vyxeos and Zepzelca to healthcare providers in the appropriate specialties for each product, a team that interacts with payors and institutions to ensure access and coverage for the products, and a team that distributes the products throughout the U.S. healthcare system (wholesalers, pharmacies, hospitals, and community and academic institutions) and provides patient services.
In Canada and in approved markets in Europe where we commercialize Defitelio, Erwinase and Vyxeos, we have a field force of hematology sales specialists. In markets where these products either are not approved or are unable to be promoted under local regulation, we have medical affairs personnel responsible for responding to medical information requests and for providing information consistent with local treatment protocols with respect to such products. In certain European markets, we have a sales team and a team of medical science liaisons supporting our rolling launch of Sunosi in Europe. Outside the U.S., we directly market Xyrem in Canada for the treatment of cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. We also utilize distributors in certain markets outside the U.S. where we do not market our products directly.
Our commercial activities include marketing related services, distribution services and commercial support services. We employ third party vendors, such as advertising agencies, market research firms and suppliers of marketing and other sales support-related services, to assist with our commercial activities. We also provide reimbursement support for our U.S. markets.
We intend to scale the size of our sales force as appropriate to effectively reach our target audience in the specialty markets in which we currently operate. We promote Defitelio, Erwinaze, Vyxeos and Zepzelca to many hematology and oncology specialists who operate in the same hospitals, and we believe that we benefit from operational synergies from this overlap. We expect that a potential launch of JZP-458 in the U.S. or Europe would require minimal additional support. Continued growth of our current marketed products and the launch of any future products may require further expansion of our field force and support organization in and outside the U.S. In addition, beginning in March 2020, we transitioned our field-based sales, market access, reimbursement and medical employees out of the field and suspended work-related travel and in-person customer interactions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We utilized technology to continue to engage healthcare professionals and other customers virtually to support patient care. In late June 2020, as clinics and institutions began to allow in-person interactions pursuant to local health authority and government guidelines, our field teams resumed in-person interactions with healthcare professionals and clinics combined with virtual engagement. The level of renewed engagement varies by account, region and country and may be adversely impacted in the future as a result of the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For a more detailed discussion of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our commercialization activities, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Overview—COVID-19 Business Update” in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Human Capital Management and Environment, Health and Safety
Jazz is committed to creating a company where the culture embodies our corporate purpose to innovate to transform the lives of patients and reflects our key goals: (1) be a great place to work; and (2) live our core values of Integrity, Collaboration, Passion, Innovation, and Pursuit of Excellence.
Employee Demographics. As of February 16, 2021, Jazz employed approximately 1,940 people worldwide, of which approximately 1,250 were employed in the U.S. and approximately 690 were outside the U.S. in the UK, Ireland and across the European Union, or EU. As an innovative biopharmaceutical company, we have over 400 full-time employees — greater than 20% of our global workforce — supporting our research and development activities. We consider our employee relations to be very good.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We make diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, a priority because it is a key to unlocking the potential of our people and living our core values.
We strive to create a workplace culture that fosters the ability to be your authentic self and contribute boldly. We aspire to have multi-dimensional diversity through our entire Jazz workforce. We seek to surround underrepresented groups with allies to enable all employees to thrive equitably. Our Board and management team are committed to fostering DEI in all parts of our business.
Our DEI strategy includes: (1) building a more diverse workforce in terms of gender identity, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation and that represent unique backgrounds, experiences, thoughts and talents; (2) investing in developing our diverse talent and driving equity; and (3) and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging.
We designed our Employee DEI program to empower employees to guide and support our strategy and programs related to hiring diverse talent and using education and communication to continue fostering an inclusive environment. We also have a DEI Delegation, a committee of employees focused on helping to embed DEI into all we do.
Jazz ConcERTos, our employee resource teams, are self-led teams of employee volunteers with diverse backgrounds who come together to promote innovation through inclusion and to increase awareness of all dimensions of diversity. We believe that these groups will contribute positively to Jazz’s culture and business success by working cross-functionally to drive
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innovation, helping to decrease unconscious bias, and encouraging employees to be their whole selves so they can perform at their best.
We have established goals related to increasing all dimensions of diversity, including representation of females and people of color, particularly at the leadership level (i.e., employees at executive director and above). In this regard, we have made some meaningful progress, as demonstrated by the following, as of February 16, 2021:
•Approximately 40% of our board of directors is diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity.
•45% of our Executive Committee are women.
•Females represent 60% of our global workforce and 40% at the leadership level (employees at executive director and above).
•In the U.S., people of color represent 32% of our U.S. workforce and 18% at the leadership level.
While we are proud of what we have accomplished to date, we recognize there is still much to do. We remain committed to furthering our goals of providing a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that is supportive of all backgrounds, including among our broader leadership.
Employee Engagement. Jazz has a strong employee value proposition anchored in our shared commitment to our purpose to innovate to transform the lives of patients. We are committed to ensuring that we create a rich culture that provides a great place to work for our employees through company-wide efforts to connect employees to our shared purpose and to create an environment where our people feel valued, respected, and able to contribute to their full potential. We believe employee engagement and the power of our employee voices is foundational to strong performance. We have transparent and regular communication channels with our employees consisting of many forms – including all employee meetings, regular communication messages from executive leadership, top leadership forums, pulse check feedback mechanisms and engagement surveys.
Our employee feedback surveys are designed to help us measure overall employee engagement and we consistently achieve participation rates between 80 to 90%. We consistently have high levels of engagement measured by feelings of connection to our mission, Jazz as a great place to work where their well-being is supported and they feel valued and included. It also provides important insight into the areas where we need to focus in the year ahead for several key components of our company objectives, such as decision-making, opportunities for development, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Our survey informs programs and activities aligned with achieving our corporate objectives and achieving our goal of evolving our operating culture for agility and scalability.
Our Community Beat teams are employee volunteers and representatives that promote company culture and create a sense of belonging and camaraderie among our employees. They foster programs and engagement activities on a local level to draw better connections to employees with the company strategy and business milestones, give back through community service, and promote different health and well-being initiatives.
Growth, Development and Total Rewards. We understand that empowering people to find new and better ways of doing things, to gain new experiences and to development new capabilities can also support our growth and achievements as a company. The exciting opportunities within our business provide rich and ample learning opportunities and experiences for career growth.
Our talent strategy focuses on attracting the best talent, recognizing and rewarding the performance of our employees as defined by both what they accomplished and how they accomplished it, and continually developing our talent through new experiences and learning opportunities.
We recently launched a new performance management system to support our culture of learning, feedback, and continual growth. We encourage all employees to have an individual development plan to outline learning and growth interests and focus areas. We invest in manager and leadership development that emphasizes the important behaviors and values to successfully lead others and promote our culture. We offer tuition reimbursement in our major markets aimed at growth and career development.
Our management and leadership teams place significant focus and attention to diversity, capability development, and succession planning for critical roles. We regularly review talent development and succession plans for each of our functions to successfully maintain business operations and develop a pipeline of talent. We have goals concerning employee retention, diversity, and talent development.
We provide our employees with what we believe to be market competitive and locally relevant compensation and benefits that support our overarching strategy to attract, retain and reward highly talented employees in an extremely competitive and dynamic industry.
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We strive to create a culture of health and well-being throughout the organization by offering a diverse and customizable set of programs focusing on employee experience, self-care, work-life balance, flexibility and early intervention. In addition to traditional employee benefits, Jazz supports employees and their families through access to a suite of innovative programs that are designed to enhance their physical, financial, emotional and social well-being.
Workplace Safety & Employee Care During COVID-19. Workplace safety is always a top priority for Jazz. To create and sustain a safe and healthy workplace, we have implemented initiatives designed to address risk evaluation, education and training of employees, use of appropriate personal protective equipment, and compliance with relevant national and international health and safety standards.
In response to COVID-19, we launched a new employee support framework focused on Care, Connection, Continuity and Consciousness (our “4Cs”) to enable our employees to live into our values and support one another while doing everything we can to deliver on our patient mission. Important to this framework were new leader expectations and tools given the rise and complexity of emerging employee demands and needs – including more flexibility to address personal needs, a greater connection to understand the whole person and their lives, and more active support surrounding social injustice. For example, we provided productivity and collaboration tools and resources for employees working remotely, including training and toolkits to help leaders effectively lead and manage remote teams; increased flexibility within work schedules and leave programs to support employees caring for children and others; expanded employees assistance and mindfulness programs to help employees and their families manage anxiety, stress, and overall wellbeing; and increased investment in resources focused on inclusion and belonging.
Environment, Health and Safety. Our operations are subject to complex and increasingly stringent environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the countries where we operate and, in particular, in Italy and Ireland where we have manufacturing facilities. Our manufacturing activities involve the controlled storage, use and disposal of chemicals and solvents. Environmental and health and safety authorities in Italy and Ireland administer laws governing, among other matters, the emission of pollutants into the air (including the workplace), the discharge of pollutants into bodies of water, the storage, use, handling and disposal of hazardous substances, the exposure of persons to hazardous substances, and the general health, safety and welfare of employees and members of the public. In certain cases, such laws, directives and regulations may impose strict liability for pollution of the environment and contamination resulting from spills, disposals or other releases of hazardous substances or waste. Costs, damages and/or fines may result from the presence, investigation and remediation of such contamination at properties currently or formerly owned, leased or operated by us or at off-site locations, including where we have arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances or waste. In addition, we may be subject to third party claims, including for natural resource damages, personal injury and property damage, in connection with such contamination.
We seek to operate our manufacturing facilities in an environmentally responsible way to protect our people, our business, our environment and the local communities in which we operate. In light of the potential impact of our business on the environment, we have adopted a number of internal environmental policies and management systems designed to manage our operations in compliance with applicable laws, directives and regulations on environmental protection and in support of environmental sustainability and local biodiversity. Our environmental policies and management systems include procedures for assessing compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations and reporting incidents of non-compliance to applicable governmental authorities. For example, we have environmental policies governing both of our manufacturing facilities in Athlone, Ireland and Villa Guardia (Como), Italy, which demonstrate our commitment to environmental sustainability and require us to minimize resource use (e.g., energy and water) and waste generation, optimize the use of raw materials, and undertake continuous improvement in environmental performance, with an emphasis on pollution prevention.
Competition
The biopharmaceutical industry is highly competitive. Our products compete, and our product candidates may in the future compete, with currently existing therapies, product candidates currently under development by us and others and/or future product candidates, including new chemical entities that may be safer, more effective or more convenient than our products. Any products that we develop may be commercialized in competitive markets, and our competitors, which include large global pharmaceutical companies and small research-based companies and institutions, may succeed in developing products that render our products obsolete or noncompetitive.
With respect to competition we face from generic drugs, certain U.S. state laws allow for, and in some instances in the absence of specific instructions from the prescribing physician mandate, the dispensing of generic products rather than branded products when a generic version is available. Generic competition often results in decreases in the prices at which branded products can be sold.
In particular, our products and most advanced product candidates face or may face competition as described below:
•Xyrem and Xywav. While Xyrem and Xywav are currently the only products approved by FDA and marketed in the U.S. for the treatment of both cataplexy and EDS in both adult and pediatric patients with narcolepsy, we and others
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have launched products to treat EDS in narcolepsy and may in the future launch products to treat cataplexy in narcolepsy that are competitive with or disrupt the market. In the future, we expect to face competition from authorized generic and generic versions of sodium oxybate. For a description of generic versions of sodium oxybate and/or new products for treatment of cataplexy and/or EDS that could compete with, or otherwise disrupt the market for, Xyrem and Xywav, as well as a description of our settlement agreements with abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, filers, see the risk factor under the heading “The introduction of new products in the U.S. market that compete with, or otherwise disrupt the market for, our oxybate products and product candidates would adversely affect sales of our oxybate products and product candidates” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
In addition to generic competition, Xyrem and Xywav may face competition in the future from other new sodium oxybate formulations for treatment of narcolepsy. In December 2020, Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc, or Avadel, announced the filing of a NDA for an extended-release formulation of sodium oxybate which uses its proprietary technology for the treatment of EDS and cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. Avadel has also announced that it has obtained an orphan drug designation from FDA for its extended-release sodium oxybate formulation. To obtain approval with orphan drug exclusivity, Avadel will have to show clinical superiority to Xyrem and Xywav. We cannot predict the timing or approvability of Avadel’s sodium oxybate product candidate or how FDA will evaluate any clinical superiority arguments that either we or Avadel may make, but in any event, we expect to face competition from Avadel, if its product candidate is approved.
Xyrem and Xywav may also face increased competition from new branded entrants to treat EDS in narcolepsy such as pitolisant, which has been approved by FDA for the treatment of both cataplexy and EDS in adult patients with narcolepsy. Other companies have announced that they have product candidates in various phases of development to treat the symptoms of narcolepsy, such as Axsome Therapeutics, Inc.’s reboxetine, and various companies are performing research on orexin agonists for the treatment of sleep disorders.
In addition, we are also aware that prescribers often prescribe branded or generic medications for cataplexy before prescribing or instead of prescribing oxybate therapy in Xyrem or Xywav, and that payors often require patients to try such medications before they will cover Xyrem or Xywav, even if they are not approved for this use. For example, prescribers often treat mild cataplexy with drugs that have not been approved by FDA for this indication, including tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. We are also aware that branded or generic stimulants may be prescribed off-label for treatment of EDS in narcolepsy. Wake-promoting agents modafinil and armodafinil, including both branded and generic equivalents, are approved for the treatment of EDS in narcolepsy and other conditions, and may be used in conjunction with or instead of Xyrem or Xywav.
•Sunosi. Sunosi faces competition from existing branded and generic products that treat EDS or improve wakefulness in adult patients with narcolepsy or OSA in a competitive retail pharmacy market. To successfully commercialize Sunosi, we need to differentiate Sunosi from other branded and generic products that treat EDS in patients with narcolepsy, including stimulants, wake-promoting agents, such as modafinil and armodafinil, and generic versions of stimulants and wake-promoting agents. We are also aware that stimulants are prescribed off-label for patients to treat excessive sleepiness in OSA. Sunosi may face competition from new branded entrants such as pitolisant, a drug that was approved by FDA in August 2019 for the treatment of EDS in adult patients with narcolepsy and in October 2020 for the treatment of cataplexy in adult patients with narcolepsy. Pitolisant became commercially available in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2019, and has also been approved and marketed in Europe to treat adult patients with narcolepsy with or without cataplexy. Sunosi may also face competition from other products in development as potential treatments for EDS in patients with narcolepsy or OSA.
•Defitelio. While there is currently no direct competition to Defitelio to treat severe VOD, changes in the types of conditioning regimens used as part of HSCT may affect the incidence of VOD diagnosis and demand for Defitelio.
•Erwinaze. While there is currently no direct competition to Erwinaze to treat ALL patients with hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase, we and other companies have developed or are developing new treatments for ALL. For example, we initiated the submission of a BLA to FDA for JZP-458 (recombinant Erwinia asparaginase) in December 2020. Some new asparaginase treatments could reduce the rate of hypersensitivity in patients with ALL, and new treatment protocols are being developed and approved for ALL that may not include asparaginase-containing regimens, including some for the treatment of relapsed or refractory ALL patients. We have experienced frequent intermittent shortages of the product that have impacted prescribing habits for Erwinaze, including prescribers’ use of alternate methods to address hypersensitivity reactions. As a biologic product, Erwinaze also faces potential competition from biosimilar products. In April 2020, PBL announced that it had entered into an agreement with a new partner to commercialize and distribute Erwinaze after our license and supply agreement expired in December
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2020. Subject to successful receipt, release and FDA approval for the batches from PBL, we expect to distribute available Erwinaze supply during the first half of 2021.
•Vyxeos. With respect to Vyxeos, there are a number of alternative established therapies in AML. A key consideration in the treatment of AML patients is the patient’s suitability for chemotherapy. The AML patient population studied in the Vyxeos Phase 3 clinical trial supporting our NDA included 60-75 year old fit patients, or those deemed able to tolerate intensive induction chemotherapy. Prior to Vyxeos, the most widely recognized option for the treatment of newly-diagnosed t-AML and AML-MRC in fit patients was cytarabine in combination with daunorubicin, known as 7+3, which is still used today in this population, along with other intensive chemotherapy regimens, particularly in patients under the age of 60. Also, since Vyxeos was approved, several other products have been approved by FDA or are in development as treatment options for newly diagnosed AML patients eligible for intensive chemotherapy, such as targeted agents (e.g. midostaurin, enasidenib and ivosidenib), immunotherapies (e.g., gemtuzumab ozogamicin and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy), and agents disrupting leukemia cell survival (e.g., glasdegib). We are also aware of the increasing use of venetoclax combined with either a hypomethylating agent or low-dose cytarabine, a treatment approved by FDA in newly diagnosed AML patients who are age 75 years or older, or who have comorbidities that preclude use of intensive induction chemotherapy.
•Zepzelca. Zepzelca faces competition from topotecan, which is also an approved treatment in second line SCLC in the U.S., as well as other regimens for relapsed SCLC currently recommended in compendia guidelines. There are also a number of products and immunotherapies for the treatment of second line SCLC in various phases of development.
An important part of our corporate strategy is to build a diversified product pipeline, including by acquiring or in-licensing and developing, or partnering to license and develop, additional products and product candidates that we believe are highly differentiated and have significant commercial potential. Our ability to continue to grow our product portfolio requires that we compete successfully with other pharmaceutical companies, many of which may have substantially greater financial sales and marketing resources, to acquire or in-license products and product candidates.
Customers
In the U.S., Xyrem and Xywav are sold to one specialty pharmacy, ESSDS, that ships Xyrem and Xywav directly to patients. Also in the U.S., Sunosi is distributed through a retail channel consisting of numerous distributors who sell Sunosi to retail pharmacies. Defitelio and Erwinaze are sold to hospital customers through subsidiary specialty distributors of McKesson Corporation, or McKesson. Zepzelca and Vyxeos are sold to customers through subsidiary specialty distributors of McKesson, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, or ABC, and Cardinal Health, Inc., or Cardinal. We have distribution services agreements made in the ordinary course of business with McKesson, ABC and Cardinal and a pharmacy services agreement with ESSDS that provides for the distribution of Xyrem and Xywav to patients. For more information regarding our relationship with ESSDS, see “Business—Our Commercialized Products—Xyrem” in this Part I, Item 1. Purchases are made on a purchase order basis.
In certain countries in Europe, Sunosi, Defitelio, Erwinase and Vyxeos are sold pursuant to marketing authorizations. We distribute these products through Durbin PLC, a UK-based wholesaler and distributor, and O&M Movianto Nederland BV, our centralized European logistics services provider, to hospitals and local wholesalers in Europe where we market these products directly and, in other markets in Europe and elsewhere where we do not market these products directly, to local distributors and wholesalers. In countries where there is no marketing authorization, Defitelio, Erwinase and Vyxeos are sold pursuant to named patient programs, temporary use authorizations or similar authorizations.
We directly market Xyrem in Canada for the treatment of cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. Xyrem is also sold in 20 countries by UCB Pharma Limited, or UCB (which has rights to market Xyrem in 54 countries).
Manufacturing
We have a manufacturing and development facility in Athlone, Ireland where we manufacture Xyrem and Xywav, and a manufacturing plant in Villa Guardia, Italy where we produce the defibrotide drug substance. We currently do not have our own commercial manufacturing or packaging capability for our other products, product candidates or their APIs. As a result, our ability to develop and supply products in a timely and competitive manner depends primarily on third party suppliers being able to meet our ongoing commercial and clinical trial needs for API, other raw materials, packaging materials and finished products. Our manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland currently continues to be operational with essential staff onsite and office-based staff working remotely. In March 2020, we temporarily ceased operations at our Villa Guardia, Italy manufacturing facility, which produces defibrotide, to ensure the safety of our employees and communities in northern Italy. We reopened the facility in the second quarter of 2020 taking into account applicable public health authority and local government guidelines as well as employee safety, and the facility has now resumed operations with essential staff onsite and office-based staff working remotely. However, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to rapidly evolve and even if our employees more broadly return to work in our global offices, the field and our manufacturing facilities, we may
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nevertheless have to resume a remote work model, whether as a result of spikes or surges in COVID-19 infection or hospitalization rates or otherwise.
Lead Marketed Products
Xyrem. Xyrem is manufactured by us in our Athlone facility and by Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc., which we refer to together with its affiliates as Patheon, under a Master Manufacturing Services Agreement, or the Patheon Agreement, entered into with Patheon in 2015. We manufacture Xyrem in our Athlone facility for most of our U.S. commercial supply and rely on Patheon to supply Xyrem for other markets, though we are not required to purchase Xyrem exclusively from Patheon. The current term of the Patheon Agreement will expire in December 2022, subject to further automatic two-yearly extensions if Patheon is then providing manufacturing services for any product, unless either party provides prior notice of termination. In addition, we may terminate the Patheon Agreement for any reason upon 12 months’ prior written notice.
Siegfried USA, LLC and its European affiliates, or Siegfried, supply sodium oxybate, the API of Xyrem, to Patheon and our Athlone facility. Although Siegfried has been our only supplier of sodium oxybate since 2012, we have the right to purchase a portion of our worldwide requirements of sodium oxybate from other suppliers. The agreement with Siegfried expires in April 2024, subject to automatic three-year extensions until either party provides advance notice of its intent to terminate the agreement. During the term of the agreement and, under certain circumstances for 18 months after the agreement terminates, Siegfried is not permitted to manufacture sodium oxybate for any other company.
Xyrem is a Schedule III controlled substance in the U.S., and the API of Xyrem is the sodium salt of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, which is a Schedule I controlled substance in the U.S. As a result, Xyrem is subject to regulation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, under the Controlled Substances Act, or CSA, and its manufacturing and distribution are highly restricted. Quotas from the DEA are required in order to manufacture and package sodium oxybate and Xyrem in the U.S. For information related to DEA quota requirements, see “Business—Government Regulation—Other Post-Approval Pharmaceutical Product Regulation—Controlled Substance Regulations” in this Part I, Item 1.
Xywav. Xywav is manufactured at our Athlone facility. Xywav is a Schedule III controlled substance in the U.S., and the API of Xywav are the calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium salts of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, which is a Schedule I controlled substance in the U.S. As a result, Xywav is subject to regulation by the DEA under the CSA, and its manufacturing and distribution are highly restricted. Quotas from the DEA are required in order to manufacture and package calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium oxybate and Xywav in the U.S. For information related to DEA quota requirements, see “Business—Government Regulation—Other Post-Approval Pharmaceutical Product Regulation—Controlled Substance Regulations” in this Part I, Item 1.
Sunosi. Siegfried AG is our sole supplier of both the API and finished product for Sunosi for both commercial sale as well as development activities. Although Siegfried AG is currently our only manufacturer and supplier of Sunosi, we have the right to purchase a portion of our worldwide requirements of API and drug product from other suppliers. Under our agreement, we provide periodic rolling forecasts to Siegfried AG, and a portion of each rolling forecast is binding. The initial term of the agreement with Siegfried AG will expire in December 2024 and will then be subject to automatic one-year extensions until either party provides advance notice of its intent to terminate the agreement. Solriamfetol, the API of Sunosi, and Sunosi were designated Schedule IV controlled substances by the DEA under the CSA.
Defitelio. We are our own sole supplier of, and we believe that we are currently the sole worldwide producer of, the defibrotide API. We manufacture the defibrotide API from porcine DNA in a single facility located in Villa Guardia, Italy. Patheon currently processes the defibrotide API into its finished vial form under a specific product agreement entered into under a separate agreement with Patheon. Patheon is the sole provider of our commercial and clinical supply of Defitelio; however, we are not required to purchase Defitelio exclusively from Patheon. If Patheon does not or is not able to supply us with Defitelio for any reason, it may take time and resources to implement and execute the necessary technology transfer to another processor, and such delay could negatively impact our anticipated revenues from Defitelio and could potentially cause us to breach contractual obligations with customers or to violate local laws requiring us to deliver the product to those in need.
Erwinaze. PBL is our sole supplier of Erwinaze. Our license and supply agreement with PBL, which includes an exclusive right to market, sell or distribute Erwinaze, expired on December 31, 2020. Under our agreement with PBL, we have the right to sell certain Erwinaze inventory for a post-termination sales period of 12 months. Subject to successful receipt, release and FDA approval for the batches from PBL, we expect to distribute available Erwinaze supply during the first half of 2021. For information related to our expired agreement with PBL, see “Business—Our Commercialized Products—Erwinaze” in this Part I, Item 1.
Vyxeos. Vyxeos is manufactured by Baxter Oncology GmbH, or Baxter, which is a sole source supplier from a single site location, using our CombiPlex technology platform. CombiPlex products represent formulations with increased manufacturing complexities associated with producing drug delivery vehicles encapsulating two or more drugs that are maintained at a fixed ratio and, in the case of Vyxeos, two drugs that are co-encapsulated in a freeze-dried liposomal format. Our manufacturing
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agreement with Baxter expires in August 2025, subject to automatic three-year renewal terms, unless either party provides advance notice of its intent to terminate the agreement. While other contract manufacturers may be able to produce Vyxeos, the proprietary technology that supports the manufacture of Vyxeos is not easily transferable. The marketing authorization in the EU for Vyxeos also requires us to comply with certain manufacturing-related post-approval commitments.
Zepzelca. Zepzelca is manufactured by Baxter. The initial term of the agreement with Baxter will expire in December 2023 and will then be subject to automatic two-year extensions, unless either party provides advance notice of its intent to terminate the agreement. PharmaMar retains manufacturing rights for the API for U.S. and Canadian commercial supply of Zepzelca. We also entered into a manufacturing agreement for ongoing commercial supply of the drug product Zepzelca with GP Pharm S.A.
Product Candidates
JZP-458 is currently manufactured by Patheon, and the API of JZP-458 is manufactured by AGC Biologics A/S.
JZP-258 for idiopathic hypersomnia is currently manufactured at our Athlone facility, and we expect to manufacture this product commercially at our Athlone facility should this candidate receive regulatory approval.
For discussion of the challenges we face with respect to supply of our products and product candidates, see the risk factor under the heading “Delays or problems in the supply of our products for sale or for use in clinical trials, loss of our single source suppliers or failure to comply with manufacturing regulations could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Patents and Proprietary Rights
We actively seek to patent, or to acquire or obtain licenses to third party patents, to protect our products and product candidates and related inventions and improvements that we consider important to our business. We own a portfolio of U.S and non-U.S. patents and patent applications and have licensed rights to a number of issued patents and patent applications. Our owned and licensed patents and patent applications cover or relate to our products and product candidates, including certain formulations, used to treat particular conditions, distribution methods and methods of administration, drug delivery technologies and delivery profiles and methods of making and use. Patents extend for varying periods according to the date of the patent filing or grant and the legal term of patents in the various countries where patent protection is obtained. The patent laws of non-U.S. countries differ from those in U.S., and the degree of protection afforded by non-U.S. patents may be different from the protection offered by U.S. patents. In addition to patents, our products and product candidates are in some instances protected by various regulatory exclusivities. For a description of those exclusivities and their regulatory background, see “Business—Government Regulation—Marketing Exclusivity—The Hatch-Waxman Act” in this Part I, Item 1.
The patents, patent applications and regulatory exclusivities that relate to our marketed products include:
•Xyrem. We currently have six issued, unexpired patents in the U.S. relating to Xyrem. These patents are listed in FDA’s publication “Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations,” or the Orange Book. Our patents relate to Xyrem’s restricted distribution system and a drug-drug interaction, or DDI, between Xyrem and divalproex sodium. In October 2018, as a result of FDA’s grant of pediatric exclusivity, an additional six months was added to the original expiration dates of all of our Orange Book-listed patents that existed at that time. As a result, our Orange Book-listed patents have periods of exclusivity between December 2022 and September 2033. Some of our Xyrem patents have been subject to patent litigation with the companies who filed ANDAs seeking to market a generic version of Xyrem, including challenge through the inter partes review, or IPR, procedures of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, or PTAB, of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. Some IPR petitions were dismissed by the PTAB. However, in July 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld on appeal PTAB decisions finding that six patents associated with the Xywav and Xyrem REMS and three claims of a seventh REMS patent were unpatentable. As a result, we will not be able to enforce patents or claims that the PTAB found unpatentable. Although we have settled all patent litigation against the nine companies that filed ANDAs, it is possible that additional companies may challenge our U.S. patents for Xyrem in the future. For a description of our Xyrem settlements, see the risk factor under the heading “The introduction of new products in the U.S. market that compete with, or otherwise disrupt the market for, our oxybate products and product candidates would adversely affect sales of our oxybate products and product candidates” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
A Xyrem formulation patent that had issued in multiple non-U.S. countries expired in December 2019. The European Patent Office has issued a method of administration patent relating to the DDI between Xyrem and divalproex sodium that will expire in February 2034. That patent is licensed to UCB as the marketing authorization holder outside of the U.S. and Canada, and UCB has the right to enforce it. In addition to our issued patents, we have patent applications relating to Xyrem pending in the U.S. and other countries.
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•Xywav. We have U.S. patents and patent applications that relate to Xywav. Some of these patents expire in early 2033. In addition, we have patent applications that relate to Xywav for use in additional indications that would, if issued, expire between 2040 and 2041.
•Sunosi. We acquired worldwide development, manufacturing and commercial rights to solriamfetol from Aerial BioPharma LLC, or Aerial, in 2014, including Aerial’s patent rights relating to solriamfetol, other than in certain jurisdictions in Asia where SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. retains rights. We have a portfolio of U.S. and non-U.S. patents and patent applications for solriamfetol relating to various compositions, formulations and methods of use. Four of our U.S. patents are method of use patents covering treatment of sleep-related conditions expiring between June 2026 and August 2027 and another U.S. patent is directed to dose escalation regimens expiring in June 2038. Two other U.S. patents cover, respectively, the formulation of solriamfetol and the method of treating select conditions with formulations of solriamfetol (both expiring in September 2037). A request for a patent term extension for one of the above method of use patents has been filed. Requests for Supplementary Protection Certificate in certain European validation countries for a related European patent have been granted in Austria, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, and Sweden (expiring in June 2031) and remain pending in the others. Sunosi has also been granted orphan drug exclusivity for narcolepsy and new chemical entity exclusivity in the U.S.
•Defitelio. The unique process of deriving defibrotide from porcine DNA is extensive and uses both chemical and biological processes that rely on complex characterization methods. We have U.S. and non-U.S. patents and patent applications relating to various compositions, methods of use and methods of characterization, with the issued patents expiring at various times between April 2021 and November 2035. None of these patents are listed in the Orange Book. Defibrotide has been granted orphan drug exclusivity by FDA to treat and prevent VOD until March 2023. Defibrotide has also been granted orphan drug designation by the EC and the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to treat and prevent VOD, by the Commonwealth of Australia-Department of Health for the treatment of VOD and by the EC for the prevention of acute Graft-versus-Host Disease, or aGvHD. We acquired the rights to defibrotide for the treatment and prevention of VOD in North America, Central America and South America from Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2014.
•Erwinaze. Erwinaze has no patent protection. It had been granted orphan drug exclusivity by FDA for the treatment of ALL in the U.S. until November 2018, and as a biological product approved under a BLA, we believe that it is protected by exclusivity that prevents approval of a biosimilar in the U.S. through late 2023 under the U.S. Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, or BPCIA. In the EU, the regulatory data protection that provides an exclusivity period for Erwinase has lapsed.
•Vyxeos. We have a portfolio of U.S. and non-U.S. patents and patent applications for Vyxeos and the CombiPlex technology platform relating to various compositions and methods of making and use. These include seven U.S. patents covering Vyxeos compositions and methods of use expiring between April 2025 and September 2034 and two U.S. patents covering CombiPlex (which also cover Vyxeos) expiring in January 2027. These patents are listed in the Orange Book. Vyxeos has been granted orphan drug exclusivity by FDA until August 2024, seven years from its FDA approval, for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC. In addition, Vyxeos has been granted orphan drug designation by the EC until August 2028, ten years from its EC approval for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed t-AML or AML-MRC.
•Zepzelca. In December 2019, we entered into an exclusive license agreement with PharmaMar pursuant to which we obtained exclusive U.S. development and commercialization rights to Zepzelca. In October 2020, we entered into the amended license agreement which expanded our exclusive license to include rights to develop and commercialize Zepzelca in Canada. We have a portfolio of in-licensed U.S. and Canadian patents for lurbinectedin relating to compositions, methods of use, and processes. For example, one U.S. patent (expiring in 2024) covers a genus of compounds, including lurbinectedin, and use in treating various cancers. A request for a patent term extension for this U.S. patent has been filed. Zepzelca has also been granted orphan drug exclusivity for the treatment of adults with metastatic SCLC with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy until 2027 and new chemical entity exclusivity until 2025 in the U.S.
The patents and/or patent applications that relate to our product candidates include:
•JZP-385. Through the acquisition of Cavion in 2019, we obtained a portfolio of U.S. and non-U.S. patents and patent applications, including rights relating to compositions and methods of using JZP-385. The portfolio includes a U.S. composition of matter patent relating to JZP-385, which expires in 2027.
•JZP-150. Through the asset purchase and exclusive license agreement with SpringWorks in 2020, we obtained a license to a portfolio of U.S. and non-U.S. patents and patent applications, including rights relating to compositions
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and methods of using JZP-150. The portfolio includes a U.S. composition of matter patent relating to JZP-150, which expires in 2029.
•JZP-458. In 2016, we obtained worldwide rights from Pfenex, Inc., including Pfenex’s patent rights relating to JZP-458, to develop and commercialize multiple early-stage hematology product candidates, including a license to two U.S. process patents relating to JZP-458, with respective expirations in 2026 and 2038. Pfenex has been acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated.
In addition, we have rights to a number of trademarks and service marks, and pending trademark and service mark applications, in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world to further protect the proprietary position of our products. For a discussion of the challenges we face in obtaining or maintaining patent and/or trade secret protection, see the risk factors under the heading “Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Government Regulation
As a global pharmaceutical company, our activities are subject to extensive regulation in the U.S., Europe and other countries where we do business. Regulatory requirements encompass the entire life cycle of pharmaceutical products, from research and development activities to marketing approval, manufacturing, labeling, packaging, adverse event and safety reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, sale, pricing and reimbursement, recordkeeping, distribution, importing and exporting. Regulations differ from country to country and are constantly evolving.
Testing and Approval of Pharmaceutical Products
We are not permitted to market a product in a country until we receive approval from the relevant regulatory authority, such as FDA in the U.S. and the EC or the competent authorities of the EU member states. An application for marketing approval must contain information generated by the applicant, also called a sponsor, demonstrating the quality, safety and efficacy of the product candidate, including data from preclinical and clinical trials, proposed product packaging and labeling and information pertaining to product formulation and the manufacture and analytical testing of the API and the finished product.
In the U.S., FDA reviews and, if warranted, approves applications for marketing approval. The process for obtaining marketing approval in the U.S. for a drug or biologic product candidate generally includes:
•conducting preclinical laboratory and animal testing and submitting the results to FDA in an investigational new drug, or IND, application requesting approval to test the product candidate in human clinical trials;
•conducting adequate and well-controlled human clinical trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the product candidate in the desired indication;
•submitting an NDA, sNDA, or BLA, as appropriate, to FDA seeking approval for a specific indication; and
•completing inspections by FDA of the facilities where the product candidate is manufactured, analyzed and stored to demonstrate compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, and any requested FDA audits of the clinical trial sites that generated the data supporting the application.
Human clinical trials conducted before approval of a product generally proceed in three sequential phases, although the phases may overlap. In Phase 1, the initial introduction of the product candidate in humans, the product candidate is typically tested to assess metabolism, pharmacokinetics, pharmacological actions and side effects associated with increasing doses. Phase 2 usually involves clinical trials in a limited patient population to determine the effectiveness of the product candidate for a particular indication or indications, dosage tolerance and optimum dosage and to identify common adverse effects and safety risks. If a product candidate demonstrates evidence of effectiveness and an acceptable safety profile in Phase 2, Phase 3 clinical trials are undertaken to obtain additional information about clinical efficacy and safety in a larger number of patients. Clinical trials must be conducted in accordance with specific protocols, as well as FDA requirements related to conducting the trials and recording and reporting the results, commonly referred to as good clinical practices, to ensure that the resulting data are credible and accurate and that the trial participants are adequately protected. FDA enforces good clinical practices through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, clinical investigators and trial sites.
Once an NDA, sNDA or BLA has been compiled and submitted, FDA performs an initial review before it accepts the application for filing. FDA may refuse to file an application and/or request additional information before acceptance. Once accepted for filing, FDA begins an in-depth review of the application. Under the current goals and policies agreed to by FDA under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, for a new molecular entity, FDA has ten months from the filing decision in which to complete its initial review of a standard application and respond to the applicant, and eight months for a priority application. FDA does not always meet its PDUFA goal dates, and in certain circumstances, the PDUFA goal date may be extended.
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FDA also has various programs, including Fast Track, Priority Review, Breakthrough Therapy and Accelerated Approval (Subpart H and E), RTOR pilot program, that are intended to expedite the process for reviewing certain applications and/or provide for approval on the basis of surrogate endpoints or restricted distribution. Generally, products may be eligible for one or more of these programs if they are intended for serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions, have potential to address unmet medical needs, or may provide meaningful benefit over existing treatments. For example, FDA granted Vyxeos Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designations and also granted Priority Review with respect to our NDA for Vyxeos for the treatment of t-AML and AML-MRC that was approved in August 2017. In addition, a PRV may be used to obtain priority review by FDA for one of our future regulatory submissions. We used the PRV we acquired in May 2018 to obtain priority review for our JZP-258 for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia sNDA, which is under review by FDA. In June 2020, FDA granted Accelerated Approval to Zepzelca for relapsed SCLC. In December 2020, we initiated the submission of a BLA for JZP-458 for ALL under the RTOR pilot program.
During its review of an application, FDA evaluates whether the product demonstrates the required level of safety and efficacy for the indication for which approval is sought and also conducts the inspections and audits described above. FDA may also refer an application to an advisory committee, typically a panel of clinicians, for review, evaluation and a non-binding recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. When FDA completes its evaluation, it issues either an approval letter or a complete response letter. A complete response letter generally outlines what FDA considers to be the deficiencies in the application and may indicate that substantial additional testing or information is required in order for FDA to approve the product. If and when identified deficiencies have been addressed to FDA’s satisfaction after a review of the resubmission of the application, or if the decision is reversed through an administrative appeal, FDA will issue an approval letter.
Even if a product is approved, the approval may be subject to limitations based on FDA’s interpretation of the data submitted in the application. For example, as a condition of approval, FDA may require the sponsor to agree to certain post-marketing requirements, such as conducting Phase 4, or post-approval, clinical trials to gain additional safety data or to document a clinical benefit in the case of products approved under Accelerated Approval regulations. FDA’s approval of the BLA for Erwinaze includes a number of post-marketing commitments and requirements. Several post-marketing commitments and requirements were also mandated by FDA in connection with its approval of Defitelio, including the requirement that we conduct a clinical trial to analyze the safety of defibrotide versus best supportive care in the prevention of VOD in adult and pediatric patients, and its approval of Vyxeos, including the requirement that we conduct a safety study to characterize infusion-related reactions in patients treated with Vyxeos and a clinical trial to determine dosing to minimize toxicity in patients with moderate and severe renal impairment. For example, FDA granted Accelerated Approval to Zepzelca for relapsed SCLC based on data from a Phase 2 trial, which approval is contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a post-marketing clinical trial.
In addition, if FDA determines that a REMS is necessary to ensure that the benefits of the product outweigh the risks, a sponsor may be required to include a proposed REMS (either as part of the application or after approval), which may include a patient package insert or a medication guide to provide information to consumers about the product’s risks and benefits; a plan for communication to healthcare providers; or conditions on the product’s prescribing or distribution referred to as elements to assure safe use. Xyrem and Xywav are required to have a REMS. For more discussion regarding the Xyrem and Xywav REMS, see the risk factors under the headings “The distribution and sale of our oxybate products are subject to significant regulatory restrictions, including the requirements of a REMS, and these regulatory requirements subject us to risks and uncertainties, any of which could negatively impact sales of Xyrem and Xywav” and “Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
The EU and many individual countries have regulatory structures similar to the U.S. for conducting preclinical and clinical testing and applying for marketing approval or authorization, although specifics may vary widely from country to country. Clinical trials in the EU must be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the EU Clinical Trials Directive, which may be replaced with the new EU Clinical Trials Regulation in 2022, and applicable good clinical practice standards. In the EU, there are several procedures for requesting marketing authorization which can be more efficient than applying for authorization on a country-by-country basis. There is a “centralized” procedure allowing submission of a single marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency, or EMA. If the EMA issues a positive opinion, the EC will grant a centralized marketing authorization that is valid in all EU member states and three of the four European Free Trade Association countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). The centralized procedure is mandatory for certain medicinal products, including orphan medicinal products and biotechnology-derived medicinal products, and optional for others. There is also a “decentralized” procedure allowing companies to file identical applications to several EU member states simultaneously for product candidates that have not yet been authorized in any EU member state and a “mutual recognition” procedure allowing companies that have a product already authorized in one EU member state to apply for that authorization to be recognized by the competent authorities in other EU member states. The UK’s withdrawal from the EU on January 31, 2020, commonly referred to as Brexit, has, however, created significant uncertainty concerning the future relationship between the UK and the EU. The impact of Brexit on the on-going validity in the UK of current EU authorizations for medicinal products,
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whether granted through the centralized procedure, decentralized procedure, or mutual recognition, and on the future process for obtaining marketing authorization for pharmaceutical products manufactured or sold in the UK remains uncertain. In December 2020, the EU and UK reached an agreement in principle on the framework for their future relationship, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, or TCA. The TCA primarily focuses on ensuring free trade between the EU and the UK in relation to goods, including medicinal products. Although the body of the TCA includes general terms which apply to medicinal products, greater detail on sector-specific issues is provided in an Annex to the TCA. The Annex provides a framework for the recognition of Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP, inspections and for the exchange and acceptance of official GMP documents. The regime does not, however, extend to procedures such as batch release certification. Among the changes that will now occur are that Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) will be treated as a third country. Northern Ireland will, with regard to EU regulations, continue to follow the EU regulatory rules. As part of the TCA, the EU and the UK will recognize GMP inspections carried out by the other party and the acceptance of official GMP documents issued by the other party. The TCA also encourages, although it does not oblige, the parties to consult one another on proposals to introduce significant changes to technical regulations or inspection procedures. Among the areas of absence of mutual recognition are batch testing and batch release. The UK has unilaterally agreed to accept EU batch testing and batch release for a period of at least 2 years until January 1, 2023. However, the EU continues to apply EU laws that require batch testing and batch release to take place in the EU territory. This means that medicinal products that are tested and released in the UK must be retested and re-released when entering the EU market for commercial use. As regards marketing authorizations, Great Britain will have a separate regulatory submission process, approval process and a separate national marketing authorization. Northern Ireland will, however, continue to be covered by the marketing authorizations granted by the EC.
The maximum timeframe for the evaluation of an application in the EU under the centralized procedure is 210 days, subject to certain exceptions and clock stops. An initial marketing authorization granted in the EU is valid for five years, with renewal subject to re-evaluation of the risk-benefit profile of the product. Once renewed, the authorization is usually valid for an unlimited period unless the national competent authority or the EC decides on justified grounds to proceed with one additional five-year renewal.
In the EU, if an applicant can demonstrate that comprehensive data on the efficacy and safety of the product under normal conditions of use cannot be provided due to certain specified objective and verifiable reasons, products may be granted marketing authorization “under exceptional circumstances.” A marketing authorization granted under exceptional circumstances is valid for five years, subject to an annual reassessment of conditions imposed by the EC. The marketing authorization in the EU for Defitelio was granted under exceptional circumstances because it was not possible to obtain complete information about the product due to the rarity of the disease and because ethical considerations prevented conducting a study directly comparing Defitelio with best supportive care or a placebo. As a result, the marketing authorization requires us to comply with a number of post-marketing obligations, including obligations relating to the manufacture of the drug substance and finished product, the submission of data concerning patients treated with the product collected through a third-party patient registry and the establishment of a multi-center, multinational and prospective observational patient registry to investigate the long-term safety, health outcomes and patterns of utilization of Defitelio during normal use. We are in the process of conducting the post-authorization study in the EU to provide further data on long-term safety, health outcomes and patterns of utilization of Defitelio in normal use.
Similar to the use of REMS in the U.S. to ensure that the benefits of a product outweigh its risks, in the EU and other countries we are required and may, in the future in relation to new products, be required to agree to post-marketing obligations in the marketing authorization for our products, to include a patient package insert or a medication guide to provide information to consumers about the product’s risks and benefits, to implement a plan for communication to healthcare providers, and to impose restrictions on the product’s distribution. For example, the marketing authorization in the EU for Vyxeos requires us to comply with certain manufacturing-related post-approval commitments.
After approval, certain changes to the approved product, such as adding new indications, making certain manufacturing changes, modifying a REMS, or making certain additional labeling claims, are subject to further regulatory review and approval. Obtaining approval for a new indication generally requires that additional clinical studies be conducted to demonstrate that the product is safe and effective for the new intended use. Such regulatory reviews can result in denial or modification of the planned changes, or requirements to conduct additional tests or evaluations that can substantially delay or increase the cost of the planned changes.
Manufacture of Pharmaceutical Products
The manufacturing process for pharmaceutical products is highly regulated, and regulators may shut down manufacturing facilities that they believe do not comply with regulations. We and the third party suppliers of our products are subject to cGMP, which are extensive regulations governing manufacturing processes, stability testing, recordkeeping and quality standards as defined by FDA, the EC, the EMA, competent authorities of EU member states and other regulatory authorities. FDA also periodically inspects manufacturing facilities and the sponsor’s and manufacturer’s records related to manufacturing, and assesses compliance with cGMP. Following such inspections, FDA may issue notices on Form FDA 483 and warning
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letters. For example, FDA issued a warning letter to PBL, the Erwinaze manufacturer, in January 2017 indicating that it was not satisfied with PBL’s responses to a Form 483 issued to PBL and citing significant violations of cGMP for finished pharmaceuticals and significant deviations from cGMP for APIs. As recently as August 2018, FDA conducted an inspection of the PBL manufacturing facility and issued an FDA Form 483 to PBL citing observations related to items referenced in the existing warning letter as well as other manufacturing practices, including data and records management. In addition to Form FDA 483 notices and warning letters, failure to comply with the statutory and regulatory requirements may result in suspension of manufacturing, product seizure, withdrawal of the product from the market, administrative, civil and criminal penalties, among other enforcement remedies both in the U.S. and in non-U.S. countries.
In the EU, a manufacturing authorization is required to manufacture medicinal products, and the manufacturing authorization holder must comply with various requirements set out in applicable EU laws, regulations and guidance. These requirements include compliance with EU cGMP standards when manufacturing products and their APIs, including APIs manufactured outside of the EU with the intention of importing them into the EU. In addition to inspection reports, manufacturers and marketing authorization holders may be subject to civil, criminal or administrative sanctions, including suspension of manufacturing authorization, in cases of non-compliance with the EU or EU member states’ requirements applicable to manufacturing.
Sales and Marketing of Pharmaceutical Products
Advertising and Promotional Activities
FDA regulates advertising and promotional activities for products in the U.S., requiring advertising, promotional materials and labeling to be truthful and not misleading, and products to be marketed only for their approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. FDA actively investigates allegations of off-label promotion in order to enforce regulations prohibiting these types of activities. FDA routinely issues informal and more formal communications such as untitled letters or warning letters interpreting its authority over these matters. While such communications may not be considered final agency decisions, many companies may decide not to contest the agency’s interpretations so as to avoid disputes with FDA, even if they believe the claims they were making to be truthful, not misleading and otherwise lawful.
In the EU, the advertising and promotion of our products are subject to laws governing promotion of medicinal products, interactions with physicians, misleading and comparative advertising and unfair commercial practices. For example, applicable laws require that promotional materials and advertising in relation to medicinal products comply with the product’s Summary of Product Characteristics, or SmPC, as approved by the competent authorities in connection with a marketing authorization approval. The SmPC is the document that provides information to physicians concerning the safe and effective use of the product. Promotional activity that does not comply with the SmPC is considered off-label and is prohibited in the EU. Other applicable laws at the EU level and in the individual EU member states also apply to the advertising and promotion of medicinal products, including laws that prohibit the direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription-only medicinal products and further limit or restrict the advertising and promotion of our products to the general public and to health care professionals. Violations of the rules governing the promotion of medicinal products in the EU could be penalized by administrative measures, fines and imprisonment.
Fraud and Abuse
We are also subject to numerous fraud and abuse laws and regulations globally. In the U.S., there are a variety of federal and state laws restricting certain marketing practices in the pharmaceutical industry pertaining to healthcare fraud and abuse, including anti-kickback laws and false claims laws. Our sales, marketing, patient support and medical activities may be subject to scrutiny under these laws. The U.S. federal healthcare program Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving anything of value to induce (or in return for) the referral of business, including the purchase, recommendation or prescription of a particular drug reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid or other federally financed healthcare programs. The statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between pharmaceutical companies on one hand and patients, prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers on the other. Although there are a number of statutory exemptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting certain common manufacturer business arrangements and activities from prosecution and administrative sanction, the exemptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly and are subject to regulatory revision or changes in interpretation by the U.S Department of Justice, or DOJ, and the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or OIG. Practices or arrangements that involve remuneration may be subject to scrutiny if they do not qualify for an exemption or safe harbor. For example, in November 2020, the OIG issued a Special Fraud Alert to highlight certain inherent risks of remuneration related to speaker programs sponsored by drug and device companies, which do not fall under either safe harbor or statutory exception protection. The Special Fraud Alert sent a clear signal that speaker programs will be subject to potentially heightened enforcement scrutiny, in particular for those programs with certain characteristics identified as risk factors by OIG, including meals exceeding modest value or where alcohol is made available; lack of substantive or new content presented; programs held at venues not conducive to the exchange of educational information; repeat attendees or attendees without a legitimate business interest; sales or
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marketing influence on speaker selection; and excessive speaker compensation. Violations of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute may be established without providing specific intent to violate the statute, and may be punishable by civil, criminal, and administrative fines and penalties, damages, imprisonment, and/or exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs.
The federal civil False Claims Act prohibits, among other things, any person from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment of federal funds, or knowingly making, or causing to be made, a false statement to get a false claim paid. A claim resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim. The False Claims Act also permits a private individual acting as a “whistleblower” to bring actions on behalf of themselves and the federal government alleging violations of the statute and to share in any monetary recovery. Violations of the False Claims Act may result in significant financial penalties (including mandatory penalties on a per claim or statement basis), treble damages and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs.
Pharmaceutical companies are subject to other federal false claim and statements laws, some of which extend to non-government health benefit programs. For example, the healthcare fraud provisions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations, or HIPAA, impose criminal liability for, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, including private third party payors, or falsifying or covering up a material fact or making any materially false or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for health care benefits, items or services. Violations of HIPAA fraud provisions may result in criminal, civil and administrative penalties, fines and damages, including exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs.
The majority of individual states also have statutes or regulations similar to the federal anti-kickback law and the False Claims Act, which apply to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs, or, in several states, apply regardless of the payor. Other states restrict whether and when pharmaceutical companies may provide meals to health care professionals or engage in other marketing-related activities, and certain states and cities require identification or licensing of sales representatives.
Other Post-Approval Pharmaceutical Product Regulation
Safety Reporting/Pharmacovigilance
FDA, the EMA and other governmental authorities track information on side effects and adverse events reported during clinical studies and after marketing approval. We are required to file periodic safety update reports with the authorities concerning adverse events. If, upon review, an authority determines that any events and/or reports indicate a trend or signal, they can require a change in a product label, restrict sales and marketing, require post-approval safety studies, require a labor intensive collection of data regarding the risks and benefits of marketed products and ongoing assessments of those risks and benefits and/or require or conduct other actions, potentially including withdrawal or suspension of the product from the market. For example, if the EMA has concerns that the risk-benefit profile of a product has changed, it can, following an investigation procedure, adopt an opinion advising that the existing marketing authorization for the product be varied or suspended and requiring the marketing authorization holder to conduct post-authorization safety studies. The opinion is then submitted for approval by the EC. Also, from time to time, FDA issues drug safety communications on its adverse event reporting system based on its review of reported adverse events.
FDA and the competent authorities of the EU member states on behalf of the EMA also periodically inspect our records related to safety reporting. Following such inspections, FDA may issue notices on FDA Form 483 and warning letters that could cause us to modify certain activities. An FDA Form 483 notice, if issued, can list conditions FDA investigators believe may have violated relevant FDA regulations or guidance. Failure to adequately and promptly correct the observation(s) can result in a warning letter or other regulatory enforcement action. Similarly, the EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee may propose to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use that the marketing authorization holder be required to take specific steps. Non-compliance can lead to the variation, suspension or withdrawal of marketing authorization or imposition of financial penalties or other enforcement measures.
Sunshine Act and Transparency Laws
The Physician Payment Sunshine Act requires tracking of payments and transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals and ownership interests held by physicians and their families, and reporting to the federal government and public disclosure of these data. Beginning in 2022, reporting will also be required of information regarding payments and transfers of value provided to physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse-midwives. A number of states now require pharmaceutical companies to report expenses relating to the marketing and promotion of pharmaceutical products and to report gifts and payments to healthcare providers in the states. Government agencies and private entities may inquire about our marketing practices or pursue other enforcement activities based on the disclosures in those public reports.
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Outside the U.S., interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians are also governed by strict laws, regulations, industry self-regulation codes of conduct and physicians’ codes of professional conduct. The provision of benefits or advantages to physicians to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order or use of medicinal products, which is prohibited in the EU, is governed by the national anti-bribery laws of the EU member states, as described below in “Business—Government Regulation—Anti-Corruption Legislation” in this Part I, Item 1. Violation of these laws could result in substantial fines and imprisonment. Certain EU member states, or industry codes of conduct, require that payments made to physicians be publicly disclosed. Moreover, agreements with physicians must often be the subject of prior notification and approval by the physician’s employer, his/her competent professional organization, and/or the competent authorities of the individual EU member states. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment.
Controlled Substance Regulations
A drug product approved by FDA may be subject to scheduling as a controlled substance under the CSA depending on the drug’s potential for abuse. Controlled substances that are pharmaceutical products are subject to a high degree of regulation under the CSA, which establishes, among other things, certain registration, manufacturing quotas, security, recordkeeping, reporting, import, export and other requirements administered by the DEA. The DEA classifies controlled substances into five schedules. Schedule I substances by definition have a high potential for abuse, have no currently “accepted medical use” in the U.S., lack accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and may not be prescribed, marketed or sold in the U.S. Pharmaceutical products approved for use in the U.S. may be listed as Schedule II, III, IV or V, with Schedule II substances considered to present the highest potential for abuse or dependence and Schedule V substances the lowest relative risk of abuse. The API of Xyrem and Xywav, oxybate salts, are regulated by the DEA as Schedule I controlled substances, and Xyrem and Xywav are regulated as Schedule III controlled substances. The API of Sunosi, solriamfetol, and Sunosi are regulated as Schedule IV controlled substances. Individual countries also impose similar requirements for controlled substances.
The DEA limits the quantity of certain Schedule I controlled substances that may be manufactured and procured in the U.S. in any given calendar year through a quota system and, as a result, quotas from the DEA are required in order to manufacture and package sodium oxybate and Xyrem in the U.S. Accordingly, we require DEA quotas for Siegfried, our U.S.‑based sodium oxybate supplier, to procure sodium oxybate and for Patheon, our U.S.-based Xyrem supplier, to obtain the sodium oxybate from Siegfried in order to manufacture and supply us with Xyrem. Xyrem and Xywav manufactured at our plant in Ireland enters the U.S. as a Schedule III drug and thus does not require a manufacturing quota.
As Schedule III drugs, Xyrem and Xywav are also subject to DEA import volume limits and state regulations relating to manufacturing, storage, distribution and physician prescription procedures, including limitations on prescription refills. In addition, the third parties who perform our clinical and commercial manufacturing, distribution, dispensing and clinical studies for Xyrem and Xywav are required to maintain necessary DEA registrations and state licenses. The DEA periodically inspects facilities for compliance with its rules and regulations.
Other Regulations
There are many other requirements and restrictions in the U.S. and elsewhere imposed on pharmaceutical companies and their activities, including those related to the posting of information relating to clinical studies and their outcomes, the export and importation of products, required authorizations for distributors, the identification or licensing of sales representatives, restrictions on the ability of manufacturers to offer co-pay support to patients for certain prescription drugs, implementation of required compliance programs or marketing codes of conduct, protection of the environment, taxation and work safety. Non-compliance with such requirements may result in civil, criminal or administrative sanctions.
Anti-Corruption Legislation
Our business activities outside of the U.S. are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and similar anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws, regulations, industry self-regulation codes of conduct and physicians’ codes of professional conduct or rules of other countries in which we operate, including the UK Bribery Act of 2010, or the UK Bribery Act. The FCPA and similar anti-corruption laws in other countries generally prohibit the offering, promising, giving, or authorizing others to give anything of value, either directly or indirectly, to U.S. or non-U.S. government officials in order to improperly influence any act or decision, secure an improper advantage, or obtain or retain business. The FCPA also requires public companies to make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the company and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. The UK Bribery Act prohibits giving, offering, or promising bribes to any person, including UK and non-UK government officials and private persons, as well as requesting, agreeing to receive, or accepting bribes from any person. In addition, under the UK Bribery Act, companies that carry on a business or part of a business in the UK may be held liable for bribes given, offered or promised to any person, including UK and non-UK government officials and private persons in any country, by employees and persons associated with the company in order to obtain or retain business or a business advantage for the company. Liability is strict, with no element of a corrupt state of mind, but a defense of having in place adequate procedures designed to prevent bribery is available. As described above, our business
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is heavily regulated and therefore involves significant interaction with government officials in many countries. Additionally, in certain countries, the health care providers who prescribe pharmaceuticals are employed by their government, and the purchasers of pharmaceuticals are government entities; therefore, our dealings with these prescribers and purchasers may be subject to the FCPA, the UK Bribery Act and similar laws. Recently the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and the DOJ have increased their FCPA enforcement activities with respect to pharmaceutical companies. In addition, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, private individuals who report to the SEC original information that leads to successful enforcement actions may be eligible for a monetary award. We engage in ongoing efforts designed to ensure our compliance with these laws, including due diligence, training, policies, procedures, and internal controls. However, there is no certainty that all employees and third party business partners (including our distributors, wholesalers, agents, contractors, and other partners) will comply with anti-bribery laws. In particular, we do not control the actions of our suppliers and other third party agents, although we may be liable for their actions. Violation of these laws may result in civil or criminal sanctions, which could include monetary fines, criminal penalties, and disgorgement of past profits.
Data Protection and Privacy
We are subject to data protection and privacy laws and regulations globally, which restrict the processing of personal data. The legislative and regulatory landscape for privacy and data security continues to evolve with an increased attention in countries globally that could potentially affect our business. In particular, we are subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which became effective on May 25, 2018 and imposes penalties up to 4% of annual global turnover and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which became effective on January 1, 2020. These laws and regulations applicable to our business, increase potential enforcement and litigation activity. In order to manage these evolving risks, we have adopted a global privacy program that governs the processing of personal data across our business.
Marketing Exclusivity
The Hatch-Waxman Act
The marketing approval process described above for the U.S. is premised on the applicant being the owner of, or having obtained a right of reference to, all of the data required to prove the safety and effectiveness of a drug product. This type of marketing application, sometimes referred to as a “full” or “stand-alone” NDA, is governed by Section 505(b)(1) of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA. A Section 505(b)(1) NDA contains full reports of investigations of safety and effectiveness, which includes the results of preclinical and clinical trials, together with detailed information on the manufacture and composition of the product, in addition to other information. As an alternative, the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, or the Hatch-Waxman Act, provides two abbreviated approval pathways for certain drug products.
The first path, under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA, usually is used for the approval of a product that is similar, but not identical, to a previously-approved brand-name product, referred to as the reference listed drug, or RLD. Under this path, the applicant is permitted to rely to some degree on FDA’s finding that the RLD is safe and effective and must submit its own product-specific data on safety and effectiveness only to the extent necessary to bridge the differences between the products. The second abbreviated path established under the Hatch-Waxman Act is for the approval of generic drugs. Section 505(j) of the FDCA permits the submission of an ANDA for a generic version of an approved, brand-name drug. Generally, an ANDA must contain data and information showing that the proposed generic product and the RLD (i) have the same active ingredient, in the same strength and dosage form, to be delivered via the same route of administration, (ii) are intended for the same uses, and (iii) are bioequivalent. This data and information are provided instead of data and information independently demonstrating the proposed generic product’s safety and effectiveness.
The Hatch-Waxman Act requires an ANDA or a Section 505(b)(2) NDA applicant to certify that there are no patents listed for that product in the Orange Book, or that for each Orange Book-listed patent either the listed patent has expired, the listed patent will expire on a particular date and approval is sought after patent expiration, or the listed patent is invalid or will not be infringed by the manufacture, use or sale of the new product. A certification that approval is sought after patent expiration is called a “Paragraph III Certification.” A certification that the new product will not infringe the RLD’s Orange Book-listed patents, or that such patents are invalid, is called a “Paragraph IV Certification.” If a relevant patent covers an approved method of use, an ANDA or Section 505(b)(2) NDA applicant can also file a statement, called, in the case of an ANDA, a “section viii statement,” that the application does not seek approval of the method of use covered by the listed patent. With such a statement, the applicant must “carve out” the protected method of use (typically an indication and related material) from the proposed product’s labeling. If the applicant makes a Paragraph III Certification, the ANDA or the Section 505(b)(2) NDA will not be approved until the listed patents claiming the RLD have expired.
If the applicant has provided a Paragraph IV Certification to FDA, the applicant must also send a notice of that certification to the NDA holder and the relevant patent holders once FDA accepts the ANDA or the Section 505(b)(2) NDA for filing. The NDA and patent holders then have 45 days to initiate a patent infringement lawsuit. Filing the lawsuit triggers an automatic stay on FDA’s approval of the ANDA or the Section 505(b)(2) NDA until the earliest of 30 months after the NDA
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holder’s receipt of the notice of Paragraph IV Certification, expiration of the patent, certain settlements of the lawsuit, or a decision in the infringement case that is favorable to the applicant. FDA may issue tentative approval of an application if the application meets all conditions for approval but cannot receive effective approval because the 30-month stay or another period of regulatory exclusivity has not expired. If an ANDA or Section 505(b)(2) NDA is approved before conclusion of any relevant patent litigation, the applicant can choose to launch the product, but does so “at risk” of being liable for damages, and potentially treble damages, if the RLD sponsor or patent holder ultimately prevails in patent litigation.
Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, newly approved drugs and indications may benefit from statutory periods of non-patent marketing exclusivity that can potentially delay review or approval of an ANDA or Section 505(b)(2) application. For example, the Hatch-Waxman Act provides five-year marketing exclusivity to the first applicant to gain approval of an NDA for a new chemical entity, meaning a drug containing an active moiety that FDA has not previously approved. During this period, FDA cannot accept for review an ANDA or a Section 505(b)(2) NDA for a product containing the same moiety, except that an application containing a Paragraph IV Certification may be submitted after four years, which may trigger the litigation and stay described above. The Hatch-Waxman Act also provides three years of marketing exclusivity with the approval of an NDA, including a Section 505(b)(2) NDA, for a product containing a previously-approved moiety but that incorporates a change (such as a new indication, dosage form or strength) from an approved product with the same moiety, if the change required clinical data from new investigations that were conducted or sponsored by the applicant. This three-year exclusivity does not preclude submission of the ANDA or Section 505(b)(2) NDA for such a product, but prevents FDA from giving final approval to such product.
The Hatch-Waxman Act also permits a patent term extension of up to five years (but not beyond 14 years from the date of approval) for an NDA, including a Section 505(b)(2) NDA, that is approved for a product that contains an active ingredient that has not previously been approved. The extension, which compensates for patent term lost during product development and FDA regulatory review process, is generally equal to the sum of one-half the time between the effective date of an IND application and the submission date of an NDA, and all of the time between the submission date of an NDA and the approval of that application. It is available for only one patent for a given product, and it must be a patent that claims the product or a method of using or manufacturing the product. The USPTO, in consultation with FDA, reviews and approves applications for patent term extension.
In the EU, innovative medicinal products that are subject to marketing authorization on the basis of a full dossier qualify for eight years’ data exclusivity upon marketing authorization and an additional two years’ market exclusivity. Data exclusivity prevents regulatory authorities in the EU from referencing the innovator’s data to assess a generic application or biosimilar application for eight years from the date of authorization of the innovative product, after which a generic or biosimilar marketing authorization application can be submitted, and the innovator’s data may be referenced. However, the generic product or biosimilar products cannot be marketed in the EU for a further two years thereafter. The overall ten-year period may be extended for a further year to a maximum of 11 years if, during the first eight years of those ten years, the marketing authorization holder obtains an authorization for one or more new therapeutic indications which, during the scientific evaluation prior to their authorization, are held to bring a significant clinical benefit in comparison with existing therapies.
Orphan Drug and Other Exclusivities
Some jurisdictions, including the U.S., may designate drugs or biologics for relatively small patient populations as orphan drugs. FDA grants orphan drug designation to drugs or biologics intended to treat a rare disease or condition, which is one that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals in the U.S., or more than 200,000 individuals, but for which there is no reasonable expectation that the cost of developing the product and making it available in the U.S. for the disease or condition will be recovered from U.S. sales of the product. Orphan drug designation does not shorten the duration of the regulatory review process or lower the approval standards, but can provide important benefits, including consultation with FDA. If a product is approved for its orphan designated use, it may be entitled to orphan drug exclusivity, which blocks FDA from approving for seven years any other application for a product that is the same drug for the same indication. If there is a previously-approved product that is the same drug for the same indication, orphan drug designation requires the sponsor to provide a plausible hypothesis of clinical superiority over the approved product, whereas orphan drug exclusivity requires the sponsor to actually demonstrate clinical superiority. Clinical superiority can be established by way of greater efficacy, greater safety, or making a major contribution to patient care. Additionally, a later product can be approved if the sponsor holding orphan drug exclusivity consents, or cannot adequately supply the market. Orphan drug exclusivity does not prevent approval of another sponsor’s application for different indications or uses of the same drug, or for different drugs for the same indication. Defibrotide has been granted orphan drug exclusivity by FDA to treat and prevent VOD until March 2023. Vyxeos has been granted orphan drug exclusivity by FDA for the treatment of AML until August 2024.
Biologic products approved under a BLA are subject to the BPCIA, which authorizes an abbreviated approval pathway for a biological product that is “biosimilar” to an already approved biologic, or reference product. The BPCIA provides periods of exclusivity that protect a reference product from competition by biosimilars. FDA may not accept a biosimilar application for review until four years after the date of first licensure of the reference product, and the biosimilar cannot be licensed until 12
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years after the reference product was first licensed. We believe that Erwinaze, which was approved under a BLA in November 2011, is subject to an exclusivity period that will prevent approval of a biosimilar in the U.S. into November 2023.
Under certain circumstances, the exclusivity periods applicable to drugs and biologics and the patent-related protections applicable to drugs may be eligible for a six-month extension if the sponsor submits pediatric data that fairly respond to a written request from FDA for such data. This exclusivity may be granted even if the data does not support a pediatric indication. We consider seeking pediatric exclusivity for our products whenever appropriate. For example, in response to a written request from FDA, we conducted a Phase 3 clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of Xyrem in children and adolescents aged seven to 17 who have narcolepsy with cataplexy, and submitted study results in a supplement to the Xyrem NDA, seeking approval for this indication. In October 2018, FDA approved the sNDA and notified us that we had been granted pediatric exclusivity, extending by six months the preclusive effect of our Orange Book-listed patents for Xyrem, as well as the three-year regulatory exclusivity period granted to the Xyrem pediatric indication because of the clinical studies that were necessary for approval of the sNDA.
In the EU, orphan drug designation may be granted to products that can be used to treat life-threatening diseases or chronically debilitating conditions with an incidence of no more than five in 10,000 people or that, for economic reasons, would be unlikely to be developed without incentives. Orphan designated medicinal products are entitled to a range of benefits during the development and regulatory review process and ten years of market exclusivity in all EU member states upon approval. As in the U.S., a similar medicinal product with the same orphan indication may be approved, notwithstanding orphan product exclusivity, if the exclusivity holder gives consent or if the manufacturer of the original orphan medicinal product is unable to supply sufficient quantities. Marketing authorization may also be granted to a similar medicinal product with the same orphan indication if the similar product is deemed safer, more effective or otherwise clinically superior to the original orphan medicinal product. The period of market exclusivity granted in relation to the original orphan medicinal product may, in addition, be reduced to six years if it can be demonstrated on the basis of available evidence that the original orphan medicinal product is sufficiently profitable not to justify maintenance of market exclusivity. Defibrotide has been granted orphan drug designation by the EC and the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to treat and prevent VOD, by the Commonwealth of Australia-Department of Health for the treatment of VOD and by the EC for the prevention of aGvHD. Vyxeos has been granted orphan drug designation by the EC until August 2028.
Pharmaceutical Pricing, Reimbursement by Government and Private Payors and Patient Access
Pricing and Reimbursement
Successful commercialization of our products depends in significant part on adequate financial coverage and reimbursement from third party payors, including governmental payors (such as the Medicaid and Medicare programs in the U.S.), managed care organizations and private health insurers. Third party payors decide which drugs will be reimbursed and establish reimbursement and co-pay levels and conditions for reimbursement. Third party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for medical products and services by examining their cost effectiveness, as demonstrated in pharmacoeconomic and/or clinical studies, in addition to their safety and efficacy. In some cases, for example, third party payors try to encourage the use of less expensive products, when available, through their prescription benefits coverage and reimbursement, co-pay and prior authorization policies. The process for determining whether a payor will provide coverage for a product may be separate from the process for setting the price or reimbursement rate that the payor will pay for the product once coverage is approved. Third party payors may require prior approval before covering a specific product, or may require patients and health care providers to try other covered products first. Third party payors may also limit coverage to specific products on an approved list, or formulary, which might not include all of the approved products for a particular indication. For certain categories of products, third party payors, principally through contracted pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, negotiate rebates with drug manufacturers for inclusion of products on their formularies in specific positions or coverage criteria. Beginning in the third quarter of 2019, we have been entering into agreements with certain PBMs to provide rebates for our products where coverage was provided and products were listed in certain formulary positions, among other conditions. We expect to enter into additional agreements in 2021.
Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that is administered by the states for low‑income and disabled beneficiaries. Medicare is a federal program that is administered by the federal government covering individuals age 65 and over as well as those with certain disabilities. Medicare Part B pays physicians who administer our products. Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program, as a condition of having federal funds made available to the states for our drugs under Medicare Part B, we are required to pay a rebate to each state Medicaid program for our covered outpatient drugs that are dispensed to Medicaid beneficiaries and paid for by a state Medicaid program. Medicaid rebates are based on pricing data we report on a monthly and quarterly basis to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, the federal agency that administers the Medicaid Drug Rebate program and Medicare. These data include the average manufacturer price and, in the case of innovator products, the best price for each drug which, in general, represents the lowest price available from the manufacturer to any entity in the U.S. in any pricing structure, calculated to include all applicable sales and associated rebates, discounts and other price concessions. If we become aware that our reporting for a prior quarter was incorrect, or has changed as a result of
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recalculation of the pricing data, we are obligated to resubmit the corrected data for up to three years after those data originally were due. We are required to provide average sales price, or ASP, information for certain of our products to CMS on a quarterly basis. The ASP is calculated based on a statutorily defined formula as well as regulations and interpretations of the statute by CMS. This information is used to compute Medicare payment rates, with rates for Medicare Part B drugs outside the hospital outpatient setting and in the hospital outpatient setting consisting of ASP plus a specified percentage.
Federal law requires that any company that participates in the Medicaid Drug Rebate program also participate in the Public Health Service’s 340B program, or the 340B program, in order for federal funds to be available for the manufacturer’s drugs under Medicaid and Medicare Part B. The 340B program, which is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, requires participating manufacturers to agree to charge statutorily defined covered entities no more than the 340B “ceiling price” for the manufacturer’s covered drugs used in an outpatient setting. These 340B covered entities include a variety of community health clinics and other entities that receive health services grants from the Public Health Service, as well as hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of low-income patients. The 340B ceiling price is calculated using a statutory formula, which is based on the average manufacturer price and rebate amount for the covered outpatient drug as calculated under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program, and in general, products subject to Medicaid price reporting and rebate liability are also subject to the 340B ceiling price calculation and discount requirement. A regulation regarding the calculation of the 340B ceiling price and the imposition of civil monetary penalties on manufacturers that knowingly and intentionally overcharge covered entities became effective on January 1, 2019. We also are required to report our 340B ceiling prices to HRSA on a quarterly basis and HRSA then publishes them to 340B covered entities. In addition, legislation may be introduced that, if passed, would further expand the 340B program to additional covered entities or would require participating manufacturers to agree to provide 340B discounted pricing on drugs used in an inpatient setting.
In order to be eligible to have our products paid for with federal funds under the Medicaid and Medicare Part B programs and purchased by certain federal agencies and grantees, we also participate in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, Federal Supply Schedule, or FSS, pricing program. Under this program, we are obligated to make our products available for procurement on an FSS contract under which we must comply with standard government terms and conditions and charge a price to certain federal agencies that is no higher than the statutory Federal Ceiling Price, or FCP. The FCP is based on the non-federal average manufacturer price, or Non-FAMP, which we calculate and report to the VA on a quarterly and annual basis. We also participate in the Tricare Retail Pharmacy program, under which we pay quarterly rebates on utilization of innovator products that are dispensed through the Tricare Retail Pharmacy network to Tricare beneficiaries. The rebates are calculated as the difference between the annual Non-FAMP and FCP. Pricing and rebate calculations vary across products and programs, are complex, and are often subject to interpretation by us, governmental or regulatory agencies and the courts, which can change and evolve over time.
In addition, in the U.S., drug pricing by pharmaceutical companies is currently, and is expected to continue to be, under close scrutiny, including with respect to companies that have increased the price of products after acquiring those products from other companies. There are numerous ongoing efforts at the federal and state level seeking to indirectly or directly regulate drug prices to reduce overall healthcare costs using tools such as price ceilings, value-based pricing and increased transparency and disclosure obligations. Several states have passed or are considering legislation that requires or purports to require companies to report pricing information, including proprietary pricing information. For example, in 2017, California adopted a prescription drug price transparency state bill requiring advance notice of and an explanation for price increases of certain drugs that exceed a specified threshold. Similar bills have been previously introduced at the federal level and additional legislation could be introduced this year.
Similar to what is occurring in the U.S., political, economic and regulatory developments outside of the U.S. are also subjecting the healthcare industry to fundamental changes and challenges. Pressure by governments and other stakeholders on prices and reimbursement levels continue to exist. In various EU member states we expect to be subject to continuous cost-cutting measures, such as lower maximum prices, lower or lack of reimbursement coverage and incentives to use cheaper, usually generic, products as an alternative. Health technology assessment, or HTA, of medicinal products is becoming an increasingly common part of the pricing and reimbursement procedures in some EU member states, including countries representing major markets. The HTA process, which is governed by the national laws of these countries, is the procedure according to which the assessment of the public health impact, therapeutic impact and the economic and societal impact of use of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country is conducted. HTA generally compares attributes of individual medicinal products, as compared with other treatment options available on the market. The outcome of HTA regarding specific medicinal products will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these medicinal products by the competent authorities of individual EU member states. On January 31, 2018, the EC adopted a proposal for an HTA regulation intended to boost cooperation among EU member states in assessing health technologies, including new medicinal products. The proposal, which currently continues its progress through the EU adoption process, provides that EU member states will be able to use common HTA tools, methodologies, and procedures across the EU. Individual EU member states will continue to be responsible for assessing non-clinical (e.g., economic, social and ethical) aspects of health technologies, and making decisions on pricing and reimbursement.
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In the EU, our products are marketed through various channels and within different legal frameworks. The making available or placing on the EU market of unauthorized medicinal products is generally prohibited. However, the competent authorities of the EU member states may exceptionally and temporarily allow and reimburse the supply of such unauthorized products, either on a named patient basis or through a compassionate use process, to individual patients or a group of patients with a chronically or seriously debilitating disease or whose disease is considered to be life-threatening, and who cannot be treated satisfactorily by an authorized medicinal product. Such reimbursement may no longer be available if authorization for named patient or compassionate use programs expire or is terminated or if marketing authorization is granted for the product. In some EU member states, authorization and reimbursement policies may also delay commercialization of our products, or may adversely affect our ability to sell our products on a profitable basis. After initial price and reimbursement approvals, reductions in prices and changes in reimbursement levels can be triggered by multiple factors, including reference pricing systems and publication of discounts by third party payors or authorities in other countries. In the EU, prices can be reduced further by parallel distribution and parallel trade, or arbitrage between low-priced and high-priced EU member states.
For more information, including with respect to recent legal developments regarding the Medicaid Drug Rebate program, Medicare Part B, and the 340B program, see the risk factors under the headings “Adequate coverage and reimbursement from third party payors may not be available for our products and we may be unable to successfully contract for coverage from pharmacy benefit managers and group purchasing organizations, which could diminish our sales or affect our ability to sell our products profitably; conversely, to secure coverage from these organizations, we may be required to pay rebates or other discounts or other restrictions to reimbursement that could diminish our sales,” “The pricing of pharmaceutical products has come under increasing scrutiny as part of a global trend toward healthcare cost containment and resulting changes in healthcare law and policy may impact our business in ways that we cannot currently predict, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition” and “If we fail to comply with our reporting and payment obligations under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program or other governmental pricing programs, we could be subject to additional reimbursement requirements, penalties, sanctions and fines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Patient Copay Assistance and Free Product Programs
We have various patient programs to help patients access and pay for our products, including co-pay coupons for certain products, services that help patients determine their insurance coverage for our products, and a free product program. We also make grants to independent charitable foundations that help financially needy patients with their premium, and co-pay and co-insurance obligations. There has been enhanced scrutiny of company-sponsored patient assistance programs, including co-pay assistance programs and donations to third-party charities that provide such assistance, as well as reimbursement support offerings.
The OIG has established guidelines for pharmaceutical manufacturers who make donations to charitable organizations providing co-pay assistance to Medicare patients. Such donations are unlikely to run afoul of the anti-kickback laws provided that the organizations receiving donations, among other things, are bona fide charities, are entirely independent of and not controlled by the manufacturer, provide aid to applicants on a first-come basis according to consistent financial criteria, and do not link aid to use of a donor’s product. In 2016 and 2017, we received subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts requesting documents related to our support of charitable organizations that provide financial assistance to Medicare patients. In April 2019, we finalized our civil settlement agreement with the DOJ and OIG, and entered into a corporate integrity agreement requiring us to maintain our ongoing corporate compliance program and obligating us to implement or continue, as applicable, a set of defined corporate integrity activities to ensure compliance with OIG’s policies around charitable contributions for a period of five years from the effective date of the corporate integrity agreement.
U.S. Healthcare Reform
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which we refer to together as the Healthcare Reform Act, was intended to expand healthcare coverage within the U.S., primarily through the imposition of health insurance mandates on employers and individuals, the provision of subsidies to eligible individuals enrolled in plans offered on the health insurance exchanges, and the expansion of the Medicaid program. This law has substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers and significantly impacts the pharmaceutical industry. Changes that may affect our business include those governing enrollment in federal healthcare programs, reimbursement changes, benefits for patients within a coverage gap in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program (commonly known as the “donut hole”), rules regarding prescription drug benefits under the health insurance exchanges, changes to the Medicaid Drug Rebate program, expansion of the 340B program, and fraud and abuse and enforcement. These changes have impacted previously existing government healthcare programs and have resulted in the development of new programs, including Medicare payment for performance initiatives.
Certain provisions of the Healthcare Reform Act have been subject to judicial challenges, as well as efforts to repeal or replace them or to alter their interpretation or implementation. For example, the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, signed
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into law in December 2017, includes a provision repealing, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment, commonly referred to as the “individual mandate,” imposed by the Healthcare Reform Act on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year. Additional legislative changes, regulatory changes, and judicial challenges related to the Healthcare Reform Act remain possible. The nature and extent of any additional legislative changes, regulatory changes, or judicial challenges to the Healthcare Reform Act are uncertain at this time.
About Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc was formed under the laws of Ireland (registered number 399192) as a private limited liability company in March 2005 under the name Azur Pharma Limited and was subsequently re-registered as a public limited company under the name Azur Pharma Public Limited Company, or Azur Pharma, in October 2011. On January 18, 2012, the businesses of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Azur Pharma were combined in a merger transaction, in connection with which Azur Pharma was re-named Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and we became the parent company of and successor to Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Our predecessor, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., was incorporated in California in March 2003 and was reincorporated in Delaware in January 2004.
Available Information
The mailing address of our headquarters is Fifth Floor, Waterloo Exchange, Waterloo Road, Dublin 4, Ireland, and our telephone number at that location is 353-1-634-7800. Our website is www.jazzpharmaceuticals.com.
We file or furnish pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as applicable, our Annual Reports on Form 10‑K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10‑Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, amendments to those reports, proxy statements and other information electronically with the SEC. Through a link on our website, we make copies of our periodic and current reports, amendments to those reports, proxy statements and other information available, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Information found on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Item 1A.Risk Factors
We have identified the following risks and uncertainties that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also significantly impair our business operations. Our business could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our ordinary shares could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing these risks, you should also refer to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K, including our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes.
Risks Related to the GW Acquisition and the Combined Company Upon Completion of the Acquisition
We may not realize the anticipated benefits and synergies from our proposed acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals.
On February 3, 2021, we announced that we have entered into a definitive agreement with GW Pharmaceuticals under which our indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Jazz Pharmaceuticals UK Holdings Limited, agreed to acquire GW Pharmaceuticals. While we and GW Pharmaceuticals will continue to operate independently until the completion of the acquisition, the success of the acquisition will depend, in part, on our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from successfully combining our and GW Pharmaceuticals’ businesses and we plan on devoting substantial management attention and resources to integrating our business practices and operations with GW Pharmaceuticals’ so that we can fully realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. Nonetheless, the products and technologies acquired may not be successful or continue to grow at the same rate as when operated independently or they may require significantly greater resources and investments than originally anticipated. The transaction could also result in the assumption of unknown or contingent liabilities. In addition, difficulties may arise during the process of combining the operations of our companies that could result in the failure to achieve the synergies or free cash flow that we anticipate, the failure to integrate operations and internal systems, programs and controls, the loss of key employees that may be difficult to replace in the very competitive pharmaceutical field, the failure to harmonize both companies’ corporate cultures, the disruption of each company’s ongoing businesses or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies that adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with customers, suppliers, distributors, collaboration partners, clinical trial investigators or managers of our clinical trials. As a result, the anticipated benefits of the acquisition may not be realized fully within the expected timeframe or at all or may take longer to realize or cost more than expected, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
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The pending acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals may not be completed on the currently contemplated timeline or terms, or at all; and regulatory bodies could impose certain requirements upon the combined company as a condition to approval that could reduce the anticipated benefits of the transaction.
Consummation of the acquisition is conditioned on, among other things, obtaining necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals and the sanction of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. In addition, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could delay the receipt of certain regulatory approvals and the court sanction. If any condition to the acquisition is not satisfied, it could delay or prevent the acquisition from occurring, which could negatively impact the price of our ordinary shares and future business and financial results. Further, as a condition to their approval of the acquisition, regulatory bodies may impose requirements, limitations or costs or require divestitures or place restrictions on the conduct of the combined business after the closing. These requirements, limitations, costs, divestitures or restrictions could jeopardize or delay the consummation of the acquisition or may reduce the anticipated benefits of the transaction. In addition, changes in laws and regulations could adversely impact our post-acquisition profitability and financial results.
Failure to complete the acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals could have a material and adverse effect on us.
Either we or GW Pharmaceuticals may terminate the transaction agreement in certain circumstances. If the transactions contemplated by the transaction agreement are not completed, our ongoing business may be adversely affected and, without realizing any of the benefits of having completed the transactions, we will be subject to a number of risks, including the following:
•the market price of our ordinary shares could decline;
•we will be required to pay our costs relating to the transactions, such as legal, accounting, financial advisory and printing fees, whether or not the transactions are completed;
•if the transaction agreement is terminated and our board of directors seeks another acquisition, our shareholders cannot be certain that we will be able to find a party willing to enter into a transaction as attractive to us as the acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals;
•we could be subject to litigation related to any failure to complete the acquisition or related to any enforcement proceeding commenced against us to perform our obligations under the transaction agreement;
•we will not realize the benefit of the time and resources, financial and otherwise, committed by our management to matters relating to the acquisition that could have been devoted to pursuing other beneficial opportunities; and
•we may experience negative reactions from the financial markets or from our customers, suppliers or employees.
Any of these risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Similarly, delays in the completion of the acquisition could, among other things, result in additional transaction costs, loss of revenue or other negative effects associated with delay and uncertainty about completion of the acquisition and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
The indebtedness of the combined company following the consummation of the acquisition will be substantially greater than our indebtedness on a standalone basis and greater than the combined indebtedness of Jazz Pharmaceuticals and GW Pharmaceuticals prior to the announcement of the acquisition. This increased level of indebtedness could adversely affect the combined company’s business flexibility and increase its borrowing costs.
We expect that the cash consideration due to GW Pharmaceuticals’ shareholders under the transaction agreement will be approximately $6.5 billion. In addition to using cash on hand, we expect to incur significant acquisition-related debt financing, including secured term loans and senior secured notes. This substantially increased indebtedness and higher debt to equity ratio following the consummation of the acquisition may have the effect of, among other things, reducing the flexibility of the combined company to respond to changing business and economic conditions, lowering the credit ratings of the combined company, increasing the borrowing costs of the combined company and/or requiring the combined company to reduce or delay investments, strategic acquisitions and capital expenditures or to seek additional capital or restructure or refinance its indebtedness.
Risks Related to Our Lead Products and Product Candidates
Our inability to maintain or increase sales from our neuroscience therapeutic area would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Our business has been substantially dependent on Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) oral solution, and our financial results have been significantly influenced by sales of Xyrem. Our future plans assume that our newly launched oxybate product, Xywav™,
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with 92%, or approximately 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams per day, less sodium than Xyrem, depending on the dose, absence of a sodium warning and dosing titration option, will become the treatment of choice for patients who can benefit from oxybate treatment, current Xyrem patients, and patients who previously were not prescribed Xyrem, including those patients for whom sodium content is a concern. Our ability to successfully commercialize Xywav will depend on, among other things, our ability to obtain and maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for Xywav and acceptance of Xywav by payors, physicians and patients. Our ability to maintain or increase oxybate product sales and realize the anticipated benefits from our investment in Xywav is subject to a number of additional risks and uncertainties as discussed in greater detail below, including those related to the introduction of authorized generic and generic versions of sodium oxybate and/or new products for treatment of cataplexy and/or excessive daytime sleepiness, or EDS, in narcolepsy in the U.S. market; the current and potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the current and expected future negative impact on demand for our products and the uncertainty with respect to our ability to meet commercial demand in the future; increased pricing pressure from, changes in policies by, or restrictions on reimbursement imposed by, third party payors; and challenges to our intellectual property around Xyrem and/or Xywav. While we expect that our business will continue to be substantially dependent on oxybate product sales from both Xyrem and Xywav, there is no guarantee that we can maintain oxybate sales at or near historical levels, or that oxybate sales will continue to grow. A significant decline in oxybate sales could cause us to reduce our operating expenses or seek to raise additional funds, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects, including on our ability to acquire, in-license or develop new products to grow our business.
As for other products and product candidates in our neuroscience therapeutic area, we obtained approval of Sunosi® (solriamfetol) in 2019 in the U.S. and in January 2020 in the European Union, or EU, for the treatment of EDS associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA. Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from our investment in Sunosi is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the potential impacts of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic on the successful commercialization in the U.S. and the rolling launch in Europe, which are at an early stage; market acceptance of Sunosi; our ability, in a competitive retail pharmacy market, to differentiate Sunosi from other products that are prescribed to treat excessive sleepiness in patients with OSA or EDS in patients with narcolepsy; adequate coverage and reimbursement by government programs and other third party payors, including the impact of future coverage decisions by payors; restrictions on permitted promotional activities based on any additional limitations on the labeling for the product that may be required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, or the European Commission, or the EC, or other regulatory authority in the future; and our ability to satisfy FDA’s post-marketing requirements. If we are unable to successfully commercialize Sunosi in the U.S. and EU, or if sales of Sunosi do not reach the levels we expect, our anticipated revenue from Sunosi will be negatively affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
The introduction of new products in the U.S. market that compete with, or otherwise disrupt the market for, our oxybate products and product candidates would adversely affect sales of our oxybate products and product candidates.
While Xyrem and Xywav are currently the only products approved by FDA and marketed in the U.S. for the treatment of both cataplexy and EDS in both adult and pediatric patients with narcolepsy, new treatment options for EDS in narcolepsy have launched, and in the future, other products may be launched that are competitive with or disrupt the market for our oxybate products.
For example, in the future, we expect Xyrem and Xywav to face competition from authorized generic and generic versions of sodium oxybate. Nine companies have sent us notices that they had filed abbreviated new drug applications, or ANDAs, seeking approval to market a generic version of Xyrem, and we have filed and settled patent lawsuits with all nine companies. To date, FDA has approved or tentatively approved four of these ANDAs, and we believe that it is likely that FDA will approve or tentatively approve some or all of the others. In our patent litigation settlement with the first filer, West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Corp. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC and now known as Hikma in the U.S.), or Hikma, we granted Hikma the right to sell an authorized generic product, or AG Product, with royalties back to us, in the U.S. beginning on January 1, 2023, or earlier under certain circumstances. Hikma has a right to elect to continue to sell the Hikma AG Product for a total of up to five years. We also granted Hikma a license to launch its own generic sodium oxybate product as early as six months after it has the right to sell the Hikma AG Product, but if it elects to launch its own generic product, Hikma will no longer have the right to sell the Hikma AG Product. In our settlements with Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC, or Amneal, Lupin Inc., or Lupin, and Par Pharmaceutical, Inc., or Par, we granted each party the right to sell a limited volume of an AG Product in the U.S. beginning on July 1, 2023, or earlier under certain circumstances, and ending on December 31, 2025, with royalties back to us. AG Products will be distributed through the same risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, as Xyrem and Xywav. We also granted each of Amneal, Lupin and Par a license to launch its own generic sodium oxybate product under its ANDA on or after December 31, 2025, or earlier under certain circumstances, including the circumstance where Hikma elects to launch its own generic product. If Amneal, Lupin or Par elects to launch its own generic product under such circumstance, it will no longer have the right to sell an AG Product. In our settlements with each of the other five ANDA filers, we granted each a license to launch its own generic sodium oxybate product under its ANDA on or after December 31, 2025, or earlier under certain circumstances, including circumstances where Hikma launches its own generic sodium oxybate
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product. The actual timing of the launch of an AG Product or generic sodium oxybate product is uncertain because the launch dates of the AG Products and generic sodium oxybate products under our settlement agreements are subject to acceleration under certain circumstances.
Any ANDA holder launching an AG Product or another generic sodium oxybate product will independently establish the price of the AG Product and/or its own generic sodium oxybate product. Generic competition often results in decreases in the prices at which branded products can be sold. After any introduction of a generic product, whether or not it is an AG Product, a significant percentage of the prescriptions written for Xyrem will likely be filled with the generic product. Certain U.S. state laws allow for, and in some instances in the absence of specific instructions from the prescribing physician mandate, the dispensing of generic products rather than branded products when a generic version is available. This would result in reduction in sales of, and revenue from, Xyrem, although we would continue to receive royalties and other revenue based on sales of an AG Product in accordance with the terms of our settlement agreements.
It is possible that additional companies may file ANDAs seeking to market a generic version of Xyrem which could lead to additional patent litigation or challenges with respect to Xyrem. Such patent litigation or challenges could potentially trigger acceleration of the launch dates in our settlement agreements if, for example, our patents covering Xyrem were invalidated. Alternatively, the launch dates in our settlement agreements could be accelerated if a new ANDA filer were to obtain FDA approval for its sodium oxybate product, and launch its generic product through a generic sodium oxybate REMS before the entry dates specified in our settlement agreements. It is also possible that we could enter into a settlement agreement with a future ANDA filer that would permit such filer to enter the market on or prior to the launch date(s) in our settlement agreements. If a company launches a generic or authorized generic sodium oxybate product in any of these scenarios, except in limited circumstances related to an “at risk” launch, the launch date for Hikma’s AG Product would be accelerated to a date on or prior to the date of such entry, which could lead to acceleration of the other settling ANDA filers’ AG Product and generic sodium oxybate product launch dates as described above.
Another circumstance that could trigger acceleration of Hikma’s launch date for an AG Product, which would also accelerate Amneal, Lupin and Par’s launch dates for their AG Products and ultimately could lead to acceleration of the other settling ANDA filers’ launch dates for their generic sodium oxybate products, is a substantial reduction in Xyrem net sales. Such a reduction could occur under various circumstances, including from our sales of Xywav or if a third party introduces a product to treat EDS or cataplexy in narcolepsy that leads to a substantial decline in Xyrem net sales. Accordingly, our strategy to drive revenue growth in our key franchises through, among other things, rapid adoption and broad access of Xywav in the U.S. could lead to the acceleration of such launch dates. Other companies may develop a sodium oxybate product for treatment of narcolepsy, using an alternative formulation or a different delivery technology, and seek approval in the U.S. using a new drug application, or NDA, approval pathway under Section 505(b)(2) and referencing the safety and efficacy data for Xyrem. In December 2020, Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc, or Avadel, filed a NDA for an extended-release formulation of sodium oxybate which uses its proprietary technology for the treatment of EDS and cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. Xyrem may also face increased competition from new branded entrants to treat EDS in narcolepsy such as pitolisant. Other companies have announced that they have product candidates in various phases of development to treat the symptoms of narcolepsy, such as Axsome Therapeutics, Inc.’s reboxetine, and various companies are performing research and development on orexin agonists for the treatment of sleep disorders.
We expect that Xywav will face competition similar to that described above for Xyrem, including from generic or authorized generic sodium oxybate products or new branded entrants in narcolepsy. For example, Avadel has announced that it has obtained an orphan drug designation from FDA for its extended-release sodium oxybate formulation. To obtain approval with orphan drug exclusivity, Avadel will have to show clinical superiority to Xyrem and Xywav. We cannot predict the timing or approvability of Avadel’s sodium oxybate product candidate or how FDA will evaluate any clinical superiority arguments that either we or Avadel may make, but in any event, we expect to face competition from Avadel, if its product candidate is approved.
Moreover, non-oxybate products intended for the treatment of EDS or cataplexy in narcolepsy, including new market entrants, even if not directly competitive with Xyrem or Xywav, could have the effect of changing treatment regimens and payor or formulary coverage of Xyrem or Xywav in favor of other products, and indirectly materially and adversely affect sales of Xyrem and Xywav. Examples of such new market entrants include our product, Sunosi, and pitolisant, a drug that was approved by FDA in 2019 for the treatment of EDS in adult patients with narcolepsy and recently approved by FDA in October 2020 pursuant to a complete response resubmission for an adult cataplexy indication in the U.S. Pitolisant has also been approved and marketed in Europe to treat adult patients with narcolepsy with or without cataplexy, and a marketing authorization application is pending with the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, for approval of pitolisant in the treatment of EDS in OSA. In addition, we are also aware that prescribers often prescribe branded or generic medications for cataplexy, before or instead of prescribing oxybate therapy in Xyrem and Xywav, and that payors often require patients to try such medications before they will cover Xyrem or Xywav, even if they are not approved for this use. Examples of such products are described in “Business—Competition” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
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We expect that the approval and launch of an AG Product or other generic version of Xyrem could have a material adverse effect on our sales of and revenues from Xyrem and Xywav and on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. We also expect that sales of Xywav will, and the approval and launch of any other sodium oxybate (including Avadel’s extended-release sodium oxybate formulation) or alternative product that treats narcolepsy could, have a material adverse effect on our sales of and revenues from Xyrem, which could have the additional impact of potentially triggering acceleration of market entry of AG Products or other generic sodium oxybate products under our patent litigation settlement agreements.
The distribution and sale of our oxybate products are subject to significant regulatory restrictions, including the requirements of a REMS, and these regulatory requirements subject us to risks and uncertainties, any of which could negatively impact sales of Xyrem and Xywav.
The active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, of Xyrem and Xywav, is a form of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, a central nervous system depressant known to be associated with facilitated sexual assault as well as with respiratory depression and other serious side effects. As a result, FDA requires that we maintain a REMS with elements to assure safe use, or ETASU, for Xyrem and Xywav to help ensure that the benefits of the drug in the treatment of cataplexy and EDS in narcolepsy outweigh the serious risks of the drug. The REMS imposes extensive controls and restrictions on the sales and marketing of Xyrem and Xywav that we are responsible for implementing. Any failure to demonstrate our substantial compliance with our REMS obligations, including as a result of business or other interruptions resulting from the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, or a determination by FDA that the REMS is not meeting its goals, could result in enforcement action by FDA, lead to changes in our REMS obligations, negatively affect sales of Xyrem or Xywav, result in additional costs and expenses for us and/or require us to invest a significant amount of resources, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
FDA has stated that it will evaluate the Xywav and Xyrem REMS on an ongoing basis and will require modifications as may be appropriate. We cannot predict whether FDA will request, seek to require or ultimately require modifications to, or impose additional requirements on, the Xywav and Xyrem REMS, including in connection with the submission of new oxybate products or indications, the introduction of authorized generics, or to accommodate generics, or whether FDA will approve modifications to the Xywav and Xyrem REMS that we consider warranted. Any modifications approved, required or rejected by FDA could change the safety profile of Xywav or Xyrem, and have a significant negative impact in terms of product liability, public acceptance of Xywav or Xyrem as a treatment for cataplexy and EDS in narcolepsy, and prescribers’ willingness to prescribe, and patients’ willingness to take, Xywav or Xyrem, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our oxybate business. Modifications approved, required or rejected by FDA could also make it more difficult or expensive for us to distribute Xywav or Xyrem, make distribution easier for oxybate competitors, disrupt continuity of care for Xywav or Xyrem patients and/or negatively affect sales of Xywav or Xyrem.
We depend on outside vendors, including Express Scripts Specialty Distribution Services, Inc., the central certified pharmacy, to distribute Xywav and Xyrem in the U.S., provide patient support services and implement the requirements of the Xywav and Xyrem REMS. If the central pharmacy fails to meet the requirements of the Xywav and Xyrem REMS applicable to the central pharmacy or otherwise does not fulfill its contractual obligations to us, moves to terminate our agreement, refuses or fails to adequately serve patients, or fails to promptly and adequately address operational challenges or challenges in implementing REMS modifications, whether due to business or other interruptions resulting from the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, the fulfillment of Xywav or Xyrem prescriptions and our sales would be adversely affected. If we change to a new central pharmacy, new contracts might be required with government payors and other insurers who pay for Xywav or Xyrem, and the terms of any new contracts could be less favorable to us than current agreements. In addition, any new central pharmacy would need to be registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, and certified and would also need to implement the particular processes, procedures and activities necessary to distribute under the Xywav and Xyrem REMS. Transitioning to a new pharmacy could result in product shortages, which would negatively affect sales of Xywav and Xyrem, result in additional costs and expenses for us and/or take a significant amount of time, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
In its approval of Hikma’s ANDA, FDA waived the requirement of a single shared REMS between the brand drug and generic versions, approving Hikma’s ANDA with a generic sodium oxybate REMS separate from the Xywav and Xyrem REMS, except for the requirement that the generic sodium oxybate REMS program pharmacies contact the Xywav and Xyrem REMS by phone to verify and report certain information. The generic sodium oxybate REMS was approved with the condition that it be open to all future sponsors of ANDAs or NDAs for sodium oxybate products. A sodium oxybate distribution system that is less restrictive than the Xywav and Xyrem REMS, such as the generic sodium oxybate REMS, which provides that generic sodium oxybate products and potentially new sodium oxybate products approved under a Section 505(b)(2) NDA approval pathway could be distributed through multiple pharmacies, could increase the risks associated with oxybate distribution. Because patients, consumers and others may not differentiate generic sodium oxybate from Xyrem or differentiate between the different REMS programs, any negative outcomes, including risks to the public, caused by or otherwise related to a
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separate sodium oxybate REMS, could have a significant negative impact in terms of product liability, our reputation and good will, public acceptance of Xywav or Xyrem as a treatment for cataplexy and EDS in narcolepsy, and prescribers’ willingness to prescribe, and patients’ willingness to take, Xywav or Xyrem, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our oxybate business.
We may face pressure to further modify the Xyrem and Xywav REMS or to license or share intellectual property pertinent to that REMS, including proprietary data required for the safe distribution of sodium oxybate, in connection with FDA’s approval of the generic sodium oxybate REMS or another oxybate REMS that may be submitted or approved in the future. Our settlement agreements with ANDA filers do not directly impact FDA’s waiver of the single shared system REMS requirement, any other ANDA or NDA filer’s ability to develop and implement the generic sodium oxybate REMS for its sodium oxybate product, or our ability to take any action with respect to the safety of the generic sodium oxybate REMS. We cannot predict the outcome or impact on our business of any future action that we may take with respect to FDA’s waiver of the single shared system REMS requirement, its approval and tentative approval of generic versions of sodium oxybate or the consequences of distribution of sodium oxybate through the generic sodium oxybate REMS approved by FDA or another separate REMS.
REMS programs have increasingly drawn public scrutiny from the U.S. Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, and FDA, with allegations that such programs are used as a means of improperly blocking or delaying competition. In December 2019, as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, the U.S. Congress passed legislation known as the Creating and Restoring Equal Access To Equivalent Samples Act, or CREATES. CREATES is intended to prevent companies from using REMS and other restricted distribution programs as a means to deny potential competitors access to product samples that are reasonably necessary to conduct testing in support of an application that references a listed drug or biologic, and provides such potential competitors a potential private right of action if the innovator fails to timely provide samples upon request. CREATES also grants FDA additional authority regarding approval of generic products with REMS.
It is possible that the FTC, FDA or other governmental authorities could claim that, or launch an investigation into whether, we are using our REMS programs in an anticompetitive manner or have engaged in other anticompetitive practices. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act further states that a REMS ETASU shall not be used by an NDA holder to block or delay generic drugs or drugs covered by an application under Section 505(b)(2) from entering the market. In its 2015 letter approving the Xyrem REMS, FDA expressed concern that we were aware that the Xyrem REMS is blocking competition. Between June and September 2020, we were served with a number of class action complaints that included allegations that we had used the Xyrem REMS to delay approval of generic sodium oxybate. In December 2020, these cases were centralized and transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, where the multidistrict litigation will proceed for the purpose of discovery and pre-trial proceedings. For additional information on these class action complaints, see Note 13, Commitments and Contingencies-Legal Proceedings of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. It is possible that additional lawsuits will be filed against us making similar or related allegations. We cannot predict the outcome of these or potential additional lawsuits; however, if the plaintiffs were to be successful in their claims, they may be entitled to injunctive relief or we may be required to pay significant monetary damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Pharmaceutical companies, including their agents and employees, are required to monitor adverse events occurring during the use of their products and report them to FDA. The patient counseling and monitoring requirements of the Xywav and Xyrem REMS provide more extensive information about adverse events experienced by patients taking Xywav and Xyrem, including deaths, than is generally available for other products that are not subject to similar REMS requirements. As required by FDA and other regulatory agencies, the adverse event information that we collect for Xywav and Xyrem is regularly reported to FDA and could result in FDA requiring changes to Xywav and/or Xyrem labeling, including additional warnings or additional boxed warnings, or requiring us to take other actions that could have an adverse effect on patient and prescriber acceptance of Xywav and Xyrem. As required by FDA, Xywav’s and Xyrem’s current labeling includes a boxed warning regarding the risk of central nervous system depression and misuse and abuse.
Any failure to demonstrate our substantial compliance with the REMS or any other applicable regulatory requirements to the satisfaction of FDA or another regulatory authority could result in such regulatory authorities taking actions in the future which could have a material adverse effect on oxybate product sales and therefore on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
While we expect our oxybate products, Xyrem and our newly approved Xywav, to remain the largest part of our business, our success also depends on our ability to effectively commercialize products in our oncology therapeutic area.
In addition to Xyrem, Xywav and our other neuroscience products and product candidates, we are commercializing a portfolio of products, including our other lead marketed products, Defitelio, Erwinaze, Vyxeos and Zepzelca. An inability to effectively commercialize Defitelio, Vyxeos and Zepzelca and to maximize their potential where possible through successful research and development activities, whether due to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, and an
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inability to replace the future product sales we will lose from Erwinaze, would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Defitelio
Our ability to maintain and grow sales and to realize the anticipated benefits from our investment in Defitelio® (defibrotide sodium) is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including continued acceptance by hospital pharmacy and therapeutics committees in the U.S., the EU and other countries; the continued availability of favorable pricing and adequate coverage and reimbursement; the limited experience of, and need to educate, physicians in recognizing, diagnosing and treating hepatic veno-occlusive disease, or VOD, particularly in adults; the possibility that physicians recognizing VOD symptoms may not initiate or may delay initiation of treatment while waiting for those symptoms to improve, or may terminate treatment before the end of the recommended dosing schedule; and the limited size of the population of VOD patients who are indicated for treatment with Defitelio (particularly if changes in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation treatment protocols reduce the incidence of VOD diagnosis and demand for Defitelio).
We announced in April 2020 that we stopped enrollment in our Phase 3 trial evaluating defibrotide in the prevention of VOD due to a determination that the study is highly unlikely to reach one of its primary endpoints. Although we do not expect this outcome to impact clinicians’ use of Defitelio in the treatment of VOD, it may result in delays in the initiation of treatment for some patients as clinicians wait for definitive signs and symptoms of VOD. Although we saw a resurgence in demand for Defitelio in the U.S. and outside the U.S. beginning in the end of the second quarter of 2020, due to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the reprioritization of healthcare resources and related delays, postponements or suspensions of certain medical procedures such as stem cell transplants, we continue to expect a negative impact on demand for and utilization of Defitelio. If sales of Defitelio do not reach the levels we expect, our anticipated revenue from the product would be negatively affected and our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects would be materially adversely affected. In addition, because VOD is an ultra-rare disease, we have experienced inter-quarter variability in our Defitelio sales, which makes Defitelio sales difficult to predict from period to period. As a result, Defitelio sales results or trends in any period may not necessarily be indicative of future performance.
Erwinaze
Erwinaze® (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi), which is approved to treat a limited population of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, who have developed hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase, is licensed from, and manufactured by, a single source, Porton Biopharma Limited, or PBL, a company that is wholly owned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care. Our license and supply agreement with PBL, which included an exclusive right to market, sell or distribute Erwinaze, an exclusive license to Erwinaze trademarks, and a non-exclusive license to PBL’s manufacturing know-how, expired on December 31, 2020. In April 2020, PBL announced that it had entered into an agreement with a new partner to commercialize and distribute Erwinaze. Under our agreement with PBL, we have the right to sell certain Erwinaze inventory for a post-termination sales period of 12 months and retain ownership of certain data, know-how and other property interests, including the biologics license application, or BLA, for Erwinaze in the U.S. and marketing authorizations for Erwinase in several other countries. Subject to successful receipt, release and FDA approval for the batches from PBL, we expect to distribute available Erwinaze supply during the first half of 2021. If we are unable to replace the future product sales we will lose from Erwinaze with our existing or future products, our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects would be materially adversely affected.
In the past, a significant challenge to maintaining sales of Erwinaze and a barrier to increasing sales was PBL’s inability to consistently supply product that meets specifications in quantities that are adequate to meet market demand. Other challenges facing Erwinaze include the limited population of patients with ALL, and the incidence of hypersensitivity reactions to E. coli-derived asparaginase within that population; the development and/or approval of new asparaginase treatments or treatment protocols for ALL that may not include asparaginase-containing regimens and prescribers’ use of alternate methods to address hypersensitivity reactions; difficulties with obtaining and maintaining favorable pricing and reimbursement arrangements; and potential competition from future biosimilar products.
Vyxeos
Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from our investment in Vyxeos® (daunorubicin and cytarabine) liposome for injection by successfully and sustainably growing sales is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including our ability to differentiate Vyxeos from other liposomal chemotherapies and generically available chemotherapy combinations with which physicians and treatment centers are more familiar; acceptance by hospital pharmacy and therapeutics committees in the U.S., the EU and other countries; the increasing complexity of the acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, landscape requiring changes in patient identification and treatment selection, including diagnostic tests and monitoring that clinicians may find challenging to incorporate; the use of new and novel compounds in AML that are either used off-label or are only approved for use in combination with other agents and that have not been tested in combination with Vyxeos; the increasing use of venetoclax, which received full FDA approval in October 2020 for AML treatment; the limited size of the population of high-risk AML
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patients who may potentially be indicated for treatment with Vyxeos, particularly as a result of the shift of healthcare resources toward less intensive outpatient AML treatments in the U.S. in light of the COVID-19 pandemic which is directly negatively impacting, or delaying, the use of Vyxeos, as well as the suspension of in-person interactions with healthcare professionals due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the availability of adequate coverage, pricing and reimbursement approvals, competition from new and existing products and potential competition from products in development; and delays or problems in the supply or manufacture of Vyxeos. Although we saw some recovery in demand for Vyxeos beginning in the end of the second quarter of 2020, due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to expect a negative impact on demand for and utilization of Vyxeos compared to historical periods. If sales of Vyxeos do not reach the levels we expect, our anticipated revenue from the product would be negatively affected, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Zepzelca
Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from our investment in Zepzelca® (lurbinectedin) is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including our ability to successfully commercialize Zepzelca in the U.S.; adequate supply of Zepzelca to meet demand; availability of favorable pricing and adequate coverage and reimbursement; the limited experience of, and need to educate, physicians in the use of Zepzelca for the treatment of metastatic small cell lung cancer, or SCLC; the potential for negative trial data read-outs in ongoing or future Zepzelca clinical trials; our and Pharma Mar, S.A., or PharmaMar’s ability to maintain accelerated approval or obtain FDA’s agreement as to a confirmatory study of Zepzelca; and the impact of the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our ability to educate health care providers about Zepzelca in the treatment of relapsed, metastatic SCLC in the U.S.
We face substantial competition from other companies, including companies with larger sales organizations and more experience working with large and diverse product portfolios.
Our products compete, and our product candidates may in the future compete, with currently existing therapies, including generic drugs, product candidates currently under development by us and others and/or future product candidates, including new chemical entities that may be safer or more effective or more convenient than our products. Any products that we develop may be commercialized in competitive markets, and our competitors, which include large global pharmaceutical companies and small research-based companies and institutions, may succeed in developing products that render our products obsolete or noncompetitive. Many of our competitors, particularly large pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, have substantially greater financial, operational and human resources than we do. Smaller or earlier stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through focused development programs and collaborative arrangements with large, established companies. In addition, many of our competitors deploy more personnel to market and sell their products than we do, and we compete with other companies to recruit, hire, train and retain pharmaceutical sales and marketing personnel. If our sales force and sales support organization are not appropriately resourced and sized to adequately promote our products, the commercial potential of our current and any future products may be diminished. In any event, the commercial potential of our current products and any future products may be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop or acquire and commercialize generic or branded products that are safer or more effective, are more convenient or are less expensive than our products. For a description of the competition that our lead marketed products and most advanced product candidates face or may face, see the discussion in “Business—Competition” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K and the risk factor under the heading “The introduction of new products in the U.S. market that compete with, or otherwise disrupt the market for, our oxybate products and product candidates would adversely affect sales of our oxybate products and product candidates” in this Part I, Item 1A.
Adequate coverage and reimbursement from third party payors may not be available for our products and we may be unable to successfully contract for coverage from pharmacy benefit managers and group purchasing organizations, which could diminish our sales or affect our ability to sell our products profitably; conversely, to secure coverage from these organizations, we may be required to pay rebates or other discounts or other restrictions to reimbursement that could diminish our sales.
In both U.S. and non-U.S. markets, our ability to successfully commercialize and achieve market acceptance of our products depends in significant part on adequate financial coverage and reimbursement from third party payors, including governmental payors (such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs in the U.S.), managed care organizations and private health insurers. Without third party payor reimbursement, patients may not be able to obtain or afford prescribed medications. In addition, reimbursement guidelines and incentives provided to prescribing physicians by third party payors may have a significant impact on the prescribing physicians’ willingness and ability to prescribe our products. The demand for, and the profitability of, our products could be materially harmed if the Medicaid program, Medicare program, other healthcare programs in the U.S. or elsewhere, or third party commercial payors in the U.S. or elsewhere deny reimbursement for our products, limit the indications for which our products will be reimbursed, or provide reimbursement only on unfavorable terms. In particular, we cannot predict to what extent the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may disrupt global healthcare systems and access to our products or result in a widespread loss of individual health insurance coverage due to unemployment,
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a shift from commercial payor coverage to government payor coverage, or an increase in demand for patient assistance and/or free drug programs, any of which could adversely affect net revenue.
As part of the overall trend toward cost containment, third party payors often require prior authorization for, and require reauthorization for continuation of, prescription products or impose step edits, which require prior use of another medication, usually a generic or preferred brand, prior to approving coverage for a new or more expensive product. Such restrictive conditions for reimbursement and an increase in reimbursement-related activities can extend the time required to fill prescriptions and may discourage patients from seeking treatment. We cannot predict actions that third party payors may take, or whether they will limit the access and level of reimbursement for our products or refuse to provide any approvals or coverage. From time to time, third party payors have refused to provide reimbursement for our products, and others may do so in the future.
Third party payors increasingly examine the cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical products, in addition to their safety and efficacy, when making coverage and reimbursement decisions. We may need to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic and/or clinical studies in order to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of our products. If our competitors offer their products at prices that provide purportedly lower treatment costs than our products, or otherwise suggest that their products are safer, more effective or more cost-effective than our products, this may result in a greater level of access for their products relative to our products, which would reduce our sales and harm our results of operations. In some cases, for example, third party payors try to encourage the use of less expensive generic products through their prescription benefit coverage and reimbursement and co-pay policies. Because some of our products compete in a market with both branded and generic products, obtaining and maintaining access and reimbursement coverage for our products may be more challenging than for products that are new chemical entities for which no therapeutic alternatives exist.
Third party pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, group purchasing organizations, or GPOs, and payors can limit coverage to specific products on an approved list, or formulary, which might not include all of the approved products for a particular indication, and to exclude drugs from their formularies in favor of competitor drugs or alternative treatments, or place drugs on formulary tiers with higher patient co-pay obligations, and/or to mandate stricter utilization criteria. Formulary exclusion effectively encourages patients and providers to seek alternative treatments, make a complex and time-intensive request for medical exemptions, or pay 100% of the cost of a drug. In addition, in many instances, certain PBMs, GPOs and third party payors may exert negotiating leverage by requiring incremental rebates, discounts or other concessions from manufacturers in order to maintain formulary positions, which could continue to result in higher gross to net deductions for affected products. In this regard, we have entered into agreements with PBMs and payor accounts to provide rebates to those entities related to formulary coverage for Xyrem, Xywav and Sunosi, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to agree to coverage terms with other PBMs and other third party payors. We are seeking to secure payor coverage for Xywav that is similar to Xyrem and have implemented patient access programs for Xywav to support patients in obtaining access to Xywav during the launch period. However, payors could decide to exclude Xywav from formulary coverage lists, impose step edits that require patients to try alternative, including generic, treatments before authorizing payment for Xywav, limit the types of diagnoses for which coverage will be provided or impose a moratorium on coverage for products while the payor makes a coverage decision. An inability to obtain or maintain adequate formulary positions could increase patient cost-sharing for Xywav and cause some patients to determine not to use Xywav. Any delays or unforeseen difficulties in obtaining access or reimbursement approvals could limit patient access, depress therapy adherence rates, and adversely impact our ability to successfully commercialize Xywav. If we are unsuccessful in obtaining broad coverage for Xywav, our anticipated revenue from and growth prospects for Xywav could be negatively affected.
In many countries outside the U.S., procedures to obtain price approvals, coverage and reimbursement can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing authorization. Many European countries periodically review their reimbursement of medicinal products, which could have an adverse impact on reimbursement status. In addition, we expect that legislators, policymakers and healthcare insurance funds in the EU member states will continue to propose and implement cost-containing measures, such as lower maximum prices, lower or lack of reimbursement coverage and incentives to use cheaper, usually generic, products as an alternative to branded products, and/or branded products available through parallel import to keep healthcare costs down. Moreover, in order to obtain reimbursement for our products in some European countries, including some EU member states, we may be required to compile additional data comparing the cost-effectiveness of our products to other available therapies. Health Technology Assessment, or HTA, of medicinal products is becoming an increasingly common part of the pricing and reimbursement procedures in some EU member states, including those representing the larger markets. The HTA process, which is currently governed by the laws in these countries, is the procedure to assess therapeutic, economic and societal impact of a given medicinal product in the national healthcare systems of the individual country. The outcome of an HTA will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these medicinal products by the competent authorities of individual EU member states. The extent to which pricing and reimbursement decisions are influenced by the HTA of the specific medicinal product currently varies between EU member states, although a legislative proposal adopted by the EC in January 2018 concerning EU regulation governing HTA procedures may eventually lead to harmonization. If we are unable to maintain favorable pricing and reimbursement status in EU member
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states that represent significant markets, our anticipated revenue from and growth prospects for our products in the EU could be negatively affected. For example, the EC granted marketing authorization for Vyxeos in August 2018 and for Sunosi in January 2020, and, as part of our rolling launches of Vyxeos and Sunosi in Europe, we are making pricing and reimbursement submissions in European countries. Due to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we currently anticipate delays by certain European regulatory authorities in their pricing and reimbursement reviews. If we experience setbacks or unforeseen difficulties in obtaining favorable pricing and reimbursement decisions, including as a result of regulatory review delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, planned launches in the affected EU member states would be delayed, which could negatively impact anticipated revenue from and growth prospects for Vyxeos and/or Sunosi.
The pricing of pharmaceutical products has come under increasing scrutiny as part of a global trend toward healthcare cost containment and resulting changes in healthcare law and policy may impact our business in ways that we cannot currently predict, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
Political, economic and regulatory influences are subjecting the healthcare industry in the U.S. to fundamental changes, particularly given the current atmosphere of mounting criticism of prescription drug costs in the U.S. We expect there will continue to be legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could impact our ability to sell our products profitably, as governmental oversight and scrutiny of biopharmaceutical companies is increasing. For example, we anticipate that the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, and regulators may adopt or accelerate adoption of new healthcare policies and reforms intended to curb healthcare costs, such as federal and state controls on reimbursement for drugs (including under Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health plans), new or increased requirements to pay prescription drug rebates and penalties to government health care programs, and additional pharmaceutical cost transparency policies that aim to require drug companies to justify their prices through required disclosures. There is also proposed legislation pending that would implement a Most Favored Nation, or MFN, pricing model. If a MFN pricing model were applied to any of our products, our revenues from U.S. sales of such products could decrease.
Legislative and regulatory proposals that have recently been considered include legislative proposals to limit the terms of patent litigation settlements with generic sponsors, and proposals to define certain conduct around patenting and new product development as unfair competition. All such considerations may adversely affect our business and industry in ways that we cannot accurately predict. FDA recently issued a final regulation, as well as guidance for industry, permitting the importation of drugs into the U.S. from other countries under certain circumstances, although it is currently unclear whether stakeholders will avail themselves of these pathways. Any of our products becoming subject to importation could negatively affect our business in ways that we cannot accurately predict.
There is also ongoing activity related to health care coverage. The Affordable Care Act substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. These changes impacted previously existing government healthcare programs and have resulted in the development of new programs, including Medicare payment-for-performance initiatives. The Affordable Care Act is currently subject to a broad legal challenge in California vs. Azar before the Supreme Court. Were the Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, that could have far-reaching consequences of an uncertain nature for our industry. However, the Biden administration and Democratically-controlled Congress are expected to take significant action to mitigate any ruling against the Affordable Care Act. Further, the administration and Congress are expected to take notable steps towards expanding health care coverage beyond the Affordable Care Act, which could have ramifications for the pharmaceutical industry.
If healthcare policies or reforms intended to curb healthcare costs are adopted or if we experience negative publicity with respect to pricing of our products or the pricing of pharmaceutical drugs generally, the prices that we charge for our products, including Xyrem and Xywav, may be affected, our commercial opportunity may be limited and/or our revenues from sales of our products may be negatively impacted. We have periodically increased the price of Xyrem, most recently in January 2021, and there is no guarantee that we will make similar price adjustments to Xyrem and Xywav in the future or that price adjustments we have taken or may take in the future will not negatively affect Xyrem or Xywav sales volumes and revenues. We also have made and may in the future make price adjustments on our other products. There is no guarantee that such price adjustments will not negatively affect our reputation and our ability to secure and maintain reimbursement coverage for our products, which could limit the prices that we charge for our products, including Xyrem and Xywav, limit the commercial opportunities for our products and/or negatively impact revenues from sales of our products.
If we become the subject of any future government investigation or U.S. Congressional oversight with respect to drug pricing or other business practices, we could incur significant expense and could be distracted from operation of our business and execution of our strategy. Any such investigation or hearing could also result in reduced market acceptance and demand for our products, could harm our reputation and our ability to market our products in the future, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We expect that legislators, policymakers and healthcare insurance funds in Europe will continue to propose and implement cost-containing measures to keep healthcare costs down. These measures could include limitations on the prices we
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will be able to charge for our products or the level of reimbursement available for these products from governmental authorities or third party payors. Further, an increasing number of European and other foreign countries use prices for medicinal products established in other countries as “reference prices” to help determine the price of the product in their own territory. Consequently, a downward trend in prices of medicinal products in some countries could contribute to similar downward trends elsewhere.
In addition to access, coverage and reimbursement, the commercial success of our products depends upon their market acceptance by physicians, patients, third party payors and the medical community.
If physicians do not prescribe our products, we cannot generate the revenues we anticipate from product sales. Market acceptance of each of our products by physicians, patients, third party payors and the medical community depends on:
•the clinical indications for which a product is approved and any restrictions placed upon the product in connection with its approval, such as a REMS or equivalent obligation imposed in a European or other foreign country, patient registry requirements or labeling restrictions;
•the prevalence of the disease or condition for which the product is approved and its diagnosis;
•the efficacy of the product in regular use;
•the severity of side effects and other risks in relation to the benefits of our products;
•unanticipated serious adverse events;
•acceptance by physicians and patients of each product as a safe and effective treatment;
•availability of sufficient product inventory to meet demand, particularly with respect to Erwinaze;
•physicians’ decisions relating to treatment practices based on availability of product, particularly with respect to Erwinaze;
•perceived clinical superiority and/or advantages over alternative treatments;
•relative convenience and ease of administration;
•with respect to Xyrem and Xywav, physician and patient assessment of the burdens associated with obtaining or maintaining the certifications required under the Xyrem and Xywav REMS or equivalent obligation imposed in a European or other foreign country;
•the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments, including generic products; and
•the availability of financial or other assistance for patients who are uninsured or underinsured.
Because of our dependence upon market acceptance of our products, any adverse publicity associated with harm to patients or other adverse events resulting from the use or misuse of any of our products or any similar products distributed by other companies, including generic versions of our products, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. For example, from time to time, there is negative publicity about illicit GHB and its effects, including with respect to illegal use, overdoses, serious injury and death. Because sodium oxybate, the API in Xyrem, is a derivative of GHB, Xyrem sometimes also receives negative mention in publicity relating to GHB. Xywav includes the same API as Xyrem, but uses a different mixture of salts. Patients, physicians and regulators may therefore view Xyrem or Xywav as the same as or similar to illicit GHB. In addition, there are regulators and some law enforcement agencies that oppose the prescription and use of Xyrem, and potentially other oxybate products generally because of their connection to GHB. The labels for Xyrem and Xywav authorized in the United States include information about adverse events from GHB.
Delays or problems in the supply of our products for sale or for use in clinical trials, loss of our single source suppliers or failure to comply with manufacturing regulations could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
The manufacture of pharmaceutical products requires significant expertise and capital investment, including the development of process controls required to consistently produce the API and the finished product in sufficient quantities while meeting detailed product specifications on a repeated basis. We and our suppliers may encounter difficulties in production, including difficulties with procurement of manufacturing materials, production costs and yields, process controls, quality control and quality assurance, including testing of stability, impurities and impurity levels and other product specifications by validated test methods, and compliance with strictly enforced U.S., state and non-U.S. regulations. In addition, we and our suppliers are subject to FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practices, or cGMP, requirements, DEA regulations and equivalent rules and regulations prescribed by non-U.S. regulatory authorities. If we or any of our suppliers encounter manufacturing, quality or compliance difficulties with respect to any of our products, whether due to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (including as a result of disruptions of global shipping and the transport of products) or otherwise, we may be unable to obtain or maintain regulatory approval or meet commercial demand for such products, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In addition, we could be subject to enforcement action by regulatory authorities for our failure to comply with cGMP with respect to the products we manufacture in our facilities as well as for our failure to adequately oversee compliance with cGMP by any of our third party suppliers operating under contract. Moreover, failure to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements subjects us and our suppliers to
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possible regulatory action, including restrictions on supply or shutdown, which may adversely affect our or a supplier’s ability to supply the ingredients or finished products we need.
We have a manufacturing and development facility in Athlone, Ireland where we manufacture Xyrem and Xywav, and a manufacturing plant in Italy where we produce the defibrotide drug substance. We currently do not have our own commercial manufacturing or packaging capability for our other products, product candidates or their APIs. As a result, our ability to develop and supply products in a timely and competitive manner depends primarily on third party suppliers being able to meet our ongoing commercial and clinical trial needs for API, other raw materials, packaging materials and finished products. Our manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland currently continues to be operational with essential staff onsite and office-based staff working remotely. In March 2020, we temporarily ceased operations at our Villa Guardia, Italy manufacturing facility, which produces defibrotide, to ensure the safety of our employees and communities in northern Italy. We reopened the facility in the second quarter of 2020 taking into account applicable public health authority and local government guidelines as well as employee safety, and the facility has now resumed operations with essential staff onsite and office-based staff working remotely. However, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to rapidly evolve and even if our employees more broadly return to work in our global offices, the field and our manufacturing facilities, we may nevertheless have to resume a remote work model, whether as a result of spikes or surges in COVID-19 infection or hospitalization rates or otherwise.
In part due to the limited market size for our products and product candidates, we have a single source of supply for most of our marketed products, product candidates and their APIs. Single sourcing puts us at risk of interruption in supply in the event of manufacturing, quality or compliance difficulties. If one of our suppliers fails or refuses to supply us for any reason, it would take a significant amount of time and expense to implement and execute the necessary technology transfer to, and to qualify, a new supplier. FDA and similar international or national regulatory bodies must approve manufacturers of the active and inactive pharmaceutical ingredients and certain packaging materials used in our products. If there are delays in qualifying new suppliers or facilities or a new supplier is unable to meet FDA’s or similar international regulatory body’s requirements for approval, there could be a shortage of the affected products for the marketplace or for use in clinical studies, or both, which could negatively impact our anticipated revenues and could potentially cause us to breach contractual obligations with customers or to violate local laws requiring us to deliver the product to those in need.
Vyxeos is manufactured by Baxter Oncology GmbH, or Baxter, which is a sole source supplier from a single site location. Baxter has experienced batch failures due to mechanical, component and other issues in the production of Vyxeos, and batches have been produced that have otherwise not been in compliance with applicable specifications. We are continuing to work with Baxter to address manufacturing complexities related to Vyxeos. Moreover, the proprietary technology that supports the manufacture of Vyxeos is not easily transferable. Consequently, engaging an alternate manufacturer may be difficult, costly and time-consuming. If we fail to obtain a sufficient supply of Vyxeos in accordance with applicable specifications on a timely basis, our sales of and revenues from Vyxeos, our future maintenance and potential growth of the market for this product, our ability to conduct ongoing and future clinical trials of Vyxeos, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects could be materially adversely affected. In addition, while the APIs in Vyxeos, daunorubicin and cytarabine, are available from a number of suppliers, certain suppliers have received warning letters from FDA. As a result, we have qualified other suppliers for each API, and we provided the qualification data to FDA. If FDA restricts importation of API from either supplier, and we are unable to qualify API from additional suppliers in a timely manner, or at all, our ability to successfully commercialize Vyxeos and generate sales of this product at the level we expect and to conduct ongoing and future clinical trials of Vyxeos could be materially and adversely affected.
In addition, in order to conduct our ongoing and any future clinical trials of, complete marketing authorization submissions for, and potentially launch our other product candidates, we also need to have sufficient quantities of product manufactured.
Moreover, to obtain approval from FDA or a similar international or national regulatory body of any product candidate, we or our suppliers for that product must obtain approval by the applicable regulatory body to manufacture and supply product, in some cases based on qualification data provided to the applicable body as part of our regulatory submission. Any delay in generating, or failure to generate, data required in connection with submission of the chemistry, manufacturing and controls portions of any regulatory submission could negatively impact our ability to meet our anticipated submission dates, and therefore our anticipated timing for obtaining FDA or similar international or national regulatory body approval, or our ability to obtain regulatory approval at all. In addition, any failure of us or a supplier to obtain approval by the applicable regulatory body to manufacture and supply product or any delay in receiving, or failure to receive, adequate supplies of a product on a timely basis or in accordance with applicable specifications could negatively impact our ability to successfully launch and commercialize products and generate sales of products at the levels we expect.
If the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic become more severe and begin to impact supply of manufacturing materials or essential distribution systems such as general delivery services, or require us or our suppliers to again cease or restrict operations at our respective manufacturing facilities, we could experience disruptions to our supply chain and operations, and associated delays in the manufacturing and supply of our products, which would adversely impact our ability to generate sales
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of and revenues from our approved products and our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects would be materially adversely affected.
Risks Related to Growth of Our Product Portfolio and Research and Development
Our future success depends on our ability to successfully develop and obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for our late-stage product candidates and, if approved, to successfully launch and commercialize those product candidates.
The testing, manufacturing and marketing of our products require regulatory approvals, including approval from FDA and similar bodies in Europe and other countries. If FDA, the EC or the competent authorities of the EU member states or other European countries determine that our quality, safety or efficacy data do not warrant marketing approval for a product candidate, we could be required to conduct additional clinical trials as a condition to receiving approval, which could be costly and time-consuming and could delay or preclude the approval of our application. Our inability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for our product candidates in the U.S. and Europe and to successfully commercialize new products that are approved would prevent us from receiving a return on our investments and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Due to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible that we could experience delays in the timing of marketing application review by regulatory authorities and/or our interactions with regulatory authorities due to limited staffing or working hours of governmental employees, governmental “stay-at-home” orders and travel restrictions with respect to physical inspections if required for regulatory approval, or the diversion of regulatory authority efforts and attention to approval of other therapeutics or other activities related to COVID-19, which could delay anticipated approval decisions and otherwise delay or limit our ability to make planned regulatory submissions or obtain new product approvals. It is possible that we could experience delays in regulatory interactions and review of submissions due to COVID-19 impacts described above, such as with respect to our BLA submission of JZP-458 or our supplemental new drug application, or sNDA, submission of JZP-258 for idiopathic hypersomnia.
Even if we receive approval of a product, regulatory authorities may impose significant labeling restrictions or requirements, including limitations on the dosing of the product, requirements around the naming or strength of a product, restrictions on indicated uses for which we may market the product, the imposition of a boxed warning or other warnings and precautions, and/or the requirement for a REMS or equivalent obligation imposed in a European or other foreign country to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks. FDA requires a REMS and a boxed warning for Xyrem and Xywav, and similar restrictions could be imposed on other products in the future. Our receipt of approval for narrower indications than sought, restrictions on marketing through a REMS or equivalent obligation imposed in a European or other foreign country, or significant labeling restrictions or requirements in an approved label such as a boxed warning, could have a negative impact on our ability to recoup our research and development costs and to successfully commercialize that product, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Regulatory authorities may also impose post-marketing obligations as part of their approval, which may lead to additional costs and burdens associated with commercialization of the drug, and may pose a risk to maintaining approval of the drug. We are subject to certain post-marketing requirements and commitments in connection with the approval of certain of our products, including Defitelio, Erwinaze, Vyxeos, Sunosi and Zepzelca. These post-marketing requirements and commitments include satisfactorily conducting multiple post-marketing clinical trials and safety studies. For example, FDA granted accelerated approval to Zepzelca for relapsed SCLC based on data from a Phase 2 trial, which approval is contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a post-marketing clinical trial. However, FDA confirmed that the clinical benefit of Zepzelca based on the results of the ATLANTIS Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Zepzelca in combination with doxorubicin for relapsed SCLC did not provide sufficient verification and we and PharmaMar will therefore need to conduct one or more additional clinical trials of Zepzelca to confirm its clinical benefit. Our failure to do so could result in the withdrawal of approval of Zepzelca, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In any event, if we are unable to comply with our post-marketing obligations imposed as part of the marketing approvals in the U.S., the EU, or other European countries, our approval may be varied, suspended or revoked, product supply may be delayed and our sales of and revenues from our products could be materially adversely affected.
We are pursuing activities related to the development of additional asparaginase products for patients with ALL or other hematological malignancies. Several of our external research and development collaborations are focused on these efforts, including our agreement with Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, or Ligand. Among the product candidates being developed under our Ligand agreement is JZP-458, a recombinant Erwinia asparaginase product candidate, for the potential treatment of ALL and lymphoblastic lymphoma who have hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase. We also have clinical development efforts focused on expanding the potential of Defitelio, Vyxeos, Sunosi and Xywav, as well as clinical development efforts focused on JZP-385 for the treatment of essential tremor. Because combination regimens and the continual generation of new data have become particularly important in AML, if we are unable to initiate multiple combination studies,
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safely combine Vyxeos with novel agents, or if efficacy results do not meet clinicians’ expectations, our growth prospects could be materially adversely affected. If we are not successful in the clinical development of our product candidates, if we are unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates in a timely manner, or at all, or if sales of an approved product do not reach the levels we expect, our anticipated revenue from our product candidates would be negatively affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We may not be able to successfully identify and acquire or in-license additional products or product candidates to grow our business, and, even if we are able to do so, we may otherwise fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these transactions.
In addition to continued investment in our research and development pipeline, we intend to grow our business by acquiring or in-licensing, and developing, including with collaboration partners, additional products and product candidates that we believe are highly differentiated and have significant commercial potential. However, we may be unable to identify or consummate suitable acquisition or in-licensing opportunities, and this inability could impair our ability to grow our business. Other companies, many of which may have substantially greater financial, sales and marketing resources, compete with us for these opportunities. Even if appropriate opportunities are available, we may not be able to successfully identify them, or we may not have the financial resources necessary to pursue them.
Even if we are able to successfully identify and acquire, in-license or develop additional products or product candidates, we may not be able to successfully manage the risks associated with integrating any products or product candidates into our portfolio or the risks arising from anticipated and unanticipated problems in connection with an acquisition or in-licensing. Further, while we seek to mitigate risks and liabilities of potential acquisitions and in-licensing transactions through, among other things, due diligence, there may be risks and liabilities that such due diligence efforts fail to discover, that are not disclosed to us, or that we inadequately assess. Any failure in identifying and managing these risks, liabilities and uncertainties effectively, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, product and product candidate acquisitions, particularly when the acquisition takes the form of a merger or other business consolidation, have required, and any similar future transactions also will require, significant efforts and expenditures, including with respect to transition and integration activities. We may encounter unexpected difficulties, or incur substantial costs, in connection with potential acquisitions and similar transactions, which include:
•the need to incur substantial debt and/or engage in dilutive issuances of equity securities to pay for acquisitions;
•the potential disruption of our historical core business;
•the strain on, and need to continue to expand, our existing operational, technical, financial and administrative infrastructure;
•the difficulties in integrating acquired products and product candidates into our portfolio;
•the difficulties in assimilating employees and corporate cultures;
•the failure to retain key managers and other personnel;
•the need to write down assets or recognize impairment charges;
•the diversion of our management’s attention to integration of operations and corporate and administrative infrastructures; and
•any unanticipated liabilities for activities of or related to the acquired business or its operations, products or product candidates.
Moreover, if the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic become more severe, we could experience an inability to access additional capital, which could in the future negatively affect our capacity for certain corporate development transactions or our ability to make other important, opportunistic investments.
As a result of these or other factors, products or product candidates we acquire, or obtain licenses to, may not produce the revenues, earnings or business synergies that we anticipated, acquired or in-licensed product candidates may not result in regulatory approvals, and acquired or licensed products may not perform as expected. Failure to manage effectively our growth through acquisitions or in-licensing transactions could adversely affect our growth prospects, business, results of operations and financial condition.
Conducting clinical trials is costly and time-consuming, and the outcomes are uncertain. A failure to prove that our product candidates are safe and effective in clinical trials, or to generate data in clinical trials to support expansion of the therapeutic uses for our existing products, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
As a condition to regulatory approval, each product candidate must undergo extensive and expensive preclinical studies and clinical trials to demonstrate to a statistically significant degree that the product candidate is safe and effective. The results at any stage of the development process may lack the desired safety, efficacy or pharmacokinetic characteristics. If FDA determines that the safety or efficacy data to be submitted to FDA in the BLA for JZP-458 or the sNDA for JZP-258 for idiopathic hypersomnia, do not warrant marketing approval, we may be required to conduct additional clinical trials, which could be costly and time-consuming. Even if we believe we have successfully completed testing, FDA or any equivalent non-
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U.S. regulatory agency may determine our data is not sufficiently compelling to warrant marketing approval for the indications sought, if at all, and may require us to engage in additional clinical trials or provide further analysis which may be costly and time-consuming. Any adverse events or other data generated during the course of clinical trials of our product candidates and/or clinical trials related to additional indications for our commercialized products could result in action by FDA or a non-U.S. regulatory agency, which may restrict our ability to sell, or adversely affect sales of, currently marketed products, or such events or other data could otherwise have a material adverse effect on a related commercial product, including with respect to its safety profile. Any failure or delay in completing such clinical trials could materially and adversely affect the maintenance and growth of the markets for the related marketed products, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and overall growth prospects.
In addition to issues relating to the results generated in clinical trials, clinical trials can be delayed or halted for a variety of reasons, including:
•direct and indirect impacts of the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on various aspects and stages of the clinical development process, including the inherent limitations of remote and virtual approaches;
•difficulty identifying, recruiting or enrolling eligible patients, often based on the number of clinical trials, particularly in oncology, with enrollment criteria targeting the same patient population;
•significant reprioritization and diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials;
•difficulty identifying a clinical development pathway, including viable indications and appropriate clinical trial protocol design, particularly where there is no applicable regulatory precedent;
•delays or failures in obtaining regulatory authorization to commence a trial because of safety concerns of regulators relating to our product candidates or similar product candidates of our competitors or failure to follow regulatory guidelines;
•interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring, due to limitations on travel, quarantines or social distancing protocols imposed or recommended by federal or state governments, employers and others in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic;
•delays or failures in obtaining clinical materials and manufacturing sufficient quantities of the product candidate for use in trials;
•delays or failures in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective study sites;
•delays or failures in obtaining approval of our clinical trial protocol from an institutional review board, known as an ethics committee in Europe, to conduct a clinical trial at a prospective study site;
•failure of our clinical trials and clinical investigators, including contract research organizations or other third parties assisting us with clinical trials, to satisfactorily perform their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines and comply with FDA and other regulatory agencies’ requirements, including good clinical practices;
•unforeseen safety issues;
•inability to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment;
•difficulty monitoring multiple study sites; or
•insufficient funds to complete the trials.
In light of the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken measures to implement remote and virtual approaches, including remote data monitoring where possible, to maintain patient safety and trial continuity and to preserve study integrity. We have seen limited COVID-19-related impact to our mid- and late-stage clinical trial activity, despite delays in initiating trial sites. For example, while we temporarily suspended two of our healthy volunteer clinical development programs, JZP-385 and JZP-324, in the interest of volunteer safety, we were able to restart these clinical trials in the third quarter of 2020 with the implementation of appropriate safety protocols. While it has not been the case thus far, we could still see an impact on the ability to supply study drug, report trial results, or interact with regulators, ethics committees or other important agencies due to limitations in regulatory authority employee resources or otherwise. In addition, we rely on contract research organizations or other third parties to assist us with clinical trials, and we cannot guarantee that they will continue to perform their contractual duties in a timely and satisfactory manner as a result of the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. If these effects become more severe, we could experience significant disruptions to our clinical development timelines, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. In addition, some patients may not be able to comply with clinical trial protocols if quarantines impede patient movement or interrupt healthcare services. Similarly, our ability to recruit and retain patients and principal investigators and site staff who, as healthcare providers, may have heightened exposure to COVID-19, may adversely impact our clinical trial operations.
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Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
It is difficult and costly to protect our proprietary rights, and we may not be able to ensure their protection.
Our commercial success depends in part on obtaining, maintaining and defending intellectual property protection for our products and product candidates, including protection of their use and methods of manufacturing and distribution. Our ability to protect our products and product candidates from unauthorized making, using, selling, offering to sell or importation by third parties depends on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents or have adequately protected trade secrets that cover these activities.
The degree of protection to be afforded by our proprietary rights is uncertain because legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. For example:
•our patent applications, or those of our licensors or partners, may not result in issued patents;
•others may independently develop similar or therapeutically equivalent products without infringing our patents, or those of our licensors, such as products that are not covered by the claims of our patents, or for which we do not have adequate exclusive rights under our license agreements;
•our issued patents, or those of our licensors or partners, may be held invalid or unenforceable as a result of legal challenges by third parties or may be vulnerable to legal challenges as a result of changes in applicable law;
•we or our licensors or partners might not have been the first to invent or file, as appropriate, subject matters covered by our issued patents or pending patent applications or those of our licensors or partners;
•competitors may manufacture products in countries where we have not applied for patent protection or that have a different scope of patent protection or that do not respect our patents; or
•others may be issued patents that prevent the sale of our products or require licensing and the payment of significant fees or royalties.
Patent enforcement generally must be sought on a country-by-country basis, and issues of patent validity and infringement may be judged differently in different countries. For example, in the EU, approval of a generic pharmaceutical product can occur independently of whether the reference brand product is covered by patents, and enforcement of such patents generally must await approval and an indication that the generic product is being offered for sale.
Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the U.S. and other countries may diminish the value of our intellectual property portfolio. Even if we are able to obtain patents covering our products and product candidates, any patent may be challenged, and potentially invalidated or held unenforceable, including through patent litigation or through patent office procedures that permit challenges to patent validity. Patents can also be circumvented, potentially including by FDA approval of an ANDA or Section 505(b)(2) application that avoids infringement of our intellectual property.
We have settled patent litigation with nine companies seeking to introduce generic versions of Xyrem in the U.S. by granting those companies licenses to launch their generic products (and in certain cases, an authorized generic version of Xyrem) in advance of the expiration of the last of our patents. Notwithstanding our Xyrem patents and settlement agreements, additional third parties may also attempt to introduce generic versions of Xyrem or other sodium oxybate products for treatment of cataplexy and/or EDS in narcolepsy that design around our patents or assert that our patents are invalid or otherwise unenforceable. Such third parties could launch a generic or 505(b)(2) product referencing Xyrem before the dates provided in our patents or settlement agreements. For example, we have several method of use patents listed in FDA’s publication “Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations,” or the Orange Book, that expire in 2033 that cover treatment methods included in the Xyrem label related to a drug-drug interaction, or DDI, with divalproex sodium. Although FDA has stated, in granting a Citizen Petition we submitted in 2016, that it would not approve any sodium oxybate ANDA referencing Xyrem that does not include the portions of the currently approved Xyrem label related to the DDI patents, we cannot predict whether a future ANDA filer, or a company that files a Section 505(b)(2) application for a drug referencing Xyrem, may pursue regulatory strategies to avoid infringing our DDI patents notwithstanding FDA’s response to the Citizen Petition, or whether any such strategy would be successful. Likewise, we cannot predict whether we will be able to maintain the validity of these patents or will otherwise obtain a judicial determination that a generic or other sodium oxybate product, its package insert or the generic sodium oxybate REMS or another separate REMS will infringe any of our patents or, if we prevail in proving infringement, whether a court will grant an injunction that prevents a future ANDA filer or other company introducing a different sodium oxybate product from marketing its product, or instead require that party to pay damages in the form of lost profits or a reasonable royalty.
Since Xyrem’s regulatory exclusivity has expired in the EU, we are aware that generic or hybrid generic applications have been approved by various EU regulatory authorities, and additional generic or hybrid generic applications may be submitted and approved. We cannot predict whether our licensee in the EU will be able to enforce our existing European patents against generic or hybrid generic filers in the EU.
We also currently rely on trade secret protection for several of our products, including Erwinaze and Defitelio. Trade secret protection does not protect information or inventions if another party develops that information or invention
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independently, and establishing that a competitor developed a product through trade secret misappropriation rather than through legitimate means may be difficult to prove. Trade secret protection also requires that information be secret and subject to reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy, and this requirement may come into conflict with requirements to provide information to employees, consultants, business partners, and regulatory bodies. We seek to protect our trade secrets and other unpatented proprietary information in part through confidentiality and invention agreements with our employees, consultants, advisors and partners. Nevertheless, our employees, consultants, advisors and partners may unintentionally or willfully disclose our proprietary information to competitors, and we may not have adequate remedies for such disclosures. Moreover, if a dispute arises with our employees, consultants, advisors or partners over the ownership of rights to inventions, including jointly developed intellectual property, we could lose patent protection or the confidentiality of our proprietary information, and possibly also lose the ability to pursue the development of certain new products or product candidates.
We have incurred and may in the future incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patents, other intellectual property rights and related matters, and we may be unable to protect our rights to, or commercialize, our products.
Our ability, and that of our partners, to commercialize any approved products will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain patents, enforce those patents and operate without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. If we choose to go to court to stop a third party from infringing our patents, our licensed patents or our partners’ patents, that third party has the right to ask the court or an administrative agency to rule that these patents are invalid and/or should not be enforced. These lawsuits and administrative proceedings are expensive and consume time and other resources, and we may not be successful in these proceedings or in stopping infringement. In addition, the inter partes review process, or IPR, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act permits any person, whether they are accused of infringing the patent at issue or not, to challenge the validity of certain patents through a proceeding before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, or PTAB, of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
There is a risk that a court or the PTAB could decide that our patents or certain claims in our patents are not valid or infringed, and that we do not have the right to stop a third party from using the inventions covered by those claims, as happened with six of our patents covering the Xywav and Xyrem REMS, which were invalidated through the IPR process and delisted from the Orange Book. In addition, even if we prevail in establishing that another product infringes a valid claim of one of our patents, a court may determine that we can be compensated for the infringement in damages, and refuse to issue an injunction. As a result, we may not be entitled to stop another party from infringing our patents for their full term.
Litigation involving patent matters is frequently settled between the parties, rather than continuing to a court ruling, and we have settled patent litigation with all nine Xyrem ANDA filers. The FTC has publicly stated that, in its view, certain types of agreements between branded and generic pharmaceutical companies related to the settlement of patent litigation or the manufacture, marketing and sale of generic versions of branded drugs violate the antitrust laws and has commenced investigations and brought actions against some companies that have entered into such agreements. In particular, the FTC has expressed its intention to take aggressive action to challenge settlements that include an alleged transfer of value from the brand company to the generic company (so-called “pay for delay” patent litigation settlements). The U.S. Congress and state legislatures have also identified pharmaceutical patent litigation settlements as potential impediments to generic competition and have introduced, and in states like California passed, legislation to regulate them. Third party payors have also challenged such settlements on the grounds that they increase drug prices. Because there is currently no precise legal standard with respect to the lawfulness of such settlements, many pharmaceutical companies, including us, have faced extensive litigation over whether patent litigation settlements they have entered into are reasonable and lawful. From June to September 2020, a number of class action lawsuits were filed on behalf of purported direct and indirect Xyrem purchasers, alleging that the patent litigation settlement agreements we entered with Hikma and other ANDA filers violate state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws. For additional information on these class action complaints, see Note 13, Commitments and Contingencies-Legal Proceedings of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. It is possible that additional lawsuits will be filed against us making similar or related allegations. We cannot predict the outcome of these or potential additional lawsuits or government actions; however, if the plaintiffs in the class action complaints were to be successful in their claims, they may be entitled to injunctive relief or we may be required to pay significant monetary damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Parties to such settlement agreements in the U.S. are required by law to file the agreements with the FTC and the U.S. Department of Justice, or DOJ, for review. Accordingly, we have submitted our patent litigation settlement agreements to the FTC and the DOJ for review. We may receive formal or informal requests from the FTC regarding our ANDA litigation settlements, and there is a risk that the FTC may commence a formal investigation or action against us, which could divert the attention of management and cause us to incur significant costs, regardless of the outcome. Any claim or finding that we or our business partners have failed to comply with applicable laws and regulations could be costly to us and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
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A third party may claim that we or our manufacturing or commercialization partners are using inventions covered by the third party’s patent rights, or that we or such partners are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating other intellectual property rights, and may go to court to stop us from engaging in our normal operations and activities, including making or selling our products. Such lawsuits are costly and could affect our results of operations and divert the attention of management and development personnel. There is a risk that a court could decide that we or our partners are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating third party patent or other intellectual property rights, which could be very costly to us and have a material adverse effect on our business. If we are sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our products or methods do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant patent and/or that the patent claims are invalid or unenforceable, which we may not be able to do.
Other Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain directors and officers liability insurance, and such insurance coverage may have reduced policy limits and coverage, may not be sufficient to cover our potential liabilities and may make it more difficult for us to attract and retain directors and officers.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for biopharmaceuticals and life sciences companies has changed in ways adverse to us. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable, and these trends may continue or worsen in the future. In addition, these market conditions are generally presenting more challenges for companies like ours that actively pursue corporate development transactions such as the GW Acquisition and that experience regular share price volatility, including volatility that may be unrelated or disproportionate to our operating performance. As a result, it is currently expensive and may become significantly more expensive for us to maintain directors and officers liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. In any event, there can be no assurance that directors and officers liability insurance will be adequate to cover our potential liabilities or will be generally available to us in the future or, if available, that the cost of such insurance will be commercially justifiable. The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers, and could also make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and consummate future corporate development transactions, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Our business is currently adversely affected and could be materially and adversely affected in the future by the evolving effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic and related global economic slowdown as a result of the current and potential future impacts on our commercialization efforts, clinical trial activity, research and development activities, supply chain and corporate development activities and other business operations, in addition to the impact of a global economic slowdown.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the global healthcare delivery system. Many healthcare systems have had to restructure operations to prioritize caring for COVID-19 patients and limit or cease other activities. The severe burden on healthcare systems caused by this pandemic has impaired the ability to diagnose and treat patients with non-COVID-19 related conditions and impaired the ability of many clinical research sites to start new studies, enroll new patients and monitor patients in clinical trials. The evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and government measures taken in response have had a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on businesses and commerce, as significant reductions in business related activities have occurred, supply chains have been disrupted, and manufacturing and clinical development activities have been curtailed or suspended.
Continued remote work policies, quarantines, shelter-in-place and similar government orders, shutdowns or other restrictions on the conduct of business operations related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may materially and adversely affect our business, our ability to generate sales of and revenues from our approved products, our supply chain, regulatory, clinical development and corporate development activities. With respect to our commercialization activities, the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to have a negative impact on demand, new patient starts and treatments for our products, primarily due to the inherent limitations of telemedicine and a reprioritization of healthcare resources toward COVID-19. Due to the nature of the pandemic, we are not able to accurately predict the duration or extent of these impacts on demand for our products. Beginning in March 2020, we transitioned our field-based sales, market access, reimbursement and medical employees out of the field and suspended work-related travel and in-person customer interactions. We utilized technology to continue to engage healthcare professionals and other customers virtually to support patient care. In late June 2020, as clinics and institutions began to allow in-person interactions pursuant to local health authority and government guidelines, our field teams resumed in-person interactions with healthcare professionals and clinics combined with virtual
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engagement. The level of renewed engagement varies by account, region and country and may be adversely impacted in the future as a result of the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Xyrem and Xywav, COVID-19 protocols and staffing shortages at sleep labs across the U.S. have resulted in reduced access to sleep testing. Since the end of the first quarter of 2020, we have seen a decline in prescribers’ ability to diagnose new narcolepsy patients and a related overall decline in new patients starting on therapy. Although patient persistence and compliance with oxybate therapy have increased during 2020, we continue to expect that delays in obtaining a narcolepsy diagnosis will have a negative impact on new Xyrem and Xywav patient enrollments in future quarters. For Sunosi, the impact on demand has been primarily related to the reduced ability of our field-based teams to interact with prescribers and patients’ inability to meet with healthcare providers during this time. As a result, we have seen slower than expected growth of Sunosi prescribers and new patient starts in the U.S. We also anticipate that pricing and reimbursement reviews by certain European regulatory authorities may take longer in certain countries due to the pandemic, which could delay our rolling Sunosi launch in those EU member states. In addition, due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to expect a negative impact on demand for and utilization of Defitelio and Vyxeos.
We have also seen an upward trend in demand for patient assistance programs since the end of the first quarter of 2020. In this regard, total net product sales of Xywav for the year ended December 31, 2020 were offset by the cost of launch related co-pay coupons and a free product program for qualified patients. Depending on the ultimate duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the extent of a global economic slowdown, widespread unemployment and resulting loss of employer-sponsored insurance coverage, we may experience an increasing shift from commercial payor coverage to government payor coverage or increasing demand for patient assistance and/or free drug programs, which could continue to adversely affect net product sales.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rapidly evolve and has resulted in significant volatility in the global financial markets. If this volatility persists and deepens, we could experience an inability to access additional capital or an impact on liquidity, which could in the future negatively affect our capacity for certain corporate development transactions or our ability to make other important, opportunistic investments. In addition, the current recession or additional market corrections resulting from the impact of the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could materially affect our business and the value of our ordinary shares. While we expect these effects to adversely affect our business operations and financial results, the extent of the impact on our ability to generate sales of and revenues from our approved products, execute on new product launches, our clinical development and regulatory efforts, our corporate development objectives and the value of and market for our ordinary shares, will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence at this time, such as the ultimate duration and severity of the pandemic, governmental “stay-at-home” orders and travel restrictions, quarantines, social distancing and business closure requirements in the U.S., Ireland and other countries, and the effectiveness of actions taken globally to contain and treat the disease, including the effectiveness and timing of vaccination programs in the U.S. and worldwide. For example, the inability of our workforce to return to office and field-based work and the ongoing stress and reprioritization within the healthcare systems in our key markets may require us to reassess the timing and scope of key business activities for the remainder of 2021, including with respect to our ability to continue the launch momentum for Sunosi, Xywav and Zepzelca. These effects could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects, as further described in the risks and uncertainties described elsewhere in this ‘‘Risk Factors’’ section.
We have substantially expanded our international footprint and operations, and we may expand further in the future, which subjects us to a variety of risks and complexities which, if not effectively managed, could negatively affect our business.
We are headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and have multiple offices in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Italy and other countries in Europe and an affiliate in Australia. We may further expand our international operations into other countries in the future, either organically or by acquisition. Conducting our business in multiple countries subjects us to a variety of risks and complexities that may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects, including:
•the diverse regulatory, financial and legal requirements in the countries where we are located or do business, and any changes to those requirements;
•the impact of Brexit on trade relations between the EU and the UK;
•challenges inherent in efficiently managing employees in diverse geographies, including the need to adapt systems, policies, benefits and compliance programs to differing labor and employment law and other regulations, as well as maintaining positive interactions with our unionized employees;
•costs of, and liabilities for, our international operations, products or product candidates; and
•public health risks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and potential related effects on supply chain, travel and employee health and availability.
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In addition, there can be no guarantee that we will effectively manage the increasing, global complexity of our business without experiencing operating inefficiencies or control deficiencies. Our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
The UK’s withdrawal from the EU, commonly referred to as Brexit, could increase our cost of doing business, reduce our gross margins or otherwise negatively impact our business and our financial results.
Brexit will continue to create significant uncertainty concerning the future relationship between the UK and the EU, following the UK withdrawal from the EU in January 2020. Since a significant portion of the regulatory framework in the UK is derived from EU laws, Brexit materially impacts the regulatory regime with respect to the development, manufacture, importation, approval and commercialization of our product candidates in the UK or the EU. In this regard, in December 2020, the EU and UK reached an agreement in principle on the framework for their future relationship, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, or TCA. The TCA primarily focuses on ensuring free trade between the EU and the UK in relation to goods, including medicinal products. Although the body of the TCA includes general terms which apply to medicinal products, greater detail on sector-specific issues is provided in an Annex to the TCA. The Annex provides a framework for the recognition of Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP, inspections and for the exchange and acceptance of official GMP documents. The regime does not, however, extended to procedures such as batch release certification. Among the changes that will now occur are that Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) will be treated as a third country. Northern Ireland will, with regard to EU regulations, continue to follow the EU regulatory rules. As part of the TCA, the EU and the UK will recognize GMP inspections carried out by the other party and the acceptance of official GMP documents issued by the other party. The TCA also encourages, although it does not oblige, the parties to consult one another on proposals to introduce significant changes to technical regulations or inspection procedures. Among the areas of absence of mutual recognition are batch testing and batch release. The UK has unilaterally agreed to accept EU batch testing and batch release for a period of at least 2 years until January 1, 2023. However, the EU continues to apply EU laws that require batch testing and batch release to take place in the EU territory. This means that medicinal products that are tested and released in the UK must be retested and re-released when entering the EU market for commercial use. As it relates to marketing authorizations, Great Britain will have a separate regulatory submission process, approval process and a separate national marketing authorization. Northern Ireland will, however, continue to be covered by the marketing authorizations granted by the EC. For example, the scope of a marketing authorization for a medicinal product granted by the EC or by the competent authorities of EU member states will no longer encompass Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). In these circumstances, a separate marketing authorization granted by the UK competent authorities will be required to place medicinal products on the market in Great Britain. Northern Ireland will, however, continue to be covered by the marketing authorizations granted by the EC. All of these changes could increase our costs and otherwise adversely affect our business.
We have an office in Oxford, England, which is focused on commercialization of our products outside of the U.S. We do not know to what extent, or when, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will impact our business, particularly our ability to conduct international business from a base of operations in the UK. The UK could lose the benefits of global trade agreements negotiated by the EU on behalf of its member states, possibly resulting in increased trade barriers, which could make doing business in Europe more difficult and/or costly. Moreover, in the U.S., tariffs on certain U.S. imports have been imposed, and the EU and other countries have responded with retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. exports. We cannot predict what effects these and potential additional tariffs will have on our business, including in the context of escalating global trade and political tensions. However, these tariffs and other trade restrictions, whether resulting from the UK’s withdrawal from the EU or otherwise, could increase our cost of doing business, reduce our gross margins or otherwise negatively impact our business and our financial results.
Significant disruptions of information technology systems or data security breaches could adversely affect our business.
In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, store, process and transmit large amounts of confidential information, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal data. We have also outsourced some of our operations (including parts of our information technology infrastructure) to a number of third party vendors who may have, or could gain, access to our confidential information. In addition, many of those third parties, in turn, subcontract or outsource some of their responsibilities to third parties.
Our information technology systems, and those of our vendors, are large and complex and store large amounts of confidential information. The size and complexity of these systems make them potentially vulnerable to service interruptions or to security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, third party vendors and/or business partners, or from cyber-attacks by malicious third parties. Attacks of this nature are increasing in frequency, persistence, sophistication and intensity, and are being conducted by sophisticated and organized groups and individuals with a wide range of motives (including, but not limited to, industrial espionage) and expertise, including organized criminal groups, “hacktivists,” nation states and others. In addition to the extraction of important information, such attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our information. Although the aggregate impact on our operations and financial
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condition has not been material to date, we and our vendors have been the target of events of this nature and expect them to continue.
Significant disruptions of our, our third party vendors’ and/or business partners’ information technology systems or security breaches, including in our remote work environment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, could adversely affect our business operations and/or result in the loss, misappropriation, and/or unauthorized access, use or disclosure of, or the prevention of access to, confidential information (including trade secrets or other intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal data), and could result in financial, legal, business and reputational harm to us. Any such event that leads to unauthorized access, use or disclosure of personal data, including personal data regarding our patients or employees, could harm our reputation, compel us to comply with federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents, subject us to mandatory corrective action, require us to verify the correctness of database contents and otherwise subject us to liability under laws and regulations that protect the privacy and security of personal data. This could disrupt our business, result in increased costs or loss of revenue, and/or result in significant legal and financial exposure. In addition, security breaches and other inappropriate access can be difficult to detect, and any delay in identifying them may further harm us. Moreover, the prevalent use of mobile devices to access confidential information increases the risk of security breaches. While we have implemented security measures to protect our information technology systems and infrastructure, there can be no assurance that such measures will prevent service interruptions or security breaches that could adversely affect our business. In addition, failure to maintain effective internal accounting controls related to security breaches and cybersecurity in general could impact our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements and subject us to regulatory scrutiny.
We are subject to significant ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight, which may result in significant additional expense and limit our ability to commercialize our products.
FDA and Equivalent Non-U.S. Regulatory Authorities
Our activities are subject to extensive regulation encompassing the entire life cycle of our products, from research and development activities to marketing approval (including specific post-marketing obligations), manufacturing, labeling, packaging, adverse event and safety reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, sale, pricing and reimbursement, recordkeeping, distribution, importing and exporting. The failure by us or any of our third party partners, including our corporate development and collaboration partners, clinical trial sites, suppliers, distributors and our central pharmacy for Xyrem and Xywav, to comply with applicable requirements could subject us to administrative or judicial sanctions or other negative consequences, such as delays in approval or refusal to approve a product candidate, restrictions on our products, our suppliers, our other partners or us, the withdrawal, suspension or variation of product approval or manufacturing authorizations, untitled letters, warning letters, fines and other monetary penalties, unanticipated expenditures, product recall, withdrawal or seizure, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, interruption of manufacturing or clinical trials, operating restrictions, injunctions, suspension of licenses, civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution, any of which could result in a significant drop in our revenues from the affected products and harm to our reputation and could have a significant impact on our sales, business and financial condition.
We monitor adverse events resulting from the use of our products, as do the regulatory authorities, and we file periodic reports with the authorities concerning adverse events. The authorities review these events and reports, and if they determine that any events and/or reports indicate a trend or signal, they can require a change in a product label, restrict sales and marketing and/or require conduct or other actions, potentially including variation, withdrawal or suspension of the marketing authorization, any of which could result in reduced market acceptance and demand for our products, could harm our reputation and our ability to market our products in the future, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. FDA, the competent authorities of the EU member states on behalf of the EMA, and the competent authorities of other European countries, also periodically inspect our records related to safety reporting. The EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee may propose to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use that the marketing authorization holder be required to take specific steps or advise that the existing marketing authorization be varied, suspended or revoked. Failure to adequately and promptly correct the observation(s) can result in further regulatory enforcement action, which could include the variation, suspension or withdrawal of marketing authorization or imposition of financial penalties or other enforcement measures.
Erwinaze, defibrotide and Vyxeos are available on a named patient basis or through a compassionate use process in many countries where they are not commercially available. If any such country’s regulatory authorities determine that we are promoting such products without proper authorization, we could be found to be in violation of pharmaceutical advertising laws or the regulations permitting sales under named patient programs. In that case, we may be subject to financial or other penalties. Any failure to maintain revenues from sales of Erwinaze, defibrotide and/or Vyxeos on a named patient basis and/or to generate revenues from commercial sales of these products exceeding historical sales on a named patient basis could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
FDA, the competent authorities of the EU member states and other European countries, and other governmental authorities require advertising and promotional materials to be truthful and not misleading, and products to be marketed only
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for their approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. Regulatory authorities actively investigate allegations of off-label promotion in order to enforce regulations prohibiting these types of activities. A determination that we have promoted an approved product for off-label uses could subject us to significant liability, including civil and administrative financial penalties and other remedies as well as criminal financial penalties, other sanctions and imprisonment. Even if we are not determined to have engaged in off-label promotion, an allegation that we have engaged in such activities could have a significant impact on our sales, business and financial condition. The U.S. government has also required companies to enter into complex corporate integrity agreements and/or non-prosecution agreements that impose significant reporting and other burdens on the affected companies. Failure to maintain a comprehensive and effective compliance program, and to integrate the operations of acquired businesses into a combined comprehensive and effective compliance program on a timely basis, could subject us to a range of regulatory actions and/or civil or criminal penalties that could affect our ability to commercialize our products and could harm or prevent sales of the affected products, or could substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing and marketing our products.
Other Regulatory Authorities
We are also subject to regulation by other regional, national, state and local agencies, including the DEA, the DOJ, the FTC, the United States Department of Commerce, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or OIG, and other regulatory bodies, as well as similar governmental authorities in those non-U.S. countries in which we commercialize our products.
We are subject to numerous fraud and abuse laws and regulations globally and our sales, marketing, patient support and medical activities may be subject to scrutiny under these laws and regulations. These laws are described in “Business—Government Regulation” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. While we maintain a comprehensive compliance program to try to ensure that our practices and the activities of our third-party contractors and employees fall within the scope of available statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors whenever possible, and otherwise comply with applicable laws, regulations or guidance, regulators and enforcement agencies may disagree with our assessment or find fault with the conduct of our employees or contractors. In addition, existing regulations are subject to regulatory revision or changes in interpretation by the DOJ or OIG. For example, in November 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finalized a previously abandoned proposal to amend the discount safe harbor regulation of the federal anti-kickback statute in a purported effort to create incentives to manufacturers to lower their list prices, and to lower federal program beneficiary out-of-pocket costs. The rule, which takes full effect January 1, 2022, revises the discount safe harbor to exclude manufacturer rebates to Medicare Part D plans, either directly or through PBMs, creates a new safe harbor for point-of-sale price reductions that are set in advance and are available to the beneficiary at the point-of-sale, and creates a new safe harbor for service fees paid by manufacturers to PBMs for services rendered to the manufacturer. It is too early to know what the effect of the rule will be on negotiations of coverage for our products with Medicare Part D plans, or whether the rule will affect our coverage arrangements with commercial insurers. It is also unclear whether the rule will have the intended effect of reducing net prices and beneficiary out-of-pocket costs without also increasing Medicare Part D premiums, which may impact the willingness of Part D plans to cover our products and the price concessions or other terms the plans or their PBMs may seek from us.
Many companies have faced government investigations or lawsuits by whistleblowers who bring a qui tam action under the False Claims Act on behalf of themselves and the government for a variety of alleged improper marketing activities, including providing free product to customers expecting that the customers would bill federal programs for the product, providing consulting fees, grants, free travel and other benefits to physicians to induce them to prescribe the company’s products, and inflating prices reported to private price publication services, which are used to set drug reimbursement rates under government healthcare programs. In addition, the government and private whistleblowers have pursued False Claims Act cases against pharmaceutical companies for causing false claims to be submitted as a result of the marketing of their products for unapproved uses or violations of the federal anti-kickback statute. If we become the subject of a government False Claims Act or other investigation or whistleblower suit, we could incur substantial legal costs (including settlement costs) and business disruption responding to such investigation or suit, regardless of the outcome.
Public reporting under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, or Sunshine provisions, and other similar state laws, the requirements of which are discussed in “Business—Government Regulation” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, has resulted in increased scrutiny of the financial relationships between industry, teaching hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers. Such scrutiny may negatively impact our ability to engage with physicians and other health care providers on matters of importance to us. In addition, government agencies and private entities may inquire about our marketing practices or pursue other enforcement activities based on the disclosures in those public reports. If the data reflected in our reports are found to be in violation of any of the Sunshine provisions or any other U.S. federal, state or local laws or regulations that may apply, or if we otherwise fail to comply with the Sunshine provisions or similar requirements of state or local regulators, we may be subject to significant civil, and administrative penalties, damages or fines.
We have various programs to help patients access our products, including patient assistance programs, which include co-pay coupons for certain of our products, assistance to help patients determine their insurance coverage for our products, and a
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free product program. Co-pay coupon programs for commercially insured patients, including our program for Xyrem, have received negative publicity related to allegations regarding their use to promote branded pharmaceutical products over other less costly alternatives, and some states have imposed restrictions on manufacturer co-pay programs when therapeutic equivalents are available. In September 2014, the OIG issued a Special Advisory Bulletin warning manufacturers that they may be subject to sanctions under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and other laws if they do not take appropriate steps to exclude Medicare Part D beneficiaries from using co-pay coupons. It is possible that changes in insurer policies regarding co-pay coupons and/or the introduction and enactment of new legislation or regulatory action could restrict or otherwise negatively affect these patient support programs, which could result in fewer patients using affected products, including Xyrem, and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our sales, business and financial condition.
We have established programs to consider grant applications submitted by independent charitable organizations, including organizations that provide co-pay support to patients who suffer from the diseases treated by our drugs. The OIG has issued guidance for how pharmaceutical manufacturers can lawfully make donations to charitable organizations who provide co-pay assistance to Medicare patients, provided that such organizations, among other things, are bona fide charities, are entirely independent of and not controlled by the manufacturer, provide aid to applicants on a first-come basis according to consistent financial criteria, and do not link aid to use of a donor’s product. In April 2019, we finalized our civil settlement agreement with the DOJ and OIG and entered into a corporate integrity agreement requiring us to maintain our ongoing corporate compliance program and obligating us to implement or continue, as applicable, a set of defined corporate integrity activities for a period of five years from the effective date of the corporate integrity agreement. Although we have structured our programs to follow available guidance and the requirements of our corporate integrity agreement, if we or our vendors or donation recipients are deemed to fail to comply with relevant laws, regulations or evolving government guidance in the operation of these programs, such facts could be used as the basis for an enforcement action against us by the federal government or other enforcement agencies or private litigants, or we could become liable for payment of certain stipulated penalties or could be excluded from participation in federal health care programs, which would have a material adverse effect on our sales, business and financial condition.
We may also become subject to similar investigations by other state or federal governmental agencies or offices of our patient assistance programs or other business practices, which could result in damages, fines, penalties, exclusion from participation in federal health care programs or other criminal, civil or administrative sanctions or enforcement actions, as well as negative publicity, reduction in demand for, or patient access to, our products and/or reduce coverage of our products, including by federal and state health care programs. If any or all of these events occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and stock price could be materially and adversely affected.
Our business activities outside of the U.S. are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and similar anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws, regulations or rules of other countries in which we operate, including the UK Bribery Act of 2010, or the UK Bribery Act. In certain countries, the health care providers who prescribe pharmaceuticals are employed by their government and the purchasers of pharmaceuticals are government entities; therefore, our dealings with these prescribers and purchasers may be subject to regulation under the FCPA and the UK Bribery Act. Recently the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the DOJ have increased their FCPA enforcement activities with respect to pharmaceutical companies. Violation of these laws by us or our suppliers and other third party agents for which we may be liable may result in civil or criminal sanctions, which could include monetary fines, criminal penalties, and disgorgement of past profits, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition.
Outside the U.S., interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians are also governed by strict laws, such as national anti-bribery laws of European countries, national sunshine rules, regulations, industry self-regulation codes of conduct and physicians’ codes of professional conduct. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment.
Xyrem, Sunosi and Xywav are controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act. Our suppliers, distributors, clinical sites and prescribers, as well as retail pharmacies for Sunosi and the central pharmacy for Xyrem and Xywav, are subject to DEA and state regulations relating to manufacturing, storage, distribution and physician prescription procedures, including limitations on prescription refills, and are required to maintain DEA registration and state licenses, when handling these drugs and their APIs. The DEA periodically inspects facilities for compliance with its rules and regulations. Failure to comply with current and future regulations of the DEA, relevant state authorities or any comparable international requirements could lead to a variety of sanctions, including revocation or denial of renewal of DEA registrations, fines, injunctions, or civil or criminal penalties, could result in, among other things, additional operating costs to us or delays in shipments outside or into the U.S. and could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We are also subject to federal, state and international laws and regulations governing the privacy and security of the personal data we collect and maintain (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR). These laws and regulations are evolving and subject to interpretation, and may impose limitations on our activities or otherwise adversely affect our business. Because of
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the remote work policies we implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, information that is normally protected, including company confidential information, may be less secure. Cybersecurity and data security threats continue to evolve and raise the risk of an incident that could affect our operations or compromise our business information or sensitive personal data, including health data. We may also need to collect more extensive health-related information from our employees to manage our workforce. If we or our third party partners fail to comply or are alleged to have failed to comply with applicable data protection and privacy laws and regulations, and related employment rules, or if we were to experience a data breach involving personal data, we could be subject to government enforcement actions or private lawsuits. In addition, our business could be adversely impacted if our ability to transfer personal data outside of the European Economic Area or Switzerland is restricted, which could adversely impact our operating results. For example, in July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, or the Court of Justice, declared the Privacy Shield Decision (Decision 2018/1250) invalid, which could adversely impact our ability to transfer personal data from the EU to the U.S. The Court of Justice further ruled that in order to transfer data outside of the EU, under the existing mechanism known as the Standard Contractual Clauses, or SCCs, the importing country’s level of protection must be adequate. In addition, on September 8, 2020 the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, or FDPIC, of Switzerland issued an opinion concluding that the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework does not provide an adequate level of protection for data transfers from Switzerland to the United States. The FDPIC also found that SCCs may still be legally adequate at an individual level provided that they can pass a risk assessment conducted by the FDPIC. If the level of protection in the U.S. or any other importing country is called into question under the SCCs, this could further impact our ability to transfer data outside of the EU or Switzerland.
In addition, although we are not directly subject to privacy and security requirements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its implementing regulations, or HIPAA, other than with respect to providing certain employee benefits, we potentially could be subject to criminal penalties if we, our affiliates or our agents knowingly obtain or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA. We also may obtain health information from third parties (including research institutions from which we obtain clinical trial data) that are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA.
In addition, numerous other federal, state and international laws and regulations govern the privacy and security of the personal data we collect and maintain, including data breach notification laws, state health information and/or genetic privacy laws, federal and state consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and CCPA), and laws outside of the United States that may apply to us, such as the GDPR and other country laws. Many of these laws and regimes, across countries but even within the United States across states, differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts. Compliance with these laws is difficult, constantly evolving, and time consuming. International regulators, federal regulators, state attorneys general, and plaintiffs’ attorneys, including class action attorneys, have been and will likely continue to be active in this space.
In California, the CCPA took effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA establishes certain requirements for data use and sharing transparency and creates new data privacy rights for consumers. These laws and regulations are evolving and subject to interpretation, and may impose limitations on our activities or otherwise adversely affect our business. Similarly, there are a number of legislative proposals in the European Union, the United States, at both the federal and state level, as well as other jurisdictions that could impose new obligations or limitations in areas affecting our business. In addition, some countries are considering or have passed legislation implementing data protection or privacy requirements or requiring local storage and processing of data or similar requirements that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services and research activities.
If we or our third party partners fail to comply or are alleged to have failed to comply with these or other applicable data protection and privacy laws and regulations, or if we were to experience a data breach involving personal data, we could be subject to government enforcement actions or private lawsuits. Any associated claims, inquiries, or investigations or other government actions could lead to unfavorable outcomes that have a material impact on our business including through significant penalties or fines, monetary judgments or settlements including criminal and civil liability for us and our officers and directors, increased compliance costs, delays or impediments in the development of new products, negative publicity, increased operating costs, diversion of management time and attention, or other remedies that harm our business, including orders that we modify or cease existing business practices.
If we fail to comply with our reporting and payment obligations under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program or other governmental pricing programs, we could be subject to additional reimbursement requirements, penalties, sanctions and fines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We participate in the Medicaid Drug Rebate program, the 340B program, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Supply Schedule, or FSS, pricing program, and the Tricare Retail Pharmacy program, and have obligations to report the average sales price for certain of our drugs to the Medicare program. All of these programs are described in more detail under
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the heading “Business—Pharmaceutical Pricing, Reimbursement by Government and Private Payors and Patient Access” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Pricing and rebate calculations vary across products and programs, are complex, and are often subject to interpretation by us, governmental or regulatory agencies and the courts, which can change and evolve over time. In the case of our Medicaid pricing data, if we become aware that our reporting for a prior quarter was incorrect, or has changed as a result of recalculation of the pricing data, we are obligated to resubmit the corrected data for up to three years after those data originally were due. Such restatements and recalculations increase our costs for complying with the laws and regulations governing the Medicaid Drug Rebate program and could result in an overage or underage in our rebate liability for past quarters. Price recalculations also may affect the ceiling price at which we are required to offer our products under the 340B program.
Civil monetary penalties can be applied if we are found to have knowingly submitted any false price or product information to the government, if we are found to have made a misrepresentation in the reporting of our average sales price, if we fail to submit the required price data on a timely basis, or if we are found to have charged 340B covered entities more than the statutorily mandated ceiling price. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, could also decide to terminate our Medicaid drug rebate agreement, in which case federal payments may not be available under Medicaid or Medicare Part B for our covered outpatient drugs. We cannot assure you that our submissions will not be found by CMS to be incomplete or incorrect.
Our failure to comply with our reporting and payment obligations under the Medicaid Drug Rebate program and other governmental programs could negatively impact our financial results. CMS issued a final regulation, which became effective on April 1, 2016, to implement the changes to the Medicaid Drug Rebate program under the Healthcare Reform Act. On December 21, 2020, CMS issued a final regulation that modified prior Medicaid Drug Rebate program regulations to permit reporting multiple best price figures with regard to value‑based purchasing arrangements (beginning in 2022); provide definitions for “line extension,” “new formulation,” and related terms, with the practical effect of expanding the scope of drugs considered to be line extensions that are subject to an alternative rebate formula (beginning in 2022); and revise best price and average manufacturer price exclusions of manufacturer-sponsored patient benefit programs, specifically regarding applicability of such exclusions in the context of pharmacy benefit manager “accumulator” programs (beginning in 2023). It is currently unclear whether the Biden administration will delay or suspend implementation of this final rule. The issuance of the final regulation, as well as any other regulations and coverage expansion by various governmental agencies relating to the Medicaid Drug Rebate program, has increased and will continue to increase our costs and the complexity of compliance, has been and will continue to be time-consuming to implement, and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, particularly if CMS challenges the approach we take in our implementation of the final regulation.
The Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, issued a final regulation regarding the calculation of the 340B ceiling price and the imposition of civil monetary penalties on manufacturers that knowingly and intentionally overcharge covered entities, which became effective on January 1, 2019. Implementation of this regulation could affect our obligations and potential liability under the 340B program in ways we cannot anticipate. We are also required to report the 340B ceiling prices for our covered outpatient drugs to HRSA, which then publishes them to 340B covered entities. Any charge by HRSA that we have violated the requirements of the program or the regulation could negatively impact our financial results. Moreover, HRSA newly established an administrative dispute resolution, or ADR, process under a final regulation effective January 13, 2021, for claims by covered entities that a manufacturer engaged in overcharging, and by manufacturers that a covered entity violated the prohibitions against diversion or duplicate discounts. Such claims are to be resolved through an ADR panel of government officials rendering a decision that could be appealed only in federal court. An ADR proceeding could potentially subject us to discovery by covered entities and other onerous procedural requirements and could result in additional liability.
Further, legislation may be introduced that, if passed, would further expand the 340B program to additional covered entities or would require participating manufacturers to agree to provide 340B discounted pricing on drugs used in an inpatient setting, and any additional future changes to the definition of average manufacturer price and the Medicaid rebate amount under the Healthcare Reform Act or otherwise could affect our 340B ceiling price calculations and negatively impact our results of operations.
We have obligations to report the average sales price for certain of our drugs to the Medicare program. Statutory or regulatory changes or CMS guidance could affect the average sales price calculations for our products and the resulting Medicare payment rate, and could negatively impact our results of operations.
Pursuant to applicable law, knowing provision of false information in connection with price reporting under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, FSS or Tricare Retail Pharmacy, or Tricare, programs can subject a manufacturer to civil monetary penalties. These program obligations also contain extensive disclosure and certification requirements. If we overcharge the government in connection with our arrangements with FSS or Tricare, we are required to refund the difference to the government. Failure to make necessary disclosures and/or to identify contract overcharges can result in allegations against us under the False Claims Act and other laws and regulations. Unexpected refunds to the government, and responding
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to a government investigation or enforcement action, would be expensive and time-consuming, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
Product liability and product recalls could harm our business.
The development, manufacture, testing, marketing and sale of pharmaceutical products are associated with significant risks of product liability claims or recalls. Side effects or adverse events known or reported to be associated with, or manufacturing defects in, the products sold by us could exacerbate a patient’s condition, or could result in serious injury or impairment or even death. This could result in product liability claims against us and/or recalls of one or more of our products. In many countries, including in EU member states, national laws provide for strict (no-fault) liability which applies even where damages are caused both by a defect in a product and by the act or omission of a third party.
Product recalls may be issued at our discretion or at the discretion of our suppliers, government agencies and other entities that have regulatory authority for pharmaceutical sales. Any recall of our products could materially adversely affect our business by rendering us unable to sell that product for some time and by adversely affecting our reputation. A recall could also result in product liability claims by individuals and third party payors. In addition, product liability claims could result in an investigation of the safety or efficacy of our products, our manufacturing processes and facilities, or our marketing programs conducted by FDA, the EMA or the competent authorities of the EU member states. Such investigations could also potentially lead to a recall of our products or more serious enforcement actions, limitations on the therapeutic indications for which they may be used, or suspension, variation, or withdrawal of approval. Any such regulatory action by FDA, the EC or the competent authorities of the EU member states could lead to product liability lawsuits as well.
Product liability insurance coverage is expensive, can be difficult to obtain and may not be available in the future on acceptable terms, or at all. Our product liability insurance may not cover all of the future liabilities we might incur in connection with the development, manufacture or sale of our products. A successful claim or claims brought against us in excess of available insurance coverage could subject us to significant liabilities and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Such claims could also harm our reputation and the reputation of our products, adversely affecting our ability to market our products successfully.
We use hazardous materials in our manufacturing facilities, and any claims relating to the improper handling, storage, release or disposal of these materials could be time-consuming and expensive.
Our operations are subject to complex and increasingly stringent environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the countries where we operate and, in particular, in Italy and Ireland where we have manufacturing facilities. If an accident or contamination involving pollutants or hazardous substances occurs, an injured party could seek to hold us liable for any damages that result and any liability could exceed the limits or fall outside the coverage of our insurance. We may not be able to maintain insurance with sufficient coverage on acceptable terms, or at all. Costs, damages and/or fines may result from the presence, investigation and remediation of such contamination at properties currently or formerly owned, leased or operated by us or at off-site locations, including where we have arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances or waste. In addition, we may be subject to third party claims, including for natural resource damages, personal injury and property damage, in connection with such contamination.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Results
We have incurred substantial debt, which could impair our flexibility and access to capital and adversely affect our financial position, and our business would be adversely affected if we are unable to service our debt obligations.
As of December 31, 2020, we had total indebtedness of approximately $2.4 billion. Our substantial indebtedness may:
•limit our ability to borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general business purposes;
•limit our ability to use our cash flow or obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, investments or other general business purposes;
•require us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to make debt service payments;
•limit our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business and industry, or our ability to take specified actions to take advantage of certain business opportunities that may be presented to us;
•result in dilution to our existing shareholders in the event exchanges of our exchangeable senior notes are settled in our ordinary shares;
•place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our less leveraged competitors; and
•increase our vulnerability to the impact of adverse economic and industry conditions.
If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance our debt. These alternative
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measures may not be successful and may not permit us to meet our debt service obligations. In the absence of such cash flows and resources, we could face substantial liquidity problems and might be required to dispose of material assets or operations to meet our debt service and other obligations. In addition, if we are unable to repay amounts under our secured credit agreement that we entered into in June 2015 and subsequently amended, which we refer to as the amended credit agreement, the lenders under the amended credit agreement could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that debt, which would seriously harm our business.
Covenants in our amended credit agreement restrict our business and operations in many ways and if we do not effectively manage our covenants, our financial conditions and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The amended credit agreement contains various covenants that, among other things, limit our ability and/or our restricted subsidiaries’ ability to:
•incur or assume liens or additional debt or provide guarantees in respect of obligations of other persons;
•pay dividends or distributions or redeem or repurchase capital stock;
•prepay, redeem or repurchase certain debt;
•make loans, investments, acquisitions (including acquisitions of exclusive licenses) and capital expenditures;
•enter into agreements that restrict distributions from our subsidiaries;
•sell assets and capital stock of our subsidiaries; and
•consolidate or merge with or into, or sell substantially all of our assets to, another person.
The amended credit agreement also includes certain financial covenants that require us to maintain a maximum secured leverage ratio and a minimum interest coverage ratio. Our failure to comply with any of the covenants could result in a default under the amended credit agreement, which could permit the lenders to declare all or part of any outstanding borrowings to be immediately due and payable, or to refuse to permit additional borrowings under the revolving credit facility. Moreover, our failure to repurchase our exchangeable senior notes at a time when the repurchase is required by the indentures governing our exchangeable senior notes or to pay any cash payable on future exchanges of our exchangeable senior notes as required by those indentures would constitute a default under those indentures. A default under those indentures could also lead to a default under other debt agreements or obligations, including the amended credit agreement. Likewise, a default under the amended credit agreement could also lead to a default under other debt agreements or obligations, including the indentures governing our exchangeable senior notes.
To continue to grow our business, we will need to commit substantial resources, which could result in future losses or otherwise limit our opportunities or affect our ability to operate and grow our business.
The scope of our business and operations has grown substantially since 2012, including through a series of business combinations and acquisitions. To continue to grow our business over the longer term, we plan to commit substantial resources to product acquisition and in-licensing, product development, clinical trials of product candidates and expansion of our commercial, development, manufacturing and other operations. Acquisition opportunities that we pursue could materially affect our liquidity and capital resources and may require us to incur additional indebtedness, seek equity capital or both. Our ability to raise additional capital may be adversely impacted by potential worsening global economic conditions and the recent disruptions to, and volatility in, the credit and financial markets in the U.S. and worldwide resulting from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, under Irish law, we must have authority from our shareholders to issue any ordinary shares, including ordinary shares that are part of our authorized but unissued share capital. Moreover, when an Irish company issues shares for cash to new shareholders, it is required first to offer those shares on the same or more favorable terms to existing shareholders on a pro-rata basis unless otherwise authorized by its existing shareholders. While we are currently authorized to issue all ordinary shares that are part of our authorized but unissued share capital on a non-pre-emptive basis, these share issuance authorities are scheduled to expire in August 2021. If we are unable to obtain renewal of our existing share issuance authorities from our shareholders, or are otherwise limited by the terms of new share issuance authorities approved by our shareholders, our ability to use our unissued share capital to effect or to fund in-licensing or acquisition opportunities, or to otherwise raise capital, could be adversely affected after expiration of our existing share issuance authorities in August 2021. An inability to borrow or raise additional capital on attractive terms, or at all, could prevent us from expanding our business and otherwise could have a material adverse effect on our business and growth prospects. In addition, if we use a substantial amount of our funds to acquire or in-license products or product candidates, we may not have sufficient additional funds to conduct all of our operations in the manner we would otherwise choose.
We have significant intangible assets and goodwill. Consequently, the future impairment of our intangible assets and goodwill may significantly impact our profitability.
Our intangible assets and goodwill are significant and are subject to an impairment analysis whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. Additionally, goodwill and indefinite-lived assets are subject to an impairment test at least annually. Events giving rise to impairment are an inherent risk in the pharmaceutical industry and cannot be predicted. Our results of operations and financial position in future periods could be
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negatively impacted should future impairments of intangible assets or goodwill occur. For example, in the first quarter of 2020, we recorded a $136.1 million asset impairment charge following the decision to stop enrollment in our Phase 3 clinical study of defibrotide for the prevention of VOD due to a determination that the study is highly unlikely to reach one of its primary endpoints.
Our financial results have been and may continue to be adversely affected by foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Because our financial results are reported in U.S. dollars, we are exposed to foreign currency exchange risk as the functional currency financial statements of non-U.S. subsidiaries are translated to U.S. dollars for reporting purposes. To the extent that revenue and expense transactions are not denominated in the functional currency, we are also subject to the risk of transaction losses. For example, because our Sunosi, Defitelio, Erwinase and Vyxeos product sales outside of the U.S. are primarily denominated in the euro, our sales of those products have been and may continue to be adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Given the volatility of exchange rates, as well as our expanding operations, there is no guarantee that we will be able to effectively manage currency transaction and/or translation risks, which could adversely affect our operating results. Although we utilize foreign exchange forward contracts to manage currency risk primarily related to certain intercompany balances denominated in non-functional currencies, our efforts to manage currency risk may not be successful.
Changes in our effective tax rates could adversely affect our business and financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We are incorporated in Ireland and maintain subsidiaries in North America and a number of other foreign jurisdictions. As a result, our effective tax rate is derived from a combination of applicable tax rates in the various jurisdictions where we operate. Our effective tax rate may fluctuate depending on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the distribution of our profits or losses between the jurisdictions where we operate and changes to or differences in interpretation of tax laws. We are subject to reviews and audits by the U.S. Internal Revenue Services, or IRS, and other taxing authorities from time to time, and the IRS or other taxing authority may challenge our structure, transfer pricing arrangements and tax positions through an audit or lawsuit. Responding to or defending against challenges from taxing authorities could be expensive and consume time and other resources. If we are unsuccessful, we may be required to pay taxes for prior periods, interest, fines or penalties, and may be obligated to pay increased taxes in the future, any of which could require us to reduce our operating expenses, decrease efforts in support of our products or seek to raise additional funds. Any of these actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
The IRS may not agree with the conclusion that we should be treated as a foreign corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes.
Although we are incorporated in Ireland, the IRS may assert that we should be treated as a U.S. corporation (and, therefore, a U.S. tax resident) for U.S. federal tax purposes pursuant to Section 7874 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, or the Code. For U.S. federal tax purposes, a corporation generally is considered a tax resident in the jurisdiction of its organization or incorporation. Because we are an Irish incorporated entity, we would be classified as a foreign corporation (and, therefore, a non-U.S. tax resident) under these rules. Section 7874 of the Code provides an exception under which a foreign incorporated entity may, in certain circumstances, be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. Because we indirectly acquired all of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s assets through the acquisition of the shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. common stock when the businesses of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Azur Pharma Public Limited Company were combined in a merger transaction in January 2012, or the Azur Merger, the IRS could assert that we should be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes under Section 7874. The IRS continues to scrutinize transactions that are potentially subject to Section 7874, and has issued several sets of final and temporary regulations under Section 7874 since 2012. We do not expect these regulations to affect the U.S. tax consequences of the Azur Merger. Nevertheless, new statutory and/or regulatory provisions under Section 7874 of the Code or otherwise could be enacted that adversely affect our status as a foreign corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, and any such provisions could have prospective or retroactive application to us, our shareholders, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and/or the Azur Merger.
Our U.S. affiliates’ ability to use their net operating losses to offset potential taxable income and related income taxes that would otherwise be due is limited under Section 7874 of the Code and could be subject to further limitations if we do not generate taxable income in a timely manner or if the “ownership change” provisions of Sections 382 and 383 of the Code result in further annual limitations.
Following certain acquisitions of a U.S. corporation by a foreign corporation, Section 7874 of the Code can limit the ability of the acquired U.S. corporation and its U.S. affiliates to utilize U.S. tax attributes such as net operating losses, or NOLs, to offset U.S. taxable income resulting from certain transactions. Our U.S. affiliates have a significant amount of NOLs. As a result of Section 7874 of the Code, after the Azur Merger, our U.S. affiliates have not been able and will continue to be unable, for a period of time, to utilize their U.S. tax attributes to offset their U.S. taxable income, if any, resulting from certain taxable transactions. While we expect to be able to fully utilize our U.S. affiliates’ U.S. NOLs prior to their expiration, as a result of this limitation, it may take our U.S. affiliates longer to use their NOLs.
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Our ability to use these NOLs to offset potential future taxable income and related income taxes that would otherwise be due is also dependent upon our generation of future taxable income before the expiration dates of the NOLs, and we cannot predict with certainty when, or whether, our U.S. affiliates will generate sufficient taxable income to use all of the NOLs. In addition, the use of NOLs to offset potential future taxable income and related income taxes that would otherwise be due is subject to annual limitations under the “ownership change” provisions of Sections 382 and 383 of the Code and similar state provisions, which may result in the expiration of additional NOLs before future utilization.
Changes to tax laws relating to multinational corporations could adversely affect us.
The U.S. Congress, the EU, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, and other government agencies in jurisdictions where we and our affiliates do business have had an extended focus on issues related to the taxation of multinational corporations. One example is the OECD’s initiative in the area of “base erosion and profit shifting,” where payments are made between affiliates from a jurisdiction with high tax rates to a jurisdiction with lower tax rates. Many countries have begun to implement legislation and other guidance to align their international tax rules with the OECD’s recommendation. As a result of the focus on the taxation of multinational corporations, the tax laws in Ireland, the U.S. and other countries in which we and our affiliates do business could change on a prospective or retroactive basis, and any such changes could adversely affect us.
On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or U.S. Tax Act, was signed into law. The U.S. Tax Act made broad and complex changes to the U.S. tax code. The U.S. Department of Treasury has issued regulations and other interpretive guidance under the U.S. Tax Act, and is expected to issue additional guidance, the impact of which is uncertain but could adversely affect us. Furthermore, the impact of this tax reform on certain holders of our ordinary shares could be adverse. Among other things, changes to the rules for determining a foreign corporation’s status as a controlled foreign corporation could have an adverse effect on U.S. persons who are treated as owning (directly or indirectly) at least 10% of the value or voting power of our ordinary shares. Investors should consult their own advisers regarding the potential application of these rules to their investments.
Further, the results of the recent U.S. presidential and Senate elections could lead to changes in U.S. tax laws, including an increase in the U.S. corporate income tax rate from that currently in effect under the U.S. Tax Act, which could adversely impact our tax provision, cash tax liability and effective tax rate.
A substantial portion of our indebtedness bears interest at variable interest rates based on USD LIBOR and certain of our financial contracts are also indexed to USD LIBOR. Changes in the method of determining LIBOR, or the replacement of LIBOR with an alternative reference rate, may adversely affect interest rates on our current or future indebtedness and may otherwise adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority, the authority that regulates the London Inter-bank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, announced that it intended to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. We have certain financial contracts, including the amended credit agreement and our interest rate swaps, that are indexed to USD LIBOR. Changes in the method of determining LIBOR, or the replacement of LIBOR with an alternative reference rate, may adversely affect interest rates on our current or future indebtedness. Any transition process may involve, among other things, increased volatility or illiquidity in markets for instruments that rely on LIBOR, reductions in the value of certain instruments or the effectiveness of related transactions such as hedges, increased borrowing costs, uncertainty under applicable documentation, or difficult and costly consent processes. The transition away from LIBOR may result in increased expenses, may impair our ability to refinance our indebtedness or hedge our exposure to floating rate instruments, or may result in difficulties, complications or delays in connection with future financing efforts, any of which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Ordinary Shares
The market price of our ordinary shares has been volatile and is likely to continue to be volatile in the future, and the value of your investment could decline significantly.
The stock market in general, including the market for life sciences companies, has experienced extreme price and trading volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies, including recently in connection with the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in decreased market prices, notwithstanding the lack of a fundamental change in the underlying business models of those companies. Worsening economic conditions and other adverse effects or developments relating to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively affect the market price of our ordinary shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. The market price for our ordinary shares is likely to continue to be volatile, particularly due to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subject to significant price and volume fluctuations in response to market, industry and other factors, including the risk factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.
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Our share price may be dependent upon the valuations and recommendations of the analysts who cover our business. If our results do not meet these analysts’ forecasts, the expectations of our investors or the financial guidance we provide to investors in any period, the market price of our ordinary shares could decline. Our ability to meet analysts’ forecasts, investors’ expectations and our financial guidance is substantially dependent on our ability to maintain or increase sales of our marketed products.
In addition, the market price of our ordinary shares may decline if the effects of our strategic transactions on our financial or operating results are not consistent with the expectations of financial analysts or investors. The market price of our ordinary shares could also be affected by possible sales of our ordinary shares by holders of our exchangeable senior notes who may view our exchangeable senior notes as a more attractive means of equity participation in our company and by hedging or arbitrage trading activity involving our ordinary shares by the holders of our exchangeable senior notes.
We are subject to Irish law, which differs from the laws in effect in the U.S. and may afford less protection to holders of our securities.
It may not be possible to enforce court judgments obtained in the U.S. against us in Ireland based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws. In addition, there is some uncertainty as to whether the courts of Ireland would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws or hear actions against us or those persons based on those laws. We have been advised that the U.S. currently does not have a treaty with Ireland providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. Therefore, a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any U.S. federal or state court based on civil liability, whether or not based solely on U.S. federal or state securities laws, would not automatically be enforceable in Ireland.
As an Irish company, we are governed by the Irish Companies Act 2014, which differs in some material respects from laws generally applicable to U.S. corporations and shareholders, including, among others, differences relating to interested director and officer transactions, mergers, amalgamations and acquisitions, takeovers and shareholder lawsuits. The duties of directors and officers of an Irish company are generally owed to the company only. Shareholders of Irish companies generally do not have a personal right of action against directors or officers of the company and may exercise such rights of action on behalf of the company only in limited circumstances. Accordingly, holders of our securities may have more difficulty protecting their interests than would holders of securities of a corporation incorporated in a U.S. jurisdiction.
Our articles of association, Irish law and the indentures governing our exchangeable senior notes contain provisions that could delay or prevent a takeover of us by a third party.
Our articles of association could delay, defer or prevent a third party from acquiring us, despite the possible benefit to our shareholders, or otherwise adversely affect the price of our ordinary shares. In addition to our articles of association, several mandatory provisions of Irish law could prevent or delay an acquisition of us. We are also subject to various provisions of Irish law relating to mandatory bids, voluntary bids, requirements to make a cash offer and minimum price requirements, as well as substantial acquisition rules and rules requiring the disclosure of interests in our shares in certain circumstances. Furthermore, the indentures governing our exchangeable senior notes require us to repurchase our exchangeable senior notes for cash if we undergo certain fundamental changes and, in certain circumstances, to increase the exchange rate for a holder of our exchangeable senior notes. A takeover of us may trigger the requirement that we purchase our exchangeable senior notes and/or increase the exchange rate, which could make it more costly for a potential acquirer to engage in a business combination transaction with us.
These provisions, whether alone or together, may discourage potential takeover attempts, discourage bids for our ordinary shares at a premium over the market price or adversely affect the market price of, and the voting and other rights of the holders of, our ordinary shares. These provisions, whether alone or together, could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for our shareholders to elect directors other than the candidates nominated by our board.
Future sales and issuances of our ordinary shares, securities convertible into our ordinary shares or rights to purchase ordinary shares or convertible securities could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our shareholders and could cause our share price to decline.
We expect to continue to opportunistically seek access to additional capital to license or acquire additional products, product candidates or companies to expand our operations or for general corporate purposes. To the extent we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for ordinary shares, our shareholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell ordinary shares, and we may sell convertible or exchangeable securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. If we sell such ordinary shares, convertible or exchangeable securities or other equity securities in subsequent transactions, existing shareholders may be materially diluted.
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We have never declared or paid dividends on our capital stock and we do not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future.
We do not currently plan to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination as to the payment of dividends will, subject to Irish legal requirements, be at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, compliance with the terms of the amended credit agreement and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. Accordingly, holders of our ordinary shares must rely on increases in the trading price of their shares for returns on their investment in the foreseeable future. In addition, in the event that we pay a dividend on our ordinary shares, in certain circumstances, as an Irish tax resident company, some shareholders may be subject to withholding tax, which could adversely affect the price of our ordinary shares.
General Risk Factors
Our business and operations could be negatively affected if we become subject to shareholder activism or hostile bids, which could cause us to incur significant expense, hinder execution of our business strategy and impact our stock price.
Shareholder activism, which takes many forms and arises in a variety of situations, has been increasingly prevalent. Recent stock price declines due to the evolving effects of the COVID-19 may also increase our vulnerability to unsolicited approaches. If we become the subject of certain forms of shareholder activism, such as proxy contests or hostile bids, the attention of our management and our board of directors may be diverted from execution of our strategy. Such shareholder activism could give rise to perceived uncertainties as to our future strategy, adversely affect our relationships with business partners and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel. Also, we may incur substantial costs, including significant legal fees and other expenses, related to activist shareholder matters. Our stock price could be subject to significant fluctuation or otherwise be adversely affected by the events, risks and uncertainties of any shareholder activism.
If we fail to attract, retain and motivate key personnel or to retain the members of our executive management team, our operations and our future growth may be adversely affected.
Our success and our ability to grow depend in part on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified personnel, including our executive management team. We do not carry “key person” insurance. The loss of services and institutional knowledge of one or more additional members of our executive management team or other key personnel could delay or prevent the successful completion of some of our vital activities and may negatively impact our operations and future growth. In addition, changes in our organization as a result of executive management transition may have a disruptive impact on our ability to implement our strategy. Until we integrate new personnel, and unless they are able to succeed in their positions, we may be unable to successfully manage and grow our business. In any event, if we are unable to attract, retain and motivate quality individuals, or if there are delays, or if we do not successfully manage personnel and executive management transitions, our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects could be adversely affected.
Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments
There are no material unresolved written comments that were received from the SEC staff 180 days or more before the end of our 2020 fiscal year relating to our periodic or current reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Item 2.Properties
Our corporate headquarters are located in Dublin, Ireland, and our U.S. operations are located in Palo Alto, California and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
We lease approximately 45,000 square feet of office space in Dublin, Ireland. This lease expires in December 2036, with an option to terminate in December 2024 with no less than one year’s prior written notice and the payment of a termination fee, and a further option to terminate in December 2031 with no less than one year’s prior written notice.
We own approximately 58,000 square foot of manufacturing and development facility in Athlone, Ireland, which is primarily used for the manufacture of Xyrem, Xywav and development-stage products.
In Palo Alto, California, we occupy a total of approximately 198,000 square feet of office space, 99,000 square feet of which is under a lease that expires in October 2029 and has an option to terminate in October 2027 with no less than one year’s prior written notice and the payment of a termination fee. The remaining 99,000 square feet is under a lease that expires in July 2031 and an option to terminate in October 2029 with no less than one year’s prior written notice and the payment of a termination fee. We have an option to extend the terms of both leases twice for a period of five years each.
We occupy approximately 60,000 square feet of office space in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under a lease that expires in April 2029 with an option to terminate in December 2025 with no less than one year’s prior written notice and the payment of a termination fee.
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We occupy approximately 26,000 square feet of office space in Oxford, United Kingdom under a lease that expires in April 2028 with an option to terminate in April 2025 with six months written notice.
We own a manufacturing facility in Villa Guardia (Como), Italy, which is primarily used for the manufacture of Defitelio. The manufacturing facility is approximately 45,000 square feet. We also lease approximately 34,000 square feet of office and laboratory space in Villa Guardia (Como), Italy under a lease that expires in December 2023. In addition, we have offices in Canada, France and elsewhere in Europe.
We believe that our existing properties are in good condition and suitable for the conduct of our business. As we continue to expand our operations, we may need to lease additional or alternative facilities.
Item 3.Legal Proceedings
The information required to be set forth under this Item 3 is incorporated by reference to Note 13, Commitments and Contingencies—Legal Proceedings of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5.Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
Our ordinary shares trade on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “JAZZ.”
Holders of Ordinary Shares
As of February 16, 2021, there were three holders of record of our ordinary shares. Because almost all of our ordinary shares are held by brokers, nominees and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of shareholders represented by these record holders.
Dividends
In 2020 and 2019, we did not declare or pay cash dividends on our common equity. Under Irish law, dividends may only be paid, and share repurchases and redemptions must generally be funded only out of, “distributable reserves.” In addition, the terms of our credit agreement restrict our ability to make certain restricted payments, including dividends and other distributions by us in respect of our ordinary shares, subject to, among other exceptions, (1) a general exception for dividends and restricted payments up to $30 million in the aggregate and (2) an exception that allows for restricted payments, subject to a cap equal to the sum of (i) $100 million plus (ii) so long as our secured leverage ratio (as defined in our credit agreement) does not exceed 3:1 after giving pro forma effect to the restricted payment, a formula-based amount tied to our consolidated net income; provided that such cap applies only if our total leverage ratio (as defined in our credit agreement) exceeds 2:1 after giving pro forma effect to the restricted payment. Any future determination as to the payment of dividends will, subject to Irish legal requirements, be at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, compliance with the terms our credit agreement or other future borrowing arrangements, and other factors our board of directors deems relevant.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
Except as previously reported in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, during the year ended December 31, 2020, there were no unregistered sales of equity securities by us during the year ended December 31, 2020.
Irish Law Matters
As we are an Irish incorporated company, the following matters of Irish law are relevant to the holders of our ordinary shares.
Irish Restrictions on Import and Export of Capital
Except as indicated below, there are no restrictions on non-residents of Ireland dealing in Irish domestic securities, which includes ordinary shares of Irish companies. Dividends and redemption proceeds also continue to be freely transferable to non-resident holders of such securities. The Financial Transfers Act, 1992 gives power to the Minister for Finance of Ireland to restrict financial transfers between Ireland and other countries and persons. Financial transfers are broadly defined and include all transfers that would be movements of capital or payments within the meaning of the treaties governing the member states of the European Union. The acquisition or disposal of interests in shares issued by an Irish incorporated company and associated payments falls within this definition. In addition, dividends or payments on redemption or purchase of shares and payments on a liquidation of an Irish incorporated company would fall within this definition. At present the Financial Transfers Act, 1992 prohibits financial transfers involving the late Slobodan Milosevic and associated persons, Belarus, certain persons indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the late Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida, the Taliban of Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Iran, Iraq, Côte d’Ivoire, Lebanon, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, certain known terrorists and terrorist groups, countries that harbor certain terrorist groups and Ukraine without the prior permission of the Central Bank of Ireland.
Any transfer of, or payment in respect of, a share or interest in a share involving the government of any country that is currently the subject of United Nations sanctions, any person or body controlled by any of the foregoing, or by any person acting on behalf of the foregoing, may be subject to restrictions pursuant to such sanctions as implemented into Irish law.
Irish Taxes Applicable to U.S. Holders
Irish Tax on Dividends. While we have no current plans to pay dividends, dividends on our ordinary shares would generally be subject to Irish Dividend Withholding Tax at the standard rate (currently 25%), unless an exemption applies.
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Irish Tax on Capital Gains. A shareholder who is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in Ireland and does not hold our ordinary shares in connection with a trade or business carried on by such shareholder in Ireland through a branch or agency should not be subject to Irish tax on capital gains on a disposal of our ordinary shares.
Capital Acquisitions Tax. Irish capital acquisitions tax, or CAT, is comprised principally of gift tax and inheritance tax. CAT could apply to a gift or inheritance of our ordinary shares irrespective of the place of residence, ordinary residence or domicile of the parties. This is because our ordinary shares are regarded as property situated in Ireland as our share register must be held in Ireland. The person who receives the gift or inheritance has primary liability for CAT.
CAT is levied at a rate of 33% above certain tax-free thresholds. The appropriate tax-free threshold is dependent upon (i) the relationship between the donor and the donee and (ii) the aggregation of the values of previous gifts and inheritances received by the donee from persons within the same category of relationship for CAT purposes. Gifts and inheritances passing between spouses are exempt from CAT. Our shareholders should consult their own tax advisers as to any tax consequences of holding our ordinary shares, including whether CAT is creditable or deductible in computing any domestic tax liabilities.
Stamp Duty. Irish stamp duty (if any) may become payable in respect of ordinary share transfers. However, a transfer of our ordinary shares from a seller who holds shares through Depository Trust Company, or DTC, to a buyer who holds the acquired shares through DTC will not be subject to Irish stamp duty. A transfer of our ordinary shares (i) by a seller who holds ordinary shares outside of DTC to any buyer or (ii) by a seller who holds the ordinary shares through DTC to a buyer who holds the acquired ordinary shares outside of DTC, may be subject to Irish stamp duty (currently at the rate of 1% of the price paid or the market value of the ordinary shares acquired, if greater). The person accountable for payment of stamp duty is the buyer or, in the case of a transfer by way of a gift or for less than market value, all parties to the transfer.
A shareholder who holds ordinary shares outside of DTC may transfer those ordinary shares into DTC without giving rise to Irish stamp duty provided that the shareholder would be the beneficial owner of the related book-entry interest in those ordinary shares recorded in the systems of DTC (and in exactly the same proportions) as a result of the transfer and at the time of the transfer into DTC there is no sale of those book-entry interests to a third party being contemplated by the shareholder. Similarly, a shareholder who holds ordinary shares through DTC may transfer those ordinary shares out of DTC without giving rise to Irish stamp duty provided that the shareholder would be the beneficial owner of the ordinary shares (and in exactly the same proportions) as a result of the transfer, and at the time of the transfer out of DTC there is no sale of those ordinary shares to a third party being contemplated by the shareholder. In order for the share registrar to be satisfied as to the application of this Irish stamp duty treatment where relevant, the shareholder must confirm to us that the shareholder would be the beneficial owner of the related book-entry interest in those ordinary shares recorded in the systems of DTC (and in exactly the same proportions) (or vice-versa) as a result of the transfer and there is no agreement being contemplated for the sale of the related book-entry interest or the ordinary shares or an interest in the ordinary shares, as the case may be, by the shareholder to a third party.
Performance Measurement Comparison (1)
The following graph shows the total shareholder return on the last day of each year of an investment of $100 in cash as if made on December 31, 2015 in (i) our ordinary shares; (ii) the Nasdaq Composite Index; and (iii) the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index through December 31, 2020. The shareholder return shown in the graph below is not necessarily indicative of future performance, and we do not make or endorse any predictions as to future shareholder returns.
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COMPARISON OF FIVE YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN (2)
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(1)This section is not “soliciting material,” is not deemed “filed” with the SEC and is not to be incorporated by reference into any of our filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or Exchange Act, whether made before or after the date hereof and irrespective of any general incorporation language in any such filing.
(2)Information used in the graph was obtained from Research Data Group, Inc.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
In November 2016, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program and as of December 31, 2020 had authorized the repurchase of ordinary shares having an aggregate purchase price of up to $1.5 billion, exclusive of any brokerage commissions. Under this program, which has no expiration date, we may repurchase ordinary shares from time to time on the open market. During the three months ended December 31, 2020, we did not repurchase any of our ordinary shares. In 2020, we spent a total of $146.5 million to purchase 1.2 million of our ordinary shares under the share repurchase program at an average total purchase price, including commissions, of $121.98 per share. All ordinary shares repurchased were canceled. As of December 31, 2020, the remaining amount authorized under the share repurchase program was $431.2 million.
Item 6.Selected Financial Data
The following selected consolidated financial data should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. The selected consolidated financial data in this section is not intended to replace our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our future results.
We derived the consolidated statements of income data for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 from the audited consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. The consolidated statements of income data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 are derived from audited consolidated financial statements not included in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.
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| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016(1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands, except per share amounts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consolidated Statements of Income Data: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Product sales, net | $ | 2,346,660 | $ | 2,135,601 | $ | 1,869,473 | $ | 1,601,399 | $ | 1,477,261 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Royalties and contract revenues | 16,907 | 26,160 | 21,449 | 17,294 | 10,712 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total revenues | 2,363,567 | 2,161,761 | 1,890,922 | 1,618,693 | 1,487,973 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of product sales (excluding amortization of acquired developed technologies) | 148,917 | 127,930 | 121,544 | 110,188 | 105,386 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 854,233 | 736,942 | 683,530 | 544,156 | 502,892 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | 335,375 | 299,726 | 226,616 | 198,442 | 162,297 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intangible asset amortization | 259,580 | 354,814 | 201,498 | 152,065 | 101,994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Impairment charges | 136,139 | — | 42,896 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquired in-process research and development | 251,250 | 109,975 | — | 85,000 | 23,750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 1,985,494 | 1,629,387 | 1,276,084 | 1,089,851 | 896,319 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income from operations | 378,073 | 532,374 | 614,838 | 528,842 | 591,654 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense, net | (99,707) | (72,261) | (78,500) | (77,756) | (62,580) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign exchange gain (loss) | (3,271) | (5,811) | (6,875) | (9,969) | 3,372 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income before income tax provision (benefit) and equity in loss of investees | 275,095 | 454,302 | 529,463 | 441,117 | 532,446 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax provision (benefit) | 33,517 | (73,154) | 80,162 | (47,740) | 135,236 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity in loss of investees | 2,962 | 4,089 | 2,203 | 1,009 | 379 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 238,616 | $ | 523,367 | $ | 447,098 | $ | 487,848 | $ | 396,831 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net income per ordinary share: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 4.28 | $ | 9.22 | $ | 7.45 | $ | 8.13 | $ | 6.56 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Diluted | $ | 4.22 | $ | 9.09 | $ | 7.30 | $ | 7.96 | $ | 6.41 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average ordinary shares used in per share calculations - basic | 55,712 | 56,749 | 59,976 | 60,018 | 60,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average ordinary shares used in per share calculations - diluted | 56,517 | 57,550 | 61,221 | 61,317 | 61,870 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As of December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016(1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents and investments | $ | 2,132,769 | $ | 1,077,344 | $ | 824,622 | $ | 601,035 | $ | 425,963 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Working capital | 2,185,823 | 1,265,778 | 888,518 | 674,330 | 490,663 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total assets | 6,535,901 | 5,538,897 | 5,203,491 | 5,123,672 | 4,800,227 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long-term debt, current and non-current | 2,094,838 | 1,607,257 | 1,596,412 | 1,581,038 | 2,029,625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retained earnings | 1,159,894 | 1,067,815 | 841,050 | 917,956 | 528,907 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc shareholders’ equity | 3,659,745 | 3,110,981 | 2,757,422 | 2,713,097 | 1,877,339 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(1) On July 12, 2016, we completed the acquisition of Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Celator, which acquisition we refer to in this report as the Celator Acquisition, for an aggregate cash consideration of $1.5 billion and the results of operations of the acquired Celator business, along with the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, have been included in our consolidated financial statements since the closing of the Celator Acquisition.
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Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes to consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. When reviewing the discussion below, you should keep in mind the substantial risks and uncertainties that impact our business. In particular, we encourage you to review the risks and uncertainties described in “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements contained in this report or implied by past results and trends.
Overview
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is an innovative global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing life-changing medicines that transform the lives of patients with serious diseases – often with limited or no options. We have a diverse portfolio of marketed medicines and novel product candidates, in early- to late-stage development, across key therapeutic areas. Our focus is in neuroscience, including sleep and movement disorders, and in oncology, including hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. We actively explore new options for patients including novel compounds, small molecule advancements, biologics and innovative delivery technologies.
Our lead marketed products are:
•Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) oral solution, a product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and marketed in the U.S. for the treatment of both cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness, or EDS, in narcolepsy patients seven years of age and older;
•Xywav™ (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium oxybates) oral solution, a product that contains 92% less sodium than Xyrem, approved by FDA and launched in the U.S. in November 2020 for the treatment of cataplexy or EDS in narcolepsy patients seven years of age and older;
•Sunosi® (solriamfetol), a product approved by FDA and the European Commission and marketed in the U.S. and in Europe to improve wakefulness in adult patients with EDS associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA;
•Defitelio® (defibrotide sodium), a product approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease, or VOD, also known as sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, with renal or pulmonary dysfunction following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or HSCT, and in Europe (where it is marketed as Defitelio® (defibrotide)) for the treatment of severe VOD in adults and children undergoing HSCT therapy;
•Erwinaze® (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi), a product approved in the U.S. and in certain markets in Europe (where it is marketed as Erwinase®) for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, who have developed hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived asparaginase;
•Vyxeos® (daunorubicin and cytarabine) liposome for injection, a product approved in the U.S. and in Europe (where it is marketed as Vyxeos® liposomal 44 mg/100 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion) for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes; and
•Zepzelca™ (lurbinectedin), a product approved by FDA and launched in July 2020 in the U.S. for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer, or SCLC, with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Our strategy to create sustainable shareholder value is focused on:
•Strong commercial execution to drive diversified revenue growth and address unmet medical needs of our patients across our product portfolio including with rapid adoption of Xywav in the U.S., Sunosi growth globally and establishing Zepzelca as a treatment of choice for second line SCLC patients;
•Expanding and advancing our pipeline with internal and external patient-centric innovation to achieve a valuable product portfolio of durable, highly differentiated programs;
•Continuing to build a flexible, efficient, and productive development engine for targeted therapeutic conditions to identify and progress early- and mid-stage assets; and
•Investing in an efficient, scalable operating model and differentiated capabilities to enable growth and unlock further value through indication expansion and global markets.
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In 2020, consistent with our strategy, we continued to focus on research and development activities within our neuroscience and oncology therapeutic areas, such as our expansion into movement disorders and solid tumors, and exploring and investing in adjacent therapeutic areas that could further diversify our portfolio, such as post-traumatic stress disorders through our acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics, Inc.’s, or SpringWorks’, fatty acid amide hydrolase, or FAAH, inhibitor program. For a summary of our ongoing research and development activities, see “Business—Research and Development” in this Part I, Item 1.
Our development activities encompass all stages of development and currently include clinical testing of new product candidates and activities related to clinical improvements of, or additional indications or new clinical data for, our existing marketed products. We have also expanded into preclinical exploration of novel therapies, including precision medicines in hematology and oncology. We are increasingly leveraging our growing internal research and development function, and we have also entered into collaborations with third parties for the research and development of innovative early-stage product candidates and have supported additional investigator-sponsored trials that will generate additional data related to our products. We also seek out investment opportunities in support of development of early- and mid-stage technologies in our therapeutic areas and adjacencies. We have a number of licensing and collaboration agreements with third parties, including biotechnology companies, academic institutions and research-based companies and institutions, related to preclinical and clinical research and development activities in hematology and in precision oncology, as well as in neuroscience. A summary of our ongoing development activities is provided under “Business—Research and Development” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. For 2021 and beyond, we expect that our research and development expenses will continue to increase from previous levels, particularly as we prepare for anticipated regulatory submissions and data read-outs from clinical trials, initiate and undertake additional clinical trials and related development work and potentially acquire rights to additional product candidates.
2020 Highlights and Recent Developments
Regulatory Approvals and Launches
•In January 2020, the European Commission approved Sunosi to improve wakefulness in adult patients with EDS associated with narcolepsy or OSA. In May and October 2020, we launched Sunosi in Germany and Denmark, respectively.
•In February 2020, FDA accepted for filing with priority review the new drug application, or NDA, for Zepzelca for the treatment of relapsed SCLC, a product candidate for which we recently acquired exclusive U.S. development and commercialization rights, with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act, or PDUFA, action date of August 16, 2020. In June 2020, FDA granted Zepzelca accelerated approval for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic SCLC with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy, a product for which we have exclusive U.S. commercialization rights. In July 2020, we launched Zepzelca in the U.S. and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network added Zepzelca to the clinical practice guidelines in oncology for SCLC as a preferred treatment in patients who relapse in six months or less after prior systemic therapy and as a recommended regimen in patients who relapse more than six months after prior systemic therapy. At launch, all planned contracts with distributors and group purchasing organizations were in place for Zepzelca.
•In January 2020, we submitted an NDA to FDA seeking marketing approval for Xywav (formerly JZP-258), an oxybate product candidate that contains 92% less sodium than Xyrem, for the treatment of cataplexy and EDS in narcolepsy patients seven years of age and older. In March 2020, FDA accepted our NDA for filing with priority review with a PDUFA action date of July 21, 2020. In July 2020, FDA approved our NDA for Xywav. In November 2020, we commenced the U.S. launch of Xywav. The 92% reduction of sodium translates into a reduction of approximately 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams per day for a patient prescribed an oxybate product, depending on the dose. When patients start Xywav after sodium oxybate, Xywav treatment is initiated at the same dose and regimen as sodium oxybate (gram for gram) and titrated as needed based on efficacy and tolerability. The label for Xywav, unlike Xyrem, does not include a warning to prescribers to monitor patients sensitive to sodium intake, including patients with heart failure, hypertension or renal impairment. There is a well-accepted relationship between dietary sodium and blood pressure as well as published hypertension guidelines underscoring that excessive consumption of sodium is independently associated with an increased risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease and other adverse outcomes. In approving Xywav, FDA approved a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, for Xywav and Xyrem. In an effort to support strong adoption of Xywav, we are focused on providing robust patient access programs and facilitating payor coverage for Xywav.
•In July 2020, Defitelio was approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration for the treatment of VOD.
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Regulatory Submissions
•In October 2020, we announced positive top-line results from a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating JZP-258 in adult patients with idiopathic hypersomnia, a chronic, neurological disorder that is primarily characterized by EDS and that currently has no approved therapies in the U.S. We completed the rolling submission of a supplemental new drug application in February 2021 and if approved by FDA in a timely manner, we expect a potential launch of JZP-258 w in the fourth quarter of 2021. FDA granted Fast Track designation for JZP-258 for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia in September 2020.
Research & Development
•In April 2020, we announced our decision to stop enrollment in our Phase 3 clinical study of defibrotide due to a determination that the study is highly unlikely to reach one of its primary endpoints, the prevention of VOD. This does not impact the approved indication or other ongoing defibrotide studies.
•In September 2020, FDA granted Rare Pediatric Disease designation for JZP-458 for the treatment of pediatric ALL, and prior to that, in October 2019, FDA granted Fast Track designation for JZP-458, a recombinant Erwinia asparaginase product candidate, for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with ALL or lymphoblastic lymphoma who are hypersensitive to E. coli-derived asparaginase products. Our pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical study (conducted in collaboration with the Children’s Oncology Group) for JZP-458 continues to enroll, and we initiated the submission of our biologics license application, or BLA, to FDA for JZP-458 in December 2020, with an objective of launching in the U.S. in mid-2021 to ensure that ALL patients have access to a reliable, high-quality recombinant product given the ongoing supply issues with Erwinaze.
•In September 2020, we completed our healthy volunteer study in JZP-385 for the potential treatment of essential tremor.
Other Significant Developments
•During 2020, we repurchased an aggregate of $146.5 million of our ordinary shares under our share repurchase program at an average price of $121.98 per share.
•In June 2020, Jazz Investments I Limited, our wholly owned subsidiary, completed a private offering of an aggregate $1.0 billion principal amount of 2.00% exchangeable senior notes due 2026, or the 2026 Notes. We used a portion of the net proceeds from the issuance of the 2026 Notes to repurchase for cash $356.2 million aggregate principal amount of existing 1.875% exchangeable senior notes due 2021, or the 2021 Notes. The remaining net proceeds were used for general corporate purposes.
•In September 2020, we entered into a new research collaboration agreement with Redx Pharma plc, or Redx, to discover and develop drug candidates for two cancer targets in the Ras/Raf/MAP kinase pathway. This research collaboration follows our previously announced purchase of Redx's preclinical pan-Raf inhibitor program for the potential treatment of Raf and Ras mutant tumors in July 2019. Under the terms of the 2020 research collaboration agreement, we made an upfront payment to Redx of $10.0 million, which will be followed by another $10.0 million in 2021, provided research work is continuing. Following delivery of an investigational new drug, or IND,-ready molecule, Redx will be eligible to receive up to a further $200.0 million from us in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments for each program. The first milestone is payable upon successful IND submission. In addition, Redx is eligible to receive tiered royalties in mid-single digit percentages of any future net sales. Following a successful submission of an IND application, we will be responsible for further development, manufacturing, regulatory activities and commercialization.
•In October 2020, we entered into an asset purchase and exclusive license agreement with SpringWorks under which we acquired SpringWorks’ FAAH inhibitor program. Under the terms of the agreement, SpringWorks has assigned or exclusively licensed all assets relating to its FAAH inhibitor program to us, including assignment of SpringWorks’ proprietary FAAH inhibitor PF-04457845, or PF-’845, now named JZP-150, and its license agreement with Pfizer, Inc., or Pfizer, under which Pfizer exclusively licensed PF-’845 to SpringWorks in 2017. We will initially focus on developing JZP-150 for the potential treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and associated symptoms. In addition to assuming all milestone and royalty obligations owed by SpringWorks to Pfizer, we made an upfront payment of $35.0 million to SpringWorks, which was recorded as acquired in-process research and development, or IPR&D expense in our consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2020, and may make potential milestone payments to SpringWorks of up to $375.0 million upon the achievement of certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, and pay incremental tiered royalties to SpringWorks on future net sales of JZP-150 in the mid- to high-single digit percentages.
70
•In October 2020, we entered into an amendment and restatement of our license agreement, or the amended license agreement, with PharmaMar, S.A., or PharmaMar, which expanded our exclusive license to include rights to develop and commercialize Zepzelca in Canada.
•In February 2021, we entered into a definitive transaction agreement, or the Transaction Agreement, with GW Pharmaceuticals plc, or GW. The GW Transaction Agreement provides, among other things, that, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the GW Transaction Agreement, we will acquire the entire issued share capital of GW. Under the GW Transaction Agreement, the consideration to be paid by us in the GW Acquisition consists of $220.00 per American Depositary Share in GW, to be paid in the form of $200 in cash and $20 in our ordinary shares, for total consideration of approximately $7.2 billion. The GW Acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the GW Transaction Agreement, including applicable regulatory approvals and the approval of GW shareholders. On February 3, 2021, in connection with the execution of the GW Transaction Agreement, we entered into a commitment letter with BofA Securities, Inc., Bank of America, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. pursuant to which these commitment parties have committed to provide us with a senior secured revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $500.0 million, a senior secured term loan B facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $3,150.0 million and a senior secured bridge loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $2,200.0 million to, among other things, finance our obligations in respect of the GW Acquisition. The effectiveness of such credit facilities is subject to the occurrence of customary closing conditions, including the consummation of the GW Acquisition. We expect that product sales, operating expenses and interest expense, will be higher in 2021 than in 2020 due to the continued growth of the organization and, upon closing, the impact of the inclusion of the results of operations from GW and the higher debt balance.
Operational Excellence
In addition, we remain focused on continuing to build excellence in areas that we believe will give us a competitive advantage, including building an increasingly agile and adaptable commercialization engine and strengthening our customer-focused market expertise across patients, providers and payors. We are refining our approach to engaging our customers by strengthening alignment and integration across functions and across regions. This includes a more integrated approach to brand planning, a heightened focus on launch and operational excellence and multichannel customer engagement. We have fully adapted to virtual scientific congresses designed to ensure we can continue to provide promotional and non-promotional interactions and have supported our field-based teams with virtual customer interaction tools, training and content. These initiatives mark a significant operational evolution that is directly linked to our corporate strategy and are designed to better enable our teams to work collaboratively on an aligned and shared agenda. We are leveraging our differentiated operational capabilities this year in achieving three product approvals and executing our ongoing launches.
COVID-19 Business Update