UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
10-KSB
(Mark
One)
[X]
ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934.
For the Fiscal Year Ended December
31, 2004
[
] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO
SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934.
For the
transition period from ____________ to ____________
Commission
File No. 1-14778
DOR
BIOPHARMA, INC.
(Name of
small business issuer in its charter)
Delaware |
|
41-1505029 |
(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
|
(I.R.S.
Employer Identification Number) |
|
|
|
|
|
1691
Michigan Ave., Suite 435, Miami, FL |
|
33139 |
|
305-534-3383 |
(Address
of principal executive offices) |
|
(Zip
Code) |
|
(Telephone
number) |
Securities
registered under Section 12 (b) of the Exchange Act:
Title
of Each Class of Securities to be Registered |
|
Name
of Each Exchange on Which Registered |
Common
Stock, par value $.001 per share |
|
American
Stock Exchange |
Securities
registered under Section 12 (g) of the Exchange Act:
None
Check
whether the issuer: (1) filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or
15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act during the past 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
[X] No [ ]
Check if
there is no disclosure of delinquent filers in response to Item 405 of
Regulation S-B contained in this form, and no disclosure will be contained, to
the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information
statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-KSB or any
amendment to this Form 10-KSB. [
]
Issuer’s
revenues for its most recent fiscal year: $997,482
The
aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the
registrant was approximately $21,743,000, (assuming, for this purpose, that
executive officers, directors and holders of 10% or more of the common stock are
affiliates), based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock as
reported on the American Stock Exchange on March 2, 2005.
At March
2, 2005, 50,612,504 shares of the registrant’s common stock were
outstanding.
Transitional
Small Business Disclosure Format (check one): Yes
[ ] No [X]
Table
of Contents
Item |
Description |
Page |
|
|
|
Part
I |
|
|
1. |
Description
of Business. |
3 |
|
Risk
Factors |
14 |
2. |
Description
of Property. |
23 |
3. |
Legal
Proceedings. |
23 |
4. |
Submission
of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders. |
23 |
Part
II |
|
|
5. |
Market
for Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters. |
24 |
6. |
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation. |
25 |
|
Critical
Accounting Policies |
26 |
|
Material
Changes in Results of Operations |
26 |
|
Financial
Conditions |
27 |
7. |
Financial
Statements. |
28 |
8. |
Changes
and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial
Disclosure. |
29 |
8A. |
Controls
and Procedures. |
29 |
8B. |
Other
Information. |
29 |
Part
III |
|
|
9. |
Directors,
Executive Officers, Promoters and Control Persons; Compliance with Section
16 (a) of the Exchange Act. |
30 |
10. |
Executive
Compensation. |
35 |
11. |
Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related
Stockholder Matters. |
40 |
12. |
Certain
Relationships and Related Transactions. |
42 |
13. |
Exhibits. |
43 |
14. |
Principal
Accountant Fees and Services. |
46 |
|
|
|
|
Consolidated
Financial Statements |
47 |
|
Report
of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm |
48 |
PART
I
Item
1. Description of Business.
This
Annual Report on Form 10-KSB contains statements of a forward-looking nature
relating to future events or our future financial performance. These statements
are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. In
evaluating such statements, you should carefully consider the various factors
identified in this report that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those indicated in any forward-looking statements, including those set
forth in “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. See “Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward Looking Statements.”
A.
Overview
We are a
biopharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of biodefense
vaccines and oral therapeutic products intended for areas of unmet medical need.
We were incorporated in 1987. We maintain two active segments; BioDefense and
BioTherapeutics.
BioDefense
Overview
Through
our BioDefense Division, we are developing bioengineered countermeasure vaccines
for ricin toxin and botulinum toxin, both of which are considered bioterrorism
threats by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Institute of
Allergic and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Department of Defense (DOD) and
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We are developing our
biodefense countermeasures for potential U.S. government procurement pursuant to
the Project Bioshield Act of 2004, which provides incentives to industry to
expeditiously supply biodefense countermeasures to the Strategic National
Stockpile. As a step towards this goal, on September 13, 2004, we were awarded a
$5.2 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID) for RiVaxTM, our
genetically engineered vaccine against ricin toxin, one of the most lethal plant
toxins known to man. The grants project period is September 15, 2004 to August
31, 2007 and covers the process development for manufacturing of
RiVaxTM our
recombinant vaccine for ricin toxin. The grant is based on milestones and
certain budget amounts are earned as we meet certain milestones in the
development of RiVaxTM. In
addition, on February 7, 2005, we announced that our academic partner, The
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, began a Phase I
clinical trial of RiVaxTM in
normal volunteers. This is the first time a ricin toxin vaccine will be studied
in humans. Also, on January 7, 2005, we announced an agreement with Cambrex
corporation (NYSE: CBM) on the
consummation of an agreement for the process development and potential large
scale production of RiVax™ covered by the aforementioned grant.
Our
vaccine against botulinum neurotoxin, one of the most lethal substances known to
man, BT-VACC™, is an orally administered vaccine that protects against exposure
to botulinum neurotoxins. As opposed to injectable vaccines that require
multiple injections, BT-VACC™ is being developed as a multivalent, solid oral
dosage form. BT-VACC™ is covered by issued and pending U.S. patents that broadly
claim orally deliverable botulinum neurotoxin vaccines. The oral formulation is
designed to be sufficiently stable for stockpiling and storage, which is ideal
for rapid distribution and vaccination for military use or civilian vaccination
in response to bioterrorism. Oral administration of BT-VACC™ for serotype A
produces protective antibodies that afford protection or prolonged survival of
treated animals exposed to 30,000 times the lethal dose of botulinum toxin
serotype A. Pre-clinical studies of BT-VACC™ for serotype B are also ongoing. On
February 16, 2005, we expanded our biodefense product line from prophylactic
(pre-exposure) vaccines into post-exposure therapeutics when we initiated a
rational drug design program intended to identify small molecules capable of
blocking the deadly effects of botulinum toxin on a post-exposure basis.
BioTherapeutics
Overview
Through
our BioTherapeutics Division, we are in the process of developing oral
therapeutic products to treat unmet medical needs. Our therapeutic product,
orBec® (oral
beclomethasone dipropionate), has recently completed a pivotal Phase III
clinical trial for the treatment of acute intestinal graft-vs-host disease
(iGVHD), a form of serious and life-threatening gastrointestinal inflammation.
On December 30, 2004, we announced top line results of our pivotal Phase III
trial of orBec® in
iGVHD, in which orBec®
demonstrated a highly statistically significant reduction in mortality during
the prospectively defined Day 200 post-transplant period and positive trends on
it’s primary endpoint. While orBec® did not
achieve statistical significance in its primary endpoint of time to treatment
failure at Day 50 (p-value 0.1177), orBec® did
achieve a 70% reduction in mortality compared to placebo (p-value 0.007).
orBec® is a
highly potent, topically-active glucocorticoid. orBec® has
previously been granted Fast Track Designation and received Orphan Drug
Designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of
iGVHD. We are currently in discussions with the FDA to determine the next steps
for orBec® and
pending the outcome of these discussions, expect to be in a position to offer
guidance in second quarter 2005.
B.
BioDefense Programs
In
collaboration with two United States academic research institutions, we are
developing vaccine products to combat the threat posed by two potent biological
toxins; ricin toxin and botulinum toxin. Both vaccines under development are
recombinant products in bacterial hosts and both consist of nontoxic subunits of
the native toxins. These subunits retain the ability to induce antibodies that
completely neutralize the toxins from which they are derived. Through exclusive
licenses with these Universities, we have secured important intellectual
property rights related to these vaccines.
1.
Ricin Toxin Vaccine
Ricin
toxin is a heat stable toxin that is easily isolated and purified from the bean
of the castor plant. As a bioterrorism agent, ricin could be disseminated as an
aerosol, by injection, or as a food supply contaminant. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) have classified ricin as a Category B biological
agent. Ricin works by first binding to glycoproteins found on the exterior of a
cell, and then entering the cell and inhibiting protein synthesis leading to
cell death. Once exposed to ricin toxin, there is no effective therapy available
to reverse the course of the toxin. Currently, there is no FDA approved vaccine
to protect against the possibility of ricin toxin being used in a terrorist
attack, or its use as a weapon on the battlefield, nor is there a known antidote
for ricin toxin exposure.
The
development of our vaccine against ricin toxin stems from the research
(Smallshaw et
al., 2002
Vaccine) of Dr.
Ellen Vitetta at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center in
Dallas, Texas. This research has shown that a modified subunit of ricin toxin is
non-toxic and highly immunogenic in animals, reproducibly inducing protective
immunity in mice challenged with ricin toxin. The ricin vaccine is being
developed simultaneously along two parallel development tracks: one track
leading to a traditional injected vaccine given intramuscularly, while the other
track involves the development of an alternate route of delivery, specifically
via the intranasal route. The intranasal ricin vaccine is designed to stimulate
antibodies at the lung and gastrointestinal epithelial surfaces to neutralize
the toxin before cellular damage to the lungs and gastrointestinal tract can
occur. In an effort to enhance the efficacy of the nasal vaccine, we are testing
the antigen in combination with several delivery systems under a Small Business
Innovation Research grant awarded to us in August 2003. This route of
administration is a highly desirable alternative to intramuscular administration
for two reasons. First, nasal administration enables large groups of individuals
to self-administer the vaccine in the event of a mass civilian-based crisis such
as the contamination of the water or food supply with ricin toxin. Second,
mucosal administration will confer increased protection in the lungs and
gastrointestinal tissue which would potentially protect against inhalation or
ingestion of ricin toxin.
The
vaccine has previously been shown to be effective in generating protective
immunity in animals against exposure to lethal doses of ricin toxin (Smallshaw
et
al., 2002
Vaccine). In
collaboration with UTSW, we have developed a stable formulation of the vaccine
for injection. Based on the preclinical safety and efficacy testing of the
vaccine, an Investigational New Drug application (IND) was filed with the FDA
through UTSW, and a Phase I trial was initiated in the fourth quarter of 2004.
This trial is a dose escalating trial designed to evaluate the safety of the
vaccine doses that induce neutralizing antibodies in humans. Concurrently, we
are developing processes for manufacturing the vaccine at scale with Cambrex
under the auspices of a $5.2 million NIH challenge grant awarded to foster
development and manufacturing. Pending evaluation of the safety and
immunogenicity results of the first Phase I trial, expected during the second
quarter of 2005, we are planning additional clinical trials in humans. In
addition, we are planning to conduct pivotal animal trials of the vaccine to
elaborate on the FDA “two animal” rule, which permits licensure of vaccines
based on the results of safety tests in humans and efficacy results in animals
in situations where the evaluation in humans is ethically not permitted. In the
case of ricin, it is not ethical to expose humans to ricin post vaccination, so
“correlates of immunity” must be established in animal models. Our goal is to
make a ricin vaccine available for the United States government’s Strategic
National Stockpile. We have an exclusive license agreement with UTSW for its
ricin vaccine technology.
2.
Botulinum Toxin Vaccine
Botulinum
toxin is the product of the bacteria Clostridium
botulinum.
Botulinum toxin is one of the most poisonous natural substances known to
mankind. Botulinum toxin causes acute, symmetric, descending flaccid paralysis
due to its action on peripheral cholinergic nerves. Paralysis typically presents
12 to 72 hours after exposure. Death results from paralysis of the respiratory
muscles. Current treatments include respiratory support and passive immunization
with antibodies which must be administered before symptoms occur, which leaves
little time post-exposure for effective treatment.
Our
botulinum toxin vaccine was developed through the research of Dr. Lance Simpson
at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Park and
Simpson.,2003
Infection
and Immunity). There
are seven different serotypes of botulinum toxin and no cross immunogenicity
exists between these serotypes. Any vaccine will therefore require multiple
antigens to protect against the different serotypes. The antigen consists of a
segment of the heavy chain of botulinum toxin that is non-toxic and immunogenic.
After oral or intranasal immunization, the antigen elicits antibodies that
protect vaccinated animals against 30,000 times the lethal dose of native toxin.
Ability for a subunit protein to induce antibodies after oral or nasal
immunization is atypical for protein subunit vaccines and is due to one of the
properties that account for the high toxicity of the native toxin: the ability
of the heavy chain to bind and be taken up by epithelial cells in the
gastrointestinal and respiratory tract. We are currently validating the safety
and efficacy data in further animal studies, and extending the results to other
serotype, using vaccines made from heavy chain segments from the most prevalent
of the serotypes and the ones most likely to be used in biowarfare. Most of the
work completed to date involves a single serotype, but we believe that once
development of the “prototype” antigen is complete, work on the other serotypes
will occur in parallel at an accelerated pace. Our immediate plans are to obtain
antigen from a single serotype (through manufacture or collaboration), conduct
the necessary preclinical toxicology tests for an IND, and test an oral
formulation for safety and immunogenicity in human volunteers. As with the ricin
vaccine, our goal is to produce a multivalent vaccine and make it available for
the U.S. government’s Strategic National Stockpile. We have an exclusive license
agreement with Thomas Jefferson University for the oral and intranasal use of
their botulinum toxin vaccine technology.
3.
Strategy for development of BioDefense products
Since
2001, the United States government has developed an initiative to stockpile
countermeasures and vaccines for over 30 biological threats that could be used
in bioterrorist attacks or on the battlefield. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID) have recognized threats based on several factors: 1) public
health impact based on illness and death; 2) ability for an agent to be
disseminated, produced, and transmitted from person to person; 3) public
perception and fear; and 4) special public health preparedness needs. This
prioritization has resulted in classification into three threat categories: A,
B, and C, where agents in Category A have the greatest potential for adverse
public health impact, and agents in Category B have potential for large scale
dissemination, but generally cause less illness and death. Biological agents
that are not regarded to present a high public health risk but may emerge as
future threats, as the scientific understanding of the agents develops, have
been placed in Category C. Very few countermeasures or vaccines currently exist
for Category A, B, or C agents. We believe that we have identified and will
continue to identify products with relatively low development risk for
addressing biological threats in Category A (e.g., botulinum toxin) and B (e.g.,
ricin toxin). Biodefense products can be developed and sold to the U.S.
government before the FDA has licensed them for commercial use. Secondly, the
FDA itself has facilitated the approval process, whereby portions of the human
clinical development pathway can be truncated. Under the two animal rule, when
it is not ethical to perform human efficacy trials, the FDA can rely on safety
evidence in humans and evidence from animal studies to provide substantial proof
of a product’s effectiveness under circumstances where there is a reasonably
well-understood mechanism for the toxicity of the agent and its prevention or
cure by the product. This effect has to be demonstrated in more than one animal
species expected to react with a response predictive of humans or in one animal
species. The animal study endpoint must be clearly related to the desired
benefit in humans and the information obtained from animal studies allows
selection of an effective dose in humans. Biodefense products are eligible for
priority review in cases where the product is a significant advance for a
serious or life threatening condition. The government would also purchase
countermeasures upon expiration, so there is a recurrent market to replenish the
stockpile. Under a $ 5.6 billon appropriation bill over 10 years, the BioShield
Act of 2004 authorizes the government to procure new countermeasures. This bill
also allows the NIH to use simplified and accelerated peer-review and
contracting procedures for research and development and empowers the FDA to
approve distribution of unapproved medical products on an emergency basis.
Further, there are additional legislation in front of Congress, such as
BioShield II, that will address additional issues such as patent extension and
liability that may be of benefit to the Company in this business.
C.
BioTherapeutics Division
1.
orBec®
Our
therapeutic product orBec®, is an
orally administered corticosteroid that exerts a potent, local anti-inflammatory
effect within the mucosal tissue of the gastrointestinal tract.
orBec®
has
recently completed a multicenter, placebo-controlled pivotal Phase III clinical
trial in iGVHD. iGVHD is a life threatening complication of allogeneic bone
marrow transplantation for which no FDA-approved therapies exist, making it an
area of unmet medical need. The active ingredient in orBec®,
beclomethasone 17, 21-dipropionate ("BDP"), is a mucosally active
anti-inflammatory agent, with a potent local effect, that is the active
ingredient in a variety of currently marketed products including Beconase Aqua
(nasal spray for rhinitis), Becloforte (inhalant for asthma), and
Propaderm (a topical cream for eczema and psoriasis). There currently is no
FDA-approved oral BDP product in the United States. There are a variety of
additional gastrointestinal disorders for which a potent, topically-active oral
corticosteroid could be beneficial including Irritable Bowel Syndrome,
Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. We believe that topical steroids such as
orBec® delivered to the affected mucosa would suppress the inflammation
associated with these disorders while producing fewer adverse side effects than
systemic corticosteroids such as prednisone.
orBec®
is
manufactured as a two-pill formulation (1 mg BDP per pill) administered four
times daily (total of 8 mg) for the indication of acute iGVHD. The two-pill
combination is comprised of an immediate-release pill designed to primarily
dissolve in the stomach and proximal intestine and an enterically-coated pill
designed to dissolve in the more alkaline pH portion of the small intestine.
2.
Phase III Clinical Trial
Phase II
data demonstrated that the two-pill combination of oral BDP was effective in
treating iGVHD, allowing patients to be rapidly tapered off the systemic
corticosteroid prednisone, without recurrence of intestinal symptoms (McDonald
et
al., 1998
Gastroenterology), and
without clinical manifestation of adrenal suppression (Baehr et
al., 1995
Transplantation). Based
on this data, we designed a Phase III clinical protocol that was subject to a
Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) by the FDA and was similar in design to the
previously completed Phase II trial (McDonald et
al. 1998
Gastroenterology). The
primary efficacy endpoint of this trial is the time to treatment failure at
Study Day 50. Treatment failure was defined as use of prednisone or equivalent
IV corticosteroids at doses higher than stated in protocol, or use of any
additional other steroid, in response to uncontrolled signs or symptoms of
iGVHD. The target enrollment was 130 patients. The pivotal trial was conducted
at sixteen bone marrow transplant centers fourteen in the United States and two
in France, and the product has been assigned "orphan drug" designation and "fast
track" status by the FDA. The trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo
controlled safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetic trial that was to serve as the
basis for a New Drug Application to be filed with the FDA. Based on the outcome
of the data we are scheduling a meeting with the FDA to receive their guidance
on the appropriate next steps for the development of orBec®.
In
addition to the pivotal trial, we are investigating the possibility of
conducting a clinical trial that would test the effectiveness of
orBec®
for the
prevention of iGVHD. If the data from this clinical trial demonstrates positive
results, the potential market for orBec® would
expand to include all patients in the U.S. who undergo allogeneic bone marrow
transplants who are at risk for developing iGVHD.
3.
About Graft-versus-Host Disease
Graft-versus-Host
Disease occurs in patients following an allogeneic bone marrow transplant in
which tissues of the host, most frequently the gut, liver, and skin, are
attacked by lymphocytes in the donor (graft) marrow. Patients with mild to
moderate iGVHD present to the clinic with early satiety, anorexia, nausea,
vomiting and diarrhea. If left untreated, symptoms of iGVHD persist and often
progress. In its most severe form, iGVHD leads to necrosis and exfoliation of
most of the epithelial cells of the intestinal mucosa, frequently a fatal
condition. Approximately 50 to 70% of the estimated 8,000 annual allogeneic
transplant patients in the United States will develop some form of acute iGVHD.
4.
Future Potential Indications of orBec®
Based on
its pharmacological characteristics, oral BDP may have utility in treating other
conditions of the gastrointestinal tract having an inflammatory component. We
have an issued U.S. patent (6,096,731) claiming the use of oral BDP as a method
for preventing the tissue damage that is associated with both iGVHD following
hematopoietic cell transplantation, as well as Host-versus Graft Disease, as
occurs following organ allograft transplantation. In addition, we are exploring
the possibility of testing orBec® for
local inflammation associated with Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease,
Lymphocytic Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and liver disease, among other
indications.
D.
Summary of Our Products in Development
The
following tables summarize the products that we are currently developing:
Biodefense
Products
Select
Agent |
Currently
Available Countermeasure |
DOR
Biodefense Product |
|
|
|
Ricin
Toxin |
No
vaccine or antidote currently FDA approved |
Injectable
Ricin Vaccine
Phase
I Clinical Trial |
Ricin
Toxin |
No
vaccine or antidote currently FDA approved |
Nasal
Ricin Vaccine |
Botulinum
Toxin |
No
vaccine or antidote currently FDA approved |
Oral/Nasal
Botulinum Vaccine |
Botulinum
Toxin |
No
vaccine or antidote currently FDA approved |
Oral
Botulinum Therapeutic |
|
|
|
Therapeutic
Products
Product |
Therapeutic
Indication |
Stage
of Development |
|
|
|
orBec® |
Treatment
of acute Graft-versus-Host Disease with intestinal
involvement |
Pivotal
Phase III Clinical Trial Completed |
E.
Summary of Products Not Currently Being Actively
Developed
The
following is a brief description of products that we currently are not actively
developing and that are available for licensing or acquisition. These products
consist of two drug delivery systems that are designed to facilitate the oral
delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs, including peptides, and an oral
form of the immunosuppressant azathioprine. We acquired the azathioprine drug
(Oraprine™) as a result of the merger of Endorex and CTD in November 2001 and
includes patent applications licensed from Dr. Joel Epstein of the University of
Washington. We conducted a Phase bioequivalence trial following a trail
conducted by Dr. Epstein that established the feasibility of the oral drug
to treat oral ulcerative lesions resulting from graft versus host
disease. The drug delivery systems, LPM™, LPETM,
PLPTM,
including the use of leuprolide in the LPM™ system, were
developed internally and we have submitted and pursued patents on the
products.
1.
OraprineTM
OraprineTM is
an oral suspension of azathioprine, which we believe may be bioequivalent to the
oral azathioprine tablet currently marketed in the United States as
Imuran®.
Azathioprine is one of the most widely used immunosuppressive medications in
clinical medicine. Azathioprine is commonly prescribed to organ transplant
patients to decrease their natural defense mechanisms to foreign bodies (such as
the transplanted organ). The decrease in the patient’s immune system
increases the chances of preventing rejection of the transplanted organ in the
patient. The oral suspension may provide a convenient dosage form for patients
who have difficulty swallowing pills or tablets, such as children.
2.
LPMTM -
Leuprolide
LPMTM -
Leuprolide is an oral dosage formulation of the peptide drug leuprolide, a
hormone-based drug that is among the leading drugs used to treat endometriosis
and prostate cancer, which utilizes a novel drug delivery system composed of
safe and well characterized ingredients to enhance intestinal absorption. The
LPMTM
system
incorporates biocompatible lipids and polymers and is potentially useful for a
wide variety of molecular structures of water-soluble drugs, particularly those
based on peptides. Although both small molecules and large molecules can be
incorporated into our system, there is a molecular size cutoff for a
commercially viable oral bioavailability enhancement, and this system is most
effective with hydrophilic drugs/peptides below 5,000 Daltons in molecular
weight. Utilizing a simple and scaleable manufacturing process, aqueous
solutions of peptides can be incorporated into lipid-polymer mixtures forming
stable micelles.
3.
LPETM
and PLPTM
Systems for Water-Insoluble Drugs
We were
developing two lipid-based systems, LPETM and
PLPTM, to
support the oral delivery of small molecules of water insoluble drugs. Such
drugs include most kinds of cancer chemotherapeutics currently delivered
intravenously. The LPETM system
is in the form of an emulsion or an emulsion pre-concentrate incorporating
lipids, polymers and co-solvents, particularly perillyl
alcohol. We have filed for patent applications on the use of perillyl alcohol as
a solvent, surfactant and absorption enhancer for lipophilic compounds. The
polymers used in these formulations can either be commercially available or
proprietary polymerized lipids and lipid analogs.
F.
The Drug Approval Process
1.
General
Before
marketing, each of our products must undergo an extensive regulatory approval
process conducted by the FDA and applicable agencies in other countries.
Testing, manufacturing, commercialization, advertising, promotion, export and
marketing, among other things, of the proposed products are subject to extensive
regulation by government authorities in the United States and other countries.
All products must go through a series of tests, including advanced human
clinical trials, which the FDA is allowed to suspend as it deems necessary.
Our
products will require, prior to commercialization, regulatory clearance by the
FDA and by comparable agencies in other countries. The nature and extent of
regulation differs with respect to different products. In order to test, produce
and market certain therapeutic products in the United States, mandatory
procedures and safety standards, approval processes, manufacturing and marketing
practices established by the FDA must be satisfied.
An
Investigational New Drug Application (IND) is required before human clinical use
in the United States of a new drug compound or biological product can commence.
The IND includes results of pre-clinical animal studies evaluating the safety
and efficacy of the drug and a detailed description of the clinical
investigations to be undertaken.
Clinical
trials are normally done in three phases, although the phases may overlap. Phase
I trials are concerned primarily with the safety of the product. Phase II trials
are designed primarily to demonstrate effectiveness and safety in treating the
disease or condition for which the product is indicated. These trials typically
explore various doses and regimens. Phase III trials are expanded multi-center
clinical trials intended to gather additional information on safety and
effectiveness needed to clarify the product’s benefit-risk relationship,
discover less common side effects and adverse reactions, and generate
information for proper labeling of the drug, among other things. The FDA
receives reports on the progress of each phase of clinical testing and may
require the modification, suspension or termination of clinical trials if an
unwarranted risk is presented to patients. When data is required from long-term
use of a drug following its approval and initial marketing, the FDA can require
Phase IV, or post-marketing, studies to be conducted.
With
certain exceptions, once successful clinical testing is completed, the sponsor
can submit an NDA for approval of a drug. The process of completing clinical
trials for a new drug is likely to take a number of years and require the
expenditure of substantial resources. Furthermore, the FDA or any foreign health
authority may not grant an approval on a timely basis, if at all. The FDA may
deny an NDA, in its sole discretion, if it determines that its regulatory
criteria have not been satisfied or may require additional testing or
information. Among the conditions for marketing approval is the requirement that
the prospective manufacturer’s quality control and manufacturing procedures
conform to good manufacturing regulations. In complying with standards contained
in these regulations, manufacturers must continue to expend time, money and
effort in the area of production, quality control and quality assurance to
ensure full technical compliance. Manufacturing facilities, both foreign and
domestic, also are subject to inspections by, or under the authority of, the FDA
and by other federal, state, local or foreign agencies.
Even
after initial FDA or foreign health authority approval has been obtained,
further studies, including Phase IV post-marketing studies, may be required to
provide additional data on safety and will be required to gain approval for the
use of a product as a treatment for clinical indications other than those for
which the product was initially tested. Also, the FDA or foreign regulatory
authority will require post-marketing reporting to monitor the side effects of
the drug. Results of post-marketing programs may limit or expand the further
marketing of the products. Further, if there are any modifications to the drug,
including any change in indication, manufacturing process, labeling or
manufacturing facility, an application seeking approval of such changes may be
required to be submitted to the FDA or foreign regulatory authority.
In the
United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health
Service Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and other federal and state
statutes and regulations govern or influence the research, testing, manufacture,
safety, labeling, storage, record keeping, approval, advertising and promotion
of drug, biological, medical device and food products. Noncompliance with
applicable requirements can result in, among other things, fines, recall or
seizure of products, refusal to permit products to be imported into the U.S.,
refusal of the government to approve product approval applications or to allow
the Company to enter into government supply contracts, withdrawal of previously
approved applications and criminal prosecution. The FDA may also assess civil
penalties for violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act involving
medical devices.
For
development of biodefense vaccines and therapeutics, the FDA has instituted
policies that are expected to result in accelerated approval. This includes
approval for commercial use using the results of animal efficacy trials, rather
than efficacy trials in humans. However, the Company will still have to
establish that the vaccine and countermeasures it is developing are safe in
humans at doses that are correlated with the beneficial effect in animals. Such
clinical trials will also have to be completed in distinct populations that are
subject to the countermeasures; for instance, the very young and the very old,
and in pregnant women, if the countermeasure is to be licensed for civilian use.
Other agencies will have an influence over the risk benefit scenarios for
deploying the countermeasures and in establishing the number of doses utilized
in the Strategic National Stockpile. We may not be able to sufficiently
demonstrate the animal correlation to the satisfaction of the FDA, as these
correlates are difficult to establish and are often unclear. Invocation of the
two animal rule may raise issues of confidence in the model systems even if the
models have been validated. For many of the biological threats, the animal
models are not available and the Company may have to develop the animal models,
a time-consuming research effort. There are few historical precedents, or recent
precedents, for the development of new countermeasure for bioterrorism agents.
Despite the two animal rule, the FDA may require large clinical trials to
establish safety and immunogenicity before licensure and it may require safety
and immunogenicity trials in additional populations. Approval of biodefense
products may be subject to post-marketing studies, and could be restricted in
use in only certain populations.
2.
Marketing Strategies
We
believe that we will be able to identify a marketing partner for
orBec®
in the
U.S. and Europe. To that end we are presently seeking a marketing partner for
orBec®
in iGVHD
and all other potential indications.
We intend
to market our biodefense vaccine products directly to government agencies. We
believe that both military and civilian health authorities of the United States
and other countries will increase their stockpiling of therapeutics and vaccines
to treat and prevent diseases and conditions that could ensue following a
bioterrorism attack.
3.
Competition
Our
competitors are pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, most of whom have
considerably greater financial, technical, and marketing resources than we
currently have. Another source of competing technologies is universities and
other research institutions, including the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute
of Infectious Diseases, and we face competition from other companies to acquire
rights to those technologies.
4.
Biodefense Vaccine Competition
We face
intense competition in the area of biodefense from various public and private
companies, universities and governmental agencies, such as the U.S. Army, some
of whom may have their own proprietary technologies which may directly compete
with the our technologies. Acambis, Inc., Avant Immunotherapeutics, Inc.,
Bioport Corporation, VaxGen, Inc., Chimerix, Inc., Biosante, Inc., ID Biomedical
Corporation, Human Genome Sciences, Inc., CpG Immunotherapeutics, Inc., Avanir
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Antex Biologics, Inc., Dynport Vaccine Company, LLC., and
others have announced vaccine or countermeasure development programs for
biodefense. Some of these companies have substantially greater human and
financial resources than we do, and many of them have already received grants or
government contracts to develop anti-toxins and vaccines against bioterrorism.
VaxGen and Avecia Biotechnology, Inc. have both received NIH contracts to
develop a next generation injectable anthrax vaccine. VaxGen has also recently
received approximately $900 million procurement order from the U.S. government
to produce and deliver 75 million doses of Anthrax vaccine. CpG
Immunotherapeutics, Inc. has received a $6 million Department of Defense grant
to develop vaccine enhancement technology. ID Biomedical Corporation, has
entered into an $8 million contract to develop a plague vaccine. We have not yet
been awarded any such contract funding. Additionally, we face competition from
other companies which have existing governmental relationships, such as Dynport
Vaccine Company, LLC, a prime contractor to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Dynport currently has a $300 million contract to develop vaccines for the U.S.
Military, including anthrax, and botulinum toxin vaccines.
5.
orBec®
Competition
Competition
is intense in the gastroenterology and transplant areas. Companies are
attempting to develop technologies to treat graft-vs.-host disease by
suppressing the immune system through various mechanisms. Some companies,
including Sangstat, Abgenix, and Protein Design Labs, Inc., are developing
monoclonal antibodies to treat graft-vs.-host disease. Novartis, Medimmune, and
Ariad are developing both gene therapy products and small molecules to treat
graft-vs.-host disease. All of these products are in various stages of
development. For example, Novartis currently markets Cyclosporin, and Sangstat
currently markets Thymoglobulin for transplant related therapeutics.
Competition
is also intense in the therapeutic area of inflammatory bowel disease. Several
companies, including Centocor, Immunex, and Celgene, have products that are
currently FDA approved. For example, Centocor, a subsidiary of Johnson &
Johnson, markets the drug product RemicadeTM for
Crohn’s disease. Other drugs used to treat inflammatory bowel disease include
another oral locally active corticosteroid called budesonide, which is being
marketed by AstraZeneca in Europe and Canada and by Prometheus Pharmaceuticals
in the U.S. under the tradename of Entocort®. Entocort
is structurally similar to beclomethasone dipropionate, and the FDA approved
Entocort for Crohn’s disease late in 2001. In Italy, Chiesi Pharmaceuticals
markets an oral formulation of beclomethasone dipropionate, the active
ingredient of orBec® for ulcerative colitis and may seek marketing approval for
their product in countries other than Italy including the United States. In
addition, Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. markets an FDA-approved therapy for
ulcerative colitis called Colazal®.
Several
companies have also established various colonic drug delivery systems to deliver
therapeutic drugs to the colon for treatment of Crohn’s disease. These companies
include Ivax Corporation, Inkine Pharmaceutical Corporation, and Elan
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Other approaches to treat gastrointestinal disorders
include antisense and gene therapy. Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is in the process
of developing antisense therapy to treat Crohn’s disease.
We are
not aware of any marketed products or products in active development to
selectively treat iGVHD. We also believe that orBec®’s unique
release characteristics, intended to deliver topically active therapy to both
the upper and lower gastrointestinal systems, should make orBec®
an
attractive alternative to existing therapies for inflammatory diseases of the
gastrointestinal tract.
6.
Patents and Other Proprietary Rights
Our goal
is to obtain, maintain and enforce patent protection for our products,
formulations, processes, methods and other proprietary technologies, preserve
our trade secrets, and operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of
other parties, both in the United States and in other countries. Our policy is
to actively seek to obtain, where appropriate, the broadest intellectual
property protection possible for our product candidates, proprietary information
and proprietary technology through a combination of contractual arrangements and
patents, both in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
We also
depend upon the skills, knowledge and experience of our scientific and technical
personnel, as well as that of our advisors, consultants and other contractors,
none of which is patentable. To help protect our proprietary knowledge and
experience that is not patentable, and for inventions for which patents may be
difficult to enforce, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality
agreements to protect our interests. To this end, we require all employees,
consultants, advisors and other contractors to enter into confidentiality
agreements, which prohibit the disclosure of confidential information and, where
applicable, require disclosure and assignment to us of the ideas, developments,
discoveries and inventions important to our business.
We have
"Orphan Drug" designations in the United States and in Europe. Our Orphan Drug
designations provide for seven years of post approval marketing exclusivity in
the U.S. and 10 years exclusivity in Europe for the use of orBec® in the
treatment of iGVHD. Neither the active ingredient of orBec®,
beclomethasone diproprionate, nor its use in the treatment of intestinal graft
versus host disease, our initial indication, is currently protected by issued
patents in the U.S. or elsewhere. We have pending patent applications for this
indication that, if granted, may extend our anticipated marketing exclusivity
beyond the seven year post-approval exclusivity provided by the Orphan Drug Act
of 1983. We are the exclusive licensee of an issued U.S. patent that covers the
use of orBec® for the
prevention of iGVHD.
Under the
Waxman-Hatch Act, a patent which claims a product, use or method of manufacture
covering drugs and certain other products may be extended for up to five years
to compensate the patent holder for a portion of the time required for
development and FDA review of the product. The Waxman-Hatch Act also establishes
periods of market exclusivity, which are periods of time ranging from three to
five years following approval of a drug during which the FDA may not approve, or
in certain cases even accept, applications for certain similar or identical
drugs from other sponsors unless those sponsors provide their own safety and
efficacy data.
7.
orBec®
License Agreement
In
October 1998, our subsidiary, Enteron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Enteron), entered
into an exclusive, worldwide, royalty bearing license agreement with George B.
McDonald, M.D., including the right to grant sublicenses, for the rights to the
intellectual property and know-how relating to orBec®. In
addition, Dr. McDonald receives $40,000 per annum as a consultant to
us.
Enteron
also executed an exclusive license to patent applications for "Use of
Anti-Inflammatories to Treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome" from the University of
Texas Medical Branch-Galveston. Under the license agreements, we will be
obligated to make performance-based milestone payments, as well as royalty
payments on any net sales of orBec®.
8.
MicrovaxTM Intellectual
Property
During
1998, our former joint venture with Élan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Innovaccines
Corporation, acquired from the Southern Research Institute/University of Alabama
broadly issued U.S. and international patents relating to the oral
administration of vaccines. Microspheres of these dimensions are preferentially
absorbed by lymphoid tissues in the gastrointestinal tract and other mucosal
lymphoid tissue, resulting in higher efficacy for orally and mucosally applied
vaccines. In 2002, we acquired Élan’s interest in Innovaccines. We subsequently
amended our existing agreement with the Southern Research Institute/University
of Alabama for rights to use their patents and technologies for
commercialization of microencapsulated vaccines that permit oral delivery of
antigenic compounds (vaccines). In April 2003, after the inception of our
biodefense program, the license agreement was amended to provide us with the
rights to nasal delivery of anthrax and ricin antigens. In keeping with our
current focus, the Southern Research Institute/University of Alabama license
agreement has again been amended to allow us to keep the nasal rights for the
ricin vaccine while returning all other rights. This most recent amendment
requires us to pay a yearly license fee in the amount of $60,000 and monthly
patent maintenance of $5,000.
9.
Ricin Vaccine Intellectual Property
In
January 2003, we executed a worldwide exclusive option to license patent
applications with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for the
nasal, pulmonary and oral uses of a non-toxic ricin vaccine. In June 2004, we
entered into a license agreement with UTSW for the injectable rights to the
ricin vaccine for initial license fees of $200,000 of our common stock and
$100,000 in cash. Subsequently, in October of 2004, we negotiated the remaining
oral rights to the ricin vaccine for additional license fees of $150,000 in
cash. Our license obligates us to pay $50,000 in annual license
fees.
10.
Botulinum Toxin Vaccine Intellectual Property
In 2003,
we executed an exclusive license agreement with Thomas Jefferson University for
issued U.S. Patent No. 6,051,239 and corresponding international patent
applications broadly claiming the oral administration of nontoxic modified
botulinum toxins as vaccines. The intellectual property also includes patent
applications covering the inhaled and nasal routes of delivery of the vaccine.
This license agreement requires that we pay a license fee of $160,000, payable
in $130,000 of restricted common stock and $30,000 in cash. We also entered into
a one-year sponsored research agreement with the execution of the license
agreement with Thomas Jefferson University, under which we are providing
$300,000 in annual research support. In addition, we also executed a consulting
agreement with Dr. Lance Simpson, the inventor of the botulinum toxin vaccine
for a period of three years. Under this agreement, Dr. Simpson received options
to purchase 100,000 shares of our common stock, vesting over two years. We are
also required to pay a $10,000 non-refundable license royalty fee no later than
January 1 of each calendar year.
11.
Employees
As of
March 2, 2005, we had nine full-time employees, four of whom are Ph.D.s.
Information
regarding our executive officers is set forth in Items 9 and 10 of this Annual
Report, which information is incorporated herein by reference.
12.
Research and Development Spending
We spent
approximately $3.6 million and $2.7 million on research and development for the
years ended 2004 and 2003, respectively.
Cautionary
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This
Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 that reflect our current expectations about our future results,
performance, prospects and opportunities. These forward-looking statements are
subject to significant risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including those
identified in "Risk Factors" below, which may cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements within this Form 10-KSB may be
identified by words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "intends,"
"may," "would," "will" and other similar expressions. However, these words are
not the exclusive means of identifying these statements. In addition, any
statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of
future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Except as
expressly required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances occurring subsequent to the filing of this Form 10-KSB with the
SEC or for any other reason. You should carefully review and consider the
various disclosures we make in this report and our other reports filed with the
SEC that attempt to advise interested parties of the risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may affect our business.
Risk
Factors
You
should carefully consider the risks, uncertainties and other factors described
below before you decide whether to buy shares of our common stock. Any of the
factors could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition,
operating results and prospects and could negatively impact the market price of
our common stock. Also, you should be aware that the risks and uncertainties
described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and
uncertainties that we do not yet know of, or that we currently think are
immaterial, may also impair our business operations. You should also refer to
the other information contained in and incorporated by reference into this
Annual Report, including our financial statements and the related
notes.
Risks
Related to our industry
We
have had significant losses and anticipate future losses; if additional funding
cannot be obtained, we may reduce or discontinue our product development and
commercialization efforts and we may be unable to continue our
operations.
We are a
company that has experienced significant losses since inception and have a
significant accumulated deficit. We expect to incur additional operating losses
in the future and expect our cumulative losses to increase. As of December 31,
2004 we had $2.3 million in cash available. As a result of our private placement
in February 2005, which brought in gross proceeds of approximately $3.77
million, we expect to have enough funds to meet our anticipated cash needs for
the next 12 months. In addition, through the NIH grant a portion of our
personnel and overhead expenditures will be supported. All of our products are
currently in development, preclinical studies or clinical trials, and we have
not generated any revenues from sales or licensing of these products. Through
December 31, 2004, we had expended approximately $6.3 million developing our
current product candidates for preclinical research and development and clinical
trials, and we currently have commitments to spend at least $7.1 million over
the next two years in connection with development of our vaccines and
therapeutic products, licenses, employee agreements, and consulting agreements.
Unless and until we are able to generate sales or licensing revenue from orBec®,
our leading product candidate, or another one of our product candidates, we will
require additional funding to meet these commitments, sustain our research and
development efforts, provide for future clinical trials, and continue our
operations. We may not be able to obtain additional required funding on terms
satisfactory to our requirements, if at all. If we are unable to raise
additional funds when necessary, we may have to reduce or discontinue
development, commercialization or clinical testing of some or all of our product
candidates or take other cost-cutting steps that could adversely affect our
ability to achieve our business objectives. If additional funds are raised
through the issuance of equity securities, stockholders may experience dilution
of their ownership interests, and the newly issued securities may have rights
superior to those of the common stock. If additional funds are raised by the
issuance of debt, we may be subject to limitations on our operations.
If
we are unsuccessful in developing our products, our ability to generate revenues
will be significantly impaired.
To be
profitable, our organization must, along with corporate partners and
collaborators, successfully research, develop and commercialize our technologies
or product candidates. Our current product candidates are in various stages of
clinical and preclinical development and will require significant further
funding, research, development, preclinical and/or clinical testing, regulatory
approval and commercialization, and are subject to the risks of failure inherent
in the development of products based on innovative or novel technologies.
Specifically, each of the following is possible with respect to any of our other
product candidates:
· |
that
we will not be able to maintain our current research and development
|
schedules;
· |
we
may be unsuccessful in our efforts to secure profitable procurement
contracts from the U.S. government or others for our biodefense products;
|
· |
that
we will encounter problems in clinical trials; or
|
· |
that
the technology or product will be found to be ineffective or unsafe.
|
If any of
the risks set forth above occurs, or if we are unable to obtain the necessary
regulatory approvals as discussed below, we may not be able to successfully
develop our technologies and product candidates and our business will be
seriously harmed. Furthermore, for reasons including those set forth below, we
may be unable to commercialize or receive royalties from the sale of any other
technology we develop, even if it is shown to be effective, if:
· |
it
is uneconomical or the market for the product does not develop or
diminishes; |
· |
we
are not able to enter into arrangements or collaborations to manufacture
and/or market the product; |
· |
the
product is not eligible for third-party reimbursement from government or
private insurers; |
· |
others
hold proprietary rights that preclude us from commercializing the product;
|
· |
others
have brought to market similar or superior products; or
|
· |
the
product has undesirable or unintended side effects that prevent or limit
its commercial use. |
Our
business is subject to extensive governmental regulation, which can be costly,
time consuming and subjects us to unanticipated
delays.
All of
our product offerings, as well as the processes and facilities by which they are
manufactured, are subject to very stringent United States, federal, foreign,
state and local government laws and regulations, including the Federal Food,
Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Environmental Protection Act, the Occupational Safety
and Health Act, and state and local counterparts to these acts. These laws and
regulations may be amended, additional laws and regulations may be enacted, and
the policies of the FDA and other regulatory agencies may change.
The
regulatory process applicable to our products requires pre-clinical and clinical
testing of any product to establish its safety and efficacy. This testing can
take many years and require the expenditure of substantial capital and other
resources. We may be unable to obtain, or we may experience difficulties and
delays in obtaining, necessary domestic and foreign governmental clearances and
approvals to market a product. Also, even if regulatory approval of a product is
granted, that approval may entail limitations on the indicated uses for which
the product may be marketed. The pivotal clinical trial of our product candidate
orBec® began in
2001. In December of 2004, we announced top line results for our pivotal Phase
III trial of orBec®
in iGVHD,
in which orBec®
demonstrated
a highly statistically significant reduction in mortality during the
prospectively defined Day 200 post-transplant period and positive trends on its
primary endpoint. While orBec® did not
achieve statistical significance in its primary endpoint of time to treatment
failure at Day 50 (p-value 0.1177), orBec®
did
achieve a 70% reduction in mortality compared to placebo. We plan to continue
discussions with the FDA to determine the next steps in the development of
orBec®.
Additional clinical trials may be necessary prior to either submission of a
marketing application or approval by the FDA of a marketing application.
Following
any regulatory approval, a marketed product and its manufacturer are subject to
continual regulatory review. Later discovery of problems with a product or
manufacturer may result in restrictions on such product or manufacturer. These
restrictions may include withdrawal of the marketing approval for the product.
Furthermore, the advertising, promotion and export, among other things, of a
product are subject to extensive regulation by governmental authorities in the
United States and other countries. If we fail to comply with applicable
regulatory requirements, we may be subject to fines, suspension or withdrawal of
regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating
restrictions and/or criminal prosecution.
There
may be unforeseen challenges in developing biodefense
products.
For
development of biodefense vaccines and therapeutics, the FDA has instituted
policies that are expected to result in accelerated approval. This includes
approval for commercial use using the results of animal efficacy trials, rather
than efficacy trials in humans. However, we will still have to establish that
the vaccine and countermeasures it is developing are safe in humans at doses
that are correlated with the beneficial effect in animals. Such clinical trials
will also have to be completed in distinct populations that are subject to the
countermeasures; for instance, the very young and the very old, and in pregnant
women, if the countermeasure is to be licensed for civilian use. Other agencies
will have an influence over the risk benefit scenarios for deploying the
countermeasures and in establishing the number of doses utilized in the
Strategic National Stockpile. We may not be able to sufficiently demonstrate the
animal correlation to the satisfaction of the FDA, as these correlates are
difficult to establish and are often unclear. Invocation of the two animal rule
may raise issues of confidence in the model systems even if the models have been
validated. For many of the biological threats, the animal models are not
available and we may have to develop the animal models, a time-consuming
research effort. There are few historical precedents, or recent precedents, for
the development of new countermeasure for bioterrorism agents. Despite the two
animal rule, the FDA may require large clinical trials to establish safety and
immunogenicity before licensure and it may require safety and immunogenicity
trials in additional populations. Approval of biodefense products may be subject
to post-marketing studies, and could be restricted in use in only certain
populations.
We
will be dependent on government funding, which is inherently uncertain, for the
success of our biodefense operations.
We are
subject to risks specifically associated with operating in the biodefense
industry, which is a new and unproven business area. We do not anticipate that a
significant commercial market will develop for our biodefense products. Because
we anticipate that the principal potential purchasers of these products, as well
as potential sources of research and development funds, will be the U.S.
government and governmental agencies, the success of our biodefense division
will be dependent in large part upon government spending decisions. The funding
of government programs is dependent on budgetary limitations, congressional
appropriations and administrative allotment of funds, all of which are
inherently uncertain and may be affected by changes in U.S. government policies
resulting from various political and military developments.
Our
products, if approved, may not be commercially viable due to health care changes
and third party reimbursement limitations.
Recent
initiatives to reduce the federal deficit and to change health care delivery are
increasing cost-containment efforts. We anticipate that Congress, state
legislatures and the private sector will continue to review and assess
alternative benefits, controls on health care spending through limitations on
the growth of private health insurance premiums and Medicare and Medicaid
spending, price controls on pharmaceuticals, and other fundamental changes to
the health care delivery system. Any changes of this type could negatively
impact the commercial viability of our products, if approved. Our ability to
successfully commercialize our product candidates, if they are approved, will
depend in part on the extent to which appropriate reimbursement codes and
authorized cost reimbursement levels of these products and related treatment are
obtained from governmental authorities, private health insurers and other
organizations, such as health maintenance organizations. In the absence of
national Medicare coverage determination, local contractors that administer the
Medicare program may make their own coverage decisions. Any of our product
candidates, if approved and when commercially available, may not be included
within the then current Medicare coverage determination or the coverage
determination of state Medicaid programs, private insurance companies or other
health care providers. In addition, third-party payers are increasingly
challenging the necessity and prices charged for medical products, treatments
and services.
We
may not be able to retain rights licensed to us by third parties to
commercialize key products or to develop the third party relationships we need
to develop, manufacture and market our products.
We
currently rely on license agreements from, the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Thomas
Jefferson University, Southern Research Institute, the University of Alabama
Research Foundation, and George B. McDonald M.D. for the rights to commercialize
key product candidates. We may not be able to retain the rights granted under
these agreements or negotiate additional agreements on reasonable terms, or at
all.
Furthermore,
we currently have very limited product development capabilities and no
manufacturing, marketing or sales capabilities. For us to research, develop and
test our product candidates, we need to contract or partner with outside
researchers, in most cases with or through those parties that did the original
research and from whom we have licensed the technologies. If products are
successfully developed and approved for commercialization, then we will need to
enter into collaboration and other agreements with third parties to manufacture
and market our products. We may not be able to induce the third parties to enter
into these agreements, and, even if we are able to do so, the terms of these
agreements may not be favorable to us. Our inability to enter into these
agreements could delay or preclude the development, manufacture and/or marketing
of some of our product candidates or could significantly increase the costs of
doing so. In the future, we may grant to our development partners rights to
license and commercialize pharmaceutical and related products developed under
the agreements with them, and these rights may limit our flexibility in
considering alternatives for the commercialization of these products.
Furthermore, third-party manufacturers or suppliers may not be able to meet our
needs with respect to timing, quantity and quality for the products.
Additionally,
if we do not enter into relationships with third parties for the marketing of
our products, if and when they are approved and ready for commercialization, we
would have to build our own sales force. Development of an effective sales force
would require significant financial resources, time and expertise. We may not be
able to obtain the financing necessary to establish a sales force in a timely or
cost effective manner, if at all, and any sales force we are able to establish
may not be capable of generating demand for our product candidates, if they are
approved.
We
may suffer product and other liability claims; we maintain only limited product
liability insurance, which may not be sufficient.
The
clinical testing, manufacture and sale of our products involves an inherent risk
that human subjects in clinical testing or consumers of our products may suffer
serious bodily injury or death due to side effects, allergic reactions or other
unintended negative reactions to our products. As a result, product and other
liability claims may be brought against us. We currently have clinical trial and
product liability insurance with limits of liability of $5 million, which may
not be sufficient to cover our potential liabilities. Because liability
insurance is expensive and difficult to obtain, we may not be able to maintain
existing insurance or obtain additional liability insurance on acceptable terms
or with adequate coverage against potential liabilities. Furthermore, if any
claims are brought against us, even if we are fully covered by insurance, we may
suffer harm such as adverse publicity.
We
may not be able to compete successfully with our competitors in the
biotechnology industry.
The
biotechnology industry is intensely competitive, subject to rapid change and
sensitive to new product introductions or enhancements. Most of our existing
competitors have greater financial resources, larger technical staffs, and
larger research budgets than we have, as well as greater experience in
developing products and conducting clinical trials. Our competition is
particularly intense in the gastroenterology and transplant areas and is also
intense in the therapeutic area of inflammatory bowel disease. We face intense
competition in the area of biodefense from various public and private companies
and universities as well as governmental agencies, such as the U.S. Army, which
may have their own proprietary technologies that may directly compete with our
technologies. In addition, there may be other companies that are currently
developing competitive technologies and products or that may in the future
develop technologies and products that are comparable or superior to our
technologies and products. We may not be able to compete successfully with our
existing and future competitors.
We
may be unable to commercialize our products if we are unable to protect our
proprietary rights, and we may be liable for significant costs and damages if we
face a claim of intellectual property infringement by a third
party.
Our
success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patents, protect
trade secrets and operate without infringing upon the proprietary rights of
others. In the absence of patent and trade secret protection, competitors may
adversely affect our business by independently developing and marketing
substantially equivalent or superior products and technology, possibly at lower
prices. We could also incur substantial costs in litigation and suffer diversion
of attention of technical and management personnel if we are required to defend
ourselves in intellectual property infringement suits brought by third parties,
with or without merit, or if we are required to initiate litigation against
others to protect or assert our intellectual property rights. Moreover, any such
litigation may not be resolved in our favor.
Although
we and our licensors have filed various patent applications covering the uses of
our product candidates, patents may not be issued from the patent applications
already filed or from applications that we might file in the future. Moreover,
the patent position of companies in the pharmaceutical industry generally
involves complex legal and factual questions, and recently has been the subject
of much litigation. Any patents we have obtained, or may obtain in the future,
may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. To date, no consistent policy
has been developed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office regarding
the breadth of claims allowed in biotechnology patents.
In
addition, because patent applications in the United States are maintained in
secrecy until patents issue, and because publication of discoveries in the
scientific or patent literature often lags behind actual discoveries, we cannot
be certain that we and our licensors are the first creators of inventions
covered by any licensed patent applications or patents or that we or they are
the first to file. The Patent and Trademark Office may commence interference
proceedings involving patents or patent applications, in which the question of
first inventorship is contested. Accordingly, the patents owned or licensed to
us may not be valid or may not afford us protection against competitors with
similar technology, and the patent applications licensed to us may not result in
the issuance of patents.
It is
also possible that our patented technologies may infringe on patents or other
rights owned by others, licenses to which may not be available to us. We are
aware of at least one issued U.S. patent assigned to the U.S. Government
relating to one component of one of our vaccine candidates that we may be
required to license in order to commercialize that vaccine candidate. We may not
be successful in our efforts to obtain a license under such patent on terms
favorable to us, if at all. We may have to alter our products or processes, pay
licensing fees or cease activities altogether because of patent rights of third
parties.
In
addition to the products for which we have patents or have filed patent
applications, we rely upon unpatented proprietary technology and may not be able
to meaningfully protect our rights with regard to that unpatented proprietary
technology. Furthermore, to the extent that consultants, key employees or other
third parties apply technological information developed by them or by others to
any of our proposed projects, disputes may arise as to the proprietary rights to
this information, which may not be resolved in our favor.
Our
business could be harmed if we fail to retain our current personnel or if they
are unable to effectively run our business.
We have
only nine employees and we depend upon these employees to manage the day-to-day
activities of our business. Because we have such limited personnel, the loss of
any of them or our inability to attract and retain other qualified employees in
a timely manner would likely have a negative impact on our operations.
Furthermore, these few employees on whom our business depends have limited
experience in managing and operating our business. Michael Sember, Chief
Executive Officer, was hired in December 2004; Evan Myrianthopoulos, our Chief
Financial Officer, was hired in November 2004, although he was on the Board for
two years; Dr. Gregory Davenport, the President of BioDefense Division, was
hired in December 2003; James Clavijo, our Controller, Treasurer and Corporate
Secretary was hired in October 2004; and Dr. Robert Brey, our Chief Scientific
Officer was hired in 1996. In the fourth quarter of 2004, Alexander P. Haig was
appointed Chairman of the Board replacing his father General (Ret.) Alexander M.
Haig, Jr., who resigned from our Board and joined our BioDefense Strategic
Advisory Board. In addition, our President and Acting Chief Executive Officer,
Geoff Green and our Controller, William Milling, resigned in the fourth quarter
of 2004. Because of this inexperience in operating our business, there continues
to be significant uncertainty as to how our management team will perform. We
will not be successful if this management team cannot effectively manage and
operate our business. Several members of our board of directors are associated
with other companies in the biopharmaceutical industry. Stockholders should not
expect an obligation on the part of these board members to present product
opportunities to us of which they become aware outside of their capacity as
members of our board of directors.
Risks
Related to our Common Stock
Our
stock price is highly volatile.
The
market price of our common stock, like that of many other research and
development public pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, has been highly
volatile and may continue to be so in the future due to a wide variety of
factors, including:
· |
announcements
of technological innovations, more important bio-threats or new commercial
therapeutic products by us, our collaborative partners or our present or
potential competitors; |
· |
our
quarterly operating results and
performance; |
· |
announcements
by us or others of results of pre-clinical testing and clinical
trials; |
· |
developments
or disputes concerning patents or other proprietary
rights; |
· |
litigation
and government proceedings; |
· |
changes
in government regulations; |
· |
economic
and other external factors; and |
· |
general
market conditions |
Our stock
price has fluctuated between January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2004, the per
share price of our common stock ranged between a high of $2.10 per share to a
low of $0.11 per share. As of March 2, 2005 our common stock traded at $0.43.
The fluctuation in the price of our common stock has sometimes been unrelated or
disproportionate to our operating performance.
Our
stock may not remain listed on the American Stock
Exchange
Because
we continue to incur losses from operations in fiscal 2004, the stockholders’
equity standard applicable to us of the American Stock Exchange’s (AMEX)
continued listing requirements is $6 million. As of February 7, 2005 on the
raising of approximately $3.77 million through a private equity placement we
were in compliance with the standard. However in order to continue to be in
compliance with the listing standard we must execute the compliance plan
submitted on December 30, 2004 with AMEX and approved by them on January 19,
2005. Despite our current compliance, AMEX may require that we also demonstrate
continued compliance with all listing requirements by July 12, 2005, including
minimum stockholders’ equity of at least $6 million at such time. Based upon our
forecasted cash expenditures, we may not satisfy such requirement at such time
absent one or more transactions having the effect of increasing our current
stockholders’ equity.
In June
30, 2003, our net equity of $2.3 million did not satisfy the $4 million minimum
stockholders’ equity requirement that was applicable to calendar quarters ending
during 2003, and we received notification from the AMEX that we were no longer
in compliance with their minimum listing requirements. On August 4, 2003 we
submitted a compliance plan, and the AMEX accepted our plan and allowed us 18
months to regain compliance in accordance with the terms of our plan. Our
deadline to meet the plan was December 26, 2004, to avoid delisting
from the AMEX. Although we did not meet the plan submitted, AMEX provided us
with the opportunity to submit a new plan of compliance with the listing
standard, which we submitted on December 30, 2004. On January 24, 2005 AMEX
accepted the compliance plan and provided us until July 12, 2005 to comply with
the continued listing standard of section 1003 (a) (iii) of the AMEX company
guide. However, we cannot assure you that we will continue to satisfy other
requirements necessary to remain listed on the AMEX or that the AMEX will not
take additional actions to delist our common stock. If for any reason, our stock
were to be delisted from the AMEX, we may not be able to list our common stock
on another national exchange or market. If our common stock is not listed on a
national exchange or market, the trading market for our common stock may become
illiquid. Upon any such delisting, our common stock would become subject to the
penny stock rules of the SEC, which generally are applicable to equity
securities with a price of less than $5.00 per share, other than securities
registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on the NASDAQ
system, provided that current price and volume information with respect to
transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system. The penny
stock rules require a broker-dealer, before a transaction in a penny stock not
otherwise exempt from the rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure
document prepared by the SEC that provides information about penny stocks and
the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer also
must provide the customer with bid and ask quotations for the penny stock, the
compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction and
monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in
the customer’s account. In addition, the penny stock rules require that, before
a transaction in a penny stock that is not otherwise exempt from such rules, the
broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is
a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written
agreement to the transaction. As a result of these requirements, if our common
stock were to become subject to the penny stock rules, it is likely that the
price of our common stock would decline and that our stockholders would find it
more difficult to sell their shares.
Shareholders
may suffer substantial dilution.
We have a
number of agreements or obligations that may result in dilution to investors.
These include:
· |
warrants
to purchase a total of approximately 22.4 million shares of our common
stock at a current weighted average exercise price of approximately $1.04;
|
· |
anti-dilution
rights associated with a portion of the above warrants which can permit
purchase of additional shares and/or lower exercise prices under certain
circumstances; and |
· |
options
to purchase approximately 11.8 million shares of our common stock of a
current weighted average exercise price of approximately $0.64.
|
To the
extent that anti-dilution rights are triggered, or warrants or options are
exercised, our stockholders will experience substantial dilution and our stock
price may decrease.
Item
2. Description of Property
Our
executive offices are located in a leased facility of approximately 2,500 square
feet in Miami, Florida. The lease expires on September 15, 2006. We believe that
our current leased facilities are sufficient to meet our current and foreseeable
needs.
Item
3. Legal Proceedings
None.
Item
4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
None.
PART
II
Item
5. Market for Common Equity and Related Stockholder
Matters.
Our
common stock is traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "DOR."
The table below sets forth the high and low sales prices, as provided by the
American Stock Exchange, for the period from January 1, 2003 through December
31, 2004. The amounts represent inter-dealer quotations without adjustment for
retail markup, markdowns or commissions and do not represent the prices of
actual transactions.
Period |
Price
Range |
High |
Low |
Fiscal
Year Ended December 31, 2003: |
|
|
First
Quarter |
$1.71 |
$0.47 |
Second
Quarter |
$1.37 |
$0.77 |
Third
Quarter |
$1.15 |
$0.50 |
Fourth
Quarter |
$0.90 |
$0.60 |
|
|
|
Fiscal
Year Ended December 31, 2004: |
|
|
First
Quarter |
$1.58 |
$0.70 |
Second
Quarter |
$0.97 |
$0.53 |
Third
Quarter |
$0.65 |
$0.36 |
Fourth
Quarter |
$0.81 |
$0.41 |
As of
March 2, 2005, the last reported price of our common stock was $0.43 per share.
We have approximately 1,093 registered holders of record.
Dividend
Policy
We have
never declared nor paid any cash dividends, and currently intend to retain all
our cash and any earnings for use in our business and, therefore, do not
anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future
determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of the Board of
Directors and will be dependant upon our consolidated financial condition,
results of operations, capital requirements and such other factors as the Board
of Directors deems relevant.
Item
6. Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of
Operation.
The
following discussion and analysis provides information that we believe is
relevant to an assessment and understanding of our results of operation and
financial condition. You should read this analysis in conjunction with our
audited consolidated financial statements and related notes. This discussion and
analysis contains statements of a forward-looking nature relating to future
events or our future financial performance. These statements are only
predictions, and actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating
such statements, you should carefully consider the various factors identified in
this Annual Report which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements, including
those set forth in "Item1. Description of Business-Risk Factors" in this Annual
Report. See "Item1 .Description of Business-Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements."
Business
Overview and Strategy
We are a
biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of biodefense vaccines and
oral therapeutic products intended for areas of unmet medical need. Our business
strategy is to (a) prepare the potential submission of a New Drug Application
for orBec®
with the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of acute Graft-versus-Host
Disease with gastrointestinal involvement; (b) evaluate and possibly initiate
additional clinical trials to explore the effectiveness of oral BDP in other
therapeutic indications involving inflammatory conditions of the
gastrointestinal tract; (c) consider prophylactic use studies of
orBec®; (d)
identify a marketing and sales partner for orBec® in the
U.S. and abroad; (e) secure government funding for each of our biodefense
programs through grants and procurement contracts; (f) convert the biodefense
vaccine programs from early stage development to advanced development and
manufacturing; (g) transition the biodefense vaccine development programs from
academic institutions into commercial manufacturing facilities with the goal of
soliciting government contracts; (h) identify the development candidates for
botulinum therapeutic screening program; and (i) acquire or in-license new
clinical-stage compounds for development.
orBec®
In order
to meet our goal of submitting a New Drug Application for orBec®
in 2005,
we are implementing a number of strategies aimed at improving our FDA approval
prospects. We have assembled an experienced team of employees and contractors
who are currently working on all aspects of the New Drug Application
preparation, including data management, data analysis, and biostatistics medical
writing. Manufacturing of the requisite batches of drug product (registration
batches) is ongoing and these batches are currently undergoing stability
testing.
We have
had strategic discussions with a number of pharmaceutical companies regarding
the partnering or sale of orBec®. It is
our intent to secure a marketing partner in the U.S. and abroad in anticipation
of commercialization of orBec®. We also
intend to secure a partner for the other potential indications of
orBec®.
RiVax™
The
scientific development of our ricin vaccine has progressed significantly in the
past year. With our partner the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center,
the initial goal was met for this program to file an Investigational New Drug
application with the FDA for the purposes of conducting a Phase I clinical trial
in healthy human volunteers and a Phase I safety and immunogenicity trial is
currently being conducted. The current vaccine is being developed for
intramuscular delivery. We are working on a formulation technology that could
permit the vaccine to be delivered nasally, with the objective of providing
immunity in the respiratory tract.
BT-VACC™
The
botulinum vaccine program has made important strides in the last year and we
have identified a lead antigen against one serotype of botulinum toxin. We are
in the process of validating the data and creating a multivalent botulinum
vaccine through a CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) with
the U.S. Army and Thomas Jefferson University. To date much of the work at
Thomas Jefferson University has been funded by us, and we plan to continue to
fund the development of additional antigens against other serotypes of botulinum
toxin. In addition, we have applied for and intend to continue to apply for
research grants from the U.S. government to fund the transition of the
manufacturing of the lead antigen from the academic center to commercial
facilities. The goal of our biodefense program is to supply the United States
government with qualified countermeasures that will protect its citizens against
ricin toxin and botulinum toxin exposure.
Critical
Accounting Policies
Our
discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are
based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in
accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and
judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and expenses,
and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going
basis, we evaluate these estimates and judgments. Currently, the most
significant estimate or judgment that we make is whether to capitalize or
expense patent and license costs. We make this judgment based on whether the
technology has alternative future uses, as defined in SFAS 2, "Accounting for
Research and Development Costs". Based on this consideration, we capitalized all
outside legal and filing costs incurred in the procurement of patents, as well
as amounts paid allowing us to license additional methods of vaccine delivery
through the Southern Research Institute patents, shares issued to acquire Élan’s
interest in the Innovaccine's Joint Venture, and amounts paid to University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center allowing us the ability to license certain
patents related to a vaccine protecting against ricin toxin. These intangible
assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances
indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. If the sum of the
expected undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying value of the related
asset or group of assets, a loss is recognized for the difference between the
fair value and the carrying value of the related asset or group of assets.
Material
Changes in Results of Operations
We are a
research and development company. For the year ended December 31, 2004 we had
grant revenue of $997,482 as compared to $83,817 in the 12 months ended December
31, 2003. We also incurred expenses related to that revenue in 2004 and 2003 of
$936,636 and $76,197, respectively. This revenue and associated expense was due
to a National Institute of Health (NIH) Grant we received in September 2004 and
a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant we received in September 2003
to further research associated with our ricin vaccine. The total amount of NIH
grant is $5,173,298 and the SBIR grant was $149,912.
For the
12 months ended December 31, 2004, we had a net loss applicable to common
stockholders of $6,374,769 as compared to a $6,225,476 net loss applicable to
common stockholders for the 12 months ended December 31, 2003, an increase of
$149,293, or 2%. Net loss applicable to common stockholders included the impact
of preferred stock dividends, which totaled $503,195 in 2004, as compared to
$936,945 in 2003. The decrease in preferred stock dividends was due to the
conversion of all outstanding Series C preferred stock to 1.25 million shares of
common stock in November 2002.
The 2004
results reflect a continued shift of research and development (R&D)
activities from in-house proprietary research and development activities to
outsourced R&D that began in 2003. During 2004, our research and development
spending increased to $3,656,776 as compared to $2,729,430 for 2003; an increase
of $927,346 or 34% as compared to 2003. This increase was a result of a
completion of the Phase III clinical trial for orBec®
and the
expenses related to our sponsored research programs for our ricin and botulinum
programs.
General
and administrative expenses for the 12 months ended December 31, 2004 were
$2,321,186 as compared to $2,505,071 for the 12 months ended December 31, 2003,
a decrease of $183,885, or 7%. This increase is in part attributed to severance
costs associated with several former employees.
We are
required to perform an annual impairment test, which we will perform in the
fourth quarter of each year. During the fourth quarter of 2004, we completed our
annual impairment test and determined that our intangible assets, namely, our
patents and licenses, were impaired by $6,215. The net book value of the
intangible assets will be reviewed annually and whenever the possibility of
impairment is indicated. Any resulting impairment will be recorded in the income
statement in the period in which it is identified and quantified.
Interest
income for the 12 months ended December 31, 2004 was $66,539 as compared to
$28,707 for the 12 months ended December 31, 2003, an increase of $37,832 or
132%. This increase was primarily due to the increase available cash balances
from the financing completed in the first quarter of 2004.
Interest
expense for the 12 months ended December 31, 2004 was $21,522 as compared to
$63,968 for the 12 months ended December 31, 2003, a decrease of $42,446 or 66%.
The decrease was due to a reduction in accrued interest expense related to the
decrease in the balance payable of our only note payable to a pharmaceutical
company.
FINANCIAL
CONDITION
As of
December 31, 2004, we had cash and cash equivalents of $2,332,190 as compared to
$4,117,539 as of December 31, 2003 and working capital of $1,055,922 as compared
to $3,287,045 as of December 31, 2003. For the 12 months ended December 31,
2004, our cash used in operating activities was approximately $4.4 million,
versus approximately $4.3 million in 2003.
In 2004,
we granted options to employees and directors that were conditional upon
stockholder approval of an amendment to our 1995 omnibus option plan. Therefore,
a measurement date did not exist, until approval could be gained at our annual
stockholder meeting. In December 2004, we recorded a noncash expense of
$284,555.
In 2003,
we granted options to employees and directors that were conditional upon
stockholder approval of an amendment to our 1995 omnibus option plan. Therefore,
a measurement date did not exist until approval could be gained at our annual
stockholder meeting in April 2005. In September 2003, we recorded an expense of
$954,850 as well as an expense of $50,148 for options granted to consultants.
We expect
our expenditures for 2005, under existing product development agreements and
license agreements pursuant to letters of intent and option agreements to
approximate $2.9 million. We anticipate grant revenues to offset manufacturing
and research expenditures for the development of our ricin vaccine in the amount
of approximately $2.5 million, pending completion of certain
milestones.
As of
December 31, 2004, we had a note due of $115,948, which represents the remaining
amount payable to a pharmaceutical company in connection with our joint ventures
in which we were required to make payments of $231,897 in June 2004 and $115,948
in December 2004. As of the date of this Annual Report we have not made the
final payment.
The
following summarizes our contractual obligations at December 31, 2004, and the
effect those obligations are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flow in
future periods.
Contractual
Obligations |
|
Year
2005 |
|
Year
2006 |
|
Year
2007 |
|
Non-cancelable
obligations (1) |
|
$ |
66,914 |
|
$ |
52,628 |
|
|
- |
|
Debt
(2) |
|
|
115,348 |
|
|
- |
|
|
- |
|
TOTALS |
|
$ |
182,262 |
|
$ |
52,628 |
|
$ |
- |
|
(1) 3
year lease on corporate office entered into in 2003 and expiring in
2006
(2) Debt
consists of payment due to Élan as part of the dissolution of the joint
ventures
In March
2004, we supplemented our cash position by the issuance and sale of 4,113,924
shares of our common stock at $0.79 per share in a private placement to
institutional investors. We also issued to such investors warrants to purchase
an aggregate of 1,645,570
shares of
our common stock at an exercise price of $0.87 per share. Our proceeds after
related expenses and closing costs, were approximately
$3.0 million.
In
February 2005, we further supplemented our cash position by the issuance and
sale of 8,396,100 shares of our common stock at $0.45 per share in a private
placement to institutional investors. Such investors also received warrants to
purchase an aggregate of 6,297,075 shares of our common stock at an exercise
price of $0.505 per share. Our proceeds after related expenses and closing
costs, were approximately $3.5 million. With this
financing we believe our current cash position will be sufficient to meet our
anticipated cash needs for working capital and capital expenditures for the next
12 months. However, within this period, we may decide to seek additional capital
in the private and/or public equity markets to support a higher level of growth,
to respond to competitive pressures, to develop new products and services and to
support new strategic partnership expenditures. After that 12-month period, if
cash generated from operations is insufficient to satisfy our liquidity
requirements, we may need to raise additional funds through public or private
financing, strategic relationships or other arrangements. If we receive
additional funds through the issuance of equity securities, stockholders may
experience significant dilution and these equity securities may have rights,
preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock. Further, we may
not be able to obtain additional financing when needed or on terms favorable to
our stockholders or us. If we are unable to obtain additional financing when
needed, or to do so on acceptable terms, we may be unable to develop our
products, take advantage of business opportunities or respond to competitive
pressures.
Off-Balance
Sheet Arrangements
We
currently have no off-balance sheet arrangements.
Item
7. Financial Statements.
See Item
13(1) of this Annual Report.
Item
8. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial
Disclosure.
None.
Item
8A. Controls and Procedures
Our chief
executive officer and our chief financial officer (the "Certifying Officers")
are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
procedures. Such officers have concluded (based upon their evaluations of these
controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report) that
our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information
required to be disclosed by us in this report is accumulated and communicated to
management, including the Certifying Officers as appropriate, to allow timely
decisions regarding required disclosure.
The
Certifying Officers have also indicated that there were no significant changes
in our internal controls over financial reporting or other factors that could
significantly affect such controls subsequent to the date of their evaluation,
and there were no significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.
Our
management, including the Certifying Officers, does not expect that our
disclosure controls or our internal controls will prevent all error and all
fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide
only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control
system are met. In addition, the design of a control system must reflect the
fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be
considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all
control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that
all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within a company have been
detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in
decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple
error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual
acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by management
override of the control. The design of any systems of controls is also based in
part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there
can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals
under all potential future conditions. Because of these inherent limitations in
a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur
and may not be detected.
Item
8B. Other Information
None.
PART
III
Item
9. Directors, Executive Officers, Promoters and Control Persons; Compliance with
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act.
The
following table contains information regarding the current members of the Board
of Directors and executive officers:
Name |
Age |
Position |
Alexander
P. Haig, J.D. |
53 |
Chairman
of the Board |
Steve
H. Kanzer, C.P.A., J.D. |
41 |
Vice
Chairman |
Michael
T. Sember, M.B.A. |
55 |
Chief
Executive Officer, President, and Director |
Evan
Myrianthopoulos |
40 |
Chief
Financial Officer, and Director |
James
S. Kuo, M.D., M.B.A. |
40 |
Director |
Stuart
D. Sedlack, M.B.A. |
40 |
Director |
Gregory
Davenport, Ph.D. |
36 |
President,
BioDefense |
Robert
N. Brey, Ph.D. |
54 |
Chief
Scientific Officer |
James
Clavijo, C.P.A., M.A. |
39 |
Controller,
Treasurer, and Corporate Secretary |
Alexander
P. Haig, J.D., Chairman
of the Board
Mr. Haig
has been a director since 2004 and currently serves as our non-employee Chairman
of the Board. Since
1988, Mr. Haig has served as the managing director of Worldwide Associates,
Inc., a firm representing multi-national corporations and early stage
development companies in marketing and business strategies. From 1992 to 1996,
Mr. Haig also served as president of US-CIS Ventures, a privately held company
active in transactions and projects in China and the former Soviet Union. From
1999 to 2002, Mr. Haig also served as Chairman and CEO of Sky Station
International, Inc., a privately held telecommunications company. Mr. Haig has
worked on a wide variety of projects for Worldwide Associates with particular
emphasis on aerospace and pharmaceutical technologies and was active in
providing strategic and financial advice to a broad range of companies from
early stage through initial public offerings, including America Online, Inc.
Previously a partner in a large private law firm, Mr. Haig concentrated on
international trade and corporate matters. He received his undergraduate and law
degrees from Georgetown University.
Steve
H. Kanzer, C.P.A.,
J.D.,
Vice
Chairman of the Board
Mr.
Kanzer has served as a member of our board of directors since 1996 and currently
serves as the non-executive Vice Chairman of the Board. Mr. Kanzer served as our
Interim President from June 30, 2002 through January 4, 2003. Since December
2000, he has served as Chairman of Accredited Ventures Inc. and Accredited
Equities Inc., respectively, a venture capital firm and NASD member investment
bank specializing in the biotechnology industry. He also serves as President
and/or a member of the board of directors of several private biopharmaceutical
companies, including Solovax, Inc., Effective Pharmaceuticals, Inc., CD4
Biosciences, Inc., Pipex, Inc. and Experimental Therapeutics, Inc., each of
which are involved in the licensing and development of clinical stage
investigational new drugs for a variety of diseases. Prior to founding
Accredited Ventures and Accredited Equities in December 2000, Mr. Kanzer was a
co-founder of Paramount Capital, Inc. in 1992 and served as Senior Managing
Director - Head of Venture Capital of Paramount Capital until December 2000.
While at Paramount Capital, Mr. Kanzer was involved in the formation and
financing of a number of biotechnology companies, including our company as well
as a private biopharmaceutical company, Corporate Technology Development, Inc.
("CTD"). Mr. Kanzer was full-time Chief Executive Officer of CTD from March 1998
until December 2000 and part-time Chief Executive Officer from December 2000
until our company completed its acquisition of CTD in November 2001. From 1995
until June 1999, Mr. Kanzer was a founder and Chairman of Discovery
Laboratories, Inc., a public biotechnology company. Prior to joining Paramount
Capital in 1992, Mr. Kanzer was an attorney at the law firm of Skadden, Arps,
Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York. Mr. Kanzer received his J.D. from New
York University School of Law and a B.B.A. in accounting from Baruch College.
Michael
T. Sember, M.B.A.,
Chief
Executive Officer, President and Director
Mr.
Sember became our Chief Executive Officer, President and Director in December
2004. Mr. Sember brings 30 years of broad experience working with both public
and private pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the U.S. and Europe. Mr.
Sember has an extensive business development, operating and financial background
which includes involvement with nearly 100 licensing transactions and several
corporate acquisitions. Formerly he was Managing Director of EGB Advisors, LLC
from December 2003 to December 2004, a business consulting firm and biotech
incubator. Prior to joining EGB Advisors, LLC he was President and Chief
Operating Officer of Women First Healthcare, from September 2003 to December
2003, a specialty pharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Women First
Healthcare, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Deltagen, Inc., from
April 2002 to December 2002, a genomics company. Both
Women's First Healthcare and Deltagen filed bankruptcy petitions subsequent to
Mr. Sember's tenure at each company. Mr. Sember was not a member of the
executive management or an employee of either company during the period leading
up to their engagement of him to assist in their efforts to accomplish a
restructuring of their business. Prior to
joining Deltagen, Inc. he was Executive Vice President of Business Development
with Élan Corporation, from September 1991 to March 2002. At Elan he was
responsible for building a strategic alliance portfolio, which included over 30
products in clinical development across several therapeutic areas including
neurology, oncology, and pain management. During this period he generated
approximately, $900 million in licensing revenue during the development of the
alliance portfolio. While at Élan he was also responsible for managing an
investment portfolio valued at approximately $1.25 billion. In addition, to this
experience Mr. Sember has served on the Boards of eight public and private
biotech companies and on the Advisory Boards of several venture capital firms.
Mr. Sember received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a
Master of Business Administration degree from Rockhurst
University.
Evan
Myrianthopoulos,
Chief
Financial Officer and Director
Mr.
Myrianthopoulos has been a director since 2002 and is currently the Chief
Financial Officer after joining the Company in November of 2004 as President and
Acting Chief Executive Officer. Formerly he was President and founder of CVL
Advisors, Group, Inc., from November 2001 to November 2004, a financial
consulting firm specializing in the biotechnology sector. Prior to founding CVL
Advisors Group, Inc., Mr. Myrianthopoulos was a co-founder of Discovery
Laboratories, Inc., from June 1996 to November 2001, a public specialty
pharmaceutical company developing respiratory therapies. While at Discovery, Mr.
Myrianthopoulos held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Vice President
of Finance, where he was responsible for raising approximately $55 million in
four private placements. He also negotiated and managed Discovery's merger with
Ansan Pharmaceuticals and Acute Therapeutics. Prior to co-founding Discovery,
Mr. Myrianthopoulos was a Technology Associate at Paramount Capital Investments,
L.L.C., a New York City based biotechnology venture capital and investment
banking firm. Prior to joining Paramount Capital, Mr. Myrianthopoulos was a
managing partner of S + M Capital Management, a hedge fund which specialized in
syndicated stock offerings and also engaging in arbitrage of municipal and
mortgage bonds. Prior to that, Mr. Myrianthopoulos held senior positions in the
treasury department at the National Australia Bank where he was employed as a
spot and derivatives currency trader. Mr. Myrianthopoulos holds a B.S. in
Economics and Psychology from Emory University.
James
S. Kuo, M.D., M.B.A.,
Director
Dr. Kuo
has been a director since 2004. Dr. Kuo is a founder, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of BioMicro Systems, since January 2003, a private
nanotechnology company. Formerly, Dr. Kuo was co-founder, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Laboratories, from January 2002 to December
2002, where he raised over $22 million in initial private funding and
successfully took the company public. Prior to that, he served as Vice President
Business Development, from 2001 to 2002, of Metabasis, Inc. Prior to that, he
served as Vice President Worldwide Business Development, from 2000 to 2001, of
Genset Corporation. He has held senior business development positions at Pfizer,
and Myriad Genetics. Dr. Kuo has also been Managing Director of Venture Analysis
at HealthCare Ventures and Vice President at Paramount Capital
Investments. Dr. Kuo is also a founder and former board director of
ArgiNOx, a private cardiovascular drug development company. Dr. Kuo
simultaneously received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.
Stuart
Sedlack,
Director
Mr.
Sedlack has been a director since 2004. Since April 2004, Mr. Sedlack is Head of
Negotiations, Global Business Development Business Franchise, Infectious
Diseases at Novartis Pharma AG. Prior to that, Mr. Sedlack was with Élan
Corporation, PLC, from May 1997 to September 2003, as Corporate Vice President,
Business Development, where he was responsible for strategic licensing, new
investments, portfolio management activities, and restructurings. Prior to
joining Élan, he served as Director for the Office of Technology Development for
the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore, MD. Mr. Sedlack
began his career in banking and finance working for MNC International Bank and
ABN AMRO Bank, N.V. Mr. Sedlack has served on the Board of Directors of
several healthcare companies including Ardent Pharmaceuticals, Targeted
Molecules Corporation, Digital Gene Technologies, and Celtrix
Pharmaceuticals. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics from the
University of Richmond, Mr. Sedlack went on to receive a Master of Business
Administration degree from Babson College .
Gregory
Davenport, Ph.D.,
President
Bio Defense Division
Dr.
Davenport, joined our company in December 2003, as Vice President for Business
Development and was recently promoted to President, BioDefense Division. In such
capacity, Greg will now oversee and manage the activities of our Biodefense
Division that is developing biomedical countermeasures to help address the
threat of bioterrorism. Dr. Davenport brings over 10 years of experience in the
biotechnology sector. Prior to joining he was Director of Vaccine Technology /
Business Development, from June 2001 to December 2003, for Dynport Vaccine
Company. He was responsible for technical evaluations and assessments of novel
technologies, particularly in the area of vaccine delivery systems and
production methods, and establishing strategic relationships and research
collaborations as well as pursuing federal funding, which resulted in several
new funded initiatives. Before that, Dr. Davenport received an undergraduate
degree in Biology from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, his Ph.D.
in Molecular Biology from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and performed
postdoctoral studies at the University of Maryland Medical Center and George
Washington University Medical Center, from September 1998 to May 2001, where he
worked on a number of therapeutic targets, including sickle cell anemia,
leukemia, and breast cancer.
Robert
N. Brey, Ph.D.,
Chief
Scientific Officer
Since
1996, Dr. Brey has held various positions within our company, including Vice
President, Vaccine Development and Vice President, Research and Development, as
well as principal vaccine consultant. He also has held scientific, management
and project management positions in the Lederle-Praxis division of American
Cyanamid, now a division of Wyeth, which developed a pediatric conjugate vaccine
for Haemophilius influenzae meningitis, and a conjugate vaccine for pneumonia,
both now recommended for routine pediatric immunization and commanding market
dominance. While at Lederle-Praxis, Dr. Brey managed Molecular Biology research
for vaccines and was project manager for development of oral vaccines from 1985
through 1993. He has been instrumental in the development of the Haemophilus
conjugate and pediatric combination vaccines. From 1993 through 1994, Dr. Brey
served as Director of Research and Development of Vaxcel, a company formed to
exploit adjuvant technology and formulations for improved vaccines. From 1994
through 1996, Dr. Brey established an independent consulting group, Vaccine
Design Group, to identify and develop novel vaccine technologies and platforms.
From 1996 through 2000, in addition to serving as our Vice President, he served
as Corporate Vice President of InnoVaccines Corporation, our joint venture with
Elan Pharmaceutical Technologies. Before entering into drug and vaccine
delivery, from 1982 through 1986 he held senior scientific positions at Genex
Corporation, one of the first biotechnology companies formed to exploit genetic
engineering. Dr. Brey received an undergraduate degree in biology from Trinity
College in Hartford, Connecticut, his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University
of Virginia and performed postdoctoral studies at MIT with Nobel laureate
Salvador Luria. Dr. Brey is an inventor or co-inventor of 10 U.S. patents in the
area of vaccines. He is a permanent member of NIH Vaccines against Microbial
Diseases review committee and serves as an editor of Advanced Drug Delivery
Reviews.
James
Clavijo, C.P.A., M.A., Controller,
Treasurer, and Corporate Secretary
Mr.
Clavijo joined our company in October 2004. He brings 15 years of senior
financial management experience, involving both domestic and international
entities, and participating in over $100 Million in equity and debt financing.
Prior to joining DOR, Mr. Clavijo, held the position of Chief Financial Officer
for Cigarette Racing Team (Miami, FL), from July 2003 to October 2004. During
his time with Cigarette he was instrumental in developing a cost accounting
manufacturing tracking system and managed the administration and development of
an IRB Bond related to a 10 acre, 100,000 square foot facility purchase. Prior
to joining Cigarette Racing Team, Mr. Clavijo held the position of Chief
Financial Officer for Gallery Industries, from November 2001 to July 2003, a
retail and manufacturing garment company. Prior to joining, Gallery, he served
as Corporate Controller, for A Novo Broadband, from December 2000 to November
2001, a repair and manufacturing telecommunications company where he managed
several mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring. Prior to joining A
Novo Broadband, he served as Chief Financial Officer of AW Industries, from
August 1997 to December 2000, a computer parts manufacturer. He also, held the
position of Finance Manager for Wackenhut Corporation in the U.S. Governmental
Services Division. In addition, he served in the U.S. Army from 1983 to 1996 in
both a reserve and active duty capacity for personnel and medical units. Mr.
Clavijo holds a Master in Accounting degree from Florida International
University, a Bachelor in Accounting degree from the University of Nebraska, and
a Bachelor in Chemistry degree from the University of Florida. Mr. Clavijo is a
licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Florida.
General
Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Strategic
Advisory Board
Mr. Haig
currently serves on our Strategic Advisory Board. He previously served as
Chairman of the Board of Directors from December 2002 to November 2004. Since
1984, Mr. Haig has been Chairman and President of Worldwide Associates, Inc., a
Washington D.C. based international advisory firm. He served as Secretary of
State (1981-82), President and Chief Operating officer of United Technologies
Corporation (1979-81), and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (1974-79).
Previously, he was White House Chief of Staff for the Nixon and Ford
administrations, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and Deputy National
Security Advisor. Mr. Haig currently serves on the Board of Directors of MGM
Mirage, Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, Inc. He is also the host of his own weekly
television program, "World Business Review".
Section
16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
We are
required to identify each person who was an officer, director or beneficial
owner of more than 10% of our registered equity securities during our most
recent fiscal year and who failed to file on a timely basis reports required by
Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
To our
knowledge, based solely on our review of the copies of such reports received by
us, and representations from certain reporting persons, we believe that, during
the year ended December 31, 2004, our directors, executive officers and
significant stockholders have timely filed the appropriate form under Section
16(a) of the Exchange Act, except Form 4’s for Evan Myrianthopoulos (two
filings); Peter Salomon (two filings); Larry Kessel (two filings); and Arthur
Kornbluth (one filing).
Code
of Ethics
We have
adopted a code of ethics that applies to all of our executive officers and
senior financial officers (including our chief executive officer, chief
financial officer, chief accounting officer, controller, and any person
performing similar functions). A copy of our code of ethics is publicly
available on our website at http://www.dorbiopharma.com under the caption
"Investors." If we make any substantive amendments to our code of ethics or
grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the code to
our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer
or controller, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver in a
report on Form 8-K.
Audit
Committee
Financial
Expert
We have
an audit committee comprised of Dr. Kuo and Mr. Sedlack. The board of directors
has determined that Dr. Kuo qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,”
as
defined under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The board of
directors has also determined that all of the members of the Audit Committee are
qualified to serve on the committee and have the experience and knowledge to
perform the duties required of the committee.
Item
10. Executive Compensation.
The
following table contains information concerning the compensation paid during our
fiscal years ended December 31, 2002, 2003 and 2004, to the persons who served
as our Chief Executive Officers, and each of the four other most highly
compensated executive officers during 2004 (collectively, the "Named Executive
Officers").
Name
|
Position |
Years |
Annual
Salary |
Annual
Bonus |
Long
term Compensation Awards Securities Underlying
Options |
Michael
Sember (1) |
CEO |
2004 |
$20,000 |
- |
2,000,000 |
Evan
Myrianthopoulos (2) |
CFO |
2004 |
$25,694 |
- |
650,000 |
Gregory
Davenport, Ph.D. (3) |
President |
2004 |
$124,375 |
$25,000 |
600,000 |
|
BioDefense |
2003 |
$9,583 |
- |
- |
Robert
Brey, Ph.D. (4) |
CSO |
2004 |
$155,000 |
- |
- |
|
|
2003 |
$164,637 |
- |
- |
|
|
2002 |
$254,000 |
- |
- |
James
Clavijo (5) |
Controller |
2004 |
$27,500 |
- |
100,000 |
Geoff
Green (6) |
Acting |
2004 |
$124,490 |
$26,667 |
700,000 |
|
CEO |
2003 |
$55,464 |
- |
- |
Ralph
Ellison (7) |
CEO |
2004 |
$323,076 |
$108,333 |
2,000,000 |
|
|
2003 |
$200,000 |
- |
- |
(1) Mr.
Sember joined in December 2004.
(2) Mr.
Myrianthopoulos joined in November 2004 as President and Acting Chief Executive
Officer and then in December 2004 he accepted the position of Chief Financial
Officer.
(3) Dr.
Davenport joined in December 2003.
(4) Dr.
Brey joined in December 1996.
(5) Mr.
Clavijo joined in October 2004.
(6) Mr.
Green joined in July 2003 as Vice President, Clinical Operations and then in
July 2004 accepted the position of President and Acting Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Green resigned in November 2004.
(7) Dr.
Ellison joined in March 2003 and resigned in July 2004.
The
following table contains information concerning options granted to the Named
Executive Officers during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004. We have
never issued Stock Appreciation Rights.
Option
Grants in Last Fiscal Year
Named
Executive Officer |
Number
of Securities Underlying Options Granted (1)(2) |
Percentage
of Total Options Granted to Employees in Fiscal Year
(3) |
Exercise
Price ($/share) |
Expiration
Date |
Michael
Sember (4) |
2,000,000 |
44
% |
$0.46 |
12/7/2014 |
Evan
Myrianthopoulos (5) |
650,000 |
14
% |
$0.47-$0.49 |
12/9/2014
& 11/10/2014 |
James
Clavijo (6) |
100,000 |
2
% |
$0.47 |
10/22/2014 |
Gregory
Davenport (7) |
100,000 |
2
% |
$0.55 |
9/29/2014 |
(1) Dr.
Brey, Dr. Ellison and Mr. Green did not receive any options during fiscal year
2004.
(2) Based
on options to purchase an aggregate of 4,500,000 shares of our common stock
granted to employees and non-employee board members in the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2004, including all options granted to the Named Executive Officers
in all capacities in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004.
(3) The
exercise price of each grant is equal to the fair market value of the company’s
common stock on the date of the grant.
(4) Mr.
Sember’s options vested 680,000 on date of grant, December 7, 2004, with the
balance vesting every three months from grant date, at a rate of 110,000 options
per three month period.
(5) Mr.
Myrianthopoulos has 500,000 options that will vest quarterly on each three month
anniversary of December 9, 2004 at 41,667 per period and he has 150,000 options
which vested immediately on November 10, 2004. The exercise price on these
options was $ 0.49 and $0.47, respectively.
(6) Mr.
Clavijo’s options vested 33,333 after one year of service, 33,333 after second
year of service and 33,334 after the third year of service.
(7) Dr.
Davenport’s options vested immediately upon meeting milestones.
Fiscal
Year-End Option Table
The
following table provides information on the total number of exercisable and
unexercisable stock options held at December 31, 2004 by the Named
Executive Officers. None of the Named Executive Officers exercised any options
during fiscal year 2004.
Fiscal
Year-End Option Values
|
Number
of Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options
at Fiscal Year-End |
Value
of Unexercised
In-the-Money
Options
at
Fiscal Year-End |
Named
Executive Officer |
Exercisable |
Unexercisable |
Exercisable |
Unexercisable(1) |
Michael
Sember |
680,000 |
1,320,000 |
- |
- |
Evan
Myrianthopoulos |
150,000 |
500,000 |
- |
- |
James
Clavijo |
- |
100,000 |
- |
- |
Gregory
Davenport |
150,000 |
450,000 |
- |
- |
Rob
Brey |
115,000 |
- |
- |
- |
Ralph
Ellison |
2,000,000 |
- |
- |
- |
Geoff
Green |
200,000 |
- |
- |
- |
(1) Based
on the difference between the option's exercise price and a closing price of
$0.64 for the underlying common stock on December 31, 2004 as reported by the
American Stock Exchange.
Employment
and Severance Agreements
During
February 2005, we entered into a three year employment agreement with James
Clavijo. Pursuant to this employment agreement we agreed to pay Mr. Clavijo a
base salary of $125,000 per year. After one year of service Mr. Clavijo would be
entitled to a minimum annual bonus of $25,000. We agreed to issue him options to
purchase 150,000 shares of our common stock, with one third immediately vesting
and the remainder vesting over three years. This option grant is subject to
shareholder approval. Upon termination without "just cause" as defined by this
agreement, we would pay Mr. Clavijo three months severance, as well as any
unpaid bonuses and accrued vacation would become payable. No unvested options
shall vest beyond the termination date. Mr. Clavijo also received 100,000
options, vesting over three years when he was hired in October 2004, as
Controller, Treasurer and Corporate Secretary.
During
December 2004, we entered into a three year employment agreement with Evan
Myrianthopoulos. Pursuant to this employment agreement we agreed to pay Mr.
Myrianthopoulos a base salary of $185,000 per year. After one year of service
Mr. Myrianthopoulos would be entitled to a minimum annual bonus of $50,000. We
agreed to issue him options to purchase 500,000 shares of our common stock, with
the options vesting over three years. This option grant is subject to
shareholder approval. Upon termination without "just cause" as defined by this
agreement, we would pay Mr. Myrianthopoulos six months severance subject to
setoff, as well as any unpaid bonuses and accrued vacation would become payable.
No unvested options shall vest beyond the termination date. Mr. Myrianthopoulos
also received 150,000 options, vested immediately when he was hired in November
2004, as President and Acting Chief Executive Officer.
During
December 2004, we entered into a three year employment agreement with Michael T.
Sember, M.B.A. Pursuant to this employment agreement we agreed to pay Mr. Sember
a base salary of $300,000 per year. After one year of service Mr. Sember would
be entitled to a minimum annual bonus of $100,000. We agreed to issue him
options to purchase 2,000,000 shares of our common stock, with one third
immediately vesting and the remainder vesting over three years. This option
grant is subject to shareholder approval. Upon termination without "just cause"
as defined by this agreement, we would pay Mr. Sember six months severance, as
well as any unpaid bonuses and accrued vacation would become payable. No
unvested options shall vest beyond the termination date.
During
September 2004, we entered into a one year employment agreement with Gregory
Davenport, Ph.D. Pursuant to this employment agreement we agreed to pay Dr.
Davenport a base salary of $140,000 per year. After one year of service Dr.
Davenport would be entitled to a minimum annual bonus of 20% of his annual
salary. We agreed to issue him options to purchase 600,000 shares of our common
stock, with options vesting based on milestones. Upon termination without "just
cause" as defined by this agreement, we would pay Dr. Davenport three months
severance, as well as any unpaid bonuses and accrued vacation would become
payable. All options would become fully vested and he would have 90 days to
exercise those options.
During
July 2003, we entered into a three year employment agreement with Geoff Green.
Pursuant to this employment agreement we agreed to pay Mr. Green a base salary
of $100,000 per year. After one year of service he would be entitled to an
annual bonus of $20,000. We agreed to issue him options to purchase 300,000
shares of our common stock, with one third immediately vesting and the remainder
vesting over two years. Upon termination without "just cause" as defined by this
agreement, we would pay Mr. Green three months severance, as well as any unpaid
bonuses and accrued vacation would become payable. No unvested options shall
vest beyond the termination date. In November 2003, Mr. Green also received
options to purchase 400,000 shares of our common stock, with vesting based on
milestones. In July 2004, Mr. Green accepted the position of President and
Acting Chief Executive Officer and received an increase in salary to $145,000.
On November 9, 2004, Mr. Green resigned.
During
March 2003, we entered into a three year employment agreement with Ralph M.
Ellison M.D., M.B.A. Pursuant to this employment agreement we agreed to pay Dr.
Ellison a base salary of $200,000 per year. Upon the completion of the equity
financing, Dr. Ellison received an increase in base salary to $300,000 per year,
as well as a bonus on his anniversary of 30% of his yearly salary. We agreed to
issue him options to purchase 2,000,000 shares of our common stock, with one
third immediately vesting and the remainder vesting over two years. Upon
termination without "just cause" as defined by this agreement, we would pay Dr.
Ellison six months severance, as well as any unpaid bonuses and all of his
options would immediately become vested in full. On July 9, 2004, Dr. Ellison
resigned from the Company and entered into a separation agreement and general
release in which we agreed to pay Dr. Ellison six months’ severance and provide
him with the right to exercise his 2,000,000 vested options received pursuant to
his employment agreement for a period of one year from his resignation
date.
Director
Compensation
Directors
who are compensated as full-time employees receive no additional compensation
for service on our Board of Directors or its committees. Each director who is
not a full-time employee is paid $2,000 for each board or committee meeting
attended ($1,000 if such meeting was attended telephonically).
We
maintain a stock option grant program pursuant to the nonqualified stock option
plan, whereby members of the our Board of Directors who are not full-time
employees receive an initial grant of fully vested options to purchase 50,000
shares of common stock, and subsequent annual grants of fully vested options to
purchase 50,000 shares of common stock after re-election to our Board of
Directors.
On
November 10, 2004, we entered into a letter agreement with Alexander P. Haig, to
serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. We agreed to issue to him
options to purchase 1,000,000 shares of our common stock, with 500,000 vesting
immediately and 500,000 vesting in one year. In addition, on November 10, 2004,
we entered into a one year consulting agreement with Worldwide Associates, Inc.,
for a fee of $16,500 per month. Mr. Haig is the managing director of Worldwide
Associates, Inc. and General Haig is its President.
On
December 23, 2002, we entered into a letter agreement with General Alexander M.
Haig, Jr. to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. We agreed to pay
General Haig a retainer of $50,000 per year, and issued to him options to
purchase 2,000,000 shares of our common stock. On November 10, 2004, the
retainer portion of this agreement was terminated and General Haig was given
three years in which to exercise his options.
Item
11. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related
Stockholder Matters.
The table
below provides information regarding the beneficial ownership of the Common
Stock as of March 2, 2005. The table reflects ownership by: (1) each person or
entity who owns beneficially 5% or more of the shares of our outstanding common
stock (2) each of our directors, (3) each of the Named Executive Officers, and
(4) our directors and officers as a group. Except as otherwise indicated, and
subject to applicable community property laws, we believe the persons named in
the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of
common stock held by them. Except as otherwise indicated, each stockholder’s
percentage ownership of our common stock in the following table is based on
50,612,504 shares of common stock outstanding.
Name
of Beneficial Owner |
Shares
of Common Stock Beneficially Owned |
Percent
of Class |
SF
Capital Partners (1) |
6,494,705 |
12.19
% |
Silverback
(2) |
3,885,000 |
7.43
% |
Alex
P. Haig (3) |
500,000 |
0.98
% |
Steve
H. Kanzer (4) |
2,085,635 |
4.02
% |
Michael
T. Sember (5) |
790,000 |
1.54
% |
Evan
Myrianthopoulos (6) |
628,009 |
1.23
% |
James
Kuo (7) |
100,000 |
* |
Stuart
Sedlack (8) |
100,000 |
* |
James
Clavijo (9) |
50,000 |
* |
Greg
Davenport (10) |
150,000 |
* |
Robert
Brey (11) |
115,000 |
* |
Ralph
Ellison (12) |
2,000,000 |
3.80
% |
Geoff
Green (13) |
- |
* |
All
directors and executive officers as a group (7 persons) |
4,253,644 |
8.25
% |
*
Indicates less than 1%.
(1)
Includes the 3,817,046 of common stock shares beneficially owned by SF Capital
Partners Ltd, 1,012,659 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of
warrants within 60 days and 1,665,000 shares of common stock issuable upon
exercise of warrants until August 2010. Reference to this was as reported on
Schedule 13 G filed with the SEC on February 9, 2005. The address for SF Capital
Partners Ltd. is 3600 South Lake Drive St. Francis, WI 53235.
(2)
Includes the 2,220,000 of common stock shares beneficially owned by Silverback
Master Ltd. and Silverback Life Sciences Master Fund, and 1,665,000 shares of
common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants until August 2010. Reference to
this was as reported on Schedule 13 G filed with the SEC on February 2, 2005.
The address for Silverback is 1414 Raleigh Road, Suite 250, Chapel Hill, NC
27517.
(3)
Includes 500,000 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Mr. Haig is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite
435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(4)
Includes 819,437 shares of common stock owned by Mr. Kanzer and 349,398 warrants
to purchase shares of common stock and 916,800 options to purchase common stock
within 60 days of March 2, 2005. The address of Mr. Kanzer is c/o DOR BioPharma,
1691 Michigan Ave, Suite 435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(5)
Includes 790,000 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Mr. Sember is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite
435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(6)
Includes 628,009 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Mr. Myrianthopoulos is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan
Ave, Suite 435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(7)
Includes 100,000 options to purchase common stock and 5,000 warrants to purchase
shares of common stock within 60 days of March 2, 2005. The address of Dr. Kuo
is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite 435, Miami Beach, FL
33139.
(8)
Includes 100,000 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Mr. Sedlack is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite
435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(9)
Includes 50,000 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Mr. Clavijo is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite
435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(10)
Includes 150,000 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Dr. Davenport is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave,
Suite 435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(11)
Includes 115,000 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Dr. Brey is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite
435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(12)
Includes 2,000,000 options to purchase common stock within 60 days of March 2,
2005. The address of Dr. Ellison is c/o DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite
435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
(13) Mr.
Green’s options had expired as of March 2, 2005. The address of Mr. Green is c/o
DOR BioPharma, 1691 Michigan Ave, Suite 435, Miami Beach, FL 33139.
Equity
Compensation Plan Information
The
following table provides information about the securities authorized for
issuance under our equity compensation plans as of December 31,
2004:
Plan
Category |
Number
of Securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants
and rights (a) |
Weighted-Average
Exercise Price Outstanding options, warrants and rights
(b) |
Number
of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under Equity
Compensation Plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a)
(c) |
Equity
compensation plans approved by security holders (1) |
10,000,000 |
$
0.66 |
- |
Equity
compensation plans not approved by security holders (2) |
1,764,339 |
$
0.47 |
- |
TOTAL |
11,764,339 |
$
0.64 |
- |
(1)
Includes our 1995 Amended and Restated Omnibus Incentive Plan (the
“Plan”).
(2) The
excess options awarded will be subject to shareholder approval to increase the
number of options available under the Plan at our 2005 Annual Meeting of
stockholders.
Item
12. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions.
In
September 2003, we completed a private placement of our common stock at $0.79
per share realizing gross proceeds of $5,410,348. In addition to common stock,
for each share purchased investors received a warrant to purchase an additional
share of common stock exercisable at $0.8756 per share until the earlier of an
average closing price of our common stock of $1.68 per share or September 15,
2008. Purchasers in this private placement, on the same terms and conditions as
the other subscribers, included Steve H. Kanzer, a member of our Board of
Directors, who purchased for $100,000, 125,628 shares of common stock and
warrants exercisable at $0.79 per share to purchase an additional 125,628
shares. Accredited Equities, Inc., a broker-dealer owned solely by Mr. Kanzer
received cash compensation of approximately $38,000, and warrants exercisable
for five years at $0.8756 per share to purchase 150,752 shares of common stock
were issued to an employee of Accredited Equities, Inc. (other than Mr. Kanzer)
in consideration for placement services rendered as a selected dealer to the
placement agent of this private placement.
In
connection with our 2003 private placement, Evan Myrianthopoulos, one of our
Directors acted as a selected dealer to introduce certain investors to our
company. Mr. Myrianthopoulos received cash compensation of approximately $62,000
and 256,314 warrants to purchase shares of common stock exercisable for five
years at approximately $0.8756 per share.
In
connection with our 2003 private placement, Paramount Capital, Inc., an
investment bank associated a stockholder owning over 5% of our common stock,
acted as our placement agent and was paid cash compensation of approximately
$380,000, was issued warrants to purchase 822,907 shares of our common stock
exercisable for five years at $0.8756 per share and received an extension for an
additional five years on pre-existing warrants to purchase 2,108,708 shares of
common stock at $1.82 per share.
In March
2003, we issued 150,000 options each to Peter Salomon and Larry Kessel, members
of our Board of Directors, as a finder’s fee in connection with the hiring of
Ralph Ellison, M.D. as our CEO and President.
In
January 2003, in connection with our execution of definitive license agreements
for our ricin and botulinum toxin vaccines, we issued to Accredited Ventures,
Inc., a company solely owned by Mr. Kanzer, a member of our board of directors,
150,000 options to purchase our common stock exercisable at $0.58 per share and
150,000 options to purchase our common stock exercisable at $1.28 per share. Mr.
Kanzer has requested that half of these options be redirected to an employee of
Accredited Ventures, Inc.
Item
13. Exhibits
The
following financial statements and exhibits are filed as part of this Annual
Report:
(1)
Financial
Statements:
(i)
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
(ii) Consolidated
Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2003.
(iii) Consolidated
Statement of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003.
(iv)
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2004 and
2003.
(v) Consolidated
Statement of Stockholders’ Equity for the years December 31, 2004 and 2003.
(vi)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
(2)
Exhibits:
3.1 Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. (10)
3.2 By-laws.
(11)
4.1 Form of
Investor Warrant issued to each investor dated as of April 12, 2000. (1)
4.2 Finder
Warrant issued to Paramount Capital, Inc. dated as of April 12, 2000. (1)
4.3 Warrant
issued to Aries Fund dated as of May 19, 1997. (1)
4.4 Warrant
issued to Aries Domestic Fund, L.P. dated as of May 19, 1997. (1)
4.5 Warrant
issued to Paramount Capital, Inc. dated as of October 16, 1997. (2)
4.6 Warrant
issued to Paramount Capital, Inc. dated as of October 16, 1997. (2)
4.7 Warrant
issued to Élan International Services, Ltd. dated January 21, 1998. (3)
4.8 Form of
Warrant to be issued to CTD warrant holders. (4)
4.9
Form of Warrant issued to each investor in the December 2002 private
placement.
4.10
Form of Warrant issued to each investor in the September 2003 private placement.
(8)
4.11 Form
of Warrant issued to each investor in the March 2004 private placement. (9)
4.12 Form
of Warrant issued to each investor in the February 2005 private placement. (13)
4.13 Form
of Warrant issued to Mid South Cpaital, Inc. in the February 2005 private
placement. Filed Herewith.
10.1 Amended
and Restated 1995 Omnibus Incentive Plan. (10)
10.2 Lease
dated September 1, 2003 between the Company and L.N.R. Jefferson LLC.
10.3 Form of
Affiliate Agreement dated as of August 15, 2001 by and between the Company
and the
affiliates of CTD. (5)
10.4 Noncompetition
and Nonsolicitation Agreement entered into by and among the Company, CTD and
Steve H. Kanzer dated as of November 29, 2001. (7)
10.5 Termination
of the Endorex Newco joint venture between the Company, Élan Corporation, Élan
international services, and Elan Pharmaceutical
dated December 12, 2002. (7)
10.6
Option Agreement with General Alexander M. Haig Jr. (7)
10.7
Separation Agreement and General Release between the Company and Ralph Ellison
dated July 9, 2004.
10.8
License Agreement between the Company and The University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center
10.9 License
Agreement between the Company and Thomas Jefferson University
10.10 License
Agreement between the Company and The University of Texas Medical Branch
10.11 Consulting
Agreement between the Company and Lance Simpson of Thomas Jefferson University
10.12 Form of
Subscription Agreement between the Company and each investor dated July 18,
2003. (8)
10.13 Form of
Securities Purchase Agreement between the Company and each investor dated March
4, 2004. (9)
10.14 Form of
Registration Rights Agreement between the Company and each Investor dated March
4, 2004. (9)
10.15 Employment
agreement between the Company and Greg Davenport dated September 1,
2004. Filed Herewith.
10.16 Employment
agreement between the Company and Mike Sember dated December 7, 2004. Filed
Herewith.
10.17 Employment
agreement between the Company and Evan Myrianthopoulos dated December 9, 2004.
Filed Herewith.
10.18 Employment
agreement between the Company and James Clavijo dated February 18, 2005. Filed
Herewith.
10.19 Form of
Securities Purchase Agreement between the Company and each investor dated
February 1, 2005 (13).
10.20 Amendment
No. 1 dated February 17, 2005 to the Securities Purchase Agreement between the
Company and each investor dated February 1, 2005. Filed Herewith.
10.21 Form
Registration Rights agreement between the Company and each investor dated
February 1, 2005 (13).