LIQUIDITY AND FINANCIAL CONDITION |
NOTE 3: LIQUIDITY AND FINANCIAL CONDITION As of September 30, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $17.5 million. The Company’s activities since inception have consisted principally of acquiring product and technology rights, raising capital, and performing research and development. Successful completion of the Company’s development programs and, ultimately, the attainment of profitable operations are dependent on future events, including, among other things, its ability to access potential markets; secure financing; successfully progress its product candidates through preclinical and clinical development; obtain regulatory approval of one or more of its product candidates; maintain and enforce intellectual property rights; develop a customer base; attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; and develop strategic alliances and collaborations. From inception, the Company has been funded by a combination of equity and debt financing. In August 2021, the Company entered a Controlled Equity OfferingSM Sales Agreement (the “ATM Agreement”) with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and RBC Capital Markets, LLC (the “Sales Agents”), pursuant to which the Company can offer and sell, from time to time at its sole discretion through the Sales Agents, shares of its common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $75.0 million. Any shares of its common stock sold will be issued pursuant to the Company’s shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-258687), which the SEC declared effective on August 19, 2021. The shelf registration statement on Form S-3 includes a prospectus supplement covering the offering up to 9.87 million of shares of common stock over the 12 months ending March 22, 2024 pursuant to General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3, which limits the amounts that the Company may sell under the registration statement, and in accordance with the ATM agreement. The Sales Agents will be entitled to compensation under the Sales Agreement at a commission rate equal to 3.0% of the gross sales price per share sold under the ATM Agreement, and the Company has provided each of the Sales Agents with indemnification and contribution rights. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company sold 265,334 shares of its common stock under the ATM Agreement for proceeds of $1.0 million (see Note 10). In August 2021, the Company received notice of a Product Development Research award totaling approximately $13.1 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (“CPRIT”) to support the Company’s Phase 2 clinical trial of its lead multiTAA-specific T cell product MT-401. The CPRIT award is intended to support the adjuvant arm of the Company’s Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating MT-401 when given as an adjuvant therapy to patients with acute myeloid leukemia following a hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The primary objectives of the adjuvant arm of the trial are to evaluate relapse-free survival after MT-401 treatment when compared with a randomized control group. To date, the Company has received $6.9 million of funds from the CPRIT grant. The Company recorded $0.2 million and $2.0 million of grant income related to the CPRIT grant as revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively. In September 2022, the Company received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) that it had awarded the Company a $2.0 million grant from the FDA’s Orphan Products Grant program to support the Company’s Phase 2 clinical trial of MT-401 for the treatment of post-transplant AML. The Company recorded $0.0 million and $0.2 million of grant income related to the FDA grant as revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively. In December 2022, the Company entered into a purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, LLC (“Lincoln Park”), which provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the agreement, the Company has the right, but not the obligation, to sell to Lincoln Park up to $25,000,000 of shares of its common stock (“the Purchase Shares”) from time to time over a 24-month term, at a variable price with certain market-based terms as defined in the Purchase Agreement. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, The Company sold 12,500 shares of its common stock under the Lincoln Park agreement for proceeds of $33,000 (See Note 10). As described in Note 1, on June 26, 2023, the Company completed the previously announced transaction with Cell Ready pursuant to the Cell Ready Purchase Agreement. Pursuant to the Cell Ready Purchase Agreement, effective as of the Closing Date, the Company (i) assigned to Cell Ready the leases for the Manufacturing Facilities, (ii) sold to Cell Ready all of the equipment and leasehold improvements at the Manufacturing Facilities and (iii) assigned to Cell Ready its rights, title and interest in the Company’s MSA, dated April 7, 2023, by and between the Company, Cell Ready and Indapta Therapeutics, Inc., as well as its rights, title and interest in any contracts related to the equipment and Manufacturing Facilities (collectively, the “Purchased Assets”). Following the Closing Date, the Company and Cell Ready have agreed to enter a long-term contract pursuant to which Cell Ready will perform a wide variety of services for the Company, including research and development, manufacturing, and regulatory activity in support of the Company’s clinical trials. The terms of the agreement were not yet finalized by September 30, 2023 and, therefore, the parties have not executed such an agreement. Cell Ready acquired the Purchased Assets for total consideration of $19.0 million. In connection with the purchase of the Manufacturing Facilities, Cell Ready also extended offers of employment to approximately 50 of the Company’s former employees in its manufacturing, development, quality, and regulatory affairs functions. The Company expects to continue to incur substantial losses over the next several years during its development phase. To fully execute its business plan, the Company will need to complete certain research and development activities and clinical trials. Further, the Company’s product candidates will require regulatory approval prior to commercialization. These activities will span many years, will require substantial expenditures to complete, and may ultimately be unsuccessful. Any delays in completing these activities could adversely impact the Company. The Company plans to meet its capital requirements primarily through the issuance of debt and equity securities and, in the longer term, revenue from sales of its product candidates, if approved. Based on the Company’s clinical and research and development plans and its timing expectations related to the progress of its programs, the Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2023, will enable the Company to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the second half of 2025. Prior to the Cell Ready transaction, there was substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, which was alleviated by the proceeds from the transaction. The Company has based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and the Company could utilize its available capital resources sooner than it currently expects. Furthermore, the Company’s operating plan may change, and it may need additional funds sooner than planned to meet operational needs and capital requirements for product development and commercialization. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development and commercialization of the Company’s product candidates and the extent to which the Company may enter into additional collaborations with third parties to participate in their development and commercialization, the Company is unable to estimate the amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenditures associated with its current and anticipated clinical trials. The Company’s future funding requirements will depend on many factors, as it: | ● | initiates or continues clinical trials of its product candidates; |
| ● | continues the research and development of its product candidates and seeks to discover additional product candidates; |
| ● | seeks regulatory approvals for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials; |
| ● | maintains and enforces intellectual property rights; |
| ● | enters into contract manufacturing arrangements with Cell Ready or other contract manufacturing organizations for clinical manufacturing supply; |
| ● | establishes sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure and establishes third-party manufacturing capabilities to commercialize any product candidates that may receive regulatory approval; |
| ● | evaluates strategic transactions the Company may undertake; and |
| ● | enhances operational, financial and information management systems and hires additional personnel, including personnel to support development of product candidates and, if a product candidate is approved, commercialization efforts. |
The Company does not have sufficient sources of revenue to provide incoming cash flows to sustain its future operations. As outlined above, its ability to pursue its long-term planned business activities is dependent upon its successful efforts to raise additional capital and grant income. The COVID-19 pandemic, decades-high inflation, and concerns about an economic recession in the United States or other major markets has resulted in, among other things, volatility in the capital markets that may have the effect of reducing the Company’s ability to access capital, which could, in the future, negatively affect the Company’s liquidity. In addition, a recession or market correction due to these factors could materially affect the Company’s business and the value of its common stock.
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