Ireland | | | 2834 | | | Not applicable |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | | | (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) | | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
Deanna L. Kirkpatrick Yasin Keshvargar Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 450 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10017 Tel: (212) 450-4000 | | | Eavan Saunders Shane O’Donnell Dentons Ireland Joshua Dawson House, Dawson St Dublin 2 D02 RY95 Ireland Tel: +353 1 582 8100 | | | Cian McCourt Ailish Finnerty Arthur Cox LLP Ten Earlsfort Terrace Dublin 2 D02 T380 Ireland Tel: +353 1 920 1000 | | | Richard C. Segal Eric Blanchard Divakar Gupta Cooley LLP 55 Hudson Yards New York, NY 10001 Tel: (212) 479-6000 |
Title Of Each Class Of Securities To Be Registered | | | Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1) | | | Amount Of Registration Fee(2) |
Ordinary shares, nominal value $0.01 per share | | | $100,000,000.00 | | | $10,910.00 |
(1) | Estimated solely for the purpose of computing the amount of the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Includes the aggregate offering price of additional ordinary shares that the underwriters have the option to purchase. |
(2) | Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, based on an estimate of the proposed maximum aggregate offering price. |
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS | | | SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JUNE 4, 2021 |
| | Per Share | | | Total | |
Public offering price | | | $ | | | $ |
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1) | | | $ | | | $ |
Proceeds, before expenses to GH Research PLC | | | $ | | | $ |
(1) | See the section titled “Underwriting” for additional information regarding compensation payable to the underwriters. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain expenses in connection with the offering. |
Cowen | | | Stifel |
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Canaccord Genuity | | | JMP Securities |
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■ | acute decreased functional connectivity within the relevant RSNs; |
■ | subsequent reintegration and resumption of normal functional connectivity, or a “re-set”, of the relevant RSNs; and |
■ | resolution of depressive thought patterns and improvement in other symptoms of mental disorders. |
■ | the data from our completed clinical trial in healthy volunteers and ongoing clinical trial in patients with TRD; |
■ | the design of our planned Phase 2b trial of GH001 in TRD; |
■ | the current status and plans for our nonclinical studies; |
■ | the current status and plans for the pharmaceutical manufacturing of our active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, and GH001 drug product; |
■ | the current status and plans for the device required to administer GH001; and |
■ | any additional topics as requested by the regulatory agencies. |
■ | A multi-center, randomized, controlled Phase 2b trial evaluating safety and efficacy in TRD patients, including a long-term, open-label follow-up study; |
■ | Phase 2a trials evaluating safety and efficacy in two or more additional psychiatric or neurological disorders; and |
■ | A clinical pharmacology trial in healthy volunteers, designed to further elucidate the pharmacokinetic profile of GH001. |
■ | advancing GH001, our inhalable 5-MeO-DMT product candidate, for the treatment of TRD through clinical development, regulatory approval and commercialization, if approved; |
■ | advancing GH001 into clinical development in additional psychiatric and neurological disorders beyond TRD; |
■ | advancing GH002, our injectable 5-MeO-DMT product candidate, into clinical development; |
■ | investigating additional delivery systems and additional routes of administration for 5-MeO-DMT; |
■ | expanding our intellectual property portfolio around 5-MeO-DMT; and |
■ | maximizing the value of our product portfolio by building internal commercialization infrastructure and entering selective partnerships. |
■ | We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and we have incurred significant losses since our inception. We expect that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future; |
■ | We will need substantial additional funding, which may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we could be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our product discovery and development programs or commercialization efforts; |
■ | Drug and drug-device combination product development is a highly uncertain undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk; |
■ | GH001 and GH002 are investigational 5-MeO-DMT therapies based on a novel technology, which makes it difficult to predict the time and cost of development and of subsequently obtaining regulatory approval. To our knowledge, no such therapies have been approved in the United States nor the European Union for commercialization; |
■ | Clinical development involves a lengthy, complex and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. The outcome of nonclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and the results of our clinical trials, which to date have only been conducted in the Netherlands, may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities; |
■ | Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit their commercial potential or result in significant negative consequences following regulatory approval, if obtained; |
■ | GH001 and GH002, and any future product candidates we may develop, are subject to controlled substance laws and regulations in the territories where the product will be marketed, such as the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, as well as the UN international drug control treaties, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations, or the cost of compliance with these laws and regulations, may adversely affect the results of our business operations, both during clinical development and post-approval, and our financial condition. In addition, during the review process of GH001 and GH002, and prior to approval, the FDA, EMA and/or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require additional data, including with respect to whether GH001 or GH002 has abuse potential. This may delay approval and any potential rescheduling process; |
■ | 5-MeO-DMT is currently classified as a Schedule I drug in the United States and any product containing this substance, such as GH001 and GH002, must be rescheduled to be marketed. There can be no assurance that the Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA will make a favorable scheduling decision. Even assuming categorization as a Schedule II or lower controlled substance (i.e., Schedule III, IV or V) at the federal level, such substances would also require scheduling determinations under state laws and regulations; |
■ | The potential reclassification of 5-MeO-DMT in the United States could create additional regulatory burdens on our operations and negatively affect our results of operations; |
■ | Our commercial success depends upon attaining significant market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved, among physicians, patients, third-party payors and other members of the medical community; |
■ | We currently have no marketing and sales organization and have no experience as a company in commercializing products, and we may have to invest significant resources to develop these capabilities. If we are unable to establish marketing and sales capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our product candidates, if approved, we may not be able to generate product revenue; |
■ | Our business and commercialization strategy depends on our ability to identify, qualify, prepare, certify, and support third-party clinics or treatment centers offering any of our product candidates, if approved. If we are unable to do so, our commercialization prospects would be limited and our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be harmed. |
■ | We rely on applications for patents and other intellectual property rights to protect our GH001 and GH002 product candidates, the prosecution, enforcement, defense and maintenance of which may be challenging and costly. Failure to adequately prosecute, maintain, enforce or protect these rights could harm our ability to compete and impair our business; |
■ | We rely on third parties to assist in conducting our nonclinical studies and clinical trials. If they do not perform satisfactorily, we may not be able to initiate new clinical trials, successfully complete clinical trials, obtain regulatory approval or commercialize our product candidates, or such approval or commercialization may be delayed, and our business could be substantially harmed; |
■ | The development and manufacture of our active pharmaceutical ingredients, product candidates and medical devices required to deliver such product candidates is complex, and we may encounter difficulties during further development or in production. We currently rely completely on third parties to develop, formulate and manufacture our nonclinical study and clinical trial supplies. The development and commercialization of any of our active pharmaceutical ingredients, product candidates and medical devices required to deliver such product candidates could be stopped, delayed or made less profitable if those third parties fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of such drug supplies or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels, including in accordance with rigorously enforced regulatory requirements or contractual obligations, and our operations could be harmed as a result; |
■ | A pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease in Ireland or worldwide may adversely affect our business; |
■ | We depend heavily on our executive officers, principal consultants and others, and the loss of their services would materially harm our business; and |
■ | We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in connection with the audit of our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020, and we may identify additional material weaknesses. If our remediation of these material weaknesses is not effective, or if we experience additional material weaknesses or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls in the future, our ability to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected. |
■ | an option to present only two years of audited financial statements in addition to any required interim financial statements and correspondingly specified reduced Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations disclosure in this prospectus; and |
■ | an exemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Emerging Growth Company Status.” |
■ | the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations with respect to a security registered under the Exchange Act; |
■ | the requirement to comply with Regulation FD, which requires selective disclosure of material information; |
■ | the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their share ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and |
■ | the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q containing unaudited financial and other specified information, or current reports on Form 8-K upon the occurrence of specified significant events. |
• | to fund clinical trials, and other activities to support the development of our product candidate GH001 through completion of all ongoing trials, the planned Phase 2a trials in at least two new indications and the planned multi-center, randomized, controlled Phase 2b trial in TRD; |
• | to fund the advancement of our product candidate GH002 and one additional potential product candidate through completion of Phase 2a trials; |
• | to fund the technical development of our active pharmaceutical ingredients, product candidates, and the medical devices used for the administration of our product candidates, as well as the expansion of our external manufacturing capabilities, and to fund the nonclinical development activities related to our product candidates; and |
• | the remainder to fund general and administrative expenses, working capital and other general corporate purposes, including business development activities. |
■ | ordinary shares that will be made available for future issuance under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan, which will become effective in connection with this offering; and |
■ | 126,218 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase our ordinary shares granted on June 4, 2021, with an exercise price of $4.93 per share. |
■ | the consummation of the Series B Financing, including the issuance of 25,379,047 of our Series B preferred shares in April 2021 and the receipt of the net proceeds therefrom; |
■ | the valid adoption of our amended and restated constitution, or the Constitution, immediately prior to the completion of this offering; |
■ | an initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus; and |
■ | no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to additional ordinary shares in this offering. |
| | Three Months Ended March 31, | | | Year Ended December 31 | |||||||
| | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | |
| | (in USD thousands, except share and per share data) | ||||||||||
Income Statement Data: | | | | | | | | | ||||
Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | | | ||||
Research and development | | | $(692) | | | $(11) | | | $(338) | | | $(296) |
General and administrative | | | (448) | | | (8) | | | (108) | | | (14) |
Loss from operations | | | (1,140) | | | (19) | | | (446) | | | (310) |
Foreign currency translation differences | | | (9) | | | — | | | — | | | — |
Loss for the period | | | $(1,149) | | | $(19) | | | $(446) | | | $(310) |
Basic and diluted loss per share | | | (0.015) | | | (0.000) | | | (0.006) | | | (0.004) |
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - basic and diluted | | | 75,923,079 | | | 70,000,000 | | | 70,898,420 | | | 70,000,000 |
Pro forma basic and diluted loss per share(1) | | | | | | | | | ||||
Pro forma weighted average ordinary shares outstanding - basic and diluted(1) | | | | | | | | |
(1) | Pro forma basic and diluted loss per share and pro forma weighted average ordinary shares outstanding - basic and diluted gives effect to (i) the consummation of the Series B Financing and (ii) our Corporate Reorganization as if such transactions had occurred on January 1, 2020. |
| | As of March 31, 2021 | |||||||
| | Actual | | | Pro Forma(1) | | | Pro Forma as Adjusted(2) | |
| | (in USD thousands) | |||||||
Balance Sheet Data: | | | | | | | |||
Cash | | | $4,576 | | | | | ||
Total assets | | | 5,556 | | | | | ||
Share capital | | | 871 | | | | | ||
Total equity | | | $4,315 | | | | |
(1) | The pro forma information gives effect to (i) the consummation of the Series B Financing and our receipt of net proceeds therefrom and (ii) our Corporate Reorganization. |
(2) | The pro forma as adjusted information gives further effect to the issuance and sale of ordinary shares in this offering by us at an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, as set forth under “Use of Proceeds.” Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, total assets and total equity by $ million, assuming that the number of ordinary shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. An increase or decrease of 1,000,000 in the number of ordinary shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, total assets and total equity by $ million, assuming the assumed initial public offering price per share remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions. |
■ | continue to develop and conduct clinical trials, including in expanded geographies such as the United States, for our GH001 and GH002 product candidates for our initial and potential additional indications; |
■ | continue both the technical development and expansion of our external manufacturing capabilities for our current product candidates GH001 and GH002 and of the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates; |
■ | initiate and continue research and development, including nonclinical, clinical, and discovery efforts for any future product candidates; |
■ | seek to identify additional product candidates; |
■ | seek regulatory approvals for our product candidates GH001 and GH002, including the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates, or any other product candidates that successfully complete clinical development; |
■ | add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product candidate and device development and help us comply with our obligations as a public company; |
■ | hire and retain additional personnel, such as clinical, quality control, scientific, commercial and administrative personnel; |
■ | continue to prepare, file, prosecute, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights and claims; |
■ | establish sales, marketing, distribution, manufacturing, supply chain and other commercial infrastructure in the future to commercialize various products for which we may obtain regulatory approval; |
■ | comply with ongoing regulatory requirements for products approved for commercial sale, if ever; |
■ | acquire or in-license other product candidates, medical devices to deliver our product candidates, and other technologies; and |
■ | incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company. |
■ | the scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing our GH001 and GH002 product candidates, additional 5-MeO-DMT delivery approaches and the medical devices required to deliver these therapies for our initial and potential additional indications, as well as other product candidates we may develop; |
■ | the timing and uncertainty of, and the costs involved in, obtaining marketing approvals for our GH001 and GH002 product candidates including the medical devices required to deliver these therapies for our initial and potential additional indications, and other product candidates we may develop and pursue; |
■ | the number of future product candidates that we may pursue and their development requirements; |
■ | the number of jurisdictions in which we plan to seek regulatory approvals; |
■ | if approved, the costs of commercialization activities for GH001 and GH002 for any approved indications, or any other product candidate that receives regulatory approval to the extent such costs are not the responsibility of any future collaborators, including the costs and timing of establishing product sales, marketing, distribution, and manufacturing capabilities; |
■ | subject to receipt of regulatory approval, revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of GH001 and GH002 and the respective medical devices for any approved indications or any other product candidates; |
■ | the extent to which we may in-license or acquire rights to other products, product candidates, medical devices or technologies; |
■ | our headcount growth and associated costs as we expand our research and development, increase our office space, and establish a commercial infrastructure; |
■ | the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications and maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights, including enforcing and defending intellectual property-related claims; |
■ | the effect of competing product and market developments; and |
■ | the ongoing costs of operating as a public company. |
■ | completing research and technical, nonclinical and clinical development of our product candidates and the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates; |
■ | obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing authorizations for product candidates, including the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates for which we successfully complete clinical development and clinical trials; |
■ | developing a sustainable and scalable manufacturing process for our product candidates and the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates, as well as establishing and maintaining commercially viable supply relationships with third parties that can provide adequate products and services to support clinical activities and commercial demand of our product candidates and medical devices; |
■ | identifying, assessing, acquiring and/or developing new product candidates; |
■ | negotiating favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements into which we may enter; |
■ | successfully getting our product candidates rescheduled under the federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, also known as the Controlled Substances Act, or CSA, and comparable state laws by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, and other applicable regulatory agencies inside and outside the United States; |
■ | launching and successfully commercializing product candidates and the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approval, either by collaborating with a partner or, if launched independently, by establishing a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure; |
■ | obtaining and maintaining an adequate price for our product candidates and devices in the countries where our products are commercialized; |
■ | obtaining adequate reimbursement for our product candidates and medical devices from payors; |
■ | obtaining market acceptance of our product candidates as viable treatment options; |
■ | addressing any competing technological and market developments; |
■ | receiving milestone and other payments under any future collaboration arrangements; |
■ | maintaining, protecting, expanding and enforcing our portfolio of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets and know-how; |
■ | attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel; and |
■ | complying with laws and regulations, including laws applicable to controlled substances. |
■ | delay or failure in establishing acceptable performance characteristics, quality manufacturing standards and manufacturing capabilities for our product candidates or for the medical devices required to deliver our product candidates; |
■ | negative or inconclusive results from our nonclinical studies or clinical trials or the clinical trials of others for product candidates similar to ours, leading to a decision or requirement to conduct additional nonclinical testing or clinical trials or abandon a program; |
■ | product or device-related side effects experienced by subjects in our clinical trials or by individuals using drugs or therapeutics similar to our product candidates; |
■ | delays in submitting INDs (or IDEs, if applicable) in the United States or comparable foreign applications or delays or failure in obtaining the necessary approvals from regulators or institutional review boards to commence a clinical trial, including Schedule I research protocols required by the DEA, or a suspension or termination of a clinical trial once commenced; |
■ | if the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities do not find the earlier technical, nonclinical and clinical trial work sufficient, then we may need to conduct additional technical development work or nonclinical or clinical trials beyond what we currently have planned, before we can initiate further clinical studies. Any significant technical development or nonclinical or clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our drug candidates and medical devices or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to successfully commercialize our drug candidates and medical devices and may harm our business and results of operations; |
■ | conditions imposed by the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials; |
■ | the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our clinical trial design, including with respect to dosing levels administered in our planned clinical trials, or the medical devices used to deliver our product candidates in the clinical trials, which may delay or prevent us from initiating our clinical trials with our originally intended trial design and the originally planned medical devices; |
■ | delays in contracting with clinical sites or enrolling subjects in clinical trials, including, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inability to identify clinical sites willing to host our clinical trials and the required scheduled drug DEA researcher registration and Schedule I research protocol in the United States and similar licenses in other jurisdictions to be obtained and maintained by our clinical investigators; |
■ | delays or interruptions in the supply of materials necessary for the conduct of our clinical trials; |
■ | regulators or institutional review boards, or IRBs, or ethics committees may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site; |
■ | the FDA, the EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities may require us to submit additional data such as long-term toxicology studies or additional data for the medical devices required to deliver our product candidates; |
■ | delays in reaching, or failure to reach, agreement on acceptable terms with prospective trial sites and prospective contract research organizations, or CROs, which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites; |
■ | the number of subjects required for clinical trials of any product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, or subjects may drop out of these clinical trials or fail to return for post-treatment follow-up at a higher rate than we anticipate; |
■ | our third-party contractors for nonclinical studies or clinical trials may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all, or may deviate from the clinical trial protocol or take actions that could cause clinical sites or clinical investigators to drop out of the trial, which may require that we add new clinical trial sites or investigators; |
■ | due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may experience some delays and interruptions to our technical development efforts, nonclinical studies and clinical trials, we may experience delays or interruptions to our manufacturing supply chain, or we could suffer delays in reaching, or we may fail to reach, agreement on acceptable terms with third-party service providers on whom we rely; |
■ | greater-than-anticipated clinical trial costs, including as a result of delays or interruptions that could increase the overall costs to finish our clinical trials as our fixed costs are not substantially reduced during delays; |
■ | we may elect to, or regulators, IRBs, Data Safety Monitoring Boards, or DSMBs, or ethics committees may require that we or our investigators, suspend or terminate clinical research or trials for various reasons, including non-compliance with regulatory requirements or a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks; |
■ | we may not have the financial resources available to begin and complete the planned trials, or the cost of clinical trials of any product candidates may be greater than we anticipate; |
■ | the supply or quality of our product candidates, medical devices required to deliver our product candidates, or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates may be insufficient or inadequate to initiate or complete a given clinical trial; |
■ | inability to compete with other therapies; |
■ | poor efficacy of our product candidates during clinical trials; |
■ | failure to demonstrate an acceptable benefit/risk profile for our product candidates; |
■ | inability to provide sufficient design, testing, manufacturing and quality information for the medical devices required to deliver our product candidates, including information to support their use and compatibility with the drug constituent of our product candidates; |
■ | unfavorable FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authority inspection and review of clinical trial sites or manufacturing facilities; |
■ | if the DEA, or any state or other jurisdiction, delays rescheduling or fails to reschedule 5-MeO-DMT to Schedule II, III, IV or V, or delays classifying or fails to classify our product candidates to Schedule II, III, IV or V; |
■ | unfavorable product labeling associated with any product approvals and any requirements for a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, that may be required by the FDA or comparable requirements in other jurisdictions to ensure the benefits of an individual product outweigh its risks; |
■ | unfavorable acceptance of our product candidates or clinical trial data by the patient or medical communities or third-party payors; |
■ | failure of our third-party contractors or investigators to comply with regulatory requirements or otherwise meet their contractual obligations in a timely manner, or at all; |
■ | delays related to the impact or the spread of COVID-19 or other pandemics, including the impact of COVID-19 on the FDA’s, EMA’s or other comparable foreign regulatory authority’s ability to continue its normal operations; |
■ | delays and changes in regulatory requirements, policy and guidelines, including the imposition of additional regulatory oversight around clinical testing generally or with respect to our technology in particular; or |
■ | varying interpretations of data by the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities. |
■ | nonclinical studies or clinical trials may show the product candidates to be ineffective or less effective than expected (e.g., a clinical trial could fail to meet its primary endpoint(s)) or to have unacceptable side effects or toxicities; |
■ | failure to reflect similarly efficacious activity in subsequent clinical trials with larger patient populations; |
■ | failure to use clinical endpoints that applicable regulatory authorities would consider clinically meaningful; |
■ | manufacturing issues or formulation issues with the product candidate or device that cannot be resolved; |
■ | failure to receive the necessary regulatory approvals; |
■ | manufacturing issues, formulation issues, pricing or reimbursement issues or other factors that make a product candidate or device uneconomical; and |
■ | intellectual property and proprietary rights of others and their competing products and technologies that may prevent one of our product candidates from being commercialized. |
■ | regulatory authorities may withdraw or limit their approval of such product candidates or medical devices; |
■ | regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as a Boxed Warning or contraindications; |
■ | we may be required to change the way such product candidates are distributed or administered, or change the labeling of the product candidates or medical devices; |
■ | the FDA may require a REMS to mitigate risks, which could include medication guides, physician communication plans or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools, and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions may require comparable risk mitigation plans; |
■ | we may be subject to regulatory investigations and government enforcement actions; |
■ | the FDA, EMA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority may require us to conduct additional technical development work or clinical trials or costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to establish and monitor the safety and efficacy of the product; |
■ | we could be sued and held liable for injury caused to individuals exposed to or taking our product candidates or operating our medical devices; and |
■ | our reputation may suffer. |
■ | the patient eligibility criteria defined in the protocol; |
■ | the size of the patient population required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints; |
■ | in the case of clinical trials focused on rare disease, the small size of the patient population and the potential of a patient being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed; |
■ | the proximity of patients to trial sites; |
■ | the design of the trial; |
■ | our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience; |
■ | competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages and risks of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications that we are investigating; |
■ | reluctance of physicians to encourage patient participation in clinical trials; |
■ | the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical trial sites, personnel and patient travel; |
■ | our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and |
■ | the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion. |
■ | our inability to design such product candidates with the pharmacological or pharmacokinetic properties that we desire; or |
■ | potential product candidates may, on further study, be shown to have harmful side effects or other characteristics that indicate that they are unlikely to be medicines that will receive marketing approval and achieve market acceptance. |
■ | decreased demand for any of our future approved products; |
■ | injury to our reputation; |
■ | initiation of investigations by regulators; |
■ | withdrawal of clinical trial participants; |
■ | termination of clinical trial sites or entire trial programs; |
■ | significant litigation costs; |
■ | substantial monetary awards to, or costly settlements with, patients or other claimants; |
■ | product recalls or a change in the indications for which any approved drug products may be used; |
■ | loss of revenue; |
■ | diversion of management and scientific resources from our business operations; and |
■ | the inability to commercialize our product candidates. |
■ | greater financial, technical and human resources than we have at every stage of the discovery, development, manufacture and commercialization of products; |
■ | more extensive experience in nonclinical studies, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals, and in manufacturing, marketing and selling drug products; |
■ | more developed intellectual property portfolios; |
■ | products that have been approved or are in late stages of development; and |
■ | collaborative arrangements in our target markets with leading companies and research institutions. |
■ | DEA registration and inspection of facilities. Facilities conducting research, manufacturing, distributing, importing or exporting, or dispensing controlled substances must be registered (licensed) to perform these activities and have the security, control, record keeping, reporting and inventory mechanisms required by the DEA to prevent drug loss and diversion. All these facilities must renew their registrations annually, except dispensing facilities, which must renew every three years. The DEA conducts periodic inspections of certain registered establishments that handle controlled substances. Obtaining and maintaining the necessary registrations may result in delay of the importation, manufacturing or distribution of GH001 or GH002. Furthermore, importation of controlled substances is subject to additional permits or approvals, which must be obtained prior to each importation. Failure to maintain compliance with the CSA, particularly non-compliance resulting in loss or diversion, can result in regulatory action that would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The DEA may seek civil penalties, refuse to renew necessary registrations, or initiate proceedings to restrict, suspend or revoke those registrations. In certain circumstances, violations could lead to criminal proceedings. |
■ | State-controlled substances laws. Individual U.S. states have also established controlled substance laws and regulations. Though state-controlled substances laws often mirror federal law, because the states are separate jurisdictions, they will need to separately reschedule GH001 or GH002. While some states automatically schedule or reschedule a drug based on federal action, other states schedule drugs through rule making or a legislative action. State scheduling may delay commercial sale of any product for which we obtain federal regulatory approval and adverse scheduling would have a material adverse effect on the commercial attractiveness of such product. We or our partners must also obtain separate state registrations, permits or licenses in order to be able to obtain, handle, and distribute controlled substances for clinical trials or commercial sale, and failure to meet applicable regulatory requirements could lead to enforcement and sanctions by the states in addition to those from the DEA or otherwise arising under federal law. |
■ | Clinical trials. Because our GH001 and GH002 product candidates contain 5-MeO-DMT, to conduct clinical trials with GH001 and GH002 in the United States prior to approval, each of our research sites must submit a research protocol to the DEA and obtain and maintain a DEA Schedule I researcher registration that will allow those sites to handle and dispense GH001 and GH002 and to obtain the product from our importer. If the DEA delays or denies the grant of a researcher registration to one or more research sites, the clinical trial could be significantly delayed, and we could lose clinical trial sites. The importer for the clinical trials must also obtain |
■ | Post-Approval Importation. If GH001 or GH002 is approved and classified as a Schedule II, III or IV substance, an importer can import it for commercial purposes if it obtains an importer registration and files an application for an import permit (Schedule II) or files an import declaration (Schedule III or IV) for each import shipment. The DEA provides annual assessments/estimates to the UN International Narcotics Control Board, which guides the DEA in the amounts of controlled substances that the DEA authorizes to be imported. The failure to identify an importer or obtain the necessary import authority, including specific quantities, could affect the availability of GH001 or GH002 and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, an application for a Schedule II importer registration must be published in the Federal Register, and there is a notice and comment period to receive public comments. It is always possible that adverse comments may delay the grant of an importer registration. If GH001 or GH002 is approved and classified as a Schedule II controlled substance, federal law may prohibit the import of the substance for commercial purposes. If GH001 or GH002 is listed as a Schedule II substance, we will not be allowed to import the drug for commercial purposes unless the DEA determines that domestic supplies are inadequate or there is inadequate domestic competition among domestic manufacturers for the substance as defined by the DEA. Moreover, Schedule I controlled substances, including 5-MeO-DMT, have never been registered with the DEA for importation for commercial purposes, only for scientific and research needs. Therefore, if neither GH001, GH002 nor its drug substance could be imported, GH001 and GH002 would have to be wholly manufactured in the United States, and we would need to secure a manufacturer that would be required to obtain and maintain a separate DEA registration for that activity. |
■ | Manufacture in the United States. If, because of a Schedule II classification or voluntarily, we were to conduct manufacturing or repackaging/relabeling in the United States for commercial purposes, our contract manufacturers would be subject to the DEA’s annual manufacturing and procurement quota requirements. Additionally, regardless of the scheduling of GH001 or GH002, the active ingredient in the final dosage form is currently a Schedule I controlled substance and would be subject to such quotas as this substance could remain listed on Schedule I during the clinical trials. The annual quota allocated to us or our contract manufacturers for the active ingredient in GH001 or GH002 may not be sufficient to complete clinical trials or meet commercial demand. Consequently, any delay or refusal by the DEA in establishing our, or our contract manufacturers’, procurement and/or production quota for controlled substances could delay or stop our clinical trials or product launches, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations. |
■ | Distribution in the United States and the United Kingdom. If GH001 or GH002 is scheduled as Schedule II, III or IV, we would also need to identify wholesale distributors with the appropriate DEA registrations and authority to distribute GH001, GH002 and any future product candidates. These distributors would need to maintain Schedule II, III or IV distribution registrations. This limitation in the ability to distribute GH001 or GH002 more broadly may limit commercial uptake and could negatively impact our prospects. The failure to obtain, or delay in obtaining, or the loss of any of those registrations could result in increased costs to us. If GH001 or GH002 is a Schedule II drug, participants in our supply chain may have to maintain enhanced security including specially constructed vaults at manufacturing and distribution facilities. This additional security may also discourage some pharmacies from carrying the product. In addition, GH001 and GH002 will likely be required to be administered at our trial sites or other certified healthcare settings, which could limit commercial uptake. Furthermore, state and federal enforcement actions, regulatory requirements, and legislation intended to reduce prescription drug abuse, such as the tracking of prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances through a state prescription drug monitoring program, may make physicians less willing to prescribe, and pharmacies to dispense, certain controlled substances, especially Schedule II products. Similarly, the MHRA considers that all Schedule 1 drugs under the United Kingdom’s Misuse of |
■ | restrictions on the manufacturing of our products, the approved manufacturers or the manufacturing process; |
■ | withdrawal of the product from the market or voluntary product recalls; |
■ | requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials; |
■ | fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenues; |
■ | warning or untitled letters from the FDA or comparable notice of violations from comparable foreign regulatory authorities; |
■ | suspensions of any of our ongoing clinical trials; |
■ | refusal by the FDA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications filed by us or suspension or withdrawal of marketing approvals; |
■ | product seizure or detention or refusal to permit the import or export of products; and |
■ | consent decrees, injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties. |
■ | efficacy and potential advantages compared to alternative treatments; |
■ | the ability to offer our products, if approved, for sale at competitive prices; |
■ | relative convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments; |
■ | perceptions by the medical community, physicians, and patients, regarding the safety and effectiveness of our products and the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies; |
■ | the size of the market for such product candidate, based on the size of the patient subsets that we are targeting, in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval; |
■ | the recommendations with respect to our product candidates in guidelines published by various scientific organizations applicable to us and our product candidates; |
■ | the strength of sales, marketing and distribution support; |
■ | the timing of any such marketing approval in relation to other product approvals; |
■ | any restrictions on concomitant use of other medications; |
■ | support from patient advocacy groups; |
■ | media coverage regarding psychedelic substances; |
■ | the ability to obtain sufficient third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement; and |
■ | the prevalence and severity of any side effects. |
■ | a covered benefit under its health plan; |
■ | safe, effective and medically necessary; |
■ | appropriate for the specific patient; |
■ | cost-effective; and |
■ | neither experimental nor investigational. |
■ | the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe, or rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual, or the purchase, lease, order, arrangement or recommendation of any good, facility, item or service for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under a federal healthcare program, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. A person or entity can be found guilty of violating the statute without actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it. The term remuneration has been interpreted broadly to include anything of value. Further, courts have found that if “one purpose” |
■ | the federal civil and criminal false claims laws, including the FCA, and civil monetary penalty laws which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, false, fictitious or fraudulent claims for payment to, or approval by Medicare, Medicaid, or other federal healthcare programs; knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim or an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the federal government; or knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding, decreasing or concealing an obligation to pay money to the federal government. A claim that includes items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim under the FCA. Manufacturers can be held liable under the FCA even when they do not submit claims directly to government payors if they are deemed to “cause” the submission of false or fraudulent claims. The FCA also permits a private individual acting as a “whistleblower” to bring qui tam actions on behalf of the federal government alleging violations of the FCA and to share in any monetary recovery or settlement. When an entity is determined to have violated the FCA, the government may impose civil fines and penalties for each false claim, plus treble damages, and exclude the entity from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs; |
■ | the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which created additional federal criminal statutes that prohibit knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors, or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, regardless of the payor (e.g., public or private), and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up by any trick or device a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation, or making or using any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services relating to healthcare matters. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity can be found guilty of violating HIPAA fraud provisions without actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it; |
■ | HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, and their respective implementing regulations, which impose, among other things, certain requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information on certain covered healthcare providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouses, known as covered entities, as well as their respective “business associates,” those independent contractors or agents of covered entities that create, receive, maintain, transmit or obtain protected health information in connection with providing a service on behalf of a covered entity as well as their covered subcontractors. HITECH also created new tiers of civil monetary penalties, amended HIPAA to make civil and criminal penalties directly applicable to business associates, and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorneys’ fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions. In addition, there may be |
■ | the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or, collectively, the ACA, and its implementing regulations, which require manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) to report annually to CMS information related to direct or indirect payments and other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by the physicians and their immediate family members. Effective January 1, 2022, these reporting obligations will extend to include transfers of value made in the previous year to certain non-physician providers including physician assistants and nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, anesthesiologist assistants, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives; |
■ | federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers; and |
■ | analogous U.S. state, local and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including private insurers, and may be broader in scope than their federal equivalents; state and foreign laws that require biopharmaceutical companies to comply with the biopharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and other relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state and foreign laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers, marketing expenditures or drug pricing; state and local laws that require the registration of biopharmaceutical sales representatives; and state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of health and other personal information, some of which may be more stringent than those in the United States (such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which became effective in May 2018) in certain circumstances, and may differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts. |
■ | strengthen the rules on placing medical devices on the market and reinforce surveillance once they are available; |
■ | establish explicit provisions on manufacturers’ responsibilities for the follow-up of the quality, performance and safety of medical devices placed on the market; |
■ | improve the traceability of medical devices throughout the supply chain to the end-user or patient through a unique identification number; |
■ | set up a central database to provide patients, healthcare professionals and the public with comprehensive information on products available in the European Union; |
■ | strengthened rules for the assessment of certain high-risk medical devices, such as implants, which may have to undergo an additional check by experts before they are placed on the market. |
■ | others may be able to make compositions that are the same as or similar to GH001, GH002, and any future product candidate compositions, or may be able to make medical devices to deliver such compositions, that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we own or license; |
■ | the patents of third parties may have an adverse effect on our business; |
■ | we or our licensors or collaboration partners might not have been the first to conceive or reduce to practice the inventions covered by the issued patent or pending patent application that we own or license; |
■ | we or our licensors or collaboration partners might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our or their inventions; |
■ | others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights; |
■ | it is possible that current and future pending patent applications we own or in-license will not lead to issued patents; |
■ | issued patents that we own or in-license may not provide us with any competitive advantage, or may be held invalid or unenforceable as a result of legal challenges by third parties; |
■ | issued patents that we own or in-license may not have sufficient term or geographic scope to provide meaningful protection; |
■ | our competitors might conduct research and development activities in countries that provide a safe harbor from patent infringement claims for certain research and development activities or in countries where we do not have patent rights and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive therapies for sale in our major commercial markets; |
■ | third parties performing manufacturing or testing for us using our therapies or technologies could use the intellectual property of others without obtaining a proper license; |
■ | we may not develop additional technologies that are patentable; and |
■ | we may choose not to file a patent in order to maintain certain trade secrets or know-how, and a third party may subsequently file a patent covering such intellectual property, or otherwise develop similar know-how. |
■ | the scope of rights granted under the agreement and other interpretation-related issues; |
■ | whether and the extent to which our technology and processes infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate intellectual property of the licensor or collaboration partner that is not subject to the agreement; |
■ | the sublicensing of patents and other rights under any current or future collaboration relationships; |
■ | our diligence obligations under the agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations; |
■ | our rights to transfer or assign the agreement; |
■ | the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us and our collaboration partners; and |
■ | the priority of invention of patented technology. |
■ | collaborators generally have significant discretion in determining the amount and timing of efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations; |
■ | collaborators may not properly obtain, maintain, enforce or defend intellectual property or proprietary rights relating to our product candidates or research programs, or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to expose us to potential litigation or other intellectual property-related proceedings, including proceedings challenging the scope, ownership, validity and enforceability of our intellectual property; |
■ | collaborators may own or co-own intellectual property covering our product candidates or research programs that results from our collaboration with them, and in such cases, we may not have the exclusive right to commercialize such intellectual property or such product candidates or research programs; |
■ | we may need the cooperation of our collaborators to enforce or defend any intellectual property we contribute to or that arises out of our collaborations, which may not be provided to us; |
■ | collaborators may control certain interactions with regulatory authorities, which may impact our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates; |
■ | disputes may arise between the collaborators and us that result in the delay or termination of the research, development or commercialization of our product candidates or research programs or that result in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management attention and resources; |
■ | collaborators may decide to not pursue development and commercialization of any product candidates we develop or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on clinical trial results, changes in the collaborator’s strategic focus or available funding or external factors such as an acquisition that diverts resources or creates competing priorities; |
■ | collaborators may delay clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a clinical trial program, stop a clinical trial or abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical trials or require a new formulation of a product candidate for clinical testing; |
■ | collaborators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our product candidates or research programs if the collaborators believe that competitive products are more likely to be successfully developed or can be commercialized under terms that are more economically attractive than ours; |
■ | collaborators may restrict us from researching, developing or commercializing certain products or technologies without their involvement; |
■ | collaborators with marketing and distribution rights to one or more product candidates may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product candidates; |
■ | we may lose certain valuable rights under circumstances identified in our collaborations, including if we undergo a change of control; |
■ | collaborators may grant sublicenses to our technology or product candidates or undergo a change of control and the sublicensees or new owners may decide to take the collaboration in a direction which is not in our best interest; |
■ | collaborators may become bankrupt, which may significantly delay our research or development programs, or may cause us to lose access to valuable technology, know-how or intellectual property of the collaborator relating to our products, product candidates or research programs; |
■ | key personnel at our collaborators may leave, which could negatively impact our ability to productively work with our collaborators; |
■ | collaborations may require us to incur short and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our shareholders or disrupt our management and business; |
■ | if our collaborators do not satisfy their obligations under our agreements with them, or if they terminate our collaborations with them, we may not be able to develop or commercialize product candidates as planned; |
■ | collaborations may require us to share in development and commercialization costs pursuant to budgets that we do not fully control and our failure to share in such costs could have a detrimental impact on the collaboration or our ability to share in revenue generated under the collaboration; |
■ | collaborations may be terminated in their entirety or with respect to certain product candidates or technologies and, if so terminated, may result in a need for additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates or technologies; and |
■ | collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner or at all. If a present or future collaborator of ours were to be involved in a business combination, the continued pursuit and emphasis on our development or commercialization program under such collaboration could be delayed, diminished or terminated. |
■ | regulatory authorities, including those laws requiring the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to such authorities; |
■ | manufacturing standards; |
■ | federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations and similar laws and regulations established and enforced by comparable foreign regulatory authorities; and |
■ | laws that require the accurate reporting of financial information or data. |
■ | economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular in foreign economies and markets; |
■ | differing and changing regulatory requirements, price controls and reimbursement regimes; |
■ | potentially reduced protection for our intellectual property rights; |
■ | difficulties in compliance with different, complex and changing laws, regulations and court systems of multiple jurisdictions and compliance with a wide variety of foreign laws, treaties and regulations; |
■ | changes in regulations and customs, tariffs and trade barriers; |
■ | changes in currency exchange rates and currency controls; |
■ | changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic environment; |
■ | trade protection measures, import or export licensing requirements or other restrictive actions by governments; |
■ | negative consequences from changes in, including the interpretation of, tax laws; |
■ | compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad; |
■ | workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States and European Economic Area; |
■ | difficulties associated with staffing and managing international operations, including differing labor relations; |
■ | business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war and terrorism, natural disasters including earthquakes, typhoons, floods and fires, or health epidemics such as COVID-19; and |
■ | cyber-attacks, which are growing in frequency, sophistication and intensity, and are becoming increasingly difficult to detect. |
■ | our financial information; |
■ | the history of, and the future prospects for, our company and the industry in which we compete; |
■ | an assessment of our management, its past and present operations, and the prospects for, and timing of, our future revenue; |
■ | the present state of our development; and |
■ | the above factors in relation to market values and various valuation measures of other companies engaged in activities similar to ours. |
■ | positive or negative results of testing and clinical trials by us, strategic partners or competitors; |
■ | delays in entering into strategic relationships with respect to development or commercialization of our GH001 and GH002 product candidates or any future product candidates; |
■ | entry into strategic relationships on terms that are not deemed to be favorable to us; |
■ | technological innovations or commercial therapeutic introductions by competitors; |
■ | changes in government regulations and healthcare payment systems; |
■ | developments concerning proprietary rights, including patent and litigation matters; |
■ | public concern relating to the commercial value or safety of any of our GH001 and GH002 product candidates or any future product candidates; |
■ | negative publicity or public perception of the use of 5-MeO-DMT as a medical treatment; |
■ | financing or other corporate transactions, or the failure to obtain financing or enter into other corporate transactions; |
■ | publication of research reports or comments by securities or industry analysts; |
■ | the trading volume of our ordinary shares on Nasdaq; |
■ | sales of our ordinary shares by us, members of our senior management and directors or our shareholders or the anticipation that such sales may occur in the future; |
■ | general market conditions in the pharmaceutical industry or in the economy as a whole; |
■ | general economic, political, and market conditions and overall market volatility in the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or other pandemics or similar events; and |
■ | other events and factors, many of which are beyond our control. |
■ | that it did not have jurisdiction; |
■ | that it was not the appropriate forum for such proceedings; |
■ | that, applying Irish conflict of law rules, U.S. law (including U.S. securities laws) did not apply to the relationship between you and us or our directors and officers; or |
■ | that the U.S. securities laws were of a penal nature and violated Irish public policy and should not be enforced by the Irish court. |
■ | U.S. courts must have had jurisdiction in relation to the particular defendant according to Irish conflict of law rules (the submission to jurisdiction by the defendant would satisfy this rule); and |
■ | the judgment must be final and conclusive and the decree must be final and unalterable in the court which pronounces it. |
■ | the judgment is not for a definite sum of money; |
■ | the judgment was obtained by fraud; |
■ | the enforcement of the judgment in Ireland would be contrary to natural or constitutional justice; |
■ | the judgment is contrary to Irish public policy or involves certain U.S. laws which will not be enforced in Ireland; or |
■ | jurisdiction cannot be obtained by the Irish courts over the judgment debtors in the enforcement proceedings by personal service in Ireland or outside Ireland under Order 11 of the Irish Superior Courts Rules. |
■ | permit our board of directors to issue preferred shares with such rights and preferences as they may designate, subject to applicable law; |
■ | impose advance notice requirements for shareholder proposals and director nominations to be considered at annual shareholder meetings; and |
■ | require the approval of 75% of the voting power of our shares entitled to vote at a general meeting of shareholders to amend or repeal any provisions of our Constitution. |
■ | the timing, progress and results of developing and conducting clinical trials for our GH001 and GH002 product candidates and the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates for our initial and potential additional indications; |
■ | our efforts to expand into other jurisdictions such as the United States and in the European Union; |
■ | our expectations related to the technical development and expansion of our external manufacturing capabilities for our GH001 and GH002 product candidates as well as the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates; |
■ | our reliance on the success of our GH001 and GH002 product candidates; |
■ | the timing, scope or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals by the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, for our GH001 and GH002 product candidates and our initial and potential additional indications; |
■ | our expectations regarding the size of the eligible patient populations for our GH001 and GH002 product candidates, if approved for commercial use; |
■ | our ability to identify third-party clinical sites to conduct trials and our ability to identify and train appropriately qualified therapists to administer our investigational therapy; |
■ | the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on aspects of our business or operations, including delays in the regulatory approval process, contracting with clinical sites and engaging in clinical trials; |
■ | our ability to implement our business model and our strategic plans for our business and GH001 and GH002 product candidates; |
■ | our ability to identify, develop or acquire and obtain approval by the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities of medical devices required to deliver our GH001 and GH002 product candidates; |
■ | our commercialization and marketing capabilities and strategy; |
■ | the effects of undesirable clinical trial outcomes and potential adverse public perception regarding the use of 5-MeO-DMT and psychedelics generally on the regulatory approval process and future development of our product; |
■ | the pricing, coverage and reimbursement of our GH001 and GH002 product candidates, if approved; |
■ | the scalability and commercial viability of our manufacturing methods and processes; |
■ | the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of our GH001 and GH002 product candidates; |
■ | our reliance on third-party suppliers for our nonclinical study and clinical trial drug substance and product candidate supplies, as well as key raw materials used in our manufacturing processes; |
■ | our ability to establish or maintain collaborations or strategic relationships or obtain additional funding; |
■ | our expectations regarding potential benefits of our GH001 and GH002 product candidates and our approach generally; |
■ | our expectations around regulatory development paths and with respect to Controlled Substances Act designation; |
■ | the scope of protection we and any current or future licensors or collaboration partners are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our GH001 and GH002 product candidates; |
■ | our ability to operate our business without infringing, misappropriating, or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights and proprietary technology of third parties; |
■ | our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, including enforcing and defending intellectual property-related claims; |
■ | regulatory developments in the United States, under the laws and regulations of the European Union and other jurisdictions; |
■ | developments and projections relating to our competitors and our industry; |
■ | our ability to remediate our material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; |
■ | our expectations related to the use of proceeds from this offering; |
■ | our estimates regarding expenses, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; |
■ | our ability to effectively manage our anticipated growth; |
■ | our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel; |
■ | whether we are classified as a Passive Foreign Investment Company for current and future periods; |
■ | our expectations regarding the time during which we will be an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act and as a foreign private issuer; |
■ | the future trading price of the ordinary shares and impact of securities analysts’ reports on these prices; and |
■ | other risks and uncertainties, including those listed under the caption “Risk Factors.” |
■ | approximately $ million to fund clinical trials, and other activities to support the development of our product candidate GH001 through completion of all ongoing trials, the planned Phase 2a trials in at least two new indications and the planned multi-center, randomized, controlled Phase 2b trial in TRD; |
■ | approximately $ million to fund the advancement of our product candidate GH002 and one additional potential product candidate through completion of Phase 2a trials; |
■ | approximately $ million to fund the technical development of our active pharmaceutical ingredients, product candidates, and the medical devices used for the administration of our product candidates, as well as the expansion of our external manufacturing capabilities, and to fund the nonclinical development activities related to our product candidates; and |
■ | the remainder to fund general and administrative expenses, working capital and other general corporate purposes, including business development activities. |
■ | 25,000 A ordinary shares, nominal value €1.00 each; |
■ | 5,923,079 Series A preferred shares, nominal value $0.01 each; |
■ | 25,379,047 Series B preferred shares, nominal value $0.01 each; and |
■ | 99,968,697,874 ordinary shares, nominal value $0.01 each. |
■ | on an actual basis; |
■ | on a pro forma basis to give effect to (i) the consummation of the Series B Financing and our receipt of net proceeds therefrom, (ii) our Corporate Reorganization and (iii) the conversion of all of our outstanding preferred shares into an aggregate of ordinary shares upon the completion of this offering, and |
■ | on a pro forma as adjusted basis giving effect to the pro forma adjustments set forth above and to give further effect to our issuance and sale of ordinary shares in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option to purchase additional ordinary shares. |
| | As of March 31, 2021 | |||||||
| | Actual | | | Pro Forma | | | Pro Forma As Adjusted(1) | |
| | (in USD thousands except for share data) | |||||||
Cash | | | $4,576 | | | | | ||
Shareholders’ equity: | | | | | | | |||
Ordinary shares, par value €0.01, 70,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, actual; shares issued and outstanding, pro forma; shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted | | | 801 | | | | | ||
Series A preferred shares, par value €0.01, 5,923,079 shares issued and outstanding, actual; no shares issued and outstanding, pro forma; no shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted | | | 70 | | | | | ||
Share premium | | | 5,430 | | | | | ||
Foreign currency translation reserve | | | (2) | | | | | ||
Accumulated deficit | | | (1,984) | | | | | ||
Total equity | | | 4,315 | | | | | ||
Total capitalization | | | $4,315 | | | | |
(1) | The pro forma as adjusted information set forth above is illustrative only and will change based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the pro forma amount of each of cash, total equity and total capitalization by $ million, assuming that the number of ordinary shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each 1,000,000 increase or decrease in the number of ordinary shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the pro forma amount of each of cash total equity and total capitalization by $ million, assuming the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus remains the same, and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. |
■ | ordinary shares that will be made available for future issuance under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan, which will become effective in connection with this offering; and |
■ | 126,218 ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase our ordinary shares granted on June 4, 2021, with an exercise price of $4.93 per share. |
Assumed initial public offering price per share | | | | | $ | |
Historical net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2021 | | | $ | | | |
Increase per share attributable to the pro forma adjustments described above | | | | | ||
Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2021 | | | | | ||
Increase attributable to new investors purchasing shares in this offering | | | | | ||
Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering | | | | | ||
Dilution per share to investors participating in this offering | | | | | $ |
| | Total Shares | | | Total Consideration | | | Average Price Per Share | |||||||
| | Number | | | Percent | | | Amount | | | Percent | | |||
| | (in USD thousands except for share and per share data) | |||||||||||||
Existing shareholders before this offering | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Investors participating in this offering | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
Total | | | | | 100% | | | | | 100% | | |
| | Three Months Ended March 31 | | | Year Ended December 31 | |||||||
| | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | |
| | (in USD thousands, except share and per share data) | ||||||||||
Income Statement Data: | | | | | | | | | ||||
Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | | | ||||
Research and development | | | $(692) | | | $(11) | | | $(338) | | | $(296) |
General and administrative | | | (448) | | | (8) | | | (108) | | | (14) |
Loss from operations | | | (1,140) | | | (19) | | | (446) | | | (310) |
Foreign currency translation differences | | | (9) | | | — | | | — | | | — |
Loss for the period | | | $(1,149) | | | $(19) | | | $(446) | | | $(310) |
Basic and diluted loss per share | | | (0.015) | | | (0.000) | | | (0.006) | | | (0.004) |
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - basic and diluted loss | | | 75,923,079 | | | 70,000,000 | | | 70,898,420 | | | 70,000,000 |
Pro forma basic and diluted loss per share(1) | | | | | | | | | ||||
Pro forma weighted average ordinary shares outstanding - basic and diluted loss(1) | | | | | | | | |
(1) | Pro forma basic and diluted loss per share and pro forma weighted average ordinary shares outstanding - basic and diluted gives effect to (i) the consummation of the Series B Financing and (ii) our Corporate Reorganization as if such transactions had occurred on January 1, 2020. |
| | As of March 31 | | | As of December 31 | ||||
| | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | |
| | | | (in USD thousands) | |||||
Balance Sheet Data: | | | | | | | |||
Cash | | | $4,576 | | | $5,895 | | | $498 |
Total assets | | | 5,556 | | | 5,912 | | | 504 |
Share capital | | | 871 | | | 871 | | | 801 |
Total equity | | | $4,315 | | | $5,666 | | | $400 |
■ | continue to develop and conduct clinical trials, including in expanded geographies such as the United States, for GH001, our inhalable 5-MeO-DMT product candidate, and GH002, our injectable 5-MeO-DMT product candidate, for our initial indications and additional potential indications; |
■ | continue both the technical development and expansion of our external manufacturing capabilities for our current product candidates GH001 and GH002 and of the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates; |
■ | initiate and continue research and development, including nonclinical, clinical, and discovery efforts for any future product candidates; |
■ | seek to identify additional product candidates; |
■ | seek regulatory approvals for our product candidates GH001 and GH002, including the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates, or any other product candidates that successfully complete clinical development; |
■ | add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product candidate and device development and help us comply with our obligations as a public company; |
■ | hire and retain additional personnel, such as clinical, quality control, scientific, commercial, sales, marketing and administrative personnel; |
■ | continue to prepare, file, prosecute, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights and claims; |
■ | establish sales, marketing, distribution, manufacturing, supply chain and other commercial infrastructure in the future to commercialize various products for which we may obtain regulatory approval; |
■ | comply with ongoing regulatory requirements for products approved for commercial sale, if ever; |
■ | acquire or in-license other product candidates, medical devices to deliver our product candidates, and other technologies; and |
■ | incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company. |
■ | development costs, including expenses incurred under agreements with third parties, such as consultants, investigational sites and CROs, that conduct our nonclinical studies and clinical trials and other scientific development services; |
■ | costs to develop our manufacturing technology and infrastructure, including costs incurred with third-party CMOs to acquire, develop and manufacture drug substance, drug product, and delivery device materials for nonclinical studies and clinical trials; |
■ | costs incurred to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements; and |
■ | other expenses, including costs of outside consultants, insurance and other operating costs. |
■ | successful enrollment in and completion of clinical trials; |
■ | successful completion of nonclinical studies; |
■ | sufficiency of our financial and other resources to complete the necessary technical development work, nonclinical studies and clinical trials; |
■ | receiving regulatory approvals or clearance for conducting our planned clinical trials or future clinical trials; |
■ | receiving positive data from our clinical trials that support an acceptable risk-benefit profile of GH001, GH002 and any future product candidates in the intended populations; |
■ | receipt and maintenance of regulatory and marketing approvals from applicable regulatory authorities; |
■ | establishing and scaling up, through third-party manufacturers, manufacturing capabilities of clinical supply for our clinical trials and commercial manufacturing, if any product candidates are approved; |
■ | entry into collaborations to further the development of GH001, GH002 and any future product candidates, including any required medical devices; |
■ | obtaining and maintaining patent and trade secret protection or regulatory exclusivity for GH001, GH002 and any future product candidates; |
■ | successfully launching commercial sales of GH001, GH002 and any future product candidates, if approved; |
■ | acceptance of our current and future product candidates’ benefits and uses, if approved, by patients, the medical community and third-party payors; and |
■ | maintaining a continued acceptable safety profile of GH001, GH002 and our future product candidates following approval. |
■ | professional fees, including consulting, accounting, legal, tax and audit services; |
■ | personnel expenses, including salaries and related expenses; and |
■ | other expenses, including expenses for rent and maintenance of facilities, insurance and other operating costs. |
| | Three Months Ended March 31 | | | Change | ||||
| | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | ||
Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | |||
Research and development | | | $(692) | | | $(11) | | | $(681) |
General and administrative | | | (448) | | | (8) | | | (440) |
Loss from operations | | | (1,140) | | | (19) | | | (1,121) |
Foreign currency translation differences | | | (9) | | | — | | | (9) |
Loss for the period | | | $(1,149) | | | $(19) | | | $(1,130) |
| | Three Months Ended March 31 | | | Change | ||||
| | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | ||
Research and development | | | $(692) | | | $(11) | | | $(681) |
| | Three Months Ended March 31 | | | Change | ||||
| | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | ||
General and administrative | | | $(448) | | | $(8) | | | $(440) |
| | Year Ended December 31 | | | Change | ||||
| | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | ||
Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | |||
Research and development | | | $(338) | | | $(296) | | | $(42) |
General and administrative | | | (108) | | | (14) | | | (94) |
Loss from operations | | | (446) | | | (310) | | | (136) |
Loss for the year | | | $(446) | | | $(310) | | | $(136) |
| | Year Ended December 31 | | | Change | ||||
| | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | ||
Research and development | | | $(338) | | | $(296) | | | $(42) |
| | Year Ended December 31 | | | Change | ||||
| | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | ||
General and administrative | | | $(108) | | | $(14) | | | $(94) |
■ | In 2019, we received net cash proceeds of $797 thousand from the issuance of ordinary shares. |
■ | In 2020, we received net cash proceeds of $5.5 million from the issuance of Series A preferred shares. |
■ | In 2021, we received net cash proceeds of $118.8 million from the issuance of Series B preferred shares. |
■ | As of December 31, 2019 and 2020 and March 31, 2021, we had cash of $498 thousand, $5.9 million and $4.6 million, respectively. |
| | Three Months Ended March 31 | | | Change | | | Year Ended December 31 | | | Change | |||||||
| | 2021 | | | 2020 | | | | | 2020 | | | 2019 | | | |||
Cash flows used in operating activities | | | $(1,087) | | | $(102) | | | $(985) | | | $(330) | | | $(289) | | | $(41) |
Cash flows used in investing activities | | | (21) | | | — | | | (21) | | | — | | | — | | | — |
Cash flows from financing activities | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | 5,500 | | | 797 | | | 4,703 |
Net (decrease)/increase in cash | | | $(1,108) | | | $(102) | | | $(1,006) | | | $5,170 | | | $508 | | | $4,662 |
■ | continue to develop and conduct clinical trials, including in expanded geographies such as the United States, for our product candidates GH001 and GH002 for our initial indication and additional potential indications; |
■ | continue both the technical development and expansion of external manufacturing capabilities for our current product candidates GH001 and GH002 and of the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates; |
■ | initiate and continue research and development, including nonclinical, clinical, and discovery efforts for any future product candidates; |
■ | seek to identify additional product candidates; |
■ | seek regulatory approvals for our product candidates GH001 and GH002, including the medical devices required to deliver these product candidates, or any other product candidates that successfully complete clinical development; |
■ | add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product candidate and device development and help us comply with our obligations as a public company; |
■ | hire and retain additional personnel, such as clinical, quality control, scientific, commercial, sales, marketing and administrative personnel; |
■ | continue to prepare, file, prosecute, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights and claims; |
■ | establish sales, marketing, distribution, manufacturing, supply chain and other commercial infrastructure in the future to commercialize various products for which we may obtain regulatory approval; |
■ | comply with ongoing regulatory requirements for products approved for commercial sale, if ever; |
■ | acquire or in-license other product candidates, medical devices to deliver our product candidates, and other technologies; and |
■ | incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company. |
■ | the scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing our GH001 and GH002 product candidates, additional 5-MeO-DMT delivery approaches and the medical devices required to deliver these therapies for our initial and potential additional indications, as well as other product candidates we may develop; |
■ | the timing and uncertainty of, and the costs involved in, obtaining marketing approvals for our GH001 and GH002 product candidates including the medical devices required to deliver these therapies for our initial and potential additional indications, and other product candidates we may develop and pursue; |
■ | the number of future product candidates that we may pursue and their development requirements; |
■ | the number of jurisdictions in which we plan to seek regulatory approvals; |
■ | if approved, the costs of commercialization activities for GH001 and GH002 for any approved indications, or any other product candidate that receives regulatory approval to the extent such costs are not the responsibility of any future collaborators, including the costs and timing of establishing product sales, marketing, distribution, and manufacturing capabilities; |
■ | subject to receipt of regulatory approval, revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of GH001 and GH002 and the respective medical devices for any approved indications or any other product candidates; |
■ | the extent to which we may in-license or acquire rights to other products, product candidates, medical devices or technologies; |
■ | our headcount growth and associated costs as we expand our research and development, increase our office space, and establish a commercial infrastructure; |
■ | the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications and maintaining and protecting our intellectual property rights, including enforcing and defending intellectual property-related claims; |
■ | the effect of competing product and market developments; and |
■ | the ongoing costs of operating as a public company. |
■ | forecast expenses denominated in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency; and |
■ | recognized assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency. |
■ | Advancing GH001, our inhalable 5-MeO-DMT product candidate, for the treatment of TRD through clinical development, regulatory approval and commercialization, if approved |
■ | Advancing GH001, into clinical development in additional psychiatric and neurological disorders beyond TRD |
■ | Advancing GH002, our injectable 5-MeO-DMT product candidate, into clinical development |
■ | Investigating additional delivery systems and additional routes of administration for 5-MeO-DMT |
■ | Expanding our intellectual property portfolio around 5-MeO-DMT |
■ | Maximizing the value of our product portfolio by building internal commercialization infrastructure and entering selective partnerships |
| Therapy | | | Route | | | Frequency and duration | | | Reimbursement1 | | | Approximate annual cost per patient2 | |
| Pharmacotherapies | | ||||||||||||
| Antidepressants: SSRI/SNRI* | | | Oral | | | 1/day, chronic | | | Broad | | | Generic: $150 – 250 Brand: $1,500 – 3,500 | |
| Atypical antipsychotics | | | Oral | | | 1/day, chronic | | | Broad | | | Generic: $3003 Brand: $5,0003 | |
| Esketamine | | | Intranasal | | | Up to 56 sessions/year, under supervision of a healthcare professional | | | Limited | | | $33,000 – 49,000 | |
| Ketamine | | | Intravenous | | | Up to 6 injections, then every 4 – 6 weeks | | | No | | | $5,500 – 8,000 | |
| Psychotherapy | | ||||||||||||
| CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) | | | Face-to-face or online | | | 10 – 20 sessions, 3 – 4 months | | | Broad | | | Averaging $1,000 | |
| Somatic Therapies | | ||||||||||||
| rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) | | | Magnetic brain stimulation without anaesthesia | | | 5 sessions/week, 4 – 5 weeks, | | | Limited | | | $6,000 – 12,000 | |
| ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) | | | Electric brain stimulation under anaesthesia | | | 3 sessions/week, 4+ weeks | | | Limited | | | $5,000 – 15,000 | |
| VNS (vagus nerve stimulation) | | | Electric pulses sent to the brain | | | Duration varies from patient to patient – stimulator must first be implanted and given at a starting low dose every 5 minutes from day to night | | | Limited | | | $40,000 – 45,000 for surgical implementation (excluding costs of post-operative device adjustments) | |
| DBS (deep brain stimulation) | | | Electrical impulses to the brain through implanted electrodes | | | 3 – 6 hour operations; follow-up visits | | | Limited | | | $64,000 for surgical implementation (excluding costs for DBS-related follow-up procedures and battery replacements) | |
* | SSRI = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, SNRI = serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor |
1 | Government reimbursement or private insurance coverage; 2 Assumes one treatment course over the year, direct treatment cost only (not total healthcare costs); 3 Quetiapine extended-release 150mg/day |
1. | selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs; |
2. | serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs; |
3. | atypical antidepressants; |
4. | monoamine oxidase inhibitors, or MAOIs; and |
5. | tricyclic antidepressants, or TCAs. |
■ | acute decreased functional connectivity within the relevant RSNs; |
■ | subsequent reintegration and resumption of normal functional connectivity, or a “re-set”, of the relevant RSNs; and |
■ | resolution of depressive thought patterns and improvement in other symptoms of mental disorders. |
■ | Ultra-Rapid Induction of Remissions |
■ | Maximized Rate of Remissions |
■ | Convenience |
■ | High Propensity to Induce Peak Experiences: We believe that GH001 has a high propensity to induce PEs. This is important because we believe that the occurrence of PEs may be correlated with ultra-rapid induction of durable remissions in patients with TRD, and thereby we believe may potentially act as a marker for therapeutic effects. |
■ | Individualized Dosing Regimen: We believe that there is no clinically relevant tolerance development to 5-MeO-DMT when the drug is re-administered within hours, or in other words, no diminished psychoactive effects. Together with the ultra-rapid onset and short duration of psychoactive effects, this aspect allows re-administration of GH001 in an individualized dosing regimen where GH001 can be administered several times within one day. We are currently investigating whether this individualized dosing regimen can increase the rate of occurrence of PEs in patients with TRD compared with administration of a single dose and whether this results in an increased rate of ultra-rapid remissions, while at the same time avoiding unnecessarily high doses. We believe that treatment optimization within the same day is important, not only because of the direct patient benefit, but also because patients with insufficient response can be identified early, without the need for lengthy trial-and-error approaches, during which time the patient is often exposed to potential side effects of ineffective treatments. |
■ | Treatment Regimen: We believe that the ultra-rapid onset and short duration of psychoactive effects may confer a significant convenience and feasibility advantage compared to other serotonergic psychoactive agents studied for the treatment of mental disorders, where the initial psychoactive effects have a slower onset and can last for several hours. We further believe that those features and the type of psychoactive effects induced by GH001 allow for dosing without the need for lengthy and complex patient preparation prior to treatment, with only limited required support from a healthcare provider during the experience and without the need for frequent psychological integration work after the experience. This reduces training requirements for healthcare providers and creates a convenient and efficient potential therapeutic paradigm overall. |
■ | the data from our completed clinical trial in healthy volunteers and ongoing clinical trial in patients with TRD; |
■ | the design of our planned Phase 2b trial of GH001 in TRD; |
■ | the current status and plans for our nonclinical studies; |
■ | the current status and plans for the pharmaceutical manufacturing of our active pharmaceutical ingredient, or API, and GH001 drug product; |
■ | the current status and plans for the device required to administer GH001; and |
■ | any additional topics as requested by the regulatory agencies. |
■ | A multi-center, randomized, controlled Phase 2b trial evaluating safety and efficacy in TRD patients, including a long-term, open-label follow-up study; |
■ | Phase 2a trials evaluating safety and efficacy in two or more additional psychiatric or neurological disorders; and |
■ | A clinical pharmacology trial in healthy volunteers, designed to further elucidate the pharmacokinetic profile of GH001. |
■ | A Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers to characterize the appropriate dose range when administered as an injectable; |
■ | A Phase 2a trial in a psychiatric or neurological disorder following completion of the Phase 1 healthy volunteer trial. |
■ | appoints a rapporteur from the CHMP or from the Committee for Advanced Therapies, or CAT, to provide continuous support and to build up knowledge of the medicine in advance of the filing of a marketing authorization application; |
■ | issues guidance on the applicant’s overall development plan and regulatory strategy; |
■ | organizes a kick-off meeting with the rapporteur and experts from relevant EMA committees and working groups; |
■ | provides a dedicated EMA contact person; and |
■ | provides scientific advice at key development milestones, involving additional stakeholders, such as health technology assessment bodies and patients, as needed. |
■ | a covered benefit under its health plan; |
■ | safe, effective and medically necessary; |
■ | appropriate for the specific patient; |
■ | cost-effective; and |
■ | neither experimental nor investigational. |
■ | The federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe or rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce, or in return for, either the referral of an individual, or the purchase, lease, order, arrangement or recommendation of any good, facility, item or service for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under a federal healthcare program, such as Medicare and Medicaid. The term “remuneration” has been interpreted broadly to include anything of value. Further, courts have found that if “one purpose” of remuneration is to induce referrals, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute is violated. The federal Anti-Kickback Statute has been interpreted to apply to arrangements between manufacturers on one hand and prescribers, purchasers and formulary managers on the other. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute or specific intent to violate it to have committed a violation. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the federal False Claims Act, or FCA, or federal civil money penalties statute. There are a number of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting some common activities from prosecution, but the exceptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly and require strict compliance in order to offer protection; |
■ | The federal civil and criminal false claims laws, such as the FCA, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment or approval from Medicare, Medicaid or other third-party payors, that are false, fictitious or fraudulent; from knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used, a false statement or record material to a false or fraudulent claim or obligation to pay or transmit property to the federal government; or from knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding or decreasing an obligation to pay money to the federal government. Manufacturers can be held liable under the FCA even when they do not submit claims directly to government payors if they |
■ | The federal civil monetary penalties laws, which impose civil fines for, among other things, the offering or transferring of remuneration, which includes, without limitation, any transfer of items or services for free or for less than fair market value (with limited exceptions), to a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary that the person knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier of items or services reimbursable by a federal or state healthcare program; |
■ | The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which created additional federal criminal liability for knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises, any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any healthcare benefit program, regardless of the payor (i.e., public or private) and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up by any trick or device a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services relating to healthcare matters. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation; |
■ | HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, and its respective implementing regulations, which imposes, among other things, certain requirements on covered entities, including certain covered healthcare providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouses and their respective business associates relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information as well as their covered subcontractors. Among other things, HITECH makes HIPAA’s privacy and security standards directly applicable to business associates, those independent contractors or agents of covered entities that create, receive, maintain, transmit or obtain protected health information in connection with providing a service on behalf of a covered entity. HITECH also increased the civil and criminal penalties that may be imposed against covered entities, business associates and possibly other persons, and gave state attorneys general new authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts to enforce the federal HIPAA laws and seek attorney’s fees and costs associated with pursuing federal civil actions; |
■ | The federal Physician Payment Sunshine Act, created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, collectively, the Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, which requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, information related to payments or other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by the physicians described above and their immediate family members. Effective January 1, 2022, these reporting obligations will extend to include transfers of value made during the previous year to physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, anesthesiologist assistants, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives; |
■ | Federal government price reporting laws, which require us to calculate and report complex pricing metrics in an accurate and timely manner to government programs; |
■ | Federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers; and |
■ | Analogous state and foreign equivalents of each of the healthcare laws and regulations described above, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers or patients; state and local marketing and/or transparency laws applicable to manufacturers that may be broader in scope than the federal requirements; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry voluntary compliance guidelines and other relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government, such as the April 2003 Office of Inspector General Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and/or the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals; state laws that require the reporting of information related to drug pricing; state laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures and pricing information; state and local laws that require the licensure and/or registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives; and state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of health information that may be more stringent than those in the United States (such as the European Union, which adopted the GDPR), many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts. |
Name | | | Position(s) | | | Age |
Executive Officers: | | | | | ||
Theis Terwey | | | Chief Executive Officer | | | 45 |
Magnus Halle | | | Managing Director, Ireland | | | 24 |
Julie Ryan | | | Group Finance Director | | | 35 |
| | | | |||
Non-Executive Directors: | | | | | ||
Florian Schönharting | | | Chairman of the Board of Directors | | | 52 |
Spike Loy | | | Director | | | 41 |
Michael Forer | | | Director | | | 55 |
■ | the majority independent director requirement under Nasdaq listing rules; |
■ | the requirement under Nasdaq listing rules that a compensation committee composed solely of independent directors governed by a compensation committee charter oversee executive compensation; |
■ | the requirement under Nasdaq listing rules that director nominees be selected or recommended for selection by either a majority of the independent directors or a nominations committee composed solely of independent directors; and |
■ | the requirement under Nasdaq listing rules that the independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings with only the independent directors present. |
■ | recommending the appointment of the independent auditor to shareholders for approval at the general meeting of shareholders; |
■ | the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of any accounting firm engaged for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or performing other audit services; |
■ | pre-approving the audit services and non-audit services to be provided by our independent auditor before the auditor is engaged to render such services; |
■ | evaluating the independent auditor’s qualifications, performance and independence, and presenting its conclusions to the full board of directors on at least an annual basis; |
■ | reviewing and discussing with management and our independent registered public accounting firm our financial statements and our financial reporting process; and |
■ | reviewing, approving or ratifying any related party transactions. |
■ | drawing up selection criteria and appointment procedures for directors; |
■ | assessing the functioning of individual members of our board of directors and executive officers and reporting the results of such assessment to our board of directors; |
■ | establishing procedures for identifying and evaluating board of director candidates, including nominees recommended by shareholders; |
■ | reviewing the composition of our board of directors to ensure that it is composed of members containing the appropriate skills and expertise to advise us; |
■ | recommending to our board of directors the persons to be nominated for election as directors and to each of our board of directors’ committees; |
■ | developing and recommending to our board of directors a code of business conduct and ethics and a set of corporate governance guidelines; and |
■ | overseeing the evaluation of our board of directors and management. |
■ | identifying, reviewing and proposing policies relevant to the compensation and benefits of our directors and executive officers; |
■ | evaluating the performance of senior management in light of such policies and reporting to the board; and |
■ | overseeing and administering our employee share option scheme or equity incentive plans in operation from time to time. |
Stockholder | | | Ordinary Shares | | | Aggregate Purchase Price Paid |
Florian Schönharting | | | 12,740,000 | | | €127,400.00 |
Theis Terwey | | | 5,460,000 | | | € 54,600.00 |
Magnus Halle | | | 100,000 | | | € 1,000.00 |
Stockholder | | | Ordinary Shares | | | Aggregate Purchase Price Paid |
Entities affiliated with BVF(1) | | | 12,250,000 | | | €122,500.00 |
Florian Schönharting | | | 24,046,750 | | | €240,467.50 |
Theis Terwey | | | 10,305,750 | | | €103,057.50 |
Magnus Halle | | | 188,750 | | | € 1,887.50 |
(1) | Consists of Biotechnology Value Trading Fund OS, L.P., Biotechnology Value Fund II, L.P. and Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. Spike Loy, a member of our board of directors, is a managing director at BVF. |
Stockholder | | | Series A Preferred Shares | | | Aggregate Purchase Price Paid |
Entities affiliated with BVF(1) | | | 4,307,695 | | | $4,000,002.50 |
Florian Schönharting | | | 686,000 | | | $637,000.00 |
Theis Terwey | | | 294,000 | | | $273,000.00 |
Magnus Halle | | | 5,384 | | | $4,999.43 |
Michael Forer | | | 107,692 | | | $100,000.08 |
(1) | Consists of Biotechnology Value Trading Fund OS, L.P., Biotechnology Value Fund II, L.P. and Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. Spike Loy, a member of our board of directors, is a managing director at BVF. |
Stockholder | | | Series B Preferred Shares | | | Aggregate Purchase Price Paid |
Entities affiliated with BVF | | | 5,067,701 | | | $25,000,002.87 |
Florian Schönharting | | | 202,699 | | | $999,955.52 |
■ | each person or group of affiliated persons known by us to be the beneficial owner of 5% or more of our ordinary shares; |
■ | each of our named executive officers; |
■ | each of our directors; and |
■ | all of our executive officers and directors as a group. |
| | Shares Beneficially Owned Before This Offering | | | Shares Beneficially Owned After This Offering | |||||||
Name of Beneficial Owner | | | Number | | | Percent | | | Number | | | Percent |
5% or Greater Shareholders | | | | | | | | | ||||
Entities affiliated with BVF(1) | | | | | | | | | ||||
Executive Officers and Directors | | | | | | | | | ||||
Theis Terwey | | | | | | | | | ||||
Magnus Halle | | | | | | | | | ||||
Julie Ryan | | | | | | | | | ||||
Florian Schönharting | | | | | | | | | ||||
Spike Loy(2) | | | | | | | | | ||||
Michael Forer(3) | | | | | | | | | ||||
All executive officers and directors as a group (6 persons) | | | | | | | | |
* | Represents beneficial ownership of less than 1%. |
(1) | Consists of ordinary shares held by Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P., (“BVF”) including ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion of certain Series B preferred shares held by BVF, ordinary shares held by Biotechnology Value Fund II, L.P. (“BVF2”), including ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion of certain Series B preferred shares held by BVF2, and ordinary shares held by Biotechnology Value Trading Fund OS L.P. (“Trading Fund OS”), including ordinary shares issuable upon the conversion of certain Series B preferred shares held by Trading Fund OS. BVF I GP L.L.C., BVF (“BVF GP”), as the general partner of BVF, may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned by BVF. BVF II GP L.L.C. (“BVF2 GP”), as the general partner of BVF2, may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned by BVF2. BVF Partners OS Ltd. (“Partners OS”), as the general partner of Trading Fund OS, may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned by Trading Fund OS. BVF GP Holdings L.L.C., (“BVF GPH”), as the sole member of each of BVF GP and BVF2 GP, may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned in the aggregate by BVF and BVF2. BVF Partners L.P. (“Partners”), as the general partner of BVF and BVF2, the sole member of Partners OS, and the investment manager of Trading Fund OS, may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned in the aggregate by BVF, BVF2 and Trading Fund OS. BVF Inc., as the general partner of Partners, may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned by Partners. Mark Lampert, as a director and officer of BVF Inc., may be deemed to beneficially own the shares beneficially owned by BVF Inc. The address of the above persons and entities is 44 Montgomery Street, 40th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104. |
(2) | Mr. Loy, a Managing Director of BVF Partners LP, disclaims beneficial ownership with respect to the ordinary shares held of record by entities affiliated with BVF except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein. See footnote (1). |
(3) | Does not include ordinary shares held by Dune Capital Inc., a company which is wholly owned by a trust whose beneficiaries include Mr. Forer and his family. Mr. Forer does not exercise investment or voting control over the trust, and therefore such shares do not appear in the table above. |
■ | The holders of ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each ordinary share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the shareholders; |
■ | The holders of our ordinary shares shall be entitled to receive notice of, attend, speak and vote at our general meetings and receive a copy of every report, accounts, circular or other documents sent out by us to our shareholders; and |
■ | The holders of our ordinary shares are entitled to receive such dividends as are recommended by our directors and declared by our shareholders. |
■ | amending the Constitution; |
■ | approving a change of name of GH Research PLC; |
■ | authorizing the entering into of a guarantee or provision of security in connection with a loan, quasi-loan or credit transaction to a director or connected person; |
■ | opting out of preemption rights on the issuance of new shares for cash; |
■ | our re-registration from a public limited company to a private company; |
■ | variation of class rights attaching to classes of shares (where the Constitution does not provide otherwise); |
■ | purchase of our shares off-market; |
■ | reduction of issued share capital; |
■ | sanctioning a compromise/scheme of arrangement; |
■ | resolving that we be wound up by the Irish courts; |
■ | resolving in favor of a shareholders’ voluntary winding up; |
■ | re-designation of shares into different share classes; and |
■ | setting the reissue price of treasury shares. |
■ | to act in good faith and in the best interests of the company; |
■ | to act honestly and responsibly in relation to the company’s affairs; |
■ | to act in accordance with the company’s constitution and to exercise powers only for lawful purposes; |
■ | not to misuse the company’s property, information and/or opportunity; |
■ | not to fetter their independent judgment; |
■ | to avoid conflicts of interest; |
■ | to exercise care, skill and diligence; and |
■ | to have regard for the interests of the company’s shareholders. |
(i) | borrow money; |
(ii) | indemnify and guarantee; |
(iii) | mortgage or charge; |
(iv) | create and issue debentures and other securities; and |
(v) | give security either outright or as collateral security for any of our debt, liability or obligation or any of a third party. |
(i) | in the event of an offer, all holders of securities of the target company must be afforded equivalent treatment and, if a person acquires control of a company, the other holders of securities must be protected; |
(ii) | the holders of securities in the target company must have sufficient time and information to enable them to reach a properly informed decision on the offer; where it advises the holders of securities, the Board of Directors of the target company must give its views on the effects of the implementation of the offer on employment, employment conditions and the locations of the target company’s place of business; |
(iii) | a target company’s Board of Directors must act in the interests of that company as a whole and must not deny the holders of securities the opportunity to decide on the merits of the offer; |
(iv) | false markets must not be created in the securities of the target company, the bidder or any other company concerned by the offer in such a way that the rise or fall of the prices of the securities becomes artificial and the normal functioning of the markets is distorted; |
(v) | a bidder can only announce an offer after ensuring that he or she can fulfill in full the consideration offered, if such is offered, and after taking all reasonable measures to secure the implementation of any other type of consideration; |
(vi) | a target company may not be hindered in the conduct of its affairs longer than is reasonable by an offer for its securities; and |
(vii) | a “substantial acquisition” of securities, whether such acquisition is to be effected by one transaction or a series of transactions, shall take place only at an acceptable speed and shall be subject to adequate and timely disclosure. |
(a) | the action is approved by our shareholders at a general meeting; or |
(b) | the Irish Takeover Panel has given its consent, where: |
(i) | it is satisfied the action would not constitute frustrating action; |
(ii) | our shareholders holding more than 50% of the voting rights state in writing that they approve the proposed action and would vote in favor of it at a general meeting; |
(iii) | the action is taken in accordance with a contract entered into prior to the announcement of the offer, or any earlier time at which our Board of Directors considered the offer to be imminent; or |
(iv) | the decision to take such action was made before the announcement of the offer and either has been at least partially implemented or is in the ordinary course of business. |
(i) | any transfer of those shares or, in the case of unissued shares, any transfer of the right to be issued with shares and any issue of shares, shall be void; |
(ii) | no voting rights shall be exercisable in respect of those shares; |
(iii) | no further shares shall be issued in right of those shares or in pursuance of any offer made to the holder of those shares; and |
(iv) | no payment shall be made of any sums due from us on those shares, whether in respect of capital or otherwise. |
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Number of Directors | | | The Irish Companies Act provides for a minimum of two directors. The Constitution provides for a minimum of two directors and a maximum of nine. Our shareholders may from time to time increase or reduce the maximum number, or increase the minimum number, of directors by ordinary resolution. Our Board of Directors determines the number of directors within the range of two to nine. | | | A typical certificate of incorporation and bylaws would provide that the number of directors on the board of directors will be fixed from time to time by a vote of the majority of the authorized directors. Under Delaware law, a board of directors can be divided into classes and cumulative voting in the election of directors is only permitted if expressly authorized in a corporation’s certificate of incorporation. |
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Removal of Directors | | | Under the Irish Companies Act, the shareholders may, by ordinary resolution, remove a director from office before the expiration of his or her term, at a meeting held with no less than 28 days’ notice and at which the director is entitled to be heard. Because of this provision of the Irish Companies Act, a director may be so removed before the expiration of his or her period of office. The power of removal is without prejudice to any claim for damages for breach of contract (e.g., employment contract) that the director may have against the Company in respect of his or her removal. The Constitution also provides that the office of a director will also be vacated if the director is restricted or disqualified to act as a director under the Irish Companies Act; resigns his or her office by notice in writing to us or in writing offers to resign and the directors resolve to accept such offer; or is requested to resign in writing by not less than 75% of the other directors. | | | A typical certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that, subject to the rights of holders of any preferred shares, directors may be removed at any time by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority, or in some instances a supermajority, of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. A certificate of incorporation could also provide that such a right is only exercisable when a director is being removed for cause (removal of a director only for cause is the default rule in the case of a classified board). |
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Vacancies on the Board of Directors | | | Any vacancy on our Board of Directors, including a vacancy resulting from an increase in the number of directors or from the death, | | | A typical certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that, subject to the rights of the holders of any preferred shares, any vacancy, whether |
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| | resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal of a director, shall be deemed a casual vacancy. Subject to the terms of any one or more classes or series of preferred shares, any casual vacancy shall only be filled by the decision of a majority of our Board of Directors then in office, provided that a quorum is present and provided that the appointment does not cause the number of directors to exceed any number fixed by or in accordance with the Constitution as the maximum number of directors. Any director of a class of directors elected to fill a vacancy resulting from an increase in the number of directors of such class shall hold office for the remaining term of that class. Any director elected to fill a vacancy not resulting from an increase in the number of directors shall have the same remaining term as that of his predecessor. A director retiring at a meeting shall retain office until the close or adjournment of the meeting. | | | arising through death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, removal, an increase in the number of directors or any other reason, may be filled by a majority vote of the remaining directors, even if such directors remaining in office constitute less than a quorum, or by the sole remaining director. Any newly elected director usually holds office for the remainder of the full term expiring at the annual meeting of shareholders at which the term of the class of directors to which the newly elected director has been elected expires. | |
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Annual General Meeting | | | We are required to hold annual general meetings at intervals of no more than 15 months after the previous annual general meeting, provided that an annual general meeting is held in each calendar year following our first annual general meeting, no more than nine months after our fiscal year-end. The only matters which must, as a matter of Irish company law, be transacted at an annual general meeting are the consideration of the Irish statutory financial statements, the report of the directors, the report of the auditors on those statements and that report and a review by the members of our affairs. If no resolution is made in respect of the reappointment of an auditor at an annual general meeting, the previous auditor will be deemed to have continued in office. | | | Typical bylaws provide that annual meetings of shareholders are to be held on a date and at a time fixed by the board of directors. |
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General Meeting | | | Our extraordinary general meetings may be convened by (i) our Board of Directors, (ii) on requisition of shareholders holding not less than 10% of our paid up share capital carrying voting rights or (iii) on requisition of our auditors. Extraordinary general meetings are generally held for the purposes of approving shareholder resolutions as may be required from time to time. | | | Under Delaware law, a special meeting of shareholders may be called by the board of directors or by any other person authorized to do so in the certificate of incorporation or the bylaws. |
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| | If our directors become aware that our net assets are half or less of the amount of our called up share capital, our directors must convene an extraordinary general meeting of our shareholders not later than 28 days from the date that they learn of this fact. This meeting must be convened for the purposes of considering whether any, and if so what, measures should be taken to address the situation. | | | ||
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Notice of General Meetings | | | Notice of a general meeting must be given to all our shareholders and to our auditors. The Constitution provides that the maximum notice period is 60 days. The minimum notice periods are 21 days’ notice in writing for an annual general meeting or an extraordinary general meeting to approve a special resolution and 14 days’ notice in writing for any other extraordinary general meeting. General meetings may be called by shorter notice, but only with the consent of our auditors and all of our shareholders entitled to attend and vote thereat. Because of the 21-day and 14-day requirements described in this paragraph, the Constitution includes provisions reflecting these requirements of Irish law. In the case of an extraordinary general meeting convened by our shareholders, the proposed purpose of the meeting must be set out in the requisition notice. Upon receipt of this requisition notice, our Board of Directors has 21 days to convene a meeting of our shareholders to vote on the matters set out in the requisition notice. This meeting must be held within two months of the receipt of the requisition notice. If our Board of Directors does not convene the meeting within such 21-day period, the requisitioning shareholders, or any of them representing more than one-half of the total voting rights of all of them, may themselves convene a meeting, which meeting must be held within three months of the receipt of the requisition notice. | | | Under Delaware law, unless otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws, written notice of any meeting of the stockholders must be given to each stockholder entitled to vote at the meeting not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting and shall specify the place, date, hour and purpose or purposes of the meeting. |
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Quorum | | | The presence, in person or by proxy, of one or more persons holding or representing by proxy at least a majority in nominal value of the class or, at any adjourned meeting of such holders, one holder holding or representing by proxy at least a majority in nominal value of the issued shares of the class constitutes a quorum for the conduct of business. No business may take place at a | | | Under Delaware law, a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws can specify the number of shares which constitute the quorum required to conduct business at a meeting, provided that in no event shall a quorum consist of less than one-third of the shares entitled to vote at a meeting. |
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| | general meeting if a quorum is not present in person or by proxy. Our Board of Directors has no authority to waive quorum requirements stipulated in the Constitution. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be counted as present for purposes of determining whether there is a quorum in respect of the proposals. | | | ||
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Proxy | | | Under Irish law, a shareholder may designate another person to attend, speak and vote at a general meeting of the company on their behalf by proxy, which proxy need not be a shareholder. Where interests in shares are held by a nominee trust company, this company may exercise the rights of the beneficial holders on their behalf as their proxy. Voting rights may be exercised by shareholders registered in the share register as of the record date for the meeting or by a duly appointed proxy of such a registered shareholder, which proxy need not be a shareholder. Where interests in shares are held by a nominee trust company, this company may exercise the rights of the beneficial holders on their behalf as their proxy. All proxies must be appointed in accordance with the Constitution. The Constitution permits the appointment of proxies by our shareholders to be notified to us electronically, when permitted by our directors. | | | Under Delaware law, at any meeting of stockholders, a stockholder may designate another person to act for such stockholder by proxy, but no such proxy shall be voted or acted upon after three years from its date, unless the proxy provides for a longer period. A director of a Delaware corporation may not issue a proxy representing the director’s voting rights as a director. |
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Issue of New Shares | | | Under the Constitution, we may issue shares subject to the maximum authorized share capital contained in the Constitution. The authorized share capital may be increased or reduced by a resolution approved by a simple majority of the votes cast at a general meeting of our shareholders, referred to under Irish law as an “ordinary resolution.” As a matter of Irish law, the directors of a company may issue new ordinary or preferred shares without shareholder approval once authorized to do so by its constitution or by an ordinary resolution adopted by our shareholders at a general meeting. The authorization may be granted for a maximum period of five years, at which point it may be renewed by shareholders by an ordinary resolution. Accordingly, the Constitution authorizes our Board of Directors to issue new ordinary or preferred shares without shareholder approval for a period of five years from the date of the adoption of the Constitution. The authority to issue preferred | | | Under Delaware law, if the company’s certificate of incorporation so provides, the directors have the power to authorize the issuance of additional stock. The directors may authorize capital stock to be issued for consideration consisting of cash, any tangible or intangible property or any benefit to the company or any combination thereof. |
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| | shares provides us with the flexibility to consider and respond to future business needs and opportunities as they arise from time to time, including in connection with capital raising, financing and acquisition transactions or opportunities. Under the Constitution, our Board of Directors will be authorized to issue preferred shares on a non-preemptive basis, with discretion as to the terms attaching to the preferred shares, including as to voting, dividend and conversion rights and priority relative to other classes of shares with respect to dividends and upon a liquidation. As described in the preceding paragraph, this authority extends until five years from the date of the adoption of the Constitution, at which time it will expire unless renewed by our shareholders. Notwithstanding this authority, under the Irish Takeover Rules our Board of Directors would not be permitted to issue any of our shares, including preferred shares, during a period when an offer has been made for us or is believed to be imminent unless the issue is (i) approved by our shareholders at a general meeting, (ii) consented to by the Irish Takeover Panel on the basis it would not constitute action frustrating the offer, (iii) consented to by the Irish Takeover Panel and approved by the holders of more than 50% of our shares carrying voting rights, (iv) consented to by the Irish Takeover Panel in circumstances where a contract for the issue of the shares had been entered into prior to that period or (v) consented to by the Irish Takeover Panel in circumstances where the issue of the shares was decided by our directors prior to that period and either action has been taken to implement the issuance (whether in part or in full) prior to such period or the issuance was otherwise in the ordinary course of business. | | | ||
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Preemptive Rights | | | Under Irish law, unless otherwise authorized, when an Irish public limited company issues shares for cash to new shareholders, it is required first to offer those shares on the same or more favorable terms to existing shareholders of the company on a pro rata basis, commonly referred to as the statutory preemption right. However, we have opted out of these preemption rights in the Constitution as permitted under Irish law. Because Irish law | | | Under Delaware law, stockholders have no preemptive rights to subscribe to additional issues of stock or to any security convertible into such stock unless, and except to the extent that, such rights are expressly provided for in the certificate of incorporation. |
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| | permits this opt-out to last for a maximum of five years, the Constitution provides that this opt-out will lapse five years after the adoption of the Constitution. Such opt-out may be renewed by a special resolution of the shareholders. A special resolution requires not less than 75% of the votes cast at a general meeting of our shareholders. If the opt-out is not renewed, shares issued for cash must be offered to our preexisting shareholders pro rata before the shares can be issued to any new shareholders. The statutory preemption rights do not apply where shares are issued for noncash consideration and do not apply to the issue of non-equity shares (that is, shares that have the right to participate only up to a specified amount in any income or capital distribution). | | | ||
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Authority to Allot | | | Under the Constitution, we may issue shares subject to the maximum authorized share capital contained in the Constitution. The authorized share capital may be increased or reduced by a resolution approved by a simple majority of the votes cast at a general meeting of our shareholders, referred to under Irish law as an “ordinary resolution.” Our authorized share capital may be divided into shares of such nominal value as the resolution shall prescribe. As a matter of Irish law, the directors of a company may issue new ordinary or preferred shares without shareholder approval once authorized to do so by its constitution or by an ordinary resolution adopted by our shareholders at a general meeting. The authorization may be granted for a maximum period of five years, at which point it may be renewed by shareholders by an ordinary resolution. Accordingly, the Constitution authorizes our Board of Directors to issue new ordinary or preferred shares without shareholder approval for a period of five years from the date of the adoption of the Constitution. The authority to issue preferred shares provides us with the flexibility to consider and respond to future business needs and opportunities as they arise from time to time, including in connection with capital raising, financing and acquisition transactions or opportunities. | | | Under Delaware law, if the corporation’s charter or certificate of incorporation so provides, the board of directors has the power to authorize the issuance of stock. The board may authorize capital stock to be issued for consideration consisting of cash, any tangible or intangible property or any benefit to the corporation or any combination thereof. It may determine the amount of such consideration by approving a formula. In the absence of actual fraud in the transaction, the judgment of the directors as to the value of such consideration is conclusive. |
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Acquisition of Own Shares | | | Under Irish law, a company may issue redeemable shares and redeem them out of distributable reserves or the proceeds of a new issue of shares for that purpose. All redeemable | | | Under Delaware law, any corporation may purchase or redeem its own shares, except that generally it may not purchase or redeem these shares if the capital of the corporation is |
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| | shares must also be fully paid. Redeemable shares may, upon redemption, be cancelled or held in treasury. The Constitution provides that shareholder approval will not be required to deem any shares redeemable. We may also be given an additional general authority by our shareholders to purchase our own shares on-market, which would take effect on the same terms and be subject to the same conditions as applicable to purchases by our subsidiaries as described below. Repurchased and redeemed shares may be cancelled or held as treasury shares. The nominal value of treasury shares that we hold at any time must not exceed 10% of the nominal value of our issued share capital. We may not exercise any voting rights in respect of any shares held as treasury shares. We may either cancel or, subject to certain conditions, reissue Treasury shares. Under Irish law, an Irish or non-Irish subsidiary may purchase our shares either on-market or off-market. For a subsidiary of ours to make on-market purchases of our shares, the shareholders must provide general authorization for such purchase by way of ordinary resolution. However, as long as this general authority has been granted, no specific shareholder authority for a particular on-market purchase by a subsidiary of our shares is required. For an off-market purchase by a subsidiary of ours, the proposed purchase contract must be authorized by special resolution of our shareholders before the contract is entered into. This authority must specify the date on which the authority is to expire, which shall not be more than 18 months from the date the special resolution was passed. The person whose shares of ours are to be bought cannot vote in favor of the special resolution and, for at least 21 days prior to the special resolution being passed, the purchase contract must be on display or must be available for inspection by our shareholders at our registered office. | | | impaired at the time or would become impaired as a result of the redemption. A corporation may, however, purchase or redeem out of capital shares that are entitled upon any distribution of its assets to a preference over another class or series of its shares if the shares are to be retired and the capital reduced. | |
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Different Classes of Shares | | | Without prejudice to any rights attached to any existing shares, We may issue shares with such rights or restrictions as we determine by an ordinary resolution approved by our shareholders. As a matter of Irish company law, the directors of a company may issue new | | | A company’s Delaware’s certificate of incorporation may authorize the board of directors: (1) to provide for the issuance of one or more series of preferred stock; (2) to establish from time to time the |
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| | ordinary or preferred shares without shareholder approval once authorized to do so by the constitution or by an ordinary resolution adopted by the shareholders at a general meeting. The authorization may be granted for a maximum period of five years, at which point it must be renewed by the shareholders by an ordinary resolution (if we wish to issue shares). The Constitution authorizes our board of directors to issue new ordinary or preferred shares without shareholder approval for a period of five years from the date of adoption of such constitution, which is expected to be effective as of the completion of the business combination. We may also issue shares which are, or are liable to be, redeemed at the option of us or the holder. Whenever our share capital is divided into different classes of shares, the special rights attached to any class may be varied or abrogated either with the written consent of the holders of 75% in nominal value of the issued shares of the class (excluding shares held as treasury shares) or with the sanction of a special resolution passed at a separate meeting of the holders of the shares of the class (but not otherwise), and may be so varied or abrogated either while we are a going concern or during or in contemplation of a winding up. The rights conferred upon the holders of any class of shares issued with preferred or other rights shall not, unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class, be deemed to be varied by our purchase or redemption of our own shares or by the creation or issue of further shares ranking pari passu therewith or subordinate thereto. | | | number of shares to be included in such series; and (3) to fix the designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights, and qualifications, limitations or restrictions of each such series. | |
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Dividends | | | Under Irish law, dividends and distributions may only be made from distributable reserves which are, generally, a company’s accumulated realized profits less its accumulated realized losses. In addition, no distribution or dividend may be made if our net assets are not, or if making such distribution or dividend will cause our net assets to not be, equal to, or in excess of, the aggregate of our called up share capital plus undistributable reserves. Undistributable reserves include the company’s undenominated capital and the amount by which a company’s accumulated unrealized | | | Under Delaware law, subject to any restriction in the corporation’s certificate of incorporation, the Board may declare and pay dividends out of: (1) surplus of the corporation, which is defined as net assets less statutory capital; or (2) if no surplus exists, out of the net profits of the corporation for the year in which the dividend is declared and/or the preceding year; provided, however, that if the capital of the corporation has been diminished to an amount less than the aggregate amount of capital |
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| | profits exceeds its accumulated unrealized losses. The determination as to whether or not we have sufficient distributable reserves to fund a dividend must be made by reference to our most recent unconsolidated annual audited financial statements or other financial statements properly prepared in accordance with the Irish Companies Act. The relevant financial statements must be filed in the Companies Registration Office (the official public registry for companies in Ireland). The Constitution authorizes our board of directors to declare dividends without shareholder approval to the extent they appear justified by profits. Our board of directors may also recommend a dividend to be approved and declared by the shareholders at a general meeting, provided that no dividend issued may exceed the amount recommended by the directors. | | | represented by the issued and outstanding stock of all classes having preference upon the distribution of assets, the Board may not declare and pay dividends out of the corporation’s net profits until the deficiency in the capital has been repaired. | |
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General Provisions Governing a Liquidation; Liquidation Distributions | | | Our duration will be unlimited. We may be dissolved and wound up at any time by way of a shareholders’ voluntary winding up or a creditors’ winding up. In the case of a shareholders’ voluntary winding up, a special resolution of our shareholders is required. We may also be dissolved by way of court order on the application of a creditor, or by the Companies Registration Office as an enforcement measure where we have failed to file certain returns. The rights of the shareholders to a return of our assets on dissolution or winding up, following the settlement of all claims of creditors, are prescribed in the Constitution. | | | Upon the dissolution of a Delaware corporation, after satisfaction of the claims of creditors, the assets of that corporation would be distributed to stockholders in accordance with their respective interests, including any rights a holder of shares of preference shares may have to preferred distributions upon dissolution or liquidation of the corporation. |
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Amendment of Constitution | | | Irish company law requires a special resolution of our shareholders (approval by not less than 75% of the votes cast at a general meeting of our shareholders) to approve any amendments to the Constitution. | | | Amendment of Certification of Incorporation and Bylaws Under Delaware law, amendments to a corporation’s certificate of incorporation require the approval of stockholders holding a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment. If a class vote on the amendment is required by the Delaware General Corporation Law, a majority of the outstanding stock of the class is required, unless a greater proportion is specified in the certificate of incorporation or by other provisions of the Delaware General |
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| | | | Corporation Law. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, the board of directors may amend bylaws if so authorized in the certificate of incorporation. The stockholders of a Delaware corporation also have the power to amend bylaws. | ||
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Acquisition of Treasury Share and Reduction of Share Capital | | | We may reduce our authorized but unissued share capital in any manner permitted by the Irish Companies Act. We also may, by special resolution (approved by not less than 75% of the votes cast at a general meeting of our shareholders) and subject to confirmation by the Irish High Court, reduce our issued share capital in any way permitted by the Irish Companies Act. For purposes of Irish law, repurchases of our shares may be effected by a redemption if the repurchased shares are redeemable shares or are deemed to be redeemable shares by the Constitution. The Constitution provides that, unless the board of directors determines otherwise, each of our shares shall be deemed to be a redeemable share on, and from the time of, the existence or creation of an agreement, transaction or trade between us and any person pursuant to which we acquire or will acquire our shares, or an interest in our shares, from the relevant person. Redeemable shares of ours shall have the same characteristics as any other of our shares save that they shall be redeemable in accordance with the arrangement. | | | Under Delaware law, a corporation, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the board of directors, may reduce its capital by reducing or eliminating the capital represented by shares of capital stock which have been retired, by applying to an already authorized purchase redemption, conversion or exchange of outstanding shares of its capital stock some or all of the capital represented by shares being purchased, redeemed, converted or exchanged or any capital that has not been allocated to any particular class of capital stock or by transferring to surplus capital some or all of the capital not represented by any particular class of its capital stock or the capital associated with certain issued shares of its par value capital stock. No reduction of capital may be made unless the assets of the corporation remaining after the reduction are sufficient to pay any debts for which payment has not otherwise been provided. |
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Rights of Inspection | | | Under Irish law, our shareholders have the right to: (i) receive a copy of the Constitution; (ii) inspect and obtain copies of the minutes of our general meetings and resolutions; (iii) inspect and receive a copy of our register of members, register of directors and secretaries, register of directors’ interests, register of directors’ service contracts and memoranda and other statutory registers that we maintain; (iv) receive copies of balance sheets and directors’ and auditors’ reports that have previously been sent to our shareholders prior to an annual general meeting; and (v) receive balance sheets of any of our subsidiaries that have previously been sent to our shareholders prior to an annual general meeting for the preceding 10 years. | | | Delaware law allows any stockholder in person or by attorney or other agent, upon written demand under oath stating the purpose thereof, during the usual hours for business to inspect for any proper purpose, and to make copies and extracts from: (1) the corporation’s stock ledger, a list of its stockholders, and its other books and records; and (2) a subsidiary’s books and records, to the extent that: (a) the corporation has actual possession and control of such records of such subsidiary; or (b) the corporation could obtain such records through the exercise of control over such subsidiary, provided that as of the date of the |
| | IRELAND | | | DELAWARE | |
| | | | making of the demand: (i) the stockholder inspection of such books and records of the subsidiary would not constitute a breach of an agreement between the corporation or the subsidiary and a person or persons not affiliated with the corporation; and (ii) the subsidiary would not have the right under the law applicable to it to deny the corporation access to such books and records upon demand by the corporation. | ||
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Liability of Directors and Officers | | | To the fullest extent permitted by Irish law, the Constitution contains indemnification for the benefit of our directors, company secretary and executive officers. However, as to our directors and company secretary, this indemnity is limited by the Irish Companies Act, which prescribes that an advance commitment to indemnify only permits a company to pay the costs or discharge the liability of a director or company secretary where judgment is given in favor of the director or company secretary in any civil or criminal action in respect of such costs or liability, or where an Irish court grants relief because the director or company secretary acted honestly and reasonably and ought fairly to be excused. Any provision whereby an Irish company seeks to commit in advance to indemnify its directors or company secretary over and above the limitations imposed by the Irish Companies Act will be void, whether contained in its Constitution or any contract between the company and the director or company secretary. This restriction does not apply to our executive officers who are not directors, our company secretary or other persons who would be considered “officers” within the meaning of the Irish Companies Act. We are permitted under the Constitution and the Irish Companies Act to take out directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, as well as other types of insurance, for our directors, officers, employees and agents. In order to attract and retain qualified directors and officers, we expect to purchase and maintain customary directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and other types of comparable insurance. | | | Delaware law permits a corporation’s certificate of incorporation to include a provision eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director to the corporation and its stockholders for damages arising from a breach of fiduciary duty as a director. However, no provision can limit the liability of a director for: (1) any breach of his or her duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders; (2) acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; (3) intentional or negligent payment of unlawful dividends or stock purchases or redemptions; or (4) any transaction from which he or she derives an improper personal benefit. |
| | IRELAND | | | DELAWARE | |
Voting Rights | | | Under the Constitution, each holder of our ordinary shares is entitled to one vote for each ordinary share that he or she holds as of the record date for the meeting. We may not exercise any voting rights in respect of any shares held as treasury shares. Any shares held by our subsidiaries will count as treasury shares for this purpose, and such subsidiaries cannot therefore exercise any voting rights in respect of those shares. | | | Each stockholder is entitled to one vote for each share of capital stock held by the stockholder, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. If issued, the voting rights of holders of preferred stock will be determined by the certificate of incorporation or the certificate of designation with respect to such preferred stock. |
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Shareholder Vote on Certain Transactions | | | Pursuant to Irish law, shareholder approval in connection with a transaction involving the Company would be required under the following circumstances: ■ in connection with a scheme of arrangement, both a court order from the Irish High Court and the approval of a majority in number representing 75% in value of the shareholders present and voting in person or by proxy at a meeting called to approve such a scheme would be required; ■ in connection with an acquisition of the Company by way of a merger with an EU company under the EU Cross-Border Mergers Directive 2005/56/EC, (as replaced by Directive (EU) 2017/1132 of June 14, 2017), approval by a special resolution of the shareholders would be required; and ■ in connection with a merger with an Irish company under the Irish Companies Act, approval by a special resolution of shareholders would be required. | | | Generally, under Delaware law, unless the certificate of incorporation provides for the vote of a larger portion of the stock, completion of a merger, consolidation, sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of a corporation’s assets or dissolution requires: ■ the approval of the board of directors; and ■ the approval by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding stock or, if the certificate of incorporation provides for more or less than one vote per share, a majority of the votes of the outstanding stock of the corporation entitled to vote on the matter. |
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Standard of Conduct for Directors | | | The directors of the Company have certain statutory and fiduciary duties as a matter of Irish law. All of the directors have equal and overall responsibility for the management of the Company (although directors who also serve as employees may have additional responsibilities and duties arising under their employment agreements (if applicable), and it is likely that more will be expected of them in compliance with their duties than non-executive directors). The Irish Companies Act provides specifically for certain fiduciary duties of the directors of Irish companies, including duties: ■ to act in good faith and in the best interests of the company; ■ to act honestly and responsibly in relation to the company’s affairs; | | | Delaware law does not contain specific provisions setting forth the standard of conduct of a director. The scope of the fiduciary duties of directors is generally determined by the courts of the State of Delaware. In general, directors have a duty to act without self-interest, on a well-informed basis and in a manner they reasonably believe to be in the best interests of the stockholders. Directors of a Delaware corporation owe fiduciary duties of care and loyalty to the corporation and to its shareholders. The duty of care generally requires that a director act in good faith, with the care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise under similar circumstances. Under this duty, a director must inform himself of all material information |
| | IRELAND | | | DELAWARE | |
| | ■ to act in accordance with the company’s constitution and to exercise powers only for lawful purposes; ■ not to misuse the company’s property, information and/or opportunity; ■ not to fetter their independent judgment; ■ to avoid conflicts of interest; ■ to exercise care, skill and diligence; and ■ to have regard for the interests of the company’s shareholders. Other statutory duties of directors include ensuring the maintenance of proper books of account, having annual accounts prepared, having an annual audit performed, maintaining certain registers, making certain filings and disclosing personal interests. Directors of public limited companies such as GH will have a specific duty to ensure that the company secretary is a person with the requisite knowledge and experience to discharge the role. Directors may rely on information, opinions, reports or statements, including financial statements and other financial data, prepared or presented by (1) other directors, officers or employees of the company whom the director reasonably believes to be reliable and competent in the matters prepared or presented, (2) legal counsel, public accountants or other persons as to matters the director reasonably believes to be within their professional or expert competence or (3) a committee of the board of which the director does not serve as to matters within its designated authority, which committee the director reasonably believed to merit confidence. | | | reasonably available regarding a significant transaction. The duty of loyalty requires that a director act in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation. He must not use his corporate position for personal gain or advantage. In general, but subject to certain exceptions, actions of a director are presumed to have been made on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests of the corporation. However, this presumption may be rebutted by evidence of a breach of one of the fiduciary duties. Delaware courts have also imposed a heightened standard of conduct upon directors of a Delaware corporation who take any action designed to defeat a threatened change in control of the corporation. In addition, under Delaware law, when the board of directors of a Delaware corporation approves the sale or breakup of a corporation, the board of directors may, in certain circumstances, have a duty to obtain the highest value reasonably available to the stockholders. | |
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Shareholder Suits | | | In Ireland, the decision to institute proceedings is generally taken by a company’s board of directors, who will usually be empowered to manage the company’s business. In certain limited circumstances, a shareholder may be entitled to bring a derivative action on behalf of the company. The central question at issue in deciding whether a minority shareholder may be permitted to bring a derivative action is whether, unless the action is brought, a wrong committed against the company would otherwise go unredressed. The principal case law in Ireland indicates that to bring a derivative action a person must first | | | Under Delaware law, a stockholder may bring a derivative action on behalf of the corporation to enforce the rights of the corporation. An individual also may commence a class action suit on behalf of himself or herself and other similarly situated stockholders where the requirements for maintaining a class action under the Delaware General Corporation Law have been met. A person may institute and maintain such a suit only if such person was a stockholder at the time of the transaction which is the subject of the suit or his or her shares thereafter devolved upon him or her by operation of law. Additionally, under Delaware case law, the plaintiff generally must be a stockholder not only at the time of the |
| | IRELAND | | | DELAWARE | |
| | establish a prima facie case (i) that the company is entitled to the relief claimed and (ii) that the action falls within one of the five exceptions derived from case law, as follows: (1) where an ultra vires or illegal act is perpetrated; (2) where more than a bare majority is required to ratify the “wrong” complained of; (3) where the shareholders’ personal rights are infringed; (4) where a fraud has been perpetrated upon a minority by those in control; or (5) where the justice of the case requires a minority to be permitted to institute proceedings. Shareholders may also bring proceedings against the company where the affairs of the company are being conducted, or the powers of the directors are being exercised, in a manner oppressive to the shareholders or in disregard of their interests. Oppression connotes conduct that is burdensome, harsh or wrong. Conduct must relate to the internal management of the company. This is an Irish statutory remedy and the court can grant any order it sees fit, usually providing for the purchase or transfer of the shares of any shareholder. | | | transaction which is the subject of the suit, but also through the duration of the derivative suit. The Delaware General Corporation Law also requires that the derivative plaintiff make a demand on the directors of the corporation to assert the corporate claim before the suit may be prosecuted by the derivative plaintiff, unless such demand would be futile. |
■ | the restricted securities have been held for at least six months, including the holding period of a prior owner other than one of our affiliates; |
■ | we have been subject to the Exchange Act, periodic reporting requirements for at least 90 days before the sale; and |
■ | we are current in our Exchange Act reporting at the time of sale. |
■ | 1% of the number of ordinary shares then outstanding, which will equal approximately shares immediately after the completion of this offering based on the number of ordinary shares outstanding as of , 2021; or |
■ | the average weekly trading volume of our ordinary shares on Nasdaq during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale. |
■ | certain banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions; |
■ | brokers, dealers or traders in securities who use a mark-to-market method of tax accounting; |
■ | persons holding ordinary shares as part of a straddle, wash sale, conversion transaction or other integrated transaction or persons entering into a constructive sale with respect to the ordinary shares; |
■ | persons who acquired ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of any employee stock option or otherwise as compensation; |
■ | persons whose functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes is not the U.S. dollar; |
■ | entities or arrangements classified as partnerships or S corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes (and investors therein); |
■ | tax-exempt entities, including an “individual retirement account” or “Roth IRA” or governmental entities; |
■ | real estate investment trusts or regulated investment companies; |
■ | former U.S. citizens or long-term residents of the United States; |
■ | persons that own or are deemed to own 10% or more of the voting power or value of our shares; or |
■ | persons holding ordinary shares in connection with a trade or business conducted outside of the United States or in connection with a permanent establishment or other fixed place of business outside of the United States. |
■ | a citizen or individual resident of the United States; |
■ | a corporation, or other entity taxable as a corporation, created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state therein or the District of Columbia; or |
■ | an estate or trust the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source. |
■ | a person (not being a company) resident for tax purposes in a Relevant Territory (including the United States) and is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in Ireland (the current list of Relevant Territories for DWT purposes are: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The Republic Of Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia); |
■ | a company which is not resident for tax purposes in Ireland but is resident for tax purposes in a Relevant Territory, provided such company is not under the control, whether directly or indirectly, of a person or persons who is or are resident in Ireland; |
■ | a company, which is not resident for tax purposes in Ireland, that is controlled, directly or indirectly, by persons resident in a Relevant Territory and who is or are (as the case may be) not controlled by, directly or indirectly, persons who are not resident in a Relevant Territory; |
■ | a company, which is not resident for tax purposes in Ireland, whose principal class of shares (or those of its 75% direct or indirect parent) is substantially and regularly traded on a stock exchange in Ireland, on a recognized stock exchange in a Relevant Territory or on such other stock exchange approved by the Irish Minister for Finance; or |
■ | a company, which is not resident for tax purposes in Ireland, that is wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by two or more companies where the principal class of shares of each of such companies is substantially and regularly traded on a stock exchange in Ireland, on a recognized stock exchange in a Relevant Territory or on such other stock exchange approved by the Irish Minister for Finance, |
Underwriters | | | Number of Shares |
Cowen and Company, LLC | | | |
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated | | | |
Canaccord Genuity LLC | | | |
JMP Securities LLC | | | |
Total | | | $ |
| | Total | |||||||
| | Per Share | | | Without Option | | | With Option | |
Public offering price | | | | | | | |||
Underwriting discount | | | | | | | |||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us | | | | | | |
■ | the history of, and prospects for, our company and the industry in which we compete; |
■ | our past and present financial information; |
■ | an assessment of our management; its past and present operations, and the prospects for, and timing of, our future revenue; |
■ | the present state of our development; and |
■ | the above factors in relation to market values and various valuation measures of other companies engaged in activities similar to ours. |
■ | Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase ordinary shares so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum, and are engaged in for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the ordinary shares while the offering is in progress. |
■ | Over-allotment transactions involve sales by the underwriters of ordinary shares in excess of the number of ordinary shares the underwriters are obligated to purchase. This creates a syndicate short position which may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of ordinary shares over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of ordinary shares that they may purchase pursuant to the option to purchase additional ordinary shares. In a naked short position, the number of ordinary shares involved is greater than the number of ordinary shares that the underwriters have the option to purchase. The underwriters may close out any short position by exercising their option to purchase additional ordinary shares and/or purchasing ordinary shares in the open market. |
■ | Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of ordinary shares in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of ordinary shares to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of ordinary shares available for purchase in the open market as compared with the price at which they may purchase ordinary shares through exercise of the option to purchase additional ordinary shares. If the underwriters sell more ordinary shares than could be covered by exercise of the option to purchase additional ordinary shares and, therefore, have a naked short position, the position can be closed out only by buying ordinary shares in the |
■ | Penalty bids permit the representatives to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the ordinary shares originally sold by that syndicate member are purchased in stabilizing or syndicate covering transactions to cover syndicate short positions. |
(i) | transactions relating to ordinary shares or any security convertible into ordinary shares acquired in the offering (other than any issuer-directed ordinary shares purchased in the offering by our officers or directors) or in open market transactions after the completion of the offering; |
(ii) | transfers or distributions as a bona fide gift or for bona fide estate planning purposes or to a charitable organization or educational institution; |
(iii) | transfers or distributions to any immediate family member of such person, affiliate or any trust or trustee or beneficiary thereof for the direct or indirect benefit of such person or the immediate family of such person (for this purpose, “immediate family” means any relationship by blood, marriage, domestic partnership or adoption, not more remote than first cousin); |
(iv) | transfers or distributions to any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity or affiliate of such person or the immediate family of such person; |
(v) | transfers or distributions (a) by will, other testamentary document or intestate succession to the legal representative, heir, beneficiary or a member of the immediate family of such person upon the death of such person; (b) by operation of law pursuant to a domestic order or negotiated divorce settlement; |
(vi) | transfers or distributions to another corporation, member, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other entity that is a direct or indirect affiliate (as defined under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act), or to an investment fund or other entity that controls or manages, or is under common control with, such person, or distributions to partners, members, shareholders, beneficiaries or other equity holders of such person; |
(vii) | transfers or distributions to us (a) in connection with the repurchase of such securities with respect to the termination of such person’s employment with us or (b) pursuant to contractual arrangements described in this prospectus; |
(viii) | transfers or distributions (including through a “cashless” exercise or on a “net exercise basis”) to us in connection with the conversion of any convertible security into, or the exercise of any option or warrant for, ordinary shares (including to satisfy withholding obligations or the payment of taxes in connection therewith); provided that (a) any such ordinary shares received by such person shall be subject to the lock-up agreement and (b) no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act (or its foreign equivalent) reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of ordinary shares shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the restricted period; |
(ix) | transfers or distributions prior to the date of the public filing of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and pursuant to our shareholders’ agreement; |
(x) | transfers or distributions to a nominee or custodian of a person or entity to whom a disposition or transfer would be permissible under clauses (i) through (x) above, provided that any ordinary shares shall be subject to the terms of the lock-up agreement; |
(xi) | the establishment of a trading plan pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act (or its foreign equivalent) for the transfer of ordinary shares, provided that (a) such plan does not provide for the transfer of ordinary shares during the restricted period and (b) to the extent a public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act (or its foreign equivalent), if any, is required of or voluntarily made by or on behalf of such person or us regarding the establishment of such plan, such announcement or filing shall include a statement to the effect that no transfer of ordinary shares may be made under such plan during the restricted period; |
(xii) | transfers or dispositions pursuant to a bona fide tender offer for our capital shares, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction made to all holders of our securities involving a change of control of us (including without limitation, the entering into of any lock-up, voting or similar agreement pursuant to which such person may agree to transfer, sell, tender or otherwise dispose of ordinary shares or any security convertible into ordinary shares in connection with such transaction) that has been approved by our board of directors; provided that, in the event that such change of control transaction is not consummated, this paragraph shall not be applicable and such person’s shares and other securities shall remain subject to the lock-up agreement (for this purpose, “change of control” means the transfer whether by |
(xiii) | the conversion, exercise or exchange of our preferred shares, options to purchase ordinary shares, warrants or any security convertible into ordinary shares pursuant to any reorganization, conversion or share split, as such terms are described in this prospectus; provided that any such securities shall remain subject to the lockup agreement, |
(A) | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation; |
(B) | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriters; or |
(C) | in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation, |
(A) | to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation; |
(B) | to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or |
(C) | in any other circumstances falling within Section 86 of the FSMA, |
(A) | to an institutional investor (as defined in Section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act (Chapter 289) of Singapore, as modified or amended from time to time, or the SFA) pursuant to Section 274 of the SFA; |
(B) | to a relevant person (as defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA) pursuant to Section 275(1) of the SFA, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A) of the SFA, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA; or |
(C) | otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA. |
(A) | a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or |
(B) | a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor, |
(i) | to an institutional investor or to a relevant person, or to any person arising from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) or Section 276(4)(i)(B) of the SFA; |
(ii) | where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; |
(iii) | where the transfer is by operation of law; |
(iv) | as specified in Section 276(7) of the SFA; or |
(v) | as specified in Regulation 37A of the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investments) (Securities and Securities-based Derivatives Contracts) Regulations 2018. |
Expense | | | Amount |
SEC registration fee | | | $ * |
Nasdaq listing fee | | | * |
FINRA filing fee | | | * |
Printing expenses | | | * |
Legal fees and expenses | | | * |
Accounting fees and expenses | | | * |
Transfer agent and registrar fees and expenses | | | * |
Miscellaneous fees and expenses | | | * |
Total | | | $* |
* | To be completed by amendment. |
Audited Financial Statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 | | | |
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Unaudited Condensed Interim Financial Statements for the three months ended March 31, 2021 | | | |
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| | Year ended December 31, | |||||||
| | Note | | | 2020 $’000 | | | 2019 $’000 | |
Operating expenses | | | | | | | |||
Research and development | | | | | (338) | | | (296) | |
General and administration | | | | | (108) | | | (14) | |
Loss from operations | | | | | (446) | | | (310) | |
| | | | | | ||||
Loss for the year | | | | | (446) | | | (310) | |
| | | | | | ||||
Other comprehensive income/(expense) | | | | | | | |||
Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss | | | | | | | |||
Currency translation adjustment | | | | | 212 | | | (12) | |
Total comprehensive loss for the year | | | | | (234) | | | (322) | |
| | | | | | ||||
Attributable to owners: | | | | | | | |||
Loss for the year | | | | | (446) | | | (310) | |
Comprehensive loss for the year | | | | | (234) | | | (322) | |
| | | | | | ||||
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Loss per share | | | | | | | |||
Basic and diluted loss per share (in USD) | | | 12 | | | (0.006) | | | (0.004) |
| | At December 31, | |||||||
| | Note | | | 2020 $’000 | | | 2019 $’000 | |
ASSETS | | | | | | | |||
Current assets | | | | | | | |||
Cash | | | | | 5,895 | | | 498 | |
Other current assets | | | | | 17 | | | 6 | |
Total current assets | | | | | 5,912 | | | 504 | |
Total assets | | | | | 5,912 | | | 504 | |
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LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | | | | | | | |||
Current liabilities | | | | | | | |||
Trade payables | | | | | 1 | | | 93 | |
Other current liabilities | | | 8 | | | 245 | | | 11 |
Total current liabilities | | | | | 246 | | | 104 | |
Total liabilities | | | | | 246 | | | 104 | |
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Equity attributable to owners | | | | | | | |||
Share capital | | | 9 | | | 871 | | | 801 |
Share premium | | | | | 5,430 | | | — | |
Foreign currency translation reserve | | | | | 200 | | | (12) | |
Accumulated deficit | | | | | (835) | | | (389) | |
Total equity | | | | | 5,666 | | | 400 | |
Total liabilities and equity | | | | | 5,912 | | | 504 |
| | Attributable to owners | |||||||||||||
| | Share capital $’000 | | | Share premium $’000 | | | Foreign currency translation reserve $’000 | | | Accumulated deficit $’000 | | | Total $’000 | |
| | Note 9 | | | | | | | | | |||||
At January 1, 2019 | | | 801 | | | — | | | — | | | (79) | | | 722 |
Loss for the year | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (310) | | | (310) |
Translation adjustment | | | — | | | — | | | (12) | | | — | | | (12) |
Total comprehensive loss for the year | | | — | | | — | | | (12) | | | (310) | | | (322) |
At December 31, 2019 | | | 801 | | | — | | | (12) | | | (389) | | | 400 |
At January 1, 2020 | | | 801 | | | — | | | (12) | | | (389) | | | 400 |
Loss for the year | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (446) | | | (446) |
Translation adjustment | | | — | | | — | | | 212 | | | — | | | 212 |
Total comprehensive loss for the year | | | — | | | — | | | 212 | | | (446) | | | (234) |
Issue of share capital | | | 70 | | | 5,430 | | | — | | | — | | | 5,500 |
Total transactions with owners | | | 70 | | | 5,430 | | | — | | | — | | | 5,500 |
At December 31, 2020 | | | 871 | | | 5,430 | | | 200 | | | (835) | | | 5,666 |
| | Year ended December 31, | |||||||
| | Note | | | 2020 $’000 | | | 2019 $’000 | |
Cash flows from operating activities | | | | | | | |||
Loss for the year | | | | | (446) | | | (310) | |
Movement in working capital | | | | | 116 | | | 21 | |
Cash flows used in operating activities | | | | | (330) | | | (289) | |
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Cash flows from financing activities | | | | | | | |||
Proceeds from capital contributions | | | 9 | | | 5,500 | | | 797 |
| | | | | | ||||
Net increase in cash | | | | | 5,170 | | | 508 | |
Cash at the beginning of the year | | | | | 498 | | | — | |
Impact of foreign exchange on cash | | | | | 227 | | | (10) | |
Cash at the end of the year | | | | | 5,895 | | | 498 |
Corporate information |
2. | Basis of preparation, significant judgments, and accounting policies |
■ | Cash |
■ | Other current assets |
■ | Trade payables and other current liabilities |
3. | Financial risk management |
■ | forecast expenses denominated in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency; and |
■ | recognized assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the entity’s functional currency. |
4. | Employee expenses |
| | Year ended December 31, | ||||
| | 2020 | | | 2019 | |
| | $’000 | | | $’000 | |
Salary and related expenses | | | 5 | | | 0 |
5. | Leases |
| | Year ended December 31, | ||||
| | 2020 | | | 2019 | |
| | $’000 | | | $’000 | |
Lease expenses for short-term leases | | | 5 | | | 0 |
6. | Income tax |
| | Year ended December 31, | ||||
| | 2020 | | | 2019 | |
| | $’000 | | | $’000 | |
Loss before tax | | | 446 | | | 310 |
Tax credit calculated at the domestic tax rate 12.5% | | | (56) | | | (39) |
Tax effects of: | | | | | ||
Tax losses for which no deferred tax asset was recognized | | | 56 | | | 39 |
Tax charge/(credit) | | | 0 | | | 0 |
7. | Deferred income taxes |
8. | Other current liabilities |
9. | Share capital |
Issued shares: | | | Ordinary shares (par value €0.01) | | | Series A Preferred shares (par value €0.01) | | | Total shares | | | Total ($’000) |
At January 1, 2019 | | | 70,000,000 | | | — | | | 70,000,000 | | | 801 |
Issuance of share capital | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | — |
At December 31, 2019 | | | 70,000,000 | | | — | | | 70,000,000 | | | 801 |
Issuance of share capital | | | — | | | 5,923,079 | | | 5,923,079 | | | 70 |
At December 31, 2020 | | | 70,000,000 | | | 5,923,079 | | | 75,923,079 | | | 871 |
10. | Contingent liabilities and commitments |
11. | Related party disclosures |
| | Florian Schönharting | |
| | Theis Terwey | |
| | BVF Partners and affiliated companies | |
| | ||
In addition, the following parties are also considered to be related parties: | |||
| | ||
| | All other members of the board of directors | |
| | GH Research OÜ (now liquidated) |
| | Year ended December 31, | ||||
| | 2020 | | | 2019 | |
| | $’000 | | | $’000 | |
Salary and related expenses | | | 5 | | | 0 |
12. | Loss per share |
| | Ordinary shares | | | Series A Preferred shares | |
Year ended December 31, 2020 | | | | | ||
Net loss attributable to shareholders (in $‘000) | | | (440) | | | (6) |
Weighted average number of shares in issue | | | 70,000,000 | | | 898,420 |
Basic and diluted loss per share (in USD) | | | (0.006) | | | (0.006) |
| | | | |||
Year ended December 31, 2019 | | | | | ||
Net loss attributable to shareholders (in $‘000) | | | (310) | | | — |
Weighted average number of shares in issue | | | 70,000,000 | | | — |
Basic and diluted loss per share (in USD) | | | (0.004) | | | — |
Events after the reporting date |
| | | | Three months ended March 31, | |||||
| | Note | | | 2021 $’000 | | | 2020 $’000 | |
| | | | | | ||||
Operating expenses | | | | | | | |||
Research and development | | | | | (692) | | | (11) | |
General and administration | | | | | (448) | | | (8) | |
Loss from operations | | | | | (1,140) | | | (19) | |
| | | | | | ||||
Foreign currency translation differences | | | | | (9) | | | — | |
| | | | | | ||||
Loss for the period | | | | | (1,149) | | | (19) | |
| | | | | | ||||
Other comprehensive income/(expense) | | | | | | | |||
Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss Currency translation adjustment | | | | | (202) | | | (6) | |
Total comprehensive loss for the period | | | | | (1,351) | | | (25) | |
| | | | | | ||||
Attributable to owners: | | | | | | | |||
Loss for the period | | | | | (1,149) | | | (19) | |
Comprehensive loss for the period | | | | | (202) | | | (6) | |
| | | | | | ||||
Loss per share | | | | | | | |||
Basic and diluted loss per share (in USD) | | | 7 | | | (0.015) | | | (0.000) |
| | | | At March 31, | | | At December 31, | ||
| | Note | | | 2021 $’000 | | | 2020 $’000 | |
| | | | | | ||||
ASSETS | | | | | | | |||
Current assets | | | | | | | |||
Cash | | | | | 4,576 | | | 5,895 | |
Other current assets | | | 3 | | | 961 | | | 17 |
Total current assets | | | | | 5,537 | | | 5,912 | |
Non-current assets | | | | | | | |||
Property, plant and equipment | | | | | 19 | | | — | |
Total non-current assets | | | | | 19 | | | — | |
Total assets | | | | | 5,556 | | | 5,912 | |
| | | | | | ||||
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | | | | | | | |||
Current liabilities | | | | | | | |||
Trade payables | | | | | 75 | | | 1 | |
Other current liabilities | | | | | 1,166 | | | 245 | |
Total current liabilities | | | | | 1,241 | | | 246 | |
Total liabilities | | | | | 1,241 | | | 246 | |
| | | | | | ||||
Equity attributable to owners | | | | | | | |||
Share capital | | | 4 | | | 871 | | | 871 |
Share premium | | | | | 5,430 | | | 5,430 | |
Foreign currency translation reserve | | | | | (2) | | | 200 | |
Accumulated deficit | | | | | (1,984) | | | (835) | |
Total equity | | | | | 4,315 | | | 5,666 | |
Total liabilities and equity | | | | | 5,556 | | | 5,912 |
| | Attributable to owners | |||||||||||||
| | Share capital $’000 | | | Share premium $’000 | | | Foreign currency translation reserve $’000 | | | Accumulated deficit $’000 | | | Total $’000 | |
| | Note 4 | | | | | | | | | |||||
At January 1, 2021 | | | 871 | | | 5,430 | | | 200 | | | (835) | | | 5,666 |
Loss for the period | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (1,149) | | | (1,149) |
Translation adjustment | | | — | | | — | | | (202) | | | — | | | (202) |
Total comprehensive loss for the period | | | — | | | — | | | (202) | | | (1,149) | | | (1,351) |
At March 31, 2021 | | | 871 | | | 5,430 | | | (2) | | | (1,984) | | | 4,315 |
| | | | | | | | | | ||||||
At January 1, 2020 | | | 801 | | | — | | | (12) | | | (389) | | | 400 |
Loss for the period | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | (19) | | | (19) |
Translation adjustment | | | — | | | — | | | (6) | | | — | | | (6) |
Total comprehensive loss for the period | | | — | | | — | | | (6) | | | (19) | | | (25) |
At March 31, 2020 | | | 801 | | | — | | | (18) | | | (408) | | | 375 |
| | Three months ended March 31, | ||||
| | 2021 $’000 | | | 2020 $’000 | |
Cash flows from operating activities | | | | | ||
Loss for the period | | | (1,149) | | | (19) |
Depreciation | | | 1 | | | — |
Movement in working capital | | | 61 | | | (83) |
Cash flows used in operating activities | | | (1,087) | | | (102) |
| | | | |||
Cash flows used in investing activities | | | | | ||
Purchase of property, plant and equipment | | | (21) | | | — |
| | | | |||
Net decrease in cash | | | (1,108) | | | (102) |
Cash at the beginning of the period | | | 5,895 | | | 498 |
Impact of foreign exchange on cash | | | (211) | | | (8) |
Cash at the end of the period | | | 4,576 | | | 388 |
Corporate information |
| | Estimated Useful Life | |
| | ||
IT equipment | | | 3 years |
Medical equipment | | | 2 years |
3. | Other current assets |
4. | Share capital |
Issued and fully paid shares: | | | Ordinary shares (par value €0.01) | | | Series A Preferred shares (par value €0.01) | | | Total shares | | | Total ($’000) |
At December 31, 2020 | | | 70,000,000 | | | 5,923,079 | | | 75,923,079 | | | 871 |
Issuance of share capital | | | — | | | — | | | — | | | — |
At March 31, 2021 | | | 70,000,000 | | | 5,923,079 | | | 75,923,079 | | | 871 |
5. | Contingent liabilities and commitments |
6. | Related party disclosures |
| | Florian Schönharting | |
| | Theis Terwey | |
| | BVF Partners and affiliated companies | |
| | ||
In addition, the following parties are also considered to be related parties: | |||
| | ||
| | All other members of the Board of Directors | |
| | GH Research PLC |
7. | Loss per share |
| | Ordinary shares | | | Series A Preferred shares | |
Three months ended March 31, 2021 | | | | | ||
Net loss attributable to shareholders (in $‘000) | | | (1,059) | | | (90) |
Weighted average number of shares in issue | | | 70,000,000 | | | 5,923,079 |
Basic and diluted loss per share (in USD) | | | (0.015) | | | (0.015) |
| | | | |||
Three months ended March 31, 2020 | | | | | ||
Net loss attributable to shareholders (in $‘000) | | | (19) | | | — |
Weighted average number of shares in issue | | | 70,000,000 | | | — |
Basic and diluted loss per share (in USD) | | | (0.000) | | | — |
8. | Events after the reporting date |
Item 6. | Indemnification of Directors and Officers. |
Item 7. | Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities. |
Name or Class of Purchasers | | | Date of Sale or Issuance | | | Title of Securities | | | Number of Securities | | | Consideration (in millions of $) |
Various private equity investment funds, institutional investors, directors and officers | | | April 8, 2021 | | | Series B preferred shares | | | 25,379,047 | | | 125.2 |
Entities affiliated with BVF, directors, officers and private investors | | | November 2, 2020 December 22, 2020 | | | Series A preferred shares | | | 5,923,079 | | | 5.5 |
Entities affiliated with BVF, directors, officers and private investors | | | October 16, 2018 December 20, 2018 | | | Ordinary Shares | | | 70,000,000 | | | 0.8 |
| | | | | | | |
Item 8. | Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules |
Item 9. | Undertakings |
(a) | The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser. |
(b) | Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. |
(c) | The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that: |
(1) | For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the Registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective. |
(2) | For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
EXHIBIT NUMBER | | | DESCRIPTION OF EXHIBIT |
1.1** | | | Form of Underwriting Agreement. |
3.1** | | | Constitution of GH Research PLC, as currently in effect. |
3.2** | | | Form of Constitution of GH Research PLC (to be adopted immediately prior to the completion of this offering). |
| | Form of Opinion of Dentons Ireland. | |
10.1** | | | Form of Registration Rights Agreement between the registrant and the shareholders listed therein. |
10.2** | | | 2021 Equity Incentive Plan. |
| | Subsidiaries of GH Research PLC. | |
| | Consent of independent registered public accounting firm. | |
| | Consent of Dentons Ireland (included in Exhibit 5.1). | |
| | Power of Attorney (included on signature page to this registration statement). |
* | Filed herewith. |
** | To be filed by amendment. |
| | GH RESEARCH PLC | ||||||||||
| | | | | | | ||||||
| | By: | | | /s/ Theis Terwey | | ||||||
| | | | Name: | | | Theis Terwey | | ||||
| | | | Title: | | | Chief Executive Officer | |
Signature | | | Title | | | Date |
| | | | |||
/s/ Theis Terwey | | | Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) | | | June 4, 2021 |
Theis Terwey | | |||||
| | | | |||
/s/ Julie Ryan | | | Group Finance Director (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) | | | June 4, 2021 |
Julie Ryan | | |||||
| | | | |||
/s/ Magnus Halle | | | Managing Director, Ireland | | | June 4, 2021 |
Magnus Halle | | |||||
| | | | |||
/s/ Florian Schönharting | | | Director | | | June 4, 2021 |
Florian Schönharting | | |||||
| | | | |||
/s/ Spike Loy | | | Director | | | June 4, 2021 |
Spike Loy | | |||||
| | | | |||
/s/ Michael Forer | | | Director | | | June 4, 2021 |
Michael Forer | | |||||
| | | | |||
/s/ Colleen A. De Vries | | | Authorized representative in the United States | | | June 4, 2021 |
Colleen A. De Vries | |
|
Dentons Ireland
2nd Floor
Joshua Dawson House
Dawson Street
Dublin 2
D02 RY95
Ireland
dentons.com
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1 |
INTRODUCTION
|
1.1 |
Purpose
|
1.2 |
Defined terms and headings
|
(a) |
capitalised terms used without definition in this letter or the schedules hereto have the meanings assigned to them in the Registration Statement unless a contrary indication
appears; and
|
(b) |
headings are for ease of reference only and shall not affect interpretation.
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1.3 |
Legal Review
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(a) |
the documents listed in schedule 1 (Documents) to this letter (the "Documents");
|
(b) |
legal searches against the Company on [●] 2021 on the file of the Company maintained by the Registrar of Companies in Dublin, the Judgments Office of the High Court and the Central
Office of the High Court (the "Searches"); and
|
(c) |
such other corporate records of the Company as we have deemed necessary as a basis for the opinions hereinafter expressed.
|
1.4 |
Applicable Law
|
(a) |
we have not investigated the laws of any country other than Ireland (meaning Ireland exclusive of Northern Ireland) and we express no opinion in this letter on the laws of any
jurisdiction other than Ireland (meaning Ireland exclusive of Northern Ireland) and we assume that no foreign law effects any of the opinions given below. It is assumed that no foreign law which may apply to the matters contemplated by
the Registration Statement, the Offering, the Company, any document or any other matter contemplated by any document would or might affect this letter and / or opinions given in it; and
|
(b) |
we do not undertake or accept any obligation to update this letter and / or opinions given in it to reflect subsequent changes in Irish law or factual matters.
|
1.5 |
Assumptions
|
(a) |
The opinions given in this letter are given on the basis of each of the assumptions set out in schedule 2 (Assumptions) to this letter.
|
(b) |
The opinions given in this letter are strictly limited to the matters stated in paragraph 2 (Opinion) below and do not extend, and should
not be read as extending, by implication or otherwise, to any other matters.
|
2 |
OPINION
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3 |
EXTENT OF OPINIONS
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3.1 |
We express no opinion as to any agreement, instrument or other document other than as specified in this letter or as to any liability to tax or duty which may arise or be suffered
as a result of or in connection with the Offering or the transactions contemplated thereby.
|
3.2 |
This letter only applies to those facts and circumstances which exist as at today’s date and we assume no obligation or responsibility to update or supplement this letter to reflect
any facts or circumstances which may subsequently come to our attention, any changes in laws which may occur after today, or to inform the addressee of any change in circumstances happening after the date of this letter which would alter
our opinion.
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4 |
DISCLOSURE AND RELIANCE
|
4.1 |
This letter is addressed to you in connection with the Registration Statement. We consent to the filing of this letter with the SEC as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and
any amendments thereto. We also hereby consent to the reference to our Firm under the caption "Legal Matters" in the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose
consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
|
4.2 |
Other than for the purpose set out in the prior paragraph, this letter may not be relied upon, or assigned, for any purpose, without our prior written consent, which may be granted
or withheld in our discretion.
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1. |
A copy of the Registration Statement.
|
2. |
The results of the Searches.
|
3. |
A copy of the certificate of incorporation of the Company dated 29 March 2021.
|
4. |
A copy of the constitution of the Company adopted by the resolution of the shareholders of the Company on [●] 2021 (the "Constitution").
|
5. |
A copy of the constitution of the Company exhibited to the Registration Statement and proposed to be effective immediately prior to completion of the Offering (the "Completion Constitution").
|
6. |
A copy of the resolutions of the shareholders of the Company dated [●] approving amongst other things the adoption of the Completion Constitution, the redemption of the 25,000 A
ordinary shares of €1.00 each from Florian Schönharting and subsequent cancellation, the conversion of [●] Series A preferred shares of $0.01 each into [●] ordinary shares of $0.01 each and the conversion of [●] Series B preferred shares
of $0.01 each into [●] ordinary shares.
|
7. |
A copy of the resolution of the board of the Company approving, amongst other things, the Offering, the filing of the Registration Statement and the issuance of the Ordinary Shares
dated [●] 2021.
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(i) |
the genuineness of all signatures, stamps and seals on all documents, the authenticity and completeness of all documents submitted to us as originals, and the conformity to original
documents of all documents submitted to us as copies;
|
(ii) |
that, where a document has been examined by us in draft or specimen form, it will be or has been duly executed in the form of that draft or specimen, and that each of the signed
documents examined by us has been duly executed and, where applicable, delivered on behalf of the Company;
|
(iii) |
that the Completion Constitution will be so effective immediately prior to completion of the Offering and will not have been amended or superseded and that there will be no other
terms governing the Ordinary Shares other than those set out in the Completion Constitution;
|
(iv) |
on the date of allotment and issue of the Ordinary Shares (the “Allotment Date”) the Company will comply with all applicable laws to allot
and issue the Ordinary Shares;
|
(v) |
that all documents, forms and notices which should have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies in respect of the Company have been so delivered, that information revealed by
the Searches was complete and accurate in all respects and has not, since the time of the Searches, been altered and that the results of the Searches will remain complete and accurate as at the Allotment Date;
|
(vi) |
that the minutes of the meetings of the board of directors of the Company and the written resolutions of the board of directors of the Company provided to us in connection with the
giving of the opinions in this letter reflect a true record of the proceedings described in them in duly convened, constituted and quorate meetings in which all constitutional, statutory and other formalities were duly observed, and the
resolutions set out in the minutes were validly passed and have not been and will not be revoked or varied and remain in full force and effect and will remain so as at the Allotment Date;
|
(vii) |
that none of the resolutions of the shareholders of the Company upon which we have relied have been or will be varied, amended or revoked in any respect and remain in full force an
effect;
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(viii) |
that, in relation to each meeting of the board of directors of the Company, each provision contained in the Companies Act 2014 (as amended (the "Companies
Act") or the Constitution relating to the declaration of the directors’ interests or the power of the interested directors to vote and to count in the quorum was or will be duly observed;
|
(ix) |
that there is, at Allotment Date, no matter affecting the authority of the directors to issue and allot the Ordinary Shares, not disclosed by the Constitution or the Completion
Constitution or the resolutions produced to us, which would have any adverse implications in relation to the opinions expressed in this letter;
|
(x) |
that the Ordinary Shares offered under the Registration Statement will be in consideration of the receipt by the Company prior to the issue of the Ordinary Shares pursuant thereto
of either cash or the release of a liability of the Company for a liquidated sum, at least equal to the nominal value of such Ordinary shares and any premium required to be paid up on the Ordinary Shares pursuant to their terms is issue;
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(xi) |
that neither the Registration Statement nor the Prospectus constitutes (and is not intended/required to constitute) a prospectus within the meaning of Part 23 of the Companies Act
and that no offer of securities to the public is made, or will be made, that requires the publication of a prospectus pursuant to Irish prospectus law in general, or in particular pursuant to the Prospectus (Directive 2017/1129)
Regulations (EU) 2017/2019;
|
(xii) |
that each party, to the extent that its activities in relation to the Offering will constitute the provision of an investment service operating in Ireland and require authorisation,
is acting under and within the terms of an authorisation to do so (which authorisation has been given by the supervisory authority under the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations (Nos. 1 to 3) 2007 or a
competent authority for the purposes of Directive 2004/39/EC of 10 May 1993, as amended or extended from time to time, in another Member State) or is exempt from the requirement to have such authorisation;
|
(xiii) |
that (i) the Company is at the date of this letter, and immediately after the issue of the Ordinary Shares will be, able to pay its debts within the meaning of Sections 570 of the
Companies Act or any analogous provisions under any applicable laws (ii) no liquidator, receiver or examiner or other similar or analogous officer has been appointed in relation to the Company any of the assets or undertakings; and (iii)
no petition for the making of a winding-up order or the appointment of an examiner or any similar officer or any similar or analogous procedure in any jurisdiction has been presented in relation to the Company;
|
(xiv) |
the accuracy and completeness of the information disclosed in the Searches and that such information is accurate as of the date of this letter and has not since the time of such
search been altered. It should be noted that:
|
(A) |
the matters disclosed in the Searches may not present a complete summary of the actual position on the matters we have caused searches to be conducted for;
|
(B) |
the position reflected by the Searches may not be fully up-to-date (and this risk may be higher while emergency measures introduced by the Irish Government in light of the COVID-19
pandemic remain in place); and
|
(C) |
searches at the Companies Registration Office, Dublin do not necessarily reveal whether or not a prior charge has been created or a resolution has been passed or a petition
presented or any other action taken for the winding-up of, or the appointment of a receiver or an examiner to, the Company or its assets;
|
(xv) |
the truth, completeness and accuracy of all representations and statements as to factual matters contained in the Documents; and
|
(xvi) |
that all securities issued and sold under the Registration Statement will be issued and sold in compliance with all applicable laws (other than Irish law), including applicable
federal and state securities laws, in the manner stated in the Registration Statement.
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Subsidiary
|
Jurisdiction
|
GH Research Ireland Limited
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Ireland
|