F-1/A
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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 17, 2023

Registration No. 333-268888

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

AMENDMENT NO. 1

TO

FORM F-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

 

The Netherlands   2834   Not Applicable

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification Number)

Gooimeer 2-35

1411 DC Naarden

The Netherlands

Tel: +31 (0) 35 206 2971

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

NewAmsterdam Pharma Corporation

20803 Biscayne Blvd, Suite #105

Aventura, FL 33180

Tel: +31 (0) 35 206 2971

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies of all communications, including communications

sent to agent for service, should be sent to:

Brian K. Rosenzweig

Kerry S. Burke

Covington & Burling LLP

The New York Times Building

620 Eighth Avenue

New York, NY 10018

Tel: (212) 841-1000

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this registration statement becomes effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, please check the following box.  ☒

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933.

Emerging growth company.  ☒

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

 

The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

 

 

The Registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. Neither we nor the selling securityholders may sell or distribute the securities described herein until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JANUARY 17, 2023

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V.

78,829,187 Ordinary Shares

167,000 Private Placement Warrants to Purchase Ordinary Shares

This prospectus relates to the issuance by us of up to 1,736,545 Ordinary Shares underlying options issued pursuant to our Rollover Option Plan (such options, the “Rollover Options,” and such plan, the “Rollover Plan”). The Rollover Options each have an exercise price of EUR 1.16392.

This prospectus also relates to the offer and sale, from time to time, by the selling securityholders identified in this prospectus (each, a “Selling Securityholder” and collectively, the “Selling Securityholders”), or their permitted transferees of up to 77,092,642 Ordinary Shares, which consists of (i) up to 23,460,000 Ordinary Shares issued on November 22, 2022 in a private placement pursuant to subscription agreements, dated July 25, 2022 (the “PIPE Shares”) at a price per share of $10.00, (ii) up to 48,865,642 Ordinary Shares, required to be registered pursuant to the certain Investor Rights Agreement, dated November 22, 2022 (the “Investor Rights Agreement”), by and among us and certain of the Selling Securityholders (including the Ordinary Shares issued in satisfaction of the 2020 Profit Rights (as defined below), and for no additional consideration paid at the time of issuance, at an assumed value of $10.00 per share pursuant to the 2020 Profit Rights, to Saga Investments Coöperatief U.A. (“Amgen”) and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (“MTPC”) pursuant to the 2020 Profit Rights (as defined below)) (the “IRA Shares”), (iii) up to 167,000 Ordinary Shares that are issuable upon the exercise of private placement warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) originally issued as part of a unit of FLAC at a price of $10.00 per unit, with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share of FLAC and one-third of one Private Placement Warrant, in a private placement to Frazier Lifesciences Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”) in connection with the initial public offering of Frazier Lifesciences Acquisition Corporation (“FLAC”) and (iv) up to 4,600,000 Ordinary Shares that are issuable upon the exercise of public warrants (the “Public Warrants,” and together with the Private Placement Warrants, the “Warrants”), originally issued as part of a unit of FLAC at a price of $10.00 per unit in FLAC’s initial public offering (the “FLAC IPO”), with each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share of FLAC and one-third of one Public Warrant. This prospectus also relates to the offer and sale, from time to time, by the Selling Securityholders of up to 167,000 Private Placement Warrants. This prospectus also covers any additional securities that may become issuable by reason of share splits, share dividends or other similar transactions. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Ordinary Share at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. The IRA Shares were all acquired at various prices prior to the closing of the Business Combination and converted into Ordinary Shares in connection with the Business Combination. The IRA Shares consist of (i) 5,326,818 Ordinary Shares that, prior to the Exchange (as defined below), were originally 2,500,000 ordinary shares of NewAmsterdam Pharma purchased for a price of EUR 1.00 per share, (ii) 22,628,329 Ordinary Shares that, prior to the Exchange, were originally 10,620,003 NewAmsterdam Pharma Series A preferred shares purchased for a price of EUR 14.00 per share, (iii) 2,367,568 Ordinary Shares that, prior to the Exchange, were originally 1,111,155 NewAmsterdam Pharma Series A preferred shares issued to certain NewAmsterdam Pharma holders in exchange for the extinguishment of the Convertible Loan (as defined below) at a price of $10.50 per share, (iv) 5,326,818 Ordinary Shares that, prior to the Exchange, were originally 2,500,000 NewAmsterdam Pharma non-voting shares issued to certain NewAmsterdam Pharma shareholders in exchange for the waiver of certain rights in connection with the 2020 SPA and for no additional consideration, (v) 608,779 Ordinary Shares that, prior to the Exchange, were originally 285,714 NewAmsterdam Pharma non-voting shares purchased for a price of EUR 2.48 per share, (vi) 501,000 Ordinary Shares that were originally FLAC Class A ordinary shares purchased by the Sponsor as part of units of FLAC issued in a private placement in connection with the FLAC IPO, at a price of $10.00 per unit, (vii) 3,300,000 Ordinary Shares that were originally issued as FLAC Class B ordinary shares, which were subsequently converted into Ordinary Shares in connection with the Business Combination, purchased by the Sponsor for a price per share of approximately $0.009 per share, (viii) 150,000 Ordinary Shares, originally issued as FLAC Class B ordinary shares, held by the former directors of FLAC and acquired by each of them for no additional consideration and (ix) 4,910,000 Ordinary Shares and 3,746,330 Ordinary Shares issued to Amgen and MTPC, respectively, in satisfaction of the 2020 Profit Rights based on an assumed value of $10 per share, in accordance with the 2020 Profit Rights. See the section entitled “Selling Securityholders” for more information on the potential profits each Selling Securityholder may realize upon the sale of their Ordinary Shares pursuant to this prospectus.

Further, based on the initial purchase price paid by the Selling Securityholders, they may experience a positive rate of return based on the current trading price of the Ordinary Shares. For example, based on the price per Ordinary Shares described below, the Sponsor may experience a potential profit of approximately $11.19 per share based on the Sponsor’s initial purchase price of $0.009 for 3,300,000 FLAC shares and approximately $1.20 per share based on the initial purchase price of $10.00 for 501,000 FLAC shares, which were all converted on a 1-for-1 basis in connection with the Business Combination (as defined below). The purchasers of PIPE Shares may also experience a potential profit of approximately $1.20 per share, based on the initial purchase price of $10.00. As a result, the Selling Securityholders may be willing to sell their Ordinary Shares at a price less than shareholders that acquired our shares in the public market or at higher prices than the price paid by such securityholders. The sale or possibility of sale of these Ordinary Shares, including those pursuant to this prospectus, could have the effect of increasing the volatility in the price of the Ordinary Shares or putting significant downward pressure on the price of the Ordinary Shares.

The Ordinary Shares that are being registered for resale under this prospectus represent approximately 89.3% of the total Ordinary Shares outstanding as of January 6, 2023 (assuming that all Warrants are exercised). The Selling Securityholders, to the extent applicable, will be able to sell all of their shares upon the expiration of the applicable lock-up restrictions. Following the expiration of the applicable lock-up restrictions described herein, the sale of all Ordinary Shares, including those issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, or the perception that such sales may occur, may cause the market prices of our securities to decline significantly.

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of Ordinary Shares or Warrants by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus. We will, however, receive up to approximately $57.0 million for any Warrants or Rollover Options that are exercised for cash, if any. We will pay the expenses, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, associated with the sale of securities pursuant to this prospectus, as described in the section titled “Plan of Distribution.” The exercise price of the Warrants currently exceeds the market price of our Ordinary Shares based on the closing price of our Ordinary Shares described below. If the price of our Ordinary Shares remains below $11.50, we believe that Warrant holders will be unlikely to cash exercise their warrants, resulting in little to no cash proceeds to us.

We are registering the offer and sale of the securities described above to, among other things, satisfy certain registration rights we have granted and to register the issuance of Ordinary Shares underlying Rollover Options issued to certain parties. Our registration of the securities covered by this prospectus does not mean that we or the Selling Securityholders will offer or sell any of the securities. The Selling Securityholders may offer all or part of the securities for resale from time to time through public or private transactions, at either prevailing market prices or at privately negotiated prices. These securities are being registered to permit us to sell and the Selling Securityholders to sell securities from time to time, in amounts, at prices and on terms determined at the time of offering. The Selling Securityholders may sell these securities through ordinary brokerage transactions, directly to market makers of our shares or through any other means described in the section titled “Plan of Distribution.” In connection with any sales of Ordinary Shares offered hereunder, the Selling Securityholders, any underwriters, agents, brokers or dealers participating in such sales may be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).

We may amend or supplement this prospectus from time to time by filing amendments or supplements as required. You should read this entire prospectus and any amendments or supplements carefully before you make your investment decision.

Our Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants are traded on the Nasdaq Global Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “NAMS” and “NAMSW,” respectively. On January 12, 2023, the closing price of our Ordinary Shares on Nasdaq was $11.20 per share, and the closing price of our Public Warrants, was $0.89 per Public Warrant.

We are an “emerging growth company” and a “foreign private issuer” as those terms are defined under the federal securities laws and, as such, are subject to certain reduced public company reporting requirements for this prospectus and for future filings. See “Prospectus Summary—Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and a Foreign Private Issuer.”

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 21 and in any applicable prospectus supplement.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any other regulatory body or state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Prospectus dated                , 2022


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

     1  

CONVENTIONS WHICH APPLY TO THIS PROSPECTUS

     2  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT U.S. GAAP AND IFRS

     2  

SERVICE MARKS AND TRADE NAMES

     2  

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     3  

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

     5  

THE OFFERING

     10  

SELECTED CONSOLIDATED HISTORICAL AND OTHER FINANCIAL INFORMATION

     13  

SELECTED UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

     15  

RISK FACTORS

     21  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     87  

DIVIDEND POLICY AND MARKET PRICE OF OUR SECURITIES

     88  

CAPITALIZATION

     89  

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

     90  

BUSINESS

     108  

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     157  

MANAGEMENT AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

     177  

DESCRIPTION OF OUR SECURITIES

     187  

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PERSON TRANSACTIONS

     200  

PRINCIPAL SECURITYHOLDERS

     210  

SELLING SECURITYHOLDERS

     215  

TAXATION

     223  

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     236  

SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

     241  

LEGAL MATTERS

     245  

EXPERTS

     245  

ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL LIABILITIES

     245  

EXPENSES RELATED TO THE OFFERING

     246  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

     246  

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1  


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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form F-1 that is being filed with the SEC using a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell the Ordinary Shares underlying the Rollover Options and the Selling Securityholders may, from time to time, offer and sell any combination of the securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings. The Selling Securityholders may use the shelf registration statement to sell up to an aggregate of up to 77,092,642 Ordinary Shares (including shares underlying Warrants) and up to 167,000 Private Placement Warrants from time to time through any means described in the section entitled “Plan of Distribution.” More specific terms of any securities that the Selling Securityholders offer and sell may be provided in a prospectus supplement that describes, among other things, the specific amounts and prices of the Ordinary Shares and/or Warrants being offered and the terms of the offering.

A prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information included in this prospectus. Any statement contained in this prospectus will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in such prospectus supplement modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified will be deemed to constitute a part of this prospectus only as so modified, and any statement so superseded will be deemed not to constitute a part of this prospectus. You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus. See “Where You Can Find More Information.”

Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders have authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus, any accompanying prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectus we have prepared. We and the Selling Securityholders take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the securities offered hereby and only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. No dealer, salesperson or other person is authorized to give any information or to represent anything not contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus. This prospectus is not an offer to sell securities, and it is not soliciting an offer to buy securities, in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the date on the front of those documents only, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement, or any sale of a security. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

This prospectus contains summaries of certain provisions contained in some of the documents described herein, but reference is made to the actual documents for complete information. All of the summaries are qualified in their entirety by the actual documents. Copies of some of the documents referred to herein have been filed, will be filed or will be incorporated by reference as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and you may obtain copies of those documents as described below under “Where You Can Find More Information.”

Unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise indicates, (i) references to the “Holdco,” “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us” refer to NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V. (f/k/a NewAmsterdam Pharma Company B.V.), together with its subsidiaries, including Frazier Lifesciences Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation (previously a Cayman Islands exempted company) (“FLAC”); (ii) references to “NewAmsterdam Pharma” refer solely to NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V., a private company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands and its subsidiaries. NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V. is a Dutch public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) incorporated as a Dutch private limited liability company (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) on June 10, 2022 and converted into a Dutch public limited liability company on November 21, 2022 and the ultimate parent company of NewAmsterdam Pharma and FLAC. We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing oral, non-statin medicines for patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease (“CVD”) with residual elevation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (“LDL-C” or “LDL”), for whom existing therapies are not sufficiently effective or well-tolerated.

 

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CONVENTIONS WHICH APPLY TO THIS PROSPECTUS

In this prospectus, unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires:

 

   

“$,” “USD” and “U.S. dollar” each refer to the United States dollar; and

 

   

“€,” “EUR” and “Euro” each refer to the Euro.

Except where noted otherwise, the historical financial information was translated from USD to EUR using the historical closing exchange rate, as at June 30, 2022, of $1.0469 per EUR.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT U.S. GAAP AND IFRS

FLAC’s financial statements included in this prospectus have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

The Company’s and NewAmsterdam Pharma’s audited financial statements included in this prospectus have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”).

For additional information, see the section financial statements included elsehwhere in this prospectus.

SERVICE MARKS AND TRADE NAMES

The NewAmsterdam Pharma name, logos and other service marks of NewAmsterdam Pharma appearing in this prospectus are the property of NewAmsterdam Pharma. Solely for convenience, some of the service marks, logos and trade names referred to in this prospectus are presented without the and SM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that the Company will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, its rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these service marks and trade names. This prospectus contains additional trademarks, service marks and trade names of others. All trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this prospectus are, to the Company’s knowledge, the property of their respective owners. We do not intend the Company’s use or display of other companies’ trademarks, service marks, copyrights or trade names to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of the Company by, any other companies.

 

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide the Company’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements include statements about the Company’s expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will” and “would,” or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Examples of forward-looking statements in this prospectus include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s disclosure concerning NewAmsterdam Pharma’s operations, cash flows, financial position and dividend policy.

Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this prospectus including, without limitation, in the sections titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business.” Forward-looking statements in this prospectus and in any document incorporated by reference in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:

 

   

the Company’s public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

   

the Company’s ability to raise financing in the future;

 

   

projected financial information, including assumptions about the efficacy of the Company’s product candidate, reimbursement and anticipated market size and market opportunity;

 

   

the Company’s dependence on the success of its product candidate, obicetrapib, including obtaining of regulatory approval to market obicetrapib;

 

   

the Company’s ability to attract and retain senior management and key scientific personnel;

 

   

the Company’s limited experience in marketing or distributing products;

 

   

managing the risks related to the Company’s international operations;

 

   

the Company’s ability to achieve the broad degree of physician adoption and use and market acceptance necessary for commercial success;

 

   

the Company’s reliance on third parties for all aspects of the manufacturing of obicetrapib for clinical trials; and

 

   

the Company’s efforts to obtain, protect or enforce its patents and other intellectual property rights related to the Company’s product candidate.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus. Accordingly, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this prospectus. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this prospectus or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should, however, review the factors and risks that the Company describes in the reports it will file from time to time with the SEC.

In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date of this prospectus. And while the Company believes that information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, that information may be limited or incomplete. The Company’s statements should not be read to indicate that it has conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and you are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.

 

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Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements were reasonable at the time made, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section in connection with the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus and any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that may be issued by the Company or persons acting on its behalf.

 

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PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

This summary highlights information contained in more detail elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary may not contain all the information that may be important to you, and we urge you to read this entire prospectus carefully, including the sections entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Risk Factors,” “Business,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information” and the consolidated audited financial statements, including the notes thereto, included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, before making any investment decision.

Business Summary

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing oral, non-statin medicines for patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease (“CVD”) with residual elevation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (“LDL-C” or “LDL”), for whom existing therapies are not sufficiently effective or well-tolerated. There exists a significant unmet need for a potent, cost-effective and convenient LDL-lowering therapy as an adjunct to statins, a class of lipid-lowering medications that are the current standard of care for high-risk CVD patients with high cholesterol. Our lead product candidate, obicetrapib, is a next-generation, oral, low-dose cholesteryl ester transfer protein (“CETP”) inhibitor, that is currently in four ongoing Phase 3 and Phase 2b clinical trials as both a monotherapy and a combination therapy with ezetimibe for lowering LDL-C and preventing major adverse cardiovascular events (“MACE”).

CVD is a leading cause of death worldwide and the top cause of death in the United States. ASCVD is primarily caused by atherosclerosis, which involves the build-up of fatty material within the inner walls of the arteries. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease. One of the most important risk factors for ASCVD is hypercholesterolemia, which refers to elevated LDL-C levels within the body, commonly known as high cholesterol.

A significant proportion of patients with high cholesterol do not achieve acceptable LDL-C levels using statins alone. We estimate that there are more than 30 million patients in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Italy (collectively, “EU5”) and in the United States who are not achieving LDL-lowering goals on the current standard of care. Existing non-statin treatment options have been largely unable to address the needs of patients with high cholesterol due to modest efficacy, prohibitive pricing, or an inconvenient and painful injectable administration route. It is estimated that over 75% of ASCVD outpatients prefer oral drugs to injectable therapies.

Our product candidate, obicetrapib, is a next-generation, oral, low-dose CETP inhibitor that we are developing to potentially overcome the limitations of current LDL-lowering treatments. We believe that obicetrapib has the potential to be a once-daily oral CETP inhibitor for lowering LDL-C, if approved. In our Phase 2b ROSE trial, obicetrapib demonstrated a 51% lowering of LDL-C from baseline at a 10 mg dose level on top of high-intensity statins. In all three of our Phase 2 trials, TULIP, ROSE and OCEAN, evaluating obicetrapib as a monotherapy or a combination therapy, we observed statistically significant LDL-lowering activity combined with generally moderate side effects and no drug-related, treatment-emergent serious adverse events (“AEs”). Obicetrapib has demonstrated strong tolerability in more than 600 patients with low or elevated lipid levels (“dyslipidemia”) in our clinical trials to date. Obicetrapib is also expected to be relatively low in cost to manufacture compared to most other branded LDL-lowering therapies on the market with high efficacy. We believe that the estimated low cost of goods for obicetrapib will enable favorable pricing and position it to significantly improve patient access to a high efficacy LDL-lowering therapy compared to existing non-statin treatments. Furthermore, we believe that obicetrapib’s oral delivery, demonstrated activity in low doses, chemical properties and tolerability make it

 

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well-suited for combination approaches. We are developing a fixed dose combination of obicetrapib 10 mg and ezetimibe 10 mg, which we believe will demonstrate even greater potency.

Closing of the Business Combination

On November 22, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), the Company consummated its previously announced business combination pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of July 25, 2022 (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among the Company, FLAC, NewAmsterdam Pharma, and NewAmsterdam Pharma Investment Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”).

Beginning on the day immediately prior to the Closing Date and finishing on the day immediately after the Closing Date, the following transactions occurred pursuant to the terms of the Business Combination Agreement (collectively, the “Business Combination”):

 

   

The shareholders of NewAmsterdam Pharma (“Participating Shareholders”) contributed all outstanding shares in the capital of NewAmsterdam Pharma to the Company in exchange for the issuance of ordinary shares in the share capital of the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) (the “Exchange”);

 

   

Immediately after giving effect to the Exchange, the Company’s legal form was converted from a private company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) to a public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) (the “Holdco Reorganization”);

 

   

After giving effect to the Exchange, Merger Sub merged with and into FLAC (the “Merger”), with FLAC surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Surviving Company”);

 

   

In connection with the Merger, each issued and outstanding ordinary share of FLAC was canceled and extinguished in exchange for a claim for an Ordinary Share, and such claim was then contributed into the Company against the issuance of a corresponding Ordinary Share;

 

   

Immediately following the Merger, each outstanding warrant to purchase a Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, of FLAC (the “FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares”) became a warrant to purchase one Ordinary Share, on the same contractual terms;

 

   

Each NewAmsterdam Pharma option that was outstanding and unexercised (“NewAmsterdam Pharma Options”) remained outstanding, and to the extent unvested, such option will continue to vest in accordance with its applicable terms, and at the time of the Exchange, such NewAmsterdam Pharma Options became options to purchase, and will when exercised be settled in Ordinary Shares; and

 

   

On the day following the Closing Date, the Surviving Company changed its jurisdiction of incorporation by deregistering as a Cayman Islands exempted company and domesticated as a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “Domestication”).

Upon the closing of the Business Combination, the Company became the direct parent of NewAmsterdam Pharma.

Upon the achievement of a certain clinical development milestone, we will issue to the Participating Shareholders (including Amgen and MTPC for this purpose) and holders of options to purchase shares of NewAmsterdam Pharma prior to the closing of the Business Combination, who were directors, officers, employees or consultants of NewAmsterdam Pharma as of the date of the Business Combination Agreement (the “Participating Optionholders”) and who are at the time of achievement of such milestone still providing services to the Company or its subsidiaries, 1,886,137 additional Ordinary Shares (the “Earnout Shares”), which in the case of the Participating Optionholders will take the form of awards of restricted stock units under our long-term

 

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incentive plan (the “LTIP”). The development milestone consists of the achievement and public announcement of Positive Phase 3 Data (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) for each of NewAmsterdam Pharma’s BROADWAY clinical trial and BROOKLYN clinical trial at any time during the period beginning on date prior to the Closing Date and ending on the date that is five years after the Final Closing Date, or November 23, 2027. As a result, no Earnout Shares will be issuable if the applicable milestone is not achieved within five years of the Merger.

PIPE Financing

On July 25, 2022, concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, FLAC and the Company also entered into subscription agreements with certain investors (each, a “PIPE Investor”), pursuant to which the PIPE Investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase from the Company, and the Company agreed to issue and sell to such PIPE Investors, an aggregate of 23,460,000 Ordinary Shares at $10.00 per share for gross proceeds of $234.6 million (the “PIPE Financing”). The PIPE Financing closed substantially concurrently with the Business Combination.

Based on the closing price of our Ordinary Shares on January 12, 2023, the PIPE Investors could earn a profit of approximately $1.20 per share upon the sale of their shares pursuant to this prospectus. Because the PIPE Investors purchased the PIPE Shares at a price lower than the current market price, they may experience a positive rate of return on their investment, even if our public securityholders experience a negative rate of return.

The Ordinary Shares issued in the PIPE Financing have not been registered under the Securities Act in reliance upon the exemption provided in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and a Foreign Private Issuer

Emerging Growth Company

The Company is an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”). The Company will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest to occur of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the closing of the Business Combination, (b) in which the Company has total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion or (c) in which the Company is deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of Ordinary Shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of the Company’s prior second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on which the Company issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. The Company intends to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to most other public companies, whether or not they are classified as “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, an exemption from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation.

Foreign Private Issuer

As a “foreign private issuer,” the Company will be subject to different U.S. securities laws than domestic U.S. issuers. The rules governing the information that the Company must disclose differ from those governing U.S. corporations pursuant to the Exchange Act. The Company will be exempt from the rules under the Exchange Act prescribing the furnishing and content of proxy statements to shareholders. Those proxy statements are not expected to conform to Schedule 14A of the proxy rules promulgated under the Exchange Act. As a “foreign private issuer,” the Company will be exempt from a number of rules under the U.S. securities laws and will be permitted to file less information with the SEC than a U.S. company. In addition, as a “foreign private issuer,” the Company’s officers and directors and holders of more than 10% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares, will be exempt from the rules under the Exchange Act requiring insiders to report purchases and sales of ordinary shares as well as from Section 16 short swing profit reporting and liability.

 

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Summary of Risk Factors

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider all the information contained in this prospectus before investing in our securities. These risks are discussed more fully in the section entitled “Risk Factors.” If any of these risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely be materially adversely affected. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

Risks Related to this Offering by the Selling Securityholders

 

   

Sales of a substantial number of our securities in the public market by the Selling Securityholders and/or by our existing securityholders could cause the price of our Ordinary Shares and Warrants to decrease.

 

   

Certain of the Selling Securityholders acquired their securities at a price that is less than the market price of our Ordinary Shares as of the date of this prospectus. As a result, such Selling Securityholders may earn a positive rate of return even if the price of our Ordinary Shares declines and may be willing to sell their shares at a price less than shareholders that acquired our shares in the public market.

Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History, Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

 

   

We are a clinical-stage company with limited operating history, no approved products and no historical product revenues, which makes it difficult to assess our future prospects and financial results. We have incurred net losses since our inception, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future. We may never generate any product revenue or become profitable or, if we achieve profitability, may not be able to sustain it.

Risks Related to Our Product Development, Regulatory Approval and Commercialization

 

   

We are dependent on the success of our only product candidate, obicetrapib, and cannot guarantee that obicetrapib will successfully complete clinical development, receive regulatory approval or, if approved, be successfully commercialized.

 

   

We have never obtained approval for any product candidate, and may be unable to do so successfully.

 

   

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results, and our clinical trials may fail to adequately demonstrate the safety and efficacy of obicetrapib.

 

   

The regulatory approval processes of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”), the European Medicines Agency (the “EMA”) and other comparable regulatory authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for obicetrapib, our business will be substantially harmed.

 

   

Obicetrapib may produce undesirable side effects that we may not have detected in our previous preclinical studies and clinical trials. This could prevent us from gaining approval or market acceptance, including broad physician adoption, for our product candidate if approved, or from maintaining such approval and acceptance, and could substantially increase commercialization costs and even force us to cease operations.

 

   

Even if we receive regulatory approval for obicetrapib or our future product candidates, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expenses, limit or withdraw regulatory approval and subject us to penalties if we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements.

 

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Obicetrapib, if approved, will face significant competition from competing therapies and our failure to compete effectively may prevent us from achieving significant market penetration.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities

 

   

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your Ordinary Shares for a price greater than the price you paid for them.

 

   

We are eligible to be treated as an “emerging growth company,” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make the Ordinary Shares less attractive to investors, which could have a material and adverse effect on the Company, including growth prospects, because we may rely on these reduced disclosure requirements.

 

   

We are a foreign private issuer and, as a result, will not be subject to certain U.S. securities laws, including proxy rules, and will be subject to Exchange Act reporting obligations that, to some extent, are more lenient and less frequent than those of a U.S. domestic public company, which may limit the information available to holders of the Ordinary Shares and Warrants.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated as a Dutch private limited liability company (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) on June 10, 2022 to facilitate the consummation of the Business Combination.

Prior to the closing of the Business Combination, we had not conducted any material activities other than those incident to our formation and the matters contemplated by the Business Combination and only had nominal assets consisting of cash and our interest in Merger Sub. Prior to the closing of the Business Combination, our corporate form was converted to a Dutch public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) and our name was changed to NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V.

Following the Business Combination, we became the ultimate parent entity of NewAmsterdam Pharma and FLAC. Our Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants were registered under the Exchange Act and are listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “NAMS” and “NAMSW,” respectively.

Our principal executive office is located at Gooimeer 2-35, 1411 DC Naarden, The Netherlands, and its telephone number is +31 (0) 35 206 2971.

 

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THE OFFERING

 

Ordinary Shares offered by us

1,736,545 Ordinary Shares underlying the Rollover Options

 

Ordinary Shares offered for re-sale by the Selling Securityholders

77,092,642 Ordinary Shares (including shares underlying the Warrants)

 

Warrants that may be offered and sold from time to time by the Selling Securityholders

167,000 Warrants

 

Ordinary Shares outstanding as of the date of this prospectus

81,559,780 Ordinary Shares

 

Ordinary Shares to be outstanding assuming exercise of all Warrants and Rollover Options

88,063,325 Ordinary Shares

 

Offering price

The exercise price for the Ordinary Shares that may be issued upon exercise of Warrants is $11.50 per share.

 

  The exercise price for the Ordinary Shares that may be issued upon exercise of Rollover Options is EUR 1.16392 per share.

 

  The Ordinary Shares and Warrants offered by this prospectus may be offered and sold at prevailing market prices, privately negotiated prices or such other prices as the Selling Securityholders may determine. See the section titled “Plan of Distribution.”

 

Use of proceeds

All of the Ordinary Shares and Warrants offered by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus will be sold by the Selling Securityholders for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from such sales.

 

  We will receive up to an aggregate of approximately $57.0 million from the exercise of Warrants and Rollover Options offered by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus, assuming the exercise in full of all such Warrants and Rollover Options for cash.

 

  The exercise price of the Warrants currently exceeds the market price of our Ordinary Shares based on the closing price of our Ordinary Shares on January 12, 2023. If the price of our Ordinary Shares remains below $11.50, we believe that Warrant holders will be unlikely to cash exercise their warrants, resulting in little to no cash proceeds to us.

 

Transfer restrictions

Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement and related agreements, certain Selling Securityholders who received Ordinary Shares in connection with the Business Combination agreed not to sell, transfer, pledge or otherwise dispose of such shares for six months from the closing of the Business Combination, subject to certain

 

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limited exceptions. The Sponsor and the former directors of FLAC agreed to restrict the transfer of their shares for one year following the closing of the Business Combination. The PIPE Shares will not be subject to a post-closing lock-up period. See the section titled “Shares Eligible for Future Sale—Lock-Up Agreements” and “—Investor Rights Agreement.”

 

Dividend policy

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends and have no plan to declare or pay any dividends on our Ordinary Shares in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain any earnings for future operations and expansion.

 

  Our board of directors (the “Board of Directors”) may only pay dividends and other distributions from our reserves to the extent our shareholders’ equity (eigen vermogen) exceeds the sum of our paid-in and called-up share capital plus the reserves we must maintain under Dutch law or our articles of association (the “Articles of Association”) and (if it concerns a distribution of profits) after adoption of its statutory annual accounts by the general meeting of our shareholders (the “General Meeting”) from which it appears that such dividend distribution is allowed. Subject to those restrictions, any future determination to pay dividends or other distributions from our reserves will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend upon a number of factors, including its results of operations, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors the Board of Directors deems relevant.

 

  Under the Articles of Association, the Board of Directors may decide that all or part of the profits shown in our adopted statutory annual accounts will be added to our reserves. After reservation of any such profits, any remaining profits will be at the disposal of the General Meeting at the proposal of the Board of Directors for distribution on Ordinary Shares, subject to applicable restrictions of Dutch law. The Board of Directors is permitted, subject to certain requirements and applicable restrictions of Dutch law, to declare interim dividends without the approval of the General Meeting. Dividends and other distributions will be made payable no later than a date determined by us. Claims to dividends and other distributions not made within five years from the date that such dividends or distributions became payable will lapse and any such amounts will be considered to have been forfeited to us (verjaring).

 

  Subject to those restrictions, any future determination to pay dividends or other distributions from our reserves will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon a number of factors, including our results of operations, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors the Board of Directors deems relevant. See the section titled “Dividend Policy and Market Price of Our Securities.”

 

Market for our Ordinary Shares

Our Ordinary Shares are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “NAMS.”

 

Market for our Public Warrants

Our Public Warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “NAMSW.”

 

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Risk factors

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 21 of this prospectus for a description of certain of the risks you should consider before investing in our Ordinary Shares or Public Warrants.

 

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED HISTORICAL AND OTHER FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following tables set forth selected historical financial information and operating data for NewAmsterdam Pharma as at June 30, 2022 and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, and as at and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. You should read the following summary historical financial information and operating data in conjunction with the sections entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” NewAmsterdam Pharma’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes, and NewAmsterdam Pharma’s consolidated financial statements and related notes, all included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The consolidated statement of profit or loss data for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, the consolidated statement of financial position data as at June 30, 2022, the consolidated cash flow data for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 have been derived from NewAmsterdam Pharma’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as at June 30, 2022 and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, appearing elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The consolidated statement of profit or loss data for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the consolidated statement of financial position data as at December 31, 2022 and 2021, the consolidated cash flow data for the years ended December 30, 2022 and 2021 have been derived from NewAmsterdam Pharma’s audited consolidated financial statements as at and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2021 appearing elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. NewAmsterdam Pharma’s historical results may not be indicative of the results that may be achieved in the future.

Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss Data

 

    For the six months ended June 30,     For the year ended December 31,  
        2022             2021             2021             2020      
    (€ in thousands, except per share amounts)  

Revenue

    93,500       —         —         —    

Research and development expenses

    (30,588     (8,553     (25,032     (4,045

General and administrative expenses

    (9,294     (1,401     (4,803     (1,384

Total operating expenses

    (39,882     (9,954     (29,835     (5,429

Finance income

    10       —         9       —    

Finance expense

    (185     (137     (216     (344

Net foreign exchange gain

    1,070       609       1,443       24  

Profit (loss) before tax

    54,513       (9,482     (28,599     (5,749

Income tax expense

    —         —         —         —    

Profit (loss) for the period

    54,513       (9,842     (28,599     (5,749

Basic and diluted profit (loss) per share (€)

       

Basic

    3.20       (0.86     (2.53     (1.15

Diluted

    2.87       (0.86     (2.53     (1.15

 

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Consolidated Statement of Financial Position Data

 

     As at June 30,      As at December 31,  
     2022      2021      2020  
     (€ in thousands)  

Assets

        

Property, plant and equipment

     175        190        12  

Loan receivable

     728        718        —    

Non-current assets

     903        908        12  

Trade receivables

     115,000        —          —    

Prepayments and other receivables

     12,474        5,782        1,358  

Cash and cash equivalents

     89,478        53,092        7,861  

Current assets

     216,952        58,874        9,219  

Total assets

     217,855        59,782        9,231  
     As at June 30,      As at December 31,  
     2022      2021      2020  
     (€ in thousands)  

Equity

     

Share capital

     163,556        83,876        2,500  

Other reserves

     1,029        591        —    

Accumulated loss

     19,837        (34,676      (6,077

Total equity

     184,422        49,791        (3,577

Liabilities

        

Lease liability

     90        111        —    

Deferred revenue

     7,440        —          —    

Non-current liabilities

     7,530        111        —    

Loans and borrowings

     —          —          11,650  

Lease liability

     61        53        —    

Deferred revenue

     14,060        —          —    

Trade and other payables

     11,782        9,827        1,158  

Total current liabilities

     25,903        9,880        12,808  

Total liabilities

     33,433        9,991        12,808  

Total equity and liabilities

     217,855        59,782        9,231  

Consolidated Cash Flow Data

 

     For the six months ended 
June 30,
     For the year ended
December 31,
 
           2022                  2021            2021      2020  
     (€ in thousands)  

Net cash flows used in operating activities

     (44,642      (8,771      (25,164      (5,970

Net cash flows used in investing activities

     (2      (7      (20      (13

Net cash provided by financing activities

     79,647        69,000        68,990        11,320  

Foreign exchange differences

     1,383        609        1,425        24  

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

     53,092        7,861        7,861        2,500  

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period, net of overdraft

     89,478        68,691        53,092        7,861  

 

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SELECTED UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information is provided to aid you in your analysis of the financial aspects of the Business Combination. The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information presents the historical financial information of FLAC and NewAmsterdam Pharma adjusted to give effect to the Business Combination and related transactions. The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X as amended by the final rule, Release No. 33-10786 “Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses.”

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of financial position as at June 30, 2022, gives pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if it had been consummated as at that date. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statements of profit or loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the six month ended June 30, 2022, give pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if it had occurred as at January 1, 2021. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been presented for illustrative purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the financial position and results of operations that would have been achieved had the Business Combination and related transactions occurred on the dates indicated. Further, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information may not be useful in predicting the future financial condition and results of operations of the Company.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income or for the year ended December 31, 2021 has been prepared using the following:

 

   

the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 derived from the audited statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from October 7, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 of FLAC and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The consolidated financial statements of FLAC have been prepared under U.S. GAAP with the U.S. dollar as its reporting currency; and

 

   

the consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 derived from the audited consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2021 and 2020 and for the two years in the period ended December 31, 2021 and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The consolidated financial statements of NewAmsterdam Pharma have been prepared in accordance with IFRS with Euros as its presentation currency.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of financial position as at June 30, 2022 and the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of profit or loss for the six months ended June 30, 2022 have been prepared using the following:

 

   

the unaudited condensed balance sheet as at June 30, 2022 and the unaudited condensed statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2022 derived from the condensed balance sheet as at June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and the unaudited statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 of FLAC and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The consolidated financial statements of FLAC have been prepared under U.S. GAAP with the U.S. dollar as its reporting currency; and

 

   

the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of financial position of NewAmsterdam Pharma as at June 30, 2022 and the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive loss for the six months ended June 30, 2022 are derived from the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as at June 30, 2022 and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this

 

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prospectus forms a part. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of NewAmsterdam Pharma have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34—Interim Financial Reporting with Euros as its presentation currency.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information is based on the historical consolidated financial statements of NewAmsterdam Pharma, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by IFRS with Euros as its reporting currency, and the historical financial statements of FLAC, prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP with the U.S. dollar as its reporting currency. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information gives effect to adjustments required to convert FLAC historical financial information to IFRS and its reporting currency to Euros.

You should not rely on the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information as being indicative of the historical results that would have been achieved had the companies always been combined or the future results that the Company will experience. FLAC and NewAmsterdam Pharma did not have any historical relationship prior to the Business Combination. Accordingly, no pro forma adjustments were required to eliminate activities between the companies. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information gives effect to those transactions contemplated in the Business Combination Agreement and those transactions which occurred as a direct result of the consummation of the Business Combination. No effect has been given to events which occurred subsequent to the end of the period presented herein which did not occur as a direct result of the consummation of the Business Combination, including:

 

   

Receipt of the non-refundable, non-creditable, upfront amount of €115 million from A. Menarini International Licensing S.A., part of Menarini Group (“Menarini”).

 

   

On November 21, 2022, the Company granted (i) options to purchase an aggregate of 3,412,264 Ordinary Shares to certain of its directors and (ii) options to purchase an aggregate of 2,244,383 Ordinary Shares to certain of its executive officers (excluding awards granted to executive officers who also serve as directors). Such options each have an expiration date of ten years from the date of grant and an exercise price of $10.00.

For more information regarding significant events which occurred following the end of the period presented refer to “Note 15—Events After the Reporting Period” in the accompanying NewAmsterdam Pharma unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as at June 30, 2022 and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and the section titled “Management and Executive Compensation” in this prospectus.

See the section entitled “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information” for more information.

 

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PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT

JUNE 30, 2022

(UNAUDITED)

(in EUR thousands unless otherwise denoted)

 

    NewAmsterdam
Pharma

Historical
IFRS
    FLAC
Historical
U.S. GAAP
    IFRS
Policy and
Presentation
Alignment
        Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
        Pro
Forma
Combined
 
    EUR     USD     EUR(1)           FN         FN      

ASSETS

               

Non-Current Assets

               

Property, plant and equipment

    175       —         —         —           —           175  

Loan receivable

    728       —         —         —           (728   (4)     —    

Investments held in Trust Account

    —         138,133       131,945       —           (131,945   (4)     —    

Intangible assets

    —         —         —         —           81,611     (8)     81,611  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total non-current assets

    903       138,133       131,945       —           (51,062       81,786  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Current Assets

               

Trade receivables

    115,000       —         —         —           —           115,000  

Prepayments and other receivables

    12,474       —         —         143     (2)     4,019     (10)     16,636  

Cash and cash equivalents

    89,478       615       588       —           279,455     (4)     369,521  

Prepaid expenses

    —         150       143       (143   (2)     —           —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current assets

    216,952       765       731       —           283,474         501,157  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Assets

    217,855       138,898       132,676       —           232,412         582,943  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

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    NewAmsterdam
Pharma

Historical
IFRS
    FLAC
Historical
U.S. GAAP
    IFRS
Policy and
Presentation
Alignment
        Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
        Pro
Forma
Combined
 
          USD     EUR(1)           FN         FN      

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

               

Commitments and Contingencies

               

Class A ordinary share subject to possible redemption, $0.0001 par value; 13,800,000 shares issued and outstanding at redemption value of $10.00 per share

    —         138,033       131,849       (131,849   (3)     —           —    

Equity

               

Share capital

    163,556       —         —       —           426,439     (5)     589,995  

Other Reserves

    1,029       —         —         —           —           1,029  

Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding at December 31, 2021 and 2020

    —         —         —         —           —           —    

Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 479,000,000 shares authorized; 501,000 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 13,800,000 shares subject to possible redemption)

    —         —       —         —           —           —    

Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 3,450,000 shares issued and outstanding

    —         —       —         —           —           —    

Additional paid-in capital

    —         —         —         —           —           —    

Retained earnings

    19,837       (6,181     (5,904     —           (59,139   (6)     (45,206
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total equity

    184,422       (6,181     (5,904     —           367,300         545,818  

 

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    NewAmsterdam
Pharma

Historical
IFRS
    FLAC
Historical
U.S. GAAP
    IFRS
Policy and
Presentation
Alignment
        Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
        Pro
Forma
Combined
 
          USD     EUR(1)           FN         FN      

Non-current liabilities

               

Deferred revenue

    7,440       —         —         —           —           7,440  

Lease liability

    90       —         —         —           —           90  

Deferred underwriting commissions

    —         4,830       4,614       —           (4,614   (4)     —    

Derivative warrant liabilities

    —         381       365       —           —       (11)     365  

Derivative earnout liability

    —         —         —         —           6,506     (9)     6,506  

Loans and borrowings

    —         —         —         131,849     (3)     (131,849   (7)     —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total non-current liabilities

    7,530       5,211       4,979       131,849         (129,957       14,401  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Current liabilities

               

Accounts payable

    —         51       48       (48   (2)     —           —    

Accrued expenses

    —         1,784       1,704       (1,704   (2)     (4,931   (4)     (4,931

Loans and borrowings

    —         —         —         —           —           —    

Lease liability

    61       —         —         —           —           61  

Trade and other payables

    11,782       —         —         1,752     (2)     —           13,534  

Deferred revenue

    14,060       —         —         —           —           14,060  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

    25,903       1,835       1,752       —           (4,931       22,724  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total liabilities

    33,433       7,046       6,731       131,849         (134,888       37,125  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total equity and liabilities

    217,855       138,898       132,676       —           232,412         582,943  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

*

The financial statements of FLAC are presented in whole dollars whereas the historical financial information of FLAC in the above unaudited condensed combined statement of financial position is presented initially in thousands of dollars. FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares and FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares at June 30, 2022 are $50 and $345, respectively, as seen in FLAC’s balance sheet as of June 30, 2022 which is found elsewhere within the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. As a result of rounding these amounts are shown as zero. These amounts would be reclassified into share capital as part of adjustment (2) below and eliminated in adjustment (5) below.

 

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PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

(UNAUDITED)

(in EUR thousands unless otherwise denoted)

 

    NewAmsterdam
Pharma

Historical
IFRS
    FLAC
Historical(1)
U.S. GAAP
    IFRS
Policy and
Presentation
Alignment
          Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
          Pro
Forma
Combined
 
          USD     EUR(2)                              FN           FN        

Research and development expenses

    (25,032     —         —         —           —           (25,032

General and administrative expenses

    (4,803     (1,366     (1,155     —           (67,488     (4)       (73,446
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

    (29,835     (1,366     (1,155     —           (67,488       (98,478

Finance income

    9       —         —         —           —           9  

Finance expense

    (216     —         —         —           —           (216

Interest income from investments held in Trust Account

    —         16       14       —           (14     (3)       —    

Change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities

    —         4,529       3,828       —           —           3,828  

Break-up fee from terminated agreement

    —         1,000       845       —           —           845  

Net foreign exchange gain

    1,443       —         —         —           —           1,443  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Loss before tax

    (28,599     4,179       3,532       —           (67,502       (92,569

Income tax expense

    —         —         —         —           —           —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Loss for the period

    (28,599     4,179       3,532       —           (67,502       (92,569
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Attributable to:

               

Equity holders of the Company

    (28,599     4,179       3,532       —           (67,502       (92,569
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Earnings / (loss) per share, basic and diluted:

               

Class A ordinary shares

      0.24              

Class B ordinary shares

      0.24              

Ordinary shares

    (2.53                 (1.13
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before you make a decision to buy our securities, in addition to the risks and uncertainties discussed in the section titled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in this prospectus, including our financial statements and related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus and in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before deciding to invest in our securities. These risk factors are not exhaustive and investors are encouraged to perform their own investigation with respect to the Company’s business, financial condition and prospects. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in these risk factors, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may adversely affect the ability to complete or realize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, and may have a material adverse effect on the business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations of the Company. The risks discussed below may not prove to be exhaustive and are based on certain assumptions made by the Company which later may prove to be incorrect or incomplete. The Company may face additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to such entity, or that are currently deemed immaterial, which may also impair their business or financial condition.

Risks Related to this Offering by the Selling Securityholders

Sales of a substantial number of our securities in the public market by the Selling Securityholders and/or by our existing securityholders could cause the price of our Ordinary Shares and Warrants to fall.

The Selling Securityholders can resell, under this prospectus, up to 77,092,642 Ordinary Shares constituting approximately 89.3% of our issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares (assuming the exercise of the Warrants), consisting of (i) up to 23,460,000 PIPE Shares, (ii) up to 48,865,642 IRA Shares, (iii) up to 167,000 Ordinary Shares that are issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and (iv) up to 4,600,000 Ordinary Shares that are issuable upon the exercise of the Public Warrants. The securities being offered in this prospectus represent a substantial percentage of our outstanding Ordinary Shares and Warrants, and the sales of such securities, or the perception that those sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Ordinary Shares and Warrants and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that such sales may have on the prevailing market price of our Ordinary Shares and Warrants but the sale of a large number of securities could result in a significant decline in the public trading price of our securities.

Certain of the Selling Securityholders acquired their securities at a price that is less than the market price of our Ordinary Shares as of the date of this prospectus. As a result, such Selling Securityholders may earn a positive rate of return even if the price of our Ordinary Shares declines and may be willing to sell their shares at a price less than shareholders that acquired our shares in the public market.

Certain of our securityholders purchased their respective Ordinary Shares at prices lower than current market prices and may therefore experience a positive rate of return on their investment, even if our public securityholders experience a negative rate of return on their investment. In particular, the PIPE Shares were purchased for $10.00 per share. The IRA Shares consist of (i) former shares of NewAmsterdam Pharma, which were converted into Ordinary Shares at an exchange ratio of approximately 2.1307 in connection with the Business Combination, and that were originally purchased at prices ranging from no consideration to EUR 14.00, (ii) Ordinary Shares issued to Amgen and MTPC in satisfaction of the 2020 Profit Rights for no additional consideration at an assumed value of $10.00 per share as described elsewhere in this prospectus, (iii) 501,000 FLAC Class A ordinary shares purchased by the Sponsor as part of a unit at a price of $10.00 per unit and which were subsequently converted into Ordinary Shares in connection with the Business Combination, (iv) 3,300,000 FLAC Class B ordinary shares, which were subsequently converted into Ordinary Shares in connection with the Business Combination, purchased by the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of

 

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$25,000, or approximately $0.009 per share and (v) 150,000 Ordinary Shares held by the former directors of FLAC and acquired by each of them for no additional consideration. The closing price of our Ordinary Shares on Nasdaq on January 12, 2023 was $11.20 per share. Based on the prices paid by the Sponsor and other shareholders and price of our Ordinary Shares as of January 12, 2023, they would be able to recognize a greater return on their investment than shareholders or holders of warrants that purchased Ordinary Shares in the public market. Furthermore, such shareholders may earn a positive rate of return even if the price of our Ordinary Shares declines significantly. As a result, such securityholders may be willing to sell their shares at a price less than shareholders that acquired our shares in the public market or at higher prices than the price paid by such securityholders. The sale or possibility of sale of these Ordinary Shares, including those pursuant to this prospectus, could have the effect of increasing the volatility in the price of the Ordinary Shares or putting significant downward pressure on the price of the Ordinary Shares. See the section entitled “Selling Securityholders” for more information on the potential profits each Selling Securityholder may realize upon the sale of their Ordinary Shares pursuant to this prospectus.

Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History, Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

We are a clinical-stage company with limited operating history, no approved products and no historical product revenues, which makes it difficult to assess our future prospects and financial results. We have incurred net losses since our inception, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future. We may never generate any product revenue or become profitable or, if we achieve profitability, may not be able to sustain it.

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects. Pharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of uncertainty. Our operations to date have been limited to developing and undertaking clinical trials of our product candidate, obicetrapib. We are not profitable and have not generated product revenue from operations. We have historically incurred net losses since we commenced operations in October 2019, including net losses of €28.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. Despite having made a profit in the six months ended June 30, 2022, we expect our costs to fund research and development activities for the full fiscal year 2022 to exceed our revenue arising from the License Agreement, dated June 23, 2022, by and between Menarini and us (the “Menarini License”). We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future, considering the current research and development stage of our activities, as we do not have products approved for commercial sale. Our ability to ultimately achieve recurring product revenues and profitability is dependent upon our ability to successfully complete the development of obicetrapib and obtain necessary regulatory approvals for, and successfully manufacture, market and commercialize, our product together or with partners.

We believe that we will continue to expend substantial resources in the foreseeable future for the clinical development of obicetrapib or any additional product candidates and indications that we may choose to pursue in the future. These expenditures will include costs associated with research and development, conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, and payments for third-party manufacturing and supply, as well as sales and marketing of obicetrapib or any of our future product candidates if they are approved for sale by regulatory authorities. Because the outcome of any clinical trial is highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of obicetrapib and any other drug candidates that we may develop in the future. Other unanticipated costs may also arise.

Our future capital requirements depend on many factors, including:

 

   

the timing of, and the costs involved in, clinical development and obtaining regulatory approvals for our product candidate;

 

   

changes in regulatory requirements during the development phase that can delay or force us to stop our activities related to obicetrapib or any of our future product candidates;

 

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the cost of commercialization activities if obicetrapib is approved for sale, including marketing, sales and distribution costs;

 

   

the cost of third-party manufacturing of our product candidate;

 

   

the number and characteristics of any other product candidates we develop or acquire;

 

   

our ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations, licensing or other commercialization arrangements, and the terms and timing of such arrangements;

 

   

the extent and rate of market acceptance of any future approved products;

 

   

the expenses needed to attract and retain skilled personnel;

 

   

the costs associated with being a public company;

 

   

the costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, defending and enforcing patent claims, including potential litigation costs and the outcome of such litigation;

 

   

the timing, receipt and amount of sales of, or royalties on, future approved products, if any;

 

   

any product liability or other lawsuits related to obicetrapib or any future product;

 

   

scientific breakthroughs in the field of treatment for cardio metabolic diseases that could significantly diminish the need for our product candidate or make it obsolete; and

 

   

changes in reimbursement policies that could have a negative impact on our future revenue stream.

Even after receiving the proceeds from the Business Combination, we may require substantial additional financing to achieve our goals, and a failure to obtain this capital when needed and on acceptable terms, or at all, could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development, commercialization efforts or other operations.

Since our inception, almost all of our resources have been dedicated to the clinical development of obicetrapib. While we have been successful in the past in obtaining financing, we expect to continue to spend substantial amounts to continue the clinical development of our product candidate. At June 30, 2022, NewAmsterdam Pharma had cash and cash equivalents of €89.5 million. On a pro forma basis at June 30, 2022, after taking into account the consummation of the Business Combination and the PIPE Financing, we had approximately €369.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, which we believe will be sufficient to fund our anticipated level of operations into 2026.

We will require additional capital to pursue clinical activities, complete clinical trials, and obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize obicetrapib. In addition, our operating plan may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned, through public or private equity, convertible debt or debt financings, third-party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements, as well as other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements, or a combination of these approaches. Even if we believe that we will have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans, we may seek additional capital if market conditions are favorable or if we have specific strategic considerations.

Any additional fundraising efforts may divert the attention of our management from day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize obicetrapib. In addition, we cannot guarantee that future financing will be available in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Moreover, the terms of any financing may negatively impact the holdings or the rights of our shareholders, and the issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, by us or the possibility of such issuance may cause the market price of Ordinary Shares to decline. The incurrence of indebtedness could result in increased fixed payment obligations and we may be required to agree to certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other

 

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operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. We could also be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborative partners or otherwise at an earlier stage than would be desirable and we may be required to relinquish rights to some of our technologies, intellectual property or future product candidates or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us, any of which may harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

If adequate funds are not available to us on a timely basis, we may be required or choose to:

 

   

delay, limit, reduce or terminate clinical trials or other development activities for obicetrapib or any of our future product candidates;

 

   

delay, limit, reduce or terminate our other research and development activities; or

 

   

delay, limit, reduce or terminate our establishment or expansion of manufacturing, sales and marketing or distribution capabilities or other activities that may be necessary to commercialize obicetrapib or any of our future product candidates.

We may also be unable to expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities, as desired, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our shareholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

While we believe that, after giving effect to the Business Combination our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our operations through 2026, unless and until we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our future cash needs through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, license agreements and marketing or distribution arrangements. Additional funds may not be available when we need them on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. To the extent that we raise such additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a shareholder. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring and distributing dividends, and may be secured by all or a portion of our assets.

If we raise funds by entering into collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish additional valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates, or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, license agreements, or marketing or distribution arrangements when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or cease operations altogether.

Risks Related to Our Product Development, Regulatory Approval and Commercialization

We are dependent on the success of our only product candidate, obicetrapib, and cannot guarantee that obicetrapib will successfully complete clinical development, receive regulatory approval or, if approved, be successfully commercialized.

We have invested almost all of our efforts and financial resources in the research and development of obicetrapib. Our future success depends on our ability to develop, commercialize, market and sell obicetrapib. However, obicetrapib has yet to receive marketing approval from the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities. Our ability to generate revenues in the future is substantially dependent on our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for, and then successfully commercialize obicetrapib. We currently generate no revenue from the sale of any products, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable product.

 

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Obicetrapib’s marketability and commercialization are subject to significant risks associated with successfully completing current and future clinical trials, including:

 

   

our ability to successfully complete our clinical trials, including timely patient enrollment and acceptable safety and efficacy data and our ability to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of obicetrapib;

 

   

our ability to implement strategies to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to our business, including with respect to initiating, enrolling, conducting or completing our planned and ongoing clinical trials of obicetrapib and addressing any potential disruption or delays to the supply of our product candidates;

 

   

unless we have received a deferral or waiver, our ability to complete successfully any pediatric clinical trials agreed pursuant to the Pediatric Research Equity Act (“PREA”) or its European Union (“EU”) equivalent;

 

   

that the Phase 3 clinical trials, even if successfully completed, will be sufficient to support a New Drug Application (“NDA”) submission;

 

   

the prevalence and severity of adverse events associated with obicetrapib;

 

   

whether we are required by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, and the scope and nature of such studies or trials, prior to approval to market our product, such as a cardiovascular outcomes trial;

 

   

the timely receipt of necessary marketing approvals from the FDA, the EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities, including pricing and reimbursement determinations;

 

   

the ability to successfully commercialize obicetrapib, if approved, for marketing and sale by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities;

 

   

our ability and the ability of our third party manufacturing partners to timely and satisfactorily manufacture quantities of obicetrapib at quality levels necessary to meet regulatory requirements and at a scale sufficient to meet anticipated demand at a cost that allows us to achieve profitability;

 

   

our success in educating healthcare providers and patients about the benefits, risks, administration and use of obicetrapib, if approved;

 

   

acceptance of obicetrapib, if approved, as safe and effective by patients and the healthcare community;

 

   

the maintenance of an acceptable safety profile of our product following any approval;

 

   

the availability, perceived advantages, relative cost, safety and efficacy of alternative and competing treatments for the indications addressed by obicetrapib;

 

   

entering into, on favorable terms, any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements that may be necessary or desirable to develop, manufacture or commercialize obicetrapib;

 

   

the effectiveness of our and any current or future collaborators’ marketing, sales and distribution strategy, and operations; and

 

   

our ability to obtain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights with respect to obicetrapib.

Many of these clinical, regulatory and commercial risks are beyond our control. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will be able to advance obicetrapib successfully through clinical development, or to obtain regulatory approval of or commercialize obicetrapib or any future product candidates. If we fail to achieve these objectives or overcome the challenges presented above, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize obicetrapib. Accordingly, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenues through the sale of obicetrapib to enable us to continue our business.

 

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We have never obtained approval for any product candidate, and may be unable to do so successfully.

As a company, we have never progressed a product candidate through to regulatory approval. We have not previously submitted an NDA, an MAA or any similar drug approval filing to the FDA, the EMA or any comparable regulatory authority for any product candidate, and we cannot be certain that obicetrapib will be successful in clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. Further, obicetrapib may not receive regulatory approval even if it is successful in clinical trials. Even if we successfully obtain regulatory approvals to market our product candidate, our revenues will be dependent, to a significant extent, upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval and have commercial rights or share in revenues from the exercise of such rights. If the markets for patient subsets that we are targeting are not as significant as we estimate, we may not generate significant revenues from sales of such products, if approved.

Further, our clinical trials may require more time and incur greater costs than we anticipate. We cannot be certain that our planned clinical trials will begin or conclude on time, if at all. Large-scale trials require significant financial and management resources. Third-party clinical investigators do not operate under our control. Any performance failure on the part of such third parties could delay the clinical development of obicetrapib or delay or prevent us from obtaining regulatory approval or commercializing obicetrapib or future product candidates, depriving us of potential product revenue and resulting in additional losses.

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain outcomes, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results, and our clinical trials may fail to adequately demonstrate the safety and efficacy of obicetrapib.

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. A failure of one or more of our clinical trials can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. We do not know whether future clinical trials, if any, will begin on time, need to be redesigned, enroll an adequate number of patients on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed, suspended or terminated for a variety of reasons, including failure to:

 

   

obtain allowance from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities in order to commence a trial;

 

   

identify, recruit and train suitable clinical investigators;

 

   

reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations (“CROs”), and clinical trial sites, and have such CROs and sites effect the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials;

 

   

obtain and maintain institutional review board (“IRB”) approval, or comparable ethics committee (“EC”), approval in foreign jurisdictions, at each clinical trial site;

 

   

identify, recruit and enroll suitable patients to participate in a trial;

 

   

have a sufficient number of patients complete a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;

 

   

ensure patient compliance with the trial protocols;

 

   

ensure clinical investigators and clinical trial sites observe trial protocol or continue to participate in a trial;

 

   

address any patient safety concerns that arise during the course of a trial;

 

   

address any conflicts with new or existing laws or regulations;

 

   

add a sufficient number of clinical trial sites;

 

   

manufacture sufficient quantities at the required quality of obicetrapib for use in clinical trials; or

 

   

raise sufficient capital to fund a trial.

 

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Product candidates like obicetrapib in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical studies and earlier clinical trials. In addition to the safety and efficacy traits of any product candidate, clinical trial failures may result from a multitude of factors including flaws in trial design, dose selection, placebo effect and patient enrollment criteria. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or adverse safety profiles, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials, and it is possible that we will as well. Based upon negative or inconclusive results, we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or preclinical studies. In addition, data obtained from trials and studies are susceptible to varying interpretations, and regulators may not interpret our data as favorably as we do, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval.

We may also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us or the IRBs or ECs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the trial’s data safety monitoring board (the “DSMB”), the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities. Such authorities may suspend or terminate one or more of our clinical trials due to a number of factors, including our failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with relevant regulatory requirements or clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, a finding that the participants are being exposed to an unacceptable benefit-risk ratio, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

In addition, disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the likelihood that we encounter such difficulties or delays in initiating, enrolling, conducting or completing our planned and ongoing clinical trials, as applicable. If we experience delays in the initiation, enrollment or completion of any clinical trial of obicetrapib, or if any clinical trials of obicetrapib are cancelled, the commercial prospects of obicetrapib may be materially adversely affected, and our ability to generate product revenues will be delayed or not realized at all. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials may increase our costs and slow down our product candidate development and approval process. Any of these delays may significantly harm our business and financial condition. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of obicetrapib.

We depend on enrollment of subjects in our clinical trials for obicetrapib. If we experience delays or difficulties enrolling subjects in our clinical trials, our research and development efforts and business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of subjects in future clinical trials, our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented. Trial costs have increased significantly following the COVID-19 pandemic and there may be delays in patient enrollment. The enrollment of subjects depends on many additional factors, including:

 

   

the subject eligibility criteria defined in the protocol;

 

   

the general willingness of subjects to enroll in the trial;

 

   

patient compliance with the trial protocols;

 

   

the sample size of the subjects required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;

 

   

the proximity of subjects to trial sites;

 

   

the design of the trial;

 

   

our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;

 

   

clinicians’ and subjects’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the product candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new therapies that may be approved for the indications we are investigating;

 

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the clinical site’s ability to obtain and maintain subject consents; and

 

   

clinical trial participants may not comply with clinical trial protocol procedures and instructions.

Our clinical trials may also compete with other clinical trials for product candidates that seek to treat cardio metabolic diseases, and this competition will reduce the number and types of subjects available to us, because some subjects who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a clinical trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Since the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we may conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which will reduce the number of subjects who are available for our clinical trials in such clinical trial sites. Further, if patients are unwilling to enroll in our clinical trials because of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on travel or healthcare institution policies or other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the timeline for recruiting patients, conducting studies and obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidate may be delayed.

Delays in subject enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of obicetrapib.

Interim, “topline” and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.

From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary or “topline” data from our clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or clinical trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the “topline” or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. “Topline” data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, “topline” data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available.

Additionally, we may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available or as patients from our clinical trials continue other treatments for their disease. Adverse differences between preliminary or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects. Further, disclosure of interim data by us or by our competitors could result in volatility in the price of our Ordinary Shares.

Further, others, including regulatory authorities and collaboration or regional partners, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of our particular program, the approvability or commercialization of obicetrapib or any future product candidate and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure.

If the interim, “topline,” or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for, and commercialize, obicetrapib may be harmed, which could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

 

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The regulatory approval processes of the FDA, the EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable, and if we are ultimately unable to obtain regulatory approval for obicetrapib, our business will be substantially harmed.

The research, development, testing, manufacturing, labeling, packaging, approval, promotion, advertising, storage, recordkeeping, marketing, distribution, post-approval monitoring and reporting, and export and import of drug products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA, the EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities in other countries. These regulations differ from country to country. We have not yet obtained regulatory approval to market obicetrapib in the United States or any other country, but plan to seek approval of obicetrapib in the United States, the EU, the United Kingdom, Japan and China. To gain approval to market obicetrapib, we must provide clinical trial data that adequately demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the product for the intended indication.

We cannot be certain of the timely completion or outcome of any of our future preclinical testing and studies, if any, on obicetrapib. We cannot be sure that the FDA, local regulatory authorities in the EU or other comparable regulatory authorities (including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom (“MHRA”), the Japan Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency in Japan (“PMDA”) and the China National Medical Products Administration in China (“NMPA”)) will accept the outcome of our preclinical testing and studies as sufficient to support the submission of an IND, clinical trial authorizations (“CTAs”) or similar applications for any of our programs which may result in us being unable to submit INDs, CTAs or similar applications or result in FDA, local regulatory authorities in the EU or other comparable regulatory authority refusing to allow clinical trials to begin. Furthermore, Phase 3 clinical trials often produce unsatisfactory results even though prior clinical trials were successful. Moreover, the results of clinical trials may be unsatisfactory to the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities even if we believe those clinical trials to be successful. The FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities may suspend one or all of our clinical trials or require that we conduct additional clinical, preclinical, manufacturing, validation or drug product quality studies and submit that data before considering or reconsidering any NDA or comparable foreign regulatory application that we may submit. Depending on the extent of these additional studies, approval of any applications that we submit may be significantly delayed or may cause the termination of such programs, or may require us to expend more resources than we have available. The FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities can delay, limit or deny approval of our product candidate for many reasons, including:

 

   

our inability to satisfactorily demonstrate that obicetrapib is safe and effective for the target indication;

 

   

the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities may disagree with our clinical trial protocol, the interpretation of data from preclinical studies or clinical trials, or adequate conduct and control of clinical trials;

 

   

the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities for approval;

 

   

the population studied in the clinical trials may not be sufficiently broad or representative to assess safety in the patient population for which we seek approval;

 

   

the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities for approval;

 

   

our inability to demonstrate that clinical or other benefits of obicetrapib outweigh any safety or other perceived risks;

 

   

determination by the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities that additional preclinical studies or clinical trials are required;

 

   

the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities may fail to approve of the formulation, labeling or the specifications of obicetrapib;

 

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the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities may fail to accept the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract;

 

   

the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies or such processes or facilities may not pass a pre-approval inspection;

 

   

the potential for approval policies or regulations of the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities to significantly change or differ from another in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval; or

 

   

resistance to approval from the FDA’s advisory committee for any reason including safety or efficacy concerns.

Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval of any regulatory filing for obicetrapib, the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities (including the MHRA in the United Kingdom, the PMDA in Japan and the NMPA in China) may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly and potentially time-consuming additional post-approval clinical trials or subject to restrictive risk mitigation or surveillance requirements. The FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities may also approve obicetrapib for a more limited indication or a narrower patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA may not approve the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of obicetrapib. To the extent we seek regulatory approval in other foreign countries, we may face challenges similar to those described above with regulatory authorities in applicable jurisdictions.

We and our collaborator(s) are not permitted to market or promote obicetrapib before we receive regulatory approval from the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or comparable regulatory authorities in other countries, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for obicetrapib to allow us to successfully commercialize our product. If we do not receive regulatory approval with the necessary conditions to allow successful commercialization, we will not be able to generate revenue from obicetrapib in the United States or other countries in the foreseeable future, or at all. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval for obicetrapib would delay or prevent commercialization of our obicetrapib and could thus negatively impact our business, results of operations and prospects.

Our ongoing clinical trials are subject to delays or failures, which could result in increased costs to us and could delay, prevent or limit our ability to obtain regulatory approval for obicetrapib, which could have an adverse impact on our business.

In addition to our Phase 3 lipid-lowering clinical trials for obicetrapib, we are currently conducting a cardiovascular outcomes trial (“CVOT”), in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (“ASCVD”), and a Phase 2a clinical trial of obicetrapib in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The completion of this clinical trial or any of our other ongoing or future clinical studies may be delayed for a number of reasons, including:

 

   

the FDA, EMA or any other regulatory authority may not agree to the clinical trial design or overall program;

 

   

the FDA, EMA or any other regulatory authority may place a clinical trial on hold;

 

   

delays in reaching or failing to reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective CROs and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and clinical trial sites;

 

   

inadequate quantity or quality of a product candidate or other materials necessary to conduct clinical studies;

 

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difficulties or delays obtaining IRB or EC approval to conduct a clinical trial at a prospective site or sites;

 

   

severe or unexpected drug-related side effects experienced by patients in a clinical trial, including instances of muscle pain or weakness or other side effects;

 

   

reports from preclinical or clinical testing of other cardio metabolic therapies that raise safety or efficacy concerns; and

 

   

difficulties retaining patients who have enrolled in a clinical trial but may be prone to withdraw due to rigors of the clinical trial, lack of efficacy, side effects, personal issues or loss of interest.

In addition, a clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us, the FDA, the EMA, the IRBs or ECs at the sites where the IRBs or ECs are overseeing a clinical trial, a DSMB overseeing the clinical trial at issue or any other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including, among others:

 

   

failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols;

 

   

inspection of the clinical trial operations or clinical trial sites by the FDA, EMA or any other regulatory authorities that reveals deficiencies or violations that require us to undertake corrective action, including the imposition of a clinical hold;

 

   

unforeseen safety issues;

 

   

changes in government regulations or administrative actions;

 

   

problems with clinical supply materials; and

 

   

lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

Any such delays in our clinical trials could result in increased costs to us and delay, prevent or limit our ability to obtain regulatory approvals.

Obicetrapib may produce undesirable side effects that we may not have detected in our previous preclinical studies and clinical trials. This could prevent us from gaining approval or market acceptance, including broad physician adoption, for our product candidate if approved, or from maintaining such approval and acceptance, and could substantially increase commercialization costs and even force us to cease operations.

As with most pharmaceutical products, use of obicetrapib may be associated with side effects or adverse events that can vary in severity and frequency. Side effects or adverse events associated with the use of obicetrapib may be observed at any time, including in clinical trials or once a product is commercialized, and any such side effects or adverse events may negatively affect our ability to obtain regulatory approval or market obicetrapib. We cannot assure you that we will not observe drug-related serious adverse events in the future or that the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities will not determine them to be as such. Side effects such as toxicity or other safety issues associated with the use of obicetrapib could require us to perform additional studies or halt development or sale of obicetrapib or expose us to product liability lawsuits, which will harm our business.

Furthermore, our current Phase 3 clinical trials for obicetrapib involve a larger patient base than that previously studied, and the commercial marketing of obicetrapib, if approved, will further expand the clinical exposure of the drug to a wider and more diverse group of patients than those participating in the clinical trials, which may identify undesirable side effects caused by our product that were not previously observed or reported.

The FDA, the EMA and other comparable regulatory authority regulations require that we report certain information about adverse medical events if our product may have caused or contributed to those adverse events. The timing of our obligation to report would be triggered by the date upon which we become aware of the

 

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adverse event as well as the nature and severity of the event. We may fail to report adverse events of which we become aware within the prescribed timeframe. We may also fail to appreciate that we have become aware of a reportable adverse event, especially if it is not reported to us as an adverse event or if it is an adverse event that is unexpected or removed in time from the use of our product. If we fail to comply with our reporting obligations, the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authority could take action including enforcing a hold on or cessation of clinical trials, withdrawal of approved drugs from the market, criminal prosecution, the imposition of civil monetary penalties or seizure of our product.

Additionally, in the event we discover the existence of adverse medical events or side effects caused by obicetrapib, a number of other potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

 

   

our inability to file an NDA or similar application for obicetrapib because of insufficient benefit-risk profile, or the denial of such application by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities;

 

   

the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities suspending or withdrawing their approval of the product;

 

   

the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities requiring the addition of labeling statements, such as warnings or contraindications or distribution and use restrictions;

 

   

the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities requiring us to issue specific communications to healthcare professionals, such as letters alerting them to new safety information about our product, changes in dosage or other important information;

 

   

the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities issuing negative publicity regarding the affected product, including safety communications;

 

   

our being limited with respect to the safety-related claims that we can make in our marketing or promotional materials;

 

   

our being required to change the way the product is administered, conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, or restrict or cease the distribution or use of the product; and

 

   

our being sued and held liable for harm caused to patients.

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving approval or market acceptance of obicetrapib and could substantially increase commercialization costs or even force us to cease operations. We cannot assure you that we will resolve any issues related to any product-related adverse events to the satisfaction of the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authority in a timely manner or ever, which could harm our business, prospects and financial condition.

We conduct clinical trials for our product candidates outside the United States, and the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data from such trials, in which case our development plans in the U.S. and applicable foreign jurisdictions may be delayed, which could materially harm our business.

Our ongoing clinical trials are being undertaken both within and outside the United States, and we intend to conduct portions of our future clinical trials outside the United States. The acceptance of clinical trial data by the FDA, EMA or other comparable foreign regulatory authority from clinical trials conducted outside of their respective jurisdictions may be subject to certain conditions, or may not be accepted at all. In cases where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will generally not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless (i) the data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; and (ii) the trials were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence and pursuant to good clinical practice (“GCP”) regulations. Additionally, the FDA’s clinical trial requirements, including sufficient size of patient populations and statistical powering, must be met. Many foreign regulatory authorities have similar approval requirements. In cases where data from foreign

 

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clinical trials are intended to serve as the basis for marketing authorizations in the EU, the EMA and/or local regulatory authorities in EU Member States require that such clinical trials follow the principles that are equivalent to the clinical trial requirements set out under relevant EU legislation, including with respect to ethical and GCP standards. In addition, such foreign trials would be subject to the applicable local laws of the foreign jurisdictions where the trials are conducted. There can be no assurance that any United States or foreign regulatory authority would accept data from clinical trials conducted outside of its applicable jurisdiction. If the FDA, EMA or any applicable foreign regulatory authority does not accept such data, it would result in the need for additional clinical trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay aspects of our business plan, and which may result in our product candidates not receiving approval or clearance for commercialization in the applicable jurisdiction.

Disruptions at the FDA and other regulatory agencies caused by funding shortages or global health concerns could hinder their ability to hire, retain or deploy key leadership and other personnel, or otherwise prevent new or modified products from being developed, approved or commercialized in a timely manner or at all, which could negatively impact our business.

The ability of the FDA to review and clear or approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, statutory, regulatory and policy changes, the FDA’s ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and other events that may otherwise affect the FDA’s ability to perform routine functions. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable. Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies may also slow the time necessary for new medical devices or modifications to be cleared or approved by government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, including for 35 days beginning on December 22, 2018, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory authorities, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical FDA employees and stop critical activities.

Separately, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 10, 2020, the FDA announced its intention to postpone most inspections of foreign manufacturing facilities, and on March 18, 2020, the FDA temporarily postponed routine surveillance inspections of domestic manufacturing facilities. Subsequently, in July 2020, the FDA resumed certain on-site inspections of domestic manufacturing facilities subject to a risk-based prioritization system, which it utilized to assist in determining when and where it was safest to conduct prioritized domestic inspections. In May 2021, the FDA outlined a detailed plan to move toward a more consistent state of inspectional operations, and in July 2021, the FDA resumed standard inspectional operations of domestic facilities and was continuing to maintain this level of operation as of September 2021. More recently, the FDA has continued to monitor and implement changes to its inspectional activities to ensure the safety of its employees and those of the firms it regulates as it adapts to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Regulatory authorities outside the United States may adopt similar restrictions or other policy measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, or if global health concerns continue to prevent the FDA or other regulatory authorities from conducting their regular inspections, reviews or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA or other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Even if we receive regulatory approval for obicetrapib or our future product candidates, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expenses, limit or withdraw regulatory approval and subject us to penalties if we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements.

Any regulatory approvals that we receive for obicetrapib or future product candidates may also be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of

 

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approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including Phase 4 clinical trials, risk mitigation and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate, and we may be required to include labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or significant safety warnings, including boxed warnings. Such requirements could negatively impact us by reducing revenues or increasing expenses, and cause the approved product not to be commercially viable. Absence of long-term safety data may further limit the approved uses of our product, if any.

If the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authority approves obicetrapib, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and recordkeeping for the product will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration requirements and continued compliance with current good manufacturing practices (“cGMPs”) and GCPs for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. For certain commercial prescription drug products, manufacturers and other parties involved in the supply chain must also meet chain of distribution requirements and build electronic, interoperable systems for product tracking and tracing and for notifying the FDA of counterfeit, diverted, stolen and intentionally adulterated products or other products that are otherwise unfit for distribution in the United States. The EU similarly has in force falsified medicines rules, which require appropriate packaging, labeling, registration and tracking of certain medicinal products to ensure the detection of counterfeit medicinal products, and associated reporting requirements. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:

 

   

suspension or imposition of restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements;

 

   

restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, withdrawal of the product from the market, or voluntary product recalls;

 

   

fines, untitled or warning letters or holds on clinical trials;

 

   

refusal by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authority to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications filed by us, or suspension or revocation of product approvals;

 

   

product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of products; and

 

   

injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

Moreover, if obicetrapib is approved, our product labeling, advertising and promotion will be subject to regulatory requirements and continuing regulatory review. The FDA strictly regulates the promotional claims that may be made about drug products. In particular, a product may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA as reflected in the product’s approved labeling.

Any government investigation of alleged violations of law could require us to expend significant time and resources in response and could generate negative publicity. The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize obicetrapib, and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, the policies of the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA and other comparable regulatory authorities may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of obicetrapib. Costs arising out of any regulatory developments could be time-consuming and expensive and could divert management resources and attention and, consequently, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained, which would adversely affect our business, prospects and ability to achieve or sustain profitability.

 

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We are developing obicetrapib in combination with other therapies, and safety or supply issues with combination products may delay or prevent development and approval of our combination product candidates.

We are developing obicetrapib in combination with one or more approved therapies. For example, we are evaluating obicetrapib in combination with ezetimibe, including the combination on top of high intensity statin therapy. Even if any product candidate we develop were to receive marketing approval or be commercialized for use in combination with other existing therapies, we would continue to be subject to the risks that the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities could revoke approval of the therapy used in combination with our product or that safety, efficacy, manufacturing or supply issues could arise with any of those existing therapies. If the therapies we use in combination with our product candidate are replaced as the standard of care for the indications we choose for any of our product candidate, the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities may require us to conduct additional clinical trials. The occurrence of any of these risks could result in our own product, if approved, being removed from the market or being less successful commercially.

We also may evaluate our product candidate or any future product candidates in combination with one or more therapies that have not yet been approved for marketing by the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities. We will not be able to market and sell any product candidate we develop in combination with an unapproved therapy if that unapproved therapy does not ultimately obtain marketing approval. In addition, unapproved therapies face the same risks described with respect to our product candidate currently in development, including the potential for serious adverse effects, delay in their clinical trials and lack of FDA, EMA, MHRA, PMDA or NMPA approval.

If the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA, the PMDA, the NMPA or other comparable regulatory authorities do not approve these other therapies or revoke their approval of, or if safety, efficacy, manufacturing or supply issues arise with, the therapies we choose to evaluate in combination with our product candidates, we may be unable to obtain approval of or market any such product candidate.

If we are not successful in our efforts to discover and develop additional product candidates, we may be unable to grow our business.

We may elect to build a pipeline of product candidates and progress these product candidates through clinical development for the treatment of a variety of diseases. We also intend to evaluate additional potential indications for obicetrapib and may choose to in-license or acquire other product candidates or commercial products to treat patients suffering from other cardio metabolic diseases with significant unmet medical needs. Even if we are successful in building our pipeline, the potential product candidates that we identify may not be suitable for clinical development, including as a result of being shown to have harmful side effects or other characteristics that indicate that they are unlikely to be products that will receive marketing approval and achieve market acceptance. In addition, we cannot assure you that any such products that are approved will be manufactured or produced economically, successfully commercialized or widely accepted in the marketplace or be more effective than other commercially available alternatives. We may opportunistically pursue a strategy that would entail in-licensing additional product candidates. We may also become reliant on the research efforts of third parties for any such product candidates that we do not intend to conduct preclinical studies or early-stage clinical trials for. If we do not successfully develop and begin to commercialize product candidates, we will face difficulty in obtaining product revenues in future periods, which could result in significant harm to our financial position and potential for growth and adversely affect the price of the Ordinary Shares.

We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and management resources, we are currently primarily focused on the development of obicetrapib for cardiometabolic diseases and we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities

 

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with other product candidates or for other indications for obicetrapib that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial product candidates or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate.

Even if we obtain and maintain approval for our current and future product candidates from a regulatory authority in one or more jurisdictions, we may nevertheless be unable to obtain approval for our product candidates outside of those jurisdictions, which would limit our market opportunities and could harm our business.

Approval of a product candidate by one regulatory authority in any jurisdiction does not ensure approval of such product candidate by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions. Even if one regulatory authority grants marketing approval for a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities of other countries also must approve the manufacturing and marketing of the product candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and more onerous than, those in the United States, including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials. In many countries outside the United States, a product candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that country. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for any product candidates, if approved, is also subject to approval. Obtaining approval for obicetrapib or any future product candidate in the EU from the European Commission following the opinion of the EMA or in other foreign jurisdictions, if we choose to submit a marketing authorization application there, would be a lengthy and expensive process. Even if a product candidate is approved, the FDA, the EMA or other foreign regulatory authorities, as the case may be, may limit the indications for which the drug may be marketed, require extensive warnings on the drug labeling or require expensive and time-consuming additional clinical trials or reporting as conditions of approval. Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of obicetrapib or any future product candidate in certain countries.

Obicetrapib, if approved, will face significant competition from competing therapies and our failure to compete effectively may prevent us from achieving significant market penetration.

The biopharmaceutical industry is intensely competitive and subject to rapid and significant technological change. Our potential competitors include large and experienced companies that enjoy significant competitive advantages over us, such as greater financial, research and development, manufacturing, personnel and marketing resources, greater brand recognition and more experience and expertise in obtaining marketing approvals from the FDA, the EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities. These companies may develop new drugs to treat the indications that we target, or seek to have existing drugs approved for use for the treatment of the indications that we target.

We are aware that DalCor Pharmaceuticals (“DalCor”) may continue to develop its cardio metabolic disease-modifying product candidate. We believe, however, that their focus will be on developing in a small genetic subpopulation unlike our focus on patients at high cardiovascular risk with residual elevation of LDL. If obicetrapib is approved, our main competitor will be the current therapies on the market, such as PSCK9 injectables from Amgen Inc., Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Novartis International AG.

Competition may increase further as a result of advances in the commercial applicability of technologies and greater availability of capital for investment in this industry. Our competitors may succeed in developing,

 

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acquiring or licensing on an exclusive basis products that are more effective or less costly than our product candidate.

Any approved products may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, hospitals, healthcare payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

Even if we obtain FDA, EMA or other foreign regulatory approvals for our product candidate, the commercial success of obicetrapib will depend significantly on their broad adoption and use by physicians for approved indications. The degree and rate of physician and patient adoption of obicetrapib, if approved, will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

   

the clinical indications for which obicetrapib is approved;

 

   

the prevalence and severity of adverse side effects;

 

   

the pricing and extent to which the costs of obicetrapib are reimbursed by third-party payors, and patients’ willingness to pay for obicetrapib;

 

   

physicians’ satisfaction with, and acceptance by the medical community and patients of, the efficacy and safety results of obicetrapib results as demonstrated in clinical trials;

 

   

patient satisfaction with the results and administration of obicetrapib and overall treatment experience, including relative convenience, ease of use and avoidance of, or reduction in, adverse side effects;

 

   

the extent to which physicians recommend obicetrapib to patients;

 

   

physicians’ and patients’ willingness to adopt new therapies in lieu of other products or treatments;

 

   

the timing of market introduction of obicetrapib as well as competitive products;

 

   

the convenience of prescribing and initiating patients on obicetrapib;

 

   

relative convenience and ease of administration of obicetrapib;

 

   

the cost of treatment, safety and efficacy in relation to alternative treatments, including any similar generic treatments;

 

   

the revenues and profitability that obicetrapib will offer physicians as compared to alternative therapies; and

 

   

the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts.

If obicetrapib is approved for use but fails to achieve the broad degree of physician adoption and market acceptance necessary for commercial success, we will not be able to generate significant revenues, and we may not become or remain profitable.

Risks Related to Our Collaboration With or Reliance on Third Parties

We currently contract with third-party contractors, and in some cases, a single contractor, for all aspects of the manufacturing of obicetrapib for clinical trials, and expect to continue to do so to support commercial scale production of obicetrapib, if approved. There are significant risks associated with contracting with third-party suppliers, including their ability to meet the increased need that may result from our potential commercialization efforts. This increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of obicetrapib or be able to obtain such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

We currently rely on third-party contract manufacturers and suppliers for all of our required raw materials, active ingredients and finished products for our clinical trials. Because there are a limited number of suppliers for the raw materials that we use to manufacture our product candidate, we may need to engage alternate suppliers to

 

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prevent a possible disruption of the manufacture of the materials necessary to produce our product candidate for our clinical trials, and if approved, ultimately for commercial sale. We do not have any control over the availability of raw materials. If we or our manufacturers are unable to purchase these raw materials on acceptable terms, at sufficient quality levels or in adequate quantities, if at all, the development and commercialization of our product candidate or any future product candidates would be delayed, or there would be a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to meet our development objectives for our product candidates or generate revenues from the sale of any approved products. We also currently rely on a single supplier for our active ingredient and finished product for obicetrapib. While we believe that alternative sources of supply exist, there can be no assurance that we will be able to quickly establish additional or replacement sources if needed, and a reduction or interruption in supply could adversely affect our ability to manufacture our product candidate in a timely or cost-effective manner.

We expect to continue to rely on these or other subcontractors and suppliers to support our commercial requirements if obicetrapib or any of our other product candidates is approved for marketing by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities. We plan to continue to rely on third parties for the raw materials, compounds and components necessary to produce our product candidates and for our clinical trials.

Our continuing reliance on third-party contract manufacturers and suppliers entails a number of risks, including reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance, the possible breach of the manufacturing or supply agreement by the third party, and the possible termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us. In addition, third-party contract manufacturers and suppliers may not be able to comply with cGMP requirements, or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. If any of these risks transpire, we may be unable to timely retain alternate subcontractors or suppliers on acceptable terms and with sufficient quality standards and production capacity, which may disrupt and delay our clinical trials or the manufacture and commercial sale of our product candidate, if approved.

Our failure or the failure of our third-party contract manufacturers and suppliers to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of obicetrapib or any of our other product candidates that we may develop. Any failure or refusal to supply or any interruption in supply of the components for obicetrapib or any other product candidates or products that we may develop could delay, prevent or impair our clinical development or commercialization efforts.

The manufacture of pharmaceutical products is complex and manufacturers often encounter difficulties in production. If we or any of our third-party manufacturers encounter any difficulties, our ability to provide obicetrapib or any future product candidates for clinical trials, or to patients if approved, and the development or commercialization of obicetrapib or any future product candidates could be delayed or stopped.

The manufacture of pharmaceutical products is complex and requires significant expertise and capital investment, including the development of advanced manufacturing techniques and process controls. We and our contract manufacturers must comply with cGMP requirements. Manufacturers of pharmaceutical products often encounter difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up and validating initial production and contamination controls. These problems include difficulties with production costs and yields, quality control, including stability of the product, quality assurance testing, operator error, shortages of qualified personnel, as well as compliance with strictly enforced federal, state and foreign regulations. Furthermore, if microbial, viral or other contaminations are discovered in our product candidates or in the manufacturing facilities in which our product candidates are made, such manufacturing facilities may need to be closed for an extended period of time to investigate and remedy the contamination.

We cannot assure you that any stability or other issues relating to the manufacture of obicetrapib or any future product candidate will not occur in the future. As the manufacturing processes are scaled up, they may reveal

 

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manufacturing challenges or previously unknown impurities that could require resolution in order to proceed with our planned clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval for the commercial marketing of our products. In the future, we may identify manufacturing issues or impurities that could result in delays in the clinical program and regulatory approval for obicetrapib or any future product candidate, increases in our operating expenses or failure to obtain or maintain approval for obicetrapib or any future product candidate. Our reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks, including the following:

 

   

the inability to meet our product candidate specifications, including product formulation, and quality requirements consistently;

 

   

a delay or inability to procure or expand sufficient manufacturing capacity;

 

   

manufacturing and product quality issues, including those related to scale-up of manufacturing;

 

   

costs and validation of new equipment and facilities required for scale-up;

 

   

a failure to comply with cGMP and similar quality standards;

 

   

the inability to negotiate manufacturing agreements with third parties under commercially reasonable terms;

 

   

termination or nonrenewal of manufacturing agreements with third parties in a manner or at a time that is costly or damaging to us;

 

   

the reliance on a limited number of sources, and in some cases, single sources for key materials, such that if we are unable to secure a sufficient supply of these key materials, we will be unable to manufacture and sell obicetrapib in a timely fashion, in sufficient quantities or under acceptable terms;

 

   

the lack of qualified backup suppliers for those materials that are currently or in the future purchased from a sole or single source supplier;

 

   

operations of our third-party manufacturers or suppliers could be disrupted by conditions unrelated to our business or operations, including the bankruptcy of the manufacturer or supplier;

 

   

resource constraints, including as a result of labor disputes or unstable political environments;

 

   

carrier disruptions or increased costs that are beyond our control; and

 

   

the failure to deliver our products under specified storage conditions and in a timely manner.

If we or our third-party manufacturers were to encounter any of these difficulties, and in particular where we rely on a single manufacturer, our ability to provide obicetrapib or any future product candidate to patients in clinical trials and products to patients, once approved, would be jeopardized. Any delay or interruption in the supply of clinical trial supplies could delay the initiation or completion of clinical trials, increase the costs associated with maintaining clinical trial programs and, depending upon the period of delay, require us to commence new clinical trials at additional expense or terminate clinical trials completely. These events could impact our ability to obtain regulatory approval or successfully commercialize obicetrapib or any future product candidate. Some of these events could be the basis for FDA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities’ action, including injunction, recall, seizure, or total or partial suspension of production. Any adverse developments affecting clinical or commercial manufacturing of obicetrapib or any future product candidate may result in shipment delays, inventory shortages, lot failures, product withdrawals or recalls, or other interruptions in the supply of our product candidates. We may also have to take inventory write-offs and incur other charges and expenses for products that fail to meet specifications, undertake costly remediation efforts or seek more costly manufacturing alternatives. Accordingly, failures or difficulties faced at any level of our supply chain could materially adversely affect our business and delay or impede the development and commercialization of obicetrapib or any future product candidate and could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties and consultants to assist us in conducting our clinical trials, including our Phase 3 clinical trials for obicetrapib. If these third parties or consultants do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize obicetrapib, if approved.

We do not have the ability to independently conduct many of our clinical trials. We rely on medical institutions, clinical investigators, contract laboratories and other third parties, such as CROs, to conduct clinical trials on obicetrapib. Third parties play a significant role in the conduct of our clinical trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data. These third parties are not our employees and, except for remedies available to us under our agreements, we have limited ability to control the amount or timing of resources that any such third party will devote to our clinical trials. If our CROs or any other third parties upon which we rely for administration and conduct of our clinical trials do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols, regulatory requirements, or for other reasons, or if they otherwise perform in a substandard manner, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed, suspended or terminated, and we may not be able to complete development of, obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize obicetrapib.

We and the third parties upon whom we rely are required to comply with GCP, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by regulatory authorities around the world for products in clinical development. Regulatory authorities enforce these GCP regulations through periodic inspections of clinical trial sponsors, principal investigators and clinical trial sites. If we or our third parties fail to comply with applicable GCP regulations, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and our submission of marketing applications may be delayed or the regulatory authorities may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving our marketing applications. We cannot assure you that, upon inspection, a regulatory authority will determine that any of our clinical trials comply or complied with applicable GCP regulations. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with material produced under current cGMP regulations, which are enforced by regulatory authorities. Our failure to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process. Moreover, our business may be impacted if our CROs, clinical investigators or other third parties violate federal or state fraud and abuse or false claims laws and regulations or healthcare privacy and security laws.

The COVID-19 pandemic and government measures taken in response may also have an impact on our CROs, including due to travel or quarantine policies or prioritization of resources toward the pandemic, and any disruption in their performance would affect our ability to complete our clinical trials.

In order for our clinical trials to be carried out effectively and efficiently, it is imperative that our CROs and other third parties communicate and coordinate with one another. Moreover, our CROs and other third parties may also have relationships with other commercial entities, some of which may compete with us. Our CROs and other third parties may terminate their agreements with us immediately under certain circumstances, such as upon 30 days’ notice or immediately upon a material breach. If our CROs or other third parties conducting our clinical trials do not perform their contractual duties or obligations, experience work stoppages, do not meet expected deadlines, terminate their agreements with us or need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical trial protocols or GCPs, or for any other reason, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials or enter into new arrangements with alternative CROs, clinical investigators or other third parties. We may be unable to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Switching or adding CROs, clinical investigators or other third parties can involve substantial cost and require extensive management time and focus. In addition, there is a natural transition period when a new CRO commences work. As a result, delays may occur, which can impact our ability to meet our desired clinical development timelines. Although we carefully manage our relationship with our CROs, clinical investigators and other third parties, there can be no assurance that we will not encounter such challenges or delays in the future or that these delays or challenges will not have a negative impact on our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations.

 

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We currently intend to rely on our collaboration with Menarini, for the commercialization of obicetrapib, if approved, in certain European areas. Failure or delay of Menarini to fulfill all or part of its obligations to us under the Menarini License, a breakdown in collaboration between the parties or a complete or partial loss of this relationship could materially harm our business if obicetrapib is approved in the relevant jurisdictions.

While we currently plan to commercialize our own products, if approved, in the United States, we entered into the Menarini License, an exclusive license agreement, on June 23, 2022 to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals, commercialize and undertake local development, in each case with respect to obicetrapib either as a sole active ingredient product or in a fixed dose combination with ezetimibe for any use, in certain areas of Europe, as set forth in the Menarini License. Our collaboration with Menarini is critical in these areas on our own business, as we do not currently have the internal capacity to market, sale and distribute obicetrapib, if approved, in Europe. Pursuant to the Menarini License, Menarini is responsible for communications with regulatory authorities for the commercialization and local development of obicetrapib in certain areas of Europe, if approved, and other collaborative activities. Menarini must commercialize obicetrapib pursuant to a commercialization plan agreed between the parties and is obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize obicetrapib so as to maximize net sales, provided that Menarini has sole discretion to set the price of the products.

Either party has the right in certain circumstances to terminate the collaboration pursuant to the terms of the Menarini License, including in the case (i) of a material breach by the other party, (ii) that a relevant regulatory authority prohibits Menarini to pursue the commercialization of obicetrapib due to safety or efficacy concerns, or (iii) of insolvency of either party. If Menarini delays or fails to perform its obligations under the Menarini License, such as a delay in the anticipated commercial launch, disagrees with our interpretation of the terms of the collaboration or terminates the Menarini License, the commercialization of obicetrapib, if approved, could be significantly adversely affected and our prospects in Europe will be materially harmed.

We may not be able to meet our obligations under the Menarini License. Additionally, if we do not reach certain milestones as set forth in the Menarini License, we will not receive the milestone payments, which could require us to seek funding additional capital to complete clinical trials.

Menarini has also entered into collaborations with third parties addressing targets and disease indications outside the scope of our collaboration. As a result, Menarini may have competing interests with respect to their priorities and resources. We may have disagreements with Menarini with respect to the interpretation of the Menarini License, use of resources or otherwise that could cause our relationship with Menarini to deteriorate. As a result, Menarini may reduce their focus on, and resources allocated to, our commercialization, potentially delaying or terminating our ability to commercialize obicetrapib in Europe, if approved. However, as stated above, Menarini must commercialize obicetrapib pursuant to a commercialization plan agreed between the parties and is obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize obicetrapib so as to maximize net sales. Additionally, should we decide to move forward with development of a combination of obicetrapib with a certain inhibitor in the areas of Europe covered by the Menarini License for patients suffering from diabetes, we will need to offer Menarini the opportunity to co-develop that product with us, provided that if Menarini does, we will negotiate with Menarini the economics and other terms in respect of such co-development and the subsequent commercialization of such combination product in such areas of Europe. If Menarini does not wish to co-develop such combination product, that would prevent our ability to, and our ability to license or authorize a third party to, seek regulatory approval for or promote such combination product, in the areas of Europe covered by the Menarini License.

Should our Menarini License be terminated, we will need to either build marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or contract with third parties to obtain these capabilities in Europe.

 

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We have limited experience in marketing or distributing products and no internal capability to do so, and an inability to market, distribute and commercialize obicetrapib once approved would prevent us from achieving significant sales and reduce the commercial value of obicetrapib. If we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities for obicetrapib, if approved, or our future product candidates, or enter into sales, marketing and distribution agreements with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates, if and when they are approved.

We do not have a sales or marketing infrastructure and have limited experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. To achieve commercial success for any product candidate for which we may obtain marketing approval, we will need to establish a sales and marketing organization or enter into collaboration, distribution and other marketing arrangements with one or more third parties to commercialize such product candidate. In the United States, we intend to build a commercial organization to target areas with the greatest incidence of high cardiovascular risk with residual elevation of LDL and recruit experienced sales, marketing and distribution professionals. The development of sales, marketing, and distribution capabilities will require substantial resources, will be time-consuming and could delay any product launch. We may decide to work with regional specialty pharmacies, distributors and/or multi-national pharmaceutical companies to leverage their commercialization capabilities to commercialize any product candidate for which we may obtain regulatory approval outside of the United States or certain areas of Europe.

If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing and distribution capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization costs. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel. In addition, we may not be able to hire a sales force in the United States that is sufficient in size or has adequate expertise to target the areas that we intend to target. If we are unable to establish a sales force and marketing and distribution capabilities, our operating results may be adversely affected.

Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our drugs on our own include:

 

   

our inability to recruit, train, and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and marketing personnel;

 

   

the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to physicians or persuade adequate numbers of physicians to prescribe any future products;

 

   

the lack of complementary products to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage compared to companies with more extensive product lines;

 

   

unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization; and

 

   

unforeseen costs and limitations with regard to setting up a distribution network.

If we are unable to establish our own sales, marketing and distribution capabilities in the United States and other jurisdictions in which obicetrapib or any future product candidates are approved, other than in the jurisdictions covered by the Menarini License, we will be required to enter into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. As a result, our revenues and profitability, if any, are likely to be lower than if we were to sell, market and distribute any product candidates that we develop ourselves. We may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell, market and distribute our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have limited control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our product candidates effectively. If we do not establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing any product candidates.

 

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We expect to enter into collaborations with third parties for the development or commercialization of obicetrapib or future product candidates, which involve risks that could impact our liquidity, increase our expenses and present significant distractions to our management, and we may not be able to capitalize on the market potential of obicetrapib or any future product candidate if our collaborations are not successful.

In addition to the Menarini License, we may utilize a variety of types of collaboration, distribution and other marketing arrangements with other third parties relating to the development or commercialization, once approved, of obicetrapib or future product candidates. Our ability to generate revenues from these arrangements will depend on our collaborators’ abilities and efforts to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in these arrangements.

Any future collaborations that we enter into may pose a number of risks, including the following:

 

   

collaborators have significant discretion in determining the amount and timing of efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations;

 

   

collaborators may not perform their obligations as expected;

 

   

product candidates developed by collaborators may not perform sufficiently in clinical trials to be determined to be safe and effective, thereby delaying or terminating the drug approval process and reducing or eliminating milestone payments to which we would otherwise be entitled if the product candidates had successfully met their endpoints and/or received FDA or EMA approval;

 

   

collaborators may not pursue development and commercialization of our product candidates that receive marketing approval or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on clinical trial results, changes in the collaborators’ strategic focus or available funding, or external factors, such as an acquisition, that divert resources or create 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 products or product candidates 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;

 

   

product candidates discovered in collaboration with us may be viewed by our collaborators as competitive with their own product candidates or products, which may cause collaborators to cease to devote resources to the commercialization of our product candidates;

 

   

a collaborator with marketing and distribution rights to one or more of our product candidates that achieve regulatory approval may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product or products;

 

   

disagreements with collaborators, including disagreements over proprietary rights, contract interpretation or the preferred course of development, might cause delays or termination of the research, development or commercialization of product candidates, might lead to additional responsibilities for us with respect to product candidates, or might result in litigation or arbitration, any of which would divert management attention and resources, be time-consuming and expensive;

 

   

collaborators may not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation;

 

   

collaborators may infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties, which may expose us to litigation and potential liability; and

 

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collaborations may be terminated for the convenience of the collaborator and, if terminated, we could be required to raise additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates.

Collaboration agreements may not lead to the development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner, or at all. If any future collaborations that we enter into do not result in the successful development and commercialization of products or if one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may not receive any future research funding or milestone or royalty payments under the collaboration. If we do not receive the funding we expect under these agreements, our development of our product candidates could be delayed and we may need additional resources to develop our product candidates. All of the risks relating to product development, regulatory approval and commercialization described in this prospectus also apply to the activities of our collaborators.

Additionally, subject to its contractual obligations to us, if a collaborator of ours were to be involved in a business combination, it might deemphasize or terminate the development or commercialization of any product candidate licensed to it by us. If one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may find it more difficult to attract new collaborators and our perception in the business and financial communities could be harmed.

If in the future we acquire or in-license technologies or product candidates, we may incur various costs, may have integration difficulties as a result of becoming subject to onerous contractual requirements or restrictions, and may experience other risks that could harm our business and results of operations.

In the future, we may acquire or in-license additional product candidates and technologies. Any product candidate or technologies we in-license or acquire will likely require additional development efforts prior to commercial sale, including extensive preclinical or clinical testing, or both, and approval by the FDA, the EMA and other comparable regulatory authorities, if any. All product candidates are prone to risks of failure inherent in pharmaceutical product development, including the possibility that the product candidate, or product developed based on in-licensed technology, will not be shown to be sufficiently safe and effective for approval by regulatory authorities. If intellectual property related to product candidates or technologies we in-license is not adequate, we may not be able to commercialize the affected products even after expending resources on their development. In addition, we may not be able to manufacture economically or successfully commercialize any product candidate that we develop based on acquired or in-licensed technology that is granted regulatory approval, and such products may not gain wide acceptance or be competitive in the marketplace. Moreover, integrating any newly acquired or in-licensed product candidates could be expensive and time-consuming. If we cannot effectively manage these aspects of our business strategy, our business may be materially harmed.

Our employees and independent contractors, including principal investigators, CROs, consultants and vendors, may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could cause significant liability for us or harm our reputation.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, clinical investigators, CROs, consultants and vendors may engage in fraudulent conduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct, breach of contract or disclosure of unauthorized activities to us that violates regulations of the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities, including those laws requiring the reporting of true, complete and accurate information; manufacturing standards; federal, state and foreign healthcare fraud and abuse laws; or laws that require the reporting of financial information or data accurately.

Specifically, research, sales, marketing, education and other business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, education, marketing and

 

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promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. We have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics, but it is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws. If any such actions are instituted against us, even if we are successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business. Violations of such laws subject us to numerous penalties, including, but not limited to, the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, additional reporting requirements and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

If we, or our third-party manufacturers fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of its business.

Our research and development activities and our third-party manufacturers’ and suppliers’ activities involve the controlled storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials, including the components of our product candidates and other hazardous compounds. We and our manufacturers and suppliers are subject to laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials. In some cases, these hazardous materials and various wastes resulting from their use are stored at our and our manufacturers’ facilities pending their use and disposal. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination, which could cause an interruption of our commercialization efforts, research and development efforts, business operations and environmental damage resulting in costly clean-up and liabilities under applicable laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. Although we believe that the safety procedures utilized by our third-party manufacturers for handling and disposing of these materials generally comply with the standards prescribed by these laws and regulations, we cannot guarantee that this is the case or eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials. In such an event, we may be held liable for any resulting damages and such liability could exceed our resources and state or federal or other applicable authorities may curtail our use of certain materials and/or interrupt our business operations. Furthermore, environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent. We cannot predict the impact of such changes and cannot be certain of our future compliance.

Risks Related to Our Business and Strategy

The continuing outbreak of COVID-19 around the world, and any future pandemics, may adversely affect our business and that of our suppliers, CROs or other third parties relevant to our business.

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting worldwide economic activity, particularly economic activity in the United States, and poses the risk that we or our employees, contractors, suppliers, or other partners may be prevented or delayed from conducting business activities for an indefinite period of time, including due to shutdowns that may be requested or mandated by governmental authorities. The continued prevalence of COVID-19 and the measures taken by the governments of countries affected could disrupt our supply chain and manufacturing, cause diversion of healthcare resources away from the conduct of preclinical and clinical trial matters to focus on pandemic concerns, limit travel in a manner that interrupts key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site initiations and monitoring, delay regulatory filings with regulatory authorities in affected areas or adversely affect our ability to obtain regulatory approvals. These disruptions could also affect other facets of our business, including but not limited to:

 

   

our ability to recruit employees;

 

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the ability of our employees to travel;

 

   

the ability of our CROs to conduct our clinical trials;

 

   

our ability to import materials; and

 

   

our ability to export materials to our CROs and other third-parties.

The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation measures also may have an adverse impact on global economic conditions, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant financial market volatility and uncertainty. A continuation or worsening of the levels of market disruption and volatility seen in the recent past as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak could have an adverse effect on our ability to access capital and on the market price of our ordinary shares. In December 2020, we put in place a number of protective measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures included a shift to virtual study and home health care visits, adding COVID-19 contingency measures to our clinical trial protocols and direct to subject study drug shipments. We have revisited these measures on a regular basis throughout the pandemic and we will continue to do so. Although restrictions imposed by governmental authorities have eased, if conditions worsen, we may need to implement new restrictive measures that could adversely affect our business.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our business could be disrupted.

As of December 31, 2022, we had 17 full-time employees and nine consultants. We expect to continue to expand our development, quality, sales, managerial, operational, finance, marketing and other resources in order to manage our operations and clinical trials, continue our development activities and commercialize obicetrapib, if approved. Our management, personnel, systems and facilities currently in place may not be adequate to support this future growth. Our need to effectively execute our expansion strategy requires that we:

 

   

manage our clinical trials effectively;

 

   

identify, recruit, retain, incentivize and integrate additional employees;

 

   

manage our internal development efforts effectively while carrying out our contractual obligations to third parties; and

 

   

continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.

Due to our limited financial resources and our limited experience in managing a larger public company, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The physical expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage expansion could delay the execution of our development and strategic objectives, or disrupt our operations; and if we are not successful in commercializing our product candidate, either on our own or through collaborations with one or more third parties, our revenues will suffer and we would incur significant additional losses.

If obicetrapib or our future product candidates receive approval for marketing, and we are found to have improperly promoted off-label use, or if physicians misuse our products, we may become subject to prohibitions on the sale or marketing of our product, significant sanctions and product liability claims, and our image and reputation within the industry and marketplace could be harmed.

The FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities strictly regulate the promotional claims that may be made about prescription drug products, such as obicetrapib, if approved. In particular, a product may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities as reflected in the product’s approved labeling. For example, if we receive marketing approval for obicetrapib for

 

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cardio metabolic disease, physicians, in their professional medical judgment, may nevertheless prescribe obicetrapib to their patients in a manner that is inconsistent with the approved label. If we are found to have promoted such off-label use, we may become subject to significant liability under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) and other statutory authorities, such as laws prohibiting false claims for reimbursement. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion and has enjoined several companies from engaging in off-label promotion. If we become the target of such an investigation or prosecution based on our marketing and promotional practices, we could face similar sanctions, which would harm our business. In addition, management’s attention could be diverted from our business operations, significant legal expenses could be incurred and our reputation could be damaged. The FDA has also requested that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. If we are deemed by the FDA to have engaged in the promotion of our products for off-label use, we could be subject to prohibitions on the sale or marketing of our products or significant fines and penalties, and the imposition of these sanctions could also affect our reputation with physicians, patients and caregivers, and our position within the industry.

Physicians may also misuse our products or use improper techniques, potentially leading to adverse results, side effects or injury, which may lead to product liability claims. If our products are misused or used with improper technique, we may become subject to costly litigation. Product liability claims could divert management’s attention from our core business, be expensive to defend, and result in sizable damage awards against us that may not be covered by insurance. We currently carry product liability insurance covering our clinical trials with policy limits that we believe are customary for similarly situated companies and adequate to provide us with coverage for foreseeable risks. Although we maintain such insurance, any claim that may be brought against us could result in a court judgment or settlement in an amount that is not covered, in whole or in part, by our insurance or that is in excess of the limits of our insurance coverage. Furthermore, the use of our products for conditions other than those approved by the FDA may not effectively treat such conditions, which could harm our reputation in the marketplace among physicians and patients. If we cannot successfully manage the promotion of obicetrapib or any future product candidate, if approved, we could become subject to significant liability, which would harm our reputation and negatively impact our financial condition.

If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of obicetrapib or any future products we may develop.

We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of obicetrapib and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize it or any future product. For example, we may be sued if any product we develop allegedly causes injury or is found to be otherwise unsuitable during product testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability and a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our products. Even a successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

 

   

decreased demand for our product candidate or any future product candidates we develop;

 

   

injury to our reputation and significant negative media attention;

 

   

withdrawal of clinical trial participants or delay or cancellation of clinical trials;

 

   

costs to defend the related litigation, which may be only partially recoverable even in the event of successful defenses;

 

   

a diversion of management’s time and our resources;

 

   

substantial monetary awards to clinical trial participants or patients;

 

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regulatory investigations, product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;

 

   

loss of revenues;

 

   

exhaustion of any available insurance and our capital resources; and

 

   

the inability to commercialize our product, if approved.

Our inability to obtain and maintain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost and scope of coverage to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of products we may develop. We currently carry general clinical trial product liability insurance in an amount that we believe is adequate to cover the scope of our ongoing clinical programs. Although we maintain such insurance, any claim that may be brought against us could result in a court judgment or settlement in an amount that is not covered, in whole or in part, by our insurance or that is in excess of the limits of our insurance coverage. Our insurance policies also have various exclusions and deductibles, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We will have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts. Moreover, in the future, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses. If and when we obtain approval for marketing obicetrapib or any other product candidate, we intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the commercialization of obicetrapib or any other approved product that we may have; however, we may be unable to obtain this liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms.

If we fail to attract and retain senior management and key scientific personnel, we may be unable to successfully develop our product candidate, conduct our clinical trials and, if approved, commercialize our product candidate or any other products we may develop.

Our success depends in part on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified management, clinical and scientific personnel. We believe that our future success is highly dependent upon the contributions of members of our senior management, as well as our senior scientists and other members of our management team, especially our Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Michael Davidson, our Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. John Kastelein, and our Chief Operating Officer, Douglas Kling. We are not aware of any present intention of any of these individuals to leave our company. The loss of services of any of these individuals, though, could delay or prevent the successful development of our product pipeline, completion of our planned clinical trials or the commercialization of obicetrapib. Although we have agreements with our officers and employees, these agreements do not prevent them from terminating their employment or service arrangement with us as described in the agreements.

Although we have not historically experienced unique difficulties in attracting and retaining qualified employees, we could experience such problems in the future. For example, competition for qualified personnel in the pharmaceutical field is intense due to the limited number of individuals who possess the skills and experience required by our industry. Many of the other pharmaceutical companies that we compete against for qualified personnel have greater financial and other resources, different risk profiles, diverse opportunities including for career advancement and a longer history in the industry than we do. We will need to hire additional personnel as we expand our clinical development and commercial activities. Some of these characteristics may be more appealing to high quality candidates than what we have to offer. We may not be able to attract and retain quality personnel on acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or that they have divulged proprietary or other confidential information, or that their former employers own their research output. Moreover, we are domiciled and predominantly based in the Netherlands, which may make it difficult to hire necessary U.S.-based personnel.

 

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Misclassification or reclassification of our independent contractors or employees could increase our costs and adversely impact our business.

Our workers are classified as either employees or independent contractors, and if employees, as either exempt from overtime or non-exempt (and therefore overtime eligible). The tests governing whether a service provider is an independent contractor or an employee are typically highly fact sensitive and can vary by governing law. Laws and regulations that govern the status and misclassification of independent contractors are also subject to divergent interpretations by various authorities, which can create uncertainty and unpredictability. Regulatory authorities and private parties have recently asserted within several industries that some independent contractors should be classified as employees and that some exempt employees should be classified as nonexempt based upon the applicable facts and circumstances and their interpretations of existing rules and regulations. If we are found to have misclassified employees as independent contractors or non-exempt employees as exempt, we could face penalties and have additional exposure under tax (including federal and state tax), workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, employment and tort laws, including for prior periods, as well as potential liability for employee overtime and benefits and tax withholdings. Legislative, judicial or regulatory (including tax) authorities could also introduce proposals or assert interpretations of existing rules and regulations that would change the classification of a number of independent contractors doing business with us from independent contractor to employee and a number of exempt employees to non-exempt. A reclassification in either case could result in an increase in employment-related costs such as wages, benefits and taxes. The costs associated with employee misclassification, including any related regulatory action or litigation, could therefore have an adverse effect on our results of operations and our financial position.

Under applicable employment laws, we may not be able to enforce covenants not to compete.

We generally include non-competition provisions as part of our agreements with our officers, employees and consultants. These agreements generally prohibit our officers, employees or consultants, if they cease working for us, from competing directly with us or working for our competitors for a limited period. We may be unable to enforce these provisions under the laws of the jurisdictions in which our officers, employees or consultants work and it may be difficult for us to restrict our competitors from benefitting from the expertise our former officers, employees or consultants developed while working for us.

We expect to expand our development, regulatory and sales and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of drug development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and sales and marketing. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.

Our international operations subject us to various risks, and our failure to manage these risks could adversely affect our results of operations and we may be exposed to significant foreign exchange risk.

We face significant operational risks as a result of doing business internationally, such as:

 

   

fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;

 

   

differing payor reimbursement regimes, governmental payors or patient self-pay systems and price controls;

 

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potentially adverse and/or unexpected tax consequences, including penalties due to the challenge by tax authorities on the basis of transfer pricing and liabilities imposed from inconsistent enforcement, as well as compliance with potentially conflicting and changing tax laws of taxing jurisdictions, the complexity and adverse consequences of such tax laws, and potentially adverse tax consequences due to changes in such tax laws;

 

   

potential changes to the accounting standards, which may influence our financial situation and results;

 

   

becoming subject to the different, complex and changing laws, regulations and court systems of multiple jurisdictions and compliance with a wide variety of foreign laws, treaties and regulations;

 

   

reduced protection of, or significant difficulties in enforcing, intellectual property rights in certain countries;

 

   

difficulties in attracting and retaining qualified personnel;

 

   

restrictions imposed by local labor practices and laws on our business and operations, including unilateral cancellation or modification of contracts;

 

   

rapid changes in global government, economic and political policies and conditions, political or civil unrest or instability, terrorism or epidemics and other similar outbreaks or events, and potential failure in confidence of our suppliers or customers due to such changes or events; and

 

   

tariffs, trade protection measures, import or export licensing requirements, trade embargoes and other trade barriers.

Additionally, we incur portions of our expenses, and may in the future derive revenues, in currencies other than the euro, in particular, the U.S. dollar. As a result, we are exposed to foreign currency exchange risk as our results of operations and cash flows are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. We currently do not engage in hedging transactions to protect against uncertainty in future exchange rates between particular foreign currencies and the euro. Therefore, for example, an increase in the value of the euro against the U.S. dollar could be expected to have a negative impact on our revenue and earnings growth as U.S. dollar revenue and earnings, if any, would be translated into euros at a reduced value. We cannot predict the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, and foreign currency fluctuations in the future may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Negative economic conditions, including as a result of commodity price inflation or supply chain constraints, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, may adversely impact our results of operations.

An unforeseen production shortage resulting from any events, including interruptions to business operations and supply chain disruption as a result of worldwide economic and political disruptions including the impacts of military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and widespread health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting raw material and or intermediate supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad and domestically could adversely impact our business. For example, our supply chain may be disrupted, limiting our ability to manufacture our product candidates for our clinical trials and research and development operations, or our cost base may be increased. Furthermore, economic growth is expected to slow, including due to supply chain disruption, the recent surge in inflation and related actions by central banks and geopolitical conditions, with a significant risk of recession in many parts of the worlds in the near term. This may also prolong tight credit markets and potentially cause such conditions to become more severe. These issues, along with the re-pricing of credit risk and the difficulties currently experienced by financial institutions, may make it difficult to obtain financing.

 

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Our expectations about our business, future performance and other matters are subject to significant risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. As a result, our expectations regarding cash and cash burn, market size and market share, clinical trial completions, regulatory submissions and potential regulatory approvals, and our expectations regarding efficacy levels and benefits of our product candidates, may differ materially from actual results.

The estimates and assumptions included in this prospectus include, among others: expectations regarding our cash runway; estimates of the total addressable market for cardio metabolic disease patients with significant unmet need; assumptions regarding our ability to obtain reimbursement for our product candidate, if approved; assumptions regarding performance under existing partner agreements, including the Menarini License; and assumptions regarding our ability to obtain regulatory approval. These estimates and assumptions are subject to various factors beyond our control, including, for example, changes in the supply of drug products required for our clinical trials, increased costs for such drugs, changes in the regulatory or competitive environment, delays in our clinical trials or in obtaining regulatory approvals, lower than expected rates of reimbursement on our product candidate, if approved, the impact of global health crises (including the COVID-19 pandemic), the imposition or heightening of sanctions or other economic or military measures in relation to the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, and changes in our executive team. Accordingly, our future financial condition and results of operations may differ materially from our estimates.

We may undertake strategic acquisitions in the future and any difficulties from integrating such acquisitions could adversely affect our share price, operating results and results of operations.

We may acquire companies, businesses and products that complement or augment our existing business. We may not be able to integrate any acquired business successfully or operate any acquired business profitably. Integrating any newly acquired business could be expensive and time-consuming. Integration efforts often take a significant amount of time, place a significant strain on managerial, operational and financial resources, result in loss of key personnel and could prove to be more difficult or expensive than we predict. The diversion of our management’s attention and any delay or difficulties encountered in connection with any future acquisitions we may consummate could result in the disruption of our on-going business or inconsistencies in standards and controls that could negatively affect our ability to maintain third-party relationships. Moreover, we may need to raise additional funds through public or private debt or equity financing, or issue additional shares, to acquire any businesses or products, which may result in dilution for shareholders or the incurrence of indebtedness.

As part of our efforts to acquire companies, business or product candidates or to enter into other significant transactions, we conduct business, legal and financial due diligence with the goal of identifying and evaluating material risks involved in the transaction. Despite our efforts, we ultimately may be unsuccessful in ascertaining or evaluating all such risks and, as a result, might not realize the intended advantages of the transaction. If we fail to realize the expected benefits from acquisitions we may consummate in the future or have consummated in the past, whether as a result of unidentified risks or liabilities, integration difficulties, regulatory setbacks, litigation with current or former employees and other events, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. If we acquire product candidates, we will also need to make certain assumptions about, among other things, development costs, the likelihood of receiving regulatory approval and the market for such product candidates. Our assumptions may prove to be incorrect, which could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these transactions.

In addition, we will likely experience significant charges to earnings in connection with our efforts, if any, to consummate acquisitions. For transactions that are ultimately not consummated, these charges may include fees and expenses for investment bankers, attorneys, accountants and other advisors in connection with our efforts. Even if our efforts are successful, we may incur, as part of a transaction, substantial charges for closure costs associated with elimination of duplicate operations and facilities and acquired in-process research and development charges. In either case, the incurrence of these charges could adversely affect our results of operations for particular periods.

 

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Cyberattacks or other failures in the telecommunications or information technology systems used by us or our third-party vendors, contractors or consultants, could result in information theft, compromise, or other unauthorized access, data corruption and significant disruption of our business operations, and could harm our reputation and subject us to liability, lawsuits and actions from governmental authorities.

Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our CROs and other contractors and consultants are vulnerable to damage from cybersecurity threats, including computer viruses, harmful code and unauthorized access, cyber-attacks (including ranswomware), hacking, theft, phishing, employee error, denial-of-service attacks, social engineering schemes, sophisticated nation-state and nation-state-supported actors unauthorized accesses, natural disasters, fire, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. If a disruption event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our drug development programs, and / or otherwise jeopardize the performance of our software and information technology systems, and could expose us to financial and reputational harm. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed, ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the further development of obicetrapib could be delayed.

Successful and attempted attacks upon information technology systems are increasing in their frequency, levels of persistence, sophistication and intensity, and are being conducted by sophisticated and organized groups and individuals with a wide range of motives and expertise. As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we may also face increased cybersecurity risks due to our reliance on internet technology and the number of our employees who are working remotely, which may create additional opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. Furthermore, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to, or to sabotage, systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. We may also experience security breaches that may remain undetected for an extended period. Even if identified, we may be unable to adequately investigate or remediate incidents or breaches due to attackers increasingly using tools and techniques that are designed to circumvent controls, to avoid detection, and to remove or obfuscate forensic evidence.

We and certain of our service providers are from time to time subject to actual and attempted cyberattacks and security incidents. While we do not believe that we have experienced any such material system failure or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our development programs and our business operations. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or future clinical trials could result in delays in our marketing approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Likewise, we rely on third parties for the manufacture of our drug candidate and to conduct clinical trials, and similar events relating to their information technology systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. To the extent that any disruption or security incident were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability and the development and commercialization of our future drug candidates could be delayed. Similarly, if an actual or attempted security incident were to occur, in additional to reputational damage, we could face investigations and fines from regulators, as well as litigation.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

We may not be successful in obtaining all of the necessary intellectual property rights to allow us to develop and commercialize our product candidate, obicetrapib. If our efforts to obtain, protect or enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights related to our product candidates and technologies are not adequate, including due to the risk that we are unaware of prior art that may affect the validity of our patents, we may not be able to compete effectively in our market and we otherwise may be harmed.

Our future commercial success depends, in part, on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for commercially important inventions, to obtain and maintain know-how related to our

 

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business, including our product candidates, to defend and enforce our intellectual property rights, in particular our patent rights, to preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets, and to operate without infringing, misappropriating, or violating the valid and enforceable patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties. Our ability to preclude or restrict third parties from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing competing molecules to our products may depend on the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents and trade secrets that cover these activities.

We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, and contractors. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. Although we enter into confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to confidential or patentable aspects of our research and development output, such as our employees, collaborators, CROs, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose such output before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection. Further, we may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our product candidates. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing or, in some cases, not at all. Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our patents or pending patent applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions.

While we have sought and continue to actively seek patent protection for obicetrapib, our patent coverage is limited, and we can provide no assurance that any of our current or future patent applications will result in issued patents or that any issued patents will provide us with any competitive advantage.

The patent applications that we own or license may fail to result in issued patents in the United States or granted patents in foreign jurisdictions. Our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents depends on various factors, including determination that our patent claims are patentable over prior art. We may be subject to a third-party preissuance submission of prior art to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) or foreign patent offices, and such prior art may prevent issuance of claims that would provide us with a competitive advantage. We cannot be certain that we and respective patent offices have identified all relevant prior art at the time of issuance, and later identification of undiscovered prior art may provide basis for later invalidating our issued patent claims. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing, we cannot be certain that we were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to the treatment of cardio metabolic disease or Alzheimer’s disease using obicetrapib or (ii) conceive and reduce to practice any of the compositions or methods claimed in our patents or patent applications, including patents or patent applications related to obicetrapib and any of our future product candidates.

Patent applications and patents granted from them are complex, lengthy and highly technical documents that are often prepared under time constraints and may not be free from errors. The existence of errors in a patent may have an adverse effect on the patent, its scope and its enforceability. Even if our pending and future patent applications issue as patents in relevant jurisdictions, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection for our technology or product candidates, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Even if our pending and future patent applications issue as patents in relevant jurisdictions, changes in law or in interpretation of existing law may provide a basis for competitors to challenge the validity and/or enforceable scope of our patents.

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has, in recent years, been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future owned patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or

 

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product candidates, effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and product or otherwise provide any competitive advantage. In addition, the scope of claims of an issued patent can be reinterpreted after issuance, and changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other jurisdictions may diminish the value of our patent rights or narrow the scope of our patent protection.

Additionally, limitations on the scope of our intellectual property rights may limit our ability to prevent third parties from designing around such rights and competing against us. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or product candidates in a non-infringing manner. Other parties may compete with us, for example, by independently developing or obtaining competing solid forms of obicetrapib, including crystalline forms and alternative salts of obicetrapib, or by independently developing or obtaining competing synthetic processes for synthesis of obicetrapib or synthetic intermediates that allow competitors to design around our patent claims but which result in the same active ingredient.

In addition, our competitors may seek to invalidate our patents. We may become involved in proceedings brought by competitors in the USPTO or applicable foreign offices challenging our patent rights, such as inter partes review, post grant review, derivation proceedings, interference proceedings, opposition proceedings, revocation proceedings or ex parte reexamination. Patent offices may take a different view on patentability during post-grant challenges than during initial examination, and courts in litigation may take a different view about validity than did the respective patent office. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could result in loss of exclusivity, patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, or could result in limits of the scope or duration of the patent protection of our technologies or product candidates, all of which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical product candidates or technology to compete directly with us, without payment to us.

Furthermore, even if they are not challenged, our patents and patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual property or prevent others from designing around our claims. To meet such challenges, which are part of the risks and uncertainties of developing and marketing product candidates, we may need to evaluate third-party intellectual property rights and, if appropriate, to seek licenses for such third-party intellectual property or to challenge such third-party intellectual property, which may be costly and may or may not be successful, which could also have an adverse effect on the commercial potential for obicetrapib and any of our other product candidates.

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, documentary, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.

The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent prosecution process. When related patents are pursued concurrently in multiple jurisdictions, international treaties may impose additional procedural, documentary, fee payment and other provisions. Additionally, when inventions are made by joint inventors of different nationalities, or where inventive acts were performed in multiple countries, concurrent and potentially conflicting requirements imposed by the laws of multiple jurisdictions may be applicable. We may have failed to adhere to all such provisions during examination of our patent applications or following issuance.

Periodic maintenance or annuity fees and various other governmental fees on any issued patent and/or pending patent applications are due to be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of a patent or patent application. Our outside counsel have systems in place to remind us to pay these fees, and we rely on our outside counsel and their third-party vendors to pay these fees. While an inadvertent lapse may sometimes be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are many situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Non-compliance events that could

 

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result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. If we fail to maintain the patents and patent applications directed to our product candidates, our competitors might be able to enter the market earlier than should otherwise have been the case, which could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Uncertainty and instability resulting from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could negatively impact our ability to maintain our patents in Russia.

Sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and the European Union have made it difficult to pay required annual fees, or annuities, to maintain pending patent applications and granted patents in Russia, increasing the risk that our patents may not grant in Russia or, having granted, will lapse through nonpayment of annuities. In addition, the Russian government issued a decree in March 2022 that owners of Russian patents from countries that Russia considers to be unfriendly are no longer entitled to any compensation for compulsory licensing of their patents, increasing the risk that our competitors will be granted a compulsory license under our Russian patents, allowing them to infringe without making any payments to us.

We may receive only limited protection, or no protection, from our issued patents and patent applications and such patents could be narrowed, found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or before administrative bodies.

Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after its earliest priority US utility application was filed. Various extensions may be available; however the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Without patent protection for our product candidates, we may be open to competition from generic versions of our product candidates. If we encounter delays in our clinical trials or regulatory approval of obicetrapib, the period of time during which we could market obicetrapib under patent protection could be reduced.

The patent application process, also known as patent prosecution, is expensive and time consuming, and we or any future licensors and licensees may not be able to prepare, file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we or any future licensors or licensees will fail to identify patentable aspects of inventions made in the course of development and commercialization activities before it is too late to obtain patent protection on them. Therefore, these and any of our patents and applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. It is possible that defects of form in the preparation or filing of our patents or patent applications may exist, or may arise in the future, for example with respect to proper priority claims, inventorship, etc., although we are unaware of any such defects that we believe are of material import. If we or any future licensors or licensees fail to establish, maintain or protect such patents and other intellectual property rights, such rights may be reduced or eliminated. If any future licensors or licensees, are not fully cooperative or disagree with us as to the prosecution, maintenance or enforcement of any patent rights, such patent rights could be compromised. If there are material defects in the form or preparation of our patents or patent applications, such patents or applications may be invalid and unenforceable. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.

The strength of patents in the pharmaceutical field involves complex legal and scientific questions and can be uncertain. This uncertainty includes changes to the patent laws through either legislative action to change statutory patent law or court action that may reinterpret existing law in ways affecting the scope or validity of issued patents. The USPTO or other foreign patent offices may change their interpretation of existing statutes or regulations with potential retroactive effects. The patent applications that we own or in-license may fail to result in issued patents in the United States or foreign countries with claims that cover our product candidates. Even if patents do successfully issue from the patent applications that we own or in-license, third parties may challenge the validity, enforceability or scope of such patents, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated

 

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or held unenforceable. For example, patents granted by the European Patent Office may be challenged, also known as opposed, by any person within nine months from the publication of their grant. In addition, post grant review in the USPTO begins with a third party filing a petition on or prior to the date that is 9 months after the grant of the patent or issuance of a reissue patent. Third parties can also challenge a patent in the USPTO by way of inter partes review, ex parte reexamination, derivation, or interference proceedings. Any successful challenge to our patents could deprive us of exclusive rights necessary for the successful commercialization of our product candidates. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patents may not adequately protect our product candidates, provide exclusivity for our product candidates, or prevent others from designing around our claims. If the breadth or strength of protection provided by the patents we hold or pursue with respect to our product candidates is challenged, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to develop, or threaten our ability to commercialize our product candidates.

If we do not obtain patent term extension for our product candidates, if needed, our business may be harmed.

Under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, or the Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the FDCA, a company may file an abbreviated new drug application (“ANDA”) seeking approval of a generic version of an approved innovator product. Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of any FDA marketing approval of our product candidates and our technology, one or more of our U.S. patents that we may own in the future may be eligible for limited patent term extension under Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent extension term of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. A patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval. Only one patent may be extended and only those claims covering the approved product, a method for using it or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. The application for the extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the patent for which extension is sought. A patent that covers multiple products for which approval is sought can only be extended in connection with one of the approvals. However, we may not be granted an extension because of, for example, failing to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or the term of any such extension is less than we request, our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration, and our revenue could be reduced. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world, or we may choose not to pursue patent rights in jurisdictions that later become important to our business, thus harming our ability to compete in those jurisdictions.

Filing, prosecuting, maintaining, and defending patents on our product candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. In countries in which we elect to pursue patent rights, the requirements for patentability may differ, particularly in developing countries. For example, China often applies a heightened requirement for patentability, with heightened requirements for experimental data in the patent application. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as laws in the United States. For example, some foreign countries do not permit claims to therapeutic methods.

Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection in order to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection but enforcement against infringing activities is inadequate. These products may compete with our products, and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

 

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Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to pharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally.

Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful.

In addition, some countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In those countries, we may have limited remedies if our patents are infringed or if we are compelled to grant a license to our patents to a third party, which could materially diminish the value of those patents. This could limit our potential revenue opportunities. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we own or license. Finally, our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights may be adversely affected by unforeseen changes in foreign intellectual property laws.

Changes in U.S. or foreign patent law, including changes in patent office interpretation of applicable rules and statutes, changes effected by judicial holdings, and changes effected by legislation, including changes that may have retroactive effect, could diminish the value of patents in general and our patents in particular, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

As is the case with other pharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly on obtaining and enforcing patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the pharmaceutical industry involves both technological and legal complexity, and therefore, is costly, time-consuming and inherently uncertain. In addition, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the “AIA”) which was passed on September 16, 2011, resulted in significant changes to the U.S. patent system. Further, U.S. Supreme Court rulings in recent years have either narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances or weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained.

The significant changes to U.S. patent law under the AIA include provisions that affect the way patent applications will be prosecuted and may also affect patent litigation. For our U.S. patent applications that contain or contained at any time a claim not entitled to priority before March 16, 2013, there is a greater level of uncertainty in the patent law. The USPTO has developed and continues to develop regulations and procedures to govern administration of the AIA, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the AIA. The AIA and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could harm our business and financial condition. It is not clear what other, if any, impact the AIA will have on the operation of our business.

An important change introduced by the AIA is that, as of March 16, 2013, the United States transitioned to a “first-to-file” system for deciding which party should be granted a patent when two or more patent applications are filed by different parties claiming the same invention. A third party that files a patent application in the USPTO after that date but before us could therefore be awarded a patent covering an invention of ours even if we had made the invention before it was made by the third party. This will require us to be cognizant going forward of the time from invention to filing of a patent application, but circumstances could prevent us from promptly filing patent applications on our inventions. Furthermore, our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable

 

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patents depends on whether the differences between our technology and the prior art allow our technology to be patentable over the prior art. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing, we cannot be certain that we were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to our product candidates or (ii) invent any of the inventions claimed in our patents or patent applications.

Among some of the other changes introduced by the AIA are changes that limit where a patentee may file a patent infringement suit and provide opportunities for third parties to challenge any issued patent in the USPTO. This applies to all of our U.S. patents, even those issued from applications filed before March 16, 2013. Because of a lower evidentiary standard necessary to invalidate a patent claim in USPTO proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in United States federal court, a third party could potentially provide evidence in a USPTO proceeding sufficient for the USPTO to hold a claim invalid even though the same evidence would be insufficient to invalidate the claim if first presented in a district court action. Accordingly, a third party may attempt to use the USPTO procedures to invalidate our patent claims that would not have been invalidated if first challenged by the third party as a defendant in a district court action.

Depending on decisions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, the USPTO, and foreign patent offices, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways, including with potential retroactive effect, that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents that we might obtain in the future.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or other intellectual property, which could be expensive and time consuming, with no certainty of success, and could delay or prevent the development and commercialization of our products and product candidates, or put our patents and other proprietary rights at risk.

Third parties may infringe or misappropriate our intellectual property, including our existing patents and patents that may issue to us in the future. As a result, we may be required to file infringement claims to stop third-party infringement or unauthorized use. Further, we may not be able to prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States.

Generic drug manufacturers may develop, seek approval for, and launch generic versions of our products. If we file an infringement action against such a generic drug manufacturer, that company may challenge the scope, validity or enforceability of our patents, requiring us to engage in complex, lengthy and costly litigation or other proceedings.

For example, if we initiated legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering our product candidates, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product candidates is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace, and there are numerous grounds upon which a third party can assert invalidity or unenforceability of a patent.

In addition, within and outside of the United States, there has been a substantial amount of litigation and administrative proceedings, including inter partes review, post grant review, interference or derivation proceedings, and ex parte reexamination proceedings before the USPTO or other comparable proceedings in various foreign jurisdictions, regarding patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical industry. These proceedings bring uncertainty to the possibility of challenges to our patents in the future, including challenges by competitors who perceive our patents as blocking entry into the market for their products, and the outcome of such challenges.

Such litigation and administrative proceedings could result in revocation of our patents or amendment of our patents such that they do not cover our product candidates. They may also put our pending patent applications at

 

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risk of not issuing, or issuing with limited and potentially inadequate scope to cover our product candidates. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. Additionally, it is also possible that prior art of which we are aware, such as may arise during preclinical studies and clinical trials, but which we do not believe affects the validity or enforceability of a claim, may, nonetheless, ultimately be found by a court of law or an administration panel to affect the validity or enforceability of a claim. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our product candidates. Such a loss of patent protection could have a negative impact on our business.

Enforcing our intellectual property rights through litigation would be very expensive, particularly for a company of our size, time-consuming, and inherently uncertain. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of litigation more effectively than we can because of greater financial resources. Patent litigation and other proceedings may also divert technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could impair our ability to compete in the marketplace. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation or administrative proceedings, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure. In addition, during the course of litigation or administrative proceedings, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments or public access to related documents. If investors perceive these results to be negative, the market price for Ordinary Shares could be significantly harmed.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we may also rely on trade secret protection or confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how, technology and other proprietary information that may not be patentable or that we elect not to patent, processes for which patents may be difficult to obtain or enforce, and any other elements of our product candidates, and our product development processes (such as manufacturing and formulation technologies) that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. Any disclosure to or misappropriation by third parties of our confidential proprietary information could enable competitors to quickly duplicate or surpass our technological achievements, eroding our competitive position in the market.

Trade secrets, confidential information, and know-how can be difficult to protect. We seek to protect these trade secrets and other proprietary technology, in part, by requiring all of our employees, consultants, advisors, and any other third parties that have access to our proprietary know-how, information or technology to execute confidentiality agreements upon the commencement of their relationships with us. We cannot be certain that we have or will obtain these agreements in all circumstances and we cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary information. If the steps taken to maintain our trade secrets are deemed inadequate, we may have insufficient recourse against third parties for misappropriating any trade secrets.

Despite our efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets. Adequate remedies may not exist in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our trade secrets. In addition, in some situations, these confidentiality agreements may conflict with, or be subject to, the rights of third parties with whom our employees, consultants, or advisors have previous employment or consulting relationships. To the extent that our employees, consultants or contractors use any intellectual property owned by third parties in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in any related or resulting

 

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know-how and inventions. Any misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure of our trade secrets could have an adverse effect on our business, impact our ability to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, or otherwise harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Furthermore, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements do not prevent competitors from independently developing substantially equivalent information and techniques and we cannot guarantee that our competitors will not independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. The FDA, as part of its Transparency Initiative, is currently considering whether to make additional information publicly available on a routine basis, including information that we may consider to be trade secrets or other proprietary information, and it is not clear at the present time how the FDA’s disclosure policies may change in the future, if at all.

There is an increasing trend in the EU towards greater transparency and, while the manufacturing or quality information contained in an EU marketing authorization application (“MAA”) is currently generally protected as confidential information, the EMA and national regulatory authorities may disclose much of the nonclinical and clinical information in MAAs, including the full clinical study reports, in response to freedom of information requests after the marketing authorization has been granted. Similarly, as of January 31, 2022 under the EU

Clinical Trials Regulation (EU) No 536/2014, the EU clinical trials information system allows the public to access MAA data submitted to the EMA or national regulatory authorities (excluding any commercially confidential information). There may be a risk that information that we consider to be trade secrets or other proprietary information becomes publicly available, including to our competitors, under such transparency requirements in the EU.

Third-party claims alleging intellectual property infringement may adversely affect our business, and we may be subject to lawsuits claiming that we infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of third parties, which could be expensive and time consuming, delay or prevent the development and commercialization of our products and product candidates, or subject future sales to royalty payments, which could damage our business.

Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties, for example, the intellectual property rights of competitors. Our research, development and commercialization activities may be subject to claims that we infringe or otherwise violate patents owned or controlled by third parties. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing our product candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our activities related to our product candidates may give rise to claims of infringement of the patent rights of others. We cannot assure you that our product candidates will not infringe existing or future patents. We may not be aware of patents that have already issued that a third party might assert are infringed by our product candidates. It is also possible that patents of which we are aware, but which we do not believe are relevant to our product candidates, could nevertheless be found to be infringed by our product candidates. Nevertheless, we are not aware of any issued patents that we believe would prevent us or our licensee(s) from marketing our product candidates, if approved. There may also be patent applications that have been filed but not published that, when issued as patents, could be asserted against us. In addition, patent holding companies that focus solely on extracting royalties and settlements by enforcing patent rights may target us. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that we may be subject to claims of infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Third parties making claims against us for infringement or misappropriation of their intellectual property rights may seek and obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize our product candidates. Further, if a patent infringement suit were brought against us, we could be forced to stop or delay research, development, manufacturing or sales of the product or product

 

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candidate that is the subject of the suit. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would cause us to incur substantial expenses and, and would be a substantial diversion of management time and employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us by a third party, we may have to (i) pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed the third party’s patents; (ii) obtain one or more licenses from the third party; (iii) pay royalties to the third party; and/or (iv) redesign any infringing products. Redesigning any infringing products may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. Further, we cannot predict whether any required license would be available at all or whether it would be available on commercially reasonable terms. In the event that we could not obtain a license, we may be unable to further develop and commercialize our product candidates, which could harm our business significantly. Even if we are able to obtain a license, the license would likely obligate us to pay license fees or royalties or both, and the rights granted to us might be nonexclusive, which could result in our competitors gaining access to the same intellectual property. Ultimately, we could be prevented from commercializing a product, or be forced to cease some aspect of our business operations, if, as a result of actual or threatened patent infringement claims, we are unable to enter into licenses on acceptable terms. Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need or may choose to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of our product candidates. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize our product candidates, which could harm our business significantly.

Defending ourselves in litigation is very expensive, particularly for a company of our size, and time-consuming. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of litigation or administrative proceedings more effectively than we can because of greater financial resources. Patent litigation and other proceedings may also absorb significant management time. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could impair our ability to compete in the marketplace. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information or alleged trade secrets of third parties or competitors or are in breach of non-competition or non-solicitation agreements with our competitors.

We employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. We may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise improperly used or disclosed confidential information or trade secrets of these third parties or our employees’ former employers. Further, we may be subject to ownership disputes in the future arising, for example, from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our product candidates. We may also be subject to claims that former employees, consultants, independent contractors, collaborators or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents or other intellectual property. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging our right to and use of confidential and proprietary information. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose our rights therein. Such an outcome could have a negative impact on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and employees. Any litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees. A loss of key personnel or their work product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize product candidates, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their substantially greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of litigation proceedings could adversely affect our ability to compete in the marketplace.

 

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We may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest if our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected and our business may be adversely affected.

Our future trademark applications in the United States and other foreign jurisdictions may not be allowed or may be subsequently opposed. Once filed and registered, our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. As a means to enforce our trademark rights and prevent infringement, we may be required to file trademark claims against third parties or initiate trademark opposition proceedings. This can be expensive and time-consuming, particularly for a company of our size. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. At times, third parties may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

Disputes over intellectual property subject to the Menarini License may materially impact our ability to commercialize obicetrapib.

The licensing of intellectual property in the Menarini License is of critical importance to our business and involves complex legal, business and scientific issues and is complicated by the rapid pace of scientific discovery in our industry. Disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to the Menarini License, including:

 

   

the scope of rights granted under the Menarini License and other interpretation-related issues;

 

   

the extent to which Menarini’s technology and processes infringe our intellectual property that is not subject to the Menarini License;

 

   

claims that our technology infringes third-party intellectual property;

 

   

the sublicensing of patent and other rights;

 

   

our diligence obligations and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations; and

 

   

the ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property.

If disputes over intellectual property we have licensed to Menarini prevent or impair our ability to maintain the Menarini License on acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize obicetrapib.

Risks Related to Government Regulation of the Company

Current and future legislation affecting the healthcare industry, including healthcare reform, may impact our business generally and may increase limitations on reimbursement, rebates and other payments, which could adversely affect third-party coverage of our products, our operations and/or how much or under what circumstances healthcare providers will prescribe or administer obicetrapib, if approved.

The United States and some foreign jurisdictions are considering or have enacted a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our ability to sell obicetrapib profitably. Among policy makers and payors in the United States and elsewhere, there is significant interest in promoting changes in healthcare systems with the stated goals of containing healthcare costs, improving quality or expanding access. In the United States, the pharmaceutical industry has been a particular focus of these efforts and has been significantly affected by major legislative initiatives.

 

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For example, in March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “ACA”), a law intended, among other things, to broaden access to health insurance, improve quality of care, and reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending.

Provisions of the ACA relevant to the pharmaceutical industry include the following:

 

   

an annual, nondeductible fee on any entity that manufactures or imports certain branded prescription drugs and biologic agents, apportioned among these entities according to their market share in certain government healthcare programs, not including orphan drug sales;

 

   

an increase in the statutory minimum rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program to 23.1% and 13% of the average manufacturer price for most branded and generic drugs, respectively;

 

   

a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer 50% point-of-sale discounts on negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D;

 

   

extension of manufacturers’ Medicaid rebate liability to covered drugs dispensed to individuals who are enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations;

 

   

expansion of eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs by, among other things, allowing states to offer Medicaid coverage to additional individuals and by adding new mandatory eligibility categories for certain individuals with income at or below 133% of the Federal Poverty Level, thereby potentially increasing manufacturers’ Medicaid rebate liability;

 

   

expansion of the entities eligible for discounts under the Public Health Service pharmaceutical pricing program;

 

   

new requirements to report annually certain financial arrangements with physicians and teaching hospitals; as defined in the ACA and its implementing regulations, including reporting any payment or “transfer of value” provided to physicians and teaching hospitals and any ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members during the preceding calendar year;

 

   

expansion of healthcare fraud and abuse laws, including the federal civil False Claims Act and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, new government investigative powers and enhanced penalties for noncompliance; and

 

   

a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research.

Since its enactment, there have been numerous judicial, administrative, executive, and legislative challenges to certain aspects of the ACA. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the most recent judicial challenge to the ACA brought by several states without specifically ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, President Biden issued an Executive Order to initiate a special enrollment period from February 15, 2021 through August 15, 2021 for purposes of obtaining health insurance coverage through the ACA marketplace. The Executive Order also instructed certain governmental agencies to review and reconsider their existing policies and rules that limit access to healthcare, including among others, reexamining Medicaid demonstration projects and waiver programs that include work requirements, and policies that create unnecessary barriers to obtaining access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid or the ACA. It is unclear how other healthcare reform measures of the Biden administrations or other efforts, if any, to challenge repeal or replace the ACA, will impact our business.

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. For example, in August 2011, President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011, which, among other things,

 

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created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to recommend to Congress proposals in spending reductions. The Joint Select Committee did not achieve a targeted deficit reduction of an amount greater than $1.2 trillion for the years 2013 through 2021, triggering the legislation’s automatic reduction to several government programs. This includes aggregate reductions to Medicare payments to healthcare providers of up to 2.0% per fiscal year. These reductions went into effect on April 1, 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2030, with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020 through March 31, 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the suspension, a 1% payment reduction occurred beginning April 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022, and the 2% payment reduction resumed on July 1, 2022. In January 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which, among other things, reduced Medicare payments to several categories of healthcare providers and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. On May 30, 2018, the Right to Try Act was signed into law. The law, among other things, provides a federal framework for certain patients to access certain investigational new drug products that have completed a Phase 1 clinical trial and that are undergoing investigation for FDA approval. Under certain circumstances, eligible patients can seek treatment without enrolling in clinical trials and without obtaining FDA permission under the FDA expanded access program. There is no obligation for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to make its drug products available to eligible patients as a result of the Right to Try Act.

Additionally, there have been several recent U.S. Congressional inquiries and proposed bills designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, reduce the cost of drugs under Medicare, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drugs. Further, the U.S. House of Representatives recently formed an Affordable Drug Pricing Task Force to advance legislation intended to control pharmaceutical drug costs and investigate pharmaceutical drug pricing, and the U.S. Senate has requested information from certain pharmaceutical companies in connection with an investigation into pharmaceutical drug pricing practices. If healthcare policies or reforms intended to curb healthcare costs are adopted, or if we experience negative publicity with respect to the pricing of obicetrapib, if approved, or any future product or the pricing of pharmaceutical drugs generally, the prices that we charge for any approved products may be limited, our commercial opportunity may be limited and/or our revenues from sales of our products may be negatively impacted.

If we obtain regulatory approval and commercialization of obicetrapib or any of our future product candidates, these laws may result in additional reductions in healthcare funding, which could have an adverse effect on our customers and accordingly, our financial operations. Legislative and regulatory proposals have been made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for pharmaceutical products. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether the FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of obicetrapib or our future product candidates may be.

Although we cannot predict the full effect on our business of the implementation of existing legislation or the enactment of additional legislation pursuant to healthcare and other legislative reform, we believe that legislation or regulations that would reduce reimbursement for, or restrict coverage of, obicetrapib, if approved, or any of our future products could adversely affect how much or under what circumstances healthcare providers will prescribe or administer our products. This could adversely affect our business by reducing our ability to generate revenues, raise capital, obtain licenses and market our products. In addition, we believe the increasing emphasis on managed care in the United States has and will continue to put pressure on the price and usage of pharmaceutical products, which may adversely impact product sales.

Although we cannot predict the full effect on our business of the implementation of existing legislation or the enactment of additional legislation pursuant to healthcare and other legislative reform, we believe that legislation or regulations that would reduce reimbursement for, or restrict coverage of, obicetrapib, if approved, or any of our future products could adversely affect how much or under what circumstances healthcare providers will prescribe or administer our products. This could adversely affect our business by reducing our ability to generate

 

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revenues, raise capital, obtain licenses and market our products. In addition, we believe the increasing emphasis on managed care in the United States has and will continue to put pressure on the price and usage of pharmaceutical products, which may adversely impact product sales.

Our relationships with healthcare professionals, independent contractors, clinical investigators, CROs, consultants and vendors in connection with our current and future business activities may be subject to federal, state and foreign healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, transparency laws, government price reporting, and health information privacy and security laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face penalties.

We may currently be or may become subject to various federal, state and foreign healthcare laws, including those intended to prevent healthcare fraud and abuse.

The federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons or entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving 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 either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, lease, order 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 Remuneration has been broadly defined to include anything of value, including, but not limited to, cash, improper discounts, and free or reduced price items and services.

Much like the federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibition in the United States, the provision of benefits or advantages to physicians to induce or encourage the prescription, recommendation, endorsement, purchase, supply, order or use of medicinal products is also prohibited in the EU. The provision of benefits or advantages to physicians is governed by the national anti-bribery laws of EU Member States. Infringement of these laws could result in substantial fines and imprisonment. Payments made to physicians in certain EU Member States must be publicly disclosed. Moreover, agreements with physicians often must be the subject of prior notification and approval by the physician’s employer, his or her competent professional organization and/or the regulatory authorities of the individual EU Member States. These requirements are provided in the national laws, industry codes or professional codes of conduct, applicable in the EU Member States. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in reputational risk, public reprimands, administrative penalties, fines or imprisonment.

Federal false claims laws, including the federal False Claims Act (the “FCA”) and civil monetary penalties law impose penalties against individuals or entities for, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment or approval that are false or fraudulent or making a false record or statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government. The FCA has been used to, among other things, prosecute persons and entities submitting claims for payment that are inaccurate or fraudulent, that are for services not provided as claimed, or for services that are not medically necessary. The FCA includes a whistleblower provision that allows individuals to bring actions on behalf of the federal government and share a portion of the recovery of successful claims.

Many states have similar fraud and abuse statutes and regulations that may be broader in scope and may apply regardless of payor, in addition to items and services reimbursed under Medicaid and other state programs. State and federal authorities have aggressively targeted medical technology companies for, among other things, alleged violations of these anti-fraud statutes, based on improper research or consulting contracts with doctors, certain marketing arrangements that rely on volume-based pricing, off-label marketing schemes, and other improper promotional practices.

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) among other things, imposes criminal liability for knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services.

 

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Our operations will also be subject to the federal transparency requirements under the ACA, which require certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, with specific exceptions, to annually report to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) information related to payments and other transfers of value provided to physicians, teaching hospitals, certain ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members and certain non-physician providers (physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologist assistants, and certified-nurse midwives). We may also be subject to 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/or state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidelines promulgated by the federal government.

We may also be subject to federal price reporting laws, which require manufacturers to calculate and report complex pricing metrics to government programs, where such reported prices may be used in the calculation of reimbursement and/or discounts on approved products, and similar laws in other jurisdictions.

We are subject to stringent privacy laws, information security policies and contractual obligations governing the use, processing, and cross-border transfer of personal information and our data privacy and security practices.

We receive, generate and store sensitive information, including employee and patient data, and are subject to a variety of federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations that apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and other processing of data in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including comprehensive regulatory systems in the United States and the EU. Legal requirements relating to data processing continue to evolve and may result in ever-increasing public scrutiny and escalating levels of enforcement, sanctions and increased costs of compliance. An actual or perceived failure to comply with laws and regulations governing personal information could result in government investigations and enforcement actions against us, fines, claims for damages by affected third parties, damage to our reputation and loss of goodwill, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

EU data protection laws including the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”) impose strict requirements relating to the processing of personal data, including special protections for “special categories of personal data” which includes, without limitation, health and genetic information of data subjects residing in the EU. The GDPR also generally prohibits the transfer of personal information from the EU to the United States and most other foreign jurisdictions unless the parties to the transfer have implemented specific safeguards to protect the transferred personal information. There is uncertainty regarding how to ensure that transfers of personal information from the EU to the United States comply with the GDPR. As such, any transfers by us, or our vendors, of personal information from the EU may not comply with EU data protection laws; may increase our exposure to the GDPR’s heightened sanctions for violations of its cross-border data transfer restrictions; and may reduce demand for our services from companies subject to EU data protection laws. Loss of our ability to transfer personal information from the EU may also require us to increase our data processing capabilities in those relevant jurisdictions at significant expense.

Similar privacy and data security requirements are either in place or have been proposed in the United States. There are numerous data protection laws that may be applicable to our activities, and a range of enforcement agencies at both the state and federal levels that can review companies for privacy and data security concerns based on general consumer protection laws. The Federal Trade Commission and state Attorneys General are aggressive in reviewing privacy and data security protections for consumers. New laws also are being considered or have been implemented at both the state and federal levels.

 

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Further, regulations promulgated pursuant to HIPAA imposes privacy, security and breach notification obligations on health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and certain healthcare providers, known as covered entities, as well as their business associates that perform certain services that involve creating, receiving, maintaining or transmitting individually identifiable health information for or on behalf of such covered entities, and their covered subcontractors. HIPAA establishes privacy and security standards that limit the use and disclosure of protected health information (“PHI”) and requires the implementation of administrative, physical and technological safeguards to protect the privacy of PHI and ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic PHI. Most healthcare providers, including research institutions from which we obtain patient health information, are subject to HIPAA. We do not believe that we are currently acting as a covered entity or business associate under HIPAA and thus are not directly subject to its requirements. However, any person may be prosecuted under HIPAA’s criminal provisions either directly or under aiding-and-abetting or conspiracy principles. Consequently, depending on the facts and circumstances, we could face substantial criminal penalties if we knowingly receive individually identifiable health information from a HIPAA-covered healthcare provider or research institution that has not satisfied HIPAA’s requirements for disclosure of individually identifiable health information.

Complying with the GDPR and other U.S. and foreign data protection laws and regulations may cause us to incur substantial operational costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business. Moreover, complying with these various laws could require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts, restrict our ability to collect, use and disclose data, or in some cases, impact our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions. Despite our efforts to bring our practices into compliance with these laws and regulations, we may not be successful in our efforts to achieve compliance either due to internal or external factors such as resource allocation limitations or a lack of vendor cooperation. Failure to comply with U.S. and international data protection laws and regulations could result in government enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties), other administrative actions or litigation. For example, the GDPR sets out substantial fines for breaches of the data protection rules, increased powers for regulators, enhanced rights for individuals, and new rules on judicial remedies and collective redress. Any inability to adequately address privacy concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations and policies, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our marketing efforts may be subject to a variety of regulations.

We may choose to conduct marketing activities, directly and indirectly, via text (SMS) messages, email, and/or through other online and offline marketing channels. Numerous foreign, federal, and state regulations may govern such marketing activities, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), state and federal Do-Not-Call regulations and other state telemarketing laws, federal and state privacy laws, the CAN-SPAM Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act and its accompanying regulations and guidelines, among others. These laws not only allow action to be brought by regulatory agencies, but some of these laws, like the TCPA, allow private individuals to bring litigation against companies for breach of these laws. If we conduct marketing activities regulated by these laws, then we may depend on third-party partners to comply with these laws. Any lawsuit brought by private individuals, or action by a regulatory agency, for an actual or alleged violation of applicable law or regulation by us or our third-party partners may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We could be adversely affected by violations of the FCPA and other worldwide anti-bribery laws, export and import controls, sanctions, embargoes, and anti-money laundering laws and regulations.

Various of our activities may be subject to anti-bribery, export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations, various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S.

 

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Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and other state and national anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in the jurisdiction in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees, agents, contractors, and other collaborators from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or anything else of value to recipients in the public or private sector. These laws are complex and far-reaching in nature, and, as a result, we cannot assure you that our internal control policies and procedures will protect us from reckless or negligent acts committed by our intermediaries, or that we would not be required in the future to alter one or more of our practices to be in compliance with these laws or any changes in these laws or the interpretation thereof. We have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or government-affiliated hospitals, universities and other organizations. Furthermore, because we engage, and expect to continue to engage, third parties in connection with our clinical trials and other development and commercialization activities, we can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our personnel, agents or collaborators, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have prior knowledge of such activities. Other U.S. companies in the biopharmaceutical field have faced criminal penalties under the FCPA for allowing their agents to deviate from appropriate practices in doing business with individuals in the public or private sector.

Any violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction, involve significant costs and expenses, including legal fees, and could result in a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, or results of operations or our reputation. We could also suffer severe penalties, including substantial criminal and civil penalties, imprisonment, disgorgement, reputational harm and other remedial measures.

It may be difficult for us to profitably sell obicetrapib or any future product candidate in the United States, if approved, if coverage and reimbursement for these products is limited by government authorities and/or third-party payor policies.

Market acceptance and sales of obicetrapib and our other product candidates, if approved, will depend on the coverage and reimbursement policies of government authorities and third-party payors, in addition to any healthcare reform measures that may affect reimbursement. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will cover and establish reimbursement and co-payment levels. Such authorities and other third-party payors are increasingly challenging the prices charged for healthcare products, examining the cost effectiveness of drugs in addition to their safety and efficacy, and limiting or attempting to limit both coverage and the level of reimbursement for prescription drugs. We cannot be sure that coverage will be available for obicetrapib or our other product candidates, if approved, or, if coverage is available, the level of reimbursement.

There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. In the United States, the principal decisions about reimbursement for new medicines are typically made by CMS, an agency within the U.S. Department of HHS, as CMS decides whether and to what extent a new medicine will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare. Private payors often follow CMS. It is difficult to predict what CMS as well as other payors will decide with respect to reimbursement.

Reimbursement may impact the demand for, and/or the price of, any product for which we obtain marketing approval. Assuming we obtain coverage for a given product by a third-party payor, the resulting reimbursement payment rates may not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Patients who are prescribed medications for the treatment of their conditions, and their prescribing physicians, generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their prescription drugs. Patients are unlikely to use our products unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover all or a significant portion of the cost of our products. Therefore, coverage and adequate reimbursement is critical to new product acceptance. Coverage decisions may depend upon clinical and economic standards that disfavor new drug products when more established or lower cost therapeutic alternatives are already available or subsequently become available. There may be significant delays in obtaining coverage and reimbursement for newly approved

 

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drugs, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the drug is approved by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities. Moreover, eligibility for coverage and reimbursement does not imply that a drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution.

Reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors including the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:

 

   

a covered benefit under its health plan;

 

   

safe, effective and medically necessary;

 

   

appropriate for the specific patient;

 

   

cost-effective; and

 

   

neither experimental nor investigational.

Obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval for a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost effectiveness data for the use of our products to the payor. Further, no uniform policy requirement for coverage and reimbursement for drug products exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for drug products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process may require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our products to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. We may not be able to provide data sufficient to gain acceptance with respect to coverage and/or sufficient reimbursement levels.

We cannot be sure that coverage or adequate reimbursement will be available for obicetrapib or any of our future product candidates, if approved. Also, we cannot be sure that reimbursement amounts will not reduce the demand for, or the price of, our future products, which would in turn negatively affect revenues from any future sales. If reimbursement is not available, or is available only to limited levels that are not commercially attractive to us or our collaborators, we may not be able to commercialize obicetrapib or our other product candidates, or achieve profitability, even if approved.

Marketing and reimbursement regulations may materially affect our ability to market and receive coverage for our products in foreign jurisdictions.

We intend to seek approval to market our current and future product candidates in the United States, the EU and selected foreign jurisdictions. If we obtain approval in one or more foreign jurisdictions for our product candidates, we will be subject to rules and regulations in those jurisdictions. In some foreign countries, particularly certain EU Member States, the pricing of drugs is subject to governmental control and other market regulations which could put pressure on the pricing and usage of our product candidates. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after obtaining marketing approval of a product candidate. In addition, market acceptance and sales of our product candidates will depend significantly on the availability of adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors for our product candidates and may be affected by existing and future healthcare reform measures.

In the EU, the requirements governing drug pricing and reimbursement vary widely between Member States. Some Member States provide that products may be marketed only after a reimbursement price has been agreed. Some Member States may require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost effectiveness of a particular product candidate to currently available therapies (so called health technology assessments) in order to obtain reimbursement or pricing approval. Moreover, at the national level, Member States may restrict the range of products for which their national health insurance systems provide reimbursement and to control the prices of

 

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medicinal products for human use. Member States may approve a specific price for a product or may instead adopt a system of direct or indirect controls on the profitability of the company placing the product on the market. Other Member States allow companies to fix their own prices for products, but monitor and control prescription volumes and issue guidance to physicians to limit prescriptions. Recently, many Member States have increased the amount of discounts required on pharmaceuticals and these efforts could continue as Member States attempt to manage healthcare expenditures, especially in light of the severe fiscal and debt crises experienced by many countries in the EU. The downward pressure on health care costs in general, particularly prescription products, has become significant. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products in the marketplace. Political, economic and regulatory developments in the EU may further complicate pricing negotiations, and pricing negotiations may continue after reimbursement has been obtained. Reference pricing used by various Member States and parallel trade (arbitrage between low-priced and high-priced Member States) can further reduce prices. Acceptance of any medicinal product for reimbursement may come with cost, use and often volume restrictions, which again can vary by country. In addition, results based rules of reimbursement may apply. There can be no assurance that any country that has price controls or reimbursement limitations for pharmaceutical products will allow favorable reimbursement and pricing arrangements for any of our products, if approved in those countries. Historically, products launched in the EU do not follow price structures of the United States and generally prices tend to be significantly lower. Publication of discounts by third-party payors or authorities may lead to further pressure on the prices or reimbursement levels within the country of publication and other countries. If pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels or if reimbursement of our products is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, our revenues from sales and the potential profitability of any of our product candidates in those countries would be negatively affected.

We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of noncompliance.

We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in increased general and administrative expenses. Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

Legislative or regulatory healthcare reforms in the United States or abroad may make it more difficult and costly for us to obtain regulatory clearance or approval of obicetrapib or any of our future product candidates now or in the future and to produce, market and distribute our products after clearance or approval is obtained.

From time to time, legislation is drafted and introduced in Congress or by governments in foreign jurisdictions that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the regulatory clearance or approval, manufacture, and marketing of regulated products or the reimbursement thereof. In addition, FDA, EMA or other comparable regulatory authority regulations and guidance are often revised or reinterpreted by the FDA, the EMA or other comparable regulatory authorities in ways that may significantly affect our business and our products. Any new regulations or revisions or reinterpretations of existing regulations may impose additional costs or lengthen review times of obicetrapib or any of our other product candidates now or in the future. We cannot determine what effect changes in regulations, statutes, legal interpretation or policies, when and if promulgated, enacted or adopted may have on our business in the future. Such changes could, among other things, require:

 

   

changes to manufacturing methods;

 

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change in protocol design;

 

   

additional treatment arm (control);

 

   

recall, replacement, or discontinuance of one or more of our products; and

 

   

additional recordkeeping.

Each of these would likely entail substantial time and cost and could harm our business and our financial results. In addition, delays in receipt of or failure to receive regulatory clearances or approvals for obicetrapib or any future products would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risk Related to Our Financial Position

We have no operating or financial history and its results of operations may differ significantly from the unaudited pro forma financial data included herein.

We were recently incorporated and have no operating history and no revenues. New Amsterdam Pharma’s unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of profit or loss for the year ended December 31, 2021, included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, combines FLAC’s historical audited results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 with NewAmsterdam Pharma’s historical audited results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021, and gives pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if it had been consummated as of January 1, 2021. New Amsterdam Pharma’s unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of profit or loss for the six-months ended June 30, 2022, included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, combines FLAC’s historical unaudited statements of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2022 with NewAmsterdam Pharma’s historical unaudited results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2022, and gives pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if it had been consummated as at January 1, 2021. New Amsterdam Pharma’s unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of financial position as at June 30, 2022, combines FLAC’s historical unaudited condensed balance sheets as at June 30, 2022 and NewAmsterdam Pharma’s consolidated statements of financial position at June 30, 2022 and gives pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if it had been consummated on such date.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements are presented for illustrative purposes only, are based on certain assumptions, address a hypothetical situation and reflect limited historical financial data. Therefore, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial statements are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations and financial position that would have been achieved had the Business Combination been consummated on the dates indicated above, or our future consolidated results of operations or financial position. Accordingly, our business, assets, cash flows, results of operations and financial condition may differ significantly from those indicated by the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information included in this prospectus.

Our ability to use our tax losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.

Our ability to utilize tax losses and tax loss carryforwards is conditioned upon attaining profitability and generating taxable income. We have incurred significant tax losses since inception and it is anticipated that we will continue to incur significant losses. As of December 31, 2021, we reported unused tax losses of $173.5 million. Additionally, our ability to utilize tax losses and tax loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations. In this respect, pursuant to Article 20a of the Dutch Corporate Income Tax Act 1969, the tax loss carryforwards of NewAmsterdam Pharma and its Dutch subsidiary NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. (formerly Dezima Pharma B.V.) can no longer be offset against future taxable profits if the ultimate ownership in the taxpayer has changed by an amount equal to or greater than 30%, unless certain counter evidence rules are met. We believe and have taken the position that the tax losses of NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. available for carry forward have not been forfeited as a result of the change of ownership back in 2020,

 

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when NewAmsterdam Pharma acquired all shares in the capital of NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V., and that the tax losses of NewAmsterdam Pharma and NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. will not be forfeited as a result of the Business Combination. On May 25, 2022, we filed a ruling request with the Dutch Tax Authorities to confirm that the change of ownership described above did not result in the loss of the tax losses of NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. available for carry forward at that time. However, as of the date of this prospectus, the Dutch Tax Authorities have not yet decided on our request. We currently expect, but can in no way guarantee or enforce, that the Dutch Tax Authority will grant our request. Pursuant to the Dutch corporate income tax return filed for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, the tax loss carryforward of NewAmsterdam Pharma amounts to $373,842 and the tax loss carryforward of NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. amounts to $151,292,396. As of January 1, 2021, NewAmsterdam Pharma and NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. are included in a so-called fiscal unity for Dutch corporate income tax purposes (the “Fiscal Unity”). Any tax loss carryforwards incurred at the level of NewAmsterdam Pharma and NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. prior to January 1, 2021 can only be set-off against future taxable profits of the relevant entity itself (and not against the total taxable profits of the Fiscal Unity). The Company has filed a request to extend the Fiscal Unity to the Company as per November 23, 2022, being the Final Closing Date (the “New Fiscal Unity”). The request has not yet been approved by the Dutch Tax Authorities. If the request is approved, any tax loss carry forwards incurred by the Fiscal Unity during the period from January 1, 2021 until November 23, 2022 can only be set-off against future taxable profits of NewAmsterdam Pharma and NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. (and not against the total taxable profits of the New Fiscal Unity). The amount of tax losses of the Fiscal Unity for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 is not yet clear, since the Dutch corporate income tax return for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 has yet to be filed. As a result of the foregoing, the exact amount of tax loss carryforwards in the Netherlands is not yet known. Furthermore, as at January 1, 2022, tax losses can be carried back one year and carried forward indefinitely in the Netherlands. However, both the carry back and carry forward tax loss relief will be limited to 50% of the taxable profit to the extent it exceeds EUR 1 million, calculated per financial year. As a result of transitional law, tax losses incurred in the financial years that started on or after January 1, 2013 (our oldest tax loss year at the date of this prospectus) and that are still available for carry forward as of January 1, 2022 also fall under the new scheme that entered into effect on January 1, 2022 and will therefore be indefinite.

We are a holding company with no operations and rely on our operating subsidiaries to provide us with funds necessary to meet our financial obligations.

We are a holding company that does not conduct any business operations of our own other than providing certain services to our subsidiaries. As a result, we are largely dependent upon cash dividends and distributions and other transfers, including for dividends or payments in respect of any indebtedness we may incur, from our subsidiaries to meet our obligations. Any agreements governing the indebtedness of our subsidiaries may impose restrictions on our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends or other distributions to us. Each of our subsidiaries is a distinct legal entity, and under certain circumstances legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from such subsidiaries. The deterioration of the earnings from, or other available assets of, our subsidiaries for any reason could also limit or impair their ability to pay dividends or other distributions to us.

Our PFIC status could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders.

We believe the Company and its non-U.S. subsidiaries, including NewAmsterdam Pharma, will be treated as passive foreign investment companies (each, a “PFIC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes for the taxable year during which the Business Combination was completed and may be treated as PFICs for future taxable years. A non-U.S. corporation is classified as a PFIC for any tax year if at least 75% of its gross income is “passive income” or at least 50% of the value of its assets, determined on the basis of quarterly averages, is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of “passive income.”

Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, royalties, rents (other than certain rents and royalties derived in the active conduct of a trade or business), annuities and gains from assets that produce passive income.

Cash is a passive asset for PFIC purposes, even if held as working capital. For this purpose, a non-U.S.

 

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corporation is generally treated as owning a proportionate share of the assets and earning a proportionate share of the income of any other corporation in which it owns, directly or indirectly, at least 25% (by value) of the stock. Accordingly, we will be treated as owning the cash and other cash-equivalent items of FLAC.

Based on the composition of the income and assets of the Company and its subsidiaries, it is expected that NewAmsterdam Pharma, the Company and other non-U.S. subsidiaries will be PFICs for the 2022 taxable year and may be PFICs for future taxable years. The determination of whether the Company or any of its non-U.S. subsidiaries is a PFIC is made annually and thus subject to change, and it generally cannot be made until the end of the taxable year.

A U.S. Holder (as defined in this prospectus in the section entitled “Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations”) generally will be subject to additional U.S. federal income taxes and interest charges on the gain from a sale of Ordinary Shares or Public Warrants and on receipt of an “excess distribution” with respect to Ordinary Shares or any of its non-U.S. subsidiaries. A U.S. Holder of stock of a PFIC generally may mitigate these adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences, however, by making a “qualified electing fund” election or a “mark-to-market” election. If the Company determines that it and/or any of its subsidiaries is a PFIC for any taxable year, it intends to provide a U.S. Holder such information as the IRS may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election with respect to the Company and/or such non-U.S. subsidiaries, but there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to timely provide such required information. U.S. Holders generally will not be able to make a qualified electing fund election solely with respect to the Warrants.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities

We are a Dutch public limited liability company. The rights of our shareholders may be different from the rights of shareholders in companies governed by the laws of other jurisdictions and may not protect investors in a similar fashion afforded by incorporation in such other jurisdiction.

In connection with the Business Combination, the Company was converted into a public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) under Dutch law. Our corporate affairs are governed by the Articles of Association, the rules of the Board of Directors, our other internal rules and policies and by Dutch law. There can be no assurance that Dutch law will not change in the future or that it will serve to protect shareholders in a similar fashion afforded under corporate law principles in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect the rights of our shareholders.

In the performance of their duties, our directors are required by Dutch law to consider the interests of the Company, its shareholders, its employees and other stakeholders, in all cases with due regard to the principles of reasonableness and fairness. It is possible that some of these stakeholders will have interests that are different from, or in addition to, your interests as a shareholder.

For more information on relevant provisions of Dutch corporation law and of the Articles of Association, see “Description of Our Securities.”

The market price and trading volume of the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants may be volatile and could decline significantly.

The stock markets, including Nasdaq on which we have listed the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants under the symbols “NAMS” and “NAMSW,” respectively, have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. There may not be an active trading market for Ordinary Shares, which may make it difficult to sell such shares. Even if an active, liquid and orderly trading market develops and is sustained for the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants following the Business Combination, the market price of the Ordinary Shares and

 

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Public Warrants may be volatile and could decline significantly. In addition, the trading volume in the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants decline significantly, you may be unable to resell your shares or warrants at or above the market price of the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants as of the date immediately following the consummation of the Business Combination. We cannot assure you that the market price of the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants will not fluctuate widely or decline significantly in the future in response to a number of factors, including, among others, the following:

 

   

the realization of any of the risk factors presented in this prospectus;

 

   

additions and departures of key personnel;

 

   

failure to comply with the requirements of Nasdaq;

 

   

failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or other laws or regulations;

 

   

future issuances, sales, resales or repurchases or anticipated issuances, sales, resales or repurchases, of Ordinary Shares including due to the expiration of contractual lock-up agreements;

 

   

publication of research reports about the Company;

 

   

failure to meet expectations of investors or securities analysts;

 

   

the performance and market valuations of other similar companies;

 

   

new laws, regulations, subsidies, or credits or new interpretations of existing laws applicable to the Company;

 

   

commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving the Company;

 

   

broad disruptions in the financial markets, including sudden disruptions in the credit markets;

 

   

speculation in the press or investment community;

 

   

actual, potential or perceived control, accounting or reporting problems;

 

   

actual or anticipated differences in the Company’s estimates, or in the estimates of analysts, for the Company’s revenues, results of operations, liquidity or financial condition;

 

   

changes in accounting principles, policies and guidelines; and

 

   

other events or factors, including those resulting from infectious diseases, health epidemics and pandemics (including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic), natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or responses to these events.

In the past, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of their shares. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

There can be no assurance that the Ordinary Shares or the Public Warrants will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of Nasdaq.

In connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, we listed our Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants on Nasdaq under the symbols “NAMS” and “NAMSW,” respectively. If, after listing, we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of Nasdaq such as the minimum closing bid price requirement, Nasdaq may take steps to delist our securities. Such a delisting would likely have a negative effect on the price of the securities and would impair your ability to sell or purchase the securities when you wish to do so. In such a delisting, we and our shareholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:

 

   

a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

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reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

   

a determination that our stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our stock to adhere to more stringent rules, possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for shares of our stock;

 

   

a limited amount of analyst coverage; and

 

   

a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

In the event of a delisting, we can provide no assurance that any action taken by it to restore compliance with listing requirements would allow its securities to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of its securities, prevent its securities from dropping below the Nasdaq minimum bid price requirement or prevent future non-compliance with Nasdaq’s listing requirements. Additionally, if our securities are not listed on, or become delisted from, Nasdaq for any reason, and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange, the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if they were quoted or listed on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

The exercise of registration rights may adversely affect the market price of our Ordinary Shares.

Pursuant to the Investor Rights Agreement, we are filing this prospectus to, among other things, register the resale of 48,865,642 of our Ordinary Shares and 167,000 Private Placement Warrants held by the former holders of all issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of FLAC (the “FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares”), including the Sponsor and the former holders of all other issued and outstanding FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares (together, the “FLAC Initial Shareholders”) and certain former NewAmsterdam Pharma shareholders, and their permitted transferees. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market, subject to applicable lock-up restrictions, may have an adverse effect on the market price of the Ordinary Shares. Sales of a substantial number of shares of Ordinary Shares pursuant to this resale registration statement in the public market could occur at any time the registration statement remains effective and applicable lock-up restrictions expire. In addition, certain registration rights holders can request underwritten offerings to sell their securities. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of the Ordinary Shares. An aggregate of 72,325,642 Ordinary Shares, or approximately 89% of the Ordinary Shares outstanding as of the date hereof, have registration rights pursuant to the Investor Rights Agreement and the Subscription Agreement.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about the Company, our business, or the market in which we operate, or if they change their recommendations regarding the Ordinary Shares adversely, then the price and trading volume of the Ordinary Shares could decline.

The trading market for the Ordinary Shares will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about our business. We do not control these analysts, or the content and opinions included in their reports. As a new public company, we may be slow to attract research coverage and the analysts who publish information about the Ordinary Shares will have had relatively little experience with the Company, which could affect their ability to accurately forecast our results and make it more likely that we fail to meet their estimates. In the event we obtains industry or financial analyst coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us issues an inaccurate or unfavorable opinion regarding the Company, the price of the Ordinary Shares would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of the Company or fail to publish reports on it regularly, our visibility in the financial markets could decrease, which in turn could cause its share price or trading volume to decline.

 

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We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your Ordinary Shares for a price greater than the price you paid for it.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on its shares. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any dividends on the Ordinary Shares in the foreseeable future. Consequently, you may be unable to realize a gain on your investment except by selling such shares after price appreciation, which may never occur.

The Board of Directors may only pay dividends and other distributions from the Company’s reserves to the extent the Company’s shareholders’ equity (eigen vermogen) exceeds the sum of the paid-in and called-up share capital plus the reserves it must maintain under Dutch law or the Articles of Association and (if it concerns a distribution of profits) after adoption of its statutory annual accounts by its general meeting from which it appears that such dividend distribution is allowed. Subject to those restrictions, any future determination to pay dividends or other distributions from the Company’s reserves will be at the discretion of its board and will depend upon a number of factors, including its results of operations, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors the Board of Directors deems relevant.

Under the Articles of Association, the Board of Directors may decide that all or part of the profits shown in the Company’s adopted statutory annual accounts will be added to its reserves. After reservation of any such profits, any remaining profits will be at the disposal of the general meeting at the proposal of the Board of Directors for distribution on Ordinary Shares, subject to applicable restrictions of Dutch law. The Board of Directors is permitted, subject to certain requirements and applicable restrictions of Dutch law, to declare interim dividends without the approval of the Company’s general meeting. Dividends and other distributions will be made payable no later than a date determined by the Company. Claims to dividends and other distributions not made within five years from the date that such dividends or distributions became payable will lapse and any such amounts will be considered to have been forfeited to us (verjaring).

We are eligible to be treated as an “emerging growth company,” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make the Ordinary Shares less attractive to investors, which could have a material and adverse effect on us, including growth prospects, because we may rely on these reduced disclosure requirements.

We qualify as an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we takes advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, it could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

We are eligible to be treated as an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”). Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised financial accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of this extended transition period under the JOBS Act for adopting new or revised financial accounting standards.

We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest to occur of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the effective date of the registration statement on Form F-4, filed by the Company, as most recently amended on October 13, 2022 (the “Proxy Statement/Prospectus”), (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of the Ordinary Shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

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companies, including presenting only limited selected financial data, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and to the extent we no longer qualified as a “foreign private issuer,” reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information that they may deem important.

We cannot predict if investors will find Ordinary Shares less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find the Ordinary Shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for Ordinary Shares and the price of Ordinary Shares may be more volatile. Further, there is no guarantee that the exemptions available to us under the JOBS Act will result in significant savings. To the extent that we choose not to use exemptions from various reporting requirements under the JOBS Act, it will incur additional compliance costs, which may impact our financial condition.

Our management team has limited experience managing a public company.

Most members of our management team have limited or no experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors, and complying with the increasingly complex laws, rules and regulations that govern public companies. As a public company, we are subject to significant obligations relating to reporting, procedures and internal controls, in both the United States and the Netherlands, and our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage such obligations. These obligations and scrutiny will require significant attention from our management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In connection with the Business Combination, the Company’s legal form was be converted from a private company with limited liability to a public limited liability company in the Netherlands. Such conversion imposes additional burdens on our management team.

Investors may have difficulty enforcing civil liabilities against the Company or the members of the Board of Directors.

We are organized and existing under the laws of the Netherlands and, as such, Dutch private international law governs the rights of our shareholders and the civil liability of our directors and executive officers are governed in certain respects by the laws of the Netherlands. The ability of our shareholders in certain countries other than the Netherlands to bring an action against us or our directors and executive officers may be limited under applicable law. In addition, substantially all of our assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for shareholders to effect service of process within the United States upon us or our directors and executive officers or to enforce judgments against them in U.S. courts, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States. In addition, it is not clear whether a Dutch court would impose civil liability on us or our directors and executive officers in an original action based solely upon the federal securities laws of the United States brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the Netherlands.

As of the date of this prospectus, the United States and the Netherlands do not have a treaty providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments, other than arbitration awards, in civil and commercial matters. With respect to choice of court agreements in civil or commercial matters, the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements has entered into force for the Netherlands, but has not entered into force for the United States. Accordingly, a judgment rendered by a court in the United States, whether or not predicated solely upon U.S. securities laws, would not automatically be recognized and enforced by the competent Dutch courts. However, if a person has obtained a judgment rendered by a court in the United States that is enforceable under the laws of the United States and files a claim with the competent Dutch court, the Dutch court will in principle give binding effect to that foreign judgment if (i) the jurisdiction of the foreign court was based on a ground of

 

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jurisdiction that is generally acceptable according to international standards, (ii) the judgment by the foreign court was rendered in legal proceedings that comply with the Dutch standards of proper administration of justice including sufficient safeguards (behoorlijke rechtspleging), (iii) binding effect of such foreign judgment is not contrary to Dutch public order (openbare orde) and (iv) the judgment by the foreign court is not incompatible with a decision rendered between the same parties by a Dutch court, or with a previous decision rendered between the same parties by a foreign court in a dispute that concerns the same subject and is based on the same cause, provided that the previous decision qualifies for recognition in the Netherlands. However, even if such a foreign judgment is given binding effect, a claim based on that foreign judgment may still be rejected if the foreign judgment is not or no longer formally enforceable.

Based on the lack of a treaty as described above, U.S. investors may not be able to enforce against us or our directors, representatives or certain experts named herein who are residents of the Netherlands or countries other than the United States, any judgments obtained in U.S. courts in civil and commercial matters, including judgments under the U.S. federal securities laws.

The Articles of Association provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, which could limit the ability of our securityholders to choose a favorable judicial forum for disputes with we or our directors, officers or employees.

The Articles of Association provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, shall be the U.S. federal district courts. This choice of forum provision may increase a securityholder’s cost and limit the securityholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us or our directors, officers and other employees. Our shareholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder as a result of the exclusive forum provision. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any of the Ordinary Shares or other securities, whether by transfer, sale, operation of law or otherwise, will be deemed to have notice of and have irrevocably agreed and consented to this provision. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision. The Securities Act provides that state courts and federal courts will have concurrent jurisdiction over claims under the Securities Act, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. It is possible that a court could find this type of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find this provision in the Articles of Association to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could have adverse effect on our business and financial performance.

Each of the Sponsor and NewAmsterdam Pharma’s former shareholders own a significant portion of Ordinary Shares and have representation on the Board of Directors. Sponsor and NewAmsterdam Pharma’s former shareholders may have interests that differ from those of other shareholders.

Immediately following the completion of the Business Combination, approximately 11.6% of Ordinary Shares were owned by the FLAC Initial Shareholders and affiliates of the Sponsor and approximately 23.2% of Ordinary Shares were owned by the PIPE Investors (excluding the FLAC Initial Shareholders and affiliates of the Sponsor). These levels of ownership interests assume that (i) none of the Warrants have been exercised, (ii) none of the 1,886,137 Earnout Shares have been issued, and (iii) no options to purchase Ordinary Shares (the “Options”) or awards that may be issued under the LTIP or have been issued under the Rollover Plan have been exercised. In addition, two of our non-executive director nominees were designated by FLAC. As a result, the Sponsor or its affiliates and our shareholders may be able to significantly influence the outcome of matters submitted for director action, subject to obligation of the Board of Directors to act in the interest of all of our stakeholders, and for shareholder action, including the designation and appointment of the Board of Directors and approval of

 

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significant corporate transactions, including business combinations, consolidations and mergers. The influence of the Sponsor or its affiliates and our current shareholders over our management could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control or otherwise discouraging a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of the Company, which could cause the market price of Ordinary Shares to decline or prevent our shareholders from realizing a premium over the market price for Ordinary Shares. Additionally, the Sponsor, which is in the business of making investments in companies and which may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us or that supply us with goods and services. The Sponsor may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to (or competitive with) our business, and as a result those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. Investors in Ordinary Shares should consider that the interests of the Sponsor or its affiliates and our current shareholders may differ from their interests in material respects.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, shareholders could lose confidence in our financial and other public reporting, which is likely to negatively affect our business and the market price of the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with IFRS. As a result of becoming a public company, we are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by our management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, beginning with our annual report filed with the SEC for the first fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. This assessment will need to include disclosures of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be detected or prevented on a timely basis. We are in the very early stages of the costly and challenging process of planning the activities necessary to perform the evaluation needed to comply with Section 404. Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in our implementation could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. In addition, any testing conducted by us, or any testing conducted by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses or that may require prospective or retroactive changes to our financial statements or identify other areas for further attention or improvement. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which is likely to negatively affect our business and the market price of the Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants.

In connection with the preparation of NewAmsterdam Pharma’s financial statements at and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, its management identified material weaknesses in the design of its internal control over financial reporting across the principles for each component of the COSO framework at the entity level (i.e. control environment, risk assessment, monitoring, information & communication and control activities) and accordingly, across its business and IT processes. Specifically, the material weaknesses that was identified, individually or in the aggregate, included the following:

 

   

a lack of consistent and documented risk assessment procedures and control activities related to financial reporting, among which a sufficient level of management review and approval, manual processes, roles and responsibilities, and adequate application and controls over information technology; and

 

   

failure to maintain a sufficient complement of personnel commensurate with its accounting and reporting requirements as it continues to grow as a company, and ability to: (i) design and maintain formal accounting policies, procedures and controls over the fair presentation of financial statements;

 

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(ii) analyze, record and disclose complex accounting matters timely and accurately; and (iii) design and maintain controls over the preparation and review of journal entries and financial statements, including maintaining appropriate segregation of duties.

We were formed shortly before the completion of the Business Combination and NewAmsterdam Pharma was a private company with limited accounting personnel to adequately execute our accounting processes and other supervisory resources with which to address our internal control over financial reporting. To address these material weaknesses, we will need to add personnel and continue to develop and implement new financial processes. We have taken steps to remediate the material weakness described above, including by engaging consultants to assist management in developing internal control procedures and anticipate hiring additional qualified accounting and financial reporting personnel, and further evolving our accounting processes and policies. We will not be able to fully remediate these material weaknesses until these steps have been completed and have been operating effectively for a sufficient period of time. The remediation measures we engage in may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.

We will be required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on an annual basis and our management will be required to assess the effectiveness of these controls annually. However, for as long as we are an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. An independent assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls could detect problems that our management’s assessment might not. Undetected material weaknesses in our internal controls could lead to financial statement restatements and require us to incur the expense of remediation.

We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem all outstanding Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). Please see “Description of Our Securities—Share Capital—Warrants—Redemptions of Warrants for cash when the price per Ordinary Share equals or exceeds $18.00.” If and when the Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding Warrants as described above could force you to (i) exercise your Warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your Warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your Warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding Warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your Warrants. None of the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the Sponsor or their permitted transferees.

In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, subdivisions, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) and the former holders of the Private Placement Warrants have also been called for redemption, subject to certain limitations as set forth in the Warrant Assignment, Assumption and Amendment Agreement, dated November 22, 2022, between us, Continental and FLAC (the “Warrant Assumption Agreement”). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their Warrants prior to redemption for a number of Ordinary Shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the Ordinary Shares. Please see “Description of Our Securities—Share Capital—Warrants—Redemptions of Warrants for cash when the price per Ordinary Share equals or exceeds $10.00.” The value received upon

 

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exercise of the Warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their Warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the Warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 shares of the Ordinary Shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.

Warrants will become exercisable for Ordinary Shares, which would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to shareholders.

Outstanding Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 4,767,000 Ordinary Shares will become exercisable in accordance with the terms of the Warrant Assumption Agreement. The Warrants will become exercisable at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of the Business Combination. The exercise price of the Warrants will be $11.50 per share. To the extent such warrants are exercised, additional Ordinary Shares will be issued, which will result in dilution to the holders of Ordinary Shares and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market or the fact that such warrants may be exercised could adversely affect the market price of Ordinary Shares. The trading price of our Ordinary Shares is currently below the $11.50 exercise price. For so long as the Warrants remain “out-of-the-money” we do not expect Warrant holders to exercise their Warrants. As such, there is no guarantee that the Warrants will ever be exercised.

There is no guarantee that the Warrants will be in the money, and they may expire worthless.

Pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Assumption Agreement, the Warrants will expire five years from the day following the Closing Date, November 23, 2022, at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. The exercise price of our Warrants is $11.50 per Ordinary Share, subject to adjustment, which currently exceeds the market price of the Ordinary Shares, which was $11.20 per share based on the closing price of the Ordinary Shares on January 12, 2023. Based on the current exercise price of $11.50 per share, we would receive up to approximately $54.8 million from the exercise of the Warrants, assuming the exercise in full of all of the Warrants for cash. If the price of our Ordinary Shares remains below $11.50, we believe that Warrant holders will be unlikely to cash exercise their warrants, resulting in little to no cash proceeds to us. There is no guarantee the exercise price of our Warrants will ever be below the price of our Ordinary Shares and, as such, our Warrants may expire worthless.

The terms of the Public Warrants may be amended in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment.

The Warrant Assumption Agreement provides that (i) the terms of the Warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (a) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the Warrant Assumption Agreement to the description of the terms of such warrants and the Warrant Assumption Agreement set forth in this prospectus, or defective provision, (b) amending the definition of “Ordinary Cash Dividend” as contemplated by and in accordance with the Warrant Assumption Agreement or (c) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the Warrant Assumption Agreement as the parties to the Warrant Assumption Agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of such warrants under the Warrant Assumption Agreement and (ii) all other modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants; provided that any amendment that solely affects the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of the Warrant Assumption Agreement solely with respect to the Private Placement Warrants will require at least 50% of the then outstanding Private Placement Warrants.

Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the Public Warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment. Although the ability to amend the terms of the Public Warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

 

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The Warrant Assumption Agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of Warrants, which could limit the ability of Warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

The Warrant Assumption Agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the Warrant Assumption Agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we will irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the Warrant Assumption Agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of the Warrants will be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in the Warrant Assumption Agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the Warrant Assumption Agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of Warrants, such holder will be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such Warrant holder.

This choice-of-forum provision may limit a Warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of the Warrant Assumption Agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect its business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of management and the Board of Directors.

Future issuances of equity securities may adversely affect us, including the market price of Ordinary Shares, and may be dilutive to existing shareholders.

In the future, we may issue equity ranking senior to Ordinary Shares. Such securities will generally have priority upon liquidation and may be governed by an instrument containing covenants restricting its operating flexibility. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of Ordinary Shares. Because our decision to issue equity in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, it cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of our future capital raising efforts. As a result, future capital raising efforts may reduce the market price of Ordinary Shares and be dilutive to existing shareholders.

Our shareholders may not have any preemptive rights in respect of future issuances of Ordinary Shares, and, as a result, may experience substantial dilution upon future issuances of Ordinary Shares or grants of rights to subscribe for such shares.

In the event of an issuance of Ordinary Shares or a grant of rights to subscribe for Ordinary Shares, subject to certain exceptions, each shareholder will have a pro rata pre-emption right in proportion to the aggregate nominal value of such holder’s Ordinary Shares. These pre-emption rights may be restricted or excluded by a resolution of the general meeting or by another corporate body designated by the general meeting. The Board of Directors will be authorized for a period of five years from the completion of the Holdco Reorganization to issue shares or

 

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grant rights to subscribe for shares up to the Company’s authorized share capital from time to time and to limit or exclude pre-emption rights in connection therewith. This could cause existing shareholders to experience substantial dilution of their interest in the Company.

We are not obligated to, and do not, comply with all best practice provisions of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code.

We are subject to the Dutch Corporate Governance Code (the “DCGC”). The DCGC contains principles and best practice provisions on corporate governance that regulate relations between the board and the general meeting and matters in respect of financial reporting, auditors, disclosure, compliance and enforcement standards. The DCGC is based on a “comply or explain” principle. Accordingly, companies must disclose in their statutory annual reports whether they comply with the provisions of the DCGC. If a company subject to the DCGC does not comply with those provisions, that company would be required to give the reasons for such non-compliance. We do not comply with all best practice provisions of the DCGC.

See “Description of Our Securities.” This may affect your rights as a shareholder and you may not have the same level of protection as a shareholder in a Dutch company that fully complies with the DCGC.

Provisions of the Articles of Association or Dutch corporate law might deter acquisition bids for the Company that might be considered favorable and prevent, delay or frustrate any attempt to replace or dismiss directors.

Under Dutch law, various protective measures are possible and permissible within the boundaries set by Dutch law and Dutch case law.

In addition, certain provisions of the Articles of Association may make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire control of us or effect a change in the composition of the Board of Directors. These include:

 

   

a provision that the Company’s directors can only be appointed on the basis of a binding nomination prepared by the Board of Directors which can only be overruled by a two-thirds majority of votes cast representing more than half of our issued share capital;

 

   

a provision that the Company’s directors can only be dismissed by the general meeting by a two-thirds majority of votes cast representing more than half of our issued share capital, unless the dismissal is proposed by the Board of Directors in which latter case a simple majority of the votes cast would be sufficient;

 

   

a provision allowing, among other matters, the former chairperson of the Board of Directors or the Company’s former Chief Executive Officer to manage the Company’s affairs if all of its’s directors are dismissed and to appoint others to be charged with our affairs, including the preparation of a binding nomination for our directors as discussed above, until new directors are appointed by the general meeting on the basis of such binding nomination; and

 

   

a requirement that certain matters, including an amendment of the Articles of Association, may only be resolved upon by the Company’s general meeting if proposed by the Board of Directors.

Dutch law also allows for staggered multi-year terms of our directors, as a result of which only part of our will be subject to appointment or re-appointment in any given year.

Furthermore, in accordance with the DCGC, shareholders who have the right to put an item on the agenda for the Company’s general meeting or to request the convening of a general meeting will not exercise such rights until after they have consulted the Board of Directors. If exercising such rights may result in a change in our strategy (for example, through the dismissal of one or more directors), the Board of Directors must be given the opportunity to invoke a reasonable period of up to 180 days to respond to the shareholders’ intentions. If invoked, the Board of Directors must use such response period for further deliberation and constructive consultation, in any event with the shareholder(s) concerned and exploring alternatives. At the end of the

 

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response time, the Board of Directors will report on this consultation and the exploration of alternatives to the Company’s general meeting. The response period may be invoked only once for any given general meeting and will not apply (i) in respect of a matter for which a response period has been previously invoked or (ii) if a shareholder holds at least 75% of our issued share capital as a consequence of a successful public bid.

Moreover, the Board of Directors can invoke a cooling-off period of up to 250 days when shareholders, using their right to have items added to the agenda for a general meeting or their right to request a general meeting, propose an agenda item for the Company’s general meeting to dismiss, suspend or appoint one or more directors (or to amend any provision in the Articles of Association dealing with those matters) or when a public offer for the Company is made or announced without our support, provided, in each case, that the Board of Directors believes that such proposal or offer materially conflicts with the interests of the Company and its business. During a cooling-off period, the Company’s general meeting cannot dismiss, suspend or appoint directors (or amend the provisions in the Articles of Association dealing with those matters) except at the proposal of the Board of Directors. During a cooling-off period, the Board of Directors must gather all relevant information necessary for a careful decision-making process and at least consult with shareholders representing 3% or more of our issued share capital at the time the cooling-off period was invoked, as well as with our Dutch works council (if we or, under certain circumstances, any of its subsidiaries would have one). Formal statements expressed by these stakeholders during such consultations must be published on our website to the extent these stakeholders have approved that publication. Within one week following the last day of the cooling-off period, the Board of Directors must publish a report in respect of its policy and conduct of affairs during the cooling-off period on our website. This report must remain available for inspection by shareholders and others with meeting rights under Dutch law at our office and must be tabled for discussion at the next general meeting. Shareholders representing at least 3% of our issued share capital may request the Enterprise Chamber (Ondernemingskamer) of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (the “Enterprise Chamber”), for early termination of the cooling-off period. The Enterprise Chamber must rule in favor of the request if the shareholders can demonstrate that:

 

   

the Board of Directors, in light of the circumstances at hand when the cooling-off period was invoked, could not reasonably have concluded that the relevant proposal or hostile offer constituted a material conflict with the interests of us and our business;

 

   

the Board of Directors cannot reasonably believe that a continuation of the cooling-off period would contribute to careful policy-making; or

 

   

other defensive measures, having the same purpose, nature and scope as the cooling-off period, have been activated during the cooling-off period and have not since been terminated or suspended within a reasonable period at the relevant shareholders’ request (i.e., no “stacking” of defensive measures).

As a “foreign private issuer,” we are exempt from a number of rules under the U.S. securities laws and are permitted to file less information with the SEC than a U.S. domestic public company, which may limit the information available to holders of the Ordinary Shares and Warrants.

We are a “foreign private issuer,” as such term is defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act. Because we qualify as a “foreign private issuer” under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain provisions of the Exchange Act that are applicable to U.S. domestic public companies, including (1) the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act, (2) 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 (3) 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, although we are subject to Dutch laws and regulations with regard to certain of these matters and intend to furnish comparable quarterly information on Form 6-K. In addition, foreign private issuers are not required to file their annual report on Form 20-F until 120 days after the end of each fiscal year, while U.S. domestic issuers that are accelerated filers are required to file their annual report on Form 10-K within 75 days after the end of each fiscal year and

 

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U.S. domestic issuers that are large accelerated filers are required to file their annual report on Form 10-K within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year. As long as we are eligible for the foreign private issuer exemption, we will not be required to obtain shareholder approval for certain dilutive events, such as the establishment or material amendment of certain equity-based compensation plans, we will not be required to provide detailed executive compensation disclosure in our periodic reports, and we will be exempt from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

Also, as a “foreign private issuer,” we are permitted to follow home country practice in lieu of certain corporate governance rules of the Nasdaq, including those that require listed companies to have a majority of independent directors and independent director oversight of executive compensation, nomination of directors and corporate governance matters. As long as we rely on the foreign private issuer exemption, a majority of the Board of Directors will not be required to be independent directors and our compensation committee will not be required to be composed entirely of independent directors. Accordingly, holders of Ordinary Shares may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of listed companies that are subject to all of the applicable corporate governance requirements.

We may lose foreign private issuer status in the future, which could result in significant additional costs and expenses.

As discussed above, we are a “foreign private issuer,” and therefore are not required to comply with all of the periodic disclosure and current reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. The determination of foreign private issuer status is made annually on the last business day of an issuer’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and, accordingly, the next determination will be made with respect to the Company on June 30, 2023. In the future, we would lose our foreign private issuer status if more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities are owned by U.S. residents and any of the following three circumstances applies: (i) the majority of our executive officers or directors are U.S. citizens or residents, (ii) more than 50% of our assets are located in the United States or (iii) our business is administered principally in the United States. If we lose our foreign private issuer status, we will be required to file with the SEC periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms, which are more detailed and extensive than the forms available to a foreign private issuer. We would have to begin preparing our financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We would also have to mandatorily comply with U.S. federal proxy requirements, and our officers, directors and principal shareholders will become subject to the short-swing profit disclosure and recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, we would lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements under the listing rules of Nasdaq. As a U.S. listed public company that is not a foreign private issuer, we would incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses that we will not incur as a foreign private issuer.

As we are a “foreign private issuer” and follow certain home country corporate governance practices, our shareholders may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.

As a “foreign private issuer,” we have the option to follow certain home country corporate governance practices rather than those of Nasdaq, provided that we disclose the requirements we are not following and describes the home country practices we are following. As a result, in accordance with the listing requirements of Nasdaq we rely on home country governance requirements and certain exemptions thereunder rather than relying on the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq. In accordance with Dutch law and generally accepted business practices, the Articles of Association do not provide quorum requirements generally applicable to general meetings. To this extent, our practice varies from the requirement of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5620(c), which requires an issuer to provide in its bylaws for a generally applicable quorum, and that such quorum may not be less than one-third of the outstanding voting shares. Although we must provide shareholders with an agenda and

 

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other relevant documents for our general meetings, Dutch law does not have a regulatory regime for the solicitation of proxies and the solicitation of proxies is not a generally accepted business practice in the Netherlands, thus our practice will vary from the requirement of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5620(b). As permitted by the listing requirements of Nasdaq, we have also opted out of the requirements of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(b)(2), which requires that independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present. In addition, we have opted out of shareholder approval requirements, as included in the Nasdaq Listing Rules, for the issuance of securities in connection with certain events such as the acquisition of shares or assets of another company (if, due to the potential issuance of ordinary shares, the ordinary shares would have upon issuance voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power outstanding before the issuance of stock), the establishment of or amendments to equity-based compensation plans for employees, a change of control of our company and certain private placements. To this extent, our practice varies from the requirements of Nasdaq Rule 5635, which generally requires an issuer to obtain shareholder approval for the issuance of securities in connection with such events. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to these Nasdaq requirements.

Dutch and European insolvency laws are substantially different from U.S. insolvency laws and may offer our shareholders less protection than they would have under U.S. insolvency laws.

As a Dutch public limited liability company, we are subject to Dutch insolvency laws in the event any insolvency proceedings are initiated against us including, among other things, Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 20, 2015 on insolvency proceedings. Should courts in another EU Member State determine that our centre of main interests (COMI) is situated in that member state, the courts in that member state will in principle have jurisdiction over the insolvency proceedings initiated against us and the insolvency laws of that member state will in principle apply to us, in accordance with and subject to such EU regulations. Insolvency laws in the Netherlands or the relevant other European member state, if any, may offer our shareholders less protection than they would have under U.S. insolvency laws and make it more difficult for our shareholders to recover the amount they could expect to recover in a liquidation under U.S. insolvency laws.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

All of the Ordinary Shares and Private Placement Warrants offered by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus will be sold by the Selling Securityholders for their respective accounts. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of Ordinary Shares or Private Placement Warrants by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus.

We expect to receive up to an aggregate of approximately 57.0 million from the exercise of Warrants and Rollover Options offered pursuant to this prospectus, assuming the exercise in full of all such Warrants and Rollover Options for cash. We expect to use the net proceeds from the exercise of the Warrants and Options for general corporate purposes. Our management will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from the exercise of the Warrants and Rollover Options. The exercise price of the Warrants currently exceeds the market price of our Ordinary Shares based on the closing price of our Ordinary Shares on January 12, 2023. If the price of our Ordinary Shares remains below $11.50, we believe that Warrant holders will be unlikely to cash exercise their warrants, resulting in little to no cash proceeds to us. See “Risk Factors—There is no guarantee that the Warrants will be in the money, and they may expire worthless.

There is no assurance that the holders of the Warrants or Rollover Options will elect to exercise any or all of the Warrants or Rollover Options. To the extent that the Public Warrants are exercised on a “cashless basis,” the amount of cash we would receive from the exercise of the Public Warrants will decrease.

We will pay certain expenses associated with the registration of the securities covered by this prospectus, as described in the section titled “Plan of Distribution.”

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY AND MARKET PRICE OF OUR SECURITIES

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our Ordinary Shares. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any dividends on the Ordinary Shares in the foreseeable future. The Board of Directors may only pay dividends and other distributions from our reserves to the extent our shareholders’ equity (eigen vermogen) exceeds the sum of our paid-in and called-up share capital plus the reserves it must maintain under Dutch law or the Articles of Association and (if it concerns a distribution of profits) after adoption of our statutory annual accounts by the General Meeting from which it appears that such dividend distribution is allowed. Subject to those restrictions, any future determination to pay dividends or other distributions from our reserves will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend upon a number of factors, including our results of operations, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors the Board of Directors deems relevant.

Under the Articles of Association, the Board of Directors may decide that all or part of the profits shown in our adopted statutory annual accounts will be added to our reserves. After reservation of any such profits, any remaining profits will be at the disposal of the General Meeting at the proposal of the Board of Directors for distribution on Ordinary Shares, subject to applicable restrictions of Dutch law. The Board of Directors is permitted, subject to certain requirements and applicable restrictions of Dutch law, to declare interim dividends without the approval of the General Meeting. Dividends and other distributions will be made payable no later than a date determined by the Company. Claims to dividends and other distributions not made within five years from the date that such dividends or distributions became payable will lapse and any such amounts will be considered to have been forfeited to us (verjaring).

Our Ordinary Shares and Public Warrants began trading on Nasdaq under the symbols “NAMS” and “NAMSW”, respectively, on November 23, 2022. On January 12, 2023, the closing price for our Ordinary Shares on Nasdaq was $11.20 per share. On January 12, 2023, the closing price for our Public Warrants on Nasdaq was $0.89 per Public Warrant.

As of November 22, 2022, the date we closed the Business Combination, there were approximately 52 shareholders of record of our Ordinary Shares and one holder of record of our Public Warrants. The actual number of shareholders is greater than this number of record holders and includes shareholders who are beneficial owners but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include shareholders whose shares may be held in trust or by other entities.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth the capitalization of the Company on an unaudited pro forma combined basis as of June 30, 2022, after giving effect to the Business Combination and the PIPE Financing.

The information in this table should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto and other financial information included in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement and the information under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our historical results do not necessarily indicate our expected results for any future periods.

 

As of June 30, 2022   

Actual (€) in
thousands

    

Pro Forma Combined
(€) in thousands(1)

 

Cash and cash equivalents

     89,478        369,521  

Total liabilities

     33,433        37,125  

Share capital

     163,556        589,995  

Retained earnings

     19,837        (45,206

Other reserves

     1,029        1,029  

Total equity

     184,422        545,818  

Total equity and liabilities

     217,855        582,943  

 

(1)

The pro forma financial information was translated from USD to EUR using the historical closing exchange rate, as at June 30, 2022, of $1.0469 per EUR. Applying the exchange rate as of the Closing (1.0306 per EUR), the gross proceeds from the Business Combination would be approximately EUR 89.7 million in proceeds from the trust account and EUR 227.6 million from the PIPE Financing. The pro forma information is presented for informational purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of what our financial position and results would have been had these transactions actually occurred at such date nor is it indicative of our future financial position or performance.

 

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UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Introduction

The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information is provided to aid you in your analysis of the financial aspects of the Business Combination. The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information presents the historical financial information of FLAC and NewAmsterdam Pharma adjusted to give effect to the Business Combination. The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X as amended by the final rule, Release No. 33-10786 “Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses.”

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of financial position as at June 30, 2022, gives pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if it had been consummated as of that date. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statements of profit or loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the six months ended June 30, 2022, give pro forma effect to the Business Combination as if it had occurred as of January 1, 2021.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been presented for illustrative purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the financial position and results of operations that would have been achieved had the Business Combination and related transactions occurred on the dates indicated. Further, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information may not be useful in predicting the future financial condition and results of operations of the post-combination company. The actual financial position and results of operations may differ significantly from the pro forma amounts reflected herein due to a variety of factors. The unaudited pro forma adjustments represent management’s estimates based on information available as of the date of the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information and is subject to change as additional information becomes available and analyses are performed. This pro forma financial information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements of FLAC and NewAmsterdam Pharma found elsewhere in this prospectus and sections titled “Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Selected Consolidated Historical and Other Financial Information.”

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of profit or loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 has been prepared using the following:

 

   

the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 derived from the audited statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and for the period from October 7, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 of FLAC and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The consolidated financial statements of FLAC have been prepared under U.S. GAAP with the U.S. dollar as its reporting currency; and

 

   

the consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2021 derived from the audited consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2021 and 2020 and for the two years in the period ended December 31, 2021 and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The consolidated financial statements of NewAmsterdam Pharma have been prepared in accordance with IFRS with Euros as its presentation currency.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of financial position as at June 30, 2022 and the unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of profit or loss for the six months ended June 30, 2022 have been prepared using the following:

 

   

the unaudited condensed balance sheet as at June 30, 2022 and the unaudited condensed statement of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2022 derived from the condensed balance sheet as at June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and the unaudited statement of operations for the six months

 

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ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 of FLAC and the related notes thereto included in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed by FLAC with the SEC on August 11, 2022. The consolidated financial statements of FLAC have been prepared under U.S. GAAP with the U.S. dollar as its reporting currency; and

 

   

the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of financial position of NewAmsterdam Pharma as at June 30, 2022 and the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive loss for the six months ended June 30, 2022 derived from the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as at and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of NewAmsterdam Pharma have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34—Interim Financial Reporting with Euros as its presentation currency.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information gives effect to adjustments required to convert FLAC historical financial information to IFRS and its reporting currency to Euros.

Description of the Transaction

As further described elsewhere in this prospectus, subject to the terms and conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, upon consummation of the Business Combination, among other things:

 

   

The shareholders of NewAmsterdam Pharma contributed all outstanding shares in the capital of NewAmsterdam Pharma to Holdco in exchange for the issuance of ordinary shares in the share capital of Holdco;

 

   

Immediately after giving effect to the Exchange, the legal form of Holdco was converted from a private company with limited liability (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) to a public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap);

 

   

After giving effect to the Exchange, Merger Sub was merged with and into FLAC, with FLAC surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Holdco;

 

   

In connection with the Merger, each issued and outstanding ordinary share of FLAC was canceled and extinguished in exchange for a claim for a Ordinary Share, and such claim was then contributed into Holdco against the issuance of a corresponding Ordinary Share;

 

   

Immediately following the Merger, each outstanding warrant to purchase a Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, of FLAC became a warrant to purchase one Ordinary Share, on the same contractual terms which resulted in the issuance of 4,767,000 Warrants;

 

   

Each NewAmsterdam Pharma Option that was outstanding and unexercised remained outstanding, and to the extent unvested, such option will continue to vest in accordance with its applicable terms, and at the time of the Exchange, such NewAmsterdam Pharma Options became options to purchase, and will when exercised be settled in Ordinary Shares;

 

   

Promptly following the Merger, the Surviving Company changed its jurisdiction of incorporation by deregistering as a Cayman Islands exempted company and continuing and domesticating as a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “Domestication”);

 

   

In addition to the transactions described above, 8,656,330 Ordinary Shares were issued to Amgen and MTPC pursuant to their profit rights granted upon the acquisition of Dezima as described under the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Contractual Obligations and Commitments—2020 SPA and Profit Right Agreement”; and

 

   

Following the Merger, upon the achievement of a certain clinical development milestone, Holdco will issue to the Participating Shareholders, Amgen, MTPC and the Participating Optionholders, the Earnout Shares, which in the case of the Participating Optionholders will take the form of awards of

 

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restricted stock units under the LTIP. The development milestone consists of achievement and public announcement of Positive Phase 3 Data (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) for each of NewAmsterdam Pharma’s BROADWAY clinical trial and BROOKLYN clinical trial at any time during the period beginning on the day prior to the Closing Date and ending on the date that is five years after the Final Closing Date (as defined below) (the “Earnout Period”). As a result, no Earnout Shares will be issuable if the applicable milestone is not achieved within the Earnout Period.

On July 25, 2022, concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, FLAC and Holdco also entered into subscription agreements with certain investors, pursuant to which the PIPE Investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase from Holdco, and Holdco agreed to issue and sell to such PIPE Investors, an aggregate of 23,460,000 Ordinary Shares at $10.00 per share for gross proceeds of $234.6 million. Such Ordinary Shares were issued in connection with the closing of the Business Combination.

As of June 30, 2022, 14,301,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of FLAC (“FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares”) were outstanding. The FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares include (i) 13,800,00 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares issued in FLAC’s initial public offering (the “FLAC Public Shares”) and (ii) 501,000 issued to the Sponsor as part of a private placement which closed concurrently with FLAC’s initial public offering (“FLAC Private Placement Shares”) which do not hold redemption rights. As of June 30, 2022, 3,450,000 FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares were outstanding and held by the FLAC Initial Shareholders. Redemption rights were provided to FLAC Public Shares shareholders in connection with the Business Combination. Holders of FLAC Public Shares exercised redemption rights with respect to a total of 4,565,862 shares. Based upon the balance of Investments held in Trust Account at June 30, 2022 such shares had a redemption value of €9.56 ($10.01, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR) per share for a total redemption amount of €43.6 million ($45.7 million, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR).

Anticipated Accounting for the Business Combination

The Business Combination will be accounted for as a capital reorganization in accordance with IFRS. Under this method of accounting, FLAC will be treated as the “acquired” company for accounting purposes. As FLAC does not meet the definition of a business under IFRS 3 – Business Combinations (“IFRS 3”), the net assets of FLAC will be stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded. As a result of the Business Combination and related transactions, the existing shareholders of NewAmsterdam Pharma will continue to retain control through their majority ownership of Holdco.

NewAmsterdam Pharma has been determined to be the accounting acquirer based on an evaluation of the following facts and circumstances:

 

   

Former NewAmsterdam Pharma’s shareholders have the largest voting interest in Holdco;

 

   

Former members of NewAmsterdam Pharma’s senior management makes up a majority of the senior management of Holdco;

 

   

The business of NewAmsterdam Pharma comprises the ongoing operations of Holdco; and

 

   

NewAmsterdam Pharma is the larger entity, in terms of substantive operations and employee base.

As FLAC does not meet the definition of a business in accordance with IFRS 3, the Business Combination is accounted for within the scope of IFRS 2 – Share-based Payment (“IFRS 2”). Any excess of the fair value of Ordinary Shares issued to FLAC Shareholders over the fair value of FLAC’s identifiable net assets acquired represents compensation for the service of a stock exchange listing for its shares provided by FLAC and is expensed as incurred.

 

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Basis of Pro Forma Presentation

The adjustments presented on the pro forma condensed combined financial statements have been identified and presented to provide an understanding of NewAmsterdam Pharma upon consummation of the Business Combination for illustrative purposes.

The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information has been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X as amended by the final rule, Release No. 33-10786 “Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses.” Release No. 33-10786 replaces the existing pro forma adjustment criteria with simplified requirements to depict the accounting for the transaction (“Transaction Accounting Adjustments”) and present the reasonably estimable synergies and other transaction effects that have occurred or are reasonably expected to occur (“Management’s Adjustments”). We have elected not to present Management’s Adjustments and will only be presenting Transaction Accounting Adjustments in the following unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information is for illustrative purposes only. The financial results may have been different had the companies always been combined. You should not rely on the unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information as being indicative of the historical results that would have been achieved had the companies always been combined or the future results that NewAmsterdam Pharma will experience. FLAC and NewAmsterdam Pharma have not had any historical relationship prior to the Business Combination. Accordingly, no pro forma adjustments were required to eliminate activities between the companies. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information gives effect to those transactions contemplated in the Business Combination Agreement and those transactions which occur as a direct result of the consummation of the Business Combination. No effect has been given to events which occurred subsequent to the end of the period presented herein which do not occur as a direct result of the consummation of the Business Combination, including:

 

   

Receipt of the non-refundable, non-creditable, upfront amount of €115 million from A. Menarini International Licensing S.A.

 

   

On November 21, 2022, Holdco granted (i) options to purchase an aggregate of 3,412,264 Ordinary Shares to certain of its directors and (ii) options to purchase an aggregate of 2,244,383 Ordinary Shares to certain of its executive officers (excluding awards granted to executive officers who also serve as directors). Such options each have an expiration date of ten years from the date of grant and an exercise price of $10.00.

For more information regarding significant events which occurred following the end of the period presented refer to “Note 15—Events After the Reporting Period” in the NewAmsterdam Pharma unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as at June 30, 2021 and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 included elsewhere in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and the section titled “Management and Executive Compensation” in this prospectus.

The following table summarizes the pro forma weighted average number of Ordinary Shares outstanding for each of the year ended December 31, 2021 and the six months ended June 30, 2022 based upon the actual redemption of 4,565,862 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares:

 

     Year ended December 31, 2021  
     (Shares)      Ownership %  

Former NewAmsterdam Pharma Shareholders(1)

     44.914.642        55

Former FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares(2)

     9.735.138        12

Former FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares

     3.450.000        4

PIPE Investors(3)

     23.460.000        29
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Basic and diluted(4) pro forma weighted average number of shares outstanding

     81.559.780        100
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

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(1)

Includes an aggregate of 8,656,330 shares issued to Amgen and MTPC pursuant to 2020 Profit Rights as described in this prospectus under the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Contractual Obligations and Commitments—2020 SPA and Profit Right Agreement.”

(2)

As at December 31, 2022, FLAC had 14,301,000 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding. The above includes 501,000 FLAC Private Placement Shares held by the Sponsor and 1,000,000 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares held by affiliates of the Sponsor and is adjusted for the 4,565,862 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares which were redeemed.

(3)

Includes 4,500,000 Ordinary Shares subscribed for by affiliates of the Sponsor in the PIPE Financing.

(4)

Excludes 1,886,137 Earnout Shares, 4,185,358 Options and 4,600,000 and 167,000 Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants, respectively, as their impact is anti-dilutive.

 

     Six months ended June 30, 2022  
     (Shares)      Ownership%  

Former NewAmsterdam Pharma Shareholders(1)

     44.914.642        55

Former FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares(2)

     9.735.138        12

Former FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares

     3.450.000        4

PIPE Investors(3)

     23.460.000        29
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Basic pro forma weighted average number of shares outstanding

     81.559.780        100

Options(4)

     3.666.279     
  

 

 

    

Diluted(5) pro forma weighted average number of shares outstanding

     85.226.059     
  

 

 

    

 

(1)

Includes an aggregate of 8,656,330 shares issued to Amgen and MTPC pursuant to 2020 Profit Rights as described in this prospectus under the section titled “Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Contractual Obligations and Commitments—2020 SPA and Profit Right Agreement.”

(2)

As at June 30, 2022, FLAC had 14,301,000 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares outstanding. The above includes 501,000 FLAC Private Placement Shares held by the Sponsor and 1,000,000 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares held by affiliates of the Sponsor and is adjusted for the 4,565,862 FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares which were redeemed.

(3)

Includes 4,500,000 Ordinary Shares subscribed for by affiliates of the Sponsor in the PIPE Financing.

(4)

Calculated based upon the exercise of 4,185,358 Options at an exercise price of $1.22 and an average market closing price of $9.82 for the period from January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022.

(5)

Excludes 1,886,137 Earnout Shares and 4,600,000 and 167,000 Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants, respectively.

 

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PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT

JUNE 30, 2022

(UNAUDITED)

(in EUR thousands unless otherwise denoted)

 

    NewAmsterdam
Pharma

Historical
IFRS
    FLAC
Historical
U.S. GAAP
    IFRS Policy and
Presentation
Alignment
          Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
          Pro
Forma
Combined
 
    EUR     USD     EUR(1)           FN           FN        

ASSETS

               

Non-Current Assets

               

Property, plant and equipment

    175       —         —         —           —           175  

Loan receivable

    728       —         —         —           (728     (4     —    

Investments held in Trust Account

    —         138,133       131,945       —           (131,945     (4     —    

Intangible assets

    —         —         —         —           81,611       (8     81,611  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total non-current assets

    903       138,133       131,945       —           (51,062       81,786  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Current Assets

               

Trade receivables

    115,000       —         —         —           —           115,000  

Prepayments and other receivables

    12,474       —         —         143       (2     4,019       (10     16,636  

Cash and cash equivalents

    89,478       615       588       —           279,455       (4     369,521  

Prepaid expenses

    —         150       143       (143     (2     —           —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current assets

    216,952       765       731       —           283,474         501,157  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total Assets

    217,855       138,898       132,676       —           232,412         582,943  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

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    NewAmsterdam
Pharma

Historical
IFRS
    FLAC
Historical
U.S. GAAP
    IFRS Policy and
Presentation
Alignment
          Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
          Pro
Forma
Combined
 
          USD     EUR(1)           FN           FN        

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

               

Commitments and Contingencies

               

Class A ordinary share subject to possible redemption, $0.0001 par value; 13,800,000 shares issued and outstanding at redemption value of $10.00 per share

    —         138,033       131,849       (131,849     (3     —           —    

Equity

               

Share capital

    163,556       —         —       —           426,439       (5     589,995  

Other Reserves

    1,029       —         —         —           —           1,029  

Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding at December 31, 2021 and 2020

    —         —         —         —           —           —    

Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 479,000,000 shares authorized; 501,000 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 13,800,000 shares subject to possible redemption)

    —         —       —         —           —           —    

Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 3,450,000 shares issued and outstanding

    —         —       —         —           —           —    

Additional paid-in capital

    —         —         —         —           —           —    

Retained earnings

    19,837       (6,181     (5,904     —           (59,139     (6     (45,206
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total equity

    184,422       (6,181     (5,904     —           367,300         545,818  

 

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    NewAmsterdam
Pharma

Historical
IFRS
    FLAC
Historical
U.S. GAAP
    IFRS Policy and
Presentation
Alignment
          Transaction
Accounting
Adjustments
          Pro
Forma
Combined
 
          USD     EUR(1)           FN           FN        

Non-current liabilities

               

Deferred revenue

    7,440       —         —         —           —           7,440  

Lease liability

    90       —         —         —           —           90  

Deferred underwriting commissions

    —         4,830       4,614       —           (4,614     (4     —    

Derivative warrant liabilities

    —         381       365       —           —         (11     365  

Derivative earnout liability

    —         —         —         —           6,506       (9     6,506  

Loans and borrowings

    —         —         —         131,849       (3     (131,849     (7     —    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total non-current liabilities

    7,530       5,211       4,979       131,849         (129,957       14,401  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Current liabilities

               

Accounts payable

    —         51       48       (48     (2     —           —    

Accrued expenses

    —         1,784       1,704       (1,704     (2     (4,931     (4     (4,931

Loans and borrowings

    —         —         —         —           —           —    

Lease liability

    61       —         —         —           —           61  

Trade and other payables

    11,782       —         —         1,752       (2     —           13,534  

Deferred revenue

    14,060       —         —         —           —           14,060  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

    25,903       1,835       1,752       —           (4,931       22,724  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total liabilities

    33,433       7,046       6,731       131,849         (134,888       37,125  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

Total equity and liabilities

    217,855       138,898       132,676       —           232,412         582,943  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

* 

The financial statements of FLAC are presented in whole dollars whereas the historical financial information of FLAC in the above unaudited condensed combined statement of financial position is presented initially in thousands of dollars. FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares and FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares at June 30, 2022 are $50 and $345, respectively, as seen in FLAC’s balance sheet as of June 30, 2022 which is found elsewhere within the Proxy Statement/Prospectus. As a result of rounding these amounts are shown as zero. These amounts would be reclassified into share capital as part of adjustment (2) below and eliminated in adjustment (5) below.

Pro Forma Adjustments to the Unaudited Condensed Combined Statement of Financial Position

The adjustments included in the unaudited condensed combined statement of financial position as at June 30, 2022 are as follows:

IFRS Policy and Presentation Alignment

 

(1)

The historical financial information of FLAC was prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and presented in USD. The historical financial information was translated from USD to EUR using the historical closing exchange rate, as of June 30, 2022, of $1.0469 per EUR.

 

(2)

Reflects adjustments to align FLAC historical financial statements with the presentation of NewAmsterdam Pharma financial statements.

 

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(3)

Reflects the U.S. GAAP to IFRS conversion adjustment related to the reclassification of FLAC’s historical commitments and contingencies (FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption) into non-current liabilities (Loans and borrowings). Under U.S. GAAP shares of FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares are classified as temporary equity because they are redeemable at the sole discretion of the shareholder. As FLAC shareholders have the right to require FLAC to redeem the FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares and FLAC has an irrevocable obligation to deliver cash or another financial instrument for such redemption, this is reclassified from temporary equity under U.S. GAAP to other liabilities under IFRS.

Transaction Accounting Adjustments

 

(4)

Reflects adjustments to cash for the following items:

 

  a.

Reflects proceeds of €88.3 million from the trust account which is calculated as €131.9 million ($138.1 million, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR) of cash held in trust as at June 30, 2022, less redemption payments for 4,565,862 shares at a price of €9.56 ($10.01, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR) per share, totaling €43.6 million ($45.7 million, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR);

 

  b.

The issuance of 23,460,000 Ordinary Shares to PIPE Investors in exchange for €224.1 million ($234.6 million, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR);

 

  c.

Proceeds from the repayment of a loan made by NewAmsterdam Pharma to an executive which is classified on the NewAmsterdam Pharma balance sheet as a loan receivable. This loan was repaid on July 19, 2022;

 

  d.

Payment of the deferred underwriting commission incurred in connection with the initial public offering of FLAC;

 

  e.

Payment of estimated transaction costs incurred in connection with the Business Combination and PIPE Financing, of which €4.9 million was included in accrued expenses at June 30, 2022; and

 

  f.

Payment of expected premium for directors’ and officers’ (“D&O”) insurance which must be obtained according to the terms of the Business Combination Agreement. The offsetting entry is seen in Prepaids and other receivables.

 

     In EUR
thousands
 

Proceeds from cash held in trust account after payments to redeeming shareholders

     88,290  

Proceeds from PIPE

     224,090  

Proceeds from repayment of outstanding loan to NewAmsterdam Pharma executive

     728  

Payment of deferred underwriting commission

     (4,614

Payment of estimated transaction costs incurred in connection with the Business Combination and PIPE Financing

     (24,039

Payment of expected premium for D&O insurance

     (5,000
  

 

 

 

Total Cash Adjustment

     279,455  
  

 

 

 

 

(5)

Reflects adjustments to share capital for the following items:

 

  a.

The issuance of 23,460,000 Ordinary Shares to PIPE Investors in exchange for €224.1 million ($234.6 million, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR);

 

  b.

The fair value of 13.2 million Ordinary Shares issued in exchange for 9.7 million shares of FLAC Class A Ordinary Shares and 3.5 million shares of FLAC Class B Ordinary Shares. The fair value of such shares is calculated in the table in adjustment 6b below;

 

  c.

As described in Note 11—Asset Acquisition of NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V. in the audited consolidated financial statements of NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V. included elsewhere in the

 

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  registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part and in the section titled “Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Contractual Obligations and Commitments—2020 SPA and Profit Right Agreement.” NewAmsterdam Pharma entered into a share purchase agreement with Amgen to acquire the assets and liabilities of Dezima which was determined to be an asset acquisition under IFRS. As part of the asset acquisition, NewAmsterdam Pharma entered into a contingent earnout, or profit right, with Amgen and a similar arrangement with MTPC. Per the contingent earnout, in the event the company raises more than €100 million in an initial public offering, Amgen and MTPC are entitled to an aggregate number of shares equivalent to 17.6% of the pre-public offering valuation. In total 44.9 million Ordinary Shares were issued upon the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement in exchange for all of the outstanding equity of NewAmsterdam Pharma, of which 8.7 million were issued directly to Amgen and MTPC. The fair value is based upon a share price of €9.43 ($9.87, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR), the closing share price on the date of the closing of the Business Combination; and

 

  d.

The portion of expected transaction costs incurred in connection with the Business Combination which is capitalized within share capital related to the issuance of new shares. Estimated transaction costs related to the Business Combination total €24.0 million, of which €3.6 million qualifies for capitalization within share capital and the remainder is expensed. Through June 30, 2022 €4.9 million of transaction costs have been incurred, including €1.0 million which was capitalized within prepayments and other receivables and reclassified into share capital as described in Adjustment 10 below. Approximately €19.1 million of additional transaction costs are incurred through the closing of the Business Combination, of which €16.5 million are expensed. Costs which qualify for capitalization, which include legal and advisor fees directly related to the equity issuance, are allocated among all Ordinary Shares issued with the portion related to those shares issued to FLAC shareholders and in connection with the PIPE being capitalized.

The table below sets forth the amounts for each item described above and the total share capital adjustment amount:

 

     In EUR
thousands
 

Issuance of 23.5 million Ordinary Shares to PIPE Investors

     224,090  

Issuance of 13.2 million Ordinary Shares to FLAC shareholders

     124,307  

Issuance of 8.7 million Ordinary Shares in connection with Amgen and MTPC profit rights

     81,610  

Portion of transaction costs incurred in connection with the Business Combination which is capitalized within share capital

     (3,568
  

 

 

 

Total Share Capital Adjustment

     426,439  
  

 

 

 

In addition to the transactions listed above, the following transactions are considered:

 

  e.

36.2 million shares of Holdco were issued in exchange for all of the outstanding shares in NewAmsterdam Pharma, excluding the 8.7 million which were issued directly to Amgen and MTPC pursuant to each of their respective profit rights. The entry to record the elimination of NewAmsterdam Pharma historical share capital and the establishment of Ordinary Share capital offset resulting in a net impact of zero.

 

  f.

Each NewAmsterdam Pharma Option that is outstanding and unexercised remained outstanding, and to the extent unvested, such options continue to vest in accordance with its applicable terms, and at the time of the Exchange, such NewAmsterdam Pharma Options became options to purchase, and will when exercised be settled in Ordinary Shares. The NewAmsterdam Pharma Options have equal terms and value before and after the Exchange and any entry to record the Exchange as it relates to the options has a net impact of zero.

 

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(6)

Reflects adjustments to retained earnings for the following items:

 

  a.

The elimination of historical FLAC retained earnings;

 

  b.

The recording of an expense in accordance with IFRS 2 for the excess of the value of the Ordinary Shares issued to FLAC stockholders over the fair value of FLAC’s identifiable net assets acquired, representing a listing cost.

The share-based compensation related to the listing cost is calculated as:

 

     In EUR thousands,
unless otherwise denoted
 

Fair Value of shares issued to FLAC shareholders1

     124,307  

Less: FLAC net assets2

     82,290  
  

 

 

 

Share-based compensation for listing cost

     42,017  
  

 

 

 

 

  1

Calculated as €9.43 ($9.87, converted at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR), the closing share price on the date of the closing of the Business Combination multiplied by the 13.2 million Ordinary Shares issued to FLAC shareholders.

 
  2

Net assets of FLAC are calculated as assets minus liabilities based upon the audited financial statements of FLAC as at June 30, 2022 and adjusted to give effect to payments from the trust account to redeeming shareholders. The net asset value is converted from USD to EUR at a rate of $1.0469 per EUR.

 

 

  c.

The portion of expected transaction costs incurred after June 30, 2022 in connection with the Business Combination which is expensed. Estimated transaction costs related to the Business Combination total €24.0 million, of which, €4.9 million has been incurred through June 30, 2022. Of the remaining estimated transaction costs €16.5 million are expensed. Costs which do not qualify for capitalization and are expensed as incurred include marketing fees and legal and advisor fees not directly related to the equity issuance. Costs which qualify for capitalization, are allocated among all Ordinary Shares issued with the portion related to those shares issued to former NewAmsterdam Pharma shareholders being expensed. The remaining portion of qualifying costs are capitalized within share capital as seen in adjustment (5) above; and

 

  d.

The recording of the fair value of the Earnout Shares which are allocated to Participating Shareholders (including Amgen and MTPC for this purpose) but excludes the Participating Optionholders. As per the terms of the Business Combination Agreement upon the achievement the certain clinical development milestone during the Earnout Period, Holdco will issue to the Participating Shareholders (including Amgen and MTPC for this purpose) and Participating Optionholders in total an additional 1,886,137 Ordinary Shares. The Earnout Shares allocated to Participating Optionholders will take the form of restricted stock units under the LTIP. The Participating Optionholders will vest in their restricted stock units so long as they provide continued service through the achievement of the clinical development milestone. For the avoidance of doubt, if the clinical development milestone is not achieved during the Earnout Period, but a Participating Optionholder has completed their service requirement, they will not be considered vested in the restricted stock units. There is no immediate financial impact with respect to the Participating Optionholders awards due to the uncertainty of achieving the clinical development milestone. No such service condition exists for the Shareholders awards. The Earnout Shares allocated to the Shareholders are accounted for under IAS 32 – Financial Instruments as a deemed dividend and recorded at fair value as a liability on the balance sheet as seen in adjustment (9) below.

 

100


Table of Contents

The table below sets forth the amounts for each item described and the total accumulated loss adjustment amount:

 

     In EUR
thousands
 

Elimination of historical FLAC accumulated loss

     5,904  

Expense arising under IFRS 2 for the excess of the fair value of shares issued to FLAC stockholders over and above the fair value of FLAC’s identifiable net assets

     (42,017

Portion of transaction costs incurred after June 30, 2022 which is expensed

     (16,520

Fair value of the earnout shares allocated to shareholders

     (6,506