Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. (NRIX) FY 2023 MD&A
This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. As discussed in the section titled “Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements,” the following discussion and analysis contains forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative small molecules and antibody therapies based on the modulation of cellular protein levels as a novel treatment approach for cancer, inflammatory conditions and other challenging diseases. Leveraging our extensive expertise in E3 ligases together with our proprietary DNA-encoded libraries, we have built DELigase, an integrated discovery platform to identify and advance novel drug candidates targeting E3 ligases, a broad class of enzymes that can modulate proteins within the cell. Our drug discovery approach is to either harness or inhibit the natural function of E3 ligases within the ubiquitin-proteasome system to selectively decrease or increase cellular protein levels. Our wholly owned, clinical stage pipeline includes targeted protein degraders of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), a B-cell signaling protein, and inhibitors of Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene B (CBL-B), an E3 ligase that regulates activation of multiple immune cell types including T cells and NK cells. Our partnered drug discovery pipeline consists of multiple programs under collaboration agreements with Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Gilead), Sanofi S.A. (Sanofi) and Seagen Inc. (now a part of Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer)), within which we retain certain options for co-development, co-commercialization and profit sharing in the United States for multiple drug candidates.
Targeted Protein Degradation
Our portfolio of targeted protein degraders of BTK, a B‑cell signaling protein, comprises NX‑5948, an orally bioavailable BTK degrader for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies and potentially autoimmune diseases, and NX‑2127, an orally bioavailable BTK degrader that also degrades cereblon neosubstrates IKZF1 (Ikaros) and IKZF3 (Aiolos) for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B‑cell malignancies.
NX-5948: We are currently treating patients in a Phase 1a/1b dose-escalation and cohort expansion study in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. In January 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for NX-5948 for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) after at least two lines of therapy, including a BTK inhibitor (BTKi) and a B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) inhibitor.
NX‑2127: We are currently treating patients in a Phase 1a/1b dose-escalation and cohort expansion study of NX-2127 in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. We have initiated Phase 1b expansion cohorts for patients with relapsed CLL, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Enrollment of new patients in this clinical trial is paused pending resolution of a partial clinical hold, which followed our communication to the FDA of our intention to transition to an improved manufacturing process. Patients already enrolled who are receiving clinical benefit may continue treatment.
Targeted Protein Elevation
Our targeted protein elevation program includes NX-1607, an orally bioavailable inhibitor of CBL-B, an E3 ligase that regulates the activation of multiple immune cell types including T cells and NK cells. NX-1607 is targeted for immuno-oncology indications.
We are currently treating patients in a Phase 1a/1b dose-escalation and cohort expansion study of NX-1607 in patients with a range of oncology indications. This study also includes a cohort within the Phase 1a dose escalation study testing NX-1607 in combination with paclitaxel, a taxane chemotherapy commonly used across a range of relapsed and refractory solid tumor indications. NX-1607 was awarded an Innovative Passport from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to accelerate time to market and facilitate patient access to novel drugs to treat serious and life-threatening diseases.
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Drug Discovery Pipeline
In addition to our clinical stage drug candidates, we are extending our protein modulation portfolio, both on our own and with partners by developing new targeted protein degraders and ligase inhibitors for a number of targets for which we believe the protein modulation modality can be clinically advantageous over existing therapies. These existing and future programs may have the potential to address diseases with significant unmet need, including cancer, autoimmunity, inflammation, and other challenging diseases.
We have entered into several revenue generating collaborations with large biopharmaceutical companies, including with Gilead, Sanofi and Seagen (now a part of Pfizer), to leverage our DELigase platform for drug discovery. These collaborations allow us to further advance our future pipeline with multiple currently identified targets included in these collaborations. In aggregate, we have received $413.0 million in non-dilutive financing from our collaborators to date, and as of November 30, 2023, we are eligible to receive up to $8.1 billion in potential future fees and milestone payments, as well as royalties on future product sales. We retain certain options for co-development, co-commercialization and profit sharing in the United States for multiple drug candidates, pursuant to these collaborations.
Collaborations and License Agreements
Gilead
In June 2019, we entered into a global strategic collaboration agreement with Gilead (as subsequently amended, the Gilead Agreement) to discover, develop and commercialize a pipeline of targeted protein degradation drugs for patients with cancer and other challenging diseases using our DELigase platform to identify novel agents that utilize E3 ligases to induce degradation of five specified drug targets. In August 2019 and September 2022, we entered into the First Amendment and the Second Amendment, respectively, to the Gilead Agreement to clarify certain language of the Gilead Agreement. These amendments had no impact on revenue recognition.
Under the Gilead Agreement, Gilead has the option to license drug candidates directed to up to five targets resulting from the collaboration and is responsible for the clinical development and commercialization of drug candidates resulting from the collaboration. We retain the option to co-develop and co-promote, under a profit share structure, up to two drug candidates in the United States, provided that we may only exercise such option once per licensed product and Gilead retains the right to veto our option selection for any one drug candidate of its choice. The collaboration excludes our current internal protein degradation programs for which we retain all rights, and also excludes our future internal programs, provided that we have distinguished future programs as excluded from the scope of the collaboration. In March 2023, Gilead exercised the option, which did not represent a material right at contract inception, since it was not offered for free or at a discount, to exclusively license one target (Gilead License Option Exercise), the first development candidate resulting from the Gilead Agreement. Pursuant to the Gilead Agreement, we received a license option exercise payment of $20.0 million in April 2023 for the Gilead License Option Exercise. The license to the functional intellectual property and all goods and services related to the Gilead License Option Exercise were transferred during the second quarter of fiscal year 2023.
Over time, Gilead may elect to replace the initial drug targets with other drug targets. For drug targets that are subject to the collaboration, we are obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to undertake a research program in accordance with a research plan agreed to by the parties and established on a target-by-target basis. We have primary responsibility under the Gilead Agreement for performing preclinical research activities (including target validation, drug discovery, identification or synthesis) pursuant to a research plan. Each party will bear its own costs in the conduct of research activities. Gilead will be responsible for any development, commercialization and manufacturing activities, unless we exercise our co-development and co-promotion option. For those programs that we exercise our option to co-develop and co-promote, we and Gilead will split U.S. development costs as well as U.S. profits and losses evenly, and we will be eligible to receive royalties on net ex-U.S. sales and reduced milestone payments.
Upon signing the Gilead Agreement, Gilead paid us an upfront payment of $45.0 million, plus $3.0 million in additional fees. In addition, from the signing of the Gilead Agreement to November 30, 2023, we received payments of $47.0 million for research milestones and additional payments and $20.0 million for a license option exercise payment. As of November 30, 2023, we are eligible to receive up to approximately $2.3 billion in total additional payments based on certain additional fees, payments and the successful completion of certain preclinical, clinical, development and sales milestones. We also are eligible to receive mid-single digit to low tens percentage tiered royalties on annual net sales from any commercial products directed to the optioned collaboration targets, subject to certain reductions and excluding sales in the United States of any products for which we exercise our option to co-develop and co-promote, for which the parties share profits and losses evenly.
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Subject to earlier expiration in certain circumstances, the Gilead Agreement expires on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis upon the later of (1) the expiration of the last to expire patent with a valid claim covering the applicable licensed product in the applicable country, (2) the expiration of any regulatory exclusivity for the applicable licensed product in the applicable country or (3) ten years after the first commercial sale of the applicable licensed product in the applicable country covered by the Gilead Agreement, provided that the term for any profit-shared licensed product in the United States will expire upon the expiration or termination of the applicable profit-share term as set forth in an applicable profit-share agreement to be negotiated upon our exercise of our option to co-develop and co-promote such licensed product. If Gilead does not exercise an option to license a drug candidate, then the Gilead Agreement will terminate at the end of the last to expire option period.
We recognized collaboration revenue from the Gilead Agreement of $29.9 million and $23.7 million during the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. As of November 30, 2023 and 2022, there was $10.0 million and $27.4 million, respectively, of deferred revenue related to payments received by us under the Gilead Agreement.
Sanofi
In December 2019, we entered into a strategic collaboration with Genzyme Corporation, a subsidiary of Sanofi, which became effective in January 2020 (as subsequently expanded and amended, the Sanofi Agreement), to discover, develop and commercialize a pipeline of targeted protein degradation drugs for patients with challenging diseases in multiple therapeutic areas using our DELigase platform to identify small molecules designed to induce degradation of three specified initial drug targets. In January 2021, as part of the existing Sanofi Agreement, Sanofi paid us $22.0 million to exercise its option to expand the number of targets in the Sanofi Agreement from three to a total of five targets.
In January 2021, we entered into the First Amendment to the Sanofi Agreement to modify the research term on all targets. In December 2021, we entered into the Second Amendment to the Sanofi Agreement to extend the substitution deadline on certain targets. In July 2022, we entered into the Third Amendment to the Sanofi Agreement to further extend the substitution deadline on certain targets. The extensions of the substitution deadline had no impact on revenue recognition. Also in July 2022, Sanofi elected to replace certain drug targets, and the substitution extended the research term of those targets by one year to 5.25 years and increased overall forecasted costs, which had an immaterial impact on revenue recognition. In August 2022 and November 2023, we entered into the Fourth Amendment and Fifth Amendment, respectively, to the Sanofi Agreement to modify the research plan for certain targets, which had no impact on revenue recognition.
Under the Sanofi Agreement, Sanofi has exclusive rights and is responsible for the clinical development, commercialization and manufacture of drug candidates resulting from the collaboration while we retain the option to co-develop, co-promote and co-commercialize all drug candidates in the United States directed to up to two targets, one of which must be selected from a list of targets designated at the execution of the Sanofi Agreement or any replacement of such targets, and one of which must be selected from targets identified by Sanofi as part of their January 2021 expansion. Our right to exercise our option to co-develop, co-promote and co-commercialize a given target is dependent on our ability to demonstrate, within a given timeframe, that we have sufficient cash resources and personnel to commercialize the product. The collaboration excludes our current internal protein degradation programs for which we retain all rights, and also excludes our future internal programs, provided that we distinguished future programs as excluded from the scope of the collaboration.
For drug targets that are subject to the collaboration, we have primary responsibility for conducting preclinical research activities (including target validation, drug discovery, identification or synthesis) in accordance with the applicable research plan agreed to by the parties and established on a target-by-target basis. We are obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to identify relevant target binders and targeted protein degraders in order to identify development candidates. Subject to certain exceptions, each party will bear its own costs in the conduct of such research. Sanofi will be responsible for any development and commercialization activities unless we exercise our co-development and co-promotion option. For those programs that we exercise our option to co-develop, co-promote and co-commercialize, we will be responsible for a portion of the U.S. development costs, and the parties will split U.S. profits and losses evenly, and we will be eligible to receive royalties on ex-U.S. net sales and reduced milestone payments on such optioned products.
Upon signing the Sanofi Agreement, Sanofi paid us an upfront payment of $55.0 million. Subsequently, in January 2021, Sanofi paid us an additional $22.0 million to exercise its option to expand the number of targets beyond the initial targets included in the collaboration. In addition, from the signing of the Sanofi Agreement to November 30, 2023, we received payments of $7.0 million for research milestones. Additionally, we achieved two research milestones in November 2023 and received payments totaling $4.0 million in January 2024 as a result. As of November 30, 2023, we are eligible to receive up to approximately $2.5 billion in total additional payments based on certain additional fees, payments and the successful completion of certain research development, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as mid-single digit to low teen percentage tiered royalties on annual net sales of any commercial products that may result from the collaboration, subject to certain reductions and excluding sales in the United States of any products for which we exercise our option to co-develop and co-promote, for which the parties share profits and losses evenly.
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Subject to earlier expiration in certain circumstances, the Sanofi Agreement expires on a licensed product-by-licensed product or profit-shared licensed product-by-profit-shared licensed product basis and country-by-country basis upon on the later of (1) the expiration of the last-to-expire patent with a valid claim covering the applicable licensed product in the applicable country, (2) the expiration of any regulatory exclusivity for the applicable licensed product in the applicable country or (3) ten years after the first commercial sale of the applicable licensed product in the applicable country covered by the Sanofi Agreement.
We recognized collaboration revenue from the Sanofi Agreement of $25.4 million and $15.0 million during the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. As of November 30, 2023 and 2022, there was $24.9 million and $46.2 million, respectively, of deferred revenue related to payments received by us under the Sanofi Agreement.
Pfizer
In September 2023, we entered into a strategic collaboration with Seagen Inc. (now a part of Pfizer Inc.) (the Pfizer Agreement) to develop a suite of targeted protein degraders against multiple targets nominated by Pfizer that are suitable for antibody conjugation. Pfizer will be responsible for conjugating these degraders to antibodies to make Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs), a new class of medicines for use in cancer treatment, and advancing these DAC drug candidates through preclinical and clinical development and commercialization.
Under the Pfizer Agreement, Pfizer has the option to obtain exclusive licenses to develop and commercialize certain degraders, while we retain an option for U.S. profit sharing and co-promotion on two products arising from the collaboration. The collaboration excludes our current internal protein degradation programs for which we retain all rights, and also excludes our future internal programs, provided that we have distinguished future programs as excluded from the scope of the collaboration.
For the targets nominated by Pfizer under the collaboration, we shall use commercially reasonable efforts to identify, synthesize, characterize and deliver targeted protein degraders that selectively bind to and degrade such targets. Development of licensed degraders, with the exception of licensed products for which we exercised our profit-share options, will be at Pfizer’s sole cost and expense. For the profit-share products, the parties will share net profits and net losses and global development costs, and we will be eligible to receive royalty and milestone payments on such optioned products.
Under the terms of the Pfizer Agreement, we received an upfront payment of $60.0 million. We are eligible to receive up to approximately $3.4 billion in contingent payments based on specified research, development, regulatory and commercial milestones across multiple programs, and are eligible for mid-single to low double digit percentage tiered royalties on future sales.
Subject to the exceptions described in the Pfizer Agreement, the Pfizer Agreement expires upon the first to occur of (1) the expiration of the last-to-expire option exercise period under the Pfizer Agreement if no such option has been exercised prior to such expiration and (2) the expiration of the last-to-expire royalty term under the Pfizer Agreement.
We recognized collaboration revenue from the Pfizer Agreement of $1.7 million during the year ended November 30, 2023. As of November 30, 2023, there was $58.3 million of deferred revenue related to payments received by us under the Pfizer Agreement.
Financial Overview
Since the commencement of our operations, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to conducting research and development activities, establishing and maintaining our intellectual property portfolio, establishing our corporate infrastructure, raising capital and providing general and administrative support for these operations. We have funded our operations to date primarily from proceeds received under collaboration and license agreements with Celgene Corporation, Gilead, Sanofi and Pfizer and the issuance and sale of common stock, redeemable convertible preferred stock and pre-funded warrants. We do not expect to generate product revenue unless and until we successfully develop and obtain approval for the commercialization of a drug candidate, and we cannot assure you that we will ever generate significant revenue or profits.
Since inception, we have generally incurred significant losses and negative cash flows from operations. During the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022, we incurred net losses of $143.9 million and $180.4 million, respectively. As of November 30, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $545.2 million. These losses have resulted primarily from costs incurred in connection with research and development activities and general and administrative costs associated with our operations.
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We do not expect to generate any revenue from commercial product sales unless and until we successfully complete development and obtain regulatory approval for one or more of our drug candidates, which we expect will take a number of years, if ever. We expect our expenses will increase substantially as we advance our drug candidates through preclinical and clinical development; enter advanced clinical development and scale up external manufacturing capabilities to supply clinical trials; apply our DELigase platform to advance additional drug candidates and expand the capabilities of our platform; seek marketing approvals for any drug candidates that successfully complete clinical trials; ultimately establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure and scale up external manufacturing capabilities to commercialize any products for which we may obtain marketing approval; expand, maintain and protect our intellectual property portfolio; and hire additional clinical, regulatory, manufacturing, quality assurance and scientific personnel. Furthermore, we expect to continue incurring costs associated with operating as a public company, including significant legal, accounting, insurance, investor relations and other administrative and professional services expenses.
Our net losses and cash flows may fluctuate significantly from period to period, depending on, among other things, variations in the level of expense related to the ongoing development of our drug candidates, our DELigase platform or future development programs; the delay, addition or termination of clinical trials; and the execution of any additional collaboration, licensing or similar arrangements, and the timing of payments we may make or receive under such arrangements.
As of November 30, 2023, we had $295.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. We expect that our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities are sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months. See the section titled “—Liquidity and Capital Resources” for more information. To finance our operations beyond that point, we will need to raise substantial additional capital to complete the development and commercialization of our drug candidates. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements and other marketing and distribution arrangements. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.
Impact of Current Global Business, Political and Macroeconomic Conditions
Uncertainty in the global business, political and macroeconomic environments present significant risks to our business. We are subject to continuing risks and uncertainties, including increasing financial market volatility and uncertainty, inflation, increasing interest rates, uncertainty with respect to the federal budget and debt ceiling and potential government shutdowns related thereto, instability in the global banking system, cybersecurity events, the impact of war or military conflict, including regional conflicts around the world, and public health pandemics. We are closely monitoring the impact of these factors on all aspects of our business, including the impacts on our clinical trial patients, employees, partner, suppliers, and vendors.
The ultimate extent of the impact of global economic conditions on our business remains highly uncertain and will depend on future developments and factors that continue to evolve. Most of these developments and factors are outside of our control and could exist for an extended period of time. As a result, we are subject to continuing risks and uncertainties and continue to closely monitor the impact of the current conditions on our business. For more information regarding these risks and uncertainties, see the section titled “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Components of Results of Operations
Collaboration Revenue
We have no products approved for commercial sale and to date have not generated any revenue from the sale of products and do not expect to generate any revenue from the sale of products in the near future.
Our revenue to date has been generated from payments received pursuant to collaboration and license arrangements with strategic partners. Collaboration revenue consists of revenue received from upfront, milestone and contingent payments received from our collaborators. We recognize revenue from upfront payments over the contract term using the cost-based input method. The material right to the two additional targets under the Sanofi Agreement was accounted for using the practical alternative and the expected consideration to be received on the options was included for revenue allocation. We expect to continue recognizing revenue from upfront payments related to our collaboration agreements using the cost-based input method in the foreseeable future.
In addition to receiving upfront payments, we may also be entitled to milestones and other contingent payments upon achieving predefined objectives. If a milestone is considered probable of being reached, and if it is probable that a significant revenue reversal would not occur, the associated milestone amount would also be included in the transaction price.
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We expect that any collaboration revenue we generate from our current collaboration and license agreements, and from any future collaboration partners, will fluctuate in the future as a result of the timing and amount of upfront, milestones and other collaboration agreement payments and other factors.
License Revenue
Our license revenue consists of a payment received from the Gilead License Option Exercise that was fully recognized during the second quarter of fiscal year 2023.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for the discovery and development of our drug candidates. We expense both internal and external research and development expenses to operations in the periods in which they are incurred. Nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services to be received in future periods for use in research and development activities are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are then expensed as the related goods are delivered and as services are performed. We track the external research and development costs incurred for each of our drug candidates.
Internal research and development costs include:
•payroll and personnel expenses, including benefits, stock-based compensation and travel expenses, for our research and development functions; and
•depreciation of research and development equipment, allocated overhead and facilities-related expenses.
External research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for the development of our drug candidates and may include:
•fees paid to third parties such as consultants, contractors and contract research organizations to conduct our clinical trials, discovery programs and preclinical studies;
•costs to acquire, develop and manufacture supplies for clinical trials and preclinical studies, including fees paid to third parties such as contract manufacturing organizations; and
•expenses related to laboratory supplies and services.
We expect our research and development expenses to increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we conduct clinical trials for our drug candidates, continue to invest in research and development activities for discovery programs and preclinical studies, pursue regulatory approval of our drug candidates and expand our drug candidate pipeline. The process of conducting the necessary preclinical and clinical research to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time-consuming. To the extent that our drug candidates advance to and continue to advance through clinical trials, our expenses will continue increasing substantially and may become more variable. The actual probability of success for our drug candidates may be affected by a variety of factors, including the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates, investment in our clinical programs, the ability of collaborators to successfully develop our licensed drug candidates, manufacturing capability, competition with other products and commercial viability. As a result of these variables, we are unable to determine when and to what extent we will generate revenue from the commercialization and sale of our drug candidates. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for any of our drug candidates.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of payroll and personnel expenses, including benefits and stock-based compensation, facilities-related expenses and professional fees for legal, consulting and audit and tax services. We expect our general and administrative expenses to increase for the foreseeable future as we continue to improve our infrastructure and operate as a public company. This may include expenses related to compliance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and listing standards applicable to companies listed on a national securities exchange, additional insurance, investor relations activities and other administrative and professional services. We also expect our intellectual property expenses to increase as we expand our intellectual property portfolio.
Interest and Other Income, Net
Interest and other income, net primarily consists of interest earned on our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. We expect interest income to vary each reporting period depending on our average bank deposit, money market fund and marketable securities balances during the period and market interest rates.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 of the consolidated financial statements to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. As disclosed in Note 2, the preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. We believe that the following discussion addresses our most critical accounting policies and estimates, which are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management’s most difficult, subjective and complex judgments.
Leases
We determine if an arrangement contains a lease and the classification of the lease at inception. An arrangement contains a lease if there is an identified asset and if we control the use of the identified asset throughout the period of use. The evaluation of whether the lease is an operating or a finance lease requires judgments in determining the fair value of the leased asset. Lease right-of-use (ROU) assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term at the commencement date. We use our incremental borrowing rate, if an implicit rate is not readily available, and the information available at the date of lease commencement in determining our lease liabilities. Our incremental borrowing rate is based on the rate of interest that we would have to pay to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term for an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment, and the determination of the rate requires us to make certain assumptions and judgements, including on our synthetic credit rating. Leases may include options to extend or early terminate the lease term. If we, using judgement, are reasonably certain that an option will be exercised, then the option will be included in the calculation of the lease term. The determination of the lease liabilities is sensitive to the incremental borrowing rate and the expected lease term. Lease expense for operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. We do not have any finance leases.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue when our customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. At contract inception, we assess the goods or services promised within each contract, whether each promised good or service is distinct, and determine those that are performance obligations. We then recognize as revenue the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the respective performance obligation when or as the performance obligation is satisfied.
We enter into collaboration agreements under which we may obtain upfront payments, milestone payments, royalty payments and other fees. Promises under these arrangements may include research licenses, research services, including selection campaign research services for certain replacement targets, the obligation to share information during the research term and the participation of alliance managers and in joint research committees, joint patent committees and joint steering committees. We assess these promises within the context of the agreements to determine the performance obligations.
Exclusive license rights: If a license to our intellectual property is determined to be distinct from the other promises identified in the arrangement, we recognize revenue from nonrefundable, upfront payments allocated to the license when the license is transferred to the customer and the customer is able to use and benefit from the license and the underlying intellectual property. If the license is the predominant promise, and it is determined that the license represents functional intellectual property, revenue is recognized at the point in time when control of the license is transferred. If it is determined that the license does not represent functional intellectual property, revenue is recognized over time using an appropriate method of measuring progress.
Research and collaboration licenses: Collaboration agreements may include research licenses and research and development services to be performed by us. For research licenses that are bundled with other promises, we utilize judgment to assess the nature of the combined performance obligation to determine whether the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time or at a point in time and, if over time, the appropriate method of measuring proportional performance for purposes of recognizing revenue from non-refundable, upfront payments. We evaluate the measure of proportional performance each reporting period and, if necessary, adjust the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.
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Milestone payments: At the inception of each arrangement that includes research, development or regulatory milestone payments, we evaluate whether the milestones are considered probable of being reached and estimate the amount to be included in the transaction price. We use the most likely amount method for research, development and regulatory milestone payments. Under the most likely amount method, an entity considers the single most likely amount in a range of possible consideration amounts. If it is probable that a significant revenue reversal would not occur, the associated milestone amount is included in the transaction price.
Customer options: Customer options, such as options granted to allow a licensee to extend a license or research term, to select additional research targets or to choose to research, develop and commercialize licensed compounds, are evaluated at contract inception to determine whether those options provide a material right (i.e., an optional good or service offered for free or at a discount) to the customer. If the customer options represent a material right, the material right is treated as a separate performance obligation at the outset of the arrangement. We allocate the transaction price to material rights based on the standalone selling price. As a practical alternative to estimating the standalone selling price of a material right when the underlying goods or services are both (i) similar to the original goods or services in the contract and (ii) provided in accordance with the terms of the original contract, we allocate the total amount of consideration expected to be received from the customer to the total goods or services expected to be provided to the customer. Amounts allocated to any material right are recognized as revenue when or as the related future goods or services are transferred or when the option expires.
For performance obligations satisfied over time, we recognize revenue using the cost-based input method and evaluate the measure of proportional performance each reporting period and, if necessary, adjust the measure of performance and related revenue recognition. To measure the proportional performance, we are required to make our best estimates of forecasted expenditures and development timelines, which are subject to uncertainties, including the timing of replacement targets, if any, associated with pharmaceutical product development. Forecasted total expenditures are driven primarily by the number of full-time employees, and the assumptions over the number of full-time employees require significant management judgement. The number of full-time employees may change based on the progress and timing of our product development, and may be influenced by resource allocation decisions on internal programs and overall constraint on resources. The model is highly sensitive to changes in resources assigned over the research term. Forecasted total expenditures also include other direct costs related to product development, including third-party contract costs, and may also require management’s estimate of costs and market conditions that may impact costs.
Results of Operations
Comparison of the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022
Our results of operations for the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022 are summarized as follows (in thousands):
| Year ended November 30, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | ||||||||
| Revenue: | ||||||||||
| Collaboration revenue | $ | 56,987 | $ | 38,627 | $ | 18,360 | ||||
| License revenue | 20,000 | — | 20,000 | |||||||
| Total revenue | 76,987 | 38,627 | 38,360 | |||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||
| Research and development | 189,148 | 184,497 | 4,651 | |||||||
| General and administrative | 42,902 | 37,997 | 4,905 | |||||||
| Total operating expenses | 232,050 | 222,494 | 9,556 | |||||||
| Loss from operations | (155,063) | (183,867) | 28,804 | |||||||
| Interest and other income, net | 11,115 | 3,507 | 7,608 | |||||||
| Net loss | $ | (143,948) | $ | (180,360) | $ | 36,412 |
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Collaboration Revenue
Our collaboration revenue for the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022 is summarized as follows (in thousands):
| Year ended November 30, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | ||||||||
| Gilead | $ | 29,947 | $ | 23,674 | $ | 6,273 | ||||
| Sanofi | 25,350 | 14,953 | 10,397 | |||||||
| Pfizer | 1,690 | — | 1,690 | |||||||
| Total collaboration revenue | $ | 56,987 | $ | 38,627 | $ | 18,360 |
Our collaboration revenue increased by $18.4 million during the year ended November 30, 2023, compared to the year ended November 30, 2022, primarily due to increased effort resulting in a higher percentage of completion of performance obligations under our collaborations with Gilead and Sanofi in the current period. The increase was also due to higher achievement of research milestones that resulted in higher revenue recognized in each period and impacted the cumulative catch up in revenue for activities satisfied in previous periods. In addition, we recognized revenue of $1.7 million related to activities performed during the fourth fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2023 pursuant to the Pfizer Agreement.
License Revenue
Our license revenue was $20.0 million for the year ended November 30, 2023, and is related to the Gilead License Option Exercise. There was no license revenue for the year ended November 30, 2022.
Research and Development Expenses
Our research and development expenses for the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022 are summarized as follows (in thousands):
| Year ended November 30, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | Change | ||||||||
| Compensation and related personnel costs | $ | 72,876 | $ | 65,336 | $ | 7,540 | ||||
| Stock-based compensation | 18,709 | 16,878 | 1,831 | |||||||
| Supplies and contract research | 43,943 | 47,814 | (3,871) | |||||||
| Preclinical activities | 1,652 | 5,912 | (4,260) | |||||||
| Contract manufacturing | 7,770 | 13,562 | (5,792) | |||||||
| Clinical costs | 17,500 | 13,887 | 3,613 | |||||||
| Facility and other costs | 26,698 | 21,108 | 5,590 | |||||||
| Total research and development expenses | $ | 189,148 | $ | 184,497 | $ | 4,651 |
Our research and development expense increased by $4.7 million during the year ended November 30, 2023, compared to the year ended November 30, 2022. There was an increase in compensation and related personnel costs and in non-cash stock-based compensation expense that were primarily attributable to higher headcount and the issuance of restricted stock units (RSUs) and incentive stock options. There was also an increase in clinical costs as we continued our clinical trial programs and ongoing patient enrollment and an increase in facility and other costs primarily driven by investments in equipment and expenses related to our leases of office and laboratory space, including the lease in The Woodlands, Texas. There was a decrease in research related costs as we concluded certain studies and sponsored research agreements and a decrease in contract manufacturing as we stabilized the supply needed for our clinical trials.
General and Administrative Expenses
Our general and administrative expenses increased by $4.9 million during the year ended November 30, 2023, compared to the year ended November 30, 2022. There was an increase in non-cash stock-based compensation expense primarily driven by the increased issuance of RSUs and incentive stock options and an increase in professional service costs related to the Pfizer Agreement, offset by a decrease in outside consulting costs.
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Interest and Other Income, Net
Our interest and other income, net increased by $7.6 million during the year ended November 30, 2023, compared to the year ended November 30, 2022, primarily attributable to higher interest rates earning higher interest income on our deposits, money market funds and marketable securities.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Sources of Liquidity
In July 2020, we closed our initial public offering (IPO) and issued 12,550,000 shares of our common stock (including the exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase an additional 1,550,000 shares of common stock in August 2020) at a price to the public of $19.00 per share for net proceeds of $218.1 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $16.7 million and expenses of $3.6 million.
In March 2021, we completed a follow-on offering and issued 5,175,000 shares of our common stock (including the exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase an additional 675,000 shares of common stock) at a price to the public of $31.00 per share for net proceeds of $150.2 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $9.6 million and expenses of $0.6 million.
In August 2021, we entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement with Piper Sandler & Co. (Piper Sandler) pursuant to which, from time to time, we may offer and sell through Piper Sandler up to $150.0 million of the common stock registered under our shelf registration statement on Form S-3 pursuant to one or more “at the market” offerings. We are not required to sell any shares at any time during the term of the Equity Distribution Agreement. We agreed to pay Piper Sandler a commission of 3% of the gross sales price of any shares sold pursuant to the Equity Distribution Agreement. In June 2022, we issued and sold 2,000,000 shares of common stock under the Equity Distribution Agreement at a price of $10.0001 per share of common stock for net proceeds of approximately $19.3 million after deducting offering commissions and expenses paid by us (the June 2022 ATM Offering). As of November 30, 2023, we had $130.0 million of common stock remaining available for sale under the Equity Distribution Agreement.
In July 2022, we entered into separate securities purchase agreements with certain purchasers to issue and sell pre‑funded warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,814,920 shares of our common stock in registered direct offerings (RDOs) at a price of $13.939 per pre-funded warrant. Net proceeds from the RDOs were approximately $94.8 million, after deducting offering expenses of $0.2 million. The pre-funded warrants were immediately exercisable, have an exercise price of $0.001 and may be exercised at any time after the date of issuance. A holder of the pre-funded warrants may not exercise the warrant if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than 9.99% of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. A holder of the pre-funded warrants may increase or decrease this percentage not in excess of 19.99% by providing us at least 61 days’ prior notice. As of November 30, 2023, a total of 6,097,560 pre-funded warrants remained available for exercise.
Funding Requirements
As of November 30, 2023, our operations have primarily been funded through the net proceeds from equity offerings of $650.5 million and proceeds from collaborations of $409.0 million. We do not have any products approved for sale, and we have not generated any revenue from product sales. As of November 30, 2023, we had $295.3 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
We expect that our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities are sufficient to meet our cash requirements and continue operating activities, including the clinical trials of our drug candidates NX-5948, NX-2127 and NX-1607 and the expansion of our intellectual property portfolio and infrastructure, for at least the next 12 months. We will need substantial additional funding to support our continuing operations and pursue our long-term business plan. We may seek to raise any necessary additional capital through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements and other marketing and distribution arrangements. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development and commercialization of our drug candidates and the extent to which we may enter into additional collaborations with third parties to participate in their development and commercialization, we are unable to estimate the amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenditures associated with our current and anticipated preclinical studies and clinical trials.
In the long term, our ability to support our working capital and capital expenditure requirements will depend on many factors, including the following:
•the progress, costs and results of our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials for our lead drug candidates NX-5948, NX-2127 and NX-1607, and any future clinical development of such drug candidates;
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•the scope, progress, costs and results of preclinical and clinical development for our other drug candidates and development programs;
•the number and development requirements of other drug candidates that we pursue;
•the scope of, and costs associated with, future advancements to our DELigase platform;
•the success of our collaborations with Gilead, Sanofi, Pfizer and any other collaborations we may establish;
•the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our drug candidates;
•the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including product manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution, for any of our drug candidates for which we receive marketing approval;
•the revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our drug candidates for which we receive marketing approval;
•the costs and timing of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending any intellectual property-related claims; and
•our ability to establish additional collaboration arrangements with other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies on favorable terms, if at all, for the development or commercialization of our drug candidates.
We considered whether there are conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and evaluated the funds necessary to maintain operations. If we are unable to obtain additional funding, we will be required to implement plans that are within our control, which may include the delay or scaling back of certain research and development programs, to maintain liquidity and operations. Additionally, we may be required to obtain funds through arrangements with others that may require us to relinquish rights to certain of our technologies or products that we would otherwise seek to develop or commercialize ourselves, or cease operations. If we do raise additional capital through public or private equity or convertible debt offerings, the ownership interest of our existing stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect our stockholders’ rights. If we raise additional capital through debt financing, we may be subject to covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.
Our contractual obligations mostly consist of our operating lease obligations for our facilities in San Francisco, California and The Woodlands, Texas. Our total operating lease commitments as of November 30, 2023, were approximately $42.4 million, of which $7.6 million is expected to be paid within the next 12 months. In addition, we enter into agreements in the normal course of business with contract research organizations for clinical trials and with vendors for preclinical studies and other services and products for operating purposes, which are generally cancelable upon written notice.
We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any commitments or obligations, including contingent obligations, arising from arrangements with unconsolidated entities or persons that have or are reasonably likely to have a material current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, cash requirements or capital resources.
Cash flows
Our cash flows for the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022 are summarized as follows (in thousands):
| Year ended November 30, | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | ||||||
| Cash used in operating activities | $ | (81,365) | $ | (159,807) | |||
| Cash provided by investing activities | 68,301 | 27,198 | |||||
| Cash provided by financing activities | 3,217 | 117,192 | |||||
| Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | $ | (9,847) | $ | (15,417) |
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Operating activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $81.4 million for the year ended November 30, 2023, and consisted of our net loss of $143.9 million, offset by non-cash adjustments of $42.5 million and a decrease in net assets of $20.1 million. Non-cash adjustments primarily consisted of stock-based compensation expenses of $33.7 million, depreciation and amortization expenses of $7.5 million and amortization of operating lease ROU assets of $6.1 million, offset by net accretion of discount on marketable securities of $5.4 million. The decrease in net assets consisted of an increase in deferred revenue of $19.5 million mainly from the upfront payment received pursuant to the Pfizer Agreement, an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $3.1 million primarily related to the accrual of annual incentive compensation, a decrease in prepaid expenses and other assets of $2.1 million primarily due to the recognition of expenses for prepaid services and an increase in accounts payable of $1.6 million from outstanding payments to vendors, offset by a decrease in operating lease liabilities of $6.3 million due to payments made on operating leases.
Net cash used in operating activities was $159.8 million for the year ended November 30, 2022, and consisted of our net loss of $180.4 million and an increase in net assets of $19.0 million, offset by non-cash adjustments of $39.6 million. The increase in net assets consisted primarily of a decrease in deferred revenue of $26.6 million as we increased effort in our programs and recognized revenue, a decrease in operating lease liabilities of $4.9 million due to payments made on operating leases and an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $1.1 million primarily related to increased prepaid clinical and contract manufacturing costs and software license costs, offset by an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $7.5 million primarily related to the accrual of contract research, laboratory supplies and annual incentive compensation and a decrease in accounts receivable of $6.0 million related to payments received under the Gilead Agreement. Non-cash adjustments primarily consisted of stock-based compensation expenses of $28.1 million, amortization of operating lease ROU assets of $5.5 million and depreciation and amortization expenses of $5.3 million.
Investing activities
Net cash provided by investing activities was $68.3 million for the year ended November 30, 2023, and consisted of the maturity of marketable securities of $323.0 million, offset by the purchase of marketable securities of $246.3 million and purchases of property and equipment of $8.4 million.
Net cash provided by investing activities was $27.2 million for the year ended November 30, 2022, and consisted of the maturity of marketable securities of $278.8 million, offset by the purchase of marketable securities of $239.4 million and purchases of property and equipment of $12.2 million.
Financing activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $3.2 million for the year ended November 30, 2023, and consisted primarily of proceeds from the issuance of common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
Net cash provided by financing activities was $117.2 million for the year ended November 30, 2022, and consisted primarily of net proceeds from the issuance of pre-funded warrants in the RDOs of $94.8 million and from the issuance of common stock in the June 2022 ATM Offering of $19.4 million.
Information About Segments
We currently operate in a single business segment. See additional information in our financial statements contained in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.