Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (WVE) FY 2022 MD&A

Overview

We are a clinical-stage genetic medicines company committed to delivering life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases. Using PRISM, our proprietary discovery and drug development platform that enables the precise design, optimization, and production of novel stereopure oligonucleotides, we are working to develop first-or best-in-class medicines that target the transcriptome (the full set of ribonucleic acid, or “RNA,” molecules produced from the human genome) to treat genetically defined diseases with a high degree of unmet need.

Our RNA-targeting oligonucleotides are designed to correct disease-causing mutations, modulate protein activity, restore the production of functional proteins or reduce the expression of disease-promoting RNAs or proteins. Data from our ongoing clinical and preclinical studies has demonstrated significant improvements in potency, durability, and distribution for our oligonucleotides designed through PRISM, compared with competitor chemistries. These data support our platform as best-in-class for designing and optimizing RNA-targeting medicines.

Since our inception, we have seen the value of developing RNA-targeting medicines compared to other nucleic acid therapeutics, including gene therapy and DNA editing. By intervening at the RNA level, we have the potential to address diseases that have historically been difficult to treat with small molecules or biologics, while retaining the ability to titrate dose, modulate duration of effect, and avoid risk of permanent off-target genetic changes and other challenges associated with DNA editing or gene therapy approaches. Oligonucleotides have additional advantages as a therapeutic class, including the ability to access multiple tissue types and the ability to modulate the frequency of dosing to ensure broad distribution within tissues over time. Oligonucleotides also have well-established manufacturing processes and validated test methods based on decades of improvements, as well as established regulatory, access, and reimbursement pathways.

Our approach is based on the scientific insight that the biological machinery necessary to address genetic diseases already exists in human cells and can be harnessed for therapeutic purposes with the right tools. We have built a versatile platform comprised of multiple therapeutic modalities, which provides flexibility to design built-for-purpose molecules that optimally address disease biology. These modalities are RNA base editing, splicing, and silencing, including both RNA interference (“RNAi”) and antisense, all of which incorporate proprietary and novel chemistries to optimize the pharmacological properties of our therapeutic oligonucleotides.

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We have a robust and diverse pipeline of potential first-or best-in-class programs. Our lead programs are designed to treat genetic diseases, including those in muscle, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (“DMD”); liver, including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (“AATD”); and the central nervous system (“CNS”), including Huntington’s disease (“HD”), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“ALS”) and frontotemporal dementia (“FTD”). These programs include:

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WVE-N531 (splicing), our exon 53 molecule for the treatment of DMD;

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WVE-006 (editing), our SERPINA1 molecule for the treatment of AATD;

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WVE-003 (silencing), our mHTT SNP3 molecule for the treatment of HD; and

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WVE-004 (silencing), our C9orf72 molecule for the treatment of C9orf72-associated ALS and FTD.

Over the last several years, we have built a leading RNA base editing capability. Our A-to-I RNA base editing oligonucleotides (“AIMers”) enable access to areas of disease biology that are not viable for other therapeutic modalities. Our editing capability affords us the dexterity to address both rare diseases, as well as diseases impacting large patient populations.

AIMers are designed to target single bases on an RNA transcript and recruit proteins that exist in the body, called ADAR (adenosine deaminases acting on RNA) enzymes, which naturally possess the ability to change an adenine (A) to an inosine (I), which cells read as guanine (G). This approach enables both the correction of G-to-A point mutations, as well as the modulation of RNA to upregulate protein expression, modify protein-protein interactions, or alter RNA folding and processing. AIMers enable simplified delivery and avoid the risk of permanent changes to the genome and irreversible off-target effects with DNA-targeting approaches. AIMers are short in length, fully chemically modified, and use novel chemistry, including proprietary PN backbone modifications and chiral control, which make them distinct from other ADAR-mediated editing approaches.

Our PRISM platform was built on the recognition that a significant opportunity exists to tune the pharmacological properties of oligonucleotide therapeutics by leveraging three key features of these molecules: sequence, chemistry, and stereochemistry. Our unique ability to control stereochemistry provides the resolution necessary to optimize pharmacological profiles and develop and manufacture stereopure oligonucleotides. Stereopure oligonucleotides are comprised of molecules with atoms precisely and purposefully arranged in three-dimensional orientations at each linkage. These differ from the mixture-based oligonucleotides currently on the market or in development by others. Additionally, to mitigate pharmacological risks and potential manufacturing challenges, our approach focuses on designing short, chemically modified oligonucleotides without the need for complex delivery vehicles. We have also established and continue to enhance our internal cGMP (current good manufacturing practices) manufacturing capabilities to increase control and visibility of our drug substance supply chain, while continuing to innovate oligonucleotide manufacturing.

PRISM also incorporates our novel, proprietary PN backbone chemistry modifications, which have been shown preclinically and clinically to increase potency, distribution, and durability of effect across our various modalities. PN chemistry is incorporated in all of our current clinical, preclinical and discovery-stage programs.

COVID-19 Business Update

We continue to closely monitor developments related to COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. In response to this global pandemic, we have concentrated our efforts on the health and safety of our employees and patients, while maintaining business continuity and honoring our commitment to deliver life-changing treatments for people battling devastating diseases.

Our on-site activities continue with protocols for safely accessing and working within our facilities. While we continue to conduct research and development activities, including our ongoing clinical trials, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted, and may continue to impact, certain of our early-stage discovery efforts and clinical trials. We are working with our clinical investigators, research and development vendors, and supply chain vendors to continually assess and take steps to mitigate the potential impact of COVID-19 on our manufacturing operations and research and development activities.

We will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation as we evolve our business continuity plans. Given the global risks and uncertainties associated with COVID-19, our business, results of operations, and prospects have been and could be materially adversely affected. For additional information, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Recent Developments

On December 13, 2022, Wave Life Sciences USA, Inc. and Wave Life Sciences UK Limited, entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement (the “GSK Collaboration Agreement”) with GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property (No. 3) (“GSK”), which became effective on January 27, 2023. Pursuant to the GSK Collaboration Agreement, we and GSK have agreed to collaborate on the research, development, and commercialization of oligonucleotide therapeutics, including an exclusive global license to WVE-006. The discovery collaboration has an initial four-year research term and combines our proprietary discovery and drug development platform, PRISM, with GSK’s unique insights from human genetics and its global development and commercial capabilities.

Under the terms of the GSK Collaboration Agreement, we received an upfront payment of $170.0 million, which included a cash payment of $120.0 million and a $50.0 million equity investment. On January 26, 2023, pursuant to a share purchase agreement we entered into with Glaxo Group Limited (“GGL”) dated as of December 13, 2022, we closed on the $50.0 million equity investment by selling 10,683,761 of our ordinary shares at a purchase price of $4.68 per share to GGL. Subsequent to the GSK Collaboration Agreement becoming effective on January 27, 2023, we received the upfront payment of $120.0 million and the first installment of research support funding in respect of target validation activities under the collaboration.

Financial Operations Overview

We have never been profitable, and since our inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. Our net loss was $161.8 million in 2022 and $122.2 million in 2021. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $967.3 million and $805.5 million, respectively. We expect to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future.

Revenue

We recognize collaboration revenue under the Takeda Collaboration Agreement (as defined in Note 5 in the notes to the consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, “Note 5”), which became effective in April 2018. We have not generated any product revenue since our inception and do not expect to generate any revenue from the sale of products for the foreseeable future.

Operating Expenses

Our operating expenses since inception have consisted primarily of research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for our research activities, including our discovery efforts, and the development of our product candidates, which include:

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compensation-related expenses, including employee salaries, bonuses, share-based compensation expense and other related benefits expenses for personnel in our research and development organization;

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expenses incurred under agreements with third parties, including contract research organizations (“CROs”) that conduct research, preclinical and clinical activities on our behalf, as well as contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”) that manufacture drug product for use in our preclinical studies and clinical trials;

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expenses incurred related to our internal manufacturing of drug substance for use in our preclinical studies and clinical trials;

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expenses related to compliance with regulatory requirements;

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expenses related to third-party consultants;

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research and development supplies and services expenses; and

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facility-related expenses, including rent, maintenance and other general operating expenses.

We recognize research and development costs as incurred. We recognize external development costs based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks using information provided to us by our vendors. Payments for these activities are based on the terms of the individual agreements, which may differ from the pattern of costs incurred, and are reflected in our financial statements as prepaid or accrued expenses.

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Our primary research and development focus since inception has been the development of our proprietary discovery and drug development platform, PRISM. We are using PRISM, which includes our novel PN backbone chemistry modifications, to design, develop and commercialize a broad pipeline of nucleic acid therapeutic candidates that target RNA using RNA editing, splicing, and silencing.

Our research and development expenses consist primarily of expenses related to our CROs, CMOs, consultants, other external vendors and fees paid to global regulatory agencies to conduct our clinical trials, in addition to compensation-related expenses, internal manufacturing expenses, facility-related expenses and other general operating expenses. These expenses are incurred in connection with research and development efforts and our preclinical studies and clinical trials. We track certain external expenses on a program-by-program basis. However, we do not allocate compensation-related expenses, internal manufacturing expenses, equipment repairs and maintenance expense, facility-related expenses or other operating expenses to specific programs. These expenses, which are not allocated on a program-by-program basis, are included in the “PRISM and other research and development expenses” category along with other external expenses related to our discovery and development programs, as well as platform development and identification of potential drug discovery candidates.

Product candidates in later stages of clinical development generally have higher development costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials. We expect to continue to incur significant research and development expenses in the foreseeable future as we continue to manage our existing clinical trials, initiate additional clinical trials for certain product candidates, pursue later stages of clinical development for certain product candidates, maintain our manufacturing capabilities and continue to discover and develop additional product candidates in multiple therapeutic areas.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation-related expenses, including salaries, bonuses, share-based compensation and other related benefits costs for personnel in our executive, finance, corporate, legal and administrative functions, as well as compensation-related expenses for our board of directors. General and administrative expenses also include legal fees; expenses associated with being a public company; professional fees for accounting, auditing, tax and consulting services; insurance costs; travel expenses; other operating costs; and facility-related expenses.

Other Income, Net

Other income, net is comprised of refundable tax credits from tax authorities, dividend and interest income earned on cash and cash equivalents balances, gains and losses on foreign currency transactions, and real estate taxes. We recognize refundable tax credits when there is reasonable assurance that we will comply with the requirements of the refundable tax credit and that the refundable tax credit will be received.

Income Taxes

We are a Singapore multi-national company subject to taxation in the United States and various other jurisdictions.

As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we have recorded a full valuation allowance against our net operating loss carryforwards and federal and state tax credits in all jurisdictions due to uncertainty regarding future taxable income.

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Results of Operations

In this section, we discuss the results of our operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.

Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2022 to the Year Ended December 31, 2021

The following table summarizes our results of operations for 2022 and 2021:

Revenue

Revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was approximately $3.6 million and $41.0 million, respectively, and was primarily earned under the Takeda Collaboration Agreement. The $37.3 million decrease was primarily due to the amendment to our Takeda Collaboration Agreement in 2021, which discontinued the Category 2 component and resulted in the recognition of the previously constrained revenue and an additional $22.5 million for research and development services related to the Category 2 component. Furthermore, in 2022 there was an increase in the expected future research and development services under the Takeda Collaboration Agreement based on the revenue recognition standard.

Research and Development Expenses

The following table summarizes our research and development expenses incurred for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:

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Includes discovery and development programs, identification of potential drug discovery candidates, and compensation-related expenses, internal manufacturing expenses, equipment repairs and maintenance expense, facility-related expenses and other operating expenses, which are not allocated to specific programs.

Research and development expenses were $115.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $121.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease of approximately $6.0 million was due primarily to the following:

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an increase of $1.4 million in external expenses related to our ALS and FTD program, WVE-004 (PN-modified silencing oligonucleotide);

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a decrease of $15.7 million in external expenses related to our HD programs, driven by decreased external expenses related to our discontinued WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 programs, partially offset by continuing external expenses for our WVE-003 (PN-modified silencing oligonucleotide) program;

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an increase of $1.5 million in external expenses related to our DMD programs, including WVE-N531 (PN-modified splicing oligonucleotide);

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an increase of $3.4 million in external expenses related to our AATD program, WVE-006 (PN-modified RNA editing oligonucleotide); and

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an increase of $3.3 million in internal and external research and development expenses that are not allocated on a program-by-program basis and are related to other discovery and development programs, including PRISM and the identification of potential drug discovery candidates, mainly due to increases in compensation-related expenses and facilities-related expenses, partially offset by decreases in other external research and development expenses.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses were $50.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to $46.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $4.4 million was primarily driven by increases in compensation-related expenses, as well as increases in other general and administrative operating expenses.

Other Income, Net

Other income, net for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $1.6 million and $4.6 million, respectively. The decrease of $3.0 million in other income, net was primarily driven by a decrease in estimated refundable tax credits, partially offset by an increase in dividend income during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Income Tax Benefit (Provision)

During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we recorded income tax provision of $0.7 million and an income tax benefit of $0.2 million, respectively. The income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily due to the requirement under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 for taxpayers to capitalize and amortize research and development expenditures over five or fifteen years pursuant to Section 174 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, partially offset by the utilization of net operating losses subject to the Section 382 limitation. The income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to the release of a portion of our uncertain tax positions as a result of a lapse in the statute of limitations.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since our inception, we have not generated any product revenue and have incurred recurring net losses. To date, we have primarily funded our operations through public and other registered offerings of our ordinary shares, collaborations with third parties and private placements of debt and equity securities. Through December 31, 2022, we have received an aggregate of approximately $1,021.2 million in net proceeds from these transactions, consisting of $630.9 million in net proceeds from public and other registered offerings of our ordinary shares, $301.0 million from our collaborations and $89.3 million in net proceeds from private placements of our debt and equity securities.

As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $88.5 million, restricted cash of $3.7 million and an accumulated deficit of $967.3 million.

Subsequent to December 31, 2022, we received $170.0 million in cash, of which $120.0 million was an upfront payment under the GSK Collaboration Agreement and $50.0 million was under the GSK Equity Investment.

We expect that our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next twelve months. We have based this expectation on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and we may use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. In addition, we may elect to raise additional funds before we need them if the conditions for raising capital are favorable due to market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we expect we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

Our operating lease commitments as of December 31, 2022 total $47.0 million, of which $8.7 million is related to payments in 2023 and approximately $38.3 million is related to payments beyond 2023.

Until we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to continue to finance our operations through a combination of public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, which may include collaborations with third parties. In May 2019, we filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR with the SEC pursuant to which we registered for sale an indeterminate amount of any combination of our ordinary shares, debt securities, warrants, rights and/or units from time to time and at prices and on terms that we may determine. Our shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR also includes a prospectus covering up to an aggregate of $250.0 million in ordinary shares that we may issue and sell from time to time, through Jefferies LLC (“Jefferies”) acting as our sales agent, pursuant to the open market sales agreement that we entered into with Jefferies in May 2019, as amended in

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March 2020 and March 2022 (the “Sales Agreement”), for our “at-the-market” equity program. Since we no longer qualified as a “well-known seasoned issuer” at the time of the filing of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, we previously amended the shelf registration statement to register for sale up to $500.0 million of any combination of our ordinary shares, debt securities, warrants, rights and/or units from time to time and at prices and on terms that we may determine, including the $250.0 million in ordinary shares that we may issue and sell from time to time pursuant to our “at-the-market” equity program. This registration statement, which we refer to as the “2019 Form S-3,” remained effective until our 2022 Form S-3 (as defined below) was declared effective on May 4, 2022, after which time we may no longer offer or sell any securities under the 2019 Form S-3. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company sold 458,092 ordinary shares under its at-the-market equity program for aggregate net proceeds of $1.2 million.

On March 3, 2022, we filed a new universal shelf registration on Form S-3 with the SEC, which was declared effective by the SEC on May 4, 2022, pursuant to which we registered for sale up to $500.0 million of any combination of our ordinary shares, debt securities, warrants, rights and/or units from time to time and at prices and on terms that we may determine, which we refer to as the “2022 Form S-3.” The 2022 Form S-3 includes a prospectus covering up to approximately $132.0 million in ordinary shares that had not yet been issued or sold under our Sales Agreement with Jefferies. As of March 22, 2023 we have $430.0 million in securities available for issuance under the 2022 Form S-3, including approximately $132.0 million in ordinary shares available for issuance under our at-the-market equity program.

Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Our inability to raise capital as and when needed would have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategy. We will need to generate significant revenue to achieve profitability, and we may never do so.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our sources and uses of cash for each of the periods presented:

Operating Activities

During 2022, operating activities used $127.8 million of cash, primarily due to our net loss of $161.8 million, partially offset by non-cash charges of $27.3 million and changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $6.7 million. The non-cash charges for 2022 related mainly to share-based compensation expense of $17.2 million and depreciation expense of $6.6 million. The largest change in operating assets and liabilities was a $9.3 million increase in accounts payable.

During 2021, operating activities used $89.0 million of cash, primarily due to our net loss of $122.2 million, offset by non-cash charges of $26.2 million, partially offset by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $7.0 million. The non-cash charges for 2021 related mainly to share-based compensation expense of $16.4 million and depreciation expense of $7.5 million. The largest changes in operating assets and liabilities were a decrease of $30.0 million in accounts receivable and a decrease of $18.5 million in deferred revenue related to the Takeda Collaboration Agreement, as well as a decrease in accounts payable of approximately $6.6 million.

Investing Activities

During 2022, investing activities used $1.3 million of cash, primarily consisting of purchases of property and equipment. Additionally, we purchased $75.0 million of short-term investments during 2022, all of which matured in 2022.

During 2021, investing activities used $0.6 million of cash, consisting of purchases of property and equipment.

Financing Activities

During 2022, net cash provided by financing activities was $67.2 million, primarily due to the $65.5 million in net proceeds from the underwritten offering we completed in June 2022, which was comprised of sales of ordinary shares and pre-funded warrants. Additionally, there were $1.1 million in net proceeds from our at-the-market equity program.

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During 2021, net cash provided by financing activities was $55.8 million, which was mainly due to the approximately $55.0 million in net proceeds from our at-the-market equity program.

Funding Requirements

We expect to continue to incur significant expenses in connection with our ongoing research and development activities and our internal cGMP manufacturing activities. Furthermore, we anticipate that our expenses will continue to vary if and as we:

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continue to conduct our clinical trials evaluating our product candidates in patients;

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conduct research and preclinical development of discovery targets and advance additional programs into clinical development;

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file clinical trial applications with global regulatory agencies and conduct clinical trials for our programs;

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evaluate next steps for our programs in rare, inherited eye diseases;

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make strategic investments in continuing to innovate our research and development platform, PRISM, and in optimizing our manufacturing processes and formulations;

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maintain our manufacturing capabilities through our internal facility and our CMOs;

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maintain our intellectual property portfolio and consider the acquisition of complementary intellectual property;

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seek and obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates;

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respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the conflict involving Russia and Ukraine, global economic uncertainty, rising inflation, rising interest rates or market disruptions on our business; and

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establish and build capabilities to market, distribute and sell our product candidates.

We may experience delays or encounter issues with any of the above, including but not limited to failed studies, complex results, safety issues or other regulatory challenges.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development of drug candidates and because the extent to which we may enter into collaborations with third parties for development of product candidates is unknown, we are unable to estimate the amounts of future capital outlays and operating expenses associated with completing the research and development for our therapeutic programs. Our future capital requirements for our therapeutic programs will depend on many factors, including:

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the progress, results and costs of conducting research and continued preclinical and clinical development for our therapeutic programs and future potential pipeline candidates;

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the number and characteristics of product candidates and programs that we pursue;

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the cost of manufacturing clinical supplies of our product candidates;

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whether and to what extent milestone events are achieved under our collaborations with Takeda and GSK or any potential future licensee or collaborator;

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the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;

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our ability to obtain marketing approval for our product candidates;

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the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the conflict involving Russia and Ukraine, global economic uncertainty, rising inflation, rising interest rates or market disruptions on our business;

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the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;

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market acceptance of our product candidates, to the extent any are approved for commercial sale, and the revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;

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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;

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the effect of competing technological and market developments; and

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the extent to which we acquire or invest in businesses, products and technologies, including entering into licensing or collaboration arrangements for product candidates.

Identifying potential product candidates and conducting preclinical testing and clinical trials is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain marketing approval and achieve product sales. In addition, our product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Our product revenue, if any, will be derived from sales of products that we do not expect to be commercially available for many years, if ever. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funds to achieve our business objectives.

Adequate additional funds may not be available to us on acceptable terms when we need them, or at all. We do not currently have any committed external source of funds, except for possible future payments from Takeda or GSK under our collaborations with them. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our existing shareholders will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our shareholders. Additional debt financing and preferred equity 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 dividends and may require the issuance of warrants, which could potentially dilute our shareholders’ ownership interests.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish 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 equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development programs or any future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

For detailed information regarding recently issued and adopted accounting pronouncements and the expected impact on our consolidated financial statements, see Note 2 “Significant Accounting Policies” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of our financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We believe that our revenue recognition policy, particularly (a) assessing the number of performance obligations; (b) determining the transaction price; (c) allocating the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (d) determining the pattern over which performance obligations are satisfied, including estimates to complete performance obligations, and the assumptions and estimates used in our analysis of contracts with CROs and CMOs to estimate the contract expense, involve a greater degree of judgment, and therefore we consider them to be our critical accounting policies. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). This standard applies to all contracts with customers, except for contracts that are within the scope of other standards, such as leases, insurance, and financial instruments. Under ASC 606, an entity recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration that the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for arrangements that an entity determines are within the scope of ASC 606, the entity performs the following five-step analysis: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. The Company only applies the five-step analysis to contracts when it is probable that the entity will collect the consideration to which it is entitled in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer. At contract inception, once the contract is determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, the Company assesses the goods or services promised within each contract, determines those that are performance obligations, and assesses whether each promised good or service is distinct. The Company then recognizes as revenue the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the respective performance obligation when (or as) the performance obligation is satisfied.

The Company has entered into collaboration agreements for research, development, and commercial services, under which the Company licenses certain rights to its product candidates to third parties. The terms of these arrangements typically include payment

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to the Company of one or more of the following: non-refundable, upfront license fees; reimbursement of certain costs; customer option exercise fees; development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments; and royalties on net sales of licensed products. Any variable consideration is constrained, and therefore, the cumulative revenue associated with this consideration is not recognized until it is deemed not to be at significant risk of reversal.

In determining the appropriate amount of revenue to be recognized as the Company fulfills its obligations under each of its agreements for which the collaboration partner is also a customer, the Company performs the following steps: (i) identification of the promised goods or services in the contract; (ii) determination of whether the promised goods or services are performance obligations, including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract; (iii) measurement of the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation. As part of the accounting for these arrangements, the Company must use significant judgment to determine: (a) the number of performance obligations based on the determination under step (ii) above; (b) the transaction price under step (iii) above; and (c) the timing of satisfaction of performance obligations as a measure of progress in step (v) above. The Company uses significant judgment to determine whether milestones or other variable consideration, except for royalties, should be included in the transaction price as described further below. The transaction price is allocated to the optional goods and services the Company expects to provide. The Company uses estimates to determine the timing of satisfaction of performance obligations.

Amounts received prior to being recognized as revenue are recorded as deferred revenue. Amounts expected to be recognized as revenue within the 12 months following the balance sheet date are classified as current portion of deferred revenue in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Amounts not expected to be recognized as revenue within the 12 months following the balance sheet date are classified as deferred revenue, net of current portion.

Licenses of intellectual property: In assessing whether a promise or performance obligation is distinct from the other promises, the Company considers factors such as the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization capabilities of the customer and the availability of the associated expertise in the general marketplace. In addition, the Company considers whether the customer can benefit from a promise for its intended purpose without the receipt of the remaining promise, whether the value of the promise is dependent on the unsatisfied promise, whether there are other vendors that could provide the remaining promise, and whether it is separately identifiable from the remaining promise. For licenses that are combined with other promises, the Company utilizes 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 progress for purposes of recognizing revenue. The Company evaluates the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjusts the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.

Research and development services: If an arrangement is determined to contain a promise or obligation for the Company to perform research and development services, the Company must determine whether these services are distinct from other promises in the arrangement. In assessing whether the services are distinct from the other promises, the Company considers the capabilities of the customer to perform these same services. In addition, the Company considers whether the customer can benefit from a promise for its intended purpose without the receipt of the remaining promise, whether the value of the promise is dependent on the unsatisfied promise, whether there are other vendors that could provide the remaining promise, and whether it is separately identifiable from the remaining promise. For research and development services that are combined with other promises, the Company utilizes 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 progress for purposes of recognizing revenue. The Company evaluates the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjusts the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.

Customer options: If an arrangement is determined to contain customer options that allow the customer to acquire additional goods or services, the goods and services underlying the customer options are not considered to be performance obligations at the outset of the arrangement, as they are contingent upon option exercise. The Company evaluates the customer options for material rights, that is, the option to acquire additional goods or services for free or at a discount. If the customer options are determined to represent a material right, the material right is recognized as a separate performance obligation at the outset of the arrangement. The Company allocates the transaction price to material rights based on the standalone selling price. As a practical alternative to estimating the standalone selling price when the goods or services are both (i) similar to the original goods and services in the contract and (ii) provided in accordance with the terms of the original contract, the Company allocates 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 not recognized as revenue until the option is exercised and the performance obligation is satisfied.

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Milestone payments: At the inception of each arrangement that includes milestone payments, the Company evaluates whether a significant reversal of cumulative revenue provided in conjunction with achieving the milestones is probable, and estimates the amount to be included in the transaction price using the most likely amount method. If it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue would not occur, the associated milestone value is included in the transaction price. Milestone payments that are not within the control of the Company or the licensee, such as regulatory approvals, are not considered probable of being achieved until those approvals are received. For other milestones, the Company evaluates factors such as the scientific, clinical, regulatory, commercial, and other risks that must be overcome to achieve the particular milestone in making this assessment. There is considerable judgment involved in determining whether it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue would not occur. At the end of each subsequent reporting period, the Company reevaluates the probability of achievement of all milestones subject to constraint and, if necessary, adjusts its estimate of the overall transaction price. Any such adjustments are recorded on a cumulative catch-up basis, which would affect revenues and earnings in the period of adjustment.

Royalties: For arrangements that include sales-based royalties, including milestone payments based on a level of sales, and the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, the Company recognizes revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). To date, the Company has not recognized any royalty revenue resulting from any of its licensing arrangements.

Contract costs: The Company recognizes as an asset the incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer if the costs are expected to be recovered. As a practical expedient, the Company recognizes the incremental costs of obtaining a contract as an expense when incurred if the amortization period of the asset that it otherwise would have recognized is one year or less. To date, the Company has not incurred any incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer.

For additional discussion of accounting for collaboration revenues, see Note 5 of our consolidated financial statements.

Prepaid and Accrued Research and Development Expenses

As we prepare our consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our prepaid and accrued expenses. For certain contracts with our CROs and CMOs, if the billing terms do not align with the pattern in which the work is completed by the CRO or CMO as of the end of the period, we are required to perform an analysis to estimate the expense, for the period and to date for each contract.

Contracts that are subject to this analysis generally relate to the following services: research and development services, manufacturing services, toxicology studies and clinical trial services. Once we have completed our analysis, we will record the estimated expense in the period for each contract and, depending on the invoicing activity related to each contract, we either have a prepayment or accrual as of the end of the period. We base our estimates on communications with internal study managers, our knowledge of the ongoing and past work at the CROs and CMOs, and communications and reporting from our CROs and CMOs, where applicable.

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