UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
___________
FORM
10-KSB
(Mark
One)
x ANNUAL
REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
For
the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2007
o TRANSITION
REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
For
the
transition period from _________ to _________
___________
Commission
File Number: 000-32603
ARBIOS
SYSTEMS, INC.
(Name
of
small business issuer in its charter)
Delaware
(State
or other jurisdiction of
incorporation
or organization)
|
91-1955323
(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
|
1050
Winter Street, Suite 1000,
Waltham,
MA
(Address
of principal executive offices)
|
02451
(Zip
Code)
|
Issuer’s
Telephone Number:
781-839-7292
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None
Securities
registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Common
Stock, $.001 par value
(Title
of
class)
Check
whether the issuer is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13
or
15(d) of the Exchange Act. o
Check
whether the issuer (1) filed all reports required to be filed by
Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the past 12 months (or for
such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports),
and
(2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90
days.Yes
x]
No o
Check
if
there is no disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of
Regulation S-B contained in this form, and no disclosure will be contained,
to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information
statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-KSB or any
amendment to this Form 10-KSB. o
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes
o
No x
Issuer’s
revenues for its most recent fiscal year: None
The
aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by
non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity
was
sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as
of March
25,
2008 was approximately $6,153,379
based on the closing sales price reported by the OTC Bulletin Board on such
date.
There
were 25,603,461 shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding on March 25,
2008.
DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
None.
Transitional
Small Business Disclosure Format (check one): YES o NO x
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
|
|
Part
I
|
1.
|
Description
of Business
|
1
|
2.
|
Description
of Property
|
23
|
3.
|
Legal
Proceedings
|
23
|
4.
|
Submission
of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
|
23
|
Part
II
|
5.
|
Market
for Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Small Business
Issuer
Purchases of Equity Securities
|
23
|
6.
|
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation
|
24
|
7.
|
Financial
Statements
|
40
|
8.
|
Changes
In and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial
Disclosure
|
41
|
8A(T).
|
Controls
and Procedures
|
41
|
8B.
|
Other
Information |
42
|
Part
III
|
9.
|
Directors,
Executive Officers, Promoters and Control Persons; Compliance with
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act
|
43
|
10.
|
Executive
Compensation
|
47
|
11.
|
Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related
Stockholder Matters
|
54
|
12.
|
Certain
Relationships and Related Transactions
|
58
|
13.
|
Exhibits
|
58
|
14.
|
Principal
Accountant Fees and Services
|
61
|
Introductory
Comment
Throughout
this Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “the
Company,” “Arbios” and “our Company” refer to Arbios Systems, Inc., a Delaware
corporation.
Forward
Looking Statements
The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for
forward-looking statements. This annual report contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These include
statements about our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies for
the
future, which we indicate by words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “expect,”
“intend,” “plan,” “will,” “we believe,” “the company believes,” “management
believes” and similar language. The forward-looking statements are based on our
current expectations and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, including those set forth in the discussion under “Description of
Business” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation -
Factors that May Affect Future Results and Market Price of Our Stock.” Our
actual results may differ materially from results anticipated in these
forward-looking statements. We base our forward-looking statements on
information currently available to us, and we assume no obligation to update
them. For a discussion of some of the factors that may cause actual results
to
differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements,
please
read carefully the information under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis or
Plan of Operation - Factors that May Affect Future Results and Market Price
of
Our Stock.”
PART
I
Company
Overview
Arbios
Systems, Inc., or Arbios, is a Delaware corporation with its corporate
office in
Waltham, Massachusetts, research facility in Medford, Massachusetts, and
accounting and administrative office in Pasadena, California. We seek to
develop, manufacture and market liver assist therapies to meet the urgent
need
for medical treatment of liver failure.
We
are a
medical device and cell-therapy company that is focusing on the development
of
product candidates for the treatment of liver failure. Our lead product
candidates under development currently consist of a novel extracorporeal
blood
purification therapy called the SEPET™ Liver Assist Device and an
extracorporeal, bioartificial liver therapy
referred
to as the HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System which
incorporates porcine pig liver cells. We have postponed further clinical
development of our
HepatAssist™
program
until we secure additional funding or a corporate partner for this program.
In
addition to the five patents and six patent applications acquired on March
29,
2007 from Immunocept, LLC, we currently own four United States and five
foreign patents on our liver support product candidates, have two patent
applications pending, and are the licensee of twelve additional liver support
patents.
SEPET™
Liver Assist Device.
In
September 2007, we announced the results of our 15-patient feasibility
clinical
study of our SEPET™ Liver Assist Device, targeted for the treatment of acute
episodes of chronic liver disease, in which 79% of the 14 treated patients
met
the primary clinical effectiveness endpoint. Based on the results of the
feasibility study, in February 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
or
FDA, granted us conditional approval of an Investigational Device Exemption,
or
IDE, application to begin the pivotal clinical trial for SEPET™ while we respond
to the FDA’s conditions and request for additional information. In particular,
FDA has requested a survival primary endpoint opposed to the primary endpoint
of
a two-stage drop in hepatic encephalopathy proposed in our original trial
design
submitted to the FDA. We are refining our position that a two-stage drop
in
hepatic encephalopathy is clinically meaningful and an appropriate primary
endpoint for the trial as well as assessing their meaning of a survival
primary
end point. We have had an additional meeting with the FDA in March 2008
and are
discussing our position regarding a suitable primary endpoint for the trial.
We
plan to submit a revised trial design to the FDA in the beginning of the
second
quarter of 2008 and hope to commence the pivotal trial once that primary
endpoint is finalized.
We
further intend to use our clinical data to support the marketing authorization
process in the European Union to receive CE Marking for our SEPETTM
Liver
Assist Device. We intend to engage a notified body to facilitate obtaining
a CE
Mark for the device, which is a sterile, disposable cartridge with proprietary
membrane permeability characteristics for use in treating patients with liver
failure. CE Marking indicates that the product complies with the essential
requirements of the relevant European health, safety and environmental
protection legislation and allows sale of the product within the European
Union
(28 countries) and the European Free Trade Association (3 countries).
We
hope
to raise additional funds to support the development of the CE Marking and
the
planned Phase III pivotal trial for SEPETTM
during
2008. We hope to commence the first segment of the pivotal trial in Rostock,
Germany during the first half of 2008 once we determine a suitable primary
endpoint. We anticipate that the current cash and cash equivalents are only
sufficient to fund operations through part of the third quarter of 2008,
and a
significant capital raise is necessary in order to continue operations and
planned projects.
HepatAssist™
Cell-Based Liver Support System.
Our
HepatAssist™
Cell-Based Liver Support System is an enhanced version of a
product
system which we acquired in 2004 from Circe Biomedical, Inc., which had tested
HepatAssist™ in an unsuccessful Phase II/III pivotal clinical trial. We
currently hold a Phase III investigational new drug application, or IND,
for
conducting an additional pivotal clinical trial of the HepatAssist™ system. Our
current plan is to focus on reintroducing this important liver assist technology
into clinical development in the United States and in Asia to the extent
that we
obtain additional funding for this program from a potential corporate marketing
partner or a significant capital raise.
A
glossary of certain terms used in this Annual Report is contained on page
23
below.
Company
History.
Arbios
Systems, Inc. was originally incorporated in February 1999 as Historical
Autographs U.S.A., Inc., or HAUSA. Until October 2003, HAUSA was an e-commerce
based company engaged in the business of acquiring and marketing historical
documents. On October 30, 2003, HAUSA completed a reorganization (the
“Reorganization”) in which HAUSA, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired
all of the outstanding shares of Arbios Technologies, Inc., or ATI, the holder
of the SEPET™ technology, in exchange for 11,930,598 shares of HAUSA common
stock. As a result of the Reorganization, ATI became the wholly-owned subsidiary
of HAUSA. After the Reorganization, HAUSA, changed its name to “Arbios Systems,
Inc.,” replaced its officers and directors with those of ATI, ceased its
e-commerce business, and moved its offices to Los Angeles, California. In
April
2004, Arbios Systems, Inc. purchased assets of Circe Biomedical, Inc. related
to
bioartificial liver devices. On July 25, 2005, Arbios Systems, Inc. completed
its reincorporation as a Delaware corporation by merging with and into Arbios
Systems, Inc., a Delaware corporation. The foregoing merger was approved
by the
Company’s stockholders at the annual meeting of stockholders held on July 7,
2005. In order to consolidate the functions and operations of Arbios Systems,
Inc. and ATI, on July 26, 2005, ATI merged into Arbios Systems, Inc. As a
result, Arbios Systems, Inc. now owns all of the assets of ATI and all of
the
operations of the two companies have been consolidated into Arbios Systems,
Inc.
Our
principal operations and executive offices are located at 1050 Winter Street,
Suite 1000, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451 and our telephone number at this
office
is 781-839-7292. We have a research facility located at 200 Boston Road,
Medford, Massachusetts and also maintain an administrative office at 200
E. Del
Mar Blvd., Suite 208, Pasadena, California 91105 and our telephone number
at
this office is (626) 356-3105. We also maintain a web site at www.arbios.com.
The information on our web site is not, and you should not consider such
information to be, a part of this filing.
Background
of our Company
Arbios
Technologies, Inc., our former operating subsidiary, was formed in August
of
2000 by Drs. Achilles A. Demetriou and Jacek Rozga, two leaders in the
field of artificial liver therapy, to develop extracorporeal therapies for
the
treatment of liver failure. ATI developed SEPET™, which we acquired upon our
purchase of ATI in October 2003. In addition, as previous employees of
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Drs. Demetriou and Rozga previously were involved
in the development of a first generation bioartificial liver known as
HepatAssistTM
that was
licensed by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 1994 to W.R. Grace & Co. and then
subsequently transferred to Circe Biomedical, Inc. Circe Biomedical ceased
operations in 2003 and in April 2004, we purchased the remaining assets of
Circe
Biomedical that related to its bioartificial liver operations, including
rights
to the original HepatAssistTM
system.
In July 2005, we consolidated our corporate structure by merging ATI into
our
then parent company, Arbios Systems, Inc., creating our current operating
structure.
To
date,
we have funded our operations from the proceeds from the sale of over
$18,000,000 of our equity securities and $321,000 of Small Business Innovation
Research grants that have been awarded by the U.S. Small Business
Administration. We will have to raise substantial additional capital to fund
our
future clinical development expenses and our on-going working capital
needs.
Our
current plan of operations for the next 12 months primarily involves research
and development activities, including clinical trials for the SEPET™ Liver
Assist Device, and the preparation and submission of applications to the
FDA. We
submitted an IDE application for SEPET™ in March 2005 and commenced clinical
trials for SEPET™ in the third quarter of 2005. In the third quarter of 2007, we
completed the Phase I feasibility clinical trial for SEPET™ and are in the
process of finalizing the design of and preparing for the Phase II/III pivotal
clinical trial. We have already submitted a second IDE application for the
conduct of this Phase II/III pivotal trial. The actual amounts we may expend
on
research and development and related clinical activities during the next
12
months may vary significantly depending on numerous factors, including how
the
results of our clinical trials and proposed trial designs are received by
the
FDA and the timing and cost of regulatory submissions. We do not expect to
make
any significant purchases or sales of plant or equipment during the next
twelve
months. We also intend to continue exploring options to reactivate our
development of the HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System; however, we will need to obtain significant
additional capital to fund this program or find a strategic partner who would
be
willing to assist in developing this product candidate. Based on our current
estimates, we believe that we do not have sufficient financial resources
to
conduct our planned operations for the next twelve months and that our current
cash and cash equivalents are sufficient to fund our operations into the
third
quarter of 2008. Failure to raise additional capital may result in substantial
adverse circumstances, including our inability to continue the development
of
our product candidates and our liquidation.
Our
research offices and laboratories are located in Medford, Massachusetts where
we
lease 1,783 square feet at $5,044 per month with a term of one year that
was
entered into on September 15, 2007. We maintain an administrative office
in
Pasadena, California leased on a month-to-month basis for approximately $1,500
per month and our corporate headquarters is located in Waltham, Massachusetts,
which is leased through July 2008 for approximately $3,700 per
month.
Two
members of our management team, Dr. Ulrich Baurmeister, Ph.D., Chief Technology
Officer, and Prof. Jan Stange, M.D., Senior Clinical Advisor, are engaged
under
consulting agreements and are based in Germany (Wuppertal and Rostock,
respectively). Their work is divided between their homes, clinical sites
and
product development sites under contract with us.
We
have
also entered into various exclusive manufacturing and supply agreements with
Membrana GmbH, or Membrana, and NxStage Medical Inc., or NxStage. Membrana
is a
Germany company that specializes in the manufacture of membranes used for
hemofiltration and will supply us with the membrane material needed for
manufacture of the SEPETTM
Liver
Assist Device. NxStage is a U.S. based company that will assemble the
SEPETTM
cartridge utilizing the supplied membrane from Membrana.
On
September 19, 2007, Walter C. Ogier, resigned from our Board of Directors
and as
our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Board of Directors appointed
Shawn P. Cain, previously our Vice President of Operations, as our Interim
President and Chief Executive Officer.
Strategy
We
believe that the clinical testing and regulatory approval periods for the
SEPET™
Liver Assist Device will be shorter than our HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System because SEPET™ may be evaluated as a medical
device that does not contain biological components such as the pig cells
that
are an integral part of our HepatAssistTM
product
candidate. Accordingly, because
of the shorter regulatory period and the ability of SEPET™ to operate through
the use of a standard, currently available kidney dialysis instrument, we
expect
that the development of SEPET™ can be completed before the development of
HepatAssist™ is completed.
Therefore, we are focusing our efforts on the development of SEPET™.
We
have
already performed in
vitro
and
in
vivo
testing
of the SEPET™ prototype device and commenced clinical testing of SEPET™ in late
2005. We treated 14 patients suffering from acute-on-chronic liver failure
with
hepatic encephalopathy in the Phase I feasibility clinical trial of SEPET™ and
have completed this clinical trial. In February 2008, the FDA granted us
conditional approval of an IDE application to begin the pivotal clinical
trial
for SEPET™ while we respond to the FDA’s conditions and request for additional
information. In particular, FDA has requested a survival primary endpoint
rather
than the primary endpoint of a two-stage drop in hepatic encephalopathy proposed
in our original trial design submitted to the FDA. We
are
refining our position that a two-stage drop in hepatic encephalopathy is
clinically meaningful and an appropriate primary endpoint for the
trial.
We have
had an additional meeting with the FDA in March 2008 and are discussing our
position regarding a suitable primary endpoint for the trial. We plan to
submit
a revised trial design to the FDA in the beginning of the second quarter
of 2008
and hope to commence the pivotal trial once that primary endpoint is
finalized. However, there is no assurance that we will be able to negotiate
an acceptable primary endpoint that will enable us to attract sufficient
capital
to continue our planned operations and activities.
Our
strategy for realizing sales revenue from SEPET™ is to seek a CE Mark in Europe
prior to approval of the product candidate by the FDA. We believe
commercialization of SEPET™ under a CE Mark may be possible in the beginning of
2009. It may also be possible to commercialize SEPET™ in Asia in that same
timeframe, although we do not yet have assurance of regulatory pathways in
that
region. Commercialization of SEPET™ in the United States may only follow
successful completion of a pivotal clinical trial of SEPET™ meeting efficacy
endpoints approved by the FDA. Our ability to successfully market SEPET™ in
these various regions will depend on a number of factors including regulatory
approvals, marketing and sales partnerships, and patents protection which
is not
yet issued outside the United States.
The
April
2004 acquisition of the assets of Circe Biomedical has provided us with
opportunities for the development of a bioartificial liver. The Circe Biomedical
bioartificial liver device assets that we acquired consist of the following
three distinct elements:
(1) |
FDA-authorized
standard operating procedures.
These are standard operating procedures for production of porcine
cells
including harvesting, freezing, storing, shipping and processing
by the
end user (thawing, washing) of the cells. These procedures and protocols
have been reviewed by the FDA for use in a pivotal phase clinical
trial.
|
(2) |
The
cartridge to be used in the Phase III trial of
HepatAssistTM.
We intend to use the existing, FDA-approved cartridge housing, and
we have
obtained FDA authorization to increase the number of porcine liver
cells ,
or hepatocytes, that the cartridge would contain, which we believe
will
improve the functionality of the system with no adverse impact on
safety.
|
(3) |
An
FDA reviewed, authorized Phase III protocol acquired from Circe
Biomedical.
We will likely further modify this protocol, according to the
retrospective analysis of the original Phase II/III clinical trial
published in the Annals
of Surgery
in
2004 (by A.A. Demetriou et al), and submit the modified protocol
to the
FDA for approval.
|
Rather
than using Circe Biomedical’s specially designed machine, we intend to use the
PERFORMER, a commercially available machine that is distributed by Medtronic,
Inc. We believe that the PERFORMER may become the platform for our HepatAssist™
Cell-Based Liver Support System.
We
are
evaluating the possibility of conducting clinical studies of the HepatAssist™
System under a modified version of the FDA-reviewed Phase III IND protocol
that
we acquired in March 2004 from Circe Biomedical; however, we will need to
obtain
significant additional funding or establish a corporate partnership in order
to
further develop this product candidate. Since we are still developing our
clinical and regulatory strategies for the HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System, and since our continual development of this
product candidate depends on our securing additional funding or a corporate
collaboration, we cannot estimate when an application requesting marketing
approval of HepatAssistTM
will
be
filed.
Based
on
our current assumptions regarding clinical trial sizes and other factors,
we
estimate that the future clinical cost of developing SEPET™ will be
approximately $5 million to $10 million and the future clinical cost of
developing HepatAssist™ will be between $15 million and $20 million. These
amounts, which could vary substantially if our assumptions are not correct
and
we need to enroll significantly more patients in our trials, including as
a
result of the FDA mandating that our pivotal trial of SEPET™ include a
survival-based primary endpoint, are well in excess of the amount of cash
that
we currently have available to us. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis or
Plan of Operation - Factors that May Affect Future Results and Market Price
of
Our Stock.”
Liver
Function Background
The
liver
controls, or affects, almost every aspect of metabolism and most physiologic
regulatory processes, including protein synthesis, sugar and fat metabolism,
blood clotting, the immune system, detoxification of alcohol, chemical toxins,
and drugs, and waste removal. Loss of liver function is a devastating and
life
threatening condition. Liver failure affects all age groups and may be due
to
many causes, including viral infection, hepatitis, ingestion of common
medications, alcohol, and surgical liver removal for trauma and
cancer.
Currently,
there is no direct treatment for liver failure, except a successful liver
transplant. There is, however, a current scarcity of donor livers, and
approximately two thousand patients on the waiting list for donor livers
die
annually before receiving liver transplants. We believe that treatments with
currently available technologies such as blood detoxification methods are
short-term measures, and none of them has achieved wide-spread clinical use
or
demonstrated ability in randomized, controlled clinical trials to arrest
or
reverse liver failure and improve survival. As a consequence, liver failure
patients must still either undergo liver transplantation or endure the
probability of prolonged hospitalization with a low probability of survival.
In
addition, many patients do not qualify for transplantation or live in regions
of
the world where transplantation is not readily available. Still others do
not
recover after transplantation because of irreversible brain damage or other
organ damage caused by liver failure prior to transplantation. Although the
liver has a remarkable capacity for regeneration, the repair process after
massive liver damage is markedly impaired by the continued presence of toxins,
inflammatory cytokines and other inhibitors of liver organ regeneration still
present in the blood of these patients.
In
liver
failure patients, there is a need for an effective blood purification therapy
that will clear the blood of toxins, mediators of inflammation and inhibitors
of
hepatic growth. SEPET™ is a novel form of such therapy developed by us in which
the plasma fraction containing substances that are toxic to the brain, the
liver
and other internal organs and tissues are removed from patient blood and
replaced with normal human plasma. In addition to demonstrating an extension
of
survival in large animal model testing of SEPET™, 79% of the patients in our
recently completed feasibility clinical trail of SEPET™ showed full resolution
or a reduction in hepatic encephalopathy (H.E., also known as liver coma)
by at
least two grades of H.E.
There
is
a further need to develop artificial means of liver replacement with the
aim of
either supporting patients with borderline functional liver cell mass until
their liver regenerates or until a donor liver becomes available for
transplantation. Such an “artificial liver” should also support patients during
recovery after transplantation with marginal livers and after extended liver
resections for trauma or cancer. To achieve these effects, effective liver
support systems should be able to lower levels of substances toxic to the
brain
and liver in the patient’s blood and to provide whole liver functions, which are
impaired or lost.
Our
founders, as well as investigators not associated with us, have demonstrated
in
vitro
and in
animal models of liver failure that cell-based bioartificial liver systems
using
viable isolated hepatocytes can provide whole liver functions, to varying
degrees depending on the technology approach. Only a few bioartificial livers,
however, have been tested in humans and it remains to be seen whether systems
utilizing hepatocytes as the only means of liver support are effective. We
believe that in order to provide the maximum support for the failing liver,
primary porcine hepatocyte therapy should be combined with blood purification
or
detoxification using sorbent technology.
Our
bioartificial liver system, the HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System,
was designed to become an advanced, effective application of the basic
bioartificial liver concept. In this bioartificial liver system, liver cell
therapy in the form of primary (i.e. living, non-cell line derived) porcine
hepatocytes, is combined with blood detoxification, in the form of sorbent
based plasma treatment.
Depending on the cause of liver disease, severity of illness and deficiency
of
specific liver functions, the
bioartificial liver mode of therapy can be provided individually, simultaneously
or sequentially. Because of these features, we believe our bioartificial
liver
technology is well suited to treat patients with liver failure of all causes
and
severity, including those requiring maximum liver support. Pre-clinical data
for
the HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System indicated that this system could improve
heart
rate and blood pressure and provide clearance of ammonia and indocyanine
green
(ICG), which is a liver function test. The original HepatAssistTM
Phase
II/III clinical trial demonstrated a retrospective, statistically significant
increase in patient survival in patients with viral and drug-induced
fulminant/subfulminant (i.e. acute) hepatic failure. A new Phase III clinical
trial, however, will be needed before our HepatAssist™ system, which is an
enhanced version of the original HepatAssist™ system, may be commercialized.
The
Product Candidates We Are Developing
We
currently are developing novel treatments for acute and chronic liver failure.
We believe that our SEPET™ Liver Assist Device and our HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System may:
· |
help
keep liver failure patients alive and neurologically intact before,
during
and immediately after transplantation;
|
· |
allow
other patients to recover liver functionality and to survive without
a
transplant (act as a “bridge” to liver
regeneration);
|
· |
support
patients during periods of functional recovery and regeneration after
partial liver removal due to liver trauma and/or
cancer;
|
· |
accelerate
recovery from acute exacerbation of chronic liver
disease;
|
· |
shorten
length of stay in intensive care units;
|
· |
shorten
overall hospital stay; and
|
· |
reduce
the cost of care.
|
We
believe that our SEPET™ Liver Assist Device and HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver
Support System can achieve these effects because they can lower levels of
substances that are toxic to both the brain and liver and other internal
organs.
We have obtained final results in the feasibility clinical trial of SEPET™, and
we have results from Circe’s Phase II/III clinical trial of HepatAssist™.
However, final proof of clinical benefit in patients is lacking at this time,
and the clinical utility of these product candidates still needs to be
conclusively demonstrated in patients with liver failure through randomized,
controlled clinical trials of each therapy.
We
own
certain technologies and rights related to our product candidates, and have
licensed certain other technologies. See “- Patents and Proprietary Rights”
below for a description of the rights that we own and have
licensed.
SEPET™
The
SEPET™ Liver Assist Device
We
are
developing the SEPET™ Liver Assist Device as a blood purification measure to
provide temporary liver support for acute exacerbation of chronic liver disease.
SEPET™ therapy will be provided through the sale of our single-use, disposable
cartridge that contains a bundle of hollow fibers made of bio- and
hemo-compatible material capable of filtering a portion of the substances
in the
patient’s blood including albumin-bound toxins, inflammatory disease mediators,
and soluble toxins. The importance of using fibers with this sieving
characteristic, which allows for filtration of molecules larger than
conventional renal dialysis cartridges, is that known hepatic failure toxins
as
well as mediators of inflammation and inhibitors of hepatic regeneration
have
low-to-medium sized molecular weights while “good” blood components generally
have relatively high molecular weight. At present, Membrana supplies us with
the
hemofiltration membranes and NxStage assembles the disposable SEPET™ cartridges.
See “Manufacturing” below. The SEPET™ system is designed for use with
commercially available kidney dialysis instruments or other similar machines
that utilize disposable hollow-fiber cartridges. Accordingly, no specialized
apparatus needs to be developed or manufactured for the use of SEPET™. Accessory
components for the SEPET™ system such as disposable tubing sets and connectors
will mostly consist of standard components that are currently used in renal
dialysis and provided by manufacturers of those systems. We expect that any
new
accessory components that may be required for use with SEPET™ will be
manufactured for us by qualified third-party vendors.
During
SEPETTM
therapy,
a patient’s blood is pumped through the hollow fibers contained in the cartridge
and substances normally metabolized by the liver and accumulated in the blood
during liver failure are transported convectively across the porous fiber
wall
and an ultrafiltrate containing toxins, inhibitors of hepatic growth and
mediators of inflammation is removed from the patient’s blood stream by exiting
the side port of the cartridge, while at the same time, intravenous electrolyte
solutions, albumin solution, fresh frozen plasma,
or a combination thereof will
be
administered to the patient. We believe that as a result of this two-step
blood
purification, or detoxification, process, the levels of pathological and
normal
blood components present in the patient’s circulation will move toward normal
ranges, thereby facilitating recovery from liver failure. Based on published
medical literature, rapid and efficient blood detoxification is expected
to
protect the liver, brain and other organs against further injury, accelerate
healing of the native liver and improve its residual functions.
Clinical
Development
Our
SEPET™ Liver Assist Device has been tested in an IDE clinical feasibility trial
in the United States we completed in 2007. This single arm, uncontrolled
study
enrolled 15 patients at three major liver transplant hospitals (Cedars Sinai
Medical Center, Los Angeles; Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia;
and
University of California Medical Center, San Diego) under an IDE application
approved by the FDA in 2005. The study enrolled patients suffering hepatic
encephalopathy (also known as liver coma), ranging from Grade I to Grade
III. Of the 15 patients enrolled into the trial, 14 patients were treated
with at least one (typically 5-6 hour) round of SEPET™ treatment, receiving an
average of less than two, and a maximum of four, sequential daily treatments
until a stable, durable disease response was achieved. Final analysis of
the clinical trial results confirmed a high rate of achievement of the primary
endpoint for clinical effectiveness with 11/14 (79%) subjects showing full
resolution or a reduction in hepatic encephalopathy by at least two
grades. The responses were generally rapid and observed within 48 hours
after initiation of treatment, with many occurring during the first
treatment. Thirteen of 14 (93%) patients’ responses were sustained over
the 30-day follow-up period, and improved overall liver function was documented
as determined by biochemical measures. Just one out of the 14 patients
treated proved refractory to repeated SEPET™ treatment, however, achieving a
single-grade improvement in their encephalopathy. Two additional patients
had treatment halted early, prior to achievement of stable response, due
in one
case to mild bleeding at a catheterization site and in the other to malfunction
of a dialysis machine not associated with our SEPET™ liver assist device. All
patients survived until the end of the 30-day follow-up period and 4 patients
were subsequently transplanted with a donor liver. SEPET™ treatment was
generally well-tolerated and had no negative effects on vital signs (heart
rate,
blood pressure and respiration) and base blood chemistries. Expected
moderate reductions in blood platelets were observed, none with critical
consequence. An adverse event of renewed, mild bleeding from a site of
prior recent trauma, categorized as severe, was not associated with a low
platelet count and was likely caused by the use of heparin for anticoagulation,
which is commonly utilized in extracorporeal blood therapy. All
treatment-related adverse events were expected and typical of extracorporeal
blood therapy procedures, and all were resolved satisfactorily with indicated
standard treatment. FDA has allowed a SEPET™ protocol amendment involving
discretionary substitution of an alternative anticoagulation method, utilizing
sodium citrate instead of heparin, which is anticipated to reduce bleeding
risk
in subsequent treatments.
Based
upon the results of the feasibility study, we submitted an IDE application
to
the FDA seeking approval to initiate a pivotal trial of SEPET™. The design for
this trial submitted to the FDA entailed enrolling approximately 100 patients
in
the principal randomized, controlled phase of the study, targeted to achieve
the
primary endpoint of the trial, which is a clinically significant reduction
in
hepatic encephalopathy. Patients receiving SEPET™ treatment plus standard
medical care would be compared to control patients receiving treatment
with
standard medical care alone, with a 1:1 randomization between the two
groups. An adaptive design feature, increasingly common in FDA product
approval trials, would permit the size of the trial to be increased after
enrollment of the first 100 patients if the primary efficacy endpoint has
not
yet reached statistical significance but has shown a positive trend. This
potential extension of the trial would also be permitted to achieve statistical
significance of one or more secondary endpoints of the trial relating to
clinical, functional, and reimbursement advantages for SEPET™-treated patients.
Following a meeting with the FDA in the summer of 2007, the FDA granted
us
conditional approval of the IDE application in February 2008 to begin the
pivotal clinical trial while we respond to the FDA’s conditions and request for
additional information. In particular, the FDA has requested a survival
primary
endpoint rather than the primary endpoint of a two-stage drop in hepatic
encephalopathy proposed in our original trial design submitted to the FDA.
We
have had an additional meeting with the FDA in March 2008 and are discussing
our
position regarding a suitable primary endpoint for the trial. We plan to
submit
a revised trial design to the FDA in the beginning of the second quarter
of 2008
and hope to commence the pivotal trial once that primary endpoint is finalized.
If we are required to include survival as a primary endpoint in this trial,
the
number of patients that we must enroll in the trial, the time to complete
the
trial and the cost of this trial may be significantly increased. This could
negatively impact our ability to raise additional capital and could delay
the
potential commercialization of SEPET™ in the United States and abroad.
HepatAssist™
The
HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based
Liver Support System
Our
current bioartificial liver system is the HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based
Liver Support System. We have designed our
HepatAssist™ Cell-Based
Liver Support System to provide temporary liver support during acute liver
failure and acute exacerbation of chronic liver disease. The HepatAssist™
Cell-Based Liver Support System incorporates several proprietary components
and
technologies into an integrated liver assist system, including a hollow fiber
cartridge with porcine hepatocytes and a plasma re-circulation
circuit
that incorporates a cell cartridge and sorbents.
The
HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System is designed to (i) provide liver cell functions
by utilizing viable pig liver cells that are housed in specially designed
cartridges and (ii) detoxify blood. Since it has been scientifically established
that pig liver cells perform liver functions when maintained in specially
designed cartridges outside of the human body, our bioartificial liver cartridge
is designed to bring human plasma into contact with viable pig liver cells
in a
manner similar to that observed in the normal human liver inside the body
in
order to provide liver functions to the patient. In addition, our bioartificial
liver system is designed to lower the levels of pathological blood components
(through activated charcoal or other purification sorbents). Our
HepatAssist™ Cell-Based
Liver Support System
is similar to the earlier HepatAssistTM
system, and we have subsequently enhanced it by employing a larger quantity
of
pig cells, a change which has been authorized by the FDA for use in a new
pivotal clinical trial. We
have
postponed further clinical development of our HepatAssist™ program until we are
able to secure additional funding or a potential corporate partner for this
program.
Critical
to the HepatAssist™ technology is (i) the source and method of procurement of
pig liver cells, (ii) the cryopreservation, or freezing, of such liver cells,
(iii) the frozen storage of such liver cells, (iv) the proprietary high speed
plasma re-circulation loop incorporating the cell cartridge and sorbents,
and
(v) the standard operating procedure protocols and quality control and programs
related to the foregoing. We currently own or have licensed various proprietary
technologies and methods for sourcing and using hepatocytes, which technologies
and methods apply to our HepatAssist™ system and should provide competitive
protection for the product candidate. The following addresses our current
plans
and procedures regarding viable liver cells (hepatocytes).
Hepatocyte
donors. Ideally,
human hepatocytes would be used in a bioartificial liver. However, there
is a
shortage of organ donors, and thus human hepatocytes of adequate quality.
Published data demonstrate that pig liver cells can outperform other animal
and
human liver cell lines, including those derived from liver cancers. In addition,
use of human cancer-derived cells raises safety concerns. At this time, we
intend to utilize pig liver cells, which we believe to be the currently optimal
source of living, functional hepatocytes.
Hepatocyte
harvest. The
founders of Arbios and Circe Biomedical developed certain semi-automated
methods
for large-scale harvest of pig hepatocytes. The methods of harvesting and
collecting liver cells are covered by four patents, that we acquired from
Circe
Biomedical and now own or have licensed from Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center.
Hepatocyte
storage. Hepatocyte
storage, quality control and shipment of cells to treatment sites are best
achieved by use of cell freezing, or cryopreservation; other methods allow
cells
to lose viability (i.e. die) as well as physical integrity of their contents
(DNA, organelles, etc.). Cryopreservation also provides greater protection
from
bacterial and viral contamination because frozen cells can be stored until
microbiologic testing is completed and cells are then released for clinical
use.
Prior to use, cells are rapidly thawed and their viability is tested.
Importantly, patented hepatocyte cryopreservation technology is now owned
by us
and by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which has licensed this technology to
us.
The
pig
liver cells are expected to be harvested from young, purpose-bred, pathogen-free
pigs raised in a facility to be certified specifically by the U.S. Department
of
Agriculture, or USDA, for biomedical research purposes. Each batch of
cryopreserved pig liver cells will be released for clinical use only after
proper verification of biosafety and viability and functionality of the cells.
We acquired all of the required laboratory and quality assurance protocols
from
Circe Biomedical, which protocols were previously reviewed by the FDA and
deemed
to be in compliance with FDA requirements.
HepatAssist™
is designed to be used in the same manner as any other blood plasma therapy
device. In a typical clinical procedure, the operator will install the
bioartificial liver components, consisting of the cell cartridge, oxygenator,
sorbent detoxification column(s), and tubing kit, into the blood/plasma
perfusion platform.
Approximately 14 billion viable pig hepatocytes will be seeded into the
extra-fiber space through the cartridge side ports. At the start of treatment,
the disposable tubing set will be attached to the patient and the bioartificial
liver system will
be
perfused with the patient’s oxygenated plasma. At the end of treatment, the
disposables will be discarded in the normal manner that all other biohazardous
waste products (such as syringes and bandages) are handled and disposed.
No
special governmental regulations have been required, or are expected, to
dispose
of the used cartridges and disposable products.
We
expect
to demonstrate that during HepatAssist™ therapy, when a patient’s blood is
pumped through the bioartificial liver system, substances normally metabolized
by the liver and accumulated in the blood during liver failure move across
the
porous fiber walls into two sequential plasma compartments; one compartment
is
filled with pig liver cells and the other compartment incorporates
columns that contain sorbents.
The exposure of the viable pig liver cells to patient plasma causes toxic
substances contained in the plasma to be metabolized, thereby reducing their
concentration level. At the same time, substances produced by pig liver cells
move in reverse across the porous wall back into the blood compartment. In
addition, the sorbents lower the level of other pathological blood components,
such as ammonia. As a result of these two processes (provision of whole liver
functions by the pig liver cells and removal of toxins by the sorbents),
it is
anticipated that the levels of pathological and normal blood components present
in the patient’s circulation will move toward normal ranges, thereby
facilitating recovery from liver failure. Additional therapeutic benefits
may be
provided by blood
detoxification therapy. In
this
mode of therapy, small and large protein-bound toxins, which accumulate in
the
blood during liver failure, are expected to be
removed by sorbents. Blood
detoxification is believed to protect the liver, brain and other organs against
further injury, accelerate healing of the native liver and improve its residual
functions. Decreased blood toxicity is also expected to prolong the life
and
metabolic activity of pig hepatocytes in the bioartificial liver
cartridge.
We
do not anticipate that HepatAssist™ will use the Circe-designed proprietary
perfusion platform, which is a machine through which the patient’s blood is
circulated, that was originally developed for the HepatAssistTM
system. Instead, we have validated a perfusion platform known as the PERFORMER
for use as the platform to provide bioartificial liver therapy. The PERFORMER
is
a multi-function integrated system capable of supporting extracorporeal
blood/plasma/fluid circulation therapies that is manufactured by RanD S.r.l.
(Italy) and distributed world-wide by Medtronic, Inc. The PERFORMER has been
equipped with proprietary software and a specialized tubing set for use with
our
HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System.
Preclinical
and Clinical Development
Overall,
we believe that the animal and human clinical data generated and published
to
date on the original HepatAssistTM
system
indicate that the basic concept of a bioartificial liver utilizing cryopreserved
pig liver cells and blood detoxification is supported, and that repeated
six-hour bioartificial liver treatments are safe and yield measurable
therapeutic benefits. Accordingly, we believe that our novel, next-generation
products will represent improvements and/or enhancements over earlier
technologies.
The
safety and efficacy of the original HepatAssistTM
system
were evaluated in a prospective, randomized, controlled, multi-center
FDA-approved clinical trial. A total of 171 patients, 86 in the control group,
and 85 in the bioartificial liver group, were enrolled. Patients with fulminant
and subfulminant hepatic failure and primary non-function following liver
transplantation were included. Data were analyzed with and without accounting
for the following confounding factors: liver transplantation during the survival
endpoint period, time to liver transplant, cause of the disease or condition,
disease severity, and treatment site. For the entire patient population,
survival at 30 days was 71% for bioartificial liver compared to 62% for the
control group. When survival was analyzed accounting for confounding factors
such as liver transplantation and survival prior to transplantation, across
the
entire patient population, there was thus a trend towards improved survival
but
not a statistically significant difference between the two groups. However,
survival in the 147 fulminant and subfulminant hepatic failure patients (i.e.
excluding the primary non-function patients) was significantly higher in
the
HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System group compared to the control
group. Furthermore, HepatAssist™ therapy reduced the risk of pre-transplant
death by 67% in patients with drug and chemical toxicity (p<0.0140) and by
47% in patients with rapid onset of fulminant hepatic failure (n=121;
p<0.0428) These trials of the original HepatAssistTM
system
were the first and amongst the largest prospective, randomized, controlled
multi-center trials of a liver assist technology, and, to our knowledge,
the
only such trial to have been successful in demonstrating a survival advantage
for an extracorporeal liver assist technology, albeit via a retrospective
analysis. Although treated fulminant/subfulminant hepatic failure patients
with
viral and drug-induced liver injury retrospectively demonstrated improved
survival compared to controls when adjusted for the effect of confounding
factors, the prospective primary clinical end point in the overall study
population was not achieved. As a result, the HepatAssist™ system was not
approved for marketing, and the FDA requested that a new Phase III clinical
study be performed. A new Phase III protocol was prepared and reviewed by
the
FDA but Circe Biomedical did not initiate this trial before it ceased operations
in 2003 and we have postponed further clinical development of our HepatAssist™
program until we are able to secure additional funding or a potential corporate
partner for this program.
Advantages
of Our Product Candidates
We
believe that SEPET™ as a blood purification therapy will be more effective than
sorbent-based devices such as charcoal, resin and silica, and more effective
than whole plasma exchange therapy, because only the plasma fraction containing
known toxins
of hepatic failure
is being
removed and discarded during SEPET™ therapy. In contrast, sorbent-based blood
purification is not toxin-specific, and
in the case of charcoal
sorption
it is limited because of the protective coating of the charcoal particles.
It
also fails to remove most mediators of inflammation and protein bound toxins
from the blood which are associated with liver failure. Subject to the
successful completion of clinical trials and FDA or other regulatory approval,
we believe that SEPET™ will be able to be used with currently available hospital
kidney dialysis systems, which may offer the following advantages:
· |
Ease
of use.
The systems bring user friendliness (e.g., pump integration, automation
and an intuitive user interface) to traditionally complex liver support
procedures.
|
· |
Simplicity.
Kidney dialysis systems are routinely used in hospitals and outpatient
clinics and, therefore, there may be a reduced need for extensive
personnel training for use of these similar systems with SEPET™. These
systems are commonly available in intensive care units and related
settings where SEPET™ may be initially used for treating acute episodes of
chronic liver failure.
|
· |
Reduced
cost.
The cost of therapy is expected to be lower than with other liver
assist
devices that are currently under development because the machine
to which
the SEPET™ cartridge can be attached is a standard machine (such as a
kidney dialysis machine) with commercially available tubing. Therefore,
unlike other devices, no special equipment is
required.
|
· |
No
intensive care unit needed to provide treatment.
SEPET™ may become available for treatment of patients with a lower degree
of liver failure outside of the intensive care unit setting. We do
not
believe that any changes will have to be made to SEPET™ or the dialysis
system in order for SEPET™ to become available outside of intensive care
unit settings. However further (e.g. Phase IV) clinical trials will
likely
be necessary to fully develop these additional indications for
SEPET™.
|
We
believe that HepatAssist™ is the only liver assist device under development that
is capable of providing both liver cell functions and blood purification
either
simultaneously or sequentially in a versatile and customized manner depending
on
the cause and severity of liver failure. Drs. Demetriou and Rozga, have
previously demonstrated that cryopreserved pig hepatocytes can remain alive
(e.g. >80% viability) after freezing and thawing using carefully developed,
patented procedures. Moreover, the hepatocytes quickly aggregate, forming
liver-like 3-dimensional cellular units, and resume basic functions (e.g.,
drug
metabolism) at levels comparable to those seen in intact livers. Drs. Demetriou
and Rozga have also reported that treatment of animals and patients with
fulminant hepatic failure with a bioartificial liver loaded with freshly
thawed
pig hepatocytes prolonged life, alleviated intracranial hypertension and
improved blood chemistry. In addition, in experimental animals, bioartificial
liver therapy improved native liver function and triggered mechanisms regulating
liver regeneration. In addition, because porcine hepatocytes can be stored
frozen at a clinical site, treatment with our bioartificial liver system
can be
commenced within two to three hours of patient consent and product preparation,
thereby making this bioartificial liver therapy available on demand. In
instances of liver failure, this rapid availability of therapy should be
a
critical competitive advantage. In contrast, we believe other liver
assist devices
under development require longer time for preparation prior to patient treatment
(up to several days in some instances, including cumbersome means of shipment
to
the clinical site).
While
these projected advantages appear supported by the clinical trial data evidence
to date, some of these product functions may not be demonstrated without
head-to-head trials with competitive approaches.
Market
Opportunity
Based
on
the number of patients with liver diseases and lack of alternative direct
therapy other than liver transplantation, we believe that there is an urgent
need for artificial means of liver replacement and/or assistance to facilitate
recovery from liver failure without a transplant. Effective liver support
therapies could also help maintain liver failure patients’ lives until an organ
becomes available for transplantation. The SEPET™ Liver Assist Device and
HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System can address patients with liver
failure across a wide range of causes and severity, including acute exacerbation
of chronic liver disease as well as acute liver failure in patients without
history of chronic disease.
We
believe that the patient and market opportunity is substantial and underserved.
According to the American Liver Foundation, 25,000,000 persons in the United
States, nearly one in every ten persons, are or have been suffering from
liver
and biliary diseases. According to the National Center for Health Statistics
data published for 2004, there were over 500,000 hospital discharges for
patients with chronic liver disease and/or cirrhosis plus additional patients
categorized as suffering from other forms of liver failure. According to
the
American Liver Foundation, liver disease is among the top seven causes of
death
in adults in the United States between the ages of 25 to 64. In fact, one
out of
every 10 Americans has some form of liver disease. There is currently no
satisfactory therapy available to treat patients in liver failure, other
than
maintenance and monitoring of vital functions and keeping patients stable
through provision of intravenous fluids and blood products, administration
of
antibiotics and support of vital functions, such as respiration.
The
mounting crisis of viral hepatitis B and hepatitis C is projected to continue
to
propel numbers of liver failure episodes as patients age and increasingly
suffer
hepatic decompensation. Approximately 4 million Americans are chronically
infected with the hepatitis C virus, and an estimated 25,000 people each
year
are newly infected in the United States each year with the hepatitis C virus.
At
the same time, 10,000 to 12,000 deaths have occurred annually in the United
States due to hepatitis C virus infection, and the number is likely rising.
Hepatic decompensation, as a result of chronic hepatitis C virus infection,
is
now the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States.
Despite improved rates of organ donation, increased utilization of deceased
donor livers and a resurgence in living donor transplants, the number of
liver
transplants performed yearly is now approximately 5,500. At the same time,
in
2004 alone there were more than 10,000 new waitlist registrations for liver
replacement. As of March 14, 2008, the liver transplant waiting list contained
16,390 individuals. Hepatitis
B is less prevalent in the United States than hepatitis C - a situation that
is
dramatically reversed in other parts of the world where chronic hepatitis
B
infection is endemic or pandemic; however, according to National Institutes
of
Health and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, 5,000
deaths occur annually in the United States as a consequence of hepatitis
B virus
infection.
Worldwide,
hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver failure. Of
the 2 billion people who have been infected with the
hepatitis B virus,
more than 350 million are estimated to have chronic, or lifelong, infections.
These chronically infected persons are at high risk of death from cirrhosis
of
the liver and liver cancer. The
World
Health Organization estimates very large numbers of deaths worldwide from
hepatitis B virus infection -- an estimated 880,000 per year from liver failure
and another 320,000 per year from liver cancer (some of whom may require
liver
support therapy before and/or after surgical resection of the cancer).
Infection
is most common in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Hepatitis
C is also a major cause of liver failure worldwide. According to the World
Health Organization, globally, an estimated 170 million persons are chronically
infected with the hepatitis C virus. At the same time, an estimated 3 to
4
million persons are newly infected each year. Liver failure has recently
been
cast, worldwide, as the third leading cause of death. In
China
and other Asian countries, liver disease represents a pressing health problem
and the need for an effective liver support therapy is most urgent. Although
epidemiological data on hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus infection
in
China are not publicly available, we believe there are approximately 200
million
carriers of the hepatitis virus B or C in China, and primary liver cancer
is a
common malignancy.
At
present, no direct dependable treatment for liver failure is available and
such
patients must receive a liver transplant or endure prolonged hospitalization
with significant mortality. Moreover, no prognostic test is available that
would
help predict which liver failure patient is likely to survive on medical
therapy
alone. Due to the critical nature of liver failure and the resulting adverse
effects on other organs, the hospitalization costs can be as high as $10,000
or
more per day. While liver transplants have significantly increased the chances
of survival for patients with liver failure, due to a severe shortage of
donor
livers, far less than 10% of liver failure patients received a transplant.
Further, many liver failure patients were excluded from the waiting list
because
of alcohol or drug abuse, cancer, cardiovascular disease or inadequate
post-operative support by family or others.
At
this
time, based on the preliminary information available to us, we estimate that
in
the United States the cost to the provider of a single treatment with the
SEPET™
therapy could be within a $2,000 to $4,000 range and that the respective
cost of
HepatAssist™ therapy could be approximately $15,000 to $20,000. Pricing in other
world regions will likely vary. We anticipate that SEPET™ and/or HepatAssist™
therapy may have to be repeated up to an average of three to five times before
a
satisfactory clinical outcome is obtained, although fewer treatments per
patient
may be sufficient depending on the severity of disease. Based on these estimates
and the above mentioned projections, the potential U.S. market for SEPET™ and
HepatAssist™ is significant, with similar or possibly larger opportunities in
some regions outside North America. However, we have not confirmed the potential
size of these markets through an independent marketing study.
If
we are
successful in demonstrating the clinical utility of one or both of our product
candidates, liver failure patients treated with our product candidates may
be
spared liver transplantation and the need for life-long immune-suppression.
In
addition, these patients can be treated outside of the intensive care unit
and
could be discharged from the hospital after shorter stays, all of which would
reduce costs for healthcare providers and generate a demand for the use of
these
product candidates.
Sales,
Marketing & Distribution
We
currently do not have any agreements in place to market any of our product
candidates if and when those products are commercially released, and we do
not
currently expect to establish an in-house marketing and sales program to
distribute our products, if approved, in all regions of the world. We currently
expect to outsource at least a portion of the sales, marketing and distribution
of our products, if approved, including SEPET™ in Europe if we obtain CE Marking
approval, to third parties who specialize in the sales, marketing and
distribution of medical products. Alternatively, we may enter into strategic
alliances with larger medical companies or license the rights to our product
candidates to such larger companies. Our direct marketing and sales operations
may, in these cases, eventually be directed towards supporting sales and
distribution activities of any future partner. We currently expect that our
products, if approved, will be marketed in at least North America and Europe,
and possibly in Asia. We are currently seeking a commercialization partner
for
HepatAssist™ and plan to do the same for SEPET™, for some world regions, in the
next two years.
We
are
also moving forward on the marketing authorization process in the European
Union
to receive CE Marking for our SEPETTM
Liver
Assist Device. CE Marking indicates that the product complies with the essential
requirements of the relevant European health, safety and environmental
protection legislation and allows sale of the product within the European
Union
(28 countries) and the European Free Trade Association (3 countries).
Manufacturing
& Supply
With
respect to cartridges that we expect will be needed for SEPET™, we expect that
such cartridges will be commercially manufactured by NxStage, and the membrane
inside the cartridge will be produced by Membrana. Additional disposable
components, such as tubing connectors, may also be manufactured by third
party
subcontractors.
We
currently do not have a finalized manufacturing arrangement for the cartridges
used in the HepatAssist™ system. The HepatAssist™ cartridge is based on a
conventional single-bundle hollow-fiber technology and a number of third
party
manufacturers could produce these cartridges for us under contract.
Supply
Agreement with Membrana GmbH
On
September 14, 2007, we entered into a supply agreement with Membrana, a company
organized under the laws of Germany, for the provision of membranes for use
in
SEPET™. The agreement provides that following the first commercial sale of our
product that contains Membrana membranes, Membrana will be our exclusive
supplier of certain identified membranes for use in certain of our products.
In
addition, the agreement provides that following the first commercial sale
of our
product that contains Membrana membranes, Membrana shall not supply certain
identified membranes for use in certain of our products to any other third
party
that will incorporate such membranes into a product whose composition, method
of
manufacture or method of use falls within a claim of one of our issued U.S.
patents. Such exclusivity may last for up to five years based upon our
fulfillment of certain minimum purchase thresholds. The agreement also provides
for pre-established per-unit pricing of Membrana membranes, including
progressive quantity discounts.
The
agreement will terminate following the six-year anniversary of the date of
the
first commercial sale of our product that contains Membrana membranes. The
agreement may be terminated by either party upon 90 days notice in the event
of
a material breach by the other party that remains uncured for 90 days, or
upon
60 days notice if the other party becomes insolvent or becomes the subject
of
any voluntary or involuntary proceeding in bankruptcy, liquidation, dissolution,
receivership, or general assignment for the benefit of creditors that is
not
dismissed within 60 days. In addition, upon 60 days notice, we may terminate
the
agreement or terminate the exclusivity of the agreement, upon Membrana’s failure
to meet certain delivery requirements.
Manufacturing
& Supply Agreement with NxStage Medical, Inc.
On
October 19, 2007, we entered into a manufacturing & supply agreement with
NxStage Medical, Inc. for the manufacture and supply of our SEPET™ Liver Assist
Device for use in clinical trials and for commercial sale, if it is approved.
The agreement provides that NxStage will be our exclusive manufacturer and
supplier of the SEPET™ Liver Assist Device for commercial sale until the fifth
anniversary of regulatory approval of the device. Under the agreement, NxStage
will not manufacture, supply or sell our device to other parties and if NxStage
manufactures, supplies or sells a competing product, as defined in the
agreement, subject to certain exceptions, we may terminate the arrangement
or
convert it into a non-exclusive arrangement. In addition, if we purchase
more
than a certain number of devices in one calendar year, we will be subject
to an
annual minimum purchase requirement for the remainder of the agreement, which
minimum will be subject to adjustment each year. The agreement provides for
pre-established per-unit pricing, including quantity discounts and yearly
adjustments.
The
agreement will terminate upon the earlier of (i) the seventh anniversary
of
regulatory approval of the device or (ii) the seventh anniversary of the
date of
the agreement if regulatory approval of the device is not obtained by such
date.
The agreement may be terminated by either party (i) upon an extended prior
notice period, (ii) upon a material breach by the other party that remains
uncured, or (iii) upon notice if the other party becomes insolvent, files
for
bankruptcy, goes into liquidation or a receiver is appointed over all or
a major
part of the other parties’ assets. In addition, we may terminate the agreement
or terminate the exclusivity of the agreement, upon the occurrence of certain
events.
Platforms
used for SEPETTM
and
HepatAssistTM
Devices
The
kidney dialysis systems that will be used as a platform for SEPETTM
therapy
are not expected to require any technical adjustments. Since pressure monitors
and hemoglobin detectors are standard in kidney dialysis systems, additional
safety features are not likely to be required. Since the existing kidney
dialysis instruments will not be affected, only the kidney dialysis cartridge
will be replaced by a SEPETTM
cartridge, we do not anticipate that consents will have to be obtained from
the
manufacturers of those open platform units, and no additional insurance is
expected to be required to use those units. Nevertheless, manufacturers of
such
instruments may in the future have incentives to form partnerships with us
for
marketing and distribution of disposables, either as stand-alone products
or as
integrated systems of disposables for use on their instruments.
The
platform we currently expect to use for the HepatAssist™ bioartificial liver
therapy is a perfusion platform known as the PERFORMER. The PERFORMER is
a
multi-function integrated system capable of supporting extracorporeal
blood/plasma/fluid circulation therapies that is manufactured by RanD S.r.l.
(Italy) and distributed by Medtronic, Inc. The PERFORMER may be equipped
with
proprietary software, which has already been developed by RanD for us, and
a
tubing set for use with our HepatAssist™ system.
Cell
Procurement
The
pig
liver cells will be harvested from young purpose-bred, pathogen-free pigs
raised
in a USDA certified facility specifically designed for biomedical research
purposes. The liver cells will be harvested and cryopreserved under aseptic
conditions using our proprietary technology as well as commercially available
equipment.
With
regard to cell procurement and cryopreservation for bioartificial liver use,
we
do not yet own or lease our own specialized and certified bio-secure porcine
liver cell manufacturing plant. Prior to Phase III clinical testing of
HepatAssist™, we will determine whether to build a cell procurement facility to
meet the expected requirements for commercial sales, which will likely require
a
substantial lease obligation and/or capital investment. This decision will
be
based on technical evaluation of the project as well as an economic evaluation
of company performance.
Patents
and Proprietary Rights
Liver
Assist Device Rights.
Our
intellectual property rights relating to the SEPETTM
Liver
Assist Device consist of a U.S. patent application plus pending foreign
counterpart applications, a family of in-licensed U.S. patents plus foreign
counterparts and pending patent applications, and certain related trade
secrets.
Our
U.S.
patent application and foreign counterparts regarding our selective plasma
filtration therapy (SEPET™) technology was filed in August 2002 with the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Office and subsequently in
other
countries and is currently under review for possible issuance. The applications
contain claims for the use of various hemofiltration apparatus to treat liver
failure and related diseases, as well as claims covering the hemofiltration
apparatus itself.
In
March
2007, we in-licensed a family of issued U.S. patents and various U.S. and
foreign patent applications from Immunocept, LLC which include broad claims
for
methods of treating liver failure, multi-organ failure, multi-organ dysfunction
syndrome, sepsis, septic shock, systemic inflammatory response syndrome,
and
related inflammatory disorders by selective blood filtration. The patents
and
applications relate to the use of blood filtration devices which remove,
from
the blood of patients with the above disease conditions, a broad spectrum
of
inflammatory and other disease mediators ranging from small molecules through
intermediate size blood proteins with molecular weights up to the size of
beneficial immunoglobulins. Such devices are capable of removing known “bad
actor” compounds associated with liver failure, multi-organ failure and sepsis
while preserving critical immunogloblins, clotting factors, lipids, and other
beneficial large proteins in the circulating blood of afflicted patients.
The
patents and/or applications also relate to the combined use of replacement
fluids including human serum albumin or combined uses of secondary selective
plasma adsorption devices and/or certain classes of anti-inflammatory
therapeutic drugs, and to apparatus suitable for the above uses.
Included
in this in-licensed family are five issued U.S. patents, four pending U.S.
patents, and two pending European patents. We will owe royalties on net sales
of
products which are covered by the license, including potentially the SEPET™
Liver Assist Device, ranging from low- to mid-single digit percentages of
net
sales. We will also owe maintenance fees and certain other minimum spending
obligations under the license and may owe contingent milestone fees. Our
fixed
obligations under the license will total less than $500,000 over the next
4
years, a portion of which includes spending on future product development
possibly leading to future sales revenues for us. Our contingent obligations
under the license will total less than $500,000 over approximately the same
period (dependent, however, on the pace of potential future patent
issuances).
Bioartificial
Liver Rights.
We
originally obtained exclusive, worldwide rights from Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center
and Spectrum Laboratories to seven issued U.S. patents protecting our
bioartificial liver technology and accompanying cell
procurement/cryopreservation technologies. One of the patents we licensed
from
Spectrum Laboratories, Inc., patent #5,015,585 “Method and Apparatus for
Culturing and Diffusively Oxygenating Cells on Isotropic Membranes” has expired.
Our
founders, Drs. Rozga and Demetriou, are co-inventors of both the
semi-automated methods for large-scale production of isolated pig/human
hepatocytes and cryopreservation of isolated pig/human hepatocytes. Currently,
the key proprietary bioartificial liver technologies that we intend to use
include the following licensed patents:
(1) |
A
bioartificial liver system in which liver cell therapy and blood
detoxification are integrated in a single fiber-in-fiber module (US
Patent
# 6,582,955 B2 for “Bioreactor With Application as Blood Therapy Device”
issued in June 2003). We licensed this patent from Spectrum
Laboratories.
|
(2) |
Semi-automated
large-scale liver cell procurement technology (US Patent #5,888,409
for
“Methods for Cell Isolation and Collection” issued on March 30,
1999). We licensed this patent from Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center.
|
(3) |
Liver
cell procurement technology (US Patent #5,968,356 for “System for
Hepatocyte Cell Isolation and Collection” issued on October 19, 1999, and
related European Patent #0 830 099 for “Apparatus and Method for Cell
Isolation and Collection”). We licensed this patent from Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center.
|
(4) |
Liver
cell cryopreservation technology (US Patent #6,140,123 for “Method for
Conditioning and Cryopreserving Cells” issued on October 31, 2000).
We licensed this patent from Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center.
|
Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center Licenses.
On June
19, 2001, we entered into an agreement with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center pursuant
to which Cedars-Sinai granted us exclusive and worldwide rights to patents
(2)
through (4) above and to certain other technical information. These rights
are
and remain exclusive over the legal life of the various patents and include,
subject to limitations, the right to sublicense the patent rights to third
parties. In order to maintain its rights under the license, we were required
to
expend an aggregate amount of $1,760,000 in research and development expenses
toward the development and promotion of products derived from the patents.
As of
the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004, we had expended more
than
the minimum required $1,760,000 and have, therefore, fully satisfied the
research and development expenditure requirement of this license. Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center will have nonexclusive rights to any products derived from
the
patents. We will have to initially pay Cedars-Sinai Medical Center royalty
fees
equal to 1.5% of the gross sales price of royalty bearing products. From
the
third to tenth years of the license, the royalty fee percent will phase out
evenly to 0%. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is also a stockholder of this company.
See Note 4 “Patent Rights” and 6 “Stockholder’s Equity - Junior Preferred Stock”
of the financial statements included elsewhere in the Annual Report.
Circe
Biomedical Properties.
In April
2004, we acquired from Circe Biomedical a portfolio of intellectual properties,
including certain U.S. and foreign patents applicable to the
HepatAssistTM
bioartificial liver that Circe Biomedical was developing, including various
patents related to the harvesting and handling of cells to be used in the
bioartificial liver. We also acquired a number of other patents and rights
related to Circe Biomedical’s bioartificial liver program that we will not be
using, as well as patents on other technologies that we do not intend to
pursue
(such as patents to Circe Biomedical’s’s artificial pancreas system and three
patents for cholesterol removal membranes). The following is a list of U.S.
patents and patent applications that we acquired from Circe Biomedical and
that
we expect to maintain and use with our bioartificial liver system:
(1) |
Apparatus
for Bioprocessing a Circulating Fluid. US Patent #5643794 (issued
on July
1, 1997).
|
(2) |
Cryopreserved
Hepatocytes and High Viability and Metabolic Activity. US Patent
#5795711
(issued on August 18, 1998).
|
(3) |
Closed
System for Processing Cells. US Patent #5858642 (issued on January
12,
1999).
|
(4) |
Cell
Innoculation Device. US Patent #5,891,713 (issued on April 6, 1999).
|
(5) |
Method
of Thawing Cryopreserved Cells. US Patent #5895745 (issued on April
20,
1999).
|
(6) |
High
Flow Technique for Harvesting Mammalian Cells. US Patent #5912163
(issued
on June 15, 1999).
|
(7) |
Removal
of Agent From Cell Suspension. US Patent #6068775 (issued on May
30,
2000).
|
(8) |
Method
for Cryopreserving Hepatocytes. US Patent #6136525 (issued on October
24,
2000).
|
Many
of
these issued U.S. patents have issued foreign counterparts including in Europe
and in Japan.
Pending
Patent Applications
Patent No. |
Country |
Title of Patent
Application |
|
|
|
515326/97 |
JP |
Cryopreserved Hepatocytes & High
Viability and Metabolic Activity |
In
addition to the foregoing Circe Biomedical patents, we acquired other rights
to
Circe Biomedical’s HepatAssist™ bioartificial liver and related technologies,
such as clinical and marketing data and over 400 manufacturing and quality
assurance/control standard operation protocols that the FDA had previously
reviewed. The
Phase
I through III clinical data that we acquired is expected to be useful in
the
preparation of future FDA submissions, since the data is based on pig liver
cells from the same source. We also acquired an FDA Phase III IND for an
enhanced version of the HepatAssist™ system. We are currently evaluating the
possibility of conducting clinical studies of the HepatAssist™ system under a
modified version of the FDA-approved Phase III IND protocol that we acquired,
but must raise additional funds for this project. In connection with our
acquisition of the foregoing patents, we also assumed Circe Biomedical’s
obligations to make the following royalty payments:
(a) We
assumed the obligation to pay a royalty of 2% of “net sales” of any product that
utilizes or incorporates the bioartificial liver patents, technology,
inventions, and technical or scientific data that Circe Biomedical acquired
from
W.R. Grace & Co. pursuant to that certain Royalty Agreement, dated as of
January 29, 1999, between Circe Biomedical (as a wholly-owned subsidiary
of W.R.
Grace & Co.) and Circe Acquisition Corp. Since the assets that we acquired
from Circe Biomedical are expected to be used in the HepatAssist™ system, it is
likely that we will have to pay this royalty with respect of sales of those
parts of our HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based
Liver Support System that incorporate the W.R. Grace & Co. technology. Net
sales include revenues received from our licensees and sublicensees from
third
parties. The obligation to pay royalties on the net sales of certain parts
of
our bioartificial liver systems will continue for at least ten years after
the
date on which we have obtained all required regulatory approvals and have
received $100,000 of net sales and will expire after the ten year period
or last
patent right has terminated.
(b) We
are
obligated to make royalty payments equal to 1% of the “net sales” price for that
portion of a liver assist system sold by us or any of our sublicensees that
comprises or incorporates a cartridge having a combination of porcine
hepatocytes with hollow fiber membranes pursuant to that certain Restated
License Agreement dated as of August 1, 1999 between Circe Biomedical and
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Since our HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System may utilize this type of cartridge, we will
have
to pay this royalty with respect of sales of all cartridges used in our
bioartificial liver system. Our obligation to pay these royalties will begin
with the first commercial sale of a bioartificial liver and continue thereafter
for ten years. The royalty obligations shall continue until either ten years
have elapsed from the first commercial sale date or the last to expire Circe
Biomedical patent right has occurred. The royalty obligations expire after
the
ten year period has elapsed.
Under
U.S. law, utility patents filed before June 8, 1995 are valid for 20 years
from
the filing date, or 17 years from date of issuance, whichever period is longer.
Patents filed on or after June 8, 1995 are good for 20 years from the date
of
filing.
We
have
filed for U.S. trademark protection for our product candidate names, SEPET™ and
HepatAssist™, which marks may become registered only upon commercialization of
the products.
Research
and Development
We
spent
approximately $2,300,000 on research and development during the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2007, $1,823,000 on research and development during the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 and $8,113,000 on research and development
from inception (August 23, 2000) through December 31, 2007.
Competition
Our
product candidates will compete with several other products and technologies
that are currently used or are being developed by companies, academic medical
centers and research institutions. These competitors consist of both large
established companies as well as small, single product development stage
companies. We expect substantial competition from these companies as they
develop different and/or novel approaches to the treatment of liver disease.
Some of these approaches may directly compete with the product candidates
that
we are currently developing.
Other
therapies currently available include whole plasma exchange therapy, a procedure
involving massive plasma transfusions that is being used primarily for
correction of coagulopathy in patients with severe acute liver failure. In
addition, two extracorporeal blood detoxification systems are currently
available in the United States for treatment of liver failure: (1) the Adsorba
column (Gambro, Hechingen, Germany) which contains activated charcoal and
(2)
the BioLogic-DT system (HemoCleanse, West Lafayette, Indiana) utilizing a
mixture of charcoal, silica and exchange resins.
Published
data indicate that in limited, uncontrolled clinical trials utilizing these
systems, only a transient improvement in neurological status was observed
with
no effect on patients’ survival.
Other
technologies offered by competing companies include the following:
Gambro’s
MARS system (molecular adsorbents recirculating system) combines the specific
removal of the toxins of liver failure (albumin bound toxins) using a
hollow-fiber cartridge impregnated with albumin, and sorbent columns placed
in a
dialysis circuit filled with 20% albumin solution. Albumin in the dialysate
is
“regenerated” during continuous recirculation in the closed loop system through
sorbent columns (charcoal, resin). In addition, standard hemodialysis is
performed during MARS treatment. In Europe, initial results in patients with
acute liver failure were encouraging. In November 2004, Gambro announced
that in
a completed Phase II controlled study, which was conducted in 79 patients
with
acute exacerbation of chronic liver disease, MARS treatment improved hepatic
encephalopathy and lowered blood levels of certain toxins implicated in the
pathophysiology of liver failure.
Controlled
clinical trials are needed to establish if the technology has any therapeutic
value and also needed for registration of the product in the United
States.
Fresenius’s
PROMETHEUS system is a variant of the MARS system and also combines albumin
dialysis with sorbent based blood detoxification
and dialysis.
In
Europe, initial results in a small group of patients with acute exacerbation
of
chronic liver failure appeared encouraging. Controlled clinical trials are
needed to establish if the technology has any therapeutic value and also
needed
for registration of the product in the United States.
Vital
Therapies, Inc. uses technology developed by predecessor companies Hepatix
and
VitaGen, Inc. Its bioartificial liver ELAD®
utilizes
a cell line derived from human liver cancer tissue and a conventional hollow
fiber bioreactor. A Phase I clinical study of the newest ELAD®
version
was reported
at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver
Disease
in November 2004 in Boston.
In
patients with acute liver failure, treatment with ELAD®
had no
effect on survival when compared to patients receiving standard therapy.
In
January 2006, Vital Therapies, Inc. announced that it had received guidance
from
the FDA to allow it to begin shipment of its ELAD®
cartridges to China in anticipation of pivotal clinical trials scheduled
to
begin in China in early 2006. This trial has been reported to be initiated
with
early positive results.
Several
other technologies could potentially compete with our bioartificial liver
systems. These include xenotransplantation, which is the use of pig or other
animal organs in humans, transplantation of isolated hepatocytes and
ex
vivo
whole
liver perfusions. While major progress has been made in the area of
xenotransplantation and transgenic pigs are now available, attempts at
xenotransplantation have resulted only in short-term survival of grafted
organs.
Ex
vivo
whole
liver perfusion is impractical because it is cumbersome and requires maintenance
of multiple pathogen-free pig colonies due to direct cell-cell contact between
pig liver and human blood cells. Although transplantation of hepatocytes
showed
great promise in animal models of liver failure, there is no adequate supply
source of human cells due to shortage of organ donors.
Government
Regulation
In
order
to clinically test, manufacture, and market products for therapeutic use,
we
will have to satisfy mandatory procedures and safety and effectiveness standards
established by various regulatory bodies. In the United States, the Public
Health Service Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended,
and
the regulations promulgated thereunder, and other federal and state statutes
and
regulations govern, among other things, the testing, manufacture, labeling,
storage, record keeping, approval, advertising, and promotion of our products.
Product development and approval within this regulatory framework take a
number
of years and involve the expenditure of substantial resources. After laboratory
analysis and preclinical testing in animals, an IDE (in the case of a medical
device such as SEPET™) or an IND (in the case of a drug or a combination product
such as HepatAssist™) is filed with the FDA to begin human testing. Typically, a
two-phase (for devices) or a three-phase (for drugs/biologics) clinical testing
program is then undertaken. In Phase I or feasibility phase, small clinical
trials are conducted to determine the safety of the product candidate. In
Phase
II (typically not required for devices), clinical trials are conducted to
assess
safety and gain preliminary evidence of the efficacy of the product candidate.
In Phase III or pivotal phase, clinical trials are conducted to provide
sufficient data for the statistically valid proof of safety and efficacy.
Variations on these paths can also occur, and repetition of particular phases
may be required.
The
time
and expense required to perform this clinical testing can vary and be very
substantial. No action can be taken to market any new device, drug or
combination product in the United States until an appropriate marketing
application has been approved by the FDA. Even after initial FDA approval
has
been obtained, further clinical trials may be required to provide additional
data on safety and effectiveness and are required to gain clearance for the
use
of a product as a treatment for indications other than those initially approved.
In addition, side effects or adverse events that are reported during clinical
trials can delay, impede, or prevent marketing approval. Similarly, adverse
events that are reported after marketing approval can result in additional
limitations being placed on the product’s use and, potentially, withdrawal of
the product from the market. Any adverse event, either before or after marketing
approval, can result in product liability claims against us.
In
addition to regulating and auditing clinical trials, the FDA regulates and
usually inspects equipment, facilities, and processes used in the manufacturing
and testing of such products prior to providing approval to market a product.
If, after receiving clearance from the FDA, a material change is made in
manufacturing equipment, location, or process, additional regulatory review
may
be required. We will also have to adhere to current Good Manufacturing Practice
and product-specific regulations enforced by the FDA through its facilities
inspection program. The FDA also conducts regular, periodic visits to re-inspect
equipment, facilities, laboratories, and processes following the initial
approval. If, as a result of these inspections, the FDA determines that any
equipment, facilities, laboratories, or processes do not comply with applicable
FDA regulations and conditions of product approval, the FDA may seek civil,
criminal, or administrative sanctions and/or remedies against us, including
the
suspension of the manufacturing operations.
The
FDA
has separate review procedures for medical devices before such products may
be
commercially marketed in the United States. There are two basic review
procedures for medical devices in the United States. Certain products may
qualify for a Section 510(k) procedure, under which the manufacturer gives
the
FDA a Pre-Market Notification, or 510(k) Notification, of the manufacturer’s
intention to commence marketing of the product at least 90 days before the
product will be introduced into interstate commerce. The manufacturer must
obtain written clearance from the FDA before it can commence marketing the
product. Among other requirements, the manufacturer must establish in the
510(k)
Notification that the product to be marketed is “substantially equivalent” to
another legally-marketed, previously existing product. If a device does not
qualify for the 510(k) Notification procedure, the manufacturer must file
a
Pre-Market Approval Application. The Pre-Market Approval, or PMA, application
requires more extensive pre-filing testing than the 510(k) Notification
procedure and involves a significantly longer FDA review process, although
the
process is typically less than for a new drug or combination product (in
part
because of the two-phase versus three-phase clinical trial process described
above).
SEPET™
may be regulated in the United States as a Class III medical device requiring
a
PMA review process, similar to medical devices for conducting plasma exchange;
however, the FDA may classify it as a Class II device suitable for Section
510(k) approval described above. We are currently in the process of finalizing
the design of and preparing for a pivotal clinical trial to demonstrate the
safety and efficacy of SEPET™ in treating patients with chronic liver failure,
which we believe will be required for FDA approval of SEPET™ in case of either a
PMA or a 510(k) review process. Accordingly, it is likely to be subject to
a
two-step approval process starting with a submission of an IDE and subsequent
amendments to conduct human studies, followed by the submission of a PMA
application. The steps required before a product such as SEPET™ is likely to be
approved by the FDA for marketing in the United States generally include
(i)
preclinical laboratory and animal tests; (ii) the submission to the FDA of
an
IDE for human clinical testing, which must become effective before human
clinical trials may commence; (iii) adequate and well-controlled human clinical
trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the product candidate; and
(iv)
the submission to the FDA of a product application. Preclinical tests include
laboratory evaluation of the product candidate, as well as animal studies
to
assess the potential safety and efficacy of the product candidate. The results
of the preclinical tests, together with analytical data, are submitted to
the
FDA as part of an IDE, which must become effective before human clinical
trials
may commence. The sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns
before clinical trials can proceed. As discussed above, human clinical trials
typically involve two sequential phases. Each trial must be reviewed and
approved by the FDA before it can begin. The feasibility phase involves the
initial introduction of the experimental product into human subjects to evaluate
its safety and, if possible, to gain early indications of efficacy. The pivotal
phase typically involves further evaluation of clinical efficacy and testing
of
product safety of a product in final form within an expanded patient population.
The results of preclinical testing and clinical trials, together with detailed
information on the manufacture and composition of the product, are submitted
to
the FDA in the form of an application requesting approval to market the product.
HepatAssist™
is classified by the FDA as a combination product comprising a biological
therapeutic and a Class III medical device. Accordingly, it is subject to
a
two-step approval process starting with a submission of an IND to conduct
human
studies followed by the submission of applications for PMA and Biologic License
Approval, or BLA. The steps required before a product such as HepatAssist™ may
be approved by the FDA for marketing in the United States generally include
(i)
preclinical laboratory and animal tests; (ii) the submission to the FDA of
an
IND for human clinical testing, which must become effective before human
clinical trials may commence; (iii) adequate and well-controlled human clinical
trials to establish the safety and efficacy of the product candidate; and
(iv)
the submission to the FDA of a product application. Preclinical tests include
laboratory evaluation of the product candidate, as well as animal studies
to
assess the potential safety and efficacy of the product candidate. The results
of the preclinical tests, together with analytical data, are submitted to
the
FDA as part of an IND, which must become effective before human clinical
trials
may commence. The sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns
before clinical trials can proceed. As discussed above, human clinical trials
typically involve three sequential phases. Each trial must be reviewed and
approved by the FDA before it can begin. Phase I involves the initial
introduction of the experimental product into human subjects to evaluate
its
safety and, if possible, to gain early indications of efficacy. Phase II
usually
involves a trial in a limited patient population to (i) evaluate preliminarily
the efficacy of the product for specific, targeted indications; (ii) determine
dosage tolerance and optimal dosage; and (iii) identify possible adverse
effects
and safety risks. Phase III typically involves further evaluation of clinical
efficacy and testing of product safety of a product in final form within
an
expanded patient population. The results of preclinical testing and clinical
trials, together with detailed information on the manufacture and composition
of
the product, are submitted to the FDA in the form of an application requesting
approval to market the product. In the case of HepatAssist™, the product may be
available for Phase III testing once the new platform to provide therapy
(which
we currently believe will be the PERFORMER) is found to be equivalent as
a
plasma perfusion apparatus to the original platform used in previous Phase
I/II/III studies, and the FDA agrees to amend the previous IND to use the
PERFORMER in a new Phase III clinical study. No assurance can be given that
the
results of the equivalency studies, when conducted, will show that the PERFORMER
is a suitable platform for the HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System.
Finally, we will also have to re-establish an approved cell manufacturing
capability or engage an approved third party provider of pig cells.
In
addition to obtaining FDA approval, we will have to obtain the approval
of the
various foreign health regulatory agencies of the foreign countries in
which we
may wish to market our products. In Europe, we plan on seeking approval
to
market SEPET™ under the CE Mark and related device regulations which often
require less clinical testing than comparable approval processes in the
United
States. Label claims for medical devices marketed under the CE Mark are
restricted to what has been proven in clinical trials. This can have an
adverse
impact on marketability of products.
Certain
health regulatory authority (including those of Japan, France and the United
Kingdom) have objected in the past, and other countries regulatory authorities
could potentially object, to the marketing of any therapy that uses pig
liver
cells (which our bioartificial liver system is expected to utilize) due
to
safety concerns relating to porcine endogenous viruses. If we are unable
to
obtain the approval of the health regulatory authorities in any country,
the
potential market for our products will be reduced.
Employees
As
of
March 31, 2008, we employed four full-time employees and one part-time
employee. We have also engaged five independent contractors under
consulting agreements who provide services to us on a substantial part-time
basis. Of the foregoing employees and contractors, three are primarily
engaged in administration or management, and the remaining seven persons
are
involved in scientific research, product development, clinical development,
manufacturing development and/or regulatory compliance matters. On March
29, 2008, we terminated one part-time employee, one full-time employee, and
one
independent contractor to help preserve our existing cash reserves. Our
employees are not represented by a labor organization or covered by a collective
bargaining agreement. We have not experienced work stoppages and we
believe that our relationship with our employees is good.
Glossary
of Terms
“Dialysate”
is a
cleansing liquid used in the two forms of dialysis—hemodialysis and peritoneal
dialysis.
“Dialysis”
is
the
process of cleaning wastes from the blood artificially. This job is normally
done by the kidney and liver.
“Extracorporeal”
means
situated or occurring outside the body.
“Ex
vivo”
pertains to a biological process or reaction taking place outside of a living
cell or organism.
“Fulminant”
means
occurring suddenly, rapidly, and with great severity or intensity.
“Hemodialysis”
pertains
to the use of a machine to clean wastes from blood after the kidneys have
failed. The blood flows through a device called a dialyzer, which removes
the
wastes. The cleaned blood then flows back into the body.
“Hemofiltration/Hemofiltrate“Hemofiltration”
is a continuous dialysis therapy in which blood is pumped through a hollow-fiber
cartridge and the liquid portion of blood containing substances are removed
into
the sink compartment. The liquid portion of the blood (“hemofiltrate”) is
discarded.
“Hepatitis”
is
an
inflammation of the liver caused by infectious or toxic agents.
“Hepatocytes”
are
the
organ tissue cells of the liver.
“IND”
means
Investigational New Drug application.
“IDE”
means Investigational Device Exemption.
“In
vitro”
pertains to a biochemical process or reaction taking place in a test-tube
(or
more broadly, in a laboratory) as opposed to taking place in a living cell
or
organism.
“In
vivo”
pertains to a biological process or reaction taking place in a living cell
or
organism.
“PERV”
means
the porcine endogenous retrovirus.
“Plasma”
is the
clear, yellowish fluid portion of blood. Plasma differs from serum in that
it
contains fibrin and other soluble clotting elements.
“Porcine”
means
of
or pertaining to swine; characteristic of the hog.
“Regeneration”
means
regrowth of lost or destroyed parts or organs.
“Sorbent”
means
to
take in and adsorb or absorb.
ITEM
2. DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY.
We
currently maintain our research offices and laboratories in Medford,
Massachusetts where we lease 1,783 square feet at $5,044 per month with a
term
of one year that was entered into on September 15, 2007. We maintain an
administrative office in Pasadena, California and our corporate headquarters
is
located in Waltham, Massachusetts. The Pasadena office is leased on a
month-to-month basis for approximately $1,500 per month for 640 square feet
of
space, and the Waltham office is leased for a term of six months ending on
July
31, 2008 for approximately $3,900 per month for 600 square feet of space.
We
believe our laboratory and office space is adequate for our current operating
needs.
ITEM
3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
We
are
not a party to any material legal proceedings.
We
may
occasionally become subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in
the
ordinary course of our business. It is impossible for us to predict with
any
certainty the outcome of pending disputes, and we cannot predict whether
any
liability arising from pending claims and litigation will be material in
relation to our consolidated financial position or results of operations.
ITEM
4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.
No
matters were submitted to a vote of security holders during the quarter ended
December 31, 2007.
PART
II
Market
Information
Our
common stock has been traded on the OTC Bulletin Board over-the-counter market
since March 18, 2004 under the symbol “ABOS.OB”. From the Reorganization until
March 18, 2004, our common stock was listed on the Pink Sheets over-the-counter
electronic trading system under the symbol “ABOS.OB” Prior to the Reorganization
on October 30, 2003, our common stock was listed on the Pink Sheets under
the
symbol “HIAU,” but there was virtually no trading in the common stock.
The
following table sets forth the range of high and low bid information for
our
common stock for each quarter within the last two years, as reported by Yahoo
Finance and Bigcharts from CBS Marketwatch.com. The following price information
reflects inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission
and may not represent actual transactions:
Quarter
Ending
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
March
31, 2006
|
|
$1.85
|
|
$0.65
|
June
30, 2006
|
|
$1.25
|
|
$0.90
|
September
30, 2006
|
|
$0.92
|
|
$0.42
|
December
31, 2006
|
|
$0.79
|
|
$0.46
|
|
|
|
|
|
March
31, 2007
|
|
$1.10
|
|
$0.43
|
June
30, 2007
|
|
$0.89
|
|
$0.60
|
September
30, 2007
|
|
$0.85
|
|
$0.29
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
$0.75
|
|
$0.55
|
Holders
As
of
March 26, 2008, there were 125 listed shareholders of record of our common
stock, although we believe there may be substantially more shareholders who
hold
our common stock in street name.
Dividends
We
have
not paid any dividends on our common stock to date and do not anticipate
that we
will be paying dividends in the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash
dividends on our common stock in the future will be dependent upon the amount
of
funds legally available, our earnings, if any, our financial condition, our
anticipated capital requirements and other factors that our Board of Directors
may think are relevant. However, we currently intend for the foreseeable
future
to follow a policy of retaining all of our earnings, if any, to finance the
development and expansion of our business and, therefore, do not expect to
pay
any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
Issuer
Purchases of Equity Securities
We
did
not repurchase any of our common shares during fiscal year 2007.
Overview
On
October 30, 2003, we completed a reorganization, (the “Reorganization”) in
which we acquired Arbios Technologies, Inc., or ATI, and the SEPET™ program. At
the time of the Reorganization, we had virtually no assets and virtually
no
liabilities (prior to the Reorganization we were an e-commerce based company
engaged in the business of acquiring and marketing historical documents).
Shortly after the Reorganization, we changed our name to “Arbios Systems, Inc.”
In the Reorganization, we also replaced our officers and directors with those
of
ATI. Following the Reorganization, we ceased our e-commerce business, closed
our
former offices, and moved our offices to Los Angeles, California. In April
2004,
we purchased certain assets of Circe Biomedical including a portfolio of
patents, rights to a bioartificial liver (HepatAssistTM),
a
Phase III IND, selected equipment, clinical and marketing data, and over
400
standard operating procedures and clinical protocols that have previously
been
reviewed by the FDA. The purchase price paid for these assets was $450,000,
which amount has now been fully paid. In July 2005, we consolidated our
corporate structure by merging ATI into our then parent company, Arbios Systems,
Inc., creating our current operating structure. We currently do not plan
to
conduct any business other than the business of developing liver assist devices
that Arbios Systems, Inc. has conducted since its organization.
Although
we acquired ATI in the Reorganization, for accounting purposes, the
Reorganization was accounted for as a reverse merger since the stockholders
of
ATI acquired a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our common
stock, and the directors and executive officers of ATI became our directors
and
executive officers. Accordingly, the financial statements contained in this
Annual Report, and the description of our results of operations and financial
condition, reflect (i) the operations of ATI alone prior to the Reorganization,
and (ii) the combined results of this company and ATI since the Reorganization.
No goodwill was recorded as a result of the Reorganization.
Since
the
formation of ATI in 2000, our efforts have been principally devoted to research
and development activities, raising capital, and recruiting additional
scientific and management personnel and advisors. To date, we have not marketed
or sold any product and have not generated any revenues from commercial
activities, and we do not expect to generate any revenues from commercial
activities during the next 12 months. Substantially all of the revenues that
we
have recognized to date have been Small Business Innovation Research grants
(in
an aggregate amount of $321,000) that we received from the U.S. Small Business
Administration.
In
April
2004, we purchased certain assets of Circe Biomedical including a portfolio
of
patents, rights to a bioartificial liver (HepatAssistTM),
a
Phase III IND, selected equipment, clinical and marketing data, and over
400
standard operating procedures and clinical protocols that have previously
been
reviewed by the FDA. The purchase price paid for these assets was $450,000.
Our
current plan of operations for the next 12 months primarily involves research
and development activities, including additional clinical trials for SEPET™ both
domestically and internationally, and (i) finalize
the design of our planned pivotal trial of SEPET™ with the FDA and commence the
trial by the second half of 2008 once a primary endpoint is established,
(ii)
the preparation and submission of applications to a Notified Body in Europe
to
secure CE Mark approval to market our SEPET™ Liver Assist Device in Europe,
(iii) the completion of an equity or other financing to support operations
and
the SEPETTM
pivotal
trial and (iv) identify and recruit a chief executive officer. The actual
amounts we may expend on research and development and related activities
during
the next 12 months may vary significantly depending on numerous factors,
including the results of our clinical studies, the timing and cost of regulatory
submissions and our ability to reach an agreement with the FDA about the
design
of our planned pivotal trial of SEPET™. Based on our current estimates, we
currently do not have sufficient cash to conduct our plan of operations for
the
next twelve months from the date of this Annual Report and that our current
cash
and cash equivalents are only sufficient to fund our operations into the
third
quarter of 2008. We are, however, seeking additional investment from various
investors, but currently have no firm agreements or commitments in this regard
to fund future development of our product candidates. Failure to raise
additional capital may result in substantial adverse circumstances, including
our inability to continue the development of our product candidates and our
liquidation.
Critical
Accounting Policies
Management’s
discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations
are
based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared
in
accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make
estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities,
revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and
liabilities. On an ongoing basis, management evaluates its estimates, including
those related to revenue recognition, impairment of long-lived assets, including
finite lived intangible assets, accrued liabilities and certain expenses.
We
base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions
that we believe to be 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. Actual results
may
differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or
conditions.
Our
significant accounting policies are summarized in Note 1 to our audited
financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007. We believe the
following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments
and
estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial
statements:
Development
Stage Enterprise
We
are a
development stage enterprise as defined by the Financial Accounting Standards
Board’s, or FASB, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, or SFAS, No. 7,
“Accounting and Reporting by Development Stage Enterprises.” We are devoting
substantially all of our present efforts to research and development. All
losses
accumulated since inception have been considered as part of our development
stage activities.
Short
Term Investments
Short-term
investments generally mature between three and twelve months. Short term
investments consist of U.S. government agency notes purchased at a discount
with
interest accruing to the notes full value at maturity. All of our
short-term investments are classified as available-for-sale and are carried
at
fair market value which approximates cost plus accrued interest.
Patents
In
accordance with SFAS No. 2, “Accounting for Research and Development Costs,” or
SFAS 2, the costs of intangibles that are purchased from others for use in
research and development activities and that have alternative future uses
are
capitalized and amortized. We capitalize certain patent rights that are believed
to have future economic benefit. The licensed capitalized patent costs were
recorded based on the estimated value of the equity security issued by us
to the
licensor. The value ascribed to the equity security took into account, among
other factors, our stage of development and the value of other companies
developing extracorporeal bioartificial liver assist devices. These patent
rights are amortized using the straight-line method over the remaining life
of
the patent. Certain patent rights received in conjunction with purchased
research and development costs have been expensed. Legal costs incurred in
obtaining, recording and defending patents are expensed as
incurred.
Stock-Based
Compensation
Commencing
January 1, 2006 we adopted SFAS No. 123R, “Share Based Payment,” or SFAS 123R,
which requires all share-based payments, including grants of stock options,
to
be recognized in the income statement as an operating expense, based on fair
values. Prior to adopting SFAS 123R, we accounted for stock-based employee
compensation under Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, “Accounting for
Stock Issued to Employees,” as allowed by SFAS No. 123, “Accounting for
Stock-Based Compensation”. We have applied the modified prospective method in
adopting SFAS 123R. Accordingly, periods prior to adoption have not been
restated.
New
Accounting Pronouncements
In
September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements,” or SFAS
157. SFAS 157 establishes a single authoritative definition of fair value,
sets
out a framework for measuring fair value, and requires additional disclosures
about fair-value measurements. SFAS 157 applies only to fair value measurements
that are already required or permitted by other accounting standards (except
for
measurements of share-based payments) and is expected to increase the
consistency of those measurements. Accordingly, SFAS 157 does not require
any
new fair value measurements. However, for some entities, the application
of SFAS
157 will change current practice. SFAS 157 is effective for fiscal years
beginning after November 15, 2007, and interim periods within those fiscal
years. We do not expect the adoption of SFAS 157 to have a material impact
on
our financial statements.
In
February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for
Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, Including an Amendment of FASB
Statement No. 115,” or SFAS 159, which is effective for financial statements
issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007 and interim periods
within those fiscal years. SFAS 159 permits entities to measure eligible
financial assets, financial liabilities and firm commitments at fair value,
on
an instrument-by-instrument basis, that are otherwise not permitted to be
accounted for at fair value under other generally accepted accounting
principles. The fair value measurement election is irrevocable and subsequent
changes in fair value must be recorded in earnings. We are currently evaluating
the impact that SFAS 159 will have on our financial statements.
On
June
27, 2007, the FASB reached a final consensus on Emerging Issues Task Force,
or
EITF, Issue 07-3, “Accounting for Advance Payments for Goods or Services to Be
Used in Future Research and Development Activities,” or EITF 07-03. Currently,
under SFAS 2 nonrefundable advance payments for future research and development
activities for materials, equipment, facilities, and purchased intangible
assets
that have no alternative future use are expensed as incurred. EITF 07-03
addresses whether such non-refundable advance payments for goods or services
that have no alternative future use and that will be used or rendered for
research and development activities should be expensed when the advance payments
are made or when the research and development activities have been performed.
The consensus reached by the FASB requires companies involved in research
and
development activities to capitalize such non-refundable advance payments
for
goods and services pursuant to an executory contractual arrangement because
the
right to receive those services in the future represents a probable future
economic benefit. Those advance payments will be capitalized until the goods
have been delivered or the related services have been performed. Entities
will
be required to evaluate whether they expect the goods or services to be
rendered. If an entity does not expect the goods to be delivered or services
to
be rendered, the capitalized advance payment will be charged to expense.
The
consensus on EITF 07-03 is effective for financial statements issued for
fiscal
years beginning after December 15, 2007, and interim periods within those
fiscal
years. Earlier application is not permitted. Entities are required to recognize
the effects of applying the guidance in EITF 07-03 prospectively for new
contracts entered into after the effective date. We are in the process of
evaluating the expected impact of EITF 07-03 on our financial position and
results of operations following adoption.
Results
of Operations
Comparison
of Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2007 to Fiscal Year ended
December 31, 2006.
Since
we
are still developing our product candidates and do not have any products
available for sale, we have not yet generated any revenues from sales. Revenues
from periods prior to 2005 represent revenues recognized from government
research grants that we have received.
General
and administrative expenses of $3,420,048 and $3,315,174 were incurred for
the
years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. For the year ended
December 31, 2007, the expenses include $976,000 in fees incurred to outside
consultants and professionals, $788,000 in payroll and payroll related costs,
$715,000 in non-cash option and warrant charges, $135,000 in investor relation
costs, $180,000 in equity offering contingent charges and other administrative
expenses. For the year ended December 31, 2006, the expenses include $662,000
in
fees incurred to outside consultants, professionals and board member fees,
$549,000 in payroll and payroll related costs, $1,076,000 in non-cash option
and
warrant charges, $239,000 in investor relation costs and other administrative
expenses. Professional fees increased in 2007 due to increased patent legal
costs of $102,000, increased legal costs of $151,000 due to additional
administration associated with an acquired patent portfolio and various
compliance and contract negotiations, and an increase in executive search
recruitment fees of $114,000 related to our search for a CEO. The decrease
in
non-cash option and warrant charges reflect lower fair value option charge
calculations which are impacted by a declining common stock market price
in
2007. The 2007 increase in payroll and payroll related expenses primarily
reflect the severance costs incurred with the former Chief Executive Officer’s
separation agreement. An equity offerings contingency for $180,000 was accrued
in the first quarter of 2007. Investor relations cost reductions are attributed
to lower spending on fixed retainer costs. On March 29, 2008, we reduced
our
workforce by three people in order to help preserve our cash balance. We
anticipate severance costs and vacation payout payments of approximately
$17,000
related to this reduction in force.
Research
and development expenses of $2,299,632 and $1,822,614 were incurred for the
years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively. Research and development
expenses for 2007 consist primarily of $635,000 in payroll and payroll related
expenses, $299,000 in SEPETTM
development, manufacturing and clinical costs, $701,000 in consultant costs
related to manufacturing, regulatory and product management, $425,000 in
patent
acquisition costs, and $36,000 in HepatAssist™ facility costs. Research and
development expenses for 2006 consist primarily of $570,000 in payroll and
payroll related expenses, $486,000 in SEPETTM
development, manufacturing and clinical costs, $380,000 in consultant costs
related to manufacturing, regulatory and product management, and $144,000
in
HepatAssist™ facility costs. Research and development costs increased by
$477,018 from 2006 to 2007 and reflect increased expenditures for the
SEPETTM
program.
Payroll cost increases reflect a full year salary in 2007 for clinical research
management hired in 2006. The increase in consulting costs reflects outsourced
service costs incurred related to the SEPETTM
program,
$425,000 in patent acquisition costs relate to the patent portfolio acquisition
in March 2007. The HepatAssist™ facility lease was terminated in March 2007 and
resulted in lower costs for this program.
The
change in fair value of warrant liability reflects the elimination of the
warrant liability valuation due to our recording a change in accounting
principal on 2007. In accordance with SFAS No. 154, “Accounting Changes and
Error Corrections,” or SFAS 154, we recorded a change in accounting principal
related to EITF Issue No. 00-19-2, “Accounting for Registration Payment
Arrangements,” or EITF 00-19-2. EITF 00-19-2 was issued December 21, 2006 and is
effective for fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2006, and requires
the
registration rights agreement and any registration rights payments to be
considered separately from the financial instruments. In accordance with
EITF
00-19-2, we reversed the classification of the warrant liability associated
with
the warrants issued in our 2005 and 2006 financings from debt to equity during
the period ended March 31, 2007. The warrants and registration rights agreement
were previously accounted for as a single instrument, and without the
consideration of the registration rights payments, the warrants are properly
classified as equity in accordance with EITF 00-19. We reviewed the instruments
entered into in connection with our 2007 financing and determined that the
financing did not have any embedded derivatives requiring derivative accounting
treatment.
Interest
income of $167,030 and $154,697 was earned for the years ended December 31,
2007
and 2006 respectively. The increase in interest income of $12,333 results
from
higher average cash balances maintained in 2007.
Our
net
loss increased to $5,552,650 in 2007 from $4,461,904 in 2006. The increase
in
net loss is attributed to an increase in operating expenses incurred in the
fiscal 2007 periods as compared to the same periods in 2006, without an increase
in revenues.
Liquidity
and Capital Resources
As
of
December 31, 2007, we had cash and cash equivalents of $2,735,944. We do
not
have any bank credit lines. To date, we have funded our operations from the
sale
of equity securities and government research grants.
On
April
23, 2007, we completed a private equity financing of $4,861,000 to a group
of
current and new accredited investors which was reduced by $377,000 in fund
raising costs resulting in net proceeds to us of $4,484,000. In the offering,
we
sold 3,739,231 Units. Each Unit was sold at a price of $1.30 per Unit. Each
Unit
consists of: (i) two shares of common stock, (ii) one warrant to purchase
one
share of common stock exercisable for a period of 2.5 years at an exercise
price
of $1.00 (“A Warrants”) and (iii) one warrant to purchase one share of common
stock exercisable for a period of five years at an exercise price of $1.40
(“B
Warrants”), comprising a total of 7,478,462 shares of common stock and warrants
to purchase 7,478,462 shares of common stock. The warrants have no provision
for
cashless exercise and, subject to certain requirements, we may call the warrants
provided that our common stock trades above $1.50 for the A Warrants and
above
$2.80 for the B Warrants for a specified time period. The placement agent
received: (i) a cash fee of $252,000, (ii) a warrant to purchase 576,615
shares
of common stock with an exercise price of $0.65 and a term of five years
with a
Black Scholes valuation of $275,845 utilizing the following assumptions:
risk
free interest rate 4.59%, stock price volatility 0.80, expected life 5 years,
dividend yield 0%, and (iii) a contingent cash fee of 7% of cash proceeds
generated in connection with any additional payments, equity purchases or
warrant exercises originating from investors from the April 2007 financing
within 12 months of the closing of the financing. As a result of the April
2007
financing and pursuant to certain anti-dilution terms of our prior equity
financings, we increased the number of shares issuable under the warrants
issued
in the 2005 and 2006 financing by approximately 746,000 shares. The exercise
price of the warrants from the January 2005 equity financing was reduced
from
$2.74 to $1.91 per share and the exercise price of the warrants from the
March
2006 equity financing was reduced from $1.50 to $1.22 per share.
Based
on
our current estimates, we currently do not have sufficient cash to conduct
our
plan of operations for the next twelve months from the date of this Annual
Report and our current cash and cash equivalents are only sufficient to fund
our
operations into only part of the third quarter of 2008. We are seeking
additional investment from various investors, but currently have no firm
agreements or commitments in this regard to fund future development of our
product candidates.
We
do not
currently anticipate that we will derive any revenues from either product
sales
or from governmental research grants during the current fiscal year.
The
cost
of completing the development of our product candidates and of obtaining
all
required regulatory approvals to market our product candidates is substantially
greater than the amount of funds we currently have available and substantially
greater than the amount we could possibly receive under any governmental
grant
program. As a result, we will have to obtain significant additional funds
during
the next six months. We currently expect to attempt to obtain additional
financing through the sale of additional equity and possibly through strategic
alliances with larger pharmaceutical, medical device or biomedical companies
or
alternative financing vehicles. We cannot be sure that we will be able to
obtain
additional funding from any of these sources, or that the terms under which
we
obtain such funding will be beneficial to us. Failure to raise additional
capital may result in substantial adverse circumstances, including our inability
to continue the development of our product candidates and our
liquidation.
A
summary
of our contractual cash obligations at December 31, 2007 is as
follows:
Contractual
Obligations
|
|
Total
|
|
2008
|
|
2009
|
|
2010
|
|
2011
|
|
Long-Term
Leases
|
|
$
|
40,352
|
|
$
|
40,352
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
License
Agreement
|
|
|
300,000
|
|
|
50,000
|
|
$
|
100,000
|
|
$
|
150,000
|
|
|
-
|
|
Total
|
|
$
|
340,352
|
|
$
|
90,352
|
|
$
|
100,000
|
|
$
|
150,000
|
|
$
|
-
|
|
We
do not
believe that inflation has had a material impact on our business or
operations.
We
are
not a party to any off-balance sheet arrangements, and we do not engage in
trading activities involving non-exchange traded contracts. In addition,
we have
no financial guarantees, debt or lease agreements or other arrangements that
could trigger a requirement for an early payment or that could change the
value
of our assets.
Factors
that May Affect Future Results and Market Price of Our Stock
We
face a
number of substantial risks. Our business, financial condition or results
of
operations could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our
common stock could decline due to any of these risks, and they should be
considered in connection with the other information contained in this Annual
Report.
We
are an early-stage company subject to all of the risks and uncertainties
of a
new business, including the risk that we may never market any products or
generate revenues.
We
are an
early-stage company that has not generated any operating revenues to date
(our
only revenues were derived from two government research grants). Accordingly,
while we have been in existence since February 1999, and ATI, our operating
subsidiary, has been in existence since 2000, we should be evaluated as an
early-stage company, subject to all of the risks and uncertainties normally
associated with an early-stage company. As an early-stage company, we expect
to
incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future, and there
can be
no assurance that we will be able to validate and market products in the
future
that will generate revenues or that any revenues generated will be sufficient
for us to become profitable or thereafter maintain profitability.
Our
ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on future
financing.
Our
independent registered public accounting firm, has included an explanatory
paragraph in its report on our financial statements for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2007, which expresses substantial doubt about our ability to
continue as a going concern. The inclusion of a going concern explanatory
paragraph in our accountant’s report on our financial statements could have a
detrimental effect on our stock price and our ability to raise additional
capital.
Our
financial statements have been prepared on the basis of a going concern,
which
contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities
in
the normal course of business. We have not made any adjustments to the financial
statements as a result of the outcome of the uncertainty described above.
Accordingly, our value in liquidation may be different from the amounts set
forth in our financial statements.
Our
continued success will depend on our ability to continue to raise capital
in
order to fund the development and commercialization of our product candidates.
Failure to raise additional capital may result in substantial adverse
circumstances, including our inability to continue the development of our
product candidates and our liquidation.
We
need to obtain significant additional capital to complete the development
of our
liver assist devices and meet contractual obligations related to our licensed
patents, which additional funding may dilute our existing
stockholders.
Based
on
our current proposed plans and assumptions, we estimate that we do not have
cash
to operate for the next 12 months, and therefore we will need to obtain
significant additional funds during the first half of 2008. The clinical
development expenses of our product candidates will be very substantial.
Based
on our current assumptions, we estimate that the clinical cost of developing
the
SEPET™ liver assist device will be approximately $5 million to $10 million, and
the clinical cost of developing the HepatAssist™ cell-based liver support system
will be between $10 million and $15 million, in excess of the cost of our
basic
operations. These amounts, which could vary substantially if our assumptions
are
not correct and we need to enroll significantly more patients in our trials,
including as a result of the FDA mandating that our pivotal trial of SEPET™
include a survival-based primary endpoint, are well in excess of the amount
of
cash that we currently have available to us. Accordingly, we will be required
to
(i) obtain additional debt or equity financing in order to fund the further
development of our product candidates and working capital needs, and/or
(ii) enter into a strategic alliance with a larger pharmaceutical or
medical device company to provide its required funding. The amount of funding
needed to complete the development of one or both of our product candidates
will
be very substantial and may be in excess of our ability to raise
capital.
As
a
result of a decrease in our available financial resources, we have significantly
curtailed the research, product development, preclinical testing and clinical
trials of certain product candidates. The amount and timing of our future
capital requirements will depend on numerous factors, including the timing
of
resuming our research and development programs, if at all, the number and
characteristics of product candidates that we pursue, the conduct of preclinical
tests and clinical studies, the status and timelines of regulatory submissions,
the costs associated with protecting patents and other proprietary rights,
the
ability to complete strategic collaborations and the availability of third-party
funding, if any.
We
have
not yet identified the sources for the additional financing that we will
require, and we do not have commitments from any third parties to provide
this
financing. There can be no assurance that sufficient funding will be available
to us at acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to obtain sufficient
financing on a timely basis, the development of our product candidates could
be
delayed and we could be forced to reduce the scope of our pre-clinical studies
and clinical trials or otherwise limit or terminate our operations altogether.
Any equity additional funding that we obtain will reduce the percentage
ownership held by our existing security holders.
The
cost of conducting clinical trials
of HepatAssist™ and SEPETTM
exceeds our current financial resources. Accordingly, we will not be able
to
conduct such studies until we obtain additional funding.
The
feasibility clinical trial for the SEPETTM
Liver
Assist Device has been completed and we have obtained conditional approval
from
the FDA to initiate the pivotal trial of SEPETTM;
however, we must raise additional funds to support the further development
of
SEPETTM.
We have
not yet established with the FDA the nature and number of additional clinical
trials that the FDA may require in connection with its review and approval
of
the SEPET™ liver assist device. Based on our internal projections of our
operating costs and the costs normally associated with pivotal trials, we
do not
believe that we currently have sufficient funds to conduct any such pivotal
trial(s) but are attempting to identify sources for obtaining the required
funds.
We
have
considered requesting FDA approval of a revised Phase III clinical trial
for the
HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System. Such a request will require that
we supplement and/or amend the existing Phase III clinical protocol that
was
approved by the FDA for the original HepatAssistTM
system.
The preparation of a modified or supplemented Phase III clinical protocol
will
be expensive and difficult to prepare. Although the cost of completing the
Phase
III clinical trial in the manner that we currently contemplate is uncertain
and
could vary significantly, if that Phase III clinical trial is authorized
by the
FDA, we currently estimate that the cost of conducting the trial would
approximately be between $10 million and $15 million, excluding the
manufacturing infrastructure. We currently do not have sufficient funds to
conduct this trial and have not identified any sources for obtaining the
required funds. In addition, no assurance can be given that the FDA will
accept
our proposed changes to the previously approved Phase III clinical protocol.
The
clinical tests that we would conduct under any FDA-approved protocol are
very
expensive and will cost much more than our current financial resources.
Accordingly, even if the FDA approves the modified Phase III clinical protocol
that we submit for HepatAssist™ cell-based liver support system, we will not be
able to conduct any clinical trials until we raise substantial amounts of
additional financing.
Our
capital needs beyond 2008 will depend on many factors, including our research
and development activities and the success thereof, the scope of our clinical
trial program, the timing of regulatory approval for our product candidates
under development and the successful commercialization of our product
candidates. Our needs may also depend on the magnitude and scope of the
activities, the progress and the level of success in our clinical trials,
the
costs of preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining and enforcing patent
claims
and other intellectual property rights, competing technological and market
developments, changes in or terminations of existing collaboration and licensing
arrangements, the establishment of new collaboration and licensing arrangements
and the cost of manufacturing scale-up and development of marketing activities,
if undertaken by us. We currently do not have committed external sources
of
funding and may not be able to secure additional funding on any terms or
on
terms that are favorable to us. If we raise additional funds by issuing
additional stock, further dilution to our existing stockholders will result,
and
new investors may negotiate for rights superior to existing stockholders.
If
adequate funds are not available, we may be required to:
· |
delay,
reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our development
programs;
|
· |
obtain
funds through arrangements with collaboration partners or others
that may
require us to relinquish rights to some or all of our technologies,
product candidates or products that we would otherwise seek to develop
or
commercialize ourselves;
|
· |
license
rights to technologies, product candidates or products on terms that
are
less favorable to us than might otherwise be
available;
|
· |
seek
a buyer for all or a portion of our business;
or
|
· |
wind
down our operations and liquidate our assets on terms that are unfavorable
to us.
|
We
have had no product sales to date, and we can give no assurance that there
will
ever be any sales in the future.
All
of
our product candidates are still in research or development, and no revenues
have been generated to date from product sales. There is no guarantee that
we
will ever develop commercially viable products. To become profitable, we
will
have to successfully develop, obtain regulatory approval for, produce, market
and sell our product candidates. There can be no assurance that our product
development efforts will be successfully completed, that we will be able
to
obtain all required regulatory approvals, that we will be able to manufacture
our products at an acceptable cost and with acceptable quality, or that our
products can be successfully marketed in the future. We currently do not
expect
to receive revenues from the sale of any of our product candidates for another
year or longer. We have postponed further clinical development of our
HepatAssist™ program until we are able to secure additional funding for this
project or a corporate partner for this program.
Before
we can market any of our product candidates, we must obtain governmental
approval for each of our product candidates, the application and receipt
of
which is time-consuming, costly and uncertain.
The
development, production and marketing of our product candidates are subject
to
extensive regulation by government authorities in the United States and other
countries. In the United States, our SEPET™ Liver Assist Device and our
HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System will require approval from the FDA to allow
clinical testing and ultimately commercialization. The process for obtaining
FDA
approval to market therapeutic products is both time-consuming and costly,
with
no certainty of a successful outcome. This process includes the conduct of
extensive pre-clinical and clinical testing, which may take longer or cost
more
than we currently anticipate due to numerous factors, including, without
limitation, difficulty in securing centers to conduct trials, difficulty
in
enrolling patients in conformity with required protocols and/or projected
timelines, unexpected adverse reactions by patients in the trials to our
liver
assist systems,
temporary suspension and/or complete ban on trials of our product candidates
due
to the risk of transmitting pathogens from the xenogeneic biologic component,
and changes in the FDA’s requirements for our testing during the course of that
testing. We have not yet established with the FDA the nature and number of
clinical trials that the FDA will require in connection with its review and
approval of either SEPET™ or our HepatAssistTM
product
candidates and these requirements may be more costly or time-consuming than
we
currently anticipate. If we are required to include survival as a primary
endpoint in the planned pivotal trial of SEPET™, the number of patients that we
must enroll in the trial, the time to complete the trial and the cost of
this
trial may be significantly increased. This could negatively impact our ability
to raise additional capital and could delay the potential commercialization
of
SEPET™ in the United States and abroad.
SEPETTM
and
HepatAssistTM
are both
novel in terms of their composition and function. Thus, we may encounter
unexpected safety, efficacy or manufacturing issues as we seek to obtain
marketing approval for our product candidates from the FDA, and there can
be no
assurance that we will be able to obtain approval from the FDA or any foreign
governmental agencies for marketing of any of our product candidates. The
failure to receive, or any significant delay in receiving, FDA approval,
or the
imposition of significant limitations on the indicated uses of our product
candidates, would have a material adverse effect on our business, operating
results and financial condition. The health regulatory authorities of certain
countries, including those of Japan, France and the United Kingdom, have
previously objected, and other countries’ regulatory authorities could
potentially object, to the marketing of any therapy that uses pig liver cells
(which our bioartificial liver systems are designed to utilize) due to safety
concerns that pig cells may transmit viruses or diseases to humans. If the
health regulatory agencies of other countries impose a ban on the use of
therapies that incorporate pig cells, such as our HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System, we would be prevented from marketing this
product, if approved, in those countries. If we are unable to obtain the
approval of the health regulatory authorities in Japan, France, the United
Kingdom or other countries, the potential market for our product candidates
will
be reduced.
Because
our product candidates are at an early stage of development and have never
been
marketed, we do not know if any of our product candidates will ever be approved
for marketing, and any such approval will take several years to
obtain.
Before
obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of our product
candidates, significant and potentially very costly preclinical and clinical
work will be necessary. There can be no assurance that we will be able to
successfully complete all required testing of our SEPET™ or HepatAssist™ product
candidates. While the time periods for testing our product candidates and
obtaining the FDA’s approval are dependent upon many future variable and
unpredictable events, we estimate that it could take between two to three
years
to obtain approval for SEPET™ and approximately three to four years for
HepatAssist™. We have not independently confirmed any of the third party claims
made with respect to patents, licenses or technologies we have acquired
concerning the potential safety or efficacy of these product candidates and
technologies. Before we can begin clinical testing of these product candidates,
we will need to amend
the active Phase III IND to resume clinical testing of our HepatAssist™ product
candidate and
finalize the protocol of our planned pivotal trial of SEPET™ with the FDA to
receive unconditional approval of our IDE application. Both applications
will
have to be cleared by the FDA. The FDA may require significant revisions
to our
clinical testing plans or require us to demonstrate efficacy endpoints that
are
more time-consuming or difficult to achieve than what we currently anticipate.
For example, if we are required to include survival as a primary endpoint
in the
planned pivotal trial of SEPET™, the number of patients that we must enroll in
the trial, the time to complete the trial and the cost of this trial may
be
significantly increased. This could negatively impact our ability to raise
additional capital and could delay the potential commercialization of SEPET™ in
the United States and abroad. Because of the early stage of development of
each
of our product candidates, we do not know if we will be able to generate
additional clinical data that will support the filing of the FDA applications
for these product candidates or the FDA’s approval of any product marketing
approval applications or biologic license approval application that we do
file.
Our
cell-based liver support system utilizes a biological component obtained
from
pigs that could prevent or restrict the release and use of those product
candidates.
Use
of
liver cells harvested from pig livers carries a risk of transmitting viruses
harmless to pigs but potentially deadly to humans. For instance, all pig
cells
carry genetic material of the porcine endogenous retrovirus, or PERV, but
its
ability to infect people is still unknown. Repeated testing, including a
1999
study of 160 xenotransplantation (transplantation from animals to humans)
patients and the Phase II/III testing of the HepatAssist™ system by Circe
Biomedical, Inc., has produced no sign of the transmission of PERV to humans.
Still, no one can prove that PERV or another virus would not infect
bioartificial liver-treated patients and cause potentially serious disease.
This
may result in the FDA or other health regulatory agencies not approving our
HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System or subsequently banning any further use of
our
product candidate should health concerns arise after the product has been
approved. At this time, it is unclear whether we will be able to obtain clinical
and product liability insurance that covers the PERV risk.
In
addition to the potential health risks associated with the use of pig liver
cells, our use of xenotransplantation technologies may be opposed by individuals
or organizations on health, religious or ethical grounds. Certain animal
rights
groups and other organizations are known to protest animal research and
development programs or to boycott products resulting from such programs.
Previously, some groups have objected to the use of pig liver cells by other
companies, including Circe Biomedical, that were developing bioartificial
liver
support systems, and it is possible that such groups could object to our
HepatAssistTM
Cell-Based Liver Support System. Litigation instituted by any of these
organizations, and negative publicity regarding our use of pig liver cells
in a
bioartificial liver device, could have a material adverse effect on our
business, operating results and financial condition.
Because
our product candidates represent new approaches to treatment of liver disease,
there are many uncertainties regarding the development, the market acceptance
and the commercial potential of our product candidates.
Our
product candidates represent new therapeutic approaches for disease conditions.
We may, as a result, encounter delays as compared to other product candidates
under development in reaching agreements with the FDA or other applicable
governmental agencies as to the development plans and data that will be required
to obtain marketing approvals from these agencies. There can be no assurance
that these approaches will gain acceptance among doctors or patients or that
governmental or third-party medical reimbursement payers will be willing
to
provide reimbursement coverage for our product candidates, if approved.
Moreover, we do not have the marketing data resources possessed by the major
pharmaceutical companies, and we have not independently verified the potential
size of the commercial markets for any of our product candidates. Since our
product candidates represent new approaches to treating liver diseases, it
may
be difficult, in any event, to accurately estimate the potential revenues
from
our product candidates, as there currently are no directly comparable products
being marketed.
As
a new small company that will be competing against numerous large, established
companies that have substantially greater financial, technical, manufacturing,
marketing, distribution and other resources than us, we will be at a competitive
disadvantage.
The
pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries are characterized
by
intense competition and rapid and significant technological advancements.
Many
companies, research institutions and universities are working in a number
of
areas similar to our primary fields of interest to develop new products,
some of
which may be similar and/or competitive to our product candidates. Furthermore,
many companies are engaged in the development of medical devices or products
that are or will be competitive with our proposed products. Most of the
companies with which we compete have substantially greater financial, technical,
manufacturing, marketing, distribution and other resources than us.
We
will need to outsource and rely on third parties for the clinical development
and manufacture, supply and marketing of our product
candidates.
Our
business model calls for the outsourcing of the clinical development,
manufacturing, supply and marketing of our product candidates, if approved,
in
order to reduce our capital and infrastructure costs as a means of potentially
improving the profitability of these product candidates for us. We have not
yet
entered into any strategic alliances or other licensing arrangements and
there
can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into satisfactory arrangements
for these services or marketing of our product candidates. We will be required
to expend substantial amounts to retain and continue to utilize the services
of
one or more clinical research management organizations without any assurance
that the product candidates covered by the clinical trials conducted under
their
management ultimately will generate any revenues for SEPET™ and/or
HepatAssistTM.
Consistent with our business model, we will seek to enter into strategic
alliances with other larger companies to market and sell our product candidates.
In addition, we plan to utilize contract manufacturers to manufacture our
product candidates or even our commercial supplies, and we may contract with
independent sales and marketing firms to use their pharmaceutical or medical
device sales force on a contract basis.
To
the
extent that we rely on other companies or institutions to manage the conduct
of
our clinical trials and to manufacture or market our product candidates,
we will
be dependent on the timeliness and effectiveness of their efforts. If the
clinical research management organization that we utilize is unable to allocate
sufficient qualified personnel to our studies or if the work performed by
them
does not fully satisfy the rigorous requirement of the FDA, we may encounter
substantial delays and increased costs in completing our clinical trials.
If the
manufacturers of the raw material and finished product for our clinical trials
are unable to meet our time schedules, quality specifications or cost
parameters, the timing of our clinical trials and development of our product
candidates may be adversely affected. Any manufacturer or supplier that we
select, including Membrana and NxStage, may encounter difficulties in scaling-up
the manufacture of new products in commercial quantities, including problems
involving product yields, product stability or shelf life, quality control,
adequacy of control procedures and policies, compliance with FDA regulations
and
the need for further FDA approval of any new manufacturing processes and
facilities. Should any of our manufacturing or marketing companies, including
Membrana and NxStage, encounter regulatory problems with the FDA, FDA approval
of our product candidates could be delayed or the marketing of our product
candidates, if approved, could be suspended or otherwise adversely
affected.
Because
we are currently dependent on NxStage and Membrana as the manufacturers of
our
SEPET™ cartridges, any failure or delay by either NxStage or Membrana. to
manufacture the cartridges will negatively affect our future
operations.
We
have exclusive manufacturing and/or supply arrangements both with NxStage
and
Membrana. If NxStage or Membrana is unable to meet its contractual obligations
to us, we may have difficulty in finding a replacement manufacturer/supplier
if
we are unable to effectively transfer the NxStage or Membrana know-how to
another manufacturer. We have no control over NxStage, Membrana or their
suppliers, and if NxStage or Membrana are unable to produce the
SEPETTM
cartridges or it’s components on a timely basis, our business may be adversely
affected.
We
currently do not have a manufacturing arrangement for the cartridges used
in the
HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System. While we believe there are several
potential contract manufacturers who can produce these cartridges, there
can be
no assurance that we will be able to enter into such an arrangement on
commercially favorable terms, or at all.
Because
we are dependent on Medtronic, Inc. for the perfusion platform used in our
HepatAssistTM,
any
failure or delay by Medtronic to make the perfusion platform commercially
available will negatively affect our future operations.
We
currently expect that a perfusion system known as the PERFORMER will become
the
preferred platform for our HepatAssist™ system. The PERFORMER has been equipped
with proprietary software and our tubing in order to enable the machine to
work
with our bioartificial liver product candidate. A limited number of the
PERFORMER units have been manufactured to date. The PERFORMER is being
manufactured by RanD, S.r.l. (Italy) and marketed by Medtronic, Inc. We
currently do not have an agreement to purchase the PERFORMER from Medtronic
or
any other source. In the event that RanD and Medtronic are either unable
or
unwilling to manufacture the number of PERFORMERS needed to ensure that
HepatAssistTM
is
commercially viable, we would not have an alternate platform immediately
available for use, and the development and sales of such a system would cease
until an alternate platform is developed or found. We may have difficulty
in
finding a replacement platform and may be required to develop a new platform
in
collaboration with a third party contract manufacturer. While we believe
there
are several potential contract manufacturers who can develop and manufacture
perfusion platforms meeting the HepatAssist™ functional and operational
characteristics, there can be no assurance that we will be able to enter
into
such an arrangement on commercially favorable terms, or at all. In addition,
we
may encounter substantial delays and increased costs in completing our clinical
trials if we have difficulty in finding a replacement platform or if we are
required to develop a new platform for bioartificial liver use.
We
may not have sufficient legal protection of our proprietary rights, which
could
result in the use of our intellectual properties by our
competitors.
Our
ability to compete successfully will depend, in part, on our ability to defend
patents that have issued, obtain new patents, protect trade secrets and operate
without infringing the proprietary rights of others. In addition to the patents
acquired on March 29, 2007, we currently own four U.S. and five foreign
patents on our liver support product candidates, have two patent applications
pending, and are the licensee of twelve additional liver support patents.
We
have relied substantially on the patent legal work that was performed for
our
assignors and licensors and investors with respect to all of these patents,
application and licenses, and have not independently fully verified the validity
or any other aspects of the patents or patent applications covering our product
candidates with our own patent counsel. For example, we had received from
the
European Patent Office an initial rejection of a patent filing citing references
to certain issued patents that may represent prior art in the field of
large-pore hemofiltration. This and potential other prior art may prevent
us
from obtaining sufficient legal protection of our proprietary rights to
SEPETTM.
We will
need to raise an aggregate of $5.2 million during 2008 in order to maintain
the
license to the Immunocept patent portfolio that was acquired on March 29,
2007,
and there is a possibility that the license may revert to a non-exclusive
basis
if we are unsuccessful in raising these funds..
Even
when
we have obtained patent protection for our product candidates, there is no
guarantee that the coverage of these patents will be sufficiently broad to
protect us from competitors or that we will be able to enforce our patents
against potential infringers. Patent litigation is expensive, and we may
not be
able to afford the costs. Third parties could also assert that our product
candidates infringe patents or other proprietary rights held by
them.
We
attempt to protect our proprietary information as trade secrets through
nondisclosure agreements with each of our employees, licensing partners,
consultants, agents and other organizations to which we disclose our proprietary
information. There can be no assurance, however, that these agreements will
provide effective protection for our proprietary information in the event
of
unauthorized use of disclosure of such information.
The
development of our product candidates is dependent upon certain key persons,
and
the loss of one or more of these key persons would materially and adversely
affect our business and prospects.
We
are
dependent upon our business and scientific personnel. Due to our limited
financial resources, we have recently reduced our staffing levels and currently
have limited personnel to run our operations. As a result of our limited
staff,
we also depend upon the medical and scientific advisory services that we
receive
from the members of our Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board,
many
of whom have extensive backgrounds in the biomedical industry. We do not
carry
key man life insurance on any of these individuals.
As
we
expand the scope of our operations by preparing FDA submissions, conducting
multiple clinical trials, and potentially acquiring related technologies,
we
will need to obtain the services of additional senior scientific and management
personnel and we are actively searching for a CEO. Competition for these
personnel is intense, and there can be no assurance that we will be able
to
attract or retain qualified senior personnel. As we retain senior personnel,
our
overhead expenses for salaries and related items will increase substantially
from current levels.
The
market success of our product candidates will be dependent in part upon
third-party reimbursement policies that have not yet been
established.
Our
ability to successfully penetrate the market for our product candidates,
if
approved, may depend significantly on the availability of reimbursement for
our
product candidates from third-party payers, such as governmental programs,
private insurance and private health plans. We have not yet established with
Medicare or any third-party payers what level of reimbursement, if any, will
be
available for our product candidates, and we cannot predict whether levels
of
reimbursement for our product candidates, if any, will be high enough to
allow
us to charge a reasonable profit margin. Even with FDA approval, third-party
payers may deny reimbursement if the payer determines that our particular
new
products are unnecessary, inappropriate or not cost effective. If patients
are
not entitled to receive reimbursement similar to reimbursement for competing
products, they may be unwilling to use our product candidates since they
will
have to pay for the un-reimbursed amounts, which may well be substantial.
The
reimbursement status of newly approved health care products is highly uncertain.
If levels of reimbursement are decreased in the future, the demand for our
product candidates could diminish or our ability to sell our product candidates
on a profitable basis could be adversely affected.
We
may be subject to product liability claims that could have a material negative
effect on our operations and on our financial condition.
The
development, manufacture and sale of medical products expose us to the risk
of
significant damages from product liability claims. We have obtained clinical
trial insurance for our SEPETTM
trials.
We plan to obtain and maintain product liability insurance for coverage of
our
clinical trial activities. However, there can be no assurance that we will
be
able to continue to secure such insurance for clinical trials for either
of our
two current product candidates. If our product candidates are approved, we
intend to obtain coverage for them when they enter the marketplace (as well
as
requiring the manufacturers of our product candidates to maintain insurance).
We
do not know if coverage will be available to us at acceptable costs or at
all.
We may encounter difficulty in obtaining clinical trial or commercial product
liability insurance for any cell-based liver device that we develop since
this
therapy includes the use of pig liver cells and we are not aware of any therapy
using these cells that has sought or obtained such insurance. If the cost
of
insurance is too high or insurance is unavailable to us, we will have to
self-insure. A successful claim in excess of product liability coverage could
have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results
of operations. The costs for many forms of liability insurance have risen
substantially during the past year, and such costs may continue to increase
in
the future, which could materially impact our costs for clinical or product
liability insurance.
If
we are not able to implement the requirements of Section 404 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in a timely manner or with adequate compliance,
we
may be unable to provide the required financial information in a timely and
reliable manner and may be subject to sanction by regulatory
authorities.
We
cannot
be certain at this time that we will have the expertise and resources to
be able
to comply with all of our reporting obligations and successfully complete
the
procedures, certification and attestation requirements of Section 404 of
the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by the time that we are required to do so. If
we fail
to comply with the requirements of Section 404, or if we or our independent
registered public accounting firm identifies any material weaknesses, the
accuracy and timeliness of the filing of our annual and quarterly reports
may be
negatively affected and could cause investors to lose confidence in our
financial statements, impair our ability to obtain financing or result in
regulatory sanctions. Remediation of any material weakness could require
additional management attention and increased compliance costs.
If
we make any further acquisitions, we will incur a variety of costs and might
never successfully integrate the acquired product or business into
ours.
Following
on our acquisition of the HepatAssistTM
system
from Circe Biomedical and the patent acquisition in March 2007, we may attempt
to acquire products or businesses that we believe are a strategic complement
to
our business model. We might encounter operating difficulties and expenditures
relating to integrating HepatAssistTM
or any
other acquired product or business. These acquisitions might require significant
management attention that would otherwise be available for ongoing development
of our business. In addition, we might never realize the anticipated benefits
of
any acquisition. We might also make dilutive issuances of equity securities,
incur debt or experience a decrease in cash available for our operations,
incur
contingent liabilities and/or amortization expenses relating to goodwill
and
other intangible assets, or incur employee dissatisfaction in connection
with
future acquisitions.
If
we are unable to comply with the terms of registration rights agreements
to
which we are a party, we may be obligated to pay liquidated damages to some
of
our stockholders and re-characterize outstanding warrants as
debt.
We
are a
party to registration rights agreements with some of our stockholders. The
registration rights agreements provide, among other things, that we register
shares of our common stock held by those stockholders within a specified
period
of time and that we keep the registration statement associated with those
shares
continuously effective. If we are unable to comply with these provisions
of the registration rights agreements, we may be obligated to pay those
stockholders liquidated damages. Because of the potential operation of the
provisions of our registration rights agreements, we may have to re-characterize
some of our outstanding warrants from equity to debt. If we have to make
this
re-characterization, our liabilities would increase and our financial statements
would be negatively impacted.
RISKS
RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK
Our
stock is thinly traded, so you may be unable to sell at or near ask prices
or at
all if you need to sell your shares to raise money or otherwise desire to
liquidate your shares.
The
shares of our common stock are thinly-traded on the OTC Bulletin Board, meaning
that the number of persons interested in purchasing our common shares at
or near
ask prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent. This
situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that
we are
a small company which is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers,
institutional investors and others in the investment community that generate
or
influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such
persons, they tend to be risk-averse and would be reluctant to follow an
unproven, early stage company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase
of our shares until such time as we became more seasoned and viable. As a
consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity
in our shares is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer
which
has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support
continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. We cannot give
you
any assurance that a broader or more active public trading market for our
common
shares will develop or be sustained, or that current trading levels will
be
sustained. Due to these conditions, we can give you no assurance that you
will
be able to sell your shares at or near ask prices or at all if you need money
or
otherwise desire to liquidate your shares.
If
securities or independent industry analysts do not publish research reports
about our business, our stock price and trading volume could
decline.
Small,
relatively unknown companies can achieve visibility in the trading market
through research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish.
However, to our knowledge, no independent analysts cover our company. The
lack
of published reports by independent securities analysts could limit the interest
in our stock and negatively affect our stock price. We do not have any control
over research and reports these analysts publish or whether they will be
published at all. If any analyst who does cover us downgrades our stock,
our
stock price would likely decline. If any independent analyst ceases coverage
of
our company or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose
visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock
price
or trading volume to decline.
You
may have difficulty selling our shares because they are deemed “penny
stocks.”
Since
our
common stock is not listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, if the trading price
of
our common stock is below $5.00 per share, trading in our common stock will
be
subject to the requirements of certain rules promulgated under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which require additional
disclosure by broker-dealers in connection with any trades involving a stock
defined as a penny stock (generally, any non-Nasdaq equity security that
has a
market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions)
and a
two business day “cooling off period” before brokers and dealers can effect
transactions in penny stocks. Such rules impose various sales practice
requirements on broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to persons other than
established customers and accredited investors (generally defined as an investor
with a net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or annual income exceeding $200,000
individually or $300,000 together with a spouse). For these types of
transactions, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination
for the purchaser and have received the purchaser’s written consent to the
transaction prior to the sale. The broker-dealer also must disclose the
commissions payable to the broker-dealer, current bid and offer quotations
for
the penny stock and, if the broker-dealer is the sole market-maker, the
broker-dealer must disclose this fact and the broker-dealer’s presumed control
over the market. Such information must be provided to the customer orally
or in
writing before or with the written confirmation of trade sent to the customer.
Monthly statements must be sent disclosing recent price information for the
penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in
penny
stocks. The additional burdens imposed upon broker-dealers by such requirements
could discourage broker-dealers from effecting transactions in our common
stock,
which could severely limit the market liquidity of the common stock and the
ability of holders of the common stock to sell their shares.
Anti-takeover
provisions in our certificate of incorporation could affect the value of
our
stock.
Our
certificate of incorporation contains certain provisions that could be an
impediment to a non-negotiated change in control. In particular, without
stockholder approval we can issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock
with
rights and preferences determined by the Board of Directors. These provisions
could make a hostile takeover or other non-negotiated change in control
difficult, so that stockholders would not be able to receive a premium for
their
common stock.
Potential
issuance of additional common and preferred stock could dilute existing
stockholders.
We
are
authorized to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock. To the extent
of
such authorization, our Board of Directors has the ability, without seeking
stockholder approval, to issue additional shares of common stock in the future
for such consideration as the Board of Directors may consider sufficient.
The
issuance of additional common stock in the future will reduce the proportionate
ownership and voting power of the common stock offered hereby. We are also
authorized to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, the rights
and
preferences of which may be designated in series by the Board of Directors.
Such
designation of new series of preferred stock may be made without stockholder
approval, and could create additional securities which would have dividend
and
liquidation preferences over the common stock offered hereby. Preferred
stockholders could adversely affect the rights of holders of common stock
by:
· |
exercising
voting, redemption and conversion rights to the detriment of the
holders
of common stock;
|
· |
receiving
preferences over the holders of common stock regarding or surplus
funds in
the event of our dissolution or
liquidation;
|
· |
delaying,
deferring or preventing a change in control of our company;
and
|
· |
discouraging
bids for our common stock.
|
Additionally,
some of our outstanding warrants to purchase common stock have anti-dilution
protection. This means that if we issue securities for a price less than
the
price at which the warrants are exercisable, the warrants will become eligible
to purchase more shares of common stock at a lower price, which will dilute
the
ownership of our common stockholders.
Substantial
number of shares of common stock may be released onto the market at any time,
and the sales of such additional shares of common stock could cause stock
price
to fall.
As
of
March 20, 2008, we had outstanding 25,603,461 shares of common stock. However,
in the past year, the average daily trading volume of our shares has only
been a
few thousand shares, and there have been many days in which no shares were
traded at all. As of March 20, 2008, there were a total of 16,777,159 shares
of
our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants registered
pursuant to effective registration statements under the Securities Act of
1933,
as amended. The shares underlying the warrants have not yet been issued and
will
not be issued until the warrants are exercised. Since the shares underlying
these warrants have been registered, they can be sold immediately following
exercise of the warrants. Accordingly, 16,777,159 additional shares could
be
released onto the trading market at any time. Because of the limited trading
volume, the sudden release of 16,777,159 additional freely trading shares
onto
the market, or the perception that such shares will come onto the market,
could
have an adverse affect on the trading price of the stock. In addition, there
are
currently 4,550,000 shares of unregistered, restricted stock that are currently
eligible for public resale under Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities
Act
of 1933, as amended, some of which shares also may be offered and sold on
the
market from time to time and an additional 3,465,677 shares that are issuable
upon the exercise of outstanding options and other warrants. No prediction
can
be made as to the effect, if any, that sales of the 16,777,159 registered
warrant shares, or the sale of any of the 4,550,000 shares subject to Rule
144
sales or the 3,465,677 shares that are issuable upon the exercise of outstanding
options and other warrants will have on the market prices prevailing from
time
to time. Nevertheless, the possibility that substantial amounts of common
stock
may be sold in the public market may adversely affect prevailing market prices
for our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through
the
sale of our equity securities.
The
market price of our stock may be adversely affected by market
volatility.
The
market price of our common stock is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate
widely in response to many factors, including:
· |
announcements
of the results of clinical trials by us or our
competitors;
|
· |
developments
with respect to patents or proprietary
rights;
|
· |
announcements
of technological innovations by us or our
competitors;
|
· |
announcements
of changes in the regulations applicable to
us,
|
· |
announcements
of new products or new contracts by us or our
competitors;
|
· |
actual
or anticipated variations in our operating results due to the level
of
development expenses and other factors;
|
· |
changes
in financial estimates by securities analysts and whether our earnings
meet or exceed such estimates;
|
· |
conditions
and trends in the pharmaceutical, medical device and other
industries;
|
· |
new
accounting standards;
|
· |
general
economic, political and market conditions and other factors;
and
|
· |
the
occurrence of any of the risks described in this Annual
Report.
|
ITEM
7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
The
consolidated financial statements and the reports and notes, which are attached
hereto beginning at page F-1, are incorporated herein by reference.
Not
applicable.
ITEM
8A(T). CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
(a)
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.
As of
the end of the period covered by this report, our company conducted an
evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our Interim
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of our disclosure controls
and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) of the Exchange Act). Based
on this evaluation, our Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer concluded that our company’s disclosure controls and procedures are
effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports
that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized
and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and Exchange
Commission rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and
communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and
chief
financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required
disclosures.
(b)
Changes in Internal Controls.
There was no change in our internal controls, which are included within
disclosure controls and procedures, during our most recently completed fiscal
quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
affect, our internal controls.
(c)
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
The
management of the company is responsible for establishing and maintaining
adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over
financial reporting is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the
Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the
company’s principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by
the company’s board of directors, management and other personnel to provide
reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
the
preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles. The company’s internal control over
financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
· |
pertain
to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately
and
fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of
the
company;
|
· |
provide
reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary
to permit
preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally
accepted
accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the
company
are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management
and
directors of the company; and
|
· |
provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of
unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the company’s assets that
could have a material effect on the financial
statements.
|
Because
of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may
not
prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness
to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
The
company’s management assessed the effectiveness of the company’s internal
control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007. In making this
assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal
Control-Integrated Framework. Based on our assessment, management believes
that,
as of December 31, 2007, the company’s internal control over financial reporting
is effective based on those criteria.
This
Annual Report does not include an attestation report of the company’s registered
public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting.
Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the company’s registered
public accounting firm pursuant to temporary rules of the Securities and
Exchange Commission that permit the company to provide only a management’s
report in this Annual Report.
(d)
Limitations on the Effectiveness of Controls.
Our
management, including our interim chief executive officer and chief financial
officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our
internal control over financial reporting will prevent all error and all
fraud.
A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide
only
reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system
are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that
there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered
relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control
systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all
control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within an organization have
been
detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments
in
decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple
error or mistake.
Additionally,
controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by
collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control.
The
design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions
about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that
any
design will succeed in achieving our stated goals under all potential future
conditions. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes
in
conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may
deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control
system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
ITEM
8B. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
PART
III
The
following table sets forth the name, age and position held by each of our
directors and executive officers as of March 29, 2008. Directors are elected
at
each annual meeting and thereafter serve until the next annual meeting
(currently expected to be held during the third calendar quarter of 2008)
at
which their successors are duly elected by the stockholders.
Name
|
Age
|
Position
|
Shawn
P. Cain
|
41
|
Interim
President and Chief Executive Officer
|
Jacek
Rozga, M.D., Ph.D.
|
59
|
Co-founder
and Chief Scientific Officer
|
Scott
L. Hayashi
|
36
|
Vice
President of Administration,
Chief Financial Officer
and Secretary
|
Susan
Papalia, RN, BSN
|
50
|
Vice
President of Clinical Affairs
|
John
M. Vierling, M.D., FACP
(2)
|
62
|
Director,
Chairman of the Board
|
Amy
Factor
|
50
|
Director,
Vice Chairman of the Board
|
Jack
E. Stover
(1)
|
55
|
Director
|
Thomas
C. Seoh (1)(3)
|
50
|
Director
|
Thomas
M. Tully (1)(2)(3)
|
62
|
Director
|
Dennis
Kogod (2)(3)
|
48
|
Director
|
_________________________
(1) Member
of
Audit Committee.
(2) Member
of
Compensation Committee
(3)
Member
of
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Business
Experience and Directorships
The
following describes the backgrounds of our current executive officers and
directors.
Shawn
P. Cain.
Mr. Cain is currently our Interim President and Chief Executive Officer and
has
served in this capacity since September 2007. He joined us as our Vice President
of Operations in April 2005 and was previously employed by us as a part-time
consultant from December 2003 to March 2005. From June 2003 to March 2005,
Mr.
Cain was employed at Becton Dickinson’s Discovery Labware, Biologics Business,
where he was responsible for the operation of two manufacturing facilities
that
produced over 900 biologics products. From January 1997 through May 2003,
Mr. Cain was the Vice President of Operations for Circe Biomedical, Inc.,
where
he was instrumental in the early development of the bioartificial liver
technology, including development our HepatAssistTM
product
candidate.
Jacek
Rozga, MD, Ph.D.
Dr. Rozga is our co-founder and has been our Chief Scientific Officer since
our organization in August 2000. Dr. Rozga served as our President from August
2000 until November 2005. From October 2003 until March 2005, Dr. Rozga also
acted as our Chief Financial Officer. Dr. Rozga is Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of OncoTx, Inc., a private California corporation since October 2005.
Since 1992, Dr. Rozga has been a professor of Surgery at UCLA School of
Medicine. Dr. Rozga was previously a research scientist at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center from 1992 to 2005.
Scott
L. Hayashi.
Mr.
Hayashi has been our Chief Financial Officer since March 2005. Mr. Hayashi
joined us as our Chief Administrative Officer in February 2004, became our
Secretary in July 2004 and was appointed as the Vice President of Administration
in November 2004. Prior
to
joining us, Mr. Hayashi was a Manager of Overseas Development for Cardinal
Health, Inc. from July 2000 to April 2002. Mr. Hayashi worked in finance,
mergers and acquisitions for Northrop Grumman Corporation from March 1997
to
July 2000 and Honeywell, Inc. from July 1994 to December 1996.
Susan
Papalia, RN, BSN.
Ms.
Papalia has been our Vice President of Clinical Affairs since November 2007
and
brings more than 20 years of clinical research expertise to Arbios Systems,
Inc.
From August 2006 to August 2007, Ms. Papalia worked for Mitralign, Inc.
(Tewksbury, MA) as Director of Clinical Affairs where she was successful
in
implementing a strategic clinical plan and obtaining international regulatory
approvals for Mitralign’s feasibility study of a novel percutaneous mitral valve
repair system. From February 1990 to December 2005, Ms. Papalia worked for
Boston Scientific, Inc. where she held management positions in United States
and
International Clinical Research.
John
M. Vierling, M.D.,
FACP.
Dr.
Vierling has served as a director since February 2002. In April 2005, Dr.
Vierling assumed the position of Professor of Medicine and Surgery, Director
of
Baylor Liver Health and Chief of Hepatology at the Baylor College of Medicine
and Director, Advanced Liver Therapies at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in
Houston, Texas. Dr. Vierling had been a Professor of Medicine at the David
Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA from 1996 to 2005 and was the Director
of
Hepatology and Medical Director of Multi-Organ Transplantation Program at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from 1990 until 2004. Dr. Vierling is also currently
the President of
the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Dr. Vierling was
the
Chairman
of the Board of the American Liver Foundation from 1994 to 2000, and the
President of the Southern California Society for Gastroenterology from 1994
to
1995. Dr. Vierling has also been a member of numerous National Institutes
of Health study sections and advisory committees, including the NIDDK Liver
Tissue Procurement and Distribution Program. He is currently Chairman of
the Data Safety Monitoring Board for the National Institute of Health, NIDDK
ViraHep C Multicenter Trial. Dr. Vierling’s research has focused on
the immunological mechanisms of liver injury caused by hepatitis B and C
viruses
and autoimmune and alloimmune diseases.
Amy
Factor. Ms.
Factor was appointed as a director and Vice Chairman in September 2007. Prior
to
this, Ms. Factor served as a director from March 2005 until July 2006, and
she
was our interim Chief Executive Officer from April 2005 until November 2005.
Ms.
Factor has provided us with strategic and financial consulting services from
November 2003 until the present. Since 1999, Ms. Factor has been President
of
AFO Advisors, LLC and the President of AFO Capital Advisors, LLC since 1996.
Ms.
Factor began her career with the public accounting firm KPMG and has been
involved in the biotechnology industry since 1988 serving as the Chief Financial
Officer of Immunomedics, Inc.
Jack
E. Stover.
Mr.
Stover has served as a director since November 2004. Mr. Stover is also a
director of PDI, Inc. and Antares Pharma, Inc. Mr. Stover was elected the
President and Chief Operating Officer of Antares Pharma, Inc., (a public
specialty pharmaceutical company) in July 2004. In September 2004, he was
named
President, CEO and was appointed as a director of that company. Prior thereto,
for approximately two years Mr. Stover was Executive Vice President, Chief
Financial Officer and Treasurer of SICOR, Inc., a Nasdaq traded injectable
pharmaceutical company that was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Inc. Prior
to
that, Mr. Stover was Executive Vice President and Director for Gynetics,
Inc., a
private women’s drug company, and the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial
Officer, Chief Information Officer and Director for B. Braun Medical, Inc.,
a
private global medical device and pharmaceutical company. For over 16 years,
Mr.
Stover was an employee and then a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (then
Coopers & Lybrand), working in their bioscience industry division. Mr.
Stover is also a CPA.
Thomas
C. Seoh. Mr.
Seoh has served as a director since March 2005. Since February 2006, Mr.
Seoh
has served as Chief Executive Officer of Faust Pharmaceuticals S.A., a clinical
stage product company focused on drugs for neurological diseases and
conditions. From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Seoh was Managing Director of Beyond
Complexity Ventures, LLC, engaged in life science start-up and business
development consulting activities. From 1995 to 2005, Mr. Seoh was Senior
Vice
President, Corporate and Commercial Development, and previously Vice President,
General Counsel and Secretary, with NASDAQ-listed Guilford Pharmaceuticals
Inc.,
engaged in research, development and commercialization of CNS, oncology and
cardiovascular products. Previous positions included Vice President and
Associate General Counsel of ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc., General Counsel and
Secretary of Consolidated Press U.S., Inc. and corporate attorney in the
New
York City and London offices of Lord Day & Lord, Barrett Smith.
Thomas
M. Tully. Mr.
Tully
has served as a director since May 2005. Since January 2006, Mr. Tully has
served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IDev Technologies, a medical
device company focused on the development and marketing of innovative minimally
invasive devices for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. From August
2000 until April 2005, Mr. Tully was the President and Chief Executive Officer
of Neothermia Corporation, a medical device company. Prior thereto, from
June
1995 to April 2000, Mr. Tully was the President and Chief Executive Officer
of
Nitinol Medical Technologies, Inc., a medical device company. Mr. Tully was
the
President of Organogenesis Inc., from 1991 to 1994, and the President of
Schneider (USA) Inc. from 1988 to 1991. From 1980 through 1988 he held various
positions with Johnson & Johnson, including President, Johnson & Johnson
Interventional Systems and Vice President Marketing and Sales at the Johnson
& Johnson Cardiovascular division.
Dennis
L. Kogod. Mr.
Kogod
has served as a director since May 2005. Mr. Kogod is Division President,
Western Group for Davita, Inc., a leading provider of dialysis services for
patients suffering from chronic kidney failure. Mr. Kogod joined Davita when
that company acquired Gambro Healthcare in October 2005. Prior to the
acquisition, Mr. Kogod was President and Chief Operating Officer of the West
Division of Gambro Healthcare USA, which he joined in July 2000. Before that,
Mr. Kogod spent 13 years with Teleflex Corporation, a NYSE-traded company.
While
there, he served as Division President of the Teleflex Medical Group from
December 1999 to July 2000.
There
are no family relationships between any of the executive officers and directors.
Key
Employees and Consultants
Ulrich
Baurmeister, Ph.D.
Dr. Baurmeister, age 64, has been our Chief Technology Officer since
November, 2006. He is an expert in the field of semi-permeable polymer membrane
development. From 1982 until 2000, Dr. Baurmeister served in various senior
research and development, marketing and business development roles at Membrana
GmbH, a leading supplier of semi-permeable membranes for dialysis and water
purification, and its parent companies, Akzo Nobel and Acordis AG. He was
most
recently Managing Director, Business Development, overseeing Membrana’s
extension into new areas of business and technology. From 2000 to 2004, he
continued at Membrana while also serving as Chief Executive Officer of MAT
Adsorption Technologies GmbH & Co. KG, a Membrana spin-off venture that
developed selective adsorption membrane technology. Dr. Baurmeister serves
us on
a half-time contractor basis, alongside his role as Advisor and Senior Visiting
Scientist at the University Hospital Charite in Berlin, Germany. He also
serves
on the boards of the Society of Artificial Organs, the International Society
of
Blood Purification, and the International Society for Apheresis, and he
participates in various working groups in the fields of biocompatibility
of
materials and organ failure.
Jan
Stange, MD.
Prof.
Stange, age 43, has been our Senior Clinical Advisor since early 2006 and
he is
currently assisting us with our clinical development program. He is an expert
in
the clinical development of products for the treatment of liver failure,
having
managed pivotal phase, multi-center clinical trials for various liver failure
indications in both the United States and Europe. From 2000 to 2005, he was
a
founder and the Medical Director of Teraklin GmbH, where he directed clinical
trials of that company’s MARS Liver Assist system, currently owned by Gambro AS.
Since 1992, Dr. Stange has held academic, clinical and research positions
at the
University of Rostock, Germany and the University of California, San Diego
and
has founded other medical products companies in addition to Teraklin. He
is
currently Professor of Bioartificial Therapies at the University of Rostock.
He
serves on the board of directors of Forum Liver Dialysis. Dr. Stange serves
us
on a part-time contractor basis.
Audit,
Compensation and Nominating Committees
In
February 2004, our Board of Directors established an Audit Committee. According
to the Audit Committee Charter, the Audit Committee is to meet periodically
with
our management and independent accountants to, among other things, review
the
results of the annual audit and quarterly reviews and discuss the financial
statements, recommend to the Board of Directors the independent accountants
to
be retained, and receive and consider the accountants’ comments as to controls,
adequacy of staff and management performance and procedures in connection
with
audit and financial controls. The Audit Committee is also authorized to review
related party transactions for potential conflicts of interest. The Audit
Committee consists of three persons and is currently composed of Mr. Stover,
Mr.
Seoh and Mr. Tully. Each of these individuals is a non-employee director
and, in
the opinion of our Board of Directors, is independent as defined under the
Nasdaq Stock Market’s listing standards. Mr. Stover is our “audit committee
financial expert” as defined under Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-B of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Audit Committee operates
under a formal charter that governs its duties and conduct.
In
November 2004, we established a Compensation Committee and a Nomination
Committee. The Compensation Committee is authorized to review and make
recommendations to the full Board of Directors relating to the annual salaries
and bonuses of our senior executive officers. The Compensation Committee
evaluates management performance goals with the Chief Executive Officer
periodically and considers appropriate bonuses and salary adjustments based
on
achievement of objectives. The Compensation Committee can retain outside
consultants to assist in determining compensation if needed. The Compensation
Committee is currently composed of Mr. Tully, Dr. Vierling and Mr.
Kogod.
The
Nomination Committee assists the Board of Directors in identifying qualified
candidates, selecting nominees for election as directors at meetings of
stockholders and selecting candidates to fill vacancies on our Board of
Directors, and developing criteria to be used in making such recommendations.
The Nomination Committee evaluates relevant experience and leadership skills
for
director candidates. The Nomination Committee is currently comprised of Mr.
Tully, Mr. Seoh and Mr. Kogod.
Section
16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Our
records reflect that all reports which were required to be filed pursuant
to
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act were filed on a timely basis except for
the
late filing of a Form 4 to report an equity transaction for Amy Factor and
Jacek
Rozga which occurred on December 26, 2007.
An
Annual
Statement of Beneficial Ownership on Form 5 is not required to be filed if
there
are no previously unreported transactions or holdings to report. Nevertheless,
we are required to disclose the names of directors, officers and 10%
shareholders who did not file a Form 5 unless we have obtained a written
statement that no filing is required. We have received a written statement
from
each of our other directors, officers and 10% shareholders stating that no
filing is required.
Code
of Ethics
The
Board
of Directors adopted a Code of Ethics that covers all of our executive officers
and key employees. The Code of Ethics requires that senior management avoid
conflicts of interest; maintain the confidentiality of our confidential and
proprietary information; engage in transactions in our common stock only
in
compliance with applicable laws and regulations and the requirements set
forth
in the Code of Ethics; and comply with other requirements which are intended
to
ensure that our officers conduct business in an honest and ethical manner
and
otherwise act with integrity and in the best interest of this company. All
of
our executive officers are required to affirm in writing that they have reviewed
and understand the Code of Ethics.
A
copy of
our Code of Ethics will be furnished, without charge, to any person upon
written
request from any such person. Requests should be sent to: Secretary, Arbios
Systems, Inc.,1050 Winter Street, Suite 1000, Waltham, MA 02451.
Disclosure
regarding any amendments to, or waivers from, provisions of the Code of Ethics
that apply to our directors, principal executive and financial officers will
be
included in a Current Report on Form 8-K within four business days following
the
date of the amendment or waiver, unless website posting of such amendments
or
waivers is then permitted by the rules of the market or exchange on which
our
common stock is then listed, in which case we intend to post such amendments
or
waivers on our website, www.arbios.com.
SUMMARY
COMPENSATION TABLE
The
following table set forth certain information concerning the annual and
long-term compensation for services rendered to us in all capacities for
the
fiscal years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006 of (i) all persons who served
as
our principal executive officer during the fiscal year ended December 31,
2007,
(ii) our other two most highly compensated executive officers serving on
December 31, 2007 whose total annual compensation during the fiscal year
ended
December 31, 2007 exceeded $100,000 and (iii) our former Vice President of
Product Development. The principal executive officer and the other named
officers are collectively referred to as the “Named Executive Officers.”
Name
and Principal Position
|
Year
|
Salary
|
Bonus
|
Option
Awards(1)
|
All
Other Compensation(2)
|
Total
|
Shawn
P. Cain(3)
Interim
President and Chief Executive Officer
|
2007
2006
|
$170,624
$160,000
|
$10,000
-
|
$
39,104
$
22,385
|
$
4,818
$
5,505
|
$224,546
$187,890
|
Jacek
Rozga, M.D. Ph.D. (4)
Chief
Scientist
|
2007
2006
|
$155,000
$183,333
|
-
-
|
$
14,126
$
7,575
|
$23,177
$
6,220
|
$192,303
$197,128
|
Scott
L. Hayashi
Vice
President of Administration, Chief Financial Officer and
Secretary
|
2007
2006
|
$121,250
$109,167
|
$10,000
-
|
$
23,662
$
8,656
|
$
3,506
$
3,759
|
$158,418
$121,582
|
Walter
C. Ogier(5)
Former
President and Chief Executive Officer
|
2007
2006
|
$221,252
$300,000
|
-
-
|
$279,850
$289,114
|
$64,115
$
7,980
|
$565,217
$597,094
|
David
J. Zeffren(6)
Former
Vice President of Product Development
|
2007
2006
|
$76,354
$117,000
|
-
-
|
$11,192
$
3,939
|
$41,256
$
3,479
|
$128,802
$124,418
|
_________________________
(1)
|
Represents
the compensation expense incurred by us in the applicable fiscal
year in
connection with option grants to the applicable Named Executive
Officer,
calculated in accordance with SFAS 123R disregarding the estimate of
forfeitures for service-based vesting conditions. See our audited
consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual
Report
for details as to the assumptions used to determine the fair value
of the
option awards. Our Named Executive Officers will not realize the
value of
these awards in cash until these awards are exercised and the underlying
shares are subsequently sold.
|
(2)
|
Includes
company matching contributions in the Arbios 401(k) Plan and group
life
insurance premium gross ups, severance, and consulting
fees.
|
(3)
|
In
September 2007, Mr. Cain was appointed as the Company’s Interim President
and Chief Executive Officer.
|
(4)
|
Dr.
Rozga worked as a consultant to the Company during January to March
2007
and was converted to full-time employment in April 2007. In Other
Compensation for 2007, Dr. Rozga earned $10,000 as a consultant
and had
$3,500 of Company matching contributions in his 401K and
had $9,677 of relocation allowance to move him from Los Angeles
to
Boston
|
(5)
|
Mr.
Ogier resigned from the Company in September 2007. Under the terms
of Mr.
Ogier’s separation agreement, the Company will pay him $25,000 per month
for a period of one year from November 2007. Other Compensation
for 2007
includes $8,603 for accrued vacation, $50,000 for severance payments
for
November and December 2007, and $5,512 for Company matching contributions
in the 401K Plan.
|
(6)
|
Mr.
Zeffren resigned as an executive officer and was converted from
a
full-time employee to a consultant in September 2007. Mr. Zeffren
received
$1,840 of company matching and $39,416 of consulting fees for the
period
September 2007 to December 2007.
|
OUTSTANDING
EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCAL YEAR-END
The
following table sets forth the number and value of unexercised options held
by
the Named Executive Officers as of December 31, 2007. There were no
exercises of options by the Named Executive Officers in fiscal year 2007.
Name
|
Number
of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options
Exercisable
|
Number
of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options
Unexercisable
|
Equity
Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised
Unearned Options
|
Option
Exercise Price
|
Option
Expiration Date
|
Shawn
P. Cain
|
30,000
21,875
24,792
30,000
|
70,000
128,125
45,208
-
|
100,000(1)
150,000(2)
70,000(3)
30,000(4)
|
$0.49
$0.82
$0.85
$1.65
|
9/21/2014
5/10/2014
7/31/2013
3/31/2010
|
Jacek
Rozga, M.D., Ph.D.
|
10,000
14,583
12,000
30,000
18,000
18,000
|
30,000
85,417
-
-
-
-
|
40,000(5)
100,000(6)
12,000(7)
30,000(8)
18,000(9)
18,000(10)
|
$0.49
$0.82
$2.22
$2.25
$0.15
$1.00
|
9/21/2014
5/10/2014
7/7/2012
2/9/2011
7/23/2012
4/20/2010
|
Scott
L. Hayashi
|
5,000
21,875
14,167
10,000
12,000
10,000
|
65,000
128,125
25,833
-
-
-
|
70,000(11)
150,000(12)
40,000(13)
10,000(14)
12,000(15)
10,000(16)
|
$0.49
$0.82
$0.85
$1.85
$2.90
$2.25
|
9/21/2014
5/10/2014
7/31/2013
3/24/2010
3/1/2010
2/9/2009
|
Walter
C. Ogier
|
60,000
500,000
|
-
-
|
60,000(17)
500,000(18)
|
$0.80
$1.85
|
7/12/2014
11/8/2010
|
David
J. Zeffren
|
5,000
15,000
12,000
10,000
|
25,000
-
-
-
|
30,000(19)
15,000(20)
12,000(21)
10,000(22)
|
$0.49
$0.82
$2.90
$2.00
|
9/21/2014
5/10/2014
3/1/2010
2/9/2009
|
(1)
|
The
option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock was granted on
09/21/2007 and vests based on achievement of performance based
milestones
during 2007 and 2008.
|
(2)
|
The
option to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock was granted on
05/10/2007 and vests on a pro-rata monthly basis for a period of
48 months
from the date of grant.
|
(3)
|
The
option to purchase 70,000 shares of common stock was granted on
7/31/2006
and vests on a pro-rata monthly basis for a period of 48 months
from the
date of grant.
|
(4)
|
The
option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
4/22/2007.
|
(5)
|
The
option to purchase 40,000 shares of common stock was granted on
9/21/2007
and vests according to achievement of performance based milestones
during
2007 and 2008.
|
(6)
|
The
option to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock was granted on
5/10/2007
and vests on a pro-rata monthly basis for a period of 48 months
from the
date of grant.
|
(7)
|
The
option to purchase 12,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
7/7/2006.
|
(8)
|
The
option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
2/11/2005.
|
(9)
|
The
option to purchase 18,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
7/24/2003.
|
(10)
|
The
option to purchase 18,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
4/21/2004.
|
(11)
|
The
option to purchase 70,000 shares of common stock was granted on
9/21/2007
and vests according to achievement of performance based milestones
during
2007 and 2008.
|
(12)
|
The
options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock were granted
on
5/10/2007 and vest on a pro-rata monthly basis for a period of
48 months
from the date of grant.
|
(13)
|
The
option to purchase 40,000 shares of common stock was granted on
7/31/2006
and vests on a pro-rata monthly basis for a period of 48 months
from the
date of grant.
|
(14)
|
The
option to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
3/24/2006.
|
(15)
|
The
option to purchase 12,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
2/1/2006.
|
(16)
|
The
option to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
2/11/2005.
|
(17)
|
Of
the original stock grant to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock,
60,000 option shares are exercisable at 11/13/2007, and the remaining
140,000 option shares were cancelled per the terms of the severance
agreement with Mr. Ogier.
|
(18)
|
The
option to purchase 500,000 shares of common stock became fully
exercisable
as of 11/13/2007.
|
(19)
|
The
option to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock was granted on
9/21/2007
and vests according to achievement of performance based milestones
during
2007 and 2008.
|
(20)
|
The
option to purchase 15,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
9/30/2007.
|
(21)
|
The
option to purchase 12,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
2/1/2006.
|
(22)
|
The
option to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock was fully vested
on
8/11/2004.
|
Employment
Contracts and Termination of Employment, and Change-In-Control Arrangements
In
September 2007, we appointed Mr. Cain our Interim President and Chief Executive
Officer. Mr. Cain remained an at-will employee under our existing 2005 agreement
with him. In connection with this appointment he will receive an annual salary
of $185,000 and was granted options to purchase 100,000 shares of our common
stock at an exercise price of $0.49 which vest in accordance with predefined
milestones along specific timeframes. Pursuant to our 2005 agreement with
Mr.
Cain, we granted Mr. Cain a five-year incentive stock option to purchase
30,000
shares of our common stock. The options have an exercise price of $1.65 per
share and vest in monthly installments of 1,250 shares commencing on May
1,
2005. The agreement also provides that we will match Mr. Cain’s contributions to
a 401(k) plan at a rate of 50% up to 6% of total compensation per year. The
agreement also offers to pay Mr. Cain’s COBRA costs for an 18-month period
commencing on the April 15, 2005. Mr. Cain is also eligible to receive an
annual
discretionary cash bonus of up to 15% of his base annual salary. The agreement
provides that Mr. Cain’s employment is “at will” and can be terminated at any
time. If we wish to terminate his employment, we must provide him three months’
notice.
On
April
27, 2007, we appointed Dr. Jacek Rozga, M.D., Ph.D. to serve as our Chief
Scientific Officer. Pursuant to Dr. Rozga’s offer letter he will receive an
annual base salary of $200,000. In addition, he will be eligible to receive
an
annual cash bonus of up to 15% of his base salary for each calendar year
that he
is employed by us. The final amount of the annual bonus will be determined
at
the discretion of the Chief Executive Officer and Compensation Committee
based
upon conditions and criteria that he considers to be appropriate. The bonus,
if
paid, generally will be paid within the first quarter of each calendar year,
but
the timing of any bonus payment will ultimately depend upon an assessment of our
financial condition and other circumstances by management. Dr. Rozga’s
performance will be reviewed annually by the Chief Executive Officer, and
at
that time adjustments in his compensation may be made. He will be eligible
for
reimbursement of up to $10,000 of the documented cost of moving his household
belongings from California to Massachusetts. Dr. Rozga will be an at-will
employee and his employment with us may be terminated at any time by him
or us,
with or without cause.
We
have
entered into an agreement with Scott Hayashi, dated March 29, 2005, pursuant
to
which Mr. Hayashi serves as Chief Financial Officer. The agreement provides
for
a salary of $105,000 per year that is subject to annual review and adjustment.
Mr. Hayashi is eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus of up to
15% of
his salary based on achieving certain goals. The agreement also offered Mr.
Hayashi a five-year qualified stock option to purchase 10,000 shares of our
common stock. The shares are exercisable at $1.85 per share; 50% of the shares
vested immediately and 50% of the shares vested one year from the grant date
of
the option. The agreement provides that Mr. Hayashi’s employment is “at will”
and can be terminated at any time.
On
November 13, 2007, we entered into a separation agreement with our former
President and Chief Executive Officer, Walter C. Ogier. Pursuant
to the terms of the separation agreement, Mr. Ogier acknowledged that his
employment and all positions held by him were terminated as of September
21,
2007 (the “Separation Date”). As consideration for Mr. Ogier performing
consulting services for us for a period of 12 months following the Separation
Date, we will pay Mr. Ogier monthly payments of $25,000 and will allow Mr.
Ogier
to continue to utilize our health insurance plan for the lesser of 12 months
following the Separation Date or the time that he becomes eligible to receive
health insurance from another employer. In addition, certain of Mr.
Ogier’s unvested options vested and will remain exercisable for a period of 12
months following the Separation Date. Furthermore, Mr. Ogier agreed to
release us from any and all legal claims or causes of action that he may
have had arising from any event occurring prior to the Separation Date.
On
November 8, 2007, we entered into a consulting agreement with David Zeffren,
our
former Vice President of Product Development. Pursuant to the terms of the
consulting agreement, we will pay Mr. Zeffren $10,400 per month and Mr. Zeffren
will advise and support us with our regulatory and clinical affairs. Mr.
Zeffren
will also be reimbursed for reasonable and customary expenses incurred by
him on
our behalf. During the term of the consulting agreement and for a period
of one
year following the termination of the consulting agreement, Mr. Zeffren has
agreed not to compete with us in the field the commercialization of medical
devices or cell therapies for the treatment of liver disease, viral hepatitis
or
septic shock. Both we and Mr. Zeffren have the right to terminate the consulting
agreement at anytime upon written notice.
DIRECTOR
COMPENSATION
Name
|
Fees
Earned or Paid in Cash
|
Stock
Awards(1)
|
Option
Awards(2)
|
All
Other Compensation
|
Total
|
John
M.Vierling, M.D., FACP(3)
|
-
|
$29,610
|
$7,660
|
-
|
$37,270
|
Jack
E. Stover(4)
|
-
|
$29,610
|
$7,660
|
-
|
$37,270
|
Thomas
C. Seoh(5)
|
-
|
$16,203
|
$9,576
|
-
|
$25,779
|
Thomas
M. Tully(6)
|
-
|
$16,203
|
$9,576
|
-
|
$25,779
|
Dennis
Kogod(7)
|
-
|
$19,766
|
$9,576
|
-
|
$29,342
|
Amy
Factor(8)
|
$
47,500
|
$24,500
|
-
|
-
|
$72,000
|
1.
|
Represents
the compensation expense incurred by us in 2007 in connection with
awards
of restricted stock to the director, calculated in accordance with
SFAS 123R, disregarding the estimate of forfeitures for service-based
vesting conditions, and thus includes amounts from awards in and
prior to
2007. See our audited consolidated financial statements included
elsewhere
in this Annual Report for details as to the assumptions used to
determine
the fair value of the restricted stock awards. Our directors will
not
realize the value of these awards in cash until these awards are
fully
vested and the shares are subsequently sold.
|
2.
|
Represents
the compensation expense incurred by us in 2007 in connection with
option
grants to the director, calculated in accordance with SFAS 123R,
disregarding the estimate of forfeitures for service-based vesting
conditions, and thus includes amounts from awards in and prior
to 2007.
See our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere
in
this Annual Report for details as to the assumptions used to determine
the
fair value of the option awards. Amounts include aggregate charge
to
financial statements. Our directors will not realize the value
of these
awards in cash until these awards are exercised and the underlying
shares
are subsequently sold. All options awarded to Directors in 2007
remained
outstanding at fiscal year-end.
|
3.
|
As
of December 31, 2007, the last day of our fiscal year, there are
outstanding 67,188 shares of restricted stock, 26,563 of which
are vested,
and options for the purchase of 210,957 shares of common stock,
93,290 of
which are vested, issued to John M. Vierling, M.D., FACP. During
2007, Dr.
Vierling received (1) options to purchase 20,000 shares of common
stock
with a grant date fair value of $7,661, and (2) a restricted stock
grant
of 40,625 shares of common stock with a grant date fair value of
$33,719.
|
4.
|
As
of December 31, 2007, the last day of our fiscal year, there are
outstanding 67,188 shares of restricted stock, 26,563 of which
are vested,
and options for the purchase of 124,957 shares of common stock,
123,290 of
which are vested, issued to Jack E. Stover. During 2007, Mr. Stover
received (1) options to purchase 20,000 shares of common stock
with a
grant date fair value of $7,661, and (2) a restricted stock grant
of
40,625 shares of common stock with a grant date fair value of
$33,719.
|
5.
|
As
of December 31, 2007, the last day of our fiscal year, there are
outstanding 36,719 shares of restricted stock, 14,844 of which
are vested,
and options for the purchase of 117,856 shares of common stock,
115,773 of
which are vested, issued to Thomas C. Seoh. During 2007, Mr. Seoh
received
(1) options to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock with a grant
date
fair value of $9,576, and 2) a restricted stock grant of 21,875
shares of
common stock with a grant date fair value of
$18,156.
|
6.
|
As
of December 31, 2007, the last day of our fiscal year, there are
outstanding 36,719 shares of restricted stock, 14,844 of which
are vested,
and options for the purchase of 133,613 shares of common stock,
131,113 of
which are vested, issued to Thomas M. Tully. During 2007, Mr. Tully
received (1) options to purchase 30,000 shares of common stock
with a
grant date fair value of $11,491 and (2) a restricted stock grant
of
21,875 shares of common stock with a grant date fair value of
$18,156.
|
7.
|
As
of December 31, 2007, the last day of our fiscal year, there are
outstanding 31,650 shares of restricted stock, 22,275 of which
are vested,
and options for the purchase of 100,294 shares of common stock,
98,211 of
which are vested, issued to Dennis Kogod. During 2007, Mr. Kogod
received
(1) options to purchase 25,000 shares of common stock with a grant
date
fair value of $9,576 and (2) a restricted stock grant of 24,619
shares of
common stock with a grant date fair value of
$20,281.
|
8.
|
As
of December 31, 2007, the last day of our fiscal year, there are
outstanding 144,118 shares of restricted stock, 44,118 of which
are
vested, options for the purchase of 520,000 shares of common stock,
all of
which are vested, issued to Amy Factor, and warrants to purchase
300,000
shares of common stock. During 2007, Ms. Factor received (1) cash
compensation of $47,500, (2) a restricted stock grant of 100,000
shares of
common stock with a grant date fair value of $49,000 for services
rendered
as a director and Vice Chairman of the Company. Additionally, Ms.
Factor
earned $40,000 in cash compensation and received a restricted stock
grant
of 44,118 shares of common stock with a grant date fair value of
$22,500
for services rendered as a consultant to the Company during FY
2007 (See
also footnote 1 above).
|
Compensation
of Board of Directors
Equity
Compensation
On
March
24, 2005, the Board of Directors approved a plan for compensating our directors.
On May 16, 2005, the Board of Directors amended the plan for the 2005 fiscal
year and later renewed the plan on January 11, 2006. The plan consists of
the
following:
Non-employee
directors will receive annual grants of stock options to purchase 15,000
shares
of our common stock. The options will be granted on January 1 of each year.
The
options will have a term of seven years and will have an exercise price equal
to
the market price on the trading day preceding the grant date. The options
will
vest in equal monthly installments over the 12-month period following the
grant
date.
Upon
election to the Board of Directors, each new director will be granted a stock
option to purchase 30,000 shares of our common stock. The option will have
a
term of seven years and will have an exercise price equal to the market price
on
the trading day preceding the date of grant. One half of the options will
vest
on the date of grant, and the balance will vest on the first anniversary
of the
grant date.
On
January 1 of each year, committee members receive an annual grant of a stock
option to purchase 5,000 shares of common stock for each committee for which
they are a member. The option will have a term of seven years and will have
an
exercise price equal to the market price on the trading day preceding the
grant
date. The option will vest in equal monthly installments over the 12-month
period following the grant date.
On
June
30, 2006, the Board of Directors resolved to suspend cash compensation discussed
below for independent members and to issue restricted stock instead to help
us
maintain our cash reserves.
Cash
Compensation
Effective
March 24, 2005, all non-employee directors were paid $1,500 for each day
they
attend a Board of Directors meeting in person ($1,000 if they attend a meeting
by telephone), and $500 for each telephonic Board of Directors meeting ($1,000
for each telephonic meeting if the meeting lasts longer than two hours).
In
addition, the Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee would
receive $25,000 annually (payable quarterly), and the Chairman of the Nomination
Committee and the Chairman of the Compensation Committee would receive $10,000
annually (payable quarterly). Effective June 30, 2006, this policy was amended
and we terminated all cash compensation payments to non-employee directors
and
issued equivalent amounts of restricted stock in lieu of cash compensation.
We
reimburse all directors for any expenses incurred by them in attending meetings
of the Board of Directors.
Compensation
in 2007
During
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, each of our directors was granted
an annual grant of stock options to purchase 15,000 shares of common stock
at an
exercise price of $0.51 per share. In addition, members of committees of
the
Board or Directors received an annual grant of stock options to purchase
5,000
shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.51 per share for each
committee they are a member for the first half of 2007. All director and
committee member options were granted at the market price on the day preceding
the date of grant and have a term of seven years and vest on a monthly basis
from the date of grant. In May 2007, a director received a restricted stock
grant of 15,244 shares of common stock for additional consulting services
rendered to the Company. In July 2007, all non-employee members of the Board
of
Directors received a total of 134,375 shares of restricted stock in lieu
of cash
compensation for services rendered during the second half of 2007 for serving
on
board committees and attendance at meetings. In September 2007, a newly
appointed director received a restricted stock grant of 100,000 shares of
common
stock and cash compensation of $47,500 for serving as Vice Chairman of the
Board
of Directors.
Equity
Compensation Plan Information
The
following table summarizes as of December 31, 2007, the number of securities
to
be issued upon the exercise of outstanding derivative securities (options,
warrants, and rights); the weighted-average exercise price of the outstanding
derivative securities; and the number of securities remaining available for
future issuance under our equity compensation plans.
Plan
Category
|
Number
of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options,
warrants,
and rights
|
Weighted-average
exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and
rights
|
Number
of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity
compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column
(a))
|
|
(a)
|
(b)
|
(c)
|
Equity
compensation plans approved by security holders(1)
|
3,352,495
|
$1.73
|
1,647,505
|
Equity
compensation plans not approved by security holders
|
750,000(2)
|
$1.54
|
-0-
|
Total
|
4,102,495
(3)
|
$1.69
|
1,647,505
|
(1) These
plans consist of our 2001 Stock Option Plan and 2005 Stock Incentive
Plan.
(2) Represents
warrants to purchase shares of our common stock issued to our
consultants.
(3) Includes
restricted stock grants totaling 421,818 shares of common stock.
Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners
The
following table sets forth certain information regarding beneficial ownership
of
our common stock as of March 20, 2008 (a) by each person known by us to own
beneficially 5% or more of any class of our common stock, (b) by each of
our
Named Executive Officers, (c) by each of our directors and (d) by all of
our
current executive officers and directors as a group. As of March 20, 2008
there
were 25,603,461 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding. Unless
otherwise noted, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole
voting
and investment power with respect to all the shares beneficially owned by
them.
Except as otherwise indicated, the address of each stockholder is c/o Arbios
Systems, Inc. at 1050 Winter Street, Suite 1000, Waltham, MA 02451.
Name
and Address of Beneficial Owner
|
|
Shares
Beneficially Owned (1)
|
Percentage
of Class
|
Jacek
Rozga, M.D., Ph.D.
|
|
2,165,083(2)
|
|
8.4%
|
Achilles
A. Demetriou, M.D., Ph.D and Kristin P. Demetriou
|
|
2,500,000(3)
|
|
9.8%
|
John
M. Vierling, M.D., FACP
|
|
274,395(4)
|
|
1.1%
|
Amy
Factor
|
|
1,102,868(5)
|
|
4.2%
|
Walter
C. Ogier(6)
|
|
565,000(6)
|
|
2.2%
|
Jack
E. Stover
|
|
189,395(7)
|
|
*
|
Thomas
C. Seoh
|
|
148,325(8)
|
|
*
|
Dennis
Kogod
|
|
135,694(9)
|
|
*
|
Thomas
Tully
|
|
161,582(10)
|
|
*
|
Scott
L. Hayashi
|
|
107,355(11)
|
|
*
|
David
Zeffren(12)
|
|
92,000(12)
|
|
*
|
Shawn
Cain
|
|
131,250(13)
|
|
*
|
LibertyView
Funds, LP
111
River Street - Suite 1000
Hoboken,
NJ 07030-5776
|
|
1,851,488
(14)
|
|
7.0%
|
LibertyView
Special Opportunities Fund, LP
111
River Street - Suite 1000
Hoboken,
NJ 07030-5776
|
|
2,331,008(15)
|
|
8.8%
|
Neuberger
Berman LLC
111
River Street - Suite 1000
Hoboken,
NJ 07030-5776
|
|
4,842,428(16)
|
|
17.7%
|
MicroCapital
Fund LP
623
Fifth Avenue, Suite 2502
New
York, New York 10022
|
|
3,000,000(17)
|
|
11.1%
|
Dolphin
Offshore Partners, LP
129
East 17th
Street
New
York, New York 10003
|
|
2,000,000(18)
|
|
7.5%
|
|
|
|
|
|
All
current executive officers and directors as a
group
(10 persons)
|
|
4,430,947(19)
|
|
16.2
%
|
*
Less than 1%.
|
(1) |
Beneficial
ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the Securities
and
Exchange Commission and generally includes voting or investment power
with
respect to securities. Shares of common stock subject to options,
warrants
and convertible securities currently exercisable or convertible,
or
exercisable or convertible within 60 days, are deemed outstanding,
including for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of the
person
holding such option, warrant or convertible security, but not for
purposes
of computing the percentage of any other
holder.
|
(2) |
Consists
of (i) 2,050,000 shares of common stock owned by Jacek Rozga and
Joanna
Rozga JTTEN and (ii) currently exercisable options to purchase 115,083
shares of common stock.
|
(3) |
Consists
of 2,500,000 shares of common stock owned by the A & K Demetriou
Family Trust, of which Achilles A. Demetriou, M.D., Ph.D. and Kristin
P.
Demetriou each are co-trustees with the right to vote or dispose
of the
trust’s shares.
|
(4) |
Consists
of (i) 26,563 shares of common stock, (ii) currently exercisable
options
to purchase 207,207 shares of common stock and (iii) 40,625 shares
of
restricted common stock.
|
(5) |
Consists
of (i) currently exercisable options to purchase 518,750 shares of
common
stock, (ii) warrants to purchase 200,000 shares exercisable by AFO
Advisors, LLC, (iii) warrants to purchase 100,000 shares exercisable
by
AFO Capital Advisors, LLC, (iv) 5,000 shares owned by the Jay H.
Oyer and
Amy Factor Foundation, (v) 5,000 shares owned by the Melissa H. Oyer
Trust, (vi) 5,000 shares owned by the Zachary D. Oyer Trust, (vii)
100,000
shares owned by AFO Capital Advisors, LLC, (viii) 25,000 shares of
performance based restricted common stock, (ix) 100,000 shares of
restricted common stock owned by AFO Advisors LLC, and (x) 44,118
shares
of common stock. Amy Factor is the owner and President of AFO Capital
Advisors, LLC and AFO Advisors, LLC. She is also the trustee of The
Jay H.
Oyer and Amy Factor Family Foundation, The Melissa H. Oyer Trust,
and The
Zachary D. Oyer Trust and has voting and investment control of the
securities of these entities.
|
(6) |
Consists
of (i) 5,000 shares of common stock, (ii) currently exercisable options
to
purchase 560,000 shares of common stock. Mr. Ogier is our former
President
and Chief Executive Officer.
|
(7) |
Consists
of (i) 27,563 shares of common stock, (ii) currently exercisable
options
to purchase 121,207 shares of common stock and (iii) 40,625 shares
of
restricted common stock.
|
(8) |
Consists
of (i) 14,844 shares of common stock, (ii) currently exercisable
options
to purchase 111,606 shares of common stock and (iii) 21,875 shares
of
common stock.
|
(9) |
Consists
of (i) 32,275 shares of common stock, (ii) currently exercisable
options
to purchase 94,044 shares of common stock and (iii) 9,375 shares
of
restricted common stock.
|
(10) |
Consists
of (i) 14,844 shares of common stock, (ii) currently exercisable
options
to purchase 124,863 shares of common stock and (iii) 21,875 shares
of
common stock.
|
(11) |
Consists
of (i) 4,615 shares of common stock owned by Hannah Hayashi, Scott
Hayashi’s wife, (ii) 3,000 shares of common stock owned by Scott Hayashi,
(iii) currently exercisable options held by Scott Hayashi to purchase
95,125 shares of common stock and (iv) warrants to purchase 4,615
shares
of common registered in the name of Hannah Hayashi.
|
(12) |
Consists
of (i) 25,000 shares owned by Mira Zeffren, David Zeffren’s wife, (ii)
warrants to purchase 25,000 shares registered in the name of Mira
Zeffren
and (iii) currently exercisable options held by David Zeffren for
the
purchase of 42,000 shares of common stock. Mr. Zeffren is our former
Vice
President of Product Development.
|
(13) |
Consists
of currently exercisable options to purchase 131,250 shares of common
stock.
|
(14) |
Consists
of (i) 1,185,243 shares of common stock and (ii) currently exercisable
warrants to purchase 666,245 shares of common stock. LibertyView
Funds,
LP, LibertyView Special Opportunities Fund, LP and Trust D for a
Portion
of the Assets of the Kodak Retirement Income Plan have a common investment
advisor, Neuberger Berman, LLC, that has voting and dispositive power
over
the shares held by them, which is exercised by Richard A. Meckler.
Since
they have hired a common investment advisor, these entities are likely
to
vote together. Additionally, there may be common investors within
the
different accounts managed by the same investment advisor. The General
Partner of LibertyView Special Opportunities Fund, LP and LibertyView
Funds, LP is Neuberger Berman Asset Management, LLC, which is affiliated
with Neuberger Berman, LLC, a registered broker-dealer. LibertyView
Capital Management, a division of Neuberger Berman, LLC, is affiliated
with the General Partner of the LibertyView Health Sciences Fund,
LP. The
shares were purchased for investment in the ordinary course of business
and at the time of purchase, there were no agreements or understandings,
directly or indirectly, with any person to distribute the shares.
Trust D
for a Portion of the Assets of the Kodak Retirement Income Plan is
not in
any way affiliated with a broker-dealer.
|
(15) |
Consists
of (i) 1,424,912 shares of common stock and (ii) currently exercisable
warrants to purchase 906,096 shares of common stock. LibertyView
Special
Opportunities Fund, LP, LibertyView Funds, LP and Trust D for a Portion
of
the Assets of the Kodak Retirement Income Plan have a common investment
advisor, Neuberger Berman, LLC, that has voting and dispositive power
over
the shares held by them, which is exercised by Richard A. Meckler.
Since
they have hired a common investment advisor, these entities are likely
to
vote together. Additionally, there may be common investors within
the
different accounts managed by the same investment advisor. The General
Partner of LibertyView Special Opportunities Fund, LP and LibertyView
Funds, LP is Neuberger Berman Asset Management, LLC, which is affiliated
with Neuberger Berman, LLC, a registered broker-dealer. LibertyView
Capital Management, a division of Neuberger Berman, LLC, is affiliated
with the General Partner of the LibertyView Health Sciences Fund,
LP. The
shares were purchased for investment in the ordinary course of business
and at the time of purchase, there were no agreements or understandings,
directly or indirectly, with any person to distribute the shares.
Trust D
for a Portion of the Assets of the Kodak Retirement Income Plan is
not in
any way affiliated with a broker-dealer.
|
(16) |
Includes
shares of common stock and currently exercisable warrants to purchase
shares of common stock held by LibertyView Funds, LP and LibertyView
Special Opportunities Fund, LP (see footnotes 14 and 15). Also includes
(i) 432,843 shares of common stock held by Trust D for a Portion
of the
Assets of the Kodak Retirement Income Fund and (ii) currently exercisable
warrants to purchase 213,238 shares of common stock held by Trust
D for a
Portion of the Assets of the Kodak Retirement Income Plan and (iii)
13,851
shares of common stock held by LibertyView Health Sciences Fund,
LP.
LibertyView Funds, LP, LibertyView Special Opportunities Fund, LP
and
Trust D for a Portion of the Assets of the Kodak Retirement Income
Plan
have a common investment advisor, Neuberger Berman, LLC, that has
voting
and dispositive power over the shares held by them, which is exercised
by
Richard A. Meckler. Since they have hired a common investment advisor,
these entities are likely to vote together. Additionally, there may
be
common investors within the different accounts managed by the same
investment advisor. The General Partner of LibertyView Special
Opportunities Fund, LP and LibertyView Funds, LP is Neuberger Berman
Asset
Management, LLC, which is affiliated with Neuberger Berman, LLC,
a
registered broker-dealer. LibertyView Capital Management, a division
of
Neuberger Berman, LLC, is affiliated with the General Partner of
the
LibertyView Health Sciences Fund, LP. The shares were purchased for
investment in the ordinary course of business and at the time of
purchase,
there were no agreements or understandings, directly or indirectly,
with
any person to distribute the shares. Trust D for a Portion of the
Assets
of the Kodak Retirement Income Plan is not in any way affiliated
with a
broker-dealer.
|
(17) |
Ian
P. Ellis has voting and investment control over the securities owned
by
MicroCapital Fund LP. Includes warrants to purchase 1,500,000 shares
of
common stock.
|
(18) |
Includes
warrants to purchase 1,000,000 shares of common
stock.
|
(19) |
Consists
of the shares of common stock set forth in footnotes 2, 4, 5, 7 through
11
and 13 and currently exercisable options to purchase 15,000 shares
of
common stock held by one executive officer not named in the
table.
|
ITEM
12. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS.
Amy
Factor is the President of AFO Advisors LLC, and provides investor relations,
strategic, and management services to us in her current role as a director
and
Vice Chairman of the Board. Amy Factor is the President of AFO Advisors LLC,
and
provides investor relations, strategic, and management services to the Company
in her current role as a director and Vice Chairman of the Board. The Company
pays AFO Advisors LLC a monthly retainer of $12,500 pursuant to a verbal
agreement and had paid a total of $87,500 in FY 2007 as well as a restricted
stock grant to purchase 44,118 shares of common stock. Additionally, Ms.
Factor
was granted a restricted stock grant of 100,000 shares of common stock of
which
50% of the shares would vest on January 1, 2008 and the remaining 50% would
vest
on pro-rata monthly basis during the period January 1, 2008 through June
30,
2008.
ITEM
13. EXHIBITS.
The
following exhibits are filed as part of this report:
Exhibit
Number
|
Description
|
2.1
|
Agreement
and Plan of Reorganization, dated October 20, 2003, by and among
Historical Autographs U.S.A., Inc., Arbios Technologies, Inc.,
HAUSA
Acquisition, Inc., Cindy K. Swank and Raymond J. Kuh
(1)
|
3.1
|
Certificate
of Incorporation of Arbios Systems, Inc. dated June 3, 2005
(7)
|
3.2
|
Certificate
of Correction of Arbios Systems, Inc. dated on July 6, 2005
(7)
|
3.3
|
Certificate
of Ownership and Merger dated July 25, 2005 (7)
|
3.4
|
Certificate
of Ownership and Merger dated July 26, 2005 (7)
|
3.5
|
Bylaws
of Arbios Systems, Inc. (7)
|
4.1
|
Form
of Common Stock certificate (7)
|
4.2
|
Form
of Common Stock Purchase Warrant (3)
|
4.3
|
Common
Stock Purchase Warrant dated April 1, 2004
(4)
|
4.4
|
Form
of Warrant to Purchase Common Stock dated January 11, 2005 (5)
|
4.5 |
Common Stock Purchase
Warrant
dated March 29, 2007 (8) |
10.1*
|
2001
Stock Option Plan (2)
|
10.2
|
License
Agreement, entered into as of June 2001, by and between Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center and Arbios Technologies, Inc. (3)
|
10.3
|
License
Agreement, dated December 26, 2001, by and between Spectrum Laboratories,
Inc. and Arbios Technologies, Inc. (3)
|
10.4
|
Asset
Purchase Agreement among Circe Biomedical, Inc., Arbios Technologies,
Inc., and Arbios Systems, Inc., dated as of April 7, 2004
(4)
|
10.5
|
Manufacturing
and Supply Agreement, dated as of December 26, 2001, between Spectrum
Laboratories, Inc. and Arbios Technologies, Inc. (4)
|
10.6
|
Research
Agreement, dated as of December 26, 2001, between Spectrum Laboratories,
Inc. and Arbios Technologies, Inc. (4)
|
10.7
|
First
Amendment to Research Agreement, dated as of October 14, 2002,
between
Spectrum Laboratories, Inc. and Arbios Technologies, Inc.
(4)
|
10.8
|
Form
of Purchase Agreement, dated as of January 11, 2005, by and among
Arbios
Systems, Inc. and the Investors named therein (5)
|
10.9
|
Form
of Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of January 11, 2005,
by and
among Arbios Systems, Inc. and the Investors named therein
(5)
|
10.10+
|
Omnibus
Stockholders’ Agreement, dated as of October 24, 2003, by and among Arbios
Technologies, Inc., Historical Autographs U.S.A., Inc., Spectrum
Laboratories, Inc., Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Achilles A. Demetriou,
M.D., Ph.D. and Kristin P. Demetriou, as Trustees of the A & K
Demetriou Family Trust created on November 13, 2000, and Jacek
Rozga,
M.D., Ph.D. and Joanna Rozga
|
10.11*
|
Employment
Offer Letter, dated March 25, 2005, between Arbios Systems, Inc.
and Shawn
Cain (7)
|
10.12*
|
Employment
Offer Letter, dated March 29, 2005, between Arbios Systems, Inc.
and Scott
Hayashi (7)
|
10.13*
|
2005
Stock Incentive Plan (6)
|
10.14*
|
Form
of Stock Option Agreement for the 2005 Stock Incentive Plan
(6)
|
10.15 |
License
Agreement, dated March 29, 2007, between Arbios Systems, Inc. and
Immunocept, LLC (8) (12) |
10.16 |
Purchase
Agreement,
dated April 23, 2007, by and among Arbios Systems, Inc. and the Investors
set forth on the signature pages affixed thereto (9) |
10.17 |
Registration
Rights
Agreement, dated April 23, 2007, by and among Arbios Systems, Inc.
and the
Investors named herein (9) |
10.18 |
Form
of Warrant A to
Purchase Common Stock dated April 23, 2007 (9) |
10.19 |
Form
of Warrant B to
Purchase Common Stock dated April 23, 2007 (9) |
10.20 |
Offer
Letter of Dr.
Jacek Rozga dated April 26, 2007 (10) |
10.21 |
Certificate
of
Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation of Arbios Systems, Inc.
dated
July 13, 2007 (11) |
10.22 |
Supply
Agreement by
and between Membrana GmbH and Arbios Systems, Inc. dated September
14,
2007 (11) |
10.23 |
Lease
Agreement by
and between Cummings Properties, LLC and Arbios Systems, Inc. dated
September 15, 2007 (11) |
10.24 |
Consulting
Agreement
by and between David Zeffren and Arbios Systems, Inc. dated November
8,
2007 (11) |
10.25 |
Separation
Agreement
by and between Walter C. Ogier and Arbios Systems, Inc. dated November
13,
2007 (11) |
10.26+ |
Manufacturing
& Supply Agreement by and between NxStage Medical, Inc. and Arbios
Systems, Inc. dated October 19, 2007 (12) |
31.1+
|
Certification
of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
|
31.2+
|
Certification
of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
|
32.1+
|
Certification
of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section
1350
|
32.2+
|
Certification
of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section
1350
|
________________________________
+ Filed
herewith.
* Denotes
a
management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
|
(1)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 14, 2003, which
exhibit
is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
|
|
(2)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 10-SB
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 26,
2001, which
exhibit is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
|
|
(3)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 30, 2004,
which
exhibit is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
|
|
(4)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form SB-2/A
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September
10, 2004,
which exhibit is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
|
|
(5)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 14, 2005, which
exhibit
is hereby incorporated herein by
reference.
|
|
(6)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form S-8 filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 31, 2005,
which
exhibit is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
|
|
(7)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Form 10-KSB filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2006, which exhibit is hereby
incorporated herein by reference.
|
|
(8)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 4,
2007.
|
|
(9)
|
Previously
filed as the corresponding exhibit to the Company’s Current Report on Form
8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April
27, 2007,
which exhibit is hereby incorporate herein by
reference.
|
|
(10)
|
Previously
filed as the corresponding exhibit to the Company’s Current Report on Form
8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 3,
2007,
which exhibit is hereby incorporate herein by
reference.
|
|
(11)
|
Previously
filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Form 10-QSB filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on November 14,
2007.
|
|
(12)
|
Portions
of this exhibit have been omitted and filed separately with the
Secretary
of the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to a confidential
treatment request.
|
ITEM
14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
Audit
Fees
The
aggregate fees we paid Stonefield Josephson, Inc. during the fiscal year
ended
December 31, 2007 and 2006 for professional services for the audit of our
financial statements and the review of financial statements included in our
Forms 10-QSB and SEC filings were $99,106 and $73,670,
respectively.
Audit-Related
Fees
Stonefield
Josephson, Inc. did not provide and did not bill and it was not paid any
fees
for, audit-related services in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2007 and
2006.
Tax
Fees
Stonefield
Josephson, Inc. did not provide, and did not bill and was not paid any fees
for,
tax compliance, tax advice, and tax planning services for the fiscal years
ended
December 31, 2007 and 2006.
All
Other Fees
Stonefield
Josephson, Inc. did not provide, and did not bill and were not paid any fees
for, any other services in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2007 and
2006.
Audit
Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures
Consistent
with SEC policies, the Audit Committee charter provides that the Audit Committee
shall pre-approve all audit engagement fees and terms and pre-approve any
other
significant compensation to be paid to the independent registered public
accounting firm. The Audit Committee pre-approved all services performed
by
Stonefield Josephson, Inc. during 2007 and 2006.
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
We
are
subject to the informational requirements of the Exchange Act and, in accordance
with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
we
file reports, proxy statements and other information. You may read and copy
any
document we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F
Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You can request copies of these documents
by writing to the SEC and paying a fee for the copying cost. Please call
the SEC
at 1-800-SEC-0330 for more information about the operation of the SEC’s Public
Reference Room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s
web site at http://www.sec.gov.
INDEX TO
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
Report |
F-1
|
Balance Sheet - As of December 31, 2007
and 2006 |
F-2
|
Statement of Operations - For the
Years Ended
December 31, 2007, 2006
and
Period From August 23, 2000 (Inception) to December 31,
2007
|
F-3
|
Statement
of Cash Flows - For the Years Ended December 31, 2007, 2006
and
Period From August 23, 2000 (Inception) to December 31,
2007
|
F-4
|
Statements
of Change in Stockholders’ Equity - For the Years Ended
December 31,
2007, 2006 and Period From August 23, 2000 (Inception) to December
31,
2007
|
F-5
|
Notes to Financial Statements |
F-10
|
REPORT
OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Board
of
Directors
Arbios
Systems, Inc.
Boston,
Massachusetts
We
have
audited the accompanying balance sheets of Arbios Systems, Inc. (a development
stage enterprise) as of December 31, 2007 and 2006 and the related statements
of
operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the
period ended December 31, 2007 and 2006 and the years from August 23, 2000
(inception) to December 31, 2007. These financial statements are the
responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express
an
opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.
We
conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that
we plan
and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the
financial
statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required
to
have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control
over
financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of internal control
over
financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are
appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing
an
opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial
reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes
examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures
in
the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for our opinion.
In
our
opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in
all
material respects, the financial position of Arbios Systems, Inc. as of
December
31, 2007 and 2006 and the results of its operations and its cash flows
for each
of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2007 and 2006 and the
years
from August 23, 2000 (inception) to December 31, 2007, in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
The
accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the
Company
will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 of the financial
statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations including
a net loss of $5,552,650 for the year ended December 31, 2007 and has an
accumulated deficit of $19,314,972 as of December 31, 2007, and has been
dependent solely on obtaining outside equity to finance operations, all
of which
raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.
Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The
financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from
the
outcome of this uncertainty.
/s/Stonefield
Josephson, Inc.
Los
Angeles, California
March
28,
2008
ARBIOS
SYSTEMS, INC.
|
|
(A
development stage company)
|
|
BALANCE
SHEETS
|
|
December
31, 2007 and 2006
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31,
|
|
ASSETS
|
|
2007
|
|
2006
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
|
$
|
2,735,944
|
|
$
|
2,054,280
|
|
Prepaid
expenses
|
|
|
37,546
|
|
|
147,163
|
|
Total
current assets
|
|
|
2,773,490
|
|
|
2,201,443
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
property and equipment
|
|
|
45,450
|
|
|
73,110
|
|
Patent
rights, net of accumulated amortization of $134,374 and $113,894,
respectively
|
|
|
132,293
|
|
|
152,773
|
|
Other
assets
|
|
|
86,993
|
|
|
62,827
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
assets
|
|
$
|
3,038,226
|
|
$
|
2,490,153
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIABILITIES
AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accounts
payable
|
|
$
|
434,727
|
|
$
|
310,162
|
|
Accrued
expenses
|
|
|
483,617
|
|
|
132,073
|
|
Total
current liabilities
|
|
|
918,344
|
|
|
442,235
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Long
term contract obligations
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
|
|
|
Accrued
warrant liability
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
763,654
|
|
Total
liabilities
|
|
|
1,168,344
|
|
|
1,205,889
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stockholders'
equity
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preferred
stock, $.001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
none issued and outstanding
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
Common
stock, $.001 par value; 100,000,000 and 60,000,000 shares
authorized;
25,578,461
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
and
17,460,181 shares issued and outstanding at December 31,
2007 and 2006,
respectively
|
|
|
25,578
|
|
|
17,460
|
|
Additional
paid-in capital
|
|
|
21,159,276
|
|
|
14,507,939
|
|
Deficit
accumulated during the development stage
|
|
|
(19,314,972
|
)
|
|
(13,241,135
|
)
|
Total
stockholders' equity
|
|
|
1,869,882
|
|
|
1,284,264
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
liabilities and stockholders' equity
|
|
$
|
3,038,226
|
|
$
|
2,490,153
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
ARBIOS
SYSTEMS, INC.
|
|
(A
development stage company)
|
|
STATEMENTS
OF OPERATIONS
|
|
|
|
|
|
For
the years ended December 31,
|
|
Inception
to
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
2006
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenues
|
|
$
|
-
|
|
$
|
-
|
|
$
|
320,966
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating
expenses:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
General
and administrative
|
|
|
3,420,048
|
|
|
3,315,174
|
|
|
11,742,137
|
|
Research
and development
|
|
|
2,299,632
|
|
|
1,822,614
|
|
|
8,112,808
|
|
Total
operating expenses
|
|
|
5,719,680
|
|
|
5,137,788
|
|
|
19,854,945
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss
before other income (expense)
|
|
|
(5,719,680
|
)
|
|
(5,137,788
|
)
|
|
(19,533,979
|
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other
income (expense):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Change
in fair value of warrant liability
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
521,187
|
|
|
-
|
|
Interest
income
|
|
|
167,030
|
|
|
154,697
|
|
|
463,145
|
|
Interest
expense
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
(244,138
|
)
|
Total
other income (expense)
|
|
|
167,030
|
|
|
675,884
|
|
|
219,007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
$
|
(5,552,650
|
)
|
$
|
(4,461,904
|
)
|
$
|
(19,314,972
|
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss per share:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted
|
|
$
|
(0.24
|
)
|
$
|
(0.26
|
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted-average
shares:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted
|
|
|
22,918,181
|
|
|
17,244,988
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial
statements.
|
ARBIOS
SYSTEMS, INC.
|
|
(A
Development Stage Company)
|
|
CONDENSED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
|
|
|
|
|
|
For
the year ended December 31,
|
|
Inception
to
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
2006
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
Cash
flows from operating activities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
$
|
(5,552,650
|
)
|
$
|
(4,461,904
|
)
|
$
|
(19,314,972
|
)
|
Adjustments
to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(used in) operating activities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amortization of debt discount
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
244,795
|
|
Depreciation and amortization
|
|
|
50,045
|
|
|
52,442
|
|
|
302,264
|
|
Change in fair value of warrant liability
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
(521,187
|
)
|
|
-
|
|
Patent rights impairment
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
91,694
|
|
Interest earned on discounted short term investments
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
8,652
|
|
|
-
|
|
Issuance of common stock, options and warrants for
compensation
|
|
|
813,513
|
|
|
1,186,803
|
|
|
3,613,447
|
|
Issuance of warrants for patent acquistion
|
|
|
74,570
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
74,570
|
|
Settlement of accrued expense
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
54,401
|
|
Deferred compensation costs
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
319,553
|
|
Loss on disposition of fixed assets
|
|
|
2,766
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
2,766
|
|
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prepaid expenses
|
|
|
109,617
|
|
|
48,678
|
|
|
(37,548
|
)
|
Other assets
|
|
|
(24,166
|
)
|
|
(7,054
|
)
|
|
(86,993
|
)
|
Accounts payable
|
|
|
124,565
|
|
|
149,513
|
|
|
434,727
|
|
Accrued expenses
|
|
|
351,544
|
|
|
(20,289
|
)
|
|
390,115
|
|
Other liabilities
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
64,695
|
|
Contractual obligation
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
250,000
|
|
Net
cash used in operating activities
|
|
|
(3,800,196
|
)
|
|
(3,564,346
|
)
|
|
(13,596,486
|
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
flows from investing activities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Additions of property and equipment
|
|
|
(4,671
|
)
|
|
(3,447
|
)
|
|
(149,467
|
)
|
Purchase of short term investments
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
(12,889,073
|
)
|
|
(21,866,787
|
)
|
Maturities of short term investments
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
14,876,421
|
|
|
21,866,787
|
|
Net
cash (used in) provided from investing activities
|
|
|
(4,671
|
)
|
|
1,983,901
|
|
|
(149,467
|
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
flows from financing activities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Proceeds from issuance of convertible debt
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
400,000
|
|
Proceeds from common stock option/warrant exercise
|
|
|
2,700
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
67,900
|
|
Net proceeds from issuance of common stock and warrants
|
|
|
4,483,831
|
|
|
1,254,987
|
|
|
15,797,080
|
|
Net proceeds from issuance of preferred stock
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
238,732
|
|
Payments on capital lease obligation, net
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
(21,815
|
)
|
Net
cash provided by financing activities
|
|
|
4,486,531
|
|
|
1,254,987
|
|
|
16,481,897
|
|
Net
increase (decrease) in cash
|
|
|
681,664
|
|
|
(325,458
|
)
|
|
2,735,944
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash at beginning of period
|
|
|
< |