UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-Q

 

For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2017

OR

For the transition period from            to           

Commission File Number: 001-37766

 

INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

857-285-6200

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)  

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 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   ☒    No   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes   ☒    No   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.   ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes   ☐    No   ☒

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock as of July 28, 2017: 36,112,921 shares.

 

 

 

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PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)

(Amounts in thousands except share and per share data)

 

 

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

 

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INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)

(Amounts in thousands except per share data)

 

 

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

 

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INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)

(Amounts in thousands)

 

 

See notes to consolidated financial statements.

 

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INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (collectively referred to with its wholly-owned, controlled subsidiary, Intellia Securities Corp., as “Intellia” or the “Company”) is a genome editing company focused on developing potentially curative therapeutics utilizing a biological tool known as CRISPR/Cas9.

The consolidated financial statements of the Company included herein have been prepared, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S.”) have been condensed or omitted from this report, as is permitted by such rules and regulations. Accordingly, these consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. and its wholly-owned, controlled subsidiary. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. In the opinion of management, the information furnished reflects all adjustments, all of which are of a normal and recurring nature, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the reported interim periods. The Company considers events or transactions that occur after the balance sheet date but before the financial statements are issued to provide additional evidence relative to certain estimates or to identify matters that require additional disclosure. The three months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 are referred to as the second quarter of 2017 and 2016, respectively. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year or any other interim period.  

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which supersedes existing revenue recognition guidance. The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard defines a five-step process to achieve this principle and will require companies to use more judgment and make more estimates than under the current guidance. The Company expects that these judgments and estimates will include identifying performance obligations in the customer contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. ASU 2014-09 also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts. The new standard will be effective for the Company for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company continues to evaluate the impact that the adoption will have on its consolidated financial statements; however, the Company does not expect that adoption of this standard will have a significant impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. ASU 2016-02 amends ASC 840, Leases, by introducing a lessee model that requires balance sheet recognition of most leases. The Company is the lessee under certain leases that are accounted for as operating leases. The proposed changes would require that substantially all of the Company’s operating leases be recognized as assets and liabilities on the Company’s balance sheet. ASU 2016-02 will be effective for the Company for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on its consolidated financial statements but expects that the Company will recognize a significant lease obligation upon adoption in connection with the Company’s existing lease agreements.

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The Company classifies fair value based measurements using a three-level hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. This hierarchy requires entities to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The three levels of inputs used to measure fair value are as follows: Level 1, quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2, observable inputs other than quoted market prices included in Level 1, such as quoted market prices for markets that are not active or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data; and Level 3, unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities, including certain pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques that use significant unobservable inputs.

The Company’s financial instruments as of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 consisted primarily of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company’s financial assets recognized at fair value on a recurring basis consisted of the following:

 

 

 

The Company values its cash equivalents at quoted market prices in active markets.  Other financial instruments, including accounts receivable and accounts payable, are carried at cost, which approximate fair value due to the short duration and term to maturity.

 

Accrued expenses consisted of the following:  

 

 

Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

In December 2014, the Company entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Inc. (“Novartis”) primarily focused on the development of new ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies using chimeric antigen receptor T cells (“CAR-T cells”) and hematopoietic stem cells (“HSCs”).

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Agreement Structure

Under the terms of the collaboration, the Company and Novartis may research potential therapeutic, prophylactic and palliative ex vivo applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology in HSCs and CAR-T cells. The Company and Novartis agreed to conduct research of HSC targets under a research plan agreed upon by both parties. Within the HSC therapeutic space, Novartis may obtain exclusive rights to a limited number of these HSC targets, to be selected by Novartis in a series of selection windows, the last of which closes 90 days before the fifth anniversary of the effective date of the collaboration agreement. The Company has the right to choose a limited number of HSC targets for its exclusive development and commercialization per the specified selection schedule. Following these selections by Novartis and the Company, Novartis may obtain rights to research an additional limited number of HSC targets on a non-exclusive basis. If Novartis does not exercise its selection rights within each selection window, any such rights will be deemed forfeited by Novartis. Novartis is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research, develop and commercialize a specified number of HSC products directed to each of their selected HSC targets. The Company also agreed to collaborate with Novartis on research activities for CAR-T cell targets pursuant to a CAR-T cell program research plan approved by the CAR-T cell subcommittee of the collaboration’s joint steering committee. After completion of the activities contemplated by the CAR-T cell program research plan, Novartis will assume sole responsibility for developing any products arising from that research plan and will be responsible for additional costs and expenses of developing, manufacturing and commercializing its selected research targets. Novartis is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research, develop or commercialize at least one CAR-T cell product directed to at least one of its selected CAR-T cell targets. In the last two years of the five-year collaboration term, Novartis will have the option to select a limited number of targets for research, development and commercialization of in vivo therapies using the Company’s CRISPR/Cas9 platform, on a non-exclusive basis. Following Novartis’ selection of each in vivo target, Novartis may offer the Company the right to participate in the research and development of such targets, in which case an in vivo program research plan for such target will be entered into between the Company and Novartis. Novartis is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research, develop or commercialize at least one in vivo product directed to each of its selected targets. Novartis’ in vivo target selections are subject to certain restrictions, including that the targets, or all targets within a limited number of organs: (i) have not already been reserved by the Company pursuant to our limited right to do so under the agreement; (ii) are not the subject of a collaboration or pending collaboration with a third party; and (iii) are not the subject of ongoing or planned research and development by the Company.

The Company received an upfront technology access payment from Novartis of $10.0 million in January 2015 and is entitled to additional technology access fees of $20.0 million and quarterly research payments of $1.0 million, or up to $20.0 million in the aggregate, during the five-year research term. For each product under the collaboration, subject to certain conditions, the Company may be eligible to receive (i) up to $30.3 million in development milestones, including for the filing of an investigational new drug application and for the dosing of the first patient in each of Phase IIa, Phase IIb and Phase III clinical trials, (ii) up to $50.0 million in regulatory milestones for the product’s first indication, including regulatory approvals in the U.S. and European Union (“EU”), (iii) up to $50.0 million in regulatory milestones for the product’s second indication, if any, including U.S. and EU regulatory approvals, (iv) royalties on net sales in the mid-single digits, and (v) net sales milestone payments of up to $100.0 million. The Company may also be eligible to receive payments for: (i) each additional HSC target selected by Novartis beyond its initial defined allocation, (ii) each in vivo target that Novartis selects and (iii) any exercise by Novartis of certain license options under the agreement. Additionally, at the inception of the arrangement, Novartis invested $9.0 million to purchase the Company’s Class A-1 and Class A-2 Preferred Units. The difference between the cash proceeds received from Novartis for the units and the $11.6 million estimated fair value of those units at the date of issuance was determined to be $2.6 million. Accordingly, $2.6 million of the upfront technology access payment was allocated to record the preferred units purchased by Novartis at fair value.

Collaboration Revenue

Through June 30, 2017, excluding amounts allocated to Novartis’ purchase of the Company’s Class A-1 and Class A-2 Preferred Units, the Company had recorded a total of $27.4 million in cash and accounts receivable under the Novartis agreement. Through June 30, 2017, the Company has recognized $18.3 million of collaboration revenue, including $2.3 million and $4.5 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, and $1.9 million and $3.7 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations related to this agreement. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had accounts receivable of $1.0 million and $6.0 million, respectively, related to this agreement.  As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had deferred revenue of $9.1 million and $11.6 million, respectively, related to this agreement.

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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

In April 2016, the Company entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron”). The agreement includes a product component to research, develop and commercialize CRISPR/Cas-based therapeutic products primarily focused on gene editing in the liver as well as a technology collaboration component, pursuant to which the Company and Regeneron will engage in research and development activities aimed at discovering and developing novel technologies and improvements to CRISPR/Cas technology to enhance the Company’s gene editing platform. Under this agreement, the Company also may access the Regeneron Genetics Center and proprietary mouse models to be provided by Regeneron for a limited number of the Company’s liver programs.

Agreement Structure

Under the terms of the collaboration, the Company and Regeneron have agreed to a target selection process, whereby Regeneron may obtain exclusive rights for up to 10 targets to be chosen by Regeneron during the collaboration term, subject to various adjustments and limitations set forth in the agreement. Of these 10 total targets, Regeneron may select up to five non-liver targets, while the remaining targets must be focused in the liver. At the inception of the agreement, Regeneron selected the first of its 10 targets, which will be subject to a co-development and co-commercialization arrangement between the Company and Regeneron.

The Company retains the exclusive right to solely develop products for certain indications. During the target selection process, the Company has the right to choose additional liver targets for its own development using commercially reasonable efforts. Certain targets that either the Company or Regeneron select may be subject to further co-development and co-commercialization arrangements at the Company’s or Regeneron’s option, as applicable, which either can exercise pursuant to defined conditions. In addition, subject to certain restrictions, Regeneron will be able to replace a limited number of targets with substitute targets upon the payment of a specified replacement fee, in which case exclusive rights to the replaced target revert to the Company. Regeneron’s target selections are subject to certain additional restrictions, including that non-liver targets are not the subject of ongoing or planned research and development by the Company or are not the subject of a collaboration or pending collaboration with a third party.

Research activities under the collaboration will be governed by evaluation and research and development plans that will outline the parties’ responsibilities under, anticipated timelines of and budgets for, the various programs. The Company will assist Regeneron with the preliminary evaluation of liver targets, and Regeneron will be responsible for preclinical research and the conduct of clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of products directed to each of its exclusive targets under the oversight of a joint steering committee. The Company may assist, as requested by Regeneron, with the later discovery and research of product candidates directed to any selected target. For each selected target, Regeneron is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to submit regulatory filings necessary to achieve initial investigational new drug (“IND”) acceptance for at least one product directed to each applicable target, and following IND acceptance for at least one product, to develop and commercialize such product.

In connection with this collaboration, Regeneron agreed to purchase $50.0 million of the Company’s common stock in a private placement concurrent with the Company’s initial public offering, and the Company received a nonrefundable upfront payment of $75.0 million. In addition, the Company is eligible to earn, on a per-licensed target basis, (i) up to $25.0 million in development milestones, including for the dosing of the first patient in each of Phase I, Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, (ii) up to $110.0 million in regulatory milestones, including for the acceptance of a regulatory filing in the U.S., and U.S. and ex-U.S. regulatory approvals, and (iii) up to $185.0 million in sales-based milestone payments. The Company is also eligible to earn royalties ranging from the high single digits to low teens, in each case, on a per-product basis, which royalties are potentially subject to various reductions and offsets and are further subject to the Company’s existing low single-digit royalty obligations under a license agreement with Caribou Biosciences, Inc. (“Caribou”).  In addition, Regeneron is obligated to fund 50.0% of the research and development costs for the transthyretin amyloidosis program, the first target selected by Regeneron, which will be subject to a co-development and co-commercialization arrangement between the Company and Regeneron.

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The fixed portion of consideration under the collaboration arrangement was determined to be the $75.0 million nonrefundable upfront payment, for which there are no contingent terms. The significant deliverables of this multiple-element revenue arrangement were determined to be licenses to targets, the associated research activities and evaluation plans for these programs and the technology collaboration. The Company further determined that the licenses and associated research activities and evaluation plans did not have standalone value due to the specialized nature of the services to be provided by the Company; therefore, these deliverables are not separable, and, accordingly, the license and services are treated as a single unit of accounting. The Company additionally concluded that the technology collaboration has standalone value from the product development, as shared rights to technological advancements under the technology collaboration could be separately applied by Regeneron to other programs.  

The Company allocated the $75.0 million in fixed consideration to the two units of accounting based on the estimated relative selling price of each deliverable. The Company estimated the selling price of each deliverable by taking into consideration internal estimates of research and development personnel needed to perform the research and development services, estimates of expected cash outflows to third parties for services and supplies, selling prices of comparable transactions and typical gross profit margins. As a result of this evaluation, the Company allocated $63.8 million to the licenses to targets and the associated research activities and evaluation plans and $11.2 million to the technology collaboration. The $63.8 million allocated to the licenses to targets and the associated research activities and evaluation plans for these programs is being recognized over the six-year performance period of the arrangement. The $11.2 million allocated to the technology collaboration is being recognized over a period beginning with the inception of the technology collaboration in September 2016, through the end of the arrangement.

Collaboration Revenue

Through June 30, 2017, the Company recorded a $75.0 million upfront payment and $1.9 million for research and development services under the Regeneron agreement. Through June 30, 2017, the Company recognized $16.4 million of collaboration revenue, including $3.6 million and $7.7 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, and $2.3 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 in the consolidated statements of operations related to this agreement. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had deferred revenue of $60.5 million and $66.7 million, respectively, and accounts receivable of $1.8 million and $0.5 million, respectively, related to this agreement.

Equity-based compensation expense is classified in the consolidated statements of operations as follows:

 

 

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Restricted Stock

The following table summarizes the Company’s restricted stock activity for the six months ended June 30, 2017:

 

 

As of June 30, 2017, there was $3.4 million of unrecognized equity-based compensation expense related to restricted stock that is expected to vest. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining vesting period of 1.2 years.  

Stock Options

The weighted average grant date fair value of options, estimated as of the grant date using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, was $11.47 per option and $10.51 per option for those options granted during the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, and $13.57 per option and $6.07 per option for those options granted during the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively. Key assumptions used to apply this pricing model were as follows:

 

 

The following is a summary of stock option activity for the six months ended June 30, 2017:

 

 

As of June 30, 2017, there was $24.5 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to stock options that are expected to vest. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining vesting period of 2.9 years.

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The Company calculates basic (loss) earnings per share by dividing (loss) income allocable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. The Company computes diluted (loss) earnings per share after giving consideration to the dilutive effect of stock options and unvested restricted stock that are outstanding during the period, except where such securities would be anti-dilutive.

Basic and diluted loss per share attributable to common stockholders was calculated as follows:

 

 

In May 2016, the Company issued an additional 6,900,000 shares of common stock in connection with its initial public offering (“IPO”) and 23,481,956 shares of common stock in connection with the automatic conversion of its convertible preferred stock upon the closing of the IPO. In addition, the Company issued a total of 3,055,554 shares of common stock in two separate, concurrent private placements upon the closing of the IPO. The issuance of these shares resulted in a significant increase in the Company’s weighted average shares outstanding and will impact the year-over-year comparability of the Company’s (loss) earnings per share calculations into 2017.

The following common stock equivalents were excluded from the calculation of diluted loss per share because their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive:

 

 

In July 2014, the Company issued Caribou Therapeutics Holdco, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caribou, 8,110,599 Junior Preferred Units. As a result of this and related transactions, Caribou owned 15.5% of the Company’s voting interests as of June 30, 2017.

The Company recognized research and development expense of $0.4 million and $0.8 million during the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, related to license and service agreements entered into with Caribou. In addition, the Company recognized general and administrative expense of $0.3 million and $0.4 million during the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, and $0.4 million during the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, related to the Company’s obligation to pay 30.0% of Caribou’s patent prosecution, filing and maintenance costs under its intellectual property license agreement with Caribou.

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In connection with its entry into the collaboration and license agreement and related equity transactions with Novartis, the Company issued Novartis 4,761,905 Class A-1 Preferred Units and 2,666,666 Class A-2 Preferred Units. In August 2015, Novartis acquired 761,905 shares of the Company’s Series B Preferred Stock, and in May 2016, Novartis acquired 277,777 shares of the Company’s common stock in a private placement transaction concurrent with the Company’s IPO. As a result of these and subsequent transactions, Novartis collectively owned 15.7% of the Company’s voting interests as of June 30, 2017. Refer to Note 5, Collaborations, for additional information regarding this collaboration agreement.

The Company recognized collaboration revenue of $2.3 million and $4.5 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, and $1.9 million and $3.7 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations related to this agreement. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had recorded accounts receivable of $1.0 million and $6.0 million and deferred revenue of $9.1 million and $11.6 million, respectively, related to this collaboration.

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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Forward-looking Information

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These statements may be identified by such forward-looking terminology as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Our forward-looking statements are based on a series of expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about our company, are not guarantees of future results or performance and involve substantial risks and uncertainty. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in these forward-looking statements. Our business and our forward-looking statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties inherent in our statements regarding:

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All of our forward-looking statements are as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q only. In each case, actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking information. We can give no assurance that such expectations or forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. An occurrence of or any material adverse change in one or more of the risk factors or risks and uncertainties referred to in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or included in our other public disclosures or our other periodic reports or other documents or filings filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Except as required by law, we do not undertake or plan to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in plans, assumptions, estimates or projections or other circumstances affecting such forward-looking statements occurring after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, even if such results, changes or circumstances make it clear that any forward-looking information will not be realized. Any public statements or disclosures by us following this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that modify or impact any of the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q will be deemed to modify or supersede such statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Management Overview

Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our,” “Intellia,” or the “Company”) is a leading genome editing company focused on the development of proprietary, potentially curative therapeutics utilizing a biological tool known as CRISPR/Cas9. We believe that the CRISPR/Cas9 technology has the potential to transform medicine by permanently editing disease-associated genes or genetic material in the human body with a single treatment course. We intend to leverage our leading scientific expertise, clinical development experience and intellectual property position to unlock broad therapeutic applications of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and develop a potential new class of therapeutic products.

Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our unaudited consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which have been prepared by us in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, (GAAP), for interim periods and with Regulation S-X promulgated under the Exchange Act. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with these unaudited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as well as in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The three months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 are referred to as the second quarter of 2017 and 2016, respectively. Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references herein to our company include our wholly-owned subsidiary, Intellia Securities Corp.

We commenced active operations in mid-2014, and our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, developing our technology, identifying potential product candidates, undertaking preclinical research and studies and evaluating a clinical path for our pipeline programs. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through our collaborations with Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc., (Novartis), and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (Regeneron), our initial public offering and private placements of our common and preferred stock. All of our revenue to date has been collaboration revenue. Since our inception and through June 30, 2017, we have raised an aggregate of approximately $359.6 million to fund our operations, of which $104.1 million was through our collaboration agreements, $170.5 million was from our initial public offering and concurrent private placements and $85.0 million was from the sale of convertible preferred stock.

We believe our product focus, therapeutic discovery and development strength, delivery expertise and intellectual property portfolio make us well-positioned to translate the potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 system into clinically meaningful genome editing-based therapeutics. To maximize our opportunity to rapidly develop clinically successful products, we are applying a risk-mitigating approach with our initial indications, which we refer to as our sentinel indications. Our approach is defined by four primary criteria: (i) the type of edit—knockout, repair or insertion; (ii) the delivery modality for in vivo and ex vivo applications; (iii) the presence of established therapeutic endpoints; and (iv) the potential for the CRISPR/Cas9 system to provide therapeutic benefits when compared to existing therapeutic modalities. Our sentinel indications include in vivo programs focused on diseases attributable to genes expressed in the liver that have significant unmet medical needs – transthyretin amyloidosis, which we are co-developing with Regeneron, chronic hepatitis B infection, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and inborn errors of metabolism, including primary hyperoxaluria – as well as ex vivo applications of the technology in chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T cell) and hematopoietic stem cell (HSC), product candidates which are selectively partnered with our collaborator Novartis.

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The following table illustrates our discovery programs and opportunities as of June 30, 2017:  

 

Collaborations

In December 2014, we entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with Novartis, primarily focused on the development of new ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies using CAR-T cells and HSCs.

Agreement Structure

Under the terms of the collaboration, we and Novartis may research potential therapeutic, prophylactic and palliative ex vivo applications of our CRISPR/Cas9 technology in HSCs and CAR-T cells. We and Novartis agreed to conduct research of HSC targets under a research plan agreed upon by both parties. Within the HSC therapeutic space, Novartis may obtain exclusive rights to a limited number of these HSC targets, to be selected by Novartis in a series of selection windows. We have the right to choose a limited number of HSC targets for our exclusive development and commercialization per the specified selection schedule. Following these selections by Novartis and us, Novartis may obtain rights to research an additional limited number of HSC targets on a non-exclusive basis. Novartis is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research, develop, and commercialize a specified number of HSC products directed to each of their selected HSC targets.

We have also agreed to collaborate with Novartis on research activities for CAR-T cell targets pursuant to the CAR-T cell program research plan approved by the CAR-T cell subcommittee of the collaboration’s joint steering committee. After completion of the activities contemplated by the CAR-T cell program research plan, Novartis will assume sole responsibility for developing any products arising from that research plan and the costs and expenses of developing, manufacturing and commercializing its selected research targets. Novartis is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research, develop or commercialize at least one CAR-T cell product directed to each of its selected CAR-T cell targets.

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In the last two years of the five-year collaboration term, Novartis will have the option to select a limited number of targets for research, development and commercialization of in vivo therapies using our CRISPR/Cas9 platform, on a non-exclusive basis. Following Novartis’ selection of each in vivo target, Novartis may offer us the right to participate in the research and development of such targets, in which case an in vivo program research plan for such target will be entered into between us and Novartis. Novartis is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research, develop and commercialize at least one in vivo product directed to each of its selected in vivo targets. Novartis’ in vivo target selections are subject to certain restrictions, including that the targets, or all targets within a limited number of organs: (i) have not already been reserved by us pursuant to our limited right to do so under the agreement; (ii) are not the subject of a collaboration or pending collaboration with a third party; and (iii) are not the subject of ongoing or planned research and development by us.

Under the agreement, we received an upfront technology access payment of $10.0 million and are entitled to additional technology access fees of $20.0 million and quarterly research payments of $1.0 million, or up to $20.0 million in the aggregate, during the five-year research term. In addition, for each product under the collaboration, subject to certain conditions, we may be eligible to receive (i) up to $30.3 million in development milestones, including for the filing of an investigational new drug application and for the dosing of the first patient in each of Phase IIa, Phase IIb and Phase III clinical trials, (ii) up to $50.0 million in regulatory milestones for the product’s first indication, including regulatory approvals in the United States, (U.S.), and the European Union (EU), (iii) up to $50.0 million in regulatory milestones for the product’s second indication, if any, including U.S. and EU regulatory approvals, (iv) royalties on net sales in the mid-single digits, and (v) net sales milestone payments of up to $100.0 million. We may also be eligible to receive payments for: (i) each additional HSC target selected by Novartis beyond its initial defined allocation, (ii) each in vivo target that Novartis selects and (iii) any exercise by Novartis of certain license options under the agreement. Additionally, at the inception of the arrangement, Novartis invested $9.0 million to purchase our Class A-1 and Class A-2 Preferred Units. The difference between the cash proceeds received from Novartis for the units and the $11.6 million estimated fair value of those units at the date of issuance was determined to be $2.6 million. Accordingly, $2.6 million of the upfront technology access payment was allocated to record the preferred units purchased by Novartis at fair value.

Collaboration Revenue

Through June 30, 2017, excluding amounts allocated to Novartis’ purchase of our Class A-1 and Class A-2 Preferred Units, we had recorded a total of $27.4 million in cash and accounts receivable under the Novartis agreement. Through June 30, 2017, we have recognized $18.3 million of collaboration revenue, including $2.3 million and $4.5 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, and $1.9 million and $3.7 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations related to this agreement. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, we had accounts receivable of $1.0 million and $6.0 million, respectively, related to this agreement.  As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, we had deferred revenue of $9.1 million and $11.6 million, respectively, related to this agreement.

In April 2016, we entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Regeneron. The agreement includes a product component to research, develop and commercialize CRISPR/Cas-based therapeutic products primarily focused on gene editing in the liver as well as a technology collaboration component, pursuant to which we and Regeneron will engage in research and development activities aimed at discovering and developing novel technologies and improvements to CRISPR/Cas technology to enhance our gene editing platform. Under this agreement, we also may access the Regeneron Genetics Center and proprietary mouse models to be provided by Regeneron for a limited number of our liver programs.

Agreement Structure

Under the terms of our collaboration, we and Regeneron have agreed to a target selection process, whereby Regeneron may obtain exclusive rights for up to 10 targets to be chosen by Regeneron during the collaboration term, subject to various adjustments and limitations set forth in the agreement. Of these 10 total targets, Regeneron may select up to five non-liver targets, while the remaining targets must be focused in the liver.

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At the inception of the agreement, Regeneron selected the first of its 10 targets, which will be subject to a co-development and co-commercialization arrangement between us and Regeneron. We retain the exclusive right to solely develop products for certain indications. During the target selection process, we have the right to choose additional liver targets for our own development using commercially reasonable efforts. Certain targets that either we or Regeneron select may be subject to further co-development and co-commercialization arrangements at our or Regeneron’s option, as applicable, which either can exercise pursuant to defined conditions. In addition, subject to certain restrictions, Regeneron will be able to replace a limited number of targets with substitute targets upon the payment of a specified replacement fee, in which case exclusive rights to the replaced target revert to us. Regeneron’s target selections are subject to certain additional restrictions, including that non-liver targets are not the subject of ongoing or planned research and development by us or are not the subject of a collaboration or pending collaboration with a third party.

Research activities under the collaboration will be governed by evaluation and research and development plans that will outline the parties’ responsibilities under, anticipated timelines of and budgets for, the various programs. We will assist Regeneron with the preliminary evaluation of liver targets, and Regeneron will be responsible for preclinical research and the conduct of clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of products directed to each of its exclusive targets under the oversight of a joint steering committee. We may assist, as requested by Regeneron, with the later discovery and research of product candidates directed to any selected target. For each selected target, Regeneron is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to submit regulatory filings necessary to achieve initial investigational new drug (IND) acceptance for at least one product directed to each applicable target, and following IND acceptance for at least one product, to develop and commercialize such product.

In connection with this collaboration, Regeneron agreed to purchase $50.0 million of our common stock in a private placement concurrent with our initial public offering, and we received a nonrefundable upfront payment of $75.0 million. In addition, we are eligible to earn, on a per-licensed target basis, up to $25.0 million, $110.0 million and $185.0 million in development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments, respectively. We are also eligible to earn royalties ranging from the high single digits to low teens, in each case, on a per-product basis, which royalties are potentially subject to various reductions and offsets and are further subject to our existing low single-digit royalty obligations under a license agreement with Caribou Biosciences, Inc., (“Caribou”). In addition, Regeneron is obligated to fund 50.0% of the research and development costs for the ATTR program, the first target selected by Regeneron, which will be subject to a co-development and co-commercialization arrangement between us and Regeneron.

Collaboration Revenue

Through June 30, 2017, we recorded a $75.0 million upfront payment and $1.9 million for research and development services under the Regeneron agreement. Through June 30, 2017, we recognized $16.4 million of collaboration revenue, including $3.6 million and $7.7 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, and $2.3 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2016 in the consolidated statements of operations related to this agreement. As of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, we had deferred revenue of $60.5 million and $66.7 million, and accounts receivable of $1.8 million and $0.5 million, respectively, related to this agreement.

Results of Operations

Collaboration Revenue

The following is a comparison of collaboration revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016:

 

 

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Our revenue consists of collaboration revenue, including amounts recognized related to upfront technology access payments for licenses, technology access fees, research funding and milestone payments earned under our collaboration and license agreements with Novartis and Regeneron.

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, collaboration revenue consisted of amounts recognized from deferred revenue under the Novartis collaboration and the Regeneron collaboration. Collaboration revenue for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 also include amounts recognized for research and development services under the Regeneron collaboration. The increase in collaboration revenue during the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 is related to the timing of the collaborations and the related commencement of amortization of the deferred revenue balances.

Research and Development

The following is a comparison of research and development expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016:

 

 

Research and development expenses consist of expenses incurred in performing research and development activities, including compensation and benefits, which includes equity-based compensation, for full-time research and development employees, facility-related expenses, overhead expenses, lab supplies and contract research services including, in the six months ended June 30, 2016, $0.8 million in research services provided to us by Caribou, pursuant to a services agreement that we entered into with Caribou in July 2014 and which expired in November 2016.

Research and development expenses increased $8.2 million to $15.6 million during the three months ended June 30, 2017, as compared to $7.4 million in the three months ended June 30, 2016. Research and development expenses increased $16.4 million to $29.0 million during the six months ended June 30, 2017, as compared to $12.6 million in the six months ended June 30, 2016. This increase is primarily driven by our growth to 110 research and development employees as of June 30, 2017 from 56 research and development employees as of June 30, 2016, and the advancement of our early-stage research programs, collectively resulting in increases in salaries and related compensation expenses as well as laboratory supplies and research materials.

Through 2017, we expect research and development expenses to increase as we continue to grow our research and development team and continue to advance our research plans.

General and Administrative

The following is a comparison of general and administrative expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016:

 

 

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and benefits, including equity-based compensation, for our executive, finance, legal, business development and support functions. Other general and administrative expenses include allocated facility-related costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses, travel expenses and professional fees for auditing, tax and legal services, including intellectual property-related legal services, and other consulting fees and expenses.

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General and administrative expenses increased $2.7 million to $6.4 million during the three months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $3.7 million in the three months ended June 30, 2016.  General and administrative expenses increased $5.1 million to $12.1 million during the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to $7.0 million in the six months ended June 30, 2016.  These increases were primarily related to increased salary and related headcount-based expenses, including equity-based compensation expense, as we grew to 33 general and administrative employees as of June 30, 2017 from 19 general and administrative employees as of June 30, 2016.

Interest Income

Interest income is income earned on our cash equivalents. The increase in interest income is due to the increase in interest-bearing money market accounts, commercial paper and U.S. treasury securities, as compared to the same period in the prior year.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since our inception through June 30, 2017, we have raised an aggregate of $359.6 million to fund our operations, of which $104.1 million was through our collaboration agreements, $170.5 million was from our initial public offering and concurrent private placements and $85.0 million was from the sale of convertible preferred stock. As of June 30, 2017, we had $241.0 million in cash and cash equivalents.

In addition, we are entitled to receive technology access fees and research payments under our collaboration with Novartis and are also eligible to earn a significant amount of milestone payments and royalties, in each case, on a per-product basis under our collaboration with Novartis and on a per-target basis under our collaboration with Regeneron. Our ability to earn these milestones and the timing of achieving these milestones is dependent upon the outcome of our research and development activities and is uncertain at this time. Our rights to payments under our collaboration agreements are our only committed external source of funds.

Funding Requirements

Our primary uses of capital are, and we expect will continue to be, research and development services, compensation and related expenses, laboratory and related supplies, legal and other regulatory expenses, patent prosecution filing and maintenance costs for our licensed intellectual property and general overhead costs. Through 2017, we expect our expenses to increase compared to prior periods in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we continue research and development and preclinical activities and spend a full year occupying our new office and laboratory facility, which we began to occupy in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Because our research programs are still in preclinical development and the outcome of these efforts is uncertain, we cannot estimate the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of any future product candidates or whether, or when, we may achieve profitability. Until such time, as we can generate substantial product revenues, if ever, we expect to finance our ongoing cash needs through equity financings and collaboration arrangements. We are entitled to technology access fees and research payments under our collaboration with Novartis. Additionally, we are eligible to earn milestone payments and royalties, in each case, on a per-product basis under our collaboration with Novartis and on a per-target basis under our collaboration with Regeneron. Except for these sources of funding, we will not have any committed external source of liquidity. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the future sale of equity, the ownership interest of our stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our existing stockholders. If we raise additional funds through collaboration arrangements in the future, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

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Outlook

Based on our research and development plans and our timing expectations related to the progress of our programs, we expect that our cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2017, as well as technology access and research funding that we expect to receive from Novartis, will enable us to fund our ongoing operating expenses and capital expenditures through mid-2019, without giving effect to any potential milestone payments or extension fees we may receive under our collaboration agreements with Novartis and Regeneron. We have based this estimate on current assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our capital resources sooner than we expect.

Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends significantly on our success in many areas, including: developing our delivery technologies and our CRISPR/Cas9 technology platform; selecting appropriate product candidates to develop; completing research and preclinical and clinical development of selected product candidates; obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing authorizations for product candidates for which we complete clinical trials; developing a sustainable and scalable manufacturing process for product candidates; launching and commercializing product candidates for which we obtain regulatory approvals and marketing authorizations, either directly or with a collaborator or distributor; obtaining market acceptance of our product candidates; addressing any competing technological and market developments; negotiating favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing, or other arrangements into which we may enter; maintaining good relationships with our collaborators and licensors; maintaining, protecting, and expanding our portfolio of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets, and know-how; and attracting, hiring, and retaining qualified personnel.

Cash Flows

The following is a summary of cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016:

 

 

Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities of $27.1 million during the six months ended June 30, 2017 primarily reflects increased spend in our research and development and general and administrative activities, offset in part by the receipt of $7.0 million in additional payments from Novartis. Net cash provided by operating activities of $58.1 million during the six months ended June 30, 2016 primarily reflects the receipt of a $75.0 million upfront payment under our collaboration with Regeneron, offset by spend in our research and development and general and administrative activities as well as the payment of a $2.2 million security deposit for our new office and laboratory facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Net cash used in investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities during the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 relate solely to purchases of property and equipment as we grow our operations and build out our office and laboratory facilities.  We expect to continue investing in laboratory equipment through at least the remainder of 2017.

Net cash provided by financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities in the six months ended June 30, 2017 is made up of $0.4 million in cash received from the issuance of shares through our employee stock purchase plan and $0.1 million in cash received from the exercise of stock options. Net cash provided by financing activities of $168.9 million during the six months ended June 30, 2016 includes $170.5 million in proceeds from our initial public offering and concurrent private placements, partially offset by the payment of offering costs and amounts paid that were allocated to the value of intellectual property licensed from Caribou.

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Critical Accounting Policies

Our critical accounting policies require the most significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. Management has determined that our most critical accounting policies are those relating to revenue recognition and equity-based compensation. There have been no significant changes to our critical accounting policies discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which supersedes existing revenue recognition guidance. The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard defines a five-step process to achieve this principle and will require companies to use more judgment and make more estimates than under the current guidance. We expect that these judgments and estimates will include identifying performance obligations in the customer contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. ASU 2014-09 also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts. The new standard will be effective for us for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2017. We continue to evaluate the impact that the adoption of these ASUs will have on our consolidated financial statements; however, we do not expect that adoption of this standard will have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. ASU 2016-02 amends ASC 840, Leases, by introducing a lessee model that requires balance sheet recognition of most leases. We are the lessee under certain leases that are accounted for as operating leases. The proposed changes would require that substantially all of our operating leases be recognized as assets and liabilities on our balance sheet. ASU 2016-02 will be effective for us for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2018. We are evaluating the impact that the adoption of ASU 2016-02 will have on our consolidated financial statements but expect that we will recognize a significant lease obligation upon adoption in connection with our existing lease agreements.

Contractual Obligations  

There were no material changes to our contractual obligations during the six months ended June 30, 2017. For a complete discussion of our contractual obligations, please refer to our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined under the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk  

The market risk inherent in our financial instruments and in our financial position represents the potential loss arising from adverse changes in interest rates. As of June 30, 2017, we had cash equivalents of $236.2 million consisting of interest-bearing money market accounts, commercial paper and U.S. treasury securities. Our primary exposure to market risk is interest rate sensitivity, which is affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates. Due to the short-term maturities of our cash equivalents and the low risk profile of these investments, an immediate 100 basis point change in interest rates at levels as of June 30, 2017 would not have a material effect on the fair market value of our cash equivalents.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

The Company has established disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that the Company files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported

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within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to management, including the principal executive officer (our Chief Executive Officer) and principal financial officer (our Chief Financial Officer), to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Our management, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Management recognizes that any disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. Our disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. Based on such evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level as of June 30, 2017.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

No change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) occurred during the three months ended June 30, 2017 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

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PART II - OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Careful consideration should be given to the following risk factors, in addition to the other information set forth in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and in other documents that we file with the SEC, in evaluating the Company and our business. If any of the following risks and uncertainties actually occurs, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. The risks described below are not intended to be exhaustive and are not the only risks facing the Company. New risk factors can emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict the impact that any factor or combination of factors may have on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Business, Technology and Industry

CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology is a novel technology that is not yet clinically validated for human therapeutic use. The approaches we are taking to discover and develop novel therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9 systems are unproven and may never lead to marketable products. If we are unable to develop viable product candidates, achieve regulatory approval for any such product candidate or market and sell any product candidates, we may never achieve profitability.

We are focused on developing potentially curative medicines utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology. Although there have been significant advances in the field of gene therapy, which typically involves introducing a copy of a gene into a patient’s cell, and genome editing in recent years, CRISPR-based genome editing technologies are relatively new, and their therapeutic utility is largely unproven. The CRISPR/Cas9 technologies that we have licensed and that we intend to develop have not yet been clinically tested by us, nor are we aware of any clinical trials for safety or efficacy having been completed by third parties involving these technologies. The scientific evidence to support the feasibility of developing products based on these technologies is both preliminary and limited. Successful development of products by us will require solving a number of issues, including safely delivering a therapeutic into target cells within the human body or in an ex vivo setting, optimizing the efficiency and specificity of such products, and ensuring the therapeutic selectivity and efficacy of such products. There can be no assurance we will be successful in solving any or all of these issues.

We have principally concentrated our research efforts to date on bringing CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutics to the clinic for our initial indications, which we call our sentinel indications, and our future success is highly dependent on the successful development of CRISPR-based genome editing technologies, cellular delivery methods and therapeutic applications. Our sentinel indications are the principal focus of our initial development efforts, and we may decide to alter or abandon these programs as new data become available and we gain experience in developing CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics. We cannot be sure that our CRISPR/Cas9 technologies will yield satisfactory products that are safe and effective, scalable or profitable in our sentinel indications or any other indication we pursue.

Public perception and related media coverage of potential therapy-related safety issues, including adoption of new therapeutics or novel approaches to treatment, as well as ethical concerns related specifically to genome editing and CRISPR/Cas9, may adversely influence the willingness of subjects to participate in clinical trials, or if any therapeutic is approved, of physicians and patients to subscribe to the novel treatment mechanics. Physicians, health care providers and third-party payors often are slow to adopt new products, technologies and treatment practices that require additional upfront costs and training. Physicians may not be willing to undergo training to adopt this novel and personalized therapy, may decide the therapy is too complex to adopt without appropriate training and may choose not to administer the therapy. In addition, responses by the U.S., state or foreign governments to negative public perception or ethical concerns may result in new legislation or regulations that could limit our ability to develop or commercialize any product candidates, obtain or maintain regulatory approval or otherwise achieve profitability. Based on these and other factors, health care providers and payors may decide that the benefits of this new therapy do not or will not outweigh its costs.

Intellectual property owned by third parties relating to CRISPR/Cas9 or other related technologies necessary to develop, manufacture and commercialize CRISPR/Cas9 therapeutics – such as compositions of the products or components, methods of treatment, delivery technologies, chemical modifications and analytical and manufacturing methods – could adversely impact our ability to ultimately market and sell products. Currently, the Regents of the University of California and the University of Vienna (collectively, UC/Vienna) co-own with Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier a worldwide patent portfolio, which covers methods of use and compositions relating to engineered CRISPR/Cas9 systems for, among other things, cleaving or editing

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DNA and altering gene product expression in various organisms, including eukaryotic cells, which to-date includes granted patents from the European Patent Office, the United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and China’s Intellectual Property Office. We refer to this co-owned worldwide patent portfolio as the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent family. Through our 2014 license agreement with Caribou, we sublicense the UC/Vienna rights to these patents for human therapeutic, prophylactic and palliative uses, including companion diagnostics, except for anti-fungal and anti-microbial uses. The Broad Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Rockefeller University co-own patents and patent applications that also claim aspects of CRISPR/Cas9 systems to edit genes in eukaryotic cells, including human cells (collectively, the Broad Institute patent family). Because the respective owners of the UC/Vienna/Charpentier patent application and the Broad Institute patent family both allege owning intellectual property claiming aspects of CRISPR/Cas9 systems and methods to edit genes in eukaryotic cells, including human cells, our ability to market and sell CRISPR/Cas9-based human therapeutics may be impacted. In January 2016, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) initiated an interference proceeding to determine which set of intellectual property was invented first and, thus, entitled to the patents covering these inventions. On February 15, 2017, the PTAB dismissed the proceeding finding that the respective patent claims involved in the interference were distinct such that they did not meet the legal requirement to proceed with the interference. As a result of this proceeding’s dismissal, the PTAB did not make a decision regarding which party actually first invented the use of CRISPR/Cas9 systems and methods to edit genes in eukaryotic cells. In April 2017, UC/Vienna/Charpentier appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit seeking a review and reversal of the PTAB’s decision to terminate the interference and, on July 25, 2017, they filed their opening brief supporting their appeal. For additional information regarding the risks that may apply to our and our licensors’ intellectual property rights, see the section entitled “Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property” appearing elsewhere in this report for more information.

Our ability to generate product revenue is dependent on the success of our application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology for human therapeutic use, which is at an early stage of development and will require significant additional discovery efforts, preclinical testing and clinical studies, as well as applicable regulatory guidance for preclinical testing and clinical studies from the FDA and other regulatory authorities, before we can seek regulatory approval and begin commercial sales of any potential product candidates.

Our ability to generate product revenue is highly dependent on our ability to obtain regulatory approval of and successfully commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Any product candidates we discover will require preclinical, clinical and regulatory review and approval in each jurisdiction in which we intend to market the products, substantial investment, access to sufficient commercial manufacturing capacity and significant marketing efforts before we can generate any revenue from product sales. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of a product candidate, we must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety, purity and potency, as well as the effectiveness of the product candidates in humans. We cannot be certain that any of our product candidates will be successful in clinical trials and even if successful, they may not receive regulatory approval.

Our approach to developing therapies for genetic and viral-based diseases centers on using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology to introduce or remove genetic information to treat various disorders. Because this is a new therapeutic approach, discovering, developing and commercializing our product candidates subject us to a number of challenges, including:

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Additionally, because our technology involves gene editing across multiple cell and tissue types, we are subject to many of the challenges and risks that gene therapies face, including:

To date, although human clinical trials for other genome editing-based therapeutics have been authorized by the FDA, neither we nor any other company has received regulatory approval in the U.S. or EU to commence human clinical trials utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 or to market therapeutics utilizing any genome editing technology, including CRISPR/Cas9. There is no certainty that the FDA or EMA will apply to CRISPR/Cas9 product candidates the same regulatory pathway and requirements it is applying to other genome editing therapeutics; and the FDA and other regulatory authorities have not yet provided written guidance regarding preclinical or clinical studies or regulatory approval pathways specific for gene editing therapeutics. In addition, if any product candidates encounter safety or efficacy problems, developmental delays, regulatory issues or other problems, our development plans and business could be significantly harmed. Further, competitors that are developing products with similar technology may experience problems with their product candidates or programs that could in turn cause us to identify problems with our product candidates and programs that would potentially harm our business.

Further, significant uncertainty exists regarding the future scope and effect of the FDA’s regulatory framework, in particular relating to the review and approval of human therapeutic products because the new U.S. administration and federal legislators have publicly declared their intention to significantly modify the current legal framework governing the FDA. Any such changes to the FDA requirements could impact our ability to obtain approval for our products or sell them profitably. In addition, in the EU, the decision of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union may require the EMA to relocate to another country and recruit and retain new personnel to review and approve our submissions for regulatory approval in Europe. EMA’s relocation could result in delays and other changes that may impact the timing and our ability to obtain approval for our products. Also, the United Kingdom may enact legislation related to the approval and oversight of human therapeutics in that nation. Until any such legislation is enacted, we will be uncertain as to its effects on our business, including our ability to seek and obtain approval for our products in the United Kingdom.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval of any product candidates, such candidates may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, hospitals, third-party payors and others in the medical community.

The use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system as a framework for developing gene editing therapies is a recent development and may not become broadly accepted by physicians, patients, hospitals, third-party payors and others in the medical community. A variety of factors will influence whether our product candidates are accepted in the market, including, for example:

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Even if our products achieve market acceptance, we may not be able to maintain that market acceptance over time if new products or technologies are introduced that are more favorably received than our products, are more cost effective or render our products obsolete. In addition, adverse publicity due to the ethical and social controversies surrounding the therapeutic use of CRISPR/Cas9 or other therapeutics mediums, such as viral vectors that we anticipate using in our clinical trials may limit market acceptance of our product candidates. If our product candidates are approved but fail to achieve market acceptance among physicians, patients, hospitals, third-party payors or others in the medical community, we will not be able to generate significant revenue.

Negative public opinion and increased regulatory scrutiny of CRISPR/Cas9, gene editing or gene therapy generally may damage public perception of the safety of any product candidates that we develop and adversely affect our ability to conduct our business or obtain regulatory approvals for such product candidates.

Gene therapy in general, and gene editing in particular, remain novel technologies, with no gene therapy product approved to date in the United States and only two gene therapy products approved to date in the EU. Public perception may be influenced by claims that gene therapy or gene editing, including the use of CRISPR/Cas9, is unsafe or unethical, and gene therapy or gene editing may not gain the acceptance of the public or the medical community. In particular, our success will depend upon physicians who specialize in the treatment of diseases targeted by our product candidates prescribing treatments that involve the use of our product candidates in lieu of, or in addition to, existing treatments with which they are more familiar and for which greater clinical data may be available. In addition, responses by the U.S., state or foreign governments to negative public perception or ethical concerns may result in new legislation or regulations that could limit our ability to develop or commercialize any product candidates, obtain or maintain regulatory approval or otherwise achieve profitability. More restrictive statutory regimes, government regulations or negative public opinion would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and may delay or impair the development and commercialization of our product candidates or demand for any products we may develop. For example, earlier gene therapy trials led to several well-publicized adverse events, including cases of leukemia and death, and the FDA recently initiated a clinical hold on a CAR-T cell therapy clinical trial due to patient deaths, and the company developing the therapy ultimately decided to stop the program. Serious adverse events in our clinical trials, or other clinical trials involving gene therapy or gene editing products or our competitors’ products, even if not ultimately attributable to the relevant product candidates, and the resulting publicity could result in increased government regulation, unfavorable public perception, potential regulatory delays in the testing or approval of our product candidates, stricter labeling requirements for those product candidates that are approved and a decrease in demand for any such product candidate.

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Coverage and reimbursement may be limited or unavailable in certain market segments for our product candidates, if approved, which could make it difficult for us to sell any product candidates or therapies profitably.

The success of our product candidates, if approved, depends on the availability of adequate coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors, including government agencies. In addition, because our product candidates represent new approaches to the treatment of genetic-based diseases, we cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement will be available for, or accurately estimate the potential revenue from, our product candidates or assure that coverage and reimbursement will be available for any product that we may develop.

Patients who are provided medical treatment for their conditions generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their treatment. Adequate coverage and reimbursement from governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and commercial payors are critical to new product acceptance.

Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which drugs and treatments they will cover and the amount of reimbursement. Coverage and reimbursement by a third-party payor may depend upon a number of factors, including the third-party payor’s determination that use of a product is:

In the United States, no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors. As a result, obtaining coverage and reimbursement approval of a product from a government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide to each payor supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products on a payor-by-payor basis, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate for us to achieve or sustain profitability or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Additionally, third-party payors may not cover, or provide adequate reimbursement for, long-term follow-up evaluations required following the use of our gene-modifying products. Patients are unlikely to use our product candidates unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of our product candidates. Because our product candidates may have a higher cost of goods than conventional therapies, and may require long-term follow up evaluations, the risk that coverage and reimbursement rates may be inadequate for us to achieve profitability may be greater. There is significant uncertainty related to insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved products. It is difficult to predict at this time what third-party payors will decide with respect to the coverage and reimbursement for our product candidates.

Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors in the United States and abroad to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and the level of reimbursement for newly approved products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our product candidates. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of any of our product candidates due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations, cost containment initiatives and additional legislative changes.

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

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Research and development of biopharmaceutical products is inherently risky. We may not be successful in our efforts to use and enhance our gene editing technology to create a pipeline of product candidates, obtain regulatory approval and develop commercially successful products, or we may expend our limited resources on programs that do not yield a successful product candidate and fail to capitalize on potential product candidates or diseases that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success. If we fail to develop product candidates, our commercial opportunity, if any, will be limited.

We do not currently have any product candidates. We are at an early stage of development and our technology and approach has not yet led, and may never lead, to any product candidate or any approved or commercially successful products. Even if we are successful in building our pipeline of product candidates, completing clinical development, obtaining regulatory approvals and commercializing product candidates will require substantial additional funding and are prone to the risks of failure inherent in therapeutic product development. Investment in biopharmaceutical product development involves significant risk that any potential product candidate will fail to demonstrate adequate efficacy or an acceptable safety profile, gain regulatory approval, or become commercially viable.

We cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to successfully advance any product candidates that we discover through the research process. Our research programs may initially show promise, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development or commercialization for many reasons, including the following:

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If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for a program or programs, or we may not be able to identify, discover, develop or commercialize product candidates, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and could potentially cause us to cease operations.

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we principally focus on research programs that we identify as our sentinel indications. As a result, we may fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities, be required to forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or other diseases that may later prove to have greater commercial potential, or relinquish valuable rights to such product candidates through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights. For additional information regarding the factors that will affect our ability to achieve revenue from product sales, see the risk factor entitled “We have never generated any revenue from product sales and our ability to generate revenue from product sales and become profitable depends significantly on our success in a number of factors.”

If we do not successfully develop and commercialize product candidates based upon our approach, we will not be able to obtain product revenue in future periods, which likely would result in significant harm to our financial position and adversely affect our stock price. Further, our current focus on CRISPR/Cas9 technology for developing products as opposed to multiple, more proven technologies for product development increases the risk associated with our business. If we are not successful in developing a product candidate using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we may not be able to successfully implement an alternative product development strategy.

Clinical development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of any product candidates.

All of our lead programs are still in the discovery stage, and their risk of failure is high. It is impossible to predict when or if any of our programs will prove effective and safe in humans or will receive regulatory approval. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any product candidate, we must complete preclinical development and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of any of our future product candidates in humans. Preclinical and clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to outcome. We may be unable to establish clinical endpoints that applicable regulatory authorities would consider clinically meaningful, and a clinical trial can fail at any stage of testing. The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their products.

Successful completion of clinical trials is a prerequisite to submitting an NDA or BLA to the FDA, a Marketing Authorization Application to the EMA and similar filings to comparable foreign regulatory authorities, for each product candidate and, consequently, the ultimate approval and commercial marketing of any product candidates. We do not know whether any of our clinical trials will begin or be completed on schedule, if at all.

We may experience delays in completing our preclinical studies and initiating or completing clinical trials. We also may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, any future clinical trials that we could conduct, which could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates, including:

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We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for such trial or FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a product or treatment, failure to establish or achieve clinically meaningful trial endpoints, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. Many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our product candidates. Further, the FDA or other regulatory authorities may disagree with our clinical trial design and our interpretation of data from clinical trials, or may change the requirements for approval even after they have reviewed and commented on the design for our clinical trials.

Our product development costs will increase if we experience delays in clinical testing or marketing approvals. We do not know whether any of our preclinical studies or clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. Significant preclinical or clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates and may allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, potentially impairing our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and harming our business and results of operations. Any delays in our preclinical or future clinical development programs may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.

Inconclusive results, lack of efficacy, adverse events or additional safety concerns in clinical trials that we or others conduct may impede the regulatory approval process or overall market acceptance of our future product candidates.

Therapeutic applications of gene editing technologies, and CRISPR/Cas9 in particular, are unproven and must undergo rigorous clinical trials and regulatory review before receiving marketing authorization. If the results of our clinical studies or those of any other third parties, including with respect to gene editing technology, are inconclusive, fail to show efficacy or if such clinical trials give rise to safety concerns or adverse events, we may:

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Additionally, our future product candidates could potentially cause other adverse events that have not yet been predicted and the potentially permanent nature of gene editing effects, including CRISPR/Cas9’s effects, on genes may make these adverse events irreversible. The inclusion of critically ill patients in our clinical studies or those of our competitors may result in deaths or other adverse medical events, including those due to other therapies or medications that such patients may be using. Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining regulatory approval or market acceptance of our future product candidates and impair our ability to achieve profitability.

We have never generated any revenue from product sales and our ability to generate revenue from product sales and become profitable depends significantly on our success in a number of factors.

We have no products approved for commercial sale, have not generated any revenue from product sales, and do not anticipate generating any revenue from product sales until sometime after we have received regulatory approval for the commercial sale of a product candidate that we discover. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve and retain profitability depends significantly on our success in many factors, including:

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Even if one or more product candidates that we discover and develop are approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with commercializing any approved product candidate and the timing of such costs may be out of our control. Our expenses could increase beyond expectations if we are required by the FDA or other regulatory agencies, domestic or foreign, to change our manufacturing processes or assays, or to perform clinical, nonclinical or other types of additional studies. If we are successful in obtaining regulatory approvals to market one or more product candidates, our revenue will be dependent, in part, upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval, the accepted price for the product, the ability to get reimbursement at any price and whether we own the commercial rights for that territory. If the number of our addressable disease patients is not as significant as we estimate, the indication approved by regulatory authorities is narrower than we expect or the reasonably accepted population for treatment is narrowed by competition, physician choice or treatment guidelines, we may not generate significant revenue from sales of such products, even if approved. If we are not able to generate revenue from the sale of any approved products, we may never become profitable.

We face significant competition in an environment of rapid technological change. The possibility that our competitors may achieve regulatory approval before we do or develop therapies that are more advanced or effective than ours may harm our business and financial condition or our ability to successfully market or commercialize our product candidates.

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including the gene editing field, are characterized by rapidly changing technologies, significant competition and a strong emphasis on intellectual property. We face substantial competition from many different sources, including large and specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research institutions, government agencies and public and private research institutions.

Competitors in our efforts to provide genetic therapies to patients can be grouped into at least three sets based on their product discovery platforms:

Our competitors will also include companies that are or will be developing other gene editing methods as well as small molecules, biologics, in vivo gene therapies and nucleic acid-based therapies for the same indications that we are targeting with our CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics.

Any advances in gene therapy or gene editing technology made by a competitor may be used to develop therapies that could compete against any of our product candidates. Many of these competitors have substantially greater research and development capabilities and financial, scientific, technical, intellectual property, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and other resources than we do, and we may not be able to successfully compete with them.

To become and remain profitable, we must discover, develop and eventually commercialize product candidates with significant market potential, which will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities. These activities can include completing preclinical studies and clinical trials of product candidates, obtaining marketing approval for product candidates, manufacturing, marketing and selling products that are approved and satisfying any post-marketing requirements. Even if we are successful in selecting and developing any product candidates, in order to compete successfully we may need to be first-to-market or demonstrate that our CRISPR/Cas9-based products are superior to therapies based on the same or different treatment methods. If we are not first-to-market or are unable to demonstrate such superiority, any products for which we are able to obtain approval may not be successful. Furthermore, in certain jurisdictions, if a competitor has orphan drug status for a product and if our product candidate is determined to be contained within the scope of a competitor’s orphan drug exclusivity, then approval of our product for that indication or disease could potentially be blocked, for example, for up to seven years in the United States and 10 years in the EU.

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We may never succeed in any or all of these activities and, even if we do, we may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability. If we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations.

We have a very limited operating history, which may make it difficult to evaluate our current business and predict our future performance.

We are very early in our development efforts and all of our lead programs are still in the discovery stage. We were formed in May 2014, have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales. Our ability to generate product revenue or profits, which we do not expect will occur for many years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of our product candidates, which may never occur. We may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable product.

Each of our programs will require additional discovery research and then preclinical and clinical development, regulatory approval in multiple jurisdictions, obtaining manufacturing supply, capacity and expertise, building of a commercial organization, substantial investment and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenue from product sales. In addition, our product candidates must be approved for marketing by the FDA or certain other foreign regulatory agencies, including the EMA, before we may commercialize any product.

Our limited operating history, particularly in light of the rapidly evolving gene editing field, may make it difficult to evaluate our current business and predict our future performance. Our very short history as an operating company makes any assessment of our future success or viability subject to significant uncertainty. We will encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by very early stage companies in rapidly evolving fields. If we do not address these risks successfully, our business will suffer.

We have incurred net losses in each period since our inception, anticipate that we will continue to incur net losses in the future and may never achieve profitability.

We are not profitable and have incurred losses in each period since our inception. Our net loss was $28.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017. As of June 30, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $81.8 million. We expect these losses to increase as we continue to incur significant research and development and other expenses related to our ongoing operations, seek regulatory approvals for our future product candidates, scale-up manufacturing capabilities, maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio and hire additional personnel to support the development of our product candidates and to enhance our operational, financial and information management systems.

A critical aspect of our strategy is to invest significantly in our technology to improve the efficacy and safety of potential product candidates that we discover. Even if we succeed in discovering, developing and ultimately commercializing one or more of these product candidates, we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future relating to our substantial research and development expenditures to develop our technologies. We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. The size of our future net losses will depend, in part, on the rate of future growth of our expenses and our ability to generate revenue. Our prior losses and expected future losses have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. Further, the net losses we incur may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year, such that a period-to-period comparison of our results of operations may not be a good indication of our future performance.

We may need to raise substantial additional funding to fund our operations. If we fail to obtain additional financing, we may be unable to complete the development and commercialization of any product candidates.

Our operations have required substantial amounts of cash since inception, and we expect to spend substantial amounts of our financial resources on our discovery programs going forward and future development efforts. If we are able to identify product candidates that are eventually approved, we will require significant additional amounts in order to launch and commercialize our product candidates. For the foreseeable future, we expect to continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives.

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We will require additional capital for the further development and commercialization of any product candidates and may need to raise additional funds sooner if we choose to expand more rapidly than we presently anticipate or due to other unanticipated factors.

We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. We have no committed source of additional capital and if we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of our product candidates or other research and development initiatives. Our collaboration and license agreements may also be terminated if we are unable to meet the payment or other obligations under the agreements. We could be required to seek collaborators for product candidates at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available or relinquish or license on unfavorable terms our rights to product candidates in markets where we otherwise would seek to pursue development or commercialization ourselves.

Any of the above events could significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations and cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders and restrict our operations.

We will need additional capital in the future to continue our planned operations. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our existing stockholders may be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our common stockholders. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.

If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, our ability to complete clinical trials or our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.

We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for any future product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. If patients are unwilling to participate in our clinical studies because of concerns about, or negative publicity from, adverse events in the gene editing field, the novel nature of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology, the irreversibility of the effects of CRISPR/Cas9 or for other reasons, including competitive clinical studies for similar patient populations, then the timeline for recruiting patients, conducting studies and obtaining regulatory approval of potential products may be delayed. These delays could result in increased costs, delays in advancing our product development, delays in testing the effectiveness of our technology or termination of the clinical studies altogether. In addition, any patients who would otherwise be eligible for clinical trials that we may hold may instead enroll in clinical trials of product candidates of our competitors.

Patient enrollment is affected by other factors including:

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Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for clinical trials would result in significant delays and could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. Enrollment delays in clinical trials may result in increased development costs for any of our potential future product candidates, which would cause the value of our company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing. Furthermore, we expect to rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials, and, while we expect to enter into agreements governing their committed activities, we will have limited influence over their actual performance.

We expect to expand our research, development and regulatory capabilities, and, as a result, we may encounter difficulties in hiring capable personnel and otherwise managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

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

Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

We are highly dependent on the research and development, clinical, legal and business development expertise of Nessan Bermingham, Ph.D., our President and Chief Executive Officer, John M. Leonard, M.D., our Executive Vice President, Research & Development, Graeme Bell, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and José E. Rivera, our Executive Vice President, General Counsel, as well as the other principal members of our management, scientific and clinical teams. Although we have entered into employment arrangements with our executive officers, each of them may terminate their employment with us at any time. We do not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our executives or other employees.

Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be important for our success. The loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives and seriously harm our ability to successfully implement our business strategy. Furthermore, replacing executive officers and key employees may be difficult and may take an extended period of time because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to successfully develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize products using our technology. Competition to hire from this limited pool is intense, and we may be unable to hire, train, retain or motivate these key personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities and research institutions for similar personnel. The market for qualified personnel in the biotechnology space generally, and gene editing and gene therapy fields in particular, in and around the Cambridge, Massachusetts area is especially competitive. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategies. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us. Further, some of the qualified personnel that we hire and recruit are not United States citizens, and there is uncertainty with regard to their future employment status due to the new U.S. administration’s announced intention of modifying the legal framework for non-U.S. citizens to be employed in the United States. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to pursue our growth strategy will be limited.

If, in the future, we are unable to establish sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell, market and distribute products based on our technologies, we may not be successful in commercializing our products if and when any products candidates or therapies are approved and we may not be able to generate any revenue.

We do not currently have a sales, marketing or distribution infrastructure and, as a company, have no experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of therapeutic products. To achieve commercial success for any approved product candidate for which we retain sales and marketing responsibilities, we must build our sales, marketing, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. In the future, we may choose to build a focused sales and marketing infrastructure to sell, or participate in sales activities with our collaborators for, some of our product candidates if they are approved.

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There are risks involved with both establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For example, recruiting and training a sales force is expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.

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

If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, our product revenue or the profitability to us from these revenue streams is likely to be lower than if we were to market and sell any product candidates that we develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third parties and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our product candidates effectively. If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates. Further, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects will be materially adversely affected.

Our technological advancements and any potential for revenue may be derived in part from our collaborations with Novartis and Regeneron, and if either of these collaboration agreements were to be terminated, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be harmed.

In December 2014, we entered into a collaboration agreement with Novartis regarding the discovery of new CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies principally using CAR-T cells and HSCs. Under the Novartis collaboration agreement, we received a commitment to advance multiple programs. Pursuant to the Novartis agreement, we granted Novartis exclusive rights to further develop and commercialize products arising out of the CAR-T cell program during the research term. Regarding HSCs, we plan to jointly advance multiple programs with Novartis and have agreed to a process for assigning development and ownership rights, which will enable us to develop our own proprietary HSC pipeline.

In April 2016, we entered into a collaboration agreement with Regeneron that includes a product component to research, develop and commercialize CRISPR/Cas-based therapeutic products primarily focused on gene editing in the liver as well as a technology collaboration component, pursuant to which we and Regeneron will engage in research and development activities aimed at discovering and developing novel technologies and improvements to CRISPR/Cas technology to enhance our gene editing platform. Pursuant to the Regeneron collaboration agreement, we granted Regeneron exclusive rights to select up to 10 targets, subject to certain restrictions, while we retain the rights to solely develop our sentinel indications, other than ATTR, which is subject to a co-development and co-commercialization arrangement with Regeneron, and have the right to choose additional liver targets for our own development during the collaboration term. Certain other of the development targets under the Regeneron agreement may also be subject to a co-development/co-commercialization arrangement with the other party at the other party’s option.

Either Novartis or Regeneron may change its strategic focus or pursue alternative technologies in a manner that results in reduced, delayed or no revenue to us. Each of Novartis and Regeneron has a variety of marketed products and product candidates under collaboration with other companies, including some of our competitors, and the respective corporate objectives of Novartis or Regeneron may not be consistent with our best interests. If either of our collaboration partners fails to

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develop, obtain regulatory approval for or ultimately commercialize any product candidate from the development programs governed by the respective collaboration agreement in the applicable territories, or if either of our collaboration partners terminates our collaboration with it, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be harmed. In addition, any dispute or litigation proceedings we may have with either Novartis or Regeneron in the future could delay development programs, create uncertainty as to ownership of or access to intellectual property rights, distract management from other business activities and generate substantial expense.

Our existing and future collaborations will be important to our business. If we are unable to maintain any of these collaborations, or if these collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected.

We have limited capabilities for product discovery and development and do not yet have any capability for sales, marketing or distribution. Accordingly, we have entered, and plan to enter, into collaborations with other companies, including our therapeutic-focused collaboration agreements with Novartis and Regeneron, that we believe can provide such capabilities. These therapeutic-focused collaborations provide us with important technologies and funding for our programs and technology, and we expect to receive additional technologies and funding under these and other collaborations in the future. Our existing therapeutic collaborations, and any future collaborations we enter into, may pose a number of risks, including the following: