In evaluating our business, you should carefully consider the following risks in addition to the other information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. A manifestation of any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We note these factors for investors as permitted by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. It is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and, therefore, you should not consider the following risks to be a complete statement of all the potential risks or uncertainties that we face.
A substantial portion of our revenues is derived from sales of products to treat HCV and HIV. If we are unable to maintain or continue increasing sales of these products, our results of operations may be adversely affected.
During the
nine months ended September 30, 2016
, sales of Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa for the treatment of HCV accounted for approximately
51%
of our total product sales. We cannot be certain if prior year sales of our HCV products are indicative of future sales. Sales of our HCV products peaked in the second quarter of 2015 as warehoused patients started treatment in large numbers. Since then, the number of new patient starts has diminished, and we have seen the slowing of patient starts in the United States, Europe and Japan. We expect the revenue per patient to decline as a result of payers opening coverage to patients with lower fibrosis scores in exchange for additional discounts, a shift in our payer mix toward more deeply discounted government payer segments in the United States and countries with a lower average net selling price in Europe, competition and a decrease in the average duration of treatment as fewer patients are treated for 24 weeks and more patients are treated for 8 weeks. We also could experience a decline in market share due to increased competition.
In addition, future sales of Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa are difficult to estimate because demand depends, in part, on the extent of reimbursement of our HCV products by private and government payers. In light of continued fiscal and debt crises experienced by several countries in the European Union and Japan, governments have announced or implemented measures to manage healthcare expenditures. We may continue to experience global pricing pressure which could result in larger discounts or rebates on our products or delayed reimbursement, which negatively impacts our product sales and results of operations. Also, private and public payers can choose to exclude Harvoni, Sovaldi or Epclusa from their formulary coverage lists or limit the types of patients for whom coverage will be provided, which would negatively impact the demand for, and revenues of, Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa. Any change in the formulary coverage, reimbursement levels or discounts or rebates offered on our HCV products to payers may impact our anticipated revenues. We expect pricing pressure in the HCV market to continue. For example, the government of Japan implemented mandatory price reductions on Harvoni and Sovaldi effective as of April 1, 2016. If we are unable to achieve our forecasted HCV sales, our HCV product revenues and results of operations could be negatively affected, and our stock price could experience significant volatility.
We receive a substantial portion of our revenue from sales of our products for the treatment of HIV infection, which include Descovy, Odefsey, Genvoya, Truvada, Stribild, Complera/Eviplera and Atripla. During the
nine months ended September 30, 2016
, sales of our HIV products accounted for approximately
42%
of our total product sales. Most of our HIV products contain tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and/or emtricitabine, which belong to the nucleoside class of antiviral therapeutics. In addition, if the treatment paradigm for HIV changes, causing nucleoside-based therapeutics to fall out of favor, or if we are unable to maintain or increase our HIV product sales, our results of operations would likely suffer and we would likely need to scale back our operations, including our spending on research and development (R&D) efforts.
We may be unable to sustain or increase sales of our HCV or HIV products for any number of reasons including, but not limited to, the following:
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As our HCV and HIV products are used over a longer period of time in many patients and in combination with other products, and additional studies are conducted, new issues with respect to safety, resistance and interactions with other drugs may arise, which could cause us to provide additional warnings or contraindications on our labels, narrow our approved indications or halt sales of a product, each of which could reduce our revenues.
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As our products mature, private insurers and government payers often reduce the amount they will reimburse patients for these products, which increases pressure on us to reduce prices.
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If physicians do not see the benefit of our HCV or HIV products, the sales of our HCV or HIV products will be limited.
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As new or generic products are introduced into major markets, our ability to maintain pricing and market share may be affected. For example, TDF, one of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in Stribild, Complera/Eviplera, Atripla and Truvada, is expected to face generic competition in the United States and European Union in 2017, which may have an impact on our business and results of operations.
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If we fail to commercialize new products or expand the indications for existing products, our prospects for future revenues may be adversely affected.
If we do not introduce new products or increase sales of our existing products, we will not be able to increase or maintain our total revenues nor continue to expand our research and development efforts. Drug development is inherently risky and many product candidates fail during the drug development process. For example, during 2016 we announced that we terminated our Phase 2 and 2b studies of simtuzumab for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis, our Phase 2 and 2/3 studies of GS-5745 for the treatment of Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis, our Phase 2 studies of GS-4997 for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and diabetic kidney disease, and our Phase 2 study of eleclazine for the treatment of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation.
In the first quarter of 2016, we filed our new drug application (NDA) and marketing authorization application (MAA) in the United States and European Union for the approval of TAF for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. These marketing applications may not be approved by the regulatory authorities on a timely basis, or at all. Even if marketing approval is granted for these products, there may be significant limitations on their use. Further, we may be unable to file our marketing applications for new products.
Our inability to accurately predict demand for our products, uptake of new products or fluctuations in customer inventories makes it difficult for us to accurately forecast sales and may cause our forecasted revenues and earnings to fluctuate, which could adversely affect our financial results and our stock price.
We may be unable to accurately predict demand for our products, including the uptake of new products, as demand is dependent on a number of factors. For example, our HCV products, Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa, represent a significant change in the treatment paradigm for HCV-infected patients due to the shortened duration of treatment and the elimination of pegylated interferon injection and ribavirin in most patient populations. Because these products represent a cure and competitors’ HCV products have entered the market, revenues from our HCV products in 2016 and beyond are difficult for us and investors to estimate. Demand for Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa will depend on the availability of HCV patients and the extent of reimbursement of our HCV products by private and public payers in the United States and other countries. In addition, private and public payers can choose to exclude Harvoni, Sovaldi or Epclusa from their formulary coverage lists or limit the types of patients for whom coverage will be provided, which would negatively impact the demand for and revenues of Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa. We have experienced, and we may continue to experience, pricing pressure in the United States, European Union, Japan and other countries. Any change in the formulary coverage, reimbursement levels or discounts or rebates offered on our HCV products to payers may negatively impact our anticipated revenues. In addition, because rebate claims for product discounts are made by payers one or two quarters in arrears, we estimate the rebates we will be required to pay in connection with sales during a particular quarter based on claims data from prior quarters. In the first quarter of 2016, we received higher than expected prior quarter rebate claims. This had the effect of lowering our revenue for the quarter. Because HCV-related revenues are difficult to predict, investors may have widely varying expectations that may be materially higher or lower than our actual revenues. To the extent our HCV product revenues exceed or fall short of these expectations, our stock price may experience significant volatility.
In the
nine months ended September 30, 2016
, approximately
89%
of our product sales in the United States were to three wholesalers, AmerisourceBergen Corp., McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health, Inc. The U.S. wholesalers with whom we have entered into inventory management agreements make estimates to determine end user demand and may not be completely effective in matching their inventory levels to actual end user demand. As a result, changes in inventory levels held by those wholesalers can cause our operating results to fluctuate unexpectedly if our sales to these wholesalers do not match end user demand. In addition, inventory is held at retail pharmacies and other non-wholesaler locations with whom we have no inventory management agreements and no control over buying patterns. Adverse changes in economic conditions or other factors may cause retail pharmacies to reduce their inventories of our products, which would reduce their orders from wholesalers and, consequently, the wholesalers’ orders from us, even if end user demand has not changed. For example, during the fourth quarter of 2015, strong wholesaler and sub-wholesaler purchases of our HIV products resulted in inventory draw-down by wholesalers and sub-wholesalers in the first quarter of 2016. As inventory in the distribution channel fluctuates from quarter to quarter, we may continue to see fluctuations in our earnings and a mismatch between prescription demand for our products and our revenues.
In addition, the non-retail sector in the United States, which includes government institutions, including state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), Veterans Administration (VA), correctional facilities and large health maintenance organizations, tends to be even less consistent in terms of buying patterns and often causes quarter over quarter fluctuations that do not necessarily mirror patient demand for our products. Federal and state budget pressures, including sequestration, as well as the annual grant cycles for federal and state funds, may cause purchasing patterns to not reflect patient demand of our products. For example, in the first quarters of certain prior years, we observed large non-retail purchases of our HIV products by a number of state ADAPs that exceeded patient demand. We believe such purchases were driven by the grant cycle for federal ADAP funds. Additionally, during the second half of 2015, we experienced fluctuations in VA new HCV patient starts and purchasing patterns due to VA funding. We expect to continue to experience fluctuations in the purchasing patterns of our non-retail customers which may result in fluctuations in our product sales, revenues and earnings in the future. In light of the global economic downturn and budget crises
faced by many European countries, we have observed variations in purchasing patterns induced by cost containment measures in Europe. We believe these measures have caused some government agencies and other purchasers to reduce inventory of our products in the distribution channels, which has decreased our revenues and caused fluctuations in our product sales and earnings. We may continue to see this trend in the future.
Our results of operations may be adversely affected by current and potential future healthcare reforms.
Legislative and regulatory changes to government prescription drug procurement and reimbursement programs occur relatively frequently in the United States and foreign jurisdictions. In the United States, we, along with other pharmaceutical manufacturers of branded drug products, are required to pay a portion of an industry fee (also known as the branded prescription drug (BPD) fee), calculated based on select government sales during the year as a percentage of total industry government sales. The amount of the annual BPD fee imposed on the pharmaceutical industry as a whole is $3.0 billion in 2016, which will increase to $4.0 billion in 2017, increase to a peak of $4.1 billion in 2018, and then decrease to $2.8 billion in 2019 and thereafter. Our BPD fee expenses were $414 million in 2015, $590 million in 2014 and $110 million in 2013. We expect our portion of the BPD fee to increase as the total annual industry-wide fee increases through 2017 and drug patents expire on major drugs of other companies. The BPD fee is not tax deductible. In addition, even though not addressed in the healthcare reform legislation, discussions continue at the federal level on legislation that would either allow or require the federal government to directly negotiate price concessions from pharmaceutical manufacturers or set minimum requirements for Medicare Part D pricing. Further, certain states have proposed legislation that seeks to regulate pharmaceutical drug pricing. If such proposed legislation is passed, we may experience additional pricing pressures on our products.
In addition, state Medicaid programs could request additional supplemental rebates on our products as a result of the increase in the federal base Medicaid rebate. Private insurers could also use the enactment of these increased rebates to exert pricing pressure on our products, and to the extent that private insurers or managed care programs follow Medicaid coverage and payment developments, the adverse effects may be magnified by private insurers adopting lower payment schedules.
Our existing products are subject to reimbursement from government agencies and other third parties. Pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement pressures may reduce profitability.
Successful commercialization of our products depends, in part, on the availability of governmental and third-party payer reimbursement for the cost of such products and related treatments in the markets where we sell our products. Government health authorities, private health insurers and other organizations generally provide reimbursement. In the United States, the European Union, Japan and other significant or potentially significant markets for our products and product candidates, government authorities and third-party payers are increasingly attempting to limit or regulate the price of medical products and services. A significant portion of our sales of the majority of our products are subject to significant discounts from list price. See also our risk factor “A substantial portion of our revenues is derived from sales of products to treat HCV and HIV. If we are unable to maintain or continue increasing sales of these products, our results of operations may be adversely affected.”
Pricing for pharmaceutical products has come under increasing scrutiny by governments, legislative bodies and enforcement agencies. These activities may result in actions that have the effect of reducing prices or harming our business or reputation.
In July 2014, we received a letter from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance (Senate Committee) requesting information and supporting documentation from us related to Sovaldi and the pricing of Sovaldi in the United States. The letter raised concerns about our approach to pricing Sovaldi, its affordability and its impact on federal government spending and public health. In December 2015, the Senate Committee released the results of the investigation, which alleged that we engaged in a revenue-driven pricing strategy in setting Sovaldi’s price. We disagree with many of the conclusions in the report. In February 2016, we received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts requesting documents related to our support of 501(c)(3) organizations that provide financial assistance to patients, and for our HCV products, documents concerning our provision of financial assistance to patients. Other companies have disclosed similar inquiries. We are cooperating with this inquiry. It is possible that the results of the Senate Committee investigation and any actions taken by the U.S. Department of Justice or state governments could result in civil penalties or injunctive relief, negative publicity or other negative actions that could harm our reputation, reduce demand for Harvoni, Sovaldi, Epclusa or other sofosbuvir containing products and/or reduce coverage of Harvoni, Sovaldi, Epclusa or other sofosbuvir containing products, including by federal health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and state health care programs. If any or all of these events occur, our business and stock price could be materially and adversely affected.
Approximately
37%
of our product sales occur outside the United States, and currency fluctuations and hedging expenses may cause our earnings to fluctuate, which could adversely affect our stock price.
Because a significant percentage of our product sales are denominated in foreign currencies, primarily the Euro and Yen, we face exposure to adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates. When the U.S. dollar strengthens against these foreign currencies, the relative value of sales made in the respective foreign currency decreases. Conversely, when the U.S. dollar weakens against these currencies, the relative value of such sales increases. Overall, we are a net receiver of foreign currencies and, therefore, benefit from a weaker U.S. dollar and are adversely affected by a stronger U.S. dollar.
We use foreign currency exchange forward and option contracts to hedge a percentage of our forecasted international sales, primarily those denominated in the Euro and Yen. We also hedge certain monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies, which reduces but does not eliminate our exposure to currency fluctuations between the date a transaction is recorded and the date that cash is collected or paid. Foreign currency exchange, net of hedges, had an unfavorable impact of
$108 million
and
$392 million
on our product sales for the three and
nine months ended September 30, 2016
, respectively, compared to the same periods in
2015
.
We cannot predict future fluctuations in the foreign currency exchange rates of the U.S. dollar. If the U.S. dollar appreciates significantly against certain currencies and our hedging program does not sufficiently offset the effects of such appreciation, our results of operations will be adversely affected and our stock price may decline.
Additionally, the expenses that we recognize in relation to our hedging activities can also cause our earnings to fluctuate. The level of hedging expenses that we recognize in a particular period is impacted by the changes in interest rate spreads between the foreign currencies that we hedge and the U.S. dollar.
We face significant competition.
We face significant competition from large global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, specialized pharmaceutical firms and generic drug manufacturers.
Our HCV products, Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa, compete with Viekira Pak (ombitasvir, paritaprevir and ritonavir tablets co-packaged with dasabuvir tablets) and Viekira XR (dasabuvir, ombitasvir, paritaprevir and ritonavir) marketed by AbbVie Inc. (AbbVie), Zepatier (elbasvir and grazoprevir) marketed by Merck & Co. Inc. (Merck), Daklinza (daclastavir) marketed by BMS and Olysio (simeprevir) marketed by Janssen Therapeutics.
Our HIV products compete primarily with products from ViiV Healthcare (ViiV), which markets fixed-dose combination products that compete with Descovy, Odefsey, Genvoya, Stribild, Complera/Eviplera, Atripla and Truvada. For example, two products marketed by ViiV, Tivicay (dolutegravir), an integrase inhibitor, and Triumeq, a single-tablet triple-combination antiretroviral regimen, could adversely impact sales of our HIV products. In addition, lamivudine, marketed by ViiV, competes with emtricitabine, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of Emtriva and a component of Genvoya, Stribild, Complera/Eviplera, Atripla and Truvada. For Tybost, we compete with ritonavir marketed by AbbVie.
We also face competition from generic HIV products. Generic versions of lamivudine and Combivir (lamivudine and zidovudine) are available in the United States and certain other countries. Generic versions of Sustiva (efavirenz), a component of our Atripla, are now available in Canada and Europe and we anticipate competition from generic efavirenz in the United States in December 2017. We have observed some pricing pressure related to the Sustiva component of our Atripla sales.
Our HBV products, Viread and Hepsera, face competition from Baraclude (entecavir) marketed by BMS as well as generic entecavir. Our HBV products also compete with Tyzeka/Sebivo (telbivudine) marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Novartis).
Zydelig competes with Imbruvica (ibrutinib) marketed by Pharmacyclics LLC (an AbbVie company), Gazyva (obinutuzumab) marketed by Genentech (a member of the Roche Group) and Treanda (bendamustine hydrochloride) marketed by Cephalon, Inc.
Letairis competes with Tracleer (bosentan) and Opsumit (macitentan) marketed by Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. and also with Adcirca (tadalafil) marketed by United Therapeutics Corporation and Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer).
Ranexa competes predominantly with generic compounds from three distinct classes of drugs for the treatment of chronic angina in the United States, including generic and/or branded beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and long-acting nitrates.
Cayston competes with Tobi (tobramycin inhalation solution) marketed by Novartis.
Tamiflu competes with Relenza (zanamivir) marketed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and products sold by generic competitors.
AmBisome competes with Vfend (voriconazole) marketed by Pfizer and caspofungin, a product developed by Merck that is marketed as Cancidas in the United States and as Caspofungin elsewhere. In addition, we are aware of at least three lipid formulations that claim similarity to AmBisome becoming available outside of the United States. These formulations may reduce market demand for AmBisome. Furthermore, the manufacture of lipid formulations of amphotericin B is very complex and if any of these formulations are found to be unsafe, sales of AmBisome may be negatively impacted by association.
In addition, a number of companies are pursuing the development of technologies which are competitive with our existing products or research programs. These competing companies include specialized pharmaceutical firms and large pharmaceutical companies acting either independently or together with other pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore, academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private organizations conducting research may seek patent protection and may establish collaborative arrangements for competitive products or programs. If any of these competitors gain market share on our products, it could adversely affect our results of operations and stock price.
If significant safety issues arise for our marketed products or our product candidates, our future sales may be reduced, which would adversely affect our results of operations.
The data supporting the marketing approvals for our products and forming the basis for the safety warnings in our product labels were obtained in controlled clinical trials of limited duration and, in some cases, from post-approval use. As our products are used over longer periods of time by many patients with underlying health problems, taking numerous other medicines, we expect to continue to find new issues such as safety, resistance or drug interaction issues, which may require us to provide additional warnings or contraindications on our labels or narrow our approved indications, each of which could reduce the market acceptance of these products.
Regulatory authorities have been moving towards more active and transparent pharmacovigilance and are making greater amounts of stand-alone safety information and clinical trial data directly available to the public through websites and other means, e.g. periodic safety update report summaries, risk management plan summaries and various adverse event data. Safety information, without the appropriate context and expertise, may be misinterpreted and lead to misperception or legal action which may potentially cause our product sales or stock price to decline.
Further, if serious safety, resistance or drug interaction issues arise with our marketed products, sales of these products could be limited or halted by us or by regulatory authorities and our results of operations would be adversely affected.
Our operations depend on compliance with complex FDA and comparable international regulations. Failure to obtain broad approvals on a timely basis or to maintain compliance could delay or halt commercialization of our products.
The products we develop must be approved for marketing and sale by regulatory authorities and, once approved, are subject to extensive regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and comparable regulatory agencies in other countries. We are continuing clinical trials for Harvoni, Sovaldi, Epclusa, Truvada, Atripla, Stribild, Complera/Eviplera, Viread, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Emtriva, Tybost, Vitekta, Letairis, Ranexa, Cayston, Zydelig and Hepsera for currently approved and additional uses. We anticipate that we will file for marketing approval in additional countries and for additional indications and products over the next several years. These products may fail to receive such marketing approvals on a timely basis, or at all.
Further, how we manufacture and sell our products is subject to extensive regulation and review. Discovery of previously unknown problems with our marketed products or problems with our manufacturing, safety reporting or promotional activities may result in restrictions on our products, including withdrawal of the products from the market. If we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, including those related to promotion and manufacturing, we could be subject to penalties including fines, suspensions of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products and criminal prosecution.
For example, under FDA rules, we are often required to conduct post-approval clinical studies to assess a known serious risk, signals of serious risk or to identify an unexpected serious risk and implement a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for our products, which could include a medication guide, patient package insert, a communication plan to healthcare providers or other elements as FDA deems are necessary to assure safe use of the drug, which could include imposing certain restrictions on the distribution or use of a product. Failure to comply with these or other requirements, if imposed on a sponsor by FDA, could result in significant civil monetary penalties and our operating results may be adversely affected.
The results and anticipated timelines of our clinical trials are uncertain and may not support continued development of a product candidate, which would adversely affect our prospects for future revenue growth.
We are required to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of products that we develop for each intended use through extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials. The results from preclinical and early clinical studies do not always accurately predict results in later, large-scale clinical trials. Even successfully completed large-scale clinical trials may not result in marketable products. For example, during 2016 we announced that we terminated our Phase 2 and 2b studies of simtuzumab for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis, our Phase 2 and 2/3 studies of GS-5745 for the treatment of Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis, our Phase 2 studies of GS-4997 for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and diabetic kidney disease, and our Phase 2 study of eleclazine for the treatment of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation, after determining that study data showed insufficient evidence of treatment benefit. If any of our product candidates fails to achieve its primary endpoint in clinical trials, if safety issues arise or if the results from our clinical trials are otherwise inadequate to support regulatory approval of our product candidates, commercialization of that product candidate could be delayed or halted. In addition, we may also face challenges in clinical trial protocol design.
If the clinical trials for any of the product candidates in our pipeline are delayed or terminated, our prospects for future revenue growth would be adversely impacted. For example, we face numerous risks and uncertainties with our product candidates, including the single-tablet regimen of bictegravir, emtricitabine and TAF, the single-tablet regimen of sofosbuvir, velpatasvir and voxilaprevir for the treatment of chronic HCV, idelalisib for the treatment of relapsed refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia; momelotinib for the treatment of myelofibrosis; eleclazine for the treatment of long QT-3 syndrome; and GS-5745 for the treatment of gastric cancer, each currently in Phase 3 clinical trials, that could prevent completion of development of these product candidates. These risks include our ability to enroll patients in clinical trials, the possibility of unfavorable results of our clinical trials, the need to modify or delay our clinical trials or to perform additional trials and the risk of failing to obtain FDA and other regulatory body approvals. As a result, our product candidates may never be successfully commercialized. Further, we may make a strategic decision to discontinue development of our product candidates if, for example, we believe commercialization will be difficult relative to other opportunities in our pipeline. If these programs and others in our pipeline cannot be completed on a timely basis or at all, then our prospects for future revenue growth may be adversely impacted. In addition, clinical trials involving our commercial products could raise new safety issues for our existing products, which could in turn decrease our revenues and harm our business.
Due to our reliance on third-party contract research organizations to conduct our clinical trials, we are unable to directly control the timing, conduct, expense and quality of our clinical trials.
We extensively outsource our clinical trial activities and usually perform only a small portion of the start-up activities in-house. We rely on independent third-party contract research organizations (CROs) to perform most of our clinical studies, including document preparation, site identification, screening and preparation, pre-study visits, training, program management and bioanalytical analysis. Many important aspects of the services performed for us by the CROs are out of our direct control. If there is any dispute or disruption in our relationship with our CROs, our clinical trials may be delayed. Moreover, in our regulatory submissions, we rely on the quality and validity of the clinical work performed by third-party CROs. If any of our CROs’ processes, methodologies or results were determined to be invalid or inadequate, our own clinical data and results and related regulatory approvals could be adversely affected.
We depend on relationships with other companies for sales and marketing performance, development and commercialization of product candidates and revenues. Failure to maintain these relationships, poor performance by these companies or disputes with these companies could negatively impact our business.
We rely on a number of significant collaborative relationships with major pharmaceutical companies for our sales and marketing performance in certain territories. These include collaborations with Janssen for Odefsey and Complera/Eviplera; BMS for Atripla in the United States, Europe and Canada; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (together with Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Roche) for Tamiflu worldwide; and GSK for ambrisentan in territories outside of the United States. In some countries, we rely on international distributors for sales of Truvada, Viread, Hepsera, Emtriva and AmBisome. Some of these relationships also involve the clinical development of these products by our partners. Reliance on collaborative relationships poses a number of risks, including the risk that:
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we are unable to control the resources our corporate partners devote to our programs or products;
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disputes may arise with respect to the ownership of rights to technology developed with our corporate partners;
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disagreements with our corporate partners could cause delays in, or termination of, the research, development or commercialization of product candidates or result in litigation or arbitration;
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contracts with our corporate partners may fail to provide significant protection or may fail to be effectively enforced if one of these partners fails to perform;
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our corporate partners have considerable discretion in electing whether to pursue the development of any additional products and may pursue alternative technologies or products either on their own or in collaboration with our competitors;
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our corporate partners with marketing rights may choose to pursue competing technologies or to devote fewer resources to the marketing of our products than they do to products of their own development; and
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our distributors and our corporate partners may be unable to pay us, particularly in light of current economic conditions.
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Given these risks, there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the success of our current and future collaborative efforts. If these efforts fail, our product development or commercialization of new products could be delayed or revenues from products could decline.
In addition, Letairis and Cayston are distributed through third-party specialty pharmacies, which are pharmacies specializing in the dispensing of medications for complex or chronic conditions that may require a high level of patient education and ongoing counseling. The use of specialty pharmacies requires significant coordination with our sales and marketing, medical affairs, regulatory affairs, legal and finance organizations and involves risks, including but not limited to risks that these specialty pharmacies will:
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not provide us with accurate or timely information regarding their inventories, patient data or safety complaints;
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not effectively sell or support Letairis or Cayston;
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not devote the resources necessary to sell Letairis or Cayston in the volumes and within the time frames that we expect;
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not be able to satisfy their financial obligations to us or others; or
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We also rely on a third party to administer our Letairis Education and Access Program (LEAP), the restricted distribution program designed to support Letairis. This third party provides information and education to prescribers and patients on the risks of Letairis, confirms insurance coverage and investigates alternative sources of reimbursement or assistance, ensures fulfillment of the risk management requirements mandated for Letairis by FDA and coordinates and controls dispensing to patients through the third-party specialty pharmacies. Failure of this third party or the specialty pharmacies that distribute Letairis to perform as expected may result in regulatory action from FDA or decreased Letairis sales, either of which would harm our business.
Further, Cayston may only be taken by patients using a specific inhalation device that delivers the drug to the lungs of patients. Our ongoing distribution of Cayston is entirely reliant upon the manufacturer of that device. This manufacturer could encounter other issues with regulatory agencies related to the device or be unable to supply sufficient quantities of this device. In addition, the manufacturer may not be able to provide adequate warranty support for the device after it has been distributed to patients. With respect to distribution of the drug and device to patients, we are reliant on the capabilities of specialty pharmacies. For example, the distribution channel for drug and device is complicated and requires coordination. The reimbursement approval processes associated with both drug and device are similarly complex. If the device manufacturer is unable to obtain reimbursement approval or receives approval at a lower-than-expected price, sales of Cayston may be adversely affected. Any of the previously described issues may limit the sales of Cayston, which would adversely affect our financial results.
Our success will depend to a significant degree on our ability to defend our patents and other intellectual property rights both domestically and internationally. We may not be able to obtain effective patents to protect our technologies from use by competitors and patents of other companies could require us to stop using or pay for the use of required technology.
Patents and other proprietary rights are very important to our business. Our success will depend to a significant degree on our ability to:
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obtain patents and licenses to patent rights;
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preserve trade secrets;
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defend against infringement and efforts to invalidate our patents; and
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operate without infringing on the intellectual property of others.
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If we have a properly drafted and enforceable patent, it can be more difficult for our competitors to use our technology to create competitive products and more difficult for our competitors to obtain a patent that prevents us from using technology we create. As part of our business strategy, we actively seek patent protection both in the United States and internationally and file additional patent applications, when appropriate, to cover improvements in our compounds, products and technology.
We have a number of U.S. and foreign patents, patent applications and rights to patents related to our compounds, products and technology, but we cannot be certain that issued patents will be enforceable or provide adequate protection or that pending patent applications will result in issued patents. Patent applications are confidential for a period of time before a patent is issued. As a result, we may not know if our competitors filed patent applications for technology covered by our pending applications or
if we were the first to invent or first to file an application directed toward the technology that is the subject of our patent applications. Competitors may have filed patent applications or received patents and may obtain additional patents and proprietary rights that block or compete with our products. In addition, if competitors file patent applications covering our technology, we may have to participate in litigation, interference or other proceedings to determine the right to a patent. Litigation, interference or other proceedings are unpredictable and expensive, such that, even if we are ultimately successful, our results of operations may be adversely affected by such events.
Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, one of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in Stribild, Complera/Eviplera, Atripla and Truvada, is expected to face generic competition in the United States and European Union in 2017, which may have an impact on our business and results of operations. In addition, patents do not cover the ranolazine compound, the active ingredient of Ranexa. Instead, when it was discovered that only a sustained-release formulation of ranolazine would achieve therapeutic plasma levels, patents were obtained on those formulations and the characteristic plasma levels they achieve. Patents do not cover the active ingredients in AmBisome.
We may obtain patents for certain products many years before marketing approval is obtained for those products. Because patents have a limited life, which may begin to run prior to the commercial sale of the related product, the commercial value of the patent may be limited. However, we may be able to apply for patent term extensions or supplementary protection certificates in some countries.
Generic manufacturers have sought, and may continue to seek, FDA approval to market generic versions of our products through an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA), the application form typically used by manufacturers seeking approval of a generic drug. See a description of our ANDA litigation in Note 10 Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and risk factor entitled “Litigation with generic manufacturers has increased our expenses which may continue to reduce our earnings. If we are unsuccessful in all or some of these lawsuits, some or all of our claims in the patents may be narrowed or invalidated and generic versions of our products could be launched prior to our patent expiry.” beginning on page 49.
Our success depends in large part on our ability to operate without infringing upon the patents or other proprietary rights of third parties.
If we infringe the valid patents of third parties, we may be prevented from commercializing products or may be required to obtain licenses from these third parties. We may not be able to obtain alternative technologies or any required license on reasonable terms or at all. If we fail to obtain these licenses or alternative technologies, we may be unable to develop or commercialize some or all of our products. For example, we are aware of patents that may relate to our operation of LEAP, our restricted distribution program designed to support Letairis and we are aware of patents and patent applications owned by other parties that may claim to cover the use of sofosbuvir. We are also aware of U.S. Patent No. 9044509 assigned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that purports to claim a process of protecting a primate host from infection by an immunodeficiency retrovirus by administering a combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate prior to exposure of the host to the immunodeficiency retrovirus. See also a description of our litigation regarding sofosbuvir in Note 10 Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the risk factor entitled “If any party is successful in establishing exclusive rights to Harvoni, Sovaldi and/or Epclusa, our expected revenues and earnings from the sale of Harvoni, Sovaldi and/or Epclusa could be adversely affected” beginning on page 45.
Furthermore, we also rely on unpatented trade secrets and improvements, unpatented internal know-how and technological innovation. We protect these rights mainly through confidentiality agreements with our corporate partners, employees, consultants and vendors. These agreements provide that all confidential information developed or made known to an individual during the course of their relationship with us will be kept confidential and will not be used or disclosed to third parties except in specified circumstances. In the case of employees, the agreements provide that all inventions made by an individual while employed by us will be our exclusive property. We cannot be certain that these parties will comply with these confidentiality agreements, that we have adequate remedies for any breach or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or be independently discovered by our competitors. Under some of our R&D agreements, inventions become jointly owned by us and our corporate partner and in other cases become the exclusive property of one party. In certain circumstances, it can be difficult to determine who owns a particular invention and disputes could arise regarding those inventions. If our trade secrets or confidential information become known or independently discovered by competitors or if we enter into disputes over ownership of inventions, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
If any party is successful in establishing exclusive rights to Harvoni, Sovaldi and/or Epclusa, our expected revenues and earnings from the sale of Harvoni, Sovaldi and/or Epclusa could be adversely affected.
We own patents and patent applications that claim sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) as a chemical entity and its metabolites and the fixed-dose combinations of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir (Harvoni) and sofosbuvir and velpatasvir (Epclusa). Third parties may have, or may obtain rights to, patents that allegedly could be used to prevent or attempt to prevent us from commercializing Harvoni,
Sovaldi or Epclusa. For example, we are aware of patents and patent applications owned by other parties that may be alleged by such parties to cover the use of Harvoni, Sovaldi and Epclusa. We cannot predict the ultimate outcome of intellectual property claims related to Harvoni, Sovaldi or Epclusa, and we have spent, and will continue to spend, significant resources defending against these claims. If these parties successfully obtain valid and enforceable patents, and successfully prove infringement of those patents by Harvoni, Sovaldi and/or Epclusa, we could be prevented from selling sofosbuvir unless we were able to obtain a license under such patents. Such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
Interference Proceedings and Litigation with Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Idenix)
In February 2012, we received notice that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had declared Interference No. 105,871 (First Idenix Interference) between our U.S. Patent No. 7,429,572 (the ’572 patent) and Idenix’s pending U.S. Patent Application No. 12/131,868 to determine who was the first to invent certain nucleoside compounds. In January 2014, the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) determined that Pharmasset and not Idenix was the first to invent the compounds. Idenix has appealed the PTAB’s decisions to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
In December 2013, after receiving our request to do so, the USPTO declared Interference No. 105,981 (Second Idenix Interference) between our pending U.S. Patent Application No. 11/854,218 and Idenix’s U.S. Patent No. 7,608,600 (the ’600 patent). The ’600 patent includes claims directed to methods of treating HCV with nucleoside compounds. In March 2015, the PTAB determined that Pharmasset and not Idenix was the first to invent the claimed methods of treating HCV. Idenix appealed this decision in both the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The CAFC heard oral arguments in September 2016, and we are awaiting its decision. We filed a motion to dismiss the appeal in Delaware, and the court has stayed the appeal relating to the Second Idenix Interference.
We believe that the Idenix claims involved in the First and Second Idenix Interferences, and similar U.S. and foreign patents claiming the same compounds, metabolites and uses thereof, are invalid. As a result, we filed an Impeachment Action in the Federal Court of Canada to invalidate Idenix Canadian Patent No. 2,490,191 (the ’191 patent), which is the Canadian patent that corresponds to the ’600 patent. Idenix asserted that the commercialization of Sovaldi in Canada will infringe its ’191 patent and that our Canadian Patent No. 2,527,657, corresponding to our ’572 patent, is invalid. In November 2015, the Canadian court held that Idenix’s patent is invalid and that our patent is valid. Idenix appealed the decision to the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal in November 2015.
We filed a similar legal action in Norway in the Oslo District Court seeking to invalidate Idenix’s Norwegian patent corresponding to the ’600 patent. In September 2013, Idenix filed an invalidation action in the Norwegian proceedings against our Norwegian Patent No. 333700 patent, which corresponds to the ’572 patent. In March 2014, the Norwegian court found all claims in the Idenix Norwegian patent to be invalid and upheld the validity of all claims in our patent. Idenix appealed the decision to the Norwegian Court of Appeal. In April 2016, the Court of Appeal issued its decision invalidating the Idenix patent and upholding our patent. Idenix has not filed a further appeal.
In January 2013, we filed a legal action in the Federal Court of Australia seeking to invalidate Idenix’s Australian patent corresponding to the ’600 patent. In April 2013, Idenix asserted that the commercialization of Sovaldi in Australia infringes its Australian patent corresponding to the ’600 patent. In March 2016, the Australian court revoked Idenix’s patent. Idenix has appealed this decision. The appeal hearing is scheduled for November 2016.
In March 2014, the European Patent Office (EPO) granted Idenix European Patent No. 1 523 489 (the ’489 patent), which corresponds to the ’600 patent. The same day that the ’489 patent was granted, we filed an opposition with the EPO seeking to revoke the ’489 patent. An opposition hearing was held in February 2016, and the EPO ruled in our favor and revoked the ’489 patent. Idenix has appealed. In March 2014, Idenix also initiated infringement proceedings against us in the United Kingdom (UK), Germany and France alleging that the commercialization of Sovaldi would infringe the UK, German and French counterparts of the ’489 patent. A trial was held in the UK in October 2014. In December 2014, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales (UK Court) invalidated all challenged claims of the ’489 patent on multiple grounds. Idenix appealed. The appeal hearing was held in July 2016. In March 2015, the German court in Düsseldorf determined that the Idenix patent was highly likely to be invalid and stayed the infringement proceedings pending the outcome of the opposition hearing held by the EPO in February 2016. Idenix has not appealed this decision of the German court staying the proceedings. Upon Idenix’s request, the French proceedings have been stayed. Idenix has not been awarded patents corresponding to the ’600 patent in Japan or China.
In December 2013, Idenix, Universita Degli Studi di Cagliari (UDSG), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and L’Université Montpellier II sued us in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware alleging that the commercialization of sofosbuvir will infringe the ’600 patent and that an interference exists between the ’600 patent and our U.S. Patent No. 8,415,322. Also in December 2013, Idenix and UDSG sued us in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging that the commercialization of sofosbuvir will infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 6,914,054 and 7,608,597. In June 2014, the court transferred the Massachusetts litigation to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The Delaware district court has set trial for December 2016 for resolution of these issues. A decision by the district court may be appealed by either party to the CAFC.
Idenix was acquired by Merck & Co. Inc. (Merck) in August 2014, and Merck continues to pursue the Idenix claims described herein.
Litigation with Merck
In August 2013, Merck contacted us requesting that we pay royalties on the sales of sofosbuvir and obtain a license to U.S. Patent No. 7,105,499 (the ’499 patent) and U.S. Patent No. 8,481,712 (the ’712 patent), which it co-owns with Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The ’499 and ’712 patents cover compounds which do not include, but may relate to, sofosbuvir. We filed a lawsuit in August 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking a declaratory judgment that the Merck patents are invalid and not infringed. During patent prosecution, Merck amended its patent application in an attempt to cover compounds related to sofosbuvir. Initially, in March 2016, a jury determined that we had not established that Merck’s patents are invalid for lack of written description or lack of enablement and awarded Merck $200 million in damages. However, in June 2016, the court ruled in our favor on our defense of unclean hands and determined that Merck may not recover any damages from us for the ’499 and ’712 patents. The judge has determined that Merck is required to pay our attorneys’ fees due to the exceptional nature of this case. The amount of fees owed to us by Merck is yet to be determined by the court.
Merck has filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding the court’s decision on our defense of unclean hands. We appealed the issue relating to the invalidity of Merck’s patent. If the decision on our defense of unclean hands is reversed on appeal and Merck’s patent is upheld, we may be required to pay damages and a royalty on sales of sofosbuvir-containing products following the appeal. In that event, the judge has indicated that she will determine the amount of the royalty, if necessary, at the conclusion of any appeal in this case.
Litigation with the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota (the University) has obtained Patent No. 8,815,830 (’830 patent), which purports to broadly cover nucleosides with antiviral and anticancer activity. In August 2016, the University filed a lawsuit against us in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleging that the commercialization of sofosbuvir-containing products infringes the ’830 patent. We believe that the ’830 patent is invalid and will not be infringed by the continued commercialization of sofosbuvir.
Litigation with AbbVie
AbbVie has obtained U.S. Patent Nos. 8,466,159, 8,492,386, 8,680,106, 8,685,984, and 8,809,265 (the AbbVie Patents) which purport to cover the use of a combination of LDV/SOF (or Harvoni) for the treatment of HCV. We are aware that AbbVie has pending patent applications in the United States and granted and pending applications in other countries. We own granted, published and pending patent applications directed to the use of combinations for the treatment of HCV, and, specifically, to the combination of LDV/SOF. Certain of our applications were filed before the AbbVie Patents. For this reason and others, we believe the AbbVie Patents are invalid.
Since December 2013, several lawsuits were filed in the United States and several foreign jurisdictions, including Canada, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and others, by both Gilead and AbbVie regarding the AbbVie Patents. The AbbVie Patents have not blocked or delayed the commercialization of our combination products in the United States or any other country.
In August 2016, we and AbbVie entered into a settlement agreement to resolve the ongoing contested proceedings concerning the AbbVie Patents. Terms of the settlement are confidential.
European Patent Claims
In February 2015, several parties filed oppositions in the EPO requesting revocation of our granted European patent covering sofosbuvir that expires in 2028. In October 2016, the EPO upheld the validity of certain claims of our sofosbuvir patent. We anticipate that the challengers will appeal this decision in favor of our patent. The appeal process may take several years.
In January 2016, several parties filed oppositions in the EPO requesting revocation of our granted European patent covering TAF that expires in 2021.
In March 2016, three parties filed oppositions in the EPO requesting revocation of our granted European patent covering cobicistat that expires in 2027.
While we are confident in the strength of our patents, we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of these actions. If we are unsuccessful in defending these oppositions, some or all of our patent claims may be narrowed or revoked and the patent protection for sofosbuvir, TAF and cobicistat in Europe could be substantially shortened or eliminated entirely. If our patents are revoked, and no other European patents are granted covering these compounds, our exclusivity may be based entirely on regulatory exclusivity granted by the EMA. Sovaldi has been granted regulatory exclusivity that will prevent generic sofosbuvir from entering the European Union for 10 years following approval of Sovaldi, or January 2024. If we lose exclusivity for Sovaldi prior to 2028, our expected revenues and results of operation could be negatively impacted for the years including and succeeding the year in which such exclusivity is lost, which may cause our stock price to decline.
Manufacturing problems, including at our third-party manufacturers and corporate partners, could cause inventory shortages and delay product shipments and regulatory approvals, which may adversely affect our results of operations.
In order to generate revenue from our products, we must be able to produce sufficient quantities of our products to satisfy demand. Many of our products are the result of complex manufacturing processes. The manufacturing process for pharmaceutical products is also highly regulated and regulators may shut down manufacturing facilities that they believe do not comply with regulations.
Our products are either manufactured at our own facilities or by third-party manufacturers or corporate partners. We depend on third parties to perform manufacturing activities effectively and on a timely basis for the majority of our solid dose products. In addition, Roche, either by itself or through third parties, is responsible for manufacturing Tamiflu. We, our third-party manufacturers and our corporate partners are subject to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), which are extensive regulations governing manufacturing processes, stability testing, record keeping and quality standards as defined by FDA and the EMA. Similar regulations are in effect in other countries.
Our third-party manufacturers and corporate partners are independent entities who are subject to their own unique operational and financial risks which are out of our control. If we or any of these third-party manufacturers or corporate partners fail to perform as required, this could impair our ability to deliver our products on a timely basis or receive royalties or cause delays in our clinical trials and applications for regulatory approval. Further, we may have to write-off the costs of manufacturing any batch that fails to pass quality inspection or meet regulatory approval. In addition, we, our third-party manufacturers and our corporate partners may only be able to produce some of our products at one or a limited number of facilities and, therefore, have limited manufacturing capacity for certain products. To the extent these risks materialize and affect their performance obligations to us, our financial results may be adversely affected.
Our manufacturing operations are subject to routine inspections by regulatory agencies. If we are unable to remedy any deficiencies cited by FDA in these inspections, our currently marketed products and the timing of regulatory approval of products in development could be adversely affected. Further, there is risk that regulatory agencies in other countries where marketing applications are pending will undertake similar additional reviews or apply a heightened standard of review, which could delay the regulatory approvals for products in those countries. If approval of any of our product candidates were delayed or if production of our marketed products was interrupted, our anticipated revenues and our stock price would be adversely affected.
We may not be able to obtain materials or supplies necessary to conduct clinical trials or to manufacture and sell our products, which would limit our ability to generate revenues.
We need access to certain supplies and products to conduct our clinical trials and to manufacture our products. If we are unable to purchase sufficient quantities of these materials or find suitable alternate materials in a timely manner, our development efforts for our product candidates may be delayed or our ability to manufacture our products would be limited, which would limit our ability to generate revenues.
Suppliers of key components and materials must be named in the NDA or MAA filed with FDA, EMA or other regulatory authority for any product candidate for which we are seeking marketing approval, and significant delays can occur if the qualification of a new supplier is required. Even after a manufacturer is qualified by the regulatory authority, the manufacturer must continue to expend time, money and effort in the area of production and quality control to ensure full compliance with GMP. Manufacturers are subject to regular, periodic inspections by the regulatory authorities following initial approval. If, as a result of these inspections, a regulatory authority determines that the equipment, facilities, laboratories or processes do not comply with applicable regulations and conditions of product approval, the regulatory authority may suspend the manufacturing operations. If the manufacturing operations of any of the single suppliers for our products are suspended, we may be unable to generate sufficient quantities of commercial or clinical supplies of product to meet market demand, which would in turn decrease our revenues and harm our business. In addition, if delivery of material from our suppliers were interrupted for any reason, we may be unable to ship certain of our products for commercial supply or to supply our products in development for clinical trials. In addition, some of our products and the materials that we utilize in our operations are made at only one facility. For example, we manufacture certain drug product intermediates utilized in AmBisome exclusively at our facilities in San Dimas, California. In the event of a disaster, including an earthquake, equipment failure or other difficulty, we may be unable to replace this manufacturing capacity in a timely manner and may be unable to manufacture AmBisome to meet market needs.
In addition, we depend on a single supplier for amphotericin B, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of AmBisome, and high-quality cholesterol in the manufacture of AmBisome. We also rely on a single source for the active pharmaceutical ingredients found in Letairis and Cayston. Astellas US LLC, which markets Lexiscan in the United States, is responsible for the commercial manufacture and supply of product in the United States and is dependent on a single supplier for the active pharmaceutical ingredient of Lexiscan. Problems with any of the single suppliers we depend on may negatively impact our development and commercialization efforts.
A significant portion of the raw materials and intermediates used to manufacture our antiviral products (including Harvoni, Sovaldi, Epclusa, Truvada, Atripla, Stribild, Complera/Eviplera, Viread, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey and Emtriva) are supplied by China-based companies. As a result, an international trade dispute between China and the United States or any other actions by the Chinese government that would limit or prevent Chinese companies from supplying these materials would adversely affect our ability to manufacture and supply our antiviral products to meet market needs and have a material and adverse effect on our operating results.
Litigation with generic manufacturers has increased our expenses which may continue to reduce our earnings. If we are unsuccessful in all or some of these lawsuits, some or all of our claims in the patents may be narrowed or invalidated and generic versions of our products could be launched prior to our patent expiry.
As part of the approval process for some of our products, FDA granted us a New Chemical Entity (NCE) exclusivity period during which other manufacturers’ applications for approval of generic versions of our product will not be approved. Generic manufacturers may challenge the patents protecting products that have been granted NCE exclusivity one year prior to the end of the NCE exclusivity period. Generic manufacturers have sought and may continue to seek FDA approval for a similar or identical drug through an ANDA, the application form typically used by manufacturers seeking approval of a generic drug. Current legal proceedings of significance with some of our generic manufacturers include:
Apotex
In June 2014, we received notice that Apotex Inc. (Apotex) submitted an abbreviated new drug submission (ANDS) to Health Canada requesting permission to manufacture and market a generic version of Truvada and a separate ANDS requesting permission to manufacture and market a generic version of Viread. In the notice, Apotex alleges that three of the patents associated with Truvada and two of the patents associated with Viread are invalid, unenforceable and/or will not be infringed by Apotex’s manufacture, use or sale of a generic version of Truvada or Viread. In August 2014, we filed lawsuits against Apotex in the Federal Court of Canada seeking orders of prohibition against approval of these ANDSs. A hearing in those cases was held in April 2016. In July 2016, the court issued an order prohibiting the Canadian Minister of Health from approving Apotex’s generic version of our Viread product until the expiry of our patents in July 2017. The court declined to prohibit approval of Apotex’s generic version of our Truvada product. The court’s decision did not rule on the validity of the patents. The launch of Apotex’s generic version of our Truvada product would be at risk of infringement of our patents, including patents that we were unable to assert in the present lawsuit, and liability for our damages. Apotex has appealed the court’s decision.
Teva
In November 2011, December 2011 and August 2012, we received notices that Teva Pharmaceuticals (Teva) submitted an ANDS to the Canadian Minister of Health requesting permission to manufacture and market generic versions of Truvada, Atripla and Viread. In the notices, Teva alleges that the patents associated with Truvada, Atripla and Viread are invalid, unenforceable and/or will not be infringed by Teva’s manufacture, use or sale of generic versions of those products. We filed lawsuits against Teva in the Federal Court of Canada seeking an order of prohibition against approval of these applications.
In December 2013, the court issued an order prohibiting the Canadian Minister of Health from approving Teva’s generic versions of our Viread, Truvada and Atripla products until expiry of our patent in July 2017. Teva has appealed that decision. The court’s decision did not rule on the validity of the patents and accordingly the only issue on appeal is whether the Canadian Minister of Health should be prohibited from approving Teva’s products. The appeal will be heard by the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal after the trial in the Impeachment Action filed by Teva in August 2012 seeking invalidation of one of our Canadian patents associated with Viread. The court will determine the validity of the patent in the pending Impeachment Action. A trial in the Impeachment Action is scheduled for November 2016. If Teva is successful in invalidating the patent, Teva may be able to launch generic versions of our Viread, Truvada and Atripla products in Canada prior to the expiry of our patents.
Mylan
In February 2016, we received notice that Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Mylan) submitted an ANDA to FDA requesting permission to manufacture and market a generic version of Tybost (cobicistat). In the notice, Mylan alleges that the patent covering cobicistat is invalid as obvious and that Mylan’s generic product cannot infringe an invalid claim. In March 2016, we filed lawsuits against Mylan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. The trial in Delaware is scheduled for January 2018. The patent in suit that covers Tybost is also listed in the Orange Book for Stribild and Genvoya.
Aurobindo
In May 2016, we received notices that Aurobindo Pharma (Aurobindo) submitted ANDAs to FDA requesting permission to manufacture and market generic versions of Emtriva and Truvada. In the notices, Aurobindo alleges that two of the patents associated with our emtricitabine tablets and four of the patents associated with our emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate fixed
dose combination tablets are invalid, unenforceable and/or will not be infringed by Aurobindo’s manufacture, use or sale of generic versions of Emtriva and Truvada, respectively. In June 2016 and July 2016, we filed lawsuits against Aurobindo in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey for infringement of the patents associated with Emtriva and Truvada. In September 2016, we and Aurobindo reached agreement to settle those lawsuits. Terms of the settlement are confidential.
Watson
In February 2015, we received notice that Watson Laboratories, Inc. (Watson) submitted an ANDA to FDA requesting permission to manufacture and market a generic version of Letairis. In the notice, Watson alleges that one of the patents associated with ambrisentan tablets is invalid, unenforceable and/or will not be infringed by Watson’s manufacture, use or sale of a generic version of Letairis. In April 2015, we filed a lawsuit against Watson in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
SigmaPharm
In June 2015, we received notice that SigmaPharm Laboratories, LLC (SigmaPharm) submitted an ANDA to FDA requesting permission to manufacture and market a generic version of Letairis. In the notice, SigmaPharm alleges that one of the patents associated with ambrisentan tablets is invalid, unenforceable and/or will not be infringed by SigmaPharm’s manufacture, use or sale of a generic version of Letairis. In June 2015, we filed a lawsuit against SigmaPharm in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
We cannot predict the ultimate outcome of the foregoing actions and other litigation with generic manufacturers, and we may spend significant resources enforcing and defending these patents. If we are unsuccessful in these lawsuits, some or all of our original claims in the patents may be narrowed or invalidated and the patent protection for Truvada, Viread and Letairis in the United States and Atripla, Truvada and Viread in Canada could be substantially shortened. Further, if all of the patents covering one or more products are invalidated, FDA or the Canadian Minister of Health could approve the requests to manufacture a generic version of such products in the United States or Canada, respectively, prior to the expiration date of those patents. The sale of generic versions of these products earlier than their patent expiration would have a significant negative effect on our revenues and results of operations.
We face credit risks from our Emerging Market and Southern European customers that may adversely affect our results of operations.
We have exposure to customer credit risks in emerging markets and Southern Europe. Southern European product sales to government-owned or supported customers in Southern Europe, specifically Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece have historically been subject to significant payment delays due to government funding and reimbursement practices. This has resulted and may continue to result in days sales outstanding being significantly higher in these countries due to the average length of time that accounts receivable remain outstanding. As of
September 30, 2016
, our accounts receivable in Southern Europe, specifically Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, totaled approximately
$566 million
, of which
$132 million
were greater than 120 days past due, including
$62 million
greater than 365 days past due.
Historically, receivable balances with certain publicly-owned hospitals accumulate over a period of time and are then subsequently settled as large lump sum payments. This pattern is also experienced by other pharmaceutical companies that sell directly to hospitals. If significant changes were to occur in the reimbursement practices of these European governments or if government funding becomes unavailable, we may not be able to collect on amounts due to us from these customers and our results of operations would be adversely affected.
Our revenues and gross margin could be reduced by imports from countries where our products are available at lower prices.
Prices for our products are based on local market economics and competition and sometimes differ from country to country. Our sales in countries with relatively higher prices may be reduced if products can be imported into those or other countries from lower price markets. There have been cases in which other pharmaceutical products were sold at steeply discounted prices in the developing world and then re-exported to European countries where they could be re-sold at much higher prices. If this happens with our products, particularly Truvada and Viread, which we have agreed to make available at substantially reduced prices to more than 125 countries participating in our Gilead Access Program, or Atripla, which Merck distributes at substantially reduced prices to HIV infected patients in developing countries under our 2006 agreement, our revenues would be adversely affected. In addition, we have established partnerships with India-based generic manufacturers to distribute generic versions of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and TAF, contingent on U.S. regulatory approval, to 112 developing world countries, including India. We expanded these agreements to include rights to Stribild, Tybost and Vitekta. We also entered into agreements with certain India-based generic manufacturers to produce and distribute generic emtricitabine in the developing world, including single-tablet regimens containing emtricitabine and fixed-dose combinations of emtricitabine co-formulated with our other HIV medicines. Starting in September 2014, we entered into licensing agreements with India-based generic manufacturers to produce and distribute generic versions of our HCV products to 101 developing countries. If generic versions of our HIV and HCV products under these
licenses are then re-exported to the United States, Europe or other markets outside of these developing world countries, our revenues would be adversely affected. We also make our HCV products available in low- and middle-income countries at significantly discounted prices. If the discounted HCV products are re-exported from these low- and middle-income countries into the United States or other higher price markets, our revenues could be adversely affected.
In addition, purchases of our products in countries where our selling prices are relatively low for resale in countries in which our selling prices are relatively high may adversely impact our revenues and gross margin and may cause our sales to fluctuate from quarter to quarter. For example, in the European Union, we are required to permit products purchased in one country to be sold in another country. Purchases of our products in countries where our selling prices are relatively low for resale in countries in which our selling prices are relatively high can affect the inventory level held by our wholesalers and can cause the relative sales levels in the various countries to fluctuate from quarter to quarter and not reflect the actual consumer demand in any given quarter. These quarterly fluctuations may impact our earnings, which could adversely affect our stock price and harm our business.
Expensive litigation and government investigations have increased our expenses which may continue to reduce our earnings.
We are involved in a number of litigation, investigation and other dispute-related matters that require us to expend substantial internal and financial resources. We expect these matters will continue to require a high level of internal and financial resources for the foreseeable future. These matters have reduced and will continue to reduce our earnings. Please see a description of our litigation, investigation and other dispute-related matters in Note 10 Commitments and Contingencies of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The outcome of such lawsuits or any other lawsuits that may be brought against us, the investigations or any other investigations that may be initiated, are inherently uncertain, and adverse developments or outcomes can result in significant expenses, monetary damages, penalties or injunctive relief against us that could significantly reduce our earnings and cash flows and harm our business.
In some countries, we may be required to grant compulsory licenses for our products or our patents may not be enforced.
In a number of developing countries, government officials and other interested groups have suggested that pharmaceutical companies should make drugs for HCV or HIV infection available at low cost. Alternatively, governments in those developing countries could require that we grant compulsory licenses to allow competitors to manufacture and sell their own versions of our products, thereby reducing our product sales. For example, there is growing attention on the availability of HCV therapies and some activists are advocating for the increased availability of HCV therapies through means including compulsory licenses. In the past, certain offices of the government of Brazil have expressed concern over the affordability of our HIV products and declared that they were considering issuing compulsory licenses to permit the manufacture of otherwise patented products for HIV infection, including Viread. In addition, concerns over the cost and availability of Tamiflu related to a potential avian flu pandemic and H1N1 influenza generated international discussions over compulsory licensing of our Tamiflu patents. For example, the Canadian government considered allowing Canadian manufacturers to manufacture and export the active ingredient in Tamiflu to eligible developing and least developed countries under Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime. Furthermore, Roche issued voluntary licenses to permit third-party manufacturing of Tamiflu. For example, Roche granted a sublicense to Shanghai Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. for China and a sublicense to India’s Hetero Drugs Limited for India and certain developing countries. If compulsory licenses permit generic manufacturing to override our product patents for Harvoni, Sovaldi, our HIV products or Tamiflu, or if we are required to grant compulsory licenses for these products, it could reduce our earnings and cash flows and harm our business.
In addition, certain countries do not permit enforcement of our patents, and third-party manufacturers are able to sell generic versions of our products in those countries. For example, in July 2009, the Brazilian patent authority rejected our patent application for tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Viread. This was the highest level of appeal available to us within the Brazilian patent authority. Because we do not currently have a patent in Brazil, the Brazilian government now purchases its supply of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate from generic manufacturers. Sales of generic versions of our products could significantly reduce our sales and adversely affect our results of operations, particularly if generic versions of our products are imported into territories where we have existing commercial sales.
We may face significant liability resulting from our products that may not be covered by insurance and successful claims could materially reduce our earnings.
The testing, manufacturing, marketing and use of our commercial products, as well as product candidates in development, involve substantial risk of product liability claims. These claims may be made directly by consumers, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies or others. We may be unable to maintain sufficient coverage for product liabilities that may arise. In addition, the cost to defend lawsuits or pay damages for product liability claims may exceed our coverage. If we are unable to maintain adequate coverage or if claims exceed our coverage, our financial condition and our ability to clinically test our product candidates and market our products will be adversely affected. In addition, negative publicity associated with any claims, regardless of their merit, may decrease the future demand for our products and impair our financial condition.
Business disruptions from natural or man-made disasters may harm our future revenues.
Our worldwide operations could be subject to business interruptions stemming from natural or man-made disasters for which we may be self-insured. Our corporate headquarters and Fremont locations, which together house a majority of our R&D activities, and our La Verne, San Dimas and Oceanside manufacturing facilities are located in California, a seismically active region. As we may not carry adequate earthquake insurance and significant recovery time could be required to resume operations, our financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected in the event of a major earthquake.
We are dependent on information technology systems, infrastructure and data.
We are dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure and data. The multitude and complexity of our computer systems make them inherently vulnerable to service interruption or destruction, malicious intrusion and random attack. Likewise, data privacy or security breaches by employees or others may pose a risk that sensitive data, including our intellectual property, trade secrets or personal information of our employees, patients, customers or other business partners may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public. Cyberattacks
are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity. Cyberattacks could include the deployment of harmful malware, denial-of-service, social engineering and other means to affect service reliability and threaten data confidentiality, integrity and availability. Our business partners face similar risks and any security breach of their systems could adversely affect our security posture. While we have invested, and continue to invest, in the protection of our data and information technology infrastructure, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent service interruptions, or identify breaches in our systems, that could adversely affect our business and operations and/or result in the loss of critical or sensitive information, which could result in financial, legal, business or reputational harm to us. In addition, our liability insurance may not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to security breaches, cyberattacks and other related breaches.
Changes in our effective income tax rate could reduce our earnings.
We are subject to income taxes in both the United States and various foreign jurisdictions including Ireland. Due to economic and political conditions, various countries are actively considering changes to existing tax laws. We cannot predict the form or timing of potential legislative changes that could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. In addition, significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. Various factors may have favorable or unfavorable effects on our income tax rate including, but not limited to, changes in forecasted demand for our HCV products, our portion of the non-tax deductible annual BPD fee, the accounting for stock options and other share-based awards, mergers and acquisitions, the ability to manufacture product in our Cork, Ireland facility, the amortization of certain acquisition related intangibles for which we receive no tax benefit, future levels of R&D spending, changes in the mix of earnings in the various tax jurisdictions in which we operate, changes in overall levels of pre-tax earnings and resolution of federal, state and foreign income tax audits. The impact on our income tax provision resulting from the above mentioned factors may be significant and could have a negative impact on our consolidated results of operations.
Our income tax returns are subject to audit by federal, state and foreign tax authorities. We are currently under examination by the IRS for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 tax years and by various state and foreign jurisdictions. There are differing interpretations of tax laws and regulations, and as a result, significant disputes may arise with these tax authorities involving issues of the timing and amount of deductions and allocations of income among various tax jurisdictions. Resolution of one or more of these exposures in any reporting period could have a material impact on the results of operations for that period.
If we fail to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, we may be unable to successfully develop new product candidates, conduct our clinical trials and commercialize our product candidates.
Our future success will depend in large part on our continued ability to attract and retain highly qualified scientific, technical and management personnel, as well as personnel with expertise in clinical testing, governmental regulation and commercialization. We face competition for personnel from other companies, universities, public and private research institutions, government entities and other organizations. Competition for qualified personnel in the biopharmaceutical field is intense, and there is a limited pool of qualified potential employees to recruit. We may not be able to attract and retain quality personnel on acceptable terms. If we are unsuccessful in our recruitment and retention efforts, our business may be harmed.
There can be no assurance that we will pay dividends or continue to repurchase stock.
Our Board of Directors authorized a dividend program under which we intend to pay quarterly dividends of $0.47 per share, subject to quarterly declarations by our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors also approved the repurchase of up to $12.0 billion of our common stock, of which
$10 billion
is available for repurchase as of September 30, 2016. Any future declarations, amount and timing of any dividends and/or the amount and timing of such stock repurchases are subject to capital availability and determinations by our Board of Directors that cash dividends and/or stock repurchases are in the best interest of our stockholders and are in compliance with all respective laws and our agreements applicable to the declaration and payment of cash dividends and the repurchase of stock. Our ability to pay dividends and/or repurchase stock will depend upon, among other factors, our cash
balances and potential future capital requirements for strategic transactions, including acquisitions, debt service requirements, results of operations, financial condition and other factors beyond our control that our Board of Directors may deem relevant. A reduction in or elimination of our dividend payments, our dividend program and/or stock repurchases could have a negative effect on our stock price.