Before obtaining regulatory approval for the sale of our product candidates, we must conduct, at our own expense, extensive preclinical tests to demonstrate the safety of our product candidates in animals and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our 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. A failure of one or more of our clinical trials of BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 or alternate rapid-acting insulin or insulin analog formulations can occur at any stage of testing. We may experience numerous unforeseen events during our clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our product candidates, including:
the number of patients required for our clinical trials may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in our clinical trials may be slower than we currently anticipate, or participants may drop out of our clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate, any of which would result in significant delays;
our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner;
we might have to suspend or terminate our clinical trials if the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;
regulators or institutional review boards may require that we hold, suspend or terminate clinical research for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements;
the supply or quality of our product candidates or other materials necessary to conduct our clinical trials may be insufficient or inadequate; and
the effects of our product candidates may not be the desired effects, may include undesirable side effects or the product candidates may have other unexpected characteristics.
If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete our clinical trials or other testing, if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we may:
have the product removed from the market after obtaining marketing approval.
Our product development costs will also increase if we experience delays in testing or approvals. We do not know whether any preclinical tests or clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, if 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 or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to commercialize our products or product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.
Any undesirable side effects that might be caused by our product candidates could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in the denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities for any or all targeted indications. In addition, if any of our product candidates receive marketing approval andwe or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by the product, we could face one or more of the following:
a change in the labeling statements or withdrawal of FDA or other regulatory approval of the product;
the need to conduct additional clinical trials.
Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product or could substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing the product, which in turn could delay or prevent us from generating significant revenues from its sale.
In our analysis of our completed pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials, we found that Linjeta™ was associated with injection site discomfort, although the prevalence of discomfort decreased during the course of the treatment. In addition, in an October 2009 tolerability trial of the liquid formulation of Linjeta™, it was determined that some patients experienced more injection site discomfort with Linjeta™ than they did with Humalog®. Although we have clinical data indicating improved tolerability with similar formulations, we have no human clinical data for BIOD-105 or BIOD-107.
The commercial success of any product candidates that we may develop, including BIOD-105 and/or BIOD-107, will depend upon the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community.
Any products that we bring to the market, including BIOD-105 or BIOD-107, if they receive marketing approval, may not gain market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community. If these products do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenues and we may not become profitable. Physicians will not recommend our product candidates until clinical data or other factors demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates as compared to other treatments. Even if the clinical safety and efficacy of our product candidates is established, physicians may elect not to recommend these product candidates for a variety of reasons including the reimbursement policies of government and third-party payors, the effectiveness of our competitors in marketing their products and, in the case of BIOD-105 or BIOD-107, the possibility that patients may experience more injection site discomfort than they experience with competing products.
The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:
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the willingness and ability of patients and the healthcare community to adopt our products;
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the ability to manufacture our product candidates in sufficient quantities with acceptable quality and to offer our product candidates for sale at competitive prices;
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the perception of patients and the healthcare community, including third-party payors, regarding the safety, efficacy and benefits of our product candidates compared to those of competing products or therapies;
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the convenience and ease of administration of our product candidates relative to existing treatment methods;
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the label and promotional claims allowed by the FDA, such as, in the case of BIOD-105 or BIOD-107, claims relating to glycemic control, hypoglycemia, weight gain, injection site discomfort, expiry dating and required handling conditions;
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the pricing and reimbursement of our product candidates relative to existing treatments; and
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marketing and distribution support for our product candidates.
If we fail to enter into strategic collaborations for the commercialization of our product candidates or if our collaborations are unsuccessful, we may be required to establish our own sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution capabilities which will be expensive, require additional capital we do not currently have, and could delay the commercialization of our product candidates and have a material and adverse effect on our business.
A broad base of physicians, including primary care physicians, internists and endocrinologists, treat patients with diabetes. A large sales force may be required to educate and support these physicians. Therefore, our current strategy for developing, manufacturing and commercializing our product candidates includes securing collaborations with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for the commercialization of our product candidates. To date, we have not entered into any collaborations with pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. In addition, collaboration agreements are complex and time-consuming to negotiate, document and implement. For all these reasons, it may be difficult for us to find third parties that are willing to enter into collaborations on economic terms that are favorable to us, or at all. Even if we do enter into any such collaboration, the collaboration may not be successful. The success of our collaboration arrangements will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our collaborators. It is likely that our collaborators will have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations.
If we fail to enter into collaborations, or if our collaborations are unsuccessful, we may be required to establish our own direct sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution capabilities. Establishing these capabilities can be time-consuming and expensive and we have little experience in doing so. Because of our size, we would be at a disadvantage to our potential competitors to the extent they collaborate with large pharmaceutical companies that have substantially more resources than we do. As a result, we would not initially be able to field a sales force as large as our competitors or provide the same degree of market research or marketing support. In addition, our competitors would have a greater ability to devote research and development resources toward expansion of the indications for their products. We cannot assure prospective investors that we will succeed in entering into acceptable collaborations, that any such collaboration will be successful or, if not, that we will successfully develop our own sales, marketing and distribution capabilities.
If we are unable to obtain adequate reimbursement from governments or third-party payors for any products that we may develop or if we are unable to obtain acceptable prices for those products, they may not be purchased or used and our revenues and prospects for profitability will suffer.
Our future revenues and profits will depend heavily upon the availability of adequate reimbursement for the use of our approved product candidates from governmental and other third-party payors, both in the United States and in other markets. 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:
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a covered benefit under its health plan;
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safe, effective and medically necessary;
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appropriate for the specific patient;
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cost-effective; and
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neither experimental nor investigational.
Obtaining reimbursement approval for a product from each government or other third-party payor is a time-consuming and costly process that could require us to provide supporting scientific, clinical and cost-effectiveness data for the use of our products to each payor. We may not be able to provide data sufficient to gain acceptance with respect to reimbursement. Even when a payor determines that a product is eligible for reimbursement, the payor may impose coverage limitations that preclude payment for some uses that are approved by the FDA or comparable authorities. In addition, eligibility for coverage does not imply that any product will be reimbursed in all cases or at a rate that allows us to make a profit or even cover our costs.
Interim payments for new products, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent.
We may be subject to pricing pressures and uncertainties regarding Medicare reimbursement and reform.
Reforms in Medicare added a prescription drug reimbursement benefit beginning in 2006 for all Medicare beneficiaries. Although we cannot predict the full effects on our business of the implementation of this legislation, it is possible that the new benefit, which will be managed by private health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, and other managed care organizations, will result in decreased reimbursement for prescription drugs, which may further exacerbate industry-wide pressure to reduce the prices charged for prescription drugs. This could harm our ability to generate revenues.
Governments outside the United States tend to impose strict price controls, which may adversely affect our revenues, if any.
In some countries, particularly the countries of the European Union, the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after the receipt of marketing approval for a product. To obtain reimbursement or pricing approval in some countries, we may be required to conduct a clinical trial that compares the cost-effectiveness of our product candidate to other available therapies. If reimbursement of our products is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, our business could be adversely affected.
Legislation has been introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would permit more widespread re-importation of drugs from foreign countries into the United States, which may include re-importation from foreign countries where the drugs are sold at lower prices than in the United States. Such legislation, or similar regulatory changes, could decrease the price we receive for any approved products which, in turn, could adversely affect our operating results and our overall financial condition.
Product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and to limit commercialization of any products that we may develop.
We face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the testing of our product candidates in human clinical trials and will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell any products that we may develop. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against claims that our product candidates or products caused injuries, we will incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
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decreased demand for any product candidates or products that we may develop;
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injury to our reputation;
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withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
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costs to defend the related litigation;
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substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
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loss of revenue; and
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the inability to commercialize any products that we may develop.
We currently carry global liability insurance that we believe is sufficient to cover us from potential damages arising from past or future clinical trials of Linjeta™, BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 or other formulations of rapid-acting insulins and other product candidates that we may put into the clinic. We also carry local insurance policies per clinical trial of our product candidates. The amount of insurance that we currently hold may not be adequate to cover all liabilities that we may incur. We intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products if we obtain marketing approval for any products. Insurance coverage is increasingly expensive. We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost. If losses from product liability claims exceed our liability insurance coverage, we may ourselves incur substantial liabilities. If we are required to pay a productliability claim, we may not have sufficient financial resources to complete development or commercialization of any of our product candidates and, if so, our business and results of operations would be harmed.
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We face substantial competition in the development of our product candidates which may result in others developing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.
We are engaged in segments of the pharmaceutical industry that are characterized by intense competition and rapidly evolving technology. Many large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies and other public and private research organizations are pursuing the development of novel drugs that target endocrine disorders. We face, and expect to continue to face, intense and increasing competition as new products enter the market and advanced technologies become available. There are several approved injectable rapid-acting mealtime insulin analogs currently on the market including Humalog®, marketed by Eli Lilly and Company, NovoLog®, marketed by Novo Nordisk A/S, and Apidra®, marketed by Sanofi-Aventis. These rapid-acting insulin analogs provide improvement over regular forms of short-acting insulin, including faster subcutaneous absorption, an earlier and greater insulin peak and more rapid post-peak decrease. In addition, other development stage rapid-acting insulin formulations may be approved and compete with BIOD-105 or BIOD-107. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. has conducted a Phase 1 and multiple Phase 2 clinical trials of Humulin® R and Humalog® in combination with a recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme and has reported that in each case the combination yielded pharmacokinetics and glucodynamics that better mimicked physiologic mealtime insulin release and activity than Humulin® R or Humalog® alone. Novo Nordisk has reported that they have initiated clinical development of an fast-acting insulin analog intended to provide faster onset of action than the currently available fast-acting insulin analogs.
Several companies are also developing alternative insulin systems for diabetes, including MannKind Corporation, which has an inhalable insulin product candidate for which an NDA was submitted in early 2009. Although currently the subject of a complete response letter from the FDA, the approval and acceptance of an inhaled insulin such as MannKind’s inhaled insulin could reduce the overall market for injectable prandial insulin.
Treatment practices can also change with the introduction of new classes of therapy. Currently GLP-1 analogs such as exantide, marketed by Eli Lilly, and liraglutide, marketed by Novo Nordisk, are growing in usage and could delay the start of insulin usage in some patients therefore decreasing the size of the prandial insulin market.
While at this time there are no approved generic or biosimilar insulin analogs in the market in the United States or Europe, in other countries such as India there are multiple approved manufacturers of insulin analogs such has Humalog®. Both Humalog® and NovoLog® have limited remaining patent protection in the United States and Europe. Biocon, an established biosimilar manufacturer, has entered into a collaboration with Pfizer to commercialize biosimilar versions of Humalog® and NovoLog®. The possible introduction of lower priced brands or substitutable generic versions of these products could negatively impact the revenue potential of BIOD-105 or BIOD-107.
Potential competitors also include academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization. Our competitors may develop products that are more effective, safer, more convenient or less costly than any that we are developing or that would render our product candidates obsolete or non-competitive. Our competitors may also obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours.
Many of our potential competitors have:
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significantly greater financial, technical and human resources than we have and may be better equipped to discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize product candidates;
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more extensive experience in preclinical testing and clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical products;
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product candidates that have been approved or are in late-stage clinical development; or
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collaborative arrangements in our target markets with leading companies and research institutions.
Our product candidates may be rendered obsolete by technological change.
The rapid rate of scientific discoveries and technological changes could result in one or more of our product candidates becoming obsolete or noncompetitive. For several decades, scientists have attempted to improve the bioavailability of injected formulations and to devise alternative non-invasive delivery systems for the delivery of drugs such as insulin. Our product candidates will compete against many products with similar indications. In addition to the currently marketed rapid-acting insulin analogs, our competitors are developing insulin formulations delivered by oral pills, pulmonary devices and oral spray devices. Our future success will depend not only on our ability to develop our product candidates, but also on our ability to maintain market acceptance against emerging industry developments. We cannot assure present or prospective stockholders that we will be able to do so.
Our business activities involve the storage and use of hazardous materials, which require compliance with environmental and occupational safety laws regulating the use of such materials. If we violate these laws, we could be subject to significant fines, liabilities or other adverse consequences.
Our research and development work and manufacturing processes involve the controlled storage and use of hazardous materials, including chemical and biological materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these materials. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of such materials and waste products comply in all material respects with the standards prescribed by federal, state and local laws and regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from hazardous materials cannot be completely eliminated. In the
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event of an accident or failure to comply with environmental laws, we could be held liable for any damages that may result, and any such liability could fall outside the coverage or exceed the limits of our insurance. In addition, we could be required to incur significant costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations in the future or pay substantial fines or penalties if we violate any of these laws or regulations. Finally, current or future environmental laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
Use of third parties to manufacture our product candidates may increase the risks that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or such quantities at an acceptable cost, or that our suppliers will not be able to manufacture our products in their final dosage form. In any such case, clinical development and commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed, prevented or impaired.
We do not currently own or operate manufacturing facilities for commercial production of our product candidates. We have limited experience in drug manufacturing and we lack the resources and the capabilities to manufacture any of our product candidates on a clinical or commercial scale. Our current strategy is to outsource all manufacturing of our product candidates and products to third parties. We also expect to rely upon third parties to produce materials required for the commercial production of our product candidates if we succeed in obtaining necessary regulatory approvals. We have previously relied on a number of manufacturers such as Hyaluron, Inc. and Wockhardt, Ltd., to manufacture our product candidates, but we do not have commercial supply agreements with these third parties.
Reliance on third-party manufacturers entails risks to which we would not be subject if we manufactured product candidates or products ourselves, including:
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reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance;
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the possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party because of factors beyond our control; and
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the possible refusal by the third party to support our manufacturing programs, based on its own business priorities, at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us.
Our manufacturers may not be able to comply with current good manufacturing practice, or cGMP, regulations or other regulatory requirements or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. Our manufacturers are subject to unannounced inspections by the FDA, state regulators and similar regulators outside the United States. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, failure of regulatory authorities to grant marketing approval of our product candidates, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our product candidates.
Our product candidates and any products that we may develop may compete with other product candidates and products for access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP regulations and that are both capable of manufacturing for us and willing to do so. If the third parties that we engage to manufacture product for our clinical trials should cease to continue to do so for any reason, we likely would experience delays in advancing these trials while we identify and qualify replacement suppliers and we may be unable to obtain replacement supplies on terms that are favorable to us. In addition, if we are not able to obtain adequate supplies of our product candidates or the drug substances used to manufacture them, it will be more difficult for us to develop our product candidates and compete effectively.
Our current and anticipated future dependence upon others for the manufacture of our product candidates may adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to develop product candidates and commercialize any products that receive regulatory approval on a timely and competitive basis.
We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet established deadlines for the completion of such trials.
We do not independently conduct clinical trials of our product candidates. We rely on third parties, such as contract research organizations, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators, to enroll qualified patients and conduct our clinical trials. Our reliance on these third parties for clinical development activities reduces our control over these activities. We are responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. Moreover, the FDA requires us to comply with standards, commonly referred to as Good Clinical Practices, for conducting, recording, and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. Our reliance on third parties that we do not control does not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, we will not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, regulatory approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates.
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If our suppliers, principally our sole insulin supplier, fail to deliver materials and provide services needed for the production of BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 or any alternative rapid-acting insulin or insulin analog in a timely and sufficient manner, or if they fail to comply with applicable regulations, clinical development or regulatory approval of our product candidates, commercialization of our products could be delayed, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.
We need access to sufficient, reliable and affordable supplies of recombinant human insulin and other materials for which we rely on various suppliers. We also must rely on those suppliers to comply with relevant regulatory and other legal requirements, including the production of insulin in accordance with cGMP. We can make no assurances that our suppliers, particularly our insulin supplier, will comply with cGMP.
We have entered into an agreement with our existing single insulin supplier from which we obtain all of the insulin that we use for testing and manufacturing BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 or any alternative rapid-acting insulin formulation based on recombinant human insulin. Our agreement with this insulin supplier will terminate in December 2011. We are discussing the possibility of extending this supply agreement beyond 2011, depending on our strategic plans, but we cannot guarantee that this effort will be successful.
We believe that our current supplies of insulin, together with the quantities of insulin called for under our existing supply agreement, will be sufficient to allow us to complete the full development program for BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 required by the FDA in order to receive approval to market BIOD-105 or BIOD-107. We may seek to qualify other insulin suppliers to serve as additional or alternative suppliers if we are unable or choose not to enter into a new commercial supply agreement with our existing supplier. We do not anticipate being able to qualify a new insulin supplier prior to December 2011. Even if we do qualify a new supplier in a timely manner, the cost of switching or adding additional suppliers may be significant, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to enter into a commercial supply agreement with a new supplier on favorable terms. If we are unable to procure sufficient quantities of insulin from our current or any future supplier, if supply of recombinant human insulin and other materials otherwise becomes limited, or if our suppliers do not meet relevant regulatory requirements, and if we were unable to obtain these materials in sufficient amounts, in a timely manner and at reasonable prices, we could be delayed in the manufacturing and possible commercialization of BIOD-105 or BIOD-107, which may have a material adverse effect on our business. We would incur substantial costs and manufacturing delays if our suppliers are unable to provide us with products or services approved by the FDA or other regulatory agencies.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our competitors may develop and market similar or identical products that may reduce demand for our products, and we may be prevented from establishing collaborative relationships on favorable terms.
The following factors are important to our success:
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receiving patent protection for our product candidates;
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maintaining our trade secrets;
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not infringing on the proprietary rights of others; and
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preventing others from infringing our proprietary rights.
We will be able to protect our proprietary rights from unauthorized use by third parties only to the extent that our proprietary rights are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are effectively maintained as trade secrets. We try to protect our proprietary position by filing U.S. and foreign patent applications related to our proprietary technology, inventions and improvements that are important to the development of our business. Because the patent position of pharmaceutical companies involves complex legal and factual questions, the issuance, scope and enforceability of patents cannot be predicted with certainty. Patents, if issued, may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Thus, any patents that we own or license from others may not provide any protection against competitors.
We have been granted one U.S. patent, one European patent, one Hong Kong patent, and one Australian patent that encompasses our Linjeta® formulations of rapid-acting insulin, including BIOD-105 and BIOD-107. In addition, we have several pending United States and corresponding foreign and international patent applications relating to Linjeta® and our other product candidates. These pending patent applications, those we may file in the future, or those we may license from third parties, may not result in patents being issued. If patents do not issue with claims encompassing our products, our competitors may develop and market similar or identical products that compete with ours. Even if patents are issued, they may not provide us with proprietary protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar technology. Failure to obtain effective patent protection for our technology and products may reduce demand for our products and prevent us from establishing collaborative relationships on favorable terms.
The active and inactive ingredients in our Linjeta® formulations of rapid-acting insulin, including BIOD-105 and BIOD-107, have been known and used for many years and, therefore, are no longer subject to patent protection. Accordingly, our granted U.S. and foreign patents and pending patent applications are directed to the particular formulations of these ingredients in our products, and their use. Although we believe our formulations and their use are patentable and provide a competitive advantage, even if issued our patents may not prevent others from marketing formulations using the same active and inactive ingredients in similar but different formulations.
We also rely on trade secrets, know-how and technology, which are not protected by patents, to maintain our competitive position. We try to protect this information by entering into confidentiality agreements with parties that have access to it, such as potential corporate partners,
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collaborators, employees and consultants. Any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our confidential information or our competitors may learn of the information in some other way. Furthermore, others may independently develop similar technologies or duplicate any technology that we have developed. If any trade secret, know-how or other technology not protected by a patent were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our business and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
The laws of many foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States.
We may become involved in lawsuits and administrative proceedings to protect, defend or enforce our patents that would be expensive and time-consuming.
In order to protect or enforce our patent rights, we may initiate patent litigation against third parties in the United States or in foreign countries. In addition, we may be subject to certain opposition proceedings conducted in patent and trademark offices challenging the validity of our patents and may become involved in future opposition proceedings challenging the patents of others. The defense of intellectual property rights, including patent rights, through lawsuits, interference or opposition proceedings, and other legal and administrative proceedings can be costly and can divert our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. Such costs increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. An adverse determination of any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing.
Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. For example, during the course of this kind of litigation and despite protective orders entered by the court, confidential information may be inadvertently disclosed in the form of documents or testimony in connection with discovery requests, depositions or trial testimony. This disclosure could materially adversely affect our business and financial results.
Claims by other parties that we infringe or have misappropriated their proprietary technology may result in liability for damages, royalties, or other payments, or stop our development and commercialization efforts.
Competitors and other third parties may initiate patent litigation against us in the United States or in foreign countries based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future. Many of our competitors may have obtained patents covering products and processes generally related to our products and processes, and they may assert these patents against us. Moreover, there can be no assurance that these competitors have not sought or will not seek additional patents that may cover aspects of our technology. As a result, there is a greater likelihood of a patent dispute than would be expected if our competitors were pursuing unrelated technologies.
While we conduct patent searches to determine whether the technologies used in our products infringe patents held by third parties, numerous patent applications are currently pending and may be filed in the future for technologies generally related to our technologies, including many patent applications that remain confidential after filing. Due to these factors and the inherent uncertainty in conducting patent searches, there can be no guarantee that we will not violate third-party patent rights that we have not yet identified.
There may be U.S. and foreign patents issued to third parties that relate to aspects of our product candidates. There may also be patent applications filed by these or other parties in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions that relate to some aspects of our product candidates, which, if issued, could subject us to infringement actions. The owners or licensees of these and other patents may file one or more infringement actions against us. In addition, a competitor may claim misappropriation of a trade secret by an employee hired from that competitor. Any such infringement or misappropriation action could cause us to incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit and could distract our management from our business, even if the allegations of infringement or misappropriation are unwarranted. A need to defend multiple actions or claims could have a disproportionately greater impact. In addition, either in response to or in anticipation of any such infringement or misappropriation claim, we may enter into commercial agreements with the owners or licensees of these rights. The terms of these commercial agreements may include substantial payments, including substantial royalty payments on revenues received by us in connection with the commercialization of our products.
Payments under such agreements could increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. Furthermore, a party making this type of claim could secure a judgment that requires us to pay substantial damages, which would increase our operating losses and reduce our resources available for development activities. A judgment could also include an injunction or other court order that could prevent us from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing our products or prevent our customers from using our products. If a court determined or if we independently concluded that any of our products or manufacturing processes violated third-party proprietary rights, our clinical trials could be delayed and there can be no assurance that we would be able to reengineer the product or processes to avoid those rights, or to obtain a license under those rights on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.
If the FDA does not believe that our product candidates satisfy the requirements for the Section 505(b)(2) approval procedure, or if the requirements for BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 under Section 505(b)(2) are not as we expect, the approval pathway will take longer and cost more than anticipated and in either case may not be successful.
We believe BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 and our other rapid-acting insulin formulations using recombinant human insulin qualify for approval under Section 505(b)(2) of the FFDCA. Because we are developing new formulations of previously approved chemical entities, such as insulin, this may enable us to avoid having to submit certain types of data and studies that are required in full NDAs and instead submit an NDA under Section 505(b)(2). The FDA has not published any guidance that specifically addresses an NDA for an insulin product candidate under Section 505(b)(2). No other insulin product has yet been approved pursuant to an NDA under Section 505(b)(2). If the FDA determines that NDAs under Section 505(b)(2) are not appropriate and that full NDAs are required for our product candidates, we would have to conduct
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additional studies, provide additional data and information, and meet additional standards for approval. The time and financial resources required to obtain FDA approval for our product candidates could substantially and materially increase. This would require us to obtain substantially more funding than previously anticipated which could significantly dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders. Even with this investment, the prospect for FDA approval may be significantly lower. If the FDA requires full NDAs for our product candidates or requires more extensive testing and development for some other reason, our ability to compete with alternative products that arrive on the market more quickly than our product candidates would be adversely impacted.
Notwithstanding the approval of many products by the FDA under Section 505(b)(2) over the last few years, certain brand-name pharmaceutical companies and others have objected to the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2). If the FDA’s interpretation of Section 505(b)(2) is successfully challenged, the FDA may be required to change its interpretation of Section 505(b)(2) which could delay or even prevent the FDA from approving any NDA that we submit under Section 505(b)(2). The pharmaceutical industry is highly competitive, and it is not uncommon for a manufacturer of an approved product to file a citizen petition with the FDA seeking to delay approval of, or impose additional approval requirements for, pending competing products. If successful, such petitions can significantly delay, or even prevent, the approval of the new product. However, even if the FDA ultimately denies such a petition, the FDA may substantially delay approval while it considers and responds to the petition.
Moreover, even if BIOD-105 or BIOD-107 or an alternate rapid-acting insulin is approved under Section 505(b)(2), the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to other conditions of approval, or may contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product.
Any product for which we obtain marketing approval could be subject to restrictions or withdrawal from the market and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with our products, when and if any of them are approved.
Any product for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data, labeling, advertising and promotional activities for such product, will be subject to continual requirements of and review by the FDA and other state and federal regulatory authorities. These requirements include, in the case of FDA, submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration requirements, cGMP requirements relating to quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping. Even if regulatory approval of a product is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to other conditions of approval, or may contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. In addition, if any of our product candidates are approved, our product labeling, advertising and promotion would be subject to regulatory requirements and continuing regulatory review. The FDA strictly regulates the promotional claims that may be made about prescription drug products. In particular, a drug may not be promoted in a misleading manner or for uses that are not approved by the FDA as reflected in the product’s approved labeling. The FDA and other state and federal entities actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting misleading promotion and the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability.
Discovery after approval of previously unknown problems with our products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with state or federal regulatory requirements, may result in actions such as:
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restrictions on such products’ manufacturers or manufacturing processes;
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restrictions on the marketing or distribution of a product;
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requirements that we conduct new studies, make labeling changes, and implement Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies;
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warning letters;
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withdrawal of the products from the market;
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refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;
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recall of products;
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fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenue;
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suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals;
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refusal to permit the import or export of our products;
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product embargo and/or seizure;
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injunctions; or
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imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
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Changes in law, regulations, and policies legislation may preclude approval of our product under a 505(b)(2) or make it more difficult and costly for us to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates and to produce, market and distribute our existing products.
On March 23, 2010, the President signed into law new legislation creating an abbreviated pathway for approval of biological products under the Public Health Service, or PHS Act, that are similar to previously approved biological products. This legislation also expanded the definition of biological product to include proteins such as insulin. The new law contains transitional provisions governing protein products such as insulin that, under certain circumstances, might permit companies to seek approval for their insulin products as biologics under the PHS Act and might require that Biodel’s product be approved under the PHS Act rather than in a 505(b)(2) NDA. We would be unlikely to pursue approval of our insulin product candidates if we were required to seek approval under the PHS Act rather than in a 505(b)(2) NDA.
In addition, the federal and state regulations, policies or guidance may change and new ones may be enacted that could prevent or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates or further restrict or regulate post-approval activities. It is impossible to predict whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations implemented or modified, or what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.
Failure to obtain regulatory approval in international jurisdictions would prevent us from marketing our products abroad.
We intend to have our products marketed outside the United States. In order to market our products in the European Union and many other jurisdictions, we must obtain separate regulatory approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of other countries regarding safety and efficacy and governing, among other things, clinical trials and commercial sales and distribution of our products. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval processes outside the United States may include all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval, as well as additional risks. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, it is required that the product be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. We may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the United States on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. We may not be able to file for regulatory approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in any market.
Reports of side effects or safety concerns in related technology fields or in other companies’ clinical trials could delay or prevent us from obtaining regulatory approval or negatively impact public perception of our product candidates.
At present, there are a number of clinical trials being conducted by us and by other pharmaceutical companies involving insulin or insulin delivery systems. The major safety concern with patients taking insulin is the occurrence of hypoglycemic events. If we discover that our product is associated with a significantly increased frequency of hypoglycemic or other adverse events, or if other pharmaceutical companies announce that they observed frequent or significant adverse events in their trials involving insulin or insulin delivery systems, we could encounter delays in the commencement or completion of our clinical trials or difficulties in obtaining the approval of our product candidates. In addition, the public perception of our products might be adversely affected, which could harm our business and results of operations, even if the concern relates to another company’s product.
Risks Related to Employee Matters and Managing Growth
Our future success depends on our ability to retain our chief executive officer and other key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.
We are highly dependent on Dr. Errol B. De Souza, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Gerard Michel, our Chief Financial Officer and Dr. Alan Krasner, our Chief Medical Officer. The loss of the services of any of these persons might impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives. Replacing key employees may be difficult and time-consuming because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the skills and experiences required to develop, gain regulatory approval of and commercialize our product candidates successfully. We generally do not maintain key person life insurance to cover the loss of any of our employees.
Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific personnel, clinical personnel and sales and marketing personnel will also be critical to our success. We may not be able to attract and retain these personnel on acceptable terms, if at all, given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from other companies, universities and research institutions. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. 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.
We may expand our development, regulatory and sales and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.
If our development and commercialization plans for any of our product candidates are successful, we may experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of manufacturing, clinical trials management, and regulatory affairs. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and
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financial systems and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.
Provisions in our corporate charter and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of us that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price ofour common stock. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions could in turn affect any attempt by our stockholders to replace current members of our management team.
Among others, these provisions:
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establish a classified board of directors such that not all members of the board are elected at one time;
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allow the authorized number of our directors to be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;
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limit the manner in which stockholders can remove directors from the board;
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establish advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals that can be acted on at stockholder meetings and nominations to our board of directors;
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require that stockholder actions must be effected at a duly called stockholder meeting and prohibit actions by our stockholders by written consent;
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limit who may call stockholder meetings;
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authorize our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could be used to institute a stockholder rights plan or “poison pill” that would work to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer, effectively preventing acquisitions that have not been approved by our board of directors; and
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require the approval of the holders of at least 75% of the votes that all our stockholders would be entitled to cast to amend or repeal certain provisions of our charter or bylaws.
In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.
If our stock price is volatile, purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial losses.
Our stock price has been and may continue to be volatile. The stock market in general and the market for biotechnology companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:
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results of clinical trials of our product candidates or those of our competitors;
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regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries;
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variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;
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developments or disputes concerning patents or other proprietary rights;
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the recruitment or departure of key personnel;
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changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;
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market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors and issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;
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general economic, industry and market conditions; and
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the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.
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Our outstanding warrants may be exercised in the future, which would increase the number of shares in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders.
In August 2010 we sold to two institutional investors 2,398,200 shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase 2,398,200 shares of our common stock, resulting in gross proceeds to us, before deducting placement agents’ fees and offering expenses, of approximately $9.4 million. The warrants to purchase 2,398,200 shares of our common stock had an initial exercise price of $4.716, subject to re-pricing following our receipt of the complete response letter for Linjeta™. On December 1, 2010, the exercise price of the warrants was re-set to become $1.56 per share as per the terms of the warrant. These warrants will expire on December 1, 2011, one year and 21 trading days following the our receipt of the FDA’s complete response letter for Linjeta™.
We have never paid any cash dividends on our capital stock and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
We have paid no cash dividends on our capital stock to date. We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, the terms of any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future, and payment of cash dividends, if any, will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors and will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Furthermore, we may in the future become subject to contractual restrictions on, or prohibitions against, the payment of dividends. Capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be investors’ sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
A significant portion of our total outstanding shares are restricted from immediate resale but may be sold into the market in the near future. This could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock. As of April 29, 2011, we had approximately 26.5 million shares of common stock outstanding. Of these, approximately 5 million shares are able to be sold in accordance with the SEC’s Rule 144 and the remainder is generally freely tradable without restriction under securities laws.
We incur substantial costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to comply with public company regulations.
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as well as other federal and state laws. These requirements may place a strain on our people, systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting, significant resources and management oversight will be required. This may divert management’s attention from other business concerns, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
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Item 6. Exhibits
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Exhibit No. | | Description |
| | |
31.01 | | Chief Executive Officer—Certification pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
31.02 | | Chief Financial Officer—Certification pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
32.01 | | Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer—Certification pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
| | | | |
| | | | |
| BIODEL INC. | |
Dated: May 9, 2011 | By: | /s/ Gerard Michel | |
| | Gerard Michel, Chief Financial Officer, | |
| | VP Corporate Development, and Treasurer | |
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| | | | | | |
| | | | |
| | |
Exhibit No. | | Description |
| | |
31.01 | | Chief Executive Officer—Certification pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
31.02 | | Chief Financial Officer—Certification pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
| | |
32.01 | | Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer—Certification pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. |
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