| ● | the cost of treatment with gene therapies, including ours, in comparison to traditional chemical and small-molecule treatments |
| ● | the limitations on use and label requirements imposed by regulators; |
| ● | the convenience and ease of administration of our gene therapies compared with alternative treatments; |
| ● | the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies, especially a gene therapy, and of physicians to administer these therapies; |
| ● | the strength of marketing and distribution support; |
| ● | the prevalence and severity of any side effects; |
| ● | limited access to site of service that can perform the product preparation and administer the infusion; and |
| ● | any restrictions by regulators on the use of our products. |
A failure to gain market acceptance for any of the above reasons, or any reasons at all, by a gene therapy for which we receive regulatory approval would likely hinder our ability to recapture our substantial investments in that and other gene therapies and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.
We face substantial competition, and others may discover, develop or commercialize competing products before or more successfully than we do.
The development and commercialization of new biotechnology and biopharmaceutical products, including gene therapies, is highly competitive. We may face intense competition with respect to our product candidates, as well as with respect to any product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future, from large and specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide, who currently market and sell products or are pursuing the development of products for the treatment of many of the disease indications for which we are developing our product candidates. 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. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in commercial and scientific interest and financial investment in gene therapy as a therapeutic approach, which has intensified the competition in this area.
We are aware of numerous companies focused on developing gene therapies in various indications, including Applied Genetic Technologies Corp, Abeona Therapeutics, Adverum Biotechnologies, Allergan, Ally Therapeutics, Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Audentes Therapeutics, AVROBIO, Axovant Sciences, Bayer, Biogen, BioMarin, bluebird bio, CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, Expression Therapeutics, Freeline Therapeutics, Generation Bio, Genethon, GlaxoSmithKline, Homology Medicines, Intellia Therapeutics, Johnson & Johnson, Krystal Biotech, LogicBio Therapeutics, Lysogene, MeiraGTx, Milo Biotechnology, Mustang Bio, Novartis, Orchard Therapeutics, Oxford Biomedica, Pfizer, REGENXBIO, Renova Therapeutics, Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Sangamo BioSciences, Sanofi, Selecta Biosciences, Sarepta, Shire, Solid Biosciences, Spark Therapeutics, Takeda, Ultragenyx, Vivet Therapeutics, and Voyager, as well as several companies addressing other methods for modifying genes and regulating gene expression. We may also face competition with respect to the treatment of some of the diseases that we are seeking to target with our gene therapies from protein, nucleic acid, antisense, RNAi and other pharmaceuticals under development or commercialized at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Alnylam, Amgen, Bayer, Biogen, BioMarin, CSL Behring, Dicerna, Ionis, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Translate Bio, Roche, Sanofi, Shire, Sobi, Wave Biosciences and numerous other pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms.
Our commercial opportunity could be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize products that are safer, more effective, have fewer or less severe side effects, are more convenient or are less expensive than the products that we develop. Our competitors also may obtain FDA, EMA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we do, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. Because we expect that gene therapy patients may generally require only a single administration, we believe that the first gene therapy product to enter the market for a particular indication will likely enjoy a significant commercial advantage, and may also obtain market exclusivity under applicable orphan drug regimes.