requested an assessment comparing the uptake of allergen (peanut protein) between the patches in peanut allergic children ages 4 to 11 years. The FDA also recommended conducting a 6-month, well-controlled safety and adhesion trial to assess the modified Viaskin Peanut patch in the intended patient population.
On November 2, 2020, the Company announced that its Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, for Viaskin Peanut had been validated by the European Medicines Agency, or EMA. The validation of the MAA confirmed that the submission was sufficiently complete to begin the formal review process for Viaskin Peanut to treat peanut allergies in children ages 4 to 11 years. The Company received the first set of questions from the EMA, during the first quarter of 2021, which were consistent with the Company’s expectations and prefiling conversations with the EMA. The Company did not receive questions about the impact of adhesion on efficacy. The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use will provide a recommendation to the European Commission, or EC, on whether to grant a marketing authorization when its review of the Viaskin Peanut MAA is complete.
Viaskin Peanut for children ages 1-3
On June 26, 2020, the Company announced that in Part A, patients in both treatment arms showed consistent treatment effects after 12 months of therapy, as assessed by a double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge and biomarker results. Part A subjects were not included in Part B and the efficacy analyses from Part A were not statistically powered to demonstrate superiority of either dose versus placebo. These results validate the ongoing investigation of the 250 mg dose in this age group, which is the dose being studied in Part B of the study. Enrollment for Part B of EPITOPE was completed in the first quarter of 2021.
Financing
On February 4, 2020, the Company announced the closing of an underwritten global offering of an aggregate of 7,500,000 ordinary shares in (i) a public offering of 4,535,581 ordinary shares in the form of 9,071,162 American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) in the United States, Canada and certain countries outside Europe at a public offering price of $10.25 per ADS (on the basis of an exchange rate of $1.0999 = €1.00), and (ii) an offering exclusively addressed to qualified investors in Europe (including France) of 2,964,419 ordinary shares at an offering price of €18.63 per ordinary share (together, the “Global Offering”).
On March 2, 2020, the Company announced that the underwriters partially exercised their option to purchase 338,687 additional ordinary shares in the form of 677,374 ADSs at an offering price of $10.25 per ADS, before deducting commissions and estimated offering expenses (the “Option”). The Option closed on March 4, 2020.
Consequently, following partial exercise of the Option, the total number of ordinary shares sold in the global offering was 7,838,687 ordinary shares, including 4,874,268 ordinary shares in the form of 9,748,536 ADSs, bringing the total gross proceeds from the global offering to $160.7 million and net proceeds of $150.0 million.
Restructuring
The Company initiated a global restructuring plan in June 2020 to provide operational latitude to progress in the clinical development and regulatory review of investigational Viaskin Peanut in the United States and European Union. The Company expects full implementation of the organization-wide costs reduction measures to be completed by the second half of 2021.
The following table summarizes restructuring activities as of March 31, 2021 included in current contingencies and other current liabilities in the statement of financial position:
| | | | |
| | Restructuring liabilities | |
Restructuring liability - January 1, 2021 | | | 9,387 | |
Amounts paid | | | (4,854 | ) |
Other effect including currency translation effect | | | (220 | ) |
| | | | |
Restructuring liability - March 31, 2021 | | | 4,313 | |
| | | | |
of which current contingencies | | | 1,511 | |
of which other current liabilities | | | 2,803 | |
COVID-19 Pandemic
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. This global health crisis led many countries to impose national containment measures and travel bans. In view of this exceptional situation, the Company decided to take all measures
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