Darren DeStefano |
| VIA EDGAR |
June 19, 2017
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
100 F Street, N.E.
Mail Stop 4546
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attn: Ms. Suzanne Hayes
Ms. Christine Westbrook
Ms. Bonnie Baynes
Ms. Angela Connell
Re: Dova Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Registration Statement on Form S-1
Filed June 2, 2017
Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-1
Filed June 9, 2017
File No. 333-218479
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of our client, Dova Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”), we are responding to the comments (the “Comments”) of the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) contained in its letter dated June 14, 2017 (the “Comment Letter”), relating to the above referenced Registration Statement on Form S-1, as amended on June 9, 2017 (the “Registration Statement”). In response to the Comments set forth in the Comment Letter, the Company has revised the Registration Statement and is filing via EDGAR Amendment No. 2 to the Registration Statement (the “Amended Registration Statement”) with this response letter. For the Staff’s reference, we are also delivering both a clean copy of the Amended Registration Statement and a copy marked to show all changes from Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement filed on June 9, 2017.
Set forth below are the Company’s responses to the Comments. The numbering of the paragraphs below corresponds to the numbering of the Comments, which for your convenience we have incorporated into this response letter. Page references in the text of this response letter correspond to the page numbers of the Amended Registration Statement. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein are used herein as defined in the Amended Registration Statement.
Prospectus Summary
Our Strategy, page 4
1. Your statement that you anticipate potential FDA approval in the second half of 2018 is overly speculative. Please remove it from the prospectus and any written communications presented to potential investors in reliance upon Section 5(d) of the Securities Act.
Response to Comment 1
In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company has revised the disclosure on pages 4, 89, 97 and 106 of the Amended Registration Statement.
Business
Our solution: avatrombopag, page 92
2. We note your response to comment 7 and reissue our comment. Your characterization of your safety profile as “favorable” is a conclusion that is within the FDA’s authority to make. You may describe your clinical results but you should not draw conclusions about the safety of your product candidate. We will not object to statements that the product candidate was well tolerated, that trial participants experienced no serious adverse events, etc.
Response to Comment 2
In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company has revised the disclosure on pages 95 and 107 of the Amended Registration Statement.
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Please direct any questions or comments concerning the Registration Statement or this response letter to either the undersigned at (703) 456-8034 or Mark Ballantyne at (703) 456-8084.
| Very truly yours, |
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| /s/ Darren DeStefano |
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| Darren DeStefano |
cc: Alex Sapir, Dova Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Douglas Blankenship, Dova Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Divakar Gupta, Cooley LLP
Mark Ballantyne, Cooley LLP
Deanna Kirkpatrick, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP