The Company |
12 Months Ended |
---|---|
Dec. 31, 2017 | |
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
The Company | The Company PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company” or “PTC”) are a science-led global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of clinically-differentiated medicines that provide benefits to patients with rare disorders. The Company has launched two rare disease products and has a global commercial footprint. The Company’s recent ability to commercialize products is the foundation that drives its continued investment in a robust pipeline of transformative medicines and its mission to provide access to best-in-class treatments for patients who have an unmet medical need. The Company has two products, Translarna™ (ataluren) and Emflaza™ (deflazacort), for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD, a rare, life threatening disorder. Translarna received marketing authorization from the European Commission in August 2014 for the treatment of nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or nmDMD, in ambulatory patients aged 5 years and over in the 31 member states of the European Economic Area, or EEA. Emflaza is approved in the United States for the treatment of DMD in patients five years and older. The Company’s marketing authorization for Translarna in the EEA is subject to annual review and renewal by the European Commission following reassessment by the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, of the benefit-risk balance of the authorization, which the Company refers to as the annual EMA reassessment. This marketing authorization is further subject to the specific obligation to conduct and submit the results of a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, 18-month, placebo-controlled trial, followed by an 18-month open-label extension, according to an agreed protocol, in order to confirm the efficacy and safety of Translarna in the approved patient population. The final report on the trial and open-label extension is to be submitted by the Company to the EMA by the end of the third quarter of 2021. The Company refers to the trial and open-label extension together as Study 041. The marketing authorization in the EEA was last renewed in June 2017 and is effective, unless extended, through August 5, 2018. In February 2018, the Company submitted a marketing authorization renewal request to the EMA. The renewal was based on the Company’s commitment to conduct Study 041 and the totality of the clinical data available from its trials and studies of Translarna for the treatment of nmDMD, including the safety and efficacy results of the Phase 2b and Phase 3 clinical trials. The primary efficacy endpoint was not achieved in either trial within the pre-specified level of statistical significance. In June 2014, the Company initiated reimbursed early access programs, or EAP programs, for Translarna for nmDMD patients in selected territories in the EEA and recorded its first sales of Translarna in the third quarter of 2014 pursuant to an EAP program. In December 2014, the Company recorded its first commercial sales in Germany. As of December 31, 2017, Translarna was available in over 25 countries on a commercial basis or pursuant to the EAP program. The Company expects to expand its launch activities across the EEA pursuant to the marketing authorization granted by the EMA throughout 2018 and future years, subject to continued renewal of its marketing authorization following annual EMA reassessments and successful completion of pricing and reimbursement negotiations. Concurrently, the Company plans to continue to pursue EAP programs in select countries where those mechanisms exist, both within the EEA and in other countries that will reference the marketing authorization in the EEA. Translarna is an investigational new drug in the United States. During the first quarter of 2017, the Company filed a New Drug Application, or NDA, over protest with the United States Food and Drug Administration, (the "FDA"), for which the FDA granted a standard review. In October 2017, the Office of Drug Evaluation I of the FDA issued a complete response letter for the NDA, stating that it was unable to approve the application in its current form. In response, the Companyfiled a formal dispute resolution request with the Office of New Drugs of the FDA. In February 2018, the Office of New Drugs of the FDA denied PTC’s appeal of the Complete Response Letter. In its response, the Office of New Drugs recommended a possible path forward for the ataluren NDA submission based on the accelerated approval pathway. This would involve a re-submission of an NDA containing the current data on effectiveness of ataluren with new data to be generated on dystrophin production in nmDMD patients’ muscles. The Company intends to follow the FDA’s recommendation and will collect such dystrophin data using newer technologies via procedures and methods that will be mutually agreeable to the Company and the FDA. Additionally, should a re-submission of an NDA receive accelerated approval, the Office of New Drugs stated that Study 041, which is currently enrolling, could serve as the confirmatory post-approval trial required in connection with the accelerated approval framework. The NDA, which seeks approval of Translarna for the treatment of nmDMD in the United States, was initially submitted by the Company in December 2015. In February 2016, following the submission, the Company received a Refuse to File letter from the FDA regarding the NDA. The FDA stated in the Refuse to File letter that the NDA was not sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review. Specifically, the Company was notified in the letter that, in the view of the FDA, both the Phase 2b and Phase 3 ACT DMD trials were negative and do not provide substantial evidence of effectiveness and that the NDA did not contain adequate information regarding the abuse potential of Translarna. Additionally, the FDA stated that the Company had proposed a post-hoc adjustment of ACT DMD that eliminates data from a majority of enrolled patients. During July 2016, the Company appealed the Refuse to File decision via the formal dispute resolution process within FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research; however, this appeal was denied by the FDA’s Office of Drug Evaluation I in October 2016. On April 20, 2017, the Company completed its acquisition of all rights to Emflaza, or the Transaction. Emflaza is approved in the United States for the treatment of DMD in patients five years and older. The Transaction was completed pursuant to an asset purchase agreement, dated March 15, 2017, as amended on April 20, 2017, (the "Asset Purchase Agreement"), by and between the Company and Marathon Pharmaceuticals, LLC (now known as Complete Pharma Holdings, LLC), or Marathon. The Transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition. The assets acquired by the Company in the Transaction include intellectual property rights related to Emflaza, inventories of Emflaza, and certain contractual rights related to Emflaza. The Company assumed certain liabilities and obligations in the Transaction arising out of, or relating to, the assets acquired in the Transaction. Upon the closing of the Transaction, the Company paid to Marathon total upfront consideration comprised of $75.0 million in cash, funded through cash on hand, and 6,683,598 shares of the Company’s common stock. The number of shares of common stock issued at closing was determined by dividing $65.0 million by the volume weighted average price per share of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market for the 15 trading-day period ending on the third trading day immediately preceding the closing. Marathon will be entitled to receive contingent payments from the Company based on annual net sales of Emflaza beginning in 2018, up to a specified aggregate maximum amount over the expected commercial life of the asset, and a single $50.0 million sales-based milestone, in each case subject to the terms and conditions of the Asset Purchase Agreement. As of December 31, 2017, the Company had an accumulated deficit of approximately $814.1 million. The Company has financed its operations to date primarily through the private offering in August 2015 of 3.00% convertible senior notes due 2022 (see Note 7), public offerings of common stock in February 2014 and October 2014, its initial public offering of common stock in June 2013, private placements of its convertible preferred stock, collaborations, bank debt, convertible debt financings, grant funding and clinical trial support from governmental and philanthropic organizations and patient advocacy groups in the disease area addressed by the Company’s product candidates. |