DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Description of Business

DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Sesen Bio, Inc. ("Sesen" or the “Company”), a Delaware corporation formed in February 2008, is a late-stage clinical company developing targeted fusion protein therapeutics ("TFPTs") for the treatment of patients with cancer. The Company’s most advanced product candidate, Vicinium^®, also known as VB4-845, is a locally-administered targeted fusion protein composed of an anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule ("EpCAM") antibody fragment tethered to a truncated form of Pseudomonas exotoxin A. The Company has an ongoing single-arm, multi-center, open-label Phase 3 clinical trial of Vicinium as a monotherapy in patients with high-risk, bacillus Calmette-Guérin ("BCG")-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer ("NMIBC") (the "VISTA Trial"). The VISTA Trial completed enrollment in April 2018 with a total of 133 patients, and in December 2019, the Company initiated submission of the Biologics License Application ("BLA") for Vicinium to the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") under Rolling Review, which enables individual modules to be submitted and reviewed on an ongoing basis, rather than waiting for all sections to be completed before submission. The Company operates in one segment under the direction of its Chief Executive Officer (chief operating decision maker).

Viventia Acquisition

In September 2016, the Company entered into a Share Purchase Agreement with Viventia Bio, Inc., a corporation incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada ("Viventia"), the shareholders of Viventia named therein (the “Selling Shareholders”) and, solely in its capacity as seller representative, Clairmark Investments Ltd., a corporation incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada (“Clairmark”) (the “Share Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to and simultaneously completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding capital stock of Viventia from the Selling Shareholders (the “Viventia Acquisition”). In connection with the closing of the Viventia Acquisition, the Company issued 4.0 million shares of its common stock to the Selling Shareholders, which at that time represented approximately 19.9% of the voting power of the Company as of immediately prior to the issuance of such shares. Clairmark is an affiliate of Leslie L. Dan, a director of the Company until his retirement in July 2019.

In addition, under the Share Purchase Agreement, the Company is obligated to pay to the Selling Shareholders certain post-closing contingent cash payments upon the achievement of specified milestones and based upon net sales, in each case subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Share Purchase Agreement, including: (i) a one-time milestone payment of $12.5 million payable upon the first sale of Vicinium (the “Purchased Product”), in the United States; (ii) a one-time milestone payment of $7.0 million payable upon the first sale of the Purchased Product in any one of certain specified European countries; (iii) a one-time milestone payment of $3.0 million payable upon the first sale of the Purchased Product in Japan; and (iv) quarterly earn-out payments equal to 2% of net sales of the Purchased Product during specified earn-out periods. Such earn-out payments are payable with respect to net sales in a country beginning on the date of the first sale in such country and ending on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2033 and (ii) fifteen years after the date of such sale, subject to early termination in certain circumstances if a biosimilar product is on the market in the applicable country (collectively, the "Contingent Consideration"). Under the Share Purchase Agreement, the Company, its affiliates, licensees and subcontractors are required to use commercially reasonable efforts, for the first seven years following the closing of the Viventia Acquisition, to achieve marketing authorizations throughout the world and, during the applicable earn-out period, to commercialize the Purchased Product in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan, China and Canada. Certain of these payments are payable to individuals or affiliates of individuals that were previously employees or members of the Company's board of directors.

Liquidity and Going Concern

As of March 31, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $42.5 million, net working capital of $37.5 million and an accumulated deficit of $252.0 million. The Company incurred negative cash flows from operating activities of $37.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 and $8.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. Since its inception, the Company has received no revenue from sales of its products, and management anticipates that operating losses will continue for the foreseeable future as the Company continues its ongoing Phase 3 VISTA Trial for Vicinium for the treatment of high-risk NMIBC and seeks marketing approval from the FDA. The Company has financed its operations to date primarily through private placements of its common stock, preferred stock, common stock warrants and convertible bridge notes, venture debt borrowings, its initial public offering ("IPO"), follow-on public offerings, sales effected in "at-the-market" ("ATM") offerings, a License Agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Hoffman-La Roche Inc. (collectively, "Roche") (the "License Agreement with Roche") and, to a lesser extent, from a collaboration. See “Note 9. Stockholders’ Equity” below for information regarding the Company’s recently completed equity financings.

Under Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 205-40, Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern, management is required at each reporting period to evaluate whether there are conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. This evaluation initially does not take into consideration the potential mitigating effect of management's plans that have not been fully implemented as of the date the financial statements are issued. When substantial doubt exists, management evaluates whether the mitigating effect of its plans sufficiently alleviates the substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. The mitigating effect of management's plans, however, is only considered if both (i) it is probable that the plans will be effectively implemented within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued and (ii) it is probable that the plans, when implemented, will mitigate the relevant conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Generally, to be considered probable of being effectively implemented, the plans must have been approved by the Company's board of directors before the date that the financial statements are issued.

The Company's future success is dependent on its ability to develop its product candidates, including Vicinium for the treatment of high-risk NMIBC, and ultimately upon its ability to attain profitable operations. In order to commercialize its product candidates, including Vicinium for the treatment of high-risk NMIBC, the Company needs to complete clinical development and comply with comprehensive regulatory requirements. The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to other late-stage clinical companies, including, but not limited to, successful discovery and development of its product candidates, raising additional capital, development and commercialization by its competitors of new technological innovations, protection of proprietary technology and market acceptance of its products. The successful discovery and development of product candidates, including Vicinium for the treatment of high-risk NMIBC, requires substantial working capital, and management expects to seek additional funds through equity or debt financings or through additional collaboration, licensing transactions or other sources. The Company may be unable to obtain equity or debt financings or enter into additional collaboration or licensing transactions at favorable terms, or at all. To the extent that the Company raises additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interests of existing stockholders will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of existing stockholders. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include liens or other restrictive covenants limiting the Company's ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If the Company raises additional funds through government or other third-party funding, strategic collaborations and alliances or licensing arrangements, it may have to relinquish valuable rights to its technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable. If the Company is unable to raise additional funds when needed, it may be required to implement cost reduction strategies and delay, limit, reduce or terminate its product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market products or product candidates that management would otherwise prefer to develop and market.

The Company's management does not believe that its cash and cash equivalents of $42.5 million as of March 31, 2020 is sufficient to fund the Company's current operating plan for at least twelve months after the issuance of these condensed consolidated financial statements. Given the history of significant losses, negative cash flows from operations, limited cash resources currently on hand, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and dependence by the Company on its ability - about which there can be no certainty - to obtain additional financing to fund its operations after the current cash resources are exhausted, substantial doubt exists about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. These condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared under the assumption that the Company will continue as a going concern and do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.