CORCEPT THERAPEUTICS INC (CORT)
SIC breadcrumb: Manufacturing > Chemicals And Allied Products > SIC 2834 Pharmaceutical Preparations
SEC company page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1088856. Latest filing source: 0001628280-26-011091.
Informational only - descriptive public-record data, not investment advice.
Business
Read CORT's verbatim Item 1 Business section from its latest 10-K: Business.
Risk Factors
Read CORT's verbatim Item 1A Risk Factors from its latest 10-K: Risk Factors.
Selected Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Unit | FY | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 761,407,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-24 |
| Net income | 99,652,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-24 |
| Assets | 836,651,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-24 |
Financials
Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-24. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001088856.json. Derived margins, ratios, and free cash flow are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts.
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 81,321,000 | 159,201,000 | 251,247,000 | 306,486,000 | 353,874,000 | 365,978,000 | 401,858,000 | 482,375,000 | 675,040,000 | 761,407,000 |
| Net income | 8,140,000 | 129,122,000 | 75,410,000 | 94,181,000 | 106,011,000 | 112,512,000 | 101,418,000 | 106,140,000 | 141,209,000 | 99,652,000 |
| Operating income | 10,179,000 | 52,855,000 | 89,496,000 | 111,606,000 | 128,202,000 | 124,477,000 | 112,634,000 | 107,282,000 | 136,951,000 | 44,797,000 |
| Diluted EPS | 0.07 | 1.04 | 0.60 | 0.77 | 0.85 | 0.89 | 0.87 | 0.94 | 1.23 | 0.82 |
| Operating cash flow | 18,391,000 | 60,935,000 | 115,665,000 | 136,117,000 | 151,970,000 | 167,892,000 | 120,323,000 | 126,681,000 | 198,295,000 | 141,996,000 |
| Capital expenditures | 194,000 | 419,000 | 298,000 | 1,088,000 | 1,238,000 | 469,000 | 413,000 | 139,000 | 2,172,000 | 211,000 |
| Share buybacks | 0.00 | 0.00 | 23,657,000 | 30,975,000 | 9,945,000 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 15,664,000 | 172,915,000 | |
| Assets | 68,753,000 | 220,537,000 | 311,694,000 | 412,312,000 | 571,731,000 | 423,756,000 | 583,430,000 | 621,517,000 | 840,553,000 | 836,651,000 |
| Liabilities | 29,569,000 | 35,812,000 | 41,130,000 | 48,393,000 | 47,950,000 | 81,588,000 | 114,812,000 | 160,964,000 | 188,846,000 | |
| Stockholders' equity | 41,379,000 | 190,968,000 | 275,882,000 | 371,182,000 | 523,338,000 | 375,806,000 | 501,842,000 | 506,705,000 | 679,589,000 | 647,805,000 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 51,536,000 | 31,062,000 | 41,625,000 | 31,269,000 | 76,190,000 | 77,617,000 | 66,329,000 | 135,551,000 | 127,665,000 | 120,495,000 |
| Free cash flow | 18,197,000 | 60,516,000 | 115,367,000 | 135,029,000 | 150,732,000 | 167,423,000 | 119,910,000 | 126,542,000 | 196,123,000 | 141,785,000 |
Ratios
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 10.01% | 81.11% | 30.01% | 30.73% | 29.96% | 30.74% | 25.24% | 22.00% | 20.92% | 13.09% |
| Operating margin | 12.52% | 33.20% | 35.62% | 36.41% | 36.23% | 34.01% | 28.03% | 22.24% | 20.29% | 5.88% |
| Return on equity | 19.67% | 67.61% | 27.33% | 25.37% | 20.26% | 29.94% | 20.21% | 20.95% | 20.78% | 15.38% |
| Return on assets | 11.84% | 58.55% | 24.19% | 22.84% | 18.54% | 26.55% | 17.38% | 17.08% | 16.80% | 11.91% |
| Liabilities / equity | 0.15 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.09 | 0.13 | 0.16 | 0.23 | 0.24 | 0.29 | |
| Current ratio | 2.40 | 4.20 | 6.66 | 7.91 | 10.07 | 5.60 | 6.89 | 4.39 | 3.35 | 2.92 |
Industry Peer Context
Net margin peer context
Operating margin peer context
ROE peer context
ROA peer context
Financial Bridges
Free cash flow = operating cash flow - capital expenditures
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Operating cash flow: accession 0001628280-26-011091; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | Capital expenditures: accession 0001628280-26-011091; concept PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment | Free cash flow: accession 0001628280-26-011091; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment
Financial Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: OperatingIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: Assets. Source concepts: us-gaap:Assets.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: Liabilities. Source concepts: us-gaap:Liabilities.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: StockholdersEquity. Source concepts: us-gaap:StockholdersEquity.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue. Source concepts: us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011091; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
Quarterly
Quarterly standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-04-30. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001088856.json.
| Quarter | End Date | Revenue | Net Income | Diluted EPS | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-Q2 | 2022-06-30 | 0.24 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2022-Q3 | 2022-09-30 | 0.30 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q1 | 2023-03-31 | 0.14 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q2 | 2023-03-31 | 15,879,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q2 | 2023-06-30 | 117,715,000 | 0.25 | reported discrete quarter | |
| 2023-Q3 | 2023-06-30 | 27,528,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q3 | 2023-09-30 | 123,601,000 | 0.28 | reported discrete quarter | |
| 2023-Q4 | 2023-12-31 | 135,405,000 | 31,355,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2024-Q1 | 2024-03-31 | 146,808,000 | 27,762,000 | 0.25 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q2 | 2024-03-31 | 27,762,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2024-Q2 | 2024-06-30 | 163,796,000 | 0.32 | reported discrete quarter | |
| 2024-Q3 | 2024-06-30 | 35,488,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2024-Q3 | 2024-09-30 | 182,546,000 | 0.41 | reported discrete quarter | |
| 2024-Q4 | 2024-12-31 | 181,890,000 | 30,746,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2025-Q1 | 2025-03-31 | 157,214,000 | 20,547,000 | 0.17 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q2 | 2025-03-31 | 20,547,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2025-Q2 | 2025-06-30 | 194,430,000 | 0.29 | reported discrete quarter | |
| 2025-Q3 | 2025-06-30 | 35,149,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2025-Q3 | 2025-09-30 | 207,638,000 | 0.16 | reported discrete quarter | |
| 2025-Q4 | 2025-12-31 | 202,125,000 | 24,288,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2026-Q1 | 2026-03-31 | 164,903,000 | -31,761,000 | -0.30 | reported discrete quarter |
Quarterly Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-028902; filed 2026-04-30. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-028902; filed 2026-04-30. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-028902; filed 2026-04-30. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Macro Cross-References
- CPIAUCSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average
- UNRATE - Unemployment Rate
- FEDFUNDS - Federal Funds Effective Rate
- CES0500000003 - Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private
- DFEDTARU - Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit
- DFEDTARL - Federal Funds Target Range - Lower Limit
- DGS3MO - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 3-Month Constant Maturity
- DGS2 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 2-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS10 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS30 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 30-Year Constant Maturity
- T10Y2Y - 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity
- CPILFESL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food and Energy
- CPIUFDSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Food
- CPIENGSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Energy
- CUSR0000SAH1 - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Shelter
- PCEPI - Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index
- PCEPILFE - Personal Consumption Expenditures Excluding Food and Energy: Chain-type Price Index
- PPIACO - Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities
- T10YIE - 10-Year Breakeven Inflation Rate
- U6RATE - Total Unemployed, Plus All Marginally Attached Workers Plus Total Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons
- PAYEMS - All Employees, Total Nonfarm
- CIVPART - Labor Force Participation Rate
- EMRATIO - Employment-Population Ratio
- UNEMPLOY - Unemployed
- CE16OV - Employment Level
- ICSA - Initial Claims
- JTSJOL - Job Openings: Total Nonfarm
- JTSQUR - Quits: Total Nonfarm
- GDPC1 - Real Gross Domestic Product
- A191RL1Q225SBEA - Real Gross Domestic Product: Percent Change from Preceding Period
- INDPRO - Industrial Production: Total Index
- TCU - Capacity Utilization: Total Index
- HOUST - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units
- PERMIT - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units
- RSAFS - Advance Retail Sales: Retail Trade
- PCE - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- DSPIC96 - Real Disposable Personal Income
- PSAVERT - Personal Saving Rate
- M2SL - M2
- BOPGSTB - U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Balance
- MSPUS - Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States
- HSN1F - New One Family Houses Sold: United States
- RHORUSQ156N - Homeownership Rate in the United States
- TTLCONS - Total Construction Spending: Total Construction in the United States
- RRVRUSQ156N - Rental Vacancy Rate in the United States
- TOTALSL - Total Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- REVOLSL - Revolving Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- DRCCLACBS - Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product
- GPDI - Gross Private Domestic Investment
- GCE - Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment
- PCEC - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- NETEXP - Net Exports of Goods and Services
- GFDEBTN - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt
- GFDEGDQ188S - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product
- FYFSD - Federal Surplus or Deficit
- FGRECPT - Federal Government Current Receipts
- FGEXPND - Federal Government: Current Expenditures
- MANEMP - All Employees, Manufacturing
- USCONS - All Employees, Construction
- USTRADE - All Employees, Retail Trade
- USFIRE - All Employees, Financial Activities
- USGOVT - All Employees, Government
- AWHAETP - Average Weekly Hours of All Employees, Total Private
- DGORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Durable Goods
- NEWORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Nondefense Capital Goods Excluding Aircraft
- BUSINV - Total Business Inventories
- EXPGS - Exports of Goods and Services
- IMPGS - Imports of Goods and Services
- IR - Import Price Index (End Use): All Commodities
- PPIFIS - Producer Price Index by Commodity: Final Demand
Latest quarter (10-Q)
Latest 10-Q source: 0001628280-26-028902.
ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand our results of operations and financial condition and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to financial statements, risk factors and other disclosures included in this Form 10-Q. Our condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”).
We make statements in this section that are “forward-looking” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. For a complete discussion of such statements and the potential risks and uncertainties that may affect their accuracy, see the “Risk Factors,” “Overview” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” sections of this Form 10-Q.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol. We have been selling and distributing Korlym in the United States for the treatment of patients suffering from hypercortisolism (also known as “Cushing’s syndrome”) since 2012. In June 2024, we made an authorized generic version of Korlym available. In March 2026, the FDA approved Lifyorli™ (relacorilant) in combination with the chemotherapy medication nab-paclitaxel as a treatment for patients with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who have received one to three prior systemic treatment regimens, at least one of which included bevacizumab. In April 2026, we began selling and distributing Lifyorli in the United States. Our portfolio of proprietary selective cortisol modulators consists of five structurally distinct series totaling more than 1,000 compounds.
Hypercortisolism (Cushing’s syndrome)
Our Hypercortisolism Products. We sell Korlym and a generic version of Korlym in the United States (our “Hypercortisolism Products”) using sales representatives to call on physicians caring for patients with hypercortisolism. We also have a field-based force of medical science liaisons. From 2017 to 2025, we used an exclusive specialty pharmacy vendor, Optime Care, Inc. (“Optime”) and a specialty distributor to distribute our Hypercortisolism Products and provide logistical support to physicians and patients. In June 2025, we notified Optime that it would cease to be our exclusive specialty pharmacy, and in October 2025, we delivered a notice of termination of our agreement with them, which became effective February 4, 2026. In the fourth quarter of 2025 and in January and February 2026, we transferred all of our specialty pharmacy services to Curant Health Georgia, LLC (“Curant”).
Our policy is that no patient with hypercortisolism will be denied access to our medications for financial reasons. To help us achieve that goal, we have patient support programs and donate money to independent charitable foundations that help patients pay for all aspects of their hypercortisolism care, whether or not that care includes taking our Hypercortisolism Products.
Because most people who suffer from hypercortisolism are undiagnosed or inadequately treated, we have developed and continue to refine and expand programs to educate physicians and patients about screening for hypercortisolism and the role our Hypercortisolism Products can play in treating patients with the disorder. In 2023 and 2024, we conducted the “CATALYST” study to determine the prevalence of hypercortisolism in patients with difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes, defined as hemoglobin A1c (“HbA1c” – a measure of glucose control that rises in people with diabetes) of 7.5 percent or higher, despite receiving optimum treatment. Of the 1,057 patients enrolled in the first phase of CATALYST, 23.8 percent were found to have hypercortisolism. These patients were offered the chance to enter CATALYST’s second phase, in which 136 eligible patients were randomized 2:1 to receive either Korlym or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint of CATALYST’s second phase was a reduction in HbA1c in patients who received Korlym compared to patients who received placebo. CATALYST met this primary endpoint. Patients who received Korlym exhibited a clinically meaningful and statistically significant decrease in HbA1c of 1.47 percent, compared to a decrease of 0.15 percent in patients who received placebo (p-value: 0.0001). This phase of the trial also met its secondary endpoints. Patients who received Korlym exhibited significantly greater reductions in body weight (5.1 kg; p-value: 0.001) and waist circumference (5.1 cm; p-value: 0.002) than patients who received placebo. The safety profile of Korlym in CATALYST was manageable and consistent with the medication’s label: No new side effects or adverse events were identified.
CATALYST’s results were published in Diabetes Care (Buse et al., April 2025 (first phase) and DeFronzo et al., June 2025 (second phase)), the peer-reviewed journal of the American Diabetes Association.
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To determine the prevalence of hypercortisolism in patients with resistant hypertension, we conducted the MOMENTUM trial in 2025. Resistant hypertension is defined by the American Heart Association as systolic blood pressure greater than 130mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure greater than 80mm Hg despite the use of three or more antihypertensive medications of different classes, including a diuretic. Of the 1,086 patients enrolled in MOMENTUM, 27.3 percent were found to have hypercortisolism. MOMENTUM’s results were presented at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session in March 2026.
The results of CATALYST and MOMENTUM will help physicians better identify patients with hypercortisolism and determine their optimal treatment.
Relacorilant. We are developing our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, relacorilant, as a treatment for patients with hypercortisolism. Relacorilant shares Korlym’s affinity for the glucocorticoid receptor (“GR”) but, unlike Korlym, has no affinity for the progesterone receptor (“PR”) and so is not the “abortion pill” and does not cause other effects associated with PR affinity, including endometrial thickening and vaginal bleeding. Because relacorilant does not meaningfully increase cortisol levels, it does not cause hypokalemia (low potassium), a potentially serious condition that is a leading cause of patients stopping treatment with Korlym. Forty-four percent of patients in Korlym’s pivotal trial experienced hypokalemia. Unlike all other medications used to treat hypercortisolism, relacorilant does not prolong the heart’s QT interval, a potentially deadly off-target effect.
In December 2024, we submitted a New Drug Application (“NDA”) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) seeking approval to market relacorilant as a treatment for patients with endogenous hypercortisolism. The NDA was based on positive results from our pivotal GRACE trial, with confirmatory evidence from our Phase 3 GRADIENT trial, our Phase 3 long-term extension study and our Phase 2 study. Patients in these trials exhibited clinically meaningful improvements in a wide range of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms, including hypertension, glucose control, weight and body composition. Relacorilant has been well-tolerated in all of its clinical trials. Notably, patients did not experience some of the serious adverse events that can arise in patients taking Korlym or other currently approved treatments.
On December 30, 2025, the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter (“CRL”) declining to approve relacorilant. While the letter acknowledged that our GRACE trial had met its primary endpoint and that our GRADIENT trial had provided confirmatory evidence, the FDA stated that additional evidence of efficacy would be required for approval. We are working with the FDA to determine relacorilant’s optimal path to approval.
The GRACE trial had two parts. The first, open-label phase enrolled 152 patients with any etiology of hypercortisolism. Each patient received relacorilant for 22 weeks. Patients who exhibited pre-specified improvements in either hypertension, hyperglycemia or both symptoms were eligible to proceed to GRACE’s second, double-blind, randomized withdrawal phase, in which half of the patients continued to receive relacorilant and half received placebo for 12 weeks. GRACE’s primary endpoint was the number of patients in the relacorilant group who lost blood pressure control compared to the number of patients in the placebo group who lost blood pressure control.
In the open-label phase, patients experienced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in a wide-array of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, weight, waist circumference, fat and lean body mass, cognition and Cushing’s Quality of Life score. Rapid and sustained improvements in systolic blood pressure (“SBP”) and diastolic blood pressure (“DBP”) were observed in all patients with hypertension, with an improvement in mean SBP of 7.9 mm Hg and mean DBP of 5.4 mm Hg at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001). During the open-label phase, 63 percent of patients with hypertension met the study’s response criteria. The improvements were even greater in the patients with hypertension who entered the randomized withdrawal phase, with reductions in SBP of 12.6 mm Hg and DBP of 8.3 mm Hg (p-values: 0.0001). To ensure accuracy, hypertension was measured by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (“ABPM”).
Glucose metabolism was measured by several diagnostic tests, including the oral glucose tolerance test (glucose area under the curve or AUCglucose), HbA1c and fasting glucose. In the open-label phase, clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in glucose metabolism were observed in patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (i.e., pre-diabetes), with reductions in AUCglucose of 3.3 h*mmol/L, HbA1c of 0.3 percent and fasting glucose of 12.4 mg/dL at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001, 0.03, 0.03, respectively). During the open-label phase, 50 percent of patients with hyperglycemia met the study’s response criteria. Patients with hyperglycemia who entered the randomized withdrawal phase exhibited more pronounced improvements, with reductions in AUCglucose of 6.2 h*mmol/L, HbA1c of 0.7 percent and fasting glucose of 25.2 mg/dL at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001, 0.0001, 0.006, respectively).
GRACE met its primary endpoint. Patients with hypertension who were switched to placebo in the randomized withdrawal phase were significantly more likely to lose blood pressure control than were patients who continued to receive relacorilant (odds ratio: 0.17; p-value: 0.02). Patients who continued to receive relacorilant also maintained their improvements
15
in hyperglycemia, waist circumference, fat and lean tissue mass, while patients who received placebo experienced a significant worsening of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms.
Our Phase 3 GRADIENT study enrolled patients with hypercortisolism caused by adrenal adenomas or adrenal hyperplasia. These patients have a more gradual decline than patients with other etiologies of hypercortisolism, although their health outcomes are ultimately poor. GRADIENT enrolled 137 patients with hypercortisolism and either hypertension, hyperglycemia or both. Patients were randomized on a double-blind basis 1:1 to receive either relacorilant or placebo for 22 weeks. The trial’s primary endpoint was the improvement compared to placebo in systolic blood pressure with glycemic control, weight and body composition as secondary endpoints.
Patients in GRADIENT who r
[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]
Latest 10-K MD&A
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand our results of operations and financial condition and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to financial statements, risk factors and other disclosures included in this Form 10-K. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”).
We make statements in this section that are “forward-looking” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. For a complete discussion of such statements and the potential risks and uncertainties that may affect their accuracy, see the “Risk Factors,” “Overview” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” sections of this Form 10-K. Discussions of 2023 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023 are not included, and can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol. Since 2012, we have marketed Korlym in the United States for the treatment of patients suffering from hypercortisolism (also known as “Cushing’s syndrome”). In June 2024, we made an authorized generic version of Korlym available. Our portfolio of proprietary selective cortisol modulators consists of four structurally distinct series totaling more than 1,000 compounds.
Hypercortisolism (Cushing’s syndrome)
Our Products. We sell our Products using sales representatives to call on physicians caring for patients with hypercortisolism. We also have a field-based force of medical science liaisons. From 2017 until 2025, we used an exclusive specialty pharmacy vendor, Optime and a specialty distributor to distribute our Products and provide logistical support to physicians and patients. In June 2025, we notified Optime that it would cease to be our exclusive specialty pharmacy and in October 2025, we delivered a notice of termination of our agreement with them, effective January 8, 2026. In the fourth quarter of 2025, substantially all of our specialty pharmacy services were transferred from Optime to Curant. After the first quarter of 2026, Optime will no longer provide specialty pharmacy services related to our Products. Our policy is that no patient with hypercortisolism will be denied access to our Products for financial reasons. To help us achieve that goal, we have patient support programs and donate money to independent charitable foundations that help patients pay for all aspects of their hypercortisolism care, whether or not that care includes taking our Products.
Because most people who suffer from hypercortisolism are undiagnosed or inadequately treated, we have developed and continue to refine and expand programs to educate physicians and patients about screening for hypercortisolism and the role our Products can play in treating patients with the disorder. In 2023 and 2024, we conducted the CATALYST study to determine the prevalence of hypercortisolism in patients with difficult-to-control diabetes (defined as HbA1c of 7.5 percent or higher) despite receiving optimum treatment. Of the 1,057 patients enrolled in the first phase of CATALYST, 23.8 percent were found to have hypercortisolism. These patients were offered the chance to enter CATALYST’s second phase, in which 136 eligible patients were randomized 2:1 to receive either Korlym or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint of CATALYST’s second phase was a reduction in HbA1c in patients who received Korlym compared to patients who received placebo. CATALYST met this primary endpoint. Patients who received Korlym exhibited a clinically meaningful and statistically significant decrease in HbA1c of 1.47 percent, compared to a decrease of 0.15 percent in patients who received placebo (p-value: 0.0001). This phase of the trial also met its secondary endpoints. Patients who received Korlym exhibited significantly greater reductions in body weight (5.1 kg; p-value: 0.001) and waist circumference (5.1 cm; p-value: 0.002) than patients who received placebo. The safety profile of Korlym in CATALYST was manageable and consistent with the medication’s label: No new side effects or adverse events were identified.
CATALYST’s results were published in Diabetes Care (Buse et al., April 2025 (first phase) and DeFronzo et al., June 2025 (second phase)), the peer-reviewed journal of the American Diabetes Association.
To determine the prevalence of hypercortisolism in patients with resistant hypertension, we initiated the MOMENTUM trial in March 2025. Resistant hypertension is defined by the American Heart Association as systolic blood pressure greater than 130mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure greater than 80mm Hg despite the use of three or more antihypertensive medications of different classes, including a diuretic. MOMENTUM completed enrollment of over 1,000 patients in December 2025. Enrollment is closed.
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The results of CATALYST and MOMENTUM will help physicians better identify patients with hypercortisolism and determine their optimal treatment.
Relacorilant. We are developing our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, relacorilant, as a treatment for patients with hypercortisolism. Relacorilant shares Korlym’s affinity for the GR but, unlike Korlym, has no affinity for the PR and so is not the “abortion pill” and does not cause other effects associated with PR affinity, including endometrial thickening and vaginal bleeding. Because relacorilant does not meaningfully increase cortisol levels, it does not cause hypokalemia (low potassium), a potentially serious condition that is a leading cause of patients stopping treatment with Korlym. Forty-four percent of patients in Korlym’s pivotal trial experienced hypokalemia. Unlike all other medications used to treat hypercortisolism, relacorilant does not prolong the heart’s QT interval, a potentially deadly off-target effect.
In December 2024, we submitted a NDA to the FDA seeking approval to market relacorilant as a treatment for patients with endogenous hypercortisolism. The NDA was based on positive results from our pivotal GRACE trial, with confirmatory evidence from our Phase 3 GRADIENT trial, our Phase 3 long-term extension study and our Phase 2 study. Patients in these trials exhibited clinically meaningful improvements in a wide range of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms, including hypertension, glucose control, weight and body composition. Relacorilant has been well-tolerated in all of its clinical trials. Notably, patients did not experience some of the serious adverse events that can arise in patients taking Korlym or other currently approved treatments.
On December 30, 2025, the FDA issued a CRL declining to approve relacorilant. While the letter acknowledged that our GRACE trial had met its primary endpoint and that our GRADIENT trial had provided confirmatory evidence, the FDA stated that additional evidence of efficacy would be required for approval. We are working with the FDA to determine relacorilant’s optimal path to approval.
The GRACE trial had two parts. The first, open-label phase enrolled 152 patients with any etiology of hypercortisolism. Each patient received relacorilant for 22 weeks. Patients who exhibited pre-specified improvements in either hypertension, hyperglycemia or both symptoms were eligible to proceed to GRACE’s second, double-blind, randomized withdrawal phase, in which half of the patients continued to receive relacorilant and half received placebo for 12 weeks. GRACE’s primary endpoint was the number of patients in the relacorilant group who lost blood pressure control compared to the number who lost blood pressure control in the placebo group.
In the open-label phase, patients experienced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in a wide-array of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, weight, waist circumference, fat and lean body mass, cognition and Cushing’s Quality of Life score. Rapid and sustained improvements in SBP and DBP were observed in all patients with hypertension, with an improvement in mean SBP of 7.9 mm Hg and mean DBP of 5.4 mm Hg at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001). During the open-label phase, 63 percent of patients with hypertension met the study’s response criteria. The improvements were even greater in the patients with hypertension who entered the randomized withdrawal phase, with reductions in SBP of 12.6 mm Hg and DBP of 8.3 mm Hg (p-values: 0.0001). To ensure accuracy, hypertension was measured by 24-hour ABPM.
Glucose metabolism was measured by several diagnostic tests, including the oral glucose tolerance test (glucose area under the curve or AUCglucose), HbA1c and fasting glucose. In the open-label phase, clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in glucose metabolism were observed in patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (i.e., pre-diabetes), with reductions in AUCglucose of 3.3 h*mmol/L, HbA1c of 0.3 percent and fasting glucose of 12.4 mg/dL at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001, 0.03, 0.03, respectively). During the open-label phase, 50 percent of patients with hyperglycemia met the study’s response criteria. Patients with hyperglycemia who entered the randomized withdrawal phase exhibited more pronounced improvements, with reductions in AUCglucose of 6.2 h*mmol/L, HbA1c of 0.7 percent and fasting glucose of 25.2 mg/dL at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001, 0.0001, 0.006, respectively).
GRACE met its primary endpoint. Patients with hypertension who were switched to placebo in the randomized withdrawal phase were significantly more likely to lose blood pressure control than were patients who continued to receive relacorilant (odds ratio: 0.17; p-value: 0.02). Patients who continued to receive relacorilant also maintained their improvements in hyperglycemia, waist circumference, fat and lean tissue mass, while patients who received placebo experienced a significant worsening of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms.
Our Phase 3 GRADIENT study enrolled patients with hypercortisolism caused by adrenal adenomas or adrenal hyperplasia. These patients have a more gradual decline than patients with other etiologies of hypercortisolism, although their health outcomes are ultimately poor. GRADIENT enrolled 137 patients with hypercortisolism and either hypertension, hyperglycemia or both. Patients were randomized on a double-blind basis 1:1 to receive either relacorilant or placebo for 22 weeks. The trial’s primary endpoint was the improvement compared to placebo in systolic blood pressure with glycemic control, weight and body composition as secondary endpoints.
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Patients in GRADIENT who received relacorilant exhibited clinically meaningful improvements in a wide array of hypercortisolism’s signs and symptoms, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, weight and body composition, while patients who received placebo did not.
GRADIENT patients with hypertension who received relacorilant experienced a reduction in systolic blood pressure of 6.6 mm Hg (p-value 0.012) compared to baseline. The reduction in patients who received placebo was 2.1 mm Hg (p-value: ns) compared to baseline. The comparison between those who received relacorilant and placebo was not statistically significant. During the study, five patients who received placebo required rescue therapy with anti-hypertension medications, compared to one patient who received relacorilant. To ensure accuracy, hypertension was measured by 24-hour ABPM.
GRADIENT patients with hyperglycemia who received relacorilant experienced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in glucose metabolism, including fasting glucose (placebo-adjusted reduction of 22.2 mg/dL; p-value 0.002), area under the curve of the oral glucose tolerance test (placebo-adjusted reduction of 2.6 h*mmol/L; p-value 0.046) and HbA1c (placebo-adjusted reduction of 0.3 percent; p-value 0.019), compared to those who received placebo. These patients also experienced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in body weight (placebo-adjusted reduction of 3.9 kg; p-value: 0.0001) and visceral adipose fat mass and volume (p-values: 0.018 and 0.016, respectively), compared to patients who received placebo.
Relacorilant was well-tolerated in GRADIENT, with side effects consistent with its other clinical trials. The most common adverse events were mild-to-moderate nausea, edema, pain in the extremities and back, and fatigue – all symptoms associated with the “cortisol withdrawal” many patients experience when cortisol activity reverts to a more normal level, following surgery or the start of medical therapy for hypercortisolism. Importantly, there were no relacorilant-induced instances of hypokalemia, endometrial hypertrophy or drug-induced vaginal bleeding, adrenal insufficiency or QT prolongation.
Patients who completed our GRACE, GRADIENT and Phase 2 trials were eligible to enter our open-label, long-term extension study. Of the 116 patients who chose to do so, the duration of the treatment has been up to seven years. In December 2024, we announced that patients who remained in the study for 24 months exhibited, at that time, further clinically meaningful and statistically significant reductions in systolic (10.0 mm Hg; p-value: 0.012) and diastolic blood pressure (7.3 mm Hg; p-value: 0.016), compared to their blood pressure at entry into the long-term extension study. These patients had also maintained response in other cardiometabolic measures, such as glycemic control and body weight. Consistent with its known safety profile, relacorilant was well-tolerated.
The FDA and the EC have designated relacorilant as an orphan drug for the treatment of hypercortisolism. In the United States, relacorilant’s orphan designation confers tax credits, reduced regulatory fees and, provided we obtain approval for the treatment of patients with hypercortisolism, seven years of exclusive marketing rights. Benefits of orphan drug designation by the EC are similar but include protocol assistance from the EMA, access to the centralized marketing authorization procedure in the EU and, if we obtain approval, ten years of exclusive marketing rights in the EU for the treatment of patients with hypercortisolism.
Oncology
There is substantial evidence that cortisol activity at the GR reduces the efficacy of certain anti-cancer therapies and that modulating cortisol’s activity may help anti-cancer treatments achieve their intended effect. In some cancers, cortisol retards cellular apoptosis – the tumor-killing effect many treatments are meant to stimulate. In other cancers, cortisol activity promotes tumor growth. Cortisol also suppresses the body’s immune response; activating – not suppressing – the immune system is beneficial in fighting certain cancers. Many types of solid tumors express the GR and are potential targets for cortisol modulation therapy, among them ovarian, endometrial, cervical, pancreatic and prostate cancers.
Relacorilant in Combination with Chemotherapy. In July 2025, we submitted an NDA seeking approval to market relacorilant plus the chemotherapy medication nab-paclitaxel as a treatment for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in the United States. In September 2025, the FDA accepted our NDA for filing and assigned a PDUFA date of July 11, 2026. In October 2025, we submitted an MAA to the EMA seeking approval in the European Union. Our NDA and MAA are both based on positive results from our pivotal Phase 3 ROSELLA and Phase 2 trials, in which patients exhibited clinically meaningful improvements in PFS and OS. In both trials, relacorilant was well-tolerated and did not increase the safety burden of patients who took it.
ROSELLA enrolled three hundred eighty-one women with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer who were randomized 1:1 to receive either 150 mg of relacorilant intermittently in addition to the chemotherapeutic agent nab-paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel monotherapy. Patients enrolled in ROSELLA received prior bevacizumab therapy, which is the approved standard of care for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Women who have received more than three prior lines of therapy were excluded.
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ROSELLA met its dual primary endpoints – PFS as assessed by blinded independent central review and OS. In March 2025, we announced that ROSELLA had met its PFS endpoint. Patients treated with relacorilant in addition to nab-paclitaxel experienced a clinically and statistically significant 30 percent reduction in risk of disease progression compared to patients treated with nab-paclitaxel alone (hazard ratio: 0.70; p-value: 0.008). PFS improvement as assessed by ROSELLA’s clinical investigators was also positive (hazard ratio: 0.71; p-value: 0.0030). In January 2026, we announced that ROSELLA had met its OS primary endpoint. Patients treated with relacorilant in addition to nab-paclitaxel chemotherapy experienced a clinically and statistically significant 35 percent reduction in the risk of death compared to patients treated with nab-paclitaxel alone (hazard ratio: 0.65; p-value: 0.0004). The median OS for patients receiving relacorilant was 16.0 months, compared to 11.9 months for patients receiving nab-paclitaxel alone. Importantly, both PFS and OS benefits were seen in all clinically relevant patient subgroups, including those with poor prognoses.
Relacorilant in combination with nab-paclitaxel was well-tolerated, consistent with its known safety profile. Importantly, relacorilant conferred its benefit without increasing the safety burden of the patients who received it. The type, frequency and severity of adverse events in the combination arm were comparable to those in the nab-paclitaxel monotherapy arm.
The results from ROSELLA were published in The Lancet (Olawaiye et al., June 2025).
ROSELLA’s results are consistent with the positive results of our Phase 2 trial, a 178-patient, controlled, multi-center, trial of relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Phase 2 study participants were randomized to one of three treatment arms: 60 women received 150 mg of relacorilant intermittently (the day before, the day of and the day after their weekly nab-paclitaxel infusion) and 58 women received a daily relacorilant dose of 100 mg per day in addition to nab-paclitaxel. Sixty women received nab-paclitaxel alone. The trial’s primary endpoint was PFS.
Patients in both relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel treatment arms of the Phase 2 trial experienced longer PFS than did patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received a higher dose of relacorilant intermittently exhibited a statistically significant improvement in median PFS (5.6 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.66; p-value: 0.038). Patients who received a lower dose of relacorilant daily exhibited a median PFS that was 1.5 months longer than did the patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone (5.3 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.83; p-value: not significant). Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also had a longer median DoR (5.6 months versus 3.7 months, hazard ratio: 0.36; p-value: 0.006) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also lived longer (median OS: 13.9 months versus 12.2 months, hazard ratio: 0.67; p-value: 0.066) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone.
As was the case in ROSELLA, the addition of relacorilant to treatment with nab-paclitaxel did not increase patients’ safety burden. The safety and tolerability of relacorilant and nab-paclitaxel combination treatment was comparable to nab-paclitaxel monotherapy alone.
The final analysis from our Phase 2 trial was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (Colombo et al., 2023), the premiere journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
In April 2025, we initiated a Phase 2 trial, BELLA, which has three parts. In December 2025, Part A completed enrollment of 95 patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Part A will evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel and bevacizumab. Part B has a planned enrollment of 90 patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, whose disease had progressed while receiving treatment with a PARP-inhibitor. Part B will evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel and bevacizumab. Part C has a planned enrollment of 90 patients with endometrial cancer who have received one or two prior lines of therapy. Part C will evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel.
In December 2025, we initiated a Phase 2 trial, TRIDENT, with a planned enrollment of 50 patients with pancreatic cancer, who have not received prior therapy for metastatic disease. TRIDENT will evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine.
In collaboration with the Paris-based academic research cooperative ARCAGY-GINECO, we will initiate, in the first quarter of 2026, a Phase 2 trial, STELLA, in 50 patients with cervical cancer, who have received one or two prior lines of therapy. STELLA will evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel.
The EC has designated relacorilant as an orphan drug for the treatment of ovarian and pancreatic cancers.
Nenocorilant in Combination with Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy harnesses the body’s immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells. We are testing the potential of our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, nenocorilant to treat cancer by reducing cortisol-activated immune suppression and thereby help the patient’s immune system reduce or eradicate tumors while
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they receive immunotherapy. In December 2025, we initiated a Phase 1b trial, SYNERGY, with a planned enrollment of 30 patients with solid tumors to evaluate the efficacy and safety of treatment with nenocorilant plus nivolumab (a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor).
Relacorilant in Combination with Androgen Deprivation Therapy. Androgen deprivation is the standard treatment for prostate cancer because androgens stimulate prostate tumor growth. Prostate cancer tumors eventually escape androgen deprivation therapy; one of the prime reasons is that these tumors begin to be stimulated by cortisol’s activity. Combining a cortisol modulator with an androgen modulator may block this escape route. Our collaborators at the University of Chicago have initiated a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial of relacorilant plus enzalutamide in patients with prostate cancer, pre-prostatectomy. Patents we have licensed from the University of Chicago cover the use of relacorilant combined with anticancer agents, including enzalutamide, to treat patients with this disease.
Metabolic Diseases
Liver Disease. MASH is an advanced form of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease that afflicts millions of patients and is a leading cause of liver-related mortality. Our Phase 1b trial of the selective cortisol modulator miricorilant as a potential treatment for MASH identified a dosing regimen that reduced liver fat, improved liver health and key metabolic and lipid measures and was well-tolerated. Following these compelling results, we initiated a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2b trial, MONARCH, of miricorilant in patients with MASH in October 2023. MONARCH has two patient cohorts: Cohort A enrolled 82 patients with biopsy-confirmed MASH, randomized 2:1 to receive either 100 mg of miricorilant twice weekly or placebo for 48 weeks. The primary endpoint of Cohort A is reduction in liver fat, with MASH resolution and fibrosis improvement being key secondary endpoints. Cohort B enrolled 93 patients with presumed MASH, randomized 2:1 to receive either 100 mg of miricorilant twice weekly for 6 weeks and then 200 mg of miricorilant twice weekly for 18 weeks or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint of Cohort B is reduction in liver fat. Enrollment in both cohorts is complete.
ALS
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a devastating neuromuscular illness. Our selective cortisol modulator dazucorilant improved motor performance and reduced neuroinflammation and muscular atrophy in an animal model of ALS. Following these compelling results, we initiated a Phase 2 trial, DAZALS, of dazucorilant in patients with ALS. Two hundred forty-nine patients were randomized on a double-blind basis 1:1:1 to receive either 150 mg of dazucorilant, 300 mg of dazucorilant or placebo daily for 24 weeks. Upon completion of the trial, patients were eligible to enter an open-label, long-term extension study, in which they receive 300 mg of dazucorilant for up to 132 weeks.
Although DAZALS did not meet its primary endpoint – change from baseline in the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) in patients who received dazucorilant compared to those who received placebo – a statistically significant reduction in early death was observed at week 24 of the study. An exploratory analysis at the one-year mark found that this benefit continued. Patients who were randomized to receive 300 mg of dazucorilant from the start of DAZALS had an 84 percent reduction in risk of death, compared to patients who received only placebo, with a hazard ratio of 0.16 (p-value: 0.0009). A similar survival benefit was observed in an exploratory analysis of patients who received 300 mg of dazucorilant for greater than 24 weeks, either in the treatment period or in the extension study, compared to patients who received either placebo or 150 mg of dazucorilant for 24 weeks and did not receive dazucorilant in the extension study (hazard ratio: 0.36; p-value 0.02).
Dazucorilant has demonstrated a manageable safety profile, with 92 percent of adverse events being mild to moderate in severity. The frequency of severe and serious adverse events in patients who received dazucorilant was similar to those who received placebo. Mild to moderate, dose-related, transient abdominal pain was the most common adverse effect. The open-label, long-term extension study, which enrolled 118 patients, is continuing. We are currently conducting a study in patients with ALS to determine whether dose titration will reduce instances of abdominal pain and allow more patients to benefit from dazucorilant. Following completion of this study, we expect to start a pivotal Phase 3 trial in 2026.
The FDA has granted dazucorilant Fast Track Designation and orphan drug status for the treatment of ALS in the United States.
Development of Other Selective Cortisol Modulators
We continue to create new selective cortisol modulators and advance the most promising of them towards the clinic.
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
The IRA was enacted on August 16, 2022. The IRA includes provisions requiring manufacturers to pay a rebate to the CMS if the price of a Medicare Part B or Part D drug increases faster than the rate of inflation. In addition, the IRA shifts a
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portion of the Medicare beneficiary costs formerly borne by the government and beneficiaries to manufacturers in the form of limitations on price increases and rebates paid to the government. We anticipate this provision will limit the revenue we receive from Medicare patients and may materially reduce our profits in 2026 and beyond. The IRA permits CMS to negotiate prices for certain high-expenditure Medicare Part B or Part D drugs.
The IRA also imposes a one percent excise tax on certain share repurchases and introduces a 15 percent corporate alternative minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income. The corporate alternative minimum tax became effective for us on January 1, 2024. We do not expect either of these provisions to significantly affect our consolidated financial statements.
Please see the risk factor under Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, “New laws, government regulations, or changes to existing laws and regulations could make it difficult or impossible for us to obtain acceptable prices or adequate insurance coverage and reimbursement for our Products, which would adversely affect our results of operations and financial position.”
Results of Operations
Net Product Revenue – Net product revenue is gross product revenue from sales to our customers less deductions for estimated government rebates and chargebacks, patient co-pay assistance program, discounts provided to our specialty distributor for prompt payment and reserves for expected returns.
Net product revenue was $761.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $675.0 million and $482.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024 was driven by a 37.0 percent increase in sales volume, partially offset by a 17.7 percent decrease in average price due to higher sales volume from our authorized generic version of Korlym. The decrease in average price was partially offset by a price increase of our Products in August 2025. For the year ended December 31, 2025, net product revenue would have been materially higher had our primary specialty pharmacy vendor been able to fully meet demand for our Products.
Cost of sales – Cost of sales includes the cost of API, tableting, packaging, personnel, overhead, stability testing and distribution.
Cost of sales was $13.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $10.9 million and $6.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Cost of sales as a percentage of revenue was 1.7 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent for each of the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The increase of cost of sales as a percentage of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily due to a decrease in the average selling price of our Products.
Research and development expense – Research and development expense includes the cost of (1) recruiting and compensating development personnel, (2) clinical trials, (3) manufacturing investigational drug products, (4) preclinical studies, (5) drug discovery research and (6) the development of new drug formulations and manufacturing processes.
Research and development expense was $254.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $246.9 million and $184.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily due to increased expenses related to the advancement of our development programs and employee compensation expenses, partially offset by decreased expenses related to development programs that are nearing completion.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||||
| Development programs: | ||||||||||
| Oncology | $ | 46,397 | $ | 52,699 | $ | 41,433 | ||||
| Cushing’s syndrome | 93,108 | 65,215 | 41,196 | |||||||
| Metabolic diseases | 36,500 | 40,124 | 36,104 | |||||||
| Pre-clinical and early-stage selective cortisol modulators and ALS | 21,124 | 41,048 | 30,852 | |||||||
| Unallocated activities, including manufacturing and regulatory activities | 34,969 | 30,072 | 19,366 | |||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 22,810 | 17,729 | 15,402 | |||||||
| Total research and development expense | $ | 254,908 | $ | 246,887 | $ | 184,353 |
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It is difficult to predict the timing and cost of development activities, which are subject to many uncertainties and risks, including inconclusive or negative results, slow patient enrollment, adverse side effects and difficulties in the formulation or manufacture of study drugs and lack of drug-candidate efficacy. In addition, clinical development is subject to government oversight and regulations that may change without notice. We expect our research and development expense to be higher in 2026 than in 2025 as our clinical programs advance and we initiate new clinical trials. Research and development spending in future years will depend on the outcome of our pre-clinical and clinical trials and our development plans.
Selling, general and administrative expense – Selling, general and administrative expense includes (1) recruiting and compensating commercial and administrative personnel, (2) the cost of vendors supporting commercial activities and (3) legal and accounting fees.
Selling, general and administrative expense for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $448.7 million, $280.3 million and $184.3 million, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily due to increased sales and marketing activities and employee compensation expenses to support commercialization of our existing and potential future products.
We expect our selling, general and administrative expense to be higher in 2026 than in 2025 due to increased commercial and administrative activities to support our increased sales and marketing efforts.
Interest and other income – Interest and other income for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $21.7 million, $24.5 million and $17.3 million, respectively, and consisted primarily of interest income from marketable securities. The decrease for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024 was due to market-wide decreases in interest rates and foreign currency transaction losses due to unfavorable changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rate to settle foreign currency-denominated monetary assets and liabilities.
Income tax benefit (expense) – Income tax benefit (expense) for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023 was $33.2 million, $(20.3) million, and $(18.4) million, respectively. The change in income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2025 resulting in an income tax benefit compared to an income tax expense in 2024 was primarily due to increased stock compensation deductions and decreased pretax income.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since 2015, we have relied on revenues from the sale of our Products to fund our operations.
Based on our current plans and expectations, we expect to fund our operations and planned research and development activities over the next 12 months and beyond without needing to raise additional funds, although we may choose to raise additional funds for other reasons. If we were to raise funds, equity financing would be dilutive, debt financing could involve restrictive covenants and funds raised through collaborations with other companies may require us to relinquish certain rights in our product candidates.
As of December 31, 2025, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $532.4 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $120.5 million and marketable securities of $411.9 million, compared to cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $603.2 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $127.7 million and marketable securities of $475.5 million as of December 31, 2024.
The cash in our bank accounts and our marketable securities could be reduced or our access to them restricted if the financial institutions holding them were to fail or severely adverse conditions were to arise in the markets for public or private debt securities. We have never experienced a material lack of access to cash or material realized losses.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $142.0 million, $198.3 million and $126.7 million, respectively. The decrease for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily due to lower net income resulting from higher operating expenses to support increased sales and marketing activities.
Net cash provided (used in) by investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $69.8 million, $(177.6) million and $90.9 million, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily due to a higher allocation of cash proceeds from maturities of marketable securities towards cash equivalents to purchase shares in connection with our Stock Repurchase Program.
Net cash used in financing activities was $220.4 million, $28.3 million and $148.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. In the year ended December 31, 2025, we spent $245.9 million acquiring shares of our common stock, comprised of $172.9 million pursuant to our Stock Repurchase Program, $56.8 million acquiring shares of our common stock in connection with the net exercise of employee and director stock options and $16.1 million to
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satisfy tax withholding requirements from vesting of restricted stock grants, offset by $15.9 million net cash received from the exercise of stock options and $9.6 million received in connection with our ESPP. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we spent $38.0 million acquiring shares of our common stock, comprised of $17.0 million acquiring shares of our common stock in connection with the net exercise of employee and director stock options, $15.7 million pursuant to our Stock Repurchase Program and $5.3 million to satisfy tax withholding requirements from vesting of restricted stock grants, offset by $5.5 million received in connection with our ESPP and $4.2 million net cash received from the exercise of stock options.
As of December 31, 2025, we had retained earnings of $643.4 million.
Net Operating Loss Carryforwards
See Note 9, Income Taxes in our audited consolidated financial statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the amount of assets, liabilities and expenses we report. We base our estimates on historical experience and on other assumptions we believe to be reasonable. Actual results may differ from our estimates. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 1, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe the following accounting estimates and policies to be critical:
Net Product Revenue
To determine net product revenue, we deduct from sales the cost of our patient co-pay assistance program and our estimates of (i) government chargebacks and rebates, (ii) discounts provided to our specialty distributor (“SD”) for prompt payment and (iii) reserves for expected returns. We record these estimates at the time we recognize revenue and update them as new information becomes available. Our estimates take into account our understanding of the range of possible outcomes. If results differ from our estimates, we adjust our estimates, which changes our net product revenue and earnings. We report any changes in the period they become known, even if they concern transactions occurring in prior periods.
Government Rebates
Our Products are eligible for purchase by, or qualify for reimbursement from, Medicaid, Medicare and other government programs that are eligible for rebates on the price they pay for our Products. To determine the appropriate amount to reserve against these rebates, we identify our Products sold to patients covered by government-funded programs, apply the applicable government discount to these sales, then estimate utilization of such programs by government payors. We (i) deduct this reserve from revenue in the period to which the rebates relate and (ii) include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
MD&A history
Prior-year 10-K MD&A spans are extracted from SEC filings with the same bounded parser used for the latest filing. The latest 10-K appears above; prior years are below.
FY 2024 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001628280-25-008167.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand our results of operations and financial condition and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to financial statements, risk factors and other disclosures included in this Form 10-K. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”).
We make statements in this section that are “forward-looking” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. For a complete discussion of such statements and the potential risks and uncertainties that may affect their accuracy, see the “Risk Factors” section of this Form 10-K and the “Overview” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” sections of this MD&A. Discussions of 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022 are not included, and can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol. Since 2012, we have marketed Korlym in the United States for the treatment of patients suffering from hypercortisolism (also known as “Cushing’s syndrome”). In June 2024, we made available an authorized generic version of Korlym for the same indication. Our portfolio of proprietary selective cortisol modulators consists of four structurally distinct series totaling more than 1,000 compounds.
Hypercortisolism (Cushing’s Syndrome)
Our Products. We sell Korlym and a generic version of Korlym in the United States (our “Products”), using sales representatives to call on physicians caring for patients with hypercortisolism. We also have a field-based force of medical science liaisons. We use a specialty pharmacy and a specialty distributor to distribute our Products and provide logistical support to physicians and patients. Our policy is that no patient with hypercortisolism will be denied access to our Products for financial reasons. To help us achieve that goal, we have patient support programs and donate money to independent charitable foundations that help patients pay for all aspects of their hypercortisolism care, whether or not that care includes taking our Products.
Because most people who suffer from hypercortisolism are undiagnosed or inadequately treated, we have developed and continue to refine and expand programs to educate physicians and patients about screening for hypercortisolism and the role our Products can play in treating patients with the disorder. In 2024, we conducted the CATALYST study to determine the prevalence of hypercortisolism in patients with difficult-to-control diabetes (defined as HbA1c of 7.5 percent or higher) despite receiving optimum treatment. Of the 1,057 patients enrolled in the first phase of CATALYST, 23.8 percent were found to have hypercortisolism. These patients were offered the chance to enter CATALYST’s second phase, in which 136 eligible patients were randomized 2:1 to receive either Korlym or placebo for 24 weeks. CATALYST’s primary endpoint was the difference in HbA1c in patients who received Korlym compared to patients who received placebo. Patients who received Korlym exhibited a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in hemoglobin A1c, with a decrease from baseline of 1.47 percent, compared to a decrease of 0.15 percent in patients who received placebo (p-value: 0.0001). The safety profile of Korlym in CATALYST was consistent with the medication’s label: No new side effects or adverse events were identified.
The CATALYST data will help physicians better identify patients with hypercortisolism and determine their optimal treatment.
Relacorilant. We are developing our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, relacorilant, as a treatment for patients with hypercortisolism. Relacorilant shares Korlym’s affinity for the GR but, unlike Korlym, has no affinity for the PR and so is not the “abortion pill” and does not cause other effects associated with PR affinity, including endometrial thickening and vaginal bleeding. Because relacorilant does not meaningfully increase cortisol levels, it does not cause hypokalemia (low potassium), a potentially serious condition that is a leading cause of patients stopping treatment with Korlym. Forty-four percent of patients in Korlym’s pivotal trial experienced hypokalemia. Unlike all other medications used to treat hypercortisolism, relacorilant does not prolong the heart’s QT interval, a potentially deadly off-target effect.
In December 2024, we submitted an NDA to the FDA seeking approval to market relacorilant as a treatment for patients with endogenous hypercortisolism. The NDA is based on positive results from our pivotal trial “GRACE”, as well as confirmatory evidence from our Phase 3 “GRADIENT” trial, our Phase 3 long-term extension study and our Phase 2 study. In
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all of these trials, patients exhibited clinically meaningful improvements in a wide range of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms, including hypertension, glucose control, weight and body composition. Relacorilant was well-tolerated in all of the trials. Notably, patients did not experience some of the serious adverse events that can arise in patients taking Korlym or other currently approved treatments.
The GRACE trial had two-parts. The first, open-label phase enrolled 152 patients with any etiology of hypercortisolism. Each patient received relacorilant for 22 weeks. Patients who exhibited pre-specified improvements in either hypertension, hyperglycemia or both symptoms proceeded to GRACE’s second, double-blind, randomized withdrawal phase, in which half of the patients continued to receive relacorilant and half received placebo for 12 weeks. GRACE’s primary endpoint was the number of patients in the relacorilant group who lost blood pressure control compared to the number who lost blood pressure control in the placebo group.
In the open-label phase, patients experienced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in a wide-array of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, weight, waist circumference, fat and lean body mass, cognition and Cushing’s Quality of Life score. Rapid and sustained improvements in systolic blood pressure (“SBP”) and diastolic blood pressure (“DBP”) were observed in all patients with hypertension, with an improvement in mean SBP of 7.9 mm Hg and mean DBP of 5.4 mm Hg at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001). During the open-label phase, 63 percent of patients with hypertension met the study’s response criteria. The improvements were even greater in the patients with hypertension who entered the randomized withdrawal phase, with reductions in SBP of 12.6 mm Hg and DBP of 8.3 mm Hg (p-values: 0.0001). To ensure accuracy, hypertension was measured by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (“ABPM”).
Glucose metabolism was measured by several diagnostic tests, including the oral glucose tolerance test (glucose area under the curve or AUCglucose), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fasting glucose. In the open-label phase, clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in glucose metabolism were observed in patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (i.e., pre-diabetes), with reductions in AUCglucose of 3.3 h*mmol/L, HbA1c of 0.3 percent and fasting glucose of 12.4 mg/dL at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001, 0.03, 0.03, respectively). During the open-label phase, 50 percent of patients with hyperglycemia met the study’s response criteria. Patients with hyperglycemia who entered the randomized withdrawal phase exhibited more pronounced improvements, with reductions in AUCglucose of 6.2 h*mmol/L, HbA1c of 0.7 percent and fasting glucose of 25.2 mg/dL at 22 weeks (p-values: 0.0001, 0.0001, 0.006, respectively).
GRACE met its primary endpoint. Patients with hypertension who were switched to placebo in the randomized withdrawal phase were significantly more likely to lose blood pressure control than were patients who continued to receive relacorilant (odds ratio: 0.17; p-value: 0.02). Patients who continued to receive relacorilant also maintained their improvements in hyperglycemia, waist circumference, fat and lean tissue mass, while patients who received placebo experienced a significant worsening of hypercortisolism signs and symptoms.
Our Phase 3 GRADIENT study enrolled patients with hypercortisolism caused by adrenal adenomas or adrenal hyperplasia. These patients have a more gradual decline than patients with other etiologies of hypercortisolism, although their health outcomes are ultimately poor. GRADIENT enrolled 137 patients with hypercortisolism and either hypertension, hyperglycemia or both. Patients were randomized on a double-blind basis 1:1 to receive either relacorilant or placebo for 22 weeks. The trial’s primary endpoint was the improvement compared to placebo in systolic blood pressure with glycemic control, weight and body composition as secondary endpoints.
Patients in GRADIENT who received relacorilant exhibited clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in hypertension, hyperglycemia, weight and body composition compared to baseline, while patients who received placebo did not.
GRADIENT patients with hypertension who received relacorilant experienced a reduction in systolic blood pressure of 6.6 mm Hg (p-value 0.012) compared to baseline. The reduction in patients who received placebo was 2.1 mm Hg (p-value: ns) compared to baseline. The comparison between those who received relacorilant and placebo was not statistically significant. During the study, five patients who received placebo required rescue therapy with anti-hypertension medications, compared to one patient who received relacorilant. To ensure accuracy, hypertension was measured by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.
GRADIENT patients with hyperglycemia who received relacorilant experienced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in glucose metabolism, including fasting glucose (placebo-adjusted reduction of 22.2 mg/dL; p-value 0.002), area under the curve of the oral glucose tolerance test (placebo-adjusted reduction of 2.6 h*mmol/L; p-value 0.046) and hemoglobin A1c (placebo-adjusted reduction of 0.3 percent; p-value 0.019), compared to those who received placebo.
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Patients in GRADIENT who received relacorilant experienced clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in body weight (placebo-adjusted reduction of 3.9 kg; p-value: 0.0001) and visceral adipose fat mass and volume (p-values: 0.018 and 0.016, respectively), compared to patients who received placebo.
Relacorilant was well-tolerated in GRADIENT, with side effects consistent with its other clinical trials. The most common adverse events were mild-to-moderate nausea, edema, pain in the extremities and back, and fatigue – all symptoms associated with the “cortisol withdrawal” many patients experience when cortisol activity reverts to a more normal level, following surgery or the start of medical therapy for hypercortisolism. Importantly, there were no relacorilant-induced instances of hypokalemia, endometrial hypertrophy or drug-induced vaginal bleeding, adrenal insufficiency or QT prolongation.
Patients who completed our Phase 2 study or the GRACE or GRADIENT trials were eligible to enter our open-label, long-term extension study. Of the 116 patients who chose to do so, the duration of the treatment has been up to six years. In December 2024, we announced that patients who remained in the study for 24 months exhibited, at that time, further clinically meaningful and statistically significant reductions in systolic (10.0 mm Hg; p-value: 0.012) and diastolic blood pressure (7.3 mm Hg; p-value: 0.016), compared to their blood pressure at entry into the long-term extension study. These patients had also maintained response in other cardiometabolic measures, such as glycemic control and body weight. Consistent with its known safety profile, relacorilant was well-tolerated.
The FDA and the EC have designated relacorilant as an orphan drug for the treatment of hypercortisolism. In the United States, relacorilant’s orphan designation confers tax credits, reduced regulatory fees and, provided we obtain approval for the treatment of patients with hypercortisolism, seven years of exclusive marketing rights. Benefits of orphan drug designation by the EC are similar, but also include protocol assistance from the EMA, access to the centralized marketing authorization procedure in the EU and, if we obtain approval, ten years of exclusive marketing rights in the EU for the treatment of patients with hypercortisolism.
Oncology
There is substantial evidence that cortisol activity at the GR reduces the efficacy of certain anti-cancer therapies and that modulating cortisol’s activity may help anti-cancer treatments achieve their intended effect. In some cancers, cortisol retards cellular apoptosis – the tumor-killing effect many treatments are meant to stimulate. In other cancers, cortisol activity promotes tumor growth. Cortisol also suppresses the body’s immune response; activating – not suppressing – the immune system is beneficial in fighting certain cancers. Many types of solid tumors express the GR and are potential targets for cortisol modulation therapy, among them ovarian, adrenal and prostate cancer.
Relacorilant in Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer. We are conducting a pivotal Phase 3 trial (“ROSELLA”) of our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel as a treatment for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Enrollment in ROSELLA is complete. Three hundred eighty-one women with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer were randomized 1:1 to receive either 150 mg of relacorilant intermittently in addition to nab-paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel monotherapy. ROSELLA has dual primary endpoints – progression free survival (“PFS”) and overall survival (“OS”). ROSELLA will have a statistically positive outcome if either endpoint is met. Patients enrolled in ROSELLA were required to have received prior bevacizumab therapy, which is the approved standard of care for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Women with a history of tumors that do not respond to initial platinum-based treatments (i.e., women with “primary platinum-refractory” disease) and those who have received more than three prior lines of therapy were excluded.
ROSELLA seeks to replicate the positive results of our Phase 2 trial, a 178-patient, controlled, multi-center, trial of relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Phase 2 study participants were randomized to one of three treatment arms: 60 women received 150 mg of relacorilant intermittently (the day before, the day of and the day after their weekly nab-paclitaxel infusion) and 58 women received a daily relacorilant dose of 100 mg per day in addition to nab-paclitaxel. Sixty women received nab-paclitaxel alone. The trial’s primary endpoint was PFS.
Patients in both of the relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel treatment arms of the Phase 2 trial experienced longer PFS than did the patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received a higher dose of relacorilant intermittently exhibited a statistically significant improvement in median PFS (5.6 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.66; p-value: 0.038). Patients who received a lower dose of relacorilant daily exhibited a median PFS that was 1.5 months longer than did the patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone (5.3 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.83; p-value: not significant). Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also had a longer median duration of response (“DoR”) (5.6 months versus 3.7 months, hazard ratio: 0.36; p-value: 0.006) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also lived longer (median OS: 13.9 months versus 12.2 months, hazard ratio: 0.67; p-value: 0.066) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone.
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Notably, the addition of relacorilant to treatment with nab-paclitaxel did not create an additional adverse event burden for patients. Safety and tolerability of relacorilant and nab-paclitaxel combination treatment were comparable to the safety and tolerability of nab-paclitaxel monotherapy.
The final analysis from our Phase 2 trial was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (Colombo et al., 2023), the premiere journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Relacorilant in Patients with Adrenal Cancer with Cortisol Excess. We have completed an open-label, Phase 1b trial of relacorilant plus the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in 14 patients with metastatic or unresectable adrenal cancer whose tumors produce cortisol. Patients with this form of adrenal cancer virtually never respond to immunotherapy and their disease progresses very rapidly. Our trial sought to test whether adding relacorilant to pembrolizumab therapy would reduce cortisol-activated immune suppression sufficiently to help the patient’s immune system reduce or eradicate the patient’s tumors while also reducing the symptoms of hypercortisolism caused by the tumors’ hypersecretion of cortisol. Although patients exhibited significant improvements in their symptoms of hypercortisolism, such as reductions in hypertension and hyperglycemia, their tumor progression did not slow. The combination of relacorilant with pembrolizumab was well-tolerated. We are evaluating next steps to better understand the role cortisol modulation may play in combination with immunotherapies directed to other tumor types and earlier stages of cancer.
Relacorilant in Patients with Prostate Cancer. Androgen deprivation is the standard treatment for prostate cancer because androgens stimulate prostate tumor growth. Prostate cancer tumors eventually escape androgen deprivation therapy; one of the prime reasons is that these tumors begin to be stimulated by cortisol’s activity. Combining a cortisol modulator with an androgen modulator may block this escape route. Our collaborators at the University of Chicago have initiated a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial of relacorilant plus enzalutamide in patients with prostate cancer, pre-prostatectomy. We are providing relacorilant and placebo for the study. Patents we have licensed from the University of Chicago cover the use of relacorilant combined with anticancer agents, including enzalutamide, to treat patients with this disease.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (“ALS”)
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a devastating neuromuscular illness. Our selective cortisol modulator dazucorilant improved motor performance and reduced neuroinflammation and muscular atrophy in an animal model of ALS. Following these compelling results, we initiated a Phase 2 trial (“DAZALS”) of dazucorilant in patients with ALS. Two hundred forty-nine patients were randomized on a double-blind basis 1:1:1 to receive either 150 mg of dazucorilant, 300 mg of dazucorilant or placebo daily for 24 weeks. Upon completion of the trial, patients were eligible to enter an open-label, long-term extension study, in which they receive 300 mg of dazucorilant for up to 132 weeks. DAZALS did not meet its primary endpoint, which was the change from baseline in the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) in patients who received dazucorilant compared to those who received placebo. Patients who received dazucorilant also experienced substantially more gastrointestinal upset at the onset of treatment than did those who received placebo. During the 24-week study, no deaths (0/83) were observed in the 300 mg dazucorilant arm, compared to 5 deaths (5/82) in the placebo group (p-value: 0.02). The open-label, long-term extension study, which enrolled 118 patients, will continue. Pursuant to the study protocol, overall survival will be assessed again in March 2025. The FDA has granted dazucorilant Fast Track Designation and orphan drug status for the treatment of ALS in the United States.
Metabolic Diseases
Liver Disease. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (“MASH”) is an advanced form of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease that afflicts millions of patients and is a leading cause of liver-related mortality. Our Phase 1b trial of the selective cortisol modulator miricorilant as a potential treatment for MASH identified a dosing regimen that reduced liver fat, improved liver health and key metabolic and lipid measures and was well-tolerated. Following these compelling results, we initiated a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2b trial (“MONARCH”) of miricorilant in patients with MASH in October 2023. MONARCH has two patient cohorts. Cohort A has a planned enrollment of 120 patients with biopsy-confirmed MASH, randomized 2:1 to receive either 100 mg of miricorilant twice weekly or placebo for 48 weeks. The primary endpoint of Cohort A is reduction in liver fat, with MASH resolution and fibrosis improvement as key secondary endpoints. Cohort B has a planned enrollment of 75 patients with presumed MASH, randomized 2:1 to receive either 100 mg of miricorilant twice weekly for 6 weeks and then 200 mg of miricorilant twice weekly for 18 weeks or placebo for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint of Cohort B is reduction in liver fat.
Development of Other Selective Cortisol Modulators
We continue to create new selective cortisol modulators, the most promising of which we advance towards the clinic.
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Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) was enacted on August 16, 2022. The IRA includes provisions requiring manufacturers to pay a rebate to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) if the price of a Medicare Part B or Part D drug increases faster than the rate of inflation. In addition, beginning in 2025, the IRA will also shift a significant portion of the Medicare beneficiary costs currently borne by the government and beneficiaries to manufacturers. We anticipate this provision will limit the revenue we receive from Medicare patients and may materially reduce our profits. The IRA permits CMS to negotiate prices for certain high-expenditure Medicare Part B or Part D drugs.
The IRA also imposes a one percent excise tax on certain share repurchases and introduces a 15 percent corporate alternative minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income. The corporate alternative minimum tax became effective for us on January 1, 2024. We do not expect either of these provisions to significantly affect our consolidated financial statements.
Please see the risk factor under Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, “New laws, government regulations, or changes to existing laws and regulations could make it difficult or impossible for us to obtain acceptable prices or adequate insurance coverage and reimbursement for our Products, which would adversely affect our results of operations and financial position.”
Results of Operations
Net Product Revenue – Net product revenue is gross product revenue from sales to our customers less deductions for estimated government rebates and chargebacks, patient co-pay assistance program, discounts provided to our specialty distributor for prompt payment and reserves for expected returns.
Net product revenue was $675.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $482.4 million and $401.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Higher sales volume accounted for 79.4 percent of the increase for the year ended December 31, 2024, with the remaining growth due to a price increase effective January 1, 2024.
Cost of sales – Cost of sales includes the cost of API, tableting, packaging, personnel, overhead, stability testing and distribution.
Cost of sales was $10.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $6.5 million and $5.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Cost of sales as a percentage of revenue was 1.6 percent, 1.3 percent and 1.3 percent for each of the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase of cost of sales as a percentage of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily due to increased manufacturing and distribution costs.
Research and development expense – Research and development expense includes the cost of (1) clinical trials, (2) recruiting and compensating development personnel, (3) manufacturing investigational drug product (4) preclinical studies, (5) drug discovery research and (6) the development of new drug formulations and manufacturing processes.
Research and development expense was $246.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $184.4 million and $131.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily due to increased spending on the advancement and completion of our Cushing’s syndrome and Oncology development programs and increased employee compensation expense to support these activities.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||||
| Development programs: | ||||||||||
| Oncology | $ | 52,699 | $ | 41,433 | $ | 20,987 | ||||
| Cushing’s syndrome | 65,215 | 41,196 | 30,031 | |||||||
| Metabolic diseases | 40,124 | 36,104 | 24,270 | |||||||
| Pre-clinical and early-stage selective cortisol modulators and ALS | 41,048 | 30,852 | 26,084 | |||||||
| Unallocated activities, including manufacturing and regulatory activities | 30,072 | 19,366 | 16,819 | |||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 17,729 | 15,402 | 12,800 | |||||||
| Total research and development expense | $ | 246,887 | $ | 184,353 | $ | 130,991 |
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It is difficult to predict the timing and cost of development activities, which are subject to many uncertainties and risks, including inconclusive or negative results, slow patient enrollment, adverse side effects and difficulties in the formulation or manufacture of study drugs and lack of drug-candidate efficacy. In addition, clinical development is subject to government oversight and regulations that may change without notice. We expect our research and development expense to be higher in 2025 than in 2024 as we add new clinical trials, assuming success in our existing trials, and our existing trials enroll more patients. Research and development spending in future years will depend on the outcome of our pre-clinical and clinical trials and our development plans.
Selling, general and administrative expense – Selling, general and administrative expense includes (1) compensation of employees, consultants and contractors engaged in commercial and administrative activities, (2) the cost of vendors supporting commercial activities and (3) legal and accounting fees.
Selling, general and administrative expense for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $280.3 million, $184.3 million and $152.8 million, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily due to increased employee compensation expenses and sales and marketing activities.
We expect our selling, general and administrative expense to be higher in 2025 than in 2024 due to increased commercial and administrative activities to support our increased research and development and marketing efforts.
Interest and other income – Interest and other income for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $24.5 million, $17.3 million and $3.6 million, respectively, and consisted primarily of interest income from marketable securities. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was due to higher cash and investment balances.
Income tax expense – Income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022 was $20.3 million, $18.4 million, and $14.8 million, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily due to increased income before income taxes.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since 2015, we have relied on revenues from the sale of our Products to fund our operations.
Based on our current plans and expectations, we expect to fund our operations and planned research and development activities over the next 12 months and beyond without needing to raise additional funds, although we may choose to raise additional funds for other reasons. If we were to raise funds, equity financing would be dilutive, debt financing could involve restrictive covenants and funds raised through collaborations with other companies may require us to relinquish certain rights in our product candidates.
As of December 31, 2024, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $603.2 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $127.7 million and marketable securities of $475.5 million, compared to cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $425.4 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $135.6 million and marketable securities of $289.8 million as of December 31, 2023.
The cash in our bank accounts and our marketable securities could be reduced or our access to them restricted if the financial institutions holding them were to fail or severely adverse conditions were to arise in the markets for public or private debt securities. We have never experienced a material lack of access to cash or material realized losses.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $198.1 million, $127.0 million and $120.3 million, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily due to higher revenue.
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 was $(177.6) million, $90.9 million and $(114.3) million, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily due to investments in marketable securities during 2024 compared to allocation of cash proceeds from maturities of marketable securities towards cash equivalents in anticipation of the closing of our tender offer during 2023.
Net cash used in financing activities was $28.3 million, $148.7 million and $17.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. In the year ended December 31, 2024, we spent $38.0 million acquiring shares of our common stock, comprised of $15.7 million pursuant to our Stock Repurchase Program, $17.0 million acquiring shares of our common stock in connection with the net exercise of employee and director stock options and $5.3 million to satisfy tax withholding requirements from vesting of restricted stock grants, offset by $5.5 million received in connection with our ESPP and $4.2 million net cash received from the exercise of stock options. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we spent $154.5 million acquiring shares of our common stock, comprised of $145.4 million pursuant to our tender offer, $7.4
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million acquiring shares of our common stock in connection with the net exercise of employee and director stock options and $1.7 million to satisfy tax withholding requirements from vesting of restricted stock grants, offset by $3.8 million received in connection with our ESPP and $2.0 million net cash received from the exercise of stock options.
As of December 31, 2024, we had retained earnings of $543.7 million.
Net Operating Loss Carryforwards
See Note 9, Income Taxes in our audited consolidated financial statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the amount of assets, liabilities and expenses we report. We base our estimates on historical experience and on other assumptions we believe to be reasonable. Actual results may differ from our estimates. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 1, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe the following accounting estimates and policies to be critical:
Net Product Revenue
To determine net product revenue, we deduct from sales the cost of our patient co-pay assistance program and our estimates of (i) government chargebacks and rebates, (ii) discounts provided to our specialty distributor (“SD”) for prompt payment and (iii) reserves for expected returns. We record these estimates at the time we recognize revenue and update them as new information becomes available. Our estimates take into account our understanding of the range of possible outcomes. If results differ from our estimates, we adjust our estimates, which changes our net product revenue and earnings. We report any changes in the period they become known, even if they concern transactions occurring in prior periods.
Government Rebates
Our Products are eligible for purchase by, or qualifies for reimbursement from, Medicaid, Medicare and other government programs that are eligible for rebates on the price they pay for our Products. To determine the appropriate amount to reserve against these rebates, we identify our Products sold to patients covered by government-funded programs, apply the applicable government discount to these sales, then estimate utilization of such programs by government payors. We (i) deduct this reserve from revenue in the period to which the rebates relate and (ii) include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
FY 2023 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001628280-24-005055.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand our results of operations and financial condition and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to financial statements, risk factors and other disclosures included in this Form 10-K. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”).
We make statements in this section that are “forward-looking” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. For a complete discussion of such statements and the potential risks and uncertainties that may affect their accuracy, see the “Risk Factors” section of this Form 10-K and the “Overview” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” sections of this MD&A. Discussions of 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021 are not included, and can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol. Since 2012, we have marketed Korlym® for the treatment of patients suffering from Cushing’s syndrome. Our portfolio of proprietary selective cortisol modulators consists of four structurally distinct series totaling more than 1,000 compounds.
Cushing’s Syndrome
Korlym. We sell Korlym in the United States, using experienced sales representatives to call on physicians caring for patients with hypercortisolism (“Cushing’s syndrome”). We also have a field-based force of medical science liaisons. We use one specialty pharmacy and one specialty distributor to distribute Korlym and provide logistical support to physicians and patients. Our policy is that no patient with Cushing’s syndrome will be denied access to Korlym for financial reasons. To help us achieve that goal, we fund our own patient support programs and donate money to independent charitable foundations that help patients pay for all aspects of their Cushing’s syndrome care, whether or not that care includes taking Korlym.
Because many people who suffer from Cushing’s syndrome are undiagnosed or inadequately treated, we have developed and continue to refine and expand programs to educate physicians and patients about screening for hypercortisolism and the role Korlym can play in treating patients with the disorder. We have initiated a Phase 4 study (“CATALYST”), to determine the prevalence of Cushing’s syndrome in patients with difficult-to-control diabetes (HbA1c of 7.5 percent or higher) despite receiving standard treatment. In CATALYST’s first phase, 1,000 patients will be evaluated. Those found to have Cushing’s syndrome may elect to enter the second phase of the study, in which patients will be randomized to receive either Korlym or placebo for 24 weeks. We expect that data from CATALYST will help physicians better identify patients with Cushing’s syndrome and determine their optimal treatment.
Relacorilant. We are conducting two Phase 3 trials (“GRACE” and “GRADIENT”) of our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, relacorilant, as a treatment for patients with Cushing’s syndrome. Relacorilant was well-tolerated in its Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials. Patients in the Phase 2 trial exhibited meaningful improvements in glucose control, hypertension, weight, liver function, coagulopathy, cognition, mood, insulin resistance and quality of life measures. Relacorilant shares Korlym’s affinity for the glucocorticoid receptor (“GR”), but, unlike Korlym, has no affinity for the progesterone receptor (“PR”), and so is not the “abortion pill.” It does not cause other effects associated with PR affinity, including endometrial thickening and vaginal bleeding. There is no evidence that relacorilant causes hypokalemia (low potassium), a potentially serious condition that is a leading cause of patients stopping treatment with Korlym. Forty-four percent of patients in Korlym’s pivotal trial experienced hypokalemia. Unlike all other medications used to treat Cushing’s syndrome, relacorilant does not prolong the heart’s QT interval, a potentially deadly off-target effect.
In the GRACE trial, each patient receives relacorilant for 22 weeks. Patients who exhibit pre-specified improvements in hypertension and/or glucose metabolism enter a 12-week, double-blind, “randomized withdrawal” phase, in which half of the patients continue receiving relacorilant and half receive placebo. The trial’s primary endpoint is the rate and degree of relapse of hypertension in patients receiving placebo measured against the rate and degree of relapse of hypertension in those continuing relacorilant. GRACE has enrolled 152 patients at sites in the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. Enrollment is now complete. If successful, GRACE will provide the basis for a new drug application (“NDA”) for relacorilant as a treatment for patients with any etiology of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome.
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Our second Phase 3 trial of relacorilant, GRADIENT, is studying patients whose Cushing’s syndrome is caused by a benign adrenal tumor. These patients often exhibit less severe symptoms or have a more gradual course of disease than patients with other etiologies of Cushing’s syndrome, although their health outcomes are ultimately poor. Half of the patients in GRADIENT will receive relacorilant for 22 weeks and half will receive placebo. The trial’s primary endpoints are improvements in glucose metabolism and hypertension.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and the European Commission (“EC”) have designated relacorilant as an orphan drug for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome. In the United States, relacorilant’s orphan designation confers tax credits, reduced regulatory fees and, provided we obtain approval for the treatment of patients with Cushing’s syndrome, seven years of exclusive marketing rights. Benefits of orphan drug designation by the EC are similar, but also include protocol assistance from the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), access to the centralized marketing authorization procedure in the European Union (“EU”) and, if we obtain approval, ten years of exclusive marketing rights in the EU for the treatment of patients with Cushing’s syndrome.
Oncology
There is substantial evidence that cortisol activity at the GR reduces the efficacy of certain anti-cancer therapies and that modulating cortisol’s activity may help anti-cancer treatments achieve their intended effect. In some cancers, cortisol retards cellular apoptosis – the tumor-killing effect many treatments are meant to stimulate. In other cancers, cortisol activity promotes tumor growth. Cortisol also suppresses the body’s immune response; activating – not suppressing – the immune system is beneficial in fighting certain cancers. Many types of solid tumors express the GR and are potential targets for cortisol modulation therapy, among them ovarian, adrenal and prostate cancer.
Relacorilant in Patients with Advanced Ovarian Cancer. In May 2021, we announced preliminary results from our 178-patient, controlled, multi-center, Phase 2 trial of relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Study participants were randomized to one of three treatment arms: 60 women received 150 mg of relacorilant intermittently (the day before, the day of and the day after their weekly nab-paclitaxel infusion) and 58 women received a daily relacorilant dose of 100 mg per day in addition to nab-paclitaxel. Sixty women received nab-paclitaxel alone. The trial’s primary endpoint was progression-free survival (i.e., the time from random assignment in a clinical trial to disease progression or death from any cause or “PFS”).
Patients in both of the relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel treatment arms experienced longer PFS than did the patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received a higher dose of relacorilant intermittently exhibited a statistically significant improvement in median PFS (5.6 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.66; p-value: 0.038). Patients who received a lower dose of relacorilant daily exhibited a median PFS that was 1.5 months longer than did the patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone (5.3 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.83; p-value: not significant). Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also had a longer median duration of response (“DoR”) (5.6 months versus 3.7 months, hazard ratio: 0.36; p-value: 0.006) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also lived longer (median OS: 13.9 months versus 12.2 months, hazard ratio: 0.67; p-value: 0.066) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone.
Safety and tolerability of relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel were comparable to nab-paclitaxel monotherapy.
The final analysis from our Phase 2 trial was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (Colombo et al., 2023), the premiere journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
In June 2022, we initiated a pivotal Phase 3 trial (“ROSELLA”) that seeks to replicate the positive results observed in our Phase 2 study. ROSELLA has a planned enrollment of 360 women with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, half of whom will receive 150 mg of relacorilant intermittently in addition to nab-paclitaxel, with the other half receiving nab-paclitaxel monotherapy. The primary endpoint is PFS; overall survival is a key secondary endpoint. Patients in ROSELLA will have received prior bevacizumab therapy, which is the standard of care for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Women with a history of tumors that do not respond to initial platinum-based treatments (i.e., women with “primary platinum-refractory” disease) and those who have received more than three prior lines of therapy will be excluded.
Relacorilant in Patients with Adrenal Cancer with Cortisol Excess. We are conducting an open-label, Phase 1b trial of relacorilant plus the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic or unresectable adrenal cancer whose tumors produce cortisol. The trial is examining whether adding relacorilant to pembrolizumab therapy reduces cortisol-activated immune suppression sufficiently to help pembrolizumab achieve its intended tumor-killing effect. Relacorilant is also expected to treat the patients’ Cushing’s syndrome generated by their tumors’ excess production of cortisol.
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Relacorilant in Patients with Prostate Cancer. Androgen deprivation is the standard treatment for prostate cancer because androgens stimulate prostate tumor growth. Tumors often escape androgen deprivation therapy when cortisol’s activity at the GR stimulates tumor growth. Combining a cortisol modulator with an androgen modulator may block this escape route. Our collaborators at the University of Chicago have initiated a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial of relacorilant plus enzalutamide in patients with prostate cancer, pre-prostatectomy. We are providing relacorilant and placebo for the study and have licensed patents covering the use of relacorilant combined with anticancer agents such as enzalutamide in the treatment of patients with this indication.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (“ALS”)
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a devastating neuromuscular illness. Our selective cortisol modulator dazucorilant improved motor performance and reduced neuroinflammation and muscular atrophy in animal models of ALS. Following these compelling results, we initiated a Phase 2 trial (“DAZALS”) of dazucorilant in patients with ALS in October 2022. DAZALS has a planned enrollment of 198 patients, randomized 1:1:1 to receive either 150 mg or 300 mg of dazucorilant or placebo daily for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint is the difference between dazucorilant and placebo demonstrated by patients on the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R).
Metabolic Diseases
Liver Disease. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (“NASH”) is an advanced form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that afflicts millions of patients and is a leading cause of liver-related mortality. In April 2021, we suspended our Phase 2a trial of our selective cortisol modulator miricorilant as a potential treatment for NASH after four of the five patients who received miricorilant exhibited both elevated liver enzymes and large rapid reductions in liver fat. Liver enzyme levels in all affected patients returned to baseline or below baseline (i.e., to healthier levels) after miricorilant was withdrawn. Our Phase 1b study has identified a dosing regimen that effectively reduced liver fat, improved liver health and key metabolic and lipid measures and was well-tolerated. Following these compelling results, we initiated a Phase 2b trial (“MONARCH”) of miricorilant in patients with NASH in October 2023. MONARCH has a planned enrollment of 150 patients, randomized 2:1 to receive either 100 mg of miricorilant twice weekly or placebo for 48 weeks. The primary endpoint is reduction in liver fat, with NASH resolution and fibrosis improvement as key secondary endpoints.
Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain (“AIWG”). In the United States, six million people take antipsychotic medications such as olanzapine and risperidone to treat illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. While these drugs are very effective, they often cause rapid and sustained weight gain, other metabolic disturbances and, ultimately, cardiovascular disease. Patients taking these medications experience a 10 to 25-year reduction in life expectancy, due largely to increased cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes. Patients in our two double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 trials (“GRATITUDE” and “GRATITUDE II”) of miricorilant with already existing weight gain stimulated by anti-psychotic medication did not exhibit weight loss. However, numerous replicated pre-clinical study results as well as the results of our double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in healthy subjects (published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (Hunt et al., 2021)) suggest that miricorilant may significantly prevent weight gain caused by the administration of olanzapine. In October 2023, we initiated a double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 1 trial to further study miricorilant’s potential to prevent AIWG.
COVID-19 Pandemic
Public health restrictions and measures voluntarily undertaken by patients, physicians, hospitals and health clinics to reduce the impact of COVID-19 reduced our revenue growth and made it difficult to grow our Korlym business.
The pandemic’s impact on our clinical development programs was variable. Some of our trials of indications not considered immediately life-threatening, such as Cushing’s syndrome, experienced slower enrollment and difficulty retaining patients. In addition, some clinical sites reduced the frequency with which physicians were able to examine study participants. Trials in patients with immediately life-threatening diseases, such as our Phase 2 trial in women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, did not encounter delays.
Although the impact of COVID-19 on our business is now significantly reduced, some physicians and hospitals continue to limit interactions with sales representatives and medical science liaisons, which makes growing our business more difficult.
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) was enacted on August 16, 2022. The IRA includes provisions requiring manufacturers to pay a rebate to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) if the price of a Medicare Part B or Part D drug increases faster than the rate of inflation. In addition, beginning in 2025, the IRA will also shift a significant portion
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of the Medicare beneficiary costs currently borne by the government and beneficiaries to manufacturers. We anticipate this provision will significantly limit the revenue we receive from Medicare patients and may materially reduce our profits. The IRA also permits CMS to negotiate prices for certain high-expenditure Medicare Part B or Part D drugs, imposes a one percent excise tax on certain share repurchases and introduces a 15 percent corporate alternative minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income. The corporate alternative minimum tax became effective for us on January 1, 2024. We do not expect it to significantly affect our consolidated financial statements.
Please see the risk factor under Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, “New laws, government regulations, or changes to existing laws and regulations could make it difficult or impossible for us to obtain acceptable prices or adequate insurance coverage and reimbursement for Korlym, which would adversely affect our results of operations and financial position.”
Results of Operations
Net Product Revenue – Net product revenue is gross product revenue from sales to our customers less deductions for estimated government rebates and chargebacks, patient co-pay assistance program, discounts provided to our specialty distributor for prompt payment and reserves for expected returns.
Net product revenue was $482.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $401.9 million and $366.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Higher sales volume accounted for 57.4 percent of the increase for the year ended December 31, 2023, with the remaining growth due to a price increase effective January 1, 2023.
Cost of sales – Cost of sales includes the cost of API, tableting, packaging, personnel, overhead, stability testing and distribution.
Cost of sales was $6.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $5.4 million and $5.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Cost of sales as a percentage of revenue was 1.3 percent for each of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.
Research and development expense – Research and development expense includes the cost of (1) clinical trials, (2) recruiting and compensating development personnel, (3) manufacturing investigational drug product (4) preclinical studies, (5) drug discovery research and (6) the development of new drug formulations and manufacturing processes.
Research and development expense was $184.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $131.0 million and $113.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to increased spending on our development programs and employee compensation expenses.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||||
| Development programs: | ||||||||||
| Oncology | $ | 41,433 | $ | 20,987 | $ | 17,984 | ||||
| Cushing’s syndrome | 41,196 | 30,031 | 28,639 | |||||||
| Metabolic diseases | 36,104 | 24,270 | 20,594 | |||||||
| Pre-clinical and early-stage selective cortisol modulators and ALS | 30,852 | 26,084 | 21,924 | |||||||
| Unallocated activities, including manufacturing and regulatory activities | 19,366 | 16,819 | 10,617 | |||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 15,402 | 12,800 | 14,106 | |||||||
| Total research and development expense | $ | 184,353 | $ | 130,991 | $ | 113,864 |
It is difficult to predict the timing and cost of development activities, which are subject to many uncertainties and risks, including inconclusive or negative results, slow patient enrollment, adverse side effects and difficulties in the formulation or manufacture of study drugs and lack of drug-candidate efficacy. In addition, clinical development is subject to government oversight and regulations that may change without notice. We expect our research and development expense to be higher in 2024 than in 2023 as we add new clinical trials and our existing trials enroll more patients. Research and development spending in future years will depend on the outcome of our pre-clinical and clinical trials and our development plans.
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Selling, general and administrative expense – Selling, general and administrative expense includes (1) compensation of employees, consultants and contractors engaged in commercial and administrative activities, (2) the cost of vendors supporting commercial activities and (3) legal and accounting fees.
Selling, general and administrative expense for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $184.3 million, $152.8 million and $122.4 million, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to increased employee compensation expenses and legal fees.
We expect our selling, general and administrative expense to be higher in 2024 than in 2023 due to increased commercial and administrative activities, including litigation and administrative support for increased research and development and marketing efforts.
Interest and other income – Interest and other income for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $17.3 million, $3.6 million and $0.5 million, respectively, and consisted primarily of interest income from marketable securities. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 2022 was due to market-wide increase in interest rates.
Income tax expense – Income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021 was $18.4 million, $14.8 million, and $12.5 million, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 2022 was due to decreased excess tax benefits for stock option exercises.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since 2015, we have relied on revenues from the sale of Korlym to fund our operations.
Based on our current plans and expectations, we expect to fund our operations and planned research and development activities over the next 12 months and beyond without needing to raise additional funds, although we may choose to raise additional funds for other reasons. If we were to raise funds, equity financing would be dilutive, debt financing could involve restrictive covenants and funds raised through collaborations with other companies may require us to relinquish certain rights in our product candidates.
As of December 31, 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $425.4 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $135.6 million and marketable securities of $289.8 million, compared to cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $436.6 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $66.3 million and marketable securities of $370.3 million as of December 31, 2022.
The cash in our bank accounts and our marketable securities could be reduced or our access to them restricted if the financial institutions holding them were to fail or severely adverse conditions were to arise in the markets for public or private debt securities. We have never experienced a material lack of access to cash or material realized losses.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $127.0 million, $120.3 million and $167.9 million, respectively. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to higher revenue.
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $90.9 million, $(114.3) million and $136.1 million, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to allocation of cash proceeds from maturities of marketable securities towards cash equivalents in anticipation of the closing of our tender offer in April 2023 and in anticipation of our share buyback program announced in January 2024.
Net cash used in financing activities was $148.7 million, $17.3 million and $302.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. In the year ended December 31, 2023, we spent $154.5 million acquiring shares of our common stock, comprised of $145.4 million pursuant to our tender offer, $7.4 million acquiring shares of our common stock in connection with the net exercise of employee and director stock options and $1.7 million to satisfy tax withholding requirements from vesting of restricted stock grants, offset by $3.8 million received in connection with our ESPP and $2.0 million net cash received from the exercise of stock options, resulting in net cash used in financing activities of $148.7 million. For the year ended December 31, 2022, we spent $21.7 million acquiring shares of our common stock, offset by $4.4 million received from the exercise of stock options, resulting in net cash used in financing activities of $17.3 million.
As of December 31, 2023, we had retained earnings of $402.5 million.
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Net Operating Loss Carryforwards
See Note 9, Income Taxes in our audited consolidated financial statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the amount of assets, liabilities and expenses we report. We base our estimates on historical experience and on other assumptions we believe to be reasonable. Actual results may differ from our estimates. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 1, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe the following accounting estimates and policies to be critical:
Net Product Revenue
To determine net product revenue, we deduct from sales the cost of our patient co-pay assistance program and our estimates of (i) government chargebacks and rebates, (ii) discounts provided to our specialty distributor (“SD”) for prompt payment and (iii) reserves for expected returns. We record these estimates at the time we recognize revenue and update them as new information becomes available. Our estimates take into account our understanding of the range of possible outcomes. If results differ from our estimates, we adjust our estimates, which changes our net product revenue and earnings. We report any changes in the period they become known, even if they concern transactions occurring in prior periods.
Government Rebates
Korlym is eligible for purchase by, or qualifies for reimbursement from, Medicaid, Medicare and other government programs that are eligible for rebates on the price they pay for Korlym. To determine the appropriate amount to reserve against these rebates, we identify Korlym sold to patients covered by government-funded programs, apply the applicable government discount to these sales, then estimate utilization of such programs by government payors. We (i) deduct this reserve from revenue in the period to which the rebates relate and (ii) include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
Chargebacks
Although we sell Korlym to the SD at full price, some of the government entities to which the SD sells receive a discount. The SD recovers the full amount of any related discounts by reducing its payment to us (this reduction is called a “chargeback”). Chargebacks sometimes relate to Korlym sold to the SD in prior periods. We deduct from our revenue in each period chargebacks claimed by the SD for Korlym we sold to the SD that period. We also create a reserve for chargebacks we estimate the SD will claim in future periods against Korlym it purchased in the current period but has not yet resold. We determine the amount of this reserve based on our experience with SD chargebacks and our understanding of the SD’s customer base and business practices. We deduct this reserve from revenue and include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
Patient Assistance Program and Charitable Support
It is our policy that no patient be denied Korlym due to inability to pay. We provide financial assistance to eligible patients whose insurance policies have high deductibles or co-payments and deduct the amount of such assistance from gross revenue. We determine the assistance we provide each patient by applying our program guidelines to that patient’s financial position and their insurance policy’s co-payment and deductible requirements. We also donate cash to charities that help patients with financial need pay for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome (which treatment may not include Korlym). We do not include in our revenue payments these charities make on behalf of patients receiving Korlym. We provide Korlym at no cost to uninsured patients who do not qualify for charitable support.
Inventory and Cost of Sales
We value inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value and determine the cost of inventory we sell using the specific identification method, which approximates a first-in, first-out basis. We assess our inventory levels at each reporting period and write down inventory that is either expected to be at risk of expiration prior to sale, has a cost basis in excess of its expected net realizable value, or for which there are inventory quantities in excess of expected requirements. We destroy expired inventory and recognize the related costs as cost of sales in that period’s statement of income.
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Cost of sales includes the cost of manufacturing Korlym, including materials, third-party manufacturing costs and indirect personnel and other overhead costs, based on the number of Korlym tablets for which we recognize revenue, as well as costs of stability testing, logistics and distribution.
FY 2022 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001628280-23-005581.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand our results of operations and financial condition and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to financial statements, risk factors and other disclosures included in this Form 10-K. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”).
We make statements in this section that are “forward-looking” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. For a complete discussion of such statements and the potential risks and uncertainties that may affect their accuracy, see the “Risk Factors” section of this Form 10-K and the “Overview” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” sections of this MD&A.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrine, oncologic, metabolic and neurological disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol.
Cushing’s Syndrome
Korlym. We sell Korlym in the United States, using experienced sales representatives to call on physicians caring for patients with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (hypercortisolism). Because many people who suffer from Cushing’s syndrome are undiagnosed or inadequately treated, we have developed and continue to refine and expand programs to educate physicians and patients about screening for hypercortisolism and the role Korlym can play in treating patients with the disorder. We also have a field-based force of medical science liaisons.
We use one specialty pharmacy and one specialty distributor to distribute Korlym and provide logistical support to physicians and patients. Our policy is that no patient with Cushing’s syndrome will be denied access to Korlym for financial reasons. To help us achieve that goal, we fund our own patient support programs and donate money to independent charitable foundations that help patients pay for all aspects of their Cushing’s syndrome care, whether or not that care includes taking Korlym.
Relacorilant. We are conducting two Phase 3 trials (named GRACE and GRADIENT) of our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, relacorilant, as a treatment for patients with Cushing’s syndrome. Relacorilant was well-tolerated in its Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials. Patients in the Phase 2 trial exhibited meaningful improvements in glucose control, hypertension, weight, liver function, coagulopathy, cognition, mood, insulin resistance and quality of life measures. Relacorilant shares Korlym’s affinity for the glucocorticoid receptor (“GR”), but, unlike Korlym, has no affinity for the progesterone receptor (“PR”), and so is not the “abortion pill” and does not cause other effects associated with PR affinity, including endometrial thickening and vaginal bleeding. Relacorilant also does not appear to cause hypokalemia (low potassium), a potentially serious condition that is a leading cause of patients stopping treatment with Korlym. Forty-four percent of patients in Korlym’s pivotal trial experienced hypokalemia.
In the GRACE trial, each patient receives relacorilant for 22 weeks. Patients who exhibit pre-specified improvements in hypertension and/or glucose metabolism enter a 12-week, double-blind, “randomized withdrawal” phase, in which half of the patients continue receiving relacorilant and half receive placebo. The trial’s primary endpoint is the rate and degree of relapse of hypertension in patients receiving placebo measured against the rate and degree of relapse of hypertension in those continuing relacorilant. GRACE has a planned enrollment of 130 patients with Cushing’s syndrome at sites in the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. If successful, we expect GRACE to provide the basis for a new drug application (“NDA”) for relacorilant as a treatment for patients with any etiology of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome.
Our second Phase 3 trial of relacorilant, GRADIENT, is studying patients whose Cushing’s syndrome is caused by a benign adrenal tumor. These patients often exhibit less severe symptoms or have a more gradual course of disease than patients with other etiologies of Cushing’s syndrome, although their health outcomes are ultimately poor. Half of the patients in GRADIENT will receive relacorilant for 22 weeks and half will receive placebo. The trial’s primary endpoints are improvements in glucose metabolism and hypertension. The planned enrollment for this study is 130 patients. Many of the clinical sites in GRACE are participating in GRADIENT.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and the European Commission (“EC”) have designated relacorilant as an orphan drug for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome. In the United States, relacorilant’s orphan designation confers tax credits, reduced regulatory fees and, provided we obtain approval for the treatment of patients with Cushing’s syndrome, seven years of exclusive marketing rights. Benefits of orphan drug designation by the EC are similar, but also
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include protocol assistance from the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), access to the centralized marketing authorization procedure in the European Union (“EU”) and, if we obtain approval, ten years of exclusive marketing rights in the EU for the treatment of patients with Cushing’s syndrome.
Oncology
There is substantial evidence that cortisol activity at the GR reduces the efficacy of certain anti-cancer therapies and that modulating cortisol’s activity may help anti-cancer treatments achieve their intended effect. In some cancers, cortisol retards cellular apoptosis – the tumor-killing effect many treatments are meant to stimulate. In other cancers, cortisol activity promotes tumor growth. Cortisol also suppresses the body’s immune response; activating – not suppressing – the immune system is beneficial in fighting certain cancers. Many types of solid tumors express the GR and are potential targets for cortisol modulation therapy, among them ovarian, adrenal and prostate cancer.
Relacorilant in Patients with Advanced Ovarian Cancer. In May 2021, we announced preliminary results from our 178-patient, controlled, multi-center, Phase 2 trial of relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Study participants were randomized to one of three treatment arms: 60 women received 150 mg of relacorilant intermittently (the day before, the day of and the day after their weekly nab-paclitaxel infusion) and 58 women received a daily relacorilant dose of 100 mg per day in addition to nab-paclitaxel. Sixty women received nab-paclitaxel alone. The trial’s primary endpoint was progression-free survival (i.e., the time from random assignment in a clinical trial to disease progression or death from any cause or “PFS”).
Patients in both of the relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel treatment arms experienced longer PFS than did the patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received a higher dose of relacorilant intermittently exhibited a statistically significant improvement in median PFS (5.6 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.66; p-value: 0.038). Patients who received a lower dose of relacorilant daily exhibited a median PFS that was 1.5 months longer than did the patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone (5.3 months versus 3.8 months, hazard ratio: 0.83; p-value: not significant). Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also had a longer median duration of response (“DoR”) (5.6 months versus 3.7 months, hazard ratio: 0.36; p-value: 0.006) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone. Patients who received relacorilant intermittently also lived longer (median OS: 13.9 months versus 12.2 months, hazard ratio: 0.67; p-value: 0.066) compared to those who received nab-paclitaxel alone.
Safety and tolerability of relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel were comparable to nab-paclitaxel monotherapy.
In June 2022, we initiated a pivotal Phase 3 trial (“ROSELLA”) that seeks to replicate the positive results observed in our Phase 2 study. ROSELLA has a planned enrollment of 360 women with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, randomized 1:1 to receive either relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel monotherapy. The primary endpoint is PFS, with overall survival as a key secondary endpoint. Patients in ROSELLA will have received prior bevacizumab therapy, which is the standard of care in the United States for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Women with a history of tumors that do not respond to initial platinum-based treatments (i.e., women with “primary platinum-refractory” disease) and those who have received more than three prior lines of therapy will be excluded.
In our Phase 2 trial, women who met the entry criteria for ROSELLA and received relacorilant intermittently experienced significantly improved PFS (median: 7.3 months versus 3.7 months, hazard ratio: 0.40; p-value: 0.005) and OS (median: 17.9 months versus 12.6 months, hazard ratio: 0.38; p-value: 0.011) relative to patients in the comparator arm. The patients in the intermittent arm also experienced a significant improvement in DoR relative to those in the comparator arm (median: 5.6 months versus 3.1 months, hazard ratio: 0.29; p-value: 0.016).
Relacorilant in Patients with Adrenal Cancer with Cortisol Excess. We are conducting an open-label, Phase 1b trial of relacorilant plus the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic or unresectable adrenal cancer whose tumors produce cortisol. The trial is examining whether adding relacorilant to pembrolizumab therapy reduces cortisol-activated immune suppression sufficiently to help pembrolizumab achieve its intended tumor-killing effect. Relacorilant is also expected to treat the patients’ Cushing’s syndrome generated by their tumors’ excess production of cortisol.
Relacorilant in Patients with Prostate Cancer. Androgen deprivation is the standard treatment for prostate cancer because androgens stimulate prostate tumor growth. Tumors often escape androgen deprivation therapy when cortisol’s activity at the GR stimulates tumor growth. Combining a cortisol modulator with an androgen modulator may block this escape route. Our collaborators at the University of Chicago plan to initiate a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial of relacorilant plus enzalutamide in patients with prostate cancer, pre-prostatectomy. We are providing relacorilant and placebo for the study and have licensed patents covering the use of relacorilant combined with anticancer agents such as enzalutamide in the treatment of patients with this indication.
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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (“ALS”)
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a devastating neuromuscular illness. Our selective cortisol modulator dazucorilant improved motor performance and reduced neuroinflammation and muscular atrophy in animal models of ALS. Following these compelling results, in October 2022 we initiated a Phase 2 trial of dazucorilant (the “DAZALS” trial) in patients with ALS. DAZALS has a planned enrollment of 198 patients, randomized 1:1:1 to receive either 150 mg or 300 mg of dazucorilant or placebo daily for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint is the difference between dazucorilant and placebo demonstrated by patients on the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R).
Metabolic Diseases
Liver Disease. NASH is an advanced form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that afflicts millions of patients and is a leading cause of liver-related mortality. In April 2021, we suspended our Phase 2a trial of our selective cortisol modulator miricorilant as a potential treatment for NASH after four of the five patients who received miricorilant exhibited both elevated liver enzymes and large rapid reductions in liver fat. Liver enzyme levels in all affected patients returned to baseline or below baseline after miricorilant was withdrawn. Our ongoing Phase 1b dose-finding trial in patients with presumed NASH has identified a range of doses that appear to cause large reductions in liver fat without causing excessive liver irritation. We plan to start a Phase 2 trial in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain (“AIWG”). In the United States, six million people take antipsychotic medications such as olanzapine and risperidone to treat illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. While these drugs are very effective, they often cause rapid and sustained weight gain, other metabolic disturbances and, ultimately, cardiovascular disease. Patients taking these medications experience a 10 to 25-year reduction in life expectancy, due largely to increased cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes. Patients in our two double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 trials of miricorilant (GRATITUDE and GRATITUDE II) did not experience reversal of AIWG. However, multiple replicated pre-clinical results as well as the results of our double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (Hunt et al., 2021)) suggest that miricorilant has the potential to significantly reduce weight gain caused by the administration of olanzapine. Accordingly, we plan to further study miricorilant’s potential to prevent AIWG.
COVID-19 Pandemic
Public health restrictions put in place to reduce the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, as well as measures voluntarily undertaken by patients, physicians, hospitals and medical clinics, have reduced our revenue growth and make it difficult to grow our Korlym business.
The pandemic’s impact on the pace of our clinical development programs has been variable. Some of our trials of indications not considered immediately life-threatening, such as Cushing’s syndrome, have experienced slower enrollment. In addition, some clinical sites have reduced the frequency with which physicians see study participants. Our trials in patients with immediately life-threatening diseases, such as our Phase 2 trial in women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, have not encountered delays.
We expect that pandemic-related impediments to our business will continue so long as there are COVID-19 public health restrictions and/or risk-reducing behavior by physicians and patients.
Please see “COVID-19 Pandemic” under Item 1 of this Annual Report and the risk factor under Item 1A of this Annual Report, “The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected and is continuing to adversely affect our business.”
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) was enacted on August 16, 2022. The IRA includes provisions imposing a 1% excise tax on share repurchases that occur after December 31, 2022 and introduces a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax (“CAMT”) on adjusted financial statement income. The CAMT will be effective for us beginning on January 1, 2024. We do not expect the CAMT to have a significant effect on our consolidated financial statements.
Results of Operations
Net Product Revenue – Net product revenue is gross product revenue from sales to our customers less deductions for estimated government rebates and chargebacks.
Net product revenue was $401.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $366.0 million and $353.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, sales
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volume accounted for 54.6 percent and 20.7 percent of the increases, respectively. Increases in the average price of Korlym accounted for the remaining growth due to price increases effective January 1, 2022 and March 1, 2021.
Cost of sales – Cost of sales includes the cost of API, tableting, packaging, personnel, overhead, stability testing and distribution.
Cost of sales was $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $5.3 million and $5.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Cost of sales as a percentage of revenue was 1.3 percent, 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The decreases in cost of sales as a percentage of revenue are due to reduced manufacturing costs and increased price of Korlym.
Research and development expense – Research and development expense includes the cost of (1) recruiting and compensating development personnel, (2) clinical trials, (3) drug product and preclinical studies in support of clinical trials and regulatory submissions, (4) discovery research and (5) the development of drug formulations and manufacturing processes.
Research and development expense was $131.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $113.9 million for the comparable period in 2021. The increase was primarily due to the advancement of our development programs and increased spending on employee compensation expenses.
Research and development expense was $113.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $114.8 million for the comparable period in 2020. The decrease was primarily due to a decline in spending on our oncology program due to timing and completion of patient enrollments in our clinical trials, partially offset by increased spending on employee recruiting and compensation expenses and the advancement of our other development programs.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020(1) | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||||
| Development programs: | ||||||||||
| Oncology | $ | 20,987 | $ | 17,984 | $ | 34,207 | ||||
| Cushing’s syndrome | 30,031 | 28,639 | 26,821 | |||||||
| Metabolic diseases | 24,270 | 20,594 | 20,408 | |||||||
| Pre-clinical and early-stage selective cortisol modulators and ALS | 26,084 | 21,924 | 14,726 | |||||||
| Unallocated activities, including manufacturing and regulatory activities | 16,819 | 10,617 | 7,380 | |||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 12,800 | 14,106 | 11,222 | |||||||
| Total research and development expense | $ | 130,991 | $ | 113,864 | $ | 114,764 | ||||
| (1) Beginning in the first quarter of 2021, expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 previously allocated to oncology and endocrinology were re-allocated between Cushing's syndrome, metabolic diseases and pre-clinical development programs. |
It is difficult to predict the timing and cost of development activities, which are subject to many uncertainties and risks, including inconclusive or negative results, slow patient enrollment, adverse side effects, difficulties in the formulation or manufacture of study drugs and the lack of drug-candidate efficacy. In addition, clinical development is subject to government oversight and regulations that may change without notice. We expect our research and development expense to be higher in 2023 than in 2022 as our clinical programs advance. Research and development spending in future years will depend on the outcome of our pre-clinical and clinical trials and our development plans.
Selling, general and administrative expense – Selling, general and administrative expense includes (1) compensation of employees, consultants and contractors engaged in commercial and administrative activities, (2) the cost of vendors supporting commercial activities and (3) legal and accounting fees.
Selling, general and administrative expense was $152.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $122.4 million for the comparable period in 2021. The increase was primarily due to increased sales and marketing activities, employee compensation expenses, and legal fees.
Selling, general and administrative expense was $122.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $105.3 million for the comparable period in 2020. The increase was primarily due to increases in employee recruiting and compensation expenses, sales and marketing expenses and professional services.
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We expect our selling, general and administrative expense to be higher in 2023 than in 2022 due to increased commercial and administrative activities, including litigation and administrative support for increased research and development and marketing efforts.
Settlement expense and insurance recovery related to Melucci litigation – In connection with the Proposed Settlement of the Melucci litigation, we recorded a settlement expense of $14.0 million and corresponding insurance recovery of $14.0 million in Operating Expenses on our Consolidated Statement of Income in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Interest and other income – Interest and other income for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $3.6 million, $0.5 million and $3.4 million, respectively, and consisted primarily of interest income from marketable securities. Interest and other income increased for the year ended December 31, 2022 from the comparable periods in 2021 and 2020 due to a higher cash and investment balance and market-wide increases in interest rates.
Income tax expense – Income tax expense was $14.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $12.5 million for the comparable period in 2021. Income tax expense increased for the year ended December 31, 2022 from the comparable period in 2021 due to decreased excess tax benefits for stock option exercises compared to 2021. Income tax expense was $12.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $25.6 million for the comparable period in 2020. Income tax expense decreased for the year ended December 31, 2021 from the comparable period in 2020 primarily due to increases in excess tax benefits for stock option exercises compared to 2020. While our core effective tax rate has remained relatively consistent throughout the years, the tax rate can vary based upon the timing of provisions related to discrete tax items, including current and future excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since 2015, we have relied on revenues from the sale of Korlym to fund our operations.
Based on our current plans and expectations, we expect to fund our operations and planned research and development activities over the next 12 months and beyond without needing to raise additional funds, although we may choose to raise additional funds for other reasons. If we were to raise funds, equity financing would be dilutive, debt financing could involve restrictive covenants and funds raised through collaborations with other companies may require us to relinquish certain rights in our product candidates.
As of December 31, 2022, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $436.6 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $66.3 million and marketable securities of $370.3 million, compared to cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $335.8 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $77.6 million and marketable securities of $258.2 million as of December 31, 2021.
The cash in our bank accounts and our marketable securities could be reduced or our access to them restricted if the financial institutions holding them were to fail or severely adverse conditions were to arise in the markets for public or private debt securities. We have never experienced a lack of access to cash or material realized losses.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $120.3 million, $167.9 million and $152.0 million, respectively. The decrease for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to 2021 was primarily due to higher current income taxes resulting from the capitalization of research and development costs for tax purposes. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 2020 was primarily due to higher revenue.
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $(114.3) million, $136.1 million and $(119.3) million, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to 2021 was primarily due to allocation of cash generated from our operating activities towards marketable securities rather than share repurchases. The change for the years ended December 31, 2021 compared to 2020 was primarily due to our use of cash for the repurchase of our common stock instead of increasing our investment in marketable securities.
In the year ended December 31, 2022, we spent $21.7 million acquiring shares of our common stock in connection with the net exercise of employee and director stock options and vesting of restricted stock grants, offset by $4.4 million received from the exercise of stock options and purchases through our Employee Stock Purchase Plan, resulting in net cash used in financing activities of $17.3 million. In the comparable periods in 2021 and 2020, we spent $318.8 million and $11.0 million, respectively, acquiring shares of our common stock, offset by $16.2 million and $23.2 million received from the exercise of stock options, respectively, resulting in net cash used in financing activities of $302.6 million for the year ended and net cash provided by financing activities of $12.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.
As of December 31, 2022, we had retained earnings of $296.4 million.
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Manufacturing Purchase Commitments
We have contractual payment obligations and purchase commitments, the timing of which are contingent on future events, including the initiation and completion of manufacturing projects. In March 2014, we entered into a long-term agreement with one contract manufacturer, PCAS to produce mifepristone, the API for Korlym. On July 25, 2018, we amended this agreement to add a second manufacturing site and extend its term to December 31, 2021, with two one-year automatic renewals, unless either party provides 12 months advance written notice of its intent not to renew. The amendment provides exclusivity between PCAS and Corcept. If PCAS is unable to meet our requirements, we may purchase mifepristone from another supplier.
We have agreements with two third-party manufacturers to produce and bottle Korlym tablets.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $1.5 million remaining in commitments to purchase API from PCAS and have a $0.2 million commitment to purchase Korlym tablets.
Net Operating Loss Carryforwards
See Note 9, Income Taxes in our audited consolidated financial statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the amount of assets, liabilities and expenses we report. We base our estimates on historical experience and on other assumptions we believe to be reasonable. Actual results may differ from our estimates. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 1, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe the following accounting estimates and policies to be critical:
Net Product Revenue
To determine net product revenue, we deduct from sales the cost of our patient co-pay assistance program and our estimates of (i) government chargebacks and rebates, (ii) discounts provided to our specialty distributor (“SD”) for prompt payment and (iii) reserves for expected returns. We record these estimates at the time we recognize revenue and update them as new information becomes available. Our estimates take into account our understanding of the range of possible outcomes. If results differ from our estimates, we adjust our estimates, which changes our net product revenue and earnings. We report any changes in the period they become known, even if they concern transactions occurring in prior periods.
Government Rebates
Korlym is eligible for purchase by, or qualifies for reimbursement from, Medicaid, Medicare and other government programs that are eligible for rebates on the price they pay for Korlym. To determine the appropriate amount to reserve against these rebates, we identify Korlym sold to patients covered by government-funded programs, apply the applicable government discount to these sales, then estimate the portion of total rebates we expect will be claimed. We (i) deduct this reserve from revenue in the period to which the rebates relate and (ii) include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
Chargebacks
Although we sell Korlym to the SD at full price, some of the government entities to which the SD sells receive a discount. The SD recovers the full amount of any related discounts by reducing its payment to us (this reduction is called a “chargeback”). Chargebacks sometimes relate to Korlym sold to the SD in prior periods. We deduct from our revenue in each period chargebacks claimed by the SD for Korlym we sold to the SD that period. We also create a reserve for chargebacks we estimate the SD will claim in future periods against Korlym it purchased in the current period but has not yet resold. We determine the amount of this reserve based on our experience with SD chargebacks and our understanding of the SD’s customer base and business practices. We deduct this reserve from revenue and include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
Patient Assistance Program and Charitable Support
It is our policy that no patient be denied Korlym due to inability to pay. We provide financial assistance to eligible patients whose insurance policies have high deductibles or co-payments and deduct the amount of such assistance from gross revenue. We determine the assistance we provide each patient by applying our program guidelines to that patient’s financial
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position and their insurance policy’s co-payment and deductible requirements. We also donate cash to charities that help patients with financial need pay for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome (which treatment may not include Korlym). We do not include in our revenue payments these charities make on behalf of patients receiving Korlym. We provide Korlym at no cost to uninsured patients who do not qualify for charitable support.
Inventory and Cost of Sales
We value inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value and determine the cost of inventory we sell using the specific identification method, which approximates a first-in, first-out basis. We assess our inventory levels at each reporting period and write down inventory that is either expected to be at risk of expiration prior to sale, has a cost basis in excess of its expected net realizable value, or for which there are inventory quantities in excess of expected requirements. We destroy expired inventory and recognize the related costs as cost of sales in that period’s statement of income.
Cost of sales includes the cost of manufacturing Korlym, including materials, third-party manufacturing costs and indirect personnel and other overhead costs, based on the number of Korlym tablets for which we recognize revenue, as well as costs of stability testing, logistics and distribution.
FY 2021 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001628280-22-002714.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand our results of operations and financial condition and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to financial statements, risk factors and other disclosures included in this Form 10-K. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”).
We make statements in this section that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. For a complete discussion of such forward-looking statements and the potential risks and uncertainties that may affect their accuracy, see “Forward-Looking Statements” included in “Risk Factors” in this Form 10-K and the “Overview” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” sections of this MD&A.
Overview
We are a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of drugs that treat severe metabolic, oncologic and neuropsychiatric disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol. Since 2012, we have marketed Korlym (mifepristone) for the treatment of patients suffering from Cushing’s syndrome. Our portfolio of proprietary selective cortisol modulators consists of four structurally distinct series totaling more than 1,000 compounds.
Cushing’s Syndrome
Korlym. We sell Korlym in the United States, using experienced clinical sales representatives to call on physicians caring for patients with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (hypercortisolism). Because many people who suffer from Cushing’s syndrome are undiagnosed or inadequately treated, we have developed and continue to refine and expand programs to educate physicians and patients about screening for hypercortisolism and the role Korlym can play in treating patients with the disorder. We also have a field-based force of medical science liaisons.
We use one specialty pharmacy and one specialty distributor to distribute Korlym and provide logistical support to physicians and patients. Our policy is that no patient with Cushing’s syndrome will be denied access to Korlym for financial reasons. To help us achieve that goal, we fund our own patient support programs and donate money to independent charitable foundations that help patients pay for all aspects of their Cushing’s syndrome care, whether or not that care includes taking Korlym.
Relacorilant. We are conducting two Phase 3 trials (named GRACE and GRADIENT) of our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator, relacorilant, as a treatment for patients with Cushing’s syndrome.
Each patient in GRACE receives relacorilant for 22 weeks. Patients who exhibit pre-specified improvements in hypertension or glucose metabolism enter a 12-week, double-blind, “randomized withdrawal” phase, in which half of the patients continue receiving relacorilant and half receive placebo. The trial’s primary endpoint is the rate and degree of relapse in patients receiving placebo measured against the rate and degree of relapse in those continuing relacorilant. GRACE has a planned enrollment of 130 patients with any etiology of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome at sites in the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel.
Our GRADIENT trial is studying patients whose Cushing’s syndrome is caused by a benign adrenal tumor. Half of the patients in GRADIENT will receive relacorilant for 26 weeks and half will receive placebo. The trial’s primary endpoints are improvement in glucose metabolism and hypertension. The planned enrollment for this study is 130 patients. Many of the clinical sites in GRACE are participating in GRADIENT.
The FDA and the EC have designated relacorilant as an orphan drug for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome.
Oncology
There is substantial in vitro, in vivo and clinical evidence that cortisol’s activity allows certain types of solid tumors to resist treatment. Many types of solid tumors express GR and are potential targets for cortisol modulation therapy.
Relacorilant in Patients with Advanced Ovarian Cancer. In May 2021, we announced positive preliminary results from our 178-patient, controlled, multi-center, Phase 2 trial of relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel in patients with platinum resistant ovarian cancer.
Based on these positive results, we plan to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 trial in the second quarter of 2022.
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Exicorilant and Relacorilant in Patients with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (“CRPC”). Androgen deprivation is the standard treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. Tumors often escape androgen deprivation therapy when cortisol activity at GR supplants androgen activity at its receptor in stimulating tumor growth. We are conducting a dose-finding trial of our proprietary, selective cortisol modulator exicorilant in combination with enzalutamide in patients with metastatic CRPC. Investigators at the University of Chicago are conducting a dose-finding trial of relacorilant combined with enzalutamide in the same patient population.
Relacorilant in Patients with Adrenal Cancer with Cortisol Excess. We are conducting an open-label, Phase 1b trial of relacorilant plus the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in 20 patients with metastatic or unresectable adrenal cancer with cortisol excess. The trial is examining whether adding relacorilant to pembrolizumab therapy reduces cortisol-activated immune suppression sufficiently to help pembrolizumab achieve its intended tumor-killing effect, while relacorilant treats the Cushing’s syndrome caused by excess cortisol activity.
Metabolic Diseases
AIWG. We are conducting two double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 trials of miricorilant in patients with AIWG – GRATITUDE and GRATITUDE II.
GRATITUDE is evaluating whether a daily dose of miricorilant can reverse recent AIWG. Study participants receive their established antipsychotic medication plus either miricorilant or placebo for 12 weeks. GRATITUDE has planned enrollment of 100 patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and is being conducted at 30 sites in the United States.
GRATITUDE II is evaluating whether miricorilant can reverse long-standing AIWG. Study participants receive their established antipsychotic medication plus either miricorilant or placebo for 26 weeks. GRATITUDE II has planned enrollment of 150 patients with schizophrenia and is being conducted at 35 centers in the United States.
The primary endpoint in both the GRATITUDE and GRATITUDE II trials is the change in body weight from baseline, relative to placebo.
Liver Disease. We are also studying miricorilant as a potential treatment for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (“NASH”). In April 2021, we suspended our Phase 2a trial after observing elevated liver enzymes in four of the five patients who received miricorilant, which resolved after miricorilant was withdrawn. The patients with elevated liver enzymes exhibited large, rapid reductions in liver fat. We are conducting a Phase 1b dose-finding trial in patients with presumed NASH to see if an alternative dosing regimen can capture this benefit without causing excessive liver irritation.
Neurological Disorders
Our selective cortisol modulator dazucorilant (formerly “CORT113176”), which has shown promise in animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“ALS”), has completed its Phase 1 trial. We plan to advance it to Phase 2 as a potential treatment for that disease.
COVID-19 Pandemic
Much of the world is subject to varying degrees of pandemic-related public health restrictions, including California, where we are headquartered, and in the jurisdictions where our vendors are located and where we sell Korlym and conduct clinical trials.
These restrictions, as well as measures voluntarily undertaken by patients, physicians, hospitals and medical clinics, have reduced our revenue and make it difficult to grow our Korlym business.
The pandemic’s impact on the pace of our clinical development programs has been variable. Our trials of indications not considered immediately life-threatening, such as Cushing’s syndrome, CRPC and AIWG have experienced slower enrollment. In addition, some clinical sites have stopped enrolling new patients or have reduced the frequency with which physicians see study participants. Some sites have suspended or halted the initiation of new clinical trials. Our trials in patients with immediately life-threatening diseases, such as advanced pancreatic and ovarian cancer, did not encounter delays.
We expect that pandemic-related impediments to our business will continue so long as there are COVID-19 public health restrictions and risk-reducing behavior by physicians and patients in the locations where we do business and conduct our clinical trials.
Please see “COVID-19 Pandemic” under Item 1 of this Annual Report and the risk factor under Item 1A of this Annual Report, “The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected and is continuing to adversely affect our business. Other public
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health emergencies, natural disasters, terrorism or other catastrophes could disrupt our activities and render our own or our vendors’ facilities and equipment inoperable or inaccessible and require us to curtail or cease operations.”
Results of Operations
Net Product Revenue – Net product revenue is gross product revenue from sales to our customers less deductions for estimated government rebates and chargebacks.
Net product revenue was $366.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $353.9 million and $306.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, higher sales volumes accounted for 20.7 percent and 31.9 percent of the increases, respectively, as we shipped Korlym to more patients. Increases in the average price of Korlym accounted for the remaining growth. The increase in Korlym’s price for the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to a price increase effective March 1, 2021.
Cost of sales – Cost of sales includes the cost of API, tableting, packaging, personnel, overhead, stability testing and distribution.
Cost of sales was $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $5.6 million and $5.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Cost of sales as a percentage of revenue was 1.4 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The decreases in cost of sales as a percentage of revenue are due to the increased average price of Korlym and reduced manufacturing costs.
Research and development expense – Research and development expense includes the cost of (1) recruiting and compensating development personnel, (2) clinical trials, (3) drug product and preclinical studies in support of clinical trials and regulatory submissions, (4) discovery research and (5) the development of drug formulations and manufacturing processes.
Research and development expense was $113.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $114.8 million for the comparable period in 2020. The decrease was primarily due to a decline in spending on our oncology program due to timing and completion of patient enrollments in our clinical trials, partially offset by increased spending on employee recruiting and compensation expenses and the advancement of our other development programs.
Research and development expense was $114.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $89.0 million for the comparable period in 2019. The increase was due to increased spending on the advancement of our development programs and employee recruiting and compensation expenses.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020(1) | 2019(1) | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||||
| Development programs: | ||||||||||
| Oncology | $ | 17,984 | $ | 34,207 | $ | 20,657 | ||||
| Cushing’s syndrome | 28,639 | 26,821 | 24,010 | |||||||
| Metabolic diseases | 20,594 | 20,408 | 19,545 | |||||||
| Pre-clinical and early-stage selective cortisol modulators | 21,924 | 14,726 | 10,546 | |||||||
| Unallocated activities, including manufacturing and regulatory activities | 10,617 | 7,380 | 4,718 | |||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 14,106 | 11,222 | 9,541 | |||||||
| Total research and development expense | $ | 113,864 | $ | 114,764 | $ | 89,017 | ||||
| (1) Beginning in the first quarter of 2021, expenses for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 previously allocated to oncology and endocrinology were re-allocated between Cushing's syndrome, metabolic diseases and pre-clinical development programs. |
It is difficult to predict the timing and cost of development activities, which are subject to many uncertainties and risks, including inconclusive or negative results, slow patient enrollment, adverse side effects, difficulties in the formulation or manufacture of study drugs and the lack of drug-candidate efficacy. In addition, clinical development is subject to government oversight and regulations that may change without notice. We expect our research and development expense to be higher in 2022 than in 2021 as our clinical programs advance. Research and development spending in future years will depend on the outcome of our pre-clinical and clinical trials and our development plans.
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Selling, general and administrative expense - Selling, general and administrative expense includes (1) compensation of employees, consultants and contractors engaged in commercial and administrative activities, (2) the cost of vendors supporting commercial activities and (3) legal and accounting fees.
Selling, general and administrative expense was $122.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $105.3 million for the comparable period in 2020. The increase was primarily due to increases in employee recruiting and compensation expenses, sales and marketing expenses and professional services.
Selling, general and administrative expense was $105.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $100.4 million for the comparable period in 2019. The increase was primarily due to increases in employee recruiting and compensation expenses, legal and marketing costs, volume-related pharmacy and other distribution costs and professional service fees.
We expect our selling, general and administrative expense to be higher in 2022 than in 2021 due to increased commercial and administrative activities, including litigation and administrative support for increased research and development.
Interest and other income - Interest and other income for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was $0.5 million, $3.4 million and $5.1 million, respectively, and consisted primarily of interest income from marketable securities. Interest and other income decreased for the year ended December 31, 2021 from the comparable periods in 2020 and 2019 primarily due to market-wide reductions in interest rates.
Income tax expense - Income tax expense was $12.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to $25.6 million for the comparable period in 2020. The decrease in income tax expense was due to a decrease in our effective tax rate from 10 percent for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 19.4 percent for the comparable period in 2020. The decrease in the effective tax rate in 2021 as compared to 2020 and 2019 is primarily due to increased excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation in 2021. While our core effective tax rate has remained relatively consistent throughout the years, the tax rate can vary based upon the timing of provisions related to discrete tax items, including current and future excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since 2015, we have relied on revenues from the sale of Korlym to fund our operations.
Based on our current plans and expectations, we expect to fund our operations and planned research and development activities over the next 12 months and beyond without needing to raise additional funds, although we may choose to raise additional funds for other reasons. If we were to raise funds, equity financing would be dilutive, debt financing could involve restrictive covenants and funds raised through collaborations with other companies may require us to relinquish certain rights in our product candidates.
As of December 31, 2021, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $335.8 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $77.6 million and marketable securities of $258.2 million, compared to cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $476.9 million, consisting of cash and cash equivalents of $76.2 million and marketable securities of $400.7 million as of December 31, 2020.
The cash in our bank accounts and our marketable securities could be affected if the financial institutions holdings them were to fail or severely adverse conditions were to rise in the markets for public or private debt securities. We have never experienced a loss or lack of access to cash.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was $167.9 million, $152.0 million and $136.1 million, respectively. These increases were primarily due to higher revenue as a result of increases in Korlym’s price and shipping volume.
Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $136.1 million. Net cash used in investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was $119.3 million and $117.8 million, respectively. The change in net cash from investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 2020 was primarily due to our use of cash for financing activities (specifically, the repurchase of our common stock) instead of increasing our investment in marketable securities. The change in net cash used in investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2020 compared to 2019 was primarily due to increased purchases of marketable securities with cash generated by our operating activities.
In the year ended December 31, 2021, we spent $318.8 million acquiring shares of our common stock ($207.5 million pursuant to our tender offer, $88.5 million pursuant to our Stock Repurchase Program that expired on September 31, 2021 and $22.8 million in connection with the net exercise of employee and director stock options), offset by $16.2 million received from
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the exercise of stock options, resulting in net cash used in financing activities of $302.6 million. In the comparable periods in 2020 and 2019, we spent $11.0 million and $37.1 million, respectively, acquiring shares of our common stock, offset by $23.2 million and $8.4 million received from the exercise of stock options, respectively, resulting in net cash provided by financing activities of $12.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and net cash used in financing activities of $28.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019.
As of December 31, 2021, we had retained earnings of $195.0 million.
Manufacturing Purchase Commitments
We have other contractual payment obligations and purchase commitments, the timing of which are contingent on future events, including the initiation and completion of manufacturing projects. In March 2014, we entered into a long-term agreement with one contract manufacturer, PCAS to produce mifepristone, the API for Korlym. On July 25, 2018, we amended this agreement to add a second manufacturing site and extend its term to December 31, 2021, with two one-year automatic renewals, unless either party provides 12 months advance written notice of its intent not to renew. The amendment provides exclusivity between PCAS and Corcept. If PCAS is unable to meet our requirements, we may purchase mifepristone from another supplier.
We have agreements with two third-party manufacturers to produce and bottle Korlym tablets.
As of December 31, 2021, we had $2.0 million remaining in commitments to purchase API from PCAS and have a $0.1 million commitment to purchase Korlym tablets.
Net Operating Loss Carryforwards
See Note 9, Income Taxes in our audited consolidated financial statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the amount of assets, liabilities and expenses we report. We base our estimates on historical experience and on other assumptions we believe to be reasonable. Actual results may differ from our estimates. Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 1, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe the following accounting estimates and policies to be critical:
Net Product Revenue
To determine net product revenue, we deduct from sales the cost of our patient co-pay assistance program and our estimates of (i) government chargebacks and rebates, (ii) discounts provided to our specialty distributor (“SD”) for prompt payment and (iii) reserves for expected returns. We record these estimates at the time we recognize revenue and update them as new information becomes available. Our estimates take into account our understanding of the range of possible outcomes. If results differ from our estimates, we adjust our estimates, which changes our net product revenue and earnings. We report any changes in the period they become known, even if they concern transactions occurring in prior periods.
Government Rebates
Korlym is eligible for purchase by, or qualifies for reimbursement from, Medicaid and other government programs that are eligible for rebates on the price they pay for Korlym. To determine the appropriate amount to reserve against these rebates, we identify Korlym sold to patients covered by government-funded programs, apply the applicable government discount to these sales, then estimate the portion of total rebates we expect will be claimed. We (i) deduct this reserve from revenue in the period to which the rebates relate and (ii) include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
Chargebacks
Although we sell Korlym to the SD at full price, some of the government entities to which the SD sells receive a discount. The SD recovers the full amount of any related discounts by reducing its payment to us (this reduction is called a “chargeback”). Chargebacks sometimes relate to Korlym sold to the SD in prior periods. We deduct from our revenue in each period chargebacks claimed by the SD for Korlym we sold to the SD that period. We also create a reserve for chargebacks we estimate the SD will claim in future periods against Korlym it purchased in the current period but has not yet resold. We determine the amount of this reserve based on our experience with SD chargebacks and our understanding of the SD’s customer
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base and business practices. We deduct this reserve from revenue and include in accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheet a current liability of equal amount.
Patient Assistance Program and Charitable Support
It is our policy that no patient be denied Korlym due to inability to pay. We provide financial assistance to eligible patients whose insurance policies have high deductibles or co-payments and deduct the amount of such assistance from gross revenue. We determine the assistance we provide each patient by applying our program guidelines to that patient’s financial position and their insurance policy’s co-payment and deductible requirements. We also donate cash to charities that help patients with financial need pay for the treatment of Cushing’s syndrome (which treatment may not include Korlym). We do not include in our revenue payments these charities make on behalf of patients receiving Korlym. We provide Korlym at no cost to uninsured patients who do not qualify for charitable support.
Sales Returns
Federal law prohibits the return of Korlym sold to patients. Sales to our SD are subject to return. We deduct the amount of Korlym we estimate the SD will return from each period’s gross revenue. We base our estimates on quantitative and qualitative information including, but not limited to, historical return rates, the amount of Korlym held by the SD and projected demand. To date, returns have not been material.
Inventory and Cost of Sales
We value inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value and determine the cost of inventory we sell using the specific identification method, which approximates a first-in, first-out basis. We assess our inventory levels at each reporting period and write down inventory that is either expected to be at risk of expiration prior to sale, has a cost basis in excess of its expected net realizable value, or for which there are inventory quantities in excess of expected requirements. We destroy expired inventory and recognize the related costs as cost of sales in that period’s statement of comprehensive income.
Cost of sales includes the cost of manufacturing Korlym, including materials, third-party manufacturing costs and indirect personnel and other overhead costs, based on the number of Korlym tablets for which we recognize revenue, as well as costs of stability testing, logistics and distribution.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 1, Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in our audited consolidated financial statements.