form20fa.htm
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
20-F/A
(Mark
One)
|
REGISTRATION
STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT
OF 1934
|
OR
|
ANNUAL
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
|
For
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007
OR
|
TRANSITION
REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF
1934
|
OR
|
SHELL
COMPANY REPORT PURSUANTTO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
ACT OF 1934
|
Commission
file number: 1-32608
ViRexx Medical Corp.
(Exact
name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Alberta,
Canada
(Jurisdiction
of incorporation or organization)
8223
Roper Road NW, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6E 6S4
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Securities
registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the
Act.
Title
of each class
|
|
Name
of each exchange on which registered
|
Common Shares, No Par Value
|
|
The American Stock Exchange
(“AMEX”)
|
The
Common Shares are also traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”)
Securities
registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the
Act.
Securities for which there is a
reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.
As of
December 31, 2007, there were 72,760,717 outstanding common shares of ViRexx
Medical Corp.
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer as defined in
Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
If this
report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the
registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes
No
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be
filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the
preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required
to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days.
Yes No
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an
accelerated filer or a non-accelerated filer.
Large Accelerated filer
Accelerated filer
Non-accelerated
filer
Indicate
by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to
follow.
Item
17 Item
18
If
this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a
shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes No
(APPLICABLE
ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PAST FIVE
YEARS)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports
required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of the securities under a
plan confirmed by a court.
Yes
No
Table
of Contents
FORWARD
LOOKING STATEMENTS
|
5
|
PART
I
|
|
5
|
Item
1.
|
Identity
of Directors, Senior Management and Advisors
|
5
|
Item
2.
|
Offer
Statistics and Expected Timetable
|
5
|
Item
3.
|
Key
Information
|
5
|
A.
|
Selected
financial data
|
5
|
B.
|
Capitalization
and indebtedness
|
8
|
C.
|
Reasons
for the offer and use of proceeds
|
8
|
D.
|
Risk
factors
|
8
|
Item
4.
|
Information
on ViRexx
|
20
|
A.
|
History
and Development of ViRexx
|
20
|
B.
|
Business
overview
|
22
|
C.
|
Organizational
structure
|
40
|
D.
|
Property,
plants and equipment
|
41
|
Item
4A.
|
Unresolved
Staff Comments
|
41
|
Item
5.
|
Operating
and Financial Review and Prospects
|
42
|
Item
6.
|
Directors,
Senior Management and Employees
|
56
|
A.
|
Directors
and senior management
|
56
|
B.
|
Compensation
|
63
|
C.
|
Board
practices
|
65
|
D.
|
Employees
|
67
|
E.
|
Share
ownership
|
67
|
F.
|
Pension
and Retirement Plans and Payments upon Termination of
Employment
|
71
|
Item
7.
|
Major
Shareholders and Related Party Transactions
|
71
|
A.
|
Major
shareholders
|
71
|
B.
|
Related
party transactions
|
72
|
C.
|
Interests
of experts and counsel
|
72
|
Item
8.
|
Financial
Information
|
72
|
A.
|
Consolidated
Statements and Other Financial Information
|
72
|
B.
|
Significant
Changes
|
72
|
Item
9.
|
The
Offer and Listing
|
73
|
A.
|
Offer
and listing details
|
73
|
B.
|
Plan
of distribution
|
74
|
C.
|
Markets
|
75
|
D.
|
Selling
shareholders
|
75
|
E.
|
Dilution
|
75
|
F.
|
Expenses
of the issue
|
75
|
Item
10.
|
Additional
Information
|
75
|
A.
|
Share
capital
|
75
|
B.
|
Memorandum
and articles of association
|
75
|
C.
|
Material
contracts
|
79
|
D.
|
Exchange
controls
|
80
|
E.
|
Taxation
|
82
|
F.
|
Dividends
and paying agents
|
85
|
G.
|
Statement
by experts
|
85
|
H.
|
Documents
on display
|
85
|
I.
|
Subsidiary
Information
|
86
|
Item
11.
|
Quantitative
and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
|
86
|
Item
12.
|
Description
of Securities Other than Equity Securities
|
86
|
|
|
|
PART
II
|
|
86
|
|
|
|
Item
13.
|
Defaults,
Dividend Arrearages and Delinquencies
|
86
|
Item
14.
|
Material
Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of
Proceeds
|
86
|
Item
15.
|
Controls
and Procedures
|
87
|
Item
16.
|
[Reserved]
|
87
|
Item
16A
|
Audit
Committee Financial Expert
|
87
|
Item
16B
|
Code
of Ethics
|
88
|
Item
16C
|
Principal
Accountant Fees and Services
|
88
|
Item
16D
|
Exemption
from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees
|
88
|
Item
16E
|
Purchases
of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated
Purchasers
|
88
|
|
|
|
PART
III
|
|
89
|
Item
17.
|
Financial
Statements
|
89
|
Item
18.
|
Financial
Statements
|
89
|
Item
19.
|
Exhibits
|
89
|
SIGNATURES
|
|
90
|
FORWARD
LOOKING STATEMENTS
This
Annual Report on Form 20-F (the “Annual Report”) contains “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A holder of shares (“Shareholders”) can identify
these forward looking statements when they see us using words such as “expect”,
“anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “may”, “potential”, “intends”, “plans” and
other similar expressions or statements incorporating a modal verb such that an
action, event or result “will”, “may”, “could” or “should” be taken, occur or be
achieved, or the negative thereof, or other similar statements. These statements
are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements,
or industry results, to be materially different from any future results,
performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences
include our ability to successfully develop our product candidates and
commercialize them into saleable products, the introduction of competing
products, the difficulty of predicting United States Food and Drug
Administration (“FDA”), European Medicines Agency (“EMEA”) and other regulatory
authority approvals, the regulatory environment and changes in the health
policies and structures of various countries, our ability to successfully
identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions, our potential exposure to
product candidates, product liability claims, our dependence on patent and other
protections for our product candidates, fluctuations in currency, exchange and
interest rates and operating results and other risks and uncertainties described
under “ Item 3 - Key
Information - Risk Factors ” and elsewhere in this Annual
Report.
Forward-looking
statements are based on the beliefs, opinions and expectations of our management
on the date the statements are made. Although we believe that the
forward-looking statements presented in this document are reasonable, we do not
guarantee that they accurately or completely predict, reflect or state future
results, levels of activity, performance, achievements or occurrence and we do
not assume responsibility for failure to do so. Except as required by law we do
not undertake to update forward-looking information to reflect actual results,
new information, occurrence of future events, or changes in management’s
beliefs, opinions or expectations. No undue reliance should be placed on such
forward-looking statements.
PART I
In
this Annual Report, except where otherwise indicated, all references to the
“Corporation,” “we,” “our” and “ViRexx” refer to ViRexx Medical Corp., its
subsidiaries, and where the context requires, its predecessors. References to
“dollars” as “CDN$” or “$” are to Canadian dollars and references to “U.S. $”
are to United States dollars.
A.
|
Directors
and Senior Management
|
Not
applicable
Not
applicable.
Not
applicable.
Item
2.
|
OFFER
STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE
|
Not
Applicable.
A.
|
Selected
Financial Data
|
The
selected consolidated financial data presented below is derived from the audited
annual financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2007,
December 31, 2006, December 31, 2005, December 31, 2004, and December 31,
2003.
The
selected financial data should be read in conjunction with Item 5 -
“Operating and Financial Review and Prospects,” the financial statements and
other financial information included elsewhere in this Annual
Report.
We
prepared our audited consolidated financial statements in accordance with
Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (“Canadian GAAP”). Canadian
GAAP differs in certain material respects from United States generally accepted
accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). For discussion of the principal differences
between Canadian GAAP and U.S. GAAP as they pertain to us, see Note 24 to our
audited consolidated financial statements for the three years ended December 31,
2007, included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Note 24 to our audited
consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2007 also
provides a reconciliation of our audited consolidated financial statements to
U.S. GAAP.
Our
fiscal year ends on December 31 and we designate our fiscal year by the year in
which that fiscal year ends; e.g., fiscal year 2007 refers to our fiscal year
ending December 31, 2007.
(In
thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share data)
|
Years
ended December 31,
|
|
|
2007
(1)
|
|
2006
(1)
|
|
2005
(1)
|
|
2004
(1)
|
|
2003
(1)
|
|
Revenues
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating
expenses:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Research
and development
|
$ 4,761
|
|
$ |
5,937
|
|
$ 4,750
|
|
$ |
1,797
|
|
$ 383
|
|
Corporate
administration
|
4,947
|
|
|
4,977
|
|
3,650
|
|
|
1,888
|
|
893
|
|
Amortization
|
2,502
|
|
|
2,771
|
|
2,499
|
|
|
71
|
|
31
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
operating expenses
|
12,210
|
|
|
13,685
|
|
10,899
|
|
|
3,756
|
|
1,307
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss
from operations
|
(12,210)
|
|
|
(13,685)
|
|
(10,899)
|
|
|
(3,756)
|
|
(1,307)
|
|
Interest
income
|
212
|
|
|
400
|
|
222
|
|
|
143
|
|
8
|
|
Debenture
interest
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
(95)
|
|
|
(62)
|
|
(76)
|
|
Gain
(loss) on foreign exchange
|
74
|
|
|
(30)
|
|
(46)
|
|
|
15
|
|
4
|
|
Impairment
of acquired intellectual property
|
(24,991)
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
Gain
(loss) on disposal of property and equipment
|
-
|
|
|
1
|
|
-
|
|
|
2
|
|
(13)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss
before income taxes
|
(36,914)
|
|
|
(13,315)
|
|
(10,818)
|
|
|
(3,658)
|
|
(1,384)
|
|
Income
tax recovery (expense)
|
5,347
|
|
|
(4,179)
|
|
3,358
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
Net
loss and comprehensive loss
|
$ (31,568)
|
|
$ |
(17,493)
|
|
$ (7,460)
|
|
$ |
(3,658)
|
|
$ (1,384
|
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic
and diluted loss per common share
|
$ (0.43)
|
|
$ |
(0.25)
|
|
$ (0.13)
|
|
$ |
(0.14)
|
|
$ (0.15)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted
average number shares outstanding (000’s)
|
72,761
|
|
|
68,921
|
|
55,827
|
|
|
25,268
|
|
9,129
|
|
Dividends
declared per share
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
(In
thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share data)
|
As
at December 31,
|
|
2007
(1)
|
|
2006
(1)
|
|
2005
(1)
|
|
2004
(1)
|
|
2003
(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
Sheet Data:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash,
cash equivalents and short-term investments
|
$ 2,575
|
|
$ |
10,742
|
|
$ 5,572
|
|
$ |
9,463
|
|
$ 2,709
|
Total
assets
|
3,291
|
|
|
38,950
|
|
36,286
|
|
|
45,722
|
|
3,742
|
Long-term
liabilities
|
-
|
|
|
5,352
|
|
1,168
|
|
|
6,750
|
|
35
|
Total
shareholders’ equity
|
$ 1,182
|
|
$ |
31,999
|
|
$ 34,448
|
|
$ |
37,191
|
|
$ 2,095
|
(1)
Derived from the audited consolidated financial statements for the year then
ended.
Selected
U.S. GAAP Financial Data
(In
thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share data)
|
Years
ended December 31,
|
|
2007
(1)
|
|
2006
(1)
|
|
2005
(1)
|
|
2004
(1)
|
|
2003
(1)
|
Revenues
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating
expenses:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Research
and development
|
$ 4,761
|
|
$ |
5,937
|
|
$ 4,750
|
|
$ |
1,797
|
|
$ 383
|
Corporate
administration
|
4,947
|
|
|
4,977
|
|
3,650
|
|
|
1,888
|
|
1,627
|
Amortization
|
124
|
|
|
150
|
|
142
|
|
|
69
|
|
29
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
operating expenses
|
9,832
|
|
|
11,064
|
|
8,542
|
|
|
3,754
|
|
2,039
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss
from operations
|
(9,832)
|
|
|
(11,064)
|
|
(8,542)
|
|
|
(3,754)
|
|
(2,039)
|
Interest
income
|
212
|
|
|
400
|
|
222
|
|
|
143
|
|
8
|
Debenture
Interest
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
(95)
|
|
|
(62)
|
|
(76)
|
Gain
(loss) on foreign exchange
|
75
|
|
|
(31)
|
|
(46)
|
|
|
15
|
|
4
|
Gain
(loss) on disposal of property and equipment
|
-
|
|
|
1
|
|
-
|
|
|
2
|
|
(13)
|
Acquired
intellectual property
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
(27,804)
|
|
(75)
|
Loss
before income taxes
|
(9,545)
|
|
|
(10,694)
|
|
(8,461)
|
|
|
(31,460)
|
|
(2,191)
|
Income
tax expense
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
Net
loss and comprehensive loss
|
$ (9,545)
|
|
$ |
(10,694)
|
|
$ (8,461)
|
|
$ |
(31,460)
|
|
$ (2,191)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic
and diluted loss per common share
|
$ (0.13)
|
|
$ |
(0.16)
|
|
$ (0.15)
|
|
$ |
(1.25)
|
|
$ (0.24)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted
average number shares outstanding (000’s)
|
72,761
|
|
|
68,921
|
|
55,827
|
|
|
25,268
|
|
9,129
|
Dividends
declared per share
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
-
|
(In
thousands of Canadian dollars, except per share data)
|
As
at December 31,
|
|
|
2007
(1)
|
|
2006
(1)
|
|
2005
(1)
|
|
2004
(1)
|
|
2003
(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
Sheet Data:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash,
cash equivalents and short-term investments
|
|
$ 2,575
|
|
|
$ 10,742
|
|
|
$ 5,572
|
|
|
$ 9,463
|
|
|
$ 2,709
|
|
Total
assets
|
|
3,291
|
|
|
11,580
|
|
|
6,296
|
|
|
11,152
|
|
|
3,480
|
|
Long-term
liabilities
|
|
-
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
-
|
|
|
35
|
|
Total
shareholders’ equity
|
|
$ 1,182
|
|
|
$ 9,977
|
|
|
$ 5,626
|
|
|
$ 9,311
|
|
|
$ 1,774
|
|
(1)
Derived from the audited consolidated financial statements for the year then
ended.
Currency
and Exchange Rates
The
following table sets out the exchange rates for U.S. dollars expressed in terms
of one Canadian dollar in effect at the end of the following periods, and the
average exchange rates (based on the average of the exchange rates on the last
day of each month in such periods):
|
|
|
|
|
U.S.
Dollars Per One Canadian Dollar
Year
Ended December 31,
|
|
|
January
- March 2008
|
|
2007
|
|
2006
|
|
2005
|
|
2004
|
|
2003
|
|
End
of period
|
|
0.98
|
|
|
1.01
|
|
|
0.86
|
|
|
0.86
|
|
|
0.83
|
|
|
0.77
|
|
Average
for the period
|
|
1.00
|
|
|
0.93
|
|
|
0.88
|
|
|
0.82
|
|
|
0.76
|
|
|
0.71
|
|
The
following table sets out the high and low exchange rates for U.S. dollars
expressed in terms of one Canadian dollar in effect at the end of the following
periods:
|
U.S.
Dollars per One Canadian Dollar
|
|
|
March
2008
|
|
February
2008
|
|
January
2008
|
|
December
2007
|
|
November
2007
|
|
October
2007
|
|
High
for the month
|
|
0.98
|
|
|
0.98
|
|
|
0.97
|
|
|
0.97
|
|
|
0.97
|
|
|
0.97
|
|
Low
for the month
|
|
1.03
|
|
|
1.01
|
|
|
1.01
|
|
|
1.02
|
|
|
1.09
|
|
|
1.09
|
|
Exchange
rates are based upon the noon buying rate in New York, U.S. for cable transfers
in foreign currencies, as certified for customs purposes by the United States
Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The noon rate of exchange on March 28, 2008 as
reported by the United States Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the
conversion of Canadian dollars into United States dollars was CDN$1.00 =
U.S.$0.98.
B.
|
Capitalization
and Indebtedness
|
Not
applicable.
C.
|
Reasons
for the Offer and Use of Proceeds
|
Not
applicable.
An
investment in our common shares involves a high degree of risk and should be
considered speculative. You should carefully consider the risks and
uncertainties described below, as well as other information contained in this
Annual Report, including under Item 5: "Operating and Financial Review and
Prospects" and in our audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying
notes, before making any investment. If any of the following risks occur, our
business, financial condition, and results of operations could be seriously
harmed and you could lose all or part of your investment.
RISKS
RELATED TO OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION
THERE IS
EXPRESSED DOUBT ABOUT OUR ABILITY TO CONTINUE AS A GOING CONCERN, WHICH MAY
HINDER OUR ABILITY TO OBTAIN FUTURE FINANCING.
Our
audited consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report were
prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going
concern. We have incurred operating losses, expect to continue to
incur losses, and have not generated sufficient revenues since our inception.
The Company’s accumulated deficit at December 31, 2007 was $65,381,861 (2006 -
$33,814,171). If the Company is unable to achieve significant
revenues in the future or secure alternative sources of capital or financing
including milestone payments or product out-licensing, we will have inadequate
funds to continue our existing corporate, administrative, and operational
functions beyond the second quarter of 2008. We also have commitments under our
University of Alberta license agreement to make milestone payments of $250,000
when we enter Phase III clinical trials on each of the product candidates
derived from the intellectual property licensed under that
Agreement.
Our
ability to continue as a going concern is subject to our ability to generate
revenues, a profit and/or obtain necessary funding from outside sources,
including obtaining additional funding from the sale of our securities,
increasing sales or obtaining loans and grants from various financial
institutions where possible. The going concern uncertainty modification in the
auditor's report increases the difficulty in meeting such goals and there can be
no assurances that such methods will prove successful.
WE MUST
RAISE MONEY FROM INVESTORS TO FUND OUR OPERATIONS. IF WE ARE UNABLE TO FUND OUR
OPERATIONS, WE MAY CEASE DOING BUSINESS.
As at
December 31, 2007, we had cash reserves, in cash, cash equivalents and
short-term investments, of $2,575,248. On March 31, 2008, we had $1,088,666 in
cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. In fiscal year
ended December 31, 2007, we generated $2,283,769 in operating activities
compared to a use of cash of $9,027,103 in fiscal year ended December 31, 2006
and $7,551,102 in fiscal year ended December 31, 2005.
Without
additional funding and capital, we will have inadequate funds to continue our
existing corporate, administrative, and operational functions beyond the second
quarter of 2008. The average monthly amount of cash that we are using, and
expect to use over the next 12-18 months for all of our operations, is
approximately $500,000. For a further discussion of our liquidity and capital
resources, you should also refer to Item 5: "Operating and Financial Review and
Prospects" in this Annual Report.
We expect
to continue to seek additional sources of funding to finance operations into the
future, through public or private equity or debt financings, collaborative
arrangements with strategic partners and/or from other sources. We cannot assure
you that additional financing will be available or, even if it is available,
that it will be sufficient and available on terms acceptable to us.
WE HAVE
NOT DERIVED ANY REVENUE TO DATE FROM THE COMMERCIAL SALE OF PRODUCT CANDIDATES,
HAVE NEVER HAD ANY REVENUES FROM COMMERCIAL SALES AND HAVE RELIED ON EQUITY AND
DEBT FINANCINGS TO SUPPORT OUR OPERATIONS.
We have
not derived any revenue to date from the commercial sale of product candidates
and have no product candidates for sale. Our future profitability will depend
upon our ability to enter into suitable licensing or partnering arrangements to
commercialize our product candidates obtain regulatory approvals and bring
product candidates to market in a timely manner. We have relied solely on equity
and debt financing, government grants, and milestone payments from potential
product out-licensing to support our operations. We have not commercially
introduced any product candidates and the product candidates are in varying
stages of development and testing. Our ability to sell an approved commercial
product will depend upon our ability to develop products that are safe,
effective and commercially viable, to obtain regulatory approval for the
manufacture and sales of our product candidates and to license or otherwise
market our product candidates successfully. We may never commercialize an
approved product and may have to rely on equity, debt financings and
collaborative agreements to support ongoing operations.
WE HAVE A
HISTORY OF OPERATING LOSSES AND WE EXPECT TO INCUR FUTURE LOSSES. IF WE ARE
UNABLE TO ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT REVENUES IN THE FUTURE, WE WILL CEASE DOING
BUSINESS.
Since our
inception, we have incurred significant losses each year. Our accumulated
deficit from inception to December 31, 2007 is $65,381,861. We expect to
continue to incur significant operating losses as we continue our
product-candidate research and development and potential clinical trials. These
losses, among other things, have had and will continue to have an adverse effect
on our shareholders’ equity and working capital. Unless we are able to generate
sufficient product revenue, we will continue to incur losses from operations and
may not achieve or maintain profitability.
We will
need to generate significant revenues in order to achieve and maintain
profitability. Our ability to generate revenue in the future is dependent, in
large part, on completing product development, obtaining regulatory approvals,
and commercializing, or entering into agreements with third parties to
commercialize, our product candidates. We cannot assure you that we will ever
successfully commercialize or achieve revenues from sales of our therapeutic
product candidates if they are successfully developed or that we will ever
achieve or maintain profitability. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may
not be able to sustain or increase profitability.
Until we
receive regulatory approval for sales of product candidates incorporating our
licensed and/or patented technologies, we cannot sell our product candidates and
will not have revenues from sales. The research, development, production, and
marketing of new products require the application of considerable technical and
financial resources. However, any revenues generated from such product
candidates, assuming they are successfully developed, marketed, and sold, may
not be realized for a number of years.
WE EXPECT
TO CONTINUE TO INCUR SIGNIFICANT EXPENSES.
We expect
to continue to incur significant expenses connection with:
|
•
|
|
the
Chimigen™ Platform technology to develop therapeutic as well as
prophylactic vaccines for the treatment of different viral
diseases;
|
|
•
|
|
our
expenses will increase as we commence new preclinical and clinical trials
as we progress existing product candidates to more advanced phases of
pre-clinical and clinical development in the event that we are not able to
obtain a licensing partner. The more advanced trials typically require
more clinical trial participants, clinical trial sites and research
investigators than earlier stage clinical trials and are consequently more
expensive;
|
We also
expect to incur significant general and administrative expenses in support of
our increased operations as well as the ongoing costs to operate as a company
listed on the American Stock Exchange (“AMEX”) and on the Toronto Stock Exchange
(“TSX”).
Over the
longer term, the costs referred to above will fluctuate, primarily dependant on
the number and type of preclinical and clinical trials being undertaken at any
one time and the number of regulatory marketing authorizations being sought.
Costs will also increase if we are able to progress any product candidates from
preclinical testing to clinical trials or if we are able to complete clinical
trials in the event that we are not able to obtain a licensing partner of any
product candidates and seek regulatory marketing authorizations.
WE WILL
CONTINUE TO NEED SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ADDITIONAL CAPITAL THAT MAY NOT BE
AVAILABLE TO US ON FAVORABLE TERMS OR AT ALL OR WHICH MAY BE
DILUTIVE.
To date,
we have funded our operations and capital expenditures with proceeds from the
sale of our securities, government grants and interest on
investments.
In order
to achieve our goal of being a successful biotechnology company and to conduct
the lengthy and expensive research, preclinical studies, clinical trials,
regulatory approval process, manufacture, sales and marketing necessary to
complete the full development of our product candidates, we may require
substantial additional funds in addition to the funds received in connection
with the United States (“U.S.”) private offerings and the various Canadian
placements completed in 2006. In April 2008, we expect to file a
final short form prospectus for a rights offering. The subscription
price has not yet been determined and will be equal to the weighted average of
the closing price of the Company’s common shares on the TSX for each of the
trading days on which there was a closing price during the three trading days
immediately preceding the date of the final prospectus in respect of the
offering, less a discount of 25%. The Company has applied to list on
the TSX the rights distributed under the short form prospectus and the shares
issuable upon the exercise of the rights. Approval of such listing
will be subject to the Company fulfilling all of the listing requirements of the
TSX. The Company has applied to list the shares issuable upon the
exercise of the rights (but not the rights themselves) on the AMEX. Approval of
such listings will be subject to the Company fulfilling all of the listing
requirements of the AMEX. The offering will only be available to
existing shareholders on the, as yet to be determined, record
date. The Company anticipates raising net proceeds of approximately
CDN$5 million dollars which translates to approximately 12 to 18 months of
operating capital.
To
further meet our financing requirements, we may raise funds through public or
private equity offerings, debt financings, and through other means, including
collaborations and license agreements. Raising additional funds by issuing
equity or convertible debt securities may cause our shareholders to experience
significant additional dilution in their ownership interests. Raising additional
funds through debt financing, if available, may involve covenants that restrict
our business activities. Additional funding may not be available to us on
favorable terms, or at all. If we are unable to obtain additional funds, we may
be forced to delay, reduce the scope of or terminate preclinical and/or clinical
trials and the development, manufacturing and marketing of our products. To the
extent that we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing
arrangements, we may have to relinquish valuable rights and control over our
technologies, research programs or product candidates, or grant licenses on
terms that may not be favorable to us.
IF WE
FAIL TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL FINANCING, WE MAY BE UNABLE TO FUND OUR OPERATIONS AND
COMMERCIALIZE OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES.
The
Company’s focus in 2008-2009 is to concentrate its internal resources on
bringing additional Chimigen™ Platform Vaccines into development, as well as
working on establishing a partnership for the development and commercialization
of Occlusin™ 500 Artificial Embolization Device (“AED”) in Europe and / or Asia.
ViRexx will also seek partnerships to move the AIT™ Platform
strategy forward, both in the clinical and pre-clinical
areas. Analysis of the past trials will lay the foundation for any
future trials of OvaRex® MAb in
conjunction with front-line chemotherapy. A number of companies have
expressed interest in partnering with ViRexx to work on several of the other
MAbs in the AIT™
Platform. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and
short-term investments will be sufficient to meet our projected operating
requirements only through to the second quarter of 2008.
Our
future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:
|
•
|
|
the
scope, results, rate of progress, timing and costs of preclinical studies
and clinical trials and other development activities. Specifically, the
funding requirements for clinical trials of Occlusin™ 500 AED and
Occlusin™ 50 Injection. The funding requirements for the preclinical
testing and potential future clinical testing of our earlier-stage product
candidates and any other testing that we may initiate are also
significant. As a result, we will be looking to partner these
product candidates prior to initiating Phase II clinical trials and /or
funding selected projects based on funding
availability;
|
|
•
|
|
the
costs and timing of seeking and obtaining regulatory
approvals;
|
|
•
|
|
the
costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims
and other intellectual property
rights;
|
|
•
|
|
the
costs of developing sales and marketing capabilities and establishing
distribution capabilities;
|
|
•
|
|
the
cost of developing our commercial-scale
capabilities;
|
|
•
|
|
the
cost of additional management, scientific, manufacturing, and sales and
marketing personnel. We may be required to increase the number of our
personnel over time;
|
|
•
|
|
the
terms, timing and cash requirements of any future acquisitions,
collaborative arrangements, licensing of product candidates or investing
in businesses, product candidates and
technologies;
|
|
•
|
|
the
costs of securing coverage, payment and reimbursement of our product
candidates, if any of our product candidates receive regulatory approval;
and
|
|
•
|
|
the
effects of competing clinical, technological and market
developments.
|
If we are
not able to secure additional funding when needed, we may have to delay, reduce
the scope of, or eliminate one or more of our clinical trials or research and
development programs or future commercialization efforts.
RISKS
RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
WE ARE IN
THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPING PRODUCT CANDIDATES. OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES MAY
NOT BE EFFECTIVE AT A LEVEL SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT A PROFITABLE BUSINESS VENTURE.
IF THEY ARE NOT, WE WILL BE UNABLE TO CREATE MARKETABLE PRODUCT CANDIDATES AND
DERIVE ANY MEANINGFUL REVENUES. UNLESS WE ARE ABLE TO GENERATE SUFFICIENT
PRODUCT REVENUE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO INCUR LOSSES FROM OPERATIONS AND MAY NOT
ACHIEVE OR MAINTAIN PROFITABILITY AND WE WILL HAVE TO CEASE
OPERATIONS.
Some of
our product candidates are in the preliminary development stage, have not been
approved for marketing by any regulatory authority and cannot be commercially
distributed in any markets until such approval is obtained. We cannot assure you
that our Chimigen™ Vaccines, tumor starvation therapies and monoclonal antibody
therapies, will be effective at a level sufficient to support a profitable
business venture. The science on which our technologies are based may also fail
due to flaws or inaccuracies in the data, or because the data is not predictive
of future results. The scientific theories, upon which our business is based,
like all science, will evolve over time and become increasingly predictive of
the world in which we live. One potential consequence of imperfect theories may
be that we will never be able to create a marketable product. If we are unable
to do so, we will not generate revenues, will have to cease operations, and
investors will be at risk of losing their entire investment.
In
addition, it takes a significant period of time for new vaccines, medical
devices and therapeutic drugs and monoclonal antibody therapies, to be
developed, to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to permit sales, to
establish appropriate distribution channels and market acceptance, and to obtain
insurer reimbursement approval. This time period is generally not less than 10
years. None of our therapeutic product candidates have been commercialized and
completion of the commercialization process for any of our product candidates
will require significant investments of time and funds. We cannot predict either
the total amount of funds that will be required, or assure you that we will be
successful in obtaining the necessary funds. It is also not possible for us to
predict the time required to complete the regulatory process or if there will be
sufficient market demand at such time. If any of our product candidates are
approved, we cannot give assurances that it will be possible to produce them in
commercial quantities at reasonable cost, successfully market them, or whether
any investment made by us in the commercialization of any product candidates
would be recovered through sales, license fees, or related royalties.
Furthermore, the time it takes for product candidates to reach market acceptance
exposes us to significant additional risks, including the development of
competing products, loss of investor interest, changing market needs, changes in
personnel, and regulatory changes.
Since the
process of discovering and developing cancer therapies and treatments for
chronic viral infections is our core business, we anticipate that we will remain
engaged in research and development for the foreseeable future. As product
candidates advance to commercialization, we expect that research will identify
other potential candidates for development.
WE RELY
ON, AND INTEND IN THE FUTURE TO CONTINUE TO RELY ON, TECHNOLOGY LICENSES FROM
THIRD PARTIES AND ANY BREACH OR TERMINATION OF THESE LICENSE ARRANGEMENTS COULD
HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR BUSINESS, FINANCIAL CONDITION, AND RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS.
We cannot
assure you that we will obtain any additional required licenses, that our
existing licenses or new licenses, if obtained, will not terminate, or that they
will be renewed. The failure to obtain, the termination of, or the failure to
renew any of these licenses could have a material adverse effect on our
pre-clinical and clinical programs and may cause us to suspend or cease our
operations. In addition, we cannot assure you that these licenses will remain in
good standing or that the technology we have licensed under these agreements has
been adequately protected or is free from claims of infringement of the
intellectual property rights of third parties.
Pursuant
to the terms of the licenses and any agreements we may enter into in the future,
we are and could be obligated to exercise diligence in bringing potential
products to market and to make license payments and certain potential milestone
payments that, in some instances, could be substantial. We are obligated and may
in the future be obligated, to make royalty payments on the sales, if any, of
product candidates resulting from licensed technology and, in some instances,
may be responsible for the costs of filing and prosecuting patent
applications.
Because
we require additional funding, we may not be able to make payments under current
or future license agreements, which may result in our breaching the terms of any
such license agreements. Any breach or termination of any license could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of
operations.
OUR
FAILURE TO PROTECT OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR OUR INFRINGEMENT ON THE PROPERTY
RIGHTS OF OTHERS MAY IMPEDE OUR ABILITY TO OPERATE FREELY.
We
continually evaluate our technology to determine whether to make further patent
filings and rely significantly upon proprietary technology. We protect our
intellectual property through patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and
contractual agreements as appropriate. We own or exclusively license 9 issued
U.S. patents having expiration dates ranging from 2016 to 2021. As we develop
our product candidates, we may discover additional patentable subject matter
that we may elect to prosecute.
Prior to
filing a patent, data developed by the Company or its licensees is held in
confidence, which confidence is secured by contractual arrangement. From time to
time management may make a determination that superior economic gain may be
attained by perpetually protecting an invention as a trade secret rather than
disclosing it in a patent application. Inventions held as trade secrets can be
independently discovered by others. In addition, the contractual agreements by
which we protect our unpatented technology and trade secrets may be breached. If
technology similar to ours is independently developed or our contractual
agreements are breached, our technology will lose value and our business will be
irreparably harmed.
There is
always a risk that issued patents may be subsequently invalidated, either in
whole or in part, and this could diminish or extinguish our patent protection
for key elements of our technology. We are not involved in any such litigation
or proceedings, nor are we aware of any basis for such litigation or
proceedings. We cannot be certain as to the scope of patent protection, if any,
which may be granted on our patent applications.
Having
patents issued does not guarantee that our business activities are not
infringing intellectual property rights of third parties. Any claims against us
or any purchaser or user of our potential products asserting that such product
or process infringes intellectual property rights of third parties could have a
material effect on our business, financial condition or future operations. Any
asserted claims of infringement, with or without merit, could be time consuming,
result in costly litigation, divert the efforts of our technical and management
personnel, or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements, any of
which could materially adversely affect our operating results. Such royalty or
licensing agreements, if required, may not be available on terms acceptable to
us, if at all. In the event a claim is successful against us and we cannot
obtain a license to the relevant technology on acceptable terms, license a
substitute technology or redesign our potential products to avoid infringement,
our business, financial condition and operating results would be materially
adversely affected.
OUR
BUSINESS IS SUBJECT TO SIGNIFICANT GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND FAILURE TO ACHIEVE
REGULATORY APPROVAL OF OUR DRUG CANDIDATES WOULD SEVERELY HARM OUR
BUSINESS.
The FDA
regulates the development, testing, manufacture, record-keeping, labeling,
distribution, and promotion of pharmaceutical products in the U.S. pursuant to
the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and related regulations. We must receive
approval by the FDA prior to commercial sale in the U.S. of any of our product
candidates. Similar regulations are enforced by Health Canada, European
Medicines Agency (“EMEA”) and by other regulatory agencies in each jurisdiction
in which we seek to do business. The regulatory review process is lengthy and
expensive, and the outcome of the approval process is uncertain. Before
receiving approval we must acquire and submit extensive preclinical and clinical
data and supporting information for each indication to establish the safety and
efficacy of our drug candidates. In addition, we must show that we can produce
our drug candidates consistently at quality levels suitable for administration
in humans in accordance with a complex set of regulations known in the U.S. as
current Good Manufacturing Practices (“cGMP”). Premarket approval is a lengthy
and expensive process and takes several years. Future legislation or changes in
FDA policy may change during the period of potential product development and
clinical trials. We may not be able to obtain FDA approval or approval from
other regulatory agencies for any commercial sale of any drug candidate. We may
encounter delays or rejections in the regulatory approval process at any time.
Even if approval is obtained, agencies may determine that additional clinical
trials are required after marketing has begun. Except for any potential
licensing or marketing arrangements with other pharmaceutical or biotechnology
companies, we will not generate any revenues in connection with our drug
candidates unless and until we obtain clearance from the FDA, Health Canada,
EMEA, or comparable agencies to commercialize our product candidates. Given the
uncertainty, extensive time, and financial expenditures involved in moving a
drug through the regulatory and clinical trial process in the U.S., Canada,
Europe, and elsewhere, we may never be able to successfully develop safe,
commercially viable products. If we are unable to do so, we may have to cease
operations.
WE ARE
DEPENDENT ON THE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME OF PRECLINICAL TESTING AND CLINICAL
TRIALS.
None of
our product candidates are currently approved for sale by the FDA, EMEA, and
Health Canada or by any other regulatory agency in the world, and they may never
receive approval for sale or become commercially viable. Before obtaining
regulatory approval for sale, each of our product candidates must be subjected
to extensive preclinical and clinical testing to demonstrate safety and efficacy
for each proposed indication for human use. Our success will depend on the
successful outcome of these preclinical tests and clinical trials. There are
multiple risk factors associated with conducting clinical trials of our
investigational drug and device product candidates. There may be unforeseen
delays in identifying and reaching agreement on acceptable terms with
Institutional Review Boards of clinical trial providers with respect to proposed
clinical study protocols. There may also be delays in reaching satisfactory
financial agreements with prospective clinical trial sites and the investigators
themselves.
There may
be regulatory delays of clinical trials related to obtaining FDA, Health Canada,
EMEA, or other regulatory agency clearance to begin patient treatment in a
clinical trial. A common issue in conducting a clinical trial is that delays
encountered in the enrollment of patients may significantly prolong the length
of time required to conduct the clinical studies.
A prime
risk factor of clinical trials is that the study outcome may reveal that the
product candidate does not demonstrate the anticipated level of effectiveness in
the target patient population. Such outcomes may adversely affect the
approvability of the potential product by regulatory agencies. Similarly,
clinical trials may show that an investigational product causes unacceptable
adverse events in the patient population to be treated with the
drug.
Historically,
the results from preclinical testing and from early clinical trials have not
always been predictive of results obtained in later clinical trials. Frequently,
drugs that have shown promising results in preclinical or early clinical trials
subsequently fail to demonstrate sufficient evidence of safety or effectiveness
necessary to obtain regulatory approval. Our success will depend on the success
of our current clinical trials and subsequent clinical trials that have not yet
begun. Moreover, regulatory agencies such as the FDA, Health Canada and EMEA may
impose specific standards on the evaluation of disease response in individual
patients which may differ from those anticipated by ViRexx or its clinical
advisors. These different standards may lead the regulatory agency to conclude
that study subjects receiving any of our product candidates have had a more
modest clinical response than that determined by ViRexx or its clinical
advisors.
In
addition to the risks mentioned, there are a number of other difficulties and
risks associated with clinical trials. The possibility exists that:
(a)
|
we
may discover that our product candidates may cause, alone or in
combination with another therapy, unacceptable side
effects;
|
(b)
|
we
may discover that our product candidates, alone or in combination with
another therapy, do not exhibit the expected therapeutic results in
humans;
|
(c)
|
results
from early trials may not be predictive of results that will be obtained
from large-scale, advanced clinical trials as mentioned
above;
|
(d)
|
we
or the FDA or other regulatory agencies may suspend the clinical trials of
one or more of our product candidates;
|
(e)
|
patient
recruitment may be slower than expected;
|
(f)
|
patients
may drop out of our clinical trials; and
|
(g)
|
there
may be cost overruns.
|
Although
the FDA and EMEA have granted OvaRex® MAb
Orphan Drug Status for its use in ovarian cancer, this status does not diminish
any of the requirements for market approval. Orphan Drug status in the U.S.
provides seven year market exclusivity and ten years in Europe. Given
the uncertainty surrounding the regulatory and clinical trial process, we may
not be able to develop safety, efficacy or manufacturing data necessary for
approval of this or any of our product candidates. In addition, even if we
receive approval, such approval may be limited in scope and affect the
commercial viability of such product candidate. If we are unable to successfully
obtain approval to commercialize any product candidate, this would materially
harm our business, impair our ability to generate revenues and adversely impact
our stock price.
DELAYS IN
CLINICAL TRIALS WILL CAUSE US TO INCUR ADDITIONAL COSTS, WHICH COULD JEOPARDIZE
THE TRIALS AND ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR LIQUIDITY AND FINANCIAL
RESULTS.
For
internally funded clinical trials and due to the associated high costs, a delay
for any reason, will require us to spend additional funds to keep our product
candidates moving through the regulatory process. If we do not have or cannot
raise the necessary additional funds, the testing of our product candidates
could be cancelled. If we are required to spend additional funds, it will
require us to spend funds that could have been used for other purposes and could
adversely affect our liquidity and financial results. Delays in obtaining
clinical trial results will also delay profitability from commercialization of
any given product candidate and accordingly negatively effect our financial
results.
WE RELY
ON CLINICAL INVESTIGATORS AND CONTRACT RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS TO CONDUCT OUR
CLINICAL TRIALS.
We rely,
in part, on independent clinical investigators and contract research
organizations to conduct our clinical trials. Contract research organizations
also assist us in the collection and analysis of the data generated from these
clinical trials. These investigators and contract research organizations are not
our employees and we cannot control, other than by contract, the amount of
resources, including time that they devote to our product candidates and our
clinical trials. If independent investigators fail to devote sufficient
resources to our clinical trials, or if their performance is substandard, these
factors may delay any possible approval and commercialization of our product
candidates and could harm our chances of obtaining regulatory approval. Further,
most regulatory agencies require that we comply with standards, commonly
referred to as Good Clinical Practice (“GCP”) for conducting, recording, and
reporting clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible
and accurate and that the rights, integrity, and confidentiality of trial
subjects are protected.
If our
independent clinical investigators and contract research organizations fail to
comply with GCP, the results of our clinical trials could be called into
question and the clinical development of our product candidates could be delayed
or halted. The failure of clinical investigators and contract research
organizations to meet their obligations to us or comply with GCP procedures
could adversely affect the clinical development of our product candidates, and
have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results
of operations.
THERE ARE
RISKS INHERENT IN RELYING ON SOLE SOURCE SUPPLIER FOR SOME OF OUR
MATERIALS.
We are
reliant upon the supply of raw materials from key suppliers in the manufacture
of our product candidates. These key suppliers currently meet our manufacturing
requirements but they could default in the supply of the raw material for
several reasons, including insolvency, lack of regulatory compliance, inability
to manufacture sufficient quantities of the raw material, fire, and natural
disasters. Although we have made every effort to identify alternate source
suppliers of these raw materials, there is no guarantee that supply agreements
would be established with these suppliers if the primary supplier defaults in
the supply of raw material. If we are unable to procure the requisite raw
materials for the manufacture of product candidates, then we might not be able
to manufacture sufficient quantities of the drug candidate for pre-clinical and
clinical testing purposes.
WE ARE
DEPENDENT ON STRATEGIC PARTNERS, SUCH AS THE SIGMA TAU GROUP OF COMPANIES, AS
PART OF OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, AND WE WOULD BE NEGATIVELY
AFFECTED IF WE ARE NOT ABLE TO INITIATE OR MAINTAIN THESE
RELATIONSHIPS.
In
November 2006, ViRexx International Corp. (“International”) entered into a
License and Supply Agreement with Defiante Farmaceutica, Lda. (“Defiante”), a
subsidiary of Sigma Tau Farmaceutica (“Sigma Tau”) for the marketing of
OvaRex® MAb for
certain unlicensed countries in Europe. At the same time, International entered
into a Manufacturing and Supply Agreement with Tecnogen S.C.p.A (“Tecnogen”),
another subsidiary of Sigma Tau, for Tecnogen to manufacture OvaRex® MAb for
most of Europe and the Middle East.
Once some
of our product candidates advance to a Phase II clinical trial stage, we intend
to enter into strategic partnerships whereby third parties will finance further
clinical development. We cannot assure you, however, that we will be able to
find partners and establish such relationships on favorable terms, if at all, or
that any such future arrangements will be successful.
Should
any partner fail to develop or commercialize successfully any product candidates
to which we have licensed product rights, our business, financial condition, and
results of operations may be adversely affected. The failure of any
collaborative partner to continue funding any particular program, for any
reason, could delay or halt the development or commercialization of any
potential product arising out of a particular program. In addition, we cannot
assure that any of our future partners would not pursue alternative technologies
or develop alternative product candidates either on their own or in
collaboration with others, including our competitors, as a means for developing
treatments for the diseases targeted by our programs.
WE RELY
ON COLLABORATIVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR MANUFACTURING OUR TRIAL MATERIAL AND PRODUCT
CANDIDATES
We are,
or could rely upon various collaborators or contract manufacturing organizations
(CMOs) for manufacturing of product candidate from all three of our technology
platforms. These collaborators and CMOs are not our employees and we
cannot control, other than by contract, the amount of resources, including time
that they devote to the manufacture of our product candidates. If independent
manufacturers fail to devote sufficient resources to manufacture of our product
candidates, or if their performance is substandard, these factors may delay any
possible approval and commercialization of our product candidates.
Further,
most regulatory agencies require that we comply with standards, commonly
referred to as Good Manufacturing Practice (“GMP”) for manufacturing product
candidates that will be used in human clinical trials or for commercial sale to
assure that each batch of the product candidate are of consistent
quality.
If our
independent manufacturers fail to comply with GMP, the clinical development of
our product candidates could be delayed or halted. The failure of independent
manufacturers to meet their obligations to us or comply with GMP procedures
could adversely affect the clinical development of our product candidates, and
have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results
of operations.
EVEN IF
OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES RECEIVE ALL OF THE REQUIRED REGULATORY APPROVALS, WE HAVE
NO GUARANTEE OF MARKET ACCEPTANCE OR COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE RESULTING PRODUCT
CANDIDATES, WHICH WILL BE DETERMINED BY OUR SALES, MARKETING, AND DISTRIBUTION
CAPABILITIES AND THE POSITIONING AND COMPETITIVENESS OF OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES
COMPARED WITH ANY ALTERNATIVES.
Even if
our product candidates receive all necessary regulatory approvals and
clearances, they may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients,
healthcare payers, and the medical community. The degree of market acceptance of
any product candidate that we may develop will depend on a number of factors,
including marketing and distribution support for the product candidates,
establishment and demonstration of the cost-effectiveness of the product
candidates, and the potential advantage of our product candidates over any
alternatives. Even after successful commercialization of one or more product
candidates, we may never achieve profitability. We currently depend on our
licensees for their sales, marketing, or distribution capabilities, and
therefore must rely on these third parties to perform these services optimally.
These
distribution partners may not promote our product candidates as aggressively as
we would like, may not be successful in their sales and distribution efforts,
may experience financial difficulty or lack the marketing or financial ability
to adequately market our product candidates, or may fail to promote our product
candidates altogether. Third party marketers may be involved in the sale of
competing products and fail to market our product candidates due to this
conflict. In addition, if the profit margins on our product candidates do not
favorably compare with other products being marketed by a third party marketer,
our product candidates may not be promoted as readily. As in the case of any
contractual relationship if either party defaults under the marketing agreement,
sales of our product candidates may suffer. If we terminate a marketer of our
product candidates, we may not be able to find an immediate replacement. Any of
these events would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, and results of operations. These events may also lead us to try to
establish our own marketing and sales force. The acquisition or development of a
sales and distribution infrastructure would require substantial resources, which
may divert the attention of our management and key personnel, and have a
negative impact on our potential product development efforts. Moreover, we may
not be able to establish in-house sales and distribution capabilities or
relationships with third parties.
If
successfully developed, our product candidates will compete with a number of
drugs and therapies currently manufactured and marketed by major pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies. Our product candidates may also compete with new
products currently under development by other pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies, and with products which may cost less than our product candidates or
that may be more effective than our product candidates. If our product
candidates do not achieve significant market acceptance, our business, financial
condition, and results of operations will be materially adversely
affected.
REIMBURSEMENT
PROCEDURES AND FUTURE HEALTHCARE REFORM MEASURES ARE UNCERTAIN AND MAY ADVERSELY
AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO SUCCESSFULLY SELL OR LICENSE ANY PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCT
CANDIDATE.
If any of
our potential products are approved for commercialization by national
pharmaceutical regulatory authorities, the extent of sales will depend upon the
availability of reimbursement from third-party payers such as Medicare in the
U.S. and similar government health administration authorities in other
countries, as well as private health insurers and other organizations. Our
ability to successfully sell or license any pharmaceutical product candidate
will depend in part on the extent to which government health administration
authorities, private health insurers and other organizations will reimburse
patients or providers for the costs of any future pharmaceutical product
candidates and related treatments. Each jurisdiction has its own regulatory
requirements. Significant variation exists as to the reimbursement status of
newly approved healthcare products, and we cannot assure you that adequate third
party coverage will be available to establish price levels sufficient for us to
realize an appropriate return on our investment in developing new product
candidates or for existing product candidates. Increasingly, government and
other third-party payers are attempting to contain health care costs by limiting
both coverage and the level of reimbursement for new therapeutic product
candidates. Reimbursement levels may be related to issues of cost-effectiveness,
which are evaluated differently in different jurisdictions. Inadequate coverage
or reimbursement could adversely affect market acceptance of our product
candidates. Recently, the prices of medical products and services have been
examined and challenged by third parties and consumers of such products and
services. Successful challenges or government reform in this area could
negatively affect our profitability.
In the
U.S., government and other third-party payers have sought to contain healthcare
costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement for new
pharmaceutical products approved for marketing by the FDA. In some cases, these
parties may place conditions on the use of new products which limit their market
penetration or may refuse to provide any coverage for uses of approved products
to treat medical conditions even though the FDA has granted marketing approval.
Healthcare reform may increase these cost containment efforts. U.S. managed care
organizations and government health insurance programs may seek to restrict the
use of new products, delay authorization to use new products or limit coverage.
New rule making by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services could affect
drug coverage and payments by Medicare. Internationally, where government
healthcare systems are prevalent, little if any funding may be available for new
products, and cost containment and cost reduction efforts can be more pronounced
than in the U.S.
COMPETITIVE
PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES MAY REDUCE DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES AND
TECHNOLOGIES.
Our
success depends upon maintaining our competitive position in the research,
development, and commercialization of products and technologies in our area of
expertise. Competition from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well
as universities and research institutes, is intense and is expected to increase.
Many of these competitors have substantially greater research and development
capabilities, more experience in manufacturing and marketing, as well as
superior financial and managerial resources than we do and represent significant
competition for us.
We cannot
assure you that developments by others will not render our product candidates or
technologies non-competitive or obsolete, or that we will be able to achieve the
level of acceptance within the medical community necessary to compete
successfully. We are aware of several potential competitors that are at various
stages of development or that have commercial sales of products that may address
similar indication as do our products. The success of our competitors and their
products may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial
condition, and results of operations.
OUR
INDUSTRY IS CHARACTERIZED BY RAPID CHANGE AND A FAILURE BY US TO REACT TO THESE
CHANGES COULD HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR BUSINESS.
The
biotechnology industry is characterized by rapid and substantial technological
change. Alternative forms of medical treatment may render our technologies or
product candidates of little or no value in the future. Our future success
depends on our ability to adapt to this change and keep pace with new
technological developments and emerging industry standards, and we cannot assure
that we will be able to do so.
The
Corporation’s ability to develop the product will depend, to a great extent, on
its ability to attract and retain highly qualified scientific personnel and to
develop and maintain relationships with leading research institutions.
Competition for such personnel and relationships is intense. There can be no
assurance that we will be able to retain and attract qualified individuals
currently or in the future on acceptable terms, or at all. The Corporation is
highly dependent on the principal members of its management staff as well as its
advisors and collaborators, the loss of whose services might impede the
achievement of development objectives. The persons working with the Corporation
are affected by a number of influences outside of the control of the
Corporation. The loss of key employees and/or key collaborators may affect the
speed and success of product development. In addition, we do not maintain “key
person” life insurance on any officer, employee or
collaborator.
WE
CONDUCT CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF OUR BUSINESS INTERNATIONALLY, AND THE DECISIONS OF
SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENTS COULD HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON OUR FINANCIAL
CONDITION.
We may
conduct certain elements of our business internationally. We intend to, and may
conduct clinical trials in other jurisdictions. Sovereign governments, including
Canada, may establish laws or regulations that will be deleterious to our
interests or that will affect our ability, as a foreign corporation, to obtain
access to regulatory agencies in foreign jurisdictions. Governments have also,
from time to time, established foreign exchange controls which could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of
operations. To date, neither our operations nor our financial conditions have
been detrimentally affected in any material way due to laws or regulations of
sovereign governments.
OUR
OPERATING RESULTS MAY BE SUBJECT TO CURRENCY FLUCTUATIONS, AS OUR OPERATIONS ARE
BASED LARGELY IN CANADA, WHILE SOME OF OUR EXPENSES ARE IN U.S. DOLLARS OR OTHER
FOREIGN CURRENCIES.
Our
operations are based in Canada, while some of our expenses, in particular those
related to manufacturing clinical products, are in U.S. dollars or currencies
other than Canadian dollars. As at December 31, 2007, approximately 60% of our
payments made in relation to accounts payable were made in Canadian dollars,
approximately 40% were made in U.S. dollars. Currency fluctuations could,
therefore, cause our costs to increase and revenues to decline. The exchange
rates of the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar, the British pound and the
European Euro have fluctuated in recent years. In circumstances where the
Canadian dollar devalues against any or all of the U.S. dollar, the British
pound or the European Euro, this may have an adverse effect on our costs
incurred in either the U.S. or Europe (as applicable) but may have a positive
effect on any revenues which we source from the U.S. or Europe (as applicable).
The same principles apply in respect of our costs and revenues in other
jurisdictions. In addition, if we manufacture some of our product candidates
outside of Canada, this could expose us to potential cost increases resulting
from fluctuations in exchange rates. We do not currently have any plans to hedge
the effect of currency fluctuations on our overseas expenditures. We manage our
currency risks by settling foreign currency payables immediately upon
recognition of a foreign currency liability.
OUR
INSURANCE MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT AND WE MAY BE EXPOSED TO LAWSUITS AND OTHER
CLAIMS RELATED TO OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES IN CLINICAL STUDIES AND PRODUCT
LIABILITY WHICH COULD INCREASE OUR EXPENSES, HARM OUR REPUTATION, AND KEEP US
FROM GROWING OUR BUSINESS.
The sale
and use of human therapeutic products, including those product candidates we are
developing, involve an inherent risk of product liability claims and adverse
publicity. Clinical studies involve trials on humans. These studies create a
risk of liability for side effects to participants resulting from an adverse
reaction to the product candidates being tested or resulting from negligence or
misconduct. While we currently maintain limited insurance related to our ongoing
clinical trials, we cannot assure you that this insurance will continue to be
available to us on commercially reasonable terms. Any claims might also exceed
the amounts of this coverage. If we are unable to obtain our insurance at
reasonable rates or otherwise protect ourselves against potential liability
proceedings, we may be required to slow down any future development of product
candidates or may even be prevented from developing the product candidates at
all. Our obligation to pay indemnities or withdraw a product candidate from
clinical trials following complaints could have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition, and results of operations. Claims against us,
regardless of their merit or potential outcome, may also result in severe public
relations problems that could seriously damage our reputation and business
viability.
In
addition, certain drug retailers require minimum product liability insurance
coverage as a condition of purchasing or accepting products for retail
distribution. If any of our product candidates are successfully developed and
approved for commercial sale, it is our intention to obtain adequate product
liability insurance before the product candidates are marketed. Failure to
satisfy these insurance requirements could impede our ability or that of any
potential distributors of our product candidates to achieve broad retail
distribution of these product candidates, which would have a material adverse
effect on our business, financial condition, and results of
operations.
WE USE
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS THAT ARE HIGHLY REGULATED AND WE MAY BE EXPOSED TO POTENTIAL
LIABILITY IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT INVOLVING THESE MATERIALS; OUR COMPLIANCE
WITH ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS COULD BE COSTLY IN THE FUTURE.
Our
discovery and development processes involve the controlled use of radioactive
and hazardous materials. We are subject to Canadian federal, provincial, and
local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and
disposal of these materials and certain waste products. The risk of accidental
contamination or injury from these materials cannot be completely eliminated. In
the event of an accident of this nature, we could be held liable for any damages
that result and any liability of this kind could exceed our resources and, if
so, we may have to cease operations. We have general liability insurance but it
may not be sufficient to cover the cost of any injuries or other damage
sustained in respect of these risks. Our coverage limitations under our
insurance policies are described above under "OUR INSURANCE MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT
AND WE MAY BE EXPOSED TO LAWSUITS AND OTHER CLAIMS RELATED TO OUR PRODUCT
CANDIDATES IN CLINICAL STUDIES AND PRODUCT LIABILITY WHICH COULD INCREASE OUR
EXPENSES, HARM OUR REPUTATION, AND KEEP US FROM GROWING OUR BUSINESS". We
cannot assure you that we will not be required to incur significant costs to
comply with environmental laws and regulations in the future, or that our
operations, business, or assets will not be materially adversely affected by
current or future environmental laws or regulations.
IT IS
POSSIBLE THAT OUR CHIMIGEN™, T-ACT™ AND AIT™ TECHNOLOGIES HAVE ADVERSE SIDE
EFFECTS OR CAUSE UNDESIRABLE REACTIONS ALTHOUGH WE ARE NOT AWARE OF ANY AT
PRESENT.
Chimigen™
Platform
Since the
Chimigen™ Vaccines incorporate a portion of a murine (foreign) antibody
fragment, it is possible that patients receiving a Chimigen™ Vaccine could
develop an anaphylactic adverse event similar to that discussed for the AIT™
platform below. This risk is mitigated somewhat by the completion of the 15
patient Phase I safety trial which showed the benign safety profile of the
Chimigen™ Hepatitis Therapeutic Vaccine candidate CHB-111 (formerly called
HepaVaxx B Vaccine). In addition, Chimigen™ Vaccines are designed to induce both
humoral and cellular immune responses against the viral antigen epitope(s)
contained in the vaccine. These immune responses can lead to the death of cells
infected with the target virus. Patients chronically infected with hepatitis B
or C viruses could suffer adverse events associated with the destruction of
liver cells following immunization with a Chimigen™ Vaccine such as a Chimigen™
HBV Therapeutic Vaccine or Chimigen™ Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccine. This could
be important in patients that have impaired liver function and could render a
patient ineligible to receive a Chimigen™ Platform-based therapy.
T-ACT™
Platform
T-ACT™
technology is based on the induction of a specific platelet-dependent clot at a
desired location. A potential risk of this technology is that a clot may
break-up and localize to other locations in the body. This risk is mitigated by
the limited Clinical Trial Phase I safety data on Occlusin™ 50
Injection showing the absence of serious adverse off-target thrombic
events. Another potential risk is that with Occlusin™ product
candidates, injected material could reach the systemic circulation through
arterio-venous shunts in the target vasculature. These risks are mitigated using
angiographic imaging of the target blood vessels prior to
treatment.
AIT™
Platform
The AIT™
platform is based on the delivery of small amounts of a murine monoclonal
antibody to patients with cancer. There is a risk that a patient may develop an
anaphylactic adverse event upon exposure to this foreign antibody. This risk is
tempered by preliminary studies with OvaRex® MAb in
more than 700 ovarian cancer patients demonstrating a benign safety profile for
this product candidate.
All of
these risks will be continuously monitored during the conduct of all phases of
clinical trials and should any serious adverse event occur, this event will be
reported to the appropriate regulatory agencies for immediate
action.
WE FACE
COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPORTING OUR PRODUCTS INTO MARKETS OUTSIDE OF
CANADA.
We may
face difficulties importing our products into various jurisdictions as a result
of, among other things, import inspections, incomplete or inaccurate import
documentation or defective packaging. There will be increased costs associated
with importing/exporting our product.
IF THERE
ARE FEWER INDIVIDUALS IN OUR TARGET MARKETS THAN WE ESTIMATE, WE MAY NOT
GENERATE SUFFICIENT REVENUES TO CONTINUE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES
OR CONTINUE OPERATIONS.
Our
estimate of the patient population of our target markets is based on published
studies as well as internal analyses and studies we have commissioned. If the
results of these studies or our analysis of them do not accurately reflect the
number of patients in our target markets, our assessment of the market may be
wrong, making it difficult or impossible for us to meet our revenue goals. In
addition, it is difficult to determine the portion of the patient population
that might use our other product candidates.
WE MAY
NEED TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE SIZE OF OUR ORGANIZATION, AND WE MAY
EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES IN MANAGING GROWTH.
We are
currently a small company with 19 full time employees as of December 31, 2007.
In order to continue our preclinical and clinical trials and commercialize our
product candidates, we may need to increase our operations, including expanding
our employee base. Our future financial performance and our ability to
commercialize our products and to compete effectively will depend, in part, on
our ability to manage any future growth effectively. To that end, we must be
able to:
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manage
our preclinical and clinical trials
effectively;
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undertake
and manage the manufacturing of products
effectively;
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undertake
and manage sales and marketing
effectively;
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integrate
current and additional management, administrative, financial and sales and
marketing personnel;
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develop
our administrative, accounting and management information systems and
controls; and
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hire,
retain and train additional qualified
personnel.
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RISKS
RELATING TO OUR COMMON SHARES
AS WE ARE
A CANADIAN COMPANY, THERE MAY BE LIMITATIONS ON THE ENFORCEMENT OF CERTAIN CIVIL
LIABILITIES AND JUDGMENTS OBTAINED IN THE UNITED STATES AGAINST US.
We are
amalgamated under the laws of the province of Alberta, Canada and our assets are
located outside of the U.S.. Except for two of our directors, all of our
directors and officers, as well as the expert named in this Annual Report, are
residents of Canada, and all or a substantial portion of the assets of these
persons are located outside of the U.S.. As a result, it may not be possible for
shareholders to enforce against us or them in the U.S. judgments obtained in
U.S. courts based upon the civil liability provisions of the U.S. Federal
securities laws or other laws of the U.S. Therefore, it may not be possible to
enforce those actions against us, most of our directors and officers or the
expert named in this Annual Report. In addition, there is doubt as to the
enforceability, in original actions in Canadian courts, of liabilities based
upon the U.S. Federal securities laws.
WE HAVE
NOT PAID, AND DO NOT INTEND TO PAY, ANY CASH DIVIDENDS ON OUR COMMON SHARES AND
THEREFORE OUR SHAREHOLDERS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE A RETURN ON THEIR SHARES
UNLESS THEY SELL THEM.
We have
never paid dividends on our common shares and we do not expect to have the
ability to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. If we generate earnings in
the future, we expect that they will be retained to finance further growth. Our
Board of Directors will determine if and when dividends should be declared and
paid in the future based on our financial position and other factors relevant at
the particular time. Until we pay dividends, which we may never do, you will not
be able to receive a return on your investment in our common shares unless you
sell them, which you may only be able to do at less than the price you paid for
them.
THE
MARKET PRICE AND TRADING VOLUME OF OUR COMMON SHARES MAY BE
VOLATILE.
The
market price and trading volume of our common shares on the TSX and the AMEX,
has experienced significant volatility and will likely continue to do so, which
has been or could be in response to numerous factors, including:
(a)
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macroeconomic
factors such as a change in interest
rates;
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(b) quarterly
variations in operating results;
(c)
market conditions in the industry;
(d)
announcements of results of testing, technological
innovations;
(e) announcements
by our customers or competitors, developments affecting government regulations,
developments concerning
proprietary
rights, litigation, and public concerns as to the safety of our product
candidates;
(f)
announcements of acquisitions;
(g)
general fluctuations in the stock market; and
(h)
revenues and results of operations below the expectations of the public
market.
Any of
these factors could result in a sharp decline in the market price of our common
shares.
From
January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2007, the trading price of our common shares
has ranged from a low of CDN$0.06 per share to a high of CDN$1.62 per share on
the TSX and from December 22, 2005, to December 31, 2007, it has ranged from
U.S. $0.06 to U.S. $1.43 per share on the AMEX.
During
2007 and the first three months of 2008, an average of approximately 113,390 and
59,186 of our shares traded per day on the TSX and AMEX
respectively. On some trading days our shares have had limited
trading volume. In addition, stock markets have occasionally experienced extreme
price and volume fluctuations. Historically, the market prices for the
securities of biotech companies, including ours, have been particularly affected
by these market fluctuations, and these effects have often been unrelated to the
operating performance of these particular companies. These broad market
fluctuations may cause a decline in the market price of our common
shares.
THE
SIGNIFICANT COSTS THAT WE WILL INCUR AS A RESULT OF BEING A PUBLIC COMPANY IN
THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR BUSINESS.
We have
listed our common shares on AMEX, and therefore we will incur significant legal,
accounting and other expenses as a public company on both AMEX and the TSX.
These expenses include, among others, costs with respect to preparing securities
regulatory filings, costs in connection with compliance with the internal
control audit provisions of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Canadian
Securities Administrators Multilateral Instrument 52-109 “Certification of
Disclosure in Issuers’ Annual and Interim Filings” (“52-109”), costs in
connection with other provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and 52-109, AMEX
listing fees and potentially higher director and officer insurance premiums. In
addition, the requirements we face by being listed on AMEX will impose
significant time demands on our management. Although it has not yet been a
problem for us, becoming subject to the reporting obligations of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain
qualified individuals to serve on our Board of Directors or as our executive
officers.
AS A
FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER, WE ARE SUBJECT TO DIFFERENT U.S. SECURITIES LAWS AND
RULES THAN A DOMESTIC ISSUER, WHICH MAY, AMONG OTHER THINGS, LIMIT THE
INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO HOLDERS OF OUR SECURITIES.
As a
foreign private issuer, we are subject to requirements under the Securities Act
and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which
are different from the requirements applicable to domestic U.S. issuers. For
example, our officers, directors, and principal shareholders are exempt from the
reporting and "short-swing" profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the
Exchange Act and the rules thereunder with respect to their purchases and sales
of our common shares. The periodic disclosure required of foreign private
issuers is more limited than the periodic disclosure required of U.S. issuers
and therefore there may be less publicly available information about us than is
regularly published by or about U.S. public companies in the U.S. Also, although
we are subject to Canadian regulation prohibiting selective disclosure, we are
not required to comply with SEC Regulation FD, which may affect the timing of
material disclosure regarding the Company.
Item
4. Information on ViRexx
A.
History and Development of
ViRexx
The legal
and commercial name of the Corporation is ViRexx Medical Corp.
ViRexx is
a corporation amalgamated under the laws of the Province of Alberta, Canada
pursuant to the provisions of the Alberta Business Corporations Act
(“ABCA”). Our head office is located at 8223 Roper Road, Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada, T6E 6S4, telephone: (780) 433-4411 and our registered office is located
at 1500 Manulife Place, 10180 - 101 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 4K1.
Our common shares are listed and posted for trading on the TSX under the symbol
“VIR” and the AMEX under the symbol “REX”.
ViRexx is
the corporation resulting from the amalgamation of ViRexx Research Inc. (“ViRexx
Research”), Norac Industries Inc. (“Norac”) and Norac Acquisitions Inc. (“NAI”),
a wholly owned subsidiary of Norac, under the ABCA on December 23, 2003 (the
“ViRexx Amalgamation”). Pursuant to the ViRexx Amalgamation holders of Norac
subordinate voting shares (the “Norac A Shares”) received 0.2244667 common
shares of ViRexx (“ViRexx Shares”) for each Norac A Share held and holders of
Norac multiple voting shares (the “Norac B Shares”) received 0.0000004 ViRexx
Shares for each Norac B Share held. The issued and outstanding class A shares of
NAI (the “NAI Shares”) were cancelled without any repayment of capital in
respect of such shares as part of the ViRexx Amalgamation, and therefore Norac,
as the sole shareholder of NAI, did not receive any ViRexx Shares. Holders of
shares of ViRexx Research received 0.5285974 ViRexx Shares for each share of
ViRexx Research held.
Norac was
incorporated under the ABCA on September 22, 1986. Norac has been a reporting
issuer in the Province of Alberta since October 2, 1986, pursuant to the
issuance of a receipt for a final prospectus under the Securities Act (Alberta). The
Norac A Shares began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) (formerly, the
Canadian Venture Exchange and prior to that the Alberta Stock Exchange) in April
1987 under the symbol “NRC.A” which was subsequently changed to the symbol
“NRC.T”. On June 23, 2003, trading of Norac’s securities was halted upon the
announcement of the ViRexx Amalgamation. On August 18, 2003, Norac’s listing was
moved to the NEX board of the TSXV as a result of its inactive status, and
Norac’s symbol was changed to “NRC.H”. Norac has been a reporting issuer in the
Province of British Columbia since November 26, 1999.
ViRexx
Research was the corporation resulting from the amalgamation of Novolytic Corp.
and ViRexx Research (“Original ViRexx”) under the ABCA on August 1, 2002. On
August 1, 2002, immediately prior to the said amalgamation, the shareholders of
Original ViRexx exchanged the 1,000,000 issued and outstanding class A common
shares of Original ViRexx for 16,746,007 common shares of Novolytic Corp. and as
a result Original ViRexx became a wholly owned subsidiary of Novolytic Corp. The
share exchange ratio for the amalgamation of Original ViRexx and Novolytic Corp.
was established by agreement between their respective boards of directors in
consultation with an independent investment banking firm.
Novolytic
Corp. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevada, U.S. on October
30, 2000 and was continued into the Province of Alberta as a corporation subject
to the ABCA on May 31, 2002. On June 1, 2002, Novolytic Corp. was amalgamated
under the laws of Alberta with Novolytic Inc. with the amalgamated corporation
continuing under the name “Novolytic Corp.” On June 1, 2002, immediately prior
to the amalgamation of Novolytic Corp. and Novolytic Inc. the shareholders of
Novolytic Inc. exchanged the 100 issued and outstanding shares of Novolytic Inc.
for 100 class “A” common shares of Novolytic Corp. with Novolytic thereby
becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Novolytic Corp.
Novolytic
Inc. was incorporated under the ABCA on April 8, 1999 under the name “A.C.T.
Technologies Corp.”, and on November 10, 1999 changed its name to Novolytic
Inc.
The
Original ViRexx was incorporated as “ViRexx Corporation” under the ABCA on June
6, 2001, and on October 26, 2001 changed its name to “ViRexx Research
Inc.”
On
December 10, 2004, ViRexx completed a plan of arrangement pursuant to Section
193 of the ABCA involving ViRexx and AltaRex Medical Corp. (“AltaRex”), whereby
amongst other things, ViRexx acquired all of the outstanding common shares of
AltaRex (the “AltaRex Arrangement”). For each common share of AltaRex owned,
AltaRex shareholders received one half of one ViRexx Share. Also pursuant to the
arrangement, all outstanding AltaRex stock options and warrants were deemed
transferred to ViRexx (free of any claims) in consideration of new stock options
or warrants for ViRexx Shares on the basis of one stock option or warrant for a
ViRexx Share for every two AltaRex stock options or warrants with the exercise
price of the such new ViRexx stock options and warrants being the price of the
prior AltaRex stock options or warrants multiplied by two.
AltaRex
was incorporated pursuant to the provisions of the ABCA as “AltaRex Medical
Corp.” on December 8, 2003. Effective December 23, 2003, AltaRex amended its
articles of incorporation to remove its private company restrictions and
restrictions on share transfer.
On
February 3, 2004, AltaRex completed a plan of arrangement pursuant to Section
193 of the ABCA involving AltaRex, AltaRex Corp., the holders of the securities
of AltaRex Corp. and Nova Bancorp Investments Ltd. (the “Bancorp Arrangement”)
whereby, amongst other things, AltaRex acquired substantially all the assets of
AltaRex Corp. with a legally effective date of December 31, 2003, and has since
carried on the business substantially as carried on by AltaRex Corp. prior to
the completion of the Bancorp Arrangement.
Prior to
the AltaRex Arrangement, the AltaRex common shares were listed and posted for
trading on the TSX under the symbol “ALT”. AltaRex was delisted from the TSX on
December 16, 2004 as a result of the AltaRex Arrangement and ceased to be a
reporting issuer in Canadian jurisdictions.
ViRexx
has not made any capital acquisitions or divestitures other than as described
above and all of the funds it has in Treasury will be used to further its
research and development programs.
On
December 22, 2005, our common shares were listed on the AMEX. In 2006, we
incorporated our wholly owned subsidiary named ViRexx International Corp.
Limited under the laws of Ireland.
The
principal capital expenditures for the last three fiscal years of ViRexx were as
follows:
|
|
2007
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
2005
|
|
Laboratory
Equipment
|
|
$ |
133,095 |
|
|
$ |
22,960 |
|
|
$ |
5,783 |
|
Leasehold
Improvements
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
2,125 |
|
Office
Furniture & Equipment
|
|
|
4,650 |
|
|
|
8,440 |
|
|
|
44,310 |
|
Computer
Hardware
|
|
|
8,050 |
|
|
|
37,812 |
|
|
|
56,600 |
|
Computer
Software
|
|
|
3,695 |
|
|
|
23,272 |
|
|
|
23,173 |
|
|
|
$ |
149,490 |
|
|
$ |
92,484 |
|
|
$ |
131,991 |
|
During
the year ended December 31, 2007 and currently, we are not engaged in any public
takeover offers by third parties in respect of the Company’s shares or in
respect of another company’s shares.
ViRexx is
a Canadian development-stage biotechnology company focused on targeted
therapeutic products for people suffering from chronic viral infections or
certain cancers.
ViRexx’s
proprietary Chimigen™ Vaccine Platform is being used to develop
immunotherapeutic agents for the treatment of patients with chronic
hepatitis B and C virus infections. The platform is also used to develop
biodefense vaccines, pandemic influenza vaccines and targeted bionanoparticles.
The Corporation is developing Occlusin™ 50 Injection embolization therapy for
the treatment of liver cancer and Occlusin™ 500 AED for the treatment of uterine
fibroids. OvaRex® MAb, an
ovarian cancer treatment, is currently being considered for front-line therapy
in combination with chemotherapy, following its failure to meet its clinical
endpoints in recent Phase III trials as a stand alone treatment in terminally
ill patients.
Products
The
Corporation’s product candidates referred to above can be categorized using
ViRexx’s three technology platforms.
1.
|
The
Chimigen™ Platform is a proprietary platform developed at ViRexx to
generate therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for major infectious
diseases that have high unmet needs. These vaccines are
designed to stimulate broad immune responses towards specifically targeted
viral and foreign antigens. Using this novel platform, the
Corporation is developing product candidates for the treatment of chronic
hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections, which afflict hundreds of
millions of people worldwide, as well as vaccines targeting pandemic
influenza, and weaponized biological
agents.
|
2.
|
The
T-ACT™ Platform includes embolotherapeutic product candidates designed to
cut off the blood supply to tumors by targeted transcatheter
delivery. ViRexx is developing Occlusin™ 50
Injection for the treatment of primary liver cancer and Occlusin™
500 AED for the treatment of uterine fibroids. Both agents
utilize biocompatible / biodegradable materials to induce targeted
embolization of the arterial blood
supply.
|
3.
|
The
AIT™ Platform has resulted in the development of unique murine
monoclonal antibody treatments specifically designed for certain cancers,
including Ovarian (OvaRex®
MAb), Breast (BrevaRex®
MAb), Prostate (ProstaRex™ MAb) and Gastrointestinal (GivaRex™ MAb)
malignancies.
|
Chimigen™
Platform Technology
The
Chimigen™ Platform
is a versatile platform technology that has been used to produce several
immunotherapeutic products and prophylactic vaccines candidates. The Corporation
is focused on developing product candidates as therapeutic agents for the
treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C virus infections. In 2006, ViRexx
completed a Phase I clinical trial of its initial Chimigen™
Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine candidate, CHB111 (formerly called HepaVaxx B
Vaccine), in 15 normal, healthy volunteers. There was no significant
adverse event associated with the treatment. The evaluation of the
immune responses in these volunteers to the treatment with a single dose of
CHB111 revealed no significant humoral or cellular responses elicited by the
vaccination.
The
Corporation has identified a promising new Chimigen™
Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine, which includes multiple antigens shown to be
involved in a therapeutic immune response in patients who cleared hepatitis B
virus infection. ViRexx hopes to initiate a clinical trial for its
Chimigen™
Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine with a partner in the second half of
2009. ViRexx’s Chimigen™
Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccine is being developed for the treatment of chronic
hepatitis C infection. The Corporation currently has two ex vivo tested vaccine
candidates in this program. Continued efforts in 2008 will be
directed towards the final selection of a Chimigen™
Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccine candidate for clinical testing.
Partnering
discussions have been initiated for Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine.
Specifically, ViRexx is targeting potential partners with a strong presence in
Asia, especially India and China where almost three quarters of the world’s
chronic hepatitis B sufferers live. ViRexx will also seek a global
partner for development and commercialization of its Chimigen™ Hepatitis C
Therapeutic Vaccine.
The other
product candidates include Chimigen™ Avian
Influenza vaccines against pandemic influenza, Chimigen™
biodefense vaccines against biological threat agents, and development of
immune-targeted bionanoparticles. Several potential Chimigen™ Avian
Influenza Vaccine candidates have been produced and are being evaluated for
their efficacy.
In
collaboration with the Defense Research and Development Canada-Suffield (“DRDC-Suffield”), ViRexx is
evaluating Chimigen™ Vaccines
for use in biodefense. In this program, the Corporation is focusing
on two candidate vaccines for Western Equine Encephalitis Virus
(“WEEV”). Based on the results from these studies, the Corporation
was encouraged to apply for a biodefense development contract, which was
submitted to National Institutes of Health (“NIH”), USA in January 2008. The
application is under review and the result is awaited.
Looking
toward its next generation Chimigen™ Platform
products, the Corporation has established research collaboration with the
National Institute of Nanotechnology for developing targeted bionanoparticles
using the Chimigen™
Platform. If successful, Chimigen™
Bionanoparticle technology could be used for targeting immune cells to modulate
specific pathways of immune responses and also for use in siRNA delivery and
immunomodulator vaccine development.
T-ACTä Platform
Technology
The
T-ACT™ Platform is designed to interrupt blood supply to tumors, leading to
tumor tissue starvation and death. The lead product candidate of the T-ACT™
Platform, Occlusin™ 50 Injection, is a treatment for primary cancer of the
liver. In August 2007 the Corporation completed a Phase I clinical
trial treating 12 hepatocellular carcinoma patients with Occlusin™ 50 Injection
as part of a transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (“TACE”)
procedure. The adverse events profile of the product was similar to
that of commercially available embolization devices. Significant
tumor stability was achieved in 11 patients and progression occurred in 1
patient following treatment. This TACE procedure translates to a
clinical benefit of over 90%, with three patients stabilized sufficiently to
qualify for a liver transplant. TACE is the treatment of choice to
control tumor progression in patients who are being considered for liver
transplantation. Liver transplantation is the optimal treatment for
primary cancer of the liver in selected patients because it essentially “cures”
the liver cancer and any underlying liver disease that might lead to the
reappearance of the cancer. Unlike other embolic agents OcclusinTM 50 is
resorbable, and does not remain permanently in the body; it is reversible with
anti-coagulant therapy thus enhancing its off-target safety profile, and it
produces rapid embolization with relatively smaller volumes of agent that is
easily prepared and which does not clog angiocatheters. Occlusin™ 50
Injection partnering discussions have been initiated with companies interested
in Occlusin™ 50 Injection. Specifically, ViRexx is evaluating
potential partners interested in licensing Occlusin™ 50 Injection for Asia, as
the prevalence of liver cancer is much higher in Asia than anywhere else in the
world.
The
second product candidate of the T-ACT™ Platform is the Occlusin™ 500 AED, an
embolic agent designed to treat hypervascular tumors including uterine
fibroids. This device is delivered by catheter to the blood vessels
feeding the tissue to be treated. Unlike other embolic agents,
Occlusin™ 500 AED undergoes natural breakdown in the body and ultimately
disappears. ViRexx is continuing preclinical testing of this product
candidate and has also completed the production of two Good Manufacturing
Practice (“GMP”) batches of the product. Exploration of new
manufacturing methods of Occlusin™ 500 AED to increase efficiency of production
is in progress. Occlusin™ 500 AED will be developed as a medical device for
marketing clearance, and the Corporation plans to file a 510(k) Pre-Market
Notification.
Partnering
discussions are currently underway with parties interested in developing and
commercializing Occlusin™ 500 AED. Clinical studies could be started in the
second half of 2009 and marketing clearance in United States in early 2011, or
earlier.
AITä Platform
Technology
The lead
product candidates from the AIT™ Platform include OvaRex® MAb for
ovarian cancer, and BrevaRex® MAb for
breast cancer. OvaRex® MAb was
the subject of one Phase II study examining combination chemo-immunotherapy in
front-line treatment, and two randomized, double-blind and placebo controlled
Phase III clinical trials examining immunotherapy during remission.
The Phase
III trials were designed to compare OvaRex® MAb to
placebo by evaluating the time to disease relapse in patients in remission who
had undergone successful surgery and front-line chemotherapy. The
results of these Phase III trials released in December of 2007 indicated that
while the use of OvaRex® MAb was
safe, the outcomes for the patients who were treated were not statistically
significant. Consequently Unither Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Unither”) a
subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation (“United”), to whom ViRexx,
through its wholly owned subsidiary AltaRex, had granted exclusive rights for
development and commercialization of OvaRex® MAb,
announced they were abandoning development and commercialization of OvaRex® MAb and
related potential products. The License and Development Agreement has
been terminated and ViRexx has repatriated the development and commercialization
rights for all AIT™ Platform products. Unither/United has returned to
ViRexx all data and other material associated with the development and
commercialization of OvaRex®
MAb. The scientists at ViRexx in conjunction with outside independent
parties are currently evaluating the data and the assumptions underlying the
program prior to determining the next steps in the development of this product
and the effect of this on related technologies.
The Phase
II study referred to above showed promising results for the use of OvaRex® MAb in
conjunction with front-line chemotherapy. Not only was OvaRex® MAb safe
to use in this new setting, but cellular immune responses to the tumor antigen
were seen. The use of non-selective chemotherapy combined with targeted
immunotherapy is being recognized as a new cancer treatment paradigm by the
medical community. This new treatment mode represents an exciting
partnering opportunity and ViRexx is pursuing discussions with several
interested parties.
The
combination chemo-immunotherapy model is also being discussed in the context of
a Phase II clinical trial which may be initiated jointly by ViRexx and the
Gynaecologic Oncology Group (“GOG”) in 2008. The trial, if and when
it proceeds, will explore the use of OvaRex® MAb in
conjunction with cyclophosphamide, a chemotherapeutic drug known to have immune
modulating effects. To enroll, patients must have relapsed and
undergone a second round of chemotherapy. This trial will seek to
broaden our experience in using combination chemo-immunotherapy in treating
ovarian cancer.
BrevaRex® MAb is a
high affinity antibody specific to the tumor associated antigen, MUC-1, which is
present in cancers of the breast and pancreas as well as in multiple
myelomas. BrevaRex® MAb was
shown to be safe in a Phase I clinical trial in patients with MUC-1 expressing
tumors. ViRexx has worldwide rights for licensing BrevaRex® MAb,
with established license agreements for some European
territories. The remaining antibodies in the AIT™ Platform include
ProstaRex™ MAb and GivaRex™ MAb, both in the pre-clinical stage targeting
prostate and pancreatic cancer respectively.
Discussions
are ongoing between ViRexx and interested parties to determine the best strategy
for proceeding with development and commercialization of the AIT™ Platform
product pipeline.
Product
Candidate Pipeline
A summary
of the development stage for each of the drug candidates is as
follows:
Business
Strategy
ViRexx's
business strategy is to develop and commercialize therapeutic product candidates
originating from its
Chimigen™, T-ACT™ and AIT™ platform technologies in a timely and effective
manner. The Corporation plans to build value by advancing its Chimigen™
Therapeutic Vaccines through pre-clinical and Phase I/II clinical trials. As
well, ViRexx will pursue strategic partnering and licensing opportunities
for its non-core programs, specifically Occlusin™ 50 Injection and Occlusin™ 500
AED, OvaRex® MAb and
CHB111.
The
Corporation’s strategic plan includes the following:
·
|
New
leadership with significant relevant industry experience to drive
performance and provide networks for collaborations and
partnering;
|
·
|
Focus
research expenditures on near term product
opportunities;
|
·
|
Control
and focus expenditures on longer term opportunities to build strong
development and commercialization
opportunities;
|
·
|
Aggressive
partnering plan for late stage clinical candidate, medical device &
oncology products;
|
·
|
Focus
overall expenditures to minimize the level of additional capital required;
and
|
·
|
Direct
efforts to clear value creating milestones in 2008 and
2009.
|
Key
Milestones
The
Corporation’s strategic plan calls for the achievement of a number of
significant milestones over the next 12 months:
·
|
Completion
of data review and assessment of the AIT™
Platform development strategy;
|
·
|
Initiation
of a Phase II clinical trial in collaboration with the GOG examining
OvaRex®
MAb in conjunction with cyclophosphamide in ovarian cancer patients who
have relapsed and undergone a second round of
chemotherapy;
|
·
|
Establish
a partnership for the development and commercialization of Occlusin™
products in Europe and / or Asia;
|
·
|
Establish
partnership for development and commercialization of OvaRex®
MAb as front-line therapy in
Europe;
|
·
|
Demonstrate
in vivo
efficacy of Chimigen™ WEEV Vaccine in preclinical
models;
|
·
|
Demonstrate
in vivo immune
response to multiantigen Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine in
preclinical models;
|
·
|
Demonstrate
ex vivo
immunological efficacy of Chimigen™ Influenza Vaccine in laboratory
assays; and
|
·
|
Implement
Chimigen™ WEEV Vaccine development plan, should NIH funding be
received.
|
The
Corporation’s focus in 2008-2009 is to concentrate its internal resources on
moving the Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine and Hepatitis C Therapeutic
Vaccine into development. In order to leverage external resources,
ViRexx will also seek to establish partnerships for development and
commercialization of its Occlusinä 500 AED and
Occlusinä 50
Injection.
ViRexx
will also seek partnerships to move the AIT™ Platform
strategy forward, both in the clinical and pre-clinical
areas. Analysis of the past trials will lay the foundation for any
future trials of OvaRex® MAb in
conjunction with front-line chemotherapy. A number of companies have
expressed interest in partnering with ViRexx to work on several of the other
MAbs in the AIT™ Platform
pipeline.
Chimigen™
Platform Technology
Technology
Overview
In a
healthy individual, foreign antigens (such as proteins derived from a bacterium,
virus or parasite) normally elicit an immune response. This immune response is
comprised of two components:
(a)
|
The
humoral (antibody) response, which consists of the production of
antibodies by B-cells that are secreted into the blood and/or lymph in
response to an antigenic stimulus. The circulating antibodies then
neutralize the pathogen (virus, bacteria or parasite) by binding
specifically to antigens on its surface, marking it for destruction by
phagocytic cells and/or complement-mediated
mechanisms.
|
(b)
|
The
cellular response, which leads to the selection and expansion of specific
helper and killer T-cell clones capable of directly eliminating cells that
display the target antigen on their cell
surfaces.
|
In some
individuals, the immune system does not respond normally to certain antigens or
pathogens. When an antigen does not stimulate the production of a specific
antibody and/or cellular response, the immune system is not able to ward off the
resultant infection. As a result, the host will develop tolerance to the
infectious agent and thus the individual will become a chronic carrier of the
disease.
Chimigen™
fusion proteins are compromised of two domains, the “Target Binding Domain” and
the “Immune Response Domain”. The Target Binding Domain targets the Chimigen™
Vaccine to specific receptors on antigen presenting cells and the Immune
Response Domain contains selected antigens. The vaccine fusion proteins are
produced using recombinant methods. Our recombinant technology allows for
efficient fusion of a desired antigen (the Immune Response Domain) onto the
Target Binding Domain backbone of the Chimigen™ Vaccine. This enhances our
ability to produce highly desirable multivalent vaccines. Thus the Chimigen™
Platform is a true platform that lends itself to the development of multiple
products incorporating antigens that occur in a number of disease conditions
including cancer.
We are in
the process of testing the ability of our Chimigen™ Vaccines to induce both arms
of the body’s immune system to attack the infectious agent(s) in order to
develop therapeutic vaccines for treating chronic hepatitis B and C virus
infections. We anticipate that the tests will show the Chimigen™ Therapeutic
Vaccines will break tolerance to the infectious agent(s) and stimulate the
immune system to eliminate infected cells as well as any circulating infectious
agent. We are also testing our Chimigen™ Prophylactic Vaccine candidates against
avian influenza and for biodefence uses.
Chimigen™
Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine candidates
Product
Candidate Overview
ViRexx
has completed a Phase I clinical trial for its initial Chimigen™ Hepatitis B
Therapeutic Vaccine candidate, CHB-111 (formerly called HepaVaxx B Vaccine), in
15 normal, healthy volunteers. There were no significant adverse events
associated with the treatment. The evaluation of the immune responses in
these volunteers to the treatment with a single dose of the CHB-111 revealed no
significant humoral or cellular responses elicited by the vaccination. ViRexx
has identified a new Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Virus Therapeutic Vaccine
candidate, which includes multiple antigens shown to be involved in a
therapeutic immune response in clearance of chronic hepatitis B virus
infection.
Market
Overview
The
market for ViRexx’s Chimigen™ Therapeutic Vaccines is global as shown in the
chart below:
Hepatitis
B Virus Market Size
|
Globally
|
|
U.S.
|
People
Chronically Infected
|
400
million
|
|
1.25
million
|
New
Cases Per Year
|
5.7
million
|
|
60,000
|
Source:
Center for Disease Control Hepatitis B Fact Sheet (2003)
Source:
World Health Organization 2000
Hepatitis
B is one of the major diseases of mankind and is a serious global public health
problem. The World Health Organization estimates that one out of every three
people world wide have been infected with the hepatitis B Virus (“HBV”) of whom
approximately 400 million have developed a chronic HBV infection.
The virus
is endemic in Asia, (especially Southeast Asia), Africa, and the Middle
East. About 5% of the world’s population is chronic carriers of HBV,
and nearly 25% of all carriers develop liver diseases such as hepatitis,
cirrhosis and primary liver cancer (See Figure “Natural Course of HBV Chronic
Infection). Approximately 1.25 million chronic carriers of HBV live
in the U.S. and an estimated 5.7 million people worldwide are newly infected
with the virus each year. There are approximately one million deaths each year
attributed to chronic HBV infection.
Competition
Numerous
companies including several major international pharmaceutical companies are
developing new and novel products for the treatment or prevention of chronic
hepatitis B. The developmental strategies being employed by these biotech and
pharmaceutical companies may be categorized as (a) nucleoside reverse
transcriptase inhibitors of viral replication (e.g., Entecavir), (b)
non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors of viral replication (e.g.
Robustaflavone), (c) monoclonal antibodies, (d) vaccines (e.g., hepatitis B DNA
vaccine), (e) antivirals using siRNA technology and (f) other immunologic
therapies (e.g., EHT899).
We
believe that the majority of these approaches do not eradicate the reservoir of
the HBV that remains inside the patient’s cells and therefore frequently do not
permanently cure the patient of hepatitis B viral infection. The approaches
noted above will likely reduce the viral load in the patient’s blood, but
unfortunately for the majority of patients, once the therapy is stopped the
hepatitis virus will begin to replicate again within the patient’s cells that
contain the viral DNA. In contrast, we believe that Chimigen™ Hepatitis B
Therapeutic Vaccines will elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses in
chronic hepatitis B patients and that a strong cellular immune response directed
against hepatitis B antigens will have the potential to eradicate the patient’s
cells that harbor hepatitis B viral DNA.
Experience
has shown that during long term therapy with existing antiviral agents (e.g.,
lamivudine), the patients that had the best chance of eliminating the virus were
the patients who had an immune response to the virus prior to initiating
treatment with the antiviral agent. We believe that the immune responses induced
by Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Therapeutic Vaccine will increase the effectiveness of
antiviral therapy when used in combination with antiviral agents such as
lamivudine.
Chimigen™
Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccine Candidates
Product
Candidate Overview
Chimigen™
Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccines are being developed for the treatment of
chronic hepatitis C viral infections. These vaccine candidates consist of a
recombinant chimeric molecule containing the elements of both HCV viral
antigen(s) and a murine antibody fragment. The fusion molecules are designed to
target antigen presenting cells, especially dendritic cells that play a dominant
role in the body’s immune system. Currently, there are two ex vivo tested Chimigen™
Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccine candidates. Continued efforts in 2008 are
directed to the final selection of a Chimigen™ Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccine
candidate for clinical testing.
Market
Overview
The
market for ViRexx’s Chimigen™ HCV Therapeutic Vaccine is global.
HCV
Market Size
|
|
|
|
|
Globally
|
|
U.S.
|
People
Chronically Infected
|
170
million
|
|
3.2
million
|
New
Cases Per Year
|
3-4
million
|
|
19,000
|
Sources:
World Health Organization Fact Sheet WHO/164 - October (2000)
Source:
World Health Organization (2000)
The World
Health Organization estimates that 170 million people are chronically infected
with HCV (more than four times as many as are infected with HIV) and
conservatively 3 to 4 million people are newly infected each year. (Source: WHO
Fact Sheet WHO/164 - October 2000.)
An
estimated 4.1 million people have been infected with HCV in the U.S., of whom
3.2 million are chronically infected. According to the U.S. Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (“CDC”), new infections in the U.S. have dropped from
approximately 240,000 annually in the 1980s to less than 19,000 in 2006. This is
largely due to the availability of a diagnostic antibody test, which was
introduced in 1990 to screen and eliminate HCV-infected blood from the nation’s
blood supply. (Source: Center for Disease Control Hepatitis C Fact Sheet
(2008).
Since
1990, all donated blood in the U.S. has been screened for the presence of the
virus, thus eliminating almost all cases of transmission via blood transfusion.
While this screening test has also been adopted by many other industrialized
nations, the rest of the world is still at risk from transfusions as well as the
other common routes of transmission (especially contaminated needles). In the
absence of blood screening, many, if not most carriers, have no idea that they
are infected, or that they should take precautions against infecting
others.
While the
incidence of infection in the U.S. has decreased since the 1980s, the rate of
deaths attributable to HCV continues to increase as people infected decades ago
begin to manifest the disease. According to the CDC, 8,000 to 10,000 people
currently die each year from HCV-related liver disease. HCV continues to be the
primary indication for liver transplantation. The CDC has previously predicted
that the death toll will triple by the year 2010 and exceed the number of U.S.
deaths due to AIDS. In addition, HCV is now the most common blood-borne
infection in the U.S.
According
to Hepatitis Central, chronic HCV is predicted to become a major burden on the
health care system over the next 10 to 20 years as many patients who are
currently asymptomatic will progress to end-stage liver disease and cancer.
Approximately 75% to 85% of individuals infected with HCV will develop a chronic
infection, of whom 15% to 20% will develop chronic liver disease progressing to
cirrhosis. Between 1% and 5% of people with chronic infections will die over a
period of 20 to 30 years. Predictions in the U.S. estimate that there will be a
60% increase in the incidence of cirrhosis, a 68% increase in hepatoma, a 279%
increase in hepatic decomposition, a 528% increase in the need for
transplantation, and a 223% increase in liver death rate.
At
present there is neither a therapeutic or prophylactic vaccine commercially
available to treat or prevent hepatitis C infections. Current therapy for
hepatitis C infection utilizes a combination of interferon- α and ribavirin. However,
this combination is expensive, has significant side effects and is only
effective in approximately 40% of patients. The epidemic proportions of HCV
infection, the limited efficacy and expensive nature of approved therapeutics,
the high cost of liver transplants (about $314,000 each) and the huge
burden on the healthcare system in Canada alone (about $600 million in 1998,
just in medical and work-loss costs), all point to the need for prophylactic
vaccines and new therapies to treat the disease. (Source: Health Canada News
Release, September 18, 1998 and Fields Virology (2000) Volumes I and II (Fourth
Edition)).
The
specific target population that can be treated with Chimigen™ Hepatitis C
Therapeutic Vaccine will be defined through the clinical development process. We
believe the Chimigen™ Vaccine Platform can potentially be used to develop a
prophylactic vaccine against hepatitis C infection as well as a therapeutic
vaccine.
Competition
Numerous
companies, including major international pharmaceutical companies (e.g. Roche,
Schering-Plough, and Eli Lilly), are developing innovative drugs for the
treatment of hepatitis C. The development strategies can be categorized as (a)
biological response modifiers
(e.g. interferon
α-2b), (b) antiviral nucleosides, (c) immune globulins (e.g.,
Civacir™ Hepatitis
C immune globulin), (d) monoclonal antibodies (e.g., XTL-002), (e) ribozymes
(e.g.. Heptazyme™), (f)
antisense drugs (e.g. ISIS 14803), (g) small molecule protease inhibitors (e.g.,
LY570310 / BILN2061, VX-950), (h) polymerase inhibitors (e.g. NM283) and (i)
other strategies (e.g. human recombinant lactoferrin).
Among
these developmental strategies, the biological response modifiers (“BRMs”) (e.g.
interferon- α) have promise for treatment of
hepatitis C infection. BRMs enhance, direct or restore the body’s ability to
fight disease and provide a non-specific boost to the patient’s immune system,
which will then mount an attack on cells harboring HCV. Although BRMs such as
interferon- α impart a general immune boost that is effective in some
patients, the side effect profile is very poor and many patients choose to
discontinue therapy because they cannot tolerate the adverse
effects.
We
believe, based on CHB-111 studies, that the adverse side effect profile
associated with treatment of chronic hepatitis C patients with a Chimigen™
Hepatitis C Therapeutic Vaccine may be very mild. Furthermore, we believe, based
on studies of various Chimigen vaccine candidates, that a Chimigen™ Hepatitis C
Therapeutic Vaccine will elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses in
chronic hepatitis C patients that may eliminate the HCV infection from the
body.
Chiron
Corporation
Chiron
Corporation is developing prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines using
recombinant HCV antigens and adjuvants.
Schering-Plough
Corp.:
Schering-Plough
Corp.’s (“Schering-Plough”) interferon product (“interferon- α”),
PEG-INTRON®, is
currently the preferred treatment for HCV because it appears to be less toxic
than Rebetol®.
Schering-Plough has developed a combination therapy with this product and
ribavirin has been approved in North American and Europe.
F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd.
:
Hoffman-La
Roche Ltd. (“Roche”)
has a therapeutic for the treatment of HCV infections. In a head-to-head Phase
III clinical trial, it was found that patients treated with Roche’s PEG
interferon α-2a or Pegasys®,
combined with the antiviral agent ribavirin, was effective in 56% of patients
tested, relative to 45% of subjects taking Schering-Plough’s Rebetol®, the
current industry standard.
In the
Roche trial, researchers discovered that the most common side effects,
depression and flu-like symptoms, were less frequently exhibited in the Pegasys
and ribavirin group than in the group taking ribavirin alone. Depression
occurred in 21% of those taking the combination therapy, compared with 30% in
the ribavirin alone group, and 20% in the group taking Pegasys without
ribavirin. (Source: Roche Press Release) However, the high cost (approximately
U.S. $31,000 for a year’s supply) and the frequency of side effects with
moderate efficacy make this therapy less than ideal. (Source: Fields Virology
(2000) Volumes I and II (Fourth Edition).
There are
also a number of drugs under development, such as Vertex’s VX-950 protease
inhibitor and Idenix’s NM283 polymerase inhibitor, that have shown great promise
during Phase II clinical testing. These drugs are being developed
rapidly in collaboration with major pharmaceutical partners. If
approved, they may re-define the standard of care for the treatment of HCV
infections. We believe approval of these small molecule drugs will
not affect the market share for ViRexx products as they would be complementary
to any vaccine use, and additionally, resistance is known to develop readily
with small molecule anti-viral agents.
T-ACT™
Platform Technology
Technology
Overview
It has
long been known that depriving a tumor of its blood supply has great potential
in the fight against cancer and in the treatment of benign tumors. Many large
pharmaceutical companies conducting clinical studies have clearly established
the concept that cutting off the blood supply to tumors causes them to regress
and become dormant. Furthermore, cutting off the blood supply reduces the
ability of cancers to invade tissues and to spread to other parts of the
body. We believe that the Occlusin™ product candidates are ideal for
utilizing this approach as a treatment for uterine fibroids (a benign tumor) and
hepatocellular carcinoma (primary cancer of the liver).
Our
Occlusin™ product candidates are based on site-specific platelet-mediated
induction of thrombosis of the arterial supply of hypervascular
tumors. Occlusin™ 50 Injection is a biological product that
utilizes von Willebrand Factor (“VWF”) immobilized to agglutinated
albumin. VWF is able to capture and activate circulating platelets,
initiating a cascade leading to the formation of a blood clot that blocks the
flow of blood in the target artery. Occlusin™ 500 AED is a medical
device in which type 1 collagen is immobilized on a deformable synthetic
bead. Both Occlusin™ 50 Injection and Occlusin™ 500 AED are made from
biocompatible materials that will degrade naturally in the body with
time. Both products can be delivered directly to the artery desired
using standard catheters.
Occlusin™ Product
Candidates
Product
Candidate Overview
The lead
product candidate of the T-ACT™ platform, Occlusinä 50 Injection is a
treatment for primary cancer of the liver, which has completed a Phase I
clinical trial. A second product candidate, Occlusinä 500 AED, is in
preclinical development for the treatment of uterine fibroids and other solid
hypervascular tumors.
The
Company has completed a Phase I clinical trial using Occlusin™ 50 Injection to
treat 12 hepatocellular carcinoma patients with as part of a transcatheter
arterial chemoembolization (“TACE”) procedure. The adverse events
profile of the product was similar to that of commercially available
embolization devices. Tumor stability was achieved in 11 patients and
progression occurred in 1 patient following treatment. Three patients
stabilized sufficiently to qualify for a liver transplant. We are
currently seeking a partner to continue development of Occlusin™ 50 Injection in
Asia.
The
second product candidate of the T-ACT™ Platform is the Occlusin™ 500 AED, an
embolic agent designed to treat hypervascular tumors including uterine
fibroids. This device is delivered by catheter to the blood vessels
feeding the tissue to be treated. ViRexx is continuing preclinical
testing of this product candidate. Partnering discussions are currently underway
with parties interested in developing and commercializing Occlusin™ 500 AED.
Clinical studies could be started in the second half of 2009 and marketing
clearance in United States in early 2011, or earlier.
Market
Overview
The
Occlusin™ product candidate indications, primary liver cancer and uterine
fibroids constitute a global market.
Liver
Cancer Market Size (primary + secondary to colorectal cancer)
|
Globally
|
|
U.S.
|
New
Cases per year
|
626,162
|
|
21,370
|
Source: GLOBOCAN
2002
While
primary liver cancer is not as prevalent in North America, it is responsible for
50% of all cancer cases in the less developed parts of the world such as Africa,
Southeast Asia, and China. This dramatic difference is believed to be due to the
much higher prevalence of HBV carriers in those regions, which predisposes to
the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (“HCC”).
According
to GLOBOCAN 2002, the worldwide incidence of primary liver cancer was estimated
to be 626,162 cases and, of these, over 485,462 were located in Asia, 16,210 in
North America and 53,618 in Europe. The number of patients who died worldwide
from primary liver cancer in 2006 was estimated to be 662,000. ViRexx will
determine the target market for its Occlusion™ 50 Injection product candidate(s)
by continued market analysis and through the clinical trial
process.
In the
U.S., the five-year survival rate for patients with all stages of liver cancer
is 10.8%. The five year survival rate of American patients diagnosed with
localized liver cancer is 22.3% and a mere 2.8% for patients with distant
disease. There has been little improvement in the five-year survival rate for
U.S. liver cancer patients since the mid 1970s when the overall survival rate
was 5%. (Source: American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts and Figures
2008)
Uterine
Fibroid Market Size
|
Globally
|
|
U.S.
|
Prevalence
|
20%
- 40% of women >35 years of age
|
|
>
24.5 million
|
Target
Market of the 200,000 hysterectomies performed annually to relieve
debilitating symptoms of uterine fibroids
|
20%
experience debilitating symptoms
|
|
>
2.5 million
|
Source:
National Institutes of Health (NIH); Central Intelligence Agency Population
Statistics; Society of Interventional Radiology.
Uterine
fibroids, also called leiomyomas, are benign tumors that can grow on the inside
or outside of the uterus, or within the uterine wall. Their size can vary from
that of a pea (0.25 inch) to 8 inches in diameter. While most women with
fibroids are symptom-free, approximately 10% to 20% experience prolonged
bleeding, which can lead to anemia and/or pain in the pelvis, abdomen, back or
during sexual intercourse. Fibroids can also prevent a woman from conceiving, or
can induce a miscarriage or premature labor. As fibroids grow and expand, they
exert pressure upon the bladder and lower intestine and can cause difficult or
increased urination, constipation, and a feeling of fullness.
The
Society of Interventional Radiology estimates the incidence of uterine fibroids
of significant size at 20% to 40% of women 35 years of age and older and 20%
(2.5 million women) experience severe debilitating effects. Corresponding
numbers of women in the rest of the world are similarly afflicted. ViRexx will
determine the target market for its Occlusion™ product candidates by continued
market analysis and through the clinical trial process.
Hysterectomy
(complete removal of the uterus) or myomectomy (partial removal of the uterine
wall) has been the treatment of choice for women suffering from severe side
effects of uterine fibroids. These invasive surgical procedures require long
hospital stays and recovery time, post surgery. In contrast, uterine artery
embolization (“UAE”) is a minimally invasive technique delivered as an
outpatient procedure with minimal recovery time.
UAE
involves the delivery of tiny embolic microspheres to the blood vessel (the
uterine artery) feeding the fibroid. The microspheres are delivered by catheter
and function to block the blood flow to these benign tumors. Once the blood
supply is cut off, the fibroids shrink resulting in symptom relief.
A
publication in the New England Journal of Medicine (January 25, 2007) comparing
treatments for uterine fibroids underlined the benefits of UAE over surgery
(hysterectomy or myomectomy). The UAE group had a shorter median stay in
hospital (1 versus 5 days; p<.001) and a shorter recovery time before
returning to work (20 days versus 61 days; p<0.001) in comparison to the
surgery group. There was no difference in major adverse events between the
two groups.
Embolotherapy,
the blocking of blood vessels feeding a target tissue, has been practiced for
more than 30 years. Several companies, in recent years, have focused on
producing specific embolic agents for the treatment of various forms of solid
tumors.
Biosphere
Medical Inc.:
Biosphere
Medical Inc.’s Embosphere®
microsphere technology is the perceived market leader in the area of
embolotherapy. This company has developed several forms of its acrylic-based
microspheres to treat both liver cancer and uterine fibroids. Biospheres’
embolic device for the treatment of liver cancer has recently been approved for
sale in China.
Cook
Incorporated:
Cook
Incorporated markets polyvinyl alcohol (“PVA”) foam particles. This company
markets several different sizes of the particles to block various sizes of blood
vessels. Cook Incorporated also markets materials such as catheters required in
UFE procedures.
PVA
particles are inert and serve only to physically interfere with the blood flow
to the target tissue. In addition, the irregular shape of the PVA particles can
result in clogging of the catheter through which the particles are
delivered.
Boston
Scientific Corporation:
Boston
Scientific markets Contour SE™ Microspheres for the treatment of hypervascular
tumors and uterine fibroids. The microspheres consist of polyvinyl alcohol and
are available in various size ranges. PVA particles are inert and serve only to
physically interfere with the flow of blood to the target tissue.
Occlusin™
particles physically cause a blockage of blood flow in the treated vessel, as do
all embolic agents. However, Occlusin™ particles also bind and
activate platelets which lead to the consolidation of the blood clot and a
therefore more efficient blockage of blood flow.
AIT™
Platform Technology
Technology
Overview
Harnessing
the Immune System
Monoclonal
antibodies (MAbs) were once thought to be magic bullets that would bind to tumor
cells and thereby deliver therapeutic entities to a tumor. One of the historical
challenges to the monoclonal antibody (MAb) field has been the natural shedding
by tumors of antigens into the bloodstream. Once in circulation, these shed
tumor antigens bind to the MAbs before they reach their intended destination
(the tumor). When select monoclonal antibodies bind to the antigen in
circulation, our antibodies trigger the immune system to recognize and bind to
epitopes of the antigen which are also found on the tumor cells. Research by
ViRexx has further demonstrated that our antibody-based products facilitate and
modify tumor antigen processing to trigger T-cell immunity.
Competition
within the AIT™
Space
While
numerous companies are developing and marketing monoclonal antibodies to treat
cancers, to the best of our knowledge there is no known competition at present
using a treatment approach similar that of the AIT™ platform technology. The
Corporation has issued patents and patents pending protecting the AIT™
technology.
OvaRex® MAb
Product
Candidate Overview
OvaRex® MAb is a
murine antibody-based product that has a high degree of specificity to the tumor
associated antigen CA125 that is over-expressed on tumor cells in more than 80%
of women with stage III/IV ovarian cancer. We believe that OvaRex® MAb acts
as an immunotherapeutic agent by inducing and/or amplifying the body’s immune
response against ovarian cancer.
OvaRex® MAb
§ Fully
foreign monoclonal antibody (MAb) that selectively targets CA125, a tumor
associated antigen that is present in the circulation of more than 80% of
late stage
ovarian
cancer patients
|
§ Induces
broad immune responses against CA125 and consequently against the
patient’s CA125 positive ovarian tumors
|
§ In
Phase II of clinical development
|
§ Benign
safety profile and good quality of life during
treatment
|
§ Granted
Orphan Drug status in U.S. and Europe and Fast Track status in
U.S.
|
A Phase
II study was recently completed that showed promising results for the use of
OvaRex® MAb in
conjunction with front-line chemotherapy. Not only was
OvaRex® MAb safe
to use in this setting, but cellular immune responses to the tumor antigen were
seen. The use of non-selective chemotherapy combined with targeted immunotherapy
is gaining ground as a new cancer treatment paradigm by the medical
community. As previously mentioned, ViRexx and the GOG will undertake
a Phase II study in 2008 examining the use of OvaRex® MAb in
conjunction with cyclophosphamide pretreatment in relapsed
patients. This study will broaden our experience in using combination
in the use of chemo-immunotherapy in treating ovarian cancer.
Market
Overview
Ovarian
cancer is a malignant growth originating in the ovaries of the female
reproductive system. In the U.S., Canada, and Europe, ovarian cancer causes more
deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive tract, representing 3%
of all cancers among women in the U.S. It is the second most common
gynecological cancer and according to statistics compiled by the American Cancer
Society (“ACS”). Specifically, the ACS estimates that there were 22,430 new
cases and 15,280 deaths resulting from ovarian cancer in 2007 in the
U.S. The Canadian Cancer Society has estimated about 2,400 new
cases of ovarian cancer were diagnosed in Canadian women, last year and 1,700
died due to this disease over the same period.
The
Orphan Drug Designation for OvaRex® MAb
affords 7 years exclusivity from approval to market in the U.S. and 10 years
marketing exclusivity in Europe.
Treatment
Ovarian
cancer typically exhibits vague symptoms, and is therefore called “The Disease
That Whispers”. It is particularly difficult to detect given the location of the
ovaries and is often not diagnosed until at a late stage in the disease, at
which point, it has already spread to other parts of the body. Consequently,
approximately 75% of ovarian cancers are diagnosed in the later stages.
The therapeutic approach prescribed to patients whose tumors have progressed to
an advanced stage consists of surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy.
Currently, the most common chemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed
ovarian cancer is carboplatin (Paraplatin®) or
cisplatin (Platinol®) in
combination with a taxane such as paclitaxel (Taxol®). Despite
their apparent positive effect on survival time, these agents are associated
with significant toxicity and side effects that reduce the patient’s quality of
life. Given the rigors of repeated chemotherapeutic treatments, and taking into
account the modest effect on prolonging survival time, patient quality of life
has become a major issue.
BrevaRex® MAb
Product
Candidate Overview
BrevaRex® MAb is a
murine antibody-based product that has a high degree of specificity to the tumor
associated antigen MUC-1 that is over-expressed on tumor cells in numerous
cancers including breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma. Like
OvaRex® MAb, we
believe, based on pre-clinical studies, BrevaRex® MAb acts
as an immunotherapeutic agent by inducing and/or amplifying the human body’s
immune response against MUC-1 expressing cancers.
BrevaRex® MAb
§ Fully
foreign monoclonal antibody (MAb) that targets MUC-1, a tumor associated
antigen that is expressed in breast and pancreatic cancers as well as in
multiple myeloma
|
§ Induces
broad immune responses against MUC-1 and consequently against the
patient’s MUC-1 positive tumors
|
§ Beginning
Phase II clinical development
|
§ Benign
safety profile and good quality of life during
treatment
|
In a
Phase I clinical trial in patients with advanced cancers that expressed MUC-1,
BrevaRex® MAb was
shown to be safe and to have induced MUC-1 specific immune responses in the
patients. Preclinical studies of BrevaRex® MAb also
suggest that this antibody may be effective when used alone or used in
combination with specific chemotherapeutic agents.
Market
Overview
Breast
cancer has the largest market potential for BrevaRex® MAb. In
the U.S. approximately 184,450 new cases will occur in 2008 in both sexes (ACS
Cancer Facts and Figures 2008). World wide, breast cancer is the most common
cancer in women (World Cancer Report 2003). Although there have been
major advances in the treatment of breast cancer, there remains no cure for this
disease.
Treatment
Currently,
breast cancer treatment involves surgery for localized tumors followed by
hormonal therapy, chemotherapy and if needed, radiotherapy and, if needed
tyrosine kinase inhibitors and HER-2 therapy (e.g, Herceptin). The
ability to stimulate the patient’s own immune system to target breast cancer
through the use of BrevaRex® MAb
would be a significant advance in treatment. Whether BrevaRex® MAb will
be used as a monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy has yet to be fully
assessed.
ProstaRex ™ MAb and GivaRex ™ MAb
Both of
these product candidates are in the pre-clinical stage targeting prostate and
pancreatic cancer respectively.
Intellectual
Property Protection
ViRexx
relies upon patent protection and trademarks to help it plan its future
activities, preserve its right to capitalize on the results of its research and
development activities and, to the extent it may be necessary or advisable, to
exclude others from appropriating its proprietary technology.
Confidentiality
If we are
unable to maintain the confidentiality of our technology in appropriate
circumstances, this could have a material adverse impact on our business,
financial condition, and results of operations. Since some of our
technology is not patented or licensed but protected by the law of trade
secrets, our ability to maintain the confidentiality of our technology is
crucial to our ultimate possible commercial success. In order to protect our
confidential information, we have adopted the following procedures:
· all
of our employees must sign and are bound by confidentiality
agreements;
|
·
|
no
sensitive or confidential information is disclosed to any party unless
appropriate confidential disclosure agreements are first signed;
and
|
|
·
|
all
confidential material that is provided to a party is marked as
confidential and is requested to be returned when the user no longer has a
need to have the material, or when the term of any applicable confidential
disclosure agreement governing the use of the material
expires.
|
Although,
in most circumstances, we cannot prevent a person from violating the terms of
any confidential disclosure agreement, we can seek restitution where it is
justified. We are unaware of any violations of our confidentiality
procedures, and to date we have never experienced a violation of our
confidentiality procedures that has caused our company material harm.
Nevertheless, we cannot assure you that our procedures to protect
confidentiality are effective, that third parties will not gain access to our
trade secrets or disclose our technology, or that we can meaningfully protect
our rights to our trade secrets. Furthermore, by seeking patent protection in
various countries, important technical information will become available to our
competitors, through publication of such patent applications. If we are unable
to obtain patent claims commensurate with the disclosure we have provided, the
disclosure of company secrets is nonetheless irretrievable.
Our
Patents
Our
success depends in part on our ability to obtain patents, operate without having
third parties circumvent our rights, operate without infringing the proprietary
rights of third parties, and maintain trade secret protection. As of the date of
this Annual Report, we had 97 issued patents and 142 pending patent applications
relating to our various technologies in the U.S., Canada, the European Union
(“EU”), and other countries. The expiry date of the nine patents
granted to us in the U.S. fall between 2016 and 2021. The dates reflecting the
expiration date of the longest-lived patent rights listed herein do not take
into consideration the possibility that a failure to maintain these patents, a
terminal disclaimer, an administrative term extension, or other future actions
may affect the actual expiration date of the patents. Pending applications may
never mature into patents, which could affect the lifespan of certain
licenses.
The
patent position of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies is uncertain and
involves complex legal and financial questions for which, in some cases,
important legal principles are largely unresolved. Patent offices, and indeed
their examiners, vary in their approaches regarding the breadth of
biopharmaceutical patent claims that they allow. In addition, the coverage
claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced during prosecution.
Accordingly, we may not be granted patents claims of meaningful scope based on
the applications we have filed. We cannot warrant that our pending patent
applications will result in patents being granted, that we will develop
additional proprietary product candidates with features that will fall within
the scope of our claims, that patents that have already been granted to us will
provide us with any competitive advantage or will not be challenged or
invalidated by any third parties, or that patents of others will not have an
adverse effect on our ability to do business. In addition, the laws of certain
foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent
as do the laws of Canada or the U.S. We cannot warrant that others will not
independently develop similar products or processes, duplicate any of our
potential products or processes, or design around the potential products or
processes we may patent.
Our
Patent Policy
We pursue
a policy of obtaining patent protection both in the U.S. and in selected foreign
countries for subject matter considered patentable and important to our
business. Our patent portfolio currently includes patents with respect to our
unique approaches to immunotherapy, compositions of matter, their immunological
utilities, broad claims to therapeutic methods, specific claims for use of these
compositions to treat various disease states, and the pharmaceutical formulation
of these compositions. We have also sought patent protection with respect to
embolotherapy, related compositions, methods and strategies for therapy, routes
of administration and pharmaceutical formulations. In addition, a portion of our
proprietary position is based upon the use of technology and potential products
we have licensed from others, including the master cell bank licensed from
Oncothyreon Inc. (formerly Biomira Inc.) for OvaRex® MAb. The
license agreement generally requires ViRexx to pay royalties upon
commercialization of potential products covered by the licensed technology.
Third-Party
Patents
Our
commercial success also depends significantly on our ability to operate without
infringing the patents and other proprietary rights of third parties. From time
to time, companies may possess rights to technologies in the same areas of
research and development as ours, may have patents similar to ours, and may
notify us that we may require licenses from them in order to avoid infringing
their rights in that technology or in order to enable us to commercialize our
own technology. Patent applications are, in some cases, maintained in secrecy
until patents are issued. Our competitors or potential competitors may have
filed applications for, or may have received patents and may obtain additional
and proprietary rights to compounds or processes used by us or are competitive
with ours. The publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature
frequently occurs substantially later than the date on which the underlying
discoveries were made and patent applications were filed. In the event of
infringement or violation of another party’s patent, we may be prevented from
pursuing potential product development or commercialization. In addition, we may
be required to obtain licenses under patents or other proprietary rights of
third parties. We cannot assure you that any licenses required under such
patents or proprietary rights will be available on terms acceptable to us. If we
do not obtain such licenses, we could encounter delays in introducing one or
more of our product candidates to the market, without infringing third-party
patents, or we could find that the development, manufacturing or sale of
potential products requiring these licenses could be foreclosed.
Patent
Litigation
Patent
litigation is becoming widespread in the biopharmaceutical industry and we
cannot predict how this will affect our efforts to form strategic alliances,
conduct clinical testing, or manufacture and market any of our product
candidates that we may successfully develop. We are unaware of any potential
issues related to our possible infringement or violation of another party’s
patent. If challenged, however, our patents may not be held to be valid. We
could also become involved in interference or impeachment proceedings in
connection with one or more of our patents or patent applications to determine
priority of invention. If we become involved in any litigation, interference,
impeachment, or other administrative proceedings, we will likely incur
substantial expenses and the efforts of our technical and management personnel
will be significantly diverted. We have the obligation to protect and bear the
cost of defending the patent rights of the patents we own. With respect to our
licensed patents we have the right but not the obligation to bear the cost of
defending patent rights from third parties. A decision to pursue a patent
infringement action may be prohibitively expensive.
More
specifically, we cannot warrant that we will have the financial or other
resources necessary to enforce or defend a patent infringement or proprietary
rights violation action. Moreover, if our potential products infringe the
patents, trademarks, or proprietary rights of others, we could, in certain
circumstances, become liable for substantial damages, which also could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of
operations. Where there is any sharing of patent rights, either through
co-ownership or different licensed "fields of use", one owner’s actions could
lead to the invalidity of the entire patent.
In
relation to the License Agreement established between AltaRex and Oncothyreon
Inc. (formerly Biomira Inc.) dated November 24, 1995, we are responsible for the
maintenance of certain existing patents and the prosecution of all patent
applications related to the licensed technology while Oncothyreon Inc. is
responsible for others.
Economic
Dependence and Foreign Operations
Some of
our product candidates are in the preliminary development stage, have not been
approved for marketing by any regulatory authority and cannot be commercially
distributed in any markets until such approval is obtained. We cannot assure you
that our Chimigen™ Vaccines, tumor starvation therapies and monoclonal antibody
therapies, will be effective at a level sufficient to support a profitable
business venture. The science on which our technologies are based may also fail
due to flaws or inaccuracies in the data, or because the data is not predictive
of future results. The scientific theories, upon which our business is based,
like all science, will evolve over time and become increasingly predictive of
the world in which we live. One potential consequence of imperfect theories may
be that we will never be able to create a marketable product. If we are unable
to do so, we will not generate revenues, will have to cease operations, and
investors will be at risk of losing their entire investment.
In
addition, it takes a significant period of time for new vaccines, medical
devices and therapeutic drugs and monoclonal antibody therapies, to be
developed, to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals to permit sales, to
establish appropriate distribution channels and market acceptance, and to obtain
insurer reimbursement approval. This time period is generally not less than 10
years. None of our therapeutic product candidates have been commercialized and
completion of the commercialization process for any of our product candidates
will require significant investments of time and funds. We cannot predict either
the total amount of funds that will be required, or assure you that we will be
successful in obtaining the necessary funds. It is also not possible for us to
predict the time required to complete the regulatory process or if there will be
sufficient market demand at such time. If any of our product candidates are
approved, we cannot give assurances that it will be possible to produce them in
commercial quantities at reasonable cost, successfully market them, or whether
any investment made by us in the commercialization of any product candidates
would be recovered through sales, license fees, or related royalties.
Furthermore, the time it takes for product candidates to reach market acceptance
exposes us to significant additional risks, including the development of
competing products, loss of investor interest, changing market needs, changes in
personnel, and regulatory changes.
Since the
process of discovering and developing cancer therapies and treatments for
chronic viral infections is our core business, we anticipate that we will remain
engaged in research and development for the foreseeable future. As product
candidates advance to commercialization, we expect that research will identify
other potential candidates for development.
We cannot
assure you that we will obtain any additional required licenses, that our
existing licenses or new licenses, if obtained, will not terminate, or that they
will be renewed. The failure to obtain, the termination of, or the failure to
renew any of these licenses could have a material adverse effect on our
pre-clinical and clinical programs and may cause us to suspend or cease our
operations. In addition, we cannot assure you that these licenses will remain in
good standing or that the technology we have licensed under these agreements has
been adequately protected or is free from claims of infringement of the
intellectual property rights of third parties.
Pursuant
to the terms of the licenses and any agreements we may enter into in the future,
we are and could be obligated to exercise diligence in bringing potential
products to market and to make license payments and certain potential milestone
payments that, in some instances, could be substantial. We are obligated and may
in the future be obligated, to make royalty payments on the sales, if any, of
product candidates resulting from licensed technology and, in some instances,
may be responsible for the costs of filing and prosecuting patent applications.
Because we require additional funding, we may not be able to make payments under
current or future license agreements, which may result in our breaching the
terms of any such license agreements. Any breach or termination of any license
could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and
results of operations.
Government
Regulation and Product Approval
Regulation
by governmental authorities in the U.S. and other countries is a significant
factor in the development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals. All of
our products will require regulatory approval by governmental agencies prior to
commercialization. In particular, pharmaceutical drugs are subject to rigorous
preclinical testing and clinical trials and other premarketing approval
requirements by the FDA and regulatory authorities in other countries. In the
U.S., various federal, and in some cases state statutes and regulations, also
govern or impact upon the manufacturing, safety, labeling and storage,
recordkeeping and marketing of pharmaceutical products. The lengthy process of
seeking required approvals and the continuing need for compliance with
applicable statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial
resources. Regulatory approval, when and if obtained for any of our product
candidates, may be limited in scope which may significantly limit the indicated
uses for which our product candidates may be marketed. Further, approved drugs
and manufacturers are subject to ongoing review and discovery of previously
unknown problems that may result in restrictions on their manufacture, sale or
use or in their withdrawal from the market.
Preclinical
Studies
Before
testing any compounds with potential therapeutic value in human subjects in the
U.S., stringent government requirements for preclinical data must be satisfied.
Preclinical testing includes both in vitro and in vivo laboratory evaluation
and characterization of the safety and efficacy of a drug and its formulation.
Preclinical testing results obtained from studies in several animal species, as
well as from in vitro
studies, are submitted to the FDA as part of an Investigational New Drug
Application, or IND, and are reviewed by the FDA prior to the commencement of
human clinical trials. These preclinical data must provide an adequate basis for
evaluating both the safety and the scientific rationale for the initial trials
in human volunteers.
Clinical
Trials
If a
company wants to test a new drug in humans in the U.S., an IND must be prepared
and filed with the FDA. The IND becomes effective if not rejected or put on
clinical hold by the FDA within 30 days. In addition, an Institutional Review
Board comprised in part of physicians at the hospital or clinic where the
proposed trials will be conducted must review and approve the trial protocol and
monitor the trial on an ongoing basis. The FDA may, at any time during the
30-day period or at any time thereafter, impose a clinical hold on proposed or
ongoing clinical trials. If the FDA imposes a clinical hold, clinical trials
cannot commence or recommence without FDA authorization and then only under
terms authorized by the FDA. In some instances, the IND application process can
result in substantial delay and expense.
Clinical
Trial Phases
Clinical
trials typically are conducted in three sequential phases, phases I, II and III,
with phase IV trials potentially conducted after marketing approval. These
phases may be compressed, may overlap or may be omitted in some
circumstances.
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Phase I clinical
trials. These trials evaluate a drug’s safety profile, and the
range of safe dosages that can be administered to healthy volunteers
and/or patients, including the maximum tolerated dose that can be given to
a trial subject with the target disease or condition. Phase I trials also
determine how a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and excreted by
the body, and duration of its
action.
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•
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Phase II clinical
trials. Phase II clinical trials typically are designed to evaluate
the potential effectiveness of the drug in patients and to further
ascertain the safety of the drug at the dosage given in a larger patient
population.
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Phase III clinical
trials. In phase III clinical trials, the drug is usually tested in
a controlled, randomized trial comparing the investigational new drug to
an approved form of therapy in an expanded and well-defined patient
population and at multiple clinical sites. The goal of these trials is to
obtain definitive statistical evidence of safety and effectiveness of the
investigational new drug regime as compared to an approved standard
therapy in defined patient populations with a given disease and stage of
illness.
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All
clinical trials for our product candidates have been conducted in accordance
with Health Canada regulations and guidelines, which satisfy FDA regulations
above, particularly the ICH (International Conference On Harmonization of
Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals For Human Use)
Harmonized Tripartite Guideline “Good Clinical Practice: Consolidated
Guideline”.
New Drug
Application
After
completion of clinical trials, if there is substantial evidence that the drug is
safe and effective, a New Drug Application, or NDA, is prepared and submitted
for the FDA to review. The NDA must contain all of the essential information on
the drug gathered to that date, including data from preclinical and clinical
trials, and the content and format of an NDA must conform to all FDA guidelines.
Accordingly, the preparation and submission of an NDA is a major undertaking for
a company.
The FDA
reviews all NDAs submitted before it accepts them for filing or may request
additional information from the sponsor rather than accepting an NDA for filing.
In such an event, the NDA must be submitted with the additional information and,
again, is subject to review before filing. Once the submission is accepted for
filing, the FDA begins an in-depth review of the NDA. Typically, the FDA takes
ten months to review and respond to the NDA. The FDA may refer the application
to an appropriate advisory committee, typically a panel of clinicians, for
review, evaluation and a recommendation as to whether the application should be
approved. The FDA is not bound by the recommendation, but gives great weight to
it. If the FDA evaluations of both the NDA and the manufacturing facilities are
favorable, the FDA may issue either an approval letter or a non-approval letter,
which usually contains a number of conditions that must be satisfied in order to
secure final approval. If the FDA’s evaluation of the NDA submission or
manufacturing facility is not favorable, the FDA may issue a non-approvable
letter or refuse to approve the NDA.
Other
Regulatory Requirements
Any
products we manufacture or distribute under FDA approvals are subject to
continuous regulation by the FDA, including recordkeeping requirements and
reporting of adverse experiences with the products. Drug manufacturers and their
subcontractors are required to register with the FDA and, where appropriate,
state agencies, and are subject to periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA
and state agencies for compliance with current GMP regulations, which impose
procedural and documentation requirements upon us and any third party
manufacturers we utilize.
The FDA
closely regulates the marketing and promotion of drugs. A company can make only
those claims relating to safety and efficacy that are approved by the FDA.
Failure to comply with these requirements can result in adverse publicity,
warning letters, corrective advertising and potential civil and criminal
penalties. Physicians may prescribe legally available drugs for uses that are
not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those tested by us
and approved by the FDA. Such off-label uses are common across medical
specialties. Physicians may believe that such off-label uses are the best
treatment for many patients in varied circumstances. The FDA does not regulate
the behavior of physicians in their choice of treatments. The FDA does, however,
restrict manufacturer’s communications on the subject of off-label
use.
The FDA’s
policies may change or additional government regulations may be enacted that
could prevent or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates or approval
of new indications for any existing products. We cannot predict the likelihood,
nature or extent of adverse governmental regulations that might arise from
future legislative or administrative action, either in the U.S. or
abroad.
We
received an orphan drug designation for OvaRex® MAb from
the FDA in November 1996 for its use in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Under
the Orphan Drug Act, the FDA may grant orphan drug designation to drugs intended
to treat a rare disease or condition that affects fewer than 200,000 individuals
in the U.S. Orphan drug designation must be requested before submitting an NDA.
After the FDA grants the orphan drug designation, the identity of the applicant
and the orphan-designated therapeutic agent are disclosed publicly by the FDA.
EMEA in July 2002 also granted an orphan drug designation for OvaRex® MAb for
its use in the treatment of ovarian cancer in Europe.
Orphan
drug designation does not convey any advantage in or shorten the duration of the
regulatory review and approval process. If a product that has orphan drug
designation is the first such product to receive FDA approval for the disease
for which it has such designation, the product is entitled to orphan product
exclusivity, which means that the FDA may not approve any other applications to
market the same drug for the same disease, except in limited circumstances, for
seven years in the U.S. This market exclusivity lasts for 10 years in
the EU. The FDA may permit additional companies to market a drug for the
designated condition if such companies can demonstrate clinical superiority.
More than one product may also be approved by the FDA for the same orphan
indication or disease as long as the products are different drugs. As a result,
the FDA can still approve other drugs for use in treating the same indication or
disease covered by OvaRex® MAb,
which could create a more competitive market for us. Moreover, if a competitor
obtains approval of the same drug for the same indication or disease before us,
we would be blocked from obtaining approval for our product in the U.S. for
seven years, unless our product can be shown to be clinically
superior.
Foreign
Regulation
In
addition to regulations in the U.S., we will be subject to a variety of foreign
regulations governing clinical trials and commercial sales and distribution of
our products. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must
obtain approval of a product by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign
countries before we can commence clinical trials or marketing of the product in
those countries. The approval process varies from country to country, and the
time may be longer or shorter than that required for FDA approval. The
requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing,
pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country.
Under EU
regulatory systems, marketing authorizations may be submitted under centralized
procedure, a mutual recognition procedure, or a decentralized procedure. The
centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization
that is valid for all European Union member states. The decentralized procedure
provides for a joint assessment of safety and efficacy by a number of EU member
states. The mutual recognition procedure provides for mutual recognition of
national approval decisions. Under this procedure, the member state approving
the first marketing authorization within the EU submits an application for
recognition to other EU member states. Within 90 days of receipt of the
application and the first member state’s report of the assessment of the drug,
the other member states are supposed to recognize the marketing authorization of
the first member state. If one or more member states believe that
there is a potential serious risk to public health, and they cannot reach
agreement on the approval of the product the application is referred to the
Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP), for arbitration. The CHMP is a
scientific expert committee of EMEA. EMEA is responsible for the protection of
public health in the EU through the coordination and evaluation and supervision
of medicinal products, including administering the centralized procedure and
performing a more limited role in the mutual recognition procedures. After
member states agree to mutual recognition of the first marketing authorization,
national marketing authorizations must still be issued in each member state
which recognized it, including approval of translations, labeling and the like.
All marketing authorization applications for drugs that have received the orphan
drug designation must be submitted through the centralized
procedure.
Legal
Proceedings
The
Company has received statements of claim filed in the Court of Queen’s Bench of
Alberta in May 2007 and February 2008 from three former employees and
the former Chief Financial Officer relating to their termination or change in
employment with the Company. The former employees and the former
Chief Financial assert that they are entitled to additional pay, benefits and
accelerated vesting of their stock options due to a change in control within the
Company in 2007 or defamation or wrongful dismissal. The collective
total of these claims is $1,939,750. ViRexx believes that these
claims are without merit and intends to aggressively defend this
position.
In
February 2008, the Company proposed settlement of one of the claims for
severance pay and wrongful dismissal filed by a former
employee. The settlement amount was accrued in the
December 31, 2007 audited consolidated financial statements.
Also,
during February 2008 the Company has reached, but not yet finalized a settlement
with Clarus Securities Ltd. (“Clarus”) for damages for non-performance in regard
to the cancellation of a $15,000,000 public offering. The proposed
settlement includes a cash payment and warrants. The cash settlement
amount was accrued in the December 31, 2007 audited consolidated financial
statements. The issuance of the warrants will be recorded in the
second quarter of 2008 once they are issued and the exercise price has been
determined.
C.
Organizational structure
Control
of ViRexx
ViRexx
has two wholly owned subsidiaries named AltaRex and
International. AltaRex has one wholly owned inactive subsidiary named
AltaRex U.S. Corp. (“AltaRex US”). AltaRex was incorporated under the laws of
the Province of Alberta, Canada, International was incorporated under the laws
of Ireland, and AltaRex US is a Delaware corporation. ViRexx Medical
Corp. has 100% voting control of AltaRex and International. AltaRex
has 100% voting control of AltaRex US.
D.
Property and
equipment
Our
corporate headquarters are located at 8223 Roper Road, Edmonton, Alberta
T6E 6S4 and our registered office is located at Suite 1500, Manulife
Place, 10180-101 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4K1. We lease our corporate
headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta under the following terms:
Annual
base rent: $ 115,885
Term
expires:
May 31, 2011
Square footage:
13,244
We do not
deem our lease to be material. We believe that the physical facilities we lease
are adequate to conduct our business during the next 12 months.
We have
headquarters and laboratory space in Edmonton, Alberta. Our facilities include a
seven year-old office and laboratory space, which we have occupied for four
years. The facility includes offices, wet laboratories, and associated
equipment. We also have access to the University of Alberta virus containment
laboratory and animal research facility. Preferential privileges are accorded to
us such as access to facilities and contact with key individuals, as a result of
the present and past association of the senior corporate officers with the
University of Alberta and the present contractual arrangements of technology
transfer between the University of Alberta and us.
Property
and equipment are described at cost less accumulated amortization in the audited
consolidated financial statements. Amortization is provided for by using the
declining balance method at the following annual rates:
Laboratory
equipment
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20%
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Office
furniture and equipment
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20%
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Computer
equipment
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30%
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Computer
software
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100%
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Leasehold
improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease
or the estimated useful lives of the assets.
4A.
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Unresolved
Staff Comments
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None
Item
5. Operating and Financial Review and
Prospects
Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
(“MD&A”) is designed to help the reader of the consolidated financial
statements understand ViRexx Medical Corp. (“ViRexx” or “the Company”), our
operations and our present business environment as of March 31, 2008. This
MD&A should be read in conjunction with our December 31, 2007 audited
consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes
thereto. These audited consolidated financial statements have been
prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles
(“Canadian GAAP”). Canadian GAAP differs in certain material respects
from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S.
GAAP”). For a reconciliation and discussion of the principal differences between
Canadian GAAP and U.S. GAAP as they pertain to ViRexx see Note 24 to the audited
consolidated financial statements. Unless otherwise indicated, all
amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars. This MD&A includes the
following sections:
§
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Our Business – a
general description of our business including a brief overview of our
product candidates; a corporate update; our outlook for 2008 and the
general challenges and risks related to our business and
industry.
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§
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Operations Review – an
analysis of our consolidated results of operations presented in the
audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31,
2007 compared to the year ended December 31, 2006 and the year ended
December 31, 2006 compared to the year ended December 31,
2005..
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§
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Liquidity, Capital Resources
and Financial Position – an analysis of cash availability and cash
flows; off-balance sheet arrangements and contractual
obligations;
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§
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Controls and Procedures –
an analysis of disclosure controls and procedures, as well as
internal controls over financial
reporting.
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§
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Critical Accounting Policies
and Estimates – a discussion of significant accounting policies
that require critical judgments and estimates, along with a discussion of
the future impact of accounting standards that have been issued but are
not yet effective.
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OUR
BUSINESS
ViRexx is
a Canadian-based development-stage biotech company focused on developing
innovative targeted therapeutic products that offer better quality of life and a
renewed hope for living. Our platform technologies include product
candidates for the treatment of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, avian influenza viral
infections, biodefence and nanoparticle applications, select solid tumors and
late-stage ovarian cancer.
We have
currently three proprietary platform technologies: Chimigen™ Vaccines, targeted-autothrombogenic
cancer therapy
(“T-ACT™”) and antibody-based
immunotherapy
(“AIT™”), all of which are based on the principle of harnessing the body’s power
to fight disease.
As at
March 31, 2008, the Company had $1.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and
short-term investments. We remain focused on advancing our technology
platforms and securing the appropriate financing, collaboration and/or license
agreements and continue to apply our limited resources to these
activities. We have been working with our vendors to secure payment
plans that meet our obligations while enabling us to focus our attention on the
advancement of our technology platforms and our financing
initiatives. Based on our current estimates and expected operating
activities there are sufficient resources to carry the operations of the Company
into the second quarter of 2008.
Chimigen™ Platform
Technology
The
Chimigen™ Platform technology is being used to develop therapeutic as well as
prophylactic vaccines for the treatment of different viral
diseases.
Two
Chimigen™ HCV Therapeutic Vaccine candidates are currently being evaluated for
scaled up production methods and immune responses in both ex vivo assays and in
animals. Several avian influenza vaccine candidates have been
produced using Chimigen™ Vaccine Platform and two potential candidates have been
selected. These are currently being evaluated in laboratory studies,
to be followed by evaluation in animal models.
Two
Chimigen™ HBV Therapeutic Vaccine candidates are currently being evaluated for
scaled up production methods and immune responses in laboratory
studies.
ViRexx is
continuing its research collaboration with Defence Research and Development
Canada Suffield (“DRDC Suffield“) and with National Research Council Canada's
National Institute for Nanotechnology (“NINT“) to study ViRexx's proprietary
Chimigen™ Vaccine platform, with networking and financial contributions from the
National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Programme
(“NRC-IRAP”). The DRDC Suffield collaboration is evaluating the use of Chimigen™
Vaccines for biodefence applications and the studies at NINT are evaluating the
targeted nanoparticle properties of Chimigen™ Vaccines for various biomedical
uses, including immunotherapy.
T-ACT™ Platform
Technology
The
T-ACT™ Platform technology is designed to cut off the blood supply to
hypervascular tumors, leading to tumor tissue starvation and tumor death. The
lead product candidate of the T-ACT™ Platform is Occlusin™ 50 Injection, a
treatment for primary cancer of the liver. The Phase I study of
Occlusin™ 50 Injection in liver cancer patients was completed in the third
quarter of this year. The product was found to be safe, simple to
administer, and effective as an embolic agent. There were no clinically
important safety concerns related to treatment with Occlusin™ 50 Injection. Of
the 12 patients treated with Occlusin™ 50 Injection as part of a transcatheter
aterial chemoembolization (“TACE”) procedure, three patients have undergone
liver transplantation. TACE is the treatment of choice to control tumor
progression in patients who are being considered for liver transplantation.
Liver transplantation is the optimal treatment for primary cancer of the liver
in selected patients, because it essentially “cures” the liver cancer and any
underlying liver disease that might lead to the reappearance of the cancer.
Partnering discussions are ongoing with respect to this product
candidate.
The
second product candidate from the T-ACT™ Platform is Occlusin™ 500 Artificial
Embolization Device (“AED”), an embolic agent designed to treat hypervascular
tumors including uterine fibroids. This device is delivered by catheter to the
blood vessels feeding the tissue to be treated. Unlike other embolic
agents, Occlusin™ 500 AED undergoes natural break down in the body and
ultimately disappears. We are continuing preclinical testing of this product
candidate, which will likely be completed during the first half of
2008. We have also completed the production of two Good Manufacturing
Practice (“GMP”) batches of the product. Exploration of GMP
manufacturing methods of Occlusin™ 500 AED to increase efficiency of product
production are in progress.
AIT™ Platform
Technology
On
December 5, 2007, ViRexx announced the preliminary analysis of results from the
two Phase III clinical trials of OvaRex® MAb for
the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer and the results failed to reach
statistical significance. The two identical Phase III trials, IMPACT I and
IMPACT II, were randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials conducted at
over 60 centers across the United States. The studies enrolled 367 ovarian
cancer patients and assessed the efficacy of OvaRex®
mono-immunotherapy during the "watchful waiting" period following front-line
chemotherapy. The studies demonstrated no difference between active (standard of
care followed by OvaRex® MAb) and
control (standard of care followed by placebo) treatment arms. The results of
IMPACT I and IMPACT II were consistent with each other.
We are
assessing fully the clinical trial results and the assumptions underlying the
program prior to determining the next steps in the development of this product
and the effect of this on related technologies. In addition, United
Therapeutics Corporation announced they will terminate the development agreement
with AltaRex Medical Corp. (“AltaRex”), a wholly owned subsidiary of ViRexx, for
the entire platform of antibodies thereby consolidating world wide manufacturing
and distribution rights back to AltaRex.
CORPORATE
UPDATE
On
February 14, 2007, and amended on February 21, 2007 a group of our shareholders
(the “13D Group”) filed a Schedule 13D with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission. The result of this filing was a change in the
Board of Directors. Mr. Bruce Brydon, Mr. Jean-Claude Gonneau, Mr.
Lorne Tyrrell and Mr. Tom Brown left the Board and Mr. Michael Marcus, Mr. Peter
Smetek and Mr. Yves Cohen joined to serve as members of the Board of
Directors. In addition, Mr. Peter Smetek was appointed as Interim
Chief Executive Officer on May 3, 2007.
During
the second quarter Mr. Marc Canton, former President and Chief Operating
Officer, Mr. Lorne Tyrrell, former Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Scott Langille,
former Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Jean-Paul Laurin, former Business
Development Director, ended their employment with ViRexx.
In July
2007, Dr. Richard Ascione was appointed Interim Chief Scientific Officer. He has
over 21 years experience with the National Institute of Health as Deputy
Director of Laboratory Molecular Oncology and ten years of experience working
with Aphton Corporation where he was Director of Research.
On
September 21, 2007, Mr. Darrell Elliott was appointed a Director, Chairman of
the Board of Directors and Interim Chief Executive Officer. Mr.
Elliot has more than 35 years of experience in merchant banking, venture capital
and analogous operating experiences in Africa, Europe and North
America. He has served on numerous boards in both private and
publicly traded companies.
On
September 24, 2007, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, resigned on their own
initiative, as our external auditors. The Audit Committee and the
Board of Directors accepted their resignation. The related auditor’s
reports for the two years ended December 31, 2006 and 2005 did not contain any
reservations as to departures from Canadian GAAP or limitations in
scope. In connection with those two audits and through September 24,
2007, there were no reportable events requiring disclosure to regulatory
authorities.
On
October 30, 2007, Deloitte & Touche LLP was appointed as successor external
auditor.
As
announced on October 12, 2007, Mr. Erich Bam was appointed Interim Chief
Operating Officer. Mr. Bam is a Chartered Accountant with more than
20 years of experience in the financing, development and management of both
private and publicly traded companies. Most recently, Mr. Bam serves
as a partner and Managing Director of Gemini Partners where he is responsible
for sourcing and managing assignments.
In
October 2007, Mr. Gary Woerz, the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer, was
relieved of responsibility for the day to day financial operations of the
Company. Subsequently, Mr. Woerz filed a wrongful dismissal claim
against the Company in the amount of $250,000 plus additional damages in
February 2008. The Corporation is of the position that the claim is
without merit and intends to defend the claim. Mr. Brent Johnston,
CA, is currently the Acting Chief Financial Officer and is presently responsible
for the day to day financial operations of the Company.
Other
Updates
On
October 17, 2007, we resolved and reconciled any misunderstanding related to
costs associated with the set-up and renovation of a manufacturing facility of
Tecnogen Farmaceutica Lda (“Tecnogen”) related to OvaRex®
MAb.
OUTLOOK
The
rights to the AIT™ platform and its several antibodies, including OvaRex® MAb,
which had been licensed to United Therapeutics Corporation, have been
repatriated to ViRexx. ViRexx is completing an in depth evaluation of the data
available from the clinical trial results and is also evaluating the possibility
of commencing another trial, with an appropriate partner, for OvaRex® MAb in
combination therapy, for which there appears to be supporting
evidence.
The
Company is actively investigating partnering interest in both Europe and China
for its embolotherapeutic agent Occlusin™ 500 AED. These prospects
are expected to be brought to a conclusion in the first half of
2008.
The
Company is of the view that strong opportunities exist in Asian markets, where
there is a high incidence of liver cancer, for the further development and
commercialization of Occlusin™ 50 Injection. The Company will investigate the
co-development of this therapeutic with a regional partner, by taking it into a
pivotal trial in the Asian market.
The
Company’s Chimigen™ Platform has promise for the future. ViRexx is
continuing to develop these novel immunotherapies for high value infectious
disease markets. Over the next two years, the Company will
increasingly focus its research and development efforts on advancing its current
candidate Chimigen™ therapies into clinical development and seeking corporate
partners at the appropriate time.
The
Chimigen™ Platform has already produced one candidate, Chimigen™ Hepatitis B
Vaccine, CHB-111 (formerly HepaVaxx B), which demonstrated safety in a clinical
trial on August 9, 2006. The Company does not intend further to
develop this particular candidate, independently, and is currently responding to
a partnering enquiry.
The past
year was a challenge for ViRexx, but the Company is optimistic about the future
of its existing products as well as new relationships being put in
place. The potential exists for medium term re-partnering of antibody
candidates from the AIT™ Platform, on terms superior to the past and several of
the Company’s existing product candidates from its other two platforms are
currently under active consideration by new potential partners. The
year has resulted in a strong sharpening of the Company’s focus and a keener
understanding of its strengths.
The
support of the Company’s shareholders will be key as new management seeks to
build upon the great inherent value within the Company and to maximize
opportunities from its product candidates within the Company’s Chimigen™
technology platforms. ViRexx was awarded the Alberta Science and
Technology Leadership Foundation award in 2004 for technology innovation for
this platform.
RISKS
AND UNCERTAINTIES
The
Company operates in a highly competitive environment that involves significant
risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of the Company’s control. The
Company is subject to risks inherent in the biotechnology industry as described
in Item 3.D. of this Form 20-F, including:
Risks Related to the
Company’s Financial Condition
·
|
The
need to raise capital from investors to continue planned operations. If
the Company is unable to fund operations, the Company may cease doing
business.
|
·
|
The
Company has not derived any revenue to date from the commercial sale of
its product candidates, nor had any revenues from other commercial sales;
the Company has relied on equity and debt financings to support
operations.
|
·
|
The
operating losses are expected to continue. If the Company is unable to
achieve significant revenues in the future or secure alternative sources
of capital or financing, the Company may cease doing
business.
|
·
|
The
Company will continue to need significant amounts of additional capital
that may not be available to the Company on favorable terms, and may be
dilutive.
|
·
|
The
Company may fail to obtain additional financing and be unable to fund
operations and commercialize its product
candidates.
|
Risks Related to the
Company’s Business and Operations
·
|
The
Company is in various stages of development of product candidates and
unless it is able to generate sufficient product revenue from these
candidates, the Company will continue to incur losses from operations and
may not achieve or maintain profitability and may have to cease
operations.
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·
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The
Company relies on, and intends in the future to continue to rely on
revenue from technology licenses with or issued to third parties. Any
breach or termination of these license arrangements could have a material
adverse effect on the business, financial condition and results of
operations.
|
·
|
Failure
to protect intellectual property, or infringement on the intellectual
property rights of others, may impede the Company’s ability to operate
freely.
|
·
|
The
Company’s business is subject to significant government regulation and
failure to achieve regulatory approval of drug candidates would severely
harm its business.
|
·
|
The
Company is dependent on the successful outcome of preclinical testing and
clinical trials.
|
·
|
Delays
in clinical trials will cause the Company to incur additional costs which
could jeopardize the trials and adversely affect the Company’s liquidity
and financial results.
|
·
|
The
Company relies on clinical investigators and contract research
organizations to conduct its clinical
trials.
|
·
|
There
are risks inherent in relying on a sole source supplier for some of the
Company’s materials.
|
·
|
The
Company is dependent on strategic partners as part of its product
candidate development strategy, and it would be negatively affected if it
is not able to initiate or maintain these
relationships.
|
·
|
The
Company relies on collaborative arrangements for manufacturing its
investigational drug products and product
candidates.
|
·
|
The
Company is required to comply with regulations that are administered by
regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe and
Canada.
|
·
|
Even
if product candidates receive all of the required regulatory approvals,
there is no guarantee of market acceptance or commercialization of the
resulting product candidates, which will be determined by the Company’s
sales, marketing and distribution capabilities and the positioning and
competitiveness of its product candidates compared with any
alternatives.
|
·
|
Reimbursement
procedures and future healthcare reform measures are uncertain and may
adversely affect the Company’s ability to successfully sell or license any
pharmaceutical product candidate.
|
·
|
Competitive
products and technologies may reduce demand for the Company’s product
candidates and technologies.
|
·
|
The
Company’s industry is characterized by rapid change and a failure by the
Company to react to these changes could have a material adverse effect on
its business.
|
·
|
If
the Company fails to hire or retain needed personnel, the implementation
of its business plan could slow and future growth could
suffer.
|
·
|
The
Company is reliant on key employees and strategic
relationships.
|
·
|
The
Company conducts certain elements of its business internationally, and the
decisions of sovereign governments could have a material adverse effect on
its financial condition.
|
·
|
The
Company’s operating results may be subject to currency fluctuations as
some of its expenses are in U.S. dollars or other foreign
currencies.
|
·
|
The
Company’s insurance may not be sufficient, exposing the Company to
potential loss from litigation. Claims related to product candidates in
clinical studies and product liability could also increase its expenses,
harm its reputation and keep it from growing its
business.
|
·
|
Hazardous
materials that are highly regulated may expose the Company to potential
liability in the event of an accident therefore; compliance with
environmental regulations could be costly in the
future.
|
·
|
Although
the Company is not aware of any, at present, it is possible that the
Chimigen™, T-ACT™ and AIT™ Platforms might cause unknown adverse side
effects or cause undesirable reactions that would affect their market
potential.
|
·
|
If
there are fewer individuals in the Company’s target markets than the
Company estimates, then it may not generate sufficient revenues to
continue development of its product candidates or continue
operations.
|
·
|
The
Company may need to significantly increase the size of its organization,
and it may experience difficulties in managing
growth.
|
Risks Relating to the
Company’s Common Shares
·
|
The
Company has not paid, and does not intend to pay any cash dividends on its
common shares and therefore its shareholders may not be able to receive a
return on their shares unless they sell
them.
|
·
|
The
market price and trading volume of the Company’s common shares may be
volatile.
|
·
|
The
significant costs that the Company will incur as a result of being a
public company in the United States and Canada could adversely affect its
business.
|
The
Company is also subject to other risks inherent in the biotechnology industry.
The Company’s financial results will fluctuate from period to period and
therefore are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an
indication of future financial performance. Such fluctuations in quarterly
results or other factors beyond the Company’s control could affect the market
price of its common stock. These factors include changes in earnings estimates
by analysts, market conditions in our industry, announcements by competitors,
changes in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and general economic
conditions. Any effect on its common stock could be unrelated to longer-term
operating performance.
OPERATIONS
REVIEW
|
For
year ended December 31
|
|
2007
|
2006
|
2005
|
Canadian
GAAP
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Research
and development expense
|
$4,760,560
|
$5,937,122
|
$4,750,190
|
Corporate
administration expense
|
4,947,487
|
4,976,837
|
3,650,282
|
Impairment
of acquired intellectual property
|
(24,991,344)
|
-
|
-
|
Net
loss and comprehensive loss
|
(31,567,690)
|
(17,493,375)
|
(7,459,714)
|
Basic
and diluted loss per common share
|
(0.43)
|
(0.25)
|
(0.13)
|
Cash
and cash equivalents and short-term investments
|
$2,575,248
|
$10,742,191
|
$5,571,850
|
U.S.
GAAP net loss and comprehensive loss
|
(9,545,235)
|
(10,694,110)
|
(8,460,699)
|
U.S.
GAAP basic and diluted loss per common share
|
$(0.13)
|
$(0.16)
|
$(0.15)
|
For the
year ended December 31, 2007, the net loss was $31,567,690 or ($0.43) per common
share, as compared to $17,493,375 or ($0.25) per common share for the year ended
December 31, 2006. The $14,074,315 increase in net loss is mainly attributable
to the following, as more fully described in the following
sections.
·
|
Impairment
of acquired intellectual property and related future income tax
recovery.
|
·
|
Decrease
in overall research and development costs due to lower clinical trial
costs and employee related expenditures that were partially offset by
manufacturing costs related to the Occlusin™ 500 AED and facility start up
costs related to the Tecnogen manufacturing
facility.
|
·
|
Lower
corporate administration costs that were partially offset by increased
costs due to the 13D filing and related legal and consulting
fees.
|
During
the year ended December 31, 2007, research and development costs for the
Chimigen™ Platform were offset by a $226,545 financial contribution from the
NRC-IRAP.
Research and
Development
|
|
For
year ended December 31
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
2005
|
|
Contract
research costs
|
|
$ |
338,223 |
|
|
$ |
628,240 |
|
|
$ |
410,052 |
|
Clinical
trial costs
|
|
|
98,529 |
|
|
|
477,364 |
|
|
|
104,692 |
|
Clinical
material manufacturing costs
|
|
|
575,611 |
|
|
|
386,216 |
|
|
|
861,064 |
|
Employee
related costs
|
|
|
1,650,067 |
|
|
|
2,554,289 |
|
|
|
2,068,468 |
|
Other
research and development costs
|
|
|
2,098,130 |
|
|
|
1,891,013 |
|
|
|
1,305,914 |
|
|
|
$ |
4,760,560 |
|
|
$ |
5,937,122 |
|
|
$ |
4,750,190 |
|
Research
and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2007, were $4,760,560
compared to $5,937,122 for the year ended 2006, a decrease of $1,176,562 or
20%.
This
decrease in research and development spending can be attributed to the following
factors.
Contract
research costs were lower in 2007 due to a one time toxicology study being done
in non-human primates in 2006 that cost $396,000. Additional contract
research costs of $181,000 were incurred in 2007 related to stability testing of
the GMP manufactured product for Occlusin™ 500 AED and a mouse study performed
in collaboration with Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (”VIDO”)
related to the Chimigen™ vaccines.
Decreased
clinical trial costs compared to the same period in 2006 is due to the
completion of the Phase I clinical studies of Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Vaccine,
which cost $335,000 in 2006.
Clinical
material manufacturing costs increased $189,395 compared to 2006 due to the
following:
·
|
GMP
manufacturing for the Occlusin™ 500 AED was started in September 2006 and
ended in June 2007. Costs of $311,000 were incurred that were not incurred
2006;
|
·
|
In
2005, Protein Sciences Corporation was contracted for the GMP
manufacturing of Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Vaccine, formerly HepaVaxx B, which
completed a Phase I safety clinical trial in humans. Final
costs and completion of the contract occurred early in
2006. There was no similar GMP manufacturing in 2007;
and
|
·
|
One
time various microbial and viral tests on the cell banks which cost
$30,000 for the AITä Platform were
conducted in 2006 that were not performed in
2007.
|
The
decrease in employee related costs of $904,222 is primarily due to the staff
reductions as a result of the November 2006 restructuring and allocation of
certain executive costs. In April 2007, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for
Medical Research (“AHFMR”) - Industrial Research Fellowship granted funding of
$37,500. There was no funding received in
2006.
Other
research and development costs increased in 2007 due to resolution of the
start-up and renovation of the Tecnogen manufacturing facility of
$354,545.
Research
and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2006 totaled
$5,937,122, an increase of $1,186,932 from $4,750,190 for the corresponding year
ended December 31, 2005. This increase was due primarily to additional
toxicology testing for the Chimigen™ Hepatitis B Vaccine clinical studies,
development of Occlusin™ 500 AED, development of Occlusin™ 50 Injection,
preclinical studies for a Chimigen™ Vaccine candidate for Hepatitis C,
development for Chimigen™ Vaccines for biodefence applications and initiating
manufacturing activities in Europe for OvaRex®
MAb.
Corporate
Administration
|
|
For
year ended December 31
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
2005
|
|
Business
development costs
|
|
$ |
284,901 |
|
|
$ |
527,487 |
|
|
$ |
- |
|
Employee
related costs
|
|
|
776,146 |
|
|
|
1,666,889 |
|
|
|
1,855,556 |
|
Other
administration costs
|
|
|
3,886,440 |
|
|
|
2,782,461 |
|
|
|
1,794,726 |
|
|
|
$ |
4,947,487 |
|
|
$ |
4,976,837 |
|
|
$ |
3,650,282 |
|
Corporate
administration expenses for the year ended December 31, 2007, totaled
$4,947,487, a decrease of 1% or $29,350 from $4,976,837 for the year ended
December 31, 2006.
During
2007, efforts continued on business development including the pursuit of
potential partnerships and finance arrangements for product candidates and
technology platforms. The significant decrease from 2006 in business
development of $242,586 or 46% is a direct result of a second quarter reduction
of management personnel in this department.
The
decrease from 2006 of $890,743 in employee related costs was due to the second
quarter change in management. Employee related costs savings have
been offset by higher consulting and travel costs incurred by senior
management. Additional costs of $685,000 were also incurred from
legal and other advisory services that management retained to determine courses
of action relating to the effects of the Schedule 13D filed February 14, 2007
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Corporate
administration expenses for the year ended December 31, 2006 were $1,326,555
higher compared to 2005. This was due to increased activity relating
to investor relations, corporate communication, an increase in legal expenses
and other related service fees for U.S. regulatory filing requirements including
consulting fees associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance
requirements.
Other Income
(Expense)
The
significant decrease in other income is directly related to the impairment loss
on acquired intellectual property of $24,991,344. Under U.S. GAAP,
the cost of acquiring intellectual property is charged to expense as in-process
research and development (“IPRD”) when acquired if the feasibility of such
technology has not been established and no future alternative use exists. This
difference increases the loss from operations under U.S. GAAP in the year the
IPRD is acquired and reduces the loss under U.S. GAAP in subsequent periods
because there is no amortization charge. On December 5, 2007, the
Company announced the results of two Phase III clinical trials of OvaRex® MAb for
the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. The results showed that the
studies failed to reach statistical significance. These trials were
conducted and based on acquired intellectual property and related agreements
from the acquisition of AltaRex in December 2004. The value of the
Unither Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation)
development agreement and other licenses was directly linked to expected future
cash flows from these agreements. Due to the failure of the clinical
trials, the ability to realize the expected future economic benefit from the
acquired intellectual property is remote. Therefore, the entire
unamortized value of the acquired intellectual property has been recognized as
an impairment loss.
Future Income
Taxes
The
future income tax recovery for the year ended December 31, 2007, was $5,346,990
compared to an expense of $4,178,613 for the year ended December 31, 2006 and a
recovery of $3,358,426 for the year ended December 31, 2005. Under
Canadian GAAP, a future tax liability is also recorded upon acquisition of the
intellectual property to reflect the tax effect of the difference between the
carrying amount of the intellectual property in the consolidated financial
statements and the tax basis of these assets. Under U.S. GAAP, because the
intellectual property is expensed immediately as IPRD, there is no difference
between the tax basis and the financial statement carrying value of the assets
and therefore no future tax liability exists. Under Canadian GAAP, a
future tax liability is also recorded upon acquisition of the intellectual
property to reflect the tax effect of the difference between the carrying amount
of the intellectual property in the consolidated financial statements and the
tax basis of these assets. Under U.S. GAAP, because the intellectual property is
expensed immediately as IPRD, there is no difference between the tax basis and
the financial statement carrying value of the assets and therefore no future tax
liability exists.
On the
acquisition of AltaRex in 2004, the premium paid by ViRexx over the carrying
value of the net assets of AltaRex was allocated to the acquired intellectual
property owned by AltaRex. This resulted in a significant future tax liability
based on the difference between the tax cost base of the acquired intellectual
property and its net book value for accounting purposes. With the
impairment loss on the acquired intellectual property recognized in other
income, the liability associated with this asset has been
eliminated. This provided a recovery of the future income tax
liability previously reported.
ViRexx,
as the parent company, has incurred significant operating losses and has other
tax assets, such as scientific research and experimental development credits
that can be used to reduce future taxable income. Management’s assessment of the
value of these non-capital losses carried forward is based on its best estimate
of the ability of the Company to utilize these non-capital losses and tax
credits to offset future taxable income. Judgments as to the timing and
potential use of such non-capital losses and tax credits are made on the best
information available and are reassessed periodically. Currently
management is not of the opinion that the realization of these future income tax
assets is more likely than not, therefore management has recorded a valuation
allowance such that no future income tax asset has been recorded in the
consolidated financial statements.
SUBSEQUENT
EVENT
In
February 2008, the Company proposed settlement of a claim for severance pay and
wrongful dismissal filed by a former employee. The settlement amount
is accrued for in the consolidated financial statements.
Also,
during February 2008 the Company has reached, but not yet finalized a settlement
with Clarus Securities Ltd. (“Clarus”) for damages for non-performance in regard
to the cancellation of a $15,000,000 public offering. The proposed
settlement includes a cash payment and warrants. The cash settlement
amount was accrued in the December 31, 2007 audited consolidated financial
statements. The issuance of the warrants will be recorded in the
second quarter of 2008 once they are issued and the exercise price has been
determined.
LIQUIDITY
AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
|
|
As
at December 31,
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
|
2006
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
|
$ |
2,533,105 |
|
|
$ |
405,354 |
|
Short-term
investments
|
|
|
42,143 |
|
|
|
10,336,837 |
|
|
|
$ |
2,575,248 |
|
|
$ |
10,742,191 |
|
As at
December 31, 2007, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents and short-term
investments totaled $2,575,248 as compared with $10,742,191 at December 31,
2006. The Company’s net cash provided from operating activities amounted to
$2,283,769 for the year ended December 31, 2007, reflecting the Company’s
redemption and use of short-term investments to fund corporate administration
expenses, including costs incurred for the public offering, dealing with the 13D
group, and research and development expenses.
Currently
the Company has no contributing cash flows from operations. As a result, the
Company relies on external sources of financing such as the issue of equity or
debt securities, the exercise of options or warrants and investment income to
finance operations. Revenues from operations are not expected until certain
milestone and royalty payments from license and collaboration agreements have
been earned, or commercialization of a product candidate has
occurred.
The
Company believes that its cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments
will be sufficient to satisfy the Company’s anticipated operating requirements
into the second quarter of 2008.
Currently
Management is preparing a short form prospectus for a rights offering
(“Offering”) to all existing shareholders of the Company. The record
date for this transaction has not yet been determined but is expected to be in
early April 2008. Each shareholder who is eligible to participate in
the offering will receive one right for each share owned. Each right
will entitle the holder to receive one common share in the capital of the
Company. The Company has applied to list all shares issuable upon exercise
of the rights on the TSX and the AMEX. Management expects the
offering to be complete by early May 2008 and anticipates raising net proceeds
of approximately CDN$5 million. This will provide the Company with
operating capital for approximately 12 to 18 months.
If the
rights offering is not successful, the Company would have to pursue alternative
sources of liquidity to meet its short term cash needs, which may not be
available on terms favorable to the Company, if at all.
The
Company has applied to list on the TSX the Rights distributed under this short
form prospectus and the Shares issuable upon the exercise of the Rights.
Approval of such listing will be subject to the Corporation fulfilling all of
the listing requirements of the TSX. The Company has applied to list the
Shares issuable upon the exercise of the Rights (but not the Rights themselves)
on the AMEX. Approval of such listings will be subject to the Company fulfilling
all of the listing requirements of the AMEX.
The
Rights may not be transferred to any person in the United States or to any U.S.
person within the meaning of Regulation S under the United States Securities Act
of 1933, as amended. Shareholders in the United States who receive Rights may
resell them only outside the United States in accordance with Regulation
S.
The
subscription price of each right has not yet been determined but will be equal
to the weighted average closing price of the Company’s common shares on the TSX
for each of the trading days on which there was a closing price during the three
trading days immediately preceding the date of the final prospectus in respect
of the Offering, less a discount of 25%.
The
Company has engaged a Dealer Manager to act as financial adviser to the Company
and to solicit the exercise of the Rights. The Company has agreed to pay the
Dealer Manager an advisory fee equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Offering
but before deducting the other expenses of the Offering. In addition
to the advisory fee, the Dealer Manager will also be issued a compensation
warrant (the “Dealer Warrant”) entitling the holder thereof to purchase such
number of common shares of the Company equal to 6% of the Rights exercised under
this Offering. The Dealer Warrant will be exercisable at the
subscription price and will expire 18 months after the completion of the
Offering.
Management
is considering all financing alternatives and is seeking to raise additional
funds for operations from all potential sources. This disclosure is not an offer
to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities of the Company. While
the Company is striving to achieve the above plans, there is no assurance that
such funding will be available or obtained on favorable terms. At December 31,
2007, there was substantial doubt that the Company would be able to continue as
a going concern. The consolidated financial statements do not reflect
adjustments in the carrying values of the assets and liabilities, the reported
revenues and expenses, and the balance sheet classification used, that would be
necessary if the going concern were not appropriate and these adjustments could
be material.
Projections
of further capital requirements are subject to substantial uncertainty. Working
capital requirements may fluctuate in future periods depending upon numerous
factors, including: results of research and development activities; progress or
lack of progress in preclinical studies or clinical trials; drug substance
requirements to support clinical programs; the ability to achieve milestone
payments under current licensing partner collaborations or any other
collaboration the Company establishes that provide funding; changes in the
focus, direction, or costs of research and development programs; the costs
involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, defending and enforcing
patent claims; competitive and technological advances; the potential need to
develop, acquire or license new technologies and products; establishment of
marketing and sales capabilities; business development activities; new
regulatory requirements implemented by regulatory authorities; and the timing
and outcome of any regulatory review process or commercialization activities, if
any.
OFF
BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
As at
December 31, 2007, the Company did not have any material off-balance sheet
arrangements other than those listed under the Contractual Obligations and
Commitments described below and those disclosed in Note 13 to the Audited
Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31,
2007.
CONTRACTUAL
OBLIGATIONS AND COMMITMENTS
The
Company periodically enters into long-term contractual arrangements for the
lease of office and laboratory facilities and product candidate manufacturing
for clinical trials. The following table presents commitments arising from these
arrangements currently in force over the next five years:
|
Total
|
<
1 year
|
1
– 3 years
|
Operating
lease obligations
|
$
395,940
|
$
115,885
|
$
280,055
|
Product
candidates manufacturing obligations
|
18,000
|
9,000
|
9,000
|
Capital
lease obligation
|
5,931
|
5,931
|
-
|
Total
contractual obligations
|
$
419,871
|
$
130,816
|
$
289,055
|
Notes: Lease
on laboratory and offices of $115,885 per annum from June 1, 2007 to May 31,
2011
In order
to ensure that information filed under Canadian and U.S. securities legislation
presents fairly in all material respects the financial information of ViRexx,
the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures, as well as
internal controls over financial reporting.
Disclosure
Controls and Procedures
It is the
conclusion of the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange
Act rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)), based on their evaluation of these controls
and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report, are
effective in ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the Company
in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded,
processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the
Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms, and that information
required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits
under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s
management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer,
or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely
decisions regarding required disclosure.
Changes in Internal
Control Over Financial Reporting.
There
were no changes in the Company's internal controls over financial reporting that
occurred during the period that is covered by this Annual Report that have
materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, these
controls.
Management’s
Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Management
of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal
control over financial reporting. As defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f),
internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the
supervision of, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer and effected by the board of directors, management and other personnel,
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and
procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable
detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the
assets of the Company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are
recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and
expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with
authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and (iii) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a
material effect on the financial statements. Because of its inherent
limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements.
Management,
including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer,
assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2007. In making this assessment, management used
the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on
this assessment, management believes that, as of December 31, 2007, the
Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective based on those
criteria.
This
annual report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s
independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over
financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the
Company’s independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to temporary
rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit the Company to
provide only management’s report in this annual report.
CRITICAL
ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
Our
audited consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with
Canadian GAAP, which requires management to make estimates, judgments and
assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial
statements and accompanying notes. We believe that our most critical
accounting policies and estimates relate to the following areas, with reference
to notes contained in the audited consolidated financial
statements:
§
|
Acquired
Intellectual Property (Note 7 and
24(a))
|
§
|
Income
Tax Provision (Note 11 and 24(a))
|
§
|
Legal
Claims (Note 14 and 15)
|
§
|
Stock
Based Compensation (Note 18 and 24
(b))
|
Management
has discussed the development, selection and disclosure of critical accounting
policies and estimates with its Audit Committee of our Board of Directors. While
our estimates and assumptions are based on our knowledge of current events and
actions we may undertake in the future, actual results may ultimately differ
from these estimates and assumptions. A summary of significant accounting
policies and estimates and a description of accounting policies that are
considered significant may be found in the Note 4 to the audited consolidated
financial statements.
The
Company has various legal and administrative proceedings, principally related to
former employee claims for wrongful dismissal. The Company may make a provision
for those proceedings and may make additional significant provisions for such
legal proceedings, as required in the event of further developments. Litigation
is inherently unpredictable. The Company may in the future incur judgments or
enter into settlements of claims that could result in payments that exceed its
current provisions by an amount that would have a material adverse effect on the
Company’s financial condition, results of operations and cash
flows.
CHANGES
IN ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Effective
January 1, 2007, the Company adopted the following new accounting standards
related to financial instruments that were issued by the Canadian Institute of
Chartered Accountants (“CICA”) in 2005. These accounting policy
changes were adopted on a retroactive basis with no restatement of prior period
consolidated financial statements. The new standards and accounting
policy changes are as follows:
Financial
Instruments
Financial
Instruments – Recognition and Measurement (CICA Handbook Section
3855)
Financial
Instruments – Disclosure and Presentation (CICA Handbook Section
3861)
In
accordance with these standards, the Company now classifies all financial
instruments as held-to-maturity, available-for-sale, held-for-trading, loans and
receivables or other liabilities. Financial assets held-to-maturity,
loans and receivables and financial liabilities other than those
held-for-trading, are measured at amortized cost using the effective interest
method. Available-for-sale instruments are measured at fair value
with unrealized gains and losses recognized in other comprehensive income
(loss). Instruments classified as held-for-trading are measured at
fair value with unrealized gains and losses recognized in the consolidated
statement of loss. Financial instruments of the Company consist of cash
equivalents, short-term investments, other current assets, accounts payable and
accrued liabilities and obligations under capital lease. The fair
value of these instruments approximates their carrying amount due to their
immediate or short-term maturity.
The
Company has made the following classifications:
·
|
Cash
equivalents and short-term investments are classified as held-for-trading
and are measured at fair value. Gains and losses related to
periodic revaluation are recorded in net
loss;
|
·
|
Other
current assets are classified as loans and receivables and are initially
measured at fair value and subsequently at amortized cost using the
effective interest method; and
|
·
|
Accounts
payable and accrued liabilities and obligations under capital lease are
classified as other liabilities and are initially measured at fair value
and subsequently at amortized cost using the effective interest
method.
|
Derivative
instruments are recorded at fair value unless exempted from derivative treatment
as normal purchases and sales. All changes in their fair value are
recorded in income unless cash flow hedge accounting is used, in which case,
changes in fair value are recorded in other comprehensive income
(loss). The Company has elected to apply this accounting treatment
for embedded derivatives on transactions entered into after January 1, 2003, and
the change in accounting policy did not have a material impact on the
consolidated financial statements.
Transaction
costs with respect to instruments not classified as held-for-trading are
recognized as an adjustment to the cost of the underlying instruments, when they
are recognized, and amortized using the effective interest
method. Transaction costs with respect to instruments classified as
held-for-trading are expensed as incurred.
As at
December 31, 2007, the impact on the consolidated balance sheet of measuring the
financial assets and liabilities was $nil.
Comprehensive income (CICA
Handbook Section 1530)
Comprehensive
income is the change in shareholders’ equity during a period from transactions
and events from sources other than the Company’s shareholders. In
accordance with this new standard, the Company is required to report a
consolidated statement of comprehensive loss and a new category, accumulated
other comprehensive loss, and is required to be added to the shareholders’
equity section on the consolidated balance sheet. The components of
accumulated other comprehensive loss may include unrealized gains and losses on
financial assets classified as available-for-sale, foreign currency gains and
losses on the net investment in self-sustaining foreign operations and changes
in fair market value of derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges,
all net of income taxes. There were no such components to be
recognized in other comprehensive loss at adoption on January 1, 2007 or for the
year ended December 31, 2007. As the Company has no items of other
comprehensive loss, net loss is equivalent to comprehensive loss and the Company
has not reported a separate statement of comprehensive loss.
Hedges (CICA Handbook
Section 3865)
This
standard specifies the criteria under which hedge accounting can be applied and
how hedge accounting can be executed. The Company does not have any
hedging items so the implementation of this Section did not have a material
impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Equity (CICA Handbook
Section 3251)
In
January 2005, the CICA issued a new Section to the CICA Handbook, Section 3251
“Equity” which became effective for the Company on January 1,
2007. This Section establishes standards for the presentation of
equity during a reporting period. The implementation of this Section
did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial
statements.
Accounting changes (CICA
Handbook Section 1506)
Effective
January 1, 2007, the Company adopted CICA Handbook Section 1506 "Accounting
Changes" which establishes criteria for changing accounting policies, together
with the accounting treatment and disclosure of changes in accounting policies
and estimates, and correction of errors. Under the new standard, accounting
changes should be applied retroactively unless otherwise permitted or where
impracticable to determine. As well, voluntary changes in accounting policies
are made only when required by a primary source of Canadian GAAP or the change
results in more relevant and reliable information. The Company has determined
that the application of this Section did not have any impact on the consolidated
financial statements.
FUTURE
ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCMENTS
Capital Disclosures (CICA
Handbook Section 1535)
In
November 2006, the CICA issued new Handbook Section 1535 "Capital Disclosures",
effective for annual and interim periods beginning on or after October 1, 2007.
This Section establishes standards for disclosing information about an entity's
capital and how it is managed in order that a user of the financial statements
may evaluate the entity's objectives, policies and processes for managing
capital. This new Standard will not have a material effect on the Company's
consolidated financial statements. The following disclosure will be
added to annual and interim reports beginning January 1, 2008:
The
Company's objectives when managing capital are:
To
safeguard the Company's ability to continue as a going concern, to continue to
provide returns for shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders,
and;
To
provide an adequate return to shareholders commensurate with the level of risk
associated with a development stage biotechnology company.
The
Company sets the amount of capital in proportion to risk and manages the capital
structure and makes adjustments to it in the light of changes in economic
conditions and the risk characteristics of the underlying assets. In order to
maintain or adjust the capital structure, the Company may adjust the number of
shares issued, sell assets, enter into mergers and acquisitions, acquire debt or
enter into some other form of financing facility.
Capital
comprises all components of equity (i.e. common shares, contributed surplus, and
deficit accumulated during development stage) other than amounts in accumulated
other comprehensive income relating to cash flow hedges.
Inventories (CICA Handbook
Section 3031)
Effective
January 1, 2008, the Company will be required to adopt CICA Section 3031
“Inventories”. This Section prescribes the measurement of inventory at the lower
of cost and net realizable value. The cost of inventories shall comprise all
costs of purchase, costs of conversion and other costs incurred in bringing the
inventories to their present location and condition. This Section applies to
interim and annual consolidated financial statements for fiscal years beginning
on or after January 1, 2008. The Company plans to adopt this Section for its
fiscal year beginning January 1, 2008 and it will not have a material effect on
the Company's consolidated financial statements.
Financial Instruments:
Disclosures (CICA Handbook Section 3862)/ Presentation (CICA Handbook Section
3863)
Effective
January 1, 2008, the Company will be required to adopt two new CICA standards,
Section 3862 “Financial Instruments – Disclosures” and Section 3863 “Financial
Instruments – Presentation”, which will replace Section 3861 “Financial
Instruments – Disclosure and Presentation”.
The new
Disclosure standard increases the emphasis on the risks associated with both
recognized and unrecognized financial instruments and how these risks are
managed. The new Presentation standard carries forward the former presentation
requirements. The new financial instruments presentation and disclosure
requirements were issued in December 2006. The Company plans to adopt these
Sections for its fiscal year beginning January 1, 2008 and they will not have a
material effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements.
Convergence to International
Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”)
In 2006,
Canada's Accounting Standards Board ratified a strategic plan that will result
in Canadian GAAP, as used by public entities, being converged with IFRS over a
transitional period currently expected to be about five years. The precise
timing of convergence will depend on an Accounting Standards Board progress
review to be undertaken in 2008. The impact of this transition on the Company's
consolidated financial statements has not yet been determined; however,
management continues to monitor these regulatory developments.
RECENTLY
ADOPTED AND PENDING UNITED STATES ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCMENTS
Recent United States
accounting pronouncements issued and adopted
Accounting
for uncertainty in income taxes
In June
2006, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued FASB
Interpretation No. 48 “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes” (“FIN 48”),
an interpretation of Statement of Financial Accounting (“FAS”) 109 “Accounting
for Income Taxes”. On January 1, 2007, the Company adopted the
provisions of FIN 48 that prescribe a recognition threshold and measurement
attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax
position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The
interpretation requires that the Company recognize the impact of a tax position
in the financial statements if that position is more likely than not of being
sustained on audit, based on the technical merits of the position. FIN 48 also
provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties,
accounting in interim periods and disclosure. In accordance with the provisions
of FIN 48, any cumulative effect resulting from the change in accounting
principle is to be recorded as an adjustment to the opening balance of deficit.
The adoption of FIN 48 did not result in a material impact on the Company’s
consolidated financial position or results of operations.
Recent United States
accounting pronouncements issued and not yet adopted
Fair
value measurements
In
September 2006, the FASB approved FAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (“FAS
157”), which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair
value in U.S. GAAP and enhances disclosures about fair value
measurements. This statement applies when other accounting
pronouncements require fair value measurements. It does not require
new fair value measurements. This statement is effective for
financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15,
2007. The adoption of FAS 157 will not result in a material impact on
the Company’s financial position or results of operations.
The Fair
Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities
In
February 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for
Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities” (“FAS 159”), which allows entities
the option to measure eligible financial instruments at fair value as of
specified dates. Such election, which may be applied on an instrument by
instrument basis, is typically irrevocable once elected. This statement is
effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, and early
application is allowed under certain circumstances. The adoption of FAS 159 will
not result in a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results
of operations.
Accounting
for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services Received for Use in
Future Research and Development Activities
In June
2007, the Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) issued EITF Issue No. 07-3
“Accounting for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services Received
for Use in Future Research and Development Activities” (“EITF 07-3”). EITF 07-3
requires that nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services that will be
used or rendered for future research and development activities be deferred and
capitalized and recognized as an expense as the goods are delivered or the
related services are performed. EITF 07-3 is effective for fiscal years
beginning after December 15, 2007. The adoption of EITF 07-03
will not result in a material impact on the Company’s financial position or
results of operations.
Collaborative
Agreements
In
September 2007, the EITF reached a consensus on EITF Issue No. 07-1
“Collaborative Arrangements” ("EITF 07-1"). EITF 07-1 addresses the accounting
for arrangements in which two companies work together to achieve a commercial
objective, without forming a separate legal entity. The nature and purpose of a
company's collaborative arrangements are required to be disclosed, along with
the accounting policies applied and the classification and amounts for
significant financial activities related to the arrangements. EITF 07-1 is
effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008. The
Company is currently assessing the impact EITF 07-1 will have on its results of
operations and financial position.
Business
Combinations
The FASB
recently completed the second phase of its business combinations project, to
date the most significant convergence effort with the International Accounting
Standards Board (“IASB”), and issued the following two accounting
standards:
i.
|
Statement
No. 141, Business Combination; and
|
ii.
|
Statement
No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements –
an amendment of ARB No.51.
|
These
statements dramatically change the way companies account for business
combinations and noncontrolling interests (minority interests in current U.S.
GAAP). Compared with their predecessors, Statements 141(R) and 160
will require:
·
|
More
assets acquired and liabilities assumed to measured at fair value as of
the acquisition date;
|
·
|
Liabilities
related to contingent consideration to be remeasured at fair value in each
subsequent reporting period;
|
·
|
An
acquirer in preacquisition periods to expense all acquisition related
costs; and
|
·
|
Noncontrolling
interests in subsidiaries initially to be measure at fair value and
classified as a separate component of
equity.
|
Statements
141(R) and 160 should both be applied prospectively for fiscal years beginning
on or after December 15, 2008. However, Statement 160 requires
entities to apply the presentation and disclosure requirements retrospectively
(e.g., by reclassifying noncontrolling interests to appear in equity) to
comparative financial statements if presented. Both standards
prohibit early adoption. The Company is currently assessing the
impact these new standards will have on its consolidated financial
statements.
SELECTED
ANNUAL AND QUARTERLY INFORMATION
The
following quarterly information is presented in thousands of dollars except for
loss per share amounts:
|
|
2007
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
|
|
Q1 |
|
|
|
Q2 |
|
|
|
Q3 |
|
|
|
Q4 |
|
|
|
Q1 |
|
|
|
Q2 |
|
|
|
Q3 |
|
|
|
Q4 |
|
Research
and development costs
|
|
|
1,125 |
|
|
|
1,355 |
|
|
|
1,210 |
|
|
|
1,071 |
|
|
|
1,544 |
|
|
|
1,476 |
|
|
|
1,506 |
|
|
|
1,411 |
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
2,924 |
|
|
|
3,188 |
|
|
|
1,915 |
|
|
|
23,541 |
|
|
|
2,309 |
|
|
|
3,326 |
|
|
|
3,365 |
|
|
|
8,493 |
|
Basic
and diluted net loss per common share
|
|
|
0.04 |
|
|
|
0.04 |
|
|
|
0.03 |
|
|
|
0.32 |
|
|
|
0.04 |
|
|
|
0.05 |
|
|
|
0.05 |
|
|
|
0.11 |
|
Weighted
average number of common shares outstanding
|
|
|
72,761 |
|
|
|
72,761 |
|
|
|
72,761 |
|
|
|
72,761 |
|
|
|
63,842 |
|
|
|
70,281 |
|
|
|
70,343 |
|
|
|
68,921 |
|
The
quarterly results have varied primarily as a result of availability of resources
to fund operations and the timing of significant expenses incurred in the
development of the Company’s product candidates (manufacturing, clinical
trials).
OOutstanding
Share Data
|
Mar.
31, 2008
|
Dec.31,
2007
|
Dec.
31, 2006
|
Common
shares issued and outstanding
72,760,717
72,760,717
72,760,717
Stock
options
outstanding
5,332,811 5,332,811
6,096,241
Warrants
outstanding
2,618,182 14,618,181
17,077,480
Stock
options and warrants exercised are converted into an equal number of common
shares. If fully exercised the stock options and warrants outstanding at March
31, 2008 would generate proceeds of approximately $7,538,378.
|
Directors,
Senior Management and Employees
|
A.
|
Directors
and senior management
|
Each
director is generally elected by a vote at the annual meeting of shareholders to
serve for a term of one year. Each executive officer will serve until his/her
successor is elected or appointed by the Board of Directors or his/her earlier
removal or resignation from office. There are no family relationships between
any of our executive officers and any of our directors. The following table
lists our directors and senior management together with their respective
positions during 2007:
Name
|
|
Position
and Offices and Starting Date
|
Darrell
Elliott (1)
|
|
Chief
Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board since September 21,
2007
|
Erich
Bam, CA (SA) (1)
|
|
Chief
Operating Officer since October 12, 2007
|
Brent
Johnston, CA
|
|
Acting
Chief Financial Officer since November 1, 2007
|
Dr.
Richard Ascione (1)
|
|
Chief
Scientific Officer since July 1, 2007
|
Dr.
Rajan George
|
|
Senior
Vice-President, Research since December 22, 2003
|
Dr.
Andrew Stevens
|
|
Vice-President,
Clinical and Regulatory Affairs since December 22, 2003
|
Dr.
Irwin Griffith
|
|
Vice-President,
Development (Embolotherapy) since April 5, 2004
|
Dr.
Hubert Eng
|
|
Vice-President,
Development (AIT) since November 6, 2007
|
Dr.
Joseph Zendegui (1)
|
|
Vice-President,
Business Development since December 1, 2007
|
Douglas
Gilpin, CA
|
|
Director
since April 14, 2004
|
Jacques
R. LaPointe
|
|
Director
since December 9, 2004
|
Michael
Marcus
|
|
Director
since April 7, 2007 (elected June 5, 2006, resigned February 15, 2007,
reelected)
|
Yves
Cohen
|
|
Director
since May 3, 2007
|
Peter
Smetek
|
|
Director
since April 7, 2007, Former Chief Executive Officer (September
2007)
|
Bruce
Hirsche
|
|
Corporate
Secretary since December 5, 2005
|
(1) Interim
positions held by management consultants
British
Columbia, Canada
|
|
Mr.
Elliott who has more than 35 years of experience in merchant banking,
venture capital and analogous operating experiences in Africa, Europe and
North America. He has served on numerous boards and sub-boards of both
private and publicly traded companies. Currently, Mr. Elliott is the
Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation
and Chromos Molecular Systems Inc., both of which are a publicly trading
company listed on the TSX. Mr. Elliott is also one of the original
founders and CEO/Chairman of Apex Bioventures Acquisition Corp., a
publicly trading company listed on the American Stock Exchange. Mr.
Elliott served as Chairman of the Board of Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Ltd.,
a private company. He was also Senior Vice President and Managing Director
of MDS Capital Corp., President of MDS Ventures Pacific, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of British Columbia Medical Innovations Fund, Vice
President of Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund and Regional Vice President
and Managing Director of Royal Bank Capital Corporation.
Mr.
Elliott provides his Chief Executive Officer services to the Corporation
pursuant to an agreement date September 21, 2007 between the Corporation
and Isuma Strategies Inc., of which Mr. Elliott is
principal. Isuma Strategies Inc., a strategic consulting firm
for private equity in the biopharma industry.
|
|
|
|
Erich
Bam, CA (SA)
British
Columbia, Canada
|
|
Mr.
Bam who is a Chartered Accountant (SA) with more than 20 years experience
in the financing, development and management of both private and
publically traded companies. Most recently, Mr. Bam serves as a
partner and Managing Director of Gemini Partners where he is responsible
for sourcing and management assignments.
Mr.
Bam provides his Chief Operating Officer services to the Corporation
pursuant to an agreement dated September 23, 2007 between the Corporation
and Gemini Partners, of which Mr. Bam is a partner. Gemini
Partners specializes in the management of restructuring or re-organization
of financially troubled companies and the associated financial advisory
services required to achieve a turnaround.
|
|
|
|
Brent
Johnston, CA
Alberta,
Canada
|
|
Mr.
Johnston has 10 years of public company reporting experience both as an
auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and in various management roles.
His reporting experience includes issuers from Canada, the United
States, Ireland and the Cayman Islands. In addition, Mr. Johnston
played significant roles in corporate reorganizations, implementing cost
disciplines, streamlining operations and other financial initiatives with
issuers EPCOR Utilities Inc., InBev (Labatt Breweries of Canada) and North
American Construction Group (NACG).
|
|
|
|
Dr.
Richard Ascione
New
York, USA
|
|
Dr.
Richard Ascione is currently a consultant and equity investment advisor to
several Wall Street companies as an industry expert. Prior to this
activity Dr. Ascione served more than 10 years in the biotech industry as
the Vice President, Research, Aphton Corporation, and Director of their
Laboratory of Molecular Medicine working on the development of a cancer
vaccine for GI malignancy. Previously, Dr. Ascione was a tenured professor
in the Department of Experimental Oncology and Associate Director of the
Center for Molecular and Structural Biology at the Hollings Cancer Center
and the Medical University of South Carolina, respectively, in Charleston,
South Carolina. Earlier, Dr. Ascione was with the National Cancer
Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he
served as Deputy Chief of NCI's Laboratory of Molecular Oncology for more
than 20 years. Dr. Ascione has published over seventy peer-reviewed
papers, including several book chapters and articles related to molecular
medicine, virology and the gene regulation of cancer, human retroviruses
and HIV/AIDS.
|
|
|
|
Rajan
George, Ph.D.
Alberta,
Canada
|
|
Dr.
Rajan George has more than 30 years of research experience within a broad
spectrum of the biomedical sciences including biochemistry, molecular
biology, virology and immunology. Prior to joining ViRexx, Dr. George was
a research scientist at the Glaxo Heritage Research Institute, University
of Alberta carrying out research on various biochemical and immunological
aspects of replication of hepatitis B viruses. This involved the
production of recombinant viral proteins, peptides and antibodies for HBV
therapeutic vaccine development. Dr. George obtained his Ph.D degree in
Biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore, India) and
received his post doctoral training at the University of Wisconsin
(Madison, WI) and at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB). Dr. George
has more than 35 publications in peer reviewed medical journals to his
credit
|
|
|
|
Andrew
Stevens, Ph.D.
Alberta,
Canada
|
|
Prior
to joining ViRexx, Dr. Stevens was the Vice-President of Product
Development at Cytovax Biotechnology Inc., a biotechnology company. Dr.
Stevens’ extensive experience includes responsibilities as Director of
Clinical Research and Director of Clinical and Professional Affairs at
Biomira Inc., a biotechnology company. Dr. Stevens has over 30 years of
clinical research, regulatory affairs, and product development experience
gathered in the commercial development of various pharmaceuticals and
radiopharmaceuticals in Canada and the U.S. He holds a Bachelor of Science
degree in Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in Bionucleonics.
|
|
|
|
Irwin
Griffith, Ph.D.
Alberta,
Canada
|
|
Dr.
Irwin Griffith has more than 20 years of expertise in the development and
commercialization of immunotherapies for cancer, inflammatory and
autoimmune diseases. He previously served as Senior Director for Business
Development with Biomira Inc. prior to founding Rational BioDevelopment
Inc. in 2003.
|
|
|
|
Hubert
Eng, Ph.D.
Alberta,
Canada
|
|
Dr.
Hubert Eng brings expertise in the development and commercialization of
cancer immunotherapies. He has over 15 years of basic research
and biotechnology experience and has been with the AIT platform for over 5
years. His strong leadership, understanding of both the
academic and industry cultures, and experience in international
partnerships makes him an integral member of the ViRexx
Team.
|
|
|
|
Joseph
Zendegui, Ph.D.
British
Columbia, Canada
|
|
Dr.
Zendegui joined ViRexx as Vice President of Business Development in
December 2007, bringing over 20 years experience in the biotechnology
industry. Prior to joining ViRexx, Dr. Zendegui served as Vice
President, Corporate Development at Chromos Molecular Systems in Burnaby,
BC for 7 years, where he led the business development, intellectual
property and corporate communications functions. Before his
position at Chromos, Dr. Zendegui was Director, Business Development at
Valentis Inc. (formerly GeneMedicine Inc.), a U.S.-based gene therapy
company. At Valentis, Dr. Zendegui directed the cancer and
cardiovascular gene therapy business areas, involving large strategic
alliances. Prior to joining Valentis, Dr. Zendegui held positions of
increasing responsibility at Triplex Pharmaceutical Corporation in both
R&D and business development. Dr. Zendegui holds a Ph.D. in Immunology
from the University of South Florida College of Medicine and was a
post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Cell Biology, Rockefeller
University and the Department of Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical
Institute at Vanderbilt University.
|
|
|
|
Douglas
Gilpin, CA
Alberta,
Canada
|
|
Mr.
Douglas Gilpin has been a director of ViRexx since April 14, 2004. Mr.
Gilpin is a Chartered Accountant with more than 30 years of business
advisory and consultancy experience. He was a partner with KPMG LLP from
1981 until his retirement from the firm in 1999. His practice focused on
business advisory and assurance and involved work with numerous companies
in the biotechnology field.
|
|
|
|
Jacques
R. LaPointe
Ontario,
Canada
|
|
Mr.
LaPointe has been a Director of ViRexx since December 9, 2004. He is
Chairman of the Board of ConjuChem Inc. and was recently President and
Chief Operating Officer of BioChem Pharma, Inc. (Montreal, Quebec). Mr.
LaPointe has more than 30 years of leadership and operational experience
with global biotechnology and pharmaceutical organizations. Prior to
BioChem Pharma, Mr. LaPointe was with Glaxo Wellcome plc for 12 years and
held the positions of President and CEO of Glaxo Canada as well as Glaxo
Wellcome U.K. His earlier experience included operations, marketing and
sales, in positions at Johnson & Johnson Canada. Mr. LaPointe is a
former Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Canada
(PMCA), now known as Canada’s Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies
(Rx&D). In 2003, Mr. LaPointe became President and CEO of ConjuChem
Inc.
|
|
|
|
Michael
Marcus
Texas,
USA
|
|
Michael
Marcus is a private investor and philanthropist. He graduated Phi Beta
Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 1969 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts.
After working as an analyst for Reynolds Securities and Shearson Hayden
Stone on Wall Street, he was an independent floor trader on the New York
Cotton Exchange. From there, he went on to become a trader for Commodities
Corporation. In that role, his successful trading and his hire of Bruce
Kovner was responsible for turning around the fortunes of Commodities
Corporation. Michael went on to be the first executive vice president of
Commodities Corporation which was bought by Goldman Sachs in 1997. The
author, Jack Schwager decided to feature Mr. Marcus’ story as the first
chapter in his best-selling, Market Wizards I: Interviews with Top
Traders.
|
|
|
|
Yves
Cohen
Geneva,
Switzerland
|
|
Yves
Cohen is Founder & Managing Director of Geneva Financial Services, a
family office financial advisory company based in Geneva, Switzerland. He
is also co-founder of Inoks Capital Management (ex-PCCM) where he was
responsible for business development and operations. Prior to co-founding
Inoks Capital Management, he was a director at Maverick Conseils, a Swiss
investment firm, where he specialized in wealth management and real estate
advisory services. At Maverick, Mr. Cohen principally helped manage high
net worth clients as well as being responsible for the overall operations
of the firm. Prior to Maverick, he worked at Hirsch & Cie, where he
was responsible for a range of successful technology and real estate
investments in several emerging countries, as well as England and
Switzerland. He has occupied positions in other financial institutions
such as the United European Bank, Discount Bank and Trust Company and UBS.
Mr. Cohen studied Law at Geneva University.
|
|
|
|
Alberta,
Canada
|
|
Bruce
D. Hirsche is a partner of the law firm Parlee McLaws LLP and leader of
their Intellectual Property and Innovation Group (TechCounsel). He was
admitted to the bar in Alberta in 1975. His clients include numerous
technology based companies with activities at all stages of research,
commercialization and sales. He has extensive background in the areas of
securities law, intellectual property protection, transfer, strategic
alliances, mergers and acquisitions and in corporate governance and
financing of knowledge-based companies. He is a member of the
International Licensing Executive Society, the Canadian Bar Association
Intellectual Property and Securities Sub-Sections and was a long-serving
director and secretary of the Edmonton Council for Advanced Technology. He
currently serves on the Board of Directors of a number of knowledge-based
companies and has served on several legal continuing education panels
dealing with intellectual property and securities law. He is also
currently serving as a member of the Board of Management of the Alberta
Science and Research Authority, Secretary and Board Member of Alberta Cord
Blood Bank and Canadian Cord Blood Registry and as a Director of the
Northern Alberta Brain Injury Society.
|
|
|
|
Peter
Smetek
Texas,
USA
|
|
Peter
P. Smetek, Jr. started Smetek & Associates in 1968 and incorporated in
1981. Mr. Smetek, Jr. formed Smetek, Van Horn and Cormack, Inc. ('SVC') in
1981, a NASD Broker Dealer/SEC Registered Investment Advisor and
co-founded Benchmark Asset Management and managed over $200 million in
assets. Benchmark was sold to Acorn Management in 1992. Smetek, Van Horn
& Cormack raised the initial partnership investment funds for Amgen
Corp. and Aphton Corp. SVC brought Aphton public in March of 1991. In
November of 1994 Kraft Foods approached Mr. Smetek regarding his
assistance in developing and then purchasing their waste food by-products
conversion to animal feed company Superior AgResources. In December of
1997 Kraft entered into an agreement to sell this business to Trafalgar
Holdings. Mr. Smetek is named in Who's Who in American Executives and
Professionals. Mr. Smetek as general partner of Smetek, Van Horn &
Cormack, a hedge fund with over $85 million under management is also the
largest shareholder, CEO and Chairman of Larrea Biosciences, Inc., a
reporting company under the United States Securities and Exchange
Act.
|
Employment
Agreements
Each of
the employees of ViRexx has employment agreements. Below is a summary of the
employment agreements for the top main employees of ViRexx during
2007:
1. Brent
Johnston (Effective November 1, 2007)
Position: Acting
Chief Financial Officer
Time Devotion: Mr.
Johnston shall devote his full business time, attention and ability to ViRexx’s
affairs.
Compensation:
Commencing November 1, 2007, and throughout the term of this Agreement, a “Base
Salary” of no less than $110,000.00 per annum exclusive of benefits and other
compensation.
Stock Options: Option
effective on the Effective Date to purchase 100,000 common shares at a price per
share and on the conditions stipulated in the Stock Option Plan; PROVIDED
HOWEVER, the options will be fully vested by November 14, 2008 if Mr. Johnston
continues to be employed as Acting CFO.
Term: Agreement
commences November 1, 2007 and continues until the Agreement is terminated by
either Mr. Johnston or ViRexx in accordance with the Agreement.
Termination by Mr. Johnston
and ViRexx Without Cause: The Agreement may be terminated by Mr. Johnston
without cause on giving 30 days notice.
Termination of Mr. Johnston
for Disability: If Mr. Johnston suffers from any disability resulting in
Mr. Johnston being unable to perform duties; ViRexx may terminate this Agreement
upon giving 60 days notice, 6 months’ salary, the value of benefits otherwise
received over the same period and accrued vacation pay.
Other: Mr. Johnston shall be
reimbursed for all reasonable expenses incurred by him in the course of carrying
out his duties as Acting Chief Financial Officer.
2. Dr. Rajan George (Effective
January 1,
2007)
Position: Senior
Vice-President, Research
Duties: Responsible
for overall supervision and management of Research and Development and further
responsible for duties associated with office of Senior Vice-President and any
other duties as the President and/or the Board of Directors of ViRexx may
determine.
Time Devotion: Dr.
George shall devote his full business time, attention and ability to ViRexx’s
affairs.
Compensation:
Commencing January 1, 2007, a salary, for each year of the Term, of no less than
$155,000.00 per annum, reviewable annually.
Bonus: Dr. George is
eligible to be considered for an annual bonus based on a percentage of salary.
The current Compensation Plan calls for a bonus of 20% for this level of
employment; however, the Company’s management has reserved the right whether or
not to pay this bonus subject to the availability of cash.
Stock Options: Option
to purchase 150,000 common shares at a price of $0.80 per share vesting on
commencement of the term. In addition, during the fiscal year ended December 31,
2006, Dr. George was granted an option underlying 25,200 of the Company’s common
shares exercisable at $1.30 per share, which expires on March 28, 2016. Said
options shall vest in three equal installments over a three-year period,
beginning on the date 12 months after the date of the grant. Dr. George is also
eligible to participate in ViRexx’s Stock Option Plan as may be determined
and/or amended from time to time in the sole discretion of ViRexx and as
approved by its board of directors.
Term: Effective as of
January 1, 2007, the Company renewed Dr. George’s employment
which shall continue until the agreement is terminated by either Dr. George or
ViRexx in accordance with the terms summarized herein and the terms of the
agreement.
Termination by Dr. George
and ViRexx Without Cause or Change of Control of the Employees: The
Agreement may be terminated by ViRexx or Dr. George without cause:
(a) by
Dr. George without cause on giving 90 days notice. ViRexx may waive the
notice;
(b) by ViRexx on giving 1 year’s notice
or payment in lieu of notice of 1 year’s salary inclusive of all benefits;
or
(c)
within twelve (12) months following a Change of Control (as defined in the
agreement):
(i) by
Dr. George for Good Reason (as defined in the employment agreement) on giving 60
days notice. ViRexx may waive notice.
If Dr.
George elects to terminate his employment as a result of a Change of Control or
resigns for Good Reason at any time up to twelve (12) months following a Change
of Control, ViRexx shall pay to Dr. George the following:
(a) an
amount equal to twelve (12) months of salary plus Bonus payable for the said
twelve (12) months;
(b)
continuation of the benefits during the 12 months following the date of his
termination;
(c)
immediate vesting of all stock options granted to Dr. George; and
(d) an extension of ViRexx’s Stock
Option Plan exercise period from ninety (90) days to twelve (12)
months.
Termination of Dr. George
for Disability: If Dr. George suffers from any disability resulting in
Dr. George being unable to perform duties; ViRexx may terminate this Agreement
upon giving 60 days notice, 6 months’ salary, the value of benefits otherwise
received over the same period and accrued vacation pay.
Other: Dr. George shall be paid a car
mileage allowance and his reasonable business expenses, including
business-related mobile phone charges, shall be reimbursed by ViRexx as further
provided in the agreement. ViRexx shall pay all professional association and
development fees and all course costs which are incurred from time to time by
Dr. George in maintaining his professional designations and upgrading and/or
continuing his education and development to improve the performance of his
duties.
3. Dr.
Irwin Griffith (Effective January 1, 2007)
Position:
Vice-President, Development (Embolotherapy)
Duties: Responsible
for duties associated with office of Vice-President and any other duties as the
President and/or the Board of Directors of ViRexx may determine.
Time Devotion: Dr.
Griffith shall devote his full business time, attention and ability to ViRexx’s
affairs.
Compensation:
Commencing January 1, 2007, a salary, for each year of the Term, of no less than
$140,000.00 per annum, reviewable annually.
Bonus: Dr. Griffith
is eligible to be considered for an annual bonus based on a percentage of
salary. The current Compensation Plan calls for a bonus of 20% for this level of
employment; however, the Company’s management has reserved the right whether or
not to pay this bonus subject to the availability of cash.
Stock Options: Option
to purchase 100,000 common shares at a price of $0.80 per share. The option
shall vest in equal 1/3 amounts over a three (3) year period. In addition,
during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006, Dr. Griffith was granted an
option underlying 36,000 of the Company’s common shares exercisable at $1.30 per
share, which expires on March 28, 2016. Said options shall vest in three equal
installments over a three-year period, beginning on the date 12 months after the
date of the grant. Dr. Griffith is also eligible to participate in ViRexx’s
Stock Option Plan as may be determined and/or amended from time to time in the
sole discretion of ViRexx and as approved by its board of
directors.
Term: Effective as of
January 1, 2007, the Company renewed Dr. Griffith’s employment
which shall continue until the agreement is terminated by either Dr.
Griffith or ViRexx
in accordance with the terms summarized herein and the terms of the
agreement.
Termination by Dr. Griffith
and ViRexx Without Cause or Change of Control of the Employees: The
Agreement may be terminated by ViRexx or Dr. Griffith without
cause:
(a) by
Dr. Griffith without cause on giving 90 days notice. ViRexx may waive the
notice.
(b) by ViRexx on giving 1 year’s notice
or payment in lieu of notice of 1 year’s salary inclusive of all benefits;
or
(c)
within twelve (12) months following a Change of Control (as defined in the
agreement):
(i) by
Dr. Griffith for Good Reason (as defined in the employment agreement) on giving
60 days notice. ViRexx may waive notice.
If Dr.
Griffith elects to terminate his employment as a result of a Change of Control
or resigns for Good Reason at any time up to twelve (12) months following a
Change of Control, ViRexx shall pay to Dr. Griffith the following:
(a) an
amount equal to twelve (12) months of salary plus Bonus payable for the said
twelve (12) months;
(b)
continuation of the benefits during the 12 months following the date of his
termination;
(c)
immediate vesting of all stock options granted to Dr. Griffith; and
(d) an
extension of ViRexx’s Stock Option Plan exercise period from ninety (90) days to
twelve (12) months.
Termination of Dr. Griffith
for Disability: If Dr. Griffith suffers from any disability resulting in
Dr. Griffith being unable to perform duties; ViRexx may terminate this Agreement
upon giving 60 days notice, 6 months’ salary, the value of benefits otherwise
received over the same period and accrued vacation pay.
Other: Dr. Griffith shall be paid a car
mileage allowance and his reasonable business expenses, including
business-related mobile phone charges, shall be reimbursed by ViRexx as further
provided in the agreement. ViRexx shall pay all professional association and
development fees and all course costs which are incurred from time to time by
Dr. Griffith in maintaining his professional designations and upgrading and/or
continuing his education and development to improve the performance of his
duties.
4. Dr.
Andrew Stevens (effective January 1, 2007)
Position:
Vice-President Clinical and Regulatory Affairs
Duties: Responsible
for the overall supervision and management of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs
and further responsible for duties associated with office of Vice-President and
any other duties as the President and/or the Board of Directors of ViRexx may
determine.
Time Devotion: Dr.
Stevens shall devote his full business time, attention and ability to ViRexx’s
affairs.
Compensation:
Commencing January 1, 2007, a salary, for each year of the Term, of no less than
$135,000.00 per annum, reviewable annually.
Bonuses: Dr. Stevens
is eligible to be considered for an annual bonus based on a percentage of
salary. The current Compensation Plan calls for a bonus of 20% for this level of
employment; however, the Company’s management has reserved the right whether or
not to pay this bonus subject to the availability of cash.
Stock Options: Option
to purchase 100,000 common shares at a price of $0.80 per share vesting upon
commencement of the term. In addition, during the fiscal year ended December 31,
2006, Dr. Stevens was granted an option underlying 25,000 of the Company’s
common shares exercisable at CDN$1.30 per share, which expire on March 28, 2016.
Said options shall vest in three equal installments over a three-year period,
beginning on the date 12 months after the date of the grant. Dr. Stevens is also
eligible to participate in ViRexx’s Stock Option Plan as may be determined
and/or amended from time to time in the sole discretion of ViRexx and as
approved by its board of directors.
Term: Effective as of
January 1, 2007, the Company renewed Dr. Stevens’s employment
which shall continue until the agreement is terminated by either Dr. Stevens or
ViRexx in accordance with the terms summarized herein and the terms of the
agreement.
Termination by Dr. Stevens
and ViRexx Without Cause or Change of Control of the Employees: The
Agreement may be terminated by ViRexx or Dr. Stevens without cause:
(a) by
Dr. Stevens without cause on giving 90 days notice. ViRexx may waive the
notice;
(b) by ViRexx on giving 1 year’s notice
or payment in lieu of notice of 1 year’s salary inclusive of all benefits;
or
(c)
within twelve (12) months following a Change of Control (as defined in the
agreement):
(i) by
Dr. Stevens for Good Reason (as defined in the employment agreement) on giving
60 days notice. ViRexx may waive notice.
If Dr.
Stevens elects to terminate his employment as a result of a Change of Control or
resigns for Good Reason at any time up to twelve (12) months following a Change
of Control, ViRexx shall pay to Dr. Stevens the following:
(a) an
amount equal to twelve (12) months of salary plus Bonus payable for the said
twelve (12) months;
(b)
continuation of the benefits during the 12 months following the date of his
termination;
(c)
immediate vesting of all stock options granted to Dr. Stevens; and
(d) an
extension of ViRexx’s Stock Option Plan exercise period from ninety (90) days to
twelve (12) months.
Termination of the Employee
for Disability: If Dr. Stevens suffers from any disability resulting in
Dr. Stevens being unable to perform duties, ViRexx may terminate this Agreement
upon giving 60 days notice, 6 months’ salary, the value of benefits otherwise
received over the same period and accrued vacation pay.
Other: Dr. Stevens shall
be paid a car mileage allowance and his reasonable business expenses, including
business-related mobile phone charges, shall be reimbursed by ViRexx as further
provided in the agreement. ViRexx shall pay all professional association and
development fees and all course costs which are incurred from time to time by
Dr. Stevens in maintaining his professional designations and upgrading and/or
continuing his education and development to improve the performance of his
duties.
5. Dr.
Hubert Eng (effective November 1, 2007)
Position:
Vice-President, Development (AIT)
Duties: Responsible
for the overall supervision and management of the AIT Platform.
Time Devotion: Dr.
Eng shall devote his full business time, attention and ability to ViRexx’s
affairs.
Compensation:
Commencing January 1, 2007, a salary, for each year of the Term, of no less than
$90,000.00 per annum, reviewable annually.
Bonuses: Dr. Eng is
eligible to be considered for an annual bonus based on a percentage of salary.
The current Compensation Plan calls for a bonus of 20% for this level of
employment; however, the Company’s management has reserved the right whether or
not to pay this bonus subject to the availability of cash.
Term: Effective as of
January 1, 2007, the Company renewed Dr. Eng’s employment which
shall continue until the agreement is terminated by either Dr. Eng or ViRexx in
accordance with the terms summarized herein and the terms of the
agreement.
Termination by Dr. Eng and
ViRexx Without Cause or Change of Control of the Employees: The Agreement
may be terminated by ViRexx or Dr. Eng without cause:
(a) by
Dr. Eng without cause on giving 90 days notice. ViRexx may waive the
notice;
(b) by ViRexx on giving 1 year’s notice
or payment in lieu of notice of 1 year’s salary inclusive of all benefits;
or
(c)
within twelve (12) months following a Change of Control (as defined in the
agreement):
(i) by
Dr. Eng for Good Reason (as defined in the employment agreement) on giving 60
days notice. ViRexx may waive notice.
If Dr.
Eng elects to terminate his employment as a result of a Change of Control or
resigns for Good Reason at any time up to twelve (12) months following a Change
of Control, ViRexx shall pay to Dr. Eng the following:
(a) an
amount equal to twelve (12) months of salary plus Bonus payable for the said
twelve (12) months;
(b)
continuation of the benefits during the 12 months following the date of his
termination;
(c)
immediate vesting of all stock options granted to Dr. Eng; and
(d) an
extension of ViRexx’s Stock Option Plan exercise period from ninety (90) days to
twelve (12) months.
Termination of the Employee
for Disability: If Dr. Eng suffers from any disability resulting in Dr.
Eng being unable to perform duties, ViRexx may terminate this Agreement upon
giving 60 days notice, 6 months’ salary, the value of benefits otherwise
received over the same period and accrued vacation pay.
Other: Dr. Eng shall be
paid a car mileage allowance and his reasonable business expenses, including
business-related mobile phone charges, shall be reimbursed by ViRexx as further
provided in the agreement. ViRexx shall pay all professional association and
development fees and all course costs which are incurred from time to time by
Dr. Eng in maintaining his professional designations and upgrading and/or
continuing his education and development to improve the performance of his
duties.
Management
and Consultants Agreements
Each of
the consultants of ViRexx has consulting services agreements. Below is a summary
of the consulting services agreements for the top main consultants of
ViRexx:
1. Darrell
Elliott (Effective September 21, 2007)* (see page 63)
Firm: Isuma
Strategies Inc.
Position: Chief
Executive Officer
Duties: In
collaboration with the Board of Directors, responsible for the overall
supervision, management and operations of ViRexx.
Time
Devotion: Approximately 40% of the Contractor’s work
time.
Compensation:
Contractor fee of $2,000 for each complete working day (5 or more hours per
day); if less than 5 hours, an hourly rate of $300 will be paid.
Term: The contract
which shall continue until the agreement is terminated by either Mr. Elliott or
ViRexx in accordance with the terms summarized herein and the terms of the
agreement.
Termination: The
agreement will terminate 10 days following the appointment of the Board a new
chief Executive Officer of the Company or either party may terminate the
agreement by providing the other party with 60 days written notice of
termination.
Termination for
Disability: If Mr. Elliott shall die or as a result of sickness, accident
or other disability be unable to substantially perform the Services for a
continuous period of two months or for periods aggregating two months in any six
month period.
Other: Reimbursement for
reasonable business expenses incurred in relation to performance of the
Services.
2. Erich Bam (Effective September
23, 2007)
Firm: Gemini
Partners Corporate Finance C.C.
Position: Chief
Operating Officer
Duties: Gemini
shall ensure that Erich Bam performs his duties similar to other chief operating
officers in similar companies and in accordance with the terms of a formal
consulting agreement to be signed in due course.
Time
Devotion: On a per diem basis as required by the Chief
Executive Officer.
Compensation: Per
Diem rate of $1,600 per day.
Stock Options: Gemini
will be entitled to a number of warrants or options pursuant to the
financing.
Term: On a per diem
basis as required by the Chief Executive Officer.
Termination: On a per
diem basis as required by the Chief Executive Officer.
Other:
Reimbursement for reasonable
business expenses incurred in relation to performance of the
Services.
3. Dr. Richard
Ascione (Effective June 1, 2007)
Position: Chief
Scientific Officer
Duties: Such
reasonable services as are from time to time requested by the Chief Executive
Officer and/or the Board of Directors.
Time
Devotion: A reasonable amount of time for completing any
work.
Compensation: $10,000
USD per month
Stock Options: 25,000
common shares of ViRexx to vest immediately. An additional 25,000
common shares shall be granted pursuant to the Consultant achieving
milestones.
Term: The agreement
shall commence on June 1, 2007 and continue until May 31, 2008 unless terminated
earlier.
Termination:
Agreement may be terminated by either party with two weeks written
notice.
Other:
Reimbursement for reasonable
business expenses incurred in relation to performance of the
Services.
4. Dr. Joseph
Zendegui (Effective December 4, 2007)*
Position:
Vice-President, Business Development
Duties: As
directed by the CEO to carry out all business development, planning and analysis
required by ViRexx.
Time
Devotion: Minimum 10 days per month
Compensation: $12,000
per month plus $800 per day for every day exceeding 10 days of service in any
month for which services are provided.
Term: Monthly
contract
Termination: Either
party may terminate this Agreement without cause on providing the other party
with one month’s written notice.
Other:
Reimbursement for reasonable
business expenses incurred in relation to performance of the
Services.
B.
Compensation
As at
December 31, 2007, we had nine executive officers. The aggregate cash
compensation (including salaries, fees (including Director’s fees), commissions,
bonuses to be paid for services rendered, bonuses paid for services rendered in
a previous year, and any compensation other than bonuses earned, the payment of
which is deferred), paid to and/or accrued in favor of such executive officer
and corporations controlled by them by us for services rendered during 2007 for
the CEO and the next five highest compensated officers is listed in the table
below. We incurred $640,127 in additional direct non-cash compensation in the
form of expenses associated with issuance of stock options to our executive
officers during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007. As at
December 31, 2007 no amounts have been accrued or set aside for pension,
retirement or other benefits for the executive officers and directors.
*Darrell
Elliott and Dr. Joseph Zendegui were directors/officers of Chromos Molecular
Systems Inc. (“Chromos”), a Canadian public company. Chromos filed a
Notice of Intention to File a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act
because of last minute withdrawal of financing. The proposal was duly
filed and accepted by the creditors, Chromos proceeded to sell assets and both
secured and unsecured creditors were paid out under court approved
settlements. During this period Chromos’ shares were placed under a
cease trade by the TSX. Chromos plans shortly to request revocation
of this order. Darrell Elliott also served as a director of A.R.C.
Resins International Corp. as a nominee of the venture investor, when it
declared bankruptcy under Quebec law in April 1997.
Summary
Compensation Table
The
following table sets forth the compensation paid by us for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2007 in respect of the directors and members of our administrative,
supervisory or management bodies:
Name & Principal Position
|
|
Year
|
|
Salary/Fee
($)
|
|
Bonus
($)
|
|
Stock
Awards
($)
|
|
Option
Awards ($) (3)
|
|
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation
($)
|
|
Change in Pension
Value and Non-
Qualified Deferred
Compensation
Earnings ($)
|
|
All
Other
Compensation
($) (1)
(2)
|
|
Total ($)
|
|
Isuma Strategies Inc., Darrell
Elliott, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the
Board
|
|
2007
|
|
$103,701
|
|
|
|
$36,000
|
|
$32,625
|
|
|
|
|
|
$25,000
|
|
$197,326
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gemini Partners, Erich
Bam, Chief Operating Officer
|
|
2007
|
|
$138,700
|
|
|
|
|
|
$801
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$139,501
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. D. Lorne Tyrrell,
Former Chief Executive Officer, Chief Scientific Officer and
Director
|
|
2007
|
|
$75,000
|
|
$67,500
|
|
|
|
$47,017
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$189,517
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Rajan George, Senior
Vice-President, Research
|
|
2007
|
|
$160,365
|
|
$30,275
|
|
|
|
$14,891
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$203,531
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Andrew Stevens,
Vice-President, Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
|
|
2007
|
|
$135,000
|
|
$24,133
|
|
|
|
$17,382
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$176,515
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Irwin Griffith,
Vice-President, Development (Embolotherapy)
|
|
2007
|
|
$147,538
|
|
$28,791
|
|
|
|
$21,276
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$197,605
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Hubert Eng,
Vice-President, Development (AIT)
|
|
2007
|
|
$94,659
|
|
$13,561
|
|
|
|
$11,650
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
119,870
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Douglas Gilpin, CA,
Director
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$85,573
|
|
|
|
|
|
$39,000
|
|
$124,573
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jacques R. LaPointe,
Director
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$83,026
|
|
|
|
|
|
$31,500
|
|
$114,526
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael Marcus,
Director
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$74,997
|
|
|
|
|
|
$20,363
|
|
$95,360
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yves Cohen,
Director
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$74,744
|
|
|
|
|
|
$10,121
|
|
$84,865
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Peter Smetek, Former
Chief Executive Officer and Director
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$68,203
|
|
|
|
|
|
$ -
|
|
$68,203
|
|
Notes:
|
(1)
With the exception of reimbursement of expenses incurred by our named
executive officers during the scope of their employment and stated stock
award amounts, none of the named executive received any other
compensation, perquisites, and personal benefits in excess of
$10,000.
|
(2) Compensation of Directors
(3) Calculated using the Black-Scholes Model
In May
2007, Dr. Lorne Tyrrell ended his employment with ViRexx as Chief Executive
Officer (“CEO”) and Mr. Peter Smetek was appointed to this
position. In September 2007, Mr. Smetek was replaced as Interim CEO
by Mr. Darrell Elliott.
In May
2007, Mr. Scott Langille’s employment with ViRexx as Chief Financial Officer
ended and Mr. Gary Woerz was appointed to this position. In October
2007 Mr. Woerz was relieved of responsibility for the day-to day
financial operations of the Company and subsequently filed a statement of claim
for wrongful dismissal effectively terminating his employment agreement with the
Company. Mr. Brent Johnston is currently the Acting Chief Financial
Officer and is responsible for the day to day financial operations of the
Company.
During
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, directors were compensated based on a
retainer of $10,000 each plus $ 5,000 for Audit Committee Chair. The
Chairman of the Board is compensated on a retainer of $100,000 which is paid
quarterly in advance. Meeting fees for which they were in attendance of $1,500
per meeting for board meetings and $750 per meeting for committee meetings for
the year ended January to December 2007. Directors are also reimbursed for their
expenses incurred in respect of each meeting of the directors or special
service.
The
directors listed above were reelected to serve as directors at the annual
meeting of the shareholders held on May 3, 2007 for the ensuing year until the
next annual meeting of the shareholders.
Douglas
Gilpin, Jacques LaPointe and Michael Marcus constitute the Audit Committee.
Jacques
LaPointe, Yves Cohen and Michael Marcus constitute the Compensation
Committee.
Douglas
Gilpin, Michael Marcus and Yves Cohen constitute the Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee.
Our
entire Board of Directors comprises the Environmental Committee.
Our
by-laws provide that from time to time the directors may fix the quorum for
meetings of directors and for meetings of committees of directors but unless so
fixed, a majority of the directors present at a meeting of directors or a
majority of members of a committee of directors at a meeting of that committee
of directors constitutes a quorum and to the extent required by the ABCA no
business may be transacted unless one-quarter of the directors present are
resident Canadians. Meetings of the Board or committees of the Board may be held
any place the Board determines or by telephone.
Board
of Directors
The Board
currently consists of six members. Each director elected will hold office until
the next annual meeting of shareholders or until his/her successor is duly
elected, unless his/her office is earlier vacated in accordance with our
by-laws.
Board
Committees
The Board
of Directors has four standing committees: an Audit Committee, a Compensation
Committee, a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and an Environmental
Committee.
Audit
Committee
The
members of the Audit Committee are all outside and unrelated directors and are
independent from any interest in us. The Chairman of the Audit Committee is
Douglas Gilpin. He was specifically recruited for his accounting and financial
skills. All members of the Audit Committee are considered financially literate.
The Audit Committee met formally four times in 2007 and a quorum was present at
each meeting. We formally adopted the Audit Committee Charter on April 11, 2005.
The stated purpose of the Audit Committee is to serve as an independent and
objective party to monitor the integrity of our financial reporting process and
system of internal controls, to review, appraise and monitor the independence
and performance of our independent auditors and to provide an avenue for open
communication among the independent auditors, management and the Board of
Directors. All members of the Audit Committee must have a basic understanding of
finance and accounting and must be able to read and understand fundamental
financial statements. In addition, the Audit Committee reviews the independence
and performance of its auditors and approves the fees and other significant
compensation to be paid to the independent auditors. The Audit Committee has
direct access to the independent auditors at all times and has the ability to
retain, at our expense, special legal, accounting or other consultants or
experts it deems necessary in the performance of its duties.
Compensation
Committee
The
members of the Compensation Committee are all outside and unrelated directors
and are all independent from any interest in us. The Compensation Committee also
adopted a charter on April 11, 2005. Under its charter, the Compensation
Committee is responsible for reviewing management prepared policies and
recommending to the Board of Directors on compensation policies and guidelines
for senior officers and management personnel, corporate benefits, incentive
plans, evaluation of the performance and compensation of the Chief Executive
Officer and other senior management, compensation level for members of the Board
of Directors and committee members, a succession plan for the Chief Executive
Officer and key employees and any material changes in human resources policy,
procedure, remuneration and benefits.
The
Compensation Committee advises the Board on the administration of our Stock
Option Plan, and reviews and approves the recommendations of senior management
relating to the annual salaries, bonuses and stock option grants of our
executive officers. The Compensation Committee reports to the Board, which in
turn gives final approval to compensation matters.
Under the
direction of the Compensation Committee, we are committed to the fundamental
principles of pay for performance, improved shareholder returns and external
competitiveness in the design, development and administration of its
compensation programs. The Compensation Committee recognizes the need to attract
and retain a stable and focused leadership with the capability to manage our
operations, finances and assets. As appropriate, the Compensation Committee
recognizes and rewards exceptional individual contributions with highly
competitive compensation. The major elements of our executive compensation
program are salary, annual cash incentives and long-term incentives, through the
granting of stock options.
In
connection with determining base salaries, we maintain an administrative
framework of job levels into which positions are assigned based on internal
comparability and external market data. Because of our lean organizational
structure and potential growth in the international arena, the Compensation
Committee’s goal is to provide base salaries for our top-performing employees,
that are competitive with our peers and which also recognize the differentials
from such peers.
The Board
believes that employees should have a stake in our future and that their
interest should be aligned with the interest of our shareholders. To this end,
the Committee selects those executives and key employees whose decisions and
actions can most directly impact business results to participate in the Stock
Option Plan. Under the Stock Option Plan, officers, consultants, and key
employees who are selected to participate are eligible to receive stock options
that are granted subject to a vesting period determined by us and approved by
the Board to create a long-term incentive to increase shareholder value. Awards
of stock options are supplementary to the cash incentive plan and are intended
to increase the pay-at-risk component for officers and key
employees.
We have
employment agreements or remuneration arrangements with all of our executive
officers. Each agreement or arrangement provides for salary, benefits, bonuses
and incentive stock option grants for the executive officer and for compensation
if his or her employment is terminated. Commencing January 1, 2006, directors
are paid $1,500 per board meeting and $750 per committee meeting, except as
described herein, there are no other agreements or other remuneration
arrangements with any of its directors. The Compensation Committee met twice
formally during 2007.
Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committee
The
members of this Committee are all outside and unrelated directors and are
independent from any interest in us. The Nominating and Corporate Governance
Committee also adopted a charter on April 11, 2005.
Pursuant
to its charter, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee takes
responsibility for preparing the disclosure in the Management Information
Circular concerning corporate governance, and for developing and monitoring our
general approach to corporate governance issues as they arise. It also assumes
responsibility for assessing current members and nominating new members to the
Board of Directors and ensuring that all Board members are informed of and are
aware of their duties and responsibilities as a director of the Corporation. The
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee takes responsibility for the
adoption of adequate policies and procedures to allow us to meet our continuous
disclosure requirements, manage our principal risks, review the strategic plan
on a timely basis, develop and monitor corporate policies relating to trading in
securities, ensuring the Board annually reviews organizational structure and
succession planning, reviews areas of potential personal liability of directors
and ensures reasonable protective measures are in place and causes the Board to
annually review its definition of an unrelated director. This
committee met once formally during 2007.
Our
approach to corporate governance is set out in our Management Information
Circular as prescribed by National Instrument 58-101 “Disclosure of Corporate
Governance Practices” (“58-101”).
Environmental
Committee
The
Environmental Committee is comprised of our entire Board of Directors. The
Environmental Committee adopted a charter on April 11, 2005. Under its charter
the Environmental Committee will review, provide oversight of and monitor our
environmental, health and safety policies, practices and actions; review,
provide oversight of and monitor the social, political, and environmental
trends, issues and concerns at the legislative, regulatory and judicial levels
as they affect us and the industry, along with our positions and responses with
respect thereto. It will also receive reports on the nature and extent of
compliance or any non-compliance with relevant policies, standards and
applicable legislation and will develop plans to correct deficiencies, if any.
It reports to the Board on the status of such matters and reviews such other
environmental matters as the Committee may consider suitable or the Board may
specifically direct.
The
Environmental Committee meets each time we have a board meeting because it is a
committee of the whole board.
As
at December 31, 2007, we have nineteen full-time employees and one part-time
employee. Of those nineteen employees, fourteen hold a Ph.D. There
are currently sixteen employees in research and development, and four employees
in administration, corporate affairs and business development. All employees
execute confidentiality and non-competition agreements and assignments of
intellectual property rights to us.
We are
not party to any collective bargaining agreements, have never experienced any
material labor disruption and are unaware of any current efforts or plans to
organize employees. We consider our relationship with our employees
good.
The
following table sets out the names and titles of our executive officers and
directors and their respective common share ownership in us as at December 31,
2007:
Name
|
|
Title/Office
|
|
Share
Ownership directly or indirectly and as a % of Outstanding
Shares*
|
Darrell
Elliott
|
|
Chief
Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
|
|
60,000
0.08%
|
Erich
Bam
|
|
Chief
Operating Officer
|
|
Nil
|
Brent
Johnston
|
|
Acting
Chief Financial Officer
|
|
54,500
0.07%
|
Dr.
Richard Ascione
|
|
Chief
Scientific Officer
|
|
Nil
|
Dr.
Rajan George
|
|
Senior
Vice-President, Research
|
|
65,325
0.09%
|
Dr.
Andrew Stevens
|
|
Vice-President,
Clinical and Regulatory Affairs
|
|
Nil
|
Dr.
Irwin Griffith
|
|
Vice-President,
Development (Embolotherapy)
|
|
Nil
|
|
|
Vice-President,
Development (AIT)
|
|
Nil
|
Dr.
Joseph Zendegui
|
|
Vice-President,
Business Development
|
|
Nil
|
Douglas
Gilpin, CA
|
|
Director
|
|
Nil
|
Jacques
R. LaPointe
|
|
Director
|
|
175,000
0.24%
|
Michael
Marcus
|
|
Director
|
|
7,078,510
9.73%
|
Yves
Cohen
|
|
Director
|
|
Nil
|
Peter
Smetek
|
|
Director
|
|
500,000
0.69%
|
Bruce
Hirsche
|
|
Corporate
Secretary
|
|
133,783
0.18%
|
*Listed
beneficial ownership is based on 72,760,617 Common Shares issued and outstanding
as of December 31, 2007.
The names
and titles of our executive officers and directors to whom options have been
granted by us which are outstanding as of December 31, 2007 and the number of
Common Shares subject to such options are set forth in the following
table:
Name
|
|
Title/Office
|
|
Number
of
Shares
|
|
Exercise
Price
|
|
Expiry
Date
|
Darrell
Elliott
|
|
Chief
Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
|
|
100,000
21,292
9,489
|
|
$0.59
$0.10
$0.10
|
|
September
21, 2017
December
20, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Erich
Bam, CA (SA)
|
|
Chief
Operating Officer
|
|
9,489
|
|
$0.10
|
|
December
20, 2017
|
Dr.
Lorne Tyrell
|
|
Former
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer
|
|
20,000
|
|
$0.90
|
|
December
16, 2014
|
Dr.
Rajan George
|
|
Senior
Vice-President, Research
|
|
150,000
15,000
25,200
36,000
68,466
|
|
$0.80
$0.90
$1.30
$0.59
$0.10
|
|
December
23, 2008
December
16, 2014
March
28, 2016
February
7, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Dr.
Andrew Stevens
|
|
Vice-President,
Clinical and Regulatory Affairs
|
|
100,000
15,000
25,200
33,120
68,466
|
|
$0.80
$0.90
$1.30
$0.59
$0.10
|
|
December
23, 2008
December
16, 2014
March
28, 2016
February
7, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Dr.
Irwin Griffith
|
|
Vice-President,
Development (Embolotherapy)
|
|
100,000
15,000
36,000
36,000
68,466
|
|
$0.80
$0.90
$1.30
$0.59
$0.10
|
|
April
14, 2009
December
16, 2014
March
28, 2016
February
7, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Dr.
Hubert Eng
|
|
Vice-President,
Development (AIT)
|
|
20,000
6,000
9,000
21,000
68,466
|
|
$0.80
$0.90
$1.30
$0.59
$0.10
|
|
April
14, 2009
December
16, 2014
March
28, 2016
February
7, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Douglas
Gilpin, CA
|
|
Director
|
|
125,000
20,000
27,000
27,000
100,000
33,292
|
|
$0.80
$0.90
$1.30
$0.59
$1.04
$0.10
|
|
April
14, 2009
December
16, 2014
March
28, 2016
February
7, 2017
June
4, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Jacques
R. LaPointe
|
|
Director
|
|
10,000
20,000
50,000
200,000
125,000
21,000
21,000
100,000
30,292
|
|
$6.26
$0.94
$0.76
$0.86
$0.90
$1.30
$0.59
$1.04
$0.10
|
|
May
24, 2011
June
19, 2012
July
18, 2012
June
9, 2013
December
16, 2014
March
28, 2016
February
7, 2017
June
4, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Michael
Marcus
|
|
Director
|
|
100,000
30,292
|
|
$1.04
$0.10
|
|
June
4, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Yves
Cohen
|
|
Director
|
|
100,000
27,292
|
|
$1.04
$0.10
|
|
June
4, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Peter
Smetek
|
|
Former
Chief Executive Officer and Director
|
|
100,000
21,292
|
|
$1.04
$0.10
|
|
June
4, 2017
December
20, 2017
|
Option
Plan
We have
in place a Stock Option Plan dated June 16, 2005 (the “Plan”) pursuant to which
the Board of Directors of ViRexx may grant stock options (“Options”) up to a
maximum of 8,256,000 Shares of ViRexx. The Plan provides that the terms of the
Options and the Option price shall be fixed by the Directors subject to the
price restrictions and other requirements imposed by the TSX. The Plan also
provides that no Option shall be granted to any person except upon
recommendation of the Directors of ViRexx, and only Directors, officers,
employees, consultants and other persons who provide ongoing services of us or
our subsidiaries may receive Options. Options granted under the Plan may not be
for a period longer than ten (10) years and the exercise price must be paid in
full upon exercise of the option.
During
the financial year ended December 31, 2007, there were 2,580,341 options granted
to the Directors, employees or executives of the Corporation pursuant to the
option plan or otherwise. As at December 31, 2007, 5,332,811 or 7%
out of the authorized 8,256,000 options have been granted leaving 2,923,189 or
4% available for future grants. Under the terms of the Plan, any options which
are exercised replenish the option pool shall again be made available to be
granted pursuant to the provisions of the Plan herein.
The
purpose of the Plan is to assist Directors, officers, employees, consultants and
other persons who provide ongoing services of ViRexx and any of its subsidiaries
to participate in the growth and development of ViRexx. The total number of
Shares, which may be granted to any one optionee, including any one insider and
such insider’s associates, at any time shall not exceed 5% of the issued and
outstanding Shares of the Company. The number of common shares that may be
issuable to insiders at any time, or that may be issued to insiders within any
one year period in each case under the Plan and when combined with all of the
Corporation’s security based compensation arrangements, may not exceed 10% of
the Corporation’s total issued and outstanding securities. The granting of
Options is administered by the ViRexx Board, subject to the policies of the
TSX.
The
Directors may amend or discontinue the Plan at any time without shareholder
approval upon receipt of the approval of the TSX, provided that no such
amendment or discontinuance may, without the consent of any affected optionee,
alter or impair any Option previously granted to such optionee under the
Plan. Any amendment to any provision of the Plan shall be subject to
approval, if applicable and if required, by any regulatory body having
jurisdiction over the securities of the Corporation.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, any amendment to the following will require shareholder
approval:
(a)
|
any
change to the number of Common Shares issuable under the Plan, including a
change to the fixed maximum percentage of Common Shares or a change from a
fixed maximum percentage of Common Shares to a fixed maximum number shall
require shareholder approval as required by the
TSX;
|
(b)
|
any
reduction to the exercise price of an Option held by an insider (as
defined by the Exchange) or an extension to the Expiry Date, provided that
such extension does not result in such date being more than 10 years from
the date of grant;
|
(c)
|
any
change to the eligible participants which would have the potential of
broadening or increasing insider
participation;
|
(d)
|
the
addition of any form of financial
assistance;
|
(e)
|
any
amendment to a financial assistance provision which is more favorable to
participants;
|
(f)
|
the
addition of a cashless exercise feature, payable in cash or securities
which does not provide for a full deduction of the number of underlying
securities from the Plan; and
|
(g)
|
the
addition of a deferred or restricted share unit or any other provision
which results in participants receiving securities while no cash
consideration is received by the
Corporation.
|
All
Options granted pursuant to the Plan shall be personal to the optionee and shall
not be assignable or otherwise transferable except: (i) to a “permitted assign”
as that term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 45-105 (Trades to Employees,
Senior Officers, Directors and Consultants) as the same may be amended,
supplemented and/or replaced from time to time; or (ii) by will or the laws of
descent and distribution.
At the
time of grant of an Option, the Directors shall fix the date or dates on which
the optionee shall be entitled to exercise part or all of such
Option.
In the
event that an optionee dies, such optionee’s executor or executrix shall have
right to exercise part or all of all then outstanding and vested Options on
behalf of the optionee’s estate until the earlier of the date set by the
Directors at the time of the grant of such Options (such date not to exceed one
year after the date of death of the optionee) or the Expiry Date. All
Options not exercised by such date shall immediately and automatically
terminate. The Directors shall have the right, in their sole
discretion, to provide at the time of the grant of the Options of an optionee,
that all Options granted to such optionee shall be deemed to fully vest on the
day prior to the optionee’s death. If the Directors do so, such
optionee’s executor or executrix shall have the right to exercise all of the
outstanding Options of such optionee in accordance with the above.
In the
event that an optionee retires or resigns from his or her office, employment or
position with the Corporation and all of its subsidiaries or is removed from
such office, employment or position (whether with or without cause) or otherwise
ceases to hold such office, employment or position for any reason (otherwise
than as a result of the death of the optionee) all then outstanding and unvested
Options granted to such optionee shall immediately and automatically
terminate. Such optionee shall have the right to exercise part or all
of his or her then outstanding and vested Options until the earlier of the date
set by the Directors at the time of the grant of such Options (such date not to
exceed 90 days after the date such optionee retires, resigns or is removed from
such office) or the Expiry Date. All such Options not exercised by
such date shall immediately and automatically terminate. The
Directors shall have the right, in their sole discretion, to provide at the time
of the grant of the Options of an optionee, that all Options granted to such
optionee shall be deemed to fully vest on the day prior to the retirement,
resignation or removal of the Optionee from such office, employment or
position. If the Directors do so, such Optionee shall have the right
to exercise all of the outstanding Stock Options of such Optionee in accordance
with the above.
In the
event that:
(a)
|
the
Directors determine that there is a reasonable probability that the
Corporation will be reorganized, amalgamated or merged with, consolidated
into or in any way combined with, another
corporation;
|
(b)
|
the
shareholders of the Corporation approve the liquidation, dissolution or
winding-up of the Corporation or the sale, lease, exchange or other
disposition of all or substantially all of the property of the
Corporation;
|
(a)
|
a
take-over bid, which is a “formal bid” (as that term is defined by the
Securities Act (Alberta)), is made for any voting or equity securities of
the Corporation; or
|
(b)
|
the
Directors determine that there is a reasonable probability that the
Corporation will experience a change of control (as determined by the
Directors),
|
then the
Directors may by resolution determine that all or any part of the outstanding
and unvested Stock Options granted to any one or more Optionees shall vest on a
date specified by such resolution and all such Stock Options shall be deemed to
have vested on the date so specified.
During
the financial year ended December 31, 2004, there were 4,564,168 Options which
were either granted or converted from AltaRex options pursuant to the
Arrangement.
No
optionee has any rights as a shareholder with respect to any shares subject to
an Option prior to the date of the issuance of a certificate or certificates for
such shares.
The
following table sets forth information in respect of compensation plans under
which equity securities of the Corporation are authorized for issuance, as at
the Corporation’s financial year ended December 31, 2007:
Plan
Category
|
|
Number
of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants
and rights
|
|
Weighted-average
exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights
|
|
Number
of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity
compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column
(a)
|
|
Equity
compensation plans approved by security holders
|
|
|
5,332,811(1)(2)
|
|
$
|
0.67
|
|
|
2,923,189
|
|
(1)
|
Includes 5,332,811 Shares
issuable upon exercise of outstanding Options during the Corporation’s
financial year ended December 31, 2007. The Corporation can grant no more
than 8,256,000
Options under the Option Plan. See “Stock
Options”.
|
(2)
|
Includes
50,000 and 85,000 Options granted to the University of Alberta on December
23, 2003 and April 14, 2004 respectively, pursuant to a license agreement
dated December 13, 2001.
|
F.
|
Pension
and Retirement Plans and Payments made upon Termination of
Employment
|
We do not
have any pension or retirement plan that is applicable to the Named Executive
Officers other than as described below. We have not provided compensation,
monetary or otherwise, during the preceding fiscal year, to any person who now
acts or has previously acted as a Named Executive Officer of ViRexx, in
connection with or related to the retirement, termination or resignation of such
person other than as described in the succeeding paragraph and we have provided
no compensation to such persons as a result of a change of control of us, our
subsidiaries or affiliates. We are not party to any compensation plan or
arrangement with any person who now acts as a Named Executive Officer resulting
from the resignation, retirement or the termination of employment for cause of
such person.
Item 7.
|
Major Shareholders and Related
Party Transactions
|
The
following table sets forth, as of the most practicable date, certain information
regarding each person who is known to us as an owner of more than 5% of the
outstanding Common Shares of us.
Name
|
|
Class
|
|
Amount Owned (1)
|
|
%
of Class
|
|
The
Estate of Dr. Antoine A. Noujaim
|
|
|
Common
|
|
|
7,446,449
|
|
|
10.23
|
%
|
|
Canmarc
Trading Co. (2)
|
|
|
Common
|
|
|
7,018,510
|
|
|
9.65
|
%
|
United
Therapeutics
|
|
|
Common
|
|
|
5,051,990
|
|
|
6.94
|
%
|
|
(1)
|
Includes
the Common Shares directly controlled by The Estate of Dr.
Noujaim.
|
|
(2)
|
Michael
Marcus of Houston, Texas, holds 100% voting and dispositive power over
Canmarc Trading Co.
|
None of
our major shareholders have different voting rights.
Based on
a report from our transfer agent Computershare, as at December 31, 2007, there
were 51 registered Shareholders in the U.S. who held common shares totaling
6,574,793 or 9.04% percent of the common shares outstanding.
To the
extent known to us, we are not directly or indirectly owned or controlled by any
Foreign Government, or by any other natural or legal persons, severally or
jointly.
B.
Related- party
transactions (1)
During
the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, the Company incurred amounts totalling
approximately $510,525 (2006 – $301,870) for legal services rendered by a firm
in which Bruce Hirsche, the company’s Corporate Secretary, is a
partner. The Company also paid $435,207 (2006 – $138,750) for
consulting services rendered by directors of the Company.
To the
best of the knowledge of our management, other than information already
disclosed above and elsewhere in this Annual Report and except for employment
agreements with Executive Officers and stock option agreements, no person who
has been an insider of us for the most recently completed fiscal year ended
December 31, 2007 or subsequent period to the date of this Annual Report or any
associate or affiliate of such insider has had any material direct or indirect
interest in any material transaction with us since January 1, 2006 or in any
proposed transaction which has materially affected or would materially affect us
or our subsidiaries.
(1)
|
“Related
Party” means, in relation to a corporation, a promoter, officer, Director,
other insider or Control Person of that corporation (including an issuer)
and any associates and affiliates of any of such persons. In relation to
an individual, related party means any associates of the individual or any
corporation of which the individual is a promoter, officer, Director or
Control Person.
|
C.
|
Interests
of experts and counsel
|
Item
8.
|
Financial
Information
|
A.
|
Consolidated
Statements and Other Financial
Information
|
Our
consolidated financial statements are included herein under Item
17.
Legal
Proceedings
The
Company has received statements of claim filed in the Court of Queen’s Bench of
Alberta in May 2007 and February 2008 from three former employees and the former
Chief Financial Officer to their termination or change in employment with the
Company. The former employees and the former Chief Financial Officer
assert that they are entitled to additional pay, benefits and accelerated
vesting of their stock options due to a change in control within the Company in
2007 or defamation or wrongful dismissal. The collective total of
these claims is $1,939,750. ViRexx believes that these claims are
without merit and intends to aggressively defend this position.
In
February 2008, the Company proposed settlement of one of the claims for
severance pay and wrongful dismissal filed by a former employee. The
settlement amount was accrued in the December 31, 2007 audited consolidated
financial statements.
Also,
during February 2008 the Company has reached, but not yet finalized a settlement
with Clarus Securities Ltd. (“Clarus”) for damages for non-performance in regard
to the cancellation of a $15,000,000 public offering. The proposed
settlement includes a cash payment and warrants. The cash settlement
amount was been accrued in the December 31, 2007 audited consolidated financial
statements. The issuance of the warrants will be recorded in the
second quarter of 2008 once they are issued and the exercise price has been
determined.
Dividend Policy
To date,
we have not paid any dividends on its Common Shares. The payment of dividends in
the future, if any, is within the discretion of the Board of Directors of ViRexx
and will depend upon our earnings, our capital requirements and financial
condition and other relevant factors. We do not anticipate declaring or paying
any dividends in the foreseeable future.
Not
applicable.
Item
9.
|
The
Offer and Listing
|
A.
|
Offer
and listing details
|
Our
Common Shares are traded on the TSX under the symbol “VIR” and on the AMEX under
the symbol “REX”. The following tables set forth, the annual high and low market
prices for the five most recent full financial years as reported on the TSX and
for the period indicated on AMEX:
TSX
(in CDN$):
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
|
1.21
|
|
|
0.08
|
|
December
31, 2006
|
|
|
1.62
|
|
|
0.66
|
|
December
31, 2005
|
|
|
2.13
|
|
|
0.89
|
|
December
16, 2004 - December 31, 2004 (1)
|
|
|
1.22
|
|
|
0.85
|
|
TSX
Venture Exchange
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
15, 2004 (1)
|
|
|
1.60
|
|
|
0.90
|
|
December
31, 2003 (2)
|
|
|
0.14
|
|
|
0.10
|
|
December
31, 2002 (3)
|
|
|
0.23
|
|
|
0.15
|
|
Notes:
(1)
|
ViRexx’s
Shares were delisted from the TSXV on December 15, 2004 and commenced
trading on the TSX on December 16, 2004 as a result of the AltaRex
Arrangement effective December 10, 2004.
|
(2)
|
Prior
to the ViRexx Amalgamation, Norac, one of the predecessors to ViRexx, was
a publicly listed company on the TSXV. On June 23, 2003, trading of
Norac’s common shares was halted upon the announcement of the ViRexx
Amalgamation. On August 18, 2003, Norac’s listing was moved to the NEX
board of the TSXV as a result of its inactive status. Pursuant to the
ViRexx Amalgamation, the common shares of Norac were delisted from the
TSXV on January 2, 2004 and ViRexx’s Shares were listed on the TSXV that
same date but remained halted. ViRexx’s Shares resumed trading on the TSXV
on April 16, 2004.
|
(3)
|
The
trading price of common shares of
Norac.
|
AMEX (in U.S.$):
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
|
1.05
|
|
|
0.08
|
|
December
31, 2006
|
|
|
1.43
|
|
|
0.59
|
|
December
23, 2005 - December 31, 2005 (1)
|
|
|
1.46
|
|
|
1.08
|
|
Notes:
(1)
|
ViRexx’s
Shares commenced trading on AMEX on December 23,
2005.
|
The high
and low market prices for each full financial quarter over the two most recent
full financial years and the subsequent period are as set forth
below:
TSX
(in CDN$):
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
|
March
31, 2008 (1)
|
|
|
0.12
|
|
|
0.06
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.84
|
|
|
0.08
|
|
September
30, 2007
|
|
|
0.85
|
|
|
0.57
|
|
June
30, 2007
|
|
|
1.21
|
|
|
0.81
|
|
March
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.85
|
|
|
0.58
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31, 2006
|
|
|
0.90
|
|
|
0.68
|
|
September
30, 2006
|
|
|
1.00
|
|
|
0.66
|
|
June
30, 2006
|
|
|
1.38
|
|
|
0.98
|
|
March
31, 2006
|
|
|
1.62
|
|
|
1.25
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
15, 2005
|
|
|
1.61
|
|
|
0.89
|
|
September
30, 2005
|
|
|
1.15
|
|
|
0.94
|
|
June
30, 2005
|
|
|
1.59
|
|
|
0.96
|
|
March
31, 2005
|
|
|
2.13
|
|
|
1.09
|
|
(1)
|
From
January 1, 2008 to March
28, 2008.
|
AMEX
(in U.S.$):
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
|
March
28, 2008
|
|
|
0.15
|
|
|
0.05
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.85
|
|
|
0.08
|
|
September
30, 2007
|
|
|
0.79
|
|
|
0.55
|
|
June
30, 2007
|
|
|
1.05
|
|
|
0.69
|
|
March
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.75
|
|
|
0.50
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31, 2006
|
|
|
0.78
|
|
|
0.59
|
|
September
30, 2006
|
|
|
0.91
|
|
|
0.59
|
|
June
30, 2006
|
|
|
1.18
|
|
|
0.87
|
|
March
31, 2006
|
|
|
1.43
|
|
|
1.09
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
23, 2005 - December 31, 2005
|
|
|
1.46
|
|
|
1.08
|
|
For the
most recent six months, the high and low market prices of our Common Shares are
as set forth below:
TSX
(in CDN$):
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
|
March
28, 2008
|
|
|
0.12
|
|
|
0.06
|
|
February
29, 2008
|
|
|
0.12
|
|
|
0.07
|
|
January
31, 2008
|
|
|
0.09
|
|
|
0.06
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.56
|
|
|
0.08
|
|
November
30, 2007
|
|
|
0.69
|
|
|
0.53
|
|
October
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.84
|
|
|
0.54
|
|
AMEX
(in U.S.$):
|
|
High
|
|
Low
|
|
March
28, 2007
|
|
|
0.15
|
|
|
0.07
|
|
February
29, 2008
|
|
|
0.12
|
|
|
0.10
|
|
January
31, 2008
|
|
|
0.09
|
|
|
0.07
|
|
December
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.57
|
|
|
0.08
|
|
November
30, 2007
|
|
|
0.73
|
|
|
0.54
|
|
October
31, 2007
|
|
|
0.85
|
|
|
0.55
|
|
Our
Common Shares were delisted from the TSXV on December 15, 2004 and
contemporaneously listed on the TSX.
Not
Applicable.
Our
Common Shares are listed for quotation on the TSX under “VIR” and “REX” on the
AMEX.
Not
Applicable.
Not
Applicable.
Not
Applicable.
Item
10.
|
Additional Information
|
A.
|
Description
of Share Capital
|
B.
|
Memorandum
and articles of association
|
Our
Certificate of Incorporation, together with all amendments, which we refer to as
our articles of incorporation, is on file with the Alberta Registrar of
Corporations under Alberta Corporate Access Number 2010829345. Our articles of
incorporation do not include a stated purpose and contain no restrictions on the
nature of business to be carried on. Under the ABCA, in the absence of any such
restrictions, a corporation has the capacity, rights, powers and privileges of a
natural person, and has the capacity to carry on business, conduct its affairs
and exercise its power in any jurisdiction outside Alberta to the extent that
the laws of that jurisdiction permit. For additional information regarding our
incorporation, see Item 4 -
Information on the Corporation - History and Development of the
Corporation.
A
director of ViRexx need not be a shareholder. In accordance with the ABCA, at
least one quarter of our directors must be residents of Canada. The ABCA
requires that a person must be at least 18 years of age, be of sound mind and
not be bankrupt or a dependent adult or formal patient under the Dependent Adults Act or Mental Health Act, or the
subject of an order under The
Mentally Incapacitated Persons Act in order to serve as a director.
Neither our articles of incorporation or by-laws, nor the ABCA, impose any
mandatory retirement requirements for directors.
A
majority of the number of directors holding office at the time of the meeting
will constitute a quorum, provided that at least one quarter of the directors
present are resident Canadians. Business cannot be transacted at a directors’
meeting without quorum.
A
director who is a party to, or who is a director or officer of or has a material
interest in any person who is a party to, a material contract or transaction or
proposed material contract or transaction with us shall disclose to us the
nature and extent of his interest at the time and in the manner provided by the
ABCA. The ABCA prohibits such a director from voting on any resolution to
approve the contract or transaction unless the contract or
transaction:
|
§ is
an arrangement by way of security for money lent to or obligations
undertaken by the director for the benefit of ViRexx or an
affiliate;
|
|
§ relates
primarily to his or her remuneration as a director, officer, employee or
agent of ViRexx or an affiliate;
|
|
§ is
for indemnity or insurance; or
|
ViRexx’s
Board of Directors may, on behalf of ViRexx and without authorization of our
shareholders:
|
§ borrow
money upon the credit of ViRexx;
|
|
§ Issue,
reissue, sell or pledge debt obligations of
ViRexx;
|
|
§ subject
to certain disclosure requirements of the ABCA give a guarantee on behalf
of ViRexx to secure performance of an obligation of any
person;
|
|
§ mortgage,
hypothecate, pledge or otherwise create a security interest in all or any
property of ViRexx owned or subsequently acquired to secure any obligation
of the ViRexx; and
|
|
§ the
directors by resolution may delegate to a director, a committee of
directors or an officer any of these
powers.
|
Our
articles of incorporation permit the Board of Directors of ViRexx to appoint one
or more additional directors of ViRexx to serve until the next annual meeting of
shareholders, provided that the number of additional directors does not at any
time, exceed one-third of the number of directors who held office at the
expiration of the last annual meeting of shareholders of ViRexx.
Rights
and preferences of Capital Stock of ViRexx
Not
applicable.
Changes
to the Rights of Shareholders
We are
required to amend our articles of incorporation to effect any change to the
rights of our shareholders. Such an amendment would require the approval of
holders of two-thirds of the shares cast at a duly called special meeting. If we
wish to amend the rights of holders of a specific class of shares, such approval
would also be required from the holders of that class. A shareholder is entitled
to dissent in respect of such a resolution and, if the resolution is adopted and
ViRexx implements such changes, demand payment of the fair value of its
shares.
Meetings
of Shareholders
Our
by-laws state that the annual meeting of shareholders shall be held on such date
and at such time in each year as the Board, or the chairman of the Board, or the
president in the absence of the chairman of the Board, may from time to time
determine. In addition, the Board has the authority to call a special meeting of
shareholders at any time. An annual meeting of shareholders is held each year,
not later than fifteen months after the last preceding annual meeting, for the
purpose of considering the financial statements and reports, electing directors,
appointing auditors and for the transaction of other business as may be brought
before the meeting. In accordance with the ABCA, notice of time and place of
each meeting of shareholders must be given not less than 21 days, nor more than
50 days, before the date of each meeting to each director, to the auditor and to
each shareholder who at the close of the business on the record date for notice
is entered in the securities register as the holder of one or more shares
carrying the right to vote at the meeting. Notice of meeting of shareholders
called for any other purpose other than consideration of the minutes of an
earlier meeting, financial statements and auditor’s report, election of
directors and reappointment of the incumbent auditor, must state the nature of
the business in sufficient detail to permit the shareholder to form a reasoned
judgment and must state the text of any special resolution to be submitted to
the meeting.
The only
persons entitled to be present at a meeting of shareholders are those entitled
to vote, the directors of ViRexx and the auditor of ViRexx. Any other person may
be admitted only on the invitation of the chairman of the meeting or with the
consent of the meeting. If a corporation is winding-up, the ABCA permits a
liquidator appointed by the shareholders to call and attend meetings of the
shareholders during the continuance of a voluntary winding-up,. In circumstances
where court orders a meeting of shareholders, the court may direct how the
meeting may be held and which parties are entitled, or required, to attend the
meeting.
Our
articles of incorporation states that meetings of our shareholders may be held
in the cities of Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax, Nova Scotia and anywhere
in the Province of Alberta.
Limitations
on Right to Own Securities
There is
no limitation imposed by Canadian law or by our articles or other charter
documents on the right of a non-resident to hold or vote common shares or
preference shares with voting rights (the “Voting Shares”), other than as
provided in the Investment
Canada Act (“ICA”). The ICA requires a non-Canadian commencing a new
business activity in Canada or making an investment that would result in the
acquisition of control of a Canadian business (i.e. the value of the assets of
which exceed a certain monetary threshold) to identify and notify or file an
application for review with the Investment Review Division of Industry Canada
(“IRD”).
The
notification procedure involves a brief statement of information about the
investment on a prescribed form which is required to be filed with the IRD by
the investor at any time up to 30 days following implementation of the
investment. It is intended that investments requiring only notification will
proceed without government intervention unless the investment is in a specific
type of business activity related to Canada’s cultural heritage and national
identity.
If an
investment is reviewable under the ICA, an application for review in the form
prescribed is normally required to be filed with the IRD prior to the investment
taking place and the investment may not be implemented until the review has been
completed and the Minister of Industry (“Minister”) (the Minister responsible
for Investment Canada) is satisfied that the investment is likely to be of net
benefit to Canada. The Minister has up to 75 days to make this determination. If
the Minister is not satisfied that the investment is likely to be of net benefit
to Canada, the non-Canadian must not implement, may be required to divest
himself of control of the business that is the subject of the
investment.
In 1999,
some of the powers, duties and functions of the Minister were transferred to the
Minister of Canadian Heritage under Parts II to VI of the ICA as they relate to
the prescribed business activities enumerated under paragraph 15(a) of the ICA,
namely those that relate to Canada’s “cultural heritage or national identity”
(“Cultural Activities”). Cultural Activities include, among other things, the
distribution or sale of books, magazines, film and video recordings and music
recordings. As a result, an application for review must be submitted to the
Cultural Sector Investment Review Division of the Department of Canadian
Heritage (“CSRD”) in respect of the acquisition of control of a Canadian
business engaged in a Cultural Activity that exceeds the prescribed lower
monetary threshold applicable to the acquisition of such Canadian
businesses.
Similar
to the Minister of Industry’s review, the Minister of Canadian Heritage’s review
is based on the statutory threshold of net benefit to Canada. CSRD is guided by
certain policy statements regarding investments by non-Canadians in Canadian
businesses engaged in certain Cultural Activities. CSRD’s policy statements
address certain Cultural Activities at the production/publication, distribution
and/or exhibition levels.
The
following investments by non-Canadians are subject to notification under the
ICA:
1.
|
An
investment to establish a new Canadian
business;
|
2.
|
An
investment to acquire control of a Canadian
business,
|
This is
provided that the investment is not reviewable pursuant to the act.
The
following investments by a non-Canadian are subject to review under the ICA:
|
1.
|
An
investment is reviewable if there is an acquisition of a Canadian business
and the asset value of the Canadian business being acquired equals or
exceeds the following thresholds:
|
(a)
|
For
non-World Trade Organization (“WTO”) investors, the threshold is $5
million for a direct acquisition and $50 million for an indirect
acquisition; however, the $5 million threshold will apply for an indirect
acquisition if the asset value of the Canadian business being acquired
exceeds 50% of the asset value of the global
transaction;
|
|
(b)
|
Except
as specified in paragraph (c) below, a threshold is calculated annually
for reviewable direct acquisitions by or from WTO investors. The threshold
for 2007 was $281 million (for 2008, $295 million). Pursuant to Canada’s
international commitments, indirect acquisitions by or from WTO investors
are not reviewable;
|
|
(c)
|
The
limits set out in paragraph (a) apply to all investors for acquisitions of
a Canadian business that:
|
(i)
|
engages
in the production of uranium and owns an interest in a producing uranium
property in Canada;
|
(ii)
|
provides
any financial service;
|
|
(iii)
|
provides
any transportation services; or
|
|
(iv)
|
is
a cultural business.
|
2.
|
Notwithstanding
the above, any investment that is usually only notifiable, including the
establishment of a new Canadian business, and falls within a specific
business activity, including the publication and distribution of books,
magazines, newspapers, film or video recordings, audio or video music
recordings, or music in print or machine-readable form may be reviewed if
an Order-in-Council directing a review is made and a notice is sent to the
Investor within 21 days following the receipt of a certified complete
notification.
|
Generally
speaking, an acquisition is direct if it involves the acquisition of control of
the Canadian business or of its direct or indirect Canadian parent and an
acquisition is indirect if it involves the acquisition of control of a
non-Canadian direct or indirect parent of an entity carrying on the Canadian
business. No change of voting control will be deemed to have occurred if less
than one-third of the voting control of a Canadian corporation is acquired by an
investor.
As
defined in the ICA, a WTO investor, includes an individual who is a national of
a member country of the WTO or who has the right of permanent residence in
relation to that WTO member; a government or government agency of a WTO member;
a WTO investor-controlled entity; certain corporations, limited partnerships or
trusts that are neither WTO-investor controlled or Canadian controlled of which
two-thirds of its board of directors, general partners or trustees, as
applicable are any combination of Canadians and WTO investors.
The ICA
exempts certain transactions from the notification and review provisions of ICA,
including, among others, (a) an acquisition of voting interests if the
acquisition was made in the ordinary course of that person’s business as a
trader or dealer in securities; (b) an acquisition of control of the company in
connection with the realization of a security interest granted for a loan or
other financial assistance and not for any purpose related to the provisions of
the ICA; (c) the acquisition of voting interests by any person in the ordinary
course of a business carried on by that person that consists of providing
venture capital in Canada on terms and conditions not inconsistent with such
terms and conditions as may be fixed by the Minister; and (d) acquisition of
control by reason of an amalgamation, merger, consolidation or corporate
reorganization, following which the ultimate direct or indirect control in fact
of the business through the ownership of voting interests, remains
unchanged.
Change
of Control
Our
articles of incorporation and by-laws do not contain any specific provision that
has the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of
ViRexx.
Disclosure
of Ownership
Our
by-laws do not contain provisions regarding public disclosure of share
ownership. Applicable Canadian securities legislation requires certain public
disclosure of the shareholdings of those persons who are insiders of ViRexx.
Insiders include directors and senior officers as well as those persons who own
common shares that exceed 10 percent of our company’s total issued and
outstanding common shares.
With
respect to the foregoing in this Item 10B, the applicable corporate law in the
U.S. differs significantly in some respects from that in Canada. For example,
under applicable corporate law in the U.S., a company may not issue an unlimited
number of shares. Additionally, a corporation may not be formed for certain
purposes, such as insurance or commercial banking, unless certain approvals are
received.
Dividends
Subject
to any special rights or restrictions attached to a share, we may pay dividends
on our shares as the directors decide. Dividends may be only paid out of our
profits.
Subject
to any special rights or restrictions attached to a share, the directors may
determine that a dividend will be payable on a share and fix the amount, the
time for payment and the method for payment. Dividends may be paid on shares of
one class but not another and at different rates for different classes. If the
board of directors does not exercise their power to issue dividends, the
shareholders in a general meeting may. Under the ABCA, a shareholder or
shareholders holding the requisite number of shares required to convene a
general meeting would be able to convene a meeting or require the directors to
convene a meeting to consider whether we should pay a dividend.
The
proposed resolution to pay the dividend would need to be included in the notice
of meeting and would be voted on by shareholders as an ordinary resolution. Any
dividend payable would only be payable out of our profits.
Liquidation
Rights
On a
winding up, subject to any special rights or restrictions attached to shares,
and subject to rights of creditors, all available assets must be repaid to the
shareholders and any surplus must be distributed among the shareholders in
proportion to the number of fully paid shares held by them.
If we
experience financial problems, the directors may appoint an administrator to
take over our operations to see if we can come to an arrangement with our
creditors. If we cannot agree with our creditors, ViRexx may be wound up. A
receiver, or receiver and manager, may be appointed by order of a court or under
an agreement with a secured creditor to take over some or all of the assets of a
company. For example, a receiver may be appointed, because an amount owed to a
secured creditor is overdue.
We may be
wound up by order of a court, or voluntarily if our shareholders pass a special
resolution to do so. A liquidator may be appointed when a court orders a company
to be wound up or the shareholders of a company pass a resolution to wind up the
company. A liquidator may be appointed to administer the winding up of a
company.
C.
Material contracts
All
Agreements described below relating to the Plan of Arrangement between Nova
Bancorp and AltaRex and the Plan of Arrangement between ViRexx and AltaRex have
been carried out and the purpose of these agreements achieved.
On
December 23, 2003 AltaRex Medical and Nova Bancorp entered into the above noted
Nova Bancorp Arrangement Agreement, which was intended to carry out a
recapitalization of AltaRex and a reorganization of the assets and business of
AltaRex. The Nova Bancorp Arrangement Agreement was made in contemplation of
completing a statutory plan of arrangement (the “Nova Bancorp Arrangement”)
involving AltaRex, Medical, and Nova Bancorp. Pursuant to the arrangement,
AltaRex was transformed into an oil and gas exploration, development and
marketing company named Twin Butte Energy Ltd. (“Twin Butte”) with the
occurrence, among other things, of the following:
§ the
transfer of AltaRex’s biotechnology assets, together with all associated
contractual obligations and liabilities, to Medical, with Medical
continuing to pursue the same commercialization strategy that AltaRex
previously had for OvaRex®
and all other products currently in
development;
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§ Nova
Bancorp subscribed for CDN $4,770,985 principal amount of 10% convertible
demand notes of Twin Butte (formerly AltaRex), convertible into non-voting
shares of Twin Butte at a ratio of 2,583 non-voting shares per CDN $1,000
of principal;
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§ Twin
Butte (formerly AltaRex) subscribed for 12,746,935 common shares in
Medical for CDN $5.045 million in cash less a holdback of CDN
$50,000;
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§ the
outstanding stock options and warrants of Twin Butte (formerly AltaRex)
were cancelled and terminated and cease to represent any right or claim
whatsoever, and new Medical options and warrants were issued in their
place on identical terms;
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§ immediately
following the completion of the Nova Bancorp Arrangement, a private
placement by Nova Bancorp of CDN $1,379,015 in consideration for 3,500,000
Twin Butte new common shares was completed representing 40% of the voting
shares of Twin Butte; and
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§ each
10 common shares of Twin Butte (formerly AltaRex ) outstanding at the
close of business on February 2, 2004 were deemed to be exchanged for one
“new” voting common share of Twin Butte and 10 voting common shares of
Medical with the following two
exceptions:
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1.
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AltaRex
shareholders who held 151 to 1,000 common shares received an aggregate
payment equal to CDN $0.05 per common share held and also received one
Medical share for each common share held;
and
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2.
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AltaRex
shareholders, who held 150 common shares or less, received an aggregate
cash payment equal to CDN $0.55 per
share.
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The
transactions contemplated by the Nova Bancorp Arrangement Agreement were
completed on February 3, 2004.
2.
Asset Purchase Agreement Between AltaRex Corp. (“AltaRex”) and AltaRex Medical
Corp. (“Medical”) Dated December 31, 2003
In
connection with and as collateral to the Nova Bancorp Arrangement, AltaRex (now
Twin Butte Energy Ltd. (“Twin Butte”) and Medical entered into an asset purchase
agreement dated as of December 31, 2003 (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”). The
Asset Purchase Agreement provides for the transfer from AltaRex to Medical of
AltaRex’s biotechnology assets, together with all associated contractual
obligations and liabilities.
3.
Indemnification Agreement Between AltaRex Corp. (“AltaRex”) and AltaRex Medical
Corp. (“Medical”) dated February 3, 2004 (“Indemnification
Agreement”)
In
connection with and as collateral to the Nova Bancorp Arrangement, AltaRex (now
Twin Butte Energy Ltd. (“Twin Butte”) and Medical entered into the
Indemnification Agreement and an asset purchase agreement dated as of December
31, 2003 (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”). The Indemnification Agreement
provides that the assets acquired by Medical pursuant to the Asset Purchase
Agreement where acquired on an “as is where is” basis and subject to any and all
encumbrances, commitments and liabilities pertaining thereto, howsoever and
whensoever arising.
The
Indemnification Agreement provides that Medical will assume all liability for
and indemnify, defend and save harmless Twin Butte arising out of any matter or
thing relating to the assets previously owned by Twin Butte and transferred to
Medical save and except losses related to certain income tax liabilities.
Further, pursuant to the Indemnification Agreement Medical is appointed by Twin
Butte as Twin Butte’s sole and exclusive attorney and agent for any and all
purposes associated with any actions, causes of action, suits, debts, dues, sums
of money, liabilities, general damages, special damages, costs, claims,
proceedings and demands of every nature and kind to which Twin Butte may be
entitled to be indemnified under the terms of the Indemnification
Agreement.
4.
Arrangement Agreement Between ViRexx Medical Corp. (“ViRexx”) And AltaRex
Medical Corp. (“AltaRex”) dated October 15, 2004 (“AltaRex Arrangement
Agreement”)
On
October 15, 2004 ViRexx and AltaRex entered into the above noted AltaRex
Arrangement Agreement, which was intended to effect a consolidation of ViRexx
and AltaRex. The AltaRex Arrangement Agreement was made in contemplation of
completing a statutory plan of arrangement (the “AltaRex Arrangement”) involving
AltaRex and ViRexx. Pursuant to the arrangement, AltaRex became a wholly owned
subsidiary of ViRexx with the occurrence, among other things, of the
following:
§
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each
of the issued and outstanding common shares of AltaRex were deemed to be,
transferred to ViRexx (free of any claims) and the holder of AltaRex
common shares received from ViRexx in exchange for each AltaRex common
share one-half of one ViRexx common
share;
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§
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40%
of the ViRexx common shares received by each former holder of AltaRex
common shares issued pursuant to the AltaRex Arrangement were
non-transferable and subject to a hold period for a period of six months
following the effective date of the AltaRex
Arrangement;
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§
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the
outstanding stock options and warrants of AltaRex were deemed to be
transferred to ViRexx (free of any claims) and in consideration for such
transfer, the holder of such AltaRex stock options and warrants received
stock options and warrants to purchase the number of ViRexx common shares
determined by multiplying the number of AltaRex common shares subject to
the particular AltaRex stock options and warrants by one-half at an
exercise price per ViRexx common share equal to the exercise price per
share of the particular AltaRex stock option or warrant multiplied by two.
The other terms of all stock options and warrants issued by ViRexx in
exchange for AltaRex stock options and warrants were identical in all
material respects to the terms of the AltaRex stock options and warrants
in respect of which they were
issued.
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The
transactions contemplated by the AltaRex Arrangement Agreement were completed on
December 10, 2004.
5. Licensing and Supply Agreement and a
Securities Purchase Agreement between ViRexx International Corp. and Defiante
Farmaceutica, Lda., and a Manufacturing and Supply Agreement between ViRexx
International Corp. and Tecnogen S.C.p.A and a Securities
Purchase Agreement between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Defiante Farmaceutica Lda.,
Subsidiaries of Sigma Tau of Rome, Italy.
On
November 3, 2006, ViRexx through its wholly owned Irish subsidiary, ViRexx
International Corp., entered into a Licensing and Supply Agreement and a
Securities Purchase Agreement with Defiante Farmaceutica, Lda., a subsidiary of
Sigma Tau of Rome, Italy. ViRexx International Corp signed Manufacturing and
Supply Agreement with Tecnogen S.C.p.A, also a subsidiaries of Sigma Tau of
Rome, Italy, for the manufacturing, licensing and distribution of OvaRex® MAb in
the Company’s remaining unlicensed European territories, which include the U.K.,
Ireland, France, Sweden, Finland and other countries. Pursuant to the
agreements, Defiante’s and ViRexx’s existing European licensing partners were to
market and distribute the product throughout most of Europe and the Middle East.
The Manufacturing and Supply Agreement was ratified by Tecnogen’s Board of
Directors when they met in January 2007. Tecnogen was to manufacture and supply
OvaRex® MAb for
all of ViRexx’s European licensing partners.
The
agreement results in a net effective royalty of approximately 25% to ViRexx
International Corp. on net sales of OvaRex® MAb in
the European and Middle Eastern countries. Under the terms of the agreements,
Defiante will purchase up to approximately CDN$6.5 million in newly issued
shares of ViRexx. As the initial milestone Defiante purchased 1,818,182 units of
ViRexx at a price of CDN$1.10 per unit, for proceeds of CDN$2.0 million. Each
unit consists of one common share and one non-transferable common share purchase
warrant. Each warrant entitles Defiante to purchase one common share of ViRexx
at a price of CDN$1.25 for a period of 24 months. Other milestones include share
purchases (at an average trading price of shares on the American Stock Exchange
over the previous 15 trading days prior to the date of milestone
achievement):
§ In
aggregate of U.S. $750,000 upon filing of an application for regulatory
approval of OvaRex®
MAb with the European Medicines
Agency.
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§ In
aggregate of U.S. $750,000 upon 60 days following granting of regulatory
approval of OvaRex®
MAb in France and the UK.
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§ In
aggregate of U.S. $2,500,000 upon first commercial sale of OvaRex®
MAb in France or the U.K., whichever is
earlier.
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6.
Distribution Agreement dated June 8, 2004 entered into by and between AltaRex
Medical Corp and Dompé International S.A., a company incorporated under the laws
of Switzerland.
On June
8, 2004, ViRexx through its wholly owned subsidiary, AltaRex Medical Corp.,
entered into a Distribution Agreement with Dompé International
S.A.(“Dompé”) to appoint Dompé as ViRexx’s exclusive distributor during the Term
(as defined below) of this agreement for the purpose of selling and distributing
OvaRex® MAb in
the following European territories: Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Poland, Czech
Republic, Italy, Republic of San Marino and Vatican City, Yugoslavia, Lithuania,
Estonia and Latvia.
Under the
terms of the agreements, Dompé agreed to purchase
certain specified minimum quantities of OvaRex® MAb
subject to AltaRex filing its market Authorization Application with the European
Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, or upon AltaRex obtaining
approval of such application, whichever occurs first; Dompé further agreed to
purchase during the intervals covered by the agreement certain quantities of
OvaRex® MAb
depending on the country of distribution. The agreement shall be effective from
the date of the agreement and thereafter the agreement shall remain in effect
for periods commencing from the beginning of the first Marketing Year for each
country and ending on the eleventh anniversary form the beginning of the first
Marketing Year (as defined in the Agreement) for each country, unless terminated
under the terms of the agreement (the “Term”).
D. Exchange
controls
We are
aware of no governmental laws, decrees or regulations, including foreign
exchange controls in Canada that restrict the export or import of capital or
that affect the remittance of dividends, interest or other payments to
non-resident holders of our securities. Any such remittances to U.S. residents,
however, are subject to a withholding tax. Withholding tax is paid pursuant to
the Income Tax Act of
Canada but the rate is resolved pursuant to The Canada – U.S. Income Tax
Convention (1980), as amended.
We know
of no limitations under the laws of Canada, the Province of Alberta, or in the
charter or any other constituent documents of ViRexx imposed on the right of
foreigners to hold or vote the shares of ViRexx.
Except as
provided in the ICA, we know of no limitations under the laws of Canada, the
Province of Alberta, or in the charter or any other constituent documents of
ViRexx imposed on the right of foreigners to hold or vote the shares of ViRexx.
See Item 10 -
Additional Information - Limitations on Rights to Own
Securities.
E. Taxation
Canadian
Tax Considerations
The
following is a general summary of the principal Canadian federal income tax
considerations generally applicable to an investor who acquires Common Shares
and who, for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada), as
amended (the “Tax Act”) and any applicable income tax treaty or convention, at
all relevant times (i) is not a resident or deemed to be a resident in
Canada; (ii) deals at arm’s length and is not affiliated with ViRexx;
(iii) is not a foreign affiliate of a taxpayer resident in Canada;
(iv) holds Common Shares as capital property; and (v) does not use or
hold and is not deemed to use or hold such Common Shares in the course of
carrying on a business in Canada (such an investor referred to herein as a
“non-Canadian investor”). In general, a non-Canadian investor will be considered
to hold Common Shares as capital property unless the investor is a trader or
dealer in securities or otherwise holds them in the course of carrying on a
business of buying or selling securities or has acquired them in a transaction
considered to be an adventure in the nature of trade. This summary does not
apply to non-Canadian investors (or other investors) who are insurers or who are
“financial institutions” within the meaning of the “mark-to-market” rules
contained in the Tax Act.
This
summary is based on the current provisions of the Tax Act and the regulations
thereunder (the “Regulations”), all specific proposals to amend the Tax Act and
the Regulations publicly announced by the Minister of Finance (Canada) prior to
the date hereof and on ViRexx’s understanding of the current published
administrative practices of the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”). This summary
does not take into account or anticipate any change in law, whether by
legislative, governmental or judicial action or changes in the administrative
practices or assessing policies of the CRA.
This
summary is of a general nature only and is not intended to be, and should not be
construed to be, legal or tax advice to any investor and no representation with
respect to the tax consequences to any particular investor is made. This summary
does not address any aspect of any provincial, state or local tax laws or the
laws of any jurisdiction other than Canada. Accordingly, investors are
encouraged to consult with their own tax advisors for advice with respect to the
income tax consequences to them having regard to their own particular
circumstances.
A
non-Canadian investor will be subject to a 25% withholding tax under the Tax Act
on the gross amount paid or credited or deemed to be paid or credited as, on
account or in lieu of payment of, or in satisfaction of dividends to the
investor on a Common Share. The rate of withholding tax may be reduced under the
provisions of a relevant international tax treaty to which Canada is a party.
For example, pursuant to the Canada-United States Income Tax
Convention (1980), as amended (the “Treaty”), the rate of withholding tax
on dividends paid or credited or deemed to be paid or credited on a Common Share
beneficially owned by a resident of the U.S. for the purposes of the Treaty will
generally be reduced to 15%. However, where such beneficial owner is a company
resident in the U.S. who owns at least 10% of the voting stock of ViRexx, the
rate of such withholding is reduced to 5% and may be similarly reduced in
certain other circumstances if proposed amendments to the Treaty are
ratified.
Non-Canadian
investors should not be subject to tax under the Tax Act in respect of a
disposition of their Common Shares unless the non-Canadian investor’s Common
Shares constitute “taxable Canadian property” under the Tax Act. Generally,
Common Shares will not constitute taxable Canadian property to a non-Canadian
investor unless (i) that person, either alone or together with persons with whom
the non-Canadian investor does not deal at arm’s length for purposes of the Tax
Act, owns, or, at any time in the 60 month period prior to the disposition has
owned, 25% or more of any class of the issued and outstanding shares of ViRexx
or an interest in or option in respect of such shares, or (ii) the non-Canadian
investor acquired the Common Shares in certain tax-deferred exchanges for
property which was taxable Canadian property. A disposition or deemed
disposition of a Common Share by a non-Canadian investor whose Common Share
constitutes taxable Canadian property will give rise to a capital gain (or
capital loss). Any capital gain realized as a result of such disposition or
deemed disposition will be subject to Canadian tax. However, under the Treaty,
such gains will generally be exempt from Canadian tax where the non-Canadian
investor disposing of such Common Shares is a resident of the U.S. for the
purposes of the Treaty.
U.S.
Tax Considerations
Material
United States Federal Income Tax Consequences
The
following is a general discussion of material U.S. federal income tax
consequences, under current law, generally applicable to a U.S. Holder (as
defined below) of our common shares. This discussion does not address all
potentially relevant federal income tax matters and it does not address
consequences peculiar to persons subject to special provisions of federal income
tax law, such as those described below as excluded from the definition of a U.S.
Holder. In addition, this discussion does not cover any state, local or foreign
tax consequences. See “Certain
Canadian Tax Considerations” above.
The
following discussion is based upon the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended to the date hereof (the “Code”), existing and proposed
Treasury Regulations, published Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) rulings,
published administrative positions of the IRS and court decisions that are
currently applicable, any or all of which could be materially and adversely
changed, possibly on a retroactive basis, at any time. This discussion does not
consider the potential effects, both adverse and beneficial, of any recently
proposed legislation which, if enacted, could be applied, possibly on a
retroactive basis, at any time.
This
discussion is of a general nature only and is not exhaustive of all U.S. federal
income tax implications, and it is not intended to be, nor should it be
construed to be, legal or tax advice to any particular holder or prospective
holder of ViRexx’s common shares and no opinion or representation with respect
to the United States federal income tax consequences to any such holder or
prospective holders is made. Accordingly, holders and prospective holders of
ViRexx’s common shares are encouraged to consult their own tax advisors about
the federal, state, local, and foreign tax consequences of purchasing, owning
and disposing of ViRexx’s common shares.
U.S.
Holders
As used
herein, a “U.S. Holder” means a holder of ViRexx’s common shares who is a U.S.
citizen or individual income tax resident of the U.S. under U.S. domestic law
and the Convention a corporation created or organized in or under the laws of
the U.S. or of any political subdivision thereof an estate the income of which
is includable in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of
its source or a trust if a U.S. court is able to exercise primary supervision
over the trust’s administration and one or more U.S. persons have authority to
control all substantial decisions of such trust. This summary does not address
the tax consequences to, and a U.S. Holder does not include, persons subject to
special provisions of federal income tax law, including but not limited to
tax-exempt organizations, qualified retirement plans, individual retirement
accounts and other tax-deferred accounts, financial institutions, insurance
companies, real estate investment trusts, regulated investment companies,
broker-dealers, non-resident alien individuals, persons or entities that have a
“functional currency” other than the U.S. dollar, shareholders who hold common
stock as part of a “straddle”, hedging or a conversion transaction and
shareholders who acquired their stock through the exercise of employee stock
options or otherwise as compensation for service. This discussion is limited to
U.S. Holders who hold the common shares as capital assets and who hold the
common shares directly (e.g., not through an intermediate entity such as a
corporation, partnership, LLC or trust). This discussion does not address the
consequences to a person or entity holding an interest in a U.S. Holder or the
consequence to a person of the ownership, exercise or disposition of any
warrants, options or other rights to acquire common shares.
Distributions
on Common Shares
U.S.
Holders receiving dividend distributions with respect to ViRexx’s common shares
are required to include in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes the
gross amount of such distributions (including any Canadian tax withheld) equal
to the U.S. dollar value of each dividend on the date of receipt (based on the
exchange rate on such date) to the extent that ViRexx has current or accumulated
earnings and profits, without reduction for any Canadian income tax withheld
from such distributions. It should be noted that as used in this discussion of
U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences, the term “earnings and profits” refers to
ViRexx’s earnings and profits as determined under the Code and the term
“dividend” refers to corporate distributions taxable as dividends for U.S.
federal income tax purposes. Such Canadian tax withheld may be credited, subject
to certain limitations, against the U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax
liability or, alternatively, may be deducted in computing the U.S. Holder’s U.S.
federal taxable income by those who itemize deductions. (See more detailed
discussion at “Foreign Tax
Credit” below.) To the extent that distributions exceed current or
accumulated earnings and profits of ViRexx, they will be treated first as a
return of capital up to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted basis in the common shares
and thereafter as gain from the sale or exchange of the common shares.
Preferential tax rates for long-term capital gains are applicable to a U.S.
Holder that is an individual, estate or trust. There are currently no
preferential tax rates for long-term capital gains for a U.S. Holder that is a
corporation. Dividends paid on our common shares generally will not be eligible
for the dividends received deduction provided to corporations receiving
dividends from certain U.S. corporations.
In the
case of foreign currency received as a dividend that is not converted by the
recipient into U.S. dollars on the date of the receipt, a U.S. Holder will have
a tax basis in the foreign currency equal to its U.S. dollar value on the date
of receipt. Generally, any gain or loss recognized upon a subsequent sale or
other disposition of the foreign currency, including an exchange for U.S.
dollars, will be ordinary income or loss. Under Treasury Regulations, dividends
paid on our common shares, if any, generally will not be subject to backup
withholding tax (at a 28% rate) if the paying agent is furnished with a duly
completed and signed Form W-9 or certain other circumstances apply. Any
amounts withheld under the U.S. backup withholding tax rules will be allowed as
a refund or a credit against the U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax
liability, provided the required information is furnished to the IRS.
Foreign
Tax Credit
A U.S.
Holder who pays (or has withheld from distributions) Canadian income tax with
respect to the ownership of our common shares may be entitled, at the option of
the U.S. Holder, to either a deduction or a tax credit for such foreign tax paid
or withheld. Generally, it will be more advantageous to claim a credit because a
credit reduces U.S. federal income taxes on a dollar-for-dollar basis, while a
deduction merely reduces the taxpayer’s income subject to tax. This election is
made on a year-by-year basis and generally applies to all foreign taxes paid by
(or withheld from) the U.S. Holder during that year.
The
operation of the foreign tax credit for any particular U.S. Holder will be
dependent on his or its particular situation. There are significant and complex
limitations that apply to the credit, among which is the general limitation that
the credit cannot exceed the proportionate share of the U.S. Holder’s U.S.
income tax liability that the U.S. Holder’s foreign source income bears to his,
her or its worldwide taxable income. In the determination of the application of
this limitation, the various items of income and deduction must be classified
into foreign and domestic sources. Complex rules govern this classification
process. In addition, this limitation is calculated separately with respect to
specific classes of income such as “passive income,” “high withholding tax
interest,” “financial services income,” “shipping income,” and certain other
classifications of income. Dividends distributed by us will generally constitute
“passive income” or, in the case of certain U.S. Holders, “financial services
income” for these purposes.
Disposition
of Common Shares
A U.S.
Holder will recognize gain or loss upon the sale or other disposition of common
shares equal to the difference, if any, between (i) the amount of cash and
the fair market value of any property received, and (ii) the shareholder’s
tax basis in our common shares. Preferential tax rates apply to long-term
capital gains of U.S. Holders that are individuals, estates or trusts. At
present, there are no preferential tax rates applicable to U.S. Holders that are
corporations. This gain or loss generally will be capital gain or loss if the
common shares are a capital asset in the hands of the U.S. Holder, which will be
a long-term capital gain or loss if the common shares of ViRexx are held for
more than one year. Deductions for net capital losses may be carried over to be
used in later tax years until such net capital loss is thereby exhausted. For
U.S. Holders that are corporations (other than corporations subject to
Subchapter S of the Code), an unused net capital loss may be carried back three
years from the loss year and carried forward five years from the loss year to be
offset against capital gains until such net capital loss is thereby
exhausted.
Other
Considerations
In the
following circumstances, the above sections of this discussion may not describe
the U.S. federal income tax consequences resulting from the holding and
disposition of common shares.
As used
herein a “U.S. Person” means a citizen or income tax resident of the U.S. as
determined under U.S. domestic law.
Foreign Personal Holding
Company
If at any
time during a taxable year more than 50 percent of the total combined
voting power or the total value of ViRexx’s outstanding shares is owned,
directly or indirectly (including through attribution) by five or fewer U.S.
Persons who are individuals and 60 percent or more of ViRexx’s gross income
for such year was derived from certain passive sources (e.g., dividends,
interest, rents, royalties, etc.), ViRexx is a “foreign personal holding
company” (“FPHC”). (The 60 percent test is reduced to 50 percent after
the first tax year that the entity is a FPHC.) In that event, U.S. Holders would
be required to include in gross income for such year their allocable portions of
ViRexx’s undistributed income.
Foreign Investment
Corporation
If
50 percent or more of the combined voting power or total value of all
classes of the Corporation’s stock is held, directly or indirectly (including
through attribution) by U.S. Persons, the Corporation is found to be engaged
primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities,
commodities, or any interest therein, and certain other conditions are met, it
is possible that the Corporation may be treated as a “foreign investment
company” as defined in Section 1246 of the Code. This characterization
causes all or part of any gain realized by a U.S. Holder selling or exchanging
common shares to be treated as ordinary income rather than capital
gain.
Passive Foreign Investment
Company
U.S.
shareholders holding stock in ViRexx may, with respect to a particular tax year,
become subject to the passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) rules set
forth in the Code. ViRexx would be a PFIC for any taxable year in which: (1) it
derives at least 75% of its gross income from passive sources or (2) the average
percentage of assets held producing passive income is at least 50% (generally
determined using asset value). Passive income, for this purpose,
includes certain dividends, interest, rents, and royalties. A foreign
corporation engaged primarily in an active business could become a PFIC for a
particular year or years where, for example, it receives a new infusion of
investor capital which it temporarily invests in high-yield instruments such as
stocks and bonds.
A U.S.
person who owns, directly or indirectly through a corporation, partnership,
estate, or trust, stock in a PFIC may report its allocable share of PFIC income
under one of three alternative regimes.
The first
regime allows for deferral of U.S. federal income taxation but imposes an
interest charge on the U.S. shareholders when the tax becomes due. This regime
taxes an owner of stock in a PFIC upon receipt of “excess distributions” which
include (i) gains recognized on the sale or deemed disposition of PFIC
stock, and (ii) distributions made by the PFIC to the extent that the total
distributions received for the tax year exceeds 125% of the average actual
distributions received in the preceding three years. An excess distribution is
allocated ratably to each day in the shareholder’s holding period for the stock
with amounts allocated to the current year (and the pre-PFIC holding period, if
any) being included in gross income as ordinary income. Amounts allocated to the
PFIC period (other than the current year) are subject to tax at the highest U.S.
income tax rate plus an interest charge to offset the benefit of tax
deferral. Distributions from ViRexx to U.S. shareholders are further
subject to applicable income tax treaty rules contained in the U.S.-Canada
Income Tax Treaty which may reduce withholding rates.
Under the
second regime, a U.S. shareholder may elect to include annually in gross income
its pro rata share of the PFIC’s ordinary earnings and net capital gain,
regardless of whether such income or gain was actually distributed. The U.S.
shareholder must make a timely election under section 1295 of the Code to treat
the PFIC as a qualified electing fund (“QEF”) with respect to such shareholder’s
interest therein. A QEF election is of no consequence, however,
unless the PFIC provides the IRS with certain information. Under
certain circumstances, a U.S. shareholder who has made a valid QEF election may
defer the payment of U.S. federal income tax on such QEF income inclusions but
will incur an interest charge on the amount of deferred taxes
The third
regime is available only when the stock of the PFIC is marketable stock (i.e.
stock that is regularly traded on certain exchanges) Subject to certain
limitations, U.S. shareholders owning (actually or constructively) marketable
stock in a PFIC will be permitted to elect to mark that stock to market annually
and will be required to recognize gains or losses in the amount of the
difference between the fair market value of the stock and its adjusted basis.
Amounts included in or deducted from income under this alternative (and actual
gains and certain losses realized upon disposition, subject to applicable
limitations) will be treated as ordinary gains or losses.
Controlled Foreign
Corporation
If more
than 50 percent of the voting power of all classes of stock or the total
value of the stock of the Corporation is owned, directly or indirectly
(including through attribution) by U.S. Persons, each of whom own
10 percent or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of
stock of the Corporation (“United States Shareholder”), the Corporation is a
“controlled foreign corporation” under the Code. This classification has many
complex consequences, one of which is the inclusion of certain income of a CFC
in the U.S. Shareholders’ income on a current basis, regardless of
distributions. Such U.S. Shareholders are generally treated as having received a
current distribution out of the CFC’s Subpart F income (generally, passive
income and certain income generated by transactions between related parties) and
are also subject to current U.S. tax on their pro rata shares of the CFC’s
earnings invested in U.S. property. In certain circumstances, a foreign tax
credit may apply to reduce the U.S. tax on these amounts. In addition, under
Section 1248 of the Code, gain from the sale or exchange of stock by a
holder of common shares who is or was a U.S. Shareholder at any time during the
five year period ending with the sale or exchange may be treated as ordinary
dividend income to the extent of earnings and profits of the Corporation
attributable to the stock sold or exchanged. If a foreign corporation is both a
PFIC and a CFC, the foreign corporation generally will not be treated as a PFIC
with respect to U.S. shareholders of the CFC.
F.
Dividends and paying agents
Not
applicable.
Not
applicable.
H.
Documents on display
Documents
concerning us that are referred to in this document may be inspected at the
office of our solicitors at 1500 Manulife Place, 10180 - 101 Street, Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, T5J 4K1.
In
addition, we will file annual reports and other information with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. We will file annual reports on Form 20-F and
submit other information under cover of Form 6-K. As a foreign private
issuer, we are exempt from the proxy requirements of Section 14 of the
Exchange Act and our officers, directors and principal shareholders will be
exempt from the insider short-swing disclosure and profit recovery rules of
Section 16 of the Exchange Act. Annual reports and other information
we file with the Commission may be inspected at the public reference facilities
maintained by the Commission at Room 1024, 100 F. Street, N.E., Washington,
D.C. 20549, and at its regional offices located at 233 Broadway, New York, New
York 10279 and 500 West Madison Street, Suite 1400, Chicago, Illinois
60661, and copies of all or any part thereof may be obtained from such offices
upon payment of the prescribed fees. You may call the Commission at
1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference
rooms and you can request copies of the documents upon payment of a duplicating
fee by writing to the Commission. In addition, the Commission maintains a
web site that contains reports and other information regarding registrants
(including us) that file electronically with the Commission which can be
assessed at http://www.sec.gov.
I.
Subsidiary Information
Not
applicable.
ENFORCEABILITY
OF CIVIL LIABILITIES
We are a
public company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Alberta,
Canada. A majority of our directors and executive officers are residents of
countries other than the U.S.. Furthermore, all or a substantial portion of
their assets and our assets are located outside the U.S.. As a result, it
may not be possible for you to:
|
•
|
|
effect
service of process within the U.S. upon any of our directors and executive
officers or on us; or
|
|
•
|
|
enforce
in U.S. courts judgments obtained against any of our directors and
executive officers or us in the U.S. courts in any action, including
actions under the civil liability provisions of U.S. securities
laws;
|
|
•
|
|
enforce
in U.S. courts judgments obtained against any of our directors and senior
management or us in courts of jurisdictions outside the U.S. in any
action, including actions under the civil liability provisions of U.S.
securities laws; or
|
|
•
|
|
to
bring an original action in a Canadian court to enforce liabilities
against any of our directors and executive officers or us based upon U.S.
securities laws.
|
You may
also have difficulties enforcing in courts outside the U.S. judgments obtained
in the U.S. courts against any of our directors and executive officers or us,
including actions under the civil liability provisions of the U.S. securities
laws.
We are
exposed to risk of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuation. We have never
tried to hedge our exchange rate risks, do not plan to do so, and may not be
successful should we attempt to do so in the future.
We are
also exposed to interest rate fluctuation risks, which we do not systematically
manage. We have never tried to hedge our interest rate fluctuation risks, do not
plan to do so and may not be successful should we attempt to do so in
future.
Also, see
“Item 3D -Risk Factors.” and “Item 5 - Operating and Financial Review and
Prospects”
Item
12. Description of Securities Other than Equity Securities
Item
13. Defaults, Dividend Arrearages and Delinquencies
Item
14. Material Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of
Proceeds
(a)
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
It is the
conclusion of the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange
Act rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)), based on their evaluation of these controls
and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report, are
effective in ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the Company
in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded,
processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the
Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms, and that information
required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits
under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s
management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer,
or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely
decisions regarding required disclosure.
(b) Management’s annual report on
internal control over financial reporting
Management
of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal
control over financial reporting. As defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f),
internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the
supervision of, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer and effected by the board of directors, management and other personnel,
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and
procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable
detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the
assets of the Company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are
recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and
expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with
authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and (iii) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a
material effect on the financial statements. Because of its inherent
limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements.
Management,
including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer,
assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2007. In making this assessment, management used
the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on
this assessment, management believes that, as of December 31, 2007, the
Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective based on those
criteria.
(c)
Attestation report of the register public accounting firms
This
annual report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s
independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over
financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the
Company’s independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to temporary
rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit the Company to
provide only management’s report in this annual report. The Company
is a Foreign Private Issuer and Non-accelerated Filer, therefore an attestation
report of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm is not
currently required.
(d) Changes in Internal Controls over
Financial Reporting
There
were no changes in the Company's internal controls over financial reporting that
occurred during the period that is covered by this annual report that have
materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, these
controls.
Item
16. [Reserved]
Item
16A. Audit Committee Financial Expert
As an
Alberta corporation with operations principally outside of the U.S., ViRexx is
considered a “foreign private issuer” for the purposes of filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and with any stock exchange in the
U.S.. Under applicable SEC regulations, an issuer must disclose if it has an
“audit committee financial expert” on its audit committee if it is required to
have such an expert by the listing rules applicable to it. ViRexx is presently
listed on the AMEX and accordingly, ViRexx is presently subject to the audit
committee financial expert requirement.
The Board
of Directors has determined that ViRexx has at least one audit committee
financial expert serving on its audit committee. The audit committee financial
expert serving on ViRexx’s audit committee is Mr. Douglas Gilpin. Mr. Gilpin is
a Chartered Accountant and was an audit partner with KPMG LLP, Chartered
Accountants, from 1981 to 1999. ViRexx believes that Mr. Gilpin is “independent”
as that term is defined in the listing standards applicable to it as a listed
American Stock Exchange issuer.
Item
16B. Code of Ethics
ViRexx
has adopted a Code of Conduct that applies to its Chief Executive Officer and
all of its directors, officers and employees, or persons performing similar
functions. A copy of ViRexx’s Code of Conduct is posted on the Company’s website
at www.virexx.com. Any future changes to the Code of Conduct will be posted on
the ViRexx’s website within five business days of the change being
effective.
Item
16C. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The
following table represents aggregate fees billed to the Company for fiscal years
ended December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2006 by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and
Deloitte & Touche LLP, the Company’s principal accounting firms for the
2007.
Accountant
Fees and Services
|
|
2007
|
|
2006
|
|
Audit
Fees
|
|
$
|
187,312
|
|
$
|
142,481
|
|
Audit
Related Fees
|
|
$
|
Nil
|
|
$
|
Nil
|
|
Tax
Fees
|
|
$
|
25,200
|
|
$
|
44,575
|
|
All
Other Fees
|
|
$
|
Nil
|
|
|
17,954
|
|
|
|
$
|
212,512
|
|
$
|
205,010
|
|
Audit Fees. The audit fees
for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively, were paid for
professional services rendered for the audits of our consolidated financial
statements, quarterly reviews, consents, and assistance with review of documents
filed with the SEC.
Tax Fees. Tax fees for the
years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006, respectively, were paid for
services related to tax compliance, including the preparation of tax returns and
tax planning and tax advice.
Other Fees. The Company did
not incur any other fees for the year ended December 31, 2007. For
the year ended December 31, 2006, other fees represent allowable services
performed by the external auditor relating to the scoping of Canadian Securities
Administrators National Instrument 52-109.
The Audit
Committee of our Board of Directors chooses and engages our independent auditors
to audit our financial statements. In 2006, our Board of Directors also adopted
a policy requiring management to obtain the audit committee’s approval before
engaging our independent auditors to provide any other audit or permitted
non-audit services to us. This policy, which is designed to assure you that such
engagements do not impair the independence of our auditors, requires the audit
committee to pre-approve audit and non-audit services that may be performed by
our auditors.
Item
16D. Exemption from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees
Item 16E. Purchases of Equity
Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
For the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2007.
None.
ISSUER
PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES THROUGH NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID (1)
For the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2005.
Period
December
23, 2004
to
December 31,
2005
|
|
(a)
Total Number of
Shares
(or Units)
Purchased
|
|
(b)
Average Price
Paid
per Share (or
Units)
|
|
(c)
Total Number of
Shares
(or Units)
Purchased
as Part of
Publicly
Announced
Plans
or Programs
|
|
(d)
Maximum Number (or Approximate Dollar Value) of Shares (or Units) that May
Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs
|
|
Month
#1
December
23, 2004 to December 22, 2005
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,663,823
|
|
Month
#2
January
1, 2005 to January 31, 2005
|
|
|
40,800
|
|
$
|
1.10
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,623,023
|
|
Month
#3
February
1, 2005 to February 28, 2005
|
|
|
200
|
|
$
|
1.10
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,622,823
|
|
Month
#4
March
1, 2005 to March 31, 2005
|
|
|
90,000
|
|
$
|
1.48
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,532,823
|
|
Month
#5
April
1, 2005 to April 30, 2005
|
|
|
6,000
|
|
$
|
1.44
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,526,823
|
|
Month
#6
May
1, 2005 to May 31, 2005
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,526,823
|
|
Month
#7
June
1, 2005 to June 30, 2005
|
|
|
108,800
|
|
$
|
1.01
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,418,023
|
|
Month
#8
July
1, 2005 to July 31, 2005
|
|
|
331,200
|
|
$
|
1.00
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
2,086,823
|
|
Month
#9
August
1, 2005 to August 31, 2005
|
|
|
1,003,800
|
|
$
|
1.04
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
1,083,023
|
|
Month
#10
September
1, 2005 to September 30, 2005
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
1,083,023
|
|
Month
#11
October
1, 2005 to October 31, 2005
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
1,083,023
|
|
Month
#12
November
1, 2005 to November 30, 2005
|
|
|
350,000
|
|
$
|
1.10
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
733,023
|
|
Month
#13
December
1, 2005 to December 31, 2005
|
|
|
126,100
|
|
$
|
1.16
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
606,923
|
|
|
(1)
A Normal Course Issuer Bid was approved by the TSX on December 21,
2004 and the intention of ViRexx to engage in this program was announced
on December 22, 2004 and terminated on December 23, 2005. Trading under
the program commenced on December 22, 2004 and will terminate on December
22, 2005 at the close of trading. The trading will take place through the
TSX and there is no restriction on the price paid per share. This Normal
Course Issuer Bid is the first program of this nature ever implemented by
ViRexx.
|
PART
III
Item
17. Financial Statements
Our audit
Financial Statements are included as the “F” pages attached to this
report.
We
have elected to provide Financial Statements pursuant to Item 17 (see
above).
Item
19. Exhibits
The list
of exhibits is included following the signature page hereto, beginning on page
92.
SIGNATURES
The
Registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on
Form 20-F and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign
this annual report on its behalf.
|
|
|
|
VIREXX
MEDICAL CORP.
|
|
|
|
|
By:
|
Darrell Elliott
|
|
Name:
Darrell Elliott
Title:
Interim Chief Executive Officer
|
|
|
|
Date:
July 10, 2008
|
|
|
|
|
By:
|
Brent Johnston
|
|
Name:
Brent Johnston
Title:
Acting Chief Financial Officer
|
|
|
|
Date:
July 10, 2008
|
I-1
ANNUAL
REPORT ON FORM 20-F
EXHIBIT
INDEX
Exhibit
No.
|
|
Description
of Document
|
1.1
|
|
Articles
of Amalgamation of ViRexx Medical Corp. (1)
|
1.2
|
|
Bylaw
No. 1 of ViRexx Medical Corp. (1)
|
2.1
|
|
Form
of Warrant dated February 15, 2006. (4)
|
2.2
|
|
Form
of Warrant dated April 7, 2006. (4)
|
2.3
|
|
Form
of Warrant dated September of 2006. (4)
|
4.1+
|
|
Employment
Agreement dated February 1, 2005 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Macaraig
Canton. (1)
|
4.2
|
|
Confidentiality
Agreement dated February 1, 2005 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Macaraig
Canton. (1)
|
4.3+
|
|
Amendment
dated December 15, 2006, to Employment Agreement between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Macaraig Canton. (4)
|
4.4+
|
|
Employment
Agreement dated November 1, 2005 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr.
Lorne Tyrrell. (2)
|
4.5
|
|
Confidentiality
Agreement dated November 1, 2005 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr.
Lorne Tyrrell. (2)
|
4.6+
|
|
Amendment
dated December 15, 2006, to Employment Agreement between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Dr. Lorne Tyrrell. (4)
|
4.7
|
|
Employment
Agreement dated April of 2006 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Scott
Langille. (4)
|
4.8+
|
|
Amendment
dated December 15, 2006, to Employment Agreement between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Scott Langille. (4)
|
4.9+
|
|
Amendment
dated December 18, 2006, to Employment Agreement between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Scott Langille (4)
|
4.10+
|
|
Employment
Agreement dated January 1, 2004 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr.
Andrew Stevens. (2)
|
4.11
|
|
Confidentiality
Agreement dated January 1, 2004 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr.
Andrew Stevens. (2)
|
4.12+
|
|
Amendment
dated January 1, 2007, to Employment Agreement between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Dr. Andrew Stevens. *
|
4.13+
|
|
Employment
Agreement dated April 5, 2004 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr. Irwin
Griffith. (2)
|
4.14
|
|
Confidentiality
Agreement dated April 6, 2004 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr. Irwin
Griffith. (2)
|
4.15+
|
|
Amendment
dated January 1, 2007, to Employment Agreement between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Dr. Irwin Griffith. *
|
4.16+
|
|
Employment
Agreement dated January 1, 2004 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr. Rajan
George. (2)
|
4.17
|
|
Confidentiality
Agreement dated January 1, 2004 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr. Rajan
George. (2)
|
4.18+
|
|
Amendment
dated January 1, 2007, to Employment Agreement between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Dr. Rajan George. *
|
4.19+
|
|
Employment
and Confidentiality Agreement dated November 1, 2007 between ViRexx
Medical Corp. and Mr. Brent Johnston. *
|
4.20+
|
|
Employment
and Confidentiality Agreement dated January 1, 2007 between ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Dr. Hubert Eng. *
|
4.21+
|
|
Consulting
Agreement dated June 1, 2007 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr. Richard
Ascione. *
|
4.22+
|
|
Consulting
Agreement dated September 21, 2007 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Isuma
Strategies Inc. *
|
4.23+
|
|
Consulting
Agreement dated September 23, 2007 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Gemini
Partners Corporate Finance C.C. *
|
4.24+
|
|
Consulting
Agreement dated December 4, 2007 between ViRexx Medical Corp. and Dr.
Joseph G. Zendegui. *
|
4.25
|
|
Exclusive
License Agreement between Unither Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and AltaRex Corp.
dated April 17, 2002. (1)
|
4.26
|
|
First
Amendment to the License Agreement between Unither Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
and AltaRex Corp. dated August 6, 2003. (2)
|
4.27
|
|
Termination
of Exclusive License Agreement between Unither Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and
AltaRex Corp. dated April 17, 2002. *
|
4.30
|
|
Subscription
Agreement dated April 7, 2006. (4)
|
4.31
|
|
Subscription
Agreement dated April 18, 2006. (4)
|
4.32
|
|
Subscription
Agreement dated February 15, 2006. (4)
|
8.1
|
|
List
of Subsidiaries of ViRexx Medical Corp. (4)
|
12.1
|
|
Certification
by Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of
the Exchange Act. *
|
I-2
ANNUAL
REPORT ON FORM 20-F
EXHIBIT
INDEX CONTINUED
Exhibit
No.
|
|
Description
of Document
|
12.2
|
|
Certification
by Chief Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of
the Exchange Act. *
|
13.1
|
|
Certification
by Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer required by Rule
13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) of the Exchange Act and Section 1350 of
Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code.
*
|
*
|
Filed
herewith.
|
+
|
Compensatory
plan or arrangement.
|
(1)
|
Incorporated
by reference to ViRexx Medical Corp.’s Registration Statement filed with
the SEC on Form 20-F on August 12, 2005. (File No.
000-32608)
|
(2)
|
Incorporated
by reference to ViRexx Medical Corp.’s amended Registration Statement
filed with the SEC on Form 20-F/A on November 28, 2005. (File No.
000-32608)
|
(2)
|
Incorporated
by reference to ViRexx Medical Corp.’s amended Registration Statement
filed with the SEC on Form 20-F/A on December 16, 2005. (File No.
000-32608)
|
(3)
|
Incorporated
by reference to ViRexx Medical Corp.’s Annual Report filed with the SEC on
Form 20-F on May 19, 2006 (File No. 000-32608)
|
(4)
|
Incorporated
by reference to ViRexx Medical Corp.’s Annual Report filed with the SEC on
Form 20-F on May 15, 2007 (File No.
000-32608)
|
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Consolidated
Financial Statements
December
31, 2007 and 2006
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
Report
of Independent Registered Chartered Accountants
To the
Board of Directors and Shareholders of
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
We have
audited the consolidated balance sheet of ViRexx Medical Corp. (a development
stage company) as at December 31, 2007 and the related consolidated statements
of loss and comprehensive loss, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the year
ended December 31, 2007 and for the period from October 30, 2000 (date of
incorporation) to December 31, 2007. These financial statements are the
responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.
We
conducted our audit in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing
standards and the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform an audit to
obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit
also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement
presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our
opinion.
In our
opinion, these consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of ViRexx Medical Corp. as at December 31, 2007
and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended and
for the period from October 30, 2000 (date of incorporation) to December 31,
2007 in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting
principles.
The
consolidated financial statements of the Company as at December 31, 2006 and for
each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2006 and for the
period from October 30, 2000 (date of incorporation) to December 31, 2006 were
audited by other auditors whose report, dated March 9, 2007, expressed an
unqualified opinion on those financial statements and included Comments by
Auditors for U.S. Readers on Canada - U.S. Reporting Difference relating to
going concern uncertainty.
We have
withdrawn our audit report dated January 31, 2008 as Note 24 to the consolidated
financial statements has been restated. Note 24 contains the
reconciliation of the consolidated financial statements from Canadian generally
accepted accounting principles to accounting principles generally accepted in
the United States and contains additional information on the
restatement.
The
Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its
internal control over financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of
internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit
procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of
expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control
over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
/s/
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Independent
Registered Chartered Accountants
Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada
January
31, 2008 (June 26, 2008 as to the effects of the restatement as described in
Note 24)
Comments
by Independent Registered Chartered Accountants on
Canada
– United States of America Reporting Differences
The
standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States)
require the addition of an explanatory paragraph when the financial statements
are affected by conditions and events that cast substantial doubt on the
Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, such as those described in
Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements or when there are changes in
accounting principles that have a material effect on the comparability of the
Company’s financial statements, such as changes in accounting principles that
have been implemented in the financial statements, as described in Note 3 to the
consolidated financial statements. Although we conducted our audit in accordance
with both Canadian generally accepted accounting standards and the standards of
the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), our report to the
Board of Directors and Shareholders, dated January 31, 2008 (June 26, 2008 as to
the effects of the restatement as described in Note 24), is expressed in
accordance with Canadian reporting standards which do not permit a reference to
such going concern conditions and events or such changes in accounting
principles in the auditors’ report when these are properly accounted for and
adequately disclosed in the financial statements.
/s/
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Independent
Registered Chartered Accountants
Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada
January
31, 2008 (June 26, 2008 as to the
effects of the restatement as described in Note 24)
To
the Shareholders of
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
We have
audited the consolidated balance sheet of ViRexx Medical Corp. as at
December 31, 2006 and the consolidated statements of loss, shareholders' equity
and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31,
2006. These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the
Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
financial statements based on our audits.
We
conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards in
Canada and the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform an audit to
obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit
also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates
made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement
presentation.
In our
opinion, these consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of the Company as at December 31, 2006 and the
results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the
two-year period ended December 31, 2006 in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles in Canada.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP
Chartered
Accountants
Edmonton,
Alberta
March 9,
2007
Comments
by Auditors for U.S. Readers on Canada - U.S. Reporting difference
In the
United States, reporting standards for auditors require the addition of an
explanatory paragraph (following the opinion paragraph) when there is
substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern as
described in Note 1 to the financial statements. Our report to the shareholders
dated March 9, 2007 is expressed in accordance with Canadian reporting
standards, which do not require a reference to such going concern uncertainty in
the auditor’s report when the uncertainty is properly accounted for and
adequately described in the financial statements.
/s/
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered
Accountants
Edmonton,
Alberta
March 9,
2007
PricewaterhouseCoopers
refers to the Canadian firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the other member
firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a
separate and independent legal entity.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Consilidated
Balance Sheet
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
|
|
December
31,
2007
$
|
|
|
December
31,
2006
$
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
|
|
2,533,105 |
|
|
|
405,354 |
|
Short-term
investments
|
|
|
42,143 |
|
|
|
10,336,837 |
|
Prepaid
expenses and deposits
|
|
|
139,641 |
|
|
|
168,502 |
|
Other
current assets
|
|
|
75,572 |
|
|
|
194,476 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2,790,461 |
|
|
|
11,105,169 |
|
Property and equipment
(note 6)
|
|
|
500,371 |
|
|
|
475,079 |
|
Acquired intellectual property
(note 7)
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
27,369,445 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3,290,832 |
|
|
|
38,949,693 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Accounts
payable and accrued liabilities (note 9)
|
|
|
2,103,372 |
|
|
|
1,591,095 |
|
Current
portion of obligations under capital lease (note 10)
|
|
|
5,931 |
|
|
|
7,108 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2,109,303 |
|
|
|
1,598,203 |
|
Obligations under capital lease
(note 10)
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
5,351 |
|
Future income taxes
(note 11)
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
5,346,990 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2,109,303 |
|
|
|
6,950,544 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guarantees (note
12)
Commitments and contingencies
(notes 13 and 14)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shareholders’
Equity
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Common shares – no par
value; unlimited shares authorized; 72,760,717 shares issued and
outstanding
|
|
|
54,064,680 |
|
|
|
54,064,680 |
|
Contributed
surplus
|
|
|
12,498,710 |
|
|
|
11,748,640 |
|
Deficit
accumulated during development stage
|
|
|
(65,381,861 |
) |
|
|
(33,814,171 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,181,529 |
|
|
|
31,999,149 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3,290,832 |
|
|
|
38,949,693 |
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
Approved
by the Board of Directors
“Darrell
Elliott” “Douglas Gilpin”
Chairman
and
Director Director
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Consolidated
Statement of Loss and Comprehensive Loss
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
|
|
Years
ended December 31,
|
|
|
Cumulative
from
October
30, 2000
To
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31,
|
|
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
$ |
2005
|
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expenses
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Research
and development (note 17)
|
|
|
4,760,560 |
|
|
|
5,937,122 |
|
|
|
4,750,190 |
|
|
|
18,652,614 |
|
Corporate
administration
|
|
|
4,947,487 |
|
|
|
4,976,837 |
|
|
|
3,650,282 |
|
|
|
17,533,788 |
|
Amortization
|
|
|
2,502,299 |
|
|
|
2,771,283 |
|
|
|
2,499,174 |
|
|
|
7,934,925 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12,210,346 |
|
|
|
13,685,242 |
|
|
|
10,899,646 |
|
|
|
44,121,327 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss
from operations
|
|
|
(12,210,346 |
) |
|
|
(13,685,242 |
) |
|
|
(10,899,646 |
) |
|
|
(44,121,327 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other
income (expenses)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
|
|
|
212,004 |
|
|
|
400,201 |
|
|
|
218,504 |
|
|
|
965,934 |
|
Gain
(loss) on disposal of property and equipment
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
878 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(104,842 |
) |
Impairment
of acquired intellectual property (note 7)
|
|
|
(24,991,344 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(24,991,344 |
) |
Gain
(loss) on foreign exchange
|
|
|
75,006 |
|
|
|
(30,599 |
) |
|
|
(45,528 |
) |
|
|
(33,246 |
) |
Debenture
interest
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(95,201 |
) |
|
|
(272,960 |
) |
Other
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
3,731 |
|
|
|
19,055 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(24,704,334 |
) |
|
|
370,480 |
|
|
|
81,506 |
|
|
|
(24,417,403 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loss
before income taxes
|
|
|
(36,914,680 |
) |
|
|
(13,314,762 |
) |
|
|
(10,818,140 |
) |
|
|
(68,538,730 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Future income taxes recovery
(expense) (note 11)
|
|
|
5,346,990 |
|
|
|
(4,178,613 |
) |
|
|
3,358,426 |
|
|
|
4,526,803 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net loss and comprehensive loss
(note 3b)
|
|
|
(31,567,690 |
) |
|
|
(17,493,375 |
) |
|
|
(7,459,714 |
) |
|
|
(64,011,927 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic and diluted net loss per
common share (note 19)
|
|
$ |
(0.43 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.25 |
) |
|
$ |
(0.13 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Basic
and diluted weighted average number of common shares
|
|
|
72,760,717 |
|
|
|
68,921,409 |
|
|
|
55,827,119 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Consolidated
Statements of Shareholders’ Equity
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
|
|
Common
shares (note 18)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number
#
|
|
|
Amount
$
|
|
|
Equity
component
of
debentures
$
|
|
|
Contributed
surplus (note
18)
$
|
|
|
Deficit
accumulated
during
development
stage
$
|
|
|
Total
shareholders’
equity
$
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– October 30, 2000
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
Shares
issued on incorporation
|
|
|
200 |
|
|
|
259 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
259 |
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(177,397 |
) |
|
|
(177,397 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2000
|
|
|
200 |
|
|
|
259 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(177,397 |
) |
|
|
(177,138 |
) |
Issuance
of common shares
|
|
|
16,617,283 |
|
|
|
1,153,081 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,153,081 |
|
Exercise
of warrants
|
|
|
260,039 |
|
|
|
207,094 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
207,094 |
|
Share
issue costs
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(69,067 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(69,067 |
) |
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(1,011,957 |
) |
|
|
(1,011,957 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2001
|
|
|
16,877,522 |
|
|
|
1,291,367 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(1,189,354 |
) |
|
|
102,013 |
|
Shares
issued on settlement of debt
|
|
|
682,686 |
|
|
|
218,460 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
218,460 |
|
Issuance
of common shares
|
|
|
184,000 |
|
|
|
800,024 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
800,024 |
|
Exercise
of warrants
|
|
|
1,869 |
|
|
|
1,428 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,428 |
|
Share
issue costs
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(7,749 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(7,749 |
) |
Issuance
of convertible debentures
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
90,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
90,000 |
|
Amalgamation
|
|
|
(1,000,000 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(1,260,472 |
) |
|
|
(1,260,472 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2002
|
|
|
16,746,077 |
|
|
|
2,303,530 |
|
|
|
90,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(2,449,826 |
) |
|
|
(56,296 |
) |
Shares
issued under private placement
|
|
|
48,000 |
|
|
|
31,200 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
31,200 |
|
Exercise
of stock options
|
|
|
300,000 |
|
|
|
126,600 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
126,600 |
|
Conversion
of debentures
|
|
|
684,648 |
|
|
|
261,277 |
|
|
|
(30,882 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
230,395 |
|
Amalgamation
|
|
|
(7,378,725 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(24,498 |
) |
|
|
(24,498 |
) |
Issuance
of special warrants
|
|
|
5,200,000 |
|
|
|
2,881,060 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
205,150 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
3,086,210 |
|
Stock
options issued to non-employees
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
85,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
85,000 |
|
Retroactive
adjustment for stock-based compensation
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
734,773 |
|
|
|
(734,773 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(1,383,562 |
) |
|
|
(1,383,562 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2003
|
|
|
15,600,000 |
|
|
|
5,603,667 |
|
|
|
59,118 |
|
|
|
1,024,923 |
|
|
|
(4,592,659 |
) |
|
|
2,095,049 |
|
Shares
issued through public offering
|
|
|
11,000,000 |
|
|
|
8,388,820 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
411,180 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
8,800,000 |
|
Shares
issued as corporate finance fee
|
|
|
400,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
Exercise
of warrants
|
|
|
5,500 |
|
|
|
5,500 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
5,500 |
|
Acquisition
of AltaRex Medical Corp.
|
|
|
26,257,759 |
|
|
|
28,620,957 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
28,620,957 |
|
Exercise
of stock options
|
|
|
13,218 |
|
|
|
15,727 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(5,153 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
10,574 |
|
Share
issue costs
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(879,688 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(879,688 |
) |
Fair
value of stock options issued on the acquisition of
AltaRex
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,815,378 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,815,378 |
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
380,577 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
380,577 |
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(3,657,760 |
) |
|
|
(3,657,760 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2004
|
|
|
53,276,477 |
|
|
|
41,754,983 |
|
|
|
59,118 |
|
|
|
3,626,905 |
|
|
|
(8,250,419 |
) |
|
|
37,190,587 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Continued
on next page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2004
|
|
|
53,276,477 |
|
|
|
41,754,983 |
|
|
|
59,118 |
|
|
|
3,626,905 |
|
|
|
(8,250,419 |
) |
|
|
37,190,587 |
|
Repurchase
of common shares
|
|
|
(2,056,900 |
) |
|
|
(1,645,113 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(610,663 |
) |
|
|
(2,255,776 |
) |
Exercise
of stock options
|
|
|
225,218 |
|
|
|
267,413 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(75,699 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
191,714 |
|
Shares
issued under private placement
|
|
|
4,035,665 |
|
|
|
2,970,316 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,065,349 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
4,035,665 |
|
Exercise
of warrants
|
|
|
2,302,875 |
|
|
|
2,277,370 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(294,495 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,982,875 |
|
Conversion
of debentures
|
|
|
561,100 |
|
|
|
591,281 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
591,281 |
|
Conversion
and redemption of debentures
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(59,118 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(59,118 |
) |
Share
issue costs
|
|
|
99,010 |
|
|
|
(227,061 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(227,061 |
) |
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
457,349 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
457,349 |
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(7,459,714 |
) |
|
|
(7,459,714 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2005
|
|
|
58,443,445 |
|
|
|
45,989,189 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
4,779,409 |
|
|
|
(16,320,796 |
) |
|
|
34,447,802 |
|
Exercise
of stock options
|
|
|
590,000 |
|
|
|
439,341 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(143,340 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
296,001 |
|
Shares
issued under private placements
|
|
|
13,527,272 |
|
|
|
9,032,430 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
5,967,570 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
15,000,000 |
|
Issuance
of common shares
|
|
|
200,000 |
|
|
|
148,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
148,000 |
|
Share
issue costs
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(1,544,280 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
539,962 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(1,004,318 |
) |
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
605,039 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
605,039 |
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(17,493,375 |
) |
|
|
(17,493,375 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2006
|
|
|
72,760,717 |
|
|
|
54,064,680 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
11,748,640 |
|
|
|
(33,814,171 |
) |
|
|
31,999,149 |
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
750,070 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
750,070 |
|
Net
loss and comprehensive loss
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(31,567,690 |
) |
|
|
(31,567,690 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance
– December 31, 2007
|
|
|
72,760,717 |
|
|
|
54,064,680 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
12,498,710 |
|
|
|
(65,381,861 |
) |
|
|
1,181,529 |
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Consolidated
Statements of Cash Flows
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
|
|
Years
ended December 31,
|
|
|
Cumulative
from
October 30,
2000 to
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December
31,
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
$ |
2005
|
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
provided by (used in)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating
activities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss
|
|
|
(31,567,690 |
) |
|
|
(17,493,375 |
) |
|
|
(7,459,714 |
) |
|
|
(64,011,927 |
) |
Items
not affecting cash
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Debenture
interest
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
95,201 |
|
|
|
265,487 |
|
Amortization
|
|
|
2,502,299 |
|
|
|
2,771,283 |
|
|
|
2,499,174 |
|
|
|
7,934,925 |
|
Stock-based
compensation (note 18)
|
|
|
750,070 |
|
|
|
605,039 |
|
|
|
457,349 |
|
|
|
2,404,335 |
|
Common
shares issued to consultants for services rendered
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
148,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
148,000 |
|
Impairment
of acquired intellectual property
|
|
|
24,991,344 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
25,233,970 |
|
(Gain)
loss on disposal of property and equipment
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(878 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
104,842 |
|
Unrealized
foreign exchange gain
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(356 |
) |
|
|
(9,827 |
) |
Future
income taxes
|
|
|
(5,346,990 |
) |
|
|
4,178,613 |
|
|
|
(3,358,426 |
) |
|
|
(4,526,803 |
) |
Change
in non-cash working capital items (note 20)
|
|
|
660,042 |
|
|
|
764,215 |
|
|
|
215,670 |
|
|
|
1,815,518 |
|
Purchase
of short-term investments (note 4d)
|
|
|
(2,385,157 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(2,385,157 |
) |
Redemption
of short-term investments (note 4d)
|
|
|
12,679,851 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
12,679,851 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2,283,769 |
|
|
|
(9,027,103 |
) |
|
|
(7,551,102 |
) |
|
|
(20,346,786 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financing
activities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Repayment
of obligations under capital lease
|
|
|
(6,528 |
) |
|
|
(1,755 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(8,283 |
) |
Issuance
of common shares – net of share issue costs
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
14,291,683 |
|
|
|
5,983,193 |
|
|
|
33,066,639 |
|
Convertible
debentures
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(600,144 |
) |
|
|
84,856 |
|
Restricted
cash
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
659,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Repurchase
of common shares
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(2,255,776 |
) |
|
|
(2,255,776 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(6,528 |
) |
|
|
14,289,928 |
|
|
|
3,786,273 |
|
|
|
30,887,436 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Investing
activities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Acquisition
of property and equipment
|
|
|
(149,490 |
) |
|
|
(92,484 |
) |
|
|
(131,991 |
) |
|
|
(1,150,396 |
) |
Cash
acquired on business acquisitions
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
3,729,561 |
|
Proceeds
on sale of property and equipment
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
5,682 |
|
|
|
17,753 |
|
Expenditures
on patents and trademarks
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(267,626 |
) |
Purchase
of short-term investments
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(13,502,657 |
) |
|
|
(4,403,506 |
) |
|
|
(31,426,872 |
) |
Redemption
of short-term investments
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
8,500,208 |
|
|
|
7,887,094 |
|
|
|
21,090,035 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(149,490 |
) |
|
|
(5,094,933 |
) |
|
|
3,357,279 |
|
|
|
(8,007,545 |
) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Increase
(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
|
|
|
2,127,751 |
|
|
|
167,892 |
|
|
|
(407,550 |
) |
|
|
2,533,105 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents – Beginning of year
|
|
|
405,354 |
|
|
|
237,462 |
|
|
|
645,012 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash
and cash equivalents – End of year
|
|
|
2,533,105 |
|
|
|
405,354 |
|
|
|
237,462 |
|
|
|
2,533,105 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Supplementary
information (note 20)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
statements.
ViRexx Medical Corp.
(a development stage company)
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(express in Canadian dollars)
These
consolidated financial statements have been prepared using Canadian generally
accepted accounting principles (“Canadian GAAP”) that are applicable to a going
concern, which contemplates that ViRexx Medical Corp. (the “Company” or
“ViRexx”) will continue in operation for the foreseeable future and will be able
to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of
business. The use of these principles may not be appropriate because at December
31, 2007 there was substantial doubt that the Company will be able to continue
as a going concern without raising additional financial resources.
The
Company’s management is considering all financing alternatives and is
immediately seeking to raise additional funds for operations from current
stockholders and other potential investors. This disclosure is not an offer to
sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy the Company’s securities. While the
Company is striving to achieve the above plans, there is no assurance that such
funding will be available or obtained on favorable terms.
These
consolidated financial statements do not reflect adjustments in the carrying
values of the Company’s assets and liabilities, expenses, and the balance sheet
classification used, that would be necessary if the going concern assumption
were not appropriate. Such adjustments could be
material.
The
Company’s management believes sufficient financial resources exist to fund
operations into the second quarter of 2008.
ViRexx
amalgamated under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) and is a
development-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel
therapeutic products for the treatment of certain cancers and specified chronic
viral infections. The Company’s most advanced programs include drug
candidates for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C, selected solid tumors
and liver cancer.
The
Company began as Novolytic Corp. on October 30, 2000. ViRexx Research Inc. was
incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) on June 6, 2001 and
on August 1, 2002 ViRexx Research Inc. amalgamated with Novolytic Corp. to
continue as ViRexx Research Inc. (“ViRexx Research”). On
December 23, 2003, ViRexx Research was amalgamated with ViRexx Medical
Corp. and Norac Industries Inc. (“Norac”) to form and continue business as
ViRexx Medical Corp. Norac was a public company whose shares were
listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. On completion of the amalgamation
with Norac, ViRexx became a listed company.
On
December 10, 2004, pursuant to a plan of arrangement, the Company acquired all
of the outstanding shares of AltaRex Medical Corp. (“AltaRex”) by issuing
one-half of one common share in exchange for each issued and outstanding common
share of AltaRex. Following the acquisition, the Company became
listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
On
December 23, 2005, the Company became listed on the American Stock
Exchange.
(d)
|
Changes
in accounting policies
|
Effective
January 1, 2007, the Company adopted the following new accounting standards
related to financial instruments that were issued by the Canadian Institute of
Chartered Accountants (“CICA”) in 2005. These accounting policy
changes were adopted on a retroactive basis with no restatement of prior period
consolidated financial statements. The new standards and accounting
policy changes are as follows:
ViRexx Medical Corp.
(a development stage
company)
Notes to Consolidated Financial
Statements
(expressed in Canadian
dollars)
3 Changes
in accounting policies (Continued)
o
|
Financial
Instruments – Recognition and Measurement (CICA Handbook Section
3855)
|
Financial
Instruments – Disclosure and Presentation (CICA Handbook Section
3861)
In
accordance with these standards, the Company now classifies all financial
instruments as held-to-maturity, available-for-sale, held-for-trading, loans and
receivables or other liabilities. Financial assets held-to-maturity,
loans and receivables and financial liabilities other than those
held-for-trading, are measured at amortized cost using the effective interest
method. Available-for-sale instruments are measured at fair value
with unrealized gains and losses recognized in other comprehensive income
(loss). Instruments classified as held-for-trading are measured at
fair value with unrealized gains and losses recognized in the consolidated
statement of loss. Financial instruments of the Company consist of cash
equivalents, short-term investments, other current assets, accounts payable and
accrued liabilities and obligations under capital lease. The fair
value of these instruments approximates their carrying amount due to their
immediate or short-term maturity.
The
Company has made the following classifications:
·
|
Cash
equivalents and short-term investments are classified as held-for-trading
and are measured at fair value. Gains and losses related to
periodic revaluation are recorded in net
loss;
|
·
|
Other
current assets are classified as loans and receivables and are initially
measured at fair value and subsequently at amortized cost using the
effective interest method; and
|
·
|
Accounts
payable and accrued liabilities and obligations under capital lease are
classified as other liabilities and are initially measured at fair value
and subsequently at amortized cost using the effective interest
method.
|
Derivative
instruments are recorded at fair value unless exempted from derivative treatment
as normal purchases and sales. All changes in their fair value are
recorded in income unless cash flow hedge accounting is used, in which case,
changes in fair value are recorded in other comprehensive income
(loss). The Company has elected to apply this accounting treatment
for embedded derivatives on transactions entered into after January 1, 2003, and
the change in accounting policy did not have a material impact on the
consolidated financial statements.
Transaction
costs with respect to instruments not classified as held-for-trading are
recognized as an adjustment to the cost of the underlying instruments, when they
are recognized, and amortized using the effective interest
method. Transaction costs with respect to instruments classified as
held-for-trading are expensed as incurred.
As at
December 31, 2007, the impact on the consolidated balance sheet of measuring the
financial assets and liabilities was $nil.
o
|
Comprehensive
Income (CICA Handbook Section 1530)
|
Comprehensive
income is the change in shareholders’ equity during a period from transactions
and events from sources other than the Company’s shareholders. In
accordance with this new standard, the Company is required to report a
consolidated statement of comprehensive loss and a new category, accumulated
other comprehensive loss, and is required to be added to the shareholders’
equity section on the consolidated balance sheet. The components of
accumulated other comprehensive loss may include unrealized gains and losses on
financial assets classified as available-for-sale, foreign currency gains and
losses on the net investment in self-sustaining foreign operations and changes
in fair market value of derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges,
all net of income taxes. There were no such components to be
recognized in other comprehensive loss at adoption on January 1, 2007 or for the
year ended December 31, 2007. As the Company has no items of other
comprehensive loss, net loss is equivalent to comprehensive loss and the Company
has not reported a separate statement of comprehensive loss.
ViRexx Medical Corp.
(a development stage company)
Notes to Consolidated Financial
Statements
(expressed in Canadian dollars)
3 Changes
in accounting policies (Continued)
o
|
Hedges
(CICA Handbook Section 3865)
|
This
standard specifies the criteria under which hedge accounting can be applied and
how hedge accounting can be executed. The Company does not have any
hedging items so the implementation of this Section did not have a material
impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
o
|
Equity
(CICA Handbook Section 3251)
|
In
January 2005, the CICA issued a new Section to the CICA Handbook, Section 3251
“Equity” which became effective for the Company on January 1,
2007. This Section establishes standards for the presentation of
equity during a reporting period. The implementation of this Section
did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial
statements.
o
|
Accounting
Changes (CICA Handbook Section
1506)
|
Effective
January 1, 2007, the Company adopted CICA Handbook Section 1506 "Accounting
Changes" which establishes criteria for changing accounting policies, together
with the accounting treatment and disclosure of changes in accounting policies
and estimates, and correction of errors. Under the new standard, accounting
changes should be applied retroactively unless otherwise permitted or where
impracticable to determine. As well, voluntary changes in accounting policies
are made only when required by a primary source of Canadian GAAP or the change
results in more relevant and reliable information. The Company has determined
that the application of this Section did not have any impact on the consolidated
financial statements.
4
|
Summary
of significant accounting policies
|
These
consolidated financial statements have been prepared by management in accordance
with Canadian GAAP which, with respect to the Company, does not differ
materially from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
(“U.S. GAAP”), except as disclosed in note 24. These consolidated
financial statements have, in management’s opinion, been properly prepared
within reasonable limits of materiality and within the framework of the
accounting policies summarized below.
a)
|
Principles
of consolidation
|
The
financial statements of entities which are controlled by the Company through
voting equity interests, referred to as subsidiaries, are
consolidated. Entities which are not controlled but over which the
Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, are accounted for
using the equity method. Investments in other entities are accounted
for using the cost method. Variable interest entities (“VIEs”) are
entities in which equity investors do not have the characteristics of a
“controlling financial interest” or there is not sufficient equity at risk for
the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial
support. VIEs are consolidated by the Company when it is determined
that it will, as the primary beneficiary, absorb the majority of the VIEs’
expected losses and/or expected residual returns. The Company
currently does not have any VIEs.
These
consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and all of
its wholly owned subsidiaries: AltaRex Medical Corp., AltaRex U.S Corp. and
ViRexx International Corp. Limited. All inter company balances and
transactions have been eliminated on consolidation.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
4 Summary
of significant accounting policies (Continued)
The
preparation of financial statements in conformity with Canadian GAAP requires
management to make estimates and assumptions that impact the reported amounts of
assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as at
the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and
expense during the reporting period. Significant estimates are used for, but not
limited to, provisions for the assessment of the recoverability of long-lived
assets, accruals for contract manufacturing and research and development
agreements, allocation of overhead expenses to research and development,
stock-based compensation and, provisions for income taxes and
contingencies. Actual results could differ materially from those
estimates.
c)
|
Cash
and cash equivalents
|
The
Company considers all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months
or less at the date of purchase to be cash or cash equivalents and are recorded
at cost which is equivalent to fair value. At December 31, 2007 and
2006 cash and cash equivalents consisted of cash on deposit with
banks.
d)
|
Short-term
investments
|
Short-term
investments include securities and term deposits with an original maturity of
greater than three months and less than twelve months. Short-term investments
are classified as held-for-trading securities and are carried at fair value with
gains and losses resulting from fair value adjustments recorded in net
loss. In 2006, short term investments were carried at cost (note
3a). As short-term investments held in 2007 had maturities of less
than 90 days, the cash flows associated with these investments have been
classified as operating activities.
e)
|
Property
and equipment
|
Property
and equipment are stated at cost. Amortization is calculated based on
the estimated useful lives of the assets using the declining balance method at
the following annual rates:
Laboratory
equipment
|
|
20%
|
|
|
Office
furniture and equipment
|
|
20%
|
|
|
Computer
equipment
|
|
30%
|
|
|
Computer
software
|
|
100%
|
|
|
Leasehold
improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the lesser of term of
the lease or the estimated useful lives of the assets.
Leases
entered into by the Company in which substantially all of the benefits and risks
of ownership are transferred to the Company are recorded as capital leases and
classified as property and equipment and obligations under capital lease.
Obligations under capital lease reflect the present value of future lease
payments, discounted at an appropriate interest rate, and are reduced by lease
payments net of imputed interest. Assets under capital leases are amortized
based on the estimated useful life of the asset. All other leases are classified
as operating leases and leasing costs are expensed in the period in which they
are incurred.
g)
|
Licenses
and development agreements
|
Licenses
represent the amount paid for the rights to use certain patents or agreements
and are recorded at cost. Amortization is provided for on a
straight-line basis over the lesser of the term of the agreements and the useful
life of the patents or agreements.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
4 Summary
of significant accounting policies (Continued)
h)
|
Impairment
of long-lived assets
|
Property
and equipment and intangible assets with a finite life are reviewed for
impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the
carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Impairment is
assessed by comparing the carrying amount of the asset with its expected future
net undiscounted cash flows from use together with its residual
value. If an asset is considered to be impaired, the impairment
recognized is the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds its
fair value.
Revenue
is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has
occurred, the price is fixed and determinable and collection is reasonably
assured.
j)
|
Government
grants and investment tax credits
|
Government
assistance is recognized when the expenditures that qualify for assistance are
made and the Company has complied with the conditions for the receipt of
government assistance. Government assistance is applied to reduce the
carrying amount of any assets acquired or to reduce eligible expenses
incurred. A liability to repay government assistance, if any, is
recorded in the periods when the conditions arise that cause the assistance to
become repayable.
k)
|
Research
and development costs
|
Research
costs are expensed as incurred and significant project development costs are
capitalized in accordance with Canadian GAAP once the Company has determined
that the commercialization criteria concerning the product or process have been
met. Amortization of these costs over their estimated useful life
commences with the successful commercial production or use of the product or
process. Research and development costs include the following direct
operating expenses: salaries and benefits, laboratory supplies, administration,
occupancy and insurance, contracting, consulting and professional
fees.
As at
December 31, 2007 and 2006, no development costs have been
capitalized.
l)
|
Foreign
currency translation
|
Translation
of transactions arising in foreign currencies are translated into Canadian
dollars at rates of exchange at the time of such
transactions. Monetary assets and liabilities are translated at
current rates of exchange and non-monetary items are translated at rates of
exchange in effect when the assets were acquired or obligations
incurred. Foreign operations are considered financially and
operationally integrated and are translated into Canadian dollars using the
temporal method of translation. Gains or losses resulting from translation
adjustments are included in the consolidated statement of loss.
The
Company follows the liability method of income tax allocation. Under
this method, future income taxes are recognized for the future income tax
consequences attributable to differences between the carrying values of assets
and liabilities and their respective income tax basis. Future income
tax assets and liabilities are measured using substantively enacted income tax
rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which temporary
differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on
future income tax assets and liabilities of a change in rates is included in the
consolidated statement of loss in the period that includes the date of
substantive enactment. Future income tax assets are recorded in the
consolidated financial statements if, in the opinion of management, realization
is considered to be more likely than not.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
4 Summary
of significant accounting policies (Continued)
n)
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
The
Company grants stock options to officers, directors, employees and consultants
pursuant to a stock option plan described in note 18. Awards of stock
options granted to employees, consultants, officers and directors are accounted
for in accordance with the fair value method and result in compensation
expense. The expense is recognized in the consolidated statement of
loss over the vesting period of the specific option. The
corresponding credit is recorded as contributed surplus. Any
consideration paid on the exercise of stock options is credited to share
capital. Forfeitures are estimated at the time of grant and revised,
if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those
estimates.
Basic
loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average
number of common shares outstanding during the year. The Company uses
the treasury stock method of calculating diluted loss per
share. Under the treasury stock method, the weighted average number
of common shares outstanding for the calculation of diluted loss per share
assumes that the proceeds to be received on the exercise of dilutive stock
options or warrants is applied to repurchase common shares at the average market
price for the year.
5
|
Future
accounting pronouncements
|
a)
|
Capital
Disclosures (CICA Handbook Section
1535)
|
In
November 2006, the CICA issued new Handbook Section 1535 "Capital Disclosures",
effective for annual and interim periods beginning on or after October 1, 2007.
This Section establishes standards for disclosing information about an entity's
capital and how it is managed in order that a user of the financial statements
may evaluate the entity's objectives, policies and processes for managing
capital. This new Standard will not have a material effect on the Company's
consolidated financial statements. The following disclosure will be
added to annual and interim reports beginning January 1, 2008:
The
Company's objectives when managing capital are:
To
safeguard the Company's ability to continue as a going concern, to continue to
provide returns for shareholders and benefits for other stakeholders, and;
To
provide an adequate return to shareholders commensurate with the level of risk
associated with a development stage biotechnology company.
The
Company sets the amount of capital in proportion to risk and manages the capital
structure and makes adjustments to it in the light of changes in economic
conditions and the risk characteristics of the underlying assets. In order to
maintain or adjust the capital structure, the Company may adjust the number of
shares issued, sell assets, enter into mergers and acquisitions, acquire debt or
enter into some other form of financing facility.
Capital
comprises all components of equity (i.e. common shares, contributed surplus, and
deficit accumulated during development stage) other than amounts in accumulated
other comprehensive income relating to cash flow hedges.
b)
|
Inventories
(CICA Handbook Section 3031)
|
Effective
January 1, 2008, the Company will be required to adopt CICA Section 3031
“Inventories”. This Section prescribes the measurement of inventory at the lower
of cost and net realizable value. The cost of inventories shall comprise all
costs of purchase, costs of conversion and other costs incurred in bringing the
inventories to their present location and condition. This Section applies to
interim and annual consolidated financial statements for fiscal years beginning
on or after January 1, 2008. The Company plans to adopt this Section for its
fiscal year beginning January 1, 2008 and it will not have a material effect on
the Company's consolidated financial statements.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
5 Future
accounting pronouncements (Continued)
c)
|
Financial
Instruments: Disclosures (CICA Handbook Section 3862)/ Presentation (CICA
Handbook Section 3863)
|
Effective
January 1, 2008, the Company will be required to adopt two new CICA standards,
Section 3862 “Financial Instruments – Disclosures” and Section 3863 “Financial
Instruments – Presentation”, which will replace Section 3861 “Financial
Instruments – Disclosure and Presentation”. The new Disclosure standard
increases the emphasis on the risks associated with both recognized and
unrecognized financial instruments and how these risks are managed. The new
Presentation standard carries forward the former presentation requirements. The
new financial instruments presentation and disclosure requirements were issued
in December 2006. The Company plans to adopt these Sections for its fiscal year
beginning January 1, 2008 and they will not have a material effect on the
Company's consolidated financial statements.
d)
|
Convergence
to International Financial Reporting Standards
(“IFRS”)
|
In 2006,
Canada's Accounting Standards Board ratified a strategic plan that will result
in Canadian GAAP, as used by public entities, being converged with IFRS over a
transitional period currently expected to be about five years. The precise
timing of convergence will depend on an Accounting Standards Board progress
review to be undertaken in 2008. The impact of this transition on the Company's
consolidated financial statements has not yet been determined; however,
management continues to monitor these regulatory developments.
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
Cost
$
|
|
|
Accumulated
amortization
$
|
|
|
Net
$
|
|
Laboratory
equipment
|
|
|
622,442 |
|
|
|
269,181 |
|
|
|
353,261 |
|
Office
furniture and equipment
|
|
|
121,524 |
|
|
|
60,047 |
|
|
|
61,477 |
|
Computer
equipment and software
|
|
|
260,356 |
|
|
|
193,693 |
|
|
|
66,663 |
|
Leasehold
improvements
|
|
|
36,469 |
|
|
|
17,499 |
|
|
|
18,970 |
|
|
|
|
1,040,791 |
|
|
|
540,420 |
|
|
|
500,371 |
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
|
Cost
$
|
|
|
Accumulated
amortization
$
|
|
|
Net
$
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Laboratory
equipment
|
|
|
489,347 |
|
|
|
208,344 |
|
|
|
281,003 |
|
Office
furniture and equipment
|
|
|
116,874 |
|
|
|
45,356 |
|
|
|
71,518 |
|
Computer
equipment and software
|
|
|
248,610 |
|
|
|
150,575 |
|
|
|
98,035 |
|
Leasehold
improvements
|
|
|
36,469 |
|
|
|
11,946 |
|
|
|
24,523 |
|
|
|
|
891,300 |
|
|
|
416,221 |
|
|
|
475,079 |
|
Amortization
expense relating to property and equipment charged to current operations was
$124,198 (2006 – $150,631; 2005 – $141,733)
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
7
|
Acquired
intellectual property
|
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
Unither
development agreement – net of accumulated amortization of $7,350,118
(2006 – $4,973,927)
|
|
|
24,980,404 |
|
|
|
27,356,595 |
|
Other
licenses – net of accumulated amortization of $14,060 (2006 –
$12,150)
|
|
|
10,940 |
|
|
|
12,850 |
|
Write-down
due to impairment loss
|
|
|
(24,991,344 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
27,369,445 |
|
Amortization
expense relating to intellectual property charged to operations was $2,378,101
(2006 - $2,620,652; 2005 - $2,357,441).
On
December 5, 2007, the Company announced the results of two Phase III clinical
trials of OvaRex® MAb for the treatment of advanced ovarian
cancer. The results showed that the studies failed to reach
statistical significance. These trials were conducted and based on
acquired intellectual property and related agreements from AltaRex in December
2004. The trials were conducted by ViRexx's licensing partner,
Unither Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Unither”), a subsidiary of United Therapeutics
Corporation. The development agreements have been terminated and the
Company is now in the process of final collection of data and records. The value
of the Unither development agreement and other licenses was directly linked to
expected future cash flows from these agreements. Due to the failure
of the clinical trials and the termination of the development agreement the
ability to realize the expected future economic benefit from the acquired
intellectual property is remote. Therefore, the entire unamortized
value of the acquired intellectual property has been recognized as an impairment
loss in the consolidated statement of loss.
8
|
Related
party transactions and balances
|
Related
parties consist of certain directors and shareholders, companies owned or
controlled by certain shareholders and professional firms in which certain
directors, officers or shareholders have interests. The following
transactions were incurred in the normal course of operations and are measured
at the exchange amount, which is the amount of consideration established and
agreed to by the related parties.
During
the year, the Company incurred amounts totaling approximately $510,525 (2006 -
$301,870; 2005 - $373,870) for legal services rendered by a firm in which a
certain corporate officer is a partner. The Company also paid
$435,207 (2006 - $138,750; 2005 - $41,670) for consulting services rendered by
directors of the Company. At December 31, 2007 approximately $108,964
(2006 - $540) of amounts due to related parties are included in accounts payable
and accrued liabilities.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
9
|
Accounts
Payable and accrued liabilities
|
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professional
fees
|
|
|
1,022,777 |
|
|
|
385,745 |
|
Laboratory
supplies and services
|
|
|
667,905 |
|
|
|
137,340 |
|
Salaries
|
|
|
272,920 |
|
|
|
692,176 |
|
Office
and administration
|
|
|
107,770 |
|
|
|
178,834 |
|
Other
|
|
|
32,000 |
|
|
|
48,000 |
|
Clinical
trial costs
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
149,000 |
|
|
|
|
2,103,372 |
|
|
|
1,591,095 |
|
10
|
Obligations
under capital lease
|
Total principal payments for the year
ended December 31, 2007 were $6,528 (2006 - $1,755; 2005 -
nil). Future obligations under capital leases for 2008 are
$6,159.
Total
future minimum lease payments
|
|
$ |
6,159 |
|
Less
interest at 8.60%
|
|
|
228 |
|
Balance
of obligations under capital lease
|
|
|
5,931 |
|
Less
current portion
|
|
|
5,931 |
|
Long-term
obligations under capital lease
|
|
$ |
- |
|
Interest expense during the year ended
December 31, 2007 totaled $807 (2006 - $386; 2005 - nil).
The
reconciliation of income taxes expense (recovery) attributable to operations
using the statutory tax rate is as follows:
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
$ |
2005
|
|
Canadian
statutory rates
|
|
|
32.12 |
% |
|
|
32.49 |
% |
|
|
33.62 |
% |
Expected
recovery at the statutory rate
|
|
|
(11,819,183 |
) |
|
|
(4,342,861 |
) |
|
|
(3,637,058 |
) |
Unrecognized
deductible temporary differences and tax losses
|
|
|
3,020,765 |
|
|
|
8,983,035 |
|
|
|
(129,368 |
) |
Non-taxable
portion of gain and other items
|
|
|
(657,433 |
) |
|
|
(1,091,142 |
) |
|
|
- |
|
Impact
of substantively enacted rate changes
|
|
|
1,103,838 |
|
|
|
439,716 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Impact
of foreign jurisdiction enacted rate changes
|
|
|
2,967,165 |
|
|
|
99,867 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Stock-based
compensation and other non-deductible expenses
|
|
|
37,858 |
|
|
|
89,998 |
|
|
|
408,000 |
|
Future
income taxes (recovery) expense
|
|
|
(5,346,990 |
) |
|
|
4,178,613 |
|
|
|
(3,358,426 |
) |
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
11 Income
taxes (Continued)
Significant
components of the Company’s future tax balances are as follows:
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
Future
tax assets
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-capital
loss carry forwards
|
|
|
7,090,715 |
|
|
|
6,173,303 |
|
Irish
trading losses
|
|
|
263,852 |
|
|
|
90,288 |
|
Research
and development deductions and investment tax credits
|
|
|
3,555,450 |
|
|
|
2,534,944 |
|
Acquired
intellectual property
|
|
|
561,955 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Other
assets
|
|
|
531,828 |
|
|
|
595,282 |
|
|
|
|
12,003,800 |
|
|
|
9,393,817 |
|
Future
tax liabilities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Acquired
intellectual property
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(5,757,772 |
) |
|
|
|
12,003,800 |
|
|
|
3,636,045 |
|
Valuation
allowance
|
|
|
(12,003,800 |
) |
|
|
(8,983,035 |
) |
Net
future tax liability
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(5,346,990 |
) |
At
December 31, 2007, the Company had approximately $28,362,000 (2006 -
$21,255,000) of Canadian non-capital loss carry forwards; $2,111,000 (2006 -
$722,000) of Irish trading losses; $6,854,000 (2006 - $4,657,000) of Canadian
scientific research and experimental development (“SR&ED”) expenditures;
and, $1,841,000 (2006 - $1,184,000) of Canadian investment tax credits available
to reduce taxable income in future years. The benefit and realization of
the Canadian non-capital loss carry forwards, Irish trading losses, Canadian
SR&ED expenditures and Canadian investment tax credits is not considered
more likely than not of being realized through the use of feasible tax planning
strategies. Therefore these benefits have not been recognized in
these consolidated financial statements. SR&ED expenditures and Irish
trading losses may be carried forward indefinitely. The Canadian
non-capital loss carry forwards and investment tax credits expire as
follows:
|
|
Non-capital
loss
carry
forwards
$
|
|
|
Investment
tax
credits
$
|
|
2008
|
|
|
334,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
2009
|
|
|
668,000 |
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
2010
|
|
|
929,000 |
|
|
|
1,000 |
|
2012
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
2,000 |
|
2013
|
|
|
1,357,000 |
|
|
|
19,000 |
|
2014
|
|
|
1,946,000 |
|
|
|
454,000 |
|
2015
|
|
|
6,259,000 |
|
|
|
620,000 |
|
2026
|
|
|
7,368,000 |
|
|
|
735,000 |
|
2027
|
|
|
9,501,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
28,362,000 |
|
|
|
1,841,000 |
|
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
The
Company has agreements to indemnify its officers and directors for certain
events or occurrences while the officer or director is or was serving at the
Company's request in such capacity. The maximum potential amount of future
payments is unlimited. However, the Company maintains director and officer
liability insurance coverage that limits its exposure and enables the Company to
recover a portion of any future amounts paid.
At
December 31, 2007, expected minimum lease payments in each of the next four
years and in total, relating to the office and laboratory facility and clinical
research, are as follows:
|
|
$ |
|
|
|
|
|
2008
|
|
|
130,816 |
|
|
|
|
|
2009
|
|
|
124,885 |
|
|
|
|
|
2010
|
|
|
115,885 |
|
|
|
|
|
2011
|
|
|
48,285 |
|
|
|
|
|
Thereafter
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
419,871 |
|
|
|
|
|
The
Company received statements of claim from three former management employees
relating to their termination of employment with the Company. The
former employees assert that they are entitled to additional pay, benefits and
accelerated vesting of their stock options due to a change in control within the
Company in 2007. The collective total of these claims is
$1,689,750. ViRexx believes that these claims are without merit and
intends to aggressively defend this position. As the outcome is
uncertain, no amount has been accrued in these consolidated financial
statements.
In
February 2008, the Company proposed settlement of a claim for severance pay and
wrongful dismissal filed by a former employee. The settlement amount
is accrued for in these consolidated financial statements.
Also,
during February 2008 the Company has proposed a settlement to Clarus Securities
Ltd. (“Clarus”) for damages for non-performance in regard to the cancellation of
a $15,000,000 public offering. The proposed settlement includes a
cash payment and warrants. The cash settlement amount has been
accrued in these consolidated financial statements. The issuance of
the warrants will be recorded in the first quarter of 2008 once they are issued
and the exercise price has been determined.
16
|
Government
assistance and research and development
projects
|
During
the year ended December 31, 2007, the Company qualified for a non-repayable
grant in the amount of $226,545 (2006 - $222,140; 2005 - $45,000) from the
National Research Council of Canada, of which $30,265 remained receivable at
December 31, 2007 (2006 - $84,697; 2005 - $nil) and is included in other current
assets on the consolidated balance sheets.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
16 Government
assistance and research and development projects (Continued)
In 2004,
the Company entered into a technology commercialization agreement with the
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (“AHFMR”) in support of costs
for the Phase I liver cancer study for the Occlusin™ Injection
product. Funding of $500,000 was received and credited against
research and development expenses in the year ended December 31,
2004. The Company is required to pay a royalty equivalent to twice
the amount of funding received, from the commercial success of the resulting
products and technology, at a rate of the lesser of 5% of gross sales or
$100,000 per annum. The maximum total payments by the Company under
this agreement are $1,000,000 and begin once there are commercial
sales. To date, there have been no commercial sales.
In 1997,
AltaRex entered into an agreement with the AHFMR to jointly fund clinical
trials, with AltaRex controlling, through ownership or licensing, certain
technology as described in the agreement. Funding of $500,000 was
received in 1997. The Company is required to pay a royalty equivalent
to twice the amount of funding received from the commercial success of the
resulting products and technology, at a rate of the lesser of 5% of gross sales
or $100,000 per annum. The maximum total payments by the Company
under this agreement are $1,000,000 and begin once there are commercial
sales. To date, there have been no commercial sales.
Amounts
received related to government assistance were recorded as a reduction of
research and development expense.
17
|
Research
and development projects
|
The
Company is in the development stage and conducts research and development in the
areas of biopharmaceutical products for the treatment of ovarian cancer, chronic
hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C and selected solid tumours.
·
|
The
Company’s T-ACT™ technology platform is a novel and proprietary targeted
tumour starvation technology platform which has the potential to produce a
wide range of products that stop the flow of blood to solid tumours, both
malignant (cancer) and non-malignant
(benign).
|
·
|
The
Chimigen™ technology platform encompasses a molecular design recognizable
by the body’s immune system to break tolerance by mounting a humoral
(antibody) as well as a highly desirable cellular response to clear the
virus that is responsible for the chronic
infection.
|
·
|
OvaRex®
MAb is a murine monoclonal antibody that has a high degree of specificity
to a tumour associated antigen that is over-expressed in the majority of
late stage ovarian cancer patients. The Company believes that
the product acts as an immunotherapeutic agent by inducing and/or
amplifying the human body’s immune response against ovarian
cancer. All development costs for OvaRex®
MAb were borne by Unither pursuant to the development agreement described
in note 7.
|
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
$ |
2005
|
|
T-ACT™
|
|
|
1,717,158 |
|
|
|
1,609,644 |
|
|
|
1,236,748 |
|
Chimigen™
|
|
|
1,906,619 |
|
|
|
3,651,341 |
|
|
|
3,162,108 |
|
OvaRex®
MAb
|
|
|
1,363,328 |
|
|
|
898,277 |
|
|
|
396,334 |
|
Gross
research and development expenses
|
|
|
4,987,105 |
|
|
|
6,159,262 |
|
|
|
4,795,190 |
|
Government
grants (note 16)
|
|
|
(226,545 |
) |
|
|
(222,140 |
) |
|
|
(45,000 |
) |
Net
research and development expenses
|
|
|
4,760,560 |
|
|
|
5,937,122 |
|
|
|
4,750,190 |
|
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
Authorized
share capital
The
Company is authorized to issue an unlimited number of no par value common
shares.
Normal
Course Issuer Bid
On
December 21, 2004, the Company received approval for a Normal Course Issuer Bid
allowing the Company to repurchase up to 2,663,824 common shares during the
period from December 23, 2004 to December 22, 2005, at the market price at the
time of purchase. The Company repurchased 2,056,900 common shares at
an average price of $1.10 per share for the period January 1, 2005 to December
22, 2005, which resulted in a reduction of $1,645,113 to share capital and a
charge of $610,663 to deficit.
2007
Transactions
There
were no transactions impacting share capital in fiscal 2007.
2006
Transactions
On
February 16, 2006, the Company completed a private placement of 10,909,090 units
for gross proceeds of $12,000,000. Each unit consists of one common
share and one common share purchase warrant. Each common share
warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a
price of $1.50 for a period of two years. Proceeds of $5,404,363 were
allocated to contributed surplus based on the estimated fair value of the
warrants on the date granted. The brokers for the private placement
received compensation of 7% of the gross proceeds and 1,090,909 broker warrants
valued at $539,962 as a commission. Each broker warrant entitles the
brokers to acquire one common share of the Company for $1.50 per share until
February 15, 2008. Additional cash costs of $64,603 were also
incurred.
On April
7, 2006, the Company completed a private placement of 800,000 units for gross
proceeds of $1,000,000. Each unit consists of one common share and
one common share purchase warrant. Each common share warrant entitles
the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a price of $1.75 for a
period of two years. Proceeds of $276,480 were allocated to
contributed surplus based on the estimated fair value of the warrants on the
date granted. The broker for the private placement received cash of
$40,000 as a commission.
On
November 1, 2006, the Company issued 200,000 common shares at a price of $0.74
in lieu of cash consideration for investor relations consulting for a non-cash
expense of $148,000.
On
December 6, 2006, the Company completed a private placement of 1,818,182 units
for gross proceeds of $2,000,000. Each unit consists of one common
share and one common share purchase warrant. Each common share
warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a
price of $1.75 for a period of two years. Proceeds of $286,727 were
allocated to contributed surplus based on the estimated fair value of the
warrant on the date granted. The brokers for the private placement
received cash of $59,715 as a commission.
2005
Transactions
On
September 9, 2005, the Company completed a brokered private placement of
4,035,665 units for gross proceeds of $4,035,665. Each unit consisted
of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant. Each
whole share purchase warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share of
ViRexx at a price of $1.20 for a period of two years. Proceeds were
allocated $2,970,316 to share capital and $1,065,349 to contributed surplus
based on the estimated fair value of the warrants on the date
granted. The broker for the private placement received cash of 7% of
the gross proceeds and 403,567 broker warrants as a commission. Each
broker warrant entitles the broker to acquire one common share of the Company
for $1.20 per share until September 9, 2007.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
18 Share
capital (Continued)
Stock
options
The
Company’s Stock Option Plan provides for the granting of stock options to
directors, officers, employees and consultants. On June 16, 2005, the
Company’s shareholders approved a new plan (the “Plan”). The Plan
permits the issuance of stock options to purchase a maximum of 8,256,000 common
shares of the Company. All options vest within three years or less
and are exercisable for a period of ten years or less from the date of
grant.
The
following table summarizes information relating to stock options outstanding and
exercisable under the Plan at December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005.
|
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
|
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
|
|
|
2005
|
|
|
|
Stock
options
#
|
|
|
Weighted
average
Exercise
price
$
|
|
|
Stock
options
#
|
|
|
Weighted
average
Exercise
price
$
|
|
|
Stock
options
#
|
|
|
Weighted
average
Exercise
price
$
|
|
Outstanding
–
Beginning
of year
|
|
|
6,096,241 |
|
|
|
0.81 |
|
|
|
6,670,200 |
|
|
|
0.84 |
|
|
|
6,369,168 |
|
|
|
0.84 |
|
Granted
|
|
|
2,580,341 |
|
|
|
0.50 |
|
|
|
837,363 |
|
|
|
1.00 |
|
|
|
640,000 |
|
|
|
1.04 |
|
Exercised
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
0.00 |
|
|
|
(590,000 |
) |
|
|
0.50 |
|
|
|
(225,218 |
) |
|
|
0.85 |
|
Expired
|
|
|
(2,538,461 |
) |
|
|
0.76 |
|
|
|
(550,665 |
) |
|
|
0.90 |
|
|
|
(113,750 |
) |
|
|
5.64 |
|
Forfeited
|
|
|
(805,310 |
) |
|
|
0.84 |
|
|
|
(270,657 |
) |
|
|
0.94 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
Outstanding
– End of year
|
|
|
5,332,811 |
|
|
|
0.67 |
|
|
|
6,096,241 |
|
|
|
0.81 |
|
|
|
6,670,200 |
|
|
|
0.84 |
|
Exercisable
– End of year
|
|
|
4,854,674 |
|
|
|
0.71 |
|
|
|
5,282,401 |
|
|
|
0.78 |
|
|
|
5,712,066 |
|
|
|
0.80 |
|
On
February 1, 2005, the Company granted 300,000 stock options as an inducement to
an individual to join the Company as an officer and these were not issued under
the Plan. These options have expired and are included in the claims
described in note 14.
The
following table summarizes information relating to currently outstanding and
exercisable options:
|
|
|
Options
Outstanding
|
|
|
Options
Exercisable
|
|
Range
of Exercise Prices
$
|
|
|
Number
of
Options
#
|
|
|
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contracted
Life
(years)
|
|
|
Weighted
Average Exercise Price
$
|
|
|
Exercisable
Number of
Options
#
|
|
|
Weighted
Average Exercise Price
$
|
|
|
0.00
– 0.50 |
|
|
|
1,057,166 |
|
|
|
9.98 |
|
|
|
0.10 |
|
|
|
1,057,166 |
|
|
|
0.10 |
|
|
0.51
– 1.00 |
|
|
|
3,484,120 |
|
|
|
4.00 |
|
|
|
0.78 |
|
|
|
3,096,333 |
|
|
|
0.80 |
|
|
1.01
– 1.50 |
|
|
|
771,525 |
|
|
|
9.03 |
|
|
|
1.13 |
|
|
|
681,175 |
|
|
|
1.10 |
|
|
1.51
– 7.00 |
|
|
|
20,000 |
|
|
|
3.34 |
|
|
|
5.08 |
|
|
|
20,000 |
|
|
|
5.08 |
|
|
0.00
– 7.00 |
|
|
|
5,332,811 |
|
|
|
5.92 |
|
|
|
0.67 |
|
|
|
4,854,674 |
|
|
|
0.71 |
|
At
December 31, 2007, the 5,332,811 options outstanding had a weighted average
remaining contracted life of approximately six years (2006 – four
years).
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
18 Share
capital (Continued)
Stock-based
compensation expense
During
the year ended December 31, 2007, the Company recognized $750,070 (2006 -
$605,039; 2005 - $457,349) of compensation expense and contributed
surplus. Research and development expense and corporate
administration expense included compensation expense of $131,234 (2006 -
$150,959; 2005 - $53,780) and $618,836 (2006 - $454,080; 2005 - $403,569)
respectively.
The fair
value of each stock option granted is estimated on the date of grant using the
Black-Scholes option pricing model based on the following weighted average
assumptions:
|
|
2007
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
2005
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expected
life
|
|
7
years
|
|
|
7
years
|
|
|
7
years
|
|
Risk-free
interest rate
|
|
|
4.2 |
% |
|
|
4.1 |
% |
|
|
4.3 |
% |
Expected
volatility
|
|
|
85.4 |
% |
|
|
58.6 |
% |
|
|
87.6 |
% |
Expected
dividend yield
|
|
|
0.0 |
% |
|
|
0.0 |
% |
|
|
0.0 |
% |
Expected
forfeiture rate
|
|
|
25.0 |
% |
|
|
25.0 |
% |
|
|
25.0 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weighted
average fair value of options granted
|
|
$ |
0.34 |
|
|
$ |
0.54 |
|
|
$ |
0.93 |
|
Warrants
At
December 31, 2007, there were 14,618,181 (2006 - 17,077,480) warrants
outstanding at a weighted average exercise price of $1.48 (2006 -
$1.44). The value attributed to the warrants is included in
contributed surplus.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2007
|
|
Expiry
date
|
|
Exercise
price
$
|
|
|
Opening
#
|
|
|
Granted
#
|
|
|
Exercised
#
|
|
|
Cancelled
#
|
|
|
Closing
#
|
|
September
9, 2007
|
|
|
1.20 |
|
|
|
2,459,299 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
2,459,299 |
|
|
|
- |
|
February
15, 2008
|
|
|
1.50 |
|
|
|
11,999,999 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
11,999,999 |
|
April
7, 2008
|
|
|
1.75 |
|
|
|
800,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
800,000 |
|
December
6, 2008
|
|
|
1.25 |
|
|
|
1,818,182 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,818,182 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17,077,480 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
2,459,299 |
|
|
|
14,618,181 |
|
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
18 Share
capital (Continued)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2006
|
|
Expiry
date
|
|
Exercise
price
$
|
|
|
Opening
#
|
|
|
Granted
#
|
|
|
Exercised
#
|
|
|
Cancelled
#
|
|
|
Closing
#
|
|
November
26, 2006
|
|
|
4.00 |
|
|
|
360,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
360,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
September
9, 2007
|
|
|
1.20 |
|
|
|
2,459,299 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
2,459,299 |
|
February
15, 2008
|
|
|
1.50 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
11,999,999 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
11,999,999 |
|
April
7, 2008
|
|
|
1.75 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
800,000 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
800,000 |
|
December
6, 2008
|
|
|
1.25 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,818,182 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
1,818,182 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2,819,299 |
|
|
|
14,618,181 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
360,000 |
|
|
|
17,077,480 |
|
The fair
value of each warrant granted is estimated on the date of grant using the
Black-Scholes option pricing model based on the following weighted average
assumptions:
|
|
2007
|
|
|
2006
|
|
|
2005
|
|
Warrant
price
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
$ |
1.34 |
|
|
$ |
1.05 |
|
Strike
price
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
$ |
1.48 |
|
|
$ |
1.20 |
|
Years
to maturity
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
2
years
|
|
|
2
years
|
|
Risk-free
interest rate
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
|
4.0 |
% |
|
|
3.0 |
% |
Volatility
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
|
61.20 |
% |
|
|
81.0 |
% |
Expected
dividend yield
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
|
0.0 |
% |
|
|
0.0 |
% |
Weighted
average fair value of warrants granted
|
|
|
N/A |
|
|
$ |
0.45 |
|
|
$ |
0.43 |
|
19
|
Net
loss per common share
|
Common
shares that could potentially dilute basic loss per common share in the future,
but were not included in the computation of diluted loss per common share for
December 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005 because to do so would be anti-dilutive, are as
follows:
|
|
|
2007
# |
|
|
|
2006
# |
|
|
|
2005
# |
|
Stock
options
|
|
|
5,332,811 |
|
|
|
6,396,241 |
|
|
|
6,970,200 |
|
Warrants
|
|
|
14,618,181 |
|
|
|
17,077,480 |
|
|
|
2,819,299 |
|
Total
anti-dilutive shares
|
|
|
19,950,992 |
|
|
|
23,473,721 |
|
|
|
9,789,499 |
|
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
20
|
Supplementary
cash flow information
|
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
$ |
2005
|
|
Change
in non-cash working capital items
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prepaid
expenses and deposits
|
|
|
28,861 |
|
|
|
(1,844 |
) |
|
|
216,485 |
|
Other
current assets
|
|
|
118,904 |
|
|
|
(154,870 |
) |
|
|
73,824 |
|
Accounts
payable and accrued liabilities
|
|
|
512,277 |
|
|
|
920,929 |
|
|
|
(74,639 |
) |
|
|
|
660,042 |
|
|
|
764,215 |
|
|
|
215,670 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Income
taxes paid
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
paid
|
|
|
1,659 |
|
|
|
1,458 |
|
|
|
200,144 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interest
received
|
|
|
218,152 |
|
|
|
400,201 |
|
|
|
218,504 |
|
The
Company operates in one business segment which is the development of
pharmaceutical products based on its licensed and proprietary technologies, with
substantially all of its operations and long lived assets, excluding a portion
of the intangible assets, in Canada.
22
|
Corporate
reorganization
|
On
February 14, 2007, a 13D was filed with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission by 27% of the shareholders to recommend a change in the
majority of the Board of Directors of ViRexx. Also at this time, work
was being performed relating to the proposed $15.0 million public
offering. On April 7, 2007, management discontinued the public
offering subsequent to the agreement reached with the 13D
group. ViRexx incurred costs of $740,924 relating to these
actions.
In
November 2006, ViRexx announced an operational restructuring in which staffing
levels were reduced by seven employees in an effort to reduce
spending.
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
$ |
2005
|
|
Severance
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
135,807 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Legal
|
|
|
463,155 |
|
|
|
5,100 |
|
|
|
- |
|
Travel
|
|
|
42,890 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
Accounting
|
|
|
92,246 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
Consulting
|
|
|
142,633 |
|
|
|
16,625 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
740,924 |
|
|
|
157,532 |
|
|
|
- |
|
These
costs are included in corporate administration in the consolidated statement of
net loss and include amounts disclosed in note 14 and 15 to the extent they have
been accrued.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
Financial
instruments of the Company consist of cash, short-term investments, other
current assets, accounts payable and accrued liabilities and obligations under
capital lease. The fair value of these instruments approximates their
carrying amount due to their immediate or short-term maturity.
Credit
risk
Financial
instruments that potentially expose the Company to significant concentrations of
credit risk consist principally of cash and short-term
investments. The Company has investment policies to mitigate against
the deterioration of principal, to enhance the Company’s ability to meet its
liquidity needs and to optimize yields within those parameters. Cash
and short-term investments are on deposit with a Canadian chartered
bank.
Interest
rate risk
The
Company is exposed to interest rate risk arising from fluctuations in interest
rates on its cash and cash equivalents and short-term
investments. The Company does not use derivative instruments to
reduce its exposure to interest rate risk.
Currency
risk
The
Company operates primarily within Canada and, therefore, is not exposed to
significant foreign currency risk. The Company has not entered into
foreign exchange derivative contracts.
Liquidity
risk
The
Company’s exposure to liquidity risk is dependent on purchasing commitments and
obligations or raising of funds to meet commitments and sustain operations. The
Company controls liquidity risk through management of working capital, cash
flows and the availability and sourcing of financing.
24
|
Reconciliation
to accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States
|
The
consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in
accordance with Canadian GAAP. These principles conform in all
material respects with U.S. GAAP except as noted below.
Consolidated
Balance Sheets
|
December
31, 2007
|
December
31, 2006
|
|
Canadian
GAAP
$
|
U.S.
GAAP
$
|
Canadian
GAAP
$
|
U.S.
GAAP
$
|
Acquired
intellectual property (a)
|
-
|
-
|
$
27,369,445
|
-
|
Future
income taxes (a)
|
-
|
-
|
5,346,990
|
-
|
Deficit
accumulated during development stage (a)
|
(65,381,861)
|
(65,381,861)
|
(33,814,171)
|
(55,836,626)
|
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
24 Reconciliation
to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
(Continued)
Shareholders’
Equity
|
December
31, 2007
$
|
December
31, 2006
$
|
Canadian
GAAP
|
|
1,181,529
|
|
31,999,149
|
Adjustments
|
|
|
|
|
Acquired
intellectual property rights (a)
|
|
-
|
|
(27,369,445)
|
Future
income taxes (a)
|
|
-
|
|
5,346,990
|
U.S.
GAAP
|
|
1,181,529
|
|
9,976,694
|
Consolidated
Statements of Loss and Comprehensive Loss
|
|
$ |
2007
|
|
|
$ |
2006
|
|
|
$ |
2005
|
|
Net
loss and comprehensive loss in accordance with
Canadian
GAAP
|
|
|
(31,567,690 |
) |
|
|
(17,493,375 |
) |
|
|
(7,459,714 |
) |
Adjustments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Write-down
of acquired intellectual property (a)
|
|
|
24,991,344 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
Amortization
(a)
|
|
|
2,378,101 |
|
|
|
2,620,652 |
|
|
|
2,357,441 |
|
Future
income taxes (a)
|
|
|
(5,346,990 |
) |
|
|
4,178,613 |
|
|
|
(3,358,426 |
) |
Net
loss and comprehensive loss in accordance with U.S. GAAP
|
|
|
(9,545,235 |
) |
|
|
(10,694,110 |
) |
|
|
(8,460,699 |
) |
Canadian
GAAP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss per common share – basic and diluted
|
|
|
(0.43 |
) |
|
|
(0.25 |
) |
|
|
(0.13 |
) |
U.S.
GAAP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net
loss per common share – basic and diluted
|
|
|
(0.13 |
) |
|
|
(0.16 |
) |
|
|
(0.15 |
) |
|
|
|
# |
|
|
|
# |
|
|
|
# |
|
Weighted-average
number of common shares outstanding – basic and diluted
|
|
|
72,760,717 |
|
|
|
68,921,409 |
|
|
|
55,827,119 |
|
Consolidated
Cash Flow Statements
Subsequent
to the issuance of the Company’s 2007 consolidated financial statements, the
Company’s management determined that certain cash flows associated with
short-term investments should have been classified with cash flows from
investing activities rather than cash flows from operating activities for U.S.
GAAP purposes for the period from January 1 2007 to December 31, 2007.
Commencing on January 1, 2007 new short-term investments were classified as
held-for-trading securities and properly classified as cash flows from operating
activities. However, proceeds associated with the settlement of
short-term investments purchased prior to January 1, 2007 and classified as
available-for-sale should have been reflected with cash flows from investing
activities for the period from January 1, 2007 to December 31,
2007. As a result, the U.S. GAAP operating cash flows were overstated
by $10,336,837 (restated 2007 amount ($8,053,068)) and the U.S. GAAP investing
cash flows understated by the same amount (restated 2007 amount
$10,187,347).
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
24 Reconciliation
to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
(Continued)
This U.S.
GAAP reclassification of cash flows did not impact the Company’s consolidated
balance sheets, consolidated statements of loss and comprehensive loss or the
Canadian GAAP consolidated statements of cash flows.
There are
no reconciling difference between Canadian GAAP and U.S. GAAP for the years
ended December 31, 2006 and 2005 in respect of the consolidated cash flow
statements
The
significant differences in accounting principles as they pertain to the
accompanying consolidated financial statements are as follows:
(a)
|
Acquired
intellectual property rights
|
Canadian
GAAP requires the capitalization and amortization of the costs of acquired
intellectual property. Under U.S. GAAP, the cost of acquiring
intellectual property is charged to expense as in-process research and
development (“IPRD”) when acquired if the feasibility of such technology has not
been established and no future alternative use exists. This
difference increases the loss from operations under U.S. GAAP in the year the
IPRD is acquired and reduces the loss under U.S. GAAP in subsequent periods
because there is no amortization charge.
Under
Canadian GAAP, a future tax liability is also recorded upon acquisition of the
intellectual property to reflect the tax effect of the difference between the
carrying amount of the intellectual property in the consolidated financial
statements and the tax basis of these assets. Under U.S. GAAP,
because the intellectual property is expensed immediately as IPRD, there is no
difference between the tax basis and the financial statement carrying value of
the assets and therefore no future tax liability exists.
All of
the acquired intellectual property that had been previously recognized on the
consolidated financial statements under Canadian GAAP was written off during the
year ended December 31, 2007 (note 7). At December 31, 2007, the
consolidated balance sheets are the same using Canadian GAAP and U.S. GAAP as
there are no other reconciling items present.
(b)
|
Stock-based
compensation
|
For U.S.
GAAP, the Company applied Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“FAS”)
No. 123 as of January 1, 2004 using the retroactive restatement transition
provisions of FAS 123, which requires the restatement of all periods presented
for options granted, modified or settled in fiscal years beginning after
December 15, 1994.
FAS 123
was subsequently revised through the issue of FAS 123R (2004), FSP FAS 123R-1
(2005) and FSP FAS 123R-2 (2005). Under the provisions of FAS 123R
and related FSP’s, all share-based compensation cost is measured at the grant
date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as an expense over
the employee’s requisite service period (generally the vesting period of the
equity grant).
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
24 Reconciliation
to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
(Continued)
(c)
|
Current
accounting pronouncements
|
a)
|
Recent
United States accounting pronouncements issued and
adopted
|
i)
|
Accounting
for uncertainty in income taxes
|
In June
2006, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued FASB
Interpretation No. 48 “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes” (“FIN 48”),
an interpretation of Statement of Financial Accounting (“FAS”) 109 “Accounting
for Income Taxes”. On January 1, 2007, the Company adopted the
provisions of FIN 48 that prescribe a recognition threshold and measurement
attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax
position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The
interpretation requires that the Company recognize the impact of a tax position
in the financial statements if that position is more likely than not of being
sustained on audit, based on the technical merits of the position. FIN 48 also
provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties,
accounting in interim periods and disclosure. In accordance with the provisions
of FIN 48, any cumulative effect resulting from the change in accounting
principle is to be recorded as an adjustment to the opening balance of deficit.
The adoption of FIN 48 did not result in a material impact on the Company’s
consolidated financial position or results of operations.
b)
|
Recent
United States accounting pronouncements issued and not yet
adopted
|
i)
|
Fair
value measurements
|
In
September 2006, the FASB approved FAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (“FAS
157”), which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair
value in U.S. GAAP and enhances disclosures about fair value
measurements. This statement applies when other accounting
pronouncements require fair value measurements. It does not require
new fair value measurements. This statement is effective for
financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15,
2007. The adoption of FAS 157 will not result in a material impact on
the Company’s financial position or results of operations.
ii)
|
The
Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial
Liabilities
|
In
February 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for
Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities” (“FAS 159”), which allows entities
the option to measure eligible financial instruments at fair value as of
specified dates. Such election, which may be applied on an instrument by
instrument basis, is typically irrevocable once elected. This statement is
effective for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007, and early
application is allowed under certain circumstances. The adoption of FAS 159 will
not result in a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results
of operations.
iii)
|
Accounting
for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services Received for Use
in Future Research and Development
Activities
|
In June
2007, the Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) issued EITF Issue No. 07-3
“Accounting for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services Received
for Use in Future Research and Development Activities” (“EITF 07-3”). EITF 07-3
requires that nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services that will be
used or rendered for future research and development activities be deferred and
capitalized and recognized as an expense as the goods are delivered or the
related services are performed. EITF 07-3 is effective for fiscal years
beginning after December 15, 2007. The adoption of EITF 07-03
will not result in a material impact on the Company’s financial position or
results of operations.
ViRexx
Medical Corp.
(a
development stage company)
Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements
(expressed
in Canadian dollars)
24 Reconciliation
to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States
(Continued)
iv)
|
Collaborative
Agreements
|
In
September 2007, the EITF reached a consensus on EITF Issue No. 07-1
“Collaborative Arrangements” ("EITF 07-1"). EITF 07-1 addresses the accounting
for arrangements in which two companies work together to achieve a commercial
objective, without forming a separate legal entity. The nature and purpose of a
company's collaborative arrangements are required to be disclosed, along with
the accounting policies applied and the classification and amounts for
significant financial activities related to the arrangements. EITF 07-1 is
effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008. EITF
07-1 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15,
2008. The Company is currently assessing the impact EITF 07-1will
have on its results of operations and financial position.
The FASB
recently completed the second phase of its business combinations project, to
date the most significant convergence effort with the International Accounting
Standards Board (“IASB”), and issued the following two accounting
standards:
i.
|
Statement
No. 141, Business Combination; and
|
ii.
|
Statement
No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements –
an amendment of ARB No.51.
|
These
statements dramatically change the way companies account for business
combinations and noncontrolling interests (minority interests in current U.S.
GAAP). Compared with their predecessors, Statements 141(R) and 160
will require:
·
|
More
assets acquired and liabilities assumed to measured at fair value as of
the acquisition date;
|
·
|
Liabilities
related to contingent consideration to be remeasured at fair value in each
subsequent reporting period;
|
·
|
An
acquirer in preacquisition periods to expense all acquisition related
costs; and
|
·
|
Noncontrolling
interests in subsidiaries initially to be measure at fair value and
classified as a separate component of
equity.
|
Statements
141(R) and 160 should both be applied prospectively for fiscal years beginning
on or after December 15, 2008. However, Statement 160 requires
entities to apply the presentation and disclosure requirements retrospectively
(e.g., by reclassifying noncontrolling interests to appear in equity) to
comparative financial statements if presented. Both standards
prohibit early adoption. The Company is currently assessing the
impact these new standards will have on its consolidated financial
statements.