Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(5)
Registration No. 333-192541

 

This prospectus supplement relates to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, but is not complete and may be changed. This prospectus supplement is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED JANUARY 23, 2014
PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS DATED JANUARY 8, 2014

 

 

[*] Shares of

Common Stock

 

 

 

We are offering [*] shares of our common stock as described in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus.

 

Our common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "TNXP". The last reported sales price of our common stock on January 22, 2014 was $17.86 per share.

 

The underwriters have a 45-day option to purchase an additional [*] shares of our common stock.

 

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See "Risk Factors" beginning on page S-6 of this prospectus supplement, and under similar headings in the other documents that are incorporated by reference into this prospectus.

 

   Per Share   Total 
Public offering price  $ [*]   $[*] 
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)  $ [*]   $[*] 
Proceeds to us, before expenses  $[*]   $[*] 

 

  (1) The underwriters will receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount. See “Underwriting” beginning on page S-30 of this prospectus supplement for a description of compensation payable to the underwriters.

  

Delivery of the shares of common stock will be made on or about January [*], 2014.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus supplement or the prospectus to which it relates is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

  

Sole Book Running Manager

Roth Capital Partners

 

 

 

Co-Manager

National Securities Corporation

 

The date of this prospectus supplement is January     , 2014

 

 
 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

 

Page

About this Prospectus Supplement ii
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements iii
Prospectus Supplement Summary S-1
Risk Factors S-6
Use of Proceeds S-28
Dividend Policy S-28
Dilution S-29
Underwriting S-30
Notice to Investors S-34
Legal Matters S-35
Experts S-35
Where you can find more Information S-35
Incorporation of Documents by Reference S-36

 

PROSPECTUS

 

 

Page 

About this Prospectus 2
Our Business 2
Risk Factors 6
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 28
Use of Proceeds 28
The Securities We may Offer 28
Description of Capital Stock 29
Description of Warrants 30
Description of Units 32
Plan of Distribution 32
Legal Matters 34
Experts 34
Where you can find more Information 35
Incorporation of Documents by Reference 35

 

i
 

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

 

This document is in two parts. The first part is this prospectus supplement, which describes the specific terms of this offering and also adds to and updates information contained in the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. The second part, the accompanying prospectus, gives more general information about securities we may offer from time to time, some of which does not apply to this offering. Generally, when we refer to this prospectus, we are referring to both parts of this document combined together with all documents incorporated by reference. If the description of the offering varies between this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, you should rely on the information contained in this prospectus supplement. However, if any statement in one of these documents is inconsistent with a statement in another document having a later date—for example, a document incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus—the statement in the document having the later date modifies or supersedes the earlier statement. You should rely only on the information contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement or contained in or incorporated by reference into the accompanying prospectus to which we have referred you. Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We do not, and the underwriters do not, take responsibility for, and can provide no assurances as to, the reliability of any information that others provide you. The information contained in, or incorporated by reference into, this prospectus supplement and contained in, or incorporated by reference into, the accompanying prospectus is accurate only as of the respective dates thereof, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus or of any sale of securities. It is important for you to read and consider all information contained in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein, in making your investment decision. You should also read and consider the information in the documents to which we have referred you under the captions "Where You Can Find More Information" and "Incorporation of Documents by Reference" in this prospectus supplement and in the accompanying prospectus.

 

We are offering to sell, and are seeking offers to buy, the shares only in jurisdictions where such offers and sales are permitted. The distribution of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus and the offering of the shares in certain jurisdictions or to certain persons within such jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus must inform themselves about and observe any restrictions relating to the offering of the shares and the distribution of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus outside the United States. This prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus do not constitute, and may not be used in connection with, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities offered by this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus by any person in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful for such person to make such an offer or solicitation.

 

ii
 

 

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, including the documents that we incorporate by reference, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Such forward-looking statements include those that express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals, targets or future development and/or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding:

 

our expectations regarding clinical trials, the timing of clinical results, development timelines and regulatory filings and submissions for our product candidates;
   
our current  Phase 2b/3 BEdtime Sublingual TNX-102 SL as Fibromyalgia Intervention Therapy (BESTFIT) trial in fibromyalgia patients;
   
our intention to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial of TNX-102 SL for post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, during the third quarter of 2014;
   
our liquidity and our expectations regarding our needs for and ability to raise additional capital; and
   
the amount, and our expected uses, of the net proceeds of this offering.

 

These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and projections about future events and they are subject to risks and uncertainties known and unknown to us that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements, including the risks described under "Risk Factors" in this prospectus supplement, and the other information in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2012.

 

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology, such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "may," "should", "could" or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Accordingly, these statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them. Any forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed throughout this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus.

 

You should read this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents that we reference herein and therein, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference is accurate as of their respective dates. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may change. We may not update these forward-looking statements, even though our situation may change in the future, unless required by law to update and disclose material developments related to previously disclosed information. We qualify all of the information presented in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, and particularly our forward-looking statements, by these cautionary statements.

 

iii
 

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY

 

The following summary is qualified in its entirety by, and should be read together with, the more detailed information and financial statements and related notes thereto appearing elsewhere or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. Before you decide to invest in our securities, you should read the entire prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus carefully, including the risk factors and the financial statements and related notes included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus.

 

Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, this prospectus supplement includes the accounts of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., a Nevada corporation (“Tonix”), and together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, as follows, collectively referred to as “we”, “us” or the “Company”: Tonix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Tonix Sub”), Krele LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Krele”), Tonix Pharmaceuticals (Canada), Inc., a corporation incorporated under the laws of the province of New Brunswick, Canada (“Tonix Canada”) and Tonix Pharmaceuticals (Barbados) Ltd., a corporation incorporated under the laws of Barbados (“Tonix Barbados”). Tonix Sub is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tonix, and Krele, Tonix Canada and Tonix Barbados are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Tonix Sub.

 

Business Overview

 

We are a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to the identification and development of novel pharmaceutical products for challenging disorders of the central nervous system, or CNS. Our lead drug development programs are directed toward CNS conditions that manifest with pain that originates in the brain, or central pain. Central pain results from abnormal sensory processing in the CNS, rather than from dysfunction in peripheral tissues where pain is perceived. Our most advanced development program is for the management of fibromyalgia, or FM, a central pain syndrome. We also have a development program for the management of PTSD, in which central pain is a component. We also have a pipeline of additional product candidates that we plan to develop for other CNS indications.

 

TNX-102 SL

 

We are currently devoting the majority of our efforts to the development of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 sublingual tablet, or TNX-102 SL. TNX-102 SL is a novel dose and formulation of cyclobenzaprine, or CBP, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of two widely prescribed products, Flexeril® and Amrix®. We are pursuing the development of TNX-102 SL for indications distinct from those for which current CBP products are approved. We believe that TNX-102 SL is an optimized CBP product for the treatment of FM and PTSD, and is distinct from current CBP products in three ways: (1) it is being developed at a dose level significantly below the lowest marketed doses of current CBP products; (2) it is placed under the tongue, to disintegrate, dissolve and provide sublingual absorption, whereas current CBP products are swallowed and provide absorption in the small intestine; and (3) it is being developed for chronic use, whereas current CBP products are marketed for two to three weeks of use. We are developing TNX-102 SL for the treatment of FM under a U.S. Investigational New Drug application, or IND, and we held an End-of-Phase 2/Pre-Phase 3 meeting with the FDA in February 2013. TNX-102 SL is in a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for the improvement of pain in subjects with FM, from which we expect to report initial results in the second half of 2014.

 

Our therapeutic strategy is supported by results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2a study of low dose TNX-102 immediate release capsules taken between dinner and bedtime in 36 subjects with FM, which demonstrated a significant decrease in pain and other symptoms after eight weeks of treatment. This study also demonstrated that low dose TNX-102 immediate release capsules led to a significant improvement in objective measures of sleep quality, which we believe relates to the mechanism by which CBP leads to improvement of FM symptoms. We have completed four Phase 1 studies under Canadian Clinical Trial Applications. Our Phase 1 studies demonstrated TNX-102 SL to exhibit a pharmacokinetic profile that we believe supports chronic bedtime administration for the treatment of FM, and is distinct from those of currently-available CBP products. 

 

S-1
 

 

 

FM is a chronic syndrome characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. According to the National Institutes of Health, there are approximately five million people suffering from FM in the U.S. The peak incidence of FM occurs at 20 – 50 years of age, and 80-90% of diagnosed patients are female. FM may have a substantial negative impact on social and occupational function, including disrupted relationships with family and friends, social isolation, reduced activities of daily living and leisure activities, avoidance of physical activity, and loss of career or inability to advance in careers or education.

 

Although the disordered brain processes that underlie FM are yet to be fully understood, the mechanisms of drugs that treat central pain are believed to target certain aspects of nerve signaling. Three drugs, Lyrica® (pregabalin), Cymbalta® (duloxetine), and Savella® (milnacipran), are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the management of FM and are believed to act upon molecular pathways involved in central pain. Lyrica is believed to affect nerve signaling by blocking calcium channels on nerve cells, and is considered a nerve membrane stabilizer. Cymbalta and Savella are believed to directly inhibit the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine by nerves, and are referred to as Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors, or SNRIs. CBP, the active ingredient of TNX-102 SL, is a selective antagonist of serotonin and norepinephrine receptors as well as an inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake, and we refer to it as a Serotonin and Norepinephrine receptor Antagonist and Reuptake Inhibitor, or SNARI.

 

As many products used for the treatment of FM are approved and marketed for other conditions, sales of these products related specifically to FM can only be estimated. Based on information obtained from publicly available sources, we believe U.S. sales of prescription drugs specifically for the treatment of FM totaled approximately $1.5 billion in 2012, and we believe this segment had grown at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 14% in 2007 – 12. Based on information obtained from publicly available sources, we believe 2012 sales of Cymbalta, Lyrica, and Savella in FM were approximately $600 million, $475 million, and $100 million, respectively.

 

Despite the availability and use of a variety of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, FM remains a significant unmet medical need. Many patients fail to adequately respond to the approved medications, or discontinue therapy due to poor tolerability. Prescription pain and sleep medications are frequently taken ‘off-label’ for symptomatic relief, despite the lack of evidence that such medications provide a meaningful or durable therapeutic effect. An important goal of FM treatment is to reduce the dependence on opiate analgesic as well as on benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic medications by FM patients. Since CBP has no recognized addictive potential, we believe that TNX-102 SL, if approved, could reduce the exposure of FM patients to medications that have not been shown to be effective in treating FM and are associated with significant safety risks.

 

TNX-102 SL is a small, rapidly disintegrating tablet containing CBP for sublingual administration at bedtime. We designed TNX-102 SL to enable the efficient delivery of CBP to the systemic circulation via sublingual transmucosal absorption and to avoid first-pass liver metabolism. We also designed TNX-102 SL to provide CBP at a dose lower than those currently available. We have conducted several clinical and non-clinical pharmacokinetic studies of TNX-102 sublingual formulations, which we believe support the development of TNX-102 SL as a novel therapeutic product for FM and PTSD, and which demonstrate a number of potentially advantageous characteristics as compared to current CBP-containing products, none of which are approved for these indications. For example, our Phase 1 comparative studies showed that TNX-102 SL results in faster systemic absorption and significantly higher plasma levels of CBP in the first hour following administration relative to oral CBP tablets. TNX-102 SL was generally well-tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported in these studies. Some subjects experienced transient numbness on the tongue after TNX-102 SL administration, and other side-effects reported were similar to those associated with current CBP products. 

 

S-2
 

 

 

At our End-of-Phase 2/Pre-Phase 3 meeting with the FDA, we discussed the design of the clinical program, including the acceptability of the pivotal study design and the proposed registration plan, to support the approval of TNX-102 SL for the management of FM. We believe that positive results from two adequate, well-controlled safety and efficacy studies and the completion of long-term open-label safety exposure studies per FDA and International Conference on Harmonization, or ICH, requirements for chronic use would support the approval of TNX-102 SL for the management of FM. Under the IND, we initiated the Phase 2b/3 BEdtime Sublingual TNX-102 SL as Fibromyalgia Intervention Therapy (BESTFIT) trial in the third quarter of 2013. If successful, this will serve as the first of two pivotal studies to support a New Drug Application, or NDA, for TNX-102 SL in FM. We have engaged Premier Research International, LLC, a contract research organization, or CRO, to provide clinical and data management services for this Phase 2b/3 trial. We expect that any applications we submit for FDA approval of TNX-102 SL will be submitted under Section 505(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, which we believe will allow for a shorter timeline of clinical and non-clinical development as compared to that needed to fulfill the requirements of Section 505(b)(1), under which new chemical entities are generally developed to meet the FDA’s requirements for new drug approvals.

 

We are also advancing TNX-102 SL for the management of PTSD. We held a pre-IND meeting with the FDA in October 2012, and we plan to file an IND to pursue this indication in the second quarter of 2014. We plan to begin a Phase 2 trial of TNX-102 SL in subjects with military-related PTSD in the third quarter of 2014. Based on our pre-IND discussion with the FDA, the clinical data necessary to support the PTSD NDA approval will be comprised of positive results from two adequate, well-controlled efficacy and safety studies and safety exposure data. We expect to be able to rely, at least in part, on safety exposure data generated by our clinical development of TNX-102 SL in FM for the purpose of the NDA requirements for PTSD.

 

Additional Product Candidates

 

We also have a pipeline of other product candidates, including TNX-201 and TNX-301. TNX-201 is based on isometheptene mucate, or IMH, and is under development as a treatment for certain types of headaches. IMH is an active ingredient that has been reviewed by the FDA under the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation program for safety and efficacy. IMH has been commercialized as a single agent (for example, Octin®) as well as a component in combination products (examples include Midrin® and MigraTen®), but only as a mixture of two mirror-image forms. TNX-201 contains only one of these forms of IMH, which we believe may confer an improved clinical profile as compared to the mixture. We intend to develop TNX-201 under the 505(b)(2) provision and we are scheduled to meet with the FDA in the first quarter of 2014 to discuss our development plans related to TNX-201. TNX-301 is a fixed dose combination of two FDA-approved drugs, disulfiram and selegiline. Although we intend to develop TNX-301 under the 505(b)(2) provision as a treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence, we currently have no plans for further development of TNX-301 at this time.

 

Krele

 

In August 2010, we formed Krele to commercialize products that are generic versions of predicate NDA products. We anticipate that when our branded products lose patent protection, Krele may market authorized generic versions of them. Krele also may develop or acquire generic products approved under FDA abbreviated new drug applications, or ANDAs, and we may market branded versions (branded generics) of such products. Krele has been issued a state license in New York.

 

Recent Developments

 

In October 2013, we formed Tonix Barbados. On December 31, 2013 Tonix Barbados entered into a license agreement and a cost-sharing agreement with Tonix Sub, pursuant to which Tonix Barbados acquired the rights to develop and commercialize TNX-102 SL and TNX-201 for non-US markets in exchange for (1) cost sharing of research and development costs going forward and (2) a royalty on net sales of 8% for TNX-102 SL and 6% of TNX-201 sales for the buy-in value of costs that Tonix Sub has already spend on developing ex-US rights.

 

On January 15, 2014, the compensation committee of the Board of Directors of Tonix (“Board”) made several recommendations to the Board regarding executive compensation for Dr. Seth Lederman, Dr. Leland Gershell and Dr. Bruce Daugherty, Tonix’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Director of Drug Development, respectively. These recommendations will be considered by the Board at its next meeting, which is scheduled for February 11, 2014. The Board can accept, reject or modify the recommendations, and the recommendations should be considered preliminary and non-binding unless and until approved by the Board. The recommendations were as follows: 

 

S-3
 

 

 

Issue stock option grants to the executive officers of most of the remaining 173,500 shares available under Tonix’s existing stock option plan, with exact grant amounts to be recommended by the compensation committee of the Board prior to the Board meeting scheduled for February 11, 2014;

 

Increase the cash compensation of Seth Lederman, Leland Gershell and Bruce Daugherty to $425,000, $325,000 and $220,000, respectively, while noting that the cash compensation increases for Leland Gershell and Bruce Daugherty would be automatic upon the successful completion of this offering pursuant to their existing employment agreements;

 

Pay performance bonuses for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 to Seth Lederman, Leland Gershell and Bruce Daugherty in the amounts of $162,500, $78,750 and $47,500, respectively; and

 

Grant competitive severance benefits and change-in-control (“CIC”) protection benefits, including: (i) sale bonuses to the executive officers in the aggregate equal to 8% of net proceeds from a CIC transaction that results in net proceeds to Tonix of at least $50 million; (ii) severance payments if terminated within 12 months after the CIC transaction equal to (x) twice the base salary and target bonus for 12 months for Dr. Lederman and (y) the base salary and target bonus for 12 months for Drs. Gershell and Daugherty; (iii) continuation of health insurance and benefits for 24 months for Dr. Lederman and 12 months for Drs. Gershell and Daugherty if terminated within 12 months after the CIC transaction; and (iv) double trigger on accelerated vesting for 100% of stock options upon a CIC; provided, however, that the amount of severance payments in (ii) and the length of continuation of health insurance and benefits in (iii) would be halved while the CIC bonus remains in effect. The CIC sale bonuses would terminate upon Tonix granting long-term incentive compensation pursuant to an incentive equity plan to be adopted in the future.

 

Corporate Information

 

We were incorporated on November 16, 2007 under the laws of the State of Nevada as Tamandare Explorations Inc. On October 11, 2011, we changed our name to Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. Our principal executive offices are located at 509 Madison Avenue, Suite 306, New York, New York 10022, and our telephone number is (212) 980-9155.  Our website addresses are www.tonixpharma.com and www.krele.com. The information on our websites is not part of this prospectus supplement. We have included our website addresses as a factual reference and do not intend them to be active links to our websites. 

 

S-4
 

 

 

The Offering

 

Securities we are offering:   [*] shares of common stock.
     
Common stock to be outstanding after this offering:   [*] shares of common stock.
     
Use of proceeds:   We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to support the continued development of TNX-102 SL for the treatment of fibromyalgia, to initiate clinical trials of TNX-102 SL for the treatment of PTSD, to initiate clinical trials of TNX-201 for tension-type headache, and further develop our other pipeline programs, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes, and possibly acquisitions of other companies, products or technologies, though no such acquisitions are currently contemplated. See "Use of Proceeds" on page S-28.
     
Risk Factors:   See "Risk Factors" beginning on page S-6 of this prospectus supplement and other information included or incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before investing in our securities.
     
NASDAQ Capital Market trading symbol:  

 

TNXP

 

The number of shares of our common stock outstanding prior to and to be outstanding immediately after this offering, as set forth in the table above, is based on 6,686,347 shares outstanding as of January 21, 2014 and excludes:

 

  2,273,639 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants outstanding at January 21, 2014 with a weighted average exercise price of $9.14 per share;

 

  376,500 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding at January 21, 2014 with a weighted average exercise price of $18.09 per share;

 

  173,500 shares of common stock reserved for future grants, awards and issuance under our equity compensation plan as of January 21, 2014; and

 

  shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

Except as otherwise indicated, all information in this prospectus supplement reflects the 1-for-20 reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock that was effected on May 1, 2013. 

 

S-5
 

 

RISK FACTORS

 

You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks we are not presently aware of or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations. Our business could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our common stock could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing these risks, you should also refer to the other information contained or incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, including our financial statements and related notes.

 

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS

 

We have a history of operating losses and expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We may never generate revenues or, if we are able to generate revenues, achieve profitability.

 

We are focused on product development, and we have not generated any revenues to date. We have incurred losses in each year of our operations, and we expect to continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future. These operating losses have adversely affected and are likely to continue to adversely affect our working capital, total assets and shareholders’ equity.

 

The Company and its prospects should be examined in light of the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by new and early stage companies in new and rapidly evolving markets. These risks include, among other things, the speed at which we can scale up operations, our complete dependence upon development of products that currently have no market acceptance, our ability to establish and expand our brand name, our ability to expand our operations to meet the commercial demand of our clients, our development of and reliance on strategic and customer relationships and our ability to minimize fraud and other security risks.

 

The process of developing our products requires significant clinical, development and laboratory testing and clinical trials. In addition, commercialization of our product candidates will require that we obtain necessary regulatory approvals and establish sales, marketing and manufacturing capabilities, either through internal hiring or through contractual relationships with others. We expect to incur substantial losses for the foreseeable future as a result of anticipated increases in our research and development costs, including costs associated with conducting preclinical testing and clinical trials, and regulatory compliance activities.

 

Our ability to generate revenues and achieve profitability will depend on numerous factors, including success in:

 

  developing and testing product candidates;

 

  receiving regulatory approvals;

 

  commercializing our products; and

 

  establishing a favorable competitive position.

 

Many of these factors will depend on circumstances beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will ever have a product approved by the FDA, that we will bring any product to market or, if we are successful in doing so, that we will ever become profitable.

 

We expect to incur substantial additional operating expenses over the next several years as our research, development, pre-clinical testing, and clinical trial activities increase. The amount of future losses and when, if ever, we will achieve profitability are uncertain. We have no products that have generated any commercial revenue, do not expect to generate revenues from the commercial sale of products in the near future, and might never generate revenues from the sale of products. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability will depend on, among other things, successful completion of the development of our product candidates; obtaining necessary regulatory approvals from the FDA; establishing manufacturing, sales, and marketing arrangements with third parties; and raising sufficient funds to finance our activities. We might not succeed at any of these undertakings. If we are unsuccessful at some or all of these undertakings, our business, prospects, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

 

S-6
 

 

We have a limited operating history and we expect a number of factors to cause our operating results to fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis, which may make it difficult to predict our future performance.

 

We are a development stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. Our operations to date have been primarily limited to developing our technology and undertaking preclinical studies and clinical trials of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL. We have not yet obtained regulatory approvals for TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates. Consequently, any predictions made about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or commercialized products. Our financial condition has varied significantly in the past and will continue to fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Factors relating to our business that may contribute to these fluctuations include other factors described elsewhere in this prospectus supplement and also include:

 

  our ability to obtain additional funding to develop our product candidates;

 

  delays in the commencement, enrollment and timing of clinical trials;

 

  the success of our clinical trials through all phases of clinical development, including our trials of TNX-102 SL;

 

  any delays in regulatory review and approval of product candidates in clinical development;

 

  our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates in the United States and foreign jurisdictions;

 

  potential side effects of our product candidates that could delay or prevent commercialization, limit the indications for any approved drug, require the establishment of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, or cause an approved drug to be taken off the market;

 

  our dependence on third-party contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, to supply or manufacture our products;

 

  our dependence on CROs to conduct our clinical trials;

 

  our ability to establish or maintain collaborations, licensing or other arrangements;

 

  market acceptance of our product candidates;

 

  our ability to establish and maintain an effective sales and marketing infrastructure, either through the creation of a commercial infrastructure or through strategic collaborations;

 

  competition from existing products or new products that may emerge;

 

  the ability of patients or healthcare providers to obtain coverage of or sufficient reimbursement for our products;

 

  our ability to leverage our proprietary technology platform to discover and develop additional product candidates;

 

  our ability and our licensors’ abilities to successfully obtain, maintain, defend and enforce intellectual property rights important to our business;

 

  our ability to attract and retain key personnel to manage our business effectively;

 

  our ability to build our finance infrastructure and improve our accounting systems and controls;

 

  potential product liability claims;

 

  potential liabilities associated with hazardous materials; and

 

  our ability to obtain and maintain adequate insurance policies.

 

S-7
 

 

Accordingly, the results of any quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of future operating performance.

 

We received a report from our independent registered public accounting firm with an explanatory paragraph for the year ended December 31, 2012 with respect to our ability to continue as a going concern. The existence of such a report may adversely affect our stock price and our ability to raise capital. There is no assurance that we will not receive a similar report for our year ended December 31, 2013.

 

In their report dated March 8, 2013, our independent registered public accounting firm expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern as we have incurred losses since inception of development stage, have a negative cash flow from operations, and require additional financing to fund future operations. Our ability to continue as a going concern is subject to our ability to obtain necessary funding from outside sources, including obtaining additional funding from the sale of our securities, obtaining loans and grants from various financial institutions where possible. Our continued net operating losses increase the difficulty in meeting such goals and there can be no assurances that such methods will prove successful.

 

We have no approved products on the market and therefore do not expect to generate any revenues from product sales in the foreseeable future, if at all.

 

To date, we have no approved product on the market and have generated no product revenues. We have funded our operations primarily from sales of our securities. We have not received, and do not expect to receive for at least the next several years, if at all, any revenues from the commercialization of our product candidates. To obtain revenues from sales of our product candidates, we must succeed, either alone or with third parties, in developing, obtaining regulatory approval for, manufacturing and marketing drugs with commercial potential. We may never succeed in these activities, and we may not generate sufficient revenues to continue our business operations or achieve profitability.

 

We are largely dependent on the success of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL, and we cannot be certain that this product candidate will receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized.

 

We currently have no products for sale, and we cannot guarantee that we will ever have any drug products approved for sale. We and our product candidates are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and comparable regulatory authorities in other countries governing, among other things, research, testing, clinical trials, manufacturing, labeling, promotion, selling, adverse event reporting and recordkeeping. We are not permitted to market any of our product candidates in the United States until we receive approval of an NDA for a product candidate from the FDA or the equivalent approval from a foreign regulatory authority. Obtaining FDA approval is a lengthy, expensive and uncertain process. We currently have one lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL for the treatment of FM, and the success of our business currently depends on its successful development, approval and commercialization. Any projected sales or future revenue predictions are predicated upon FDA approval and market acceptance of TNX-102 SL. If projected sales do not materialize for any reason, it would have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to continue operations.

 

TNX-102 SL has not completed the clinical development process; therefore, we have not yet submitted an NDA or foreign equivalent or received marketing approval for this product candidate anywhere in the world. The clinical development program for TNX-102 SL may not lead to commercial products for a number of reasons, including if we fail to obtain necessary approvals from the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities because our clinical trials fail to demonstrate to their satisfaction that this product candidate is safe and effective or the clinical program may be put on hold due to unexpected safety issues with marketed CBP products. We may also fail to obtain the necessary approvals if we have inadequate financial or other resources to advance our product candidates through the clinical trial process. Any failure or delay in completing clinical trials or obtaining regulatory approval for TNX-102 SL in a timely manner would have a material adverse impact on our business and our stock price.

 

S-8
 

 

We may use our financial and human resources to pursue a particular research program or product candidate and fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

 

Because we have limited financial and human resources, we are currently focusing on the regulatory approval of TNX-102 SL. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on existing and future product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic alliance, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate, or we may allocate internal resources to a product candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more advantageous to enter into a partnering arrangement.

 

We need additional capital. If additional capital is not available or is available at unattractive terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate our research and development programs, reduce our commercialization efforts or curtail our operations.

 

In order to develop and bring our product candidates to market, we must commit substantial resources to costly and time-consuming research, preclinical and clinical trials and marketing activities. We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents will enable us to maintain our current operations for at least the next twelve months. We anticipate using our cash and cash equivalents to fund further research and development with respect to our lead product candidates. We may, however, need to raise additional funding sooner if our business or operations change in a manner that consumes available resources more rapidly than we anticipate. Our requirements for additional capital will depend on many factors, including:

 

  successful commercialization of our product candidates;

 

  the time and costs involved in obtaining regulatory approval for our product candidates;

 

  costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights;

 

  development of marketing and sales capabilities;

 

  payments received under future collaborative agreements, if any; and

 

  market acceptance of our products.

 

To the extent we raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities, the issuance of those securities could result in dilution to our shareholders. In addition, if we obtain debt financing, a substantial portion of our operating cash flow may be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on such indebtedness, thus limiting funds available for our business activities. If adequate funds are not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate our research and development programs, reduce our commercialization efforts or curtail our operations. In addition, we may be required to obtain funds through arrangements with collaborative partners or others that may require us to relinquish rights to technologies, product candidates or products that we would otherwise seek to develop or commercialize ourselves or license rights to technologies, product candidates or products on terms that are less favorable to us than might otherwise be available.

 

We will require substantial additional funds to support our research and development activities, and the anticipated costs of preclinical studies and clinical trials, regulatory approvals and eventual commercialization. Such additional sources of financing may not be available on favorable terms, if at all. If we do not succeed in raising additional funds on acceptable terms, we may be unable to initiate clinical trials or obtain approval of any product candidates from the FDA and other regulatory authorities. In addition, we could be forced to discontinue product development, forego sales and marketing efforts and forego attractive business opportunities. Any additional sources of financing will likely involve the issuance of our equity securities, which will have a dilutive effect on our shareholders.

 

S-9
 

 

There is no assurance that we will be successful in raising the additional funds needed to fund our business plan. If we are not able to raise sufficient capital in the near future, our continued operations will be in jeopardy and we may be forced to cease operations and sell or otherwise transfer all or substantially all of our remaining assets.

 

We face intense competition in the markets targeted by our lead product candidates. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources than we do, and we expect that all of our product candidates under development will face intense competition from existing or future drugs.

 

We expect that all of our product candidates under development, if approved, will face intense competition from existing and future drugs marketed by large companies. These competitors may successfully market products that compete with our products, successfully identify drug candidates or develop products earlier than we do, or develop products that are more effective, have fewer side effects or cost less than our products.

 

Additionally, if a competitor receives FDA approval before we do for a drug that is similar to one of our product candidates, FDA approval for our product candidate may be precluded or delayed due to periods of non-patent exclusivity and/or the listing with the FDA by the competitor of patents covering its newly-approved drug product. Periods of non-patent exclusivity for new versions of existing drugs such as our current product candidates can extend up to three and one-half years.

 

These competitive factors could require us to conduct substantial new research and development activities to establish new product targets, which would be costly and time consuming. These activities would adversely affect our ability to commercialize products and achieve revenue and profits.

 

Competition and technological change may make our product candidates and technologies less attractive or obsolete.

 

We compete with established pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are pursuing other forms of treatment for the same indications we are pursuing and that have greater financial and other resources. Other companies may succeed in developing products earlier than us, obtaining FDA approval for products more rapidly, or developing products that are more effective than our product candidates. Research and development by others may render our technology or product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive, or result in treatments or cures superior to any therapy we develop. We face competition from companies that internally develop competing technology or acquire competing technology from universities and other research institutions. As these companies develop their technologies, they may develop competitive positions that may prevent, make futile, or limit our product commercialization efforts, which would result in a decrease in the revenue we would be able to derive from the sale of any products.

 

There can be no assurance that any of our product candidates will be accepted by the marketplace as readily as these or other competing treatments. Furthermore, if our competitors' products are approved before ours, it could be more difficult for us to obtain approval from the FDA. Even if our products are successfully developed and approved for use by all governing regulatory bodies, there can be no assurance that physicians and patients will accept our product(s) as a treatment of choice.

 

Furthermore, the pharmaceutical research industry is diverse, complex, and rapidly changing. By its nature, the business risks associated therewith are numerous and significant. The effects of competition, intellectual property disputes, market acceptance, and FDA regulations preclude us from forecasting revenues or income with certainty or even confidence.

 

If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights, our ability to pursue the development of our technologies and products would be negatively affected.

 

Our success will depend in part on our ability to obtain patents and maintain adequate protection of our technologies and products. If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property, competitors may be able to use our technologies to produce and market drugs in direct competition with us and erode our competitive advantage. Some foreign countries lack rules and methods for defending intellectual property rights and do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the United States. Many companies have had difficulty protecting their proprietary rights in these foreign countries. We may not be able to prevent misappropriation of our proprietary rights.

 

S-10
 

 

We have received, and are currently seeking, patent protection for numerous compounds and methods of treating diseases. However, the patent process is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in protecting our products by obtaining and defending patents. These risks and uncertainties include the following: patents that may be issued or licensed may be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented, or otherwise may not provide any competitive advantage; our competitors, many of which have substantially greater resources than us and many of which have made significant investments in competing technologies, may seek, or may already have obtained, patents that will limit, interfere with, or eliminate our ability to make, use, and sell our potential products either in the United States or in international markets; there may be significant pressure on the United States government and other international governmental bodies to limit the scope of patent protection both inside and outside the United States for treatments that prove successful as a matter of public policy regarding worldwide health concerns; countries other than the United States may have less restrictive patent laws than those upheld by United States courts, allowing foreign competitors the ability to exploit these laws to create, develop, and market competing products.

 

Moreover, any patents issued to us may not provide us with meaningful protection, or others may challenge, circumvent or narrow our patents. Third parties may also independently develop products similar to our products, duplicate our unpatented products or design around any patents on products we develop. Additionally, extensive time is required for development, testing and regulatory review of a potential product. While extensions of patent term due to regulatory delays may be available, it is possible that, before any of our product candidates can be commercialized, any related patent, even with an extension, may expire or remain in force for only a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing any advantages of the patent.

 

In addition, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”) and patent offices in other jurisdictions have often required that patent applications concerning pharmaceutical and/or biotechnology-related inventions be limited or narrowed substantially to cover only the specific innovations exemplified in the patent application, thereby limiting the scope of protection against competitive challenges. Thus, even if we or our licensors are able to obtain patents, the patents may be substantially narrower than anticipated.

 

Our success depends on our patents, patent applications that may be licensed exclusively to us and other patents to which we may obtain assignment or licenses. We may not be aware, however, of all patents, published applications or published literature that may affect our business either by blocking our ability to commercialize our product candidates, by preventing the patentability of our product candidates to us or our licensors, or by covering the same or similar technologies that may invalidate our patents, limit the scope of our future patent claims or adversely affect our ability to market our product candidates.

 

In addition to patents, we rely on a combination of trade secrets, confidentiality, nondisclosure and other contractual provisions, and security measures to protect our confidential and proprietary information. These measures may not adequately protect our trade secrets or other proprietary information. If they do not adequately protect our rights, third parties could use our technology, and we could lose any competitive advantage we may have. In addition, others may independently develop similar proprietary information or techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets, which could impair any competitive advantage we may have.

 

Patent protection and other intellectual property protection is crucial to the success of our business and prospects, and there is a substantial risk that such protections will prove inadequate.

 

S-11
 

 

We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, which could be expensive and time consuming.

 

The pharmaceutical industry has been characterized by extensive litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights, and companies have employed intellectual property litigation to gain a competitive advantage. We may become subject to infringement claims or litigation arising out of patents and pending applications of our competitors, or additional interference proceedings declared by the PTO to determine the priority of inventions. The defense and prosecution of intellectual property suits, PTO proceedings, and related legal and administrative proceedings are costly and time-consuming to pursue, and their outcome is uncertain. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our issued patents, to protect our trade secrets and know-how, or to determine the enforceability, scope, and validity of the proprietary rights of others. An adverse determination in litigation or interference proceedings to which we may become a party could subject us to significant liabilities, require us to obtain licenses from third parties, or restrict or prevent us from selling our products in certain markets. Although patent and intellectual property disputes might be settled through licensing or similar arrangements, the costs associated with such arrangements may be substantial and could include our paying large fixed payments and ongoing royalties. Furthermore, the necessary licenses may not be available on satisfactory terms or at all.

 

Competitors may infringe our patents, and we may file infringement claims to counter infringement or unauthorized use. This can be expensive, particularly for a company of our size, and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours is not valid or is unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover its technology. An adverse determination of any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly.

 

Also, a third party may assert that our patents are invalid and/or unenforceable. There are no unresolved communications, allegations, complaints or threats of litigation related to the possibility that our patents are invalid or unenforceable. Any litigation or claims against us, whether or not merited, may result in substantial costs, place a significant strain on our financial resources, divert the attention of management and harm our reputation. An adverse decision in litigation could result in inadequate protection for our product candidates and/or reduce the value of any license agreements we have with third parties.

 

Interference proceedings brought before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may be necessary to determine priority of invention with respect to our patents or patent applications. During an interference proceeding, it may be determined that we do not have priority of invention for one or more aspects in our patents or patent applications and could result in the invalidation in part or whole of a patent or could put a patent application at risk of not issuing. Even if successful, an interference proceeding may result in substantial costs and distraction to our management.

 

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation or interference proceedings, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If investors perceive these results to be negative, the price of our common stock could be adversely affected.

 

If we infringe the rights of third parties we could be prevented from selling products, forced to pay damages, and defend against litigation.

 

If our products, methods, processes and other technologies infringe the proprietary rights of other parties, we could incur substantial costs and we may have to: obtain licenses, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all; abandon an infringing product candidate; redesign our products or processes to avoid infringement; stop using the subject matter claimed in the patents held by others; pay damages; and/or defend litigation or administrative proceedings which may be costly whether we win or lose, and which could result in a substantial diversion of our financial and management resources.

 

If preclinical testing or clinical trials for our product candidates are unsuccessful or delayed, we will be unable to meet our anticipated development and commercialization timelines.

 

We rely and expect to continue to rely on third parties, including CROs and outside consultants, to conduct, supervise or monitor some or all aspects of preclinical testing or clinical trials involving our product candidates. We have less control over the timing and other aspects of these preclinical testing or clinical trials than if we performed the monitoring and supervision entirely on our own. Third parties may not perform their responsibilities for our preclinical testing or clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or, for clinical trials, consistent with a clinical trial protocol. Delays in preclinical and clinical testing could significantly increase our product development costs and delay product commercialization. In addition, many of the factors that may cause, or lead to, a delay in the clinical trials may also ultimately lead to denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate.

 

S-12
 

 

The commencement of clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays in:

 

  demonstrating sufficient safety and efficacy to obtain regulatory approval to commence a clinical trial;

 

  reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations and trial sites;

 

  manufacturing sufficient quantities of a product candidate; and

 

  obtaining institutional review board approval to conduct a clinical trial at a prospective site.

 

Once a clinical trial has begun, it may be delayed, suspended or terminated by us or the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including:

 

  ongoing discussions with the FDA or other regulatory authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials;

 

  failure to conduct clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements;

 

  lower than anticipated recruitment or retention rate of patients in clinical trials;

 

  inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial sites by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold;

 

  lack of adequate funding to continue clinical trials;

 

  negative results of clinical trials; or

 

  adverse events.

 

If clinical trials are unsuccessful, and we are not able to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates under development, we will not be able to commercialize these products, and therefore may not be able to generate sufficient revenues to support our business.

 

We rely on third parties to conduct, supervise and monitor our clinical trials, and if those third parties perform in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.

 

We rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials. While we have agreements governing their activities, we will have limited influence over their actual performance. We will control only certain aspects of our CROs’ activities. Nevertheless, we will be responsible for ensuring that our clinical trials are conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.

 

We and our CROs are required to comply with the FDA’s current good clinical practices requirements, or cGCP, for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of clinical trial participants are protected. The FDA enforces these cGCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and clinical trial sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply with applicable cGCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving any marketing applications. Upon inspection, the FDA may determine that our clinical trials did not comply with cGCPs. In addition, our clinical trials, including our Phase 2b/3 trial of TNX-102 SL in FM, will require a sufficiently large number of test subjects to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a product candidate. Accordingly, if our CROs fail to comply with these regulations or fail to recruit a sufficient number of patients, our clinical trials may be delayed or we may be required to repeat such clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.

 

S-13
 

 

Our CROs are not our employees, and we are not able to control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our clinical trials. These CROs may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials, or other drug development activities which could harm our competitive position. If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations, fail to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements, or for any other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize our product candidates. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for such product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

 

We also rely on other third parties to store and distribute drug products for our clinical trials. Any performance failure on the part of our distributors could delay clinical development or marketing approval of our product candidates or commercialization of our products, if approved, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.

 

We have never conducted a pivotal clinical trial or submitted an NDA before, and may be unable to do so for TNX-102 SL and other product candidates we are developing.

 

If our Phase 2b/3 study of TNX-102 SL is successful, we then expect to conduct a Phase 3 confirmatory study in support of product registration. As these trials are intended to provide evidence to support marketing approval by the FDA, they are considered pivotal trials. The conduct of pivotal clinical trials and the submission of a successful NDA is a complicated process. Although members of our management team have extensive industry experience, including in the development, clinical testing and commercialization of drug candidates, our company has never conducted a pivotal clinical trial before, has limited experience in preparing, submitting and prosecuting regulatory filings, and has not submitted an NDA before. Consequently, we may be unable to successfully and efficiently execute and complete these planned clinical trials in a way that leads to NDA submission and approval of TNX-102 SL and other product candidates we are developing. We may require more time and incur greater costs than our competitors and may not succeed in obtaining regulatory approvals of product candidates that we develop. Failure to commence or complete, or delays in, our planned clinical trials would prevent or delay commercialization of TNX-102 SL and other product candidates we are developing.

 

Our product candidates may cause serious adverse events or undesirable side effects which may delay or prevent marketing approval, or, if approval is received, require them to be taken off the market, require them to include safety warnings or otherwise limit their sales.

 

Serious adverse events or undesirable side effects from TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates could arise either during clinical development or, if approved, after the approved product has been marketed. The results of future clinical trials, including TNX-102 SL, may show that our product candidates cause serious adverse events or undesirable side effects, which could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials, resulting in delay of, or failure to obtain, marketing approval from the FDA and other regulatory authorities.

 

If TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates cause serious adverse events or undesirable side effects:

 

  regulatory authorities may impose a clinical hold which could result in substantial delays and adversely impact our ability to continue development of the product;

 

  regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, specific warnings, a contraindication or field alerts to physicians and pharmacies;

 

  we may be required to change the way the product is administered, conduct additional clinical trials or change the labeling of the product;

 

  we may be required to implement a risk minimization action plan, which could result in substantial cost increases and have a negative impact on our ability to commercialize the product;

 

  we may be required to limit the patients who can receive the product;

 

  we may be subject to limitations on how we promote the product;

 

  sales of the product may decrease significantly;

 

S-14
 

 

  regulatory authorities may require us to take our approved product off the market;
     
  we may be subject to litigation or product liability claims; and

 

  our reputation may suffer.

 

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product or could substantially increase commercialization costs and expenses, which in turn could delay or prevent us from generating significant revenues from the sale of our products.

 

If we are unable to file for approval under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA or if we are required to generate additional data related to safety and efficacy in order to obtain approval under Section 505(b)(2), we may be unable to meet our anticipated development and commercialization timelines.

 

Our current plans for filing NDAs for our product candidates include efforts to minimize the data we will be required to generate in order to obtain marketing approval for our product candidates and therefore possibly obtain a shortened review period for the applications. We held an End-of-Phase 2/Pre-Phase 3 meeting with the FDA in February 2013 to discuss the development of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL, in FM. Although our interactions with the FDA have encouraged our efforts to continue to develop TNX-102 SL for FM, there is no assurance that we will satisfy the FDA’s requirements for approval in this indication. We have not come to any agreement with the FDA as to the nature and extent of studies we may be required to conduct in order to achieve approval of TNX-102 SL in PTSD. The timeline for filing and review of our NDAs is based on our plan to submit those NDAs under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA, wherein we will rely in part on data in the public domain or elsewhere. We have not yet filed an NDA under Section 505(b)(2) for any of our lead product candidates. Depending on the data that may be required by the FDA for approval, some of the data may be related to products already approved by the FDA. If the data relied upon is related to products already approved by the FDA and covered by third-party patents we would be required to certify that we do not infringe the listed patents or that such patents are invalid or unenforceable. As a result of the certification, the third-party would have 45 days from notification of our certification to initiate an action against us. In the event that an action is brought in response to such a certification, the approval of our NDA could be subject to a stay of up to 30 months or more while we defend against such a suit. Approval of our product candidates under Section 505(b)(2) may therefore be delayed until patent exclusivity expires or until we successfully challenge the applicability of those patents to our product candidates. Alternatively, we may elect to generate sufficient additional clinical data so that we no longer rely on data which triggers a potential stay of the approval of our product candidates. Even if no exclusivity periods apply to our applications under Section 505(b)(2), the FDA has broad discretion to require us to generate additional data on the safety and efficacy of our product candidates to supplement third-party data on which we may be permitted to rely. In either event, we could be required, before obtaining marketing approval for any of our product candidates, to conduct substantial new research and development activities beyond those we currently plan to engage in order to obtain approval of our product candidates. Such additional new research and development activities would be costly and time consuming.

 

We may not be able to obtain shortened review of our applications, and the FDA may not agree that our products qualify for marketing approval. If CBP-containing products are withdrawn from the market by the FDA for any reason, we may not be able to reference such products to support a 505(b)(2) NDA for TNX-102 SL, and we may need to fulfill the more extensive requirements of Section 505(b)(1). If we are required to generate additional data to support approval, we may be unable to meet our anticipated development and commercialization timelines, may be unable to generate the additional data at a reasonable cost, or at all, and may be unable to obtain marketing approval of our product candidates.

 

We will need to expand our operations and increase the size of our company, and we may experience difficulties in managing growth.

 

As we advance our product candidates through preclinical studies and clinical trials and develop new product candidates, we will need to increase our product development, scientific and administrative headcount to manage these programs. In addition, to meet our obligations as a public company, we will need to increase our general and administrative capabilities. Our management, personnel and systems currently in place may not be adequate to support this future growth. Our need to effectively manage our operations, growth and various projects requires that we:

 

S-15
 

 

  successfully attract and recruit new employees with the expertise and experience we will require;

 

  manage our clinical programs effectively, which we anticipate being conducted at numerous clinical sites;

 

  develop a marketing, distribution and sales infrastructure if we seek to market our products directly; and

 

  continue to improve our operational, manufacturing, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.

 

If we are unable to successfully manage this growth and increased complexity of operations, our business may be adversely affected.

 

Our executive officers and other key personnel are critical to our business, and our future success depends on our ability to retain them.

 

Our success depends to a significant extent upon the continued services of Dr. Seth Lederman, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Lederman has overseen Tonix Sub since inception and provides leadership for our growth and operations strategy as well as being an inventor on many of our patents. Loss of the services of Dr. Lederman would have a material adverse effect on our growth, revenues, and prospective business. We have key-man insurance on the lives of Dr. Lederman, Dr. Leland Gershell, our Chief Financial Officer, and Dr. Bruce Daugherty, our Senior Director of Drug Development. We are also highly dependent on our directors and scientific team. We are not aware of any present intention of any of our key personnel to leave our company or to retire. However, we have no employment agreement with Dr. Lederman and while we have employment agreements with certain of our employees, all of our employees may terminate their employment at any time. The loss of any of our key personnel, or the inability to attract and retain qualified personnel, may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our research, development or business objectives and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Any employment agreement we enter into will not ensure the retention of the employee who is a party to the agreement. In addition, we have only limited ability to prevent former employees from competing with us. Furthermore, our future success will also depend in part on the continued service of our key scientific and management personnel and our ability to identify, hire, and retain additional personnel. We experience intense competition for qualified personnel and may be unable to attract and retain the personnel necessary for the development of our business. Moreover, our work force is located in the “Pharmaceutical Corridor” that spans New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where competition for personnel with the scientific and technical skills that we seek is extremely high and is likely to remain high. Because of this competition, our compensation costs may increase significantly.

 

If we are unable to hire additional qualified personnel, our ability to grow our business may be harmed.

 

Over time we will need to hire additional qualified personnel with expertise in drug development, product registration, clinical and non-clinical research, quality compliance, government regulation, formulation and manufacturing, financial matters and sales and marketing. We compete for qualified individuals with numerous biopharmaceutical companies, universities and other research institutions. Competition for such individuals is intense, and we cannot be certain that our search for such personnel will be successful. Attracting and retaining qualified personnel will be critical to our success.

 

S-16
 

 

We rely on third parties to manufacture the compounds used in our trials, and we intend to rely on them for the manufacture of any approved products for commercial sale. If these third parties do not manufacture our product candidates in sufficient quantities and at an acceptable cost, clinical development and commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed, prevented or impaired.

 

We have no manufacturing facilities, and we have no experience in the clinical or commercial-scale manufacture of drugs or in designing drug manufacturing processes. We intend to rely on CMOs to manufacture some or all of our product candidates in clinical trials and our products that reach commercialization. Completion of our clinical trials and commercialization of our product candidates requires the manufacture of a sufficient supply of our product candidates. We have contracted with outside sources to manufacture our development compounds, including TNX-102 SL. If, for any reason, we become unable to rely on our current sources for the manufacture of our product candidates, either for clinical trials or, at some future date, for commercial quantities, then we would need to identify and contract with additional or replacement third-party manufacturers to manufacture compounds for pre-clinical, clinical, and commercial purposes. Although we are in discussions with other manufacturers we have identified as potential alternative CMOs of TNX-102 SL, we may not be successful in negotiating acceptable terms with any of them.

 

We believe that there are a variety of manufacturers that we may be able to retain to produce these products. However, once we retain a manufacturing source, if our manufacturers do not perform in a satisfactory manner, we may not be able to develop or commercialize potential products as planned. Certain specialized manufacturers are expected to provide us with modified and unmodified pharmaceutical compounds, including finished products, for use in our preclinical and clinical studies. Some of these materials are available from only one supplier or vendor. Any interruption in or termination of service by such sole source suppliers could result in a delay or interruption in manufacturing until we locate an alternative source of supply. Any delay or interruption in manufacturing operations (or failure to locate a suitable replacement for such suppliers) could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, or results of operations. We do not have any short-term or long-term manufacturing agreements with many of these manufacturers. If we fail to contract for manufacturing on acceptable terms or if third-party manufacturers do not perform as we expect, our development programs could be materially adversely affected. This may result in delays in filing for and receiving FDA approval for one or more of our products. Any such delays could cause our prospects to suffer significantly.

 

Failure by our third-party manufacturers to comply with the regulatory guidelines set forth by the FDA with respect to our product candidates could delay or prevent the completion of clinical trials, the approval of any product candidates or the commercialization of our products.

 

Such third-party manufacturers must be inspected by FDA for current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, compliance before they can produce commercial product. We may be in competition with other companies for access to these manufacturers' facilities and may be subject to delays in manufacture if the manufacturers give other clients higher priority than they give to us. If we are unable to secure and maintain third-party manufacturing capacity, the development and sales of our products and our financial performance may be materially affected.

 

Manufacturers are obligated to operate in accordance with FDA-mandated requirements. A failure of any of our third-party manufacturers to establish and follow cGMP requirements and to document their adherence to such practices may lead to significant delays in the availability of material for clinical trials, may delay or prevent filing or approval of marketing applications for our products, and may cause delays or interruptions in the availability of our products for commercial distribution following FDA approval. This could result in higher costs to us or deprive us of potential product revenues.

 

Complying with cGMP and non-U.S. regulatory requirements will require that we expend time, money, and effort in production, recordkeeping, and quality control to assure that the product meets applicable specifications and other requirements. We, or our contracted manufacturing facility, must also pass a pre-approval inspection prior to FDA approval. Failure to pass a pre-approval inspection may significantly delay FDA approval of our products. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we would be subject to possible regulatory action and may be limited in the jurisdictions in which we are permitted to sell our products. As a result, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially harmed.

 

S-17
 

 

Drug manufacturers are subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA, the Drug Enforcement Agency and corresponding state and foreign agencies to ensure strict compliance with cGMP requirements and other requirements under Federal drug laws, other government regulations and corresponding foreign standards. If we or our third-party manufacturers fail to comply with applicable regulations, sanctions could be imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, failure by the government to grant marketing approval of drugs, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, seizures or recalls of product, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions.

 

Corporate and academic collaborators may take actions to delay, prevent, or undermine the success of our products.

 

Our operating and financial strategy for the development, clinical testing, manufacture, and commercialization of drug candidates is heavily dependent on our entering into collaborations with corporations, academic institutions, licensors, licensees, and other parties. Our current strategy assumes that we will successfully establish these collaborations, or similar relationships; however, there can be no assurance that we will be successful establishing such collaborations. Some of our existing collaborations are, and future collaborations may be, terminable at the sole discretion of the collaborator. Replacement collaborators might not be available on attractive terms, or at all. The activities of any collaborator will not be within our control and may not be within our power to influence. There can be no assurance that any collaborator will perform its obligations to our satisfaction or at all, that we will derive any revenue or profits from such collaborations, or that any collaborator will not compete with us. If any collaboration is not pursued, we may require substantially greater capital to undertake development and marketing of our proposed products and may not be able to develop and market such products effectively, if at all. In addition, a lack of development and marketing collaborations may lead to significant delays in introducing proposed products into certain markets and/or reduced sales of proposed products in such markets.

 

Data provided by collaborators and others upon which we rely that has not been independently verified could turn out to be false, misleading, or incomplete.

 

We rely on third-party vendors, scientists, and collaborators to provide us with significant data and other information related to our projects, clinical trials, and our business. If such third parties provide inaccurate, misleading, or incomplete data, our business, prospects, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

 

Our product candidates are novel and still in development.

 

We are a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of drug product candidates, all of which are still in development. Our drug development methods may not lead to commercially viable drugs for any of several reasons. For example, we may fail to identify appropriate targets or compounds, our drug candidates may fail to be safe and effective in clinical trials, or we may have inadequate financial or other resources to pursue development efforts for our drug candidates. Our drug candidates will require significant additional development, clinical trials, regulatory clearances and additional investment by us or our collaborators before they can be commercialized.

 

Successful development of our products is uncertain.

 

Our development of current and future product candidates is subject to the risks of failure and delay inherent in the development of new pharmaceutical products, including: delays in product development, clinical testing, or manufacturing; unplanned expenditures in product development, clinical testing, or manufacturing; failure to receive regulatory approvals; emergence of superior or equivalent products; inability to manufacture on its own, or through any others, product candidates on a commercial scale; and failure to achieve market acceptance.

 

Because of these risks, our research and development efforts may not result in any commercially viable products. If a significant portion of these development efforts are not successfully completed, required regulatory approvals are not obtained or any approved products are not commercially successfully, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially harmed.

 

S-18
 

 

Clinical trials required for our product candidates are expensive and time-consuming, and their outcome is uncertain.

 

In order to obtain FDA approval to market a new drug product, we must demonstrate proof of safety and effectiveness in humans. To meet these requirements, we must conduct “adequate and well controlled” clinical trials. Conducting clinical trials is a lengthy, time-consuming, and expensive process. The length of time may vary substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty, and intended use of the product candidate, and often can be several years or more per trial. Delays associated with products for which we are directly conducting clinical trials may cause us to incur additional operating expenses. The commencement and rate of completion of clinical trials may be delayed by many factors, including, for example: inability to manufacture sufficient quantities of qualified materials under cGMP, for use in clinical trials; slower than expected rates of patient recruitment; failure to recruit a sufficient number of patients; modification of clinical trial protocols; changes in regulatory requirements for clinical trials; the lack of effectiveness during clinical trials; the emergence of unforeseen safety issues; delays, suspension, or termination of the clinical trials due to the institutional review board responsible for overseeing the study at a particular study site; and government or regulatory delays or “clinical holds” requiring suspension or termination of the trials.

 

The results from early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of results obtained in later clinical trials. Accordingly, even if we obtain positive results from early clinical trials, we may not achieve the same success in future clinical trials. Clinical trials may not demonstrate sufficient safety and effectiveness to obtain the requisite regulatory approvals for product candidates.

 

Our clinical trials may be conducted in patients with CNS conditions, and in some cases, our products are expected to be used in combination with approved therapies that themselves have significant adverse event profiles. During the course of treatment, these patients could suffer adverse medical events or die for reasons that may or may not be related to our products. We cannot ensure that safety issues will not arise with respect to our products in clinical development.

 

The failure of clinical trials to demonstrate safety and effectiveness for the desired indications could harm the development of that product candidate and other product candidates. This failure could cause us to abandon a product candidate and could delay development of other product candidates. Any delay in, or termination of, our clinical trials would delay the filing of our NDAs with the FDA and, ultimately, our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate product revenues. Any change in, or termination of, our clinical trials could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

We are subject to extensive and costly government regulation.

 

Product candidates employing our technology are subject to extensive and rigorous domestic government regulation including regulation by the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, other divisions of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Department of Justice, state and local governments, and their respective foreign equivalents. The FDA regulates the research, development, preclinical and clinical testing, manufacture, safety, effectiveness, record-keeping, reporting, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, distribution, import, and export of biopharmaceutical products. The FDA regulates small molecule chemical entities as drugs, subject to an NDA under the FDCA. If products employing our technologies are marketed abroad, they will also be subject to extensive regulation by foreign governments, whether or not they have obtained FDA approval for a given product and its uses. Such foreign regulation may be equally or more demanding than corresponding United States regulation.

 

Government regulation substantially increases the cost and risk of researching, developing, manufacturing, and selling our products. The regulatory review and approval process, which includes preclinical testing and clinical trials of each product candidate, is lengthy, expensive, and uncertain. We or our collaborators must obtain and maintain regulatory authorization to conduct clinical trials. We or our collaborators must obtain regulatory approval for each product we intend to market, and the manufacturing facilities used for the products must be inspected and meet legal requirements. Securing regulatory approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and other supporting information for each proposed therapeutic indication in order to establish the product's safety and efficacy, and in the case of biologics also potency and purity, for each intended use. The development and approval process takes many years, requires substantial resources, and may never lead to the approval of a product.

 

S-19
 

 

Even if we are able to obtain regulatory approval for a particular product, the approval may limit the indicated medical uses for the product, may otherwise limit our ability to promote, sell, and distribute the product, may require that we conduct costly post-marketing surveillance, and/or may require that we conduct ongoing post-marketing studies. Material changes to an approved product, such as, for example, manufacturing changes or revised labeling, may require further regulatory review and approval. Once obtained, any approvals may be withdrawn, including, for example, if there is a later discovery of previously unknown problems with the product, such as a previously unknown safety issue.

 

If we, our collaborators, or our contract manufacturers fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements at any stage during the regulatory process, such noncompliance could result in, among other things delays in the approval of applications or supplements to approved applications; refusal of a regulatory authority, including the FDA, to review pending market approval applications or supplements to approved applications; warning letters; fines; import and/or export restrictions; product recalls or seizures; injunctions; total or partial suspension of production; civil penalties; withdrawals of previously approved marketing applications or licenses; recommendations by the FDA or other regulatory authorities against governmental contracts; and/or criminal prosecutions.

 

We do not have, and may never obtain, the regulatory approvals we need to market our product candidates.

 

Following completion of clinical trials, the results are evaluated and, depending on the outcome, submitted to the FDA in the form of an NDA in order to obtain FDA approval of the product and authorization to commence commercial marketing. In responding to an NDA, the FDA may require additional testing or information, may require that the product labeling be modified, may impose post-approval study or reporting requirements or other restrictions on product distribution, or may deny the application. The FDA has established performance goals for review of NDAs-six months for priority applications and ten months for standard applications. However, the FDA is not required to complete its review within these time periods. The timing of final FDA review and action varies greatly, but can take years in some cases and may involve the input of an FDA advisory committee of outside experts. Product sales in the United States may commence only when an NDA is approved.

 

To date, we have not applied for or received the regulatory approvals required for the commercial sale of any of our products in the United States or in any foreign jurisdiction. None of our product candidates has been determined to be safe and effective, and we have not submitted an NDA to the FDA or an equivalent application to any foreign regulatory authorities for any of our product candidates.

 

It is possible that none of our product candidates will be approved for marketing. Failure to obtain regulatory approvals, or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, may adversely affect the successful commercialization of any drugs or biologics that we or our partners develop, may impose additional costs on us or our collaborators, may diminish any competitive advantages that we or our partners may attain, and/or may adversely affect our receipt of revenues or royalties.

 

Even if approved, our products will be subject to extensive post-approval regulation.

 

Once a product is approved, numerous post-approval requirements apply. Among other things, the holder of an approved NDA is subject to periodic and other FDA monitoring and reporting obligations, including obligations to monitor and report adverse events and instances of the failure of a product to meet the specifications in the NDA. Application holders must submit new or supplemental applications and obtain FDA approval for certain changes to the approved product, product labeling, or manufacturing process. Application holders must also submit advertising and other promotional material to the FDA and report on ongoing clinical trials.

 

Depending on the circumstances, failure to meet these post-approval requirements can result in criminal prosecution, fines, injunctions, recall or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production, denial or withdrawal of pre-marketing product approvals, or refusal to allow us to enter into supply contracts, including government contracts. In addition, even if we comply with FDA and other requirements, new information regarding the safety or effectiveness of a product could lead the FDA to modify or withdraw product approval.

 

S-20
 

 

Even if we obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates, our product candidates may not be accepted by the market.

 

Even if the FDA approves one or more of our product candidates, physicians and patients may not accept it or use it. Even if physicians and patients would like to use our products, our products may not gain market acceptance among healthcare payors such as managed care formularies, insurance companies or government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid. Acceptance and use of our products will depend upon a number of factors including: perceptions by members of the health care community, including physicians, about the safety and effectiveness of our drug or device product; cost-effectiveness of our product relative to competing products; availability of reimbursement for our product from government or other healthcare payers; and effectiveness of marketing and distribution efforts by us and our licensees and distributors, if any.

 

The degree of market acceptance of any pharmaceutical product that we develop will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

  cost-effectiveness;

 

  the safety and effectiveness of our products, including any significant potential side effects (including drowsiness and dry mouth), as compared to alternative products or treatment methods;

 

  the timing of market entry as compared to competitive products;

 

  flat or declining use of off-label muscle-relaxant products for fibromyalgia prior to the launch of TNX-102 SL;

 

  the rate of adoption of our products by doctors and nurses;

 

  product labeling or product insert required by the FDA for each of our products;

 

  reimbursement policies of government and third-party payors;

 

  effectiveness of our sales, marketing and distribution capabilities and the effectiveness of such capabilities of our collaborative partners, if any; and

 

  unfavorable publicity concerning our products or any similar products.

 

Our product candidates, if successfully developed, will compete with a number of products manufactured and marketed by major pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and manufacturers of generic drugs. Our products may also compete with new products currently under development by others. Physicians, patients, third-party payors and the medical community may not accept and utilize any of our product candidates. If our products do not achieve market acceptance, we will not be able to generate significant revenues or become profitable.

 

Because we expect sales of our current product candidates, if approved, to generate substantially all of our product revenues for the foreseeable future, the failure of these products to find market acceptance would harm our business and could require us to seek additional financing.

 

If we fail to establish marketing, sales and distribution capabilities, or fail to enter into arrangements with third parties, we will not be able to create a market for our product candidates.

 

Our strategy with our lead product candidates is to control, directly or through contracted third parties, all or most aspects of the product development process, including marketing, sales and distribution. Currently, we do not have any sales, marketing or distribution capabilities. In order to generate sales of any product candidates that receive regulatory approval, we must either acquire or develop an internal marketing and sales force with technical expertise and with supporting distribution capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services for us. 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 defer our product development efforts. To the extent that we enter into marketing and sales arrangements with other companies, our revenues will depend on the efforts of others. These efforts may not be successful. If we fail to develop sales, marketing and distribution channels, or enter into arrangements with third parties, we will experience delays in product sales and incur increased costs.

 

S-21
 

 

Sales of pharmaceutical products largely depend on the reimbursement of patients' medical expenses by government health care programs and private health insurers. Without the financial support of the government or third-party payors, the market for our products will be limited. These third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price and examining the cost effectiveness of medical products and services. Recent proposals to change the health care system in the United States have included measures that would limit or eliminate payments for medical products and services or subject the pricing of medical treatment products to government control. Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved health care products. Third-party payors may not reimburse sales of our products or enable our collaborators to sell them at profitable prices.

 

Our business strategy might involve out-licensing product candidates to or collaborating with larger firms with experience in marketing and selling pharmaceutical products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully establish marketing, sales, or distribution relationships; that such relationships, if established, will be successful; or that we will be successful in gaining market acceptance for our products. To the extent that we enter into any marketing, sales, or distribution arrangements with third parties, our product revenues will be lower than if we marketed and sold our products directly, and any revenues we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third-parties. If we are unable to establish such third-party sales and marketing relationships, or choose not to do so, we will have to establish and rely on our own in-house capabilities.

 

We, as a company, have no experience in marketing or selling pharmaceutical products and currently have no sales, marketing, or distribution infrastructure. To market any of our products directly, we would need to develop a marketing, sales, and distribution force that both has technical expertise and the ability to support a distribution capability. The establishment of a marketing, sales, and distribution capability would significantly increase our costs, possibly requiring substantial additional capital. In addition, there is intense competition for proficient sales and marketing personnel, and we may not be able to attract individuals who have the qualifications necessary to market, sell, and distribute our products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to establish internal marketing, sales, or distribution capabilities. If we are unable to, or choose not to establish these capabilities, or if the capabilities we establish are not sufficient to meet our needs, we will be required to establish collaborative marketing, sales, or distribution relationships with third parties.

 

In the event that we are successful in bringing any products to market, our revenues may be adversely affected if we fail to obtain acceptable prices or adequate reimbursement for our products from third-party payors.

 

Our ability to commercialize pharmaceutical products successfully may depend in part on the availability of reimbursement for our products from:

 

  government and health administration authorities;
     
  private health insurers; and
     
  other third party payors, including Medicare.

 

We cannot predict the availability of reimbursement for health care products to be approved in the future. Third-party payors, including Medicare, are challenging the prices charged for medical products and services. Government and other third-party payors increasingly are limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement for new drugs. Third-party insurance coverage may not be available to patients for any of our products.

 

S-22
 

 

The continuing efforts of government and third-party payors to contain or reduce the costs of health care may limit our commercial opportunity. If government and other third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage and reimbursement for any prescription product we bring to market, doctors may not prescribe them or patients may ask to have their physicians prescribe competing drugs with more favorable reimbursement. In some foreign markets, pricing and profitability of prescription pharmaceuticals are subject to government control. In the United States, we expect that there will continue to be federal and state proposals for similar controls. In addition, we expect that increasing emphasis on managed care in the United States will continue to put pressure on the pricing of pharmaceutical products. Cost control initiatives could decrease the price that we receive for any products in the future. Further, cost control initiatives could impair our ability to commercialize our products and our ability to earn revenues from this commercialization.

 

If we obtain approval to commercialize any approved products outside of the United States, a variety of risks associated with international operations could materially adversely affect our business.

 

If TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates are approved for commercialization outside of the United States, we intend to enter into agreements with third parties to market them on a worldwide basis or in more limited geographical regions. We expect that we will be subject to additional risks related to entering into international business relationships, including:

 

  different regulatory requirements for drug approvals;
     
  reduced protection for intellectual property rights, including trade secret and patent rights;
     
  unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers and regulatory requirements;
     
  economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular foreign economies and markets;
     
  compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad;
     
  foreign taxes, including withholding of payroll taxes;
     
  foreign currency fluctuations, which could result in increased operating expenses and reduced revenues, and other obligations incident to doing business in another country;
     
  workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States;
     
  production shortages resulting from any events affecting raw material supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad;
     
  business interruptions resulting from geopolitical actions, including war and terrorism, or natural disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and fires; and
     
  difficulty in importing and exporting clinical trial materials and study samples.

 

We face the risk of product liability claims and may not be able to obtain insurance.

 

Our business exposes us to the risk of product liability claims that are inherent in the development of drugs. If the use of one or more of our or our collaborators' drugs harms people, we may be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims brought against us by clinical trial participants, consumers, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies or others selling our products. Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of pharmaceutical products we develop, alone or with collaborators. While we currently carry clinical trial insurance and product liability insurance, we cannot predict all of the possible harms or side effects that may result and, therefore, the amount of insurance coverage we hold now or in the future may not be adequate to cover all liabilities we might incur. We intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products if we obtain marketing approval for our drug candidates in development, but we may be unable to obtain commercially reasonable product liability insurance for any products approved for marketing. If we are unable to obtain insurance at an acceptable cost or otherwise protect against potential product liability claims, we will be exposed to significant liabilities, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial position. If we are sued for any injury allegedly caused by our or our collaborators' products, our liability could exceed our total assets and our ability to pay the liability. A product liability claim or series of claims brought against us would decrease our cash and could cause our stock price to fall.

 

S-23
 

 

 

We use hazardous chemicals in our business. Potential claims relating to improper handling, storage or disposal of these chemicals could affect us and be time consuming and costly.

 

Our research and development processes and/or those of our third party contractors may involve the controlled use of hazardous materials and chemicals. These hazardous chemicals are reagents and solvents typically found in a chemistry laboratory. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. Federal, state and local laws and regulations govern the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous materials. While we attempt to comply with all environmental laws and regulations, including those relating to the outsourcing of the disposal of all hazardous chemicals and waste products, we cannot eliminate the risk of contamination from or discharge of hazardous materials and any resultant injury. In the event of such an accident, we could be held liable for any resulting damages and any liability could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Compliance with environmental laws and regulations may be expensive. Current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. We might have to pay civil damages in the event of an improper or unauthorized release of, or exposure of individuals to, hazardous materials. We are not insured against these environmental risks.

 

If we enter into collaborations with third parties, they might also work with hazardous materials in connection with our collaborations. We may agree to indemnify our collaborators in some circumstances against damages and other liabilities arising out of development activities or products produced in connection with these collaborations.

 

In addition, the federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous or radioactive materials and waste products may require us to incur substantial compliance costs that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our insurance policies are expensive and protect us only from some business risks, which will leave us exposed to significant uninsured liabilities.

 

We carry insurance for most categories of risk that our business may encounter, however, we may not have adequate levels of coverage. We currently maintain general liability, clinical trial, key man, property, workers’ compensation, products liability and directors’ and officers’ insurance, along with an umbrella policy, which collectively costs approximately $200,000 per annum. We cannot provide any assurances that we will be able to maintain existing insurance at current or adequate levels of coverage. Any significant uninsured liability may require us to pay substantial amounts, which would adversely affect our cash position and results of operations.

 

If we retain collaborative partners and our partners do not satisfy their obligations, we will be unable to develop our partnered product candidates.

 

In the event we enter into any collaborative agreements, we may not have day-to-day control over the activities of our collaborative partners with respect to any of these product candidates. Any collaborative partner may not fulfill its obligations under these agreements. If a collaborative partner fails to fulfill its obligations under an agreement with us, we may be unable to assume the development of the products covered by that agreement or enter into alternative arrangements with a third party. In addition, we may encounter delays in the commercialization of the product candidate that is the subject of the agreement. Accordingly, our ability to receive any revenue from the product candidates covered by these agreements will be dependent on the efforts of our collaborative partner. We could also become involved in disputes with a collaborative partner, which could lead to delays in or termination of our development and commercialization programs and time-consuming and expensive litigation or arbitration. In addition, any such dispute could diminish our collaborators’ commitment to us and reduce the resources they devote to developing and commercializing our products. Conflicts or disputes with our collaborators, and competition from them, could harm our relationships with our other collaborators, restrict our ability to enter future collaboration agreements and delay the research, development or commercialization of our product candidates. If any collaborative partner terminates or breaches its agreement, or otherwise fails to complete its obligations in a timely manner, our chances of successfully developing or commercializing these product candidates would be materially and adversely affected. We may not be able to enter into collaborative agreements with partners on terms favorable to us, or at all. Our inability to enter into collaborative arrangements with collaborative partners, or our failure to maintain such arrangements, would limit the number of product candidates that we could develop and ultimately, decrease our sources of any future revenues.

 

S-24
 

 

 

RISKS RELATED TO OUR STOCK AND THIS OFFERING

 

You will experience immediate dilution in the net tangible book value per share of the common stock you purchase.

 

The public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than our net tangible book value per share of common stock. Based on the public offering price of $[*] per share, investors purchasing shares in this offering will, therefore, incur immediate dilution of $[*] in net tangible book value per share. This dilution figure deducts the estimated discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable from the public offering price. See "Dilution." In the past, we have issued options and warrants to acquire common stock at prices significantly below this offering price. To the extent these outstanding options and warrants are ultimately exercised, you will incur additional dilution. In addition, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares, you will incur additional dilution.

 

Because we will have broad discretion and flexibility in how the net proceeds from this offering are used, we may use the net proceeds in ways in which you disagree.

 

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to support the continued development of TNX-102 SL for the treatment of fibromyalgia, to initiate clinical trials of TNX-102 SL for the treatment of PTSD, to initiate clinical trials of TNX-201 for tension-type headache, and further develop our other pipeline programs, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes, and possibly acquisitions of other companies, products or technologies, though no such acquisitions are currently contemplated. See "Use of Proceeds" on page S-28. We have not allocated specific amounts of the net proceeds from this offering for any of the foregoing purposes. Accordingly, our management will have significant discretion and flexibility in applying the net proceeds of this offering. You will be relying on the judgment of our management with regard to the use of these net proceeds, and you will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether the net proceeds are being used appropriately. It is possible that the net proceeds will be invested in a way that does not yield a favorable, or any, return for us. The failure of our management to use such funds effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flow.

 

Sales of additional shares of our common stock, including by us or our directors and officers following expiration or early release of the lock-up periods, could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

 

Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the availability of such shares for sale, by us or others, including the issuance of common stock upon exercise of outstanding options and warrants, could adversely affect the price of our common stock. In connection with this offering, we and our directors and officers have entered into lock-up agreements for periods of 30 and 90 days, respectively, following this offering (which period may be extended under certain circumstances). We and our directors and officers may be released from lock-up prior to the expiration of the lock-up periods at the sole discretion of Roth Capital Partners, LLC. See "Underwriting." Upon expiration or earlier release of the lock-up, we and our directors and officers may sell shares into the market, which could adversely affect the market price of shares of our common stock.

 

Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of The NASDAQ Capital Market could result in a de-listing of our common stock.

 

If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of The NASDAQ Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements or the minimum closing bid price requirement, NASDAQ may take steps to de-list our common stock. Such a de-listing would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our common stock when you wish to do so. In the event of a de-listing, we would take actions to restore our compliance with NASDAQ’s listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any such action taken by us would allow our common stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the NASDAQ minimum bid price requirement or prevent future non-compliance with NASDAQ’s listing requirements.

 

S-25
 

  

The market price for our common stock may be volatile, and your investment in our common stock could decline in value.

 

The stock market in general has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. The market prices of the securities of biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies, particularly companies like ours without product revenues and earnings, have been highly volatile and may continue to be highly volatile in the future. This volatility has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The following factors, in addition to other risk factors described in this section, may have a significant impact on the market price of our common stock:

 

  announcements of technological innovations or new products by us or our competitors;
     
  announcement of FDA approval or disapproval of our products or other product-related actions;
     
  developments involving our discovery efforts and clinical trials;
     
  developments or disputes concerning patents or proprietary rights, including announcements of infringement, interference or other litigation against us or our potential licensees;
     
  developments involving our efforts to commercialize our products, including developments impacting the timing of commercialization;
     
  announcements concerning our competitors, or the biotechnology, pharmaceutical or drug delivery industry in general;
     
  public concerns as to the safety or efficacy of our products or our competitors’ products;
     
  changes in government regulation of the pharmaceutical or medical industry;
     
  changes in the reimbursement policies of third party insurance companies or government agencies;
     
  actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;
     
  changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;
     
  developments involving corporate collaborators, if any;
     
  changes in accounting principles; and
     
  the loss of any of our key scientific or management personnel.

 

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against companies that experience volatility in the market price of their securities. Whether or not meritorious, litigation brought against us could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

We do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock and, accordingly, shareholders must rely on stock appreciation for any return on their investment.

 

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not expect to do so in the foreseeable future. The declaration of dividends is subject to the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on various factors, including our operating results, financial condition, future prospects and any other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. You should not rely on an investment in our company if you require dividend income from your investment in our company. The success of your investment will likely depend entirely upon any future appreciation of the market price of our common stock, which is uncertain and unpredictable. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value.

 

S-26
 

 

 

We expect that our quarterly results of operations will fluctuate, and this fluctuation could cause our stock price to decline.

 

Our quarterly operating results are likely to fluctuate in the future. These fluctuations could cause our stock price to decline. The nature of our business involves variable factors, such as the timing of the research, development and regulatory pathways of our product candidates, which could cause our operating results to fluctuate.

 

Due to the possibility of fluctuations in our revenues and expenses, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results are not a good indication of our future performance.

 

The rights of the holders of common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.

 

Our articles of incorporation give our board of directors the right to create new series of preferred stock. As a result, the board of directors may, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power and equity interest of the holders of common stock. Preferred stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, could be utilized as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change of control. The possible impact on takeover attempts could adversely affect the price of our common stock. Although we have no present intention to issue any shares of preferred stock or to create a series of preferred stock, we may issue such shares in the future.

 

Efforts to comply with recently enacted changes in securities laws and regulations will increase our costs and require additional management resources, and we still may fail to comply.

 

As directed by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC adopted rules requiring public companies to include a report of management on their internal controls over financial reporting in their annual reports on Form 10-K. In addition, in the event we are no longer a smaller reporting company, the independent registered public accounting firm auditing our financial statements would be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Such attestation requirement by our independent registered public accounting firm would not be applicable to us until the report for the year ended December 31, 2014 at the earliest, if at all. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting or if our independent registered public accounting firm is required to, but is unable to provide us with a report as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decrease in the value of our securities.

 

Because certain of our stockholders control a significant number of shares of our common stock, they may have effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval.

 

As of January 21, 2014, our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders, and their respective affiliates, beneficially own approximately 38.3% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:

 

  delaying, deferring or preventing a change in corporate control;
     
  impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or
     
  discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.

 

S-27
 

 

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they change their recommendations regarding our stock adversely, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

 

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. Our research coverage by industry and financial analysts is currently limited. Even if our analyst coverage increases, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

 

USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We estimate that our net proceeds from the sale of the shares offered pursuant to this prospectus supplement will be approximately $[*] million, or approximately $[*] million if the underwriter exercises in full its option to purchase [*] additional shares, based upon the public offering price of $[*] per share and after deducting underwriting discount and the estimated offering expenses that are payable by us.

 

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to support the continued development of TNX-102 SL for the treatment of fibromyalgia, to initiate clinical trials of TNX-102 SL for the treatment of PTSD, to initiate clinical trials of TNX-201 for tension-type headache, and further develop our other pipeline programs, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes, and possibly acquisitions of other companies, products or technologies, though no such acquisitions are currently contemplated.

 

We have not yet determined the amount of net proceeds to be used specifically for any of the foregoing purposes. Accordingly, our management will have significant discretion and flexibility in applying the net proceeds from this offering. Pending any use, as described above, we intend to invest the net proceeds in high-quality, short-term, interest-bearing securities.

 

DIVIDEND POLICY

 

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, for use in our business and therefore do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Payment of future dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking into account various factors, including our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs and plans for expansion.

 

S-28
 

  

DILUTION

 

 If you purchase our securities in this offering, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the public offering price per share and the net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering. We calculate net tangible book value per share by dividing our net tangible assets (tangible assets less total liabilities) by the number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2013.

 

Our pro forma net tangible book value at September 30, 2013 was approximately $5,436,049, or $0.81 per share, based on 6,686,347 shares of our common stock outstanding, after giving effect to issuances of common stock from September 30, 2013 through and immediately prior to the date of this offering. After giving effect to the issuance and sale of all the shares in this offering at the public offering price of $[*] per share, less the estimated offering expenses, our adjusted pro forma net tangible book value at September 30, 2013 would be $[*] or $[*] per share. This represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value of $[*] per share to existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $[*] per share to investors in this offering. The following table illustrates this per share dilution:

 

Public offering price per share     $ 
Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2013  $0.81      
Increase per share attributable to investors in this offering  $      
Adjusted pro form net tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2013       $ 
Dilution per share to investors in this offering       $ 

 

If the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase [*] additional shares at the public offering price of $[*] per share, the adjusted net tangible book value of the common stock after this offering would be $[*] per share, representing an increase in net tangible book value of the common stock of $[*] per share to existing stockholders and immediate dilution in net tangible book value of the common stock of $[*] per share to new investors purchasing shares in this offering at the public offering price.

 

The foregoing illustration does not reflect potential dilution from the exercise of outstanding options or warrants to purchase shares of our common stock.

 

S-29
 

  

UNDERWRITING

 

We have entered into an underwriting agreement with Roth Capital Partners, LLC, acting as the representative of the several underwriters named below, with respect to the shares of common stock subject to this offering. Subject to certain conditions, we have agreed to sell to the underwriters, and the underwriters have severally agreed to purchase, the number of shares of common stock provided below opposite their respective names.

 

Underwriters   Number of Shares
Roth Capital Partners, LLC    
National Securities Corporation    
     
Total    

 

The underwriters are offering the shares of common stock subject to their acceptance of the shares of common stock from us and subject to prior sale. The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the several underwriters to pay for and accept delivery of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus supplement and the related prospectus are subject to the approval of certain legal matters by their counsel and to certain other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to take and pay for all of the shares of common stock if any such shares are taken. However, the underwriters are not required to take or pay for the shares of common stock covered by the underwriters’ over-allotment option described below.

 

Over-Allotment Option

 

We have granted the underwriters an option, exercisable for 45 days from the date of this prospectus supplement, to purchase up to an aggregate of [*] additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any, at the public offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus supplement, less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, made in connection with the offering of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus supplement and the related prospectus. If the underwriters exercise this option, each underwriter will be obligated, subject to certain conditions, to purchase a number of additional shares proportionate to that underwriter’s initial purchase commitment as indicated in the table above.

 

Discount, Commissions and Expenses

 

The underwriters have advised us that they propose to offer the shares of common stock to the public at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus supplement and to certain dealers at that price less a concession not in excess of $[*] per share. The underwriters may allow, and certain dealers may reallow, a discount from the concession not in excess of $[*] per share to certain brokers and dealers. After this offering, the initial public offering price, concession and reallowance to dealers may be changed by the representative. No such change shall change the amount of proceeds to be received by us as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus supplement. The shares of common stock are offered by the underwriters as stated herein, subject to receipt and acceptance by them and subject to their right to reject any order in whole or in part. The underwriters have informed us that they do not intend to confirm sales to any accounts over which they exercise discretionary authority.

 

The following table shows the underwriting discount payable to the underwriters by us in connection with this offering. Such amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option to purchase additional shares.

 

   Per share   Total Without
Exercise of 
Over-Allotment 
Option
   Total With
 Exercise of Over-
Allotment Option
 
Public offering price  $   $   $ 
Underwriting discount  $   $   $ 

 

S-30
 

  

We estimate that expenses payable by us in connection with this offering, other than the underwriting discounts and commissions referred to above, will be approximately $ [*]. We have agreed to reimburse the representative of the underwriters for certain out-of-pocket expenses provided that expenses exceeding $50,000 will require our prior approvals, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld; provided, further, that expenses reimbursable by us shall not exceed $100,000 in the aggregate. In no event will the total compensation payable to the underwriters and any other member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (or FINRA) or independent broker-dealer (including any financial advisor) in connection with the sale of the common stock offered hereby exceed 8.0% of the gross proceeds of this offering.

 

Indemnification

 

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and liabilities arising from breaches of representations and warranties contained in the underwriting agreement, or to contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in respect of those liabilities.

 

Lock-up Agreements

 

We, our officers, directors and certain of our stockholders have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, for a period of 90 days after the date of the underwriting agreement, not to offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly any shares of common stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock either owned as of the date of the underwriting agreement or thereafter acquired without the prior written consent of the representative. This 90-day period may be extended if (1) during the last 17 days of the 90-day period, we issue an earnings release or material news or a material event regarding us occurs or (2) prior to the expiration of the 90-day period, we announce that we will release earnings results during the 16-day period beginning on the last day of the 90-day period, then the period of such extension will be 18 days, beginning on the issuance of the earnings release or the occurrence of the material news or material event. If after any announcement described in clause (2) of the preceding sentence, we announce that we will not release earnings results during the 16-day period, the lock-up period shall expire the later of the expiration of the 90-day period and the end of any extension of such period made pursuant to clause (1) of the preceding sentence. The representative may, in its sole discretion and at any time or from time to time before the termination of the lock-up period, without notice, release all or any portion of the securities subject to lock-up agreements.

 

Price Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids

 

In connection with the offering the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act:

 

·Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

 

·Over-allotment involves sales by the underwriters of shares in excess of the number of shares the underwriters are obligated to purchase, which creates a syndicate short position. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of shares over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of shares that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of shares involved is greater than the number of shares in the over-allotment option. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their over-allotment option and/or purchasing shares in the open market.

 

S-31
 

 

 

·Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of shares of the common stock in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of shares to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of shares available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which it may purchase shares through the over-allotment option. If the underwriters sell more shares than could be covered by the over-allotment option, a naked short position, the position can only be closed out by buying shares in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there could be downward pressure on the price of the shares in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering.

 

·Penalty bids permit the representative to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the common stock originally sold by the syndicate member is purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.

 

These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our common stock or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the common stock. As a result, the price of our common stock may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. Neither we nor the underwriters make any representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of the common stock. In addition, neither we nor the underwriters make any representations that the underwriters will engage in these stabilizing transactions or that any transaction, once commenced, will not be discontinued without notice.

 

Passive Market Making

 

In connection with this offering, the underwriters and any selling group members may engage in passive market making transactions in our common stock on The NASDAQ Stock Market in accordance with Rule 103 of Regulation M under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, during a period before the commencement of offers or sales of common stock and extending through the completion of the distribution. A passive market maker must display its bid at a price not in excess of the highest independent bid of that security. However, if all independent bids are lowered below the passive market maker’s bid, that bid must then be lowered when specified purchase limits are exceeded.

 

Listing and Transfer Agent

 

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and trades under the symbol “TNXP.” The transfer agent of our common stock is vStock Transfer, LLC, 77 Spruce Street, Suite 201, Cedarhurst, NY 11516.

 

Electronic Distribution

 

This prospectus supplement and the related prospectus in electronic format may be made available on websites or through other online services maintained by one or more of the underwriters, or by their affiliates. Other than this prospectus supplement and the related prospectus in electronic format, the information on any underwriter’s website and any information contained in any other website maintained by an underwriter is not part of this prospectus supplement, the related prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus supplement and the related prospectus form a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or any underwriter in its capacity as underwriter, and should not be relied upon by investors.

 

Other

 

From time to time, certain of the underwriters and/or their affiliates have provided, and may in the future provide, various investment banking and other financial services for us for which services they have received and, may in the future receive, customary fees. In the course of their businesses, the underwriters and their affiliates may actively trade our securities or loans for their own account or for the accounts of customers, and, accordingly, the underwriters and their affiliates may at any time hold long or short positions in such securities or loans.

 

S-32
 

 

 

Roth and National Securities Corp., or National, acted as underwriters in connection with our underwritten public offering in August 2013. In the offering, we sold securities to Roth at an aggregate discount of $319,217. We issued to Roth and its designees warrants to purchase up to 48,240 shares of our common stock and reimbursed Roth for certain expenses in the amount of $192,150. In addition, we sold securities to National at an aggregate discount of $230,534 and issued to National and its designees warrants to purchase up to 23,584 shares of our common stock.

 

Except as described above and except for services provided in connection with this offering, no underwriter has provided us with any investment banking or other financial services during the 180-day period preceding the date of this prospectus supplement and we do not expect to retain any underwriter to perform any investment banking or other financial services for at least 90 days after the date of this prospectus supplement.

 

As of January 23, 2014, Roth owned warrants to purchase approximately 48,240 shares of our common stock, and certain representatives of National owned an aggregate of approximately 3,160 shares of our common stock.

 

S-33
 

  

NOTICE TO INVESTORS

 

Notice to Investors in the United Kingdom

 

In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a “Relevant Member State”) an offer to the public of any securities which are the subject of the offering contemplated by this prospectus supplement and the related prospectus may not be made in that Relevant Member State except that an offer to the public in that Relevant Member State of any such securities may be made at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Directive, if they have been implemented in that Relevant Member State:

 

(a)to legal entities which are authorized or regulated to operate in the financial markets or, if not so authorized or regulated, whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities;

 

(b)to any legal entity which has two or more of (1) an average of at least 250 employees during the last financial year; (2) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000 and (3) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000, as shown in its last annual or consolidated accounts;

 

(c)by the underwriter to fewer than 100 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive); or

 

(d)in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, provided that no such offer of these securities shall result in a requirement for the publication by the issuer or the underwriter of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

 

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any of the securities in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any such securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase any such securities, as the same may be varied in that Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Member State and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC and includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State.

 

Each underwriter has represented, warranted and agreed that:

 

(a)it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the FSMA)) received by it in connection with the issue or sale of any of the securities in circumstances in which section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to the issuer; and

 

(b)it has complied with and will comply with all applicable provisions of the FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the securities in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom.

 

European Economic Area

 

In particular, this document does not constitute an approved prospectus in accordance with European Commission’s Regulation on Prospectuses no. 809/2004 and no such prospectus is to be prepared and approved in connection with this offering. Accordingly, in relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (being the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2003/71/EC and including any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State) (each, a Relevant Member State), with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that Relevant Member State (the Relevant Implementation Date) an offer of securities to the public may not be made in that Relevant Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to such securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that it may, with effect from and including the Relevant Implementation Date, make an offer of securities to the public in that Relevant Member State at any time:

 

S-34
 

  

·to legal entities which are authorized or regulated to operate in the financial markets or, if not so authorized or regulated, whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities;

 

·to any legal entity which has two or more of (1) an average of at least 250 employees during the last financial year; (2) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000; and (3) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000, as shown in the last annual or consolidated accounts; or

 

·in any other circumstances which do not require the publication by the Issuer of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

 

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of securities to the public” in relation to any of the securities in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the securities, as the same may be varied in that Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Member State. For these purposes the shares offered hereby are “securities.”

 

LEGAL MATTERS

 

The validity of the securities offered hereby will be passed upon for us by Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference LLP, New York, New York. Lowenstein Sandler LLP, New York, New York, is acting as counsel for the underwriters in connection with this offering.

 

EXPERTS

 

The consolidated financial statements of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. appearing in Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.’s Annual Report (Form 10-K/A) for the year ended December 31, 2012, have been audited by EisnerAmper LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon included therein and incorporated herein by reference. Such consolidated financial statements are incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon such report given on the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

 

This prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are part of the registration statement on Form S-3 we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, under the Securities Act, and do not contain all the information set forth in the registration statement. Whenever a reference is made in this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the reference may not be complete, and you should refer to the exhibits that are a part of the registration statement or the exhibits to the reports or other documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus for a copy of such contract, agreement or other document. You may inspect a copy of the registration statement, including the exhibits and schedules, without charge, at the SEC's public reference room mentioned below, or obtain a copy from the SEC upon payment of the fees prescribed by the SEC.

 

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC.  You may read, without charge, and copy the documents we file at the SEC’s public reference rooms in Washington, D.C. at 100 F Street, NE, Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549.  You can request copies of these documents by writing to the SEC and paying a fee for the copying cost.  Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference rooms.  Our SEC filings are also available to the public at no cost from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

 

S-35
 

  

INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE

 

We incorporate by reference the filed documents listed below, except as superseded, supplemented or modified by this prospectus supplement, and any future filings we will make with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (unless otherwise noted, the SEC file number for each of the documents listed below is 001-36019):

 

·Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 filed on March 11, 2013, as amended by our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A filed on November 22, 2013;

 

·Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2013, June 30, 2013, and September 30, 2013, filed on May 7, 2013, August 14, 2013, and November 13, 2013, respectively;

 

·Current Reports on Form 8-K (excluding any reports or portions thereof that are deemed to be furnished and not filed) filed on March 11, 2013, April 23, 2013, May 1, 2013, August 9, 2013, August 14, 2013, September 16, 2013, October 17, 2013, December 10, 2013, December 13, 2013, December 31, 2013 and January 14, 2014; and

 

·The description of our common stock contained in our Form 8-A filed on July 23, 2013.

 

In addition, all documents filed by us pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act on or after the date of this prospectus supplement and before the termination of the offering under this prospectus supplement are deemed to be incorporated by reference into, and to be a part of, this prospectus supplement.

 

You may request, and we will provide you with, a copy of these filings, at no cost, by contacting us at:

 

Leland Gershell

Chief Financial Officer

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.

509 Madison Avenue, Suite 306

New York, New York 10022

Telephone (212) 980-9155

 

S-36
 

  

PROSPECTUS

 

 

$50,000,000

Common Stock

Preferred Stock

Warrants

Units

 

 

 

We may offer and sell, from time to time in one or more offerings, any combination of common stock, preferred stock, warrants, or units having an aggregate initial offering price not exceeding $50,000,000. The preferred stock, warrants, and units may be convertible or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock or preferred stock or other securities of ours.

 

Each time we sell a particular class or series of securities, we will provide specific terms of the securities offered in a supplement to this prospectus.  The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information in this prospectus.  You should read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, as well as the documents incorporated by reference or deemed to be incorporated by reference into this prospectus, carefully before you invest in any securities.

 

This prospectus may not be used to offer or sell our securities unless accompanied by a prospectus supplement relating to the offered securities.

 

Our common stock is presently listed on The NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “TNXP”. On December 30, 2013, the last reported sale price of our common stock was $10.47.

 

The aggregate market value of our outstanding common stock held by non-affiliates is $55,875,151.20, based on 5,814,421 shares of outstanding common stock as of December 30, 2013, of which 5,061,155 shares are held by non-affiliates, and a price of $11.04 per share, which was the last reported sale price of our common stock on The NASDAQ Capital Market on December 26, 2013. We have not offered any securities pursuant to General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3 during the prior 12 calendar month period that ends on, and includes, the date of this prospectus.

 

These securities may be sold directly by us, through dealers or agents designated from time to time, to or through underwriters or dealers or through a combination of these methods on a continuous or delayed basis.  See “Plan of Distribution” in this prospectus.  We may also describe the plan of distribution for any particular offering of our securities in a prospectus supplement. If any agents, underwriters or dealers are involved in the sale of any securities in respect of which this prospectus is being delivered, we will disclose their names and the nature of our arrangements with them in a prospectus supplement. The net proceeds we expect to receive from any such sale will also be included in a prospectus supplement.

 

 

 

Investing in our securities involves various risks.  See “Risk Factors” contained herein for more information on these risks.  Additional risks will be described in the related prospectus supplements under the heading “Risk Factors”.  You should review that section of the related prospectus supplements for a discussion of matters that investors in our securities should consider.

 

 
 

 

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

This prospectus is dated January 8, 2014

 

 
 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  Page
About this Prospectus 2
Our Business 2
Risk Factors 6
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 28
Use of Proceeds 28
The Securities We may Offer 28
Description of Capital Stock 29
Description of Warrants 30
Description of Units 32
Plan of Distribution 32
Legal Matters 34
Experts 34
Where you can find more Information 35
Incorporation of Documents by Reference 35

 

1
 

  

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

 

This prospectus is part of a shelf registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) using a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell any combination of the securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings from time to time having an aggregate initial offering price of $50,000,000. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities we may offer. Each time we offer securities, we will provide you with a prospectus supplement that describes the specific amounts, prices and terms of the securities we offer. The prospectus supplement also may add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. You should read carefully both this prospectus and any prospectus supplement together with additional information described below under the caption “Where You Can Find More Information.”

 

This prospectus does not contain all the information provided in the registration statement we filed with the SEC. You should read both this prospectus, including the section titled “Risk Factors,” and the accompanying prospectus supplement, together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”

 

You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or a prospectus supplement. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. This prospectus is not an offer to sell securities, and it is not soliciting an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement, as well as information we have previously filed with the SEC and incorporated by reference, is accurate as of the date on the front of those documents only. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

 

OUR BUSINESS

 

Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, this prospectus includes the accounts of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., a Nevada corporation (“Tonix”), and together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, as follows, collectively referred to as “we”, “us” or the “Company”: Tonix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Tonix Sub”), Krele LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Krele”) and Tonix Pharmaceuticals (Canada), Inc., a corporation incorporated under the laws of the province of New Brunswick, Canada (“Tonix Canada”). Tonix Sub is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tonix, and Krele and Tonix Canada are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Tonix Sub.

 

Business Overview

 

We are a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to the identification and development of novel pharmaceutical products for challenging disorders of the central nervous system, or CNS. Our lead drug development programs are directed toward CNS conditions that manifest with pain that originates in the brain, or central pain. Central pain results from abnormal sensory processing in the CNS, rather than from dysfunction in peripheral tissues where pain is perceived. Our most advanced development program is for the management of fibromyalgia, or FM, a central pain syndrome. We also have a development program for the management of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in which central pain is a component. We also have a pipeline of additional product candidates that we plan to develop for other CNS indications.

 

2
 

  

TNX-102 SL

 

We are currently devoting the majority of our efforts to the development of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 sublingual tablet, or TNX-102 SL. TNX-102 SL is a novel dose and formulation of cyclobenzaprine, or CBP, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of two widely prescribed products, Flexeril® and Amrix®. We are pursuing the development of TNX-102 SL for indications distinct from those for which current CBP products are approved. We believe that TNX-102 SL is an optimized CBP product for the treatment of FM and PTSD, and is distinct from current CBP products in three ways: (1) it is being developed at a dose level significantly below the lowest marketed doses of current CBP products; (2) it is placed under the tongue, to disintegrate, dissolve and provide sublingual absorption, whereas current CBP products are swallowed and provide absorption in the small intestine; and (3) it is being developed for chronic use, whereas current CBP products are marketed for two to three weeks of use. We are developing TNX-102 SL for the treatment of FM under a U.S. Investigational New Drug application, or IND, and we held an End-of-Phase 2/Pre-Phase 3 meeting with the FDA in February 2013. TNX-102 SL is in a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for the improvement of pain in subjects with FM, from which we expect to report initial results in the second half of 2014.

 

Our therapeutic strategy is supported by results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2a study of low dose TNX-102 immediate release capsules taken between dinner and bedtime in 36 subjects with FM, which demonstrated a significant decrease in pain and other symptoms after eight weeks of treatment. This study also demonstrated that low dose TNX-102 immediate release capsules led to a significant improvement in objective measures of sleep quality, which we believe relates to the mechanism by which CBP leads to improvement of FM symptoms. We have completed four Phase 1 studies under Canadian Clinical Trial Applications. Our Phase 1 studies demonstrated TNX-102 SL to exhibit a pharmacokinetic profile that we believe supports chronic bedtime administration for the treatment of FM, and is distinct from those of currently-available CBP products.

 

FM is a chronic syndrome characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. According to the National Institutes of Health, there are approximately five million people suffering from FM in the U.S. The peak incidence of FM occurs at 20 – 50 years of age, and 80-90% of diagnosed patients are female. FM may have a substantial negative impact on social and occupational function, including disrupted relationships with family and friends, social isolation, reduced activities of daily living and leisure activities, avoidance of physical activity, and loss of career or inability to advance in careers or education.

 

Although the disordered brain processes that underlie FM are yet to be fully understood, the mechanisms of drugs that treat central pain are believed to target certain aspects of nerve signaling. Three drugs, Lyrica® (pregabalin), Cymbalta® (duloxetine), and Savella® (milnacipran), are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the management of FM and are believed to act upon molecular pathways involved in central pain. Lyrica is believed to affect nerve signaling by blocking calcium channels on nerve cells, and is considered a nerve membrane stabilizer. Cymbalta and Savella are believed to directly inhibit the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine by nerves, and are referred to as Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors, or SNRIs. CBP, the active ingredient of TNX-102 SL, is a selective antagonist of serotonin and norepinephrine receptors as well as an inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake, and we refer to it as a Serotonin and Norepinephrine receptor Antagonist and Reuptake Inhibitor, or SNARI.

 

As many products used for the treatment of FM are approved and marketed for other conditions, sales of these products related specifically to FM can only be estimated. Based on information obtained from publicly available sources, we believe U.S. sales of prescription drugs specifically for the treatment of FM totaled approximately $1.5 billion in 2012, and we believe this segment had grown at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 14% in 2007 – 12. Based on information obtained from publicly available sources, we believe 2012 sales of Cymbalta, Lyrica, and Savella in FM were approximately $600 million, $475 million, and $100 million, respectively.

 

Despite the availability and use of a variety of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, FM remains a significant unmet medical need. Many patients fail to adequately respond to the approved medications, or discontinue therapy due to poor tolerability. Prescription pain and sleep medications are frequently taken ‘off-label’ for symptomatic relief, despite the lack of evidence that such medications provide a meaningful or durable therapeutic effect. An important goal of FM treatment is to reduce the dependence on opiate analgesic as well as on benzodiazepine and non-benzodiazepine sedative-hypnotic medications by FM patients. Since CBP has no recognized addictive potential, we believe that TNX-102 SL, if approved, could reduce the exposure of FM patients to medications that have not been shown to be effective in treating FM and are associated with significant safety risks.

 

3
 

  

TNX-102 SL is a small, rapidly disintegrating tablet containing CBP for sublingual administration at bedtime. We designed TNX-102 SL to enable the efficient delivery of CBP to the systemic circulation via sublingual transmucosal absorption and to avoid first-pass liver metabolism. We also designed TNX-102 SL to provide CBP at a dose lower than those currently available. We have conducted several clinical and non-clinical pharmacokinetic studies of TNX-102 sublingual formulations, which we believe support the development of TNX-102 SL as a novel therapeutic product for FM and PTSD, and which demonstrate a number of potentially advantageous characteristics as compared to current CBP-containing products, none of which are approved for these indications. For example, our Phase 1 comparative studies showed that TNX-102 SL results in faster systemic absorption and significantly higher plasma levels of CBP in the first hour following administration relative to oral CBP tablets. TNX-102 SL was generally well-tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported in these studies. Some subjects experienced transient numbness on the tongue after TNX-102 SL administration, and other side-effects reported were similar to those associated with current CBP products.

 

At our End-of-Phase 2/Pre-Phase 3 meeting with the FDA, we discussed the design of the clinical program, including the acceptability of the pivotal study design and the proposed registration plan, to support the approval of TNX-102 SL for the management of FM. We believe that positive results from two adequate, well-controlled safety and efficacy studies and the completion of long-term open-label safety exposure studies per FDA and International Conference on Harmonization, or ICH, requirements for chronic use would support the approval of TNX-102 SL for the management of FM. Under the IND, we initiated the Phase 2b/3 BEdtime Sublingual TNX-102 SL as Fibromyalgia Intervention Therapy (BESTFIT) trial in the third quarter of 2013. If successful, this will serve as the first of two pivotal studies to support a New Drug Application, or NDA, for TNX-102 SL in FM. We have engaged Premier Research International, LLC, a contract research organization, or CRO, to provide clinical and data management services for this Phase 2b/3 trial. We expect that any applications we submit for FDA approval of TNX-102 SL will be submitted under Section 505(b)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA, which we believe will allow for a shorter timeline of clinical and non-clinical development as compared to that needed to fulfill the requirements of Section 505(b)(1), under which new chemical entities are generally developed to meet the FDA’s requirements for new drug approvals.

 

We are also advancing TNX-102 SL for the management of PTSD. We held a pre-IND meeting with the FDA in October 2012, and we plan to file an IND to pursue this indication in the first quarter of 2014. We plan to begin a Phase 2 trial of TNX-102 SL in subjects with military-related PTSD in the second quarter of 2014. Based on our pre-IND discussion with the FDA, the clinical data necessary to support the PTSD NDA approval will be comprised of positive results from two adequate, well-controlled efficacy and safety studies and safety exposure data. We expect to be able to rely, at least in part, on safety exposure data generated by our clinical development of TNX-102 SL in FM for the purpose of the NDA requirements for PTSD.

 

Additional Product Candidates

 

We also have a pipeline of other product candidates, including TNX-201 and TNX-301. TNX-201 is based on isometheptene mucate, or IMH, and is under development as a treatment for certain types of headaches. IMH is an active ingredient that has been reviewed by the FDA under the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation program for safety and efficacy. IMH has been commercialized as a single agent (for example, Octin®) as well as a component in combination products (examples include Midrin® and MigraTen®), but only as a mixture of two mirror-image forms. TNX-201 contains only one of these forms of IMH, which we believe may confer an improved clinical profile as compared to the mixture. We intend to develop TNX-201 under the 505(b)(2) provision and we are scheduled to meet with the FDA in the first quarter of 2014 to discuss our development plans related to TNX-201. TNX-301 is a fixed dose combination of two FDA-approved drugs, disulfiram and selegiline. Although we intend to develop TNX-301 under the 505(b)(2) provision as a treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence, we currently have no plans for further development of TNX-301 at this time.

 

4
 

  

Krele

 

In August 2010, we formed Krele to commercialize products that are generic versions of predicate NDA products. We anticipate that when our branded products lose patent protection, Krele may market authorized generic versions of them. Krele also may develop or acquire generic products approved under FDA abbreviated new drug applications, or ANDAs, and we may market branded versions (branded generics) of such products. Krele has been issued a state license in New York.

 

Corporate Information

 

We were incorporated on November 16, 2007 under the laws of the State of Nevada as Tamandare Explorations Inc. On October 11, 2011, we changed our name to Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. Our principal executive offices are located at 509 Madison Avenue, Suite 306, New York, New York 10022, and our telephone number is (212) 980-9155.  Our website addresses are www.tonixpharma.com and www.krele.com. The information on our websites is not part of this prospectus. We have included our website addresses as a factual reference and do not intend them to be active links to our websites.

 

5
 

  

RISK FACTORS

 

You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks we are not presently aware of or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations. Our business could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our common stock could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing these risks, you should also refer to the other information contained or incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, including our financial statements and related notes.

 

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS

 

We have a history of operating losses and expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We may never generate revenues or, if we are able to generate revenues, achieve profitability.

 

We are focused on product development, and we have not generated any revenues to date. We have incurred losses in each year of our operations, and we expect to continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future. These operating losses have adversely affected and are likely to continue to adversely affect our working capital, total assets and shareholders’ equity.

 

The Company and its prospects should be examined in light of the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by new and early stage companies in new and rapidly evolving markets. These risks include, among other things, the speed at which we can scale up operations, our complete dependence upon development of products that currently have no market acceptance, our ability to establish and expand our brand name, our ability to expand our operations to meet the commercial demand of our clients, our development of and reliance on strategic and customer relationships and our ability to minimize fraud and other security risks.

 

The process of developing our products requires significant clinical, development and laboratory testing and clinical trials. In addition, commercialization of our product candidates will require that we obtain necessary regulatory approvals and establish sales, marketing and manufacturing capabilities, either through internal hiring or through contractual relationships with others. We expect to incur substantial losses for the foreseeable future as a result of anticipated increases in our research and development costs, including costs associated with conducting preclinical testing and clinical trials, and regulatory compliance activities.

 

Our ability to generate revenues and achieve profitability will depend on numerous factors, including success in:

 

  developing and testing product candidates;
     
  receiving regulatory approvals;
     
  commercializing our products; and
     
  establishing a favorable competitive position.

 

Many of these factors will depend on circumstances beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will ever have a product approved by the FDA, that we will bring any product to market or, if we are successful in doing so, that we will ever become profitable.

 

We expect to incur substantial additional operating expenses over the next several years as our research, development, pre-clinical testing, and clinical trial activities increase. The amount of future losses and when, if ever, we will achieve profitability are uncertain. We have no products that have generated any commercial revenue, do not expect to generate revenues from the commercial sale of products in the near future, and might never generate revenues from the sale of products. Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability will depend on, among other things, successful completion of the development of our product candidates; obtaining necessary regulatory approvals from the FDA; establishing manufacturing, sales, and marketing arrangements with third parties; and raising sufficient funds to finance our activities. We might not succeed at any of these undertakings. If we are unsuccessful at some or all of these undertakings, our business, prospects, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

 

6
 

  

We have a limited operating history and we expect a number of factors to cause our operating results to fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis, which may make it difficult to predict our future performance.

 

We are a development stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. Our operations to date have been primarily limited to developing our technology and undertaking preclinical studies and clinical trials of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL. We have not yet obtained regulatory approvals for TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates. Consequently, any predictions made about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or commercialized products. Our financial condition has varied significantly in the past and will continue to fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Factors relating to our business that may contribute to these fluctuations include other factors described elsewhere in this prospectus and also include:

 

  our ability to obtain additional funding to develop our product candidates;
     
  delays in the commencement, enrollment and timing of clinical trials;
     
  the success of our clinical trials through all phases of clinical development, including our TNX-102 SL trial;
     
  any delays in regulatory review and approval of product candidates in clinical development;
     
  our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates in the United States and foreign jurisdictions;
     
  potential side effects of our product candidates that could delay or prevent commercialization, limit the indications for any approved drug, require the establishment of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, or cause an approved drug to be taken off the market;
     
  our dependence on third-party contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, to supply or manufacture our products;
     
  our dependence on CROs to conduct our clinical trials;
     
  our ability to establish or maintain collaborations, licensing or other arrangements;
     
  market acceptance of our product candidates;
     
  our ability to establish and maintain an effective sales and marketing infrastructure, either through the creation of a commercial infrastructure or through strategic collaborations;
     
  competition from existing products or new products that may emerge;
     
  the ability of patients or healthcare providers to obtain coverage of or sufficient reimbursement for our products;
     
  our ability to leverage our proprietary technology platform to discover and develop additional product candidates;
     
  our ability and our licensors’ abilities to successfully obtain, maintain, defend and enforce intellectual property rights important to our business;
  our ability to attract and retain key personnel to manage our business effectively;
     
  our ability to build our finance infrastructure and improve our accounting systems and controls;
     
  potential product liability claims;
     
  potential liabilities associated with hazardous materials; and
     
  our ability to obtain and maintain adequate insurance policies.

 

7
 

  

Accordingly, the results of any quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of future operating performance.

 

We received a report from our independent registered public accounting firm with an explanatory paragraph for the year ended December 31, 2012 with respect to our ability to continue as a going concern. The existence of such a report may adversely affect our stock price and our ability to raise capital. There is no assurance that we will not receive a similar report for our year ended December 31, 2013.

 

In their report dated March 8, 2013, our independent registered public accounting firm expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern as we have incurred losses since inception of development stage, have a negative cash flow from operations, and require additional financing to fund future operations. Our ability to continue as a going concern is subject to our ability to obtain necessary funding from outside sources, including obtaining additional funding from the sale of our securities, obtaining loans and grants from various financial institutions where possible. Our continued net operating losses increase the difficulty in meeting such goals and there can be no assurances that such methods will prove successful.

 

We have no approved products on the market and therefore do not expect to generate any revenues from product sales in the foreseeable future, if at all.

 

To date, we have no approved product on the market and have generated no product revenues. We have funded our operations primarily from sales of our securities. We have not received, and do not expect to receive for at least the next several years, if at all, any revenues from the commercialization of our product candidates. To obtain revenues from sales of our product candidates, we must succeed, either alone or with third parties, in developing, obtaining regulatory approval for, manufacturing and marketing drugs with commercial potential. We may never succeed in these activities, and we may not generate sufficient revenues to continue our business operations or achieve profitability.

 

We are largely dependent on the success of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL, and we cannot be certain that this product candidate will receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized.

 

We currently have no products for sale, and we cannot guarantee that we will ever have any drug products approved for sale. We and our product candidates are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and comparable regulatory authorities in other countries governing, among other things, research, testing, clinical trials, manufacturing, labeling, promotion, selling, adverse event reporting and recordkeeping. We are not permitted to market any of our product candidates in the United States until we receive approval of an NDA for a product candidate from the FDA or the equivalent approval from a foreign regulatory authority. Obtaining FDA approval is a lengthy, expensive and uncertain process. We currently have one lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL for the treatment of FM, and the success of our business currently depends on its successful development, approval and commercialization. Any projected sales or future revenue predictions are predicated upon FDA approval and market acceptance of TNX-102 SL. If projected sales do not materialize for any reason, it would have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to continue operations.

 

TNX-102 SL has not completed the clinical development process; therefore, we have not yet submitted an NDA or foreign equivalent or received marketing approval for this product candidate anywhere in the world. The clinical development program for TNX-102 SL may not lead to commercial products for a number of reasons, including if we fail to obtain necessary approvals from the FDA or foreign regulatory authorities because our clinical trials fail to demonstrate to their satisfaction that this product candidate is safe and effective or the clinical program may be put on hold due to unexpected safety issues with marketed CBP products. We may also fail to obtain the necessary approvals if we have inadequate financial or other resources to advance our product candidates through the clinical trial process. Any failure or delay in completing clinical trials or obtaining regulatory approval for TNX-102 SL in a timely manner would have a material adverse impact on our business and our stock price.

 

8
 

  

We may use our financial and human resources to pursue a particular research program or product candidate and fail to capitalize on programs or product candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

 

Because we have limited financial and human resources, we are currently focusing on the regulatory approval of TNX-102 SL. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on existing and future product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through strategic alliance, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate, or we may allocate internal resources to a product candidate in a therapeutic area in which it would have been more advantageous to enter into a partnering arrangement.

 

We need additional capital. If additional capital is not available or is available at unattractive terms, we may be forced to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate our research and development programs, reduce our commercialization efforts or curtail our operations.

 

In order to develop and bring our product candidates to market, we must commit substantial resources to costly and time-consuming research, preclinical and clinical trials and marketing activities. We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents will enable us to maintain our current operations for at least the next twelve months. We anticipate using our cash and cash equivalents to fund further research and development with respect to our lead product candidates. We may, however, need to raise additional funding sooner if our business or operations change in a manner that consumes available resources more rapidly than we anticipate. Our requirements for additional capital will depend on many factors, including:

 

  successful commercialization of our product candidates;
     
  the time and costs involved in obtaining regulatory approval for our product candidates;
     
  costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights;
     
  development of marketing and sales capabilities;
     
  payments received under future collaborative agreements, if any; and
     
  market acceptance of our products.

 

To the extent we raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities, the issuance of those securities could result in dilution to our shareholders. In addition, if we obtain debt financing, a substantial portion of our operating cash flow may be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on such indebtedness, thus limiting funds available for our business activities. If adequate funds are not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate our research and development programs, reduce our commercialization efforts or curtail our operations. In addition, we may be required to obtain funds through arrangements with collaborative partners or others that may require us to relinquish rights to technologies, product candidates or products that we would otherwise seek to develop or commercialize ourselves or license rights to technologies, product candidates or products on terms that are less favorable to us than might otherwise be available.

 

We will require substantial additional funds to support our research and development activities, and the anticipated costs of preclinical studies and clinical trials, regulatory approvals and eventual commercialization. Such additional sources of financing may not be available on favorable terms, if at all. If we do not succeed in raising additional funds on acceptable terms, we may be unable to initiate clinical trials or obtain approval of any product candidates from the FDA and other regulatory authorities. In addition, we could be forced to discontinue product development, forego sales and marketing efforts and forego attractive business opportunities. Any additional sources of financing will likely involve the issuance of our equity securities, which will have a dilutive effect on our shareholders.

 

9
 

  

There is no assurance that we will be successful in raising the additional funds needed to fund our business plan. If we are not able to raise sufficient capital in the near future, our continued operations will be in jeopardy and we may be forced to cease operations and sell or otherwise transfer all or substantially all of our remaining assets.

 

We face intense competition in the markets targeted by our lead product candidates. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources than we do, and we expect that all of our product candidates under development will face intense competition from existing or future drugs.

 

We expect that all of our product candidates under development, if approved, will face intense competition from existing and future drugs marketed by large companies. These competitors may successfully market products that compete with our products, successfully identify drug candidates or develop products earlier than we do, or develop products that are more effective, have fewer side effects or cost less than our products.

 

Additionally, if a competitor receives FDA approval before we do for a drug that is similar to one of our product candidates, FDA approval for our product candidate may be precluded or delayed due to periods of non-patent exclusivity and/or the listing with the FDA by the competitor of patents covering its newly-approved drug product. Periods of non-patent exclusivity for new versions of existing drugs such as our current product candidates can extend up to three and one-half years.

 

These competitive factors could require us to conduct substantial new research and development activities to establish new product targets, which would be costly and time consuming. These activities would adversely affect our ability to commercialize products and achieve revenue and profits.

 

Competition and technological change may make our product candidates and technologies less attractive or obsolete.

 

We compete with established pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that are pursuing other forms of treatment for the same indications we are pursuing and that have greater financial and other resources. Other companies may succeed in developing products earlier than us, obtaining FDA approval for products more rapidly, or developing products that are more effective than our product candidates. Research and development by others may render our technology or product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive, or result in treatments or cures superior to any therapy we develop. We face competition from companies that internally develop competing technology or acquire competing technology from universities and other research institutions. As these companies develop their technologies, they may develop competitive positions that may prevent, make futile, or limit our product commercialization efforts, which would result in a decrease in the revenue we would be able to derive from the sale of any products.

 

There can be no assurance that any of our product candidates will be accepted by the marketplace as readily as these or other competing treatments. Furthermore, if our competitors' products are approved before ours, it could be more difficult for us to obtain approval from the FDA. Even if our products are successfully developed and approved for use by all governing regulatory bodies, there can be no assurance that physicians and patients will accept our product(s) as a treatment of choice.

 

Furthermore, the pharmaceutical research industry is diverse, complex, and rapidly changing. By its nature, the business risks associated therewith are numerous and significant. The effects of competition, intellectual property disputes, market acceptance, and FDA regulations preclude us from forecasting revenues or income with certainty or even confidence.

 

If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights, our ability to pursue the development of our technologies and products would be negatively affected.

 

Our success will depend in part on our ability to obtain patents and maintain adequate protection of our technologies and products. If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property, competitors may be able to use our technologies to produce and market drugs in direct competition with us and erode our competitive advantage. Some foreign countries lack rules and methods for defending intellectual property rights and do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the United States. Many companies have had difficulty protecting their proprietary rights in these foreign countries. We may not be able to prevent misappropriation of our proprietary rights.

 

10
 

  

We have received, and are currently seeking, patent protection for numerous compounds and methods of treating diseases. However, the patent process is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in protecting our products by obtaining and defending patents. These risks and uncertainties include the following: patents that may be issued or licensed may be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented, or otherwise may not provide any competitive advantage; our competitors, many of which have substantially greater resources than us and many of which have made significant investments in competing technologies, may seek, or may already have obtained, patents that will limit, interfere with, or eliminate our ability to make, use, and sell our potential products either in the United States or in international markets; there may be significant pressure on the United States government and other international governmental bodies to limit the scope of patent protection both inside and outside the United States for treatments that prove successful as a matter of public policy regarding worldwide health concerns; countries other than the United States may have less restrictive patent laws than those upheld by United States courts, allowing foreign competitors the ability to exploit these laws to create, develop, and market competing products.

 

Moreover, any patents issued to us may not provide us with meaningful protection, or others may challenge, circumvent or narrow our patents. Third parties may also independently develop products similar to our products, duplicate our unpatented products or design around any patents on products we develop. Additionally, extensive time is required for development, testing and regulatory review of a potential product. While extensions of patent term due to regulatory delays may be available, it is possible that, before any of our product candidates can be commercialized, any related patent, even with an extension, may expire or remain in force for only a short period following commercialization, thereby reducing any advantages of the patent.

 

In addition, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”) and patent offices in other jurisdictions have often required that patent applications concerning pharmaceutical and/or biotechnology-related inventions be limited or narrowed substantially to cover only the specific innovations exemplified in the patent application, thereby limiting the scope of protection against competitive challenges. Thus, even if we or our licensors are able to obtain patents, the patents may be substantially narrower than anticipated.

 

Our success depends on our patents, patent applications that may be licensed exclusively to us and other patents to which we may obtain assignment or licenses. We may not be aware, however, of all patents, published applications or published literature that may affect our business either by blocking our ability to commercialize our product candidates, by preventing the patentability of our product candidates to us or our licensors, or by covering the same or similar technologies that may invalidate our patents, limit the scope of our future patent claims or adversely affect our ability to market our product candidates.

 

In addition to patents, we rely on a combination of trade secrets, confidentiality, nondisclosure and other contractual provisions, and security measures to protect our confidential and proprietary information. These measures may not adequately protect our trade secrets or other proprietary information. If they do not adequately protect our rights, third parties could use our technology, and we could lose any competitive advantage we may have. In addition, others may independently develop similar proprietary information or techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets, which could impair any competitive advantage we may have.

 

Patent protection and other intellectual property protection is crucial to the success of our business and prospects, and there is a substantial risk that such protections will prove inadequate.

 

We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, which could be expensive and time consuming.

 

The pharmaceutical industry has been characterized by extensive litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights, and companies have employed intellectual property litigation to gain a competitive advantage. We may become subject to infringement claims or litigation arising out of patents and pending applications of our competitors, or additional interference proceedings declared by the PTO to determine the priority of inventions. The defense and prosecution of intellectual property suits, PTO proceedings, and related legal and administrative proceedings are costly and time-consuming to pursue, and their outcome is uncertain. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our issued patents, to protect our trade secrets and know-how, or to determine the enforceability, scope, and validity of the proprietary rights of others. An adverse determination in litigation or interference proceedings to which we may become a party could subject us to significant liabilities, require us to obtain licenses from third parties, or restrict or prevent us from selling our products in certain markets. Although patent and intellectual property disputes might be settled through licensing or similar arrangements, the costs associated with such arrangements may be substantial and could include our paying large fixed payments and ongoing royalties. Furthermore, the necessary licenses may not be available on satisfactory terms or at all.

 

11
 

  

Competitors may infringe our patents, and we may file infringement claims to counter infringement or unauthorized use. This can be expensive, particularly for a company of our size, and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours is not valid or is unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover its technology. An adverse determination of any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly.

 

Also, a third party may assert that our patents are invalid and/or unenforceable. There are no unresolved communications, allegations, complaints or threats of litigation related to the possibility that our patents are invalid or unenforceable. Any litigation or claims against us, whether or not merited, may result in substantial costs, place a significant strain on our financial resources, divert the attention of management and harm our reputation. An adverse decision in litigation could result in inadequate protection for our product candidates and/or reduce the value of any license agreements we have with third parties.

 

Interference proceedings brought before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may be necessary to determine priority of invention with respect to our patents or patent applications. During an interference proceeding, it may be determined that we do not have priority of invention for one or more aspects in our patents or patent applications and could result in the invalidation in part or whole of a patent or could put a patent application at risk of not issuing. Even if successful, an interference proceeding may result in substantial costs and distraction to our management.

 

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation or interference proceedings, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If investors perceive these results to be negative, the price of our common stock could be adversely affected.

 

If we infringe the rights of third parties we could be prevented from selling products, forced to pay damages, and defend against litigation.

 

If our products, methods, processes and other technologies infringe the proprietary rights of other parties, we could incur substantial costs and we may have to: obtain licenses, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all; abandon an infringing product candidate; redesign our products or processes to avoid infringement; stop using the subject matter claimed in the patents held by others; pay damages; and/or defend litigation or administrative proceedings which may be costly whether we win or lose, and which could result in a substantial diversion of our financial and management resources.

 

If preclinical testing or clinical trials for our product candidates are unsuccessful or delayed, we will be unable to meet our anticipated development and commercialization timelines.

 

We rely and expect to continue to rely on third parties, including CROs and outside consultants, to conduct, supervise or monitor some or all aspects of preclinical testing or clinical trials involving our product candidates. We have less control over the timing and other aspects of these preclinical testing or clinical trials than if we performed the monitoring and supervision entirely on our own. Third parties may not perform their responsibilities for our preclinical testing or clinical trials on our anticipated schedule or, for clinical trials, consistent with a clinical trial protocol. Delays in preclinical and clinical testing could significantly increase our product development costs and delay product commercialization. In addition, many of the factors that may cause, or lead to, a delay in the clinical trials may also ultimately lead to denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate.

 

12
 

  

The commencement of clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays in:

 

  demonstrating sufficient safety and efficacy to obtain regulatory approval to commence a clinical trial;

 

  reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective contract research organizations and trial sites;

 

  manufacturing sufficient quantities of a product candidate; and

 

  obtaining institutional review board approval to conduct a clinical trial at a prospective site.

 

Once a clinical trial has begun, it may be delayed, suspended or terminated by us or the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including:

 

  ongoing discussions with the FDA or other regulatory authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials;

 

  failure to conduct clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements;

 

  lower than anticipated recruitment or retention rate of patients in clinical trials;

 

  inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial sites by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold;

 

  lack of adequate funding to continue clinical trials;

 

  negative results of clinical trials; or

 

  adverse events.

 

If clinical trials are unsuccessful, and we are not able to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates under development, we will not be able to commercialize these products, and therefore may not be able to generate sufficient revenues to support our business.

 

We rely on third parties to conduct, supervise and monitor our clinical trials, and if those third parties perform in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.

 

We rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials. While we have agreements governing their activities, we will have limited influence over their actual performance. We will control only certain aspects of our CROs’ activities. Nevertheless, we will be responsible for ensuring that our clinical trials are conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.

 

We and our CROs are required to comply with the FDA’s current good clinical practices requirements, or cGCP, for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of clinical trial participants are protected. The FDA enforces these cGCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and clinical trial sites. If we or our CROs fail to comply with applicable cGCPs, the clinical data generated in our clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA may require us to perform additional clinical trials before approving any marketing applications. Upon inspection, the FDA may determine that our clinical trials did not comply with cGCPs. In addition, our clinical trials, including our Phase 2b/3 trial of TNX-102 SL in FM, will require a sufficiently large number of test subjects to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a product candidate. Accordingly, if our CROs fail to comply with these regulations or fail to recruit a sufficient number of patients, our clinical trials may be delayed or we may be required to repeat such clinical trials, which would delay the regulatory approval process.

 

13
 

  

Our CROs are not our employees, and we are not able to control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our clinical trials. These CROs may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials, or other drug development activities which could harm our competitive position. If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations, fail to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols or regulatory requirements, or for any other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize our product candidates. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for such product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

 

We also rely on other third parties to store and distribute drug products for our clinical trials. Any performance failure on the part of our distributors could delay clinical development or marketing approval of our product candidates or commercialization of our products, if approved, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.

 

We have never conducted a pivotal clinical trial or submitted an NDA before, and may be unable to do so for TNX-102 SL and other product candidates we are developing.

 

If our Phase 2b/3 study of TNX-102 SL is successful, we then expect to conduct a Phase 3 confirmatory study in support of product registration. As these trials are intended to provide evidence to support marketing approval by the FDA, they are considered pivotal trials. The conduct of pivotal clinical trials and the submission of a successful NDA is a complicated process. Although members of our management team have extensive industry experience, including in the development, clinical testing and commercialization of drug candidates, our company has never conducted a pivotal clinical trial before, has limited experience in preparing, submitting and prosecuting regulatory filings, and has not submitted an NDA before. Consequently, we may be unable to successfully and efficiently execute and complete these planned clinical trials in a way that leads to NDA submission and approval of TNX-102 SL and other product candidates we are developing. We may require more time and incur greater costs than our competitors and may not succeed in obtaining regulatory approvals of product candidates that we develop. Failure to commence or complete, or delays in, our planned clinical trials would prevent or delay commercialization of TNX-102 SL and other product candidates we are developing.

 

Our product candidates may cause serious adverse events or undesirable side effects which may delay or prevent marketing approval, or, if approval is received, require them to be taken off the market, require them to include safety warnings or otherwise limit their sales.

 

Serious adverse events or undesirable side effects from TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates could arise either during clinical development or, if approved, after the approved product has been marketed. The results of future clinical trials, including TNX-102 SL, may show that our product candidates cause serious adverse events or undesirable side effects, which could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials, resulting in delay of, or failure to obtain, marketing approval from the FDA and other regulatory authorities.

 

If TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates cause serious adverse events or undesirable side effects:

 

  regulatory authorities may impose a clinical hold which could result in substantial delays and adversely impact our ability to continue development of the product;

 

  regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, specific warnings, a contraindication or field alerts to physicians and pharmacies;

 

  we may be required to change the way the product is administered, conduct additional clinical trials or change the labeling of the product;

 

  we may be required to implement a risk minimization action plan, which could result in substantial cost increases and have a negative impact on our ability to commercialize the product;

 

  we may be required to limit the patients who can receive the product;

 

  we may be subject to limitations on how we promote the product;

 

  sales of the product may decrease significantly;

 

14
 

  

  regulatory authorities may require us to take our approved product off the market;

  

  we may be subject to litigation or product liability claims; and

 

  our reputation may suffer.

 

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the affected product or could substantially increase commercialization costs and expenses, which in turn could delay or prevent us from generating significant revenues from the sale of our products.

 

If we are unable to file for approval under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA or if we are required to generate additional data related to safety and efficacy in order to obtain approval under Section 505(b)(2), we may be unable to meet our anticipated development and commercialization timelines.

 

Our current plans for filing NDAs for our product candidates include efforts to minimize the data we will be required to generate in order to obtain marketing approval for our product candidates and therefore possibly obtain a shortened review period for the applications. We held an End-of-Phase 2/Pre-Phase 3 meeting with the FDA in February 2013 to discuss the development of our lead product candidate, TNX-102 SL, in FM. Although our interactions with the FDA have encouraged our efforts to continue to develop TNX-102 SL for FM, there is no assurance that we will satisfy the FDA’s requirements for approval in this indication. We have not come to any agreement with the FDA as to the nature and extent of studies we may be required to conduct in order to achieve approval of TNX-102 SL in PTSD. The timeline for filing and review of our NDAs is based on our plan to submit those NDAs under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA, wherein we will rely in part on data in the public domain or elsewhere. We have not yet filed an NDA under Section 505(b)(2) for any of our lead product candidates. Depending on the data that may be required by the FDA for approval, some of the data may be related to products already approved by the FDA. If the data relied upon is related to products already approved by the FDA and covered by third-party patents we would be required to certify that we do not infringe the listed patents or that such patents are invalid or unenforceable. As a result of the certification, the third-party would have 45 days from notification of our certification to initiate an action against us. In the event that an action is brought in response to such a certification, the approval of our NDA could be subject to a stay of up to 30 months or more while we defend against such a suit. Approval of our product candidates under Section 505(b)(2) may therefore be delayed until patent exclusivity expires or until we successfully challenge the applicability of those patents to our product candidates. Alternatively, we may elect to generate sufficient additional clinical data so that we no longer rely on data which triggers a potential stay of the approval of our product candidates. Even if no exclusivity periods apply to our applications under Section 505(b)(2), the FDA has broad discretion to require us to generate additional data on the safety and efficacy of our product candidates to supplement third-party data on which we may be permitted to rely. In either event, we could be required, before obtaining marketing approval for any of our product candidates, to conduct substantial new research and development activities beyond those we currently plan to engage in order to obtain approval of our product candidates. Such additional new research and development activities would be costly and time consuming.

 

We may not be able to obtain shortened review of our applications, and the FDA may not agree that our products qualify for marketing approval. If CBP-containing products are withdrawn from the market by the FDA for any reason, we may not be able to reference such products to support a 505(b)(2) NDA for TNX-102 SL, and we may need to fulfill the more extensive requirements of Section 505(b)(1). If we are required to generate additional data to support approval, we may be unable to meet our anticipated development and commercialization timelines, may be unable to generate the additional data at a reasonable cost, or at all, and may be unable to obtain marketing approval of our product candidates.

 

We will need to expand our operations and increase the size of our company, and we may experience difficulties in managing growth.

 

As we advance our product candidates through preclinical studies and clinical trials and develop new product candidates, we will need to increase our product development, scientific and administrative headcount to manage these programs. In addition, to meet our obligations as a public company, we will need to increase our general and administrative capabilities. Our management, personnel and systems currently in place may not be adequate to support this future growth. Our need to effectively manage our operations, growth and various projects requires that we:

 

15
 

  

  successfully attract and recruit new employees with the expertise and experience we will require;

 

  manage our clinical programs effectively, which we anticipate being conducted at numerous clinical sites;

 

  develop a marketing, distribution and sales infrastructure if we seek to market our products directly; and

 

  continue to improve our operational, manufacturing, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures.

 

If we are unable to successfully manage this growth and increased complexity of operations, our business may be adversely affected.

 

Our executive officers and other key personnel are critical to our business, and our future success depends on our ability to retain them.

 

Our success depends to a significant extent upon the continued services of Dr. Seth Lederman, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Lederman has overseen Tonix Sub since inception and provides leadership for our growth and operations strategy as well as being an inventor on many of our patents. Loss of the services of Dr. Lederman would have a material adverse effect on our growth, revenues, and prospective business. We have key-man insurance on the lives of Dr. Lederman, Dr. Leland Gershell, our Chief Financial Officer, and Dr. Bruce Daugherty, our Senior Director of Drug Development. We are also highly dependent on our directors and scientific team. We are not aware of any present intention of any of our key personnel to leave our company or to retire. However, we have no employment agreement with Dr. Lederman and while we have employment agreements with certain of our employees, all of our employees may terminate their employment at any time. The loss of any of our key personnel, or the inability to attract and retain qualified personnel, may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our research, development or business objectives and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Any employment agreement we enter into will not ensure the retention of the employee who is a party to the agreement. In addition, we have only limited ability to prevent former employees from competing with us. Furthermore, our future success will also depend in part on the continued service of our key scientific and management personnel and our ability to identify, hire, and retain additional personnel. We experience intense competition for qualified personnel and may be unable to attract and retain the personnel necessary for the development of our business. Moreover, our work force is located in the “Pharmaceutical Corridor” that spans New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where competition for personnel with the scientific and technical skills that we seek is extremely high and is likely to remain high. Because of this competition, our compensation costs may increase significantly.

 

If we are unable to hire additional qualified personnel, our ability to grow our business may be harmed.

 

Over time we will need to hire additional qualified personnel with expertise in drug development, product registration, clinical and non-clinical research, quality compliance, government regulation, formulation and manufacturing, financial matters and sales and marketing. We compete for qualified individuals with numerous biopharmaceutical companies, universities and other research institutions. Competition for such individuals is intense, and we cannot be certain that our search for such personnel will be successful. Attracting and retaining qualified personnel will be critical to our success.

 

16
 

  

We rely on third parties to manufacture the compounds used in our trials, and we intend to rely on them for the manufacture of any approved products for commercial sale. If these third parties do not manufacture our product candidates in sufficient quantities and at an acceptable cost, clinical development and commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed, prevented or impaired.

 

We have no manufacturing facilities, and we have no experience in the clinical or commercial-scale manufacture of drugs or in designing drug manufacturing processes. We intend to rely on CMOs to manufacture some or all of our product candidates in clinical trials and our products that reach commercialization. Completion of our clinical trials and commercialization of our product candidates requires the manufacture of a sufficient supply of our product candidates. We have contracted with outside sources to manufacture our development compounds, including TNX-102 SL. If, for any reason, we become unable to rely on our current sources for the manufacture of our product candidates, either for clinical trials or, at some future date, for commercial quantities, then we would need to identify and contract with additional or replacement third-party manufacturers to manufacture compounds for pre-clinical, clinical, and commercial purposes. Although we are in discussions with other manufacturers we have identified as potential alternative CMOs of TNX-102 SL, we may not be successful in negotiating acceptable terms with any of them.

 

We believe that there are a variety of manufacturers that we may be able to retain to produce these products. However, once we retain a manufacturing source, if our manufacturers do not perform in a satisfactory manner, we may not be able to develop or commercialize potential products as planned. Certain specialized manufacturers are expected to provide us with modified and unmodified pharmaceutical compounds, including finished products, for use in our preclinical and clinical studies. Some of these materials are available from only one supplier or vendor. Any interruption in or termination of service by such sole source suppliers could result in a delay or interruption in manufacturing until we locate an alternative source of supply. Any delay or interruption in manufacturing operations (or failure to locate a suitable replacement for such suppliers) could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, or results of operations. We do not have any short-term or long-term manufacturing agreements with many of these manufacturers. If we fail to contract for manufacturing on acceptable terms or if third-party manufacturers do not perform as we expect, our development programs could be materially adversely affected. This may result in delays in filing for and receiving FDA approval for one or more of our products. Any such delays could cause our prospects to suffer significantly.

 

Failure by our third-party manufacturers to comply with the regulatory guidelines set forth by the FDA with respect to our product candidates could delay or prevent the completion of clinical trials, the approval of any product candidates or the commercialization of our products.

 

Such third-party manufacturers must be inspected by FDA for current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, compliance before they can produce commercial product. We may be in competition with other companies for access to these manufacturers' facilities and may be subject to delays in manufacture if the manufacturers give other clients higher priority than they give to us. If we are unable to secure and maintain third-party manufacturing capacity, the development and sales of our products and our financial performance may be materially affected.

 

Manufacturers are obligated to operate in accordance with FDA-mandated requirements. A failure of any of our third-party manufacturers to establish and follow cGMP requirements and to document their adherence to such practices may lead to significant delays in the availability of material for clinical trials, may delay or prevent filing or approval of marketing applications for our products, and may cause delays or interruptions in the availability of our products for commercial distribution following FDA approval. This could result in higher costs to us or deprive us of potential product revenues.

 

Complying with cGMP and non-U.S. regulatory requirements will require that we expend time, money, and effort in production, recordkeeping, and quality control to assure that the product meets applicable specifications and other requirements. We, or our contracted manufacturing facility, must also pass a pre-approval inspection prior to FDA approval. Failure to pass a pre-approval inspection may significantly delay FDA approval of our products. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we would be subject to possible regulatory action and may be limited in the jurisdictions in which we are permitted to sell our products. As a result, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially harmed.

 

17
 

  

Drug manufacturers are subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA, the Drug Enforcement Agency and corresponding state and foreign agencies to ensure strict compliance with cGMP requirements and other requirements under Federal drug laws, other government regulations and corresponding foreign standards. If we or our third-party manufacturers fail to comply with applicable regulations, sanctions could be imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, failure by the government to grant marketing approval of drugs, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, seizures or recalls of product, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions.

 

Corporate and academic collaborators may take actions to delay, prevent, or undermine the success of our products.

 

Our operating and financial strategy for the development, clinical testing, manufacture, and commercialization of drug candidates is heavily dependent on our entering into collaborations with corporations, academic institutions, licensors, licensees, and other parties. Our current strategy assumes that we will successfully establish these collaborations, or similar relationships; however, there can be no assurance that we will be successful establishing such collaborations. Some of our existing collaborations are, and future collaborations may be, terminable at the sole discretion of the collaborator. Replacement collaborators might not be available on attractive terms, or at all. The activities of any collaborator will not be within our control and may not be within our power to influence. There can be no assurance that any collaborator will perform its obligations to our satisfaction or at all, that we will derive any revenue or profits from such collaborations, or that any collaborator will not compete with us. If any collaboration is not pursued, we may require substantially greater capital to undertake development and marketing of our proposed products and may not be able to develop and market such products effectively, if at all. In addition, a lack of development and marketing collaborations may lead to significant delays in introducing proposed products into certain markets and/or reduced sales of proposed products in such markets.

 

Data provided by collaborators and others upon which we rely that has not been independently verified could turn out to be false, misleading, or incomplete.

 

We rely on third-party vendors, scientists, and collaborators to provide us with significant data and other information related to our projects, clinical trials, and our business. If such third parties provide inaccurate, misleading, or incomplete data, our business, prospects, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

 

Our product candidates are novel and still in development.

 

We are a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of drug product candidates, all of which are still in development. Our drug development methods may not lead to commercially viable drugs for any of several reasons. For example, we may fail to identify appropriate targets or compounds, our drug candidates may fail to be safe and effective in clinical trials, or we may have inadequate financial or other resources to pursue development efforts for our drug candidates. Our drug candidates will require significant additional development, clinical trials, regulatory clearances and additional investment by us or our collaborators before they can be commercialized.

 

Successful development of our products is uncertain.

 

Our development of current and future product candidates is subject to the risks of failure and delay inherent in the development of new pharmaceutical products, including: delays in product development, clinical testing, or manufacturing; unplanned expenditures in product development, clinical testing, or manufacturing; failure to receive regulatory approvals; emergence of superior or equivalent products; inability to manufacture on its own, or through any others, product candidates on a commercial scale; and failure to achieve market acceptance.

 

Because of these risks, our research and development efforts may not result in any commercially viable products. If a significant portion of these development efforts are not successfully completed, required regulatory approvals are not obtained or any approved products are not commercially successfully, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially harmed.

 

18
 

  

Clinical trials required for our product candidates are expensive and time-consuming, and their outcome is uncertain.

 

In order to obtain FDA approval to market a new drug product, we must demonstrate proof of safety and effectiveness in humans. To meet these requirements, we must conduct “adequate and well controlled” clinical trials. Conducting clinical trials is a lengthy, time-consuming, and expensive process. The length of time may vary substantially according to the type, complexity, novelty, and intended use of the product candidate, and often can be several years or more per trial. Delays associated with products for which we are directly conducting clinical trials may cause us to incur additional operating expenses. The commencement and rate of completion of clinical trials may be delayed by many factors, including, for example: inability to manufacture sufficient quantities of qualified materials under cGMP, for use in clinical trials; slower than expected rates of patient recruitment; failure to recruit a sufficient number of patients; modification of clinical trial protocols; changes in regulatory requirements for clinical trials; the lack of effectiveness during clinical trials; the emergence of unforeseen safety issues; delays, suspension, or termination of the clinical trials due to the institutional review board responsible for overseeing the study at a particular study site; and government or regulatory delays or “clinical holds” requiring suspension or termination of the trials.

 

The results from early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of results obtained in later clinical trials. Accordingly, even if we obtain positive results from early clinical trials, we may not achieve the same success in future clinical trials. Clinical trials may not demonstrate statistically significant safety and effectiveness to obtain the requisite regulatory approvals for product candidates.

 

Our clinical trials may be conducted in patients with CNS conditions, and in some cases, our products are expected to be used in combination with approved therapies that themselves have significant adverse event profiles. During the course of treatment, these patients could suffer adverse medical events or die for reasons that may or may not be related to our products. We cannot ensure that safety issues will not arise with respect to our products in clinical development.

 

The failure of clinical trials to demonstrate safety and effectiveness for the desired indications could harm the development of that product candidate and other product candidates. This failure could cause us to abandon a product candidate and could delay development of other product candidates. Any delay in, or termination of, our clinical trials would delay the filing of our NDAs with the FDA and, ultimately, our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate product revenues. Any change in, or termination of, our clinical trials could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

We are subject to extensive and costly government regulation.

 

Product candidates employing our technology are subject to extensive and rigorous domestic government regulation including regulation by the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, other divisions of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Department of Justice, state and local governments, and their respective foreign equivalents. The FDA regulates the research, development, preclinical and clinical testing, manufacture, safety, effectiveness, record-keeping, reporting, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale, distribution, import, and export of biopharmaceutical products. The FDA regulates small molecule chemical entities as drugs, subject to an NDA under the FDCA. If products employing our technologies are marketed abroad, they will also be subject to extensive regulation by foreign governments, whether or not they have obtained FDA approval for a given product and its uses. Such foreign regulation may be equally or more demanding than corresponding United States regulation.

 

Government regulation substantially increases the cost and risk of researching, developing, manufacturing, and selling our products. The regulatory review and approval process, which includes preclinical testing and clinical trials of each product candidate, is lengthy, expensive, and uncertain. We or our collaborators must obtain and maintain regulatory authorization to conduct clinical trials. We or our collaborators must obtain regulatory approval for each product we intend to market, and the manufacturing facilities used for the products must be inspected and meet legal requirements. Securing regulatory approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and other supporting information for each proposed therapeutic indication in order to establish the product's safety and efficacy, and in the case of biologics also potency and purity, for each intended use. The development and approval process takes many years, requires substantial resources, and may never lead to the approval of a product.

 

19
 

  

Even if we are able to obtain regulatory approval for a particular product, the approval may limit the indicated medical uses for the product, may otherwise limit our ability to promote, sell, and distribute the product, may require that we conduct costly post-marketing surveillance, and/or may require that we conduct ongoing post-marketing studies. Material changes to an approved product, such as, for example, manufacturing changes or revised labeling, may require further regulatory review and approval. Once obtained, any approvals may be withdrawn, including, for example, if there is a later discovery of previously unknown problems with the product, such as a previously unknown safety issue.

 

If we, our collaborators, or our contract manufacturers fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements at any stage during the regulatory process, such noncompliance could result in, among other things delays in the approval of applications or supplements to approved applications; refusal of a regulatory authority, including the FDA, to review pending market approval applications or supplements to approved applications; warning letters; fines; import and/or export restrictions; product recalls or seizures; injunctions; total or partial suspension of production; civil penalties; withdrawals of previously approved marketing applications or licenses; recommendations by the FDA or other regulatory authorities against governmental contracts; and/or criminal prosecutions.

 

We do not have, and may never obtain, the regulatory approvals we need to market our product candidates.

 

Following completion of clinical trials, the results are evaluated and, depending on the outcome, submitted to the FDA in the form of an NDA in order to obtain FDA approval of the product and authorization to commence commercial marketing. In responding to an NDA, the FDA may require additional testing or information, may require that the product labeling be modified, may impose post-approval study or reporting requirements or other restrictions on product distribution, or may deny the application. The FDA has established performance goals for review of NDAs-six months for priority applications and ten months for standard applications. However, the FDA is not required to complete its review within these time periods. The timing of final FDA review and action varies greatly, but can take years in some cases and may involve the input of an FDA advisory committee of outside experts. Product sales in the United States may commence only when an NDA is approved.

 

To date, we have not applied for or received the regulatory approvals required for the commercial sale of any of our products in the United States or in any foreign jurisdiction. None of our product candidates has been determined to be safe and effective, and we have not submitted an NDA to the FDA or an equivalent application to any foreign regulatory authorities for any of our product candidates.

 

It is possible that none of our product candidates will be approved for marketing. Failure to obtain regulatory approvals, or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, may adversely affect the successful commercialization of any drugs or biologics that we or our partners develop, may impose additional costs on us or our collaborators, may diminish any competitive advantages that we or our partners may attain, and/or may adversely affect our receipt of revenues or royalties.

 

Even if approved, our products will be subject to extensive post-approval regulation.

 

Once a product is approved, numerous post-approval requirements apply. Among other things, the holder of an approved NDA is subject to periodic and other FDA monitoring and reporting obligations, including obligations to monitor and report adverse events and instances of the failure of a product to meet the specifications in the NDA. Application holders must submit new or supplemental applications and obtain FDA approval for certain changes to the approved product, product labeling, or manufacturing process. Application holders must also submit advertising and other promotional material to the FDA and report on ongoing clinical trials.

 

Depending on the circumstances, failure to meet these post-approval requirements can result in criminal prosecution, fines, injunctions, recall or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production, denial or withdrawal of pre-marketing product approvals, or refusal to allow us to enter into supply contracts, including government contracts. In addition, even if we comply with FDA and other requirements, new information regarding the safety or effectiveness of a product could lead the FDA to modify or withdraw product approval.

 

20
 

  

Even if we obtain regulatory approval to market our product candidates, our product candidates may not be accepted by the market.

 

Even if the FDA approves one or more of our product candidates, physicians and patients may not accept it or use it. Even if physicians and patients would like to use our products, our products may not gain market acceptance among healthcare payors such as managed care formularies, insurance companies or government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid. Acceptance and use of our products will depend upon a number of factors including: perceptions by members of the health care community, including physicians, about the safety and effectiveness of our drug or device product; cost-effectiveness of our product relative to competing products; availability of reimbursement for our product from government or other healthcare payers; and effectiveness of marketing and distribution efforts by us and our licensees and distributors, if any.

 

The degree of market acceptance of any pharmaceutical product that we develop will depend on a number of factors, including:

 

  cost-effectiveness;

 

  the safety and effectiveness of our products, including any significant potential side effects (including drowsiness and dry mouth), as compared to alternative products or treatment methods;

 

  the timing of market entry as compared to competitive products;

 

  flat or declining use of off-label muscle-relaxant products for fibromyalgia prior to the launch of TNX-102 SL;

 

  the rate of adoption of our products by doctors and nurses;

 

  product labeling or product insert required by the FDA for each of our products;

 

  reimbursement policies of government and third-party payors;

 

  effectiveness of our sales, marketing and distribution capabilities and the effectiveness of such capabilities of our collaborative partners, if any; and

 

  unfavorable publicity concerning our products or any similar products.

 

Our product candidates, if successfully developed, will compete with a number of products manufactured and marketed by major pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and manufacturers of generic drugs. Our products may also compete with new products currently under development by others. Physicians, patients, third-party payors and the medical community may not accept and utilize any of our product candidates. If our products do not achieve market acceptance, we will not be able to generate significant revenues or become profitable.

 

Because we expect sales of our current product candidates, if approved, to generate substantially all of our product revenues for the foreseeable future, the failure of these products to find market acceptance would harm our business and could require us to seek additional financing.

 

If we fail to establish marketing, sales and distribution capabilities, or fail to enter into arrangements with third parties, we will not be able to create a market for our product candidates.

 

Our strategy with our lead product candidates is to control, directly or through contracted third parties, all or most aspects of the product development process, including marketing, sales and distribution. Currently, we do not have any sales, marketing or distribution capabilities. In order to generate sales of any product candidates that receive regulatory approval, we must either acquire or develop an internal marketing and sales force with technical expertise and with supporting distribution capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services for us. 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 defer our product development efforts. To the extent that we enter into marketing and sales arrangements with other companies, our revenues will depend on the efforts of others. These efforts may not be successful. If we fail to develop sales, marketing and distribution channels, or enter into arrangements with third parties, we will experience delays in product sales and incur increased costs.

 

21
 

  

Sales of pharmaceutical products largely depend on the reimbursement of patients' medical expenses by government health care programs and private health insurers. Without the financial support of the government or third-party payors, the market for our products will be limited. These third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price and examining the cost effectiveness of medical products and services. Recent proposals to change the health care system in the United States have included measures that would limit or eliminate payments for medical products and services or subject the pricing of medical treatment products to government control. Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved health care products. Third-party payors may not reimburse sales of our products or enable our collaborators to sell them at profitable prices.

 

Our business strategy might involve out-licensing product candidates to or collaborating with larger firms with experience in marketing and selling pharmaceutical products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully establish marketing, sales, or distribution relationships; that such relationships, if established, will be successful; or that we will be successful in gaining market acceptance for our products. To the extent that we enter into any marketing, sales, or distribution arrangements with third parties, our product revenues will be lower than if we marketed and sold our products directly, and any revenues we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third-parties. If we are unable to establish such third-party sales and marketing relationships, or choose not to do so, we will have to establish and rely on our own in-house capabilities.

 

We, as a company, have no experience in marketing or selling pharmaceutical products and currently have no sales, marketing, or distribution infrastructure. To market any of our products directly, we would need to develop a marketing, sales, and distribution force that both has technical expertise and the ability to support a distribution capability. The establishment of a marketing, sales, and distribution capability would significantly increase our costs, possibly requiring substantial additional capital. In addition, there is intense competition for proficient sales and marketing personnel, and we may not be able to attract individuals who have the qualifications necessary to market, sell, and distribute our products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to establish internal marketing, sales, or distribution capabilities. If we are unable to, or choose not to establish these capabilities, or if the capabilities we establish are not sufficient to meet our needs, we will be required to establish collaborative marketing, sales, or distribution relationships with third parties.

 

In the event that we are successful in bringing any products to market, our revenues may be adversely affected if we fail to obtain acceptable prices or adequate reimbursement for our products from third-party payors.

 

Our ability to commercialize pharmaceutical products successfully may depend in part on the availability of reimbursement for our products from:

 

  government and health administration authorities;

 

  private health insurers; and

 

  other third party payors, including Medicare.

 

We cannot predict the availability of reimbursement for health care products to be approved in the future. Third-party payors, including Medicare, are challenging the prices charged for medical products and services. Government and other third-party payors increasingly are limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement for new drugs. Third-party insurance coverage may not be available to patients for any of our products.

 

22
 

  

The continuing efforts of government and third-party payors to contain or reduce the costs of health care may limit our commercial opportunity. If government and other third-party payors do not provide adequate coverage and reimbursement for any prescription product we bring to market, doctors may not prescribe them or patients may ask to have their physicians prescribe competing drugs with more favorable reimbursement. In some foreign markets, pricing and profitability of prescription pharmaceuticals are subject to government control. In the United States, we expect that there will continue to be federal and state proposals for similar controls. In addition, we expect that increasing emphasis on managed care in the United States will continue to put pressure on the pricing of pharmaceutical products. Cost control initiatives could decrease the price that we receive for any products in the future. Further, cost control initiatives could impair our ability to commercialize our products and our ability to earn revenues from this commercialization.

 

If we obtain approval to commercialize any approved products outside of the United States, a variety of risks associated with international operations could materially adversely affect our business.

 

If TNX-102 SL or any of our other product candidates are approved for commercialization outside of the United States, we intend to enter into agreements with third parties to market them on a worldwide basis or in more limited geographical regions. We expect that we will be subject to additional risks related to entering into international business relationships, including:

 

  different regulatory requirements for drug approvals;

 

  reduced protection for intellectual property rights, including trade secret and patent rights;

 

  unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers and regulatory requirements;

 

  economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular foreign economies and markets;

 

  compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad;

 

  foreign taxes, including withholding of payroll taxes;

 

  foreign currency fluctuations, which could result in increased operating expenses and reduced revenues, and other obligations incident to doing business in another country;

 

  workforce uncertainty in countries where labor unrest is more common than in the United States;

 

  production shortages resulting from any events affecting raw material supply or manufacturing capabilities abroad;

 

  business interruptions resulting from geopolitical actions, including war and terrorism, or natural disasters including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and fires; and

 

  difficulty in importing and exporting clinical trial materials and study samples.

 

We face the risk of product liability claims and may not be able to obtain insurance.

 

Our business exposes us to the risk of product liability claims that are inherent in the development of drugs. If the use of one or more of our or our collaborators' drugs harms people, we may be subject to costly and damaging product liability claims brought against us by clinical trial participants, consumers, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies or others selling our products. Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of pharmaceutical products we develop, alone or with collaborators. While we currently carry clinical trial insurance and product liability insurance, we cannot predict all of the possible harms or side effects that may result and, therefore, the amount of insurance coverage we hold now or in the future may not be adequate to cover all liabilities we might incur. We intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products if we obtain marketing approval for our drug candidates in development, but we may be unable to obtain commercially reasonable product liability insurance for any products approved for marketing. If we are unable to obtain insurance at an acceptable cost or otherwise protect against potential product liability claims, we will be exposed to significant liabilities, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial position. If we are sued for any injury allegedly caused by our or our collaborators' products, our liability could exceed our total assets and our ability to pay the liability. A product liability claim or series of claims brought against us would decrease our cash and could cause our stock price to fall.

 

23
 

  

We use hazardous chemicals in our business. Potential claims relating to improper handling, storage or disposal of these chemicals could affect us and be time consuming and costly.

 

Our research and development processes and/or those of our third party contractors may involve the controlled use of hazardous materials and chemicals. These hazardous chemicals are reagents and solvents typically found in a chemistry laboratory. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. Federal, state and local laws and regulations govern the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous materials. While we attempt to comply with all environmental laws and regulations, including those relating to the outsourcing of the disposal of all hazardous chemicals and waste products, we cannot eliminate the risk of contamination from or discharge of hazardous materials and any resultant injury. In the event of such an accident, we could be held liable for any resulting damages and any liability could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Compliance with environmental laws and regulations may be expensive. Current or future environmental regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. We might have to pay civil damages in the event of an improper or unauthorized release of, or exposure of individuals to, hazardous materials. We are not insured against these environmental risks.

 

If we enter into collaborations with third parties, they might also work with hazardous materials in connection with our collaborations. We may agree to indemnify our collaborators in some circumstances against damages and other liabilities arising out of development activities or products produced in connection with these collaborations.

 

In addition, the federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous or radioactive materials and waste products may require us to incur substantial compliance costs that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our insurance policies are expensive and protect us only from some business risks, which will leave us exposed to significant uninsured liabilities.

 

We carry insurance for most categories of risk that our business may encounter, however, we may not have adequate levels of coverage. We currently maintain general liability, key man, property, workers’ compensation, products liability and directors’ and officers’ insurance, along with an umbrella policy, which collectively costs approximately $100,000 per annum. We cannot provide any assurances that we will be able to maintain existing insurance at current or adequate levels of coverage. Any significant uninsured liability may require us to pay substantial amounts, which would adversely affect our cash position and results of operations.

 

If we retain collaborative partners and our partners do not satisfy their obligations, we will be unable to develop our partnered product candidates.

 

In the event we enter into any collaborative agreements, we may not have day-to-day control over the activities of our collaborative partners with respect to any of these product candidates. Any collaborative partner may not fulfill its obligations under these agreements. If a collaborative partner fails to fulfill its obligations under an agreement with us, we may be unable to assume the development of the products covered by that agreement or enter into alternative arrangements with a third party. In addition, we may encounter delays in the commercialization of the product candidate that is the subject of the agreement. Accordingly, our ability to receive any revenue from the product candidates covered by these agreements will be dependent on the efforts of our collaborative partner. We could also become involved in disputes with a collaborative partner, which could lead to delays in or termination of our development and commercialization programs and time-consuming and expensive litigation or arbitration. In addition, any such dispute could diminish our collaborators’ commitment to us and reduce the resources they devote to developing and commercializing our products. Conflicts or disputes with our collaborators, and competition from them, could harm our relationships with our other collaborators, restrict our ability to enter future collaboration agreements and delay the research, development or commercialization of our product candidates. If any collaborative partner terminates or breaches its agreement, or otherwise fails to complete its obligations in a timely manner, our chances of successfully developing or commercializing these product candidates would be materially and adversely affected. We may not be able to enter into collaborative agreements with partners on terms favorable to us, or at all. Our inability to enter into collaborative arrangements with collaborative partners, or our failure to maintain such arrangements, would limit the number of product candidates that we could develop and ultimately, decrease our sources of any future revenues.

 

24
 

  

RISKS RELATED TO OUR STOCK

 

Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of The NASDAQ Capital Market could result in a de-listing of our common stock.

 

If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of The NASDAQ Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements or the minimum closing bid price requirement, NASDAQ may take steps to de-list our common stock. Such a de-listing would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our common stock when you wish to do so. In the event of a de-listing, we would take actions to restore our compliance with NASDAQ’s listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any such action taken by us would allow our common stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the NASDAQ minimum bid price requirement or prevent future non-compliance with NASDAQ’s listing requirements.

 

The market price for our common stock may be volatile, and your investment in our common stock could decline in value.

 

The stock market in general has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. The market prices of the securities of biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies, particularly companies like ours without product revenues and earnings, have been highly volatile and may continue to be highly volatile in the future. This volatility has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The following factors, in addition to other risk factors described in this section, may have a significant impact on the market price of our common stock:

 

  announcements of technological innovations or new products by us or our competitors;

 

  announcement of FDA approval or disapproval of our products or other product-related actions;

 

  developments involving our discovery efforts and clinical trials;

 

  developments or disputes concerning patents or proprietary rights, including announcements of infringement, interference or other litigation against us or our potential licensees;

 

  developments involving our efforts to commercialize our products, including developments impacting the timing of commercialization;

 

  announcements concerning our competitors, or the biotechnology, pharmaceutical or drug delivery industry in general;

 

  public concerns as to the safety or efficacy of our products or our competitors’ products;

 

  changes in government regulation of the pharmaceutical or medical industry;

 

  changes in the reimbursement policies of third party insurance companies or government agencies;

 

  actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;

 

  changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;

 

  developments involving corporate collaborators, if any;

 

  changes in accounting principles; and

 

  the loss of any of our key scientific or management personnel.

 

25
 

  

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against companies that experience volatility in the market price of their securities. Whether or not meritorious, litigation brought against us could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

We do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock and, accordingly, shareholders must rely on stock appreciation for any return on their investment.

 

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not expect to do so in the foreseeable future. The declaration of dividends is subject to the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on various factors, including our operating results, financial condition, future prospects and any other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. You should not rely on an investment in our company if you require dividend income from your investment in our company. The success of your investment will likely depend entirely upon any future appreciation of the market price of our common stock, which is uncertain and unpredictable. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value.

 

We expect that our quarterly results of operations will fluctuate, and this fluctuation could cause our stock price to decline.

 

Our quarterly operating results are likely to fluctuate in the future. These fluctuations could cause our stock price to decline. The nature of our business involves variable factors, such as the timing of the research, development and regulatory pathways of our product candidates, which could cause our operating results to fluctuate.

 

Due to the possibility of fluctuations in our revenues and expenses, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results are not a good indication of our future performance.

 

The rights of the holders of common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.

 

Our articles of incorporation give our board of directors the right to create new series of preferred stock. As a result, the board of directors may, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power and equity interest of the holders of common stock. Preferred stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, could be utilized as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change of control. The possible impact on takeover attempts could adversely affect the price of our common stock. Although we have no present intention to issue any shares of preferred stock or to create a series of preferred stock, we may issue such shares in the future.

 

Efforts to comply with recently enacted changes in securities laws and regulations will increase our costs and require additional management resources, and we still may fail to comply.

 

As directed by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC adopted rules requiring public companies to include a report of management on their internal controls over financial reporting in their annual reports on Form 10-K. In addition, in the event we are no longer a smaller reporting company, the independent registered public accounting firm auditing our financial statements would be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Such attestation requirement by our independent registered public accounting firm would not be applicable to us until the report for the year ended December 31, 2014 at the earliest, if at all. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting or if our independent registered public accounting firm is required to, but is unable to provide us with a report as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could result in a decrease in the value of our securities.

 

Because certain of our stockholders control a significant number of shares of our common stock, they may have effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval.

 

As of December 30, 2013, our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders, and their respective affiliates, beneficially own approximately 41.6% of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:

 

26
 

 

  delaying, deferring or preventing a change in corporate control;

 

  impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or

 

  discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.

   

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they change their recommendations regarding our stock adversely, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

 

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. Our research coverage by industry and financial analysts is currently limited. Even if our analyst coverage increases, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

 

A sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock may cause the price of our common stock to decline and may impair our ability to raise capital in the future.

 

Our common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Capital Market and, despite certain increases of trading volume from time to time, there have been periods when it could be considered “thinly-traded,” meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our common stock at or near bid prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent. Finance transactions resulting in a large amount of newly issued shares that become readily tradable, or other events that cause current stockholders to sell shares, could place downward pressure on the trading price of our stock. In addition, the lack of a robust resale market may require a stockholder who desires to sell a large number of shares of common stock to sell the shares in increments over time to mitigate any adverse impact of the sales on the market price of our stock.

 

If our stockholders sell, or the market perceives that our stockholders intend to sell for various reasons, including the ending of restriction on resale, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, including shares issued upon the exercise of outstanding options or warrants, the market price of our common stock could fall. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock may make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and price that we deem reasonable or appropriate. We may become involved in securities class action litigation that could divert management’s attention and harm our business.

 

Our stockholders may experience significant dilution as a result of the sale of securities offered by this prospectus.

 

To the extent that we raise additional funds through the sale of securities offered by this prospectus, our stockholders may experience significant dilution. Sale of additional equity and/or convertible securities at prices below certain levels will trigger anti-dilution provisions with respect to certain securities we have previously sold. If additional funds are raised through a credit facility or the issuance of preferred stock, lenders under the credit facility or holders of preferred stock would likely have rights that are senior to the rights of holders of our common stock, and any credit facility or additional securities could contain covenants that would restrict our operations.

 

27
 

  

DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include those that express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals, targets or future development and/or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and projections about future events and they are subject to risks and uncertainties known and unknown that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.

 

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology, such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “estimates,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “should”, “could” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions.  Accordingly, these statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them.  Any forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed throughout this prospectus.

 

You should read this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement and the documents that we reference herein and therein and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.  You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement is accurate as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus or such prospectus supplement only.  Because the risk factors referred to above, as well as the risk factors referred to on page 3 of this prospectus and incorporated herein by reference, could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.  Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.  New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which factors will arise.  In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.  We qualify all of the information presented in this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement, and particularly our forward-looking statements, by these cautionary statements.

 

USE OF PROCEEDS

 

Except as otherwise provided in the applicable prospectus supplement, we intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities offered by this prospectus for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, capital expenditures, research and development expenditures, regulatory affairs expenditures, clinical trial expenditures, acquisitions of new technologies and investments, and the repayment, refinancing, redemption or repurchase of future indebtedness or capital stock.

 

The intended application of proceeds from the sale of any particular offering of securities using this prospectus will be described in the accompanying prospectus supplement relating to such offering. The precise amount and timing of the application of these proceeds will depend on our funding requirements and the availability and costs of other funds.

 

THE SECURITIES WE MAY OFFER

 

The descriptions of the securities contained in this prospectus, together with the applicable prospectus supplements, summarize all the material terms and provisions of the various types of securities that we may offer. We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to any securities the particular terms of the securities offered by that prospectus supplement. If we indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, the terms of the securities may differ from the terms we have summarized below. We will also include in the prospectus supplement information, where applicable, about material United States federal income tax considerations relating to the securities, and the securities exchange, if any, on which the securities will be listed.

 

We may sell from time to time, in one or more offerings:

 

28
 

  

  shares of our common stock;
     
  shares of our preferred stock;
     
  warrants to purchase any of the securities listed above; and/or
     
  units consisting of any of the securities listed above.

 

The terms of any securities we offer will be determined at the time of sale. We may issue securities that are exchangeable for or convertible into common stock or any of the other securities that may be sold under this prospectus. When particular securities are offered, a supplement to this prospectus will be filed with the SEC, which will describe the terms of the offering and sale of the offered securities.

 

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

 

The following is a summary of all material characteristics of our capital stock as set forth in our articles of incorporation and bylaws. The summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our articles of incorporation and bylaws, and to the provisions of the Nevada Business Corporation Act of the State of Nevada, as amended.

 

Common Stock

 

We are authorized to issue up to 150,000,000 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share. As of December 30, 2013, there were 5,814,421 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding. The outstanding shares of our common stock are validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

 

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share on all matters submitted to a shareholder vote. Holders of our common stock do not have cumulative voting rights. Therefore, holders of a majority of the shares of our common stock voting for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Holders of our common stock representing a majority of the voting power of our capital stock issued, outstanding and entitled to vote, represented in person or by proxy, are necessary to constitute a quorum at any meeting of shareholders. A vote by the holders of a majority of our outstanding shares is required to effectuate certain fundamental corporate changes such as liquidation, merger or an amendment to our articles of incorporation.

 

Holders of our common stock are entitled to share in all dividends that our Board of Directors, in its discretion, declares from legally available funds. In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up, each outstanding share entitles its holder to participate pro rata in all assets that remain after payment of liabilities and after providing for each class of stock, if any, having preference over our common stock. Our common stock has no pre-emptive, subscription or conversion rights and there are no redemption provisions applicable to our common stock.

 

Preferred Stock

 

We are authorized to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, none of which are currently outstanding. The shares of preferred stock may be issued in series, and shall have such voting powers, full or limited, or no voting powers, and such designations, preferences and relative participating, optional or other special rights, and qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, as shall be stated and expressed in the resolution or resolutions providing for the issuance of such stock adopted from time to time by the board of directors. The board of directors is expressly vested with the authority to determine and fix in the resolution or resolutions providing for the issuances of preferred stock the voting powers, designations, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, of each such series to the full extent now or hereafter permitted by the laws of the State of Nevada.

 

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

The Transfer Agent and Registrar for our common stock is vStock Transfer, LLC, 77 Spruce Street, Suite 201, Cedarhurst, NY 11516.

 

29
 

  

DESCRIPTION OF WARRANTS

 

The following description, together with the additional information we may include in any applicable prospectus supplements, summarizes the material terms and provisions of the warrants that we may offer under this prospectus and the related warrant agreements and warrant certificates. While the terms summarized below will apply generally to any warrants that we may offer, we will describe the particular terms of any series of warrants in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement. If we indicate in the prospectus supplement, the terms of any warrants offered under that prospectus supplement may differ from the terms described below.  If there are differences between that prospectus supplement and this prospectus, the prospectus supplement will control.  Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to a particular series of warrants.  Specific warrant agreements will contain additional important terms and provisions and will be incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the registration statement which includes this prospectus.

 

General

 

We may issue warrants for the purchase of common stock and/or preferred stock in one or more series. We may issue warrants independently or together with common stock and/or preferred stock, and the warrants may be attached to or separate from these securities.

 

We will evidence each series of warrants by warrant certificates that we may issue under a separate agreement. We may enter into the warrant agreement with a warrant agent. Each warrant agent may be a bank that we select which has its principal office in the United States and a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000.  We may also choose to act as out own warrant agent.  We will indicate the name and address of any such warrant agent in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to a particular series of warrants.

 

We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement the terms of the series of warrants, including:

 

   the offering price and aggregate number of warrants offered;

 

  the currency for which the warrants may be purchased;

 

  if applicable, the designation and terms of the securities with which the warrants are issued and the number of warrants issued with each such security or each principal amount of such security;

 

  if applicable, the date on and after which the warrants and the related securities will be separately transferable;

 

  in the case of warrants to purchase common stock or preferred stock, the number of shares of common stock or preferred stock, as the case may be, purchasable upon the exercise of one warrant and the price at which these shares may be purchased upon such exercise;

 

  the warrant agreement under which the warrants will be issued;

 

  the effect of any merger, consolidation, sale or other disposition of our business on the warrant agreement and the warrants;

 

  anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, if any;

 

  the terms of any rights to redeem or call the warrants;

 

  any provisions for changes to or adjustments in the exercise price or number of securities issuable upon exercise of the warrants;

 

  the dates on which the right to exercise the warrants will commence and expire or, if the warrants are not continuously exercisable during that period, the specific date or dates on which the warrants will be exercisable;

 

  the manner in which the warrant agreement and warrants may be modified;

 

  the identities of the warrant agent and any calculation or other agent for the warrants;

 

30
 

  

  federal income tax consequences of holding or exercising the warrants;

 

  the terms of the securities issuable upon exercise of the warrants;

  

  any securities exchange or quotation system on which the warrants or any securities deliverable upon exercise of the warrants may be listed; and

 

  any other specific terms, preferences, rights or limitations of or restrictions on the warrants.

 

Before exercising their warrants, holders of warrants will not have any of the rights of holders of the securities purchasable upon such exercise, including in the case of warrants to purchase common stock or preferred stock, the right to receive dividends, if any, or, payments upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up or to exercise voting rights, if any.

 

Exercise of Warrants

 

Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase the securities that we specify in the applicable prospectus supplement at the exercise price that we describe in the applicable prospectus supplement. Unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of the warrants may exercise the warrants at any time up to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the expiration date that we set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement. After the close of business on the expiration date, unexercised warrants will become void.

 

Holders of the warrants may exercise the warrants by delivering the warrant certificate representing the warrants to be exercised together with specified information, and paying the required amount to the warrant agent in immediately available funds, as provided in the applicable prospectus supplement. We will set forth on the reverse side of the warrant certificate, and in the applicable prospectus supplement, the information that the holder of the warrant will be required to deliver to the warrant agent.

 

Until the warrant is properly exercised, no holder of any warrant will be entitled to any rights of a holder of the securities purchasable upon exercise of the warrant.

 

Upon receipt of the required payment and the warrant certificate properly completed and duly executed at the corporate trust office of the warrant agent or any other office indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will issue and deliver the securities purchasable upon such exercise. If fewer than all of the warrants represented by the warrant certificate are exercised, then we will issue a new warrant certificate for the remaining amount of warrants. If we so indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of the warrants may surrender securities as all or part of the exercise price for warrants.

 

Enforceability of Rights By Holders of Warrants

 

Any warrant agent will act solely as our agent under the applicable warrant agreement and will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust with any holder of any warrant. A single bank or trust company may act as warrant agent for more than one issue of warrants. A warrant agent will have no duty or responsibility in case of any default by us under the applicable warrant agreement or warrant, including any duty or responsibility to initiate any proceedings at law or otherwise, or to make any demand upon us. Any holder of a warrant may, without the consent of the related warrant agent or the holder of any other warrant, enforce by appropriate legal action its right to exercise, and receive the securities purchasable upon exercise of, its warrants in accordance with their terms.

 

Warrant Agreement Will Not Be Qualified Under Trust Indenture Act

 

No warrant agreement will be qualified as an indenture, and no warrant agent will be required to qualify as a trustee, under the Trust Indenture Act. Therefore, holders of warrants issued under a warrant agreement will not have the protection of the Trust Indenture Act with respect to their warrants.

 

31
 

  

Governing Law

 

Each warrant agreement and any warrants issued under the warrant agreements will be governed by New York law.

 

Calculation Agent

 

Calculations relating to warrants may be made by a calculation agent, an institution that we appoint as our agent for this purpose.  The prospectus supplement for a particular warrant will name the institution that we have appointed to act as the calculation agent for that warrant as of the original issue date for that warrant. We may appoint a different institution to serve as calculation agent from time to time after the original issue date without the consent or notification of the holders.

 

The calculation agent’s determination of any amount of money payable or securities deliverable with respect to a warrant will be final and binding in the absence of manifest error.

 

DESCRIPTION OF UNITS

 

We may issue units comprised of one or more of the other securities described in this prospectus in any combination. Each unit will be issued so that the holder of the unit is also the holder of each security included in the unit. Thus, the holder of a unit will have the rights and obligations of a holder of each included security. The unit agreement under which a unit is issued may provide that the securities included in the unit may not be held or transferred separately, at any time or at any time before a specified date.

 

The applicable prospectus supplement will describe:

 

  the designation and terms of the units and of the securities comprising the units, including whether and under what circumstances those securities may be held or transferred separately;
     
  any unit agreement under which the units will be issued;
     
  any provisions for the issuance, payment, settlement, transfer or exchange of the units or of the securities comprising the units; and
     
  whether the units will be issued in fully registered or global form.

 

The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the terms of any units. The preceding description and any description of units in the applicable prospectus supplement does not purport to be complete and is subject to and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the unit agreement and, if applicable, collateral arrangements and depositary arrangements relating to such units.

 

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

 

We may sell the securities being offered pursuant to this prospectus through underwriters or dealers, through agents, or directly to one or more purchasers or through a combination of these methods.  The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the terms of the offering of the securities, including:

 

  the name or names of any underwriters, if any, and if required, any dealers or agents;
     
  the purchase price of the securities and the proceeds we will receive from the sale;
     
  any underwriting discounts and other items constituting underwriters’ compensation;
     
  any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers; and
     
  any securities exchange or market on which the securities may be listed.

 

We may distribute the securities from time to time in one or more transactions at:

 

32
 

  

  a fixed price or prices, which may be changed;
     
  market prices prevailing at the time of sale;
     
  prices related to such prevailing market prices; or
     
  negotiated prices.

 

Only underwriters named in the prospectus supplement are underwriters of the securities offered by the prospectus supplement.

 

If underwriters are used in an offering, we will execute an underwriting agreement with such underwriters and will specify the name of each underwriter and the terms of the transaction (including any underwriting discounts and other terms constituting compensation of the underwriters and any dealers) in a prospectus supplement. The securities may be offered to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by managing underwriters or directly by one or more investment banking firms or others, as designated. If an underwriting syndicate is used, the managing underwriter(s) will be specified on the cover of the prospectus supplement. If underwriters are used in the sale, the offered securities will be acquired by the underwriters for their own accounts and may be resold from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions, at a fixed public offering price or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. Any public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers may be changed from time to time. Unless otherwise set forth in the prospectus supplement, the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the offered securities will be subject to conditions precedent and the underwriters will be obligated to purchase all of the offered securities if any are purchased.

 

We may grant to the underwriters options to purchase additional securities to cover over-allotments, if any, at the public offering price, with additional underwriting commissions or discounts, as may be set forth in a related prospectus supplement. The terms of any over-allotment option will be set forth in the prospectus supplement for those securities.

 

If we use a dealer in the sale of the securities being offered pursuant to this prospectus or any prospectus supplement, we will sell the securities to the dealer, as principal.  The dealer may then resell the securities to the public at varying prices to be determined by the dealer at the time of resale.  The names of the dealers and the terms of the transaction will be specified in a prospectus supplement.

 

We may sell the securities directly or through agents we designate from time to time.  We will name any agent involved in the offering and sale of securities and we will describe any commissions we will pay the agent in the prospectus supplement. Unless the prospectus supplement states otherwise, any agent will act on a best-efforts basis for the period of its appointment.

 

We may authorize agents or underwriters to solicit offers by institutional investors to purchase securities from us at the public offering price set forth in the prospectus supplement pursuant to delayed delivery contracts providing for payment and delivery on a specified date in the future. We will describe the conditions to these contracts and the commissions we must pay for solicitation of these contracts in the prospectus supplement.

 

In connection with the sale of the securities, underwriters, dealers or agents may receive compensation from us or from purchasers of the securities for whom they act as agents in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions. Underwriters may sell the securities to or through dealers, and those dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the underwriters or commissions from the purchasers for whom they may act as agents. Underwriters, dealers and agents that participate in the distribution of the securities, and any institutional investors or others that purchase securities directly and then resell the securities, may be deemed to be underwriters, and any discounts or commissions received by them from us and any profit on the resale of the securities by them may be deemed to be underwriting discounts and commissions under the Securities Act.

 

33
 

  

We may provide agents and underwriters with indemnification against particular civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribution with respect to payments that the agents or underwriters may make with respect to such liabilities. Agents and underwriters may engage in transactions with, or perform services for, us in the ordinary course of business.

 

In addition, we may enter into derivative transactions with third parties (including the writing of options), or sell securities not covered by this prospectus to third parties in privately negotiated transactions. If the applicable prospectus supplement indicates, in connection with such a transaction, the third parties may, pursuant to this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, sell securities covered by this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement. If so, the third party may use securities borrowed from us or others to settle such sales and may use securities received from us to close out any related short positions. We may also loan or pledge securities covered by this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement to third parties, who may sell the loaned securities or, in an event of default in the case of a pledge, sell the pledged securities pursuant to this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement. The third party in such sale transactions will be an underwriter and will be identified in the applicable prospectus supplement or in a post-effective amendment.

 

To facilitate an offering of a series of securities, persons participating in the offering may engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain, or otherwise affect the market price of the securities. This may include over-allotments or short sales of the securities, which involves the sale by persons participating in the offering of more securities than have been sold to them by us. In those circumstances, such persons would cover such over-allotments or short positions by purchasing in the open market or by exercising the over-allotment option granted to those persons. In addition, those persons may stabilize or maintain the price of the securities by bidding for or purchasing securities in the open market or by imposing penalty bids, whereby selling concessions allowed to underwriters or dealers participating in any such offering may be reclaimed if securities sold by them are repurchased in connection with stabilization transactions. The effect of these transactions may be to stabilize or maintain the market price of the securities at a level above that which might otherwise prevail in the open market. Such transactions, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time. We make no representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any effect that the transactions described above, if implemented, may have on the price of our securities.

 

Any common stock sold pursuant to a prospectus supplement will be eligible for quotation and trading on The NASDAQ Capital Market. Any underwriters to whom securities are sold by us for public offering and sale may make a market in the securities, but such underwriters will not be obligated to do so and may discontinue any market making at any time without notice.

 

In order to comply with the securities laws of some states, if applicable, the securities offered pursuant to this prospectus will be sold in those states only through registered or licensed brokers or dealers. In addition, in some states securities may not be sold unless they have been registered or qualified for sale in the applicable state or an exemption from the registration or qualification requirement is available and complied with.

 

LEGAL MATTERS

 

The validity of the issuance of the securities offered hereby will be passed upon for us by Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference LLP, New York, New York.

 

EXPERTS

 

The consolidated financial statements of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. appearing in Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.’s Annual Report (Form 10-K/A) for the year ended December 31, 2012, have been audited by EisnerAmper LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon included therein and incorporated herein by reference. Such consolidated financial statements are incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon such report given on the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

 

34
 

  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

 

This prospectus constitutes a part of a registration statement on Form S-3 filed under the Securities Act.  As permitted by the SEC’s rules, this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, which form a part of the registration statement, do not contain all the information that is included in the registration statement.  You will find additional information about us in the registration statement.  Any statements made in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement concerning legal documents are not necessarily complete and you should read the documents that are filed as exhibits to the registration statement or otherwise filed with the SEC for a more complete understanding of the document or matter.

 

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC.  You may read, without charge, and copy the documents we file at the SEC’s public reference rooms in Washington, D.C. at 100 F Street, NE, Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549.  You can request copies of these documents by writing to the SEC and paying a fee for the copying cost.  Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference rooms.  Our SEC filings are also available to the public at no cost from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

 

INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE

 

We have filed a registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act. This prospectus is part of the registration statement but the registration statement includes and incorporates by reference additional information and exhibits. The Securities and Exchange Commission permits us to “incorporate by reference” the information contained in documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents rather than by including them in this prospectus. Information that is incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus and you should read it with the same care that you read this prospectus. Information that we file later with the Securities and Exchange Commission will automatically update and supersede the information that is either contained, or incorporated by reference, in this prospectus, and will be considered to be a part of this prospectus from the date those documents are filed. We have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and incorporate by reference in this prospectus:

 

·Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 filed on March 11, 2013, as amended by our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A filed on November 22, 2013;

 

·Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2013, June 30, 2013, and September 30, 2013, filed on May 7, 2013, August 14, 2013, and November 13, 2013, respectively.

 

·Current Reports on Form 8-K (excluding any reports or portions thereof that are deemed to be furnished and not filed) filed on January 2, 2013, January 28, 2013, March 11, 2013, April 23, 2013, May 1, 2013, August 9, 2013, August 14, 2013, August 29, 2013, September 16, 2013, October 17, 2013, November 13, 2013, November 14, 2013, December 10, 2013 and December 13, 2013; and

 

·The description of our common stock contained in our Form 8-A filed on July 23, 2013.

 

We also incorporate by reference all additional documents that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the terms of Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are made after the initial filing date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part until the offering of the particular securities covered by a prospectus supplement or term sheet has been completed. We are not, however, incorporating, in each case, any documents or information that we are deemed to furnish and not file in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission rules.

 

35
 

 

You may request, and we will provide you with, a copy of these filings, at no cost, by contacting us at:

 

Leland Gershell

Chief Financial Officer

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.

509 Madison Avenue, Suite 306

New York, New York 10022

Telephone (212) 980-9155

 

36
 

 

[*] Shares of

 

 

Common Stock

  

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

  

 

 

Sole Book Running Manager

Roth Capital Partners

  

 

 

Co-Manager

National Securities Corporation

 

January [*], 2014