SEC Filing - Arcutis Biotherapeutics

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CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

Confidential Draft No. 2 submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 21, 2019. This draft registration statement has not been publicly filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and all information herein remains confidential.

Registration No. 333-

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Under

The Securities Act of 1933

ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

2834

81-2974255

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

2945 Townsgate Road, Suite 110

Westlake Village, California 91361

(805) 418-5006

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Todd Franklin Watanabe

Chief Executive Officer

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc.

2945 Townsgate Road, Suite 110

Westlake Village, California 91361

(805) 418-5006

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Matthew S. Rossiter, Esq.

Robert A. Freedman, Esq.

Julia Forbess, Esq.

Fenwick & West LLP

555 California Street

San Francisco, California 94104

(415) 875-2300

Brian J. Cuneo, Esq.

Mark V. Roeder, Esq.

Ross McAloon, Esq.

Latham and Watkins LLP

140 Scott Drive

Menlo Park, CA 94025

(650) 328-4600

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:

As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. ☐

If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or and “emerging growth company”. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:


Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☒	Smaller reporting company	☐
		Emerging growth company	☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE



Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered	Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1)(2)	Amount of Registration Fee
Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share	$	$

(1)	Estimated solely for purposes of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

(2)	The proposed maximum aggregate offering price includes the offering price of additional shares that the underwriters have the option to purchase.

The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities, and we are not soliciting offers to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED OCTOBER 21, 2019

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

LOGO

Common Stock

This is an initial public offering of shares of common stock of Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. All shares of common stock are being sold by the company.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the common stock. The initial public offering price is expected to be between $ and $ per share. We intend to apply to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ARQT”.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined under the federal securities laws and, as such, may elect to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for future filings.

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 15 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of the common stock.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.


	Per Share	Total
Initial public offering price	$	$
Underwriting discounts and commissions(1)	$	$
Proceeds, before expenses, to us	$	$

(1)	See “Underwriting” for additional information regarding compensation payable to the underwriters.

We have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to additional shares of common stock from us at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on , .


Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC		Cowen		Guggenheim Securities



		Cantor

Prospectus dated , .

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Prospectus Summary			1
The Offering			11
Risk Factors			15
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements			71
Use of Proceeds			73
Dividend Policy			75
Capitalization			76
Dilution			78
Selected Financial Data			81
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations			83
Business			99
Management			151
Executive Compensation			160
Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions			170
Principal Stockholders			175
Description of Capital Stock			177
Shares Eligible for Future Sale			183
Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences to Non-U.S. Holders			185
Underwriting			190
Legal Matters			197
Experts			197
Additional Information			198
Index to Financial Statements			F-1

We and the underwriters have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectuses we have prepared. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may provide you. We are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is current only as of its date.

For investors outside the United States: Neither we nor the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

TRADEMARKS

The mark “Arcutis” and the Arcutis logo are our registered trademarks, and all product names are our common law trademarks. All other service marks, trademarks and trade names appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks and tradenames referred to in this prospectus appear without the ^® and ™ symbols, but those references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights, or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and tradenames.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

This prospectus contains estimates, projections and other statistical data and information concerning our industry, our business and the markets for our product candidates. Some data and statistical information contained in this prospectus, including market size and opportunity figures for our product candidates, are based on management’s estimates and calculations, which are derived from our review and interpretation of the independent sources, our internal research and knowledge of the industry and market in which we operate. Some data and statistical information are based on independent reports from third parties, including DR/Decision Resources, LLC, or Decision Resources Group, and Adelphi Group Limited, or Adelphi Group, as well as reports that we commissioned from third parties. Decision Resources Group makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the data, or DR Materials, set forth herein and shall have, and accept, no liability of any kind, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, to any third party arising from or related to use of the DR Materials by us. Any use which we or a third party makes of the DR Materials, or any reliance on it, or decisions to be made based on it, are the sole responsibilities of us and such third party. In no way shall any data appearing in the DR Materials amount to any form of prediction of future events or circumstances and no such reliance may be inferred or implied.

This information, to the extent it contains estimates or projections, involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates or projections. Industry publications and other reports we have obtained from independent parties generally state that the data contained in these publications or other reports have been obtained in good faith or from sources considered to be reliable, but they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such data. The industry in which we operate is subject to risks and uncertainties due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section entitled “Risk Factors.” These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in these publications and reports.

CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

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PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

This summary highlights selected information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before investing in our common stock, you should carefully read this entire prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes thereto and the information set forth under the sections entitled “Risk Factors,” “Selected Financial Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” in each case included in this prospectus. Some of the statements in this prospectus constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See the section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Unless the context otherwise requires, we use the terms “Arcutis Biotherapeutics,” “company,” “we,” “us” and “our” in this prospectus to refer to Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for dermatological diseases with high unmet medical needs. Our current portfolio is comprised of topical treatments with significant potential to address immune-mediated dermatological diseases and conditions, or immuno-dermatology. Our strategy is to identify and develop treatments against validated biological targets in dermatology that deliver a differentiated clinical profile that addresses major shortcomings of existing therapies. We believe this strategy uniquely positions us to rapidly progress towards our goal of bridging the treatment innovation gap in dermatology, while maximizing our probability of technical success and financial resources.

Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, is a topical cream formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and selective phosphodiesterase type 4, or PDE4, inhibitor, which we are developing for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, including psoriasis in intertriginous regions such as the groin, axillae and inframammary areas, as well as atopic dermatitis. PDE4 is an established biological target in dermatology with multiple PDE4 inhibitors approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. We have successfully completed a Phase 2b study of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis, and have treated more than 400 plaque psoriasis patients, demonstrating potential efficacy and tolerability of ARQ-151 in this population. We will initiate Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020 and expect to report topline data in the first half of 2021. We also have completed enrollment of a Phase 2a study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis, and expect to report topline results from this study by the end of 2019. If successful, we plan to initiate a Phase 2b study in atopic dermatitis in the second half of 2020 with topline results in the second half of 2021. In addition, we are developing ARQ-154, a topical foam formulation of ARQ-151, and will advance this product candidate into Phase 2b studies in both scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis in Q4 2019/Q1 2020, and expect to report topline data in Q4 2020/Q1 2021 with respect to scalp psoriasis and the second half of 2020 with respect to seborrheic dermatitis. Beyond this, in 2020 we also plan to initiate clinical studies of ARQ-252, a potent and highly selective topical janus kinase type 1, or JAK1, inhibitor for the treatment of hand eczema and vitiligo. Additionally, we have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin in order to potentially treat alopecia areata.

The Major Unmet Need Across Our Initial Targeted Indications

Dermatological diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, hand eczema, alopecia areata, and vitiligo affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year,

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impacting their quality of life, and physical, functional and emotional well-being. Despite this, and despite a number of approved therapies available for these indications as well as continued progress in the development of therapies to treat dermatological diseases, especially biologic treatments, the vast majority of dermatology patients are still treated using traditional therapies that offer inadequate efficacy, do not target specific disease mediators, or have demonstrated substantial safety and tolerability issues. For example, in head to head clinical trials in plaque psoriasis, vitamin D analogues have shown efficacy substantially less than that associated with high potency steroids, whereas high potency steroids are only indicated for treatment durations of two to eight weeks due to safety concerns. Similarly, we believe that topical crisaborole (Eucrisa) and topical calcineurin inhibitors are generally seen as less effective than topical steroids in the treatment of atopic dermatitis. While modern biologic therapies have redefined the standard of efficacy in moderate-to-severe patients, in 2018, only 6% of psoriasis patients were being treated with these therapies, and even fewer atopic dermatitis patients received them. We believe that there is a significant opportunity to leverage developments in other fields of medicine, particularly inflammation and immunology, to address the significant need for effective chronic treatments in immuno-dermatology. Our initial focus is to address patients’ significant need for innovative topical treatments that directly target molecular mediators of disease with the potential for high local efficacy, low systemic safety risks and the ability to use chronically.

Our Pipeline

The following charts summarize our product pipeline, including our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, and our upcoming anticipated milestones.

LOGO

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PURSUANT TO 17 C.F.R. SECTION 200.83

LOGO

ARQ-151

Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, is a topical cream containing roflumilast, a PDE4 inhibitor, that we are developing to treat plaque psoriasis, including intertriginous psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis. PDE4 is an intracellular enzyme that regulates the production of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and cell proliferation. Roflumilast is a potent PDE4 inhibitor that was approved by the FDA for systemic treatment to reduce the risk of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, in 2011, and has shown greater potency based on IC50 values (the concentration at which a biologic target’s activity is inhibited by 50% and a non-clinical measure of a drug’s potency) than other PDE4 inhibitors, including the active ingredients in Eucrisa and Otezla. Based on the clinical data we have generated to date, we believe ARQ-151 has the potential to offer efficacy in-line with a high-potency steroid, a favorable tolerability profile, the ability to treat chronically, and little to none of the application site skin reactions associated with many existing treatments.

In July 2018, we executed a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca AB, or the AstraZeneca License Agreement, for exclusive worldwide rights to all topical dermatological uses of roflumilast, the PDE4 inhibitor used as the active pharmaceutical ingredient in ARQ-151. We have built our own intellectual property portfolio around topical uses of roflumilast, with issued and pending formulation and pharmacokinetic patents/applications in the United States and other jurisdictions from four distinct patent families, which should provide us with exclusivity at least through 2037 for the formulation that is intended to be marketed.

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We have completed two randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled Phase 2 studies in plaque psoriasis with ARQ-151, including a 331 patient multinational, multi-center Phase 2b study and an 89 patient multinational, multi-center Phase 2a study. Both studies have demonstrated significant reductions in the signs of plaque psoriasis and ARQ-151 has been well-tolerated in this population. In our Phase 2b study, ARQ-151 also demonstrated significant reductions in the signs of psoriatic plaques in the intertriginous regions, as well as favorable tolerability in those areas. The table below summarizes results from the Phase 2b study.


		Phase 2b (ARQ-151-201)
	% of Patients	0.3% Dose (n = 109)			0.15% Dose (n = 113)(a)			Vehicle (n = 109)(b)			p-value (0.3% vs. *vehicle)*
Week 6	% IGA of Clear or Almost Clear		28.0			22.8			8.3			<0.001

Week 8	% IGA Success(c)		32.2			24.5			9.8			<0.001
	Mean % CFB in PASI		(53.7	)		(53.5	)		(18.8	)		<0.001
	% PASI-75		31.3			23.0			13.2			0.002
	% PASI-90		16.9			7.4			6.0			0.015
	% Intertriginous IGA Success(d)		87.1			60.9			36.1			0.007
	% WI-NRS (4 pt Δ)(e)		64.6			58.2			42.3			0.01

TEAEs	% TEAE		38.5			27.3			29.9			—
	% Tx-Related TEAE		6.4			2.7			6.5			—
	% SAE		0.9			0.9			1.9			—
	% D/C due to TEAE		0.9			0.0			1.9			—

The abbreviations used in this table include the following: Change from baseline, or CFB; Investigator’s Global Assessment, or IGA, a 5-point scale for evaluating plaque psoriasis severity; Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, or PASI; Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events, or TEAE; Serious Adverse Events, or SAE; discontinuation, or D/C.

(a)

For safety analyses, n = 110.

(b)

For safety analyses, n = 107.

(c)

IGA Success was defined as IGA = 0 (clear) or 1 (almost clear) PLUS a 2 point change from baseline.

(d)

Intertriginous IGA, or I-IGA, Success was defined as I-IGA = 0 (clear) or 1 (almost clear) PLUS a 2 point change from baseline. I-IGA Success analysis was performed in subjects with baseline I-IGA ³ 2.

(e)

Represents % of patients with baseline Worst Itch-Numerical Rating Scale, or WI-NRS, ³ 6, who achieved at least a 4-point improvement on the WI-NRS.

We have also completed one Phase 1 study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis and are in the process of conducting a Phase 2a study. We have completed enrollment with 136 adolescents (ages 12 and above) and adults with atopic dermatitis. We expect to have topline results from this study by the end of 2019. If the topline results from Study ARQ-151-212 are positive, we plan to initiate a Phase 2b study in atopic dermatitis in the second half of 2020 with topline results in the second half of 2021.

ARQ-154

We are also developing ARQ-154, a foam formulation of ARQ-151, for treatment of seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis. We designed ARQ-154 as a topical foam version of ARQ-151 to overcome the challenges of delivering topical drugs in hair-bearing areas of the body. Based on the results of our Phase 2 studies with ARQ-151, we believe that ARQ-154 has the potential to be well-suited for treatment of scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis and will be similarly well-tolerated in these populations. We plan to initiate Phase 2b studies for ARQ-154 in seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis in Q4 2019/Q1 2020. We believe that ARQ-154 will offer physicians and patients a highly

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differentiated clinical profile that is ideally suited to address unmet needs in the topical treatment of scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis.

ARQ-252

ARQ-252 is a potent and highly selective topical small molecule inhibitor of JAK1 that we are developing for hand eczema and other inflammatory dermatoses. JAK1 is one of the janus family of non-receptor protein tyrosine kinases, or JAKs, including JAK1, janus kinase type 2, or JAK2, janus kinase type 3, or JAK3, and tyrosine kinase type 2, or Tyk2. Collectively, these kinases are involved in cell growth, survival, development, and differentiation of a variety of cells. We believe that due to its high selectivity for JAK1 over JAK2, ARQ-252 has the potential to treat inflammatory diseases without causing the hematopoietic adverse effects, such as anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia, associated with JAK2 inhibition.

In January 2018, we executed an exclusive option and license agreement, or the Hengrui License Agreement, with Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. of China, or Hengrui, for the active pharmaceutical ingredient in ARQ-252 for all topical dermatological uses in the United States, Europe and Japan. The Hengrui License Agreement includes an option to license composition of matter patents in the United States, and these patents extend to 2034 for the bisulfate form of the active ingredient. We believe there is the potential to obtain additional protection for ARQ-252 through possible future formulation patents and other intellectual property.

We intend to initiate a Phase 2b study in adult patients with hand eczema in the first half of 2020, with topline data expected in the second half of 2021. We also plan to initiate a Phase 2a study in vitiligo in the second half of 2020.

ARQ-255

We believe that topical JAK inhibitor therapy for alopecia areata requires the drug to be delivered to the site of the inflammation, deep in the skin at the base (bulb) of the hair follicle. We have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin to the postulated site of inflammation in alopecia areata. If those formulation efforts are successful, we plan to enter the clinic with ARQ-255 as a potential treatment for alopecia areata.

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Our Market Opportunity

We believe there are significant market opportunities to capture in each of our addressable markets.



Product Candidate	Mechanism of Action	Formulation	Indication	U.S. Addressable Market Opportunity

ARQ-151	PDE4 Inhibitor	Topical Cream	Psoriasis	Approximately 2.0 million patients treated by dermatologists with topical therapies
			Atopic Dermatitis	Approximately 1.0 million patients treated by dermatologists with topical therapies

ARQ-154	PDE4 Inhibitor	Topical Foam	Seborrheic Dermatitis	Approximately 360,000 patients treated by dermatologists that have an inadequate response to first line treatments
			Scalp Psoriasis	Approximately 850,000 patients treated by dermatologists with topical prescription therapies

ARQ-252	JAK1 Inhibitor	Topical Cream	Hand Eczema	Approximately 7.0 million patients
			Vitiligo	Approximately 2.6 million patients

ARQ-255	JAK1 Inhibitor	Topical Suspension	Alopecia Areata	Approximately 6.2 million patients

Our Team

In order to capitalize on our opportunity, we have assembled a management team with deep development, formulation and commercialization expertise for dermatology products. Our management team has held key roles in numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies with a dermatology focus, including Pfizer Inc., Amgen Inc., Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. Through these roles, our management team was integrally involved in the development, approval and/or commercialization of more than thirty FDA-approved products (including eighteen topical products) such as Enbrel, Jublia, CeraVe, Aczone and Xeljanz. This extensive experience provides us with unique insights and capabilities in dermatology drug development and commercialization.

Our Competitive Strengths

Our competitive strengths are key differentiating factors that form the foundation of our business strategy. We believe that leveraging these strengths will allow us to realize our vision of becoming a leading dermatology company. Our competitive strengths include:

•

Harnessing the benefits of clinically validated targets in dermatology. We are focused on identifying, developing and commercializing best-in-class molecules against biological targets that have been clinically demonstrated to directly affect dermatological diseases. We believe this approach enables us to advance potentially transformative treatments over shorter development timelines, at lower cost, and in a manner that improves their probability of technical success.

•

Late-stage lead product candidate with a highly differentiated clinical profile. Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, is a topical cream formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and

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selective PDE4 inhibitor that was approved by the FDA for systemic treatment to reduce the risk of exacerbations of COPD in 2011. PDE4 inhibition is a well-established mechanism in dermatology, as supported by the PDE4 inhibitors approved by the FDA, including Eucrisa for the topical treatment of atopic dermatitis and Otezla for the systemic treatment of plaque psoriasis. ARQ-151 has generated what we believe is promising efficacy and safety data in multiple clinical trials to date. We expect to initiate Phase 3 clinical trials with ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020. We also have completed enrollment of a Phase 2a study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis, and expect to report topline results from this study by the end of 2019. We believe that ARQ-151 will offer physicians and patients a highly differentiated clinical profile to address the significant unmet need in the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

•

Diversified, multi-asset pipeline addressing major shortcomings of existing dermatologic treatments. In addition to ARQ-151, we are advancing a portfolio of topically-administered product candidates addressing multiple immuno-dermatological indications with significant market opportunities, including seborrheic dermatitis, scalp psoriasis, hand eczema, vitiligo and alopecia areata. We plan to initiate Phase 2b trials by Q4 2019/Q1 2020 in seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis using ARQ-154, a foam formulation of ARQ-151, that is designed to overcome the challenges of delivering topical drugs in hair-bearing areas of the body. Additionally, with ARQ-252, a potent and highly selective topical JAK1 inhibitor, we plan to initiate a Phase 2b study in hand eczema in the first half of 2020 and a Phase 2a study in vitiligo in the second half of 2020. We also have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin in order to potentially treat alopecia areata. We believe that due to their high selectivity for JAK1 over JAK2, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255 have the potential to treat inflammatory diseases without causing the hematopoietic adverse effects associated with JAK2 inhibition.

•

Strong intellectual property. As of September 30, 2019, we own or have the option to exclusively license 15 issued or pending U.S. patents, 15 issued or pending foreign patents and three international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, providing comprehensive protection for our product candidates. For ARQ-151 and ARQ-154, we have built our own intellectual property portfolio around topical uses of roflumilast, with issued and pending formulation and pharmacokinetic patents/applications in the United States and other jurisdictions from four distinct patent families, which begin to expire in 2037. Our patent protection includes an option to exclusively license four issued U.S. patents and four issued foreign patents providing protection for the active ingredient in ARQ-252 and ARQ-255, which begin to expire in 2033 with potential additional protection through possible future formulation patents and other intellectual property.

•

Proven leadership team, with differentiated formulation expertise. Our management team has extensive expertise in the development and commercialization of dermatology products, having held key leadership roles at a number of leading dermatology companies and collectively, has successfully developed and/or commercialized more than thirty FDA-approved products. In addition, we have unique expertise with developing differentiated and proprietary topical formulations of compounds in order to optimize their tolerability and efficacy in dermatology applications. We believe that the breadth of experience and successful track record of our management team, combined with our broad network of established relationships with leaders in the industry and medical community, uniquely positions us to build a leading, fully-integrated dermatology company.

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Our Strategy

Our strategy is to leverage recent innovations in inflammation and immunology to identify molecules against validated biological targets in dermatology, and to develop and commercialize best-in-class products that address significant unmet needs in immuno-dermatology. Key elements of our strategy include:

•

Rapidly develop and commercialize our lead product candidate ARQ-151 for the treatment of patients with plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. We plan to initiate Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020 and expect to report Phase 2a topline data on the use of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis by the end of 2019.

•

Expand our addressable market with ARQ-154. ARQ-154 allows us the treat patients with certain dermatological diseases in hair-bearing areas of the body like the scalp where a cream is not suitable. We believe ARQ-154 has the potential to offer patients efficacy in-line with high-potency steroids in scalp psoriasis and may be superior to standard of care treatments for seborrheic dermatitis, while potentially maintaining favorable safety and tolerability.

•

Continue to innovate and develop our product pipeline of therapeutics, which we believe has the potential to be best-in-class in immuno-dermatology. We plan to develop ARQ-252, a JAK1 inhibitor with a high relative selectivity to JAK1 over JAK2, giving it the potential to be best-in-class, for the treatment of hand eczema and vitiligo. We plan to initiate our Phase 2b study in hand eczema in the first half of 2020 and our Phase 2a study in vitiligo in the second half of 2020. Additionally, we have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin in order to potentially treat alopecia areata.

•

Establish an integrated development and commercial organization. We believe the concentrated prescriber base of the U.S. dermatology segment provides us with the opportunity to build a fully integrated commercial organization and targeted sales force for the commercialization of our product candidates among dermatology specialists. To further enhance the value of our product candidates, we will selectively seek partners to commercialize our products outside of the dermatology specialist segment, and to develop and commercialize our products outside of the U.S. market.

•

Evaluate strategic opportunities to in-license best-in-class dermatology assets consistent with our core strategy. We will continue to explore opportunities to in-license assets and develop them to address unmet medical needs in dermatology.

Risks Affecting Our Business

Our business is subject to a number of risks, including risks that may prevent us from achieving our business objectives or may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and prospects that you should consider before making a decision to invest in our common stock. These risks are discussed more fully in the section titled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 15 of this prospectus, and include the following:

•

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history and no products approved for commercial sale, and we have incurred significant losses since our inception. We anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future, which, together with our limited operating history, makes it difficult to assess our future viability.

•

Even if this offering is successful, we will require substantial additional financing to achieve our goals, and a failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all,

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could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development, other operations or commercialization efforts.

•

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our future operating results difficult to predict and could cause our future operating results to fall below expectations.

•

Our business is dependent on the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our current product candidates.

•

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome. We may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our product candidates.

•

We may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates under applicable regulatory requirements. The denial or delay of any such approval would delay commercialization of our product candidates and adversely impact our potential to generate revenue, our business and our results of operations.

•

Our estimated market opportunities for our product candidates are subject to numerous uncertainties and may prove to be inaccurate. If we have overestimated the size of our market opportunities, our future growth may be limited.

•

We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies targeting medical dermatological indications, and our operating results will suffer if we fail to compete effectively.

•

We currently rely on single source third-party suppliers to manufacture preclinical and clinical supplies of our product candidates and we intend to rely on third parties to produce commercial supplies of any approved product candidate. The loss of these suppliers, or their failure to provide us with sufficient quantities at acceptable quality levels or prices, or at all, would materially and adversely affect our business.

•

We may not be able to obtain, maintain or enforce patent rights or other intellectual property rights that cover our product candidates and technologies that are of sufficient breadth to prevent third parties from competing against us.

•

We may become subject to claims alleging infringement of third parties’ patents or proprietary rights and/or claims seeking to invalidate our patents, which would be costly, time consuming and, if successfully asserted against us, delay or prevent the development and commercialization of ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252, ARQ-255 or any future product candidates.

Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company

As a company with less than $1.07 billion in revenue during our last fiscal year, we qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or JOBS Act. An emerging growth company may take advantage of reduced reporting requirements that are otherwise applicable to public companies. These provisions include, but are not limited to:

•

being permitted to present only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in this prospectus;

•

not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting;

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•

not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis);

•

reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation arrangements; and

•

exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

We may use these provisions until the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering. However, if certain events occur prior to the end of such five-year period, including if we become a “large accelerated filer,” our annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion or we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in any three-year period, we will cease to be an emerging growth company prior to the end of such five-year period.

We have elected to take advantage of certain of the reduced disclosure obligations in the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and may elect to take advantage of other reduced reporting requirements in future filings. As a result, the information that we provide to our stockholders may be different than you might receive from other public reporting companies in which you hold equity interests.

The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This provision allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of some accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to avail ourselves of this exemption and, therefore, we will not be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies.”

Corporate Information

We were formed under the laws of the State of Delaware in June 2016 under the name Arcutis, Inc. and changed our name to Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. in October 2019. Our principal executive offices are located at 2945 Townsgate Road, Suite 110, Westlake Village, California 91361, and our telephone number is (805) 418-5006. Our website address is www.arcutis.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and should not be considered a part of this prospectus.

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THE OFFERING

Common stock offered

Option to purchase additional shares

Common stock to be outstanding immediately after this offering

shares (or shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full).

Use of proceeds

We estimate that the net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $ million (or approximately $ million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full), based upon the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to fund the further development of ARQ-151, ARQ-154 and ARQ-252, for working capital and general corporate purposes. See the section entitled “Use of Proceeds.”

Risk factors

You should read the section entitled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus for a discussion of factors to consider carefully before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock.

Proposed Nasdaq Global Select Market symbol

“ARQT”

The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on 54,221,049 shares of our common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2019, assuming the conversion of all our outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock, including 16,251,628 shares of Series C convertible preferred stock issued in October 2019, into an aggregate of 48,787,895 shares of our common stock immediately prior to the completion of this offering, and excludes:

•

3,513,431 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding as of June 30, 2019 under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, with an average exercise price of $0.74 per share;

•

shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding that were granted after June 30, 2019 under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, with an average exercise price of $ per share;

•

2,127,264 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan as of June 30, 2019, which will cease to be available for issuance at the time that our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan becomes effective;

•

2,823,831 additional shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan after June 30, 2019 in connection with the sale of Series C convertible preferred stock in October 2019, which will cease to be available for issuance at the time that our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan becomes effective;

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•

shares of common stock that will become available for future issuance under our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part; and shares of common stock that will become available for future issuance under our 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Upon completion of this offering, any remaining shares available for issuance under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan will be added to the shares reserved under our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan and we will cease granting awards under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan. Our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan and 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan also provide for automatic annual increases in the number of shares reserved under the plans each year, as more fully described in “Executive Compensation—Equity Compensation Plans and Other Benefit Plans.”

Except as otherwise indicated, all information in this prospectus reflects or assumes the following:

•

the effectiveness of our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws in connection with the completion of this offering;

•

the conversion of all of our outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock, including 16,251,628 shares of Series C convertible preferred stock issued in October 2019, into an aggregate of 48,787,895 shares of common stock immediately prior to completion of this offering;

•

a -for- reverse stock split, which will become effective prior to the completion of this offering;

•

no exercise of outstanding options after June 30, 2019; and

•

no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in this offering.

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SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA

The following tables set forth our summary statements of operations and balance sheet data. The summary statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 have been derived from our audited financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have derived the summary statements of operations data for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, and the summary balance sheet data as of June 30, 2019, from our unaudited interim condensed financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our unaudited interim condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles on the same basis as our audited annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments, that are necessary for the fair statement of our financial position as of June 30, 2019 and our results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019. The following summary financial data should be read in conjunction with “Selected Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in any future period. The summary financial data in this section are not intended to replace the financial statements and are qualified in their entirety by the financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.


	Year Ended December 31,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2017			2018			2018			2019
							(unaudited)
	(in thousands, except share and per share data)
Statements of operations data:
Operating expenses:
Research and development	$	3,411		$	17,940		$	5,512		$	13,416
General and administrative		695			1,795			575			2,073

Total operating expenses		4,106			19,735			6,087			15,489

Loss from operations		(4,106	)		(19,735	)		(6,087	)		(15,489	)
Other income (expense), net		(872	)		480			108			542

Net loss	$	(4,978	)	$	(19,255	)	$	(5,979	)	$	(14,947	)

Net loss per share, basic and diluted(1)	$	(3.58	)	$	(7.76	)	$	(2.83	)	$	(4.39	)

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share, basic and diluted(1)		1,391,097			2,480,246			2,113,627			3,402,298

Pro forma net loss per share, basic and diluted (unaudited)(1)				$						$

Weighted-average shares used in computing pro forma net loss per share, basic and diluted (unaudited)(1)

(1)

See Notes 2, 11 and 12 to our audited financial statements and Notes 2, 10 and 11 to our unaudited interim condensed financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for a description of how we compute basic and diluted net loss per share and basic and diluted pro forma net loss per share, and the weighted-average number of shares used in the computation of these per share amounts.

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The table below presents our balance sheet data as of June 30, 2019:

•

on an actual basis;

•

on a pro forma basis to give effect to: (i) the issuance of 16,251,628 shares of Series C convertible preferred stock for gross cash proceeds of $94.5 million in October 2019 and (ii) the conversion of all of our outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into an aggregate of 48,787,895 shares of our common stock, which includes our Series C convertible preferred stock issued in October 2019, immediately prior to the completion of this offering; and

•

on a pro forma as adjusted basis, giving effect to: (i) the pro forma adjustments set forth above and (ii) our receipt of estimated net proceeds from the sale and issuance of shares of our common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.


	As of June 30, 2019
	Actual			Pro Forma	Pro Forma As Adjusted(1)
	(unaudited)
	(in thousands)
Balance sheet data:
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities	$	35,862		$	$
Working capital(2)		33,426
Total assets		38,179
Convertible preferred stock		72,252
Accumulated deficit		(39,223	)
Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity		(38,658	)

(1)

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity by $ million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us in this offering would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity by $ million, assuming the initial offering price remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

(2)

We define working capital as current assets less current liabilities. See our audited financial statements and related notes and unaudited interim condensed financial statements and related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus for further details regarding our current assets and current liabilities.

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, prospects and stock price. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations.

Risks Related to Our Limited Operating History, Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a limited operating history. Biopharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales and have incurred losses in each year since our inception in June 2016. We have a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects, and have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving fields. Our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, identifying potential product candidates, establishing licensing arrangements, undertaking various research and preclinical studies and conducting clinical trials for our product candidates.

We have never generated any revenue from product sales and have incurred losses in each year since our inception in June 2016. We have not yet demonstrated our ability to successfully complete later-stage clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals, manufacture a drug on a commercial scale, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful commercialization.

Our net loss for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 was approximately $5.0 million and $19.3 million, respectively, and for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019 was approximately $6.0 million and $14.9 million, respectively. As of June 30, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit of $39.2 million. We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future, and we anticipate these losses will increase as we continue to develop our product candidates, conduct clinical trials and pursue research and development activities. We may never achieve profitability and, even if we do, we may not be able to sustain profitability in subsequent periods. We will continue to incur significant research and development and other expenses related to our ongoing operations and the development of our product candidates. Our prior losses, combined with expected future losses, have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital.

We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known or unknown factors in achieving our business objectives. We will need to transition at some point from a company with a development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.

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Even if this offering is successful, we will require substantial additional financing to achieve our goals, and a failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed on acceptable terms, or at all, could force us to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development, other operations or commercialization efforts.

Since our inception, we have invested substantially all of our efforts and financial resources in research and development activities, and we expect to continue to expend substantial resources for the foreseeable future in connection with the development of our current product candidates, ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255, the development or acquisition of additional product candidates and the maintenance and expansion of our business operations and capabilities. These expenditures will include costs associated with conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals, and securing manufacturing and supply of product candidates, and marketing and selling any products approved for sale. These expenditures may also include costs associated with in-licensing dermatology assets consistent with our core strategy. In addition, other unanticipated costs may arise. Because the outcome of any preclinical study or clinical trial is highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of our lead product candidates and any future product candidates.

As of June 30, 2019, we had capital resources consisting of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $35.9 million. We raised an additional $94.5 million in gross cash proceeds from the sale of Series C convertible preferred stock in October 2019. Based on our planned operations, we believe that the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least 12 months after the date that our financial statements were issued without raising additional capital. However, our operating plans may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned, through public or private equity or debt financings or other sources, such as strategic collaborations. Such financing may result in dilution to stockholders, imposition of burdensome debt covenants and repayment obligations, or other restrictions that may affect our business. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

Our future capital requirements depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:

•

the scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing our lead product candidates or any future product candidates, and conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, in particular our planned Phase 3 studies of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis, our planned Phase 2b studies of ARQ-154 in scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis, our planned Phase 2b study of ARQ-252 in hand eczema, our planned Phase 2a study of ARQ-252 in vitiligo and our formulation and preclinical efforts for ARQ-255 in alopecia areata;

•

the number and scope of clinical programs we decide to pursue;

•

the cost, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;

•

the cost of manufacturing our product candidates and any products we commercialize, including costs associated with building out our supply chain;

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the cost of commercialization activities if any of our product candidates are approved for sale, including marketing, sales and distribution costs;

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the cost of building a sales force in anticipation of product commercialization;

•

our ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations, licensing or other arrangements and the financial terms of any such agreements that we may enter into;

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•

the timing and amount of milestone payments due to AstraZeneca, Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd., or Hengrui, or any future collaboration or licensing partners upon the achievement of negotiated milestones;

•

the expenses needed to attract and retain skilled personnel;

•

the costs associated with being a public company; and

•

the costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, defending and enforcing our intellectual property portfolio; and

•

the timing, receipt and amount of sales of any future approved products, if any.

Adequate additional funds may not be available when we need them, on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If adequate funds are not available to us on a timely basis or on attractive terms, we may be required to reduce our workforce, delay, limit, reduce or terminate our research and development activities, preclinical studies, clinical trials or other development activities and future commercialization efforts, or grant rights to develop and market product candidates, such as ARQ-151, that we would otherwise develop and market ourselves.

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our future operating results difficult to predict and could cause our future operating results to fall below expectations.

Our operations to date have been primarily limited to researching and developing our product candidates and undertaking preclinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates. We have not yet obtained regulatory approvals for any of our product candidates. Furthermore, our operating results may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including the following:

•

delays in the commencement, enrollment and the timing of clinical testing for our product candidates;

•

the timing and success or failure of clinical trials for our product candidates or competing product candidates, or any other change in the competitive landscape of our industry, including consolidation among our competitors or partners;

•

any delays in regulatory review and approval of product candidates in clinical development, or failure to obtain such approvals;

•

the timing and cost of, and level of investment in, research and development activities relating to our product candidates, which may change from time to time;

•

the cost of manufacturing our product candidates, which may vary depending on U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, guidelines and requirements, and the quantity of production;

•

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

•

expenditures that we will or may incur to acquire or develop additional product candidates and technologies, which may include obligations to make significant upfront and milestone payments;

•

the level of demand for our product candidates, should they receive approval, which may vary significantly;

•

potential side effects of our product candidates that could delay or prevent commercialization or cause an approved drug to be taken off the market;

•

the ability of patients or healthcare providers to obtain coverage of or sufficient reimbursement for our product candidates, if approved;

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our dependency on CROs and third-party manufacturers to supply or manufacture our product candidates;

•

our ability to establish an effective sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure in a timely manner;

•

market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved, and our ability to forecast demand for those product candidates;

•

our ability to receive approval and commercialize our product candidates both within and outside of the United States;

•

our ability to establish and maintain collaborations, licensing or other arrangements with respect to our product candidates;

•

our ability to maintain and enforce our intellectual property position;

•

costs related to and outcomes of potential litigation or other disputes in respect of our product candidates and our business;

•

our ability to adequately support future growth;

•

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

•

potential liabilities associated with hazardous materials;

•

our ability to maintain adequate insurance policies; and

•

future accounting pronouncements or changes in our accounting policies.

In addition, we measure compensation cost for stock-based awards made to employees at the grant date of the award, based on the fair value of the award as determined by our board of directors, and recognize the cost as an expense over the employee’s requisite service period. As the variables that we use as a basis for valuing these awards change over time, including our underlying stock price and stock price volatility, the magnitude of the expense that we must recognize may vary significantly.

Our estimated addressable markets and market opportunities for our product candidates are based on a variety of inputs, including data published by third parties, our own market insights and internal market intelligence, and internally generated data and assumptions. We have not independently verified any third-party information and cannot assure you of its accuracy or completeness. Market opportunity estimates, whether obtained or derived from third-party sources or developed internally, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. While we believe our market opportunity estimates are reasonable, such information is inherently imprecise. In addition, our assumptions and estimates of market opportunities are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to those described in this prospectus. If this third-party or internally generated data prove to be inaccurate or we make errors in our assumptions based on that data, our actual market may be more limited than our estimates. In addition, these inaccuracies or errors may cause us to misallocate capital and other critical business resources, which could harm our business. The estimates of our market opportunities included in this prospectus should not be taken as indicative of our ability to grow our business. For more information regarding the estimates of market opportunities and the forecasts included in this prospectus, see the sections titled “Market and Industry Data”, “Business—ARQ-151—Our Market Opportunity” and “Business—ARQ-154—Our Market Opportunity.”

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Risks Related to Development and Commercialization

Our business is dependent on the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our current product candidates.

We currently have no products that are approved for commercial sale. Our current portfolio includes our lead product candidate ARQ-151, a potent PDE4 inhibitor topical cream for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, and our additional product candidates ARQ-154, a topical foam formulation of ARQ-151 for the treatment of scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis, and ARQ-252, a potent and highly selective topical JAK1 inhibitor for the treatment of hand eczema. We currently do not have a drug discovery or research and development effort to discover new product candidates, and we have no intention to develop one. The success of our business, including our ability to finance our company and generate any revenue in the future, will primarily depend on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of these current product candidates. We expect to conduct most of our clinical trials in the United States and Canada, with current limited plans for clinical trials in Australia and the European Union. We currently anticipate seeking regulatory approvals in the United States and Canada, but may in the future be subject to additional foreign regulatory authorities and may out-license our product candidates or approved products, if any, in additional foreign markets. In the future, we may also become dependent on other product candidates that we may acquire or in-license. The clinical and commercial success of our product candidates will depend on a number of factors, including the following:

•

the ability to raise any additional required capital on acceptable terms, or at all;

•

timely completion of our preclinical studies and clinical trials, which may be significantly slower or cost more than we currently anticipate and will depend substantially upon the performance of third-party contractors;

•

whether we are required by the FDA or similar foreign regulatory authorities to conduct additional clinical trials or other studies beyond those planned to support the approval and commercialization of our product candidates or any future product candidates;

•

acceptance of our proposed indications and primary and secondary endpoint assessments relating to the proposed indications of our product candidates by the FDA and similar foreign regulatory authorities;

•

the prevalence, duration and severity of potential side effects or other safety issues experienced with our product candidates or future approved products, if any;

•

the timely receipt of necessary marketing approvals from the FDA and similar foreign regulatory authorities;

•

achieving and maintaining, and, where applicable, ensuring that our third-party contractors achieve and maintain, compliance with our contractual obligations and with all regulatory requirements applicable to our lead product candidates or any future product candidates or approved products, if any;

•

the willingness of physicians and patients to utilize or adopt our product candidates;

•

the ability of third parties upon which we rely to manufacture clinical trial and commercial supplies of our product candidates or any future product candidates to remain in good standing with relevant regulatory authorities and to develop, validate and maintain commercially viable manufacturing processes that are compliant with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP;

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our ability to successfully develop a commercial strategy and thereafter commercialize our product candidates or any future product candidates in the United States and internationally, if approved for marketing, reimbursement, sale and distribution in such countries and territories, whether alone or in collaboration with others;

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acceptance by physicians, payors and patients of the benefits, safety and efficacy of our product candidates or any future product candidates, if approved, including relative to alternative and competing treatments;

•

patient demand for our product candidates, if approved;

•

our ability to establish and enforce intellectual property rights in and to our product candidates or any future product candidates; and

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our ability to avoid third-party patent interference, intellectual property challenges or intellectual property infringement claims.

Furthermore, because each of our product candidates targets one or more indications in the medical dermatology field, if any of our product candidates encounter safety or efficacy problems, developmental delays, regulatory issues, supply issues, or other problems, our development plans for the affected product candidate and some or all of our other product candidates could be significantly harmed, which would harm our business. Further, competitors who are developing products in the dermatology field or that target the same indications as us with products that have a similar mechanism of action may experience problems with their products that could indicate or result in class-wide problems or additional requirements that would potentially harm our business.

The factors outlined above, many of which are beyond our control, could cause us to experience significant delays or an inability to obtain regulatory approvals or commercialize our product candidates. Accordingly, we cannot provide assurances that we will be able to generate sufficient revenue through the sale of our product candidates or any future product candidates to continue our business.

The risk of failure for our product candidates is high. It is impossible to predict when or if any of our product candidates will prove effective or safe in humans or will receive regulatory approval. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any product candidate, we must complete preclinical development and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is inherently uncertain as to outcome. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their drugs. For example, we plan to develop ARQ-154, including initiating Phase 2b clinical trials of ARQ-154 in patients with seborrheic dermatitis and in patients with scalp psoriasis, based on our clinical experience with ARQ-151 in psoriasis. Despite our observations of ARQ-151 in a similar dermatological indication, ARQ-154 may not demonstrate comparable results in seborrheic dermatitis or scalp psoriasis. In addition, given its different formulation there is a risk that we select an incorrect dose for ARQ-154, as the clinical effect of ARQ-154 may differ from ARQ-151 at a similar dosing level or we may observe unexpected side effects not previously observed with ARQ-151.

We may experience numerous unforeseen events during or as a result of clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize our product candidates, including:

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regulators or institutional review boards may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site;

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we may experience delays in reaching, or fail to reach, agreement on acceptable clinical trial contracts or clinical trial protocols with prospective trial sites or prospective CROs, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and trial sites;

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clinical trials of our product candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results, including failure to demonstrate statistical significance, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon drug development programs;

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the number of patients required for clinical trials of our product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in these clinical trials may be slower than we anticipate or participants may drop out of these clinical trials or fail to return for post-treatment follow-up at a higher rate than we anticipate;

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our product candidates may have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, causing us or our investigators, regulators or institutional review boards to suspend or terminate the trials;

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our third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;

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regulators or institutional review boards may require that we or our investigators suspend or terminate clinical development for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements or a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;

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the cost of clinical trials of our product candidates may be greater than we anticipate; and

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the supply or quality of our product candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates may be insufficient or inadequate.

We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the institutional review boards of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, by the data safety monitoring board for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may impose such a suspension or termination due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

If we experience delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.

To gain approval to market our product candidates, we must provide the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities with preclinical and clinical data that adequately demonstrate the safety and

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efficacy of the product for the intended indication applied for in the applicable regulatory filing. Product development is long, expensive and uncertain processes, and delay or failure can occur at any stage of any of our preclinical and clinical development programs. A number of companies in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries have suffered significant setbacks in clinical trials, even after promising results in earlier preclinical or clinical studies. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, preclinical findings made while clinical studies were underway and safety or efficacy observations made in clinical studies, including previously unreported adverse events. Success in preclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and the results of clinical trials by other parties may not be indicative of the results in trials we may conduct.

Our lead product candidate ARQ-151, and ARQ-154, its foam formulation, are currently in clinical development. Our product candidate ARQ-252 will soon enter clinical development for hand eczema and vitiligo. ARQ-255 is in formulation and preclinical development for the potential treatment of alopecia areata. We currently have no products approved for sale, and we may never obtain regulatory approval to commercialize our lead product candidates. The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, sale, marketing and distribution of drug products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States and other countries, and such regulations differ from country to country. We are not permitted to market our product candidates in the United States or in any foreign countries until they receive the requisite approval from the applicable regulatory authorities of such jurisdictions, including pricing approval in the European Union.

The FDA or any foreign regulatory authorities can delay, limit or deny approval of our product candidates for many reasons, including:

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our inability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory authority that any of our product candidates is safe and effective for the requested indication;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the number, design, size, conduct or implementation of our clinical trials, including the design of our proposed Phase 3 clinical trials of ARQ-151 for the treatment of plaque psoriasis;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may not find the data from preclinical studies or clinical trials sufficient to demonstrate that the clinical and other benefits of these products candidates outweigh their safety risks or that there is an acceptable risk-benefit profile;

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the results of our clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance or clinical meaningfulness required by the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities for marketing approval;

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the FDA’s or the applicable foreign regulatory authority’s requirement for additional preclinical studies or clinical trials which would increase our costs and prolong our development timelines;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data or significance of results from the preclinical studies and clinical trials of any product candidate, or may require that we conduct additional studies;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data generated from our clinical trial sites;

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the contract research organizations, or CROs, that we retain to conduct clinical trials may take actions outside of our control, or otherwise commit errors or breaches of protocols, that adversely impact our clinical trials and ability to obtain market approvals;

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if our NDA or other foreign application is reviewed by an advisory committee, the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authority, as the case may be, may have difficulties scheduling an

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advisory committee meeting in a timely manner or the advisory committee may recommend against approval of our application or may recommend that the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authority, as the case may be, require, as a condition of approval, additional preclinical studies or clinical trials, limitations on approved labeling or distribution and use restrictions;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may require development of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, or its equivalent, as a condition of approval;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may require additional post-marketing studies and/or a patient registry, which would be costly;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may find the chemistry, manufacturing and controls data insufficient to support the quality of our product candidates;

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may identify deficiencies in the manufacturing processes or facilities of our third-party manufacturers; or

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the FDA or other relevant foreign regulatory authorities may change their approval policies or adopt new regulations.

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the FDA’s or the applicable foreign regulatory authority’s non-approval of the formulation, dosing, labeling or specifications;

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the FDA’s or the applicable foreign regulatory authority’s failure to approve the manufacturing processes of third-party manufacturers upon which we rely or the failure of the facilities of our third-party manufacturers to maintain a compliance status acceptable to the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory authority; or

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the potential for approval policies or regulations of the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory authorities to significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

Of the large number of biopharmaceutical products in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA or other regulatory approval processes and are commercialized.

Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval from the FDA or applicable foreign agencies for any of our product candidates, the FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory authority may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials which may be required after approval. The FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory authority also may approve our lead product candidates for a more limited indication or a narrower patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA, or applicable foreign regulatory authority, may not approve our product candidates with the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable, or may approve them with labeling that includes warnings or precautions or limitations of use that may not be desirable, for the successful commercialization of such product candidates. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval would delay or prevent commercialization of our product candidates and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.

Interim, topline or preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available and are subject to audit and verification procedures that could result in material changes in the final data.

From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, topline, or preliminary data from our clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a full analyses of all data related to the particular trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our

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analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the interim, topline, or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same trials, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, topline data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. We may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse differences between interim, topline, or preliminary data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects.

Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our business in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine is the material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular drug, product candidate or our business. If the interim, topline, or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for and commercialize our product candidates, our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition may be harmed.

Certain of the endpoints in our planned clinical trials rely on a subjective assessment of the effect of the product candidate in the subject by either the physician or patient, and may prove difficult to meet in patients with more severe disease, which exposes us to a variety of risks for the successful completion of our clinical trials.

Certain of our primary and secondary endpoints in our clinical trials, including our planned Phase 3 clinical trial of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis, involve subjective assessments by physician and patients, which can increase the uncertainty of clinical trial outcomes. For example, one of the secondary endpoints requires patients to report pruritus (itching) as measured by the Worst Itch – Numeric Rating Scale and complete or deliver patient or caregiver reported outcomes over the course of our clinical trials. This and other assessments are inherently subjective, which can increase the variability of clinical results across clinical trials and create a significant degree of uncertainty in determining overall clinical benefit. Such assessments can be influenced by factors outside of our control, and can vary widely from day-to-day for a particular patient, and from patient-to-patient and site-to-site within a clinical trial. In addition, frequent reporting requirements may lead to rating fatigue and a loss of accuracy and reliability of the data resulting from our clinical trials. Further, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may not accept such patient or caregiver reported outcomes as sufficiently validated. Accordingly, these subjective assessments can complicate clinical trial design, adversely impact the ability of a study to show a statistically significant improvement and generally adversely impact a clinical development program by introducing additional uncertainties.

Patient reported outcome instruments, their use in our Phase 3 clinical trial of ARQ-151 and the inclusion of such data in the product labeling will depend on, but is not limited to, the FDA’s review of the following:

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the relevance and importance of the concept(s) of interest to the target patient population;

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the strengths and limitations of the instrument within the given context of use;

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the design and conduct of the trials;

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the adequacy of the submitted data, for example, rigorous data collection and methods to handle missing data; and

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the magnitude of the statistically significant treatment effect should be meaningful to patients.

Further, different results may be achieved depending upon the characteristics of the population enrolled in our studies and which analysis population is used to analyze results. For example, the primary endpoint in our Phase 3 clinical trials of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis is based on the percentage of patients achieving a score of “clear” or “almost clear” plus at least a 2-grade improvement from baseline on the 5 point Investigator’s Global Assessment (or IGA) scale, referred to as “IGA Success”. Success in our Phase 3 clinical trials, or other clinical trials with these or similar endpoints, requires the enrollment of patients with conditions that are severe enough to facilitate a two-grade improvement in the IGA scale, but not so severe that they cannot achieve a “clear” or “almost clear” in IGA score in light of the severity of their disease. It is therefore possible that we enroll patients with conditions so severe that they do not or are unable to realize an IGA of 0 (clear) or 1 (almost clear) during the period covered by the clinical trial. As a result, there is no guarantee that our Phase 3 clinical trials, if commenced, will produce the same statistically significant results in “IGA Success”, which will serve as the primary endpoint, as our Phase 2b clinical trial, and there can be no guarantee that the characteristics of the population enrolled in our Phase 3 clinical trials does not adversely impact the results reported for such trial, any of which could have an adverse effect on our ability to secure regulatory approval for our product candidates.

Enrollment and retention of subjects in clinical trials is expensive and time consuming and may result in additional costs and delays in our product development activities, or in the failure of such activities.

We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for ARQ-151 or our other product candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. In addition, some of our competitors are currently conducting clinical trials for product candidates that treat the same indications as ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255, and patients who are otherwise eligible for our clinical trials may instead enroll in clinical trials of our competitors’ product candidates.

Patient enrollment is affected by other factors including:

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the severity of the disease under investigation;

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the selection of the patient population required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;

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the eligibility criteria for the study in question;

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the frequency and extent of clinical trial site visits and study assessments;

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the perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under study;

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the efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials;

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the patient referral practices of physicians;

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the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment; and

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the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients.

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Furthermore, any negative results that we may report in preclinical studies or clinical trials of our product candidates may make it difficult or impossible to recruit and retain subjects in other clinical trials of that same or any similar product candidate. Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials would result in significant delays, could require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether and could delay or prevent our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals. Enrollment delays in our clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates, which would cause the value of our company to decline and impede our ability to obtain additional financing.

Serious adverse or unacceptable side effects may be identified during the development of our product candidates, which could prevent or delay regulatory approval and commercialization, increase our costs or necessitate the abandonment or limitation of the development of some of our product candidates.

As we continue our development of our product candidates and initiate additional preclinical studies or clinical trials of these or future product candidates, if any, serious adverse events, unacceptable levels of toxicity, undesirable side effects or unexpected characteristics may emerge, causing us to abandon these product candidates or limit their development to more narrow uses, lower potency levels or subpopulations in which the serious adverse events, unacceptable levels of toxicity, undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk/benefit perspective.

If our product candidates are associated with adverse effects in clinical trials or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may need to abandon their development, institute burdensome monitoring programs, or limit development to more narrow uses or lower or less frequent dosing in which the side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. The FDA or an institutional review board, or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, may also require that we suspend, discontinue, or limit our clinical trials based on safety information. Such findings could further result in regulatory authorities failing to provide marketing authorization for our product candidates. Many product candidates that initially showed promise in early stage testing have later been found to cause side effects that prevented further development of the product candidate.

Additionally, if one or more of our product candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others identify undesirable side effects caused by such products, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

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regulatory authorities may withdraw approvals of such product;

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regulatory authorities may require additional warnings on the labels;

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we may be required to create a medication guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;

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we may be required to implement a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS;

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we may be required to conduct Phase 4 clinical trials as postmarketing requirements, or PMRs;

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we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients; and

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our reputation and physician or patient acceptance of our products may suffer.

Any of these events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular product candidate, if approved, and could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

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As a company, we have never completed a Phase 3 program or obtained marketing approval for any product candidate and we may be unable to successfully do so in a timely manner, if at all, for any of our product candidates.

Conducting a Phase 3 clinical trial and preparing, and obtaining marketing approval for, a product candidate is a complicated process. Although members of our management team have participated in pivotal trials and obtained marketing approvals for product candidates in the past while employed at other companies, we as a company have not done so. As a result, these activities may require more time and cost more than we anticipate, and we may be unable to successfully complete them for any of our product candidates.

To date, we have completed two Phase 2 studies of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis and intend to initiate a Phase 3 program, which will include two registrational Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis. We also anticipate commencing more advanced clinical trials of ARQ-151 in the treatment of atopic dermatitis after the completion of our ongoing Phase 2a clinical trial in atopic dermatitis. Failure to successfully complete, or delays in, our pivotal trials or related regulatory submissions would prevent us from or delay us in obtaining regulatory approval for our product candidates. In addition, it is possible that the FDA may refuse to accept for substantive review any NDAs that we submit for our product candidates or may conclude after review of our applications that they are insufficient to obtain marketing approval of our product candidates. If the FDA does not accept our applications or issue marketing authorizations for our product candidates, it may require that we conduct additional clinical, preclinical or manufacturing validation studies and submit that data before it will reconsider our applications. Depending on the extent of these or any other FDA-required studies, approval of any NDA for any other applications that we submit may be delayed by several years, or may require us to expend more resources than we have available. It is also possible that additional studies, if performed and completed, may not be considered sufficient by the FDA to approve our NDAs. Additionally, similar risks could apply to receipt of marketing authorizations by comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions.

Any delay in obtaining, or an inability to obtain, marketing approvals would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates, generating revenues and achieving and sustaining profitability. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for our product candidates, which could significantly harm our business.

Even if our lead product candidate or our other product candidates receive marketing approval, they may fail to achieve market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors or others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

Even if our lead product candidate or our other product candidates receive marketing approval, they may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, third-party payors and others in the medical community. If our product candidates do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate adequate product revenue or become profitable. The degree of market acceptance of a product candidate, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

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the safety, efficacy, risk-benefit profile and potential advantages compared to alternative or existing treatments, such as steroids topical treatments, oral treatments, and biologic injections for the treatment of psoriasis, which physicians may perceive to be adequately effective for some or all patients;

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side effects that may be attributable to our product candidates and the difficulty of or costs associated with resolving such side effects;

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limitations or warnings contained in the labeling approved for our product candidates by FDA or other applicable foreign regulatory authorities;

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any restrictions on the use of our products, and the prevalence and severity of any side effects;

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the content of the approved product label;

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the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts;

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the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments, including any similar generic treatments and over-the-counter, or OTC treatments;

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our ability to offer our products for sale at competitive prices;

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the convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;

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the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies over existing therapies;

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the strength of marketing and distribution support;

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the availability of third-party coverage and adequate reimbursement at any given price level of each of our product candidates;

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utilization controls imposed by third-party payors, such as prior authorizations and step edits; and

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any restrictions on the use of any of our product candidates.

We cannot assure you that our current or future product candidates, if approved, will achieve market acceptance among physicians, patients, third-party payors or others in the medical community necessary for commercial success. Any failure by our product candidates that obtain regulatory approval to achieve market acceptance or commercial success would harm our results of operations.

We may choose not to continue developing or commercializing any of our product candidates at any time during development or after approval, which would reduce or eliminate our potential return on investment for those product candidates.

At any time, we may decide to discontinue the development or commercialization of any of our products or product candidates for a variety of reasons, including the appearance of new technologies that render our product obsolete, competition from a competing product or changes in or inability to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. If we terminate a program in which we have invested significant resources, we will not receive any return on our investment and we will have missed the opportunity to allocate those resources to potentially more productive uses.

If we are unable to achieve and maintain coverage and adequate levels of reimbursement for any of our product candidates for which we receive regulatory approval, or any future products we may seek to commercialize, their commercial success may be severely hindered.

As to any of our product candidates that become available by prescription only, our success will depend on the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement for our product from third-party payors. Patients who are prescribed medicine for the treatment of their conditions generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their prescription drugs. The availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement from governmental healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and private third-party payors is critical to new product acceptance. Coverage decisions may depend upon clinical and economic standards that disfavor new drug products when more established or lower cost therapeutic alternatives are already available or subsequently become available. If any of our product candidates fail to demonstrate attractive efficacy profiles, they may not qualify for coverage and reimbursement. Even if we obtain coverage for a given product, the resulting reimbursement payment rates might not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. Patients are unlikely to use our prescription-only products unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost of our products.

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In addition, the market for certain of our product candidates will depend significantly on access to third-party payors’ drug formularies, or lists of medications for which third-party payors provide coverage and reimbursement. The industry competition to be included in such formularies often leads to downward pricing pressures on pharmaceutical companies.

Further, third-party payors, whether foreign or domestic, or governmental or commercial, are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of controlling healthcare costs. In addition, in the United States, although private third-party payors tend to follow Medicare, no uniform policy of coverage and reimbursement for drug products exists among third-party payors. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for drug products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our product candidates to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be obtained.

Further, we believe that future coverage and reimbursement will likely be subject to increased restrictions in both the United States and in international markets. Third-party coverage and reimbursement for any of our product candidates for which we may receive regulatory approval may not be available or adequate in either the United States or international markets, which could harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

We currently have no sales, marketing or distribution capabilities and have no experience as a company in commercializing products.

To achieve commercial success for any product for which we obtain marketing approval, we will need a sales and marketing organization. We do not currently have any infrastructure for the sales, marketing, or distribution of any product, and the cost of establishing and maintaining such an organization may exceed the cost-effectiveness of doing so. In order to market any product that may be approved, we must build our sales, distribution, marketing, managerial and other nontechnical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services.

We currently expect to build a dermatologist-focused sales, distribution and marketing infrastructure to market our product candidates in North America, if approved. There are significant expenses and risks involved with establishing our own sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, including our ability to hire, retain and appropriately incentivize qualified individuals, provide adequate training to sales and marketing personnel, and effectively manage geographically dispersed sales and marketing teams to generate sufficient demand. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities could delay any product launch, which would adversely impact its commercialization. If the commercial launch of any of our product candidates, if approved, for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.

If we are unable to establish adequate sales, marketing, and distribution capabilities, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing any of our product candidates and may not become profitable. We will be competing with many companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations. Without an internal team or the support of a third party to perform marketing and sales functions, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.

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If we seek to market any products in our pipeline in countries other than the United States, we will need to comply with the regulations of each country in which we seek to market our products.

None of our product candidates are currently approved for sale by any government authority in any jurisdiction. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in any market we decide to enter, or to obtain and maintain required approvals, or if regulatory approvals in the relevant markets are delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our product candidates will be harmed. Marketing approval in one jurisdiction, including the United States, does not ensure marketing approval in another, but a failure or delay in obtaining marketing approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory process in others. Failure to obtain a marketing approval in countries in which we seek to market our products or any delay or setback in obtaining such approval would impair our ability to develop foreign markets for any of our products.

Our license agreements obligate us to make certain milestone payments, some of which will be triggered prior to our commercialization of any of our product candidates.

Certain of the milestone payments payable by us to AstraZeneca and Hengrui, are due upon events that will occur prior to our planned commercialization of the applicable product candidates. Accordingly, we will be required to make such payments prior to the time at which we are able to generate revenue, if any, from sales of any of our product candidates, if approved.

For example, upon regulatory approval from the FDA to commercialize ARQ-151 in the United States, but prior to commencement of commercialization or sales of ARQ-151, we will be required to make certain milestone payments to AstraZeneca. We have agreed to make cash payments to AstraZeneca of up to an aggregate of $14.5 million upon the achievement of specified clinical development and regulatory approval milestones with respect to products containing roflumilast in topical forms, as well as delivery systems sold with or for the administration of roflumilast, or collectively, AZ-Licensed Products, and payments up to an additional aggregate amount of $15.0 million upon the achievement of certain aggregate worldwide net sales milestones. With respect to any AZ-Licensed Products we commercialize under the agreement, we will pay AstraZeneca a low to high single-digit percentage royalty rate on our, our affiliates’ and our sublicensees’ net sales of such AZ-Licensed Products, until, as determined on an AZ-Licensed Product-by-AZ-Licensed Product and country-by-country basis, the later of the date of the expiration of the last-to-expire AstraZeneca-licensed patent right containing a valid claim in such country and ten years from the first commercial sale of such AZ-Licensed Product in such country.

If we exercise our exclusive option, we will pay Hengrui an additional $1.5 million option exercise cash payment. In addition, if exercised, we have agreed to make cash payments of up to an aggregate of $20.5 million upon our achievement of specified clinical development and regulatory approval milestones with respect to the licensed products and cash payments of up to an additional $200.0 million in sales-based milestones based on achieving certain aggregate annual net sales volumes with respect to a licensed product. With respect to any products we commercialize under the agreement, we will pay tiered royalties to Hengrui on net sales of each licensed product by us, or our affiliates, or our sublicensees, ranging from mid single-digit to sub-teen percentage rates based on tiered annual net sales bands subject to specified reductions. We are obligated to pay royalties until the later of (1) the expiration of the last valid claim of the licensed patent rights covering such licensed product in such country and (2) the expiration of regulatory exclusivity for the relevant licensed product in the relevant country, on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis. Additionally, we are obligated to pay Hengrui a specified percentage, ranging from the low-thirties to the sub-teens, of certain non-royalty sublicensing income we receive from sublicensees of our rights to the licensed products, such percentage decreasing as the development stage of the licensed products advance.

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There can be no assurance that we will have the funds necessary to make such payments, or be able to raise such funds when needed, on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Furthermore, if we are forced to raise additional funds, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts, or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise develop and market ourselves. If we are unable to raise additional funds or maintain sufficient liquidity to make our payment obligations if and when they become due, including payment obligations under the license agreement with AstraZeneca and, if we exercise our option thereunder, under the option and license agreement with Hengrui, we may be in material breach of our agreements and our counterparties may seek legal action or remedies against us (including by seeking to terminate the relevant agreements), which would harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

The markets for dermatological therapies are competitive and are characterized by significant technological development and new product introduction. For example, there are several large and small pharmaceutical companies focused on delivering therapeutics for our targeted inflammatory and medical dermatological indications. We anticipate that, if we obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates, we will face significant competition from other approved therapies or drugs that become available in the future for the treatment of our target indications. If approved, our product candidates may also compete with unregulated, unapproved and off-label treatments. Even if another branded or generic product or OTC product is less effective than our product candidates, a less effective branded, generic or OTC product may be more quickly adopted by physicians and patients than our competing product candidates based upon cost or convenience.

Certain of our product candidates, if approved, will have to compete with existing therapies, some of which are widely known and accepted by physicians and patients. To compete successfully in this market, we will have to demonstrate that the relative cost, safety and efficacy of our approved products, if any, provide an attractive alternative to existing and other new therapies to gain a share of some patients’ discretionary budgets and for physicians’ attention within their clinical practices. Some of the companies that offer competing products also have a broad range of other product offerings, large direct sales forces and long-term customer relationships with our target physicians, which could inhibit our market penetration efforts. Such competition could lead to reduced market share for our product candidates and contribute to downward pressure on the pricing of our product candidates, which could harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.

We are aware of several companies that are working to develop drugs that would compete against our product candidates for the treatment of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, hand eczema, vitiligo and alopecia areata.

For psoriasis, our primary competitors include injected biologic therapies such as Humira, marketed by AbbVie Inc. and Eisai Co., Ltd., and Enbrel, marketed by Amgen Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; non-injectable systemic therapies used to treat plaque psoriasis such as Otezla, marketed by Celgene Corporation; topical therapies such as branded and generic versions of clobetasol, such as Clobex, marketed by Galderma Laboratories, LP; and other treatments including various lasers and ultraviolet light-based therapies. In addition, there are several prescription product candidates under development that could potentially be used to treat psoriasis and compete with ARQ-151, including tapinarof, under development by Dermavant Sciences, Inc., and SNA-120, under development by Sienna Biosciences, Inc.

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For atopic dermatitis, our primary competitors include topical therapies such as Eucrisa, marketed by Pfizer Inc., and generic and branded versions of low to mid-potency steroids such as hydrocortisone and betamethasone; and the injected biologic therapy Dupixent, marketed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In addition, there are several prescription product candidates under development that could potentially be used to treat atopic dermatitis and compete with ARQ-151, including but not limited to: topical tapinarof and topical cerdulatinib, both under development by Dermavant Sciences, Inc., topical ruxolitinib, under development by Incyte Corporation, topical delgocitinib, under development by LEO Pharma A/S and Japan Tobacco, Inc., oral PF-04965842, under development by Pfizer Inc., oral upatacitinib, under development by AbbVie, Inc. and injectable lebrikizumab, under development by Dermira, Inc.

For hand eczema, our primary competitors include topical therapies such as branded and generic versions of clobetasol, such as Clobex, and generic versions of betamethasone dipropionate. The only other prescription product candidate we are aware of under development for the treatment of hand eczema that would compete with ARQ-252 is delgocitinib.

For vitiligo, our primary competitors include topical therapies such as generic and branded versions of calcineurin inhibitors, including Elidel, marketed by Bausch Health; branded and generic versions of high potency steroids, including Clobex, marketed by Galderma Laboratories, LP; and other treatments including various lasers and ultraviolet light-based therapies. In addition, there are several prescription product candidates under development that could potentially be used to treat vitiligo and compete with ARQ-252, including but not limited to: topical cerdulatinib, under development by Dermavant Sciences, Inc., topical ruxolitinib, under development by Incyte Corporation, and both PF-06651600 and PF06700841, under development by Pfizer Inc.

For alopecia areata, our primary competitors include topical therapies such as branded and generic versions of high potency steroids, including Clobex, marketed by Galderma Laboratories, LP; intralesional corticosteroid injections such as branded and generic versions of triamcinolone, including Kenalog, marketed by Bristol-Myers Squib; and systemic immunosuppressants including generic versions of systemic steroids such as prednisone, branded and generic versions of cyclosporine, including Sandimmune, marketed by Sandoz, and branded systemic JAK inhibitors, including Xeljanz, marketed by Pfizer, Inc. In addition, there are several prescription product candidates under development that could potentially be used to treat alopecia areata and compete with ARQ-255, including but not limited to: PF-06651600, under development by Pfizer, Inc., CTP-543, under development by Concert Pharmaceuticals, and baricitinib, under development by Eli Lilly and Company.

Many of our existing or potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than we do and significantly greater experience in the discovery and development of product candidates, as well as in obtaining regulatory approvals of those product candidates in the United States and in foreign countries. Many of our current and potential future competitors also have significantly more experience commercializing drugs that have been approved for marketing. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries could result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Competition may reduce the number and types of patients available to us to participate in clinical trials, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors.

Due to less stringent regulatory requirements in certain foreign countries, there are many more dermatological products and procedures available for use in those international markets than are approved for use in the United States. In certain international markets, there are also fewer limitations on the claims that our competitors can make about the effectiveness of their products and the manner

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in which they can market their products. As a result, we expect to face more competition in these markets than in the United States.

Our ability to compete successfully will depend largely on our ability to:

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develop and commercialize therapies that are superior to other products in the market;

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demonstrate through our clinical trials that our product candidates are differentiated from existing and future therapies;

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attract qualified scientific, product development and commercial personnel;

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obtain patent or other proprietary protection for our technologies and product;

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obtain required regulatory approvals, including approvals to market our product candidates in ways that are differentiated from existing and future therapies and OTC products and treatments;

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successfully commercialize our product candidates, if approved;

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obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement from, and negotiate competitive pricing with, third-party payors; and

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successfully collaborate with pharmaceutical companies in the discovery, development and commercialization of new therapies.

The availability of our competitors’ products could limit the demand and the price we are able to charge for any product candidate we develop. The inability to compete with existing or subsequently introduced drugs or OTC treatments would have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

We will need to increase the size of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in executing our growth strategy and managing any growth.

As of October 10, 2019, we had 23 full-time employees. We will need to continue to expand our managerial, operational, finance and other resources in order to manage our operations and clinical trials, continue our development activities and commercialize our lead product candidates or any future product candidates.

Our management and personnel, systems and facilities currently in place are not adequate to support our future growth. In order to effectively execute our growth strategy, we will need to identify, recruit, retain, incentivize and integrate additional employees in order to expand our ability to:

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manage our clinical trials effectively;

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manage our internal development and operational efforts effectively while carrying out our contractual obligations to third parties;

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continue to improve our operational, financial, management and regulatory compliance controls and reporting systems and procedures;

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develop a marketing, sales and distribution capability;

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manage our commercialization activities for our product candidates effectively and in a cost-effective manner;

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establish and maintain relationships with development and commercialization partners; and

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manage our third-party supply and manufacturing operations effectively and in a cost-effective manner, while increasing production capabilities for our current product candidates to commercial levels.

If we are unable to successfully identify, recruit, retain, incentivize and integrate additional employees and otherwise expand our managerial, operational, finance and other resources, our business and operational performance will be materially and adversely affected.

If we are not successful in acquiring, developing, and commercializing additional product candidates, our ability to expand our business and achieve our strategic objectives would be impaired.

Although a substantial amount of our effort will focus on the continued preclinical and clinical testing and potential approval of our current product candidates, a key element of our strategy is to acquire, develop and commercialize a diverse portfolio of product candidates to serve the dermatology market. We do not currently intend to conduct drug discovery or research and development efforts to discover new product candidates, but rather we intend to acquire or in-license rights to existing molecules to develop for dermatological indications. In addition, while we believe that our strategy allows us to move more rapidly through clinical development and at a potentially lower cost, we may be unable to progress product candidates more quickly or at a lower cost.

Research programs to identify product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources, whether or not any product candidates are ultimately identified. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development for many reasons, including the following:

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the research methodology or technology platform used may not be successful in identifying potential product candidates;

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competitors may develop alternatives that render our product candidates obsolete or less attractive;

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product candidates we develop may nevertheless be covered by patents or other proprietary rights controlled by third parties;

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a product candidate may be shown to have harmful side effects or other characteristics that indicate it is unlikely to be effective or otherwise does not meet applicable regulatory criteria;

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a product candidate may not be capable of being produced in commercial quantities at an acceptable cost, or at all; and;

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a product candidate may not be accepted as safe and effective by patients, the medical community or third-party payors, if applicable.

In the event we seek to identify and acquire or in-license additional product candidates in the dermatology field, our process for doing so may be slow and may ultimately be unsuccessful for a number of reasons, including those discussed in these risk factors and also:

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potential product candidates may, upon further study, be shown to have harmful side effects or other characteristics that indicate that they are unlikely to be products that will receive marketing approval and achieve market acceptance;

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potential product candidates may not be effective in treating their targeted diseases; or

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the acquisition or in-licensing transactions can entail numerous operational and functional risks, including exposure to unknown liabilities, disruption of our business, or incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of equity securities to pay transaction consideration or costs, or higher than expected acquisition or integration costs.

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We may choose to focus our efforts and resources on an in-licensing or acquiring a potential product candidate that ultimately proves to be unsuccessful. We also cannot be certain that, following an acquisition or in-licensing transaction, we will achieve the revenue or specific net income that justifies such transaction. If we are unable to identify and acquire suitable product candidates for clinical development, this would adversely impact our business strategy, our financial position and share price.

Any collaboration arrangements that we may enter into in the future may not be successful, which could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize future product candidates.

We may seek collaboration arrangements for the commercialization, or potentially for the development, of certain of our product candidates depending on the merits of retaining commercialization rights for ourselves as compared to entering into collaboration arrangements. We will face, to the extent that we decide to enter into collaboration agreements, significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Moreover, collaboration arrangements are complex and time-consuming to negotiate, document, implement and maintain. We may not be successful in our efforts to establish and implement collaborations or other alternative arrangements should we so chose to enter into such arrangements. The terms of any collaborations or other arrangements that we may establish may not be favorable to us. Any future collaborations that we enter into may not be successful. The success of our collaboration arrangements will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our collaborators. Collaborations are subject to numerous risks, which may include risks that:

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collaborators have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to collaborations;

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collaborators may not pursue development and commercialization of our product candidates or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on clinical trial results, changes in their strategic focus due to their acquisition of competitive products or their internal development of competitive products, availability of funding or other external factors, such as a business combination that diverts resources or creates competing priorities;

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collaborators may delay clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a clinical trial program, stop a clinical trial, abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical trials or require a new formulation of a product candidate for clinical testing;

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collaborators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our products or product candidates;

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a collaborator with marketing, manufacturing and distribution rights to one or more products may not commit sufficient resources to or otherwise not perform satisfactorily in carrying out these activities;

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we could grant exclusive rights to our collaborators that would prevent us from collaborating with others;

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collaborators may not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our intellectual property or proprietary information in a way that gives rise to actual or threatened litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential liability;

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disputes may arise between us and a collaborator that causes the delay or termination of the research, development or commercialization of our current or future product candidates or that results in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management attention and resources;

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collaborations may be terminated, and, if terminated, this may result in a need for additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable current or future product candidates;

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collaborators may own or co-own intellectual property covering products that results from our collaborating with them, and in such cases, we would not have the exclusive right to develop or commercialize such intellectual property;

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disputes may arise with respect to the ownership of any intellectual property developed pursuant to our collaborations; and

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a collaborator’s sales and marketing activities or other operations may not be in compliance with applicable laws resulting in civil or criminal proceedings.

Furthermore, we cannot assure you that following any such collaboration, or other strategic transaction, we will achieve the expected synergies to justify the transaction. For example, such transactions may require us to incur non-recurring or other charges, increase our near- and long-term expenditures and pose significant integration or implementation challenges or disrupt our management or business. These transactions would entail numerous operational and financial risks, including exposure to unknown liabilities, disruption of our business and diversion of our management’s time and attention in order to manage a collaboration or develop acquired products, product candidates or technologies, incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of equity securities to pay transaction consideration or costs, higher than expected collaboration, acquisition or integration costs, write-downs of assets or goodwill or impairment charges, increased amortization expenses, difficulty and cost in facilitating the collaboration or combining the operations and personnel of any acquired business, impairment of relationships with key suppliers, manufacturers or customers of any acquired business due to changes in management and ownership and the inability to retain key employees of any acquired business.

If we fail to attract and retain management and other key personnel, we may be unable to continue to successfully develop our current and any future product candidates, commercialize our product candidates or otherwise implement our business plan.

Our ability to compete in the highly competitive pharmaceuticals industry depends upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified managerial, scientific, medical, sales and marketing and other personnel. We are highly dependent on our management and scientific personnel, including our Chief Executive Officer, Todd Franklin Watanabe and our Chief Technical Officer, David W. Osborne, Ph.D. The loss of the services of any of these individuals could impede, delay or prevent the successful development of our product pipeline, completion of our planned clinical trials, commercialization of our products or in-licensing or acquisition of new assets and could negatively impact our ability to successfully implement our business plan. If we lose the services of any of these individuals, we might not be able to find suitable replacements on a timely basis or at all, and our business could be harmed as a result. We do not maintain “key man” insurance policies on the lives of these individuals or the lives of any of our other employees.

We employ all of our executive officers and key personnel on an at-will basis and their employment can be terminated by us or them at any time, for any reason and without notice. In order to retain valuable employees at our company, in addition to salary and cash incentives, we provide stock options that vest over time. The value to employees of stock options that vest over time will be significantly affected by movements in our stock price that are beyond our control, and may at any time be insufficient to counteract offers from other companies.

We might not be able to attract or retain qualified management and other key personnel in the future due to the intense competition for qualified personnel among biotechnology, pharmaceutical and

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other businesses, particularly in the Northern Los Angeles Area where we are headquartered. We could have difficulty attracting experienced personnel to our company and may be required to expend significant financial resources in our employee recruitment and retention efforts. Many of the other pharmaceutical companies with whom we compete for qualified personnel have greater financial and other resources, different risk profiles and longer histories in the industry than we do. They also may provide more diverse opportunities and better chances for career advancement. If we are not able to attract and retain the necessary personnel to accomplish our business objectives, we may experience constraints that will harm our ability to implement our business strategy and achieve our business objectives.

In addition, we have scientific and clinical advisors who assist us in formulating our development and clinical strategies. These advisors are not our employees and may have commitments to, or consulting or advisory contracts with, other entities that may limit their availability to us. In addition, our advisors may have arrangements with other companies to assist those companies in developing products or technologies that may compete with ours.

If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our current or future product candidates.

We face an inherent risk of product liability as a result of the clinical testing of our product candidates and will face an even greater risk if we commercialize any products. For example, we may be sued if any product we develop allegedly causes injury or is found to be otherwise unsuitable during product testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability, and a breach of warranty. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

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decreased demand for our current or future product candidates;

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injury to our reputation;

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withdrawal of clinical trial participants;

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costs to defend the related litigation;

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a diversion of management’s time and our resources;

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substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;

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regulatory investigations, product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions;

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loss of revenue; and

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the inability to commercialize our current or any future product candidates.

Our inability to obtain and maintain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost and scope of coverage to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of our current or any future product candidates we develop. Although we currently carry product liability insurance covering our clinical trials, any claim that may be brought against us could result in a court judgment or settlement in an amount that is not covered, in whole or in part, by our insurance or that is in excess of the limits of our insurance coverage. Our insurance policies also have various exclusions and deductibles, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which

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we have no coverage. We will have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to pay such amounts. Moreover, in the future, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses. If and when we obtain approval for marketing any of our product candidates, we intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of such product candidate; however, we may be unable to obtain this liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

We will incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives. We may fail to comply with the rules that apply to public companies, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which could result in sanctions or other penalties that would harm our business.

We will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses as a public company, including costs resulting from public company reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and regulations regarding corporate governance practices. The listing requirements of the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, require that we satisfy certain corporate governance requirements relating to director independence, filing annual and interim reports, stockholder meetings, approvals and voting, soliciting proxies, conflicts of interest and a code of conduct. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with all of these requirements. Moreover, the reporting requirements, rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. Any changes we make to comply with these obligations may not be sufficient to allow us to satisfy our obligations as a public company on a timely basis, or at all. These reporting requirements, rules and regulations, coupled with the increase in potential litigation exposure associated with being a public company, could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or board committees or to serve as executive officers, or to obtain certain types of insurance, including directors’ and officers’ insurance, on acceptable terms.

After this offering, we will be subject to Section 404 of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, and the related rules of the SEC, which generally require our management and independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Beginning with the second annual report that we will be required to file with the SEC, Section 404 requires an annual management assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. However, for so long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404. Once we are no longer an emerging growth company or, if prior to such date, we opt to no longer take advantage of the applicable exemption, we will be required to include an opinion from our independent registered public accounting firm on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. We will remain an emerging growth company until the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering. However, if certain events occur prior to the end of such five-year period, including if we become a “large accelerated filer,” our annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion or we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in any three-year period, we will cease to be an emerging growth company prior to the end of such five-year period.

In addition, we expect that we will need to implement an enterprise resource planning, or ERP, system for our company. An ERP system is intended to combine and streamline the management of our financial, accounting, human resources, sales and marketing and other functions, enabling us to manage operations and track performance more effectively. However, an ERP system would likely

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require us to complete many processes and procedures for the effective use of the system or to run our business using the system, which may result in substantial costs. Additionally, during the conversion process, we may be limited in our ability to convert any business that we acquire to the ERP. Any disruptions or difficulties in implementing or using an ERP system could adversely affect our controls and harm our business, including our ability to forecast or make sales and collect our receivables. Moreover, such disruption or difficulties could result in unanticipated costs and diversion of management attention.

To date, we have never conducted a review of our internal control for the purpose of providing the reports required by these rules. During the course of our review and testing, we may identify deficiencies and be unable to remediate them before we must provide the required reports. Furthermore, if we have a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting, we may not detect errors on a timely basis and our financial statements may be materially misstated. We or our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, which could harm our operating results, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and cause the trading price of our stock to fall. In addition, as a public company we will be required to file accurate and timely quarterly and annual reports with the SEC under the Exchange Act. Any failure to report our financial results on an accurate and timely basis could result in sanctions, lawsuits, delisting of our shares from the Nasdaq Global Select Market or other adverse consequences that would materially harm to our business.

Unfavorable global economic or political conditions could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the global economy and in the global financial markets. A global financial crisis or a global or regional political disruption could cause extreme volatility in the capital and credit markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn or political disruption could result in a variety of risks to our business, including weakened demand for our lead product candidates or any future product candidates, if approved, and our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy or political disruption could also strain our manufacturers or suppliers, possibly resulting in supply disruption, or cause our customers to delay making payments for our services. Any of the foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the political or economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business.

We or the third parties upon whom we depend may be adversely affected by earthquakes or other natural disasters and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.

Our corporate headquarters and other facilities are located in the Northern Los Angeles Area, which in the past has experienced both severe earthquakes and wildfires. We do not carry earthquake insurance. Earthquakes, wildfires or other natural disasters could severely disrupt our operations, and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

If a natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that prevented us from using all or a significant portion of our headquarters, that damaged critical infrastructure, or that otherwise disrupted operations, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible, for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery and business continuity plans we have in place currently are limited and are unlikely to prove adequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and

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business continuity plans, which, particularly when taken together with our lack of earthquake insurance, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Furthermore, our third-party manufacturers or suppliers are similarly vulnerable to natural disasters or other sudden, unforeseen and severe adverse events. If such an event were to affect our supply chain, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We depend on our information technology systems, and any failure of these systems, or those of our CROs or other contractors or consultants we may utilize, could harm our business. Security breaches, cyber-attacks, loss of data, and other disruptions could compromise sensitive information related to our business or prevent us from accessing critical information and expose us to liability, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We collect and maintain information in digital form that is necessary to conduct our business, and we are increasingly dependent on information technology systems and infrastructure to operate our business. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, store and transmit large amounts of confidential information, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information. It is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. We have established physical, electronic, and organizational measures to safeguard and secure our systems to prevent a data compromise, and rely on commercially available systems, software, tools, and monitoring to provide security for our information technology systems and the processing, transmission and storage of digital information. We have also outsourced elements of our information technology infrastructure, and as a result a number of third-party vendors may or could have access to our confidential information. Our internal information technology systems and infrastructure, and those of our current and any future collaborators, contractors and consultants and other third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, malware, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the Internet, attachments to emails, persons inside our organization, or persons with access to systems inside our organization.

The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. In addition, the prevalent use of mobile devices that access confidential information increases the risk of data security breaches, which could lead to the loss of confidential information or other intellectual property. The costs to us to mitigate network security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software programs and security vulnerabilities could be significant, and while we have implemented security measures to protect our data security and information technology systems, our efforts to address these problems may not be successful, and these problems could result in unexpected interruptions, delays, cessation of service and other harm to our business and our competitive position. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our product development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Moreover, if a computer security breach affects our systems or results in the unauthorized release of personally identifiable information, our reputation could be materially damaged. In addition, such a breach may require notification to governmental agencies, the media or individuals pursuant to various federal and state privacy and security laws, if applicable, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Clinical Health Act of 2009, and its implementing rules and regulations, as well as regulations promulgated by the Federal Trade Commission and state breach notification laws. We would also be exposed to a risk of loss or

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litigation and potential liability, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our future commercial partners, as well as our employees and independent contractors, including principal investigators, consultants, suppliers, service providers and other vendors may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are exposed to the risk that our future commercial partners, as well as our employees and independent contractors, including principal investigators, consultants, suppliers, service providers and other vendors may engage in misconduct or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or other unauthorized activities that violate the laws and regulations of the FDA and other similar foreign regulatory authorities, including those laws that require the reporting of true, complete and accurate information to such foreign regulatory authorities; manufacturing standards; U.S. federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse, data privacy laws and other similar non-U.S. laws; or laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, the creation of fraudulent data in our preclinical studies or clinical trials, or illegal misappropriation of product, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct by employees and other third-parties, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. In addition, we are subject to the risk that a person or government could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business and financial results, including, without limitation, the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgements, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other U.S. healthcare programs, individual imprisonment, other sanctions, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and curtailment of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

Our business involves the use of hazardous materials and we and our third-party manufacturers and suppliers must comply with environmental laws and regulations, which can be expensive and restrict how we do business.

Our research and development activities and our third-party manufacturers’ and suppliers’ activities involve the controlled storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials owned by us, including the components of our product and product candidates and other hazardous compounds. We and our manufacturers and suppliers are subject to laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials. In some cases, these hazardous materials and various wastes resulting from their use are stored at our and our manufacturers’ facilities pending their use and disposal. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination, which could cause an interruption of our commercialization efforts, research and development efforts and business operations, environmental damage resulting in costly clean-up and liabilities under applicable laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. Although we believe that the safety procedures utilized by our third-party manufacturers for handling and disposing of these materials generally comply with the standards prescribed by these laws and regulations, we cannot guarantee that this is the case or eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials. In such an event, we may be held liable

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for any resulting damages and such liability could exceed our resources and state or federal or other applicable authorities may curtail our use of certain materials and/or interrupt our business operations. Furthermore, environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent. We cannot predict the impact of such changes and cannot be certain of our future compliance. We do not currently carry biological or hazardous waste insurance coverage.

Risks Related to Our Reliance on Third Parties

We currently rely on single source third-party manufacturers to manufacture preclinical and clinical supplies of our product candidates and we intend to rely on third parties to produce commercial supplies of any approved product candidate. The loss of these manufacturers, or their failure to provide us with sufficient quantities at acceptable quality levels or prices, or at all, would materially and adversely affect our business.

We do not currently have nor do we plan to build or acquire the infrastructure or capability internally to manufacture supplies of our product candidates or the materials necessary to produce our product candidates for use in the conduct of our preclinical studies or clinical trials, and we lack the internal resources and the capability to manufacture any of our product candidates on a preclinical, clinical or commercial scale. Instead, we currently rely on single source third-party manufacturers to manufacture preclinical and clinical supplies of our product candidates and we intend to rely on third parties to produce commercial supplies of any approved product candidate.

We and the manufacturers of our products rely on suppliers of raw materials used in the production of our products. Some of these materials are available from only one source. Additionally, we have not yet engaged any manufacturer for the commercial supply of our product candidates. Although we intend to enter into such agreements prior to commercial launch of any of our product candidates, we may be unable to enter into any such agreement or do so on commercially reasonable terms, which could have a material adverse impact upon our business. Moreover, if there is a disruption to one or more of our third-party suppliers’ relevant operations, or if we are unable to enter into arrangements for the commercial manufacture of our product candidates, we will have no other means of producing our lead product candidates until they restore the affected facilities or we or they procure alternative manufacturing facilities or sources of supply. Our ability to progress our preclinical and clinical programs could be materially and adversely impacted if any of the third-party suppliers upon which we rely were to experience a significant business challenge, disruption or failure due to issues such as financial difficulties or bankruptcy, issues relating to other customers such as regulatory or quality compliance issues, or other financial, legal, regulatory or reputational issues. Additionally, any damage to or destruction of our third-party manufacturer’s facilities or equipment may significantly impair our ability to manufacture our product candidates on a timely basis.

Furthermore, there are a limited number of suppliers for materials we use in our product candidates, which exposes us to the risk of disruption in the supply of the materials necessary to manufacture our product candidates for our preclinical studies and clinical trials, and if approved, ultimately for commercial sale. In the case of ARQ-252 and ARQ-255, we have an agreement with Hengrui for the supply of SHR0302 API for preclinical studies and clinical trials. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition or manufacture of materials by our manufacturers. In addition, any significant delay in, or quality control problems with respect to, the supply of a product candidate, or the raw material components thereof, for an ongoing study or trial could considerably delay completion of our preclinical studies or clinical trials, product testing and potential regulatory approval of our product candidates.

In addition, to manufacture our product candidates in the quantities that we believe would be required to meet anticipated market demand, our third-party manufacturers may need to increase

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manufacturing capacity and, in some cases, we plan to secure alternative sources of commercial supply, which could involve significant challenges and may require additional regulatory approvals Neither we nor our third-party manufacturers may successfully complete any required increase to existing manufacturing capacity in a timely manner, or at all. If our manufacturers or we are unable to purchase the raw materials necessary for the manufacture of our product candidates on acceptable terms, at sufficient quality levels, or in adequate quantities, if at all, the commercial launch of our lead product candidates or any future product candidates would be delayed or there would be a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to generate revenues from the sale of such product candidates, if approved.

The loss of these suppliers, or their failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements or to provide us with sufficient quantities at acceptable quality levels or prices, or at all, would materially and adversely affect our business.

If our third-party manufacturers fail to comply with manufacturing or other regulations, our financial results and financial condition will be adversely affected.

If our contract manufacturers cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA or comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions, we may not be able to rely on their manufacturing facilities for the manufacture or our product candidates.

Before beginning commercial manufacture of ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255, the process and systems used in the manufacture of ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255 must be approved and each facility must have a compliance status that is acceptable to the FDA and other regulatory authorities. In addition, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities are continuously subject to inspection by the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities, before and after product approval. Due to the complexity of the processes used to manufacture pharmaceutical products and product candidates, any potential third-party manufacturer may be unable to continue to pass or initially pass federal, state or international regulatory inspections. Furthermore, although we do not have day-to-day control over the operations of our contract manufacturers, we are responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including cGMPs.

If a third-party manufacturer with whom we contract is unable to comply with applicable laws and regulations, including cGMPs, ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255 may not be approved, or we may be subject to fines, unanticipated compliance expenses, recall or seizure of our products, total or partial suspension of production and/or enforcement actions, including injunctions, and criminal or civil prosecution. These possible sanctions would adversely affect our financial results and financial condition.

We rely on third parties to conduct our non-clinical studies and our clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252, ARQ-255 or any future product candidates.

We do not have the ability to independently conduct non-clinical studies and clinical trials. We rely on third parties, such as CROs, to conduct preclinical studies and clinical trials of ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255. The third parties with whom we contract for execution of our preclinical studies and clinical trials play a significant role in the conduct of these studies and trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data. However, these third parties are not our employees, and except for contractual duties and obligations, we have limited ability to control the amount or timing of resources that they devote to our programs. These third parties may also have relationships with other

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commercial entities, some of which may compete with us. In some cases, these third parties could terminate their agreements with us without cause.

Although we rely on third parties to conduct our preclinical studies and clinical trials, we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our preclinical studies and clinical trials is conducted in accordance with its investigational plan and protocol. Moreover, the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities require us to comply with regulations and standards, including some regulations commonly referred to as good clinical practices, or GCPs, for conducting, monitoring, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to ensure that the data and results are scientifically credible and accurate, and that appropriate human subjects protections are in place, including that the trial subjects are adequately informed of the potential risks and other consequences of participating in clinical trials.

In addition, the execution of non-clinical studies and clinical trials, and the subsequent compilation and analysis of the data produced, requires coordination among various parties. In order for these functions to be carried out effectively and efficiently, it is imperative that these parties communicate and coordinate with one another. If the third parties conducting our clinical trials do not perform their contractual duties or obligations, experience work stoppages, do not meet expected deadlines, terminate their agreements with us or need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical trial protocols or GCPs, or for any other reason, we may need to enter into new arrangements with alternative third parties, which could be difficult, costly or impossible, and our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated or may need to be repeated, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

Our success with respect to our product candidates and technologies will depend in part on our and our licensors’ ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in both the United States and other countries, to preserve our trade secrets and to prevent third parties from infringing upon our proprietary rights. Our ability to protect any of our product candidates from unauthorized or infringing use by third parties depends in substantial part on our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents.

Our patent portfolio includes patents and patent applications in the United States and foreign jurisdictions where we believe there is a market opportunity for our products. The covered technology and the scope of coverage vary from country to country. For those countries where we do not have granted patents, we may not have any ability to prevent the unauthorized use of our technologies. Any patents that we may obtain may be narrow in scope and thus easily circumvented by competitors. Further, in countries where we do not have granted patents, third parties may be able to make, use or sell products identical to or substantially similar to, our product candidates.

The patent application process, also known as patent prosecution, is expensive and time-consuming, and we and our current licensors, or any future licensors or licensees may not be able to prepare, file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we or our current licensors, or any future licensors or licensees, will fail to identify patentable aspects of inventions made in the course of development and commercialization activities before it is too late to obtain patent protection on them. Therefore, our patents and applications may not be prosecuted, and as a result may not be able to be enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. It is possible that defects of form in the

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preparation or filing of our patents or patent applications may exist, or may arise in the future, such as with respect to proper priority claims, inventorship, claim scope or patent term adjustments. If there are material defects in the form or preparation of our patents or patent applications, such patents or applications may be invalid and unenforceable. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how to our processes, methods, and know-how which we consider our trade secrets. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Due to legal standards relating to patentability, validity, enforceability and claim scope of patents covering pharmaceutical inventions, our and our licensor’s ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patents is uncertain and involves complex legal and factual questions. Accordingly, rights under our existing patents or any patents we might obtain or license may not cover our product candidates, or may not provide us with sufficient protection for our product candidates to afford a commercial advantage against competitive products or processes, including those from branded and generic pharmaceutical companies. In addition, we cannot guarantee that any patents will issue from any pending or future patent applications owned by or licensed to us. Even with respect to our patents that have issued or will issue, we cannot guarantee that the claims of these patents are or will be held valid or enforceable by the courts or will provide us with any significant protection against competitive products or otherwise be commercially valuable to us. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore, we cannot know with certainty whether we or our licensors were the first to make the inventions claimed in our patents or pending patent applications, or that we or our licensors were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued that protect our technology or drugs, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and drugs. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection.

Competitors in the field of dermatologic therapeutics have created a substantial amount of prior art, including scientific publications, patents and patent applications. Our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents depends on whether the differences between our technology and the prior art allow our technology to be patentable over the prior art. Although we believe that our technology includes certain inventions that are unique and not duplicative of any prior art, we do not have outstanding issued patents covering all of the recent developments in our technology and we are unsure of the patent protection that we will be successful in obtaining, if any, over such aspects of our technology. Even if patents do successfully issue covering such aspects of our technology, third parties may design around or challenge the validity, enforceability or scope of such issued patents or any other issued patents we own or license, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable. If the breadth or strength of protection provided by the patents we own or license respect to our product candidates is challenged, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to develop, or threaten our ability to commercialize, our product candidates. Even if the patent applications that we own or license issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or drugs in a non-infringing manner.

The laws of some foreign jurisdictions do not provide intellectual property rights to the same extent as in the United States and many companies have encountered significant difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. If we encounter such difficulties in

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protecting or are otherwise precluded from effectively protecting our intellectual property in foreign jurisdictions, our business prospects could be substantially harmed. The patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. Changes in either the patent laws or in the interpretations of patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our intellectual property. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in third-party patents.

The degree of future protection of our proprietary rights is uncertain. Patent protection may be unavailable or severely limited in some cases and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. For example:

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we might not have been the first to invent or the first to file the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and issued patents;

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others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies;

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the patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business;

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any patents we obtain or our licensors’ issued patents may not encompass commercially viable products, may not provide us with any competitive advantages or may be challenged by third parties;

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for some product candidates, including ARQ-151 and ARQ-154, we expect that composition of matter patent protection for the active pharmaceutical ingredient will not be available at the time we expect to commercialize, and we will therefore need to rely on formulation, method of use and other forms of claims for patent protection;

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any patents we obtain or our in-licensed issued patents may not be valid or enforceable; and

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we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable.

Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after it is filed. Various extensions may be available; however, the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Without patent protection for our product candidates, we may be open to competition from generic versions of our product candidates. Further, the extensive period of time between patent filing and regulatory approval for a product candidate limits the time during which we can market a product candidate under patent protection, which may particularly affect the profitability of our early-stage product candidates. Our issued U.S. patents relating to ARQ-151 and ARQ-154 with claims directed to, among other things, formulating rofumilast in combination with hexylene glycol are currently projected to expire on June 7, 2037 and the issued U.S. patents which we have exclusive option rights to from Hengrui related to the composition of matter of the active ingredient in ARQ-252 and ARQ-255 (orbisulfate or crystal forms thereof) are currently projected to expire between January 21, 2033 and December 1, 2035 unless a patent term extension is granted. Proprietary trade secrets and unpatented know-how are also very important to our business. Although we have taken steps to protect our trade secrets and unpatented know-how by entering into confidentiality agreements with third parties, and intellectual property protection agreements with certain employees, consultants and advisors, third parties may still obtain this information or we may be unable to protect our rights. We also have limited control over the protection of trade secrets used by our suppliers, manufacturers and other third parties. There can be no assurance that binding agreements will not be breached, that we would have adequate remedies for any breach or that our trade secrets and unpatented know-how will not otherwise become known or be independently discovered by our competitors. If trade secrets are independently discovered, we would not be able to prevent their use. Enforcing a claim that a third party illegally obtained and is using our trade secrets or unpatented

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know-how is expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States may be less willing to protect trade secret information.

There have been many lawsuits and other proceedings asserting patents and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. We cannot assure you that our exploitation of ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255 will not infringe existing or future third-party patents. Because patent applications can take many years to issue and may be confidential for 18 months or more after filing, there may be applications now pending of which we are unaware and which may later result in issued patents that we may infringe by commercializing ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255. Moreover, we may face claims from non-practicing entities that have no relevant product revenue and against whom our own patent portfolio may thus have no deterrent effect. We may be unaware of one or more issued patents that would be infringed by the manufacture, sale or use of ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255.

We may be subject to third-party claims in the future against us or our collaborators that would cause us to incur substantial expenses and, if successful against us, could cause us to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorney’s fees if we are found to be willfully infringing a third party’s patents. We may be required to indemnify future collaborators against such claims. If a patent infringement suit were brought against us or our future collaborators, we or they could be forced to stop or delay research, development, manufacturing or sales of the product or product candidate that is the subject of the suit. As a result of patent infringement claims, or in order to avoid potential claims, we or our collaborators may choose to seek, or be required to seek, a license from the third-party and would most likely be required to pay license fees or royalties or both. These licenses may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Even if we or our future collaborators were able to obtain a license, the rights obtained may be nonexclusive, which would not confer a competitive advantage to us from an exclusivity perspective. Ultimately, we could be prevented from commercializing a product, or forced to redesign it, or to cease some aspect of our business operations if, as a result of actual or threatened patent infringement claims, we or our collaborators are unable to enter into licenses on acceptable terms to necessary third party patent rights. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, such litigation can be expensive and time consuming to litigate and would divert management’s attention from our core business. Any of these events could harm our business significantly.

In addition to infringement claims against us, if third parties prepare and file patent applications in the United States that also claim technology similar or identical to ours, we may have to participate in interference or derivation proceedings in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, to determine which party is entitled to a patent on the disputed invention. We may also become involved in similar opposition proceedings in the European Patent Office or similar offices in other jurisdictions regarding our intellectual property rights with respect to our products and technology. Since patent applications are confidential for a period of time after filing, we cannot be certain that we were the first to file any patent application related to our product candidates.

We may be subject to claims by third parties asserting that we, our employees or our licensors have misappropriated their intellectual property, including trade secrets, or claiming ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.

Many of our employees and our licensor’s employees were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. Although we and our licensors try to ensure that our

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employees and our licensor’s employees do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, including by contract, we or our licensors may be subject to claims that these employees, our licensors or we have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such employee’s former employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims.

In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may in the future be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who in fact develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Our and their assignment agreements may not be self-executing or may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property.

If we or our licensor fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we and our licensor are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs.

The validity, scope and enforceability of any patents listed in the Orange Book that cover ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255 can be challenged by competitors.

If ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255 is approved by the FDA, one or more third parties may challenge the patents covering ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255, which could result in the invalidation of, or render unenforceable, some or all of the relevant patent claims or a finding of non-infringement. For example, if a third party files an abbreviated new drug application, or ANDA, for a generic drug bioequivalent to ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 or ARQ-255, and relies in whole or in part on studies conducted by or for us, the third party will be required to certify to the FDA that either: (1) there is no patent information listed in the FDA’s Orange Book with respect to our NDA for the applicable approved drug candidate; (2) the patents listed in the Orange Book have expired; (3) the listed patents have not expired, but will expire on a particular date and approval is sought after patent expiration; or (4) the listed patents are invalid or will not be infringed by the manufacture, use or sale of the third party’s generic drug. A certification that the new drug will not infringe the Orange Book-listed patents for the applicable approved drug candidate, or that such patents are invalid, is called a paragraph IV certification. If the third party submits a paragraph IV certification to the FDA, a notice of the paragraph IV certification must also be sent to us once the third party’s ANDA is accepted for filing by the FDA. We may then initiate a lawsuit to defend the patents identified in the notice. The filing of a patent infringement lawsuit within 45 days of receipt of the notice automatically prevents the FDA from approving the third party’s ANDA until the earliest of 30 months or the date on which the patent expires, the lawsuit is settled, or the court reaches a decision in the infringement lawsuit in favor of the third party. If we do not file a patent infringement lawsuit within the required 45-day period, the third party’s ANDA will not be subject to the 30-month stay of FDA approval. Litigation or other proceedings to enforce or defend intellectual property rights are often very complex in nature, may be very expensive and time-consuming, may divert our management’s attention from our core business, and may result in unfavorable results that could limit our ability to prevent third parties from competing with our product candidates.

If we do not obtain protection under the Hatch-Waxman Amendments by extending the patent term for our product candidates, our business may be materially harmed.

Our commercial success will largely depend on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other intellectual property in the United States and other countries with respect to our proprietary technology,

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product candidates and our target indications. Our issued U.S. patents, with claims directed to roflumilast formulations with reduced crystal growth, encompassing ARQ-151, are currently projected to expire on June 7, 2037. Certain issued U.S. patents that we have licensed from Hengrui relating to, among other things, treatment of several diseases or disorders, including various cancers, allograft rejection, graft versus host disease, rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis with SHR0302, or bisulfate and crystal forms thereof, are currently projected to expire beginning in 2033. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting our product candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates begin to be commercialized. We expect to seek extensions of patent terms in the United States and, if available, in other countries where we are prosecuting patents.

Depending upon the timing, duration and specifics of FDA marketing approval of our product candidates, one or more of the U.S. patents covering our product candidates may be eligible for limited patent term restoration under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, referred to as the Hatch-Waxman Amendments. The Hatch-Waxman Amendments permit a patent restoration term of up to five years beyond the normal expiration of the patent as compensation for patent term lost during development and the FDA regulatory review process, which is limited to the approved indication (or any additional indications approved during the period of extension). This extension is limited to only one patent that covers the approved product. However, the applicable authorities, including the FDA and the USPTO in the United States, and any equivalent regulatory authority in other countries, may not agree with our assessment of whether such extensions are available, and may refuse to grant extensions to our patents, or may grant more limited extensions than we request. We may not be granted an extension because of, for example, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request.

If we are unable to extend the expiration date of our existing patents or obtain new patents with longer expiry dates, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our investment in development and clinical trials by referencing our clinical and preclinical data to obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration and launch their product earlier than might otherwise be the case.

Our intellectual property agreements with third parties may be subject to disagreements over contract interpretation, which could narrow the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology or increase our financial or other obligations to our licensors.

Certain provisions in our intellectual property agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could affect the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or affect financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We may need to license additional intellectual property from third parties, and such licenses may not be available or may not be available on commercially reasonable terms.

Additional third parties, apart from our current licensors, may hold intellectual property, including patent rights, that are important or necessary to the development of our product candidates. It may be necessary for us to use the patented or proprietary technology of these third parties to commercialize our product candidates, in which case we would be required to obtain a license from these third parties on commercially reasonable terms. Such a license may not be available, or it may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, in which case our business would be harmed. The risks described

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elsewhere pertaining to our intellectual property rights also apply to the intellectual property rights that we in-license, and any failure by us or our licensors to obtain, maintain, defend and enforce these rights could harm our business. In some cases we may not have control over the prosecution, maintenance or enforcement of the patents that we license, and may not have sufficient ability to provide input into the patent prosecution, maintenance and defense process with respect to such patents, and our licensors may fail to take the steps that we believe are necessary or desirable in order to obtain, maintain, defend and enforce the licensed patents.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on product candidates, including all of the licensed rights under our exclusive supply and license agreements with AstraZeneca and Hengrui, in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biopharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

Changes in U.S. patent law or the patent law of other countries or jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

The United States has enacted and implemented wide-ranging patent reform legislation, and that legislation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents. On September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, was signed into law. The Leahy-Smith Act includes a number of significant changes to United States patent law. These include provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted and may also affect patent litigation. The United States Patent Office recently developed new regulations and procedures to govern administration of the Leahy-Smith Act, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the Leahy-Smith Act, and in particular, the first to file provisions, only became effective on March 16, 2013. Accordingly, it is not clear what, if any, impact the Leahy-Smith Act will have on the operation of our business. However, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our

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issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. In addition, patent reform legislation may pass in the future that could lead to additional uncertainties and increased costs surrounding the prosecution, enforcement and defense of our patents and pending patent applications.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled on several patent cases in recent years, either narrowing the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances or weakening the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents, once obtained. Depending on actions by the United States Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce patents that we have licensed or that we might obtain in the future. Similarly, changes in patent law and regulations in other countries or jurisdictions or changes in the governmental bodies that enforce them or changes in how the relevant governmental authority enforces patent laws or regulations may weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce patents that we have licensed or that we may obtain in the future. We cannot predict future changes in the interpretation of patent laws or changes to patent laws that might be enacted into law by United States and foreign legislative bodies. Those changes may materially affect our patents or patent applications and our ability to obtain additional patent protection in the future.

The United States federal government retains certain rights in inventions produced with its financial assistance under the Bayh-Dole Act. The federal government retains a “nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license” for its own benefit. The Bayh-Dole Act also provides federal agencies with “march-in rights.” March-in rights allow the government, in specified circumstances, to require the contractor or successors in title to the patent to grant a “nonexclusive, partially exclusive, or exclusive license” to a “responsible applicant or applicants.” If the patent owner refuses to do so, the government may grant the license itself. Having a mandatory non-exclusive license grant may diminish the value of our patents as well as making it more difficult to protect our products.

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for noncompliance with these requirements.

Periodic maintenance fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and other foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various foreign national or international patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Noncompliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of patent rights include, but are not limited to, failure to timely file national and regional stage patent applications based on our international patent application, failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. If we or our licensors fail to maintain the patents and patent applications covering any of our product candidates, our competitors might be able to enter the market earlier than anticipated, which would harm our business.

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If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.

Our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic or conflict with third-party rights. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition by potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. In addition, third parties may file first for our trademarks in certain countries. If they succeeded in registering such trademarks, and if we were not successful in challenging such third-party rights, we may not be able to use these trademarks to market our products in those countries. In such cases, over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then our marketing abilities may be impacted.

We have not yet registered trademarks for a commercial trade name for our lead candidates in the United States or foreign jurisdictions and failure to secure such registrations could adversely affect our business.

We have not yet registered trademarks for a commercial trade name for our lead product candidates in the United States or any foreign jurisdiction. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections. Although we are given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the USPTO and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. Moreover, any name we propose to use with our product candidates in the United States must be approved by the FDA, regardless of whether we have registered it, or applied to register it, as a trademark. The FDA typically conducts a review of proposed product names, including an evaluation of potential for confusion with other product names. If the FDA objects to any of our proposed proprietary product names, we may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable substitute name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to the FDA.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our proprietary information and know-how, the value of our technology and products could be adversely affected.

We may not be able to protect our proprietary information and technology adequately. Although we use reasonable efforts to protect our proprietary information, technology, and know-how, our employees, consultants, contractors, outside scientific advisors, licensors or licensees may unintentionally or willfully disclose our information to competitors. Enforcing a claim that a third party illegally obtained and is using any of our proprietary information, technology or know-how is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States are sometimes less willing to protect proprietary information, technology, and know-how. We rely, in part, on non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and other parties to protect our proprietary information, technology, and know-how. These agreements may be breached and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. Moreover, others may independently develop similar or equivalent proprietary information, and third parties may otherwise gain access to our proprietary knowledge.

If we fail to comply with our obligations under any license, collaboration or other agreements, we may be required to pay damages and could lose intellectual property rights that are necessary for developing and protecting our product candidates.

We have licensed or acquired certain intellectual property rights covering our current product candidates from third parties, including AstraZeneca and Hengrui. We are heavily dependent on our

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agreements with such third parties for our current product candidates. If, for any reason, one or more of our agreements with such third parties is terminated or we otherwise lose those rights, it could harm our business. Our license and other agreements impose, and any future collaboration agreements or license agreements we enter into are likely to impose various development, commercialization, funding, milestone, royalty, diligence, sublicensing, insurance, patent prosecution and enforcement or other obligations on us. If we breach any such material obligations, or use the intellectual property licensed to us in an unauthorized manner, we may be required to pay damages and the licensor may have the right to terminate the license, which could result in us being unable to develop, manufacture and sell products that are covered by the licensed technology, or having to negotiate new or reinstated licenses on less favorable terms, or enable a competitor to gain access to the licensed technology.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or other intellectual property or the patents of our licensors, which could be expensive and time-consuming.

Competitors may infringe our intellectual property, including our patents or the patents of our licensors. As a result, we may be required to file infringement claims or inform and cooperate with our licensors to stop third-party 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 patent claims do not cover its technology or that the factors necessary to grant an injunction against an infringer are not satisfied. An adverse determination of any litigation or other proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated, interpreted narrowly or amended such that they do not cover our product candidates. Moreover, such adverse determinations could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing, or issuing with limited and potentially inadequate scope to cover our product candidates or to prevent others from marketing similar products.

Interference, derivation or other proceedings brought at the USPTO may be necessary to determine the priority or patentability of inventions with respect to our patent applications or those of our licensors or potential partners. Litigation or USPTO proceedings brought by us may fail or may be invoked against us by third parties. Even if we are successful, domestic or foreign litigation or USPTO or foreign patent office proceedings may result in substantial costs. We may not be able, alone or with our licensors or potential partners, to prevent misappropriation of our proprietary rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect such rights as fully as in the United States.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation or other proceedings, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation or other proceedings. In addition, during the course of this kind of litigation or proceedings, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments or public access to related documents. If investors perceive these results to be negative, the market price for our common stock could be significantly harmed.

Third-party claims or litigation alleging infringement of patents or other proprietary rights, or seeking to invalidate patents or other proprietary rights, may delay or prevent the development and commercialization of any of our product candidates.

Our commercial success depends in part on our and our licensors avoiding infringement and other violations of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. However, our research, development and commercialization activities may be subject to claims that we infringe or otherwise violate patents or other intellectual property rights owned or controlled by third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation, both within and outside the United States, involving patent and other

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intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, derivation and administrative law proceedings, inter partes review and post-grant review before the USPTO, as well as oppositions and similar processes in foreign jurisdictions. Numerous United States and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we and our collaborators are developing product candidates. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, and as we gain greater visibility and market exposure as a public company, the risk increases that our product candidates or other business activities may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent and other proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties may assert that we are infringing their patents or employing their proprietary technology without authorization.

There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for treatment related to the use or manufacture of our product candidates. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that our product candidates may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon these patents. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover the manufacturing process of any of our product candidates, any molecules formed during the manufacturing process or any final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize such product candidate unless we obtained a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire. Similarly, if any third-party patent was to be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our formulations, processes for manufacture or methods of use, including combination therapy, the holders of any such patent may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtained a license or until such patent expires. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In addition, we may be subject to claims that we are infringing other intellectual property rights, such as trademarks or copyrights, or misappropriating the trade secrets of others, and to the extent that our employees, consultants or contractors use intellectual property or proprietary information owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions.

Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful infringement or other intellectual property claim against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our affected products, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. We cannot predict whether any such license would be available at all or whether it would be available on commercially reasonable terms. Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of our product candidates, and we have done so from time to time. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates, which could harm our business significantly. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In addition, intellectual property litigation, regardless of its outcome, may cause negative publicity, adversely impact prospective customers, cause product shipment delays, or prohibit us from manufacturing,

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marketing or otherwise commercializing our products, services and technology. Any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could adversely impact our ability to raise additional funds or otherwise harm our business, results of operation, financial condition or cash flows.

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, which could adversely impact the price of our common shares. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could adversely impact the price of our common shares. The occurrence of any of these events may harm our business, results of operation, financial condition or cash flows.

We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents do not exist which might be enforced against our drugs or product candidates, resulting in either an injunction prohibiting our sales, or, with respect to our sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties or other forms of compensation to third parties.

Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities, and have a harmful effect on the success of our business.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could adversely impact the price of our common shares. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could compromise our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials and internal research programs, or in-license needed technology or other product candidates. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could compromise our ability to compete in the marketplace, including compromising our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development collaborations that would help us commercialize our product candidates, if approved.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

Even if we receive regulatory approval of our product candidates, we will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with our product candidates.

Any regulatory approvals or other marketing authorizations we obtain for our product candidates may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or the conditions of approval or marketing authorization, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-market testing and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the product candidate. The FDA

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may also require a REMS as a condition of approval of our drug product candidates, such as ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255, which could include requirements for a medication guide, physician communication plans or additional elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. In addition, if the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority authorizes our product candidates for marketing, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, import, export and recordkeeping for our product candidates will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with cGMPs and GCP requirements for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with our product candidates, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:

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restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of our product candidates, withdrawal of the product from the market, or voluntary or mandatory product recalls;

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fines, warning or untitled letters or holds on clinical trials;

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refusal by the FDA to accept new marketing applications or supplements, approve or otherwise authorize for marketing pending applications or supplements to applications filed by us or suspension or revocation of approvals or other marketing authorizations;

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product seizure or detention, or refusal to permit the import or export of our product candidates; and

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injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

The FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies may change, and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our product candidates. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. For example, certain policies of the current presidential administration may impact our business and industry. Namely, the current presidential administration has taken several executive actions, including the issuance of a number of Executive Orders, that could impose significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, the FDA’s ability to engage in routine regulatory and oversight activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking, issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing applications. It is difficult to predict how these requirements will be implemented, and the extent to which they will impact the FDA’s ability to exercise its regulatory authority. If these executive actions impose constraints on the FDA’s ability to engage in oversight and implementation activities in the normal course, our business may be negatively impacted.

Changes in funding for the FDA and other government agencies could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, or otherwise prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner, which could negatively impact our business.

The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the

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payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory, and policy changes. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.

Disruptions at the FDA and other agencies may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved by necessary government agencies, which would harm our business. For example, over the last several years, including for 35 days beginning on December 22, 2018, the U.S. government has shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, have had to furlough critical FDA employees and stop critical activities. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could harm our business.

Our product candidates, if authorized for marketing, may cause or contribute to adverse medical events that we are required to report to the FDA, and if we fail to do so, we would be subject to sanctions that could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. The discovery of serious safety issues with our product candidates, or a recall of our products either voluntarily or at the direction of the FDA or another governmental authority, if such products are marketed, could have a negative impact on us.

With respect to any of our product candidates in clinical testing or approved by FDA, we will be subject to the FDA’s safety reporting requirements. The timing of our obligation to report is triggered by the date we become aware of the adverse event as well as the nature of the event. We may fail to report adverse events of which we become aware within the prescribed timeframe. We may also fail to recognize that we have become aware of a reportable adverse event, especially if it is not reported to us as an adverse event or if it is an adverse event that is unexpected or removed in time from the use of the product. If we fail to comply with our reporting obligations, the FDA could take action, including warning letters, untitled letters, administrative actions, criminal prosecution, imposition of civil monetary penalties, revocation of our approval or delay in approval of future products.

We may choose to voluntarily recall a product if any material deficiency is found. A recall could occur as a result of an unacceptable risk to health, component failures, malfunctions, manufacturing defects, labeling or design deficiencies, packaging defects or other deficiencies or failures to comply with applicable regulations. Product defects or other errors may occur in the future. Recalls involving our product candidates, if and when they are approved or otherwise authorized for marketing, could be particularly harmful to our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to healthcare laws and regulations relating to our business, and could face substantial penalties if we are determined not to have fully complied with such laws, which would have an adverse impact on our business.

Our business operations and current and future arrangements with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, customers and patients, may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell and distribute any products for which we obtain marketing approval. Such laws include:

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the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for which payment may be made under a U.S. healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid. A

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person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act;

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U.S. federal civil and criminal false claims laws and civil monetary penalties laws, including the civil False Claims Act, which, among other things, impose criminal and civil penalties, including through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals or entities for knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the U.S. government, claims for payment or approval that are false or fraudulent, knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim, or from knowingly making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the U.S. government;

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the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which imposes criminal and civil liability for, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, or knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement, in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation;

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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, or HITECH, and its implementing regulations, which also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information without appropriate authorization by covered entities subject to the rule, such as health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and healthcare providers as well as their business associates that perform certain services for or on their behalf involving the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information;

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the U.S. Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) to report annually to the government information related to payments or other “transfers of value” made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and teaching hospitals, (as well as certain other healthcare professionals beginning in 2022) and requires applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations to report annually to the government ownership and investment interests held by the physicians described above and their immediate family members;

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state privacy laws and regulations, such as those of California, that impose restrictive requirements regulating the use and disclosure of health information and other personally identifiable information (for example, in June 2018, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (which will go into effect on January 1, 2020) that gives California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used, and provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation; resulting in increased compliance costs and potential liability);

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the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, which prohibits, among other things, U.S. companies and their employees and agents from authorizing, promising, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, corrupt or improper payments or anything else of value to foreign government officials, employees of public international organizations and foreign

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government owned or affiliated entities, candidates for foreign political office, and foreign political parties or officials thereof;

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federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers; and

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analogous state and non-U.S. laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to our business practices, including, but not limited to, research, distribution, sales and marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers; state laws that require pharmaceutical and device companies to comply with the industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the U.S. government, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; state laws and regulations that require manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures and pricing information; and state and non-U.S. laws governing the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.

Efforts to ensure that our current and future business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities may conclude that our business practices, including our consulting arrangements with and/or ownership interests by physicians and other healthcare providers, do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable healthcare laws. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these or any other health regulatory laws that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other U.S. healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Defending against any such actions can be costly, time-consuming and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired. If any of the above occur, it could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

We have conducted and may in the future conduct clinical trials for our product candidates outside the United States and the FDA and applicable foreign regulatory authorities may not accept data from such trials.

We have conducted and may in the future choose to conduct one or more of our clinical trials outside the United States, including in Canada and Europe. Although the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory authority may accept data from clinical trials conducted outside the United States or the applicable jurisdiction, acceptance of such study data by the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory authority may be subject to certain conditions. Where data from foreign clinical trials are intended to serve as the basis for marketing approval in the United States, the FDA will not approve the application on the basis of foreign data alone unless those data are applicable to the U.S. population and U.S. medical practice; the studies were performed by clinical investigators of recognized competence; and the data are considered valid without the need for an on-site inspection by the FDA or, if the FDA considers such an inspection to be necessary, the FDA is able to validate the data through an on-site inspection or other appropriate means. Many foreign regulatory authorities have similar requirements. In addition, such foreign studies would be subject to the applicable local laws of the foreign jurisdictions

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where the studies are conducted. There can be no assurance the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory authority will accept data from trials conducted outside of the United States or the applicable jurisdiction. If the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory authority does not accept such data, it would likely result in the need for additional trials, which would be costly and time-consuming and delay aspects of our business plan.

Recently enacted and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our product candidates and affect the prices we may obtain.

In the United States and some non-U.S. jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could, among other things, prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval.

For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, collectively the Affordable Care Act, was enacted in the United States to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add new transparency requirements for healthcare and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms. The law has continued the downward pressure on the pricing of medical items and services, especially under the Medicare program, and increased the industry’s regulatory burdens and operating costs. Among the provisions of the Affordable Care Act of importance to our potential product candidates are the following:

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an annual, nondeductible fee payable by any entity that manufactures or imports specified branded prescription drugs and biologic agents;

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an increase in the statutory minimum rebates a manufacturer must pay under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program;

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a new methodology by which rebates owed by manufacturers under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program are calculated for drugs that are inhaled, infused, instilled, implanted or injected;

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a new Medicare Part D coverage gap discount program, in which manufacturers must agree to offer 70% point-of-sale discounts off negotiated prices of applicable brand drugs to eligible beneficiaries during their coverage gap period, as a condition for the manufacturer’s outpatient drugs to be covered under Medicare Part D;

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extension of manufacturers’ Medicaid rebate liability to individuals enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations;

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expansion of eligibility criteria for Medicaid programs in certain states;

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expansion of the entities eligible for discounts under the Public Health Service pharmaceutical pricing program;

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a new requirement to annually report drug samples that manufacturers and distributors provide to physicians;

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a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to oversee, identify priorities in, and conduct comparative clinical effectiveness research, along with funding for such research; and

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an independent payment advisory board that will submit recommendations to Congress to reduce Medicare spending if projected Medicare spending exceeds a specified growth rate.

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Since its enactment, there have been judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act, and we expect there will be additional challenges and amendments to the Affordable Care Act in the future. The current presidential administration and U.S. Congress have sought and will likely continue to seek to modify, repeal, or otherwise invalidate all, or certain provisions of, the Affordable Care Act. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or TCJA, was enacted, which includes a provision that repealed, effective January 1, 2019, the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed by the Affordable Care Act on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year that is commonly referred to as the “individual mandate.” On December 14, 2018, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Northern District of Texas ruled that the individual mandate is a critical and inseverable feature of the Affordable Care Act, and therefore, because it was repealed as part of the TCJA, the remaining provisions of the Affordable Care Act are invalid as well. While the Trump administration and CMS have both stated that the ruling will have no immediate effect, it is unclear how this decision, subsequent appeals, if any, and other efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act will impact the Affordable Care Act and our business. It is uncertain the extent to which any such changes may impact our business or financial condition.

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the Affordable Care Act was enacted. These changes include the Budget Control Act of 2011, which, among other things, resulted in reductions to Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year and will remain in effect through 2027; the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years; and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which, among other things, ended the use of the sustainable growth rate formula and provides for a 0.5% update to physician payment rates for each calendar year through 2019, after which there will be a 0% annual update each year through 2025. More recently, there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products, which has resulted in several Congressional inquiries and proposed bills designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs, and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for pharmaceutical products.

Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly aggressive in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products to purchase and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs.

We expect that the Affordable Care Act, as well as other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future, may result in more rigorous coverage criteria, new payment methodologies and in additional downward pressure on the price that we receive for any approved product. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, our product candidates may lose any regulatory approval that may have been obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business.

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If any of our product candidates are approved for marketing and we are found to have improperly promoted off-label uses, or if physicians misuse our products or use our products off-label, we may become subject to prohibitions on the sale or marketing of our products, product liability claims and significant fines, penalties and sanctions, and our brand and reputation could be harmed.

The FDA and other foreign regulatory authorities strictly regulate the marketing of and promotional claims that are made about drug products. In particular, a product may not be promoted for uses or indications that are not approved by the FDA or such other foreign regulatory authorities as reflected in the product’s approved labeling. In addition, although we believe our product candidates may exhibit a more favorable safety or tolerability profile or better efficacy than other products for the indications we are studying, without head-to-head data, we will be unable to make comparative claims for our product candidates, if approved. If we receive regulatory approval for any of our products and are found to have promoted any of our products for off-label uses, we may become subject to significant liability, which would materially harm our business. Both federal and state governments have levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion and have enjoined several companies from engaging in off-label promotion. If we become the target of such an investigation or prosecution based on our marketing and promotional practices, we could face similar sanctions, which would materially harm our business. In addition, management’s attention could be diverted from our business operations, significant legal expenses could be incurred, and our brand and reputation could be damaged. The FDA has also previously requested that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. If we are deemed by the FDA to have engaged in the promotion of our products for off-label use, we could be subject to FDA regulatory or enforcement actions, including the issuance of an untitled letter, a warning letter, injunction, seizure, civil fine or criminal penalties. It is also possible that other federal, state or foreign enforcement authorities might take action if they determine our business activities constitute promotion of an off-label use, which could result in significant penalties, including criminal, civil or administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

We cannot, however, prevent a physician from using our product candidates in ways that fall outside the scope of the approved indications, as he or she may deem appropriate in his or her medical judgment. Physicians may also misuse our product candidates or use improper techniques, which may lead to adverse results, side effects or injury and, potentially, subsequent product liability claims. Furthermore, the use of our product candidates for indications other than those approved by the FDA and/or other regulatory authorities may not effectively treat such conditions, which could harm our brand and reputation among both physicians and patients.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock and This Offering

There has been no established public market for our common stock, the stock price of our common stock may be volatile or may decline and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the offering price.

Prior to this offering, no market for shares of our common stock existed and an active trading market for our shares may never develop or be sustained following this offering. The initial public offering price for our common stock will be determined through negotiations with the underwriters and the negotiated price may not be indicative of the market price of our common stock after this offering. The market value of our common stock may decrease from the initial public offering price. As a result of these and other factors, you may be unable to resell your shares of our common stock at or above the initial public offering price. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. The lack of an active

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market may also reduce the fair market value of your shares. Furthermore, an inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital by selling shares of our common stock and may impair our ability to enter into strategic collaborations or acquire companies or products by using our shares of common stock as consideration.

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

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limited daily trading volume resulting in the lack of a liquid market;

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the development status of our product candidates, including whether any of our product candidates receive regulatory approval;

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the performance of third parties on whom we rely for clinical trials, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution, including their ability to comply with regulatory requirements;

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regulatory or legal developments in the United States and foreign countries;

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the results of our clinical trials and preclinical studies;

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the clinical results of our competitors or potential competitors;

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the execution of our partnering and manufacturing arrangements;

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our execution of collaboration, co-promotion, licensing or other arrangements, and the timing of payments we may make or receive under these arrangements;

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variations in the level of expenses related to our preclinical and clinical development programs, including relating to the timing of invoices from, and other billing practices of, our CROs and clinical trial sites;

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variations in the level of expenses related to our commercialization activities, if any product candidates are approved;

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the success of, and fluctuations in, the commercial sales any product candidates approved for commercialization in the future;

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overall performance of the equity markets;

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changes in operating performance and stock market valuations of other pharmaceutical companies;

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market conditions or trends in our industry or the economy as a whole;

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the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC, and announcements relating to acquisitions, strategic transactions, licenses, joint ventures, capital commitments, intellectual property, litigation or other disputes impacting us or our business;

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developments with respect to intellectual property rights;

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our commencement of, or involvement in, litigation;

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FDA or foreign regulatory actions affecting us or our industry;

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changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;

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the financial projections we may provide to the public, any changes in these projections or our failure to meet these projections;

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changes in financial estimates by any securities analysts who follow our common stock, our failure to meet these estimates or failure of those analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our common stock;

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ratings downgrades by any securities analysts who follow our common stock;

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the development and sustainability of an active trading market for our common stock;

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the size of our market float;

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the expiration of market standoff or contractual lock-up agreements and future sales of our common stock by our officers, directors and significant stockholders;

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recruitment or departure of key personnel;

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changes in accounting principles;

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other events or factors, including those resulting from war, incidents of terrorism, natural disasters or responses to these events; and

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any other factors discussed in this prospectus.

In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many pharmaceutical companies. Stock prices of many pharmaceutical companies have fluctuated in a manner unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. In the past, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were involved in securities litigation, we could incur substantial costs and our resources and the attention of management could be diverted from our business.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, 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. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no or few securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price for our stock would be negatively impacted. In the event we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding us, our business model, our intellectual property or our stock performance, or if our clinical trials and operating results fail to meet the expectations of analysts, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act and we have decided to avail ourselves of reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, including delaying adopting new or revised accounting standards, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including certain reduced financial statement reporting obligations, reduced disclosure obligations about our executive compensation arrangements, exemptions from the requirement that we solicit non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements and exemption from the auditor’s attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” We will remain an emerging growth company until the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering. However,

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if certain events occur prior to the end of such five-year period, including if we become a “large accelerated filer,” our annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion or we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in any three-year period, we will cease to be an emerging growth company prior to the end of such five-year period.

Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. Our financial statements may therefore not be comparable to those of companies that comply with such new or revised accounting standards. Until the date that we are no longer an “emerging growth company” or affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the exemption provided by Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act, upon issuance of a new or revised accounting standard that applies to our financial statements and that has a different effective date for public and private companies, we will disclose the date on which adoption is required for non-emerging growth companies and the date on which we will adopt the recently issued accounting standard.

Purchasers in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the book value of their investment.

The initial public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock before giving effect to this offering. Accordingly, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate substantial dilution of approximately $ per share, based on the initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, and our pro forma net tangible book value as of June 30, 2019. In addition, following this offering, purchasers in this offering will have contributed approximately % of the total gross consideration paid by stockholders to us to purchase shares of our common stock, through June 30, 2019, but will own only approximately % of the shares of common stock outstanding immediately after this offering. Furthermore, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares, or outstanding options are exercised, you could experience further dilution. For a further description of the dilution that you will experience immediately after this offering, see the section titled “Dilution.”

Raising additional funds by issuing securities may cause dilution to existing shareholders, raising additional funds through debt financings may involve restrictive covenants, and raising funds through lending and licensing arrangements may restrict our operations or require us to relinquish proprietary rights.

We expect that significant additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations. Until such time, if ever, that we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, strategic alliances and license and development agreements or other collaborations. To the extent that we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our existing shareholders’ ownership may experience substantial dilution, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that could harm the rights of a common shareholder. Additionally, any agreements for future debt or preferred equity financings, if available, may involve covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates, or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization

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efforts, or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise develop and market ourselves.

Our principal stockholders and management own a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.

Prior to this offering as of October 10, 2019, our executive officers, directors, holders of 5% or more of our capital stock and their respective affiliates beneficially owned approximately 75% of our voting stock and, upon the closing of this offering, that same group will hold approximately % of our outstanding voting stock (inclusive of shares of common stock purchased in this offering and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares and no exercise of outstanding options). Therefore, even after this offering these stockholders will have the ability to influence us through this ownership position. These stockholders may be able to determine all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders may be able to control elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, or approval of any merger, sale of assets, or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our common stock that you may feel are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could cause our stock price to fall.

Based on shares outstanding as of June 30, 2019, upon completion of this offering, we will have outstanding a total of shares of common stock. Of these shares, only shares of common stock sold in this offering, or shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, will be freely tradable, without restriction, in the public market immediately after this offering. Each of our officers, directors and certain of our stockholders have entered or will enter into lock-up agreements with the underwriters that restrict their ability to sell or transfer their shares. The lock-up agreements pertaining to this offering will expire 180 days from the date of this prospectus. However, our underwriters may, in their sole discretion, permit our officers, directors and other current stockholders who are subject to the contractual lock-up to sell shares prior to the expiration of the lock-up agreements. After the lock-up agreements expire, based on shares outstanding as of June 30, 2019, up to an additional shares of common stock will be eligible for sale in the public market, approximately of which are held by our officers, directors and their affiliated entities, and will be subject to volume limitations under Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. In addition, shares of our common stock that are subject to outstanding options as of June 30, 2019 and shares of our common stock that are subject to options granted after June 30, 2019 will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting agreements, the lock-up agreements and Rules 144 and 701 under the Securities Act.

After this offering, the holders of an aggregate of shares of our outstanding common stock as of June 30, 2019 will have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or our stockholders. We also intend to register shares of common stock that we may issue under our equity incentive plans. Once we register these shares, they will be able to be sold freely in the public market upon issuance, subject to the 180-day lock-up period under the lock-up agreements described above and in the section entitled “Underwriting.”

We cannot predict what effect, if any, sales of our shares in the public market or the availability of shares for sale will have on the market price of our common stock. However, future sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, including shares issued upon exercise of our outstanding warrant or options, or the perception that such sales may occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

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We also expect that significant additional capital may be needed in the future to continue our planned operations. To raise capital, we may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. To the extent that additional capital is raised through the sale and issuance of shares or other securities convertible into shares, our stockholders will be diluted. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock.

We will have broad discretion in the use of proceeds from this offering and may invest or spend the proceeds in ways with which you do not agree and in ways that may not increase the value of your investment.

We will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering. You may not agree with our decisions, and our use of the proceeds may not yield any return on your investment. We expect to use the net proceeds to us from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, to fund further development of our ARQ-151, ARQ-154 and ARQ-252 programs and for working capital and general corporate purposes. Our failure to apply the net proceeds from this offering effectively could compromise our ability to pursue our growth strategy and we might not be able to yield a significant return, if any, on our investment of these net proceeds. You will not have the opportunity to influence our decisions on how to use our net proceeds from this offering.

Our ability to utilize our net operating loss, or NOL, carryforwards and research and development income tax credit carryforwards may be limited.

As of December 31, 2018, we had NOL carryforwards available to reduce future taxable income, if any, for federal and California income tax purposes of $17.2 million and $18.1 million, respectively. If not utilized, California NOL carryforwards will expire beginning in 2036 of the federal NOL carryforwards, $3.5 million originated before the 2018 tax year and will begin to expire in 2036 if not utilized. Under the Tax Act, the remaining $13.6 million of federal NOL carryforwards generated after December 31, 2017 will carryforward indefinitely with utilization limited to 80% of taxable income. As of December 31, 2018, we had federal and California research and development tax credit carryforwards of $751,000 and $261,000, respectively. If not utilized, the federal research and development tax credit carryforwards will begin to expire in 2037. The California research and development tax credit carryforwards are available indefinitely.

Under Section 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50% change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOL carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. A formal study has not been completed to determine if a change in ownership, as defined by Section 382, has occurred. We believe that we may undergo an “ownership change” limitation as a result of this offering (some of which shifts are outside of our control). We may also experience additional ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOL carryforwards to offset U.S. federal taxable income may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOL carryforwards is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.

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Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law may prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to change our management and hinder efforts to acquire a controlling interest in us, and the market price of our common stock may be lower as a result.

Our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws that will be in effect immediately prior to the completion of this offering will contain provisions that could delay or prevent changes in control or changes in our management without the consent of our board of directors. These provisions will include the following:

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a classified board of directors with three year staggered terms, which may delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of our board of directors;

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no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;

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the exclusive right of our board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the board of directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on our board of directors;

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the ability of our board of directors to authorize the issuance of shares of preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquiror;

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the ability of our board of directors to alter our bylaws without obtaining stockholder approval;

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the required approval of a super-majority of the shares entitled to vote at an election of directors to adopt, amend or repeal our bylaws or repeal the provisions of our restated certificate of incorporation regarding the election and removal of directors;

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a prohibition on stockholder action by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of our stockholders;

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the requirement that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by the chief executive officer or the president or the board of directors, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors; and

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advance notice procedures that stockholders must comply with in order to nominate candidates to our board of directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which may discourage or deter a potential acquiror from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquiror’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.

In addition, these provisions would apply even if we were to receive an offer that some stockholders may consider beneficial.

We are also subject to the anti-takeover provisions contained in Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Under Section 203, a corporation may not, in general, engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the stock for three years or, among other exceptions, the board of directors has approved the transaction. For a description of our capital stock, see the section titled “Description of Capital Stock.”

Claims for indemnification by our directors and officers may reduce our available funds to satisfy successful third-party claims against us and may reduce the amount of money available to us.

Our restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers, in each case to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law.

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In addition, as permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our restated bylaws to be effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering and our indemnification agreements that we have entered into with our directors and officers provide that:

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We will indemnify our directors and officers for serving us in those capacities or for serving other business enterprises at our request, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. Delaware law provides that a corporation may indemnify such person if such person acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the registrant and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe such person’s conduct was unlawful.

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We may, in our discretion, indemnify employees and agents in those circumstances where indemnification is permitted by applicable law.

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We are required to advance expenses, as incurred, to our directors and officers in connection with defending a proceeding, except that such directors or officers shall undertake to repay such advances if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to indemnification.

•

We will not be obligated pursuant to our restated bylaws to indemnify a person with respect to proceedings initiated by that person against us or our other indemnitees, except with respect to proceedings authorized by our board of directors or brought to enforce a right to indemnification.

•

The rights conferred in our restated bylaws are not exclusive, and we are authorized to enter into indemnification agreements with our directors, officers, employees and agents and to obtain insurance to indemnify such persons.

•

We may not retroactively amend our restated bylaw provisions to reduce our indemnification obligations to directors, officers, employees and agents.

Our restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

In addition, our restated certificate of incorporation, to the fullest extent permitted by law, will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for: any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL, our restated certificate of incorporation, or our restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. It could apply, however, to a suit that falls within one or more of the categories enumerated in the exclusive forum provision and asserts claims under the Securities Act, inasmuch as Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rule and regulations thereunder. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision with respect to claims under the Securities Act, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provisions contained in our restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock, and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.

We do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. We currently intend to invest our future earnings, if any, to fund our growth. Therefore, you are not likely to receive any dividends on your common stock for the foreseeable future. Since we do not intend to pay dividends, your ability to receive a return on your investment will depend on any future appreciation in the market value of our common stock. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate or even maintain the price at which our holders have purchased it.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus, including the sections entitled “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Use of Proceeds,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Business” contains forward-looking statements. The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “potentially,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “expect” and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.

The forward-looking statements in this prospectus include, among other things, statements about:

•

the success, cost and timing of our plans to develop and commercialize immune-dermatology drugs, including our current products, ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255 for indications including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, scalp psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, hand eczema, vitiligo and alopecia areata;

•

our ability to obtain funding for our operations, including funding necessary to complete further development and commercialization of our product candidates;

•

the timing of and our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255;

•

future agreements, if any, with third parties in connection with the commercialization of our product candidates;

•

the success, cost and timing of our product candidate development activities and planned clinical trials;

•

the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of our product candidates;

•

the potential market size and the size of the patient populations for our product candidates, if approved for commercial uses;

•

our commercialization, marketing and manufacturing capabilities and strategy;

•

the success of competing therapies that are or may become available;

•

our ability to attract and retain key management and technical personnel;

•

our expectations regarding our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce intellectual property protection for our product candidates;

•

our use of the net proceeds from this offering; and

•

our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in “Risk factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. Moreover, we operate in a competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors 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 may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this prospectus may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot

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guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this prospectus to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that we will receive net proceeds of approximately $ from the sale of shares of common stock in this offering, or approximately $ if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the net proceeds to us from this offering by $ million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us in this offering would increase (decrease) the net proceeds that we receive from this offering by $ million, assuming the initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

We currently intend to use the net proceeds we receive from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, as follows:

•

approximately $ million to $ million to fund further development of our ARQ-151 programs through Phase 3 in psoriasis and into Phase 2b in atopic dermatitis;

•

approximately $ million to $ million to fund further development of our ARQ-154 programs into Phase 3 in seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis;

•

approximately $ million to $ million to fund further development of our ARQ-252 programs into Phase 2b in hand eczema; and

•

any remaining amounts to fund working capital and general corporate purposes.

Based on our planned use of the net proceeds, we estimate such funds, together with our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, will be sufficient for us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through at least .

The expected use of the net proceeds from the offering represents our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions. The amounts we actually expend in these areas, and the timing thereof, may vary significantly from our current intentions and will depend on a number of factors, including the success of research and product development efforts, cash generated from future operations and actual expenses to operate our business. We may use a portion of the net proceeds for the acquisition of, or investment in, businesses that complement our business, although we have no present commitments or agreements.

The amounts and timing of our preclinical and clinical expenditures and the extent of preclinical and clinical development may vary significantly depending on numerous factors, including the status, results and timing of our current clinical trials and clinical trials which we may commence in the future, the product approval process with the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities, any new collaborations we may enter into with third parties and any unforeseen cash needs. As a result, we cannot predict with any certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds or the amounts that we will actually spend on the uses set forth above. Accordingly, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds of this offering.

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The expected net proceeds of this offering will not be sufficient for us to fund any of our product candidates through regulatory approval, and we will need to raise substantial additional capital to complete the development and commercialization of our product candidates.

Pending the uses described above, we intend to invest the net proceeds from this offering in short term, investment-grade interest-bearing securities such as money market accounts, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and capitalization as of June 30, 2019:

•

on an actual basis;

•

The information set forth in the table below is illustrative only and will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering as determined at pricing. You should read this table together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our audited financial statements and related notes and unaudited interim condensed financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus.


	As of June 30, 2019
	Actual			Pro Forma	Pro Forma As Adjusted(1)
	(in thousands, except share and per- share data)
	(unaudited)
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities	$	35,862		$	$

Convertible preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 32,536,270 shares authorized, 32,536,267 shares issued and outstanding and aggregate liquidation preference of $71,800, actual; no shares issued or outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted	$	72,252		$	$

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value: no shares authorized, issued or outstanding, actual; shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding pro forma and pro forma as adjusted		—
Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 44,000,000 shares authorized, 5,433,154 shares issued and outstanding, actual; shares authorized, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted; shares issued and outstanding, pro forma; shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted		1
Additional paid-in capital		561
Accumulated other comprehensive income		3
Accumulated deficit		(39,223	)

Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity		(38,658	)

Total capitalization	$	69,456		$	$

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(1)

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) each of our pro forma as adjusted cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, additional paid-in-capital, total stockholders’ equity and total capitalization by approximately $ million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us in this offering would increase (decrease) each of our pro forma as adjusted cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, additional paid-in-capital, total stockholders’ equity and total capitalization by approximately $ million, assuming the initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

•

3,513,431 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding as of June 30, 2019 under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, with an average exercise price of $0.74 per share;

•

shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding that were granted after June 30, 2019 under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, with an average exercise price of $ per share;

•

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DILUTION

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be immediately diluted to the extent of the difference between the amount per share paid by purchasers of shares of common stock in this offering and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of common stock immediately after this offering.

Net tangible book value (deficit) per share is determined by dividing our total tangible assets (which excludes deferred offering costs) less our total liabilities and convertible preferred stock by the number of shares of common stock outstanding. Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) as of June 30, 2019 was $(38.7) million, or $(7.12) per share of our common stock, based on 5,433,154 shares of common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2019.

Our pro forma net tangible book value as of June 30, 2019 was approximately $ million, or $ per share of common stock. Our pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total tangible assets (which excludes deferred offering costs) reduced by the amount of our total liabilities and divided by the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of June 30, 2019, after giving effect to: (i) the issuance of 16,251,628 shares of Series C convertible preferred stock for gross cash proceeds of $94.5 million in October 2019 and (ii) the conversion of all of our outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into an aggregate of 48,787,895 shares of common stock, which includes our Series C convertible preferred stock issued in October 2019.

After giving effect to (i) the pro forma adjustments set forth above and (ii) our sale in this offering of shares of our common stock at an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of June 30, 2019 would have been approximately $ million, or $ per share of our common stock. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value of $ per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $ per share to investors in this offering. Net tangible book value dilution per share to new investors in this offering represents the difference between the amount per share paid by purchasers of shares of common stock in this offering and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of common stock immediately after completion of this offering. The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis:


Assumed initial public offering price, per share				$
Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share as of June 30, 2019	$	(7.12	)
Increase attributable to pro forma adjustments
Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of June 30, 2019

Increase in pro forma net tangible book value per share attributable to new investors in this offering

Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering

Dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering				$

The dilution information discussed above is illustrative only and may change based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $ million, or $ per share and the dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering by

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$ per share, assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us in this offering would increase our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by approximately $ million, or approximately $ per share, and would decrease dilution per share to new investors in this offering by approximately $ per share, and each decrease of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us in this offering would decrease our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by approximately $ million, or approximately $ per share, and would increase dilution per share to new investors in this offering by approximately $ per share, in each case assuming the initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

If the underwriters exercise their option in full to purchase additional shares, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering would be $ per share, the increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to existing stockholders would be $ per share and the dilution to new investors in this offering would be $ per share.

The following table shows, as of June 30, 2019, on a pro forma as adjusted basis described above, the number of shares of our common stock, the total consideration and the average price per share (i) paid to us by existing stockholders and (ii) to be paid by new investors acquiring our common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the over page of this prospectus, before deducting underwriting discounts and commission and estimated offering expenses payable by us:


	Shares Purchased				Total Consideration				Average Price Per Share
	Number	Percent			Amount	Percent			Average Price Per Share
Existing stockholders				%	$			%	$
New investors									$

Total			100.0	%	$		100.0	%

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) total consideration paid by new investors by approximately $ million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us in this offering would increase (decrease) total consideration paid by new investors by approximately $ million, assuming the initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

Except as otherwise indicated, the above discussion and tables assume no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, our existing stockholders would own % and our new investors would own % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering.

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convertible preferred stock issued in October 2019, into an aggregate of 48,787,895 shares of our common stock immediately prior to completion of this offering, and excludes:

•

3,513,431 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding as of June 30, 2019 under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, with an average exercise price of $0.74 per share;

•

shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding that were granted after June 30, 2019 under our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, with an average exercise price of $ per share;

•

In addition, to the extent that any outstanding options are exercised, investors in this offering will experience further dilution.

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SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The following tables set forth our selected statements of operations and balance sheet data. The selected statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, and the selected balance sheet data as of December 31, 2017 and 2018, are derived from our audited financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus, which financial statements have been audited by our independent registered public accounting firm. We derived our summary statements of operations data for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019 and our summary balance sheet data as of June 30, 2019 from our unaudited interim condensed financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our unaudited interim condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles on the same basis as our audited annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments, that are necessary for the fair statement of our financial position as of June 30, 2019 and our results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019. The following selected financial data below should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in any future period. The selected financial data in this section are not intended to replace the financial statements and are qualified in their entirety by the financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.


	Year Ended December 31,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2017			2018			2018			2019
							(unaudited)
	(in thousands, except share and per share data)
Statements of operations data:
Operating expenses:
Research and development	$	3,411		$	17,940		$	5,512		$	13,416
General and administrative		695			1,795			575			2,073

Total operating expenses		4,106			19,735			6,087			15,489

Loss from operations		(4,106	)		(19,735	)		(6,087	)		(15,489	)
Other income (expense), net		(872	)		480			108			542

Net loss	$	(4,978	)	$	(19,255	)	$	(5,979	)	$	(14,947	)

Net loss per share, basic and diluted(1)	$	(3.58	)	$	(7.76	)	$	(2.83	)	$	(4.39	)

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share, basic and diluted(1)		1,391,097			2,480,246			2,113,627			3,402,298

Pro forma net loss per share, basic and diluted (unaudited)(1)				$						$

Weighted-average shares used in computing pro forma net loss per share, basic and diluted (unaudited)(1)

(1)

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	December 31,						June 30,
	2017			2018			2019
							(unaudited)
	(in thousands)
Balance sheet data:
Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities	$	3,418		$	50,940		$	35,862
Working capital(1)		3,127			48,425			33,426
Total assets		3,819			51,098			38,179
Convertible preferred stock		7,154			72,252			72,252
Accumulated deficit		(5,021	)		(24,276	)		(39,223	)
Total stockholders’ deficit		(4,993	)		(23,987	)		(38,658	)

(1)	We define working capital as current assets less current liabilities. See our financial statements and related notes appearing at the end of this prospectus for further details regarding our current assets and current liabilities.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our “Selected Financial Data” and our audited financial statements and related notes and unaudited interim condensed financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to our plans, objectives, expectations, projections and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, including those factors identified below and those set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus, our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis. Please also see the section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for dermatological diseases with high unmet medical needs. Our current portfolio is comprised of topical treatments with significant potential to address immune-mediated dermatological diseases and conditions, or immuno-dermatology. Our strategy is to identify and develop treatments against validated biological targets in dermatology that deliver a differentiated clinical profile that addresses major shortcomings of existing therapies in our targeted indications. We believe this strategy uniquely positions us to rapidly progress towards our goal of bridging the treatment innovation gap in dermatology, while maximizing our probability of technical success and financial resources.

Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, is a topical cream formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and selective phosphodiesterase type 4, or PDE4, inhibitor, which we are developing for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, including psoriasis in intertriginous regions such as the groin, axillae, and inframammary areas, as well as atopic dermatitis. In July 2018, we executed a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca AB, or AstraZeneca, for exclusive worldwide rights to all topical dermatological uses of roflumilast. We have successfully completed a Phase 2b study of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis, and, in August 2019, paid AstraZeneca the first milestone payment of $2.0 million that was earned upon the achievement of positive Phase 2 data for any AZ-Licensed Product (as defined in “—License Agreements—AstraZeneca License Agreement”). We will initiate Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020 and expect to report topline data in the first half of 2021. We also have advanced ARQ-151 into a Phase 2a study in atopic dermatitis, and expect to report topline results from this study by the end of 2019. If successful, we plan to initiate a Phase 2b study in atopic dermatitis in the second half of 2020 with topline results in the second half of 2021. In addition, we are developing ARQ-154, a topical foam formulation of ARQ-151, and will advance this product candidate into Phase 2b studies in both scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis in Q4 2019/Q1 2020, and expect to report topline data in Q4 2020/Q1 2021 with respect to scalp psoriasis and the second half of 2020 with respect to seborrheic dermatitis. Beyond this, in 2020, we also plan to initiate clinical studies of ARQ-252, a potent and highly selective topical janus kinase type 1, or JAK1, inhibitor for the treatment of hand eczema and vitiligo. Additionally, we have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin in order to potentially treat alopecia areata. In January 2018, we executed an exclusive option and license agreement with Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. of China, or Hengrui, to the active pharmaceutical ingredient in ARQ-252 and ARQ-255 for all topical formulations for dermatological uses in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Since our inception in 2016, we have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in research and development activities. We have not generated any revenue from product

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sales and, to date, have funded our operations primarily with $68.3 million in net cash proceeds from private placements of our convertible preferred stock as of June 30, 2019. In October 2019, we received an additional $94.5 million in gross cash proceeds by selling an aggregate of 16,251,628 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock. We have incurred net losses in each year since inception, including net losses of $5.0 million and $19.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, respectively, and $6.0 million and $14.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, respectively. As of June 30, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit of $39.2 million and cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $35.9 million.

We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future and expect to incur increased expenses as we advance our product candidates through clinical trials and regulatory submissions. We do not expect to generate revenue from product sales unless, and until, we obtain regulatory approval or clearance from the FDA or other foreign regulatory authorities for our product candidates. If we obtain regulatory approval or clearance for our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. In addition, we expect that our expenses will increase substantially as we continue preclinical studies and clinical trials for, and research and development of, our product candidates and maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio and begin operating as a public company. As a result, we will need substantial additional funding to support our operating activities. Adequate funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. We currently anticipate that we will seek to fund our operations through equity or debt financings or other sources, such as future potential collaboration agreements. Our failure to obtain sufficient funds on acceptable terms as and when needed could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. See “—Liquidity, Capital Resources and Requirements” below and Note 1 to the financial statements and interim condensed financial statements for additional information. Based on our current planned operations, we expect that the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash, cash equivalent, and marketable securities, will be sufficient to fund our operations through at least the next 12 months.

We rely on third parties in the conduct of our preclinical studies and clinical trials and for manufacturing and supply of our product candidates. We have no internal manufacturing capabilities, and we will continue to rely on third parties, many of whom are single-source suppliers, for our preclinical and clinical trial materials, as well as the commercial supply of our products. In addition, we do not yet have a sales organization or commercial infrastructure. Accordingly, we will incur significant expenses to develop a sales organization or commercial infrastructure in advance of generating any product sales.

License Agreements

AstraZeneca License Agreement

In July 2018, we entered into an exclusive license agreement, or the AstraZeneca License Agreement, with AstraZeneca, granting us a worldwide exclusive license, with the right to sublicense through multiple tiers, under certain AstraZeneca-controlled patent rights, know-how and regulatory documentation, to research, develop, manufacture, commercialize and otherwise exploit products containing roflumilast in topical forms, as well as delivery systems sold with or for the administration of roflumilast, or collectively, the AZ-Licensed Products, for all diagnostic, prophylactic and therapeutic uses for human dermatological indications, or the Dermatology Field. Under this agreement, we have sole responsibility for development, regulatory, and commercialization activities for the AZ-Licensed Products in the Dermatology Field, at our expense, and we shall use commercially reasonable efforts to develop, obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for, and commercialize the AZ-Licensed Products in the Dermatology Field in each of the United States, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Japan.

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We paid AstraZeneca an upfront non-refundable cash payment of $1.0 million and issued 969,117 shares of our Series B Preferred stock, valued at $3.0 million on the date of the AstraZeneca License Agreement. In addition, we have agreed to make cash payments to AstraZeneca of up to an aggregate of $14.5 million upon the achievement of specified clinical development and regulatory approval milestones with respect to the AZ-Licensed Products and payments up to an additional aggregate amount of $15.0 million upon the achievement of certain aggregate worldwide net sales milestones. With respect to any AZ-Licensed Products we commercialize under the AstraZeneca License Agreement, we will pay AstraZeneca a low to high single-digit percentage royalty rate on our, our affiliates’ and our sublicensees’ net sales of such AZ-Licensed Products, until, as determined on an AZ-Licensed Product-by-AZ-Licensed Product and country-by-country basis, the later of the date of the expiration of the last-to-expire AstraZeneca-licensed patent right containing a valid claim in such country and ten years from the first commercial sale of such AZ-Licensed Product in such country. The first milestone cash payment of $2.0 million was earned upon the achievement of positive Phase 2 data for any AZ-Licensed Product, and we paid this in August 2019 upon the completion of a Phase 2b study of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis.

We did not record any license or milestone expense for the period of six months ended June 30, 2019 related to the AstraZeneca License Agreement. For more information, please see “Business—Exclusive License and Option Agreements.”

Hengrui Exclusive Option and License Agreement

In January 2018, we entered into an exclusive option and license agreement, or Hengrui License Agreement, with Hengrui, whereby Hengrui granted us an exclusive option to obtain certain exclusive rights to research, develop and commercialize products containing the compound designated by Hengrui as SHR0302, a JAK inhibitor, in topical formulations for the treatment of skin diseases, disorders, and conditions in the United States, Japan, and the European Union (including for clarity the United Kingdom). The initial option period under the Hengrui License Agreement extended to June 2019, and was subsequently amended to extend until January 2020. We made a $0.4 million upfront non-refundable cash payment to Hengrui upon execution of the Hengrui License Agreement. If we exercise our exclusive option, we will pay Hengrui an additional $1.5 million option exercise cash payment. In addition, if exercised, we have agreed to make cash payments of up to an aggregate of $20.5 million upon our achievement of specified clinical development and regulatory approval milestones with respect to the licensed products and cash payments of up to an additional aggregate of $200.0 million in sales-based milestones based on achieving certain aggregate annual net sales volumes with respect to a licensed product. With respect to any products we commercialize under the Hengrui License Agreement, we will pay tiered royalties to Hengrui on net sales of each licensed product by us, or our affiliates, or our sublicensees, ranging from mid single-digit to sub-teen percentage rates based on tiered annual net sales bands subject to specified reductions. We are obligated to pay royalties until the later of (1) expiration of the last valid claim of the licensed patent rights covering such licensed product in such country and (2) the expiration of regulatory exclusivity for the relevant licensed product in the relevant country, on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis. Additionally, we are obligated to pay Hengrui a specified percentage, ranging from the low-thirties to the sub-teens, of certain non-royalty sublicensing income we receive from sublicensees of our rights to the licensed products, such percentage decreasing as the development stage of the licensed products advance. For more information, please see “Business—Exclusive License and Option Agreements.”

Hawkeye Collaboration Agreement

In June 2019, we entered into a collaboration agreement, or the Hawkeye Agreement, with Hawkeye Therapeutics, Inc., or Hawkeye, a related party with common ownership, to collaborate on

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the research and development of one or more new applications of roflumilast. The Hawkeye Agreement grants Hawkeye an exclusive license to certain intellectual property developed under the agreement as it relates to the applications. Under the terms of the Hawkeye Agreement, we are required to perform certain research and development activities that are fully funded by Hawkeye.

Contemporaneously with the execution of the Hawkeye Collaboration Agreement, we entered into a stock purchase agreement, purchasing 995,000 shares of Hawkeye’s common stock at $0.0001 per share, representing 19.9% of the outstanding common stock of Hawkeye. The shares are subject to a right to repurchase by Hawkeye which vests monthly over the six-month term of the Hawkeye Agreement. See Note 6 to the interim condensed financial statements for additional information.

Components of Our Results of Operations

Revenue

We have not generated any revenue from the sale of our products, and we do not expect to generate any revenue unless and until we obtain regulatory clearance or approval of, and commercialize, our product candidates.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Since our inception, we have focused significant resources on our research and development activities, including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, manufacturing development efforts and activities related to regulatory filings for our product candidates. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. These costs include direct program expenses, which are payments made to third parties that specifically relate to our research and development, such as payments to clinical research organizations, clinical investigators, manufacturing of clinical material, preclinical testing and consultants. In addition, employee costs, including salaries, payroll taxes, benefits, stock-based compensation and travel, for employees contributing to research and development activities are classified as research and development costs. We allocate direct external costs to our product candidates; internal costs are not allocated to specific product candidates.

We expect to continue to incur substantial research and development expenses in the future as we develop our product candidates. In particular, we expect to incur substantial research and development expenses for the Phase 3 trials of ARQ-151 for plaque psoriasis, including in the intertriginous regions, the preclinical studies and clinical trials for the continued development of ARQ-151 for atopic dermatitis, ARQ-154 for seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis, ARQ-252 for hand eczema and vitiligo, and ARQ-255 for alopecia areata.

We have entered, and may continue to enter, into license agreements to access and utilize certain molecules for the treatment of dermatological diseases and disorders. We evaluate if the license agreement is an acquisition of an asset or a business. To date, none of our license agreements have been considered to be an acquisition of a business. For asset acquisitions, the upfront payments to acquire such licenses, as well as any future milestone payments made before product approval, are immediately recognized as research and development expense when due, provided there is no alternative future use of the rights in other research and development projects.

The successful development of our product candidates is highly uncertain. At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate the nature, timing or costs required to complete the remaining development of ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255 or any future product candidates. This is due to the

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numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development of product candidates. See “Risk Factors” for a discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with our research and development projects.

General and Administrative Expenses

Our general and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and related costs, including payroll taxes, benefits, stock-based compensation and travel. Other general and administrative expenses include legal costs of pursuing patent protection of our intellectual property, and professional services fees for auditing, tax and general legal services. We expect our general and administrative expenses to continue to increase in the future as we expand our operating activities and prepare for potential commercialization of our product candidates, increase our headcount and support our operations as a public company, including increased expenses related to legal, accounting, regulatory and tax-related services associated with maintaining compliance with exchange listing and Securities and Exchange Commission requirements, directors and officers liability insurance premiums and investor relations activities.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net primarily consists of changes in the fair value of our convertible preferred stock liability and interest income earned on our marketable securities.

Results of Operations

Comparison of the Six Months Ended June 30, 2018 and 2019

The following table sets forth our results of operations for the periods indicated:


	Six Months Ended June 30,
	2018			2019			Change
	(unaudited)
	(in thousands)
Operating expenses:
Research and development	$	5,512		$	13,416		$	7,904
General and administrative		575			2,073			1,498

Total operating expenses		6,087			15,489			9,402

Loss from operations		(6,087	)		(15,489	)		(9,402	)
Other income, net		108			542			434

Net loss	$	(5,979	)	$	(14,947	)	$	(8,968	)

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Research and Development Expenses


	Six Months Ended June 30,
	2018		2019		Change
	(unaudited)
	(in thousands)
Direct Costs:
Preclinical and clinical	$	3,591	$	8,771	$	5,180
Manufacturing		416		2,090		1,674
Product milestones		400		—		(400	)
Indirect Costs:
Compensation and personnel-related		1,069		2,411		1,342
Other		36		144		108

Total research and development expense	$	5,512	$	13,416	$	7,904

Research and development expenses were $13.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, compared to $5.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase of $7.9 million was primarily due to an increase in clinical trial costs of $5.2 million and manufacturing costs of $1.7 million, partially offset by a decrease in product milestone payments of $0.4 million. The increases in clinical trial costs and manufacturing costs relate to the initiation of the Phase 2b and open label extension studies in ARQ-151 for plaque psoriasis in the second half of 2018 and the initiation of Phase 2 study in ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis in early 2019. Product milestones consisted of a $0.4 million cash payment made to Hengrui for the option to obtain a license in 2018. The increase in research and development expenses was also attributable to an increase of $1.3 million in compensation and personnel-related expenses due to an increase in headcount, which includes stock compensation.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses were $2.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, compared to $0.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase of $1.5 million was primarily due to an increase of $0.8 million in compensation and personnel-related expenses due to an increase in headcount, which includes stock compensation. The increase was also driven by increases in professional services of $0.6 million for legal, tax, audit, recruiting, market research studies and various other administrative functions.

Other Income, Net

Other income, net was $0.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019, compared to $0.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The increase of $0.4 million was primarily due to interest earned on our marketable securities from the funds received from the issuance of our Series B convertible preferred stock in the second half of 2018.

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Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2017 and 2018

The following table sets forth our results of operations for the periods indicated:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2018			Change
	(in thousands)
Operating expenses:
Research and development	$	3,411		$	17,940		$	14,529
General and administrative		695			1,795			1,100

Total operating expenses		4,106			19,735			15,629

Loss from operations		(4,106	)		(19,735	)		(15,629	)
Other income (expense), net		(872	)		480			1,352

Net loss	$	(4,978	)	$	(19,255	)	$	(14,277	)

Research and Development Expenses


	Year Ended December 31,
	2017		2018		Change
			(unaudited)
			(in thousands)
Direct Costs:
Preclinical and clinical	$	2,166	$	8,448	$	6,282
Manufacturing		271		2,493		2,222
Product milestones		—		4,400		4,400
Indirect Costs:
Compensation and personnel-related		459		1,566		1,107
Other		515		1,033		518

Total research and development expense	$	3,411	$	17,940	$	14,529

Research and development expenses were $17.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase of $14.5 million was due to increases in clinical trial costs of $6.3 million, product milestones of $4.4 million, manufacturing costs of $2.2 million, compensation and personnel-related expenses of $1.1 million, and regulatory and clinical consulting costs of $0.5 million. The increase in clinical trial and manufacturing costs were related to our Phase 2a and Phase 2b clinical trials of ARQ-151 for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, which were initiated in 2018. Product milestones consisted of a $4.0 million upfront payment to AstraZeneca, comprised of $1.0 million paid in cash and the issuance of $3.0 million in shares of our Series B convertible preferred stock during 2018, as well as a $0.4 million cash payment made to Hengrui for the option to obtain a license. The increase in compensation and personnel-related expenses was due to an increase in headcount, which includes stock compensation.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses were $1.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $0.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase of $1.1 million was primarily due to an increase of $0.6 million in compensation and personnel-related expenses due to an increase in headcount, which includes stock compensation. The increase was also driven by increases in professional services of $0.5 million for legal, recruiting, market research studies and other administrative services.

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Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net was income of $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to expense of $0.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The change of $1.4 million was due to an increase in interest income of $0.4 million from interest earned on the funds received from the issuance of convertible preferred stock in 2018, and a decrease in expense of $0.8 million primarily from the fair value remeasurement of the Series A convertible preferred stock liability and $0.2 million from the fair value remeasurement of the derivative liability related to our promissory notes payable that converted into Series A convertible preferred stock in 2017.

Liquidity, Capital Resources and Requirements

Sources of Liquidity

We have incurred operating losses since our inception and have an accumulated deficit as a result of ongoing efforts to develop our product candidates, including conducting preclinical and clinical trials and providing general and administrative support for these operations. As of June 30, 2019, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $35.9 million and an accumulated deficit of $39.2 million. In October 2019, we received an additional $94.5 million in gross cash proceeds by selling an aggregate of 16,251,628 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock. We anticipate that operating losses and net cash used in operating activities will increase over the next several years as we further develop ARQ-151, ARQ-154, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255, move into later and more costly stages of product development, develop new product candidates, hire personnel and prepare for regulatory submissions and the commercialization of our product candidates.

We have historically financed our operations primarily through private placements of preferred stock and will continue to be dependent upon equity, debt financing or collaborations or other forms of capital at least until we are able to generate positive cash flows from our operations.

Cash Flows

The following table sets forth our cash flows for the periods indicated:


	Year Ended December 31,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2017			2018			2018			2019
							(unaudited)
	(in thousands)
Cash used in operating activities	$	(3,775	)	$	(14,085	)	$	(5,440	)	$	(15,228	)
Cash used in investing activities		—			(11,532	)		—			(11,511	)
Cash provided by financing activities		7,119			61,593			6,536			168

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	$	3,344		$	35,976		$	1,096		$	(26,571	)

Net Cash Used in Operating Activities

During the six months ended June 30, 2019, net cash used in operating activities was $15.2 million which consisted of a net loss of $15.0 million, adjusted by non-cash charges of $0.1 million and a decrease of $0.3 million in our net operating assets and liabilities. The decrease in our net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to an increase of $1.6 million in prepaid expenses and other current assets for advances made for clinical trial costs, partially offset by a net increase of $1.3 million in accounts payable and accrued liabilities due to our overall growth, increased research and development spending and timing of payments.

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During the six months ended June 30, 2018, net cash used in operating activities was $5.4 million which consisted of a net loss of $6.0 million and an increase of $0.6 million in our net operating assets and liabilities. The increase in our net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to a net increase of $0.3 million in accounts payable and accrued liabilities due to our overall growth, increased research and development spending and timing of payments, as well as an overall decrease of $0.3 million in prepaid expenses and other current assets due to the timing of advance payments made for clinical trial costs.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash used in operating activities was $14.1 million and consisted primarily of a net loss of $19.3 million adjusted by non-cash charges of $3.1 million and increase of $2.1 million in our net operating assets and liabilities. The non-cash charges were primarily related to the issuance of convertible preferred stock in connection with the AstraZeneca License Agreement, which was expensed to research and development. The increase in our net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to a net increase of $1.9 million in accounts payable and accrued liabilities due to our overall growth, increased research and development spending and timing of payments.

During the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash used in operating activities was $3.8 million and consisted primarily of a net loss of $5.0 million, adjusted by non-cash charges of $0.9 million and increase of $0.3 million in our net operating assets and liabilities. The non-cash charges consisted of a loss from fair value remeasurement of our convertible preferred stock liability of $0.7 million and a loss from fair value measurement of the derivative liability of $0.2 million due to the conversion of our promissory notes payable into Series A convertible preferred stock. The increase in our net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to a net increase of $0.7 million in accounts payable and accrued liabilities due to our overall growth, increased research and development spending and timing of payments. These changes were partially offset by an increase of $0.4 million in prepaid expenses and other current assets for advances made for clinical trial costs.

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

During the six months ended June 30, 2019, net cash used in investing activities was $11.5 million and represented purchases of marketable securities of $23.0 million and purchases of property and equipment of $0.2 million, partially offset by proceeds from the maturities of marketable securities of $11.7 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash used in investing activities was $11.5 million, which represented the purchase of marketable securities.

Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities

During the six months ended June 30, 2019, net cash provided by financing activities was $0.2 million from the proceeds received from the exercise of stock options.

During the six months ended June 30, 2018, net cash provided by financing activities was $6.5 million consisting of $6.3 million from proceeds received from the second closing of our Series A convertible preferred stock financing and $0.2 million from proceeds received from the exercise of stock options.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash provided by financing activities was $61.6 million, consisting of $61.2 million in proceeds from the issuance of our Series A and Series B convertible preferred stock and $0.4 million from proceeds received from the exercise of stock options.

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During the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash provided by financing activities was $7.1 million, primarily consisting of proceeds from the issuance of our Series A convertible preferred stock.

Funding Requirements

We have historically incurred significant losses and negative cash flows from operations since our inception and had an accumulated deficit of $24.3 million as of December 31, 2018. We had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $50.9 million as of December 31, 2018. In October 2019, we received an additional $94.5 million in gross cash proceeds by selling an aggregate of 16,251,628 shares of our Series C convertible preferred stock. Based on our current planned operations, we expect that our current cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, including the cash proceeds received in connection with the issuance of our Series C convertible preferred stock, will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least 12 months after the date our most recent financial statements were issued. As noted in our 2018 audited financial statements, there were conditions that raised substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of one year from the date of the issuance of our 2018 financial statements. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon our ability to successfully secure sources of financing and ultimately achieve profitable operations.

We will need to raise substantial additional capital to fund our operations through the sale of our equity securities, incurring debt, entering into licensing or collaboration agreements with partners, grants or other sources of financing. There can be no assurance that sufficient funds will be available to us at all or on attractive terms when needed from these sources. If we are unable to obtain additional funding from these or other sources when needed it may be necessary to significantly reduce our current rate of spending through reductions in staff and delaying, scaling back, or stopping certain research and development programs. Insufficient liquidity may also require us to relinquish rights to product candidates at an earlier stage of development or on less favorable terms than we would otherwise choose.

We have based our projections of operating capital requirements on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect and we may use all our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our operating capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to:

•

the timing of, and the costs involved in, obtaining regulatory approvals for our lead product candidate or our other product candidates;

•

the number and characteristics of any additional product candidates we develop or acquire;

•

the cost of manufacturing our lead product candidates or any future product candidates and any products we successfully commercialize, including costs associated with building out our supply chain;

•

the cost of commercialization activities if our lead product candidates or any future product candidates are approved for sale, including marketing, sales and distribution costs;

•

the cost of building a sales force in anticipation of product commercialization;

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•

our ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations, licensing or other arrangements and the financial terms of any such agreements that we may enter into;

•

the costs related to milestone payments to AstraZeneca or Hengrui, upon the achievement of predetermined milestones;

•

any product liability or other lawsuits related to our products;

•

the expenses needed to attract and retain skilled personnel;

•

the costs associated with being a public company;

•

the costs involved in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining, defending and enforcing patent claims, and the outcome of this and any other future patent litigation we may be involved in; and

•

the timing, receipt and amount of sales of any future approved products, if any.

Contractual Obligations and Contingent Liabilities

We had no significant contractual obligations as of December 31, 2018. The following summarizes our significant contractual obligations as of June 30, 2019:


	Total		Less than 1 Year		1-3 Years		3-5 Years		More than 5 Years
	(in thousands)
Operating leases	$	418	$	94	$	324	$	—	$	—

Total obligations	$	418	$	94	$	324	$	—	$	—

We entered into a lease agreement in January 2019 for our headquarters in Westlake Village, California. The term of the lease commenced in March 2019 and terminates in July 2021. The total estimated lease payments for this facility over the remaining term of the lease are approximately $0.5 million.

We are party to license agreements pursuant to which we have in-licensed various intellectual property rights. The license agreements obligate us to make certain milestone payments related to achievement of specified events, as well as royalties in the low-single digits based on sales of licensed products. None of these events had occurred as of June 30, 2019, and no royalties were due from the sales of licensed products. The table above does not include any milestone or royalty payments to the counterparties to these agreements as the amounts, timing and likelihood of such payments are not known. See Note 6 to our audited financial statements and Note 5 to our unaudited interim condensed financial statements for additional information.

We enter into contracts in the normal course of business with clinical research organizations for clinical trials and clinical supply manufacturing and with vendors for preclinical research studies, research supplies and other services and products for operating purposes. These contracts generally provide for termination on notice, and therefore we believe that our non-cancelable obligations under these agreements are not material.

Indemnification

In the normal course of business, we enter into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties and provide for general indemnifications. Our exposure under these agreements is unknown because it involves claims that may be made against us in the future, but have

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not yet been made. To date, we have not paid any claims or been required to defend any action related to our indemnification obligations. However, we may record charges in the future as a result of these indemnification obligations.

In accordance with our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, we have indemnification obligations to our officers and directors for specified events or occurrences, subject to some limits, while they are serving at our request in such capacities. There have been no claims to date, and we have director and officer insurance that may enable us to recover a portion of any amounts paid for future potential claims.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined under SEC rules.

Critical Accounting Policies and Use of Estimates

Our management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported expenses during the reporting periods. These items are monitored and analyzed by us for changes in facts and circumstances, and material changes in these estimates could occur in the future. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Changes in estimates are reflected in reported results for the period in which they become known. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in the notes to our financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, we believe that the following accounting policies are critical to the process of making significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our financial statements and understanding and evaluating our reported financial results.

Preclinical and Clinical Accruals and Costs

We record accrued liabilities for estimated costs of research and development activities conducted by third-party service providers, which include the conduct of preclinical studies, clinical studies, clinical trials and contract manufacturing activities. These costs are a significant component of our research and development expenses. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred unless there is an alternative future use in other research and development projects. We accrue for these costs based on factors such as estimates of the work completed and in accordance with agreements established with third-party service providers under the service agreements. As it relates to clinical trials, the financial terms of these contracts are subject to negotiations which vary from contract to contract and may result in payment flows that do not match the periods over which materials or services are provided under such contracts. Payments made prior to the receipt of goods or services to be used in research and development are capitalized until the goods or services are received. Such payments are evaluated for current or long-term classification based on when they will be realized. Our objective is to reflect the appropriate expense in our financial statements by matching those expenses with the period in which the services and efforts are expended. We account for these

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expenses according to the progress of the trial as measured by patient progression and the timing of various aspects of the trial utilizing financial models taking into consideration discussions with applicable personnel and outside service providers. During the course of a clinical trial, we adjust the rate of clinical expense recognition if actual results differ from our estimates. We make significant judgments and estimates in determining the accrued liabilities balance in each reporting period. As actual costs become known, we adjust our accrued liabilities. We have not experienced any material differences between accrued costs as of December 31, 2017 and 2018 and June 30, 2019 and actual costs incurred.

Stock-Based Compensation

We account for share-based payments at fair value. For share-based awards that vest subject to the satisfaction of a service requirement, the fair value measurement date for such awards is the date of grant and the expense is recognized on a straight-line basis, over the expected vesting period. For share-based awards that vest subject to a performance condition, we recognize compensation cost for awards if and when we conclude that it is probable that the awards with a performance condition will be achieved on an accelerated attribution method. We account for forfeitures as they occur.

We calculate the fair value measurement of stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and assumptions discussed below. Each of these inputs is subjective and generally requires significant judgement.

Fair value of common stock—see the subsection titled “Common Stock Valuations” below.

Expected Term—The expected term represents the period that we expect our stock-based awards to be outstanding. We used the simplified method (based on the mid-point between the vesting date and the end of the contractual term) to determine the expected term.

Expected Volatility—Since we are privately held and do not have any trading history for our common stock, the expected volatility was estimated based on the average historical volatilities for comparable publicly traded pharmaceutical companies over a period equal to the expected term of the stock option grants. The comparable companies were chosen based on their similar size, stage in the life cycle and area of specialty. We will continue to apply this process until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of our stock price becomes available.

Risk-Free Interest Rate—The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero coupon issues in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding with the expected term of option.

Dividend Yield—We have never paid dividends on common stock and have no plans to pay dividends on our common stock. Therefore, we used an expected dividend yield of zero.

See Note 9 to our audited financial statements and to our unaudited interim condensed financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for more information concerning certain of the specific assumptions we used in applying the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the estimated fair value of our stock options. Certain of such assumptions involve inherent uncertainties and the application of significant judgment. As a result, if factors or expected outcomes change and we use significantly different assumptions or estimates, our stock-based compensation could be materially different.

We recorded stock-based compensation expense of $27,000 and $151,000 for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, respectively and $42,000 and $215,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2019, respectively. As of June 30, 2019, there was $2.0 million of unrecognized

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compensation expense related to unvested options, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 3.8 years. We expect to continue to grant stock options and other equity-based awards in the future, and to the extent that we do, our stock-based compensation expense recognized in future periods will likely increase.

Based upon the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, the aggregate intrinsic value of options outstanding as of June 30, 2019 was $ million, of which $ million related to vested options and $ million related to unvested options.

Common Stock Valuation

There are significant assumptions and estimates required in determining the fair value of our common stock. Due to the absence of an active market for our common stock, the fair value of our common stock was determined in good faith by our board of directors, with the assistance and upon the recommendation of management and valuations of our common stock prepared by an unrelated third-party valuation firm, based on a number of objective and subjective factors consistent with the methodologies outlined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Practice Aid, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation, referred to as the AICPA Practice Aid, including:

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contemporaneous valuations of our shares of common stock;

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the prices of each of our series of preferred stock sold by us to outside investors in arm’s length transactions, and the rights, preferences and privileges of each of these series of preferred stock relative to our common stock;

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our results of operations, financial position and the status of our research and development efforts;

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the composition of our management team and board of directors;

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the material risks related to our business;

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the market performance of publicly traded companies in the life sciences and biotechnology sectors;

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the likelihood of achieving a liquidity event for the holders of our shares of common stock, such as a sale of the company or an initial public offering, given prevailing market conditions;

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the lack of marketability of our common stock; and

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external market conditions affecting the life sciences and biotechnology industry sectors.

Although it is reasonable to expect that the completion of our initial public offering will increase the value of our common stock as a result of increased liquidity and marketability and the elimination of the liquidation preferences of our convertible preferred stock, the amount of additional value cannot be measured with precision or certainty. If we had made different assumptions than those described below, the fair value of the underlying common stock and amount of our stock-based compensation expense, net loss and net loss per share amounts would have differed. Following the closing of our initial public offering, the fair value per share of our common stock for purposes of determining stock-based compensation will be the closing price of our common stock as reported on the applicable grant date.

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The following table summarizes the grant dates, number of underlying shares and related fair value of stock options granted to employees under the plan:


Date of Grant	Number of shares underlying option grants		Exercise price per share ($)		Per share estimated fair value of common stock ($)
March 9, 2018		390,431		0.18		0.56
June 13, 2018		1,109,149		0.29		0.59
November 21, 2018		175,000		0.84		0.84
March 5, 2019		373,750		0.84		0.84
March 13, 2019		1,767,200		0.84		0.84
May 14, 2019		550,000		0.84		0.84
June 11, 2019		240,000		0.84		0.84

Historically, for all periods prior to this offering, fair values of the shares of common stock underlying our share-based awards were estimated on each grant date by our board of directors. Our board of directors considered, among other things, valuations of our common stock which were prepared by an unrelated third-party valuation firm in accordance with the guidance provided by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 2013 Practice Aid, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation. In determining a fair value for our common stock, we used the Backsolve Method. The Backsolve Method utilizes a recent equity financing, in our case, our Series A and Series B convertible preferred stock financings, to back into the implied equity value. The equity value is then allocated to the equity classes using an option pricing method and then reducing the implied common stock value by a discount for lack of marketability. The resulting fair value of our common stock as of our April 2017, March 2018 and August 2018 valuation dates was $0.18, $0.29, and $0.84 per share, respectively.

In 2019, we reassessed the determination of the fair value of the common shares underlying the grants made prior to August 2018 in connection with a valuation of the convertible preferred stock liability. This analysis revised our implied equity value, which was then allocated to each equity class using an option pricing method and the implied value of common stock was then reduced by a discount for lack of marketability. As a result of this reassessment, we determined that fair value of common stock increased to $0.23, $0.56 and $0.59 per share as of April 2017, December 2017 and March 2018, respectively. The increase to both recognized and unrecognized share-based compensation expense due to these higher share prices was approximately $86,000 and $0.4 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2018.

Income Taxes

As of December 31, 2018, we had deferred tax assets of $5.3 million. The deferred tax assets have been offset by a valuation allowance due to uncertainties surrounding our ability to realize these tax benefits. The deferred tax assets are primarily composed of net operating loss, or NOL, tax carryforwards. As of December 31, 2018, we had federal and state NOL carryforwards of $17.2 million and $18.1 million, respectively, available to potentially offset future taxable income. As of December 31, 2018, we also had federal and California research and development tax credit carryforwards of approximately $0.8 million and $0.3 million, respectively, available to potentially offset future federal income taxes. The federal research and development tax carryforwards, if not utilized, will expire beginning in 2037. The California research and development tax credit carryforwards are available indefinitely. Federal and California tax law impose significant restrictions on the utilization of net operating loss carryforwards in the event of a change in ownership, as defined by Internal Revenue Code Section 382 and 383. We have not completed a formal study to determine any limitations on our

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tax attributes due to changes in ownership and may have limitations on the utilization of net operating loss carryforwards, credit carryforwards, or other tax attributes due to ownership changes.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

We adopted Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), on January 1, 2019. As of December 31, 2018, we had not entered into any leases within the scope of the standard and there was no impact to our unaudited interim condensed financial statements upon adoption.

See Note 2 to our audited financial statements and unaudited interim condensed financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for more information.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

We are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business. These risks primarily include interest rate sensitivities. As of June 30, 2019, we had cash and cash equivalents of $12.8 million and marketable securities of $23.0 million, which consist of bank deposits, money market funds, commercial paper and government securities. The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve capital to fund our operations. We also seek to maximize income from our investments without assuming significant risk. Because our investments are primarily short-term in duration, we believe that our exposure to interest rate risk is not significant, and a 1% movement in market interest rates would not have a significant impact on the total value of our portfolio. We had no debt outstanding as of June 30, 2019.

Emerging Growth Company Status

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date that we are (i) no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, these financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates. We early adopted ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments—Overall (Topic 825)—Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, ASU 2016-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718)—Improvements to Employee Share Based Payment Accounting, ASU No. 2018-07, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting, and ASU No. 2016-02, Leases as the JOBS Act does not preclude an emerging growth company from early adopting a new or revised accounting standard earlier than the time such standard applies to private companies. We expect to use the extended transition period for any other new or revised accounting standards during the period in which we remain an emerging growth company.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering. However, if certain events occur prior to the end of such five-year period, including if we become a “large accelerated filer,” our annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion or we issue more than $1.0 billion of non-convertible debt in any three-year period, we will cease to be an emerging growth company prior to the end of such five-year period.

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BUSINESS

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for dermatological diseases with high unmet medical needs. Our current portfolio is comprised of topical treatments with significant potential to address immune-mediated dermatological diseases and conditions, or immuno-dermatology. Our strategy is to identify and develop treatments against validated biological targets in dermatology that deliver a clinical profile that addresses major shortcomings of existing therapies in our targeted indications. We believe this strategy uniquely positions us to rapidly progress towards our goal of bridging the treatment innovation gap in dermatology, while maximizing our probability of technical success and financial resources.

Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, is a topical cream formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and selective phosphodiesterase type 4, or PDE4, inhibitor, which we are developing for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, including psoriasis in intertriginous regions such as the groin, axillae, and inframammary areas, as well as atopic dermatitis. PDE4 is an established biological target in dermatology, with multiple PDE4 inhibitors approved by the U.S. Food or Drug Administration, or FDA. We have successfully completed a Phase 2b study of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis, and have treated more than 400 plaque psoriasis patients, demonstrating potential efficacy and tolerability of ARQ-151 in this population. We will initiate Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020 and expect to report topline data in the first half of 2021. We also have completed enrollment of a Phase 2a study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis, and expect to report topline results from this study by the end of 2019. If successful, we plan to initiate a Phase 2b study in atopic dermatitis in the second half of 2020 with topline results in the second half of 2021. In addition, we are developing ARQ-154, a topical foam formulation of ARQ-151, and will advance this product candidate into Phase 2b studies in both scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis in Q4 2019/Q1 2020, and expect to report topline data in Q4 2020/Q1 2021 with respect to scalp psoriasis and the second half of 2020 with respect to seborrheic dermatitis. Beyond this, in 2020 we also plan to initiate clinical studies of ARQ-252, a potent and highly selective topical janus kinase type 1, or JAK1, inhibitor for the treatment of hand eczema and vitiligo. Additionally, we have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin in order to potentially treat alopecia areata.

Dermatological diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, hand eczema, alopecia areata, and vitiligo affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year, impacting their quality of life, and physical, functional and emotional well-being. Despite this, and despite a number of approved therapies available for these indications as well as continued progress in the development of therapies to treat dermatological diseases, especially biologic treatments, the vast majority of dermatology patients are still treated using traditional therapies that offer inadequate efficacy, do not target specific disease mediators, or have demonstrated substantial safety and tolerability issues. For example, in head to head clinical trials in plaque psoriasis, vitamin D analogues have shown efficacy substantially less than that associated with high potency steroids, whereas high potency steroids are only indicated for treatment durations of two to eight weeks due to safety concerns. Similarly, we believe that topical crisaborole (Eucrisa) and topical calcineurin inhibitors are generally seen as less effective than topical steroids in the treatment of atopic dermatitis. While modern biologic therapies have redefined the standard of efficacy in moderate-to-severe patients, in 2018, only 6% of psoriasis patients were being treated with these therapies, and even fewer atopic dermatitis patients received them. We believe that there is a significant opportunity to leverage developments in other fields of medicine, particularly inflammation and immunology, to address the significant need for effective chronic treatments in immuno-dermatology. Our initial focus is to address patients’ significant need for innovative topical treatments that directly target molecular mediators of

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disease with the potential for high local efficacy, low systemic safety risks and the ability to use chronically.

We are developing ARQ-151 for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. High-potency steroids are the current standard of care for plaque psoriasis, and low- to mid-potency steroids are the current standard of care for atopic dermatitis, but steroids are associated with suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or HPA axis (one of the body’s four neuroendocrine systems, playing a central role in regulating portions of the metabolic, cardiovascular, immune, reproductive and central nervous systems), skin atrophy (thinning), striae (stretch marks), and telangiectasias (spider veins), among other side effects. Furthermore, some of these side effects are irreversible, persisting even after therapy is discontinued. Based on market research and our internal estimates, we estimate the population of patients treated with prescribed topical therapies in the United States is approximately 2.5 million patients and 5.4 million patients for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, respectively. We estimate our addressable market opportunity, which focuses on patients treated by dermatologists with topical therapies, for each of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis is 2.0 million patients and 1.0 million patients, respectively.

In order to capitalize on our opportunity, we have assembled a management team with deep development, formulation and commercialization expertise for dermatology products. Our management team has held key roles in numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies with a dermatology focus, including Pfizer Inc., Amgen Inc., Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. Through these roles, our management team was integrally involved in the development, approval and/or commercialization of more than thirty FDA-approved products (including eighteen topical products) such as Enbrel, Jublia, CeraVe, Aczone, and Xeljanz. This extensive experience provides us with unique insights and capabilities in dermatology drug development and commercialization.

We are supported by our board of directors and scientific advisors, who have significant experience in dermatology as well as expertise in public companies and business development. Our key investors include funds managed by Bain Capital Life Sciences, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Hillhouse Capital, OrbiMed, and RA Capital, among others.

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Our Pipeline

The following charts summarize our product pipeline, including our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, and our upcoming anticipated milestones:

LOGO

ARQ-151

Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151 is a topical cream containing roflumilast, a PDE4 inhibitor, that we are developing to treat plaque psoriasis, including intertriginous psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis. Based on the clinical data we have generated to date, we believe ARQ-151 has the potential to offer efficacy in-line with a high-potency steroid, a favorable tolerability profile, the ability to treat chronically, and little to none of the application site skin reactions associated with many existing treatments.

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Mechanism of Action and Differentiation

ARQ-151 is a topical cream formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and selective PDE4 inhibitor. Roflumilast was approved in 2011 for systemic treatment to reduce the risk of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, in patients with associated chronic bronchitis in 2011, with an estimated aggregate usage of over 1.0 million patient years to date.

PDE4 is an intracellular enzyme that increases the production of pro-inflammatory mediators and decreases production of anti-inflammatory mediators, and has been implicated in a wide range of inflammatory diseases including psoriasis, eczema, and COPD. PDE4 is an established biological target in dermatology. The FDA has approved a number of PDE4 inhibitors, including Eucrisa for the topical treatment of atopic dermatitis and Otezla for the systemic treatment of plaque psoriasis.

Roflumilast, the active component of ARQ-151, has demonstrated greater potency relative to the active ingredients in two approved PDE4 treatments based on IC50 values (the concentration at which a biologic target’s activity is inhibited by 50% and a non-clinical measure of a drug’s potency), and has not produced the harmful side effects frequently associated with other PDE4 treatments, such as the application site burning frequently associated with Eucrisa, or the gastro-intestinal side effects frequently associated with Otezla, an oral PDE4. Based on the potency of roflumilast and the clinical results of ARQ-151, as well as the prior failures of topical crisaborole (Eucrisa) and topical apremilast (Otezla) in psoriasis, we believe that it is likely that ARQ-151 will be the only topical PDE4 inhibitor approved for the treatment of psoriasis.

Clinical and Safety Data and Development Plan

Plaque Psoriasis

For our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, we have completed two randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled Phase 2 studies in plaque psoriasis, including a 331-patient multinational, multi-center Phase 2b study and an 89 patient multinational, multi-center Phase 2a study. Both studies have demonstrated significant reductions in the signs of plaque psoriasis and ARQ-151 has been well-tolerated in this population. In our Phase 2b study, ARQ-151 also demonstrated significant reductions in the signs of psoriatic plaques in the intertriginous regions, as well as favorable tolerability in those areas.

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The following table summarizes the results from our Phase 2b study of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis:


		Phase 2b (ARQ-151-201)
	% of Patients	0.3% Dose (n = 109)			0.15% Dose (n = 113)(a)			Vehicle (n = 109)(b)			p-value (0.3% vs. vehicle)
Week 6	% IGA of Clear or Almost Clear		28.0			22.8			8.3			<0.001

Week 8	% IGA Success(c)		32.2			24.5			9.8			< 0.001
	Mean % CFB in PASI		(53.7	)		(53.5	)		(18.8	)		< 0.001
	% PASI-75		31.3			23.0			13.2			0.002
	% PASI-90		16.9			7.4			6.0			0.015
	% Intertriginous IGA Success(d)		87.1			60.9			36.1			0.007
	% WI-NRS (4 pt Δ)(e)		64.6			58.2			42.3			0.01

TEAEs	% TEAE		38.5			27.3			29.9			—
	% Tx-Related TEAE		6.4			2.7			6.5			—
	% SAE		0.9			0.9			1.9			—
	% D/C due to TEAE		0.9			0.0			1.9			—

P-values are an indication of statistical significance reflecting the probability of an observation occurring due to chance alone. A clinical trial result is statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The statistical significance of clinical trial results is determined by a widely used statistical method that establishes the p-value of the results. Under this method, a p-value of 0.05 or less typically represents a 95% probability that the results did not occur by chance alone, and are generally considered statistically significant results.

(a)

For safety analyses, n = 110.

(b)

For safety analyses, n = 107.

(c)

IGA Success was defined as IGA = 0 (clear) or 1 (almost clear) PLUS a 2 point change from baseline.

(d)

Intertriginous IGA, or I-IGA, Success was defined as I-IGA = 0 (clear) or 1 (almost clear) PLUS a 2 point change from baseline. I-IGA Success analysis was performed in subjects with baseline I-IGA > 2.

(e)

Represents % of patients with baseline Worst Itch-Numerical Rating Scale, or WI-NRS, > 6, who achieved at least a 4-point improvement on the WI-NRS.

Based on the clinical data we have generated to date, we believe that ARQ-151 is uniquely suited to address unmet needs in psoriasis and has the potential to treat this condition without the use of high-potency steroids, with a favorable tolerability profile, and with the ability to administer chronically and in all anatomical areas. We intend to initiate a Phase 3 program for ARQ-151 in the first half of 2020, which will include two registrational Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis, including intertriginous psoriasis. We plan to develop ARQ-151 under the Section 505(b)(1) pathway for marketing approval.

Atopic Dermatitis

We have also completed one Phase 1 study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis, in which 16 adults with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis covering 4% to 8% body surface area, or BSA, were treated once daily for 15 days with: (1) 0.15% ARQ-151 topical cream, or (2) 0.05% ARQ-151 topical cream. The study found that systemic exposure upon topical application of ARQ-151 at the same concentration and over the same BSA was similar in atopic dermatitis subjects and in psoriasis subjects. This suggests that the safety and tolerability of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis may be similar to that seen in psoriasis. The mean percent BSA involvement decreased from 6.1% in the 0.15% group and 5.8% in the 0.05% group at baseline to 3.1% and 2.6%, respectively, at week 2, reflecting

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reductions of 49% and 55%. While there was no vehicle control in this study, we believe these results suggest efficacy of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis. We have completed enrollment of a Phase 2a study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis, having enrolled 136 adolescents (ages 12 and above) and adults with atopic dermatitis. We expect to have topline results from this study in by the end of 2019. If successful, we plan to initiate a Phase 2b study in atopic dermatitis in the second half of 2020 with topline results in the second half of 2021.

ARQ-154

We are also developing ARQ-154, a foam formulation of ARQ-151, for treatment of seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis. We designed ARQ-154 as a topical foam version of ARQ-151 to overcome the challenges of delivering topical drugs in hair-bearing areas of the body. Based on the results of our Phase 2 studies with ARQ-151, we believe that ARQ-154 has the potential to show similar results for treatment of scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis. We plan to initiate Phase 2b studies for ARQ-154 in seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis in Q4 2019/Q1 2020. We plan to develop ARQ-154 under the Section 505(b)(1) pathway for marketing approval.

ARQ-252

ARQ-252 is a potent and highly selective topical small molecule inhibitor of JAK1 that we are developing for hand eczema and other inflammatory dermatoses. In January 2018, we executed an exclusive option and license agreement, or the Hengrui License Agreement, with Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. of China, or Hengrui, for the active pharmaceutical ingredient in ARQ-252 for all topical dermatological uses in the United States, Europe and Japan. The Hengrui License Agreement includes an option to license composition of matter patents in the United States, and those patents extend to 2034 for the bisulfate form of the active ingredient. We believe there is the potential to obtain additional protection for ARQ-252 through possible future formulation patents and other intellectual property.

Mechanism of Action

Many inflammatory cytokines and other signaling molecules rely on the JAK pathway, and specifically JAK1, which plays a central role in immune system function. Inhibition of JAK1 has been shown to treat a range of inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, and eczema. We believe that due to its high selectivity for JAK1 over JAK2, ARQ-252 has the potential to treat inflammatory diseases without causing the hematopoietic adverse effects, such as anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia, associated with JAK2 inhibition.

Clinical Data and Development Plan

We intend to initiate a Phase 2b study in adult patients with hand eczema in the first half 2020, with topline data expected in the second half of 2021. We also plan to initiate a Phase 2a study in vitiligo in the second half of 2020. In mid-2019, Hengrui completed a Phase 2b study in rheumatoid arthritis that used the same active pharmaceutical ingredient as in ARQ-252 but dosed orally. The results confirmed that this active pharmaceutical ingredient is a highly potent and effective inhibitor of JAK1 based on the drug’s impact on rheumatoid arthritis, and was generally well tolerated at exposures well above those expected with topical administration of ARQ-252. We plan to develop ARQ-252 under the Section 505(b)(1) pathway for marketing approval.

ARQ-255

We believe that topical JAK inhibitor therapy for alopecia areata requires the drug to be delivered to the site of the inflammation, deep in the skin at the base (bulb) of the hair follicle. We have

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formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ -255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin to the postulated site of inflammation in alopecia areata. If those formulation efforts are successful, we plan to enter the clinic with ARQ-255 as a potential treatment for alopecia areata.

Our Competitive Strengths

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Harnessing the benefits of clinically validated targets in dermatology. We are focused on identifying, developing and commercializing best-in-class molecules against biological targets that have been clinically demonstrated to directly affect dermatological diseases. We believe this approach enables us to advance potentially transformative treatments over shorter development timelines, at lower cost, and in a manner that improves their probability of technical success.

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Late-stage lead product candidate with a highly differentiated clinical profile. Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, is a topical cream formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and selective PDE4 inhibitor that was approved by the FDA for systemic treatment to prevent exacerbations of COPD in 2011. PDE4 inhibition is a well-established mechanism in dermatology, as supported by the PDE4 inhibitors approved by the FDA, including Eucrisa, for the topical treatment of atopic dermatitis and Otezla for the systemic treatment of plaque psoriasis. ARQ-151 has generated what we believe is promising efficacy and safety data in multiple clinical trials to date. We expect to initiate Phase 3 clinical trials with ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020. We also have completed enrollment of a Phase 2a study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis, and expect to report topline results from this study by the end of 2019. We believe that ARQ-151 has the potential to offer physicians and patients a highly differentiated clinical profile to address the significant unmet need in the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

•

Diversified, multi-asset pipeline addressing major shortcomings of existing dermatologic treatments. In addition to ARQ-151, we are advancing a portfolio of topically-administered product candidates addressing multiple immuno-dermatological indications with significant market opportunities, including seborrheic dermatitis, scalp psoriasis, hand eczema, vitiligo, and alopecia areata. We plan to initiate Phase 2b trials in Q4 2019/Q1 2020 in seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis using ARQ-154, a foam formulation of ARQ-151, that is designed to overcome the challenges of delivering topical drugs in hair-bearing areas of the body. Additionally, with ARQ-252, a potent and highly selective topical JAK1 inhibitor, we plan to initiate a Phase 2b study in hand eczema in the first half of 2020 and a Phase 2a study in vitiligo in the second half of 2020. We also have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin in order to potentially treat alopecia areata. We believe that due to their high selectivity for JAK1 over JAK2, ARQ-252 and ARQ-255 have the potential to treat inflammatory diseases without causing the hematopoietic adverse effects associated with JAK2 inhibition.

•

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jurisdictions from four distinct patent families, which begin to expire in 2037. Our patent protection includes an option to exclusively license four issued U.S. patents and four issued foreign patents providing protection for the active ingredient in ARQ-252 and ARQ-255, which begin to expire in 2033 with potential additional protection through possible future formulation patents and other intellectual property.

•

Proven leadership team with differentiated formulation expertise. Our management team has extensive expertise in the development and commercialization of dermatology products, having held key leadership roles at a number of leading dermatology companies and, that collectively, has successfully developed and/or commercialized more than thirty FDA-approved products. In addition, we have unique expertise with developing differentiated and proprietary topical formulations of compounds in order to optimize their tolerability and efficacy in dermatology applications. We believe that the breadth of experience and successful track record of our management team, combined with our broad network of established relationships with leaders in the industry and medical community, uniquely positions us to build a leading, fully-integrated dermatology company.

Our Strategy

Our strategy is to leverage recent innovations in inflammation and immunology to identify molecules against validated biological targets in dermatology, to develop and commercialize best-in-class products that address significant unmet needs in immuno-dermatology. Key elements of our strategy include:

•

Rapidly develop and commercialize our lead product candidate ARQ-151 for the treatment of patients with plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. We plan to develop ARQ-151 for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Based on the clinical data generated to date, we believe ARQ-151 has the potential to be the best-in-class non-steroidal topical treatment with efficacy in-line with high-potency steroids while potentially delivering a safety and tolerability profile that enables chronic administration, including for pediatric patients. We plan to initiate Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020 and expect to report Phase 2a topline data on the use of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis by the end of 2019.

•

Expand our addressable market with ARQ-154. ARQ-154 is a foam formulation of ARQ-151 for the treatment of scalp psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis that we developed to treat hair-bearing areas of the body like the scalp where a cream is not suitable. Based on the results of our Phase 2 studies with ARQ-151, we believe ARQ-154 has the potential to offer patients efficacy in-line with high-potency steroids in scalp psoriasis and may be superior to standard of care treatments for seborrheic dermatitis, while potentially maintaining favorable safety and tolerability.

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Continue to innovate and develop our product pipeline of therapeutics which we believe have the potential to be best-in-class in immuno-dermatology. We plan to develop ARQ-252, a JAK1 inhibitor with a high relative selectivity to JAK1 over JAK2, for the treatment of hand eczema and potentially vitiligo and alopecia areata. Given its high relative selectivity to JAK1 over JAK2, we believe ARQ-252 has the potential to treat inflammatory diseases without causing the hematopoietic adverse effects associated with JAK2 inhibition, giving it the potential to be best-in-class. We plan to initiate our Phase 2b study in hand eczema in the first half of 2020 and our Phase 2a study in vitiligo in the second half of 2020. Additionally, we have formulation and preclinical efforts underway for ARQ-255, an alternative topical formulation of ARQ-252 designed to reach deeper into the skin in order to potentially treat alopecia areata.

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Establish an integrated development and commercial organization. We believe the concentrated prescriber base of the U.S. dermatology segment provides us with the opportunity

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to build a fully integrated commercial organization and targeted sales force for the commercialization of our product candidates among dermatology specialists. To further enhance the value of our product candidates, we will selectively seek partners to commercialize our products outside of the dermatology specialist segment, and to develop and commercialize our products outside of the U.S. market.

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Evaluate strategic opportunities to in-license best-in-class dermatology assets consistent with our core strategy. Leveraging our deep expertise in identifying promising drug candidates in dermatology, we will continue to seek best-in-class assets across treatment modalities directed against validated targets. We will continue to explore opportunities to in-license assets and develop them to address unmet medical needs in dermatology.

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Our Product Candidates



Product Candidate	Mechanism of Action	Formulation	Indication	Potential Clinical Profile Differentiation	U.S. Addressable Market Opportunity
ARQ-151	PDE4 Inhibitor	Topical Cream	Psoriasis	• Non-steroidal topical treatment with similar efficacy as high-potency steroids • Favorable safety and tolerability to enable chronic administration, including for pediatric patients • Able to be used on any part of the body, including sensitive or difficult-to-treat areas, such as the face and intertriginous regions	• Approximately 2.0 million patients treated by dermatologists with topical therapies • Approximately 1.0 million patients treated by dermatologists with topical therapies
			Atopic Dermatitis

ARQ-154	PDE4 Inhibitor	Topical Foam	Seborrheic Dermatitis	• Non-steroidal topical treatment with similar efficacy as high-potency steroids • Favorable safety and tolerability to enable chronic administration • Designed for safe use in the peri-ocular area, and in a formulation that is convenient to use on hair-bearing areas of the scalp	• Approximately 360,000 patients treated by dermatologists that have an inadequate response to existing Rx therapies • Approximately 850,000 patients treated by dermatologists with topical prescription therapies
			Scalp Psoriasis

ARQ-252	JAK1 Inhibitor	Topical Cream	Hand Eczema	• Non-steroidal topical treatment with similar efficacy as high-potency steroids • Due to high selectivity for JAK1, uniquely positioned to treat skin inflammatory diseases without causing the hematopoietic adverse effects associated with JAK2 inhibition	• Approximately 7.0 million patients • Approximately 2.6 million patients
			Vitiligo

ARQ-255	JAK1 Inhibitor	Topical Suspension	Alopecia Areata	• In addition to the ARQ-252 profile, deep dermal delivery of the JAK1 inhibitor to the site of inflammation causing alopecia areata.	• Approximately 6.2 million patients

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ARQ-151

Overview

Our lead product candidate, ARQ-151, is a topical cream containing roflumilast, a PDE4 inhibitor, that potentially offers efficacy in-line with a high-potency steroid, a favorable tolerability profile, the ability to treat chronically, and little to none of the application site reactions associated with many existing treatments. We are currently developing ARQ-151 for plaque psoriasis, including intertriginous psoriasis, as well as atopic dermatitis. We have successfully completed a Phase 2b study of ARQ-151 in plaque psoriasis, and plan to initiate Phase 3 studies in plaque psoriasis in the first half of 2020, with topline data expected in the first half of 2021. We also have completed enrollment of a Phase 2a study of ARQ-151 in atopic dermatitis, with topline data expected by the end of 2019.

In July 2018, we executed a licensing agreement with AstraZeneca AB for exclusive worldwide rights to all topical dermatological uses of roflumilast, the PDE4 inhibitor used as the active pharmaceutical ingredient in ARQ-151 and ARQ-154. We have built our own intellectual property portfolio around topical uses of roflumilast, with issued and pending formulation and pharmacokinetic patents/applications in the United States and other jurisdictions from four distinct patent families, which should provide us with exclusivity for the formulation that is intended to be marketed at least through 2037. We estimate there are a total of 8.6 million patients suffering from psoriasis and 19.2 million patients suffering from atopic dermatitis in the United States. Based on market research and our internal estimates, we estimate the population of patients treated with prescribed topical therapies in the United States is approximately 2.5 million patients and 5.4 million patients for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, respectively. We estimate our addressable market opportunity, which focuses on patients treated by dermatologists with topical therapies, for each of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis is 2.0 million patients and 1.0 million patients, respectively.

Mechanism of Action

PDE4 is an intracellular enzyme that regulates the production of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and cell proliferation via the degradation of cyclic AMP, or cAMP. PDE4 inhibition can inhibit inflammatory responses through, among other pathways, reductions in TNF-a, interferon-g, interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-13 (IL-13), interleukin-17 (IL-17) and interleukin-23 (IL-23). Moreover, PDE4 inhibition can also promote the barrier function of keratinocytes via suppression of inflammatory mediator production. PDE4 has been implicated in a wide range of inflammatory diseases including asthma, COPD, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, inflammatory bowel diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Product Profile & Differentiation

ARQ-151 is a topical cream formulation of roflumilast, a highly potent and selective PDE4 inhibitor that was approved by the FDA for systemic treatment to reduce of the risk of exacerbations of COPD in 2011. ARQ-151 is designed for simple once-a-day application for chronic use, does not to burn or sting on application, and can be used on any part of the body, including sensitive or difficult-to-treat areas, such as the face and intertriginous regions. It quickly and easily rubs into the skin without leaving a greasy residue, and does not stain clothing or bedding or have an unpleasant smell.

The table below shows the relative potency of roflumilast compared to the active ingredients in two FDA-approved PDE4 inhibitors, demonstrating a potency advantage of roflumilast of approximately 25x to in excess of 300x.

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PDE4 Inhibitor Potency

A lower IC50 value (the concentration at which a biologic target’s activity is inhibited by 50% and a non-clinical measure of a drug’s potency), indicates a higher affinity of binding to the various PDE4 isoforms and thus greater potency.


IC50 (nM)	PDE4B		PDE4A1A		PDE4B1		PDE4C1		PDE4D7
Roflumilast		0.47		0.33		0.28		0.95		0.53
Crisaborole (Eucrisa)		75		55		61		340		170
Apremilast (Otezla)		39		9		16		48		12

We believe ARQ-151 addresses major unmet needs in the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis and, based on the clinical data generated to date, has the potential to offer efficacy similar to high-potency steroids, a safety and tolerability profile to enable chronic administration in all anatomical areas, and a convenient and patient-friendly topical formulation.

Plaque Psoriasis

Psoriasis Background

Psoriasis is an immune disease that occurs in about two percent of adults in western countries, representing approximately 8.6 million patients in the United States. About 90% of cases are plaque psoriasis, which is characterized by “plaques”, or raised, red areas of skin covered with a silver or white layer of dead skin cells referred to as “scale” (see figures below). Psoriatic plaques can appear on any area of the body, but most often appear on the scalp, knees, elbows, trunk, and limbs, and the plaques are often itchy and sometimes painful. At least 40% of plaque psoriasis patients have plaques on their scalp, which presents a challenge for drug delivery, as the creams and ointments typically used to treat psoriasis on other body areas are not appropriate for use on the scalp. About 15% of plaque psoriasis patients have plaques in their intertriginous regions, which are particularly difficult to treat because these areas tend to have thinner, more easily irritated skin, and are more prone to steroid-related side effects, especially skin atrophy (thinning), striae (stretch marks) or telangiectasia (spider veins). Approximately 10% of plaque psoriasis patients have plaques on their face, which similarly has thinner, more easily irritated skin and greater vulnerability to side effects. Treatment of facial plaques is also complicated by proximity to the eyes, and the consequent heightened safety concerns, specifically increased risk for development of cataracts and glaucoma due to steroid exposure. One in three plaque psoriasis patients has plaques on their elbows and knees, which are frequently treatment resistant. Even with biologic therapies, plaques on the elbows and knees are often the last areas to resolve.

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Psoriasis patients are generally characterized as mild, moderate, or severe, with approximately 75% experiencing a mild to moderate form of the disease.

Figures: Plaque Psoriasis

Source (right): DermNet

Pruritus or itching is a particularly common and bothersome symptom for patients. A recent chart review of U.S. psoriasis patients by Adelphi Group found nearly half of moderate to severe patients and one in five mild patients reported experiencing significant itching (as indicated by reports of at least a 4 on a 10-point scale) sometimes, usually or all of the time. Three quarters of moderate to severe patients with itch, and one third of mild patients with itch reported that the itching also disturbed their ability to sleep.

In addition to the direct clinical challenges of psoriasis, it has been documented that patients with plaque psoriasis suffer substantial psychosocial impacts from their disease, including: social stigmatization, feelings of rejection and shame, guilt, impaired sexual intimacy, discrimination in the workplace, difficulty finding employment or working outside the home, financial hardships, increased work absenteeism and reduced productivity. Patients with psoriasis also have a 50% greater chance of depression than the general population.

Current Psoriasis Treatment Landscape

The vast majority of psoriasis patients are treated with topical therapies, of which there have been no novel treatments approved in over 20 years. The Adelphi Group U.S. chart review discussed above found that 95% of all patients reviewed had received a topical treatment at some point in their therapy, 86% had received a topical as the first line therapy, and 71% continued to receive topical therapy, either alone or in combination with other treatments. Despite their widespread use, existing topical therapies all possess substantial shortcomings:

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Topical steroids, especially the high-potency topical steroids generally used to treat psoriasis, are associated with HPA axis suppression, skin atrophy (thinning), striae (stretch marks), and telangiectasia (spider veins), among other side effects. Furthermore, some of these side effects are irreversible, persisting even after therapy is discontinued. Consequently, high-potency topical steroids are not recommended for chronic use, and physicians generally will not prescribe them for treatment on the face or in the intertriginous regions. For example, the label for clobetasol propionate, the most commonly used high-potency steroid, limits use to two consecutive weeks and use on the face or intertriginous regions is contraindicated.

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•

Vitamin D3 analogs such as calcipotriene, are substantially less effective than high-potency steroids, and are frequently irritating. While they can be used chronically, tolerability issues with their use can be a challenge, and physicians generally will not prescribe them for use on the face or in the intertriginous regions.

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Vitamin D3/steroid combinations offer better efficacy than either of the two individual components alone, but still carry a risk of HPA axis suppression, and are limited in their duration of use. For example, Taclonex ointment is limited to 4 weeks of treatment.

Because high-potency steroids and combinations containing high-potency steroids are effective in treating psoriasis, most physicians initiate treatment for nearly all patients on them. But due to the limitations on duration of treatment to between two and eight weeks, physicians are quickly confronted with a conundrum of how to manage their psoriasis patients chronically. Most will switch the patient to a low- to mid-potency steroid or to a vitamin D analog. These “step down” options are generally less efficacious, and in the case of vitamin D, are often irritating. Also, rebound is a known challenge with steroids, where after steroid discontinuation, the psoriasis returns even worse than it was before steroid treatment was initiated. Thus, patients are constantly cycling between short courses of effective high-potency steroids and less effective maintenance treatments.

While biologic therapies, including drugs such as Enbrel, Cosentyx, Humira, and Stelara, are available for treatment, their use remains highly restricted. In the United States, less than 20% of moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients, equivalent to 6% of all psoriasis patients, are on biologic therapy. The uptake of biologics has remained limited due to multiple factors, including the fact that they are indicated only for use in moderate to severe patients, their high cost, which can be as much as $60,000 per year, consequent reimbursement and access restrictions, frequent high patient co-pays, perceived safety risks, and patient fear of injection.

Non-biologic systemic therapy options for psoriasis exist, but their use is also limited, according to Decision Resources Group, representing approximately 8% of patients worldwide, and 13% of patients in the United States. Methotrexate remains the most widely used systemic therapy, although its use continues to decline due to safety concerns and mandatory routine monitoring. Apremilast (Otezla), an oral PDE4 inhibitor, is another systemic option, but although it generated more than $1 billion in sales in all indications in 2018, it has only achieved 1.2% patient share in psoriasis due to limitations on its use to moderate-to-severe patients, modest efficacy, and frequent adverse events, or AEs.

Due to the shortcomings of existing topical therapies and the lack of effective options for topical chronic treatment, as well as the inherent challenges of treating psoriasis, the majority of patients continue to suffer from symptoms even when on treatment. Therefore, there remains a need for a non-steroidal topical treatment that is as effective as high-potency steroids, that can be used chronically, is safe and well tolerated, and that can be used on all anatomical areas.

Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic Dermatitis Background

Atopic dermatitis is the most common type of eczema, occurring in approximately 6% of the population, representing approximately 19.2 million patients in the United States. Disease onset is most common by 5 years of age, and we estimate that approximately 60% of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis are pediatric patients. Atopic dermatitis is the most common skin disease among children, affecting approximately 15% to 20% of children.

Atopic dermatitis is characterized by a defect in the skin barrier, which allows allergens and other irritants to enter the skin, leading to an immune reaction and inflammation. This reaction produces a

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red, itchy rash, most frequently occurring on the face, arms and legs, and the rash can cover significant areas of the body (see figures below), in some cases half of the body or more. The rash causes significant pruritus (itching), which can lead to damage caused by scratching or rubbing and perpetuating an ‘itch-scratch’ cycle.

Figures: Atopic Dermatitis Lesions

Source: DermNet

Given most of the patients are pediatric, safety and tolerability of atopic dermatitis treatments is paramount and explains the predominance of topical treatments. Atopic dermatitis imposes a substantial burden on both the patient and, particularly in the case of pediatric patients, the parents and family. Pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis can suffer from sleep disturbances, behavioral problems, irritability, crying, interference with normal childhood activities, and social functioning. Parents and families of pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis can also be impacted by a lack of sleep, emotional distress due to their child’s suffering, and added workload caring for the atopic dermatitis patient. Adults with atopic dermatitis also frequently suffer from sleep disturbances, emotional impacts, and impaired social functioning. Adults with atopic dermatitis also appear to be at a significantly increased risk of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation compared to the general population.

Current Atopic Dermatitis Treatment Landscape

The vast majority of atopic dermatitis patients are being treated with topical therapies, particularly low- to mid-potency topical steroids and topical calcineurin inhibitors, or TCIs, and these two classes of drugs constituted 50% of atopic dermatitis prescription sales in 2017. While topical steroids are commonly used in atopic dermatitis, they are infrequently prescribed in patients with atopic dermatitis on the face or diaper/groin area. In lieu of steroids, or in response to parental concerns about steroid use, physicians frequently prescribe TCIs in patients with atopic dermatitis, especially for patients with lesions on the face or diaper/groin area. Biologic use for atopic dermatitis is currently limited. Dupixent, approved in early 2017, is the first biologic for atopic dermatitis for the treatment of adults and adolescents ages 12 and above with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. Dupixent generated almost $900 million in net sales in 2018. Despite these impressive sales results, Dupixent was used in less than 1% of atopic dermatitis patients.

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Despite their widespread use, existing topical therapies for atopic dermatitis all possess substantial shortcomings:

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Topical steroids pose a particular concern in pediatric patients due to the risk of systemic absorption, and the consequent risk of HPA axis suppression and potential developmental problems. Consequently, chronic use of topical steroids in atopic dermatitis patients is generally avoided. Many physicians are also reluctant to use steroids to treat atopic dermatitis on the face due to the increased risk of glaucoma and cataracts, or the diaper/groin region due to risk of skin thinning. There is also considerable concern among many parents about treating their children with steroids, which can be an obstacle to treatment for physicians.

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Topical calcineurin inhibitors are generally seen as less effective than topical steroids and are also associated with some application site burning. Probably most significant, in 2005 the FDA placed a “black box” warning on the labels of both TCIs regarding a potential increased risk of cancers, especially lymphomas, associated with their use. While some experts have expressed skepticism over the warning, TCI sales dropped 30% the year after the black box warning and have not recovered since.

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Eucrisa is a topical non-steroidal PDE4 inhibitor approved by the FDA in 2016. Despite initial interest among the physician community to adopt the product, its growth has been hampered by modest efficacy, frequent occurrences of application site burning, and disadvantaged reimbursement status compared to other atopic dermatitis treatments.

Physicians are dissatisfied with current treatments due to overall efficacy, ability to control itching, and impact on patient/parent quality of life. Patients with, or parents of patients with, atopic dermatitis are dissatisfied with overall efficacy, sustained efficacy over time, and the inconvenience of many of the topical treatments, including the greasy residue, the amount of time required to apply, and the general messiness of treatments.

Therefore, there remains a need for a nonsteroidal topical treatment that is more effective than current topical treatments, is safe and well tolerated, and can be used chronically in pediatric patients and on all areas of the body.

Our Market Opportunity

Plaque Psoriasis

The sales of prescription treatments for psoriasis are large and growing rapidly. According to Decision Resources Group, the worldwide market for psoriasis will grow from $14.5 billion in 2018 (of which $12.2 billion was in the United States) to $22.7 billion in 2027, representing a 5% CAGR. The vast majority of prescription psoriasis sales are for biologic therapies, including drugs such as Enbrel, Cosentyx, Humira, and Stelara, which in 2018 represented $12.1 billion (83%) of all worldwide sales and 85% of U.S. sales.

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We believe there is a significant market opportunity for us to capture within plaque psoriasis. As depicted below, we estimate there are approximately 8.6 million psoriasis patients in the United States, of which approximately 6.0 million patients are not in remission and 3.5 million are seeking some form of treatment for the disease, of which approximately 82% are treated by dermatologists. We estimate that in the United States, 2.5 million patients are treated with prescription topical therapies, of which 2.0 million patients are treated with topical prescriptions by a dermatologist.

LOGO

Atopic Dermatitis

While the current sales of prescription treatments for atopic dermatitis are considerably smaller than that for psoriasis, they are similarly expected to grow rapidly with the emergence of newer and better therapies. According to Decision Resources Group, the worldwide market in 2017 was $1.4 billion, but is expected to grow to $23 billion by 2027, representing a 32% CAGR.

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We believe there is a significant market opportunity for us to capture within atopic dermatitis. As depicted below, we estimate there are approximately 19.2 million atopic dermatitis patients in the United States, of which 9.3 million patients are diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. We estimate approximately 6.3 million atopic dermatitis patients are treated, of which 1.2 million patients are treated by dermatologists. We estimate that in the United States, 5.4 million patients are treated with prescription topical therapies, of which 1.0 million are treated with topical prescriptions by a dermatologist.

LOGO

We believe ARQ-151 and ARQ-154 have the potential to address the limitations of current treatments for plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

ARQ-151 Clinical Development


Indication		Study Name	Phase	Number of Patients	Status
		151-101	Phase 1/2a	89	Completed
		151-201	Phase 2b	331	Completed
	Plaque	151-202	Phase 2b	331 (Expected)	Ongoing
	Psoriasis	151-301	Phase 3	~ 400 (Expected)	Upcoming
		151-302	Phase 3	~ 400 (Expected)	Upcoming
		151-306	Phase 3	~ 250 (Expected)	Upcoming

	Atopic	151-102	Phase 1	16	Completed
	Dermatitis	151-212	Phase 2a	136	Ongoing

We have completed two Phase 2 clinical trials evaluating ARQ-151 in adults with plaque psoriasis, and a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the pharmacokinetics of ARQ-151 in adults with atopic dermatitis. Two Phase 2 clinical trials are currently ongoing, one in plaque psoriasis and one in atopic dermatitis, and we expect to initiate Phase 3 plaque psoriasis studies in the first half of 2020.

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Plaque Psoriasis

Completed Trials

ARQ-151-201 (Phase 2b Study)

The most recent study conducted with ARQ-151 was a multi-center, multi-national, double-blind, vehicle-controlled Phase 2b study, in which 331 adults with plaque psoriasis covering between 2% and 20% BSA were randomized to receive 12 weeks of: (1) ARQ-151 0.3% topical cream, (2) ARQ-151 0.15% topical cream, or (3) matching vehicle. At the end of the 12-week treatment period, patients were eligible to roll over into our ARQ-151-202 open label extension study for an additional 52 weeks. Completion rates for the study were 93.6% in the ARQ-151 0.3% arm, 92.0% in the ARQ-151 0.15% arm, and 78.9% in the vehicle arm.

Primary Endpoint

The primary efficacy endpoint of our Phase 2b study was the percentage of subjects attaining a score of “clear” or “almost clear” on the IGA scale at week 6.

Both ARQ-151 0.3% and ARQ-151 0.15% separated from vehicle with statistical significance on the primary endpoint of percentage of patients achieving an IGA of “clear” or “almost clear” at week 6, with 28.0% of patients treated with ARQ-151 0.3% and 22.8% of patients treated with ARQ-151 0.15% achieving “clear” or “almost clear”, compared to 8.3% treated with vehicle (ARQ-151 0.3%: p < 0.001; ARQ-151 0.15%: p = 0.004).

Key Secondary Endpoint

The likely registrational endpoint for any topical psoriasis product is “IGA Success”, which is the percentage of patients attaining an IGA score of “clear” or “almost clear” PLUS a 2-grade improvement from baseline on the 5-point IGA scale. The results for this endpoint from the Phase 2b plaque psoriasis study are shown in the graph below:

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(1)	The intention to treat, or ITT, population includes all randomized patients. This clinical trial study population is intended to represent suitable patients and to be reflective of what might be seen if the treatment was used in clinical practice.

As shown in the graph above, both ARQ-151 0.3% and ARQ-151 0.15% separated from vehicle and demonstrated statistical significance on the perc