UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2020

or

For the transition period from________ to ___________

Commission File No. 001-00100

THERAPEUTICSMD, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

561-961-1900

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former Name, Former Address and Former Fiscal Year, if Changed Since Last Report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an 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 (Check one):

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 pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, as of May 1, 2020 was 271,683,266.

THERAPEUTICSMD, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

THERAPEUTICSMD, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)

The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

THERAPEUTICSMD, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY

FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2020 AND 2019

(Unaudited)

The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

THERAPEUTICSMD, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)

 The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

THERAPEUTICSMD, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

General

The following discussion and analysis provides information that we believe to be relevant to an assessment and understanding of our results of operations and financial condition for the periods described. This discussion should be read together with our unaudited consolidated financial statements and the notes to the financial statements, which are included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. This information should also be read in conjunction with the information contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, on February 24, 2020, or our Annual Report, including the audited financial statements and notes included therein. The reported results will not necessarily reflect future results of operations or financial condition.

In addition, this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our objectives, plans and strategies as well as statements, other than historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect, project, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future. These statements are often characterized by terminology such as “believes,” “hopes,” “may,” “anticipates,” “should,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “expects,” “estimates,” “projects,” “positioned,” “strategy” and similar expressions and are based on assumptions and assessments made in light of management’s experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and we undertake no duty to update or revise any such statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law or by the rules and regulations of the SEC. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control. Important factors that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from forward-looking statements are described in the sections titled “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report, and include the following: the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; our ability to maintain or increase sales of our approved products; our ability to successfully commercialize IMVEXXY®, BIJUVA®, and ANNOVERA® and to develop and commercialize our hormone therapy drug candidates and obtain additional financing necessary therefor; our commercialization, marketing and manufacturing capabilities and strategy for our approved products; the size of markets and the potential market opportunity for which our products are approved and our ability to penetrate such markets; the rate and degree of market acceptance of our products; the willingness of healthcare providers to prescribe and patients to use our products; our ability to obtain additional financing when needed; our competitive position and the success of competing products that are or become available for the indications that we are pursuing; our intellectual property position; whether we will be able to comply with the covenants and conditions under our term loan facility, including the conditions to draw an additional tranche thereunder, and whether the lender will make such tranche available; whether we will be able to comply with the covenants and conditions under the loan we received pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, as administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), including the conditions for forgiveness of the loan; the length, cost and uncertain results of our clinical trials, the potential of adverse side effects or other safety risks that could adversely affect the commercialization of our current or future approved products or preclude the approval of our future drug candidates; whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve the efficacy supplement for the lower dose of BIJUVA; our ability to protect our intellectual property, including with respect to the Paragraph IV notice letters we received regarding IMVEXXY and BIJUVA; the length, cost and uncertain results of future clinical trials; our reliance on third parties to conduct our manufacturing, research and development and clinical trials; the ability of our licensees to commercialize and distribute our products; the ability of our marketing contractors to market ANNOVERA; the availability of reimbursement from government authorities and health insurance companies for our products; the impact of product liability lawsuits; and the influence of extensive and costly government regulation; the volatility of the trading price of our common stock and the concentration of power in our stock ownership.

Throughout this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “TherapeuticsMD,” or “our company” refer to TherapeuticsMD, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and unless specified otherwise, include our wholly owned subsidiaries, vitaMedMD, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, or VitaMed; BocaGreenMD, Inc., a Nevada corporation, or BocaGreen; and VitaCare Prescription Services, Inc., a Florida corporation, or VitaCare.

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes our trademarks, trade names and service marks, such as vitaMedMD ®, BocaGreenMD ®, IMVEXXY ®, BIJUVA ® and ANNOVERA ® which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws and are the property of, or licensed to, our company. Solely for convenience, trademarks, trade names and service marks referred to in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q may appear without the ®, ™ or SM symbols, but such 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, trade names and service marks. We do not intend our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, trade names or service marks to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.

Overview

TherapeuticsMD is a women’s healthcare company with a mission of creating and commercializing innovative products to support the lifespan of women from pregnancy prevention through menopause. At TherapeuticsMD, we combine entrepreneurial spirit, clinical expertise, and business leadership to develop and commercialize health solutions that enable new standards of care for women. Our solutions range from a patient-controlled, long-lasting contraceptive to advanced hormone therapy pharmaceutical products. We also have a portfolio of branded and generic prescription prenatal vitamins under the vitaMedMD and BocaGreenMD brands that furthers our women’s healthcare focus.

Our portfolio of products focused on women’s health allows us to efficiently leverage our sales and marketing plans to grow our recently approved products. During 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, approval of our pharmaceutical products has transitioned our company from predominately focused on conducting research and development to one focused on commercializing our pharmaceutical products.

We have also entered into license agreements with strategic partners to commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA outside of the U.S.

Our common stock, par value $0.001 per share, or the Common Stock, is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, or the Nasdaq, under the symbol “TXMD.” We maintain websites at www.therapeuticsmd.com as well as various product websites. The information contained on our websites or that can be accessed through our websites does not constitute part of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Impact of COVID-19 on our Business

Our business has been, and we anticipate that it will continue to be, impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Although we expected to commence the full commercial launch of ANNOVERA in the first quarter of 2020, as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, we paused the commercial launch of ANNOVERA and deferred sales and marketing initiatives into subsequent quarters as the pandemic began to negatively affect our revenue growth. At this time, the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business is highly uncertain and difficult to predict.

We have developed a comprehensive COVID-19 contingency plan designed to preserve the value of our investments in our sales and marketing infrastructure, protect our balance sheet during this period of market disruption, and meet the needs of our patients and prescribers. This contingency plan is designed to be implemented in stages over the second and third quarters of 2020 as we continue to evaluate the length of time that COVID-19 may impact our business, which is intended to allow us to conserve our financial resources during the COVID-19 pandemic and re-scale our sales and marketing activity when conditions warrant.

Our COVID-19 contingency plan focuses on five key areas:

Cost Containment and Spending Cuts

We have implemented measures to initially cut or defer more than $30 million in annual spending. This includes the deferral of approximately $10 million in planned second quarter consumer and healthcare practitioner marketing spend for ANNOVERA and IMVEXXY and cuts of approximately $20 million in other planned expenses for the remainder of 2020. We believe that we have the ability to re-accelerate our planned marketing spend for ANNOVERA and IMVEXXY should market conditions improve, or to extend or expand the cost deferrals throughout 2020. These cost cuts and reductions include permanent cost savings that have been identified by management, as well as the interim cessation of certain spending that may be restarted in future quarters. These cost cuts include:

We anticipate that these savings can be extended further throughout 2020 or expanded depending on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employees and Sales Force

Our sales force currently continues to function utilizing digital engagement tools and tactics and virtual detailing to remain engaged with prescribers and distribution channels.

Remote Pharmacy and At-Home Delivery Options

As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we continue to provide continued access to our products for patients.

Supply of Products

We do not anticipate a shortage of our products due to the COVID-19 pandemic as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

While we currently believe that our COVID-19 contingency plan has the ability to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, the severity of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business will depend on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the duration and severity of the pandemic, the duration of “stay at home” and “social distancing” orders, the ability of our sales force to access healthcare providers to promote our products, increases in unemployment, which could reduce access to commercial health insurance for our patents, thus limiting payer coverage for our products, and the impact of the pandemic on our global supply chain, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. Our future results of operations and liquidity could be materially adversely affected by delays in payments of outstanding receivable amounts beyond normal payment terms, supply chain disruptions, uncertain demand, and the impact of any initiatives or programs that we may undertake to address financial and operations challenges that we may face.

Our business may also be affected by negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on capital markets and economies worldwide, and it is possible that the pandemic could cause a local and/or global economic recession. While policymakers globally have responded with fiscal policy actions to support the healthcare industry and economy as a whole, the magnitude and overall effectiveness of these actions remains uncertain.

Our Products

IMVEXXY

In May 2018, the FDA approved the 4-μg and 10-μg doses of IMVEXXY (estradiol vaginal inserts) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe dyspareunia (vaginal pain associated with sexual activity), a symptom of VVA, due to menopause. The 4-μg formulation of IMVEXXY represents the lowest FDA-approved dose of vaginal estradiol available. IMVEXXY 10-μg became available for commercial distribution in July 2018 and both doses were commercially available in September 2018.

IMVEXXY is a small, digitally inserted, softgel vaginal insert that dissolves completely. It is administered mess-free, without the need for an applicator, and can be used any time of day. IMVEXXY provides a mechanism of action and dosing that are familiar and comfortable for patients, with no patient education required for dose application or applicators. IMVEXXY demonstrated efficacy as early as two weeks (secondary endpoint) and maintained efficacy through week 12 in clinical studies, with no increase in systemic hormone levels beyond the normal postmenopausal range (the clinical relevance of systemic absorption rates for vaginal estrogen therapies is not known).

As part of the FDA’s approval of IMVEXXY, we have committed to conduct a post-approval observational study to evaluate the risk of endometrial cancer in post-menopausal women with a uterus who use a low-dose vaginal estrogen unopposed by a progestogen. The FDA has also asked the sponsors of other vaginal estrogen products to participate in the observational study. In connection with the observational study, we will be required to provide progress reports to the FDA on an annual basis. The development of this method is underway, and we do not believe that the costs will be material on an annual basis. In addition, the FDA asked for post-approval information with respect to certain characteristics related to the product’s specifications, which we submitted to the FDA.

BIJUVA

In October 2018, the FDA approved BIJUVA (estradiol and progesterone) capsules, 1 mg/100 mg, the first and only FDA-approved bioidentical hormone therapy combination of estradiol and progesterone in a single, oral capsule for the treatment of moderate-to-severe VMS (commonly known as hot flashes or flushes), due to menopause in women with a uterus. The estrogen and progesterone in BIJUVA have the same molecular structure as the hormones that are naturally produced in a woman’s body. We launched BIJUVA in April 2019.

BIJUVA offers the convenience of a single-capsule combination of two hormones (estradiol and progesterone), which may improve a user’s compliance. The estradiol and progesterone in BIJUVA are plant-based, not animal-sourced, and contain no peanut allergens. BIJUVA provides a sustained steady state of estradiol which reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes in clinical studies with no demonstrated impact on a patient’s weight or blood pressure. Additionally, through clinical trials BIJUVA has demonstrated endometrial safety and greater than 90% amenorrhea rates, while providing no clinically meaningful changes in mammograms.

We submitted a New Drug Application, or NDA, efficacy supplement for the 0.5/100 mg dose of BIJUVA to the FDA in late January 2020 for review and potential approval. The NDA efficacy supplement uses existing data from our Phase 3 REPLENISH trial for BIJUVA, for which we announced results in December 2016, together with additional information and analyses. The REPLENISH trial was the first time that a combination of bio-identical estradiol and bio-identical progesterone used in a continuous combined daily fashion demonstrated safety and efficacy data to support FDA-approval. We do not anticipate that the FDA will require any new clinical trials in connection with our submission of the NDA efficacy supplement, however, there is no assurance that will be the case. If accepted for review by the FDA, we expect that the NDA efficacy supplement will be reviewed, under current Prescription Drug User Fee Act timeline goals, within ten months of receipt by the FDA.

With the approval of BIJUVA, the FDA required a post-approval commitment to further develop and validate our in-vitro dissolution method to show how BIJUVA is released from the capsule in an in-vitro setting for quality control assessments. The development of this method and validation were completed and submitted to the FDA as required in our approval.

Our hormone therapy pharmaceutical products are characterized by safety and efficacy profiles that can be consistently manufactured to target specifications. This provides an alternative to the non-FDA approved compounded bio-identical market. We believe that our FDA-approved pharmaceutical products offer advantages in terms of demonstrated safety and efficacy, consistency in the hormone dose, lower patient cost due to the increased likelihood of insurance coverage and improved access as a result of availability from major retail pharmacy chains rather than custom order or formulation by individual compounders.

ANNOVERA

In July 2018, we entered into an exclusive license agreement with the Population Council to commercialize in the U.S. ANNOVERA (segesterone acetate and ethinyl estradiol vaginal system), the first and only patient-controlled, procedure-free, reversible prescription contraceptive that can prevent pregnancy for up to a total of 13 cycles (one year), which was approved by the FDA in August 2018. In October 2019, we began a “test and learn” market introduction phase of launch for ANNOVERA and we launched ANNOVERA commercially in March 2020. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to pause our launch initiative and we expect to resume the ANNOVERA launch later in 2020.

ANNOVERA was classified by the FDA as a “new chemical entity,” or NCE, and thus has five years of regulatory exclusivity under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, otherwise known as the Hatch-Waxman Act. ANNOVERA is a one-year ring-shaped contraceptive vaginal system, or CVS. ANNOVERA, which is made with a silicone elastomer, contains segesterone acetate, a 19-nor progesterone derivative also known as Nestorone®, or SA, and EE. EE is an approved active ingredient in many marketed hormonal contraceptive products. Segesterone acetate, an NCE, is a potent progestin that, based on pharmacopogical studies in animals and in vitro, does not bind to the androgen or estrogen receptors and has no glucocorticoid activity at contraceptive doses. SA has been evaluated in 51 clinical studies across these delivery systems with more than 26,794 cycles of exposure.

ANNOVERA can be inserted and removed by the woman herself without the aid of a healthcare provider and, unlike oral contraceptives, ANNOVERA does not require daily administration to obtain the contraceptive effect. After 21 days of use, the woman removes ANNOVERA for seven days, thereby providing a regular bleeding pattern (i.e., withdrawal/scheduled bleeding). The same CVS is then re-inserted for additional 21/7-days in/out, for up to a total of 13 cycles (one year). ANNOVERA releases daily vaginal doses of both active ingredients (SA and EE). The claimed release rate of 150 μg/day SA and 13/day μg EE is supported by the calculated average release rate from an ex vivo analysis of ANNOVERA used for 13 cycles and is also supported by data from 13 cycles of in vitro release.

As part of the approval of ANNOVERA, the FDA has required a post-approval observational study be performed to measure the risk of venous thromboembolism. In accordance with the post-marketing requirements, the full protocol for the study was submitted to the FDA in August 2019. We have agreed to perform and pay the costs and expenses associated with this post-approval study, provided that if the costs and expenses associated with such post-approval study exceed $20 million, half of such excess will offset against royalties or other payments owed by us to the Population Council under the Population Council License Agreement. Given the observational nature of the study, we do not believe that the costs of the study will be material on an annual basis.

We believe that ANNOVERA will compete across all the contraception options for women with focus on those women seeking a long-lasting option without a procedure.

For patients, ANNOVERA provides a single long-lasting reversible birth control product that does not require a procedure at the doctor’s office for insertion or removal, empowering women to be in complete control of their fertility and menstruation with a 21/7 regimen. We believe that ANNOVERA is a unique alternative for women who have previously chosen other forms of birth control. These include nulliparous women (or women who have never given birth), women who are considering an IUD but would rather not have a procedure, women who are between pregnancies but desire protection without a long-term commitment, and women who are not satisfied with oral options due to the daily usage or potential side effects.

We believe that the strong initial commercial net revenue per unit of ANNOVERA and rapid commercial insurance adoption provide us with an opportunity to deploy additional financial resources to maximize ANNOVERA’s consumer-focused commercialization strategy and leverage the ability of doctor/patient choice of contraceptive to override insurance company formularies when a generic equivalent has not been established. As part of this strategy, we are pursuing distribution opportunities for ANNOVERA with multiple direct-to-consumer contraceptive platforms that are both low cost to TherapeuticsMD and offer an attractive return to the platforms. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have deferred a significant portion of our planned 2020 marketing spend for ANNOVERA.

Commercialization Model

We are commercializing the products in our portfolio through a common model focused on the belief that providing good experiences for both health care practitioners, or HCPs, and patients will drive profitability for TherapeuticsMD. Given that our portfolio focus is exclusively in women’s health, we believe that each new product launch will allow us to further leverage our existing infrastructure and build out our reputation as the premier women’s health organization in the U.S. Below is more detail on our commercialization model:

HCP Education - Initially, we focus on the high writing and high potential HCPs in each territory to gain a full understanding of their prescribing behavior and practices. Our focus is on driving initial prescriptions of these writers for each new product launch and utilizing the time to also pull through on our portfolio of existing products. Once regular writing is established with the initial group of HCPs, we expand our reach to a larger set of HCPs writing in the category. We educate HCPs on our products primarily with our field sales organization. We have defined a sales force targeting approximately 200 territories, which includes the most significant part of the addressable markets across our product portfolio. We are deploying a hybrid sales model that combines an internal sales leadership team with a fully dedicated contract sales force to call on our target HCPs. As of March 31, 2020, at least 19,500 HCPs had written at least one prescription of IMVEXXY and at least 5,900 HCPs had written at least one prescription of BIJUVA, the majority of which are also IMVEXXY writers demonstrating the value of portfolio and focus. In addition, as of March 31, 2020, at least 2,000 HCPs had written at least one prescription of ANNOVERA. In addition to our sales organization, we leverage non-personal promotion (multi-channel advertising) to targets and non-targets that drive awareness, education, and action. These efforts allow for pull through of the sales organization efforts and identification of new targets that have interest in writing prescriptions for one or more of our products. We believe this will drive increased prescribing for our products and lift the overall writing universe and our products top of mind in the HCP community.

BIO-IGNITE - In addition to our sales organization calling on HCPs, we have a Key Account Management, or KAM, team to support our BIO-IGNITE pharmacy partners and continue to build our internal capabilities to support both organizations, including compliance professionals and programs and key data support systems that provide real-time data for the sales force and KAMs. Our KAMs have national coverage and target over 1,900 community pharmacies that have a focus on compounded bio-identical hormones and the over 2,000 additional HCPs that are affiliated with these pharmacies. As of March 31, 2020, there were over 220 BIO-IGNITE compounding pharmacies that were dispensing BIJUVA.

Payer Access - With the ever-changing payer environment, it is critical to maximize breadth of coverage as quickly as possible to not inhibit patient access to product. We do this while working to negotiate the best possible contracts for us. Many commercial payers employ “new-to-market blocks” for newly launched products until the payers have the opportunity to make a coverage decision based upon their internal review of the product. When a product is not covered, the patient is responsible to pay the full price for the medication, which can significantly limit utilization of the product. As we seek to increase the number of lives covered by commercial payers, it is our objective to continue to seek unrestricted coverage. Currently, both IMVEXXY and BIJUVA are broadly available in major pharmacy chains in the U.S., as well as with our BIO-IGNITE partners, via our third-party logistics and our distribution partners. As of March 31, 2020, we have obtained coverage for the majority of commercial payers for both products and continue to seek unrestricted coverage from the remaining commercial insurance plans that we have not yet contracted with to provide affordable access for patients. For IMVEXXY, we achieved unrestricted coverage with the top ten commercial payers of VVA products by commercial payer lives and we continue to sign new agreements with other payers to cover IMVEXXY. In addition, as of March 31, 2020, two of the top six (or three of the top eight) Medicare Part D payers of VVA products were adjudicating IMVEXXY, with additional decisions for other Medicare Part D payers expected during the second half of 2020. For BIJUVA, through March 31, 2020, we have achieved unrestricted coverage with seven of the top ten commercial payers of VMS products by commercial payer lives and we continue to sign new agreements with payers to cover BIJUVA. Although Medicare is a small percentage of the VMS market, as of March 31, 2020, two of the top six Medicare Part D payers of VMS products were adjudicating BIJUVA.

For ANNOVERA, we believe that its unique characteristics will assist us in pursuing favorable commercial payer coverage, including only one pharmacy fill fee per year and no office visit or procedure fees. We have made substantial progress in achieving unrestricted access to ANNOVERA through commercial payers, including having achieved adjudication with five of the top ten commercial payers by commercial payer lives as of March 31, 2020, and we continue to pursue discussions with several of the country’s largest commercial insurers to further expand coverage. As of March 31, 2020, approximately 64% of the commercial payer market covered ANNOVERA with unrestricted access under pharmacy benefits and approximately 76% covered ANNOVERA with step or prior authorization access.

In February 2020, we entered into an agreement with Afaxys Pharma, LLC, a pharmaceutical company focused on serving women in the public health system, to market ANNOVERA in the U.S. public health sector. As part of the Population Council License Agreement, we have agreed to provide significantly reduced pricing to federally designated Title X family planning clinics serving underrepresented women. We also have agreements to market ANNOVERA to the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Veteran’s Administration, and in Puerto Rico.

Supply - We want to ensure our products are available in all classes of trade and delivery systems. We offer our products through traditional chain wholesalers (Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen) and independent retail pharmacies, community compounding pharmacies with our BIO-IGNITE program, and mail order. We continue to develop unique opportunities to sell direct to pharmacies to streamline distribution and better control costs.

Patient Affordability Programs - We have affordability and adherence programs in place for patients so that we can support appropriate use of our products by patients. Our co-pay assistance programs allow all patients to access our products at a reasonable cost.

● We continue to support our patient education and affordability program that allows all eligible patients who enroll to receive IMVEXXY and BIJUVA at a reasonable cost. When a product is not covered by a patient’s commercial insurance, the patient is responsible to pay the full price for the medication, which can significantly limit a patient’s ability to pay and subsequent utilization of the product. Starting October 1, 2019, enrolled patients pay as little as $35 for a prescription of IMVEXXY with commercial insurance coverage and pay as little as $50 for a prescription of IMVEXXY without commercial insurance coverage. For ANNOVERA, for commercially insured patients, we offer patients assistance for as low as $60 for an annual prescription. Many patients will not need a co-pay assistance program for ANNOVERA given the requirements of the ACA at the federal level and similar laws at the state level.

● We continue to dialogue with the FDA regarding the potential inclusion of ANNOVERA as a new class of contraception for women in the FDA’s Birth Control Guide, which would require private health plans to cover ANNOVERA with no patient out-of-pocket costs as part of the ACA. While we are optimistic about our chances to secure a new contraception class for ANNOVERA, there is no assurance that the FDA will make such a determination and it is possible that other FDA-approved products could also be included in such a new class. The FDA may also find that ANNOVERA fits into the vaginal contraceptive ring class, which it would share with NuvaRing and its generic equivalents, and potentially others. Eight states require insurance coverage of prescription contraception with co-pay regardless of inclusion in the FDA’s Birth Control Guide and 11 states, plus Washington D.C., require coverage of prescription contraception with no co-pay regardless of inclusion in the FDA’s Birth Control Guide.

Patient Adherence - Establishing compliance and adherence programs that make getting on a prescription medication and obtaining prescribed refills easy and convenient for the patient and HCPs is a critical lever in our commercial model. Our focus is on minimizing complications in patients filling their first prescription and engaging with them throughout the life of their treatment to ensure patients stay on and use therapy for the appropriate length of time. We have delivered effective patient engagement programs for both our prescription prenatal line and for IMVEXXY with average adherence rates above the averages in their respective categories.

Consumer Communication - Another critical level in the commercial model is consumer communication. Our initial focus is on those patients who are already predisposed to seek treatment, such as those patients new to therapy, and those patients dissatisfied with their current therapy. Next, we are focused on expanding the market by energizing patients who are experiencing bothersome symptoms but who have not been motived to seek treatment. Methods of communication include online and offline media and span branded and unbranded communication to ensure we drive action from awareness of symptoms to desire to speak to an HCP to acquire a prescription.

License Agreements

License Agreement with the Population Council

Under the terms of the Population Council License Agreement, we paid the Population Council a milestone payment of $20 million within 30 days following approval by the FDA of the NDA for ANNOVERA. The first commercial batch of ANNOVERA was released during the third quarter of 2019, and we paid the Population Council a second milestone payment of $20 million as a result of the commercial batch release. The Population Council is eligible to receive additional milestone payments and royalties from commercial sales of ANNOVERA, as detailed below. We assumed responsibility for marketing expenses related to the commercialization of ANNOVERA. We are required to pay the Population Council additional milestone payments of $40 million upon cumulative net sales of ANNOVERA in the U.S. by us and our affiliates and permitted sublicensees of each of $200 million, $400 million and $1.0 billion.

In addition, we are required to pay the Population Council, on a quarterly basis, step-based royalty payments based on annual net sales of ANNOVERA in the U.S. by us and our affiliates and permitted sublicensees as follows:

The annual royalty rate will be reduced to 50% of the initial rate during the six-month period beginning on the date of the first arms-length commercial sale of a generic equivalent of ANNOVERA that is launched by a third party in the U.S., and thereafter will be reduced to 20% of the initial rate.

The Population Council has agreed to perform and pay the costs and expenses associated with two post-approval studies required by the FDA for ANNOVERA and we have agreed to perform and pay the costs and expenses associated with a post-approval study required by the FDA to measure risk for venous thromboembolism, provided that if the costs and expenses associated with such post-approval study exceed $20 million, half of such excess will be offset against royalties or other payments owed by us to the Population Council under the Population Council License Agreement. We and the Population Council formed a joint product committee responsible for overseeing activities under the Population Council License Agreement. We are responsible for all aspects of promotion, product positioning, pricing, education programs, publications, sales messages and any additional desired clinical studies for the one-year vaginal contraceptive system, subject to oversight and decisions made by the joint product committee.

Unless earlier terminated, the Population Council License Agreement will remain in effect until the later of the expiration of the last-to-expire of the Population Council’s U.S. patents that are licensed to us, or the date following such expiration that follows a continuous period of six months during which we and our affiliates have not made a commercial sale of ANNOVERA in the U.S. The Population Council License Agreement may also be terminated for certain breach and bankruptcy-related events and by us on 180 days’ prior notice to the Population Council.

As part of the Population Council License Agreement, we have the exclusive right to negotiate co-development and U.S. marketing rights for two other investigational vaginal contraceptive systems in development by the Population Council.

License Agreement with Knight

In July 2018, we entered into a license and supply agreement, or the Knight License Agreement, with Knight pursuant to which we granted Knight an exclusive license to commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in Canada and Israel. Pursuant to the terms of the Knight License Agreement, Knight will pay us a milestone fee upon the first regulatory approval in Canada of each of IMVEXXY and BIJUVA, sales milestone fees based upon certain aggregate annual sales in Canada and Israel of each of IMVEXXY and BIJUVA and royalties based on aggregate annual sales of each of IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in Canada and Israel. In October 2019 and November 2019, Knight’s New Drug Submissions for Joyesta (IMVEXXY) and BIJUVA, respectively, were accepted for review by Health Canada. Knight will be responsible for all regulatory and commercial activities in Canada and Israel related to IMVEXXY and BIJUVA. We may terminate the Knight License Agreement if Knight does not submit all regulatory applications, submissions and/or registrations required for regulatory approval to use and commercialize IMVEXXY and BIJUVA in Canada within certain specified time periods. We also may terminate the Knight License Agreement if Knight challenges our patents. Either party may terminate the Knight License Agreement for any material breach by the other party that is not cured within certain specified time periods or if the other party files for bankruptcy or other related matters.

License Agreement with Theramex

In June 2019, we entered into a licensing and supply agreement, or the Theramex License Agreement, with Theramex pursuant to which we granted Theramex an exclusive, perpetual license to commercialize BIJUVA and IMVEXXY for human use outside of the U.S., except for Canada and Israel, or the Theramex Territory. Pursuant to the terms of the Theramex License Agreement, Theramex paid us an upfront fee of EUR 14 million in cash. We are also eligible to receive up to an additional EUR 29.5 million in cash milestone payments, comprised of (i) an aggregate of EUR 2 million in regulatory milestone payments based on regulatory approvals for each of BIJUVA and IMVEXXY in certain specified markets and (ii) an aggregate of EUR 27.5 million in sales milestone payments to be paid in escalating tranches based on Theramex first attaining certain aggregate annual net sales milestones in the Theramex Territory ranging from EUR 25 million to EUR 100 million. We are also entitled to receive quarterly royalty payments based on net sales of BIJUVA and IMVEXXY in the Theramex Territory. Theramex has agreed to submit all regulatory applications, submissions and/or registrations required for regulatory approval to use and commercialize BIJUVA and IMVEXXY in certain specified markets within certain specified time periods and we may terminate the Theramex License Agreement if Theramex does not submit certain of such regulatory applications, submissions and/or registrations. We may also terminate the Theramex License Agreement if Theramex challenges our patents. Either party may terminate the Theramex License Agreement for any material breach by the other party that is not cured within certain specified time periods or if the other party files for bankruptcy or other related matters. Theramex may sublicense its rights to commercialize BIJUVA and IMVEXXY in the Theramex Territory, except for certain specified markets. Pursuant to the terms of the Theramex License Agreement, we agreed to supply, or cause to be supplied, BIJUVA and IMVEXXY to Theramex. We and Theramex have agreed to form a joint product committee responsible for advising and overseeing activities under the Theramex License Agreement.

As of March 31, 2020, we had 30 issued foreign patents and 31 issued domestic or, U.S., patents, which included 12 domestic utility patents that relate to BIJUVA, three domestic patents that relate to estradiol and progesterone product candidates, eight domestic patents that relate to IMVEXXY, which establish an important intellectual property foundation for IMVEXXY, one domestic utility patent that relates to a pipeline transdermal patch technology, one domestic utility patent that relates to our topical-cream candidates, two domestic patents that relate to formulations containing progesterone, one domestic utility patent that relates to our OPERA® information technology platform that we wrote off in the second quarter of 2019, and three domestic utility patents that relate to TX-009HR, our progesterone and estradiol drug candidate.

Research and Development Expenses

A significant portion of our historical operating expenses have been incurred in research and development activities. Research and development expenses relate primarily to the discovery and development of our drug candidates. Our research and development expenses consist primarily of expenses incurred under agreements with contract research organizations, or CROs, and consultants that conduct our clinical and preclinical studies; employee-related expenses, which include salaries and benefits, and non-cash share-based compensation; the cost of developing our chemistry, manufacturing, and controls capabilities, and costs associated with other research activities and regulatory approvals. Other research and development costs listed below consist of costs incurred with respect to drug candidates that have not received Investigational New Drug Application approval from the FDA.

The following table indicates our research and development expense by project for the periods indicated:

Research and development expenditures have been reduced as we refocus our resources towards the commercialization of our approved pharmaceutical products. We will continue to deploy limited resources as we develop our drug pipeline, continue stability testing and validation on our pharmaceutical products, develop and validate secondary manufacturers, prepare regulatory submissions and work with regulatory authorities on existing submissions.

The costs of clinical trials may vary significantly over the life of a project owing to a variety of factors. We base our expenses related to clinical trials on estimates that are based on our experience and estimates from CROs and other third parties. Research and development expenditures for the drug candidates will continue after the trial completes for on-going stability and laboratory testing, regulatory submission and response work. For a discussion of the nature of efforts, steps and costs necessary to complete these projects, see “Item 1. Business — Research and Development” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Research and Development Expenses” contained in our Annual Report.

Results of Operations

Three months ended March 31, 2020 compared with three months ended March 31, 2019