UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

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(Mark One)

OR

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

OR

Date of event requiring this shell company report

Commission File Number 001-39992

Immunocore Holdings plc

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter and translation of Registrant’s name into English)

England and Wales

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

92 Park Drive

Milton Park

(Address of principal executive offices)

Bahija Jallal, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

92 Park Drive

Milton Park

Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RY

United Kingdom

(Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

*Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing of the American Depositary Shares on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act. None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act. None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report:

Ordinary shares, nominal value £0.002 per share: 43,862,850 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2021.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. ☐ Yes ☒ No

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant 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, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, 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 has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

U.S. GAAP ☐

International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ☒ Other ☐

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. ☐ Item 17 ☐ Item 18

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PART I
ITEM 1.	IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS.		4
ITEM 2.	OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE.		4
ITEM 3.	KEY INFORMATION.		4
	A.	Selected financial data.	4
	B.	Capitalization and indebtedness.	4
	C.	Reasons for the offer and use of proceeds.	4
	D.	Risk factors.	4
ITEM 4.	INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY.		72
	A.	History and development of the company.	72
	B.	Business overview.	73
	C.	Organizational structure.	100
	D.	Property, plant and equipment.	100
ITEM 4A.	UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.		100
ITEM 5.	OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS.		100
	A.	Operating results.	101
	B.	Liquidity and capital resources.	110
	C.	Research and development, patents and licenses, etc.	115
	D.	Trend information.	115
	E.	Critical accounting estimates.	115
ITEM 6.	DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES.		116
	A.	Directors and senior management.	116
	B.	Compensation.	119
	C.	Board practices.	122
	D.	Employees.	125
	E.	Share ownership.	125
ITEM 7.	MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS.		125
	A.	Major shareholders.	125
	B.	Related party transactions.	127
	C.	Interests of experts and counsel.	128
ITEM 8.	FINANCIAL INFORMATION.		128
	A.	Consolidated financial statements and other financial information.	128
	B.	Significant changes.	129
ITEM 9.	THE OFFER AND LISTING.		129
	A.	Offer and listing details.	129
	B.	Plan of distribution.	129
	C.	Markets.	129
	D.	Selling shareholders.	129
	E.	Dilution.	129
	F.	Expenses of the issue.	130
ITEM 10.	ADDITIONAL INFORMATION		130
	A.	Share capital.	130
	B.	Memorandum and articles of association.	130
	C.	Material contracts.	130
	D.	Exchange controls.	130
	E.	Taxation.	130
	F.	Dividends and paying agents.	137
	G.	Statement by experts.	137
	H.	Documents on display.	137
	I.	Subsidiary information.	138
ITEM 11.	QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK		138
ITEM 12.	DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES		139
	A.	Debt securities	139
	B.	Warrants and rights	139
	C.	Other securities	139

	D.	American Depositary Shares	139
PART II			140
ITEM 13.	DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES		140
ITEM 14.	MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS		140
ITEM 15.	CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES		140
	A.	Disclosure controls and procedures.	141
	B.	Management’s annual report on internal control over financial reporting.	141
	C.	Attestation report of the registered public accounting firm.	141
	D.	Changes in internal control over financial reporting.	141
ITEM 16	[Reserved]		141
	A.	Audit committee financial expert.	141
	B.	Code of ethics.	141
	C.	Principal accountant fees and services.	142
	D.	Exemptions from the listing standards for audit committees.	142
	E.	Purchases of equity securities by the issuer and affiliated purchasers.	142
	F.	Changes in registrant’s certifying accountant.	142
	G.	Corporate governance.	142
	H.	Mine safety disclosure.	143
	I.	Disclosure regarding foreign jurisdictions that prevent inspections.	143
PART III			144
ITEM 17.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS		144
ITEM 18.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS		144
ITEM 19.	EXHIBITS		144

•

our ability to maintain regulatory approval of KIMMTRAK (tebentafusp-tebn) for metastatic uveal melanoma, or mUM, in the United States;

•

the timing of, and our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of, KIMMTRAK in the European Union and respective European countries;

•

our expectations regarding the potential commercialization of, the marketing and therapeutic potential of KIMMTRAK for mUM;

•

our ability to build a sustainable pipeline of new medicine candidates, including but not limited to future generations of KIMMTRAK;

•

the expected clinical benefits of KIMMTRAK including extended overall survival benefit;

•

expectations regarding the timing of the commercial launch of KIMMTRAK, the timing of commercial availability and the ability to reach patients in a timely manner;

•

the value proposition of KIMMTRAK in mUM and benefit as an orphan indication including expectations regarding the potential market size opportunity;

•

our ability to successfully executed our sales and marketing strategy of KIMMTRAK in the United States, including continuing to successfully recruit and retain sales and marketing personnel and to successfully build the market for our medicines;

•

our expectations about the willingness of healthcare providers to recommend KIMMTRAK to people with mUM;

•

the rate and degree of market acceptance of our product candidates among physicians, patients, patient advocacy groups, third-party payors and the medical community and our ability and our distribution and marketing partners’ ability to obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement and pricing for, our medicines from government and third-party payers and risks relating to the success of our patient assistance programs;

•

the market opportunities for our product candidates may be smaller than we estimate and any approval that we obtain may be based on a narrower definition of the patient population;

•

the initiation, timing, progress and results of our current and future preclinical studies and clinical trials and related preparatory work and the period during which the results of the trials will become available, as well as our research and development programs;

•

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

•

our expectations regarding timing of regulatory filings for, or our ability to obtain regulatory approval of, tebentafusp in additional jurisdictions, or any of our other product candidates;

•

our ability to obtain accelerated approval for current and future product candidates from the FDA and the EMA;

•

our ability to identify and develop additional product candidates using our ImmTAX platform;

•

business disruptions affecting the initiation, patient enrollment, clinical trial site monitoring, development and operation of our current and proposed clinical trials, including a public health emergency, such as the ongoing coronavirus 2019, or COVID-19, pandemic;

•

the potential benefits of our product candidates;

•

our business strategies and goals;

•

our plans to collaborate, or statements regarding our current collaborations;

•

our ability to find future partners and collaborators;

•

the performance of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers,

•

our expectations regarding our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce intellectual property protection for our product candidates and our ability to operate our business without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of others;

•

the effects of competition with respect to KIMMTRAK or any of our other current or future product candidates, as well as innovations by current and future competitors in our industry;

•

regulatory developments in the United States and other countries, including potential changes in healthcare laws and regulations;

•

our financial performance and our ability to effectively manage our anticipated growth;

•

our ability to identify, recruit and retain qualified employees;

•

the loss of key commercial or management personnel;

•

whether we are classified as a PFIC for current and future periods;

•

our ability to raise additional capital; and

•

our estimates regarding  the period of time for which our current capital resources will be sufficient to fund our continued operations, future expenses, revenues and needs for additional financing and the accuracy thereof.

Item 1.

Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers.

Item 2.

Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable.

Item 3.

Key Information.

A.	[Reserved]

B.	Capitalization and indebtedness.

C.	Reasons for the offer and use of proceeds.

D.	Risk factors.

•

The COVID-19 global pandemic has and may continue to adversely impact our business, including the commercialization of KIMMTRAK, our supply chain, our pre-clinical studies and our clinical trials, our liquidity and access to capital markets and our business development activities.

•

We have incurred significant losses in every year since our inception. We expect to continue to incur losses over the next several years and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

•

Our ability to generate revenues from KIMMTRAK is subject to attaining significant market acceptance among physicians, patients and healthcare payers.

•

Our future prospects are highly dependent on our ability to successfully develop and execute a commercialization strategy for KIMMTRAK. Failure to do so would adversely impact our financial condition and prospects.

•

We will require substantial additional funding to achieve our business goals. If we are unable to obtain this funding when needed and on acceptable terms, we could be forced to delay, limit or terminate our product development efforts.

•

We are heavily dependent on the success of our ImmTAX platform to identify and develop product candidates. If we or our collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize our platforms or experience significant delays in doing so, our business may be harmed.

•

We may be unable to successfully complete additional large-scale, pivotal clinical trials for any product candidates we develop after KIMMTRAK.

•

Our product candidates utilize a novel mechanism of action and involve novel targets which may result in greater research and development expenses, regulatory issues that could delay or prevent approval, or discovery of unknown or unanticipated adverse effects.

•

Clinical product development involves a lengthy and expensive process, with an uncertain outcome.

•

The effects of health epidemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in regions where we, or the third parties on which we rely, have business operations could adversely impact our business, including our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, as well as the business or operations of our CROs or other third parties with whom we conduct business.

•

Reports of adverse events or safety concerns involving KIMMTRAK or our product candidates could delay or prevent us from obtaining or maintaining regulatory approvals or could negatively impact sales of our products or the prospects for our product candidates.

•

Even if we obtain regulatory approvals to market our current and any future approved products, we will remain subject to extensive ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight, including post-approval requirements, that could result in significant additional expense and could negatively impact our ability to commercialize our current and any future approved products.

•

We are subject to manufacturing risks that could substantially increase our costs and limit supply of our products.

•

We face substantial competition, which may result in others developing or commercializing drugs before or more successfully than us.

•

Our existing collaborations are important to our business, and future collaborations may also be important to us. If we are unable to maintain any of these collaborations, or if these collaborations are not successful, our business could be adversely affected.

•

If we are unable to adequately protect our proprietary technology or obtain, maintain, protect and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for our technology and products or if the scope of the protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors and other third parties could develop and commercialize technology and products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and products may be impaired.

•

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their intellectual property or proprietary rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

•

The FDA regulatory pathways can be difficult to predict and whether, for example, further unanticipated clinical trials are required, will depend on the data obtained in our ongoing clinical trials.

•

Our future success depends on our ability to retain key executives and experienced scientists and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

•

As a company based outside of the United States, we are subject to economic, political, regulatory and other risks associated with international operations.

•

Failure or perceived failure to comply with existing or future laws, regulations, contracts, self-regulatory schemes, industry standards and other obligations related to data privacy and security (including security incidents) could harm our business. Compliance or the actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could negatively affect our operating results and business.

•

continue to establish a sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution capability to commercialize KIMMTRAK and any future product candidate for which we may obtain marketing approval in the United States and expanded territories and countries;

•

continue our ongoing and planned development of our five clinical stage programs, including our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of IMC-F106C (PRAME) and our Phase 1/2 clinical trial of IMC-C103C (MAGE-A4) in multiple solid tumors; and our ImmTAV molecules targeting Hepatitis B Virus, or HBV, or HIV;

•

initiate pre-clinical studies and clinical trials for any additional product candidates that we may pursue in the future;

•

seek regulatory approvals for tebentafusp in other jurisdictions, and any future product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;

•

build a portfolio of product candidates through the discovery, development, or acquisition or in-license of drugs, product candidates or technologies;

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maintain, protect, enforce and expand our intellectual property portfolio;

•

acquire or in-license other product candidates, intellectual property and technologies;

•

hire additional clinical, regulatory and scientific personnel;

•

add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support commercial development of KIMMTRAK, our product development and planned future commercialization efforts of existing and future product candidates; and

•

incur additional legal, accounting and other expenses associated with operating as a public company.

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timing of market introduction of KIMMTRAK as well as competitive medicines;

•

efficacy and safety of KIMMTRAK;

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continued projected growth of the markets in which KIMMTRAK competes;

•

the extent to which physicians diagnose and treat the conditions that KIMMTRAK is approved to treat;

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prevalence and severity of any side effects;

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if and when we are able to obtain regulatory approvals for additional indications for KIMMTRAK;

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acceptance by patients, physicians and applicable specialists;

•

availability of, and ability to maintain, coverage and adequate reimbursement and pricing from government and other third-party payers;

•

potential or perceived advantages or disadvantages of KIMMTRAK over alternative treatments, including cost of treatment and relative convenience and ease of administration;

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strength of sales, marketing and distribution support;

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the price of KIMMTRAK, both in absolute terms and relative to alternative treatments;

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impact of past and limitation of future medicine price increases;

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our ability to maintain a continuous supply of KIMMTRAK for commercial sale;

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the effect of current and future healthcare laws;

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the extent and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extent to which physicians and patients delay visits or writing or filling prescriptions for KIMMTRAK;

•

the performance of third-party distribution partners, over which we have limited control; and

•

medicine labeling or medicine insert requirements of the FDA or other regulatory authorities.

•

our ability to successfully execute our commercialization strategies for KIMMTRAK and, if approved, our other product candidates;

•

progress, timing, scope and costs of our clinical trials, including the ability to timely initiate clinical sites, enroll subjects and manufacture soluble bispecific TCR product candidates for our ongoing, planned and potential future clinical trials, including our clinical trials of IMC-F106C (PRAME) and IMC-C103C (MAGE-A4) in multiple solid tumors, and IMC-I109V targeting HBV;

•

time and costs required to perform research and development to identify and characterize new product candidates from our research programs;

•

the time and cost necessary to pursue regulatory authorizations and approvals that may be required by regulatory authorities to execute clinical trials or commercialize our products;

•

our ability to have clinical and commercial products successfully manufactured consistent with FDA, EMA and other authorities’ regulations;

•

amount of sales and other revenues from product candidates that we may commercialize, if any, including the selling prices for such potential products and the availability of adequate third-party coverage and reimbursement for patients;

•

sales and marketing costs associated with commercializing our products, if approved, including the cost and timing of building our marketing and sales capabilities;

•

cost of building, staffing and validating our manufacturing processes, which may include capital expenditure;

•

terms and timing of any revenue from our existing collaborations;

•

costs of operating as a public company;

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time and cost necessary to respond to technological, regulatory, political and market developments;

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costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights;

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costs, associated with, and terms and timing of, any future any potential acquisitions, strategic collaborations, licensing agreements or other arrangements that we may establish; and

•

inability of clinical sites to enroll patients as healthcare capacities are required to cope with natural disasters, epidemics or other health system emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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the inability to recruit, train and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and marketing personnel;

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the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to physicians or persuade adequate numbers of physicians to prescribe any future product that we may develop;

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the lack of complementary treatments to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines; and

•

unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization.

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delays or difficulties in enrolling and retaining patients in our clinical trials, including patients that may not be able or willing to comply with clinical trial protocols such as weekly dosing regimens if quarantines impede patient movement or interrupt healthcare services;

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delays or difficulties in clinical site initiation, including difficulties in recruiting and retaining clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;

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increased rates of patients withdrawing from our clinical trials following enrollment as a result of risks of exposure to COVID-19, being forced to quarantine or being unable to visit clinical trial locations or otherwise comply with clinical trial protocols;

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diversion or prioritization of healthcare resources away from the conduct of clinical trials and towards the COVID-19 pandemic, including the diversion of hospitals serving as our clinical trial sites and hospital staff supporting the conduct of our clinical trials, and because, who, as healthcare providers, may have heightened exposure to COVID-19 and adversely impact our clinical trial operations;

•

interruption of our clinical supply chain or key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site monitoring, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal, state/provincial or municipal governments, employers and others; and

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limitations in employee resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our clinical trials, including because of sickness of employees or their families or the desire of employees to avoid contact with large groups of people.

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delays in receiving approval from local regulatory authorities to initiate our planned clinical trials;

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delays in clinical sites receiving the supplies and materials needed to conduct our clinical trials;

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interruption in global shipping that may affect the transport of clinical trial materials, such as investigational drug product and comparator drugs used in our clinical trials;

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changes in federal, state/provincial or municipal regulations as part of a response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak which may require us to change the ways in which our clinical trials are conducted, which may result in unexpected costs, or to discontinue the clinical trials altogether;

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delays in necessary interactions with local regulators, ethics committees and other important agencies and contractors due to limitations in employee resources or forced furlough of government employees; and

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the refusal of the FDA to accept data from clinical trials in these affected geographies.

•

the clinical indications for which our product candidates are approved;

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physicians, hospitals, cancer treatment centers, and patients considering our product candidates as a safe and effective treatment;

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hospitals and cancer treatment centers establishing the infrastructure required for the administration of the product candidate;

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the potential and perceived advantages of our product candidates over alternative treatments;

•

the prevalence and severity of any side effects, including CRS, for which KIMMTRAK has a boxed warning recommending at least 16 hours of patient monitoring after each of the first three infusions, and as clinically indicated thereafter;

•

product labeling or product insert requirements of the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities;

•

limitations or warnings contained in the labeling approved by the FDA or the EMA;

•

the timing of market introduction of our product candidates as well as competitive products;

•

the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments;

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the amount of upfront costs or training required for physicians to administer our product candidates;

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the pricing of our products and the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors and government authorities;

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the willingness of patients to pay out-of-pocket in the absence of comprehensive coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors and government authorities;

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relative convenience and ease of administration, including as compared to alternative treatments and competitive therapies; and

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the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts and distribution support.

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be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates;

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not obtain marketing approval at all;

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obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;

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be subject to post-marketing testing requirements; or

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have the product removed from the market after obtaining marketing approval.

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the research methodology used may not be successful in identifying potential indications and/or product candidates;

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potential product candidates may, after further study, be shown to have harmful adverse effects or other characteristics that indicate they are unlikely to be effective products; or

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it may take greater human and financial resources than we will possess to identify additional therapeutic opportunities for our product candidates or to develop suitable potential product candidates through internal research programs, thereby limiting our ability to develop, diversify and expand our product portfolio.

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the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

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the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

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we may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for its proposed indication or a related companion diagnostic is suitable to identify appropriate patient populations;

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the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;

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we may be unable to demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;

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the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from pre-clinical studies or clinical trials;

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the data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may not be sufficient to support the submission a BLA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere;

•

the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may find deficiencies with or fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and

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the approval policies or regulations of the FDA, EMA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change such that our clinical data are insufficient for approval.

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regulators or institutional review boards, or IRBs, or ethics committees 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 terms with prospective trial sites and 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, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials or we may decide to abandon product 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 third-party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all, or may deviate from the clinical trial protocol or drop out of the trial, which may require that we add new clinical trial sites or investigators;

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we may elect to, or regulators or IRBs or ethics committees may require us or our investigators to, suspend or terminate clinical research 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;

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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; and

•

our product candidates may have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, causing us or our investigators, regulators or IRBs or ethics committees to suspend or terminate the trials, or reports may arise from pre-clinical or clinical testing of other cancer therapies that raise safety or efficacy concerns about our product candidates.

•

the severity of the disease under investigation;

•

the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial in question;

•

the availability of an appropriate genomic screening test;

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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;

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

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factors we may not be able to control, such as current or potential pandemics that may limit patients, principal investigators or staff or clinical site availability (e.g., of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic).

•

our available capital resources or capital constraints we experience;

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the rate of progress, costs, and results of our clinical trials and research and development activities, including the extent of scheduling conflicts with participating clinicians and collaborators;

•

our ability to identify and enroll patients who meet clinical trial eligibility criteria;

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our receipt of approvals by the FDA, EMA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities, and the timing thereof;

•

other actions, decisions, or rules issued by regulators;

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our ability to access sufficient, reliable, and affordable supplies of materials used in the manufacture of our product candidates;

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our ability to manufacture and supply clinical trial materials to our clinical sites on a timely basis;

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the efforts of our collaborators with respect to the commercialization of our approved products, if any; and

•

the securing of, costs related to, and timing issues associated with, commercial product manufacturing, as well as sales and marketing activities.

•

differing regulatory requirements in foreign countries;

•

unexpected changes in tariffs, trade barriers, price and exchange controls and other regulatory requirements;

•

differing standards for the conduct of clinical trials;

•

increased difficulties in managing the logistics and transportation of storing and shipping product candidates produced in the United States or elsewhere and shipping the product candidate to patients in other countries;

•

import and export requirements and restrictions;

•

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

•

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

•

foreign taxes, including withholding of payroll taxes;

•

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

•

difficulties staffing and managing foreign operations;

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

•

differing payor reimbursement regimes, governmental payors or patient self-pay systems, and price controls;

•

potential liability under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, or comparable foreign regulations;

•

challenges enforcing or protecting our contractual and intellectual property rights, especially in those foreign countries that do not respect and protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the United States or the United Kingdom;

•

the impacts Brexit may have with respect to the cross-border acknowledgment of clinical trial results and marketing authorizations as well as recruitment of scientific personnel;

•

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

•

business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war and terrorism.

•

the clinical indications for which our product candidates are approved;

•

physicians, hospitals, cancer treatment centers, and patients considering our product candidates as a safe and effective treatment;

•

hospitals and cancer treatment centers establishing the infrastructure required for the administration of the product candidate;

•

the potential and perceived advantages of our product candidates over alternative treatments;

•

the prevalence and severity of any side effects, including CRS, for which KIMMTRAK has a boxed warning recommending at least 16 hours of patient monitoring after each of the first three infusions, and as clinically indicated thereafter;

•

product labeling or product insert requirements of the FDA, the EMA or other regulatory authorities;

•

limitations or warnings contained in the labeling approved by the FDA or the EMA;

•

the timing of market introduction of our product candidates as well as competitive products;

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the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments;

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the amount of upfront costs or training required for physicians to administer our product candidates;

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the pricing of our products and the availability of coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors and government authorities;

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the willingness of patients to pay out-of-pocket in the absence of comprehensive coverage and adequate reimbursement by third-party payors and government authorities;

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relative convenience and ease of administration, including as compared to alternative treatments and competitive therapies; and

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the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts and distribution support.

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the impairment of our business reputation;

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the withdrawal of clinical trial participants;

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costs due to related litigation;

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the distraction of management’s attention from our primary business;

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substantial monetary awards to patients or other claimants;

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the inability to commercialize our product candidates; and

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decreased demand for our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale.

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

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collaborators may not perform their obligations as expected;

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collaborators may not pursue development and commercialization of any product candidates that achieve regulatory approval or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on clinical trial results, changes in the collaborators’ strategic focus or available funding, or external factors, such as an acquisition, that divert resources or create competing priorities;

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collaborators may delay clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a clinical trial program, stop a clinical trial or 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 if the collaborators believe that competitive products are more likely to be successfully developed or can be commercialized under terms that are more economically attractive than ours; this may also happen if the collaborators’ development of competing products is substantially faster than our development timelines;

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collaborators may not further develop product candidates developed by us or co-developed with us under the collaboration;

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product candidates discovered in collaboration with us may be viewed by our collaborators as competitive with their own product candidates or products, which may cause collaborators to cease to devote resources to the commercialization of our product candidates;

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a collaborator with marketing and distribution rights to one or more of our product candidates that achieve regulatory approval may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product or products;

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disagreements with collaborators, including disagreements over proprietary rights, contract interpretation or the preferred course of development, might cause delays or termination of the research, development or commercialization of product candidates, might lead to additional responsibilities for us with respect to product candidates, or might result in litigation or arbitration, any of which would be time-consuming and expensive;

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collaborators have certain defined rights to change or expand the scope of development programs during the course of the collaboration. This may lead to additional research work for us that may be time-consuming and expensive. Such work may compete with our own development programs and may delay timelines to market or proof-of-concept for our product candidates. If development programs under the collaboration turn out to be more costly and time-consuming, such unanticipated costs and work could likewise compete with our internal development programs;

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collaborators may not properly maintain, enforce or defend our intellectual property or proprietary information or may use them in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our intellectual property or proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation;

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collaborators may infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties, which may expose us to litigation and potential liability, and collaborators may also allege that we are liable for potential infringement, misappropriation or other violations of third-party intellectual property or proprietary rights during the research and development work for the collaboration;

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certain collaborations may be terminated for the convenience of the collaborator and, if terminated, we could be required to raise additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates. For example, certain of our collaboration and license agreements may be terminated for convenience upon the completion of a specified notice period; and

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collaborators may discontinue the development of product candidates within the collaboration, for example if they consider the results achieved so far or the product candidates not promising enough or if their development strategies change.

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have staffing difficulties;

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fail to comply with contractual obligations;

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experience regulatory compliance issues;

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undergo changes in priorities or become financially distressed; or

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form relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors.

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reliance on the third party for regulatory compliance and quality assurance;

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the possible breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third party;

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the possible misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure of our proprietary information, including our trade secrets and know-how; and

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the possible termination or nonrenewal of the agreement by the third party at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us.

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the scope of rights granted under the agreement and other interpretation-related issues;

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the extent to which our technology and processes infringe on intellectual property of the counterparty that is not subject to the agreement;

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the sublicensing of patent and other intellectual or proprietary rights under our collaborative development relationships;

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our diligence obligations under the agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;

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the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our counterparty and us and our partners; and

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the priority of invention of patented technology.

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others may be able to make products that are similar to our product candidates or utilize similar technology but that are not covered by the claims of the patents that we own or license now or in the future;

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we or our licensors or collaborators might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by the issued patents or pending patent applications that we own or license now or in the future;

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we or our licensors or collaborators might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our or their inventions;

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others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies without infringing our intellectual property rights or any intellectual property rights we may license;

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it is possible that our present or future pending patent applications (whether owned or licensed) will not lead to issued patents;

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it is possible that there are or will be prior public disclosures that could invalidate our or our licensors’ or collaboration partners’ patents;

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issued patents that we hold rights to may fail to provide us with any competitive advantage, or may be held invalid or unenforceable, including as a result of legal challenges by our competitors or other third parties;

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our competitors or other third parties might conduct research and development activities in countries where we do not have patent rights or in countries where research and development safe harbor laws exist, and then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets;

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we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable;

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the ownership, validity or enforceability of our patents or patent applications may be challenged by third parties;

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the patents or pending or future applications of others, if issued, may harm our business; and

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we may choose not to file a patent in order to maintain certain trade secrets or know-how, and a third party may subsequently file a patent covering such intellectual property.

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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our or our collaborators’ clinical trials;

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we or our collaborators may be unable to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that our product candidates are safe, pure, potent and have a favorable risk/benefit profile for any of their proposed indications;

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the results of clinical trials may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for approval;

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the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from pre-clinical programs or clinical trials;

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data collected from clinical trials of product candidates may not be sufficient to the satisfaction of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities to support the submission of a BLA or other comparable submission in foreign jurisdictions or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere;

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manufacturing processes or facilities or those of the third-party manufacturers we use may not be adequate to support approval of our product candidates; and

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

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issuance of Form FDA 483 notices or Warning Letters by the FDA or other regulatory agencies;

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imposition of fines and other civil penalties;

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criminal prosecutions;

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injunctions, suspensions or revocations of regulatory approvals;

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suspension of any ongoing clinical trials;

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total or partial suspension of manufacturing;

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delays in commercialization;

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refusal by the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications submitted by us;

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refusals to permit drugs to be imported into or exported from the United States;

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restrictions on operations, including costly new manufacturing requirements;

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product recalls or seizures; and

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requirements to conduct post-marketing studies or clinical trials.

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the demand for our current or future product candidates, if we obtain regulatory approval;

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our ability to set a price that we believe is fair for our products;

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our ability to obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement for a product;

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our ability to generate revenue and achieve or maintain profitability;

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the level of taxes that we are required to pay; and

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the availability of capital.

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the federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward 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 federal and state healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. 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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the federal civil and criminal false claims and civil monetary penalties laws, including the federal False Claims Act, or FCA, imposes 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 federal government, claims for payment that are false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items and services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false of fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act;

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the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, imposes criminal and civil liability for executing 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 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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the federal physician payment transparency requirements, sometimes referred to as the “Sunshine Act” under the Affordable Care Act, require manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies that are reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report to CMS information related to transfers of value made to physicians (currently defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), other healthcare professionals (such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners), and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests of such physicians and their immediate family members;

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HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 and its implementing regulations, impose obligations on certain covered entity healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses as well as their business associates that perform certain services involving the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information and their subcontractors that use, disclose or otherwise process individually identifiable health information, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information; and

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analogous state laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers. Some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government in addition to requiring drug manufacturers to report information related to payments to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures. Further, many state laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.

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convey, sell, lease, transfer, assign, dispose of or otherwise make cash payments consisting of all or any part of our business or property;

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effect certain changes in our business, management, ownership or business locations;

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merge or consolidate with, or acquire all or substantially all of the capital stock or assets of, any other company;

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create, incur, assume or be liable for any additional indebtedness, or create, incur, allow or permit to exist any additional liens;

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pay cash dividends on, make any other distributions in respect of, or redeem, retire or repurchase, any shares of our capital stock;

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make certain investments; and

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enter into transactions with our affiliates.

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increased operating expenses and cash requirements;

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the assumption of additional indebtedness or contingent liabilities;

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assimilation of operations, intellectual property and products of an acquired company or product, including difficulties associated with integrating new personnel;

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the diversion of our management’s attention from our existing product programs and initiatives in pursuing such a strategic merger or acquisition;

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retention of key employees, the loss of key personnel, and uncertainties in our ability to maintain key business relationships;

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risks and uncertainties associated with the other party to such a transaction, including the prospects of that party and their existing products or product candidates and regulatory approvals; and

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our inability to generate revenue from acquired technology and/or products sufficient to meet our objectives in undertaking the acquisition or even to offset the associated acquisition and maintenance costs.

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economic weakness, including inflation, or political instability in particular non-U.S. economies and markets;

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differing and changing regulatory requirements for product approvals;

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differing jurisdictions could present different issues for securing, maintaining or obtaining freedom to operate in such jurisdictions;

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potentially reduced protection for intellectual property and proprietary rights;

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difficulties in compliance with different, complex and changing laws, regulations and court systems of multiple jurisdictions and compliance with a wide variety of foreign laws, treaties and regulations;

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changes in non-U.S. regulations and customs, tariffs and trade barriers;

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changes in non-U.S. currency exchange rates of the pound sterling, U.S. dollar, euro and currency controls;

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changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic environment, including the longer-term implications of Brexit;

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trade protection measures, import or export licensing requirements or other restrictive actions by governments;

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differing reimbursement regimes and price controls in certain non-U.S. markets;

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negative consequences from changes in tax laws;

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compliance with tax, employment, immigration and labor laws for employees living or traveling abroad, including, for example, the variable tax treatment in different jurisdictions of options granted under our share option schemes or equity incentive plans;

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

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litigation or administrative actions resulting from claims against us by current or former employees or consultants individually or as part of class actions, including claims of wrongful terminations, discrimination, misclassification or other violations of labor law or other alleged conduct;

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difficulties associated with staffing and managing international operations, including differing labor relations;

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

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business interruptions resulting from geo-political actions, including war and terrorism, or natural disasters including earthquakes, typhoons, floods and fires.

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our failure to successfully execute our commercialization strategy with respect to KIMMTRAK;

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actions or announcements by third-party or government payers with respect to coverage and reimbursement of KIMMTRAK;

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adverse regulatory decisions,, or our ability to obtain regulatory approval of, tebentafusp in other jurisdictions, or any of our other product candidates;

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adverse results or delays in pre-clinical studies or clinical trials;

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reports of adverse events in products similar or perceived to be similar to those we are developing or clinical trials of such products;

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an inability to obtain additional funding;

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failure by us to successfully develop and commercialize our product candidates;

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failure by us to maintain our existing strategic collaborations or enter into new collaborations;

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failure by us to identify additional product candidates for our pipeline;

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failure by us or our licensors and strategic partners to prosecute, maintain, protect or enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights;

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disputes or other developments relating to intellectual and other proprietary rights, including litigation

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matters and our ability to obtain patent and other intellectual property protection for our technologies;

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changes in laws or regulations applicable to future products;

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an inability to obtain adequate product supply for our product candidates or the inability to do so at acceptable prices;

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the introduction of new products, services or technologies by our competitors;

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failure by us to meet or exceed financial projections we may provide to the public;

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failure by us to meet or exceed the financial projections of the investment community;

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the perception of the pharmaceutical industry by the public, legislatures, regulators and the investment community;

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changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;

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inability to obtain adequate commercial supply for any approved product or inability to do so at acceptable prices;

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announcements of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments by us, our strategic partner or our competitors;

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inability to comply with our debt covenants and to make payments as they become due;

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additions or departures of key scientific or management personnel;

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significant lawsuits, including patent or shareholder litigation;

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changes in the market valuations of similar companies;

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general economic, industry, political and market conditions, including, but not limited to, the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic;

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sales of our ADSs or ordinary shares by us or our shareholders in the future; and

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the trading volume of our ADSs; and

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other events or factors, many of which are beyond our control.

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delaying, deferring, or preventing a change in control;

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entrenching our management and/or the board of directors;

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impeding a merger, scheme of arrangement, takeover, or other business combination involving us; or

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

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not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404;

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not being required to comply with any requirement that has or 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;

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reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation; and

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an exemption from the requirement to seek nonbinding advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements.