As confidentially submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 15, 2020.

This Amendment No. 1 to the draft registration statement has not been publicly filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and all information herein remains strictly confidential.

Registration No. 333-            

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

1065 East Hillsdale Blvd., Suite 100

Foster City, California 94404

(650) 525-5535

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

Senthil Sundaram

Chief Executive Officer

Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

1065 East Hillsdale Blvd., Suite 100

Foster City, California 94404

(650) 525-5535

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

Copies to:

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

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

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

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or 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.

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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

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

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Prior to the filing of this registration statement, we will have effected a deregistration under the Cayman Islands Companies Law (2020 Revision) and a domestication under Section 388 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (by means of filing a certificate of domestication with the Secretary of State of Delaware), pursuant to which our jurisdiction of incorporation was changed from the Cayman Islands to the State of Delaware (the “Domestication”). Upon completion of the Domestication, (i) each of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, will be converted, on a one-for-one basis, into a share of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, (ii) each of our issued and outstanding Series A Convertible Preferred Shares, par value $0.0001 per share, will be converted, on a one-for-one basis, into a share of Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and (iii) each of our issued and outstanding Series B Convertible Preferred Shares, par value $0.0001 per share, will be converted, on a one-for-one basis, into a share of Series B Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share. In addition, the LAV PRC Entities will have exercised the LAV Option which will cause all of the equity interests held by the LAV PRC Entities to be converted into shares of our capital stock (the “China Conversion”). The China Conversion will occur shortly following the consummation of the Domestication. See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 8, Convertible Preferred Stock to each of our audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for additional information regarding the LAV PRC Entities and the LAV Option. Other than as discussed herein, the presentation in this confidential draft registration statement contemplates the completion of the China Conversion and the Domestication. We refer to this series of transactions as the Domestication transactions.

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

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED                     , 2021

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

             Shares

Common Stock

This is an initial public offering of shares of common stock of Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. We are offering              shares of our common stock. We currently expect the initial public offering price to be between $         and $         per share of common stock.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. We intend to apply to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “TERN.”

We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements.

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

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

We have granted the underwriters the option for a period of 30 days to purchase up to an additional              shares from us at the initial price to the public less the underwriting discounts and commissions.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on                     , 2021.

Prospectus dated                     , 2021.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

“Terns,” “Terns Pharmaceuticals,” the Terns logo and other trademarks, trade names or service marks of Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. appearing in this prospectus are the property of Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks and trade names in this prospectus may be referred to without the ^® and ^™ symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that their respective owners will not assert their rights thereto.

Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the shares offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus or in any applicable free writing prospectus is current only as of its date, regardless of its time of delivery or any sale of shares of our common stock. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

For investors outside the United States: Neither we nor the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus or any free writing prospectus we may provide to you in connection with this offering in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. You are required to inform yourselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to this offering and the distribution of this prospectus and any such free writing prospectus outside the United States.

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. Many of the following risks and uncertainties are, and will be, exacerbated by the coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, pandemic and any worsening of the global business and economic environment as a result. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations.

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

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

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, and we have only a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects. Biopharmaceutical product development is a highly speculative undertaking and involves a substantial degree of risk. We have no products approved for commercial sale and have not generated any revenue from sales of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and have incurred losses in each year since our inception in December 2016. We have only a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects. In addition, we have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving fields, particularly in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

We have had significant operating losses since our inception. Our net loss attributable to common stockholders for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019 was approximately $17.7 million and $68.6 million, respectively, and $58.8 million and $30.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2020, respectively. As of September 30, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $122.0 million excluding $1.1 million of net losses that have been allocated to the noncontrolling interest. Substantially all of our losses have resulted from expenses incurred in connection with our research and development programs and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations. We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future, and we anticipate these losses will increase as we continue to develop our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, conduct clinical trials and pursue research and development activities. Even if we achieve profitability in the future, we may not be able to sustain profitability in subsequent periods. Our prior losses, combined with expected future losses, have had and will continue to have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital.

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

Since our inception, we have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in research and development activities. Our single-agent and combination therapy candidates will require additional clinical development, and we intend to conduct additional research and development activities to discover and develop new single-agent and combination therapy candidates, including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, all of which will require substantial additional funds. We will continue to expend significant resources for the foreseeable future in connection with these activities. These expenditures will include costs associated with conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and manufacturing and supply, as well as marketing and selling any drugs approved for sale. In addition, other unanticipated costs may arise. Because the outcome of any preclinical study or clinical trial is highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate

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the actual amounts necessary to successfully complete the development and commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or any future single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

As of September 30, 2020, we had capital resources consisting of cash and cash equivalents of approximately $13.8 million. We expect our existing capital resources, which includes the net proceeds from this offering, will fund our planned operating expenses through                    . However, our operating plans may change as a result of many factors currently unknown to us, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned through public or private equity offerings or debt financings or other sources, such as strategic collaborations. Such financing may result in dilution to our stockholders, imposition of burdensome debt covenants and repayment obligations, or other restrictions that may affect our business. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans.

Our future capital requirements depend on many factors, including:

Additional funds may not be available when we need them, on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. Our ability to raise additional capital may be adversely impacted by potential worsening global economic conditions

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and the recent disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. If adequate funds are not available to us on a timely basis, we may be required to:

We also could be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborators or others that may require us to relinquish rights to some of our technologies or single-agent and combination therapy candidates that we would otherwise pursue on our own. We do not expect to realize revenue from sales of products or royalties from licensed products in the foreseeable future, if at all, and unless and until our single-agent and combination therapy candidates are clinically tested, approved for commercialization and successfully marketed. To date, we have primarily financed our operations through the sale of equity and debt securities. We will be required to seek additional funding in the future and currently intend to do so through public or private equity offerings or debt financings, credit or loan facilities, collaborations or a combination of one or more of these funding sources. Our ability to raise additional funds will depend on financial, economic and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Additional funds may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders will suffer dilution and the terms of any financing may adversely affect the rights of our stockholders. In addition, as a condition to providing additional funds to us, future investors may demand, and may be granted, rights superior to those of existing stockholders. Debt financing, if available, is likely to involve restrictive covenants limiting our flexibility in conducting future business activities, and, in the event of insolvency, debt holders would be repaid before holders of our equity securities received any distribution of our corporate assets.

Due to the significant resources required for the development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we must prioritize development of certain single-agent and combination therapy candidates and/or certain disease indications, which initially will be NASH. We may expend our limited resources on candidates or indications that do not yield a successful product and fail to capitalize on single-agent and combination therapy candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

We are currently focused on developing a portfolio of small-molecule single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, and other chronic liver diseases. We seek to maintain a process of prioritization and resource allocation among our programs to maintain a balance between advancing our two clinical-stage programs, TERN-101 and TERN-201, and our third program entering the clinic, TERN-501, in identified indications and exploring additional indications or mechanisms as well as developing future single-agent and combination therapy candidates. We also aim to conduct combination trials of our single-agent drug candidates. However, due to the significant resources required for the development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we must focus on specific diseases and disease pathways and decide which single-agent and combination therapy candidates to pursue and the amount of resources to allocate to each such single-agent or combination therapy candidate.

Our decisions concerning the allocation of research, development, collaboration, management and financial resources toward particular single-agent and combination therapy candidates or therapeutic areas may not lead to the development of any viable commercial drug and may divert resources away from better opportunities.

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Similarly, any decision to delay, terminate or collaborate with third parties in respect of certain programs may subsequently also prove to be suboptimal and could cause us to miss valuable opportunities. If we make incorrect determinations regarding the viability or market potential of any of our programs or single-agent and combination therapy candidates or misread trends in NASH or in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. As a result, we may fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities, be required to forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other single-agent and combination therapy candidates or other diseases and disease pathways that may later prove to have greater commercial potential than those we choose to pursue, or relinquish valuable rights to such single-agent and combination therapy candidates through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been advantageous for us to invest additional resources to retain development and commercialization rights.

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

Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including:

The cumulative effects of these factors could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. Investors should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance.

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This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any forecasts we may provide to the market, or if any forecasts we provide to the market are below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated revenue or earnings guidance we may provide.

Our financial condition raises substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue to operate as a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. Based on our current forecast, and without accounting for the proceeds from this offering or any other offering, we do not have sufficient resources for at least the next year following the date that the consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus were issued. To date, we have not generated revenues from our activities and have incurred substantial operating losses. We expect that we will continue to generate substantial operating losses for the foreseeable future until we complete development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and seek regulatory approvals to market such single-agent and combination therapy candidates. We will continue to fund our operations primarily through utilization of our current financial resources and additional raises of capital.

These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Additionally, our independent registered public accounting firm has included in its audit opinion for the year ended December 31, 2019 an explanatory paragraph that there is substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern. We plan to address these conditions by raising funds from our current investors as well as potential outside investors. However, there is no assurance that such funding will be available to us, will be obtained on terms favorable to us or will provide us with sufficient funds to meet our objectives. The reaction of investors to the inclusion of a going concern statement by our auditors and our potential inability to continue as a going concern may materially adversely affect our share price and our ability to raise new capital or enter into partnerships. If we become unable to continue as a going concern, we may have to liquidate our assets and the values we receive for our assets in liquidation or dissolution could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our consolidated financial statements.

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

Our business is susceptible to general conditions in the global economy and in the global financial markets. A global financial crisis or a global or regional political disruption could cause extreme volatility in the capital and credit markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn, including a recession or depression resulting from the current COVID-19 pandemic, or political disruption could result in a variety of risks to our business, including weakened demand for our current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, and our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy or political disruption could also strain our manufacturers or suppliers, possibly resulting in supply disruption, or cause our customers to delay making payments for our potential drugs, if approved. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and we cannot anticipate all of the ways in which the political or economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business.

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Risks related to the discovery and development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

We are early in our development efforts. Our business is heavily dependent on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our current and future single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

We have no drugs or combination therapies approved for sale, and our two clinical-stage programs are in early stages of clinical development. The success of our business, including our ability to finance our company and generate revenue in the future, will primarily depend on the successful development, regulatory approval and commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and, in particular, the advancement of our current clinical-stage programs, which are in early stages of clinical development. Given our stage of development, it may be many years, if we succeed at all, before we have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of a single-agent or combination therapy candidate sufficient to warrant approval for commercialization. We cannot be certain that our single-agent and combination therapy candidates will receive regulatory approval or be successfully commercialized even if we receive regulatory approval.

We have not previously submitted a new drug application, or NDA, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, or similar approval filings to a comparable foreign regulatory authority, for any single-agent or combination therapy candidate. An NDA or other relevant regulatory filing must include extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to establish that the single-agent or combination therapy candidate is safe and effective for each desired indication. The NDA or other relevant regulatory filing must also include significant information regarding the chemistry, manufacturing and controls for the product. We cannot be certain that our current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates will be successful in clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. Further, even if they are successful in clinical trials, our current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates may not receive regulatory approval. If we do not receive regulatory approvals for current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we may not be able to continue our operations. Even if we successfully obtain regulatory approval to market a single-agent or combination therapy candidate, our revenue will depend, in part, upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we gain regulatory approval and have commercial rights, as well as the availability of competitive products, whether there is sufficient third-party reimbursement and adoption by physicians.

We plan to seek regulatory approval to commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates both in the United States and in select foreign countries. While the scope of regulatory approval generally is similar in other countries, in order to obtain separate regulatory approval in other countries, we must comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of such countries regarding safety and efficacy. Other countries also have their own regulations governing, among other things, clinical trials and commercial sales, as well as pricing and distribution of drugs, and we may be required to expend significant resources to obtain regulatory approval and to comply with ongoing regulations in these jurisdictions.

In the future, we may also become dependent on other single-agent and combination therapy candidates that we may develop or acquire. The clinical and commercial success of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and future single-agent and combination therapy candidates will depend on a number of factors, including the following:

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These factors, many of which are beyond our control, could cause us to experience significant delays or an inability to obtain regulatory approvals or commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Even if regulatory approvals are obtained, we may never be able to successfully commercialize any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates. Accordingly, we cannot provide assurances that we will be able to generate sufficient revenue through the sale of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or any future single-agent and combination therapy candidates to continue our business or achieve profitability.

Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain timelines and outcomes, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results. If development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates is unsuccessful or delayed, we may be unable to obtain required regulatory approvals and we may be unable to commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates on a timely basis, if at all.

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure or delay can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. Success in nonclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry, including biotechnology companies, have suffered significant setbacks in clinical trials, even after promising results in earlier nonclinical or clinical studies. These setbacks have been caused by, among other things, nonclinical findings made while clinical studies were underway and safety or efficacy observations made in clinical studies, including previously unreported adverse events. The results of preclinical, nonclinical and early clinical studies of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. Single-agent and combination therapy candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical and initial clinical trials. Notwithstanding any potential promising results in earlier studies, we cannot be certain that we will not face similar setbacks. Even if our clinical trials are completed, the results may not be sufficient to obtain regulatory approval for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

We may experience delays in initiating our clinical trials and we cannot be certain that the trials or any other future clinical trials for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates will begin on time, need to be redesigned, enroll an adequate number of patients on time or be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed or terminated for a variety of reasons, including delay or failure related to:

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In addition, disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the likelihood that we encounter such difficulties or delays in initiating, enrolling, conducting, or completing our planned and ongoing clinical trials. We could also encounter delays if a clinical trial is suspended or terminated by us, by the IRBs of the institutions at which such trials are being conducted, by a data monitoring committee, or DMC, for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities. Such authorities may suspend or terminate a clinical trial due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial.

Moreover, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and receive compensation in connection with such services. Under certain circumstances, we may be required to report some of these relationships to the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may conclude that a financial relationship between us and a principal investigator has created a conflict of interest or otherwise affected the interpretation of the trial. The FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority may therefore question the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site and the utility of the clinical trial itself may be jeopardized. This could result in a delay in approval, refusal to accept or rejection, of our marketing applications by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority, as the case may be, and may ultimately lead to the denial of marketing approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

If we experience delays in the completion of any clinical trial of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or the termination of any such clinical trial, the commercial prospects of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may be harmed, and our ability to generate drug revenues from any of these single-agent and combination therapy candidates will be delayed or not realized at all. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our single-agent and combination therapy candidate development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence drug sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

If we encounter difficulties or delays enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.

We may not be able to initiate or continue our planned clinical trials for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates if we are unable to identify and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in

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these trials as required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authority. Patient enrollment, a significant factor in the timing of clinical trials, is affected by many factors including the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the single-agent or combination therapy candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating.

The timely completion of clinical trials in accordance with their protocols depends, among other things, on our ability to enroll a sufficient number of patients who remain in the study until its conclusion. We may experience difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. The enrollment of patients depends on many factors, including:

In addition, our clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for single-agent and combination therapy candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors.

Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

We face significant competition for our drug discovery and development efforts in an environment of rapid technological and scientific change, and our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, will face significant competition, which may prevent us from achieving significant market penetration. Many of our competitors have significantly greater resources than we do, and we may not be able to successfully compete.

The pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in particular are characterized by rapidly advancing technologies, intense competition and a strong emphasis on developing proprietary therapeutics. Numerous companies are engaged in the development, patenting, manufacturing and marketing of healthcare products competitive with those that we are developing. We face competition from a number of sources, such as pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, generic drug companies and academic and research institutions.

We are aware of both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with development programs in NASH. Large pharmaceutical companies participating in the development of NASH treatments include, but are not limited to, AbbVie, Inc., Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca PLC/MedImmune LLC, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim,

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eisai, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead Sciences, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., Novo Nordisk A/S, Pfizer Inc., Roche Holding AG, Sanofi, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

In relation to TERN-101, companies conducting NASH clinical trials with FXR agonists include AbbVie, Inc., Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., ENYO Pharma SA, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Metacrine, Inc. and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

TERN-201, our VAP-1 inhibitor, is a relatively novel mechanism for the treatment of NASH, and thus has little competition we are aware of. The companies who are currently developing a SSAO/VAP-1 inhibitor with NASH as a lead indication are LG Chem Ltd. and Novo Nordisk A/S.

With regards to TERN-501, companies conducting NASH clinical trials with THR-b agonists include Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Viking Therapeutics, Inc.

Furthermore, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who are developing clinical-stage drugs to treat NASH using mechanisms not mentioned above include 89Bio, Inc., Akero Therapeutics, Inc., Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Axcella Health, Inc., Carmot Therapeutics, Inc., Cirius Therapeutics, Inc., CohBar, Inc., Coherus Biosciences Inc., Corcept Therapeutics, Inc., CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., Galectin Therapeutics Inc., Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Inventiva Pharma SA, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., MediciNova, Inc., NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., NorthSea Therapeutics, Inc., Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., Poxel SA, Sagimet Biosciences, Inc., T3D Therapeutics, Inc. and Zydus Cadila Healthcare.

It is also probable that the number of companies seeking to develop drugs and therapies for the treatment of serious metabolic diseases, such as NASH, will increase.

Many of our competitors have greater financial resources, marketing capabilities, sales forces, manufacturing capabilities, research and development capabilities, clinical trial expertise, intellectual property portfolios, experience in obtaining patents and regulatory approvals for drug candidates and other resources than we do. Some of the companies also have a broad range of other product offerings, large direct sales forces and long-term customer relationships with our target physicians, which could inhibit our market penetration efforts. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

Certain alternative treatments that may be approved and offered by competitors in the future may be available at lower prices and may offer greater efficacy or better safety profiles. Furthermore, currently approved products could be discovered to have application for the intended indication of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, which could give such products significant regulatory and market timing advantages over any of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Our competitors also may obtain FDA, European Medicines Agency, or EMA, or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours and may obtain orphan product exclusivity from the FDA for indications our single-agent and combination therapy candidates are targeting, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market. For additional information regarding our competition, see the section of this prospectus captioned “Business—Competition.”

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We are initially developing single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of NASH, an indication for which there is currently no approved therapy in the United States or Europe. There is a heightened risk that we will not be able to gain agreement with regulatory authorities regarding an acceptable development plan, that the outcome of our clinical trials will not be favorable or that, even if favorable, regulatory authorities may not find the results of our clinical trials to be sufficient for marketing approval. This makes it difficult to predict the timing and costs of the clinical development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of NASH.

Our current research and development efforts are focused on developing our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of NASH, an indication for which there is currently no approved therapy in the United States or Europe. The regulatory approval process for novel drug candidates can be more expensive and take longer than for other, better known or extensively studied drug candidates. As other companies are in later stages of clinical trials for their potential NASH therapies, we expect that the path for regulatory approval for NASH therapies may continue to evolve as these other companies refine their regulatory approval strategies and interact with regulatory authorities. Such evolution may impact our future clinical trial designs, including trial size and approval endpoints, in ways that we cannot predict today.

In the United States, the FDA generally requires two adequate and well-controlled pivotal clinical trials to approve an NDA. Furthermore, for full approval of an NDA, the FDA requires a demonstration of efficacy based on a clinical benefit endpoint. The FDA may grant accelerated approval based on a surrogate endpoint reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. Even though our pivotal clinical trials for a specific indication may achieve their primary endpoints and are reasonably believed by us to be likely to predict clinical benefit, the FDA may not accept the results of such trials or approve our single-agent and combination therapy candidates on an accelerated basis, or at all. It is also possible that the FDA may refuse to accept for filing and review any regulatory application we submit for regulatory approval in the United States. Even if our regulatory application is accepted for review, there may be delays in the FDA’s review process and the FDA may determine that such regulatory application does not contain adequate clinical or other data or support the approval of the single-agent and combination therapy candidate. In such a case, the FDA may issue a complete response letter that may require that we conduct and/or complete additional clinical trials and preclinical studies or provide additional information or data before it will reconsider an application for approval. Any such requirements may be substantial, expensive and time-consuming, and there is no guarantee that we will continue to pursue such application or that the FDA will ultimately decide that any such application supports the approval of the single-agent or combination therapy candidate. As an example, the FDA recently returned a complete response to an NDA submitted by Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the drug candidate obeticholic acid, or OCA, for the treatment of NASH. The efficacy of OCA for the treatment of NASH was based on the surrogate histologic endpoint of improvement of fibrosis as shown by liver biopsy with no worsening of NASH in lieu of clinical outcomes in the NASH patients enrolled in the trial, such as overall survival and time to liver transplant. Such decisions may impact our future clinical trial designs, including trial size and approval endpoints, in ways that we cannot predict today. Furthermore, the FDA may also refer any regulatory application to an advisory committee for review and recommendation as to whether, and under what conditions, the application should be approved. While the FDA is not bound by the recommendation of an advisory committee, it considers such recommendations carefully when making decisions. Delay or failure to obtain, or unexpected costs in obtaining, the regulatory approval necessary to bring a potential product to market could decrease our ability to generate sufficient revenue to maintain our business.

Even if we receive accelerated approval for any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates, we anticipate we will be required to conduct or complete a post-approval clinical outcomes trial to confirm the clinical benefit of such single-agent and combination therapy candidates by demonstrating the correlation of the surrogate endpoint therapeutic response in patients with a significant reduction in adverse clinical outcomes over time. There can be no assurance that the clinical outcomes trial will confirm that the surrogate endpoint used as the basis of the regulatory submissions we make will eventually show an adequate correlation with clinical outcomes.

Our anticipated development costs would likely increase if development of any current or future single-agent or combination therapy candidate is delayed because we are required by the FDA to perform studies or

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trials in addition to, or different from, those that we currently conduct or anticipate. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with pharmaceutical product development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of any increase in our anticipated development costs.

We also may evaluate our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in combination with one or more therapies that have not yet been approved for marketing by the FDA, EMA or similar foreign regulatory authorities. We may not be able to market and sell any single-agent or combination therapy candidate we develop in combination with an unapproved therapy if that unapproved therapy does not ultimately obtain marketing approval. In addition, unapproved therapies face the same risks described with respect to our single-agent and combination therapy candidates currently in development, including the potential for serious adverse effects, delay in their clinical trials and lack of FDA or EMA approval. If the FDA, EMA or similar foreign regulatory authorities do not approve these other therapies or revoke their approval of, or if safety, efficacy, manufacturing, or supply issues arise with, the therapies we choose to evaluate in combination with our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we may be unable to obtain approval of or market any such single-agent or combination therapy candidate.

The lack of widely-accepted non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of NASH is likely to present a major challenge to the market penetration of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of NASH.

Liver biopsy is the standard approach for the diagnosis of inflammation and fibrosis associated with NASH. However, the procedure-related morbidity and, in rare cases, mortality, sample errors, costs, patient discomfort and thus lack of patient interest in undergoing the procedure limit its use. As such, only patients with a high risk of NASH, which includes patients with metabolic syndrome and an indication of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, are generally referred for liver biopsy. Because NASH tends to be asymptomatic until the disease progresses, many individuals with NASH remain undiagnosed until the disease has reached its late stages. The lack of widely-accepted non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of NASH is likely to present a major challenge to the market penetration of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of NASH, if ever commercialized, as many practitioners and patients may not be aware that a patient suffers from NASH and requires treatment. As such, use of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of NASH might not be as wide-spread as our actual target market and this may limit the commercial potential of such single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

A further challenge to the market penetration for our NASH single-agent and combination therapy candidates is that currently a liver biopsy is the standard approach for measuring improvement in NASH patients. Because it would be impractical to subject all patients that take our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, to regular and repeated liver biopsies, it will be difficult to demonstrate effectiveness to practitioners and patients unless and until widely-accepted non-invasive methods for the diagnosis and monitoring of NASH become available in clinical practice and clinical trials, as to which there can be no assurance.

While non-invasive diagnostic approaches are being advanced, their use in the diagnosis of NASH and monitoring of response to treatment has not been broadly recommended in professional treatment guidelines. Moreover, some diagnostics in development have not yet been clinically validated, have uncertain timetables for clinical validation, and may also be subject to regulation by FDA or other regulatory authorities as medical devices and may require premarket clearance or approval.

Our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, cause us to suspend or discontinue clinical trials, limit the commercial profile of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.

Undesirable side effects caused by our single-agent and combination therapy candidates could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the

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delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. Results of our clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of side effects or unexpected characteristics. To date, both TERN-101 and TERN-201 have been well-tolerated though we did observe transient elevations in transaminases in one of our Phase 1 clinical trials of TERN-101. Drugs with similar mechanism of actions to those we are developing have shown tolerability issues, including pruritus and adverse lipid changes in other FXR agonists, non-selective MAO inhibition in other VAP-1 inhibitors and potential cardiac toxicity in other THR-b agonists. As a result, it is possible that our drug candidates will display similar safety and tolerability issues and adverse events when evaluated in longer clinical trials in larger patient populations despite the results we have observed in our clinical trials to date.

If unacceptable side effects arise in the development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we, the IRBs at the institutions in which our studies are conducted or the DMC could recommend suspension or termination of our clinical trials or the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease clinical trials or deny approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for any or all targeted indications. Treatment-related side effects could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial or result in potential product liability claims. In addition, these side effects may not be appropriately recognized or managed by the treating medical staff. Furthermore, we may be required to expend time and incur costs to train medical personnel using our single-agent and combination therapy candidates to understand the side effect profiles for our clinical trials and upon any commercialization of any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates. Inadequate training in recognizing or managing the potential side effects of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates could result in patient injury or death. Any of these occurrences may harm our business, financial condition and prospects significantly.

In addition, if any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates receives marketing approval, and we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by such drugs, a number of potentially significant negative consequences could result, including:

Any of the foregoing events could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the particular single-agent or combination therapy candidate, if approved, and result in the loss of significant revenues to us, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations and business.

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

From time to time, we may publicly disclose interim, top-line or preliminary data from our clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the interim, top-line or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Interim, top-line and preliminary data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, such data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. From time to time, we may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim, top-line or preliminary data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse differences between interim, top-line or preliminary data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects.

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

The regulatory approval process is lengthy, expensive and uncertain, and we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates under applicable regulatory requirements. The denial or delay of any such approval would delay commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and adversely impact our ability to generate revenue, our business and our results of operations.

The development, research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, approval, selling, import, export, marketing, promotion and distribution of drug products are subject to extensive and evolving regulation by federal, state and local governmental authorities in the United States, principally the FDA, and by foreign regulatory authorities, which regulations differ from country to country. Neither we nor any future collaborator is permitted to market any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates in the United States until we receive regulatory approval of an NDA from the FDA.

Obtaining regulatory approval of an NDA can be a lengthy, expensive and uncertain process. Prior to obtaining approval to commercialize a single-agent or combination therapy candidate in the United States or abroad, we or our collaborators must demonstrate with substantial evidence from well-controlled clinical trials, and to the satisfaction of the FDA or other foreign regulatory authorities, that such single-agent and combination therapy candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses. The number of nonclinical studies and clinical trials that will be required for regulatory approval varies depending on the single-agent or combination therapy candidate, the disease or condition that the single-agent or combination therapy candidate is designed to address, and the regulations applicable to any particular single-agent or combination therapy candidate.

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Results from nonclinical studies and clinical trials can be interpreted in different ways. Even if we believe the nonclinical or clinical data for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates are promising, such data may not be sufficient to support approval by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. Administering single-agent and combination therapy candidates to humans may produce undesirable side effects, which could interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and result in the FDA or other regulatory authorities denying approval of a single-agent or combination therapy candidate for any or all indications. The FDA may also require us to conduct additional studies or trials for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates either prior to or post-approval, such as additional clinical pharmacology studies or safety or efficacy studies or trials, or it may object to elements of our clinical development program such as the primary endpoints or the number of subjects in our clinical trials.

The FDA or any foreign regulatory bodies can delay, limit or deny approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or require us to conduct additional nonclinical or clinical testing or abandon a program for many reasons, including:

Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage successfully complete the FDA or other regulatory approval processes and are commercialized. The lengthy development and approval process as well as the unpredictability of future clinical trial results may result in our failing to obtain regulatory approval to market our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Even if we eventually complete clinical testing and receive approval of an NDA or foreign marketing application for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, the FDA or the applicable foreign

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regulatory authority may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly additional clinical trials, including Phase 4 clinical trials, and/or in the case of the FDA, the implementation of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, which may be required to ensure safe use of the drug after approval. The FDA or the applicable foreign regulatory authority also may approve a single-agent or combination therapy candidate for a more limited indication or a narrower patient population than we originally requested, and the FDA or applicable foreign regulatory authority may not approve the labeling that we believe is necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of a single-agent or combination therapy candidate. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approval, or the failure to receive marketing authorization with a label that allows us to market the single-agent or combination therapy candidate as we desire, would delay, prevent or otherwise limit commercialization of that single-agent or combination therapy candidate and would materially adversely impact our business and prospects.

Our business has been and could continue to be adversely affected by the evolving and ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic in regions where we or third parties on which we rely have significant manufacturing facilities, concentrations of clinical trial sites or other business operations. The COVID-19 pandemic could adversely affect our operations, as well as the business or operations of our manufacturers or other third parties with whom we conduct business.

Our business has been and could continue to be adversely affected by the effects of the recent and evolving COVID-19 pandemic, which was declared by the World Health Organization as a global pandemic. As COVID-19 continues to spread, we may experience ongoing disruptions that could severely impact our business and clinical trials, including:

These and other disruptions in our operations and the global economy could negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our clinical trials have been, and may in the future be, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic may impact patient enrollment in our ongoing Phase 2a clinical trial of TERN-101

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(LIFT Study). In particular, some sites have in the past or may in the future pause enrollment to focus on, and direct resources to, COVID-19, while at other sites, patients may choose not to enroll or continue participating in the clinical trial as a result of the pandemic. In addition, patient visits to medical providers in the United States have slowed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who have serious chronic medical conditions are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19. As a result, potential patients in our ongoing LIFT Study or any other clinical trial may choose to not enroll, not participate in follow-up clinical visits or drop out of the trial as a precaution against contracting COVID-19. Further, some patients may not be able or willing to comply with clinical trial protocols if quarantines impede patient movement or interrupts healthcare services.

We are unable to predict with confidence the duration of such patient enrollment delays and difficulties. If patient enrollment is delayed for an extended period of time, our LIFT Study or any of our other clinical trials could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected. Similarly, our ability to recruit and retain principal investigators and site staff who, as healthcare providers, may have heightened exposure to COVID-19, may be adversely impacted.

In addition, ongoing or planned clinical trials may also be impacted by interruptions or delays in the operations of the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities. For example, we have also made certain adjustments to the operation of our trials in an effort to ensure the monitoring and safety of patients and minimize risks to trial integrity during the pandemic in accordance with the guidance issued by the FDA, and may need to make further adjustments in the future. For example, we have initiated our clinical trial protocols to enable remote visits to mitigate any potential impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these adjustments are new and untested, may not be effective, may affect the integrity of data collected, and may have unforeseen effects on the progress and completion of our clinical trials and the findings from such clinical trials.

In addition, we may encounter a shortage in supplies of, or in delays in shipping, our study drug or other components of the clinical trial vital for successful conduct of the trial. Further, the successful conduct of our LIFT Study and our other clinical trials depend on retrieving laboratory, imaging and other data from patients. Any failure by the vendors with which we work with to send us such data could impair the progress of such clinical trials. These events could delay our clinical trials, increase the cost of completing our clinical trials and negatively impact the integrity, reliability or robustness of the data from our clinical trials.

In addition, quarantines, shelter-in-place and similar government orders, or the perception that such orders, shutdowns or other restrictions on the conduct of business operations could occur, related to COVID-19 or other infectious diseases could impact personnel at our study sites or third-party manufacturing facilities upon which we rely, or the availability or cost of materials, which could disrupt the supply chain for our drug and combination therapy candidates. To the extent our suppliers and service providers are unable to comply with their obligations under our agreements with them or they are otherwise unable to deliver or are delayed in delivering goods and services to us due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our ability to continue meeting clinical supply demand for our drug and combination therapy candidates or otherwise advancing development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may become impaired.

The spread of COVID-19 and actions taken to reduce its spread may also materially affect us economically. While the potential economic impact brought by, and the duration of, the COVID-19 pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict, there could be a significant disruption of global financial markets, reducing our ability to access capital, which could in the future negatively affect our liquidity and financial position. In addition, the trading prices for other biopharmaceutical companies have been highly volatile as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we may face difficulties raising capital through sales of our common stock or such sales may be on unfavorable terms.

COVID-19 and actions taken to reduce its spread continue to rapidly evolve. The extent to which COVID-19 may impede the development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, reduce the

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productivity of our employees, disrupt our supply chains, delay our clinical trials, reduce our access to capital or limit our business development activities, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence.

In addition, to the extent the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks and uncertainties described in this “Risk Factors” section.

We have received Fast Track designation for TERN-101 and TERN-201 for the treatment of NASH, and we may seek Fast Track designation for some or all of our other single-agent and combination therapy candidates. We may not receive such designation, and even for those single-agent and combination therapy candidates for which we do, it may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, and will not increase the likelihood that single-agent and combination therapy candidates will receive marketing approval.

We have received Fast Track designation from the FDA for TERN-101 and TERN-201 for the treatment of NASH, and we may seek Fast Track designation and priority review for some of our other single-agent and combination therapy candidates. If a drug is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition or disease, and nonclinical or clinical data demonstrate the potential to address an unmet medical need, the drug may qualify for FDA Fast Track designation, for which sponsors must apply. The FDA has broad discretion whether or not to grant this designation. Thus, even if we believe a particular single-agent or combination therapy candidate is eligible for this designation, the FDA may decide not to grant it. Moreover, even if we do receive Fast Track designation, we or our collaborators may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures. In addition, the FDA may withdraw Fast Track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program.

A Breakthrough Therapy designation by the FDA, even if granted for any of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, may not lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process, and it does not increase the likelihood that our single-agent and combination therapy candidates will receive marketing approval.

We may seek a Breakthrough Therapy designation for one or more of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates if the clinical data support such a designation for one or more single-agent and combination therapy candidates. A Breakthrough Therapy is defined as a drug that is intended, alone or in combination with one or more other drugs, to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition and preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints, such as substantial treatment effects observed early in clinical development. For drug candidates that have been designated as breakthrough therapies, interaction and communication between the FDA and the sponsor of the trial can help to identify the most efficient path for clinical development.

Designation as a Breakthrough Therapy is within the discretion of the FDA. Accordingly, even if we believe one of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates meets the criteria for designation as a Breakthrough Therapy, the FDA may disagree and instead determine not to make such designation. In any event, the receipt of a Breakthrough Therapy designation for a single-agent or combination therapy candidate may not result in a faster development process, review or approval compared to drug candidates considered for approval under non-expedited FDA review procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA. In addition, even if one or more of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates qualify as Breakthrough Therapies, the FDA may later decide that the single-agent or combination therapy no longer meets the conditions for qualification or decide that the time period for FDA review or approval will not be shortened.

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Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in one jurisdiction does not mean that we will be successful in obtaining regulatory approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in other jurisdictions.

Obtaining and maintaining regulatory approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in one jurisdiction does not guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval in any other jurisdiction, while a failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval in one jurisdiction may have a negative effect on the regulatory approval process in others. For example, even if the FDA grants marketing approval of a single-agent or combination therapy candidate, comparable regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions must also approve the manufacturing, marketing and promotion of the single-agent or combination therapy candidate in those countries. Approval procedures vary among jurisdictions and can involve requirements and administrative review periods different from, and greater than, those in the United States, including additional preclinical studies or clinical trials as clinical studies conducted in one jurisdiction may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions outside the United States, a single-agent or combination therapy candidate must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that jurisdiction. In some cases, the price that we intend to charge for our drugs is also subject to approval.

Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals and compliance with foreign regulatory requirements could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and could delay or prevent the introduction of our drugs in certain countries. If we fail to comply with the regulatory requirements in international markets and/or receive applicable marketing approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates will be harmed.

Even if we receive regulatory approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. Additionally, our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, could be subject to labeling and other restrictions on marketing or withdrawal from the market, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, when and if any of them are approved.

Any regulatory approvals that we receive for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the drug may be marketed or the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-market testing and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of the single-agent or combination therapy candidate. The FDA may also require us to adopt a REMS to ensure that the benefits of treatment with such single-agent or combination therapy candidate outweigh the risks for each potential patient, which may include, among other things, a communication plan to health care practitioners, patient education, extensive patient monitoring or distribution systems and processes that are highly controlled, restrictive and more costly than what is typical for the industry. We or our collaborators may also be required to adopt a REMS or engage in similar actions, such as patient education, certification of health care professionals or specific monitoring, if we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by any drug that we develop alone or with collaborators.

In addition, if the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority approves a single-agent or combination therapy candidate, the manufacturing, quality control, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion, import, export and recordkeeping for the approved drug will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. The FDA also requires submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with cGMP requirements and good clinical practice, or GCPs, for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a single-agent or combination therapy candidate, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:

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Any government investigation of alleged violations of law could require us to expend significant time and resources in response, and could generate negative publicity. Any failure to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements may significantly and adversely affect our ability to commercialize and generate revenue from our drugs. If regulatory sanctions are applied or if regulatory approval is withdrawn, the value of our company and our operating results will be adversely affected.

Advertising and promotion of any single-agent or combination therapy candidate that obtains approval in the United States will be heavily scrutinized by the FDA, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, state attorneys general, members of the U.S. Congress and the public. Additionally, advertising and promotion of any single-agent or combination therapy candidate that obtains approval outside of the United States will be heavily scrutinized by comparable foreign entities and stakeholders. Violations, including actual or alleged promotion of our drugs for unapproved or off-label uses, are subject to enforcement letters, inquiries and investigations, and civil and criminal sanctions by the FDA or comparable foreign bodies. Any actual or alleged failure to comply with labeling and promotion requirements may result in fines, warning letters, mandates to corrective information to healthcare practitioners, injunctions or civil or criminal penalties.

The FDA’s and other regulatory authorities’ policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. For example, the results of the 2020 Presidential election may impact our business and industry. Namely, the Trump administration has taken several executive actions, including the issuance of a number of Executive Orders, that could impose significant burdens on, or otherwise materially delay, FDA’s ability to engage in routine oversight activities such as implementing statutes through rulemaking, issuance of guidance, and review and approval of marketing applications. It is difficult to predict how these executive actions will be implemented or whether they will be rescinded or replaced under a Biden Administration. The policies and priorities of an incoming Administration are unknown and could materially impact the regulation of our products. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.

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Disruptions at the FDA and other government agencies caused by funding shortages or global health concerns could hinder their ability to hire and retain key leadership and other personnel, or otherwise prevent new products and services from being developed or commercialized in a timely manner, which could negatively impact our business.

The ability of the FDA to review and approve new products can be affected by a variety of factors, including government budget and funding levels, ability to hire and retain key personnel and accept the payment of user fees, and statutory, regulatory and policy changes. Average review times at the agency have fluctuated in recent years as a result. In addition, government funding of other government agencies that fund research and development activities is subject to the political process, which is inherently fluid and unpredictable.

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

Separately, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, on March 10, 2020, the FDA announced its intention to postpone most foreign inspections of manufacturing facilities and products through April 2020, and subsequently, on March 18, 2020, the FDA temporarily postponed routine surveillance inspections of domestic manufacturing facilities. Subsequently, on July 10, 2020 the FDA announced its intention to resume certain on-site inspections of domestic manufacturing facilities subject to a risk-based prioritization system. The FDA intends to use this risk-based assessment system to identify the categories of regulatory activity that can occur within a given geographic area, ranging from mission critical inspections to resumption of all regulatory activities. Regulatory authorities outside the United States may adopt similar restrictions or other policy measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. If a prolonged government shutdown occurs, or if global health concerns continue to prevent the FDA or other regulatory authorities from conducting their regular inspections, reviews, or other regulatory activities, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA or other regulatory authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The FDA and other regulatory agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses. If we are found or alleged to have improperly promoted off-label uses, we may become subject to significant liability.

The FDA and other regulatory agencies strictly regulate the promotional claims that may be made about prescription drugs, as our single-agent and combination therapy candidates would be, if approved. In particular, a drug may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA or such other regulatory agencies as reflected in the drug’s approved labeling. Physicians may nevertheless prescribe such drugs to their patients in a manner that is inconsistent with the approved label. If we are found to have promoted such off-label uses, we may become subject to significant liability. The federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion and has enjoined several companies from engaging in off-label promotion. The FDA has also requested that companies enter into consent decrees or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. If we cannot successfully manage the promotion of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, we could become subject to significant liability, which would materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.

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Risks related to our reliance on third parties

We rely completely on third parties to manufacture our clinical drug supplies and we intend to rely on third parties to produce commercial supplies of any approved single-agent or combination therapy candidate, and our commercialization of any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates could be stopped, delayed or made less profitable if those third parties fail to obtain approval of the FDA or comparable regulatory authorities, fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of drug product or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.

We do not currently have nor do we plan to acquire the infrastructure or capability internally to manufacture our clinical drug supplies for use in the conduct of our clinical trials, and we lack the resources and the capability to manufacture any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates on a clinical or commercial scale. The facilities used by our contract manufacturers to manufacture our single-agent and combination therapy candidates must be approved by the FDA pursuant to inspections that will be conducted after we submit our NDA to the FDA. We do not control the manufacturing process of, and are completely dependent on, our contract manufacturing partners for compliance with cGMPs for manufacture of both active drug substances and finished drug products. If our contract manufacturers cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and the strict regulatory requirements of the FDA or others, they will not be able to secure and/or maintain regulatory approval for their manufacturing facilities. In addition, we have no control over the ability of our contract manufacturers to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance and qualified personnel. If the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority does not approve these facilities for the manufacture of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or if it withdraws any such approval in the future, we may need to find alternative manufacturing facilities, which would significantly impact our ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or market our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved.

Any replacement of our manufacturers could require significant effort and expertise because there may be a limited number of qualified replacements. In some cases, the technology required to manufacture our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may be unique to the original manufacturer and we may have difficulty transferring such skills or technology to another third party. The process of changing manufacturers is extensive and time consuming and could cause delays or interruptions in our drug development. Further, if we are required to change manufacturers for any reason, we will be required to verify that the new manufacturer maintains facilities and procedures that comply with quality standards and with all applicable regulations and guidelines. The delays associated with the verification of a new manufacturer could negatively affect our ability to develop single-agent and combination therapy candidates in a timely manner or within budget.

We rely on our manufacturers to purchase from third-party suppliers the materials necessary to produce our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for our clinical trials. There are a limited number of suppliers for raw materials that we use to manufacture our drugs and there may be a need to assess alternate suppliers to prevent a possible disruption of the manufacture of the materials necessary to produce our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for our clinical trials, and if approved, ultimately for commercial sale. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition of these raw materials by our manufacturers. Moreover, we currently do not have any agreements for the commercial production of these raw materials. Although we generally do not begin a clinical trial unless we believe we have a sufficient supply of a single-agent or combination therapy candidate to complete the clinical trial, any significant delay in the supply of a single-agent or combination therapy candidate, or the raw material components thereof, for an ongoing clinical trial due to the need to replace a third-party manufacturer could considerably delay completion of our clinical trials, product testing and potential regulatory approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. If our manufacturers or we are unable to purchase these raw materials after regulatory approval has been obtained for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, the commercial launch of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates would be delayed or there would be a shortage in supply, which would impair our ability to generate revenues from the sale of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

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We, or our manufacturing partners, may be unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. In addition, quality issues may arise during scale-up activities. If we or our manufacturing partners are unable to successfully scale up the manufacture of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in sufficient quality and quantity, the development, testing and clinical trials of that single-agent or combination therapy candidate may be delayed or become infeasible, and marketing approval or commercial launch of any resulting product may be delayed or not obtained, which could significantly harm our business.

We expect to continue to depend on third-party contract manufacturers for the foreseeable future. We have not entered into long-term agreements with our current contract manufacturers or with any alternate fill/finish suppliers, and though we intend to do so prior to commercial launch in order to ensure that we maintain adequate supplies of finished drug product, we may be unable to enter into such an agreement or do so on commercially reasonable terms, which could have a material adverse impact upon our business. We currently obtain our supplies of finished drug product through individual purchase orders.

We rely on third parties to conduct, supervise and monitor our preclinical and clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet rigorously enforced regulatory standards or meet expected deadlines, we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates on a timely basis or at all.

We currently do not have the ability to independently conduct preclinical studies that comply with the regulatory requirements known as good laboratory practice, or GLP, requirements. The FDA and regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions require us to comply with GCP requirements for conducting, monitoring, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials, in order to ensure that the data and results are scientifically credible and accurate and that the trial subjects are adequately informed of the potential risks of participating in clinical trials. We rely on medical institutions, clinical investigators, contract laboratories and other third parties, such as CROs, to conduct GLP-compliant nonclinical studies and GCP-compliant clinical trials on our single-agent and combination therapy candidates properly and on time. While we will have agreements governing their activities, we control only certain aspects of their activities and have limited influence over their actual performance. The third parties with whom we contract for execution of our GLP nonclinical studies and our GCP clinical trials play a significant role in the conduct of these studies and trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data. These third parties are not our employees and, except for restrictions imposed by our contracts with such third parties, we have limited ability to control the amount or timing of resources that they devote to our programs. Although we rely on these third parties to conduct our GLP-compliant preclinical and nonclinical studies and GCP-compliant clinical trials, we remain responsible for ensuring that each of our GLP preclinical studies and clinical trials is conducted in accordance with its investigational plan and protocol and applicable laws and regulations, and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.

Many of the third parties with whom we contract may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials or other drug development activities that could harm our competitive position. If the third parties conducting our GLP preclinical or nonclinical studies or our clinical trials do not perform their contractual duties or obligations, experience work stoppages, do not meet expected deadlines, terminate their agreements with us or need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to their failure to adhere to our clinical trial protocols or to GCPs, or for any other reason, we may need to enter into new arrangements with alternative third parties. This could be difficult, costly or impossible, and our preclinical studies or clinical trials may need to be extended, delayed, terminated or repeated. As a result we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval in a timely fashion, or at all, for the applicable single-agent or combination therapy candidate, our financial results and the commercial prospects for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

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We depend on collaborations with third parties for the development of certain of our drug candidates, and we may depend on additional collaborations in the future for the development and commercialization of these or other potential candidates. If our collaborations are not successful, our ability to develop and commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates could be adversely affected.

We are currently collaborating with third parties to develop certain of our potential drug candidates. For example, we are collaborating with Hansoh (Shanghai) Healthtech Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Company Ltd. with respect to certain aspects of TRN-000632, our small-molecule allosteric inhibitor of the BCR-ABL fusion gene. In the future, we may seek collaboration arrangements for the commercialization, or potentially for the development, of certain of our other single-agent and combination therapy candidates depending on the merits of retaining commercialization rights for ourselves as compared to entering into collaboration arrangements. For example, certain of the disease areas that we believe our single-agent and combination therapy candidates address require large, costly and later-stage clinical trials, which a collaboration partner may be better positioned to finance and/or conduct. In addition, a component of our strategy is to maximize the commercial value of our current and future single-agent and combination therapy candidates, which may also strategically align with partnering commercial rights with partners that have large and established sales organizations. To the extent that we decide to enter into collaboration agreements, we may face significant competition for appropriate collaborators. Moreover, collaboration arrangements are complex and time-consuming to negotiate, document, implement and maintain and challenging to manage. We may not be successful in our efforts to enter into collaboration agreements. The terms of collaborations or other arrangements that we may establish may not be favorable to us.

The success of our current and future collaboration arrangements will depend heavily on the efforts and activities of our collaborators. Collaborations are subject to numerous risks, which may include risks that:

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If our collaborations on research and development candidates do not result in the successful development and commercialization of products or if one of our collaborators terminates its agreement with us, we may not receive any future milestone or royalty payments under the collaboration.

If conflicts arise between us and our collaborators or strategic partners, these parties may act in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies.

If conflicts arise between our collaborators or strategic partners and us, the other party may act in a manner adverse to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies. Current or future collaborators or strategic partners may develop, either alone or with others, products in related fields that are competitive with the products or potential products that are the subject of these collaborations.

Our current or future collaborators or strategic partners may preclude us from entering into collaborations with their competitors, fail to obtain timely regulatory approvals, terminate their agreements with us prematurely or fail to devote sufficient resources to the development and commercialization of products. Furthermore, competing products, either developed by our current or future collaborators or strategic partners or to which our collaborators or strategic partners may have rights, may result in the withdrawal of partner support for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Any of these developments could harm our product development efforts.

Risks related to commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates

The successful commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates will depend in part on the extent to which governmental authorities and health insurers establish adequate coverage, reimbursement levels and pricing policies. Failure to obtain or maintain coverage and adequate reimbursement for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, could limit our ability to market those drugs and decrease our ability to generate revenue.

The availability and adequacy of coverage and reimbursement by governmental healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurers and other third-party payors are essential for most patients to be able to afford prescription medications such as our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, assuming FDA approval. Our ability to achieve acceptable levels of coverage and reimbursement for products by governmental authorities, private health insurers and other organizations will have an effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Assuming we obtain coverage for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates by a third-party payor, the resulting reimbursement payment rates may not be adequate or may require co-payments that patients find unacceptably high. We cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement in the United States, the European Economic Area, or EEA, or elsewhere will be available for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or any product that we may develop, and any reimbursement that may become available may be decreased or eliminated.

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Third-party payors increasingly are challenging prices charged for pharmaceutical products and services, and many third-party payors may refuse to provide coverage and reimbursement for particular drugs or biologics when an equivalent generic drug, biosimilar or a less expensive therapy is available. It is possible that a third-party payor may consider our single-agent and combination therapy candidates as substitutable and only offer to reimburse patients for the less expensive drug. Even if we show improved efficacy or improved convenience of administration with our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, pricing of existing third-party therapeutics may limit the amount we will be able to charge for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. These payors may deny or revoke the reimbursement status of a given product or establish prices for new or existing marketed products at levels that are too low to enable us to realize an appropriate return on our investment in our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. For products administered under the supervision of a physician, obtaining coverage and adequate reimbursement may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with such drugs. Additionally, separate reimbursement for the product itself or the treatment or procedure in which the product is used may not be available, which may impact physician utilization. If reimbursement is not available or is available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, and may not be able to obtain a satisfactory financial return on our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

No uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement for products exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for products can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Furthermore, rules and regulations regarding reimbursement change frequently, in some cases on short notice, and we believe that changes in these rules and regulations are likely.

Outside the United States, international operations are generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other market regulations, and we believe the increasing emphasis on cost-containment initiatives in Europe and other countries have and will continue to put pressure on the pricing and usage of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. In many countries, the prices of medical products are subject to varying price control mechanisms as part of national health systems. Other countries allow companies to fix their own prices for medical products, but monitor and control company profits. Additional foreign price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially-reasonable revenue and profits.

Moreover, increasing efforts by governmental and third-party payors in the United States and abroad to cap or reduce healthcare costs may cause such organizations to limit both coverage and the level of reimbursement for newly approved products and, as a result, they may not cover or provide adequate payment for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. We expect to experience pricing pressures in connection with the sale of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates due to the trend toward managed health care, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative changes. The downward pressure on healthcare costs in general, particularly prescription drugs and biologics and surgical procedures and other treatments, has become intense. As a result, increasingly high barriers are being erected to the entry of new products.

Even if our current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates obtain regulatory approval, they may fail to achieve the broad degree of physician and patient adoption and use necessary for commercial success.

Even if one or more of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates receive FDA or other regulatory approvals, the commercial success of any of our current or future single-agent and combination therapy

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candidates will depend significantly on the broad adoption and use of the resulting product by physicians and patients for approved indications. Given the number of drugs in development for the treatment of NASH, if we are unsuccessful in achieving a differentiated profile with our single-agent and combination therapy candidates based on efficacy, safety and tolerability, dosing and administration, market acceptance will be limited. Our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may not be commercially successful for a variety of reasons, including, among other things, competitive factors, pricing or physician preference, reimbursement by insurers, the degree and rate of physician and patient adoption of our current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates. If approved, the commercial success of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates will depend on a number of factors, including:

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We cannot assure you that our current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, will achieve broad market acceptance among physicians and patients. Any failure by our single-agent and combination therapy candidates that obtain regulatory approval to achieve market acceptance or commercial success would adversely affect our results of operations.

We currently have no sales organization. If we are unable to establish sales capabilities on our own or through third parties, we may not be able to market and sell our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved, effectively in the United States and foreign jurisdictions or generate drug revenue.

We currently do not have a marketing or sales organization. In order to commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in the United States and foreign jurisdictions, we must build our marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services, and we may not be successful in doing so. If any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates receive regulatory approval, we expect to establish a sales organization with technical expertise and supporting distribution capabilities to commercialize each such single-agent or combination therapy candidate, which will be expensive and time consuming. We have no prior experience in the marketing, sale and distribution of pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology products, and there are significant risks involved in building and managing a sales organization, including our ability to hire, retain and incentivize qualified individuals, generate sufficient sales leads, provide adequate training to sales and marketing personnel and effectively manage a geographically dispersed sales and marketing team. Any failure or delay in the development of our internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities would adversely impact the commercialization of these products. We may choose to collaborate with third parties that have direct sales forces and established distribution systems, either to augment our own sales force and distribution systems or in lieu of our own sales force and distribution systems. If we are unable to enter into such arrangements on acceptable terms or at all, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. If we are not successful in commercializing our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or any future single-agent and combination therapy candidates, either on our own or through arrangements with one or more third parties, we may not be able to generate any future drug revenue and we would incur significant additional losses.

Our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements and insider trading.

We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct by our employees, principal investigators, CROs, consultants and commercial partners. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional failures to comply with the regulations of the FDA and non-U.S. regulators, provide accurate information to the FDA and non-U.S. regulators, comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations in the United States and abroad, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Such misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting obligations and oversight if subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

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Our business operations and future relationships with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations and customers will be subject to applicable healthcare regulatory laws, which could expose us to penalties.

Our business operations and future arrangements with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors, patient organizations and customers, may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations. These laws may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we will conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell and distribute our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, if approved. Such laws include:

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Ensuring that our internal operations and future business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental laws and regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from government-funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid or similar programs in other countries or jurisdictions, disgorgement, individual imprisonment, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.

Enacted and future healthcare legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and may affect the prices we may set.

In the United States, the EEA and other jurisdictions, there have been, and we expect there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes to the healthcare system that could affect our future results of operations. In particular, there have been and continue to be a number of initiatives at the U.S. federal and state levels that seek to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of healthcare. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, or collectively the ACA, was enacted, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers. Among the provisions of the ACA, those of greatest importance to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries include the following:

Since its enactment, there have been judicial and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, and we expect there will be additional challenges and amendments to the ACA in the future. The U.S. Supreme

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Court is currently reviewing the case, although it is unclear when the Supreme Court will make a decision. It is also unclear how other efforts to challenge, repeal or replace the ACA will affect the law or our business.

In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. For example, the Budget Control Act of 2011 resulted in aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year, which went into effect in April 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2030, with the exception of a temporary suspension from May 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, unless additional action is taken by Congress. In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several types of providers, including hospitals, imaging centers and cancer treatment centers, and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. These new laws or any other similar laws introduced in the future may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other health care funding, which could negatively affect our future customers and accordingly, our financial operations.

Moreover, payment methodologies may be subject to changes in healthcare legislation and regulatory initiatives. For example, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, may develop new payment and delivery models, such as bundled payment models. In addition, recently there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products. We expect that additional U.S. federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that the U.S. federal government will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or additional pricing pressures.

Individual states in the United States have also become increasingly active in passing legislation and implementing regulations designed to control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. Legally-mandated price controls on payment amounts by third-party payors or other restrictions could harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. In addition, regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs. This could reduce the ultimate demand for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or put pressure on our product pricing.

We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action in the United States or any other jurisdiction. If we or any third parties we may engage are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we or such third parties are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, our single-agent and combination therapy candidates may lose any regulatory approval that may have been obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability.

If the market opportunities for any single-agent or combination therapy that we or our strategic collaborators develop are smaller than we believe they are, our revenue may be adversely affected and our business may suffer.

We intend to initially focus our single-agent and combination therapy candidate development on therapies for the treatment of NASH and other liver and other chronic liver diseases. Our projections of addressable patient populations that have the potential to benefit from treatment with our single-agent and combination therapy candidates are based on estimates. These estimates have been derived from a variety of sources, including the scientific literature, surveys of clinics, patient foundations or market research, and may prove to be incorrect. Further, new studies may change the estimated incidence or prevalence of these diseases. The number of patients may turn out to be lower than expected. Additionally, the potentially addressable patient population for our

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single-agent and combination therapy candidates may not ultimately be amenable to treatment with our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Our market opportunity may also be limited by future competitor treatments that enter the market. If any of our estimates are inaccurate, the market opportunities for any of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates could be significantly diminished and have an adverse material impact on our business.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

Our current and any future single-agent and combination therapy candidates could be alleged to infringe patent rights and other intellectual property rights of third parties, which may require costly litigation and, if we are not successful, could cause us to pay substantial damages and/or limit our ability to commercialize our drugs and combination therapy candidates.

Our commercial success depends on our ability to develop, manufacture and market our current and any future single-agent and combination therapy candidates that may be approved for sale, and to use our proprietary technology without infringing the patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties. If any third-party patents, or other intellectual property rights are found to cover our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or their compositions, methods of use or manufacturing, we may be required to pay damages, which could be substantial, and we would not be free to manufacture or market our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or to do so without obtaining a license, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Regardless of merits, intellectual property disputes can be costly to defend, time-consuming and may cause our business, operating results and financial condition to suffer.

We operate in an industry with extensive intellectual property litigation. As the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that there may be patents issued to third parties that relate to our products and technology of which we are not aware or that we may need to challenge to continue our operations as currently contemplated.

From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims with respect to intellectual property with respect to our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and technologies we use in our business. We may face allegations that we have infringed the trademarks, copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights of third parties, including patents held by our competitors or by non-practicing entities. Litigation may make it necessary to defend ourselves by determining the scope, enforceability and validity of third-party proprietary rights, or to establish our proprietary rights. Interference or derivation proceedings provoked by third parties or brought by us or declared by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to our patents or patent applications or those of our licensors. Regardless of whether claims that we are infringing patents or other intellectual property rights have merit, the claims can be time consuming, divert management attention and financial resources and are costly to evaluate and defend. Results of any such litigation are difficult to predict and may require us to cease developing, manufacturing, or commercializing the infringing single-agent and combination therapy candidate, stop treating certain conditions, obtain licenses or modify our drugs or combination therapies and features while we develop non-infringing substitutes, or may result in significant settlement costs. For example, litigation can involve substantial damages for infringement, and if the court finds that the infringement was willful, we could be ordered to pay treble damages and the patent owner’s attorneys’ fees. We may also be prohibited from selling or licensing our single-agent and combination therapy candidates unless the third party licenses rights to us, which it is not required to do at a commercially reasonable price or at all. If a license is available from a third party, we may have to pay substantial royalties or upfront fees or grant cross-licenses to intellectual property rights for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

Although we have reviewed certain third-party patent filings that we believe may be relevant to certain of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we have not conducted a freedom-to-operate search or analysis for all of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. As such, we may not be aware of patents or pending or future patent applications that, if issued, would block us from commercializing our single-agent

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and combination therapy candidates. Thus, we cannot guarantee that our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, or our commercialization thereof, do not and will not infringe any third party’s intellectual property.

In addition, patent applications in the United States and many international jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after the filing of certain priority documents (or, in some cases, are not published until they issue as patents), and publications in the scientific literature often lag behind actual discoveries. Claims in patent applications can also be revised before issuance. Therefore, we cannot be certain that others have not filed patent applications or made public disclosures relating to our technology or our contemplated technology. A third party may have filed, and may in the future file, patent applications covering our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or technology similar to ours. Any such patent application may have priority over our patent applications or patents, which could further require us to obtain rights to issued patents covering such technologies. If another party has filed a U.S. patent application on inventions similar to ours, depending on whether the timing of the filing date falls under certain patent laws, we may have to participate in a priority contest (such as an interference proceeding) declared by the USPTO to determine priority of invention in the United States. The costs of patent litigation and other proceedings could be substantial, and it is possible that such efforts would be unsuccessful if it is determined that the other party had independently arrived at the same or similar invention prior to our own invention, resulting in a loss of our U.S. patent position with respect to such invention.

The coverage of patents is subject to interpretation by the courts, and the interpretation is not always uniform. If we were sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our single-agent and combination therapy candidates either do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant patent or that the patent claims are invalid or unenforceable, and we may not be successful in doing so. Proving invalidity or unenforceability is difficult. For example, in the United States, proving invalidity requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents. Even if we believe third-party intellectual property claims are without merit, there is no assurance that a court would find in our favor on questions of infringement, validity, or enforceability.

Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can. Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations.

There can be no assurance with respect to the outcome of any future litigation brought by or against us, and the outcome of any such litigation could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Litigation is inherently unpredictable, and outcomes are uncertain. Further, as the costs and outcome of these types of claims and proceedings can vary significantly, it is difficult to estimate potential losses that may occur. Such claims and proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Accordingly, we are unable at this time to estimate the effects of these potential future lawsuits on our financial condition, operations or cash flows.

We may be subject to claims by employees, consultants and contractors claiming ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.

While it is our policy to require our employees, consultants and contractors who may be involved in the conception or development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to

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us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who, in fact, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own, which may result in claims by or against us related to the ownership of such intellectual property. In addition, such agreements may not be self-executing such that the intellectual property subject to such agreements may not be assigned to us without additional assignments being executed, and we may fail to obtain such assignments. In addition, such agreements may be breached. Accordingly, we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our senior management and scientific personnel, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

If we are unable to obtain, maintain and enforce intellectual property protection directed to our current and any future technologies that we develop, others may be able to make, use or sell drugs or combination therapies substantially the same as ours, which could adversely affect our ability to compete in the market.

The market for pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals is highly competitive and subject to rapid technological change. Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to maintain a competitive position in the development and protection of technologies and any future single agent or combination therapy candidates for use in these fields and upon our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights. We seek to obtain and maintain patents and other intellectual property rights to restrict the ability of others to market products that misappropriate our technology and/or infringe our intellectual property to unfairly and illegally compete with any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights, our competitive position and our business could be harmed, as third parties may be able to make, use or sell products that are substantially the same as any single agent or combination therapy candidates we may sell without incurring the sizeable development and licensing costs that we have incurred, which would adversely affect our ability to compete in the market. We use a combination of patents, trademarks, know-how, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary technology and that of our licensors. However, these protections may not be adequate and may not provide us with any competitive advantage. For example, patents may not issue from any of our or our licensors’ currently pending or any future patent applications, and our or our licensors’ issued patents and any future patents that may issue may not survive legal challenges to their scope, validity or enforceability or provide significant protection for us.

To protect our proprietary position, we file patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our single-agent and combination therapy candidates that we consider important to our business. The patent application and approval process is expensive, time-consuming and complex. We may not be able to file, prosecute and maintain all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner or in all jurisdictions. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, depending on the terms of any future license or collaboration agreements to which we may become a party, we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing, and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain the patents, covering technology licensed from third parties. Therefore, these patents and patent applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business.

Furthermore, the patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain. No consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in biotechnology and pharmaceutical patents has emerged to date in the United States or in many foreign jurisdictions. The standards applied by the USPTO and foreign patent offices in granting patents are not always applied uniformly or predictably. In addition, the determination of patent rights with respect to biological and pharmaceutical products commonly involves complex legal and factual questions, which have in recent years been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly

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uncertain. Thus, we cannot offer any assurances about which, if any, patents will issue, the breadth of any such patents, whether any issued patents will be found invalid and unenforceable or will be threatened by third parties or whether any issued patents will effectively prevent others from commercializing competing technologies and single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

The USPTO, international patent offices or judicial bodies may deny or significantly narrow claims made under our patent applications, and our issued patents may be successfully challenged, may be designed around or may otherwise be of insufficient scope to provide us with protection for our drugs or combination therapies. Further, the USPTO, international trademark offices or judicial bodies may deny our trademark applications and, even if published or registered, these trademarks may not effectively protect our brand and goodwill. Like patents, trademarks also may be successfully opposed or challenged.

We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent unauthorized use or unauthorized reverse engineering of our technology. Moreover, third parties may independently develop technologies that are competitive with ours and such competitive technologies may or may not infringe our intellectual property. The enforcement of our intellectual property rights also depends on the success of any legal actions we may take against these infringers in the respective country or forum, but these actions may not be successful. As with all granted intellectual property, such intellectual property may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, may not provide protection and/or may not prove to be enforceable in actions against specific alleged infringers.

Even if our patents are determined by a court to be valid and enforceable, they may not be interpreted sufficiently broadly to prevent others from marketing products similar to ours or designing around our patents. For example, third parties may be able to make products that are similar to ours but that are not covered by the claims of our patents. Third parties may assert that we or our licensors were not the first to make the inventions covered by our issued patents or pending patent applications. The claims of our or our licensors’ issued patents or patent applications when issued may not cover our single-agent or combination therapy candidates or any future drugs or combination therapies that we develop. We may not have freedom to commercialize unimpeded by the patent rights of others. Third parties may have patents that dominate, block or are otherwise relevant to our technology. There may be prior public disclosures or other art that could be deemed to invalidate one or more of our patent claims. Further, we may not develop additional proprietary technologies in the future, and, if we do, they may not be patentable.

We may not be able to correctly estimate or control our future operating expenses in relation to obtaining intellectual property, enforcing intellectual property and/or defending intellectual property, which could affect operating expenses. Our operating expenses may fluctuate significantly in the future as a result of a variety of factors, including the costs of preparing, filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing patent and trademark claims and other intellectual property-related costs, including adverse proceedings and litigation costs.

We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents or the patents of our licensors, which could be expensive, time consuming, and unsuccessful. Further, our issued patents could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court.

Competitors may infringe our intellectual property rights or those of our licensors. To prevent infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, a court may decide that one or more patent of ours or any of our current licensors or future licensors is not valid or is unenforceable, in whole or in part, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our or our licensors’ patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our or our licensors’ patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly, which may curtail or preclude our ability to exclude third parties from making and selling similar or competitive products, and could put our or our licensors’ patent applications at risk of not issuing. If we or any of our potential future collaborators were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent directed at our products,

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the defendant could counterclaim that our or our licensors’ patent is invalid and/or unenforceable in whole or in part. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge include an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness or non-enablement. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could also include an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO or made a misleading statement during prosecution. Third parties may also raise similar validity claims before the USPTO in post-grant proceedings such as ex parte reexaminations, inter partes review or post-grant review, or oppositions or similar proceedings outside the United States, in parallel with litigation or even outside the context of litigation.

If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity or unenforceability of our or our licensors’ patents covering one of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates, we could lose a part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection covering such candidate. Competing products may also be sold in other countries in which our patent coverage might not exist or be as strong. If we lose a foreign patent lawsuit, alleging our infringement of a competitor’s patents, we could be prevented from marketing our products in one or more foreign countries. Any of these occurrences could adversely affect our competitive business position, business prospects and financial condition.

The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable, and prior art could render our patents or those of our licensors invalid. Similar mechanisms for challenging the validity and enforceability of a patent exist in ex-U.S. patent offices and may result in the revocation, cancellation, or amendment of any ex-U.S. patents we hold in the future. For the patents and patent applications that we may license in the future, we may have limited or no right to participate in the defense of any licensed patents against challenge by a third party. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on such single-agent or combination therapy candidate. Such a loss of patent protection would have a material adverse impact on our business.

Even if we establish infringement, the court may decide not to grant an injunction against further infringing activity and instead award only monetary damages, which may or may not be an adequate remedy. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

We may not be able to prevent, alone or with our potential licensors, misappropriation of our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States.

Our defense of litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or if a non-exclusive license is offered and our competitors gain access to the same technology. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties or enter into development or manufacturing partnerships that would help us bring our products to market.

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We license or otherwise have access to patent rights from third-party owners. Such licenses or other arrangements may be subject to early termination if we fail to comply with our obligations in our agreements with third parties, which could result in the loss of rights or technology that are material to our business.

We are a party to licenses and other agreements that give us rights to third-party intellectual property that are necessary or useful for our business, and we may enter into additional licenses or other agreements in the future. For example, we are party to license agreements with Eli Lilly and Company with respect to TERN-101 and TERN-201 and an assignment agreement with Vintagence Biotechnology Ltd. with respect to our THR-b program. Under these agreements, we are obligated to pay the counterparties fees, which may include annual license fees, milestone payments, royalties, a percentage of revenues associated with the applicable technology and a percentage of sublicensing revenue. In addition, under certain of such agreements, we are required to diligently pursue the development of products using the applicable technology. If we fail to comply with these obligations and fail to cure our breach within a specified period of time, the counterparty may have the right to terminate the applicable agreement, in which event we could lose valuable rights and technology that are material to our business.

We may rely on third parties from whom we license proprietary technology to file and prosecute patent applications and maintain patents and otherwise protect the intellectual property we license from them. We may have limited control over these activities or any other intellectual property that may be related to our in-licensed intellectual property. For example, we cannot be certain that such activities by these licensors will be conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or will result in valid and enforceable patents and other intellectual property rights. We may have limited control over the manner in which our licensors initiate an infringement proceeding against a third-party infringer of the intellectual property rights, or defend certain of the intellectual property that may be licensed to us. It is possible that the licensors’ infringement proceeding or defense activities may be less vigorous than if we conduct them ourselves.

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

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

We may jointly own certain patent rights with third parties. Our ability to out-license these patent rights, or to prevent the third party from out-licensing these patent rights, may be limited in certain countries.

We may jointly own patents and patent applications with third parties in the future. Unless we enter into an agreement with the joint owner, we will be subject to certain default rules pertaining to joint ownership. Certain countries require the consent of all joint owners to license jointly owned patents, and if we are unable to obtain such consent from the joint owner, we may not be able to license our rights under these patents and patent applications. In certain other countries, including the United States, the joint owner could license its rights under these patents and patent applications to another party without our consent and without any duty of accounting to us.

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We may in the future be dependent on intellectual property licensed or sublicensed to us from, or for which development was funded or otherwise assisted by, government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, for development of our technology and single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Failure to meet our own obligations to our licensors or upstream licensors, including such government agencies, may result in the loss of our rights to such intellectual property, which could harm our business.

In the future, government agencies may provide funding, facilities, personnel or other assistance in connection with the development of the intellectual property rights owned by or licensed to us. Such government agencies may retain rights in such intellectual property, including the right to grant or require us to grant mandatory licenses or sublicenses to such intellectual property to third parties under certain specified circumstances, including if it is necessary to meet health and safety needs that we are not reasonably satisfying or if it is necessary to meet requirements for public use specified by federal regulations, or to manufacture products in the United States. Any exercise of such rights, including with respect to any such required sublicense of these licenses could result in the loss of significant rights and could harm our ability to commercialize licensed products.

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our patents and other intellectual property.

We may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators, or other third parties have an interest in our patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. The failure to name the proper inventors on a patent application can result in the patents issuing thereon being unenforceable. Inventorship disputes may arise from conflicting views regarding the contributions of different individuals named as inventors, the effects of foreign laws where foreign nationals are involved in the development of the subject matter of the patent, conflicting obligations of third parties involved in developing our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or as a result of questions regarding co-ownership of potential joint inventions. For example, we may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Alternatively, or additionally, we may enter into agreements to clarify the scope of our rights in such intellectual property. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

We or our licensors may in the future rely on third-party consultants or collaborators or on funds from third parties, such as the U.S. government, such that we or our licensors are not the sole and exclusive owners of the patents we in-licensed. If other third parties have ownership rights or other rights to our patents, including in-licensed patents, they may be able to license such patents to our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. This could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.

We may be subject to claims that we have wrongfully hired an employee from a competitor or that we or our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged confidential information or trade secrets of their former employers.

As is common in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, in addition to our employees, we engage the services of consultants to assist us in the development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Many of these consultants, and many of our employees, were previously employed at, or may have previously provided or may be currently providing consulting services to, universities or other pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies including our competitors or potential competitors. These employees and consultants may have executed proprietary rights, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements, or similar agreements, in

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connection with such other current or previous employment. Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may become subject to claims that we, our employees or a consultant inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other information proprietary to their former employers or their former or current clients. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, which could adversely affect our business. Such intellectual property could be awarded to a third party, and we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to commercialize our technology or drugs and combination therapies. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management team. Any of the foregoing would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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

We have a number of international patents and patent applications, and expect to continue to pursue patent protection in many of the significant markets in which we intend to do business. However, filing, prosecuting and defending patents on single-agent and combination therapy candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. The requirements for patentability may differ in certain countries, particularly in developing countries. In addition, any future intellectual property license agreements may not always include worldwide rights. Consequently, we have not pursued or maintained, and may not pursue or maintain in the future, patent protection for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in every country or territory in which we may sell our drugs and combination therapies and we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products, and may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States and where our ability to enforce our patents to stop infringing activities may be inadequate. These products may compete with any current or future single-agent or combination therapy candidates we may sell, and our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally.

Moreover, our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights may be adversely affected by unforeseen changes in foreign intellectual property laws. Additionally, the laws of some countries outside of the United States and Europe do not afford intellectual property protection to the same extent as the laws of the United States and Europe. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property and proprietary rights in certain foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of some countries, including, for example, India, China and other developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property or proprietary rights, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights. For example, many foreign countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner must grant licenses to third parties. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in certain countries outside the United States and Europe. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we are forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents

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relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be adversely affected.

Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

We may not identify relevant third-party patents or may incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third-party patent, which might adversely affect our ability to develop and market our single-agent and combination therapies.

We cannot guarantee that any of our patent searches or analyses, including the identification of relevant patents, the scope of patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each and every third-party patent and pending application in the United States and abroad that is relevant to or necessary for the commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in any jurisdiction. The scope of a patent claim is determined by an interpretation of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to market our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. We may incorrectly determine that our single-agent and combination therapy candidates are not covered by a third-party patent or may incorrectly predict whether a third-party’s pending application will issue with claims of relevant scope. Our determination of the expiration date of any patent in the United States or abroad that we consider relevant may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our ability to develop and market our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Our failure to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents may negatively impact our ability to develop and market our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

One aspect of the determination of patentability of our inventions depends on the scope and content of the “prior art,” information that was or is deemed available to a person of skill in the relevant art prior to the priority date of the claimed invention. There may be prior art of which we are not aware that may affect the patentability of our patent claims or, if issued, affect the validity or enforceability of a patent claim. Further, we may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our single-agent and combination therapy candidates or their intended uses, and as a result the impact of such third-party intellectual property rights upon the patentability of our own patents and patent applications, as well as the impact of such third-party intellectual property upon our freedom to operate, is highly uncertain. Because patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for typically a period of 18 months after filing, or may not be published at all, we cannot be certain that we were the first to file any patent application related to our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our patent rights are highly uncertain. Furthermore, for U.S. applications in which all claims are entitled to a priority date before March 16, 2013, an interference proceeding can be provoked by a third party or instituted by the USPTO to determine who was the first to invent any of the subject matter covered by the patent claims of our applications. For U.S. applications containing a claim not entitled to priority before March 16, 2013, there is a greater level of uncertainty in the patent law in view of the passage of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the AIA, which brought into effect significant changes to the U.S. patent laws, including new procedures for challenging pending patent applications and issued patents.

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Patent terms may be inadequate to establish our competitive position on our single-agent and combination therapy candidates for an adequate amount of time.

Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Patent terms may be shortened or lengthened by, for example, terminal disclaimers, patent term adjustments, supplemental protection certificates and patent term extensions, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Non-payment or delay in payment of patent fees, maintenance fees or annuities, delay in patent filings or delay in extension filings (including any patent term extension or adjustment filings), whether intentional or unintentional, may result in the loss of patent rights important to our business. Even if patents covering our single-agent and combination therapy candidates are obtained, once the patent life has expired for a single-agent or combination therapy candidate, we may be open to competition from competitive medications, including generic versions. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new single-agent and combination therapy candidates, patents directed towards such single-agent and combination therapy candidates might expire before or shortly after such single-agent and combination therapy candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing single-agent and combination therapy candidates similar or identical to ours for a meaningful amount of time, or at all.

Depending upon the timing, duration and conditions of any FDA marketing approval of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, one or more of our owned or licensed U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, or Hatch-Waxman Act, and similar legislation in the EU and certain other jurisdictions. The Hatch-Waxman Act permits, in certain cases, a patent term extension of up to five years for a patent covering an approved product as compensation for effective patent term lost during product development and the FDA regulatory review process. However, we may not receive an extension if we fail to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, fail to apply within applicable deadlines, fail to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents or otherwise fail to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the length of the extension could be less than we request. Only one patent per approved product can be extended, the extension cannot extend the total patent term beyond 14 years from approval and the amount of available extension to any extension-eligible patent which claims a product, a method of using a product or a method of manufacturing a product, depends on a variety of factors, including the date on which the patent issues and certain dates related to the regulatory review period. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or the term of any such extension is less than we request, the period during which we can enforce our patent rights for the applicable single-agent or combination therapy candidate will be shortened and our competitors may obtain approval to market competing products sooner. As a result, our revenue from applicable products could be reduced. Further, if this occurs, our competitors may take advantage of our investment in development and trials by referencing our clinical and nonclinical data and launch their product earlier than might otherwise be the case, and our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially harmed.

Further, there are detailed rules and requirements regarding the patents that may be submitted to the FDA for listing in the Orange Book. We may be unable to obtain patents covering our single-agent and combination therapy candidates that contain one or more claims that satisfy the requirements for listing in the Orange Book. Even if we submit a patent for listing in the Orange Book, the FDA may decline to list the patent, or a manufacturer of generic drugs may challenge the listing. If one of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates is approved and a patent covering that single-agent or combination therapy candidate is not listed in the Orange Book, a manufacturer of generic drugs would not have to provide advance notice to us of any abbreviated new drug application filed with the FDA to obtain permission to sell a generic version of such single-agent or combination therapy candidate. Any of the foregoing could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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

The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other provisions during the patent process. Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or applications will be due to be paid to the USPTO and various governmental patent agencies outside of the United States in several stages over the lifetime of the patents and/or applications. We employ reputable professionals and rely on such third parties to help us comply with these requirements and effect payment of these fees with respect to the patents and patent applications that we own, and we may have to rely upon our licensors to comply with these requirements and effect payment of these fees with respect to any patents and patent applications that we license. In many cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, competitors might be able to enter the market earlier than would otherwise have been the case.

Changes in patent law in the U.S. or in other countries could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

As is the case with other pharmaceutical companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the pharmaceutical industry involves both technological and legal complexity and is therefore costly, time consuming and inherently uncertain. Our patent rights may be affected by developments or uncertainty in U.S. or ex-U.S. patent statutes, patent case laws in USPTO rules and regulations or in the rules and regulations of ex-U.S. patent offices. There are a number of recent changes to the U.S. patent laws that may have a significant impact on our ability to protect our technology and enforce our intellectual property rights. For example, on September 16, 2011, the AIA, was signed into law. The AIA includes a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. These include provisions that affect the way patent applications will be prosecuted and may also affect patent litigation. In particular, under the AIA, the United States transitioned in March 2013 to a “first to file” system in which the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent. Third parties are allowed to submit prior art before the issuance of a patent by the USPTO, and may become involved in post-grant proceedings including opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope or enforceability of, or invalidate, our patent rights, which could adversely affect our competitive position. This could have a negative impact on some of our intellectual property and could increase uncertainties surrounding obtaining and enforcement or defense of our issued patents.

In addition, Congress may pass patent reform legislation that is unfavorable to us. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on several patent cases in recent years, either narrowing the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances or weakening the rights of patent owners in certain situations. In addition to increasing uncertainty with regard to our ability to obtain patents in the future, this combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the value of patents once obtained. Depending on decisions by Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that would weaken our ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patents and patents we might obtain in the future. Similarly, statutory or judicial changes to the patent laws of other countries may increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of patent applications and the enforcement or defense of issued patents. We cannot predict future changes in the interpretation of patent laws or changes to patent laws that might be enacted into law by U.S. and international legislative bodies. Those changes may materially affect the patents and patent applications of our licensors, our existing or future patents and patent applications and our ability to obtain additional patents in the future.

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

Our current or future trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or descriptive determined to be infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names or may be forced to stop using these names, which we need for name recognition by potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections of our applications by the USPTO or in other foreign jurisdictions. Although we would be given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In addition, in the USPTO and in comparable agencies in many foreign jurisdictions, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademarks, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. If we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. We may license our trademarks and trade names to third parties, such as distributors. Though these license agreements may provide guidelines for how our trademarks and trade names may be used, a breach of these agreements or misuse of our trademarks and tradenames by our licensees may jeopardize our rights in or diminish the goodwill associated with our trademarks and trade names.

Moreover, any name we have proposed to use with our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in the United States must be approved by the FDA, regardless of whether we have registered it, or applied to register it, as a trademark. Similar requirements exist in Europe. The FDA typically conducts a review of proposed product names, including an evaluation of potential for confusion with other product names. If the FDA (or an equivalent administrative body in a foreign jurisdiction) objects to any of our proposed proprietary single-agent or combination therapy names, it may be required to expend significant additional resources in an effort to identify a suitable substitute name that would qualify under applicable trademark laws, not infringe the existing rights of third parties and be acceptable to the FDA. Furthermore, in many countries, owning and maintaining a trademark registration may not provide an adequate defense against a subsequent infringement claim asserted by the owner of a senior trademark. At times, competitors or other third parties may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. If we assert trademark infringement claims, a court may determine that the marks we have asserted are invalid or unenforceable, or that the party against whom we have asserted trademark infringement has superior rights to the marks in question. In this case, we could ultimately be forced to cease use of such trademarks.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

We rely on the protection of our trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information. We have taken steps to protect our trade secrets and unpatented know-how, including entering into confidentiality agreements with third parties, and confidential information and inventions agreements with employees, consultants and advisors. Despite these efforts, we cannot provide any assurances that all such agreements have been duly executed, and any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. In addition to contractual measures, we try to protect the confidential nature of our proprietary information using commonly accepted physical and technological security measures. Even though we use commonly accepted security measures, the criteria for protection of trade secrets can vary among different jurisdictions. Additionally, such security measures may not provide adequate protection for our proprietary information, for example, in the case of misappropriation of a trade secret by an employee, consultant, customer or third party with authorized access. Recourse we take against such misconduct may not provide an adequate

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remedy to fully protect our interests. Monitoring unauthorized uses and disclosures is difficult, and we do not know whether the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary technologies will be effective. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to copy or reverse engineer certain aspects of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates that we consider proprietary.

Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. Moreover, third parties may still obtain this information or may come upon this or similar information independently, and we would have no right to prevent them from using that technology or information to compete with us. Trade secrets will over time be disseminated within the industry through independent development, the publication of journal articles and the movement of personnel skilled in the art from company to company or academic to industry scientific positions. Though our agreements with third parties typically restrict the ability of our advisors, employees, collaborators, licensors, suppliers, third-party contractors and consultants to publish data potentially relating to our trade secrets, our agreements may contain certain limited publication rights. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent such competitor from using that technology or information to compete with us, which could harm our competitive position. Because from time to time we expect to rely on third parties in the development, manufacture, and distribution of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. Despite employing the contractual and other security precautions described above, the need to share trade secrets increases the risk that such trade secrets become known by our competitors, are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. If any of these events occurs or if we otherwise lose protection for our trade secrets, the value of this information may be greatly reduced and our competitive position would be harmed. If we do not apply for patent protection prior to such publication or if we cannot otherwise maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary technology and other confidential information, then our ability to obtain patent protection or to protect our trade secret information may be jeopardized.

Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.

The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business or permit us to maintain our competitive advantage. For example:

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Should any of these events occur, they could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

Other Risks Related to Our Business

If we fail to attract and retain senior management and key scientific personnel, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

Our success depends in part on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified management and clinical and scientific personnel. We are highly dependent upon members of our senior management, particularly our Chief Executive Officer, Senthil Sundaram, and President and Chief Medical Officer, Erin Quirk, M.D., as well as our senior scientists and other members of our senior management team. The loss of services of any of these individuals could delay or prevent the successful development of our pipeline, initiation or completion of our planned clinical trials or the commercialization of our current or future single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

Competition for qualified personnel in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology field is intense due to the limited number of individuals who possess the skills and experience required by our industry. We will need to hire additional personnel as we expand our clinical development and if we initiate commercial activities. We may not be able to attract and retain quality personnel on acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or that they have divulged proprietary or other confidential information, or that their former employers own their research output.

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

As of September 30, 2020, we had 30 full-time employees. We will need to continue to expand our managerial, operational, finance and other resources in order to manage our operations and clinical trials, continue our development activities and, if approved, commercialize our preclinical and clinical-stage single-agent and combination therapy candidates or any future single-agent and combination therapy candidates. Our

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management and personnel, systems and facilities currently in place may not be adequate to support this future growth. Our need to effectively execute our growth strategy requires that we:

If we are not successful in identifying, developing and commercializing additional single-agent and combination therapy candidates, our ability to expand our business and achieve our strategic objectives would be impaired.

Although the development and commercialization of TERN-101, TERN-201 and TERN-501 is currently our primary focus, as part of our longer-term growth strategy, we plan to evaluate the development and commercialization of other therapies related to NASH and other chronic liver diseases. The success of this strategy depends primarily upon our ability to identify and validate new therapeutic candidates, and to identify, develop and commercialize new drugs and biologics. Our research efforts may initially show promise in discovering potential new drugs and biologics, yet fail to yield single-agent and combination therapy candidates for clinical development for a number of reasons, including:

If any of these events occur, we may be forced to abandon our development efforts for one or more programs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects and could potentially cause us to cease operations. Future research programs to identify new single-agent and combination therapy candidates may require substantial technical, financial and human resources. We may focus our efforts and resources on potential programs or single-agent and combination therapy candidates that ultimately prove to be unsuccessful.

Single-agent and combination therapy candidates may require additional, time-consuming development efforts prior to commercial sale, including preclinical studies, clinical trials and approval by the FDA and/or comparable foreign regulatory authorities. All single-agent and combination therapy candidates are prone to the risks of failure that are inherent in pharmaceutical product development, including the possibility that the single-agent or combination therapy candidate will not be shown to be sufficiently safe and effective for approval by

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regulatory authorities. In addition, we cannot assure you that any such products that are approved will be manufactured or produced economically, be successfully commercialized, be widely accepted in the marketplace, or be more effective than other commercially available alternatives.

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

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

If we are unable to obtain and maintain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost and scope of coverage to protect against potential product liability claims, the commercialization of our current or any future single-agent and combination therapy candidates we develop could be inhibited or prevented. We currently carry product liability insurance covering our clinical trials. Although we maintain such insurance, any claim that may be brought against us could result in a court judgment or settlement in an amount that is not covered, in whole or in part, by our insurance or that is in excess of the limits of our insurance coverage. Our insurance policies also have various exclusions and deductibles, and we may be subject to a product liability claim for which we have no coverage. We will have to pay any amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient funds to pay such amounts. Moreover, in the future, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses. If and when we obtain approval for marketing any of our single-agent or combination therapy candidates, we intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of such single-agent or combination therapy candidate; however, we may be unable to obtain this liability insurance on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

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As a company with some operations and vendors located outside of the United States, our business is subject to economic, political, regulatory and other risks associated with international operations.

As a company with some operations and vendors in China, our business is subject to risks associated with conducting business outside the United States. Accordingly, our future results could be harmed by a variety of factors, including:

See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in China” for additional risks related to our operations in China.

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

Our research and development activities and our third-party suppliers’ activities involve the controlled storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials owned by us, including the components of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and other hazardous compounds. We and any third-party manufacturers and suppliers are subject to numerous federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and permitting requirements, including those governing laboratory procedures; the generation, handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous and regulated materials and wastes; the emission and discharge of hazardous

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materials into the ground, air and water; and employee health and safety. Our operations and those or our third-party manufacturers and CROs involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological and radioactive materials. Our operations and those of our third-party manufacturers and CROs also produce hazardous waste. In some cases, these hazardous materials and various wastes resulting from their use are stored at our and our manufacturers’ and CROs’ facilities pending their use and disposal. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination, which could cause an interruption of our commercialization efforts, research and development efforts and business operations, and environmental damage resulting in costly clean-up and liabilities under applicable laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products.

We cannot guarantee that the safety procedures utilized by our third-party manufacturers and CROs for handling and disposing of these materials comply with the standards prescribed by these laws and regulations, nor can we eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials. Under certain environmental laws, we could be held responsible for costs relating to any contamination at our current or past facilities and at third-party facilities. In such an event, we may be held liable for any resulting damages and such liability could exceed our resources, and state or federal or other applicable authorities may curtail our use of certain materials and/or interrupt our business operations. Furthermore, environmental laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent. We cannot predict the impact of such changes and cannot be certain of our future compliance.

Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations may be expensive, and current or future environmental laws and regulations may impair our research and product development efforts. In addition, we cannot entirely eliminate the risk of accidental injury or contamination from hazardous materials or wastes. Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not carry specific biological or hazardous waste insurance coverage, and our property, casualty and general liability insurance policies specifically exclude coverage for damages and fines arising from biological or hazardous waste exposure or contamination. Accordingly, in the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for damages or be penalized with fines in an amount exceeding our resources, and our clinical trials or regulatory approvals could be suspended, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We face potential liability related to the privacy of health information we utilize in the development of products, as well as information we obtain from clinical trials sponsored by us from research institutions and directly from individuals.

We and our partners and vendors are subject to various federal, state and foreign data protection laws and regulations (i.e., laws and regulations that address data privacy and security). If we or our partners or vendors fail to comply with these laws and regulations we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices, enforcement actions, fines, and criminal or civil penalties, as well as negative publicity and a potential loss of business.

In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including state data breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations that govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information could apply to our operations or the operations of our partners. For example, most healthcare providers, including research institutions from which we obtain patient health information, are subject to privacy and security regulations promulgated under HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009. Under HIPAA, we could potentially face substantial criminal or civil penalties if we knowingly receive individually identifiable health information from a HIPAA-covered healthcare provider or research institution that has not satisfied HIPAA’s requirements for disclosure of individually

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identifiable health information, or otherwise violate applicable HIPAA requirements related to the protection of such information. Even when HIPAA does not apply, failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure may constitute a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

In addition, once we commence clinical trials, we may maintain sensitive personally identifiable information, including health information, that we receive throughout the clinical trial process, in the course of our research collaborations, and directly from individuals (or their healthcare providers) who enroll in our patient assistance programs. As such, we may be subject to state laws requiring notification of affected individuals and state regulators in the event of a breach of personal information. These state laws include the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act, or the CCPA, which establishes additional data privacy rights for residents of the State of California, including expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. The CCPA also provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. The CCPA has been amended from time to time, and it remains unclear what, if any, further modifications will be made to this legislation or how it will be interpreted. Further, on November 3, 2020, the California Privacy Rights Act, or the CPRA, was voted into law by California residents. The CPRA significantly amends the CCPA, and imposes additional data protection obligations on companies doing business in California, including additional consumer rights processes and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. It also creates a new California data protection agency specifically tasked to enforce the law, which would likely result in increased regulatory scrutiny of California businesses in the areas of data protection and security. The substantive requirements for businesses subject to the CPRA will go into effect on January 1, 2023, and become enforceable on July 1, 2023. Similar laws have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, and if passed, such laws may have potentially conflicting requirements that would make compliance challenging.

Any clinical trial programs and research collaborations, among other activities, that we engage in outside the United States may implicate international data protection laws, including, in Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation, or the GDPR, which became effective in 2018. The GDPR imposes stringent operational requirements for processors and controllers of personal data. Among other things, the GDPR requires detailed notices and consent requirements for clinical trial subjects and investigators and other data subjects, procedures regarding the security of personal data and notification of data processing obligations or security incidents to appropriate data protection authorities or data subjects, and honoring and providing for the rights of individuals within the EEA and the United Kingdom in relation to their personal data, including the right to access, correct and delete their data. If our privacy or data security measures fail to comply with the requirements of the GDPR or other applicable laws or regulations, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices, and/or enforcement actions requiring us to change the way we use personal data and/or fines. In addition to statutory enforcement, a personal data breach can lead to negative publicity and a potential loss of business. Further, following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU effective as of December 31, 2020, we will have to comply with the GDPR and the GDPR as incorporated into United Kingdom national law, which may have differing requirements. If we fail to comply with any such data protection laws, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices, and/or enforcement actions, as well as negative publicity and a potential loss of business.

We are also subject to evolving EEA laws on data export, as we may transfer personal data from the EEA to other jurisdictions. Recent legal developments in Europe have created complexity and uncertainty regarding transfers of personal data from the EEA to the United States. For example, on July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, or CJEU, invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework, or Privacy Shield, under which personal data could be transferred from the EEA to United States entities who had self-certified under the Privacy Shield scheme. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the standard contractual clauses will also be invalidated by the European courts or legislature. As government authorities issue further guidance on personal data export mechanisms and/or start taking enforcement action, we could suffer additional costs, complaints, and/or regulatory investigations or fines, and/or if we are otherwise unable to transfer personal data between and among

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countries and regions in which we operate, it could affect the manner in which we provide our services, the geographical location or segregation of our relevant systems and operations, and could adversely affect our financial results. These laws and regulations may apply, not only to us, but also to vendors that store or otherwise process data on our behalf, such as information technology vendors. If such a vendor misuses data we have provided to it, or fails to safeguard such data, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices, and/or enforcement actions, as well as negative publicity and a potential loss of business.

We are likely to be required to expend significant capital and other resources to ensure ongoing compliance with applicable privacy and data security laws. Claims that we have violated individuals’ privacy rights, failed to comply with applicable laws or breached our contractual obligations, even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend, and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business. Moreover, even if we take all necessary action to comply with regulatory requirements, we could be subject to a hack or data breach, which could subject us to fines and penalties, as well as reputational damage.

If we or our partners or vendors fail to comply with applicable federal, state, or local regulatory requirements, we could be subject to a range of regulatory actions that could affect our or any collaborators’ ability to seek to commercialize our clinical candidates. Any threatened or actual government enforcement action could also generate adverse publicity and require that we devote substantial resources that could otherwise be used in other aspects of our business. Any of the foregoing could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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

Our corporate headquarters and other facilities are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has experienced both severe earthquakes and the effects of wildfires. We do not carry earthquake insurance. Earthquakes, wildfires or other natural disasters could severely disrupt our operations, and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

If a natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that damaged critical infrastructure or that otherwise disrupted operations, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible, for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery and business continuity plans we have in place currently are limited and are unlikely to prove adequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which, particularly when taken together with our lack of earthquake insurance, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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

Significant disruptions of information technology systems, breaches of data security and other incidents could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We collect and maintain information in digital and other forms that is necessary to conduct our business, and we are increasingly dependent on information technology systems and infrastructure to operate our business. In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, store and transmit large amounts of confidential information, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information. It is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the privacy, security, confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. We have established physical, electronic and organizational measures designed to safeguard and secure our systems to prevent a data compromise, and rely on commercially available systems, software, tools

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and monitoring to provide security for our information technology systems and the processing, transmission and storage of digital information. We have also outsourced elements of our information technology infrastructure, and as a result a number of third-party vendors may have access to our confidential information. Our internal information technology systems and infrastructure, and those of any future collaborators and our contractors, consultants, vendors and other third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to damage or unauthorized access or use resulting from computer viruses, malware, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the Internet, denial or degradation of service attacks, ransomware, hacking, phishing and other social engineering attacks, attachments to emails, persons inside our organization or persons with access to systems inside our organization.

The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. The prevalent use of mobile devices that access confidential information also increases the risk of lost or stolen devices, security incidents and data security breaches, which could lead to the loss of confidential information or other intellectual property. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may face increased risks of a security breach or disruption due to our reliance on internet technology and the number of our employees who are working remotely, which may create additional opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities. The costs to us to investigate, mitigate and remediate security incidents, breaches, disruptions, network security problems, bugs, viruses, worms, malicious software programs and security vulnerabilities could be significant, and while we have implemented security measures to protect our data security and information technology systems, our efforts to address these problems may not be successful, and these problems could result in unexpected interruptions, delays, cessation of service, negative publicity and other harm to our business and our competitive position. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our drug development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing or planned clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Any security compromise affecting us, our partners or our industry, whether real or perceived, could harm our reputation, erode confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures and lead to regulatory scrutiny. Moreover, if a computer security breach affects our systems or results in the unauthorized access to or unauthorized use, disclosure, release or other processing of personally identifiable information or clinical trial data, it may be necessary to notify individuals, governmental authorities, supervisory bodies, the media and other parties pursuant to privacy and security laws, and our reputation could be materially damaged. We would also be exposed to a risk of loss, governmental investigations or enforcement, or litigation and potential liability, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our internal computer systems, or those used by our third-party research institution collaborators, CROs or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches.

We are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure and data to operate our business. In the ordinary course of business, we collect, store and transmit confidential information (including but not limited to intellectual property, proprietary business information and personal information). It is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. We also have outsourced elements of our operations to third parties, and as a result we manage a number of third-party contractors who have access to our confidential information.

Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our CROs and other contractors and consultants are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses and unauthorized access. Although to our knowledge we have not experienced any such material system failure or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations or those of our third-party CROs, vendors, and other contractors and consultants, it could result in a material disruption of our development programs and our business operations. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or future

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clinical trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Likewise, we rely on our third-party research institution collaborators for research and development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and other third parties for the manufacture of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates and to conduct clinical trials, and similar events relating to their computer systems could also have a material adverse effect on our business. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of, or damage to, our data or applications, or those of our third-party CROs, vendors, and other contractors and consultants, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information or patient information, we could incur liability and the further development and commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates could be delayed.

While we have not experienced any such system failure, accident or security breach to date, we cannot assure you that our data protection efforts and our investment in information technology will prevent significant breakdowns, data leakages, breaches in our systems, or those of our third-party CROs, vendors and other contractors and consultants, or other cyber incidents that could have a material adverse effect upon our reputation, business, operations or financial condition. For example, if such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, or those of our third-party CROs, vendors, and other contractors and consultants, it could result in a material disruption of our programs and the development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates could be delayed. In addition, the loss of clinical trial data for our single-agent and combination therapy candidates could result in delays in our marketing approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. Furthermore, significant disruptions of our internal information technology systems, or those of our third-party CROs, vendors and other contractors and consultants, or security breaches could result in the loss, misappropriation, and/or unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of, or the prevention of access to, confidential information (including trade secrets or other intellectual property, proprietary business information, and personal information), which could result in financial, legal, business, and reputational harm to us. For example, any such event that leads to unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of personal information, including personal information regarding our clinical trial subjects or employees, could harm our reputation directly, compel us to comply with federal and/or state breach notification laws and foreign law equivalents, subject us to mandatory corrective action, and otherwise subject us to liability under laws and regulations that protect the privacy and security of personal information, which could result in significant legal and financial exposure and reputational damages that could potentially have an adverse effect on our business.

We have and will enter into collaboration, license, contract research and/or manufacturing relationships with contract organizations that operate in certain countries that are at heightened risk of theft of technology, data and intellectual property through direct intrusion by private parties or foreign actors, including those affiliated with or controlled by state actors. Accordingly, our efforts to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license, and we may be at heightened risk of losing our proprietary intellectual property rights around the world, including outside of such countries, to the extent such theft or intrusion destroy the proprietary nature of our intellectual property.

The costs related to significant security breaches or disruptions could be material and exceed the limits of any applicable insurance we may maintain against such risks. If the information technology systems of our third-party CROs, vendors and other contractors and consultants become subject to disruptions or security breaches, we may have insufficient recourse against such third parties and we may have to expend significant resources to mitigate the impact of such an event, and to develop and implement protections to prevent future events of this nature from occurring.

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Risks Related to Doing Business in China

The pharmaceutical industry in China is highly regulated and such regulations are subject to change which may affect approval and commercialization of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates.

Some of our research and development operations and manufacturing facilities are in the People’s Republic of China, which we refer to as China or PRC. The pharmaceutical industry in China is subject to comprehensive government regulation and supervision, encompassing the approval, registration, manufacturing, packaging, licensing and marketing of new drugs. In recent years, the regulatory framework in China regarding the pharmaceutical industry has undergone significant changes, and we expect that it will continue to undergo significant changes. Any such changes or amendments may result in increased compliance costs on our business or cause delays in or prevent the successful development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates in China and reduce the current benefits we believe are available to us from developing and manufacturing drugs in China. PRC authorities have become increasingly vigilant in enforcing laws in the pharmaceutical industry and any failure by us or our partners to maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations or obtain and maintain required licenses and permits may result in the suspension or termination of our business activities in China. We believe our strategy and approach are aligned with the PRC government’s regulatory policies, but we cannot ensure that our strategy and approach will continue to be aligned.

If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations of China, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our manufacturing operations primarily occur in China and involve the use of hazardous materials, including chemical materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We are therefore subject to PRC laws and regulations concerning the discharge of waste water, gaseous waste and solid waste during our processes of research and development of our single-agent and combination therapy candidates. We engage competent third-party contractors for the transfer and disposal of these materials and wastes. We may not comply fully with environmental regulations at all times. Any violation of these regulations may result in substantial fines, criminal sanctions, revocations of operating permits, shutdown of our facilities and obligations to take corrective measures. We cannot completely eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials and wastes. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from the use or discharge of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil, administrative or criminal fines and penalties.

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover costs and expenses incurred due to on-the-job injuries to our employees and third party liability insurance for injuries caused by unexpected seepage, pollution or contamination, such insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. Furthermore, China may take steps towards the adoption of more stringent environmental regulations. Due to the possibility of unanticipated regulatory or other developments, the amount and timing of future environmental expenditures may vary substantially from those currently anticipated. If there is any unanticipated change in the environmental regulations, we may need to incur substantial capital expenditures to install, replace, upgrade or supplement our manufacturing facility and equipment or make operational changes to limit any adverse impact or potential adverse impact on the environment in order to comply with new environmental protection laws and regulations. If such costs become prohibitively expensive, we may be forced to cease certain aspects of our business operations.

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China’s economic, political and social conditions, as well as governmental policies, could affect the business environment and financial markets in China, our ability to operate our business, our liquidity and our access to capital.

Substantially all of our manufacturing operations are conducted in China. Accordingly, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects may be influenced to a significant degree by economic, political, legal and social conditions in China as well as China’s economic, political, legal and social conditions in relation to the rest of the world. China’s economy differs from the economies of developed countries in many respects, including with respect to the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While China’s economy has experienced significant growth over the past 40 years, growth has been uneven across different regions and among various economic sectors of China. China’s government has implemented various measures to encourage economic development and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall economy in China, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are currently applicable to us. In addition, in the past, China’s government implemented certain measures, including interest rate increases, to control the pace of economic growth. These measures may cause decreased economic activity in China, which may adversely affect our business and results of operation. More generally, if the business environment in China deteriorates from the perspective of domestic or international investment, our business in China may also be adversely affected.

Failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock ownership plans or share option plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

Under the applicable regulations and State Administration of Foreign Exchange of the People’s Republic of China, or SAFE, rules, PRC citizens who participate in an employee stock ownership plan or a stock option plan in an overseas publicly listed company are required to register with SAFE and complete certain other procedures. In February 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notices on Issues concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plans of Overseas Publicly Listed Companies, or the Stock Option Rules, which replaced the Application Procedures of Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Employee Stock Ownership Plan or Stock Option Plans of Overseas Publicly Listed Companies issued by SAFE in March 2007. Pursuant to the Stock Option Rules, if a PRC resident participates in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company, a qualified PRC domestic agent must, among other things, file on behalf of such participant an application with SAFE to conduct the SAFE registration with respect to such stock incentive plan and obtain approval for an annual allowance with respect to the purchase of foreign exchange in connection with the exercise or sale of stock options or stock such participant holds. Such participating PRC residents’ foreign exchange income received from the sale of stock and dividends distributed by the overseas publicly listed company must be fully remitted into a PRC collective foreign currency account opened and managed by the PRC agent before distribution to such participants. We and our PRC resident employees who have been granted stock options or other share-based incentives of ours will be subject to the Stock Option Rules when our company becomes an overseas listed company upon the completion of this offering. If we or our PRC resident participants fail to comply with these regulations, we and/or our PRC resident participants may be subject to fines and legal sanctions.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock and this Offering

Our stock price may be volatile and you may not be able to resell shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid.

The trading price of our common stock following this offering could be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. In particular, the trading prices for pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have been highly volatile as a

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result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors include those discussed in this “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus and others such as:

In addition, the stock markets in general, and the markets for pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks in particular, have experienced extreme volatility that may have been unrelated to the operating performance of the issuer. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price or liquidity of our common stock.

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An active, liquid and orderly market for our common stock may not develop, and you may not be able to resell your common stock at or above the public offering price.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for shares of our common stock, and an active public market for our shares may not develop or be sustained after this offering. We and the representatives of the underwriters will determine the initial public offering price of our common stock through negotiation. This price will not necessarily reflect the price at which investors in the market will be willing to buy and sell our shares following this offering. In addition, an active trading market may not develop following the consummation of this offering or, if it is developed, may not be sustained. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other single-agent and combination therapy candidates, businesses or technologies using our shares as consideration.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

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

We are an “emerging growth company,” and as a result of the reduced disclosure and governance requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, our common stock may be less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. In addition, as an “emerging growth company,” the JOBS Act allows us to delay adoption of new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to public companies until such pronouncements are made applicable to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period under the JOBS Act. As a result, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to the financial statements of issuers who are required to comply with the effective dates for new or revised accounting standards that are applicable to public companies, which may make comparison of our financials to those of other public companies more difficult.

We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the consummation of this offering, (2) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, (3) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year, or (4) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

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

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

After this offering, we will be subject to Section 404 and the related rules of the SEC, which generally require our management and independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Beginning with the second annual report that we will be required to file with the SEC, Section 404 requires an annual management assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. However, for so long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404. Once we are no longer an emerging growth company or, if prior to such date, we opt to no longer take advantage of the applicable exemption, we will be required to include an opinion from our independent registered public accounting firm on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

During the course of our review and testing, we may identify deficiencies and be unable to remediate them before we must provide the required reports. Furthermore, if we identify any material weaknesses, we may not detect errors on a timely basis and our financial statements may be materially misstated. We or our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and cause the trading price of our stock to fall. In addition, as a public company we will be required to file accurate and timely quarterly and annual reports with the SEC under the Exchange Act. In order to report our results of operations and financial statements on an accurate and timely basis, we will depend in part on CROs and other third parties to provide timely and accurate notice of their costs to us. Any failure to report our financial results on an accurate and timely basis could result in sanctions, lawsuits, delisting of our shares from the Nasdaq Global Market or other adverse consequences that would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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

The initial public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock before giving effect to this offering. Accordingly, if you purchase our

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common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate substantial dilution of approximately $         per share, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the estimated price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus, and our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of September 30, 2020. In addition, following this offering, purchasers in this offering will have contributed approximately     % of the total gross consideration paid by stockholders to us to purchase shares of our common stock through September 30, 2020, but will own only approximately    % of the shares of common stock outstanding immediately after this offering. Furthermore, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares or outstanding options are exercised, you could experience further dilution. For a further description of the dilution that you will experience immediately after this offering, see the section titled “Dilution.”

If we sell shares of our common stock in future financings, stockholders may experience immediate dilution and, as a result, our stock price may decline.

We may from time to time issue additional shares of common stock at a discount from the current trading price of our common stock. As a result, our stockholders would experience immediate dilution upon the purchase of any shares of our common stock sold at such discount. In addition, as opportunities present themselves, we may enter into financing or similar arrangements in the future, including the issuance of debt securities, preferred stock or common stock. If we issue common stock or securities convertible into common stock, our common stockholders would experience additional dilution and, as a result, our stock price may decline.

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

As of September 30, 2020, our executive officers, directors, holders of 5% or more of our capital stock and their respective affiliates beneficially owned approximately     % of our voting stock and, upon the closing of this offering, that same group will hold approximately     % of our outstanding voting stock (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares and no exercise of outstanding options). In addition, such stockholders have designated the majority of the directors on our board. Therefore, even after this offering these stockholders will have the ability to influence us through this ownership position. These stockholders may be able to determine all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders may be able to control elections of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, or approval of any merger, sale of assets or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our common stock that you may feel are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.

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

If our existing stockholders sell, or indicate an intention to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market after the lock-up and other legal restrictions on resale discussed in this prospectus lapse, the trading price of our common stock could decline. Immediately after this offering, based upon the number of shares outstanding as of September 30, 2020, immediately prior to the completion of this offering, we will have outstanding a total of                  shares of common stock, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. Of these shares, substantially all of the shares of our common stock sold in this offering (excluding any shares sold to our director or officers in the directed share program), plus any shares sold upon exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, will be freely tradable, without restriction, in the public market immediately following this offering.

The lock-up agreements pertaining to this offering will expire 180 days from the date of this prospectus. Based upon the number of shares outstanding as of September 30, 2020, after the lock-up agreements expire, up to approximately                  additional shares of common stock will be eligible for sale in the public market, approximately                  of which shares are held by directors, executive officers and other affiliates and will be subject to Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. The representatives may,

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however, in their sole discretion, permit our officers, directors and other stockholders who are subject to these lock-up agreements to sell shares prior to the expiration of the lock-up agreements.

In addition, as of September 30, 2020, approximately                  shares of common stock that are either subject to outstanding options or reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans, will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting schedules, the lock-up agreements and Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities Act. If these additional shares of common stock are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold, in the public market, the trading price of our common stock could decline.

After this offering, the holders of approximately                 shares of our common stock, or approximately     % of our total outstanding shares of common stock as of September 30, 2020, will be entitled to rights with respect to the registration of their shares under the Securities Act, subject to the lock-up agreements described above. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in the shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, except for shares purchased by affiliates. Any sales of securities by these stockholders could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

We have broad discretion to determine how to use the funds raised in this offering, and may use them in ways that may not enhance our operating results or the price of our common stock.

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering, and we could spend the proceeds from this offering in ways our stockholders may not agree with or that do not yield a favorable return, if at all. We currently expect to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, to advance TERN-101 through the Phase 2a clinical trial (the LIFT Study), advance TERN-501 monotherapy through the Phase 1 clinical trial, initiate and advance Phase 2 clinical development for our combination therapy program and advance TERN-201 through the Phase 1b clinical trial, as well as advance our research and development activities, including our GLP-1R and combination programs, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. However, our use of these proceeds may differ substantially from our current plans. If we do not invest or apply the proceeds of this offering in ways that improve our operating results, we may fail to achieve expected financial results, which could cause our stock price to decline.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research and development tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. We may have experienced ownership changes in the past and may experience ownership changes as a result of this offering and/or subsequent shifts in our stock ownership (some of which are outside our control). As a result, our ability to use our pre-change NOLs and tax credits to offset future taxable income, if any, could be subject to limitations. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply. As a result, even if we attain profitability, we may be unable to use a material portion of our NOLs and tax credits.

Provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could discourage a takeover that stockholders may consider favorable and may lead to entrenchment of management.

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

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

As a California-domiciled public company, we will be required to have at least two or three women and at least one director from an underrepresented community on our board of directors by the end of 2021, depending on the size of our board at the time.

Our success depends in part on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified individuals to our board of directors. As a public company headquartered in California, we will be required to have two or three women on our board of directors by the end of 2021, depending on the size of our board of directors at the time. We will be also required to have at least one director from an underrepresented community by the end of 2021 and to have two or three two or three directors from an underrepresented community by the end of 2022, depending on the size of our board of directors at the time. While we currently have one woman and five directors from an underrepresented community on the board of directors, recruiting and retaining board members carries uncertainty, and failure to comply with this California requirement will result in financial penalties.

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

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

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

While we maintain a directors’ and officers’ insurance policy, such insurance may not be adequate to cover all liabilities that we may incur, which may reduce our available funds to satisfy third-party claims and may adversely impact our cash position.

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

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, in the event that the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware) is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws, or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine; provided that, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction; and provided further that, if and only if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware dismisses any such action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, such action may be brought in another state or federal court sitting in the State of Delaware. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will also provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action against us or any of our directors, officers, employees or agents and arising under the Securities Act. Nothing in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws precludes stockholders that assert claims under the Exchange Act from bringing such claims in state or federal court, subject to applicable law.

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This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions, and there can be no assurance that such provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. If a court were to find the choice of forum provision that will be contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

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

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

We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert our management’s attention.

In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Regardless of the merits or the ultimate results of such litigation, securities litigation brought against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns.

Participation in this offering by our existing stockholders and/or their affiliated entities may reduce the public float for our common stock.

To the extent certain of our existing stockholders and their affiliated entities participate in this offering, such purchases would reduce the non-affiliate public float of our shares, meaning the number of shares of our common stock that are not held by officers, directors and controlling stockholders. A reduction in the public float could reduce the number of shares that are available to be traded at any given time, thereby adversely impacting the liquidity of our common stock and depressing the price at which you may be able to sell shares of common stock purchased in this offering.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this prospectus, including statements regarding our strategy, future financial condition, future operations, projected costs, prospects, plans, objectives of management and expected market growth, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “design,” “due,” “estimate,” “expect,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “objective,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and other similar expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events and future trends, or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results

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of operations, business strategy and financial needs. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this prospectus, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur at all. You should refer to the section titled “Risk Factors” for a discussion of important factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. Furthermore, if our forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Section 27A of the Securities Act, do not protect any forward-looking statements that we make in connection with this offering.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of the forward-looking statements in this prospectus by these cautionary statements.

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MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

This prospectus contains estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, our business, as well as data regarding market research, estimates and forecasts prepared by our management. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties and actual events or circumstances may differ materially from events and circumstances that are assumed in this information. The industry in which we operate is subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors.” Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this industry, business, market and other data from reports, research surveys, studies and similar data prepared by market research firms and other third parties, industry, medical and general publications, government data and similar sources. In some cases, we do not expressly refer to the sources from which this data is derived. In that regard, when we refer to one or more sources of this type of data in any paragraph, you should assume that other data of this type appearing in the same paragraph is derived from the same sources, unless otherwise expressly stated or the context otherwise requires.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

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

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease, as applicable, the net proceeds to us from this offering by approximately $         million, assuming that the number of shares of common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase or decrease of 1,000,000 shares of common stock offered by us would increase or decrease, as applicable, the net proceeds to us by approximately $         million, assuming the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share remains the same, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The principal purposes of this offering are to obtain additional capital to support our operations, to create a public market for our common stock and to facilitate our future access to the public markets. We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, as follows:

Based upon our current operating plan, we believe that the anticipated net proceeds from this offering, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements at least through            .

This expected use of the net proceeds from this offering represents our intentions based on our current plans and business conditions, which could change in the future as our plans and business conditions evolve. Further, due to the uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, it is difficult to estimate with certainty the exact amounts of the net proceeds from this offering that may be used for the above purposes. We may also use a portion of the remaining net proceeds and our existing cash and cash equivalents to in-license, acquire or invest in complementary businesses, technologies, products or assets. However, we have no current commitments or obligations to do so.

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of the net proceeds from this offering, and our investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds of this offering. The amounts and timing of our expenditures will depend upon numerous factors including the results of our research and development efforts, the timing and success of our preclinical studies and ongoing clinical trials or clinical trials we may commence in the future, the timing of regulatory submissions, the amount of cash obtained through any future collaborations and other factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors.”

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The expected net proceeds from this offering, together with our cash and cash equivalents, will not be sufficient for us to fund any of our drug or combination therapy candidates through regulatory approval, and we will need to raise additional capital to complete the development and commercialization of our drug and combination therapy candidates. We expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings and potential collaborations, and license and development agreements. We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and we could expend our available capital resources at a rate greater than we currently expect.

Pending the use of the net proceeds from this offering as described above, we intend to invest the net proceeds in a variety of capital preservation instruments, including short-term, interest-bearing obligations, investment-grade instruments, certificates of deposit or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business. Any future determination related to dividend policy will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend upon, among other factors, our results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions and capital requirements. In addition, our ability to pay cash dividends on our capital stock may be limited by the terms of any future debt or preferred securities we issue or any credit facilities we enter into.

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents, and our capitalization as of September 30, 2020 on:

You should read this table together with the sections titled “Selected Consolidated Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The pro forma information below is illustrative only and our capitalization following the closing of this offering will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.

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The number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted, in the table above is based on shares of common stock outstanding (after giving effect to the conversion of all of our shares of convertible preferred stock outstanding as of September 30, 2020 into an aggregate of             shares of our common stock immediately prior to the completion of this offering), and excludes:

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DILUTION

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering.

Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) as of September 30, 2020 was $         million, or $         per share of our common stock. Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) represents our total tangible assets less total liabilities and convertible preferred stock. Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share is our historical net tangible book value (deficit) divided by the number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2020.

Our pro forma net tangible book value as of September 30, 2020 was $         million, or $         per share of our common stock, based on the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of September 30, 2020. Pro forma net tangible book value per share represents our total tangible assets less our total liabilities, divided by the number of outstanding shares of common stock, after giving effect to the conversion of all of the outstanding shares of our convertible preferred stock into an aggregate of                shares of our common stock.

After giving effect to the sale of                shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of September 30, 2020 would have been $         million, or $         per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value of $         per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $         per share to new investors participating in this offering.

The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis:

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease, as applicable, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $         per share and the dilution per share to new investors participating in this offering by $         per share, assuming that the number of shares of common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, an increase of 1,000,000 in the number of shares of common stock offered by us would increase the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after this offering by $         per share and decrease the dilution per share to new investors participating in this offering by $         per share, and a decrease of 1,000,000 shares of common stock offered by us would decrease the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $         per share, and increase the dilution per share to new investors in this offering by $         per share, assuming that the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

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If the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares of common stock from us, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering would be $         per share, representing an immediate increase to existing stockholders of $         per share, and dilution to new investors participating in this offering of $         per share.

The following table summarizes on the pro forma as adjusted basis described above, the differences between the number of shares purchased from us, the total consideration paid and the average price per share paid to us by existing stockholders and by investors purchasing shares in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page on this prospectus, before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us:

A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease, as applicable, the total consideration paid by new investors by $         million and, in the case of an increase, would increase the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors to     % and, in the case of a decrease, would decrease the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors to     %, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same. Similarly, an increase or decrease of 1,000,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease, as applicable, the total consideration paid by new investors by $         million and, in the case of an increase, would increase the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors to     % and, in the case of a decrease, would decrease the percentage of total consideration paid by new investors to     %, assuming that the assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same.

If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, our existing stockholders would own    % and our new investors would own    % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering.

The number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted, in the table above is based on            shares of common stock outstanding (after giving effect to the conversion of all of our shares of convertible preferred stock outstanding as of September 30, 2020 into an aggregate of             shares of our common stock immediately prior to the completion of this offering), and excludes:

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To the extent that any outstanding options are exercised, new options or other equity awards are issued under our equity incentive plans, or we issue additional shares in the future, there will be further dilution to new investors participating in this offering.

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The following tables set forth our selected consolidated statements of operations and consolidated balance sheet data. The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019 and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018 and 2019 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary consolidated statements of operations data for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2020 and the summary consolidated balance sheet data as of September 30, 2020 are derived from our unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future. You should read the following selected consolidated financial data together with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The selected consolidated financial data included in this section are not intended to replace the consolidated financial statements and are qualified in their entirety by the consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, including those factors set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus, our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of small-molecule single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, and other chronic liver diseases. Our programs are based on clinically-validated and complementary mechanisms of action to address the multiple hepatic disease processes of NASH in order to drive meaningful clinical benefits for patients. The mechanisms of action targeted by our current drug candidates are the same mechanisms of action targeted by other drug candidates that have achieved clinical proof-of-concept in NASH clinical trials and have demonstrated significant improvements on histological and non-invasive markers of the disease, though no drug has been approved for the treatment of NASH in the United States or Europe. Our most advanced program is TERN-101, a liver-directed, non-bile acid Farnesoid X Receptor, or FXR, agonist that has demonstrated sustained liver FXR activation, as well as a favorable tolerability profile across multiple Phase 1 clinical trials. In our Phase 1 clinical trials, no pruritus, or itching, or increases in LDL cholesterol levels as compared to the control group were observed—unlike in Phase 1 clinical trials of other FXR agonists conducted by third parties. We initiated our Phase 2a clinical trial of TERN-101 in NASH patients (the LIFT Study) in June 2020 and expect top-line data in the second half of 2021. Our second clinical stage program, TERN-201, is a highly selective inhibitor of Vascular Adhesion Protein-1, or VAP-1. We intend to start our Phase 1b clinical trial of TERN-201 in NASH patients in the first half of 2021 and expect top-line data in the first half of 2022. Our third program entering the clinic is TERN-501, a Thyroid Hormone Receptor beta, or THR-b, agonist with high metabolic stability, enhanced liver distribution and greater selectivity for THR-b compared to other THR-b agonists in development. We intend to start our Phase 1 first-in-human clinical trial of TERN-501 in the first half of 2021 and expect top-line data in the second half of 2021. We are also pursuing two combination therapy programs to address the multiple disease processes of NASH and expect.

Since the commencement of our operations, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to research and development activities, organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, establishing and maintaining our intellectual property portfolio, conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials and providing general and administrative support for these operations. We have incurred significant operating losses since the commencement of our operations. Our net losses attributable to common stockholders were $17.7 million and $68.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019, respectively, and $58.8 million and $30.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2020, respectively, and we expect to continue to incur significant and increasing losses for the foreseeable future as we continue to advance our single-agent and combination therapy candidates, and as we transition to operating as a public company. As of September 30, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $122.0 million excluding $1.1 million of net losses that have been allocated to the noncontrolling interest. Including the losses allocated to the noncontrolling interest, we have incurred $123.1 million of losses to date on a consolidated basis. We expect to continue to incur net operating losses for at least the next several years as we continue our research and development efforts, advance our single-agent and combination therapy candidates through preclinical and clinical development, seek regulatory approval, prepare for and, if approved, proceed to commercialization. See “—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

We do not have any single-agent or combination therapy candidates approved for commercial sale, and we have not generated any revenue from product sales. Our ability to generate product revenue sufficient to achieve

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