The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors (the “Audit Committee”) of BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (the “Company”) has completed a competitive process to review the appointment of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. The Audit Committee invited several firms, including its current independent registered public accounting firm, Cherry Bekaert LLP (“Cherry Bekaert”), to participate in the process. As a result of this process and following careful deliberation, on December 20, 2019, the Audit Committee approved the following: (i) to dismiss Cherry Bekaert as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, upon completion of its audit of the financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019; and (ii) to appoint Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) as the independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020.

Cherry Bekaert’s audit report on the Company’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion and was not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.

During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the subsequent interim period through the date of Cherry Bekaert’s dismissal, there were no disagreements with Cherry Bekaert on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Cherry Bekaert would have caused it to make reference to the subject matter thereof in connection with its reports. In addition, no reportable events, as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K, occurred during the Company’s fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2018 or the subsequent interim period through the date of Cherry Bekaert’s dismissal.

The Company provided Cherry Bekaert with a copy of the disclosures under item 4.01 of this report prior to the filing hereof and requested that Cherry Bekaert furnish the Company with a letter addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) stating whether it agrees with the statements made by the Company in this report. Cherry Bekaert has furnished such letter, which letter is filed as Exhibit 16.1 hereto, as required by Item 304(a)(3) of Regulation S-K.

During the Company’s fiscal years through December 31, 2017 and 2018 and the subsequent interim period through the date of Cherry Bekaert’s dismissal, neither the Company nor anyone acting on its behalf consulted EY regarding the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company’s financial statements or any matter that was either the subject of a disagreement (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions to that Item) or a reportable event (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

16.1 Letter from Cherry Bekaert LLP to the SEC, dated as of December , 2019.

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BIODELIVERY SCIENCES INTERNATIONAL INC Exhibit
EX-16.1 2 biodeliverysecauditors.htm EX-16.1 DocumentDecember 20,…
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About BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI)

BioDelivery Sciences International, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company. The Company develops and commercializes, either on its own or in partnerships with third parties, applications of approved therapeutics to address unmet medical needs using drug delivery technologies. The Company develops pharmaceutical products aimed principally in the areas of pain management and addiction. The Company’s products utilize the BioErodible MucoAdhesive (BEMA) drug delivery technology, a small, erodible polymer film for application to the buccal mucosa (the lining inside the cheek). The Company’s United Sates Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved product, ONSOLIS (fentanyl buccal soluble film), as well as its approved products BUNAVAIL (buprenorphine and naloxone buccal film) buccal film and BELBUCA (buprenorphine) buccal film, utilize BEMA technology.