QBIO Q BioMed Inc (CE)

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider and evaluate all of the information included and incorporated by reference or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this report. Our business, results of operations or financial condition could be adversely affected by any of these risks or by additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial.

Risks Related to our Company

If we do not obtain additional financing, our business may be at risk or execution of our business plan may be delayed.

As of the date hereof, we have raised our operating funds through contacts, high net-worth individuals and strategic investors situated in the United States and Cayman Islands. We have not generated any revenue from operations since inception. We have limited assets upon which to commence our business operations and to rely otherwise.  At November 30, 2018, we had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $2.7 million.  On September 21 and November 1, 2018, we netted approximately $3.9 million from the registered sale of convertible notes. As such, we anticipate that we will have to raise additional funds and/or generate revenue from drug sales within twelve months to continue operations. Additional funding will be needed to implement our business plan that includes various expenses such as fulfilling our obligations under licensing agreements, legal, operational set-up, general and administrative, marketing, employee salaries and other related start-up expenses. Obtaining additional funding will be subject to a number of factors, including general market conditions, investor acceptance of our business plan and initial results from our business operations. These factors may impact the timing, amount, terms or conditions of additional financing available to us. If we are unable to raise sufficient funds, we will be forced to scale back or cease our operations.

Our independent registered public accountant has issued a going concern opinion after auditing our consolidated financial statements; our ability to continue depends on our ability to raise additional capital and our operations could be curtailed if we are unable to obtain required additional funding when needed.

We will be required to expend substantial amounts of working capital in order to acquire and market our proposed products and establish the necessary relationships to implement our business plan. We were incorporated on November 22, 2013. Our operations to date were funded entirely by capital raised from our private offering of securities. Notwithstanding the offering, we will continue to require additional financing to execute our business strategy.  We totally depend on external sources of financing for the foreseeable future. Failure to raise additional funds in the future will adversely affect our business operations, and may require us to suspend our operations, which in turn may result in a loss to the purchasers of our common stock. We entirely depend on our ability to attract and receive additional funding from either the sale of securities or the issuance of debt securities. Needed funds might never be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. The inability to obtain sufficient funding of our operations in the future could restrict our ability to grow and reduce our ability to continue to conduct business operations. The report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our consolidated financial statements, included herein, raised substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern depends on our ability to raise additional capital. If we are unable to obtain necessary financing, we will likely be required to curtail our development plans which could cause us to become dormant. Any additional equity financing may involve substantial dilution to our then existing stockholders.

Our business relies on intellectual property owned by third parties, and this reliance exposes us to the termination of the right to use that intellectual property and may result in inadvertent infringement of patents and proprietary rights of others.

Currently, we have four assets. Our business depends on:

If the licenses were to terminate, we would lose the ability to conduct our business pursuant to our plan of operations.  Our ability to pursue our business plan would then depend on finding alternative platforms to license.  We may not be able to find an attractive platform on a timely and cost effective basis, and even if we did, such platform might be inferior to the ones we currently have a license to use and may not be attractive to potential customers.

Many entities, including some of our competitors, have or may obtain patents and other intellectual property rights that cover or affect products or services related to those assets that we license.  If a court determines that one or more aspect of the licensed platform infringes on intellectual property owned by others, we may be required to cease using that platform, to obtain licenses from the owners of the intellectual property or to redesign the platform in such a way as to avoid infringing the intellectual property rights. If a third party holds intellectual property rights, it may not allow us to use its intellectual property at any price, which could materially adversely affect our competitive position.

The Mannin platform, BioNucleonics platform, the ASDERA platform and the Uttroside platform may potentially infringe other intellectual property rights. U.S. patent applications are generally confidential until the Patent and Trademark Office issues a patent. Therefore, we cannot evaluate the extent to which the licensed platform may infringe claims contained in pending patent applications. Further, without lengthy litigation, it is often not possible to determine definitively whether a claim of infringement is valid.  We may not be in a position to protect the intellectual property that we license as we are not the owners of that intellectual property and do not currently have the financial resources to engage in lengthy litigation.

Failure to maintain the license for, or to acquire, the intellectual property underlying any license or sublicense on which our plan of operations is based may force us to change our plan of operations.

We have to meet certain conditions to maintain the licenses for the intellectual property underlying the Mannin platform, the ASDERA platform and the Uttroside platform and to acquire such intellectual property. Such conditions include payments of cash and shares of common stock, obtaining certain governmental approvals, initiating sales of products based on the intellectual property and other matters. We might not have the resources to meet these conditions and as a result may lose the licenses to the intellectual property that is vital to our business.

We lack an operating history and have not generated any revenues to date. Future operations might never result in revenues. If we cannot generate sufficient revenues to operate profitably, we may have to cease operations.

As we were incorporated on November 22, 2013 and more recently changed business direction, we do not have any operating history upon which an evaluation of our future success or failure can be made. Our ability to achieve and maintain profitability and positive cash flow depends upon our ability to manufacture a product and to earn profit by attracting enough clients who will buy our products or services.  We might never generate revenues or, if we generate revenues, achieve profitability. Failure to generate revenues and profit will eventually cause us to suspend, curtail or cease operations.

We may be exposed to potential risks and significant expenses resulting from the requirements under section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to include in our annual report our assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We expect to incur significant continuing costs, including accounting fees and staffing costs, in order to maintain compliance with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Our management concluded that our internal controls and procedures were not effective to detect the inappropriate application of US GAAP for our most recent fiscal year. As we develop our business, hire employees and consultants and seek to protect our intellectual property rights, our current design for internal control over financial reporting must be strengthened to enable management to determine that our internal controls are effective for any period, or on an ongoing basis.  Accordingly, as we develop our business, such development and growth will necessitate changes to our internal control systems, processes and information systems, all of which will require additional costs and expenses.

In the future, if we fail to complete the annual Section 404 evaluation in a timely manner, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of public confidence in our internal controls. In addition, any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations.  

Limited oversight of our management may lead to corporate conflicts.

We have only three directors, of whom two are also officers. Accordingly, we cannot establish board committees comprised of independent members to oversee functions like compensation or audit issues. In addition, since we only have three directors, they have significant control over all corporate issues.

Because we are not subject to compliance with rules requiring the adoption of certain corporate governance measures, our shareholders have limited protections against interested director transactions, conflicts of interest and similar matters.  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules enacted by the SEC, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market, requires the implementation of various measures relating to corporate governance. These measures are designed to enhance the integrity of corporate management and the securities markets and apply to securities which are listed on the New York Stock Exchanges or the Nasdaq Stock Market. Because we are not presently required to comply with many of the corporate governance provisions, we have not yet adopted these measures and, currently, would not be able to comply with such corporate governance provisions. We do not have an audit or compensation committee comprised of independent directors. Two of our three directors who perform these functions and are not independent directors. Thus, there is a potential conflict in that our directors are also engaged in management and participate in decisions concerning management compensation and audit issues that may affect management performance.

 Until we have a larger board of directors that would include a majority of independent members, if ever, there will be limited oversight of our directors’ decisions and activities and little ability for minority shareholders to challenge or reverse those activities and decisions, even if they are not in the best interests of minority shareholders.

Additionally, our directors beneficially own approximately 27% of our common stock. Although it is possible for them to be outvoted by the remaining shareholders at a general or special meeting if the two directors voted together, the size of their shareholdings and the absence of any other person beneficially owning more than 10% of our common stock would make this a difficult undertaking.

Because the results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future results, any product candidate we advance into clinical trials may not have favorable results in later clinical trials, if any, or receive regulatory approval.

Pharmaceutical development has inherent risk. We will be required to demonstrate through well-controlled clinical trials for our product candidates for our Mannin platform, the ASDERA platform and the Uttroside platform and any additional uses based on the BioNucleonics and Metastron platforms that our product candidates are effective with a favorable benefit-risk profile for use in their target indications before we can seek regulatory approvals for their commercial sale. Success in early clinical trials does not mean that later clinical trials will be successful as product candidates in later-stage clinical trials may fail to demonstrate sufficient safety or efficacy despite having progressed through initial clinical testing. We also may need to conduct additional clinical trials that are not currently anticipated. Companies frequently suffer significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, even after earlier clinical trials have shown promising results. In addition, only a small percentage of drugs under development result in the submission of a New Drug Application or Biologics License Application, known as BLA, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and even fewer are approved for commercialization.

Any product candidates we advance into clinical development are subject to extensive regulation, which can be costly and time consuming, cause unanticipated delays or prevent the receipt of the required approvals to commercialize our product candidates.

The clinical development, manufacturing, labeling, storage, record-keeping, advertising, promotion, import, export, marketing and distribution of our product candidate, Man-01, are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA in the United States and by comparable health authorities in foreign markets. In the United States, we are not permitted to market our product candidates until we receive approval of a BLA from the FDA. The process of obtaining BLA approval is expensive, often takes many years and can vary substantially based upon the type, complexity and novelty of the products involved. In addition to the significant clinical testing requirements, our ability to obtain marketing approval for these products depends on obtaining the final results of required non-clinical testing, including characterization of the manufactured components of our product candidates and validation of our manufacturing processes. The FDA may determine that our product manufacturing processes, testing procedures or facilities are insufficient to justify approval. Approval policies or regulations may change and the FDA has substantial discretion in the pharmaceutical approval process, including the ability to delay, limit or deny approval of a product candidate for many reasons. Despite the time and expense invested in clinical development of product candidates, regulatory approval is never guaranteed.

The FDA or another regulatory agency can delay, limit or deny approval of a product candidate for many reasons, including, but not limited to:

With respect to foreign markets, approval procedures vary among countries and, in addition to the aforementioned risks, can involve additional product testing, administrative review periods and agreements with pricing authorities. In addition, recent events raising questions about the safety of certain marketed pharmaceuticals may result in increased cautiousness by the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities in reviewing new pharmaceuticals based on safety, efficacy or other regulatory considerations and may result in significant delays in obtaining regulatory approvals. Any delay in obtaining, or inability to obtain, applicable regulatory approvals would prevent us from commercializing our product candidates.

Any product candidate we manufacture or advance into clinical trials may cause unacceptable adverse events or have other properties that may delay or prevent their regulatory approval or commercialization or limit their commercial potential.

Unacceptable adverse events caused by any of our product candidates that we manufacture or advance into clinical trials could cause us or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt production or clinical trials and could result in the denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities for any or all targeted indications and markets. This, in turn, could prevent us from commercializing the affected product candidate and generating revenues from its sale.

Except for our Strontium Chloride 89, known as SR89, and Metastron product candidates, there is not yet completed testing of any of our product candidates for the treatment of the indications for which we intend to seek product approval in humans, and we currently do not know the extent of adverse events, if any, that will be observed in patients who receive any of our product candidates. If any of our product candidates cause unacceptable adverse events in clinical trials, we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval or commercialize such product or, if such product candidate is approved for marketing, future adverse events could cause us to withdraw such product from the market.

Delays in the commencement of our clinical trials could result in increased costs and delay our ability to pursue regulatory approval.

The commencement of clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays in:

Any delays in the commencement of our clinical trials will delay our ability to pursue regulatory approval for our product candidates. In addition, many of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate.

Suspensions or delays in the completion of clinical testing could result in increased costs to us and delay or prevent our ability to complete development of that product or generate product revenues.

Once a clinical trial has begun, patient recruitment and enrollment may be slower than we anticipate. Clinical trials may also be delayed as a result of ambiguous or negative interim results or difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of product manufactured in accordance with regulatory requirements and on a timely basis. Further, a clinical trial may be modified, suspended or terminated by us, an IRB, an ethics committee or a data safety monitoring committee overseeing the clinical trial, any clinical trial site with respect to that site, or the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including:

Changes in regulatory requirements and guidance also may occur and we may need to amend clinical trial protocols to reflect these changes. Amendments may require us to resubmit our clinical trial protocols to IRBs for re-examination, which may impact the costs, timing and the likelihood of a successful completion of a clinical trial. If we experience delays in the completion of, or if we must suspend or terminate, any clinical trial of any product candidate, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for that product candidate will be delayed and the commercial prospects, if any, for the product candidate may suffer as a result. In addition, any of these factors may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of a product candidate.

Our product candidates (if approved) or any other product candidates that we may develop and market may be later withdrawn from the market or subject to promotional limitations.

We may not be able to obtain the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the promotion of our product candidates if approved. We may also be required to undertake post-marketing clinical trials. If the results of such post-marketing studies are not satisfactory or if adverse events or other safety issues arise after approval, the FDA or a comparable regulatory agency in another country may withdraw marketing authorization or may condition continued marketing on commitments from us that may be expensive and/or time consuming to complete. In addition, if we or others identify adverse side effects after any of our products are on the market, or if manufacturing problems occur, regulatory approval may be withdrawn and reformulation of our products, additional clinical trials, changes in labeling of our products and additional marketing applications may be required. Any reformulation or labeling changes may limit the marketability of our products if approved.

Our dependence on third party suppliers or our inability to successfully produce any product could adversely impact our business.

We rely on third parties to supply us with component and materials required for the development and manufacture of our product candidates. If they fail to provide the required components or we are unable to find a partner to manufacture the necessary products, there would be a significant interruption of our supply, which would materially adversely affect clinical development and potential commercialization of the product. In the event that the FDA or such other agencies determine that we or any third-party suppliers have not complied with cGMP, our clinical trials could be terminated or subjected to a clinical hold until such time as we or any third party are able to obtain appropriate replacement material. Furthermore, if any contract manufacturers who supply us cannot successfully manufacture material that conforms to our specifications and with FDA regulatory requirements, we will not be able to secure and/or maintain FDA approval for our product candidates. We, and any third-party suppliers are and will be required to maintain compliance with cGMPs and will be subject to inspections by the FDA or comparable agencies in other jurisdictions to confirm such compliance.

We do and will also rely on our partners and manufacturers to purchase from third-party suppliers the materials necessary to produce our product candidates for our anticipated clinical trials. We do not have any control over the process or timing of the acquisition of raw materials by our manufacturers. Moreover, we currently do not have any agreements for the commercial production of these raw materials. Any significant delay in the supply of a product candidate or the raw material components thereof for an ongoing clinical trial could considerably delay completion of our clinical trials, product testing and potential regulatory approval of our product candidates.

We may not have the resources or capacity to commercially manufacture our product candidates, and we will likely continue to be dependent upon third party manufacturers. Our current inability, or our dependence on third parties, to manufacture and supply us with clinical trial materials and any approved products may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates on a timely basis or at all.

We intend to contract with third parties either directly or through our licensors for the manufacture of our product candidates. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our product candidates or that such supply will not be available to us at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our commercialization efforts.

We do not have any manufacturing facilities. We expect to use third-party manufacturers for the manufacture of our product candidates and have entered into contracts with manufacturers through the licensor of our radio-pharmaceutical product, SR89. Even with such contracts in place, reliance on third-party manufacturers entails additional risks, including:

Third-party manufacturers may not be able to comply with current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, regulations or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. Our failure, or the failure of our third-party manufacturers, to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on us, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of product candidates or medicines, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect supplies of our medicines and harm our business and results of operations.

Any product that we may produce may compete with other product candidates and products for access to manufacturing facilities. There are a limited number of manufacturers that operate under cGMP regulations and that might be capable of manufacturing for us.   Any performance failure on the part of future manufacturers could result in a decrease or end to revenue. If any a contract manufacturer cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace that manufacturer. We may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacement.

Our anticipated future dependence upon others for the manufacture of our product candidates may adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to commercialize any medicines that receive marketing approval on a timely and competitive basis.

We will likely rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials. If these third parties do not meet our deadlines or otherwise conduct the trials as required, our clinical development programs could be delayed or unsuccessful and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates when expected or at all.

We do not have the ability to conduct all aspects of our preclinical testing or clinical trials ourselves. We intend to use and do use Mannin, BioNucleonics, ASDERA, RGCB, OMRF and CROs to conduct our planned clinical trials and will and do rely upon such CROs, as well as medical institutions, clinical investigators and consultants, to conduct our trials in accordance with our clinical protocols. Our CROs, investigators and other third parties will and do play a significant role in the conduct of these trials and the subsequent collection and analysis of data from the clinical trials.

There is no guarantee that any CROs, investigators and other third parties upon which we rely for administration and conduct of our clinical trials will devote adequate time and resources to such trials or perform as contractually required. If any of these third parties fail to meet expected deadlines, fail to adhere to our clinical protocols or otherwise perform in a substandard manner, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated. If any of our clinical trial sites terminate for any reason, we may experience the loss of follow-up information on patients enrolled in our ongoing clinical trials unless we are able to transfer the care of those patients to another qualified clinical trial site. In addition, principal investigators for our clinical trials may serve as scientific advisors or consultants to us from time to time and receive cash or equity compensation in connection with such services. If these relationships and any related compensation result in perceived or actual conflicts of interest, the integrity of the data generated at the applicable clinical trial site may be jeopardized.

If our competitors develop treatments for the target indications of our product candidates that are approved more quickly, marketed more successfully or demonstrated to be more effective than our product candidates, our commercial opportunity will be reduced or eliminated.

We operate in highly competitive segments of the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical markets. We face competition from many different sources, including commercial pharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises, academic institutions, government agencies, and private and public research institutions. Our product candidates, if successfully manufactured and/or developed and approved, will compete with established therapies, as well as new treatments that may be introduced by our competitors. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, product development, manufacturing and marketing resources than us. Large pharmaceutical companies have extensive experience in clinical testing and obtaining regulatory approval for drugs. In addition, many universities and private and public research institutes are active in cancer research, some in direct competition with us. We also may compete with these organizations to recruit management, scientists and clinical development personnel. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. New developments, including the development of other biological and pharmaceutical technologies and methods of treating disease, occur in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries at a rapid pace. Developments by competitors may render our product candidates obsolete or noncompetitive. We will also face competition from these third parties in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials and in identifying and in-licensing new product candidates.

  If competitors introduce their own generic equivalent of our SR89 product candidate, our revenues and gross margin from such products could decline rapidly.

Revenues and gross margin derived from generic pharmaceutical products often follow a pattern based on regulatory and competitive factors that we believe are unique to the generic pharmaceutical industry. As the patent(s) for a brand name product or the statutory marketing exclusivity period (if any) expires, the first generic manufacturer to receive regulatory approval for a generic equivalent of the product often is able to capture a substantial share of the market. However, as other generic manufacturers receive regulatory approvals for their own generic versions, that market share, and the price of that product, will typically decline depending on several factors, including the number of competitors, the price of the branded product and the pricing strategy of the new competitors. The number of our competitors producing a generic version equivalent to our SR89 product candidate could increase to such an extent that we may stop marketing our product for which we previously obtained approval, which would have a material adverse impact on our revenues, if we ever achieve revenues, and gross margin.

If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or fail to enter into agreements with third parties to market, distribute and sell any products we may successfully develop, we may not be able to effectively market and sell any such products and generate product revenue.

We do not currently have the infrastructure for the sales, marketing and distribution of any of our product candidates, and must build this infrastructure or make arrangements with third parties to perform these functions in order to commercialize any products that we may successfully develop. The establishment and development of a sales force, either by us or jointly with a partner, or the establishment of a contract sales force to market any products we may develop will be expensive and time-consuming and could delay any product launch. If we, or our partners, are unable to establish sales and marketing capability or any other non-technical capabilities necessary to commercialize any products we may successfully develop, we will need to contract with third parties to market and sell such products. We may not be able to establish arrangements with third parties on acceptable terms, or at all.

We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications for which there may be a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we will focus on a limited number of research programs and product candidates for specific indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates for other indications for which there may be a greater likelihood of success or may prove to have greater commercial potential. Notwithstanding our investment to date and anticipated future expenditures on MAN 01 (Mannin), Uttroside-B (OMRF), QBM001 (Asdera) and the BioNucleonics IP, we have not yet developed, and may never successfully develop, any marketed treatments using these products other than the SR89 product candidate for which there is FDA approval. Research programs to identify new product candidates or pursue alternative indications for current product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources. Although we intend to, and do, support certain investigator-sponsored clinical trials of MAN 01, Uttroside-B, QBM001 evaluating various indications, as well as other uses of SR89, these activities may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates or indications, yet fail to yield product candidates or indications for further clinical development.

We depend upon the services of our key management personnel, and the loss of their services would likely result in disruptions of our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our management and operations are dependent on the services of our management team, namely Mr. Denis Corin, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and Mr. William Rosenstadt, our Chief Legal Officer and a Director.  We do not have employment or non-compete agreements with or maintain key-man life insurance in respect of either of these individuals.  Because of their knowledge of the industry and our operations and their experience with us, we believe that our future results depend upon their efforts, and the loss of the services of either of these individuals for any reason could result in a disruption of our operations which will likely have a material adverse effect on our business.

Other than our Chief Executive Officer, we currently do not have full-time employees, but we retain the services of independent contractors/consultants on a contract-employment basis. Our ability to manage growth effectively will require us to continue to implement and improve our management systems and to recruit and train new employees. We might not be able to successfully attract and retain skilled and experienced personnel.

If we fail to attract and retain key management and clinical development personnel, we may be unable to successfully develop or commercialize our product candidates.

We will need to expand and effectively manage our managerial, operational, financial and other resources in order to successfully pursue our clinical development and commercialization efforts. As a company with a limited number of personnel, we highly depend on the development, regulatory, commercial and financial expertise of the members of our senior management and advisors, in particular Denis Corin, our chairman and chief executive officer. The loss of this individual or the services of any of our other senior management could delay or prevent the further development and potential commercialization of our product candidates and, if we are not successful in finding suitable replacements, could harm our business. Our success also depends on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified management and scientific personnel and we may not be able to do so in the future due to the intense competition for qualified personnel among biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as universities and research organizations. If we are not able to attract and retain the necessary personnel, we may experience significant impediments to our ability to implement our business strategy.

Applicable regulatory requirements, including those contained in and issued under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, may make it difficult for us to retain or attract qualified officers and directors, which could adversely affect the management of our business and our ability to retain listing of our common stock.

We may be unable to attract and retain those qualified officers, directors and members of board committees required to provide for effective management because of the rules and regulations that govern publicly-held companies, including, but not limited to, certifications by principal executive officers. The enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has resulted in the issuance of a series of related rules and regulations and the strengthening of existing rules and regulations by the SEC, as well as the adoption of new and more stringent rules by the stock exchanges. The perceived increased personal risk associated with these changes may deter qualified individuals from accepting roles as directors and executive officers.

Further, some of these changes heighten the requirements for board or committee membership, particularly with respect to an individual’s independence from our business and level of experience in finance and accounting matters. We may have difficulty attracting and retaining directors with the requisite qualifications. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified officers and directors, the management of our business and our ability to obtain or retain listing of our shares of common stock on any stock exchange could be adversely affected.

We may be exposed to potential risks and significant expenses resulting from the requirements under section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to include in our annual report our assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We expect to incur significant continuing costs, including accounting fees and staffing costs, in order to maintain compliance with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Our management concluded that our internal controls and procedures were not effective to detect the inappropriate application of US GAAP for our most recent fiscal year. As we develop our business, hire employees and consultants and seek to protect our intellectual property rights, our current design for internal control over financial reporting must be strengthened to enable management to determine that our internal controls are effective for any period, or on an ongoing basis.  Accordingly, as we develop our business, such development and growth will necessitate changes to our internal control systems, processes and information systems, all of which will require additional costs and expenses.

In the future, if we fail to complete the annual Section 404 evaluation in a timely manner, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of public confidence in our internal controls. In addition, any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations.

Because of the small size of our company, we do not have separate Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer positions, which may expose us to potential risks, including our failure to produce reliable financial reports and prevent and/or detect fraud.

We have not adopted a formal policy to separate or combine the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, both of which are currently held by Denis Corin who is also our acting principal financial officer.  In addition, our two employees also comprise our Board of Directors.  As such, there is no division of labor between our management and of our Board of Directors.  This structure exposes us to a number of risks, including a failure to maintain adequate internal controls, our failure to produce reliable financial reports and our failure to prevent and/or detect financial fraud.  Any such failures would adversely affect our financial condition and overall business operations.

We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to include in our annual report our assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We expect to incur significant continuing costs, including accounting fees and staffing costs, in order to maintain compliance with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Our management concluded that our internal controls and procedures were not effective to detect the inappropriate application of US GAAP for our most recent fiscal year. As we develop our business, hire employees and consultants and seek to protect our intellectual property rights, our current design for internal control over financial reporting must be strengthened to enable management to determine that our internal controls are effective for any period, or on an ongoing basis.  Accordingly, as we develop our business, such development and growth will necessitate changes to our internal control systems, processes and information systems, all of which will require additional costs and expenses. Among other outcomes, a downturn in general economic conditions could:

 In the future, if we fail to complete the annual Section 404 evaluation in a timely manner, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of public confidence in our internal controls. In addition, any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations.

Two of our assets may compete with each other and we will need to address how to proceed with each asset

Our Strontium Chloride 89 product from BNI is the generic version of our Metastron product that we acquired from GE Healthcare Limited. Having two products based on the same [drug] for the same bone cancer pain mediation therapy may prove to be redundant. We have not yet decided how to proceed with these assets if they prove to be redundant, but we may have to abandon one of the products or severely curtail our plans for its development. Any such abandonment or curtailment would reduce potential income from such product.

We might not be successful in our litigation against BNI

On December 28, 2018, we commenced litigation against and parties related to BNI in connection with a license agreement that we entered into with BNI in 2016 and amended from time to time. Under the agreement with BNI, we were granted a worldwide, exclusive license on certain BNI intellectual property and the option to acquire the BNI IP within three years of the agreement. The BNI IP consists of generic Strontium Chloride SR89 (generic Metastron®) (“SR89”) and all of BNI’s intellectual property relating to it (“BNI IP”). SR89 is a radiopharmaceutical therapeutic for cancer bone pain therapy.

Under the agreement, once we have funded up to $850,000 in cash, we may exercise the option to acquire the BNI IP at no additional charge. By our accounts, we have provided BNI with over $950,000 in cash. We have exercised our option to acquire the BNI IP, but BNI has not transferred the BNI IP to us. As a result, we have commenced litigation to, among other actions, obtain all of the BNI IP. We also seek judgments against BNI and related parties for the misappropriation of funds, breach of contract, fraud and fraudulent inducement.

If we are not successful in our litigation, the BNI IP could remain the property of BNI or be sold by BNI to a third party. Not only would our potential income be reduced if the BNI IP were not ours, but it could directly compete with our Metastron product.

Risks Related to our Industry

We are subject to general economic conditions outside of our control.

Projects for the acquisition and development of our products are subject to many factors, which are outside our control.  These factors include general economic conditions in North America and worldwide (such as recession, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates), shortages of labor and materials and price of materials and competitive products and the regulation by federal and state governmental authorities. If any or several of these facts develop in a way that is adverse to our interest, we will not be in a position to reverse them, and we may not be able to survive such a development.

If any product candidate that we successfully develop does not achieve broad market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and the medical community, the revenues that it generates from their sales will be limited.

Even if we successfully produce product candidates, they may not gain market acceptance among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and the medical community. Coverage and reimbursement of our product candidates by third-party payors, including government payors, generally is also necessary for commercial success. The degree of market acceptance of any approved products will depend on a number of factors, including:

If any product candidate is approved but does not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, hospitals, healthcare payors and patients, we may not generate sufficient revenue from these products and may not become or remain profitable.

We may incur substantial product liability or indemnification claims relating to the clinical testing and/or use of our product candidates.

We face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the testing of our product candidates in human clinical trials, as well as related to the manufacture and consumption of product candidates that we successfully commercialize. Claims could be brought against us if use or misuse of one of our product candidates causes, or merely appears to have caused, personal injury or death. While the manufacturer of our SR89 product maintains a $5 Million product liability policy, and BioNucleonics, the holder of the Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”s) are responsible for having their own coverage, we intend to obtain supplemental coverage, but do not currently have our own product liability insurance. When we initiate commercial activity or additional clinical trials, we intend to obtain the relevant coverage. As a result, such coverage may not be sufficient to cover claims that may be made against us and we may be unable to maintain such insurance. Any claims against us, regardless of their merit, could severely harm our financial condition, strain our management and other resources or destroy the prospects for commercialization of the product which is the subject of any such claim. We are unable to predict if we will be able to obtain or maintain product liability insurance for any products that may be approved for marketing. Additionally, we have entered into various agreements where we indemnify third parties for certain claims relating to our product candidates. These indemnification obligations may require us to pay significant sums of money for claims that are covered by these indemnifications.

Healthcare reform and restrictions on reimbursements may limit our financial returns.

Our ability or the ability of our collaborators to commercialize any of our product candidates that we successfully develop may depend, in part, on the extent to which government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations will reimburse consumers for the cost of these products. These third parties are increasingly challenging both the need for and the price of new drug products. Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved therapeutics. Adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available for our product candidates to enable us or our collaborators to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on their and our investments in research and product development.

Our success depends upon intellectual property, proprietary technologies and regulatory market exclusivity periods, and the intellectual property protection for our product candidates depends significantly on third parties.

Our success depends, in large part, on obtaining and maintaining patent protection and trade secret protection for our product candidates and their formulations and uses, as well as successfully defending these patents against third-party challenges. The parties from which we license our intellectual property are responsible for prosecuting and maintaining patent protection relating to the intellectual property to which we have a license from that party. If any of these parties fails to appropriately prosecute and maintain patent protection for the intellectual property, our ability to develop and commercialize the respective product candidate may be adversely affected and we may not be able to prevent competitors from making, using and selling competing products. This failure to properly protect the intellectual property rights could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The patent application process is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, and we or our partners might not be successful in protecting our product candidates by obtaining and defending patents. These risks and uncertainties include the following:

In addition to patents, we and our partners also rely on trade secrets and proprietary know-how. Although 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, third parties may still obtain this information or come upon this same or similar information independently.

We also intend to rely on our ability to obtain and maintain a regulatory period of market exclusivity for any of our biologic product candidates that are successfully developed and approved for commercialization. Although this period in the United States is currently 12 years from the date of marketing approval, there is a risk that the U.S. Congress could amend laws to significantly shorten this exclusivity period, as proposed by President Obama. Once any regulatory period of exclusivity expires, depending on the status of our patent coverage and the nature of the product, we may not be able to prevent others from marketing products that are biosimilar to or interchangeable with our products, which would materially adversely affect us.

In addition, U.S. patent laws may change which could prevent or limit us from filing patent applications or patent claims to protect our products and/or technologies or limit the exclusivity periods that are available to patent holders. For example, on September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the America Invents Act, was signed into law, and includes a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. These include changes to transition from a “first-to-invent” system to a “first-to-file” system and to the way issued patents are challenged. These changes may favor larger and more established companies that have more resources to devote to patent application filing and prosecution. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office implemented the America Invents Act on March 16, 2013, and it remains to be seen how the judicial system and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will interpret and enforce these new laws. Accordingly, it is not clear what impact, if any, the America Invents Act will ultimately have on the cost of prosecuting our patent applications, our ability to obtain patents based on our discoveries and our ability to enforce or defend our issued patents.

If we or our partners are sued for infringing intellectual property rights of third parties, it will be costly and time consuming, and an unfavorable outcome in that litigation would have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our success also depends on our ability and the ability of any of our current or future collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing products, some of which may be directed at claims that overlap with the subject matter of our intellectual property. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending applications, unknown to us, which may later result in issued patents that our product candidates or proprietary technologies may infringe. Similarly, there may be issued patents relevant to our product candidates of which we are not aware.

There is a substantial amount of litigation involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries generally. If a third-party claims that we or any of our licensors, suppliers or collaborators infringe the third party’s intellectual property rights, we may have to:

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.

Competitors may infringe our patents or the patents of our licensors. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated, found to be unenforceable, or interpreted narrowly and could put our patent applications at risk of not issuing. 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.

We may be subject to claims that our consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their other clients or former employers to us.

As is common in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, we engage the services of consultants to assist us in the development of our product candidates. Many of these consultants were previously employed at, or may have previously been or are currently providing consulting services to, other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. We may become subject to claims that we or these consultants have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers or their former or current customers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

Risks Related to our Securities

Our shares of common stock are subject to the “penny stock’ rules of the securities and exchange commission and the trading market in our securities will be limited, which will make transactions in our stock cumbersome and may reduce the value of an investment in our stock.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted rules that regulate broker-dealer practices in connection with transactions in "penny stocks.”  Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5 (other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on the NASDAQ system, provided that current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system).  Penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC, which specifies information about penny stocks and the nature and significance of risks of the penny stock market.  A broker-dealer must also provide the customer with bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer, and sales person in the transaction, and monthly account statements indicating the market value of each penny stock held in the customer's account.  In addition, the penny stock rules require that, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, the broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser's written agreement to the transaction.  These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the trading activity in the secondary market for stock that becomes subject to those penny stock rules.  If a trading market for our common stock develops, our common stock will probably become subject to the penny stock rules, and shareholders may have difficulty in selling their shares.

Any additional financing may dilute existing shareholders and decrease the market price for shares of our common stock.

If we raise additional capital, our existing shareholders may incur substantial and immediate dilution. We estimate that we will need approximately $20,000,000 in additional funds over the next two years to complete our business plan. The most likely source of future funds available to us is through the sale of additional shares of common stock. Such sales might occur below market price and below the price of which existing shareholders purchased their shares.

Our Articles of Incorporation provide indemnification for officers, directors and employees.

Our governing instruments provide that officers, directors, employees and other agents and their affiliates shall only be liable to our Company for losses, judgments, liabilities and expenses that result from the negligence, misconduct, fraud or other breach of fiduciary obligations. Thus certain alleged errors or omissions might not be actionable by us. The governing instruments also provide that, under the broadest circumstances allowed under law, we must indemnify our officers, directors, employees and other agents and their affiliates for losses, judgments, liabilities, expenses and amounts paid in settlement of any claims sustained by them in connection with our Company, including liabilities under applicable securities laws.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile and may fluctuate in a way that is disproportionate to our operating performance.

Our shares of common stock trading on the OTCQB will fluctuate significantly. There is a volatility associated with Bulletin Board securities in general and the value of your investment could decline due to the impact of any of the following factors upon the market price of our common stock:

Many of these factors are beyond our control. The stock markets in general, and the market for pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies in particular, have historically experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. These broad market and industry factors could reduce the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, or the perception that such sales may occur, may adversely impact the price of our common stock.

A large number of our shares may be sold without restriction in public markets. These include:

Any such sales, or the fear of such sales, could substantially decrease the market price of our common stock and the value of your investment.

We have not paid dividends to date and do not intend to pay any dividends in the near future.

We have never paid dividends on our common stock and presently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the operations of our business. You may never receive any dividends on our shares.

The exercise of warrants and options or future sales of our common stock may further dilute the shares of common stock you receive in this offering.

As of the date hereof, we have outstanding vested and unvested options and warrants exercisable into 5,768,558 shares of common stock. The issuance of any shares of common stock pursuant to exercise of such options and warrants or the conversion of such notes would dilute your percentage ownership of our Company, and the issuance of any shares of common stock pursuant to exercise of such options and warrants or the conversion of such notes at a per share price below the offering price of shares being acquired in this offering which would dilute the net tangible value per share for such investor.

Our Board of Directors is authorized to sell additional shares of common stock, or securities convertible into shares of common stock, if in their discretion they determine that such action would be beneficial to us. Approximately 95% of our authorized shares of common stock and 100% of our shares of preferred stock are available for issuance.  Any such issuance would dilute the ownership interest of persons acquiring common stock in this offering, and any such issuance at a share price lower than then net tangible book value per share at the time an investor purchased its shares would dilute the net tangible value per share for such investor.