FNAM Evolutionary Genomics Inc Common Stock (CE)

ITEM 1A.  RISK FACTORS

We may require substantial additional funding and may be unable to raise capital when needed, which could force us to delay, reduce or eliminate planned activities or result in our inability to continue as a going concern.

We may require additional capital to pursue planned research projects. Our future capital requirements will depend on, and could increase significantly as a result of, many factors, including:

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the duration and results of the research projects;

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unexpected delays or costs incurred in the acquisition of plant materials needed in these research projects and with subcontracts that perform various parts of these projects;

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the time and cost in preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining and enforcing patent claims;

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other unexpected developments encountered in implementing our business development, research development and commercialization strategies; and

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further arrangements, if any, with collaborators.

We may attempt to raise additional funds through public or private financings, collaborations with other companies or financing from other sources. Additional funding may not be available on terms which are acceptable to us. If adequate funding is not available to us on reasonable terms, we may need to delay, reduce or eliminate one or more of our research and development projects or obtain funds on terms less favorable than we would otherwise accept. To the extent that additional capital is raised through the sale of equity securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity securities, the issuance of those securities could result in dilution to our stockholders. Moreover, the incurrence of debt financing could result in a substantial portion of our future operating cash flow, if any, being dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on such indebtedness and could impose restrictions on our operations. This could render us more vulnerable to competitive pressures and economic downturns.

In addition, if we do not meet our payment obligations to third parties as they come due, we may be subject to litigation claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management, and may result in unfavorable results that could further adversely impact our financial condition.

We have relied on the availability of grant funding to fund some of our research efforts and our inability to compete successfully for these limited grant funding opportunities may significantly affect our results of operations and our ability to complete research projects.

We have traditionally funded many of our research projects, partially or wholly, using grant funding provided by government programs, industry associations and grant making institutions. The availability of these funds is impacted by many factors including changing political priorities, fiscal budget issues, agency priorities, availability of funds and competition from other grant seekers. Our ability to present proposals that fit within grant making guidelines and which are attractive relative to other proposals submitted may significantly impact our ability to fund our research projects.

Efforts to protect our intellectual property rights and to defend claims against us can increase our costs and will not always succeed; any failures could adversely affect profitability or restrict our ability to do business.

Intellectual property rights are crucial to our business. We endeavor to obtain and protect our intellectual property rights in jurisdictions in which products are produced from the biotechnology that we produce and in jurisdictions into which those products are imported. Different nations may provide limited rights and inconsistent duration of protection for our intellectual property. We may be unable to obtain protection for our intellectual property in key jurisdictions. Even if protection is obtained, competitors, farmers or others may raise legal challenges to our rights or illegally infringe on our rights, including through means that may be difficult to prevent or detect. In addition, because of the rapid pace of technological change, and the confidentiality of patent applications in some jurisdictions, competitors may be issued patents from applications that were unknown to us prior to issuance. These patents could reduce the value of our commercial or pipeline biotechnology or, to the extent they cover key technologies on which we have unknowingly relied, require that we seek to obtain licenses or cease using the technology, no matter how valuable to our business. We cannot assure we would be able to obtain such a license on acceptable terms. In addition, patent laws are subject to change and any change in our ability to protect the intellectual property that we develop may impact our ability to commercialize that intellectual property. The extent to which we succeed or fail in our efforts to protect our intellectual property will affect our costs, sales and other results of operations.

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Genes that we have discovered and may discover in the future with expected desirable impact on traits may, upon further research and field trials, be revealed to also have undesirable impact on traits.

Evolutionary Genomics’ gene discovery process focuses on the identification of positively selected genes that impact the trait of interest that we are working on. When we further test them in lab validation, we are again focused on whether they have the desired impact on the trait of interest and we are specifically testing for that outcome. Laboratory experiments are under more ideal circumstances than field trials and use in production and there can be no guarantee that the lab result will be repeated under those conditions. Additional field trials and use in production may also reveal undesirable impacts on other traits that were not a focused part of our research. For example, the soybean genes that we have discovered may be found to have a negative impact on yield, oil content or the growth cycle. These may impact our ability to realize revenue from the commercialization of our biotechnology and may expose us to liability for undesirable outcomes that we don’t anticipate.

Others may find additional genes or other methods of accomplishing the same desired outcome that our biotechnology does, rendering our biotechnology less valuable or commercializable.

There are many other companies pursuing similar gene discovery programs and other approaches to solving the same issues that we are addressing and many of these companies have vastly more resources than we do. Even when we identify genes that impact desired traits, there may be other genes that have a similar or greater effect on these traits. For example, one or more of the other 30,000 genes in soybeans may have an impact on pest/disease resistance similar to our genes or there may be other orthologs of the genes that we have discovered in other varieties that have a greater impact. In addition, other companies may develop commercial chemicals that compete with genetic changes to solve the issues that we are addressing. Any of these may impact our ability to realize revenue from the commercialization of our biotechnology.

The successful development of our research efforts and commercialization of our biotechnology will be necessary for our growth and profitability.

We intend to use recent successes in which we have identified genes that may have an impact on pest/disease resistance in soybeans and look for similar genes in other crops. This research may result in significant costs incurred without any commercial value produced. We also intend to attempt to improve the potential pest/disease resistance genes we have identified. Even if we find effective genes, we may not be able to find a commercial market for them.  There can be no assurance we will be able to achieve any improvement and performing this research may also result in significant costs incurred without any commercial value produced. The processes of breeding, biotechnology trait discovery and development and trait integration are lengthy and a very small percentage of the genes identified in research are selected for commercialization. The length of time and the risk associated with the breeding and biotech pipelines are interlinked because both are required as a package for commercial success in markets where biotech traits are approved for growers. Commercial success frequently depends on being the first company to the market, and many of our competitors are also making considerable investments in similar new biotechnology. Consequently, if we are not able to fund extensive research and development activities and deliver new products to the markets we serve on a timely basis, our growth and operations will be harmed.

We rely heavily on our founder, Walter Messier, our current Chief Technology Officer. The loss of his services would have a material adverse effect upon us and our business and prospects.

Our success depends, to a significant extent, upon the continued services of Walter Messier, who is a founder of Evolutionary Genomics and our current Chief Technology Officer. Since inception, we have been dependent upon Dr. Messier, who is the inventor on most of our patents and responsible for the development of our core Adapted Traits Platform. If Dr. Messier or any key management personnel resign to join a competitor or form a competing company, the loss of such personnel, together with the loss of any customers or potential customers due to such executive’s departure, could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We are dependent on a technically trained workforce and an inability to retain or effectively recruit such employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to compete effectively depends largely on our ability to attract and retain certain key personnel, including additional researchers that we intend to hire in order to pursue our planned research projects. Industry demand for such skilled employees, however, exceeds the number of personnel available, and the competition for attracting and retaining these employees is intense. Because of this intense competition for skilled employees, we may be unable to retain our existing personnel or attract additional qualified employees to keep up with future business needs. If this should happen, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected.

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In addition, we intend to hire business development and marketing personnel and advisors to promote and market the biotechnology that we develop. We cannot assure you that we will be able to recruit and retain qualified personnel and advisors to perform these functions. Our inability to hire and then retain such personnel, advisors and scientists could have a materially adverse effect on our business and our projects.

We may pursue future growth through strategic acquisitions and alliances which may not yield anticipated benefits and may adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and existing business.

We may seek to grow in the future through strategic acquisitions in order to complement and expand our business. The success of our acquisition strategy will depend on, among other things:

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the availability of suitable candidates;

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competition from other companies for the purchase of available candidates;

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our ability to value those candidates accurately and negotiate favorable terms for those acquisitions;

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the availability of funds to finance acquisitions;

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the ability to establish new informational, operational and financial systems to meet the needs of our business;

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the ability to achieve anticipated synergies, including with respect to complementary products; and

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the availability of management resources to oversee the integration and operation of the acquired businesses.

If we are not successful in integrating acquired businesses and completing acquisitions in the future, we may be required to reevaluate our acquisition strategy. We also may incur substantial expenses and devote significant management time and resources in seeking to complete acquisitions. Acquired businesses may fail to meet our performance expectations. If we do not achieve the anticipated benefits of an acquisition as rapidly as expected, or at all, investors or analysts may not perceive the same benefits of the acquisition as we do. If these risks materialize, our stock price could be materially adversely affected.

We may not obtain the necessary permits and authorizations to operate our business.

We may not be able to obtain or maintain the necessary licenses, permits, authorizations or accreditations, or may only be able to do so at great cost, to operate our cannabis-related business. In addition, we may not be able to comply fully with the wide variety of laws and regulations applicable to the cannabis industry. Failure to comply with or to obtain the necessary licenses, permits, authorizations or accreditations could result in restrictions on our ability to operate our cannabis business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

If we incur substantial liability from litigation, complaints, or enforcement actions, our financial condition could suffer.

Our participation in the cannabis industry may lead to litigation, formal or informal complaints, enforcement actions, and inquiries by various federal, state, or local governmental authorities against these subsidiaries. Litigation, complaints, and enforcement actions involving these subsidiaries could consume considerable amounts of financial and other corporate resources, which could have a negative impact on our sales, revenue, profitability, and growth prospects.

Competition in agricultural biotechnology has significantly affected and will continue to affect our revenue and results of operations.

Many companies engage in research and development of plant biotechnology and breeding and speed in getting a new product to market can be a significant competitive advantage. Our competitors’ success could render the biotechnology that we identify as less competitive, resulting in reduced sales compared to our expectations or past results. We expect to see increasing competition from agricultural biotechnology firms and from major agrichemical, seed and food companies. The extent to which we can realize cash and profit from our business will depend on our ability to control research costs, predict and respond effectively to competitor products and marketing; and develop new products and services attractive to our customers.

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Our customers are subject to extensive regulation affecting their use of our biotechnology, which may affect our revenue and profitability.

Regulatory and legislative requirements affect the development and distribution of products made from the biotechnology that we produce, including the testing and planting of seeds containing our biotechnology traits and the import of crops grown from those seeds, and non-compliance can harm our revenue and profitability. Obtaining testing, planting and import approvals for seeds or biotechnology traits can be time-consuming and costly, with no guarantee of success. The failure to receive necessary permits or approvals could have near- and long-term effects on our ability to sell some current and future biotechnology. Concern about unintended but unavoidable trace amounts (sometimes called “adventitious presence”) of commercial biotechnology traits in conventional (non-biotechnology) seed, or in the grain or products produced from conventional or organic crops, among other things, could lead to increased regulation or legislation, which may include: liability transfer mechanisms that may include financial protection insurance; possible restrictions or moratoria on testing, planting or use of biotechnology traits; and requirements for labeling and traceability, which requirements may cause food processors and food companies to avoid biotechnology and select non-biotechnology crop sources and can affect farmer seed purchase decisions and, ultimately the sale and use of the biotechnology that we produce. Legislation encouraging or discouraging the planting of specific crops can also harm our sales.

The degree of public acceptance or perceived public acceptance of products made from our biotechnology can affect our sales and results of operations by affecting planting approvals, regulatory requirements and farmer purchase decisions.

Some opponents of the use of biotechnology in agriculture raise public concern about the potential for adverse effects of products produced using genetic information that we provide to our customers on human or animal health, other plants and the environment. The potential for adventitious presence of commercial biotechnology traits in conventional seed, or in the grain or products produced from conventional or organic crops, is another factor that can affect general public acceptance of these traits. Public concern can affect the timing of, and whether our customers are able to obtain, government approvals. Even after approvals are granted, public concern may lead to increased regulation or legislation or litigation concerning prior regulatory approvals, which could affect our sales and results of operations by affecting planting approvals, and may adversely affect sales of our customers’ products to farmers, due to their concerns about available markets for the sale of crops or other products derived from biotechnology which may lead to less demand from our customers. In addition, opponents of agricultural biotechnology have attacked farmers’ fields and facilities used by agricultural biotechnology companies, and may launch future attacks against farmers’ fields and our field testing sites and research, production, or other facilities, which could affect our sales and our costs.

We are dependent upon other companies to integrate biotechnology that we have licensed to them into their breeding operations for our future license revenue.

We perform research for other entities under grant and research agreements that provide service revenue. In addition to the service revenue, our long-term profitability depends on the commercialization of the biotechnology that we provide to other companies for their commercial breeding lines. The extent to which our biotechnology is integrated into these breeding lines is largely outside of our control and can take many years. If our biotechnology is not integrated into breeding lines, we may not realize license revenue which may affect our results of operations.

The biotechnology industry is subject to rapid technological change, and if we fail to keep up with such change, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely impacted.

Biotechnology has undergone and is subject to rapid and significant change. We expect that the technologies associated with biotechnology research and development will continue to develop rapidly. Our failure to keep pace with such rapid change could result in our products becoming obsolete and we may be unable to recoup any expenses incurred with developing such products, which may adversely affect our future revenues and financial condition.

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The Company may be required to expend substantial sums in order to bring it into compliance with the various reporting requirements applicable to public companies and/or to prepare required financial statements, and such efforts may harm operating results or be unsuccessful altogether.

We are subject to many of the requirements applicable to public companies, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires that the combined company evaluate and report on its system of internal controls. If the combined company’s finance and accounting staff or internal controls over financial reporting are inadequate, it may be required to hire additional staff and incur substantial legal and accounting costs to address such inadequacies. Moreover, the combined company cannot be certain that its remedial measures to correct current material weaknesses will be effective. Any failure to implement required or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm the combined company’s operating results or increase its risk of material weaknesses in internal controls.

Members of our management team have significant influence over us.

Our officers and directors own, directly or indirectly approximately 34.6% of the outstanding shares of common and preferred stock, excluding options and warrants. Including options and warrants, our officers and directors own, directly or indirectly, approximately 37.2% of the outstanding shares of common stock. These stockholders, therefore, have a controlling influence in determining the outcome of any corporate transaction or other matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including Mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors, and other significant corporate actions. The interests of these stockholders may differ from the interests of our other stockholders.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Nevada law may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control, which may cause our stock price to decline.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if closing such a transaction would be beneficial to our stockholders. We are authorized to issue up to 20,000,000 shares of preferred stock. This preferred stock may be issued in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined at the time of issuance by our board of directors without further action by stockholders. The terms of any series of preferred stock may include voting rights (including the right to vote as a series on particular matters), preferences as to dividend, liquidation, conversion and redemption rights and sinking fund provisions. We currently have 577,063 shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. The issuance of any preferred stock could materially adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock and existing holders of preferred stock, and therefore, reduce the value of those securities. In particular, specific rights granted to future holders of preferred stock could be used to restrict our ability to merge with, or sell our assets to, a third party and thereby preserve control by the present management.

Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and law also could have the effect of discouraging potential acquisition proposals or making a tender offer or delaying or preventing a change in control, including changes a stockholder might consider favorable. Such provisions may also prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. In particular, the certificate of incorporation and bylaws and law, as applicable, among other things:

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provide the board of directors with the ability to alter the bylaws without stockholder approval;

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place limitations on the removal of directors;

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provide that the Board of Directors may change the size of the Board; and

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provide that vacancies on the board of directors may be filled by a majority of directors in office, although less than a quorum.

These provisions may delay or prevent someone from acquiring or merging with us, which may cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

We do not foresee paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future and, as a result, our investors’ sole source of gain, if any, will depend on capital appreciation, if any.

We do not plan to declare or pay any cash dividends on our shares of common stock in the foreseeable future and currently intend to retain any future earnings for funding growth. As a result, investors should not rely on an investment in our securities if they require the investment to produce dividend income. Capital appreciation, if any, of our shares may be investors’ sole source of gain for the foreseeable future. Moreover, investors may not be able to resell their shares of our common stock at or above the price they paid for them.

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The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain executive management and qualified board members.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of The OTC Stock Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We will need to hire additional employees in the future or engage outside consultants to help us comply with these requirements, which will increase our costs and expenses. Specifically, management identified the following control deficiencies: (1) the Company has not properly segregated duties as one or two individuals initiate, authorize, and complete all transactions. The Company has not implemented measures that would prevent the individuals from overriding the internal control system. The Company does not believe that this control deficiency has resulted in deficient financial reporting because the Chief Financial Officer is aware of his responsibilities under the SEC’s reporting requirements and personally certifies the financial reports. (2) The Company has installed accounting software that does not prevent erroneous or unauthorized changes to previous reporting periods and does not provide an adequate audit trail of entries made in the accounting software.

In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure create uncertainty for public companies, increase legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from our business activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be adversely affected.

Being a public company and the associated public company rules and regulations make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee and compensation committee, and qualified executive officers.

As a result of disclosure of information in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition has become more visible, which we believe may result in threatened or actual litigation. If such claims are successful, our business and operating results would be adversely affected, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and adversely affect our business and operating results.

As a result of being a public company, we are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting. We may not complete our analysis of our internal control over financial reporting in a timely manner, or these internal controls may not be determined to be effective, which may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our common stock.

We are required pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. This assessment needs to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. We also are required to disclose changes made in our internal control and procedures on a quarterly basis. Eventually, we may be required to obtain a statement that our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an opinion on our internal control over financial reporting.

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As we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or, if when required, our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which would cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we may be subject to investigation or sanctions by the SEC.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carry-forwards and certain other tax attributes is limited by Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Subject to certain limitations, a corporation may offset a net operating loss carryforward against profit earned in a future year to determine its U.S. federal income tax expenses for such year. Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 limit a corporation’s ability to utilize its net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes (including research credits) to offset future federal taxable income or tax if, in general, the corporation experiences a cumulative ownership change of more than 50% over any rolling three-year period. State net operating loss carryforwards (and certain other tax attributes) may be similarly limited. For the year ended December 31, 2016, we recorded no state tax liability. An ownership change can therefore result in significantly greater tax liabilities than a corporation would incur in the absence of such a change and any increased liabilities could adversely affect the corporation’s business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

As of December 31, 2016, we had available total federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $4,158,000, which expire in the years 2027 through 2034.

Additional ownership changes may occur in the future as a result of additional equity offerings or events over which we will have little or no control, including purchases and sales of our equity by our five-percent security holders, the emergence of new five-percent security holders, redemptions of our securities or certain changes in the ownership of any of our five percent security holders.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry 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 securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our company, the trading price for our stock would be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock, or publishes unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.