Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the following risk factors, in addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the section of this report titled "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and related notes. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are unaware, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. If any of the events described in the following risk factors and the risks described elsewhere in this report occurs, our business, operating results and financial condition could be seriously harmed and the trading price of our shares of common stock could decline. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of factors that are described below and elsewhere in this report. See the section under Part I of this report titled "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements".
Risks Related to our Strategic Alternative Process
We may not be successful in identifying and implementing any strategic business combination or other transaction and any strategic transactions that we may consummate in the future could have negative consequences.
We continue to evaluate all potential strategic options for the Company, including a merger, reverse merger, sale, wind-down, liquidation and dissolution or other strategic transaction. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully consummate any particular strategic transaction. The process of continuing to evaluate these strategic options may be very costly, time-consuming and complex and we have incurred, and may in the future incur, significant costs related to this continued evaluation, such as legal and accounting fees and expenses and other related charges. We may also incur additional unanticipated expenses in connection with this process. A considerable portion of these costs will be incurred regardless of whether any such course of action is implemented or transaction is completed. Any such expenses will decrease the remaining cash available for use in our business and may diminish or delay any future distributions to our stockholders. Any delays in identifying a potential counterparty will cause our cash balance to continue to deplete, which could make us less attractive as a strategic counterparty. The continued review of our strategic options may also create continued uncertainty for our employees and this uncertainty may adversely affect our ability to retain key employees and to hire new talent necessary to maintain our ongoing operations or to execute additional potential strategic options, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, the market capitalization of our company is below the value of our cash and cash equivalents. Potential counterparties in a strategic transaction involving our company may place minimal or no value on our remaining assets.
In addition, any strategic business combination or other transactions that we may consummate in the future could have a variety of negative consequences and we may implement a course of action or consummate a transaction that yields unexpected results that adversely affect our business and decrease the remaining cash available for use in our business or the execution of our strategic plan. Our board of directors remains dedicated to diligently deliberating upon and making informed decisions that the directors believe are in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. However, there can be no assurances that any particular course of action, business arrangement or transaction, or series of transactions, will be pursued, be successfully consummated, lead to increased stockholder value, or achieve the anticipated results. Any failure of such potential transaction to achieve the anticipated results could significantly impair our ability to enter into any future strategic transactions and may significantly diminish or delay any future distributions to our stockholders. In addition, given the recent restructuring of our operations, it may be difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects on the basis of historical operating performance.
If we are successful in completing a strategic transaction, we may be exposed to other operational and financial risks.
The negotiation and consummation of any strategic transaction may also require more time or greater cash resources than we anticipate and expose us to other operational and financial risks, including:
•increased near-term and long-term expenditures;
•exposure to unknown liabilities;
•higher than expected acquisition or integration costs;
•incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of equity securities to fund future operations;
•write-downs of assets or goodwill or incurrence of non-recurring, impairment or other charges;
•increased amortization expenses;
•difficulty and cost in combining the operations and personnel of any acquired business with our operations and personnel;
•impairment of relationships with key suppliers or customers of any acquired business due to changes in management and ownership;
•inability to retain key employees of our company or any acquired business; and
•possibility of future litigation.
Any of the foregoing risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and prospects.
If a strategic transaction is not consummated, our Board may decide to pursue a dissolution and liquidation. In such an event, the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders will depend heavily on the timing of such liquidation as well as the amount of cash that will need to be reserved for commitments and contingent liabilities.
There can be no assurance that a strategic transaction will be completed. If a strategic transaction is not completed, our Board may decide to pursue a dissolution and liquidation. In such an event, the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders will depend heavily on the timing of such decision, as with the passage of time the amount of cash available for distribution will be reduced as we continue to fund our operations. In addition, if our Board were to approve and recommend, and our stockholders were to approve, a dissolution and liquidation, we would be required under Delaware corporate law to pay our outstanding obligations, as well as to make reasonable provision for contingent and unknown obligations, prior to making any distributions in liquidation to our stockholders. As a result of this requirement, a portion of our assets may need to be reserved pending the resolution of such obligations and the timing of any such resolution is uncertain. In addition, we may be subject to litigation or other claims related to a dissolution and liquidation. If a dissolution and liquidation were pursued, our Board, in consultation with our advisors, would need to evaluate these matters and make a determination about a reasonable amount to reserve. Accordingly, holders of our common stock could lose all or a significant portion of their investment in the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up.
We may become involved in securities class action litigation that could divert management’s attention and harm the company’s business, and insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover all costs and damages.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often followed certain significant business transactions, such as the sale of a company or announcement of any other strategic transaction, or the announcement of negative events, such as discontinuations of clinical programs. These events may also result in investigations by the SEC. We may be exposed to such litigation or investigation even if no wrongdoing occurred. Litigation and investigations are usually expensive and divert management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business and cash resources and our ability to consummate a potential strategic transaction or the ultimate value our stockholders receive in any such transaction.
Risks Related to Our Business, Financial Position and Capital Requirements
We have a limited operating history and have never generated any product revenues.
We are a clinical-stage company with a limited operating history. Our operations to date have been limited to organizing and staffing our company, raising capital, acquiring product candidates and advancing our product candidates into clinical development. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully complete a registration-enabling pivotal clinical trial, obtain marketing approval, manufacture a clinical-stage or commercial-scale product, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. We have recently terminated our clinical programs and have focused our efforts largely on identifying a strategic transaction or alternative. While we continue to explore certain pre-clinical research and development initiatives, we may never be successful in developing or commercializing any product candidates, including following consummation of any strategic transaction. Consequently, we have no meaningful operations upon which to evaluate our business and predictions about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a longer operating history or a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products.
We have never been profitable, have not generated any revenue from product sales, and have no products approved for commercial sale.
Even if we consummate a strategic transaction with another clinical-stage development company or determine to pursue development of future product candidates, we do not know when those candidates will generate revenue, if at all. Our ability to generate product revenue will depend on a number of factors, including our ability to:
•successfully commence and complete clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval for the marketing of product candidates;
•establish effective sales, marketing and distribution systems for product candidates;
•add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our clinical, manufacturing and planned future commercialization efforts and operations as a public company;
•initiate and continue relationships with third-party suppliers and manufacturers and have clinical and commercial quantities of product candidates manufactured at acceptable cost and quality levels;
•attract and retain an experienced management and advisory team;
•raise additional funds when needed and on terms acceptable to us;
•achieve broad market acceptance of future products in the medical community and with third-party payors and consumers;
•launch commercial sales of future products, whether alone or in collaboration with others;
•compete effectively with other biotechnology companies; and
•obtain, maintain, expand and protect necessary intellectual property rights.
Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses, or when, or if, we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Even if any future product candidates are approved for commercial sale, we anticipate incurring significant costs associated with their commercial launch. If we cannot successfully execute any one of the foregoing, our business may not succeed, and your investment will be adversely affected.
Our business, operations and future prospects could continue to be adversely impacted by the effects of health epidemics, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Our business, operations and future prospects could continue to be adversely impacted by health epidemics wherever we have business operations. For example, the global COVID-19 pandemic and measures introduced by local, state and federal governments to contain the virus and mitigate its public health effects have significantly impacted and may continue to significantly impact our industry and the global economy. These and similar, and perhaps more severe, disruptions in our operations, our industry and the global economy could negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our clinical trials have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past, including emerging variant strains of the virus. Clinical trial progression, dosing, patient enrollment and related activities have been delayed due to concerns among patients about participating in clinical trials during a pandemic. Certain of our patients experienced difficulty following certain aspects of clinical trial protocols due to quarantines that impeded patient movement and interrupted healthcare services. For example, patients in our prior clinical trials for AXO-AAV-GM1 and AXO-AAV-GM2 were infants, often with advanced disease, who may not be able to safely participate in clinical trials for these product candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic or if they have not or are not eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Additionally, certain elderly patients in previous clinical trials were either unable to, or refused to, participate in clinical assessments at our research sites in the United Kingdom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These COVID-19 related issues may prolong the time required to conduct any future clinical trials, including following the consummation of a strategic transaction, and/or impact the quality of the data obtained from one or more of such future studies or trials.
While the potential future economic impact caused by, and the duration of, the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult to assess or predict, the COVID-19 pandemic (as well as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the related sanctions imposed against Russia) could result in significant and prolonged disruption of global financial markets, which has negatively impacted and may continue to reduce our ability to access capital, limiting the financial resources available to us. These impacts have also been caused by related effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as inflationary pressures and stock price volatility, particularly in the biotechnology and drug development sectors. In addition, economic recession or additional market corrections resulting from, among other things, the spread of COVID-19 could materially affect our business and the value of our common stock. These impacts may harm our ability to identify and consummate a strategic transaction on attractive terms or at all. In
particular, many potential counterparties in any strategic transaction will require additional external financing to realize the benefits from such transaction, which may be difficult to execute as a result of the foregoing factors.
The ultimate impact and evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or a similar health epidemic are highly uncertain and subject to change. While vaccines have become available in many countries and most economies have reopened, we do not yet know the full extent of potential delays or impacts on our business, our clinical trials, healthcare systems or the global economy as a whole. New waves of outbreak or variant strains of the virus have emerged and may result in re-closures or other preventative measures. These effects could harm our operations, and we will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely.
Our corporate restructuring and the associated headcount reduction may not result in anticipated savings, could result in total costs and expenses that are greater than expected and could disrupt our business.
In April 2022, we commenced an organizational restructuring intended to significantly reduce our workforce by June 30, 2022. We may not realize, in full or in part, the anticipated benefits, savings and improvements in our cost structure from our restructuring efforts due to unforeseen difficulties, delays or unexpected costs. If we are unable to realize the expected operational efficiencies and cost savings from the restructuring, our operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected. Due to our limited resources, we may not be able to effectively manage our operations or retain qualified personnel, which may result in weaknesses to our infrastructure and operations, risks that we may be unable to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, risks to our internal controls and disclosure controls, and loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. The loss of additional personnel may also negatively impact our ability to identify and consummate a strategic transaction.
The restructuring resulted in the loss of institutional knowledge and expertise and the reallocation of and combination of certain roles and responsibilities across the organization, all of which could adversely affect our operations. Further, the restructuring and possible additional cost-containment measures may yield unintended consequences, such as attrition beyond our intended workforce reduction and reduced employee morale. We may be required to rely more heavily on temporary or part-time employees, third party contractors and consultants to assist with managing our operations. These consultants are not our employees and may have commitments to, or consulting or advisory contracts with, other entities that may limit their availability to us. We will have only limited control over the activities of these consultants and can generally expect these individuals to devote only limited time to our activities. Failure of any of these persons to devote sufficient time and resources to our business could harm our business. Employee litigation related to the headcount reduction could be costly and prevent management from fully concentrating on the business.
If our management is unable to successfully manage this transition and restructuring activities, our expenses may be more than expected and we may be unable to implement our business strategy. As a result, our future financial performance, operations, and prospects would be negatively affected.
We expect to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
Investment in pharmaceutical and biological product development is highly speculative because it entails substantial upfront capital expenditures and significant risk that a product candidate will fail to gain regulatory approval or become commercially viable. We have never generated any revenues, and we cannot estimate with precision the extent of our future losses. We do not currently have any products that are available for commercial sale and we may never generate revenue from selling products or achieve profitability. We expect to continue to incur substantial and increasing losses as we identify strategic alternatives and continue exploration of certain pre-clinical research and development initiatives. We are uncertain when or if we will achieve profitability and, if so, whether we will be able to sustain it.
Our ability to produce revenue and achieve profitability is dependent on our ability to identify and consummate a strategic transaction or identify and develop future product candidates, obtain necessary regulatory approvals, and have any such product candidates manufactured and successfully marketed and commercialized. We cannot assure you that we will be profitable even if we successfully commercialize any future product candidates. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Failure to become and remain profitable may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to raise capital and continue operations.
In order to meet our long-term operating requirements, including following any strategic transaction, we will need, among other things, additional capital resources. We could use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. We continually assess multiple options to obtain additional funding to support our operations, including proceeds from offerings of our equity securities or debt, or transactions involving product development, technology licensing or collaboration arrangements, or other sources of capital. Sources of a sufficient amount of financing may not be available to us on favorable terms, if at all, and our ability to raise additional capital has been, and may continue to be, adversely impacted by, among other things, potentially worsening global economic conditions and the recent disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we may not be able to successfully identify and consummate a strategic transaction or pursue the development of any future product candidate.
Our current or prior employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, consultants, commercial collaborators, manufacturers, service providers and other vendors, or those of our affiliates, may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our employees and contractors, including any current or prior principal investigators, consultants, commercial collaborators, manufacturers, service providers and other vendors, or those of our affiliates, may engage in fraudulent or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional, reckless and/or negligent conduct or other unauthorized activities that violate the laws and regulations, including those of the FDA and other similar regulatory bodies that require the reporting of true, complete and accurate information; manufacturing standards; federal, state and foreign healthcare fraud and abuse laws and data privacy; or laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data. In particular, sales, marketing and other business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws intended to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing, bribery, corruption, antitrust violations, and other abusive practices. These laws may restrict or prohibit a wide range of business activities, including research, manufacturing, distribution, pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Activities subject to these laws also involve the improper use or misrepresentation of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, the creation of fraudulent data in nonclinical studies or clinical trials or illegal misappropriation of drug product, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee or third-party misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to be in compliance with such laws or regulations. Additionally, we are subject to the risk that a person or government agency could allege such fraud or other misconduct, even if none occurred. Even though we have ceased clinical development activities for our existing programs, if our employees, independent contractors, principal investigators, consultants, commercial collaborators, manufacturers, service providers or other vendors, or those of our affiliates, are alleged or found to be in violation of any such regulatory standards or requirements, or become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement and curtailment of our operations, it could have a significant impact on our business and financial results, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, FDA debarment, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting requirements and oversight, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.
Potential product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur liabilities and limit commercialization of any products that we may develop.
The prior use of our product candidates in clinical trials exposes us to the risk of product liability claims. Product liability claims might be brought against us by clinical trial patients, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies or others otherwise coming into contact with our prior product candidates. On occasion, large monetary judgments have been awarded in class action lawsuits based on drugs that had unanticipated adverse effects. If we are not successful in defending ourselves against product liability claims, we could incur liability and costs. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in:
•impairment of our business reputation and significant negative media attention;
•significant costs to defend related litigation;
•distraction of management’s attention from our primary business;
•difficulty in attracting strategic counterparties or the ability for us to realize anticipated benefits of any strategic transaction;
•substantial monetary awards to patients or other claimants; and
•inability to commercialize any future product candidate.
The product liability insurance we currently carry, and any additional product liability insurance coverage we acquire in the future, may not be sufficient to reimburse us for any expenses or losses we may suffer. Moreover, insurance coverage is becoming increasingly expensive, and in the future, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in sufficient amounts to protect us against losses due to liability. A successful product liability claim or series of claims brought against us could cause our stock price to decline and, if judgments exceed our insurance coverage, could adversely affect our results of operations and business.
We are subject to stringent U.S. and foreign privacy laws, regulations and standards related to data privacy and security. If we fail to comply with such requirements, we may be subject to liabilities that adversely affect our business, operations and financial performance, and/or harm to our reputation.
We are subject to laws and regulations requiring that we take measures to protect the privacy and security of certain information we gather and use in our business. For example, in the U.S., the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") and its implementing regulations impose, among other requirements, certain regulatory and contractual requirements regarding the privacy and security of personal health information. In addition to HIPAA, numerous other federal and state laws, including, without limitation, state security breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws and federal and state consumer protection laws, govern the collection, use, and storage of personal information. In addition, in June 2018, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") which took effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA gives California residents expanded rights to access and require deletion of their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing, and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that may increase data breach litigation. Although the CCPA includes exemptions for certain clinical trials data, and HIPAA protected health information, the law may increase our compliance costs and potential liability with respect to other personal information we collect about California residents. The CCPA has prompted a number of proposals for new federal and state privacy legislation that, if passed, could increase our potential liability, increase our compliance costs and adversely affect our business.
We may also be subject to or affected by laws and regulations globally, including regulatory guidance, governing the collection, use, disclosure, security, transfer and storage of personal data, such as information that we collect about patients and healthcare providers in connection with future clinical trials and our other operations in the U.S. and abroad. The global legislative and regulatory landscape for privacy and data protection continues to evolve, and implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. This evolution may create uncertainty in our business, result in liability or impose additional costs on us. The cost of compliance with these laws, regulations and standards is high and is likely to increase in the future.
Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with federal, state, or foreign laws or self-regulatory standards could result in negative publicity, diversion of management time and effort and proceedings against us by governmental entities or others. In many jurisdictions, enforcement actions and consequences for noncompliance are rising. As we continue to expand into other foreign countries and jurisdictions, we may be subject to additional laws and regulations that may affect how we conduct business.
Our current and future relationships with investigators, health care professionals, consultants, third-party payors, and customers will be subject to applicable healthcare regulatory laws, which could expose us to penalties.
Our business operations and current and future arrangements with investigators, healthcare professionals, consultants, third-party payors and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations.
These laws may regulate the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we conduct our operations, including how we research, market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. Such laws include:
•the federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, lease, order or recommendation of, any good, facility, item or service, for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute or specific intent to violate it to have committed a violation; in addition, the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act;
•the federal false claims laws including the civil False Claims Act, which can be enforced through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, and civil monetary penalties laws, which impose criminal and civil penalties against individuals or entities for knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented to the federal government, claims for payment that are false or fraudulent, knowingly making, using or causing to be made or used, a false record or statement material to a false or fraudulent claim, or knowingly making, or causing to be made, a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government; in addition, the government may assert that a claim including items and services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act;
•HIPAA imposes criminal and civil liability for, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false or fraudulent statements relating to healthcare matters. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it to have committed a violation;
•HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and its implementing regulations, also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information on health plans, health care clearing houses, and certain health care providers, known as covered entities, and their business associates, defined as independent contractors or agents of covered entities that create, receive or obtain protected health information in connection with providing a service for or on behalf of a covered entity as well as their covered subcontractors;
•a number of federal, state and foreign laws, regulations, guidance and standards that impose requirements regarding the protection of health data that are applicable to or affect our operations;
•the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (with certain exceptions) to report annually to the government information related to payments or other "transfers of value" made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and teaching hospitals, and requires applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations to report annually to the government ownership and investment interests held by the physicians described above and their immediate family members; and
•analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, may apply to our business practices, including but not limited to, research, distribution, sales, and marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers, or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources; and state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government; state laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers, marketing expenditures or drug pricing, as well as state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives; and state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Efforts to ensure that our current and future business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices do not comply with current or future statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law involving applicable healthcare laws. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these or any other health regulatory laws that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant penalties, including the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting requirements and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement, and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Even the mere issuance of a subpoena or the fact of an investigation alone, regardless of the merit, may result in negative publicity, a drop in our stock price, and other harm to our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Defending against any such actions can be costly, time-consuming and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if we are successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against us, our business may be impaired.
We rely on third parties to conduct, supervise and monitor the wind-down of our clinical trials, and if those third parties perform in an unsatisfactory manner, it may harm our business.
We rely on CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials, and we expect to have limited influence over their actual performance.
Nevertheless, we will be responsible for ensuring that each of our studies is conducted in accordance with the applicable protocol, legal, regulatory and scientific standards and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities.
We and our CROs will be required to comply with Good Laboratory Practices ("GLPs") and cGCPs, which are regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA and are also required by the competent authorities of the member states of the European Economic Area and comparable foreign regulatory authorities in the form of International Council for Harmonization guidelines for any of our product candidates that are in nonclinical and clinical development. The regulatory authorities enforce cGCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and clinical trial sites. Although we may rely on CROs to conduct our GLP-compliant preclinical studies and GCP-compliant clinical trials, we will remain responsible for ensuring that each of our GLP preclinical studies and GCP clinical trials is conducted in accordance with its investigational plan and protocol and applicable laws and regulations, and our reliance on the CROs does not relieve us of our regulatory responsibilities. Failure by our CROs to properly execute study protocols in accordance with applicable law could also create product liability and healthcare regulatory risks for us as sponsors of those studies.
Our CROs will not be our employees, and we will not control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our clinical and nonclinical programs. These CROs may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical trials, or other drug development activities which could harm our competitive position. We face the risk of potential unauthorized disclosure or misappropriation of our intellectual property by CROs, which may reduce our trade secret and intellectual property protection and allow our potential competitors to access and exploit our proprietary technology. If our CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations, fail to meet expected deadlines, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our (or their own) clinical protocols or regulatory requirements or for any other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully commercialize, any product candidate that we develop. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for any product candidate that we develop could be harmed, our costs could increase, and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we or any future strategic partners are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for future products or if the scope of patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, we may not be able to compete effectively in certain markets.
We will rely upon a combination of patents, trademarks, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants, collaborators, advisors and other third parties to protect intellectual property related to our development programs and any future product candidates. Our success for future programs depends in part on our or any future strategic partner's ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries for future product candidates. The patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner.
Any patent applications that we might in-license or own cannot be enforced against third parties practicing the technology claimed in such applications unless and until a patent issues from such application(s).
It is also possible that we or any future strategic partner will fail to identify patentable aspects of research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Any patent applications that we might own or in-license may fail to result in issued patents with claims that cover our future product candidates in the United States or in other foreign countries. We may also inadvertently make statements, e.g., to regulatory agencies during the regulatory approval process, that may be inconsistent with positions during prosecution of any future in-licensed or owned patents, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated, or held unenforceable.
The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect patent rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Furthermore, we cannot know with certainty whether we or any strategic partner were the first to make the inventions claimed in any future patents or pending patent applications owned or licensed by us, or whether we will be the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of any future patent rights are highly uncertain. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of any future patent rights.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology, or limit the duration of any future patent protection.
Moreover, patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years after the first non-provisional filing date. Certain extensions may be available; however, the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, any future patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized.
The validity, scope and enforceability of any patents can be challenged by third parties.
Litigation or other proceedings to enforce or defend intellectual property rights are often complex in nature, may be expensive and time-consuming, may divert our management’s attention from our core business, and may result in unfavorable results that could limit our ability to prevent third parties from competing with any future product candidates.
We may need to license intellectual property from third parties, and such licenses may not be available or may not be available on commercially reasonable terms.
A third party may hold intellectual property, including patent rights and trade secrets that are important or necessary to the development of any future product candidates. It may be necessary for us to use the patented or proprietary technology of one or more third parties to manufacture or commercialize any future product candidates, in which case we would be required to obtain a license from these third parties on commercially reasonable terms, or our business could be harmed, possibly materially. If any such patents were to be asserted against us, there is no assurance that a court would find in our favor or that, if we choose or are required to seek a license, a license to any such patents would be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.
Third-party claims or litigation alleging infringement of patents or other proprietary rights or seeking to invalidate patents or other proprietary rights may delay or prevent the development and commercialization of any future product candidates.
Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement and other violations of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation, both within and outside the United States, involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, derivation and administrative law proceedings, inter partes review, and post-grant review before the USPTO, as well as oppositions and similar proceedings in foreign jurisdictions. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, and as we gain greater visibility and market exposure as a public company, the risk increases that our business activities may be subject to claims of infringement of a patent and other proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties may assert that we are infringing their patents or employing their proprietary technology without authorization.
There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to compositions, materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for treatment related to our future product candidates. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that any future product candidates may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our or any future strategic partner's technologies infringes upon these patents.
A license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In addition, we may be subject to claims that we are infringing other intellectual property rights, such as trademarks or copyrights, or misappropriating the trade secrets of others, and to the extent that our employees, consultants or contractors use intellectual property or proprietary information owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in the information or resulting know-how and inventions.
Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful infringement or other intellectual property claim against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign any affected future product candidates, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. We cannot predict whether any such license would be available at all or whether it would be available on commercially reasonable terms. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.
We may not identify relevant third-party patents or may incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third-party patent, which might adversely affect our ability to develop and market any future products.
We cannot guarantee that patent searches or analyses, including the identification of relevant patents, the scope of patent claims or the expiration of relevant patents, are complete or thorough, nor can we be certain that we have identified each and every third-party patent and pending application in the United States and abroad that is or may be relevant to or necessary for our business in any jurisdiction.
The scope of a patent claim is determined by multiple factors including an interpretation of the law, the written disclosure in a patent and the patent’s prosecution history. Our interpretation of the relevance or the scope of a patent or a pending application may be incorrect, which may negatively impact our business.
If we fail to identify and correctly interpret relevant patents, we may be subject to infringement claims. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully settle or otherwise resolve such infringement claims. If we fail in any such dispute, in addition to being forced to pay damages, we may be temporarily or permanently prohibited from commercializing any future product candidates that are held to be infringing. We might, if possible, also be forced to redesign products, processes, or services so that we no longer infringe the third-party intellectual property rights. Any of these events, even if we were ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business.
If we breach any license or collaboration agreements, it could compromise our business and development efforts.
Disputes may arise between us and any of these counterparties regarding intellectual property rights that are subject to such agreements, including, but not limited to:
•the scope of rights granted under an agreement and other interpretation-related issues;
•whether and the extent to which our technology and processes infringe on intellectual property of a licensor that is not subject to the agreement;
•any right to sublicense patent and other rights to third parties;
•any diligence obligations with respect to the use of the licensed technology in relation to development and commercialization of any future product candidates, and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;
•the ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by licensors and us and any future partners;
•any right to transfer or assign a license; and
•the effects of termination.
These or other disputes over intellectual property that we license or acquire in the future may prevent or impair our ability to maintain arrangements on acceptable terms or may impair the value of the arrangement to us. Any such dispute could have an adverse effect on our business.
Any uncured, material breach under such agreements could result in loss of rights to practice any patent rights and other intellectual property licensed under any such agreements and to liability for potential damages.
We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce patents, the patents of any licensors or our other intellectual property rights, which could be expensive, time consuming and unsuccessful.
Competitors may infringe or otherwise violate our future patents, the patents of licensors or future strategic partners, or our other intellectual property rights. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file legal claims, which can be expensive and time-consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours, any future strategic partner, or any licensor is not valid or is unenforceable or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation or defense proceedings could put one or more of such patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put patent applications at risk of not issuing. The initiation of a claim against a third party may also cause the third party to bring counter claims against us such as claims asserting that such patents are invalid or unenforceable.
In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, non-enablement, or lack of statutory subject matter. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant material information from the USPTO, or made a materially misleading statement, during prosecution. Third parties may also raise similar validity claims before the USPTO in post-grant proceedings such as ex parte reexaminations, inter partes review, or post-grant review, or oppositions or similar proceedings outside the United States, in parallel with litigation or even outside the context of litigation. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. We cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. For the patents and patent applications that we may license, we may have limited or no right to participate in the defense of any licensed patents against challenge by a third party. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of any future patent protection on the subject matter of such patents. Such a loss of patent protection could harm our business.
We may not be able to detect or prevent, alone or with our licensors, misappropriation of our intellectual property rights, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. Any litigation or other proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights may fail, and even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees.
Even if we establish infringement, the court may decide not to grant an injunction against further infringing activity and instead award only monetary damages, which may or may not be an adequate remedy. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.
Because of the expense and uncertainty of litigation, we may not be in a position to enforce intellectual property rights against third parties.
Because of the expense and uncertainty of litigation, we may conclude that even if a third party is infringing any patents that may be issued as a result of any pending or future patent applications or other intellectual property rights, the risk-adjusted cost of bringing and enforcing such a claim or action may be too high or not in the best interest of our company or our stockholders. In such cases, we may decide that the more prudent course of action is to simply monitor the situation or initiate or seek some other non-litigious action or solution.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world, which could impair our business.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents covering our future product candidates throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. Competitors may use our technologies or the technologies of any future strategic partner in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we may obtain patent protection, but where patent enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with any future products in jurisdictions where we do not have any issued or licensed patents and any future patent claims, or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from so competing.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of some countries do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of patents generally in some countries. Proceedings to enforce any patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put any patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful.
Furthermore, our or any future strategic partner's efforts to enforce any intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we may develop or license in the future.
Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets will be misappropriated or disclosed.
We expect to continue to collaborate with third parties and any future partner on the development of our future product candidates, and so, we must, at times, share trade secrets with them. We may also conduct joint research and development programs that may require us to share trade secrets under the terms of our collaboration or similar agreements. We will seek to protect our proprietary technology in part by entering into confidentiality agreements and, if applicable, material transfer agreements, consulting agreements or other similar agreements with our advisors, employees, third-party contractors and consultants prior to beginning research or disclosing proprietary information. These agreements typically limit the rights of the third parties to use or disclose our confidential information, including our trade secrets. Despite the contractual provisions employed when working with third parties, the need to share trade secrets and other confidential information increases the risk that such trade secrets become known by our competitors, are inadvertently incorporated into the technology of others, or are disclosed or used in violation of these agreements. Any disclosure, either intentional or unintentional, by our employees, the employees of third parties with whom we share our facilities or third-party consultants and vendors that we engage to perform research, clinical trials or manufacturing activities, or misappropriation by third parties (such as through a cybersecurity breach) of our trade secrets or proprietary information could enable competitors to duplicate or surpass our technological achievements, thus eroding our competitive position. Further, adequate remedies may not exist in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure. Given that our proprietary position is expected to be based, in part, on our know-how and trade secrets, a competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets or other unauthorized use or disclosure would impair our competitive position and may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
In addition, these agreements typically restrict the ability of our advisors, employees, third-party contractors and consultants to publish data potentially relating to our trade secrets, although our agreements may contain certain limited publication rights. Policing unauthorized use of our or our licensors’ intellectual property is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and we may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use. Moreover, enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets, our competitors may discover our trade secrets, either through breach of our agreements with third parties, independent development or publication of information by any of our third-party collaborators. A competitor’s discovery of our trade secrets would impair our competitive position and have an adverse impact on our business.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of their former employers or other third parties.
We and any future strategic partner employ individuals who were previously employed at other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies. Although we seek to protect our ownership of intellectual property rights by ensuring that our agreements with our employees, collaborators, and other third parties with whom we do business include provisions requiring such parties to assign rights in inventions to us, we or any future strategic partner may be subject to claims that we, our partner or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed confidential information of our employees’ former employers or other third parties. We or any future partner may also be subject to claims that former employers or other third parties have an ownership interest in patents or patent applications filed by us. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. There is no guarantee of success in defending these claims, and if we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Even if we are successful, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and other employees. Moreover, any such litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our reputation, our ability to form strategic alliances or sublicense our rights to collaborators, engage with scientific advisors or hire employees or consultants, each of which would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who in fact develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Our and their assignment agreements may not be self-executing or may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property.
If we or our licensors fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we and our licensors are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.
Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.
Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could compromise our ability to raise the funds necessary to initiate or continue our clinical trials and internal research programs, or in-license needed technology or other future product candidates. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could compromise our ability to compete in the marketplace, including compromising our ability to raise the funds necessary for clinical trials, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development collaborations that would help us commercialize our future product candidates, if approved.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.
In addition to seeking patents for our future product candidates, we and any future strategic partner may also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. We seek to protect our trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets.
If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent them, or those to whom they communicate it, from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position would be harmed.
Any trademarks we have obtained or may obtain may be infringed or successfully challenged, resulting in harm to our business.
We expect to rely on trademarks as one means to distinguish any of our future product candidates that are approved for marketing from the products of our competitors. Once we select new trademarks and apply to register them, our trademark applications may not be approved. Third parties may oppose or attempt to cancel our trademark applications or trademarks, or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our products, which could result in loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands. Our competitors may infringe our trademarks and we may not have adequate resources to enforce our trademarks.
If we attempt to enforce our trademarks and assert trademark infringement claims, a court may determine that the marks we have asserted are invalid or unenforceable, or that the party against whom we have asserted trademark infringement has superior rights to the marks in question. In this case, we could ultimately be forced to cease use of such trademarks.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our competitive advantage.
The degree of future protection afforded by our or any future strategic partner's intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations, and may not adequately protect our business, or permit us to achieve or maintain a competitive advantage.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
We may be treated as a “public shell” company which could have negative consequences, including potential Nasdaq delisting of our common stock.
We may be treated as a “public shell” under the Nasdaq rules and the Securities Act. Although the evaluation of whether a listed company is a public shell company is based on a facts and circumstances determination, a Nasdaq-listed company with no or nominal operations and either no or nominal assets, assets consisting solely of cash and cash equivalents, or assets consisting of any amount of cash and cash equivalents and nominal other assets is generally considered to be a public shell. Listed companies determined to be public shells by Nasdaq may be subject to delisting proceedings or additional and more stringent listing criteria.
If Nasdaq should delist our common stock from trading, a reduction in some or all of the following may occur, each of which could have a material adverse effect on holders of our common stock: the liquidity of our common stock; the market price of our common stock; the number of institutional and general investors that will consider investing in our common stock; the number of investors in general that will consider investing in our common stock; the number of market makers in our common stock; the availability of information concerning the trading prices and volume of our common stock; and the number of broker-dealers willing to execute trades in our common stock. In addition to the foregoing, there are certain consequences under the Securities Act of being a public shell, including the unavailability of Rule 144 thereunder for the resale of restricted securities, the inability to utilize Form S-8 for the registration of employee benefit plan securities; and the inability to utilize Form S-3 under the “baby shelf” rules applicable to companies with a non-affiliate market capitalization of less than $75 million. In addition, the potential determination that we are a shell company or the prospective loss of our listing on Nasdaq could make us less attractive as a partner in any potential strategic transaction.
The price of our common stock currently does not meet the requirements for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. If we fail to maintain or regain compliance with the minimum listing requirements, our common stock will be subject to delisting. Our ability to publicly or privately sell equity securities and the liquidity of our common stock could be adversely affected if our common stock is delisted.
The continued listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market ("Nasdaq") require, among other things, that the minimum price of a listed company’s stock be at or above $1.00. If the minimum bid price is below $1.00 for a period of more than 30 consecutive trading days, the listed company will fail to be in compliance with Nasdaq’s listing rules and, if it does not regain compliance within the grace period, will be subject to delisting. The bid price of our common stock has recently closed below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement and on March 16, 2022 we received a notification of noncompliance from Nasdaq. In accordance with Nasdaq’s listing rules, we will be afforded 180 calendar days to regain compliance with the bid price requirement. In order to regain compliance, the bid price of our common stock must close at a price of at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive trading days.
If we fail to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement, or if we fail to meet other continued listing requirements in the future, our common stock will be subject to delisting. Delisting from Nasdaq could adversely affect our ability to consummate a strategic transaction and raise additional financing through the public or private sale of equity securities, and would significantly affect the ability of investors to trade our securities and negatively affect the value and liquidity of our common stock. Delisting could also have other negative results, including the potential loss of confidence by employees and the loss of institutional investor interest.
Unless our common stock continues to be listed on a national securities exchange, it will become subject to the so-called “penny stock” rules that impose restrictive sales practice requirements.
If we are unable to maintain the listing of our common stock on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange, our common stock could become subject to the so-called “penny stock” rules if the shares have a market value of less than $5.00 per share. The SEC has adopted regulations that define a penny stock to include any stock that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions, including an exception for stock traded on a national securities exchange. The SEC regulations impose restrictive sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to persons other than established customers and accredited investors. An accredited investor generally is a person whose individual annual income exceeded $200,000, or whose joint annual income with a spouse exceeded $300,000 during the past two years and who expects their annual income to exceed the applicable level during the current year, or a person with net worth in excess of $1.0 million, not including the value of the investor’s principal residence and excluding mortgage debt secured by the investor’s principal residence up to the estimated fair market value of the home, except that any mortgage debt incurred by the investor within 60 days prior to the date of the transaction shall not be excluded from the determination of the investor’s net worth unless the mortgage debt was incurred to acquire the residence. For transactions covered by this rule, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and must have received the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to the sale. This means that if we are unable to maintain the listing of our common stock on a national securities exchange, the ability of stockholders to sell their common stock in the secondary market could be adversely affected. If a transaction involving a penny stock is not exempt from the SEC’s rule, a broker-dealer must deliver a disclosure schedule relating to the penny stock market to each investor prior to a transaction. The broker-dealer must also disclose the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and its registered representative, current quotations for the penny stock, and, if the broker-dealer is the sole market-maker, the broker-dealer must disclose this fact and the broker-dealer’s presumed control over the market. Finally, monthly statements must be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the customer’s account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.
The market price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be highly volatile, and you may lose some or all of your investment.
The market price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be highly volatile and may be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, including the following:
•our ability to identify and consummate a strategic transaction;
•inability to obtain additional funding and deterioration of financing conditions in our industry;
•our internal restructuring and workforce reduction;
•inability to obtain, protect or maintain necessary intellectual property;
•adverse regulatory decisions or statements;
•changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;
•failure to meet or exceed the estimates and projections of the investment community;
•changes in the market valuations of similar companies;
•market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, and the issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;
•announcements of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments by us or our competitors;
•significant lawsuits, including patent or stockholder litigation, and disputes or other developments relating to our proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies;
•additions or departures of key personnel;
•short sales of our common stock;
•sales of shares of our common stock by us or our stockholders in the future;
•negative coverage in the media or analyst reports, whether accurate or not;
•issuance of subpoenas or investigative demands, or the public fact of an investigation by a government agency, whether meritorious or not;
•our ability to maintain the listing of our common stock on Nasdaq;
•trading volume of our common stock;
•general economic, industry and market conditions; and
•the other factors described in this "Risk Factors" section.
In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies, including in connection with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in decreased stock prices for many companies notwithstanding the lack of a fundamental change in their underlying business models or prospects. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors, including potentially worsening economic conditions and other adverse effects or developments relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.
Volatility in our stock price could subject us to securities class action litigation.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities and/or the discontinuation of development of a product candidate due to adverse clinical circumstances or results. This risk is especially relevant for us because pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business.
An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained.
Although our common stock is listed on Nasdaq, we cannot assure you that an active trading market for our common stock will be sustained. In addition, as a result of Roivant Sciences Ltd. ("RSL") owning approximately 25.2% of our shares of common stock outstanding as of June 9, 2022, trading in our common stock may be less liquid than the stock of companies with broader public ownership. If an active market for our common stock is not sustained, you may not be able to sell your stock quickly or at the market price. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares of our common stock and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our common stock as consideration.
RSL owns a significant percentage of our shares of common stock and is able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Based on shares of our common stock outstanding as of June 9, 2022, RSL beneficially owns approximately 25.2% of the voting power of our outstanding shares of common stock and has the ability to substantially influence us through this ownership position. RSL’s interests may not always coincide with our corporate interests or the interests of other stockholders, and RSL may act in a manner with which you may not agree or that may not be in the best interests of our other stockholders. In 2020, RSL closed a transaction with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. ("Sumitomo") that includes a grant to Sumitomo of a right of first refusal with respect to our shares of common stock held by RSL, which could result in RSL taking actions that may not coincide with our corporate interests or the interests of other stockholders, and could impact our ability to undertake certain corporate transactions. RSL recently became a publicly-traded corporation. There may be changes to the management or ownership of RSL that could impact RSL’s interests in a way that may not coincide with our corporate interests or the interests of other stockholders. So long as RSL continues to own a significant amount of our equity, RSL will continue to be able to strongly influence our decisions.
Our organizational and ownership structure may create significant conflicts of interests.
Our organizational and ownership structure involves a number of relationships that may give rise to certain conflicts of interest between us and minority holders of our common stock, on the one hand, and RSL and its shareholders, on the other hand. Certain of our directors and employees have equity interests in RSL and, accordingly, their interests may be aligned with RSL’s interests, which may not always coincide with our corporate interests or the interests of our other stockholders. Further, our other stockholders may not have visibility into the RSL ownership of any of our directors or officers, which may change at any time through acquisition, disposition, dilution, or otherwise. Any change in our directors’ or officers’ RSL ownership could impact the interests of those holders.
In addition, we are party to certain related party agreements with RSL and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Roivant Sciences, Inc. ("RSI") and Roivant Sciences GmbH ("RSG"). These entities and their shareholders, including certain of our directors and employees, may have interests which differ from our interests or those of the minority holders of our common stock. For example, we are party to an information sharing and cooperation agreement with RSL pursuant to which RSL has granted us a right of first review on any potential dementia-related product or investment opportunity that RSL may consider pursuing. It is possible that we could fail to pursue a product candidate under this agreement and that product candidate is then successfully developed and commercialized by RSL or one of its other subsidiaries or affiliates. Any material transaction between us and RSL, RSI or RSG is subject to our related party transaction policy, which requires prior approval of such transaction by our Audit Committee. To the extent we fail to appropriately deal with any such conflicts of interests, it could negatively impact our reputation and ability to raise additional funds and the willingness of counterparties to do business with us, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on shares of our common stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, would be your sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on shares of our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock would be your sole source of gain on an investment in our common stock for the foreseeable future.
Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law may prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to change our management and hinder efforts to acquire a controlling interest in us, and the market price of our common stock may be lower as a result.
There are provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws that may make it difficult for a third party to acquire, or attempt to acquire, control of our company, even if a change of control was considered favorable by you and other stockholders. For example, our board of directors will have the authority to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. The board of directors can fix the price, rights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions of the preferred stock without any further vote or action by our stockholders. The issuance of shares of preferred stock may delay or prevent a change of control transaction. As a result, the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of our stockholders may be adversely affected. An issuance of shares of preferred stock may result in the loss of voting control to other stockholders.
Our charter documents will also contain other provisions that could have an anti-takeover effect, including:
•stockholders will not be entitled to remove directors other than by a 66 2/3% vote and only for cause;
•stockholders cannot call a special meeting of stockholders;
•stockholders cannot act by written consent in lieu of a meeting; and
•stockholders must give advance notice to nominate directors or submit proposals for consideration at stockholder meetings.
In addition, we are subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which regulates corporate acquisitions by prohibiting Delaware corporations from engaging in specified business combinations with particular stockholders of those companies. These provisions could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or prevent a change of control transaction. They could also have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our common stock, including transactions that may be in your best interests. These provisions may also prevent changes in our management or limit the price that investors are willing to pay for our stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, under certain circumstances, the federal district courts of the United States of America are the exclusive forums for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks subject matter jurisdiction, any state court located within the State of Delaware or, if all such state courts lack subject matter jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) is the sole and exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law for:
•any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
•any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty;
•any action arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws; and
•any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal-affairs doctrine.
These provisions would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America have exclusive jurisdiction. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims.
Our stockholders cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation described in the preceding sentences.
To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws further provide that the federal district courts of the United States are the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions.
These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. If a court were to find the exclusive-forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions.
Your rights as a stockholder arise under Delaware law as well as our Delaware certificate of incorporation and bylaws.
The rights of our stockholders arise under our certificate of incorporation and bylaws as well as Delaware law. These organizational documents and Delaware law contain provisions for class actions and derivative actions, which may result in becoming involved in costly litigation, which could harm our business. In addition, our bylaws may generally be amended by our board of directors, as permitted under the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). Additionally, while the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regarding business combination provisions currently apply, there can be no assurance that the rights afforded by Section 203 of the DGCL will not be changed or rescinded by the Delaware legislature or courts in the future.
Future sales of shares of our common stock, or the perception that such sales may occur, could depress our stock price, even if our business is doing well.
As of June 9, 2022, 18,577,380 of our outstanding shares of common stock, representing 25.2% of our shares of common stock, were held by RSL. If RSL, or any of our executive officers or directors, were to sell our common stock, or if the market perceived that RSL or any of our executive officers or directors intend to sell our common stock, it could negatively affect our stock price. Such a decrease in our stock price could also in turn impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities.
Further, we have filed registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register the common stock that may be issued under our equity incentive plans from time to time. Stock registered under these registration statements is available for sale in the public market subject to vesting arrangements and exercise of options, as well as Rule 144 in the case of our affiliates. Sales of these shares of common stock may negatively impact our stock price.
In addition, we have filed a "shelf" registration statement on Form S-3 under the Securities Act, allowing us, from time to time, to offer up to $750 million of any combination of registered shares of common stock or preferred stock, debt securities and warrants. We have also entered into a sales agreement with SVB Securities LLC to sell shares of common stock from time to time through an at-the-market equity offering program with an aggregate offering price of up to approximately $35.1 million remaining available to be sold as of June 9, 2022. To the extent we issue new shares of common stock as a result of needing additional capital, such stock could constitute a material portion of our then outstanding shares of common stock and cause dilution to our existing stockholders.
If we are unable to maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our common stock, may be adversely affected.
Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and to protect from fraudulent, illegal or unauthorized transactions. Effective disclosure controls and procedures enable us to make timely and accurate disclosure of financial and non-financial information that we are required to disclose. If we cannot provide effective controls and reliable financial reports and other disclosures, our business and operating results could be harmed. We have in the past discovered, and may in the future discover, areas of our internal controls over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures that, even if effective, could be improved. Our recent workforce reduction and any further departures of accounting or finance function employees or consultants may increase the likelihood of future internal controls deficiencies.
We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of each fiscal year. Our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC following the date we are deemed to be an "accelerated filer," as defined in the Exchange Act.
If material weaknesses or control deficiencies occur or our disclosure controls and procedures are ineffective in the future, we may be unable to report our financial results or make other disclosures accurately on a timely basis, which could cause our reported financial results or other disclosures to be materially misstated and result in the loss of investor confidence and cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
We are a smaller reporting company, and we cannot be certain if the reduced reporting requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We currently qualify as a "smaller reporting company". For so long as we continue to be a smaller reporting company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not smaller reporting companies, including reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and we also may still qualify as a "non-accelerated filer" which provides for exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404.
We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
The intended tax effects of our corporate structure prior to and following the Domestication and our corporate reorganization to align our corporate structure with current and future business activity (the "Reorganization"), and intercompany arrangements prior to the Domestication and Reorganization, depend on the application of the tax laws of various jurisdictions and on how we operate our business.
The Domestication and Reorganization involved the tax authorities and related rules and regulations of multiple international jurisdictions. In connection with the Domestication and Reorganization, we relied on the availability of certain exemptions from tax, and losses and other deductions, in certain such jurisdictions in respect of steps being taken as part of the Domestication and Reorganization, which are complex. If the tax authorities of any such jurisdictions do not agree with such exemptions, losses or deductions, we may be subject to tax charges and liabilities. Following the Domestication and Reorganization, we still have subsidiaries that are domiciled in the U.K., Switzerland and Ireland. Our corporate structure is organized so that we can achieve our business objectives in a tax-efficient manner following the Domestication and Reorganization and control operating expenses. Historically, we have conducted operations prior to the Domestication and Reorganization through subsidiaries in various countries and tax jurisdictions, including the U.K. and Switzerland, in part through intercompany service agreements between RSL and certain of its subsidiaries, our subsidiaries and us. In that case, our corporate structure and intercompany transactions, including the manner in which we developed and used our intellectual property, were organized to achieve our business objectives in a tax-efficient manner and in compliance with applicable transfer pricing rules and regulations. If two or more affiliated companies are located in different countries or tax jurisdictions, the tax laws and regulations of each country generally will require that transfer prices be the same as those between unrelated companies dealing at arms’ length and that appropriate documentation be maintained to support the transfer prices. While we believe that we have operated in compliance with applicable transfer pricing laws, our transfer pricing procedures are not binding on applicable tax authorities. If tax authorities in any of these countries were to successfully challenge our transfer prices as not reflecting arms’ length transactions in historical periods prior to the Domestication and Reorganization, they could require us to adjust our transfer prices and thereby reallocate our income to reflect these revised transfer prices, which could result in a higher tax liability to us. In addition, if the country from which the income is reallocated does not agree with the reallocation, both countries could tax the same income, potentially resulting in double taxation. If tax authorities were to allocate income to a higher tax jurisdiction, subject our income to double taxation or assess interest and penalties, it would increase our consolidated tax liability, which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Judgment is required in evaluating our tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. During the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. For example, our effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates or by changes in the relevant tax, accounting, and other laws, regulations, principles, and interpretations. As we intend to operate in more than one country and taxing jurisdiction, the application of tax laws can be subject to diverging and sometimes conflicting interpretations by tax authorities of these jurisdictions. It is not uncommon for taxing authorities in different countries to have conflicting views, for instance, with respect to, among other things, the manner in which the arm’s length standard is applied for transfer pricing purposes, or with respect to the valuation of intellectual property. In addition, tax laws are dynamic and subject to change as new laws are passed and new interpretations of the law are issued or applied. Moreover, certain relevant tax, accounting and other laws have special application with respect to “affiliated,” “combined” or similar groups, which included RSL and its subsidiaries prior to March 2020, and which may impact the tax liabilities of the companies. We continue to assess the impact of such changes in tax laws on our business and may determine that changes to our structure, practice or tax positions are necessary in light of such changes and developments in the tax laws of other jurisdictions in which we operate. Such changes may nevertheless be ineffective in avoiding an increase in our consolidated tax liability, which could harm our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Changes in our effective tax rate may reduce our net income in future periods.
Our tax position could be adversely impacted by changes in tax rates, tax laws, tax practice, tax treaties or tax regulations or changes in the interpretation thereof by the tax authorities in Ireland, the United States and other jurisdictions for periods following the Domestication and Reorganization, and also Europe (including the U.K. and Ireland), the United States and other jurisdictions for historical periods prior to the Domestication and Reorganization. Such changes may become more likely as a result of recent economic trends in the jurisdictions in which we operate, particularly if such trends continue. If such a situation was to arise, it could adversely impact our tax position and our effective tax rate. Failure to manage the risks associated with such changes, or misinterpretation of the laws providing such changes, could result in costly audits, interest, penalties and reputational damage, which could adversely affect our business, results of our operations and our financial condition.
Our actual effective tax rate may vary from our expectation and that variance may be material. A number of factors may increase our future effective tax rates, including: (1) the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed; (2) the resolution of issues arising from any future tax audits with various tax authorities; (3) changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities; (4) increases in expenses not deductible for tax purposes, including transaction costs and impairments of goodwill in connection with acquisitions; (5) changes in the taxation of stock-based compensation; (6) changes in tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws, and changes in generally accepted accounting principles; and (7) challenges to the transfer pricing policies related to our structure prior to the Domestication and Reorganization.
Changes in tax laws in the United States or foreign jurisdictions could materially increase our tax expense.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and foreign jurisdictions. Changes to income tax laws and regulations, or the interpretation of such laws, in any of the jurisdictions in which we operate could significantly increase our effective tax rate and ultimately reduce our cash flows from operating activities and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. Additionally, various levels of government are increasingly focused on tax reform and other legislative actions to increase tax revenue, and President Biden’s campaign proposals included increasing the U.S. corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%. Further changes in the tax laws of foreign jurisdictions could arise as a result of the base erosion and profit shifting project undertaken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which represents a coalition of member countries and recommended changes to numerous long-standing tax principles. If implemented by taxing authorities, such changes, as well as changes in U.S. federal and state tax laws or in taxing jurisdictions’ administrative interpretations, decisions, policies, and positions, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
General Risk Factors
Our business and operations would suffer in the event of system failures, security breaches or cyber-attacks.
Our computer systems, as well as those of various third parties on which we rely, or may rely on in the future, including our CRO's and other contractors, consultants, and law and accounting firms, may sustain damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, data breaches, phishing attacks, cybercriminals, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. We rely on our third-party providers to implement effective security measures and identify and correct for any such failures, deficiencies or breaches. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. We have experienced phishing attacks in the past, which have not had a material impact on our operations, however, we may in the future experience material system failures or security breaches that could cause interruptions in our operations or result in a material disruption of our development programs. For example, the loss of nonclinical or clinical trial data from completed, ongoing or planned trials could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach were to result in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of personal, confidential or proprietary information, we could incur liability, suffer reputational damage, and the further development of our product candidates could be delayed.
If securities or industry analysts cease to publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports 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 have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or change their opinion of our common stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
We have incurred and will continue to incur substantial costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management has been and will be required to continue to devote substantial time to compliance with our public company responsibilities and corporate governance practices.
As a public company, we have incurred and will continue to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of Nasdaq and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to compliance with these requirements. Moreover, changing rules and regulations may increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and more costly. If, notwithstanding our efforts to comply with new or changing laws, regulations and standards, we fail to comply, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us, and our business may be harmed.
Further, failure to comply with these laws, regulations and standards may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, which could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our Board of Directors or members of senior management.