regulations could result in, among other things, significant
administrative, civil and criminal fines and sanctions against us,
our officers, or our employees, the closing down of our facilities,
exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs
including Medicare and Medicaid, implementation of compliance
programs, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, and
prohibitions on the conduct of our business. Any such violations
could include prohibitions on our ability to offer our products in
one or more countries and could materially damage our reputation,
our brand, our international expansion efforts, our ability to
attract and retain employees, and our business, prospects,
operating results and financial condition.
We and our third-party contractors
must comply with environmental, health and safety laws and
regulations. A failure to comply with these laws and regulations
could expose us to significant costs or liabilities.
We and our third-party contractors are subject to numerous
environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including
those governing laboratory procedures and the use, generation,
manufacture, distribution, storage, handling, treatment,
remediation and disposal of biohazardous materials and wastes and
genetically modified organisms. Hazardous chemicals, including
potentially infectious biological substances and genetically
modified organisms, are involved in certain aspects of our
business, and we cannot eliminate the risk of injury or
contamination from the use, generation, manufacture, distribution,
storage, handling, treatment or disposal of hazardous materials and
wastes. In the event of contamination or injury, or failure to
comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations,
we could be held liable for any resulting damages, fines and
penalties associated with such liability could exceed our assets
and resources.
Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance as prescribed
by Texas and German laws to cover us for costs and expenses we may
incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of
biological or hazardous materials or wastes, this insurance may not
provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not
maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims
that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or
disposal of biological, hazardous or radioactive materials.
Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations are becoming
increasingly more stringent. We may incur substantial costs in
order to comply with current or future environmental, health and
safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and
regulations may impair our research, development or production
efforts. Our failure to comply with these laws and regulations also
may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.
Our internal computer systems, or
those of our partners, third-party CROs or other contractors or
consultants, may fail or suffer security incidents, which could
result in a material disruption of our product development programs
and significant monetary losses.
Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal
computer systems and those of our current or future partners,
third-party CROs and other contractors and consultants have been
subject to attacks by, and may be vulnerable to damage from,
various methods, including cybersecurity attacks, breaches,
intentional or accidental mistakes or errors, or other
technological failures which can include, among other things,
computer viruses, malicious codes, employee theft or misuse,
unauthorized copying of our website or its content, unauthorized
access attempts including third parties gaining access to systems
using stolen or inferred credentials, denial-of-service attacks,
phishing attempts, service disruptions, natural disasters, fire,
terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. As
the cyber-threat landscape evolves, these attacks are growing in
frequency, sophistication and intensity, and are becoming
increasingly difficult to detect. Such attacks could include the
use of keystroke loggers or other harmful and virulent malware,
including ransomware or other denials of service, and can be
deployed through malicious websites, the use of social engineering
and/or other means. We may not be able to anticipate all types of
security threats, and we may not be able to implement preventive
measures effective against all such security threats. Further, as
the COVID-19 pandemic led
to an increased number of people working from home, these
cybersecurity risks may be heightened by an increased
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